Speak Arabic : Lessons for Umrah & Hajj Tours (Common Phrases)

Learning Arabic is becoming more important when you're planning to travel or have a visit to Arab countries, especially for Umrah and Hajj tours. Honestly say, you will face no such big problems if you don't know how to speak Arabic in Madina & Mecca, since most of the workers there could speak more than 3 languages. English seems already enough for you, but knowing Arabic is diffidently a plus - you'll have a safer, smoother, more enjoyable trip and tour, indeed. So, let's get it started!

LESSON 1 : ARRIVING IN MADINA & MECCA

I'm going to the Hotel
- أنا ذاهب/ذاهبة الي الفندق
- Ana zahib (M)/zahibah (F) ilal funduq

I'm staying at the Nujum hotel
- أنا نازل/نازلة في فندق النجم
- Ana nazil (M) / nazilah (F) fi funduq el-nujum

Where is the bus station?
- أين محطة الباص؟
- Ayna mahatah al-bas?

Where can I get a taxi?
- أين آخذ تاكسي؟
- Ayna akhuz taksee?

How far is it?
- كم هي بعيدة؟
- Kam hiya ba'eedah?

How long?
- كم طول؟
- Kam thowil?

Stop here, please!
- قف هنا، من فضلك
- Qif huna, min fadlak!

ًWait here!
- إنتظر هنا
- Intazar huna!


LESSON 2 : AT THE HOTEL

Can I see the room, please?
- ممكن أرى الغرفة، لو سمحت؟
- Mumkin Ara al-guhrfah, lau samath?

My name is Muhammad
- إسمي محمد
-Ismiy Muhammad

Dou you have internet wireless service?
- هل عندك خدمة إنترنت؟
- Hal indak khidmah internet?

Do you have laundry service?
- هل عندك خدمة غسيل ملابيس؟
- Hal indak khidmah ghaseel malaabis?


LESSON 3 : EATING OUT

Can you recommend us a good restaurant?
- ممكن تنصحنا بمطعم جيد؟
- Mumkin tinsahna bi-mat'am jayyid?

Waiter!/ Waitress!
- يا جرسون / يا آنسة
- Ya Jarsun / Ya Anisah!

Do you have menu?
- هل لديكم قائمة الطعام؟
- Hal ladaikum qaimatul to'am?


Stay tuned for updates! A lot more.

Album Review : Irfan Makki - I Believe (2011)

Irfan Makki's new album is poised to be his ticket into the mainstream Islamic music. By collaborating with Maher Zain and Hamza Namira, two big-names composers yet the most influential artists on Awakening, makes this album so special. The album has 12 songs; 10 are new songs while another two are acoustics and Urdu version.

This album is a well-produced, perfectly executed melodic "Islamic Pop" yet contemporary. Awakening obviously had taken a lot of time and dedication to produce this album, from creating the right lyrics, selecting the song, photoshoot, album design and producing the music - everything was done properly.

In February 2011, Irfan was one of the guest artists that were invited to perform at Maher Zain Live in Concert at Stadium Melawati, Shah Alam and he grabbed the opportunity to introduce three of the new songs by singing them for the first time.

From that time, the audience stared paying attention to his music, one of the songs that he performed at the concert called "Mabrook" (congratulations), being stuck in people heads due to its Malay lyrics and catchy music. His fans on Facebook increasing day by day and they kept expressing how impressed they were when listening to his new songs - concert & YouTube.

After a long wait, the album is finally finished and already available on stores and iTunes.

Released in Ramadan 2011

The album starts off strong right out of the gate with "Waiting for The Call", the song of a Muslim who has been waiting for the right time to perform Hajj, then followed by "Mabrook", "I Believe" featuring Maher Zain, "Lap Pae Aati", "Mamma", "Palestine", "Allahu", "You and I", "Khayal", "Al-Amin", "I'm so sorry" and finally acoustic versions of "I believe" and Urdu version of "Mabrook".


After listening to this album, I personally think that Awakening takes the best-selling album of Maher Zain - Thank You Allah as a "benchmark" for this album. The album concept is almost same with Maher's album, the selected songs and tracks list are standing alike. For instance : "Mabrook" & "Barakallah", "Palestine" & "Palestine will be free" and few more. Well, this is what we call the strategy, it's not such a big deal anyway.

So, here are my favorite tracks, listed from the best : "Waiting for the call", "Mabrook", "I Believe", "Mama", "You and I", "I'm so sorry", and "Palestine".

Don't forget to grab a copy of this album only at RM27.90 (Malaysia). It's totally worth every penny. Let's support Islamic music and Islamic artists by buying legal copies. :)