Dowra Reflections 2: First Week in Tarim

Follow the journey of our beloved teacher, Mualima Radia Bawa Hendricks, and her family to Tarim as they immerse themselves in The Dowra, a 40-day Islamic Studies programme. The 24th annual summer Dowra held at Dar-ul-Mustafa in the blessed city of Tarim, Yemen takes place between 26 June-03 August 2018 (12 Shawwal-21 Dhul Qa’dah 1439).

“It was said that even the streets of Tarim are blessed. Its streets have been tanned by the feet of great masters, full moons of guidance, who light up all darknesses.” – Imam al-Adani

This is the second of several updates that they have shared with us. We invite you to follow their journey, by following their updates on our blog, Facebook and Instagram pages.

Dowra Reflections 2: First Week in Tarim

Aslm from Tarim

Pray that all of you are well iA..

First Week in Tarim

Our arrival in Tarim was received with so much warmth and assistance from the dowrah team. I was slightly nervous about attending the dowrah along with the kids, but the women are so ready to assist and offer their support and this immediately made me feel at ease. Met many beautiful souls, and was amazed by the amount of women attending the dowrah. In the Western dowrah house along with the families, we are about 30 and the Arab dowrah residence was packed with what looked like about 150-200 ladies, mashaAllah.

Some of the lessons are available via the radio on our phones so we dont need to attend those and for others, they make an extra room available for the moms and babies with a live audio feed.

Dar Zahraa is beautiful and vibrant, the ladies are so relaxed inside and are dressed in beautiful colours. They have their own burdah along with their own munshidas and drummers as well. The courtyard in Dar Zahraa is always filled with groups of students chatting or relaxing together and the environment is homely.

Regarding food, we have really been spoiled. As part of the dowrah package, we receive 3 meals a day which get delivered to your door and once we are done eating, the dishes are just put outside your door and are collected. This has been really helpful and a welcome treat. We do a lot of walking which often include carrying one child for the duration of the walk so we are often very hungry at meal times ☺. The food has been delicious and tasty thus far, Alhamdulilah.

I feel very at home here and strangely enough, the heat doesnt feel that bad even though we wear niqaab in the streets as well as a khimaar over our thobes.
We have only been here for a few days, but I feel as if I was always here, can already imagine how difficult it will be to leave and it’s not a thought I want to focus on just yet.
The kids have had quite a few play dates already and have been loving it, Alhamdulilah. They also seem to be quite at home on the streets of Tarim and have been so well behaved at the times when they have had to accompany me to class mashAllah – sure its everyones duas ✨