Thursday
21th of Rabee` ath-Thaanee, 1427

We had lunch at Shaikh `Alee al-Hudhaifee's house, Senior Imaam of the Prophet's Mosque. But inviting Shaikh Ahmad and Shaikh Zaid to dinner is not as easy as might be thought. Let's back up a bit, to Wednesday, when we were at Shaikh Muhammad bin Haadee's house for lunch. Shaikh Muhammad al-`Aqeel invited our Guests to lunch at his house on Thursday. Shaikh Zaid, politely and humbly, said, "Shaikh Ahmad is our Ameer (appointed leader) in this trip, my personal opinion is subject to what he says." And Shaikh, politely said, "Let Shaikh Muhammad (bin Haadee) do the scheduling, since we don't know what else is planned for tomorrow (Thursday)."

So, as Arab culture goes, that if somebody mentions an invitation in public, then everybody that is present is invited, and the host will actually be disturbed if the invitee DOESN'T attend, out of shyness or otherwise. Anyhow, Shaikh `Alee al-Hudhaifee interjects, "No way! Lunch is at MY house tomorrow. Got that everybody? My house… lunch… tomorrow."

So everybody kind of laughed it off as we were asked to prepare for lunch. So we all headed upstairs to eat. Lunch was pretty phat! Imagine, some of the most important people on the Earth, and maybe some of the closest people to their Lord, all sharing one spread. Shaikh `Ubaid has arthritis that has really been bothering him since last Ramadhan, (make Du`aa for him) so he had to sit on a chair ad eat at a table. Also, Shaikh Ahmad was in a car crash about ten years back and has been retired to using a cane since then, and last year he fell and hurt himself in his leg quite badly, may Allaah cure him. So, while everybody was socializing, and Shaikh Muhammad (bin Haadee) was being the GREAT host he is, Shaikh Muhammad bin `Abdil-Wahhaab al-`Aqeel, tried to insure that everybody would come to his house tomorrow, Thursday to lunch, with no real replies confirming attendance or not. When we got downstairs for tea, Shaikh `Alee al-Hudhaifee busts out, "Listen everybody, seriously… Tomorrow ya'll are coming over to my house for Lunch, and that's that." So everybody is a bit surprised since it was unofficially decided amongst them that Lunch is at Shaikh Muhammad's (al-`Aqeel) house. Anyhow, there was a slight exchange of words, which eventually led to Shaikh `Alee winning. Which also lead to Shaikh Muhammad (al-`Aqeel) changing his invitation to Dinner.

So yeah, that's how Thursday's daily activities came into play. So we get to Shaikh `Alee's house, as we thought, and were surprised that there wasn't a sign of life, though I saw some familiar cars outside from yesterday's Lunch Attendees. So we come up into the building, and dunno where to go. I rang one of the Intercoms and a person answered, and politely told us that it's the building next door. The funny thing is that Shaikh `Ubaid was saying to me, before I rand the Intercom, "This can't be the building, there is no sign of an engagement here. Most places where there is a get-together, you can tell there is a get-together there." I didn't know how to respond until we got into the Shaikh's building and I saw a tray of Qahwah (Arabic Coffee) cups and some dates, in front of one of the doors. So I barely began whispering that fact to Shaikh `Ubaid, as I was surprised to see Shaikh `Alee himself, sitting on the stairs to the right of the entrance, waiting for his guests. I was almost thrown back by such humility. How many people sit on the stairs of the building they own, and wait for their guests to enter? Being the fact, that this is one of the most well-known Islamic Personalities of our time, Senior Imaam of the Second most Sacred place in the World, the Prophet's Mosque! So the Shaikh got up, welcomed Shaikh `Ubaid, as is custom for younger ones to greet elders and Scholars, hand shake, kiss on forehead…
Besides that, and the many Pre-Lunch Conversations, it was just like the day before. The guest list was quite a bit smaller, I guess it was a little more private or something, but I'm not sure of the dynamics. Except that Shaikh Muhammad bin Ramzaan al-Haajiree, from Dammam, was also present with his crew. There was quite an interesting discussion on the Tableegh Movement, and many of the secrets that only people that were high in their ranks would know. I didn't know it gets as deep as some of the guests, who Allaah guided away from the Movement, explained.

Besides, the lunch, Shaikh Zaid was scheduled to give a talk at Masjid Qubaa' on the "Legislated Means of Victory", basically talking about the many innovated means people use to claim victory over our enemies, from within the Ummah or from the Non-Muslims. I was unable to attend, due to a Killer Migraine, but perhaps some of the readers may be able to comment on the talk, or maybe it may have been discussed on the Forum. Anyhow, the Shaikh's talk, as far as I know, went smoothly, without any interruptions or ruckus from the lamers that caused some issues the day before.

After the talk, there was a very private gathering arranged with our Noble Visitors. Shaikh Muhammad's (al-`Aqeel) Dinner was once again changed, to Lunch on Friday, which is strange because our guests were initially scheduled to leave Friday morning. Anyhow, that'll consist of the Final Post of this Series insha Allaah.

That was Thursday everybody, check out the following Links for the other Posts Regarding this Weekend to Remember:

A Weekend to Remember Part 1
A Weekend to Remember Part 2
A Weekend to Remember Part 3
A Weekend to Remember Part 4

Also, if you have any questions or comments regarding what was mentioned, please don't be shy to leave them in the comments section provided, I'll try my best to answer them promptly, insha Allaah.