Bleak House
Now that Mrs C Snr, Little Ms C and Nana C (I’ll think up some better pseudonyms later) have blazed a trail to Bangladesh, the house feels a little quiet without them. Apart from the reverberations from a hacking cough that has kept Teacher C from her east-end midgets for nearly a week now, it is eerily silent. You begin to miss Nana C’s outbursts and exclamations on the news events of the day (usually misunderstood, inappropriate and non-PC). Anyway they’ve got there safely and at least Mrs C will have the kitchen to herself and can’t complain if someone throws away the gravy stock thinking its dirty water! Too many cooks and all that…
Which reminds me – it’s been one year since we got married! Or has it. Well it depends what you count as marriage and the calendar you choose to follow (handy flexibility to get me out of a scrape in case I forget – which will happen one of these days). A brief explanation for the uninitiated is in order here.
The Islamic calendar (known as Hijri translated as emigration) has at its starting date the year in which the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) migrated from Makkah to Madinah to flee persecution. This was according the standard Gregorian calendar in approximately July 622. It was introduced by Umar bin Khattab (the second caliph) as the agreed seminal turning point for the nascent Islamic community. After the emigration to Madinah (formerly known as Yathrib), the Muslims were able to organize and establish the first real Muslim "community," with social, political, and economic independence. Life in Madinah allowed the Muslim community to mature and strengthen, and the people developed an entire society based on Islamic principles. In addition to that Islamic months are based on lunar cycles (i.e. 28/29 days) or rather the sighting of the crescent moon which means that the months seem to move forward against the standard Gregorian calendar. This is why Ramadan creeps forward by about 10 days each year. Everyone keeping up so far?
So I have a number of permutations to go by. These are;
1. Islamic Marriage and Islamic Calendar,
2. Islamic Marriage and Gregorian Calendar,
3. Civil Marriage and Islamic Calendar, and
4. Civil Marriage and Gregorian Calendar.
Any suggestions which ones to go for?
So the date on which we got married was Sunday 19th December 2004 or according to the Hijri date 7 Dhul Q’ada 1425. According to calendar conversion software, 7 Dhul Q’ada 1426 was on the 8 December 2005! Yikes! – that was yesterday. I may be in some trouble. The house may become even more bleak. But then again19 December 2006 is in 10 days time. I could be reprieved (ever the optimist :))
Which brings me to another question. What is a good paper-based first anniversary present? Feel free to comment.
Oh and as no one in the world answered the question correctly, and I’m sure you’re all dying to know, the mountain in Wales is Blorange.
Which reminds me – it’s been one year since we got married! Or has it. Well it depends what you count as marriage and the calendar you choose to follow (handy flexibility to get me out of a scrape in case I forget – which will happen one of these days). A brief explanation for the uninitiated is in order here.
The Islamic calendar (known as Hijri translated as emigration) has at its starting date the year in which the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) migrated from Makkah to Madinah to flee persecution. This was according the standard Gregorian calendar in approximately July 622. It was introduced by Umar bin Khattab (the second caliph) as the agreed seminal turning point for the nascent Islamic community. After the emigration to Madinah (formerly known as Yathrib), the Muslims were able to organize and establish the first real Muslim "community," with social, political, and economic independence. Life in Madinah allowed the Muslim community to mature and strengthen, and the people developed an entire society based on Islamic principles. In addition to that Islamic months are based on lunar cycles (i.e. 28/29 days) or rather the sighting of the crescent moon which means that the months seem to move forward against the standard Gregorian calendar. This is why Ramadan creeps forward by about 10 days each year. Everyone keeping up so far?
So I have a number of permutations to go by. These are;
1. Islamic Marriage and Islamic Calendar,
2. Islamic Marriage and Gregorian Calendar,
3. Civil Marriage and Islamic Calendar, and
4. Civil Marriage and Gregorian Calendar.
Any suggestions which ones to go for?
So the date on which we got married was Sunday 19th December 2004 or according to the Hijri date 7 Dhul Q’ada 1425. According to calendar conversion software, 7 Dhul Q’ada 1426 was on the 8 December 2005! Yikes! – that was yesterday. I may be in some trouble. The house may become even more bleak. But then again19 December 2006 is in 10 days time. I could be reprieved (ever the optimist :))
Which brings me to another question. What is a good paper-based first anniversary present? Feel free to comment.
Oh and as no one in the world answered the question correctly, and I’m sure you’re all dying to know, the mountain in Wales is Blorange.
posted by Mr. C at 11:14 am
10 Comments:
Hey why does it have to be paper-based?!!
Keep it simple, Islamic wedding day and civil marriage day, both using the Gregorian calendar. Anniversary is the earlier of the two dates. Now if you forget, as most of us men do, you’ve got the second date to fall back on! Don’t worry about swapping the dates around each year – “we are Muslims dear, we don’t celebrate anniversaries, but I’ll give you a gift once a year, around the time we got married” – that should work.
yeah, why paper-based??!
salams
it has to be paper-based because the first wedding anniversary is paper.
Congrats to you both on your anniversary!
ws
an idea could be an origami shape that yo made yourself
yeah, out of money
aah one track mind of mrs c. mind u madam u just got money from the nhs (tho i accept was a measly amount). aaanyways, may i first offer my congrats to mr c on officially joining the blogging world! yes u may be cool yet! lol, ofcourse i dint mean tht (and here id put an angel emoticon if they had one). yes rest assured i shall be a regular visitor to offer my 2 pence worth.
dazey
ps-gift ideas: i hv no clue. n nas,how did u know that?! yes we HAVE been doin our research havent we?:D
heeeeh research indeed (looks sheepish) - actually I got it from 'The English Patient' who said filmd don't teach you anything?
Correct. Paper represents the first wedding anniversary. You'll have to wait for the 60th for a diamond Mrs C. :)
Is there something in the water in Manchester??
manchester water: diss it not. u jelous?
:D
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