Summer in the UAE (Part 1)

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen,

Many of you (especially foreigners) might wonder, how am I going to spend summer time in the UAE? What if, for any reason, you can't travel and runaway from the heat?!

Will you still be able to enjoy the summer and sun

in the UAE?! The answer is definately YES!!!

The good news is that people can enjoy their

summertime without having to travel to a cooler

country. Many activities and events have been

organized all over the UAE to keep its people

(with different ages) entertained and give them

the chance to enjoy every day of their summer vacation.

One of the great events that is organized in the Capital, Abu Dhabi is "Summer in Abu Dhabi Festival" that is being held in Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Centre (ADNEC), Al Ain Wildlife Park and Resort, Abu Dhabi Mall, Marina Mall and Al Wahda Mall in Abu Dhabi, as well as Al Jimi Mall, Al Ain Mall and Bawadi Mall in Al Ain.

This great event is a family carnival where once in a lifetime experiences happen every day!

It has a wide array of activities to appeal to all age groups and interests.

For more information, please visit http://www.summerinabudhabi.com/

One of the events included in this friendly event is the "Big Apple Circus" that I am dying to attend (Maybe this coming weekend).

It's a 90 minutes show that will start on the 23rd of July and will last until the 3rd of August. It should be so much fun!

Also, if you would like to explore the city but be PROTECTED from the heat of the sun or the high humidity, you can take a hop on hop off tour by the air conditioned Big Bus and enjoy viewing the city and its famous spots and amzaing places.

Having FUN can not only be achieved in Abu Dhabi, but also in Dubai. You and your family or friends can enjoy the "Dubai Summer Surprises" Festival that also includes a wide number of activities for all of the family members.

You can go shopping in one of the many malls in the city, such as, the Mall of the Emirates, have a delicious meal in one of the restaurants there, and enjoy some of the shows that take place in the mall most of the times during the festival.

Also, you can spend some time SKIING in Ski Dubai! isn't that a good idea where you can experience Summer and Winter in the very same time?!!!

For more information, please visit http://www.skidxb.com/

If you have kids and you don't know where to take them, consider the following:

1- Dubai Dolphinarium ( http://dubaidolphinarium.ae/ )

2- Dubai Modhesh World ( www.modheshworld.com/en/ )

And if you are a group of adults who want to have great great time, you should spend a day in Wild Wadi Dubai. It is a MUST VISIT water park.

They have a SPECIAL LADIES NIGHTS too ^_^ so women who cannot swim, wear swimming suits or uncover their heads in front of men can have fun too. My sisters, relatives and I usually go there during weekends and we really have so much fun.

To be continued...

Foreigners in Traditional Costumes!

Salam All!

I hope you are all doing GREAT ^_^

I have received an e-mail from a lady asking me this question on behalf of her friends:

Hi Sarah,

Some foreigners love Emirati clothes and want to wear it, but they are shy and think that maybe this will offend Emiratis.

Do Emiratis consider it disrespectful to their culture if foreign men and women want to wear abayas or shailas, kanduras, ghutras, eqals or even niqab or burqa?

Here is the answer to the question from my point of view:

First of all, it is our pleasure as Emiratis to know that foreigners love our clothes and would like to wear it. And personally I don't think that it will or may offend us as locals unless a foreigner disrespected our traditional costumes.

I don't think any Emirati will or might get offended by seeing a foreigner wearing the traditional UAE costumes wether it was a man or a woman. On the contrary, we respect who respect us, our traditions and costumes and we are a very friendly and welcoming nation.

Some of us might get offended IF a person uses the UAE traditional costume in a wrong way and ON PURPOSE. For example, wearing the Abaya above DISRESPECTFUL clothes just to attract men "as many women do" or to make fun of Arab culture or traditions.

Last week, I was shopping in Dubai, and while I was inside one of the shops a foreign couples entered the shop. The lady was wearing a short skirt and a lovely shirt, and the man was wearing a Kandura (Dishdasha), Ghutra and eqal! at first I was surprised because he was very confident and acted as if he was a real local, but his blue eyes and his yellow hair that I could see from under the ghutra made me know for sure that he is a foreigner who loves our traditional kandura.

I smiled to him, he smiled back and I felt that he was so happy that I liked what I saw.

So, everybody feel free to wear our costumes but make sure to respect it, and I am sure you will.

Prohibition of Selling Dogs in Islam

Good morning everybody,

I am sorry for not publishing this post last night, but I had to do some research about the prohibition of selling dogs in Islam before publishing the post.

In my religion, it is undesirable to keep dogs, and that the one who keeps a dog will have two kirats deducted from his reward every day, except for dogs that are kept for hunting, guarding livestock and guarding crops, which are permissible to keep.

There are many "ahaadeeth" narrated from our Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him), which state that it is forbidden in Islam to sell dogs BECAUSE THEY ARE ENTIRELY IMPURE (NAJIS). The general meaning of these "Ahaadeeth" include all kinds of dogs, those which are permissible to keep and those which are not permissible to keep.

The transaction of selling a dog is not valid and the price is not "Halal".

What did some of the Muslim Scholars Say:

-Some said that the sale of dogs which bring some benefit is permissible.

-Others said that it is permissible to sell a hunting dog but not any other kind.

- The majority said that it is not permissible to sell a dog at all wether it is a hunting dog or a herding dog or any other kind. If a person is in a desperate need to have a dog and cannot find someone to give him one, then he may buy it.

As a conclusion, it should be mentioned that Prophet Mohammed (Peace be Upon Him) forbade the price of a dog, the wages of a prostitute, and the fee of a fortuneteller.

I hope the post is useful and please do not hesitate to ask me any question regarding this topic or any other topics that are related to my religion or to my country, the United Arab Emirates.

Puppies in need for new homes!

Salam everybody,

My Aunt has six beautiful cute little puppies (2 females and four males) that are in a desperate need for new loving homes.

They are very friendly, very beautiful and are two months old. They will ONLY be given to serious dog lovers.

My aunt is not asking for any fees or money. She just wants someone to take good care of the little puppies. The reason for not asking for any money is that we "Muslims" can not sell dogs. It is forbidden or "Haram" in Islam.

For more details, please contact my aunt on: 050-5668830

P.S: I will explain why "selling dogs" is haram in Islam in a new post. So if you would like to know or read more about it, check my blog in a couple of hours because I am in a hurry now.

Thank you very much.