…this is an archived photo of the derelict building which is the local recycling centre!!!…the building we are in is beside this, separated by a narrow gap, seen to the right of the second Toyota truck…

…the view from the opposite direction…several times a day the ‘heroic’ street sweepers off load all the recyclable things they find as they do their rounds in the garbage trucks…you will see them sort the rubbish as they cling to the truck from pick up point to pick up point…a place for cardboard, bags for cans and bottles with heavy duty junk precariously jumping about on the roof…

…which is dumped and stored in this building… everything shoved through these two windows that face the narrow gap beside our building…and then a few times a week the clanging, scraping, banging sound of metal being thrown onto the metal tray of a pick up truck with a cage frame is heard, as they load their collected scrap metal…and there’s so much of it!….once that din subsides there’s the haggling sound of voices…discussing, arguing, negotiating the price for the days booty…I fear the hard working sweepers receive the least in such deals…

…this is the sweepers part time job over and above their usual work…what they earn from this effort is their ‘pocket money’…but meanwhile they are providing a great unofficial service to the community, Masha’Allah…a responsibility the government ignores, and yet should be addressing…

…and this is one neighbours idea of recycling…throwing rubbish from the first floor window of the building directly opposite our kitchen window…

…some of which lands on the top of this AC…until the wind may shift it to the ground…

…when the street sweeper’s daily routine deals with it…this has been going on for months, Astaghfirullah. The nasty side of me has been so tempted to bundle some of it up with a brick and throw it back into the window, Astaghfirullah…a gentler, trying to follow the Sunnah way, would be to visit the people living there, taking a cake and trying to discuss the issue, but I think it is men only and not sure of the language they may speak…so sinking to the depths of the well of patience, which is so often needed to do here, seems to be the immediate option…may our pleading for Allah Ta’ala’s Hidayah be more fervent, especially in this Mubarak City, Insha’Allah…

…the above photo was taken just before Zuhur today…(kitty oblivious to the mess and the effects of another sand storm)…and the one below as Asr approaches…the size of the offending pile having increased…

…a while later after Asr…

…sadly…this is not an isolated case…this habit is all too common in the the older residential areas which are only minutes on the other side of the ring road from the central Haram area…

…scenes of old sisters, fully covered in dirty abayas, rummaging through the rubbish bins in the hope of retrieving things before the sweepers do are also common…as well as dishevelled old brothers shuffling around the Haram courtyard dragging old bags loaded with cans and wire coat hangers they have scavenged from the bins, as well as food scraps…these are the disturbing and distressing realities hidden from the more lavish standards the average pilgrim experiences while visiting our glorious City of Light…

…and the next ‘non’-recycling nightmare issue…is the use of plastic cups in Masjid Nabawi…and Masjid al-Haram in Makkah…not so many years ago metal cups were chained to the ZamZam drinking containers…but now we have the massive environmental catastrophe of millions of plastic cups being used daily!…and most people will not even keep the one cup for the time they are in Haram, but use several over a short space of time…not to mention how so many children use these plastic cups as toys…shredding them into to ‘missiles’ that are strewn all over the carpets and marble, as well as grabbing dozens at a time to build towers which they then stomp on…many who have been educated or raised in countries where there is an awareness of the impact of such waste are mortified with this system of disposable cups…

…a solution…for the ‘authorities’ to issue every pilgrim a metal or brass cup or mug upon their arrival and to  abandon the plastic cups altogether…just as copies of Qur’an Majeed are distributed as pilgrims leave, then reusable drinking vessels are given as they arrive…

…these examples are from India and Thailand…surely massive quantities could be imported, or an enterprising Saudi, or one looking for an investment visa idea, could establish the business of producing an appropriate design here…not only showing a concern for the environment, which we as Muslims should be concerned about, but also providing much needed jobs for the locals…and the pilgrim returns with a souvenir…

…Insha’Allah, Du’a Du’a Du’a…

Abu Malik as-Ash’ari RadhiAllahu anhu reported that the Messenger of Allah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam said: Cleanliness is half of Iman and Alhamdulillah fills the scale, and SubhanAllah wa Alhumdulillah fill up what is between the heavens and the earth, and prayer is a light, and charity is proof of one’s faith and endurance is a brightness and the Holy Qur’an is a proof on your behalf or against you. All men go out early in the morning and sell themselves, thereby setting themselves free or destroying themselves.

…’and endurance is a brightness’…so maybe this is what is needed to focus on, along with the promise that hardships patiently endured in Madinatun Nabi are rewarded with intercession, Insha’Allah…

All good is from Allah Ta’ala whereas mistakes are from this humble speck. May Allah Ta’ala Bless all readers, bringing you all closer to Him and His Rasul SallAllahu alaihi wasallam.  May He accept our humble efforts and grant us the capacity to be good and do good. Ameen.