MENA: Does Rain Bring Happiness or Misery?

Many bloggers and Twitter users from Egypt and different parts in MENA region reported rain and some dusty storms today. Depending on their circumstances, some welcomed the drops of rain with joy while others braced themselves for the storms, flooding and heartbreak.

From Syria:

@mulanrady : مطر غزير يعم سورية كلها. دائما هناك ارتباط بين المطر والخير. عندما تمطر تصبح وجوه الناس اكثر سعادة. وتصبح العيون أكثر بريق.

Heavy rain all over Syria. There is always a connection between rain and the good things. When it rains, people's faces becomes happier and their eyes brighter.

From Saudi Arabia:

saudi rain

@alfarhan : عواصف ترابية رهيبة تضرب جدة. الرؤية جداً متدنيه. نفسي نلزق موضوع العاصفة بأمانة جدة بس ماني عارف كيف ؟

Horrible dusty storms in Jeddah. The visibility is very poor. I hope the storm is blamed on the Jeddah Authority but I don't know how?

@sfatani : Jeddah Dusty and stormy #jeddah

From Jordan:

@mkhawaja : مطر مطر مطر

rain rain rain

From Egypt, more rain was monitored in Alexandria and downtown Cairo:

Zeinobia was commenting about rain in Egypt.

Zeinobia was commenting about rain in Egypt.

@Zeinobia : raining in Mohendessin crazily I have not seen rain like this for years

@Ssirgany : It was a mix of light rain and sunshine on my way to the office (Salah Salem from Helio), but now it's cloudy & raining heavily in Dokki

@EngyG : it's raining in mohandessin sporadically, bas it is! ;)

@maggieosama : it's raining here alot in Garden City

Andrew who lives in Katameyya also confirmed rain!

@andrewheiss : Rain! This is crazy!

In Alexandria, as always, it rained heavily and small snow flakes have been observed:

@linuxawy : it was raining heavily in alex, and we got small ice too.. but it just stopped

@Sarah_ElShafie : Cloudy Some Rain No Storm…. Alexandria, Egypt:)… Looks like the sun will come up now..

Sadly Cat of Desert noted a sad event that happened due to rain in Sinai:

@catofdesert : مصرع مواطن وفقد أخرين في سيول جارفة بوسط سيناء

Due to heavy rains and flooding in Sinai, a citizen dies and many others still missing.

At Egyptian Chronicles, Zeinobia has more information on the Sinai floods. She says:

Today the weather was bad in Egypt , some areas were lucky enough to avoid heavy rains like for instance Cairo but some areas were unlucky as the heavy rains turned in to flood and this is just the start according to weather forecast.
Officially 4 citizens have been killed , hopefully I will get a better information later today.
Aswan , North Sinai and South Sinai have the bigger share in losses because of the rains that turned in to floods since the morning.

The news gets even worse:

A British tourist has died in accident in the Nile because of the heavy rains in Aswan today. I feel sorry for him along with all those who died today.
There are rumors that the Egyptian and Israeli forces on our borders searching a missing group of Israeli tourists. Already the citizens in Sinai found themselves in front of an Israeli jeep brought by the floods in the morning !!
Also I read a tweet that the Sharm El-Sheikh airport was badly damaged in the rains !!

Back in Sinai, Zeinobia says the situation is dire and help is needed:

Things in Sinai are not that great at all and it needs urgent help , I hope that the army will save the day as usual. The people in Sinai are praying that the rains do not destroy their houses and kill them.

It is worth mentioning that residents of Luxor in Upper Egypt also confirmed heavy rains – the first in two years.

A side small talk happened between Egyptian bloggers Embee and Tarek Amr, with the latter on the opposite side of everybody else, and didn't want rain to fall.

@embee : let's hope the #rain gets here SOON

@gr33ndata : Oh no, please not, I hate #rain, I hate it so much.

@embee : but #rain cleans the streets.. And the trees! How could you hate it?

@gr33ndata : Rain cleans there everywhere but not here in Egypt. Here it makes them even dirtier. #Rain

Yasser Ahmad concluded saying:

@YasserAhmad : Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain!

8 comments

  • crossing everything for syr to ge the same.
    i just love rain, it makes me feel that Allah is there!
    i have no idea why

  • Aswan suffered the stoppage of delivering electricity from the High Dam, and the authorities are urging people not to use much electricity.

  • I hate it when people use the term MENA. Israel is the only non-Arab country in the region, and that is so because it is occupying Palestine, which is an Arab country. Grr!!

    • masihi banda

      Maysaloon, Aslam-O-Alaikam! (Peace be upon you)

      Its not very nice to say, “I hate” everything that is Israel. Even the simple words like ‘mena’ or manna bother you? Is that what they teach you these days? Don’t you know, when you say things like that over the Internet it invites a response such as mine below.
      Quranic description
      Mena or Manna is also briefly mentioned in the Quran, with the Al-Baqara, Al-A’raf, and Ta-Ha, mentioning the divine supply of manna as one of the miracles with which the Israelites were given food from heaven by God. Mena or Manna could be described as a miracle or a blessing in generic terms.

      Please allow me give you a bit of a history lesson: Israel and Christianity existed long before the Arabs knew there was God or civilization. The democracy itself is the firstborn of Judeo-Christian faith. Israel is the forerunner of everything that is in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas, even taught the faith driven lessons to the world for here and beyond. In fact, it has impacted the whole wide world even the religion of Islam itself. You may not agree with me on that but that’s OK. This much is true; it is a blessing of God that Israel shines brightly as the beacon of light in the land mired by bloodshed, and is the only functioning democracy in that region.

      No Arab country has ever understood what democracy is all about. May be the belief system that has shackled its progress. I don’t know, you be the judge of that. In my opinion Israel has a right to exist as God’s chosen people and as a true symbol of democracy in Palestine which was and is their homeland historically anyway.

      The rains could be trying sometimes but mostly it’s a blessing for the desert regions. Israel has much to offer to the world in terms of words of wisdom. In the Old Testament (Torah and the Nabiim) rain is often described by Israel’s prophets as “showers of God’s mercy and blessing to the thirsty world; Zaboor Navees (Song of Daud) in 42:1 says, As the deer is thirsty after the cool waters so does my soul thirst after the knowledge of God. Salaam, Peace, Shalom! Amin.

      • Really? ever heard of Christian and Jewish ministers in the “Arab World” in the 1600s, when Shakespeare was composing the famous Merchant of Venice?

        • masihi banda

          mohamad

          Most definitely there were Jewish rabbis and the Christian pastors in 1600s residing in the Arab world. Don’t confuse the Arab world with Palestine: God’s historical-promised land of Israel. This is the period when Islam was just good enough that all religions got along nicely. It was during this time forward when the Muslims systematically began to eradicate the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Desert. And thats why they are not there anymore. The agenda of radical Islam never changed thereafter. FYI: In 595 ad was another important period when your prophet revered the Jews so much that he married a Jewish lady named Khadejah, the first of many wives.

          • Not to mention that the Jewish and Christian ministers habit plus that the there were major economic icons in Egypt till the 50s, when the US backed military movement falsely called as the 1952 revolution began to eradicate, etc.

            So really, if there is any wrong towards Jews and Christians in Egypt, US intelligence is the main reason behind this by supporting authoritarian-fascist movements.

             
  • Khadejah a Jewish lady? Can you really explain to me how are you claiming your PhD in Islamic history from?

    Any 3 year old Muslim know that this fact is not true, so really, I will spare my time to discuss someone who is preaching false history. You do not know what you are talking about.

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