Category Archive

I have a few conservative blogs on my to read list.   Although I’m sure I’m not a masochist, it’s usually pretty paintful to read and I often ask myself why oh why do I continue?

One of the less painful on that list is Rod Dreher’s Crunchy Con.  Despite our political differences (and I usually cringe when he writes about muslims), I do appreciate the crunchy aspect of his writings. 

Now here’s a first – a piece he wrote on muslims that actually made me alhamdulilah and not shake my head:

Why shouldn’t the Uighurs riot?

Question: Why is it cause for celebration and cheer in the West when the Tibetans riot against Chinese oppression, but a cause for alarm and condemnation when the Uighurs do the same thing? If the Uighurs were trying to establish a Taliban-like state, that would be one thing. But I’ve not seen evidence that they want anything more than to be treated with justice, especially in their own historic land. If you have other information, please share it.

So if you look up at the top of this blog, right there above the beloved Squeakster, you’ll notice a bunch of links.  One of these says “converts.”  If you could, please click it and look through the list. 

Is there anything missing that you think a new convert absolutely must read/listen to/watch?

I am adding this video.  MashaAllah excellent advice that doesn’t scew too heavily towards any one group.  I’m really liking this post-sufi/salafi/traditionalist infighting that has been emerging recently.   At the fundraiser last weekend for Imam Siraj (btw if you haven’t donated yet, DO IT!) it nearly brought me to tears that these beautiful brothers of knowledge from all across the spectrum came together in their love for another brother, who was from a completely seperate part of that spectrum.  If there is hope that the sufi and the salafi can live together not only peacefully, but with a high level of respect for the “other” inspite of our differences,  it’s coming here in america inshaAllah.

     Yay or nay to civil disobedience?  My inner squishy liberal heart when all pitty pat when I saw this picture yesterday.  However, my sister, who works on capital hill for another equally squishy liberal democrat, was not impressed.

    Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota-Muslim) was arrested at a protest in front of the Sudanese Embassy yesterday in a calculated act of civil disobedience.

Ellison said he and the other members of Congress who were arrested succeeded in bringing national attention to the Darfur crisis that they wouldn’t have received otherwise. “I could have sent out a press release, but it would be, ‘Yeah, so what?’”

…

“They told us three times to leave, we didn’t leave and they arrested us,” Ellison said nearly four hours later, after he paid a $100 fine and was released.

Secret Service spokesman Darrin Blackford said uniformed officers made eight arrests, including Ellison. “They were charged with crossing a police line, which is a misdemeanor,” he said.

Also arrested were Reps. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.; John Lewis, D-Ga.; Donna Edwards, D-Md.; and Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif.; and three Darfur activist leaders

…

Since 2007, early in his congressional tenure, Ellison has tried to make conditions in Darfur a major legislative priority.

     There is something romantic about civil disobedience for us squishy liberals.  Who wouldn’t want to emulate Gandhi and MLK Jr?  And it did bring the issue to the fore.  But will it actually make a difference?  Alas, my inner cynic is also a pessimist in this case.

     On a related note, it does perk up the inner cynic that a muslim is taking a stand on an issue that is not Palestine related.  While we should continue to work for justice for our brothers and sisters in Palestine, we need to take stock of our ummah’s actions and behaviors elsewhere as well.

In Sahh Bukhari, we find that the beloved Prophet (saws) said:

“Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or he is oppressed.”  He was then asked:  “It is right to help him if he is oppressed, but how should we help him if he is an oppressor?”  He answered:  “By preventing him from oppressing others.”

     From my own humble observations of the muslim ummah, we’re very good at screaming bloody murder when non muslims oppress muslims.  We’re also very good at looking the other way when muslims oppress others.

    It’s high past time that we got our head out of the sand and took this sunnah to heart.

This story/slideshow is being posted on quite a few muslim message boards today, and it’s the same ol, same ol, stick our heads in the sand, blame the media, blame the west, blah blah blah.

’scuse me while I go off for a second

This really struck me:

Fatima was told by the UAE-based lawyer that under sharia law, it was unlikely she would get a favourable outcome from any legal action against her stepfather.

At 15, she was told that she was classed as an adult and could herself be punished and subjected to lashes for committing adultery.

If this is true, then we as muslims should worry about this. Sure, the west has sexual abuse problems, but how often does the victim of that sexual abuse get punished by the state? I’ve seen this story discussed on several message boards and almost everywhere, more often then not the response is to decry the bbc, the media and the west.  Very rarely do I see people concerned about the wrong that is being commited here by muslims.

The Prophet (saws) said: “When any one of you sees anything that is disapproved, let him change it with his hand. If he is not able to do so, then let him change it with his tongue. And if he is not able to do so, then let him change it with his heart, though that is the weakest faith.” (Nawawi’s 40 hadith)

I see a wrong here, and it’s not the media. It’s the fact that a muslim sister could not get justice amongst muslims and had to flee a muslim country to feel safe.

Sure sure, we can argue all day about the story’s use of the word sharia, but come on, shouldn’t we be more upset that this happened to our sister?

Egyptian women learn to fight back

The instructor Redo Fathy says it is now incumbent on every woman to protect herself from the unwelcome advances of Egyptian men.

“The girls face a lot of problems,” he said. “Especially the teenagers that attend high school. Some of them have long distances to travel.”

“Our job is to give them the skills they need to protect themselves should something happen.

“One of our girls was attacked on the way home. A boy on a bus grabbed her from behind. She used a technique we had taught her to restrain him, until other people on the bus gathered around to help. He was later handed over to the police.”

Sexual harassment is not usually a subject openly discussed here. But a recent survey carried out by the Egyptian Centre For Women’s Rights has lifted the lid on an alarming trend.

Of just over 2,000 questioned 83% of Egyptian women said they had suffered some form of harassment.

Even more startling, nearly two thirds of the men they surveyed freely admitted they had abused a woman at one time or another.

On one hand, mashaAllah, way to step up and take charge of your lives sisters.  On the other, a large, hardy booooooooooooooo for egyptian men who harass women.  2/3 of the surveyed group admit to abusing women?   Do these dogs purposely and willfully ignore Allah (swt) and His messenger (saws)?   Egypt is supposedly the most religious countryin the world, with 100% of respondents answering yes to the question “Is religion important in your life?”  How important is it really, if you don’t lower your gaze and respect your sisters in islam and humanity?

Shame shame shame on them.

China (and France) to Build Mecca Rail System

On one hand, alhamdulilah!  I’ve always thought with all the modernization the Saudis were doing around hajj, the one thing they were missing was a rail system that could shuttle pilgrims between the sights more efficiently, possibly leaving the roads open for those who want to walk?  I know, I’m crazy, but the idea of being crammed in a bus for 12 hours on the way to arafat does not sound like a situation condusive to spiritual growth.  I’d rather walk.

And on the other hand, boooo!  Can’t muslims do anything for themselves?  If there really no muslim owned company capable of building a transportation system worthy of one of the pillars of our religion?  I don’t have anything against non muslim businesses (heck, I work for one), but something just seems…wrong…about non muslim company building something for the hajj.

How can we complain if we’re not stepping up to the plate to take care of our own children?

Christian foster mother struck off after Muslim girl converts:

The woman has been banned by her local council for failing to prevent the teenager from getting baptised, even though the girl was 16 and made up her own mind to change religion.

The carer, a churchgoer in her 50s who has fostered more than 80 children, has now been forced to move out of her home.

She has lost the farmhouse she rented to look after vulnerable teenagers, due to the loss of income.

From the net, a 2002 article by Catherine England, published in Aziza magazine.  Read it.

We get calls for muslim (foster) families, for muslim children…and we can’t place them.  When everyone says no, that means they are placed where ever the state can place them.  That will be within a culture and a religion that is foreign to them.  Every day they are within a non muslim home diminishes their religion identity.

- Molly Dagget, MSW, Lutheran Social Services

Community needs Muslim foster homes

Foster parenting is when an individual is interested in providing stability for a child who has been removed from the care of his or her family due to a situation in which the biological parents are no longer able to care of the child. According to experts, this is many times due to abuse or neglect.

When a child is taken out of the home, the first option is for relatives to care for them, Mohmand-Farhad said.

In the case of Muslim children, if that’s not possible, the agency tries to place them with a Muslim family in the community.

“But if no one steps forward, then the child is placed with whoever can take them,” she said. “In foster care, no religion is supposed to be imposed on the children, but it’s still always nice to have your own religion or your own culture available to you.”

Shaikh Yassir Fazaga, imam and religious director at the Orange County Islamic Foundation in Mission Viejo, Calif., said the Muslim community is obliged to care for foster children.

“This is a communal obligation,” he said. “If enough individuals have done it, than the community as a whole fulfills the obligation. But if we don’t have enough foster parents, then as a community, we have to re-evaluate the situation.”

Foster Care Link – organization for fostering muslim kids in the UK

I’m a red, white and blue muslim, midwest born and raised.  My family first came to this country in the early 19th century, and I had a many times great grandfather who died in the civil war.  Subsequent generations faught in the first and second world wars.  In case you couldn’t tell, I’m an american muslim who’s obsessed with muslims in america.

Admitedly, I don’t know much about Islam in our neighbor to the north.  I know there are lots of muslims in TO (which apparently is Toronto, or so I gather from assorted blog postings).  And that they put out Little Mosque on the Prairie.  And that they have awesome conferences and Sh. Faraz lives there.

As such, I was delighted to stumble upon this article about Islam in Canada – The First Little Mosque on the Prairie.  And I was tickled pink by the illustration.  Snowmen making sajdah, awesomeness (even if their arms aren’t in the right position)!  *steals it for my photobucket*

 The article is written by the descendant of an earlier muslim immigrants.  The experience seems quite different from that of more recent immigrants, at least from what I’ve observed.  Immigrant and second generation muslims cling to their religion as well as their culture.  But then again, maybe that’s because I’m active in the muslim community, and muslim immigrants who “assimilate” by changing their names and drinking beer aren’t frequent mosque attendees. 

It was a tiny pioneer community founded amid a small but growing city. As a result, the emphasis was on getting along and fitting in. Over time, alcohol was consumed by many, if not most; the salaat, the prayers said five times daily, were often ignored. In several homes, Christmas trees were trimmed, Easter egg hunts were organized, and Halloween was celebrated. Friendships between Arabs and Jews were common. The odd intercultural business relationship resulted, and members of Edmonton’s comparably small Jewish community helped fund the Al Rashid Mosque.

…

Still, some traditions endured. While halal butchers were practically unheard of, the prohibition against eating pork was widely observed by Muslims, though certainly not in every home. Once, when my grandmother was visiting, she encountered something in our kitchen that would make any contemporary cleric’s blood curdle.

“Bobby!” she shouted to my father. “There’s a big ham in your refrigerator!”

My dad, ever the dutiful son, sauntered over. He opened the fridge door and looked inside, then furrowed his brow. “That’s not a big ham, Mother,” he said, closing the door.

“Bobby, don’t lie, ya haram. I saw it with my own eyes.”My father reopened the door. “Oh, that,” he said. “That’s a little ham.”

…

Is there a new Canadianized Islam? No. Clearly there are several, each a natural outgrowth of time and circumstance. There are the Ismailis, the followers of the Aga Khan, a well-integrated and influential community of about 75,000 that has produced a disproportionate number of high-profile leaders, such as former Ballard Power Systems chair Firoz Rasul and Liberal senator Mobina Jaffer. There are the gay Muslims of groups such as Salaam, whose founder, El-Farouk Khaki, ran as the ndp candidate in the last Toronto Centre by-election and lost to Bob Rae. There are the secular Muslims, some of whom see evidence of “sharia creep” around every turn. There are the traditionalists, who harbour a culture-bound and often narrow view of who is a Muslim. There is an assertive new generation, Canadian born yet observant, both a part of and apart from the “dominant” culture.

And then there is us, the descendants of the first Islamic wave. For some, I am a cautionary tale, evidence of what can happen to Muslims in Canada when the bonds of faith are allowed to fray. But they can rest easier knowing I am largely a charlatan. Although my father considered himself a Muslim, he wasn’t particularly observant, and we, his children, were raised without religion. I am a Muslim in about the same way as Barack Obama is: by bloodline at most. It was only as “Arab” became conflated with “Muslim,” and “Muslim” with “terror” that I found myself identifying with a people and a faith with which I thought I had little in common.

NPR has started a series highlighting growing urban centers.  This week is Karachi.  While I haven’t heard any mention of Islam (granted, I only heard the development story this morning and skimmed the rest online), there is a hidden ghost of religion in the story, as the folks at GetReligion would say.

This morning’s story spoke of gulf investors looking to pour their mega bucks into development projects in Karachi – condos on the sea, gulf courses, the whole 9 yards.  It also mentioned that gangsters threatened to kill Amber Alibhai’s family if she didn’t stop her crusade, er jihad against development for the rich at the expense of the poor.

Where is religion in this story?  Pakistan is a muslim country.  Ergo, most of the players here are probably muslim.  How is it that our ummah has so lost sight of our humble beginnings among the poor of Mecca that we’re rushing to build luxury developments while our brothers and sisters are without electricity and clean water?  Where is the transformative power of the deen that the early generations experienced?  Granted, we all can’t be Abu Bakr (ra), giving all our wealth to the cause of Islam.   But where are the development projects for the poor coming from these rich gulf investors?  Do they exisit?  That’s something to find out.

From Newsweek:

At the Grand Hyatt Cairo, a mile upstream along the Nile, the five-star hotel’s Saudi owner banned alcohol as of May 1 and ostentatiously ordered its $1.4 million inventory of booze flushed down the drains. “A hotel in Egypt without alcohol is like a beach without a sea,” says Aly Mourad, chairman of Studio Masr, the country’s oldest film outfit.

Although I rarely have a chance to say this, I give a reserved bravo to these Saudi investors.  Imagine a hotel in a predominantly muslim country, owned and operated by muslims, not selling alcohol.  It’s sacrilige is what it is.

Egyptians deplore what they call the Saudization of their culture

Although I’ll have to check back to get an exact quote from my inhouse egyptian, I’m calling bs on this one.  Perhaps some egyptians deplore this, but not all.   I know the husband talks glowingly of his year in Saudi Arabia, so I don’t really see him deploring this.

There are two ways egypt could be saudizied:

1. Their “version” of Islam is funded up the wazoo, drowning out native interpretations of the religion and stifling a more “traditional” (aka madhab based) version of Islam.  This I wold give a thumbs down to.  I would assume it’s been going on for decades already, just as it has been in the rest of the muslim world.

2. And/or they could take the business approach, as the Grand Hyatt owner did, and encourage halal business ventures.  I give this two thumbs way up.

Also, the article is completely ignoring the effect non-native dancers are having on the egyptian bellydance scence.  From my understanding, it’s pretty much dominated by russians.

on the blogs I read

Climbing Walls – an American Muslimah living in Palestine, her whole blog is chock full of posts on Palestine.  More recent posts include 1000 Year Mosques destroyed in wake of the Nakba and Al Jazera reports on Palestinians.  *added 9:36 am* Her blog about Palestine day post is up – Judaizing East Jerusalem

Southern Muslimah blogs about her Mother-in-Law’s experience in the nakba

The Muslimah links to a post her husband wrote about his grandmother and her ceaseless dhikr

*added at noon*  Writeous Sister writes about Genocide by any other name in Palestine and of Native Americans

*added at 12:30*  A Mother in Gaza writes about the cyber terrorism attack against Palestinian bloggers.   The rest of her blog is a good read for today as well.

More to be added as I continue my daily blog stroll inshaAllah

*added at 9:36 am*

Personal accounts always tug at my heart strings the most.  I can still remember the exact moment of my awakening to the situation in Palestine.  Hanan Ashwari came to speak at my university.  During the Q&A period, an old man got up, on the brink of tears.  He spoke about wanting to to to his childhood home, currently located in Israel, to be buried with his family.  He hadn’t been back since he was expelled decades earlier.  And he wouldn’t be allowed to go back to die.  I get a lump in my throat just remembering it now.

If Americans Knew - what every american needs to know about Israel

Remember these Children

Since September 2000

982 Palestinian Children

and

119 Israeli Children

have been killed

 Innaa lillaahi wa innaa ilayhi raaji'oon

to God we belong and to Him is our return

[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/3P12aqVeZkQ" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Ohh let's not cry tonight I promise you one day is through
Ohh my brothers! Ohh my sisters!
Ooh shine a light for every soul that ain't with us no more
Ohh my brothers! Ohh my sisters!

NPR has recently featured two stories about muslims working in an environmentally friendly manner in two very different ways.

 First, there is a story on the group Solar Cities in Cairo, who are devoloping solar water heaters at the grass roots level for inhabitants of medieval Cairo.  Not only are they tackling environmental issues, they’re also doing interfaith work as well.  Muslims and Christians make up the organization, and they serve both communities.

 And his young team says that fighting over religion, politics, class and culture wastes time in an urgent period of environmental upheaval.

“If we’re still thinking Christian, Muslim, Christian, Muslim, we will never move and we will stay in our place. We’ll never do anything,” Fathy says.

Second, we have Abu Dhabi using some of it’s enormous oil wealth to build the first carbon neurtral city.

The project, called Masdar City, will burn no gas or oil, so its contribution to greenhouse gases will be minimal. Masdar is the centerpiece of emirate Abu Dhabi’s plans to get into the renewable energy market, a hedge against the day its oil wells run dry.

Two groups of muslims working towards a healthier planet, one from the grassroots, one from the top down.  inshaAllah more members of our ummah will wake up and take part in the green revolution.

MashaAllah, Allah (swt) has blessed me with a roof over my head and food on the table.  Unfortunately, I’m not too good at managing my intake of food, which has lead to a host of health problems.  I’ve been struggling with my eating and exercise habits for 2 years without sucess, but inshaAllah I’m on the right path now.  I’m writing down everything I eat, dedicating myself to exercise, and not letting my laziness overwhelm me.  Oh, and it also doesn’t hurt that the husband has bribed me…if I lose 20 pounds by my birthday in September, he’ll buy me a cat, huzzah!

To that end, I’m a member of Sparkpeople, where there’s a muslim sister support group.  Today, a sister posted a thought provoking question

Does anyone sees the irony of us trying to lose weight and eat less, when there’s a major, worldwide food shortage going on?

The price of the whole wheat pita bread the husband adores went up 50 cents since we last bought it 2 weeks ago, but that’s nothing compared to the jump of prices people are facing across the world.  The husband is originally from Mahalla el-Kubra, home of the recent strikes/food riots, where food prices have doubled.

Allah (swt) tests us all in different ways.  For my in laws, they struggle with too little food that costs too much.  For me here in the US, I struggle with too much food that, despite the recent increases, is still very affordable.

Wouldn’t it be great if we thanked Allah (swt) when we succeed in our struggles?  And what better way to thank Him right now than to give sadaqah to those who are also struggling. 

I’m going to pledge $x for each pound I lose to Islamic Relief’s Global Food Crisis Campaign, and I invite anyone else out struggling to lose weight to do the same.

As a child, family vacations consisted of each child carefully packing a box of books and colored pencils, my mom baking weeks worth of almond chocolate chip muffins and everyone piling into the family van for a 3 week road trip to some scenic and/or historic american destination.  On these family vacations, I developed a great love of history and it’s preservation.  Walking the battlefields at Yorktown and Gettysburg, viewing the Declaration of Independence and Lincoln’s stovepipe hat, following the Oregon Trail westward, earning countless junior ranger badges, american history came alive.  History wasn’t simply something printed on the pages of textbooks.  No, it was something to touch, to see, to experience, to live.   I feel my life is fuller having experienced the history of my country.  I better understand my country, and what it means to be an american.

Imagine my disapointment then, when I first visited the Great Pyramids of Giza and found it was one big tourist trap.  Certainly, there were some highlights, such as the solar barque preservation building, but mostly, it was a bunch of ducking and avoiding men and boys trying to show you secret hidden chambers or get you to overpay for a ride on a poor, mangy camel.  Later trips to historic mosques like al Azhar were mared by janitors demanding enormous amounts of baqsheesh for special tours to places we could have gone to on our own.

But, at least the pyramids and these mosques were still there.  Muslim history, OUR history, has been steadily destroyed right under our very noses by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for decades.  Want to follow in the Prophet’s (saws) footsteps?  Good luck trying to find them.

Is the danger of grave worship and bida so dangerous that we must wipe our history from the face of the earth?  Should not future generations be able to visit these places where the blessed Prophet (saws) and his companions walked, to touch, to see, to experience, to live?  Companions of the Prophet (saws) strove to walk in the Prophet’s footsteps, literally.  They loved him so much that they followed him physically, with their bodies, as well as in their hearts.

Should not muslims today be allowed these same opportunities?  Do we not love the Prophet (saws) and want to imitate him as his companions did?  Cannot these brushes with our history increase our love for the Prophet (saws) and his sunnah, help us to better understand who we are, where we came from, and what it means to be a muslim?

Now, that rant aside, via 13 Martyrs, there is some good news:

The Supreme Council for Tourism plans to open a number of museums across the country including an Islamic museum in Makkah, a Qur’an museum in Madinah and a major one in Jeddah.

It is a very welcome development. Awareness both abroad and at home of the country’s heritage and history ranges, with one or two notable exceptions, from poor to abysmal. The consequences of that are seen in the way historic sites have been left to rot or destroyed altogether to make way for the new — with no concern whatsoever for what is being lost. For the past 40 years or so, the past has been studiously ignored. It was perhaps understandable in the rush for development.

…learned about Islam before I met muslims.  It’s a phrase that has become popular among some converts in recent years, and this weekend, it was more evident to me than it has been in a long long time.  I just celebrated another year as a muslim last week, and sometimes, it seems like nothing has changed.

When I began to investigate Islam, I ordered a Quran from half.com.  I picked another up from the local new age store in my town.  I got another free from the Saudi Embassy, and rescued two from the “books we wanted to sell back but the bookstore wouldn’t take them” box at the university bookstore.  I was on a spiritual quest, and knowing some muslims on a social level at school led me to include islam in my search.  I was picking up sacred texts from other religions as well, but there was something unexplainable in the Qur’an that kept leading me back to it, compelling me to aquire as many as I could find.

I branched out, checking out every book on Islam that the university library had to offer.  Farid Esack’s On Being Muslim had a profound impact on me.   I read through every article on the Modern Religion and Islam for Today.

Oh, I interacted with muslims too, mainly online.  But the main push towards my embrace of Islam came not through my conversations with them, but instead came from my reading of the Qur’an.  Here was what I had been looking for.  I lost faith in Christianity after I studied the history of biblical composition my freshman year of college.  I could no longer hold that collection of books as God inspired.  They’d been messed with too much, disperate pieces taken and mashed together, books chosen by a council of men, rather than something given by the son of God. 

In my search, I wanted a text that was revelation, something that was from God and that had been preserved.  I found that in the Qur’an.  Here God had revealed a text to a man who, I would later find, set an excellent example for man’s conduct with one another, with God and with the earth.  That text was memorized and passed down, perfectly preserved until this very day.   Alhamdulilah, thanks be to God, I had found my path!

After I converted, it was a few more months before I had an opportunity to interact with muslims in the real world.  I transfered schools, and while at the summer orientation, I plucked up the courage to visit the islamic center near campus.  I attempted to put a scarf on, akwardly, and walked through the front door.  big.  mistake.  A big burly man with a bushy beard rushed towards me, arms waving, sisters through the back, sisters through the back!

I stumbled out the door, tears clouding my vision.  I made my way around to the back, only to find the sisters door locked.  I sat dejected next to the door until a woman came up and punched in the code – without saying a word to me.  I entered after her, hastily prayed zuhr and got the heck out of dodge.

I’d like to say that this was an isolated incident and that my experiences with muslims from then on only helped to strengthen my iman and help me to learn the deen.  Alas, it was not to be.  Although I’ve had stints of activity in the muslim community, for the most part it’s just been me, my books and the internet.   Oh, and the husband

This past Saturday, a local masjid had it’s grand opening, a whole day of lectures with 20 imams and sheikhs.  The husband and I went about halfway through the day.  I was reluctant to go, as I’d been to the masjid a few months earlier and wasn’t a fan of the sisters’ accomidations – a tiny room in the back, accessable only by going around the back and taking off your shoes in a garage.   Despite my misgivings, I bucked up and went.  MashaAllah, it was both a mistake and a blessing.  Sisters were packed wall to wall, talking and yelling at each other across the room.  I tried to make my way to be near a speaker, but it was hopeless.  I couldn’t hear a word of the lecture.  Some sisters were trying to quiet the others by hssst-ing at them.  Eventually, I got so frustrated, I got up and shouted, sisters, please, please be quiet so we can hear!  Didn’t work.  I left, dejected once more.

I called the husband and told him I was going to sit in the car and wait until he was done eating so we could leave, which I did.  Alhamduililah for my ipod and Sh. Hamza lectures.  At least my time wouldn’t be a total waste.  Just as I settle in, what to I see out my window?  A small somali child, running bare foot up the middle of the road and almost getting run over by a car!  I leapt out of the car and tried to call the child to me, but he ran right past.  I hurried after him (not an easy thing to do in a skirt and clogs), and eventually coaxed him into my arms.  Meanwhile, a guy at the laundrymat had seen the kid run by and had called the police.  I knew the kid was from the mosque, so I sent several sisters who walked by to find his mother while we waited.  5 minutes pass…no one came.  10 minutes pass…no mom.  15 minutes…the policewoman arrives.  I explain that I think I know where the child came from and she says that she’ll walk us over to the mosque to find the child’s mom.

So off we go, child drooling fruit juice all over my shirt, a non muslim man carrying his laundry and a police woman.  As I enter the sister’s section, someone snatches the child from me and runs inside without a word.  Umm, hello?  Don’t you want to know why I have this child?  No thank you?  I ran in after the sister and told her that her brother (still no mom to be found) had almost been run over and that she needs to watch him more carefully.  She looks at me blankly and slips away. 

Now I turn to the brothers doing security outside the masjid and try to explain what had happened and that could they please watch for any children escaping outside?  What did I get?  Yelled at, that’s what.  Dude, I know the sisters need to watch their kids, all I’m asking is that since you’re out here, please just watch for kids, since this one obviously slipped past you and almost became a road pancake.

At this point, I return to the car and call the husband.  The tears begin to flow and he dashes out to find out what happened.  Blubbering, I tell him the story, and he stalks back to the masjid.  A few minutes later he’s back, with the imam of the masjid in tow.  The imam apologizes for the guard’s rude behavior and begs me not to judge the masjid by this one incident.  I try to smile and tell him that inshaAllah I’ll come to another event in the future.

But, deep inside, I know that it will be a long time before that happens.  I don’t blame this masjid.  It’s not their fault.  It’s a general disease infecting our ummah.  Thank God I found Islam before I found muslims.  I can’t imagine if I was a non muslim and had gone to the mosque on Saturday to learn about Islam.  I would have booked it out of there so fast and probably never looked back.  I can’t imagine what the non muslim man who called the police when he saw the child running down the road must think about muslims and Islam.  I know what some non muslims think when they see muslims rioting in the street, burning embassies and commiting acts of terrorism.   

Alhamduililah I found the Messenger of Allah (swt) before I found those who claim to follow his Sunnah.  Thank God I have the life of the beloved Meseenger (saws) to look to when I need a role model in my faith.

Thank God I found the Allah (swt) before I found those who claim to follow Him (swt).  Who knows what I would be now if that had happened?

http://www.funci.org/en/

Definately a worthy place to wile away the hours online.  Their online exhibition of Iraq is particularly awesome.

…two very different faces of the muslim ummah.

Exploring the Status of Muslim Women in Europe

Muslims Increasingly Choose Matrimony Networks

 I’ve only listened to the “behind the wall” story thus far in the European series, but it made me quite sad.  The marriage story, on the other hand, made me smile at the inguinuity of the american muslim community.

 Other NPR stories of note as of late:

‘Muslim Girl’ Magazine Marks One Year in Print

Bangladesh’s Largest Brothel

One of the many awesome things about the growing islamo-blogosphere is that there are bloggers writing from all over the ummah.  Granted, my daily blogstroll is limited to the english writers, but there are plenty of english language bloggers “overseas.”  It helps me get out of my little midwestern muslimah paradigm and feel kinship to my brothers and sisters across the world.

One such blogger I frequent is Nzingha, an expat in Saudi Arabia, who writes with from an insider’s view on the story I mentioned  re: women driving.  Having been close to a few major news stories recently (the I-35W bridge collapse [dude, the bridge connects north and south Minneapolis, NOT Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and since I'm on a tangent, I daily commute across the Saint Paul to Minneapolis bridge, which is thank God, safe and sound] and Keith Ellison getting elected to congress [umm no, there were no jihadists chanting Allahu Akbar, just excited muslims participating in the political system]), I’ve noticed how journalists often twist facts, or just plain get things wrong.  It’s nice to have the perspective of someone close to the story to provide a different point of view.  

Also, I like the list of future headlines she would like to see, which highlight that the talking points so many westerners parrot about the status of women in Islam (omGosh, they can’t drive, they’re forced to cover, poor oppressed women) are not the real issues that muslimahs would like to address.

“Women Can Decide Their Own Medical Care In Saudi Arabia”
“All Saudis Can Choose to Marry Mate From A Different Nationality Without Bribes, Wasta, Or Begging Officials”
“Women Can Choose To Continue Higher Education Without Consent Of Guardian”
“Women Have Better Access To Legal System In Saudi Arabia”
“Women Can Divorce Husbands Without Years Of Wait And Torment”
“Widows Can Marry Without Fear Of Loosing Children”
“Divorced Women Retain Rights In Custody Of Children”
“Children Protective Services Granted Full Legal Authority- Zero Tolerance Of Abuse Initiated”
“All Child Molesters To Be Beheaded- Now Seen Worse Than Drug Traffickers”
“Rape Victims To Receive Respected Care And Protection”

From Lampost Productions via islamica

by Dr. Abdul Hakim Jackson

They came in fact to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal who used to say that if your nose bleeds then you have to renew your wudu. Imam Malik said that if your nose bleeds you do not have to renew your wudu. So they went to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and they said what if you were praying behind somebody and they have a nose bleed and they don’t renew there wudu, do you continue to pray behind them? And Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, “How can I refuse to pray behind somebody like Imam Malik? I have daleel (evidence), he has daleel; I have solid daleel, he has solid daleel.” The companions of the Prophet (s) took different things from him and went out to the various parts of the Muslim world and they taught those different things in those various parts. All of them got what they taught from the Prophet (s) so Imam Malik has his point of view and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal has his point of view. This was the spirit of our pious ancestors, and this is what we have to get back to.

Ah, yes, the insideousness of music, that I still have Clash lyrics running through my head, despite not being a huge fan?  But I digress…

Should I stay on message boards where the scholars I follow and the way I study Islam is banned?  I’m speaking specifically IslamicBoard.com and Islamway Sisters.  I’m shafi’i in my madhab, and potentially shadhili in my tariq, but the scholars I admire (like Sh. Hamza Yusuf and Sh. Nuh Keller) and the websites I rely on (like Sunnipath) are considered sectarian, and therefore are not allowed.

The whole problem with that scheme is that these two forums are in and of themselves sectarian – they promote salafism, but they bury their heads in the sand and refuse to acknowledge this fact.  Sure, they practice Islam, but they approach it in a salafi manner, just as I approach Islam from a shafi’i perspective.

I’m increadibly frustrated at the moment.  On one hand, there’s a lot of dawah opportunities on these sites.  On the other, can I really effectively do dawah if I have one hand tied behind my back?

I just want someplace to hang out online where I can be myself, sigh.

Ya Latif!

We’ll see.  Printed it out to read on the bus ride home (in between the VA Suhba).  It does have quite a variety of high level shayook as signatures.  Can’t comment on the variety, as I’m not too familiar with most of the top salafi scholars today, but all my favorites are there.

 A Common Word Between Us

In recent years, members of our ulema have come out with quite a few statements and declarations that express opinions on living in the west, relationships between muslims and terrorism.   Unfortunately, I can’t see what effect these declarations have on the ummah.

I’ve previously blogged about the Salaam 100, and I’m sure that most blogosphere muslims have read the Amman Message.   On a more recent blog/online oriented level, we have the Sunni Unity Pledge.  These messages are all well and good.  In fact, I whole heartedly agree we should be making statements such as these.  But, what happens after the statement?

 Just today, I stumbled upon the Topkapi Declaration, which was signed last year at a conference attended by some of the biggest names there are – Sh. Ali Gomma, Sh. Qaradawi, Sh. Hamza Yusuf, Sh. Nuh, Sh. bin Bayah, Mufti Ceric, Tariq Ramadan, among others.  How did I find out about this document?  Not in some message board exchange about it’s implications, or even an old blog post.  No, I found it while looking at pictures of the Shayook at the Muslims in Europe conference. 

 We remain committed to working to ensure that the voice of the peaceful majority of Muslims overcomes that of the tiny minority who seek to promote distorted misinterpretations of Islam. We join our voices to those of scholars from across the world to say that we reject the cancer of terrorism. We pray for the guidance of those to whom extremism and violence may seem an attractive route.

Why isn’t this document more widely discussed?  Why haven’t we worked on some way to get this message out in our words and deeds? 

In quasi related news, check out this picture.  So much ilm in such a small space.

The whited out blob is Sh. Nuh, who doesn’t want to be photographed

 Click here to register.

Leaving the Deen by Writeous Sister Speaks

Trouble by Umm Zaid

 I’m floored by both, but I really don’t know what to say, except to make dua to Allah (swt) for guidance.

To watch when I get home – the Sheikh Hamza ISNA speech from which I quoted earlier.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=6621966337406835400" width="400" height="326" wmode="transparent" /]

Via Suhaib Webb

“All of the sectarianism that we see in the Muslim world we know has nothing to do with our religion …. Sectarianism is something that Allah (swt) and his messengers have despised… Hold together to the rope of God… that says that we are brothers. And lets not allow this sectarian poison to come into the American Muslim community…. The people from Al-Maghrib Institute and the Zaytuna institute, let’s put our hands together in an American Islam that recognizes diversity… and if we’re not about this were harming our religion, we’re harming our faith, and in the end we’re disgracing our messenger who came as a mercy to all of mankind.”- Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

Via Tariq Nelson from the LA Times.

 Ah, this brings back memories of my time as an american muslim in Cairo.  Most of them are positive – heck, it’s where I found my husband so that right there is a huge plus.   It wasn’t a muslim utopia, but I did receive a lot of hospitalility.  I did get my fair share of freebies when people found out I was an american convert.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of negatives as well, sadly mainly related to masjids.  I loved going to Al Azhar and praying.  Walking into the wide open courtyard, the cool marble under your bare feet, that is what going to a masjid is suppose to be like.  After prayer, my husband and I settled in at the back of the main section of the masjid and read quran.  Unfortunately, one of the janitors didn’t seem to like the fact that a husband and wife were sitting next to each other in the “men’s” section and shoed us out.  The same janitor then spotted a bunch of western tourists - a mixed group of men and women - and quickly swooped in to offer them a personal tour of the complex, including the very area we had just been booted from.  So, apparently it’s ok for non muslim women to hang out with non muslim men in the men’s section of the masjid, but it’s not ok for married muslims to study qur’an?  Le sigh.

The ritual of my daily blogstroll continues gets longer and longer as the list of blogs I frequent expands. Occasionally I can trim it when a blog goes defunct, but I’m so attached, it’s hard to get rid of someone I’ve been reading for a long time, so my list just continues to grow. Even if someone hasn’t updated for months and months, I still keep them on the list and visit them once a week, hoping for something new.

So, here is a list of the sisters’ blogs I visit, minus the ones that haven’t been updated for awhile. I’m pretty sure these blogs are written by sisters, although there are one or two that I guessed when I categoriesed them. Order isn’t indicative of anything except for the order I added them to my favorites menu.

Sunni Sister
Izzy Mo
SufiStication
JiLbAbBLe
Raising Yousuf, Unplugged
Islamic Fashion
Dervish
Dictator Princess
Hijabi Apprentice
Nzinghas’ Soapbox
Organic Muslimah
Muslim Apple
Travelers on the Path of Knowledge
The Egyptian’s Wife
Southern Muslimah
Warped Galaxies
ALMISKEENAH
Achelois
The Imam’s Daughter
Soliloquies of A Stranger
Inner Reflections Transcribed
All About Marriage and the Search
Through a Muslimah’s Veil
Writeous Sister Speaks
Ginny’s Thoughts & Things
Saudi Stepford Wife
The Muslimah
Koonj: the crane
Tradicionalista
Honorary Arab
Safa
PM’s World

‘Salam 100’ to promote Muslim dialogue with world

AMMAN: Jordan has formed a committee of 100 Muslim scholars to address through dialogue “critical issues” affecting Muslims around the world, a statement said on Saturday.

The committee, called “Salam (peace) 100”, aims to “enable peaceful debate and discussion, using the power of ideas as a means of calming conflict and finding a resolution to problems of the gravest importance.” The statement said controversies such as the 2005 Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), have “exposed the lack of intellectual leadership” in the Muslim world. This “must be addressed with the utmost urgency to prevent further rifts in human understanding. The committee proposes to conquer immediate and future fears and misapprehensions, which are so easily exploited by extremists of every kind.” The committee is headed by the uncle of King Abdullah II, former crown prince Hassan. It groups Muslim figures from around the world, including the director general of the Islamic Organization of Education, Science and Culture, Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, and former Yemeni prime ministers Abdul Karim al-Eryani and Haider Abu Bakr al-Attas.

It pledged to promote “a rational and equitable understanding of hearts and minds”. “We actively seek to address core disputes of international concern, to assuage anger, and to prevent unacceptable provocations”, the statement said. In 2004, Jordan launched an initiative known as the “Amman Message” in a bid to encourage fellow Muslims to reject extremism and embrace tolerance and acceptance.

Sounds promising, but it would appear this group has been around since last May. Why are they taking so dang long to do anything? Urgency? Phhhhh. Where is the flurry of papers, iniatives and plans? Googling “Salam 100″ turns up close to nothing.

From Tariq Nelson – out of control dogma

RIYADH, 6 August 2007 — A new convert to Islam, fired with zeal to do a righteous act, had no idea that he would pay a heavy price for helping a sick woman, one that has landed him 50 days and counting behind bars.

Abu Hurairah, radiyallahu ‘anhu, reported that the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, said:

“Let whosoever believes in Allah and in the Last Day either speak good or be silent. Let whosoever believes in Allah and in the Last Day honour his neighbour. Let whosoever believes in Allah and in the Last Day honour his guest.”
[Al-Bukhari & Muslim]

some commentary on this hadith:

The second part of this hadith stresses on being courteous and generous to our neighbours and guests. This is stated in the Qur’an – Surah An-Nisa’(4): ayat 36: “…do good to parents, relatives, orphans, the poor, the neighbour who is near of kin, the neighbour who is a stranger, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (you meet), and those (slaves) whom your right hand possess.”

In one hadith, the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, said: “Jibril kept advising me concerning the neighbour to the point that I thought that he would inherit from his neighbour.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

In another hadith [also recorded by Al-Bukhari and Muslim], it is stated: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should not harm his neighbour.”

Another hadith records the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, as saying that the person who does not have complete faith (iman) is the one from whose affairs the neighbour is not safe. Al-Bukhari and Muslim also records another hadith which states that when you cook stew, you should add a little bit more water and give some to your neighbours. This sharing of food between neighbours can strengthen the relationships between them. We should be nice to our neighbours and share our food even if they are not Muslims.

Does anyone else want to cry when they read stories about the sorry state our ummah is in? My mind keeps wondering why doesn’t somebody do something? Then I remember – I am somebody. Guess that means I should be the one to do something.

The husband and I were talking last night about our future plans inshaAllah. He’d like to be a da’ee and write a best selling book about muslims. He then wondered about how to get on tv shows and I told him that writers do that for free to promote their books, but if Jon Stewart invited him to be on the Daily Show, he should say that he would only come on if his wife could meet Jon, ha. My husband responded – of course, he’ll be happy to meet you. Why, I ask. Because you’re going to be a famous moderate muslim of course, and he’ll want you to be on to talk about Islam. We’ll be a team, like Madam Curie and her husband.

Now, all my issues about the term moderate muslim aside, his faith in me and what I could do with my life is increadibly uplifting. Alhamdulilah for my husband. Now I just have to figure out how I can go about being somebody and change the ummah.

*off topic rant before the thread – stupid blogger, won’t do the spacing I ask for @#$!@#^@#$#$#*

Every Ramadan, I troll the yahoo news pictures, and become engrossed in pictures of the ummah fasting and celebrating. This has become a habits out of longing for a community to belong to. I’ve been muslim for nearly 5 years now, and still haven’t had muslim community to call home. I converted by myself at University. It took me 2 weeks to work up the courage to say salaams to a girl in my class who was muslim. Then I transferred to another school. It took me 6 months to work up the courage to start going to MSA events. I had quite a few muslim aquiantences in college, and a few sisters who I thought were real friends, but alas, those friends were apparently superficial and didn’t survive past graduation.