Friday
22th of Rabee` ath-Thaanee, 1427

Friday, the blessed Holiday of the Week. As is usual for most of us Students from the West, as well as many of our colleagues from the Gulf States, Jumu`ah (Friday Sermon and Prayer) was at Shaikh `Ubaid al-Jaabiree's Masjid. The Shaikh normally has a class after the Jumu`ah is over on the Manners and Etiquettes of a Muslim, from Imaam Bukhari's Books of Manners (Al-Adab al-Mufrad). But the plan for today, was to leave as soon as the Jumu`ah was over, as not to be late for the Luncheon.

We got there quite promptly, there were already a good 25 people present. Went over to the section of the room for the elders and Scholars.,, The guest list was similar to that of the previous events. For those of you that don't know much about Shaikh Muhammad bin `Abdil-Wahhaab al-`Aqeel, he is an AWESOME Host.

I've been to a few events at his house in the past, and I can say without any doubt, that he in one of the most generous guests I've ever seen. Comparing his gatherings to those of Royalty and Businessmen, it shows that knowledge of the Religion, plus the qualities of the Arabs of Old, make a wonderful pair.

That guests, Shaikh Ahmad and Shaikh Zaid, along with their entourage, were late since they were scheduled to leave from Shaikh Muhammad's (al-`Aqeel) home directly to the Madinah Airport. They had some problems getting out of the Metropolitan Area of Madinah, (Madinah is VERY small, so this word is used out of exaggeration), where all the Hotels are, since Friday is a busy day, witness to many visitors from other cities, as well as the immense amount of people attending Jumu`ah at the Prophet's Mosque. When they finally came, it was time to get down and grub!

Shaikh Muhammad had prepared a traditional Najdi (from the Najd Plateau area of the Kingdom, encompassing Riyadh, the Nations Capital) Lunch. There was the, lamb and rice, not sure what this exact concoction was called. There were also some Najdi side dishes. Qursaan, which is like a flaky breading that is prepared with some meat and veggies (help me out all you Najdi bloggers out there), as well as Jareesh, which I dunno how to explain, except that it seems similar to a kind of Grits or Cream of Wheat (for all you ghetto folk out there), basically it was some sort of flour based, lentil-like stuff with some tender lamb meat and also some veggies. Very tasty stuff though. I may not be much of a Menu Writer, but the eating part was well taken care of. It was cool to once again see so many people of Knowledge sharing the same plate (many HUGE plates with each catering to about six to eight people), just reminds me of the stories my Grandfather used to tell me of how things were back in the old days. Old School hospitality along with Righteous Company, makes for a great Lunch, and a great Blog Entry.

Well everybody, that was the last and final post of this Series on the visits that were made from our Noble Scholars, Shaikh Ahmad bin Yahyaa an-Najmee and Shaikh Zaid bin Muhammad al-Madkhalee, and their entourage of Scholars and Students of Knowledge. 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

About a week after their visit, we were visited by the brothers at Salafi Publications, as they had a Dawrah (Islamic Workshop) scheduled with Shaikh `Ubaid al-Jaabiree and a few of the teachers from the Islamic University. I'll try to put up some detailed posts of that trip also. Please forgive me for delaying this series so long, as Finals and Migraines kept me pretty bogged down.

Take care, and say no to deviance!