Yesterday was Day One. The famous Summer Course, better known as the Dowra of Dar al Mustafa has been running for 24 y…

Yesterday was Day One.

The famous Summer Course, better known as the Dowra of Dar al Mustafa has been running for 24 years now.

It is probably one of very few events here that take place according to the Gregorian calendar, largely taking place in July each year for forty days. It coincides with the summer holidays of students in public schools.

It is a big deal.

Habib Omar and many other teachers, leaders here give emphasis to it. He said if he had the personal ability to do so, he would himself assist attendees to unload their luggage from the buses.

Regular local Tareemis speak of it, benefit from it and volunteer for it.

My fourth trip to Tareem was for the Dowra in 2013, and sometime after which the decision was made to move here. It was one day during that Dowra that for the first time I consciously felt the sweetness of faith.

Some of those students who volunteered organising that year, serving us, are now respectable shaykhs in their homeland. I overheard a very senior teacher telling the students to serve Dowra attendees as best as possible with always having in mind that they’ve have not done anything. One of the signs of accepted deeds is the doer himself having forgotten about it.

Many teachers tell stories of the Dowras they attended ten, twenty years ago when things different such as the building of the school now was non existent, street lights no where to be seen and they walked great distances back and forth to attend classes.

Here is a picture of a student and the video team trying to step up their game by putting in new lights for the mihraab entrance door. It may be if interest for some to know the one on the left is Habib Zain BinSemait’s direct nephew.

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