Princess: Stepping Out of the Shadows, стр. 79
610
Prophet Mohammed receives the first revelation from God during the month of Ramadan.
613
Prophet Mohammed takes his message to the public. These messages would later become the Koran, Islam’s sacred scripture.
622
Prophet Mohammed emigrates with his followers from Mecca to Medina.
624–627
The time of the three major battles with the Meccans, including the Battle of Badr, which is a victory. There is then the Battle of Uhud, which ends in defeat. Finally in 627, there is the Battle of the Trench, which is a victory.
629
Prophet Mohammed orders the first raid into Christian lands at Muta. This effort results in defeat.
630
Prophet Mohammed conquers Mecca.
631
Prophet Mohammed consolidates most of the Arabia lands under Islam.
632
Prophet Mohammed returns to Mecca to perform a pilgrimage.
Prophet Mohammed dies in Medina after a brief illness. He is buried in the Mosque of Medina.
Appendix Five
The Necessary Steps to Perform the Islamic Daily Prayers
Muslims bow down to Allah in scheduled prayers five times a day. A Muslim should pray with a clean body after performing the correct ablutions. A prayer rug is not required, but most Muslims use one. Most Muslims actually carry a prayer rug with them when they travel.
Proper Procedure for Islamic Daily Prayers
After cleansing yourself of dirt and impurities, perform the follow steps:
Stand, raise your hands up in the air and say Allah Akbar (God is most great).
While still standing, fold your hands over the chest and recite the first chapter of the Koran. It is best to recite in the Arabic language, if possible.
Raise your hands up again and say Allah Akbar once more. Bow, then recite three times, ‘Glory be to my Lord Almighty’.
Rise to a standing position while reciting, ‘God hears those who call upon Him; Our Lord, praise be to You.’
Raise your hands up, saying Allah Akbar once more. Prostrate yourself on the ground, reciting three times, ‘Glory be to my Lord, the Most High.’
Rise to a sitting position and recite Allah Akbar. Prostrate yourself again in the same manner.
Rise to a standing position and say Allah Akbar. This concludes one unit of prayer.
Repeat the exact same steps for the second unit of prayer.
After two complete units of prayer, remain sitting after the prostration and recite the first part of the Tashahhud in Arabic.
If the prayer is to be longer than these two units, you now stand up and begin again to complete the prayer, sitting again after all units have been completed.
Recite the second part of the Tashahhud in Arabic.
Turn to the right and say ‘Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah’ (Peace be upon you and God’s blessings).
Turn to the left and repeat the greeting.
This concludes the formal prayer.
About the Author
Jean Sasson is a voracious reader. Almost as soon as she knew the alphabet she read everything she could – even at family meals her mind was in a book.
Jean grew up in a small town in Alabama. By the beginning of her teens she had read every book in the school library. At fourteen she started her book collection when she bought The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer – an unusual choice for a young girl from the Deep South. She wanted a good read and she wanted value for money, so she searched the shop and bought the book with the most pages.
At school Mrs Sam Jackson, her beloved literature teacher, soon noticed Jean’s preoccupation and took it upon herself to make weekly trips to a nearby college library to exchange a selection of books to satisfy Jean’s reading needs.
And today? When not absorbed in writing or the business of being a celebrated author, she reads and reads, maybe a book a day – literary success has enabled her to buy many books, no longer selected by the number of pages.
Her literary tastes are widely varied and she has a long list of favourites. Heading that list is Sir Winston Churchill, a prolific writer and the leader of Britain in the dark years of the Second World War. Other historic figures, such as Napoleon Bonaparte and T. E. Lawrence (‘Lawrence of Arabia’) satisfy her two literary loves – history and travel.
The works of Gertrude Bell, Freya Stark and Sir Richard Burton opened her mind’s eye to the fascinations and mysteries of the Middle East … and those first musings led to her writing success.
No longer content to simply read about this magical part of the world, Jean, armed with hospital administrative skills in addition to her literary thirst, sought and found the ideal opportunity to gain first-hand experience of a closed and mysterious land, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In 1978, she was selected to work at the most prestigious royal hospital in the Middle East, the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. There, her talents blossomed. She became the administrative coordinator of medical affairs and personal assistant to the hospital medical and executive director, Dr Nizar Feteih. Through him she was introduced to various Saudi royals, including King Khalid and his Crown Prince Fahd, who succeeded as king on Khalid’s death in 1982. In 1983, a close friendship between Jean and another royal, Princess Sultana, was forged and years later, based on that friendship, Jean was able to write her widely acclaimed Princess Trilogy.
Jean worked for four years at the King Faisal Hospital and during that time met the man she was to marry, Peter Sasson, an international man who came from an unusual background. Peter Sasson was a British citizen born in Egypt to a British/Italian father and Yugoslav mother. Although the couple later divorced, they remained devoted friends until Peter’s death in 2014.
Jean lived in Saudi Arabia for twelve years. During that time, she dedicated herself to activities that would form the bedrock