Konichuwa, Hello, Salaam

Saifullah Samurai

Saifullah Samurai

Samurai for Allah
Joined
26 Feb 2007
Messages
36
Reaction score
1
Hi people. Im new here, i came across this forum the other day and it looked interesting so i thought i'd join, since the Japanese culture is one of my favourites - along with Chinese and MiddleEastern.

Im from UK im half pakistani n half guyanese. As of now though im currently studying Arabic in Alexandria, Egypt.

anyway i'll see u all around on here i guess.

Peace
 
Welcome, Saifullah!
I'm new here as well but the welcome was so warm that I already feel like I spent ages here:)
I hope you will feel the same way:-)
 
A warm welcome to you, Saifullah Samurai !

I too am new here, but enjoying my stay very much so far, I hope you do too :-)

You seem like an interesting sort, with many interests. I look forward to reading your posts and getting to know you :)

Peace - many thanks, such a lovely word! I think we all need to be working harder than ever in the world to achieve that, and I personally am very interested in what religions have in common, rather than what divides them. For example, isn't the greeting 'Salaam' the equivalent of the the Hebrew 'Shalom'?

Good to see you here!
 
made of stone said:
A warm welcome to you, Saifullah Samurai!
I too am new here, but enjoying my stay very much so far, I hope you do too :-)
You seem like an interesting sort, with many interests. I look forward to reading your posts and getting to know you :)
Peace - many thanks, such a lovely word! I think we all need to be working harder than ever in the world to achieve that, and I personally am very interested in what religions have in common, rather than what divides them. For example, isn't the greeting 'Salaam' the equivalent of the the Hebrew 'Shalom'?
Good to see you here!
Click to expand...

thanks for the warm welcomes people

'made of stone' yes i agree, and ur right Salaam and Shalom both mean peace as the Arabic and Hebrew languages are both members of the Semitic family. Also Aramaic the language Jesus spoke shares a common root since peace is Shlama.
 
Thanks for your reply, Saifullah Samurai.

Did I read somewhere that you're from Ilford in London/Essex? Not so far from here.

And now you are in the far more exotic locale of Alexandria! How are you finding life in that famous city?
 
I really do love this city, they call it the 'Bride of the Mediterranean' the weather here is perfect its not too hot and stuffy but has a nice refreshing breeze coming in from the sea. I prefer it over humid, populated, polluted cairo anyday. But i did get to see the pyramids in Giza, which is on the outskirts of cairo, that was really amazing.

People in Alex are all friendly and helpful here - and its as if everyone knows one another..... it took a while getting to used to, i mean in London its as if no one has time for eachother... or like when ur on the Tube its almost silent right? wheras here theres no such thing as a 'stranger', a very different culture.

And the food here is nice its a bit similar to Turkish or Lebanese food. But i do miss indian food for sure lol. Oh and another cool thing McD's do home delivery here, how cool is that?!
 
Many thanks for the interesting post Samurai san - it does sound fascinating there actually, from your description.

I wonder, do you think non-Muslims would also receive a warm welcome from the folk there? If so, it sounds charming, and I shall put it on my list of places to go!

We have had a very interesting program on the BBC recently, where a group of British Muslims are staying at an Islamic retreat in southern Spain, and trying to grow closer to the 'true' meaning of Islam.

Last week they travelled to Morocco (a country i've always fancied myself also) and attended a very intense religious gathering, where many people fell into trance-like states, similar to those i've heard about in evangelical Christianity. Some of these British Muslims rejected that kind of rejoicing, saying that it had no place in their conservative system of worship.

Now i'm not religious really, I just have an interest in spirituality generally, and am 'studying' the major religions to some extent (and in my own way) but this was fascinating stuff to me - I must remember to catch the next show on Monday!

Lol, I must try not to get onto deep topics on your intro thread. I could write much more but perhaps that's better somewhere else, maybe we can start a thread about it (if there isn't one already!)

Again, it's a pleasure to have you here! :)
 
hi MadeofStone, from what i know non-muslims are very welcome here in Egypt, the people here are very hospitable. Surprisingly most of the students here at this uni studying arabic as a foreign language are non-muslims, and they seem to be getting along just fine here... Also Alexandria still has a Coptic Christian minority too.

That BBC program u speak of sounds very interesting... im fascinated with the history of the beloved Al Andalus, its amazing to see the Moorish influence still present in southern spain. I have been to both Spain and Portugal - but ive yet to see the Al Hambra fort in Granada and also the Mesquita de Cordoba....but i did get to see some Moorish castles in Portugal.

I would also like to visit Morocco, the Islamic architecture there is very unique. And that religious gathering u desrcibed sounds like Sufism, the islamic mysticism...but ur also right in that many conservative Muslims have some issues with it accusing it of innovating away from the orthodox practises etc.

But its good that ur looking into all the major religions, im currently reading up on Taoism, although its debated whether thats a philosophy or a religion, still its interesting.

Since this is my thread i dont mind if u want to discuss things here, or if u want u can start a thread in maybe the religion section etc.

and the pleasures mine to be here!
 
Welcome Saifullah Samurai!

🙂

The university in Alexandria was one of the most impressing architectural achievements I've ever seen. The interior was flooded with light.

In fact, the whole country is absolutely amazing, from Alexandria to Nubia. I couldn't believe they moved the whole Abu Simbel temple until I saw the edges where they've cut it in pieces.
 
Of course you are right. I forgot what function this beautiful building had, I thought it has to be a university, because I memorize so many young people using the public computers there. It has been some years since my trip to Egypt.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hey! Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu! Enjoy your stay at JREF! Never gone to Egypt. Maybe later in life. lol! I wish to visit Egypt. Maybe you could give me a tour around Egypt.
 
Many thanks for your detailed and interesting reply, Saifullah Samurai :)

I have been meaning to get back to this thread all week.

Indeed, it was a Sufi gathering that the participants visited! It looked so powerful from the footage, and had such a very profound effect both mental and physical, quite mind-blowing!

It was a very interesting documentary for me. Although it got middling reviews in the newspapers for being too peaceful and not dramatic enough for 'reality tv' I personally love my TV to be exactly those things (as well as informative).

I think you can watch clips of 'The Retreat' online here

The spiritual journey of the participants was very interesting, a wide cross section of British Muslims and non-Muslims. From the convert who hadn't spoken to her parents for ten years, and was inspired to get back in touch with them after the retreat 'for the will of Allah'; to the young lady who was clearly searching for a meaning to her life, and had converted by the (final) episode three. (I think she would have welcomed Christianity if she'd been on a Christian retreat, she clearly just needed some religious definition for her future).

The chap I empathised with most was just looking to learn more about life. He found peace and greater insight by the end of the retreat, did not convert, but enjoyed the peaceful and meditative time, in the company of very positive and accepting mentors. His next trip was to a Buddhist retreat, and that appeals to me too.

The series was fascinating, and reinforced some of the positive aspects of religion; the gentle, the well-meaning - at a time when the world's media is focused on the negative and the extreme. I should certainly visit this place, given the opportunity, and with an open mind. I'm pretty sure I would never convert or adopt any one of the major (or minor!) religions, i'm more interested in the universal that I see everywhere right now.

Anyway, I don't mean to tie up your thread all about this one programme!

Hope life in Alexandria continues to treat you very well, good luck with the chess! :)
 
hi madeofstone, that program sure sounded interesting would have been nice to see it all. I will check out the clips soon, there may even be some on youtube too, but i did check out about the program on the bbc website and it mentioned who would be on the show.

And things are going fine here in alex thanks! :)
 

Similar threads

Hyde_is_my_anti-drug
Hello
2 3 4
Replies
88
Views
6K
Jack
J
N
Hello everyone (Neptunemoon)
2 3
Replies
53
Views
3K
Camui
Camui
Wren
Hello from Montreal, Canada!
2
Replies
26
Views
3K
Lina Inverse
Lina Inverse
T
Hello Forum!
Replies
3
Views
2K
thomas
thomas
Suna Rintaro
Hello
Replies
3
Views
1K
thomas
thomas
Back
Top Bottom