ALMISKEENAH

 

Wondering what is happening on the western side of Masjid Nabawi prompted wanderings around that  quarter today and a previous cloudy day….beginning at Saqeefa…..

 

 

 

….I had not been this side for quite some time and was shocked to see that yet another excavation is underway beside this small significant patch of garden that is slowly being suffocated by yet more steel and concrete….

 

 

 

….slightly to the right with Jabal Sal’a in the background….while directly behind the curved facade… 

 

….is Sulai’…the remains of an outcrop of rock being a landmark since the time of our Beloved Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam, so far surviving the bulldozers…

 

 

 

….but not some trimming… 

 

…wandering these streets was surreal….so empty of people, apart from the ever diligent presence of a street cleaner…all human activity inside these monoliths….that seemed more like mausoleums today…as my mind floated far away to the horror of the aftermath of the earthquake in China to the time when this City of Light will also shake with three tremors…then what of these fine structures…and the destitute who will be driven out as result of this….

 

 

 

…this is the first ring road facing northward to Jabal Uhud. This huge expanse has been at this stage for more than two years restrciting traffic to a single lane hugging the sides….due to ’some’ blunder on the part of ’some’ inefficiency in ’some’ department..meanwhile all those living on the other side of this length of the blunder have to detour incredible distances if they want to cross the road…complaints have lead nowhere….on Juma’ah days the one narrow crossing is dangerously crowded… 

 

 

 

….turning south with the Amanat building in the distance…

 

 

….turning east towards Masjid Nabawi way in the distance….there were street vendors lining the crossing….but these vegetables looked ancient…. 

 

 

….heading along the road to the Masjid….the palms breaking the austerity of the density of buildings…pity they do not line the central pathway instead of advertising… 

 

 

 

 

…nearing Masjid Nabawi one can see Masjid Ali, Abu Bakr and the minaret of Masjid Ghamama…a heartening reminder of how close these significant places were….to the left…

 

 

 

….hopeful vendors, who usually are illegal…with policeman sitting on his motorbike looking on…. 

 

 

….one minaret rising behind the new construction that spreads along the entire western edge of the courtyard…

 

 

 

….walking along the street beside this looking back towards Masjid Ali…. 

 

 

…..an indication of the length of this pinkish buliding…. 

 

….now on the courtyard side… a new Zamzam filling area being developed… 

 

 

 

 

….the never ending cleaning…. 

 

 

….to where praise is never ending….  

 

Allahumma salli ‘ala Nuriz-zalaam