A Visit to the Internet Cafe

Nowadays, when there is electricity for an hour or so, it is like a real treat although it is often too weak to do much with it. This is especially frustrating for the owners of Internet cafes. Because with the current petrol and diesel prices it is impossible to have the generator working all day, they only open when there are enough customers.

I found the owner of the Internet cafe chewing qat at the grocery store next door.
"Are you going to turn on your generator?"
"In an hour, inshallah, when there are some people." was the answer.

I sat down on the steps. The only alternative was another internet cafe around the corner with a moody owner and an extremely slow connection. Another one down the road had closed months ago at the time of the petrol shortage.

The door was opened and I was told I could wait inside. So I did. I read all there was written on the wall, counted the computers, studied the ceiling. And waited. I watched the people walk and drive by. And waited. Some customers came in and went out again. One of them told the owner of the Internet cafe to reserve a certain computer for him. I waited. Nothing worth mentioning happened.

Finally, the guy started to check the oil of the generator. He had already poured in some oil the day before and a discussion started whether or not he should fill it up again. He came inside and took a piece of paper out of his printer. I thought he'd fold it into a funnel for the oil, as one does, but he just cleaned his hands with it. A pack of tissues would be cheaper for this purpose!

He took a container filled with petrol or diesel, I'm not sure which, and filled up the generator, after which he started it. Then he walked off. I waited. Some customers came in, sat down, and waited, too. When the generator was warmed up, the handle was pulled down and the computers were turned on. Exactly an hour had passed. Patience is a great good indeed!

The guy who had reserved a certain computer came in and sat down, but the chair broke so he ended up on the floor. Everybody laughed. He changed the chair and sat down again. Nobody complained about anything. What good would it do to complain? When the Internet finally worked, we sat in silence, only to hear the whirring sound of the generator outside.

A Hadith (2)

The following hadith is taught to Yemeni children as early as in second grade. However, too many of us forget about its real meaning. Otherwise, Yemen wouldn't have ended up in the current mess.

Abdullah Ibn Amr reported that the Prophet (PBUH) said: "A Muslim is he from whose tongue and hand other Muslims are safe" (Bukhari/Muslim)

Though this saying contains few words, it encompasses many meanings. A person can harm others with his tongue in many ways: by cursing them, attacking their honor, backbiting them, slandering them, or mocking them.

Similarly, a person can harm others with his hand in more ways than just punching or striking them; one may use his hand to write abusive words or slander, one may use it to concoct poison, to kill another person with a gun, and so on.

One of the beautiful teachings of Islam is that when a person refrains from harming others, he is giving charity to his own self.

(taken from the Book of Manners - Darussalam)

Friday Sermon

Last Friday, imam Jabri Ibrahim Hassan held a great sermon that was very clear. In Islam, it is prescribed to help each other do good deeds and forbid each other to do evil deeds. This is called الأمر بالمعروف ولنهي عن المنكر.
Also, the Islamic scholars have agreed that it is prohibited to oust your leader, and doing this is unbelief. The imam said:
لا يجوز الخروج عن ولي الأمر وان ذلك كفر

The imam asked the ummah whether they see that killing a person you are not allowed to kill is 'helping each other do good deeds and forbid each other to do evil deeds':
هل ترى قتل الأنفس المحرمة أمرا بمعروف ونهي عن منكر؟
Are the rockets that were fired at the Nahdayn Mosque (the mosque in the Presidential palace that was attacked in June)'helping each other do good deeds'?
هل الصواريخ التي دخلت إلي جامع النهدين أمرا بالمعروف؟
Is killing Abdul-Aziz Abdul-Ghani 'helping each other do good deeds'? هل قتل عبدالعزيز عبدالغني أمرا بالمعروف؟
Is using bad language, insulting, and cursing 'helping each other do good deeds'? هل الهتافات والسب والشتم واللعن أمرا بالمعروف؟

The imam also said (sorry, translating is tiring!):
"ما هو الأمر بالمعروف وكيف يكون النهي عن المنكر حتى بين يدي السلطان
والنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول كلمة حق أم صاروخ حق وقنبلة وتفجير حق هل هذا هو الحق
عندكم ؟ قال كلمة حق فما معنى الكلمة عندكم يا عباد الله ؟"

" إن التغيير جاء بتدمير ولن نرى تغيير لكن نرى منشئات هدمت وطرقا قطعت وشوارع
حفرت وجامعات أغلقت ومدارس تعطلت ، فهل هذا هو التغيير ؟ وهل هذا هو المشروع الإسلامي؟
وهل دين رسول الله ان نعطل دين الله والمدارس ؟

فهل كان النبي في ساحة الاعتصام؟ هل كان النبي ينادي ويلعن ويشتم ويسب؟ هل كان
النبي يقول سلمية ويقتل الناس ويقطع الطريق ؟

Kentucky Junction

The other day I went to the Kentucky junction, where heavy fighting took place between the opposition and the national army just before President Ali Abdullah Saleh's return to the country last month. I simply wanted to see it with my own eyes.

It was shocking, honestly. The silence that hung over this otherwise crowded junction in the center of Sanaa was weird. It had been completely blocked off for traffic - even for pedestrians. So all you could see was empty streets with quite some broken glass scattered around (the result of explosions), closed shops, empty apartment buildings, some army vehicles, and soldiers - most of them in their early twenties.

It was a war scene - although right now it's pretty quiet. Except for snipers, the soldiers told me. That is why they stop anyone who wants to pass. They are also there to protect the empty buildings from being broken into because all of the inhabitants of the areas have had to flee.

It's not a fun place to be stationed. "We don't know if we'll still be alive tomorrow," said one of the soldiers. "We may suddenly be attacked again and ... it's over." Brave guys, these soldiers, sacrifying their lives for their homeland.

"Why don't we learn from the past?" I heard someone ask on the radio today. "In Lebanon, there was a civil war for 17 years that killed everything and everybody. And what happened in the end? They sat around the table to discuss a solution. Is this what we want in Yemen, too?"

Traditional Clothing (men)

Traditional Yemeni clothing for men may consist of a 'thobe', locally called a 'zenneh', which is a long, often white, garment. It is worn with a 'jambia' (dagger) and often a western-style coat. Others wear a 'ma'awaz', which is a long woven piece of cloth wrapped around the waist and a shirt on top. Instead of a 'ma'awaz', people in the south often wear a 'futa', an Indonesian-style sarong which is stitched together at the ends, unlike the 'ma'awaz'. A 'shawl' or 'smadeh' may be wrapped around their heads or simply put over their shoulders.

Although many men go to work in pants, you will also encounter employees in traditional clothes. Most shop-owners in the Old City wear traditional clothes. On Fridays and at qat chews, most men also dress themselves in a 'zenneh' or 'ma'awaz' because, they say, they're more comfortable.

Straatnamen (in het NLs)

Het Kentucky-kruispunt ligt in hartje Sanaa, al zou de naam je dat niet doen vermoeden. Het verhaal gaat dat vele jaren geleden er een filiaal van de KFC-keten, Kentucky Fried Chicken, op de hoek zat. Die sloot de deuren, naar ik meen vanwege de burgeroorlog in 1994. Een Jemeniet nam het pand over om er een eigen restaurant te openen die dezelfde naam hield. Vandaar.

Sowieso hebben veel straten hier twee naamsaanduidingen: een officiele en een in de volksmond. ZO is de kans groot dat je niet begrepen wordt als je naar 'Moqadishu Street' vraagt omdat iedereen 'm 'Sakhr Street' noemt. Zelfs de beroemde Hadda Street heet eigenlijk anders. Stadsplattegronden zijn echter amper verkrijgbaar dus je zou een straatnaambordje moeten gaan zoeken. En waarom zou je?

Veel van de nieuwere brede straten worden aangeduid met een nummer; zo hebben we '60 Street', '70 Street', en '45 Street', zo genoemd vanwege de breedte in meters. Kleine straatjes hebben meestal helemaal geen naam, en huisnummers kennen die straten ook vaak niet. Wil je dus een adres uitleggen, dan gaat het in de trant van: "Ken je.....?" (invullen: een bekend gebouw, ministerie, moskee, supermarkt, etc.). "Ja? Okee. Dan sla je daar rechtsaf en het huis ligt in de straat tegenover ...... Het heeft een blauwe deur." Ik noem maar wat.

Het is maar goed dat er geen post aan huis wordt bezorgd.

Hoe dan ook, door de recente gevechten tussen de oppositie en het leger kent de hele wereld nu het 'Kentucky' kruispunt in Sanaa - waar het restaurant net zoals alle andere ondernemingen in de buurt alweer wekenlang dicht zijn.