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I had completed the IB and I had decided to travel to Egypt in August. I was going to look for work and have my own flat, but in the beginning I would live with my boyfriend and his family until I found one. My mother was not very happy for my decision to travel to Egypt, but that was what I wanted and I needed to follow my heart. I also hoped Egypt would teach me more about Islam, and I was interested in their culture and language.
In August I went to Egypt. I landed in Cairo and my boyfriend came and met me. We took the bus to Alexandria, where he lives and went to his home. I greeted his family, had a shower and tried to sleep. I was exhausted, I hadn't slept for like 30 hours. The funny thing was that I couldn't even sleep, because everything was new and it was too hot inside.
In the beginning it was very hard for me in Egypt. Egypt is very different from Norway and there was a lot of habits and customs I had to learn about. In the beginning we went out everyday because it was holiday, but eventually the universities and schools started and my boyfriend didn't have so much excess time. He also had things to help his dad with. His siblings (he has a sister on 15 and a brother on 12) was also busy with studies, but I had played and talked a lot with them.
I didn't find any work, so basically I had nothing to do. I was lucky to stay there during Ramadan, to see what they do during this holy month, but it was so hot in Egypt that everyday I thought I would die of thirst. I didn't have hunger, because when I travel I lose my appetite, but I was very thirsty. I saw ho they celebrated eid, and I got to know them very closely.
Since I didn't have anything to do, this made me frustrated and some times aggressive. I continued to do an Italian course online I had begun on in the summer, and I studied more about Islam, but in the long run I felt I had too much time, and that I only wasted my time. Because of this I also had a lot of problems with my boyfriend, but we solved everything with time.
Another thing that annoyed me is that in Egypt nobody cares about time. Nobody respects time, while in Norway time is very important. If someone said to me in Egypt that she would come at 5 pm, then she might show up at 6.30 pm. You never know! However, Egyptian food is very delicious and my boyfriend is a good cook too. His mom is also great, but I didn't learn anything. Actually, I don't know anything about cooking and I hated cleaning. I didn't do anything in the house, and if they related housework to women I was offended, and I always spoke up for women's rights and that men should help at home, and women can work etc. from my secular view.
I was not allowed to go outside alone, and this also frustrated me in the start. Not only didn't I have nothing to do, I couldn't even go out when I wanted because I was alone. In Norway I just went out whenever I wanted, wherever I wanted. Eventually I got used to it, even hearing Arabic! At the end of my stay I could understand sentences if I really listened to what they were saying and I was thinking logically. I was impressed by myself, but I love Arabic. Yeah, and btw we found a flat for me, but the day I was moving there, they changed their minds and said I should come back with them, it's not good to live alone. I was so happy for that.
With time I started to value their care more, and I understood why they live like they live. However, I didn't learn so much new about Islam there, because many people in Egypt call themselves Muslims but they don't really abide by the rules of the religion. They just do what they want, but I had a friend there who tried to teach me a little about Islam. Anyway, Egypt helped me to become a better Muslim, because there I could really be myself as a Muslim and my personality softened even more. I begun to help with tiding the clothes and put on the table and tide the room, to use my time in something sensible. I tried to use my time in good things, and I begun to calm down. I started to listen to my boyfriend more, and not do all the crazy things I had done before. We tried to help each other to become good. Now I really feel like he is my husband already, I married him in my heart, and when he finishes his studies, we will marry for real inshaAllah. I'm lucky to have found someone like him. After 4 months (in December) I went back to Norway.
My boyfriend has obtained a visa and he will come to me in Norway in 9 days. I'm really looking forward to it, and that he will meet my family for the first time. I will show him my country and how we live here, and he will stay three weeks. Next time I go back to Egypt I will try to do some courses and learn more colloquial Arabic, because really I love this Arabic dialect so much.
Now you know my life-story, if you have any questions you are free to comment. Now you've learnt more about me, and I hope you don't judge me for my past, because I know myself that I was bad when I was younger, but now I'm good and I feel that from my inside, and I will be better inshaAllah.
Ble veldig rørt faktisk,og jeg er så stolt over deg mashAllah!!
ReplyDeleteAww, tusen takk søster :)
ReplyDeletesalam,
ReplyDeletehai its me again:)...
firstly, i want to say is, no one in this world is perfect. everybody has their own story of the past. different from u who dare to tell ur story. not everyone has the courage to do so. you should be proud of urself because u are able to do so. moreover i will not judge u. i am not a person who likes to judge a person.
the last 3 posts are very interesting..i was impressed with ur writing style and presentation. maybe its a gift from Allah(swt) to u. u are supposed to be a writer.:)
u must be grateful to Allah(swt) for giving u guidance in such a young age.
i hope u will always love the religion of islam despite many obstacles that u may have experienced in the future.
i hope u will continue ur writing...
one question..english is not ur 1st language, but u are so fluent in the language? can u explain..
thanx
Du er bare fantastisk person,noe av det du sier igjen-skjenner meg i det. Men Alhamdulilah for Islam,vi vet ikke men Allah er alltid der for oss når ingen andre gjør det :)
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: Thank you so much for your comment. Comments like yours give me courage to write more, and really my aim is just to enlighten people about Islam and help them. Occasionally I've been thinking about writing a book, but first, I was not sure about what, and the style I would write, and second, I was not sure if I'm actually capable of doing it. My passion for writing is there, but I'm not sure if it's great enough to complete a book. Moreover I have this blog as well, so I suppose that's enough for now :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so grateful and everyday I love this religion more and more. As with others, my emaan decreases and increases at different times, but I try to read and/or write a little about Islam everyday to not let it decrease that much. However, when I see how many Muslims live today, either in total "I don't care" or in total ignorance, I'm afraid of the future that one day I might become like that as well. But right now, my boyfriend and I are lying the principles for how we want our life to be, to follow Islam more closely, so when we marry inshaAllah we can help each other to continue to become better Muslims. If you read my post about Islamic Online University, I might join that as well, because I'm really hungry for information about Islam.
Well, my English. I started to learn English quite early, I was around 7 when I got my first English book. After this I studied it in school as a subject throughout the rest of primary school, middle school and the first year of high school. Before I loved movies and music, and for many years I often listened to this in English. I was also on a 3-week language trip with my friend to Oxford in England when I was 15, and I have always been in contact with friends from different countries, so English has been the medium of language between us. The two last years of High School I studied in the International Baccalaureate, meaning all my subjects were taught in English and all my assignments and exams were in English. This improved my language skills greatly, and now I use English everyday to write my blog, read articles and keep in touch with my friends and boyfriend :)
Life of muslima: Ja, du har rett. Allah er alltid med oss, selv om alle andre forlater oss.
ReplyDeleteHei!
ReplyDeleteJeg liker innleggene dine, du skriver veldig bra. Har et par spm ang forholdet ditt. Jeg lurer på hvordan du kan ha en kjæreste? Er det ikke haram å bo med en mann du ikke er gift med? Og hvordan taklet eller aksepterte familien hans det?
Tusen takk for det. Jo, du har rett. Man skal vel egentlig ikke ha en kjæreste, og jeg skal ikke prøve å lage unnskyldninger, men jeg ble kjent med ham i perioden jeg konverterte til islam, og på dette stadiet visse jeg egentlig lite om slike ting ved islam som f.eks. musikk, kjærester, røyking, egentlig ganske trivielle ting når man er født og oppvokst som norsk. Jeg har aldri hatt kjæreste før, og han er min første. I starten var jeg veldig skeptisk, men jeg begynte å få følelser for ham og vi begynte å legge planer for fremtiden og giftermål og slik. Jeg er hans kjæreste fordi jeg inshaAllah skal gifte meg med ham. Hvis jeg ikke så min fremtid med ham ville jeg ikke vært med ham. Jeg er ikke en person som går rundt fra person til person og har det "gøy", hvis du skjønner hva jeg mener. Også det at han faktisk bor i Egypt så har ikke vi akkurat noe mulighet for fysisk kontakt heller. Jeg mener, når man har kjæreste tenker man ofte på at de kysser og tar på hverandre osv. hvilket vi rett og slett i kan, ikke bare pga religionen, men også pga avstanden. Da jeg var i Egypt bodde jeg sammen med både han OG familien hans, ikke bare han alene. Så vi hadde alltid familien rundt oss, og jeg var en del med søsteren hans. Familien hans syntes det var veldg hyggelig at jeg var der og de likte å ha meg der, og de passet alltid på at jeg og kjæresten min aldri var alene i et rom (hvilket er haram i islam.) Vi hadde alltid noen rundt oss. Jeg mener at det viktigste innenfor islam er intensjoner. Jeg har intensjonen om å kun holde meg til kjæresten min og inshaAllah gifte oss når han er ferdig med studiene. Jeg vet ikke om du forstår meg, men jeg prøvde :)
ReplyDeleteTakk for svar :) Var bare litt nysgjerrig, for jeg kjenner mange muslimer og for dem er det "no-no" å ha en kjæreste. Mange av familiene vil ikke godta det - ikke før de er forlovet. Lykke til med bloggen og studiene :)
ReplyDeleteJa, kjenner til den. Sånn det er i Egypt så er det generelt sett akseptabelt at gutter har kjæreste, mens det godtas ikke at jentene har. Noen jenter har uansett, men da ikke "offentlig." Mens for min del er familien min norsk og ikke religiøs, så for dem får jeg gjøre som jeg vil. Tusen takk :)
ReplyDelete