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| amazighstarrynights (profile) wrote, on 1-10-2005 at 1:49pm | |
| Current mood: bouncy Subject: Entry 1 - but not the last |
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| So I finally signed up for this thing after consistent prodding from someone *winks not mentioning names......* I promised that I would write more than one time and then stop - my resolution for the New Year, be persistent. I just came home a day (and a half?) ago from Morocco. So now that my house is back in order and I have a little time before I run about, I have begun my first entry. I've been sitting around the last few days in a haze, thinking about my trip, remembering things and as always having withdrawls, wanting to be back. It was interesting because of how apprehensive I became before I left, thinking about being in a Muslim country - how we would be treated and such. But now I am longing to be back. Life was so much slower, people so much warmer, life was just to be lived and that is what people did. It could not have been more welcoming. I thought it was really interesting that people on the street randomly would call me Fatima, and it sort of confused me so I did some googling when I came home. I knew that they sold charms of the Hand of Fatima and that it was meant to give protection (so I bought one because it's really pretty). So this is what I got from my research: The Hand of Fatima ( Fatma - daughter of Prophet Mohammed ) Throughout northern Africa, Turkey, and in other parts of the Middle East, Muslims wear the necklace and , "Hand of Fatima" , as a jewellery and also for superstitious protection. Fatima was the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad who married Ali, the nephew of the Prophet. From their descendants Shi'a Muslims claim a direct line of authority over Muslims. Miracles were attributed to Fatima, such as when she prayed in the desert, it started raining. She is described as a faithful, holy woman. Its romantic story is as follows: One day Lady Fatima (daughter of the Holy Prophet Mohammed) was cooking helva ( halvah ) (the texture is like a dry oath meal , with sugar and butter in it . They use semalina as the main ingredient . ) in a pan in the garden when suddenly the door opened and her husband the caliph Ali entered along with the new bride. ( Islam allowed four times marriage to man ) concubine (slave-girl), she was deeply grieved and u the wooden stirring spoon in confusion dropped from her hand and unaware , she continued stirring the halvah with her hand. Because of the grief in her heart she never even felt the pain of her hand mixing the hot halvah. However, when her husband hurried to her side and exclaimed in surprise "What are you doing there, Fatima?" she felt her hand burning and the pain. Thus it is from that day on the hand of the Lady Fatima has been used in the Islamic world as a symbol of patience, abundance, and faithfulness, and thus it is that girls and women wearing this necklace from whose end the hands hang believe the hands of Lady Fatima will bring them good luck, abundance and patience." The story continues ; the bride and Ali as the groom go into their wedding room . The house is wooden , and Fatima can not stop herself from looking through a tiny little hole of a room from the second floor. And when Ali leans over the bride ,from that tiny hole , Fatima's tear drops to his shoulder , which stops him. So , the necklace of Fatima ,rather popular in Islamic countries is formed of peaces shaped after a teae drop. The Ethnographical Museums of Turkey havr fine examples . Fatima was the daughter of the prophet Mohammed, but in fact this hand has been around before Islam, and there is still much right hand-left hand magic in Morocco. The left hand is for doing bad things; it also protects against the evil eye if you put it palm up in front of you (so naturally that's an insulting thing to do to someone, implying they have the evil eye). Well now that I know it was a good thing I feel better and more educated. I leave with my thoughts that I found in a song: "The air was heavy and sweet, you and I on a crowded street. There was musiceverywhere, I can see us there. In a happy little foreign town with the stars hung upside down. Half a world away, far, far away. I remember, you were laughing, we were so in love, we were so in love. The band played songs we had never heard but we danced anyway. We never understood the words we just sang. And we danced anyway." |
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guajiragoddess | 01-10-05 5:42pm life was so much slower
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