Weekend trip to Baltimore

Sunday - Bonus Material


This weekend we went for a long drive to visit some of the Muslim stores in Baltimore. Islamic Bookstore was our primary interest. Zabiha.com helped us find some nearby Muslim stores, specially the Halal Chinese Buffet in Owing's Mall.

We started at around 10:30 in the morning and arrived in the Bookstore at a little past 12. The direction from the website as well as the GPS was very straight forward and it was only minutes away from the exit.

We were warmly greeted by the elderly person at the reception desk who seemed to be the owner or one of the owners. By the look of his face, I realized that not much unknown face visits the establishment often. Online is their main business, however the small showroom is kept to invite local or out of state visitors.

The person probably at his mid 70's were very kind and nice person. He treated Nawid (our son) like his own grandson and arranged a chair for him to play with the caramboard kept near the reception. It was a very useful thought to keep kids busy while their parents may look around. So we browsed the shelves by turn while Nawid went crazily busy with the unfamiliar big board and so many small pieces of wooden circles.

The owner informed us about the nearby Masjid and Desi Bazar (a clothing store), Danish Foods (grocery and halal food store). He was kind enough to show us the HUGE warehouse located at the back. The fresh smell of books reminded me of the New Market of Dhaka.

Near the warehouse they have even a Musalla (prayer area). We heard that 13 people work in the warehouse and store.

As we took the directions of Danish Foods and Desi Bazaar, the owner told us to follow another guy who was about to leave from the store. So we drove behind him. After arriving at that place, we found that the guy had driven to there only to direct our ways. We were even given a Longing for Divine Islamic Calender for free as a gift. May Allah bless the owner and the guy for their kindness.

After feeding Nawid his lunch, we went down to Desi Bazaar to take a peep. It is a clothing and accessories store mainly for ladies. But it has clothing for men and kids as well. I was impressed by the cleanliness and not so clogged up space. It was like a new store just launched, but the lady in the counter told us that the store is at least five years old. I must admire the professional layout of the store. The sister's name was Asmat. She told us that she lives near the Masjid Rahmah and there are many Muslims around that area. She was from Pakistan and lives with her son.

Then we went to Danish Foods which was in the same market. It is a regular Muslim owned grocery store with Halal Meat, Halal food / take out and even a Travel Agency office inside the store. We met another Grandpa like figure with affectionate gesture to Nawid. It was very welcoming to receive such warm hospitable attitude. The brother at the counter later gave us direction to the mosque.

We were pretty hungry by then and headed towards owing mall to have lunch at the Halal Chinese Buffet. It was 15 minutes away from Danish Food and Desi Bazaar. We were excited and hungry to see the big sign of the O's Place - Indian, Pakistani, and Chinese Cuisine. Walked down only to find the sign 'Due to technical problems we are closed temporarily'. Qadr of Allah! Must be some good in it that may not be apparent to us.

We decided not to leave our stomach too cranky by looking around more places and walked down for a pair of Tuna Sub inside the Mall Food Court. After lunch we walked around a little bit, have Nawid entertained with silent car rides.

Then we went for Masjid Al Rahmah aka Islamic Society of Baltimore. After arriving there, we remembered that we visited the Masjid several years back during a Ramadan family event. It is a big facility with so many activities. But because we were not on a Jamaat time, not much people were present there. We had our Duhr Kasr prayer due and upon finishing that, we got ready to head back for Delaware. Nawid was enjoying the huge empty prayer area and running around. But the little guy had to change his duppy again and we were trying to think about a suitable changing area. The front passenger seat (after reclining to its best capacity) of our car was the last resort. How many learning skills do parents master each day!!

Well, Nawid got a break as well to find funny and new ways of changing him. He was exhausted and sleepy by then. We were also longing to head back as quick as possible. There were some construction work going on around the masjid and several people including some Muslim brothers and few construction workers were chatting nearby. Fahim started the car and turn towards the exit area. Suddenly uttered 'Subhanallah' and both of our eyes turned toward the back of a pick up truck driven by apparently a Muslim Revert. The back of the construction workers truck says ''La Ilalha Illallah (in Arabic" and "There is no god but One God" in BIG fonts.

We looked at the guy. A typical American Construction worker with big blonde beard. If it was not in the Masjid, and without noticing the back of the truck, we wouldn't imagine him as a Muslim.

If O's place was not close, we would have spent more time at the mall and wouldn't be at the Masjid at that time. If Nawid wouldn't have to change the duppy, we would have left the place earlier. Allah kept that Emaan boosting view and reflection for us till our last minute in Baltimore. Thank you Allah to bless our weekend trip!