♥ A Muslimah's Life ♥

Haven't Blogged FOREVER

2011-10-01T06:07:00.002-04:00

So I haven't blogged for so long I don't remember the last post. But I logged in here after what feels like ages and I have several messages.... again.... from girls asking me how they can marry their Saudi boyfriend, how they can visit Saudi Arabia, how do they know their Saudi boyfriend is serious, will their Saudi boyfriend ever marry them.... etc., etc. So I'm going to respond to your questions in a post here and inshallah this will clear everything up for you.

To get this started, here are some things you should be on the look out for... BIG. RED. FLAGS:

(1) Your Saudi boyfriend is your boyfriend: Girls, dating is completely forbidden in Islam. In case you don't know this Islam is likely to be one of the most crucial parts of his life. Therefor, he takes is very seriously despite his engaging in forbidden relations. However, if he is serious about you and sees a future with you, he will not be dating you, he will be taking the necessary steps to MARRY you.

(2) You Saudi boyfriend introduces you and allows you to "hang out" with his friends: If you were his Saudi fiancee or his Saudi wife, he would be mortified to have his friends even see you let alone spend time with you, talking with you, socializing, etc. This is a sign that he doesn't take his relationship with you seriously and he doesn't see you as potential wife material. Have you ever met a Saudi woman? Where did you see her? In a man's house? No. In a club? No. Hanging out with guys? No. You probably met her or saw her on school campus, in a mosque, or at home. So where do you think your Saudi would expect his future wife to be?

(3) You Saudi invites you out for a night on the town full of his favorite clubs and shots of his liquor of choice: Do I really need to explain this? He would never EVER under any circumstances be ok with someone who may one day be his wife behaving in such shameful acts. n-e-v-e-r.

(4) You have a physical relationship with a Saudi: Virginity is highly prized in the Islamic world for women. They even sometimes go to great lengths to prove their virginity by ensuring they bleed on the sheets on their wedding night. I'm not joking. I don't think this needs further explanation.

(5) Your Saudi wants to marry you, but refuses to tell his family about you: Don't do it girl! you will regret it. Perhaps he wants to marry you to legitimize his physical relationship with you and this is the only way. Or perhaps he truly loves you and wants to marry you, but unless he is strong enough to stand up to his family BEFORE you marry him, then he will never have the backbone to do it later giving excuse after excuse for to delay it... in the end he returns to Saudi Arabia... without you.

(6) Your Saudi wants to marry you, but hasn't shared some vital information such as: Saudis must have governmental permission to marry foreigners which is rarely rarely granted. This process is extremely difficult and long and usually requires an exorbitantly expensive bribe to get it. If he is a student, be aware that he signed a contract agreeing that he would not marry while he was on a scholarship or he would get his scholarship revoked. True story. Didn't know that? Think about the possible reasons why.

(7) Your Saudi allows you and/or encourages you to make youtube videos dancing and bouncing around dressing up in his schmagh and igal and even offers translation services: Do you think he would allow his Saudi wife to do the same?

(8) Your Saudi says nothing to you when you wear your favorite short shorts and midriff baring spaghetti strap tank top: Have you ever seen a Saudi woman? Have you ever familiarized yourself with Islamic dress requirements? More likely then not, when you see a Saudi woman, she will be covered from head to toe wearing an abaya or an outergarment that is both modest and classy. Short shorts and tanks don't count and if your flesh baring doesn't bother him, it's likely because again he doesn't find this relationship to have permanence potential.

(9) You've dated several Saudis: HUGE problem. The extremely large majority of Saudi men will NEVER take a wife who has previous relationships with other Saudis for his first marriage.

Some info for you: Last time I looked into this (last year), there were roughly 40,000 Saudi students currently in the US. About 32,000 are single unmarried men. The vast majority of them date American women while here on scholarship. Of those 32,000 eligible bachelor Saudis, it is estimated that only about 150 of them actually married their American girlfriend. That's 0.005% if you're doing the math.

If you even want a chance to marry your Saudi boyfriend, then you must make yourself marriage material. And then it's up to the lottery odds of 0.005% from there. Good luck.

The Driving Debacle

2011-04-04T01:53:00.002-04:00

I have been an advocate for Saudi women getting the right to drive... until now. Not that I rescind my support by any means, but the article below is very telling of the trials that Saudi women must face which make driving seem so insignificant. I can see how beneficial it would be to allow them to get to school, work, shopping, family, etc. but at the same time, the limits that exist make it seem like there are bigger fish to fry before Saudi women can truly live as productive members of society. I would love to see the day a Saudi women holds in her hot little hands a driver's license, but I would love more to see them not have to tackle the ridiculous hurdles of their lives.

By SOMAYYA JABARTI | ARAB NEWS

Imagine if women could drive

Dropped off children at school, did some grocery shopping and now heading to work.

It’s the end of the week, so much to do and so little time to do it in. Today’s TO-DO list:

1. Police station,

2. Passport, department,

3. Bank,

5. Beach resort, boat and jet-ski rental and reservation.

First things first: The police station.

“Salam aleikum, I’m Muna Ahmad, lawyer of Laila Ibrahim who ran a red light,” the uniformed man did not flinch.

I continued, “She completed the consequential one night in jail and here’s the fine payment so she’s free to go.”

Still, silence.

“Excuse me, I’m talking to you.”

“Where is he?” he barked.

“Where is who?” I replied.

“Her ‘wali amr’ (legal male guardian)?”

“I’m her lawyer,” I said handing him a copy of my license.

“Even if you were her mother. If there’s no legal male guardian, then she stays jailed,” he spat without even looking up.

“But she’s done the time,” I argued.

“She’ll do more time until her legal male guardian comes for her. Go complain to a qadi (judge) if you don’t like it.”

Drove to court. Bribed the court’s entry points and approached the judge.

“Sheikh Saeed, I need a court order because my client’s being illegally kept beyond her due time.”

The judge turned to the clerk/plaintiff. “Tell the woman to cover her face!”

“Cover your face woman!” ordered the clerk.

Fine. Face covered, I stated my case again.

“Tell her a woman’s voice should not be heard,” said the judge to the clerk.

Having had enough, face still covered I walked up to the judge and placed my client’s papers in front of him.

“Step back!” shouted the judge. “How dare you trespass God’s boundaries and approach me!”

“Women spoke directly to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and to the caliphs,” I retorted. “Surely, what of their abidance by God’s laws? Or are you better?”

I was shouted out and forcefully removed from court.

“Anyway, women — lawyer or not — are not allowed in here!” were the clerk’s last words.

Fuming, I drove to the Passport Department to renew my passport.

“Where is your legal male guardian?” asked the employee.

“It’s just for passport renewal, not a first time,” I replied.

“Where and who do you think you are?” said the employee. “Where’s the man responsible for you? No husband? Then get your brother, son, father or uncle.”

“But I’ve a national ID,” I said.

“Doesn’t matter,” he replied. “You can’t issue or renew any passport. Only a man can.”

Unbelievable. Blood pressure is a few degrees higher.

On the way to the bank, I received a call from my friend Sarah, in Bahrain for basic lingerie shopping where women work in such departments. Sarah, like many women avoid the local shops where only salesmen are allowed to work. A salesman can size you up (& down), even discuss in-depth, the best lace, the best silk and the best shades. She’d missed her flight back and asked if I could cross the bridge and pick her up?

“Can’t,” was my answer. “My passport’s expired. No passport means no male guardian travel-consent paper.”

At the bank, my 17-year-old daughter wants to open a bank account for her savings.

“I’m sorry you can’t,” apologized the employee. “As a minor only her legal male guardian can.”

“But I’m also her parent, here’s the form verifying my employment status and I’m an old client here!” I said.

“Doesn’t matter. For a minor, the legal male guardian needs to come with the required paperwork,” she replied. “If he’s self-employed, he needs to bring a chamber of commerce license. If not, he should bring an employment status verification paper from the company he works for.”

“And what if he’s unemployed?” I asked.

“Then that’s it,” the employee answered.

“I pay her school tuition fees, save for her university education, buy her clothing, accessories, pay her allowance, pay for her leisure activities, travel expenses, tickets, mobile bills — all that counts for nothing? On what basis?” I asked.

“Wallahi (I swear), it’s not the bank but SAMA policy”, she replied.

Blood rising to a boil, my disappointed daughter (and savings) and I returned to the car and drove out to an Obhur beach resort for the weekend. It will be therapeutic after such a day.

“Can I help you?” the receptionist cordially asked.

“We’re here for the weekend, two nights”, I said.

“Is your legal male guardian with you?”

“No, only the two of us”, I answered.

“Your legal male guardian has to sign the required forms, in person,” he said.

“But I’m paying,” I said.

“Doesn’t matter,” he answered.

“OK then, we’d like a boat ride and to rent a jet ski,” I said.

“With a ‘mahram’ (male guardian again)?” he asked.

“I told you, just us two,” I retorted.

“Sorry madam, you can’t.” Absolutely livid, we drove back home.

So let me get this straight:

Only a man can bail a woman out of jail regardless of time served or paid fines.

Only a man can speak to and be seen by a judge.

Only a man can practice law.

Only a man can sell women’s lingerie.

Only a man can open a bank account for his child.

Only a man can check into a beach resort (regardless if the fact that women can check into hotels).

Only a man can rent a boat (ride) or jet-ski (in person or on paper).

Only a man can facilitate a woman’s traveling (in person or on paper).

BUT I’m allowed to drive? Must be a toy car, the wheel merely a pacifier?

All of the above is FACT. The only fiction is driving.

What illusive independence!

Adults are we?

Driving: What is our God-given right and due?

Mothers. Wives. Daughters. Sisters. Doctors. Educators. Writers. Researchers. Scientists. Journalists. Marketers. Bankers. Nurses. Financial analysts. Therapists. Architects. Lawyers. Pilots. Students. Designers. Mathematicians. Entrepreneurs. Businesswomen.

What were their words? “Doesn’t matter”.

Says man.

Not God.

Palestinian Oppression Versus South African Apartheid

2011-03-09T18:02:00.002-05:00

Comparing Israeli Oppression with South African Apartheid
an expert report by Anthony Loewstedt

Anthony Loewstedt is a Doctor of Philosophy and a teacher at Vienna’s Webster University. He recently came to Palestine on a six month mission to work for MIFTAH – The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, and taught at Bir Zeit University. Dr. Loewstedt is currently writing a book comparing the apartheid rule in South Africa, Greco-Roman Egypt and Palestine-Israel.

THE ISRAELI oppression of Palestinians needs to be better understood. Perhaps understanding and explaining it is not absolutely necessary in order to defeat it, but very likely will help, so that appropriate and successful strategies of resistance and liberation can be developed and implemented, and, moreover, so that similar systems of oppression may be defeated or stopped sooner and more easily in the future.

Although it has by necessity unique features, one way to understand it better is to compare Israeli oppressive behavior with others. The most frequent object of comparison so far has no doubt been South Africa during the apartheid era. I will attempt to argue here that this is indeed a fruitful comparison, although it has important limitations, and that the comparison cannot be reduced to a single dimension of measurable oppression.

Similarities
In both Israel and South Africa, outside invaders came and claimed the country as theirs, defining themselves in ethnic terms, whilst ignoring or silencing the protests of the indigenous populations as well as those of the international community and of a small, marginalized minority within their own ethnic group.

But instead of killing most of the indigenous people, as Europeans had done previously in the Americas as well as in the southern Pacific including Australia and elsewhere, both Israeli Jews and South African whites left most of the original population alive. In order to be able to pay lip service to an increasingly dominant global ideal of nation-state democracies, they instead expelled a majority of the indigenous people or attempted to surround and lock them up in ‘Bantustans’, nominally independent yet crucially weak polities. Along with this expulsion policy – which included some very insidious techniques of encouraging ‘voluntary’ emigration, such as racially discriminatory laws and practices – came an ethnically selective and intensely racist immigration policy.

In these ways attempts were made to secure Jewish and white majorities in the states of Israel and South Africa. The white South Africans failed while Israel has succeeded so far in achieving this, although the prospects of securing such a majority seem doomed to fail in the long run. There are in fact many more similarities, but I will stop here for reasons of brevity.

Differences
Attempts are often made by comparative analysts to estimate the severity of oppression. On a macro-level, genocide is usually, and with good reason, considered worse than apartheid, but apartheid is also considered more severe than colonialism. Here can be seen one of the limits of the Israel-South Africa comparison. Israel is on the verge of achieving a kind of ethnic cleansing that borders on genocide. If it achieves a few additional mass killings combined with further emigration and fragmentation of the Palestinian people, it will effectively end its apartheid project and turn it into genocide. Today there are twice as many Palestinians (including refugees) as there are Israeli Jews, but that may still change.

Another limit to the comparison is that while a combination of black South African demographic growth, non-violent as well as armed resistance, and boycotts, divestment and sanctions by the international community along with the demands of the global market eventually brought down apartheid in South Africa, this cocktail of strategies and developments may yet fail in Israel.

On the other hand, there are today partially new contexts of international law, which may prove to be excellent strategies against Israeli oppression. One is the European Union (EU), to which Israel wants to belong. It is not yet as close to EU membership as Turkey is, but Turkey had to start relaxing its oppression of indigenous Kurds to get as close to membership as it is now. The EU can be expected to demand a corresponding end to discrimination against Palestinians from Israel as a prerequisite to EU membership.

Secondly, the new International Criminal Court (ICC) classifies apartheid as a crime against humanity, and this aspect of globalization may yet catch up with Israel, which has opted out of the ICC along with other rogue states, including Israel’s staunchest ally the US, that do not wish to be subject to humanitarian values and jurisdiction. Some of these factors may change. The US was also a keen ally of apartheid South Africa’s, but only until its usefulness as an anti-Communist regional power had been made redundant by the end of the Cold War.

If resistance against apartheid is divided up according to the traditional three pillars of state power – executive, judicial, and legislative – along with the business and mass media sectors (as the two pillars French liberal political philosopher and one of the founders of modern political thought Charles de Montesquieu never posited), then Palestine may be more successful with partly different transnational judicial measures than South Africa was, simply because Palestine and its international allies have new judicial instruments that black South Africans did not have at their disposal.

But resistance against Israeli oppression does not look likely to be successful in the realms of the mass media, the bulk of which are owned or at least heavily influenced by Israeli allies and sympathizers. Business powers may be slightly more dismayed by Israel’s many obstacles to free trade, such as closures, curfews, censorship, walls and other Israeli disturbances to the free flow of goods, labor, and information that globalized capital needs. But the Palestinian markets are marginalized and tiny, even compared to the black South African markets, which included nearly 40 million potential consumers and laborers, eight times as many as the Palestinians that remain in Palestine.

With respect to executive power, Palestinians are as weak as the South African blacks who also faced a formidable military power that wielded an ABC (atomic, biological, chemical) arsenal along with other state-of-the-art military technology. Indeed, Israel and apartheid South Africa developed their weapons together. As in South Africa, non-violent resistance against Israeli oppression is by far more actively employed than violent measures, but with an equally unsure outcome. Although international sanctions and other aspects of international law played an important role in the demise of South African apartheid, I believe the role of international law will be even more important in order to defeat Israeli oppression of Palestinians.

Excellent article by a Christian Professor of Theology at Boston University

2011-03-09T17:58:00.003-05:00

Protection Versus Oppression: Can Israel and Palestine Co-Exist?
By Karen L. Hernandez-Andrews

From March 17 – April 1, 2009, I was in the West Bank and Israel with a peacemaking delegation from Christian Peacemaker Teams. There, I witnessed first hand, not only the efforts on the ground to better the lives of the Palestinians, but also, the oppression faced by Palestinians on a daily basis. From check point after check point, to increasing numbers of Settlers taking over Palestinian land, to the Security wall (which is about 60% finished), to the fact that it can take a Palestinian more than four hours to drive to their final destination, when that same distance would take an Israeli an hour or less because they can drive on “clean roads” – the oppression is obvious, apparent and blatant. On the other side, Israel’s need to protect itself is understandable, and in fact, with the many check points, and the security wall, suicide bombings have dropped dramatically. Where, then, is the happy medium? Where does the need to protect turn into oppression so severe that people are literally dying? How can a society protect themselves and at the same time, not oppress? More, how can people learn that the right to protection does not mean that it is alright to hurt people in the process? The ultimate idea to ponder then is, Protection versus Oppression: How can Israel and Palestine Co-Exist?

This is of course a question that is asked every day, around the world. As I walked through the streets of Hebron, where fanatical Jewish settlers are taking over the old city, or when I stood next to the separation wall, knowing that on the other side, less than six feet from me, was a family whose livelihood is literally cut off from the rest of the world; or as I watched Israeli soldiers escort children from the village of Tuba to the village of At Tuwani, because if they don’t, the nearby extremist Jewish adult settlers who live on the Ma’on Settlement will attack the children as they have done before (and actually just did once again on April 6) — I asked this question.

As I sat in Sderot eating lunch and a “color red” occurred, when I had to run and take cover because a rocket was on its way over to somewhere in the vicinity, I asked this question. Sderot, about a mile away from Gaza, is ravaged by Qassams from Hamas and Hamas wannabes, and has been for the last eight years. I spoke to several people in this small city of 20,000, all of whom have some sort of bomb shelter in or near their home, who put their children to sleep in the bomb shelters, who have just built a new playground with a bomb shelter, whose theatre and indoor sports arena are rocket proof, whose schools have been fortified, and where all the bus stops have been turned into bomb shelters. As I heard stories of the way people live in Sderot — I asked this question.

As I sat in the taxi on the way to Nablus and waited in line at a rotary, because the settlers in the area had the right of way in to and out of the rotary, before any and all Arabs; as I stood and looked over eighty homes that were scheduled for demolition in Jerusalem; as I listened to people’s stories who live in the Dheisheh Refugee Camp and heard about how their family and friends were killed in the Intifada, and as I watched children who were the third generation to be born there, playing around us; as I walked through the streets of Hebron and noted the over five-hundred businesses out of the seven-hundred business that are now closed due to the violent conditions of the city — I asked this question. When the Muhammad Ali Hospital director in Hebron told us that it takes two hours to get a permit for a Palestinian to go to Jerusalem for emergency care, (and Jerusalem is about 40 minutes away) — I asked this question.

When several of us went to the Jewish side of the Ibrihimi Holy Temple/Mosque, and they asked all of us if we were Muslim or Christian — I asked this question. If we would have been Muslim, they would not have let us in. When I saw a sign that basically said that Jews are not allowed to pray at the Temple Mount, because as of right now, the site is Islamic — I asked this question. As Israeli soldiers pointed their guns at unarmed Palestinian women at a Mother’s Day celebration and demonstration against the security wall — I asked this question. As I stood on the roof of Wi’am, an organization in Bethlehem that works to educate about the Palestinian plight, and stared at yet another illegal Jewish settlement — I asked this question.

Is this protection? It may be, but it is also oppression. Just last week, Israel closed all entrances in to Jerusalem to Palestinians who have a work permit to get into the city because of Passover – this is to stop any violence during the holiday. This means that these Palestinians cannot work, therefore do not get paid for ten days, and hence, cannot provide for their families. Protection versus Oppression: How can Israel and Palestine Co-Exist? I wish I knew the answer, but right now, all I have are more questions. Indeed, Israel has the right to defend itself and to keep their society safe, but I must ask, at what price? With whose lives? By what standards? In what means? The Palestinians are suffering horribly. It is time for Israel to reexamine their policies, make them more humane, work with Palestinian leaders and come to some semblance of understanding and coexistence. For everyone’s sake.

SICK. SICK. SICK.

2011-03-04T00:57:00.003-05:00

A recent fundraising event that a group of Muslims organized and attended in Orange County, California drew about 250 anti-Islamic protesters. It's no surprise that the event was sponsored by the likes of Pamela Gellar and Robert Spencer, but it is shocking that the Islamophobic rally was attended by actual politically elected representatives. The protesters were ruthless even with little children present. It's heart wrenching. I don't know whether to feel sorry for them for the intensity of their hate or cry for the Muslim parents who have to explain this to their confused children.

The Saudi Royal Welfare Program

2011-03-04T00:48:00.002-05:00

Now I've had an idea about this program, but had no idea the extent to which it goes. Anyone with links or knowledge about Saudi Arabia has heard of the spoiled royals and the privileges of the royal family... down the farthest distance royal from the king. I had no idea the extremism of the program and the amount of squandering that the royal family does. (Please god don't let my blog get blocked in KSA for this lol). If it does, someone send me a quick email and tell me so I can fix it.

Read all about it HERE.

VERY Interesting Article about the History of Saudi-American Relations and More

2011-03-04T00:46:00.002-05:00

Read it HERE. Very cool read for those interested in little known facts that bring current events to brighter light.

More Inconvenient Truth

2011-03-03T16:46:00.003-05:00

I don't know about any other Muslimah's out there, but one of the very first questions I am asked by non-Muslims is about the treatment of women in Islam. I have an arsenal of information to give them on this subject, but it made me wonder what e-x-a-c-t-l-y the Bible says about women and violence and all of the other things I am peppered with by curious individuals. Coming from a Christian background as I was growing up and being exposed to Christianity my entire life, I was kind of surprised at myself for not already knowing this. Despite this, I set out on a mission to find the same kind of information in the Bible that sparks questions to me as a Muslim. So, without further ado, here is some of what I found:

Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.
-- I Corinthians 14:34-35

Have you allowed all the women to live?" he [Moses] asked them.... "Now ... kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man."
-- Numbers 31:1-18

Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod [sceptre], he shall not die.
-- Proverbs 23:13

If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son ... Then shall his father and his mother ... bring him out unto the elders of his city ... And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die.
-- Deuteronomy 21:18-21

... all who are under the yoke of slavery ... who have believing masters ... must serve all the better since those who benefit by their service are believers and beloved. Teach and urge these duties. If any one teaches otherwise ... he is puffed up with conceit, he knows nothing; he has a morbid craving for controversy..., which produce envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions, and wrangling among men who are depraved in mind...
-- I Timothy 6:1-5

... thou shalt take an [awl], and thrust it through his ear..., and he shall be thy servant for ever.
-- Deuteronomy 15:17

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother... - said Jesus
-- Matthew 10:34-35

Now of course, many Christians will say something to effect of "we don't practice those barbaric dark ages practices anymore because we are civilized". However, there becomes a fundamental difference between Christians and Muslims; Muslims have never attempted to change the word of God and Christians pick and choose what they agree with or not and dispose of the rest as being "outdated". Thoughts?

EXCUSE ME!!?!!

2011-02-28T00:38:00.002-05:00

In the Saudi Gazette, the headline read, "Girl gets a year in jail, 100 lases for adultery". Upon closer inspection, the details emerge. Read this:

By Adnan Shabrawi

JEDDAH – A 23-year-old unmarried woman was awarded one-year prison term and 100 lashes for committing adultery and trying to abort the resultant fetus. The District Court in Jeddah pronounced the verdict on Saturday after the girl confessed that she had a forced sexual intercourse with a man who had offered her a ride. The man, the girl confessed, took her to a rest house, east of Jeddah, where he and four of friends assaulted her all night long. The girl claimed that she became pregnant soon after and went to King Fahd Hospital for Armed Forces in an attempt to carry out an abortion. She was eight weeks’ pregnant then, the hospital confirmed. According to the ruling, the woman will be sent to a jail outside Jeddah to spend her time and will be lashed after delivery of her baby who will take the mother’s last name. – Okaz/SG __

Honestly, the girl made a very unwise choice to accept a ride from an unknown man, HOWEVER, she was raped!! How can the authorities punish her for something against her will!? If they must punish her, punish her for getting into the man's car who was obviously not her mahram (Saudi rules here... still wouldn't agree to it, but they are quite persistent in these matters), but to punish her for being raped and impregnated, that is simple appalling and downright shameful.

A Saudi Prince's Plea for Reform

2011-02-26T04:31:00.003-05:00

By Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud
New York Times
February 24, 2011

THE toppling of the heads of state of Egypt and Tunisia on the heels of huge demonstrations there, and the subsequent manifestations of public unrest in Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Libya, Morocco and Yemen, have generated a wide range of opinion on the root causes of those events. Some analysts see the protests as a natural outcome of the policies of autocratic regimes that had become oblivious to the need for fundamental political reform, while others view them as the inevitable product of dire economic and social problems that for decades have been afflicting much of the Arab world, most particularly its young.

In either case, unless many Arab governments adopt radically different policies, their countries will very likely experience more political and civil unrest. The facts are undeniable:

The majority of the Arab population is under 25, and the unemployment rate for young adults is in most countries 20 percent or more. Unemployment is even higher among women, who are economically and socially marginalized. The middle classes are being pushed down by inflation, which makes a stable standard of living seem an unattainable hope. The gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening. The basic needs for housing, health care and education are not being met for millions.

Moreover, Arab countries have been burdened by political systems that have become outmoded and brittle. Their leaderships are tied to patterns of governance that have become irrelevant and ineffective. Decision-making is invariably confined to small circles, with the outcomes largely intended to serve special and self-serving interests. Political participation is often denied, truncated and manipulated to ensure elections that perpetuate one-party rule.

Disheartening as this Arab condition may be, reforming it is neither impossible nor too late. Other societies that were afflicted with similar maladies have managed to restore themselves to health. But we can succeed only if we open our systems to greater political participation, accountability, increased transparency and the empowerment of women as well as youth. The pressing issues of poverty, illiteracy, education and unemployment have to be fully addressed. Initiatives just announced in my country, Saudi Arabia, by King Abdullah are a step in the right direction, but they are only the beginning of a longer journey to broader participation, especially by the younger generation.

The lesson to be learned from the Tunisian, Egyptian and other upheavals — which, it is important to note, were not animated by anti-American fervor or by extremist Islamic zeal — is that Arab governments can no longer afford to take their populations for granted, or to assume that they will remain static and subdued. Nor can the soothing instruments of yesteryear, which were meant to appease, serve any longer as substitutes for meaningful reform. The winds of change are blowing across our region with force, and it would be folly to suppose that they will soon dissipate.

For any reform to be effective, however, it has to be the result of meaningful interaction and dialogue among the different components of a society, most particularly between the rulers and the ruled. It also has to encompass the younger generation, which in this technologically advanced age has become increasingly intertwined with its counterparts in other parts of the world.

Exclusion can no longer work. This admonishment was most forcefully and unabashedly expressed by no less a personage of an earlier generation than my father, Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz, in a recent television interview.

Social and political change is invariably turbulent, painful and unpredictable. But the Arab world has an abundance of resources, natural and otherwise, that transcend oil. Most important, it has a substantial reservoir of talent that can be enlisted in the creation of a vibrant social and economic order that would enable Arab countries to join the ranks of those nations that have within a few decades propelled themselves out of underdevelopment, stagnation and poverty. But that can be achieved only if the will to reform is unwavering, enduring and sincere.

Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, a grandson of the founding king of modern Saudi Arabia, is the chairman of the Kingdom Holding Company and the Alwaleed bin Talal Foundations.

Israel's Public Relations Offensive

2011-02-24T01:45:00.002-05:00

In an attempt to prove that they are not the evil, oppressing, hateful regime that the world knows it is, Israel is attempting to make themselves look like saviors. Watch this report from Aljazeera. Despite every human rights organization and the U.N.'s research, Israel claims that the aid that so many are trying to get into Gaza via flotilla, etc. is simply not needed; that the Gazans lead a peaceful life complete with 5 star restaurants and an over-abundance of food. Riiiiiiiiiiiiight. Well then we can all sleep sound at night know that the heroic Israeli regime is looking after the needs of the people of Gaza. More smoke blowing.

Tennessee bill would jail Shariah followers - Includes acts of evil such as prayer and making wudo!

2011-02-23T19:44:00.004-05:00

A proposed Tennessee law would make following the Islamic code known as Shariah law a felony, punishable by 15 years in jail.

State Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, and state Rep. Judd Matheny, R-Tullahoma, introduced the same bill in the Senate and House last week. It calls Shariah law a danger to homeland security and gives the attorney general authority to investigate complaints and decide who's practicing it.

It exempts peaceful practice of Islam but labels any adherence to Shariah law — which includes religious practices such as feet washing and prayers — as treasonous. It claims Shariah adherents want to replace the Constitution with their religious law.

A dozen other states are considering anti-Shariah bills, and there's a federal lawsuit in Oklahoma over one.

Imam Mohamed Ahmed of the Islamic Center of Nashville on 12th Avenue South said Islam teaches its followers to obey the law of the land. Shariah law, he said, teaches moral values.

"What do you mean, really, by saying I can't abide by Shariah law?" he said. "Shariah law is telling me don't steal. Do you want me to steal and rob a bank?"

The Attorney General's Office had no comment.

It is unclear whether the bill will go before lawmakers in its current form. The measure was filed Thursday to beat the deadline to introduce bills for the current session, Matheny said. It has not been assigned to a committee.

Changes considered

Matheny, the House speaker pro tempore, said he is concerned that aspects of Shariah law might conflict with the U.S. Constitution, but he does not intend to criminalize practices such as the preparations for prayer or dietary rules. He said he would consider amending the bill before asking the legislature to consider it.

"I'm still researching it," he said. "My intent is to educate and to look at it."

Most anti-Shariah bills in other states would ban courts from citing Shariah law. Oklahoma voters approved a referendum in November that banned state courts from using Shariah law in their rulings. A federal judge blocked the Oklahoma law from being implemented, pending a federal lawsuit claiming it is unconstitutional.

The Tennessee bill goes further by proposing criminal penalties for following Shariah. Matheny said the bill was model legislation, given to him by the Tennessee Eagle Forum, a conservative advocacy group.

Bobbie Patray, state president of the Eagle Forum, confirmed that the law had been drafted by David Yerushalmi, a Chandler, Ariz.-based attorney. Yerushalmi runs the Society of Americans for National Existence, a nonprofit that says following Shariah is treasonous.

He also has close ties to Frank Gaffney, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Security and Policy a key witness for the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against a mosque being built in Murfreesboro.

Backers, critics sound off

Rebecca Bynum, editor of the New English Review, a Nashville-based website that is critical of Islam, supports the bill.

"I applaud Senator Ketron for his effort to protect the citizens of Tennessee from the real and present danger presented by Shari'a and for the deep knowledge and thoughtful consideration that produced this bill," she wrote in an e-mail. "Even if this bill does not pass, it will have done our citizens a great service by provoking informed discussion of this issue."

Charles Haynes, a senior scholar with the First Amendment Center in Nashville, disagrees. He said the bill is based on a complete misunderstanding of Shariah law, which he described as a set of voluntary religious rules, similar to Catholic canon law or Jewish religious law.

The bill is wrongheaded, he said.

"It's complete nonsense," he said.

The bill also is unnecessary, Haynes said, because people of all faiths have to follow secular law.

"Civil law and the Constitution of the United States trumps religious law," he said. "The government can't label religious laws as wrong or treasonous or evil. The government may not take sides in religion. It may not say what is a good religion or a bad religion."

Selah Sbenaty, a member of the Islamic Center of Murfreesbodo, said state legislators have bigger problems to worry about than Shariah law. He wishes they would spend more time trying to fix the state's economy and less time worrying about Islam.

"I believe this bill is a waste of our tax dollars, and I am sure the bill will not pass," he said. "The people of Tennessee are good, loving, hospitable, and do not tolerate bigotry."

The bill is SB1028 in the Senate and HB 1353 in the House.

Article from The Tennesseean.

The World is Changing Before Our Very Eyes

2011-02-21T17:50:00.003-05:00

You'd have to live in your own personal world to have missed any of the incredible events unfolding all over the Middle East and North Africa. Historical changes are happening as I write. Tunisia ousted their leader and Egypt was quick to follow by booting Hosni Mubarak. Protests and demonstrations have been sweeping across the vast region since a young man set himself in fire in Tunisia in protest of the government seizing his food cart and only source of income. Economic conditions, slave wages, incredible high unemployment, and inequality have finally come to a head and the response has been amazing.

Let me for a moment play the devil's advocate. Don't get me wrong, I strongly stand behind the will of the people and support them in their struggles against corruption and inequality. However, the democracy they seek is not going to fall into their laps. Power struggles are inevitable as corruption and bribery will likely show their dirty faces in any elections and governmental reorganizations. Look at Iraq, for example. The United States has been attempting to make a democracy out of Iraq for y-e-a-r-s and there is still widespread corruption, oppression, voting fraud, and wars between factions and people for power. So, now that they're gone Tunisia and Egypt (and hopefully Libya soon because seriously, there are few people in this world that I have encountered that are as unstable and just plain weird than Gadhafi)? Look what Americans had to go through for exactly what you're asking for. Wars. Death. I fear for the people of these countries. Not because those puppets are gone, but because of what lies ahead. Many people will unlikely be alive when the goals of the people are accomplished whether they die from time or by the hands of conflict.

I pray for the safety and success of the people of these countries inshallah that their path is not one that harms them more than it helps them. Allah kareem.

Why won't this guy just give it up already!!

2011-02-10T17:49:00.002-05:00

I have refrained from posting about the chaos in Egypt up until now as I waited for some kind of resolution to come about, but things have been basically stalemate for 2 weeks now. I am fully in support of the Egyptian people's will that Mubarak finally step down and I am also in support of their continued persistence.

The entire world has been waiting to see what Mubarak will do next. Rumored to be finally resigning his post, his speech a few hours ago shocked many Egyptians as HE REFUSES TO STEP DOWN! More ludicrously, he claims that he will not obey orders from outside of Egypt. Ummm, HELLO Mubarak! It's your own people on your own front lawn who are ordering you. His attempts at blaming this chaos on western powers are believed by no one but himself, of course, and I doubt he believes himself.

I am afraid this will lead only to escalation. Perhaps the army will turn on him and take matters into their own hands. Protesters have told reporters that there has been talk of storming the presidential palace.... surely at the cost of more lives.

If Mubarak were a real leader (and we all know he is only a selfish, cunning man who drives his people and his country into the ground as he sits on his $70 billion fortune), he would in the very least be able to see that he is the one out of options and that in order to preserve the country he claims to care about, he has no choice but to bow to the people's demands. Give it up already. You're making a fool of yourself.

The Procrastinator That Lurks Inside Me

2011-02-05T23:01:00.005-05:00

I'm a writer. That's what I do. Professionally even. However, the one thing I should be doing is the one thing I just can't bring myself to do. I was the same way all throughout college and now grad school. Can anyone relate? There is an essay... due tomorrow... requires a lot of research... have known about it for 3 weeks... it's my paycheck even when I finish it for pete's sake... and I haven't even started. In fact, I'm sitting here blogging instead of writing the cursed thing.

It seems when I have some deadline lurking around the corner, I find there are a zillion things that need doing around the house. Today I found I haven't scrubbed the backsplash behind the stove since last week and there was a speck of tomato sauce on it. I could have just wiped it down for now. I have a paper due don't I? I can deep clean it later right? Of course! But I didn't. I scrubbed it.

Then I finally sat down to do my essay. I opened my laptop... and immediately went to cnn.com. Read the news. Checked my friends status updates. Watched the latest episode of my favorite TV show that I missed. Emailed a couple friends I haven't heard from in a while. All the while, my Word document is open... and blank.

So here I am... procrastinating again. WHY DO I ALWAYS DO THIS TO MYSELF!? I swear it's a form of self torture. Despite my anxiety and panic about the cursed essay, I cannot bring myself to start it. Well, this isn't my first go-around here. I do this every. Single. Time. It's excruciating. So I'm going to go make some tea now. Yet another obstacle to completing the incompleted but it's going to be a long night.. and I'm going to need some caffeine.

Some REAL Truths Behind the Saudi Spinster Rate

2011-02-05T00:23:00.002-05:00

I'm a huge opponent of the Saudis crying foul over their high spinster rate blaming it on everything except reality. Well, this article in arabnews sheds some light on what could be a huge player in the reason game and this one actually makes sense to me. I've said it a million times that the real solution for this problem of theirs is to let the women choose who they marry and when they marry. In my honest opinion, they are their own problem.

Families frown upon marriage for younger daughter before older

By RIMA AL-MUKHTAR | ARAB NEWS

Published: Feb 5, 2011 00:48 Updated: Feb 5, 2011 00:48

JEDDAH: Saudi families say they are stopping their younger daughters from marrying if they have older sisters who are unmarried.

They claim to do so might cause their older daughters emotional pain and lead to the perception that they are either unattractive or not good enough for marriage.

“We live in a small society where rumors run faster than light, and I don’t think I would allow my younger daughter to wed before my older one, as I fear people might think she is not good enough,” said Nesreen Jameel, a stay at home mother.

“Even if my younger daughter had more people proposing to her, I would reject them all until my older daughter gets married first.”

In a society where gender mixing is restricted in public or closed places, men are not allowed to see women who are not related to them, which does not help in terms of attracting suitable marriage proposals for Saudi girls.

“Men who usually propose to my daughters usually hear about them from their mothers or women relatives, which makes it hard for boys to consider both daughters and they usually go for my younger one,” said Salwa Atallah, another stay at home mother.

“I started taking only my older daughter to women-only social events to make it easier for her to mix with other women and give her some exposure. I will not take my younger daughter out with me to these events until the older one gets married first.”

Not all families have the same point of view. They give their daughters freedom to choose their partners.

“My youngest daughter was the first to get engaged to her classmate in dentistry school. I didn’t object to this even though I have two older daughters who are still single, because I believe that when it’s time for them to get married they will,” said college lecturer Enas Hassan.

“My older daughters might get jealous, but it’s not like I told the man to propose to the younger daughter and leave the older ones! They just have to learn how not to be selfish and only Allah will decide when it’s time for them to get engaged.”

According to social studies specialist Dr. Abla Zamka, this phenomenon only exists in closed and uneducated societies.

“The world has changed and some people find it hard to get rid of old customs and ways inherited from their parents and grandparents,” she said.

“I think that this mentality should change because it’s nonsense and a waste of time. I believe that if a younger daughter is proposed to first, then this is her destiny handed down from Allah and the parents should not refuse.

“We need to educate these people and guide them to do the right thing, because according to recent studies many unmarried women are getting older. No one wants their daughters to end up husbandless and unhappy.”

Another Blsphemy Case in Pakistan

2011-02-03T11:59:00.002-05:00

Pakistan has jailed another teenager for blasphemy apparently doodling some negative comments about Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) on a school exam. He is 17 years old and was turned in by the department of education and then arrested by the police. The media hasn't cited any specific things the teen wrote. Pakistan's blasphemy law states that whoever defiles the name of the prophet (pbuh) should be put to death or imprisoned for life.

Pakistan is not alone in it's blasphemy laws although they do have the strictest and they seem to enforce them a heck of a lot more often than others. When the famous Danish cartoons appeared, while the Islamic world was up in arms about it, Pakistan was literally out of control.

Let's visit this from a very technical Islamic perspective (Thank you Qatar University for my education in Islamic Studies). Read these two verses from the Holy Quran:

"
“Lo! those who malign Allah and His messenger, Allah hath cursed them in the world and the Hereafter, and hath prepared for them the doom of the disdained.” (Surah Alahzab, verse 57)

And the most important case of blasphemy against the Prophet (pbuh) ever:

“The power of Abu Lahab will perish, and he will perish. His wealth and gains will not exempt him. He will be plunged in flaming fire. And his wife, the wood-carrier, will have upon her neck a halter of palm-fibre.” (Surah Almassad)

you may notice that there is no order from Allah or judgment other than the promise of hell fire even for Abu Lahab! That's right, folks, there is no prescribed earthly punishment for blasphemy in the Quran.

"The Arabic terms used to describe blasphemy against God and the Prophet (PBUH). The Arabic words sabba (abuse, insult) and shatm (vilification) denote blasphemy and have been adopted in Persian and Urdu as well. It must be stated that the word shatm does not occur in the Quran at all while a derivative of sabba is used only in one verse and that too to proscribe the Muslims from hurling sabba on other people’s gods and deities." (Dr. Mohammed Taqi)

So this begs the question: Where does the death penalty and other laws come from exacgtly if not from Allah himself? This is where things get sticky. Oftentimes, scholars start quoting hadith in which the Prophet (pbuh) allegedly condoned the death or punishment of the blasphemer. However, the truth is these are weak chains of narration and several madhabs have rejected them. The inconvenient truth for supporters of these stringent blasphemy laws is that there are two strong hadith in which the Prophet (pbuh) not only tolerated insults against him, but pardoned them in mercy mashallah.

So therefore, these supporters fall back on a Quranic verse, the infamous Surah Almaidah which is open to extremely wide margins of interpretation:

“The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter.”

My argument, however, is isn't this in direct negation of another verse? "We sent thee not, but as a Mercy for all creatures (21:107)." By not prescribing harsh penalties, was Allah not trying to prevent the exalted status of the Prophet (pbuh) from being undermined?

I honestly believe laws like this exist because of erred ijtihad. Misinterpretation, reliance on weak narrations, and inaccurate qiyas. AND it makes us look like savages in the eyes of the rest of the world. Why enforce a punishment Allah never prescribed? Remove biddah. Return to the real Islam. But who am I to say? Allah knows best. Assalamu aleykum.

Shocked but Over the Moon Excited

2011-02-03T00:02:00.002-05:00

So not long ago, I posted an apology to my friends and readers due to my extended blogging absence after having my beautiful son. Well, I have no words for my excitement because I found out today that number 2 is on the way!! Al7amdullah my family is already growing. A year ago my husband and I were 2 and now we will soon be 4 mashallah. I'm thrilled. Make dua for me and my budding family inshallah. And check out my little heartbreaker's picture <3

Hatred All Over the World

2011-02-01T12:42:00.002-05:00

So as million across the globe have, I have closely been watching the events in Egypt unfold with mixed emotions of hope for the ouster of Mubarak and disappointment in the overall behavior of the Egyptian people as rioting, burning cars, looting and other despicable crimes are occurring. Nevertheless, I have also noticed other alarming things as I often read reader comments on articles written both on western and Arabic media sites from Muslim haters and actual Muslims alike. I've collected some doozies that I particularly thought were jaw dropping in their hatred. I've copied and pasted them so the terrible spelling and grammar problems are from the writers themselves.

American readers commenting on the guilty plea of "Jihad Jane":

"I am wiping my rear with the book of Islam as we speak."

"I understand Islam and accept it for what it is....a cult.
A cult wrought with fear and oppression under the auspices of being 'god's way'. The more intelligent and well nourished of us here on earth are aware that the only reason Islam flourishes is due to the fact that it is shoved down the throat of observers 5 times a day...in lieu of education and food...and purports to have an answer for every aspect of life...and holds a militant pedophile as its ultimate example of manhood."

"Islam is a culture of uncivilized barbarian animals they will never conquer the cradle of human civilization that is Europe."

"Islam is the greatest scourge ever invented by mankind, and Islam was invented by men. God has nothing to do with it. Disgusting misogynistic, violent selfritious scum. You can wear whatever clothes you want and bow in any direction you want it doesen't matter, your religion, as do all religions invent by men have no value."

"Europe would sooner commit a 1000000 holocausts of Muslims than allow its pristine culture to be subverted by a bunch of sand monkeys."

"Another fooled one by the cult of death. The Devil must be behind islam because so many people are deceived by it. Just the kind of thing he would do. Why must muslims always follow Evil? Leave the cult of death and there might be hope for your souls yet."

There were literally hundreds more I could have copied over but this is plenty to understand the sentiment of the responding readers.

Now, as one can likely gather from my blog, I am no fan of Israel. In fact, I detest the Israeli regime, Zionism, and the protecting granted to these criminals by western states like my own, the U.S.A. However, Muslims are not innocent of hatred and threats. They may not be as harshly worded, but hatred is deeply embedded in their comments as well.

Muslims responding to an article about Israel's worry about Egypt being taken over Islamists and how it will significantly affect their safety:

"So sweating out yr wit! Are u Mr. Israel! Coz u know once these muslims unite they gonna rip Israel wipe out the name of Israel from the world map!! its the right time to be frightened !"

"All the Western Rulers and the Despicable Jews will not be able to save Mubarak"

"Yes INSHALLAH we will remove all the dirty israelis from this world soon, you just wait & watch !"

"Yes, Israel, your time for destruction is very near and you know very well."

So the moral of the story here is that hatred exists even in the hearts of Muslims however they choose to justify their hatred. We complain about anti-Islamic sentiment growing in the world. We demand equality and tolerance from western nations that we live in. We advocate the peaceful qualities of our religion, but these types of behaviors and these words only undo our hard work. Believe me when I say when an anti-Islam westerner remembers anything about any Muslims they come across or comments they read from Muslims, they will remember only these, the bad and embarrassing. They will never remember the words of those of us who actually practice the tolerance we demand from others.

An Afterthought from My Last Post

2011-01-21T17:59:00.004-05:00

For those men who adamantly claim that the streets are too crowded and dangerous for women to drive should look to themselves, their sons, their brothers, uncles, and whoever else drives that they know to determine why the streets are dangerous to drive on. Why are there so many traffic accidents? Could it be that Saudi men are some of the most reckless drivers on the planet? I am not throwing around falsities here. Saudi Arabia has one of if not THE highest rate street accidents and deaths as a result.

Maybe its because fathers recklessly allow their seven year old son to sit on their laps and drive. Or maybe its because the young men have nothing better to do than drive around like maniacs and the sick part is that they usually get away with it. Just saying. Check out the video. It's an oldie in a way but a goody nonetheless.

Let me suggest that maybe (JUST MAYBE) accidents and deaths would decrease if Saudi Arabia would let women drive instead of irresponsible and destructible teenage boys and little boys who can't even reach the pedals.

The Vicious Cycle Has Started Again

2011-01-21T17:47:00.002-05:00

So here we go again... it is reported that Saudi Arabia is considering (for the trillionth time each with no results) letting women drive. While I have high hopes for this kind of reform in the kingdom's future, I have little faith that it will happen any time soon. There exists and will likely persist to be too many roadblacks (i.e. men!) who will just not allow something to happen. After all, the women must be protected and think of all the violent and terrible things that could happen to them should they be free to roam the roads. I mean, look at the loss of morality in the west and why would they want their women corrupted to such an extent! (regular readers should be able to detect ssarcasm, newbies should insert a healthy dose of sarcasm here).

So, it's frustrating to me and I don't even live there. But I assure you Saudi sisters out there that the rest of the world is rooting for you and knows for a fact that you are more than capable of driving cars. Hell, most of you do it outside the country anyway and no one stops you. What is it about those borders that magically transforms so many of you into conformists and slaves to societal expectations? Anyhow, I won't hold my breath that it will happen, but one can hope.

Whah whah whah

2011-01-06T00:29:00.002-05:00

So, arabnews published an article about the rise of spinsterhood in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I have included a link at the end of my rant. The statistics claim that there will be four million spinsters (over age 32) by the end of 2015 equaling one in every sixteen women. The study has blamed a series of issues for this "problem" from fathers refusing daughters to wed due to fear of loss of income, and... wait for it... the rise in the number of Saudi men marrying non-Saudi women.

So, I have a few things to say about this and several words of advise for my Saudi sisters and for the God forsaken government. First, I can end your spinsterhood singlehandedly in a fraction of a second with my groundbreaking idea: let Saudi women marry non-Saudi men. I know. I know. Genius right? Let them marry who they want. Novel idea.

Second, and this one is for my Saudi sisters who are a little on the demanding side (and I've met many many of you so I know you're out there), stop demanding such outrageous dowries and wedding details as conditions of your marriage. Allow a normal God fearing man the opportunity to a-f-f-o-r-d to marry you. Maybe your chances of Mr. Right will miraculously improve overnight. Just saying. And as an example, my husband and I paid $38 for our entire wedding. From start to finish. And I'm deeply happily married to my husband without the extravagance or the pressure of being social superior to another by having a more lavish wedding than any of your friends. Be realistic for pete's sake.

I know there are a few other complicated and complex issues contributing to this issue, but these are the ones I decided to pick on today.

Oh, and while you're at it, Saudi government who I could only hope has the best interest of your own people at heart (cough, eye roll, sarcastic giggle), and while you are implementing such a sweeping change to improve the lives of women by letting them marry who they want, let the women drive. News article here.

I simply have no words...

2011-01-06T00:13:00.002-05:00

Just when I thought nothing Israel did anymore would shock me... I read this. And like always, information like this fails to fall on western ears through the media. And like always, that's pretty shady. In my never ending pursuit of opening western eyes to the E-V-I-L that is Israel, behold this article (and yay Wikileaks):

Israel told US of intention to starve Gazans

By AGENCIES

Published: Jan 6, 2011 01:51 Updated: Jan 6, 2011 01:51

JERUSALEM: Israel told US officials in 2008 it would keep Gaza's economy "on the brink of collapse" while avoiding a humanitarian crisis, according to US diplomatic cables published by a Norwegian daily on Wednesday.

Three cables cited by the Aftenposten newspaper, which has said it has all 250,000 US cables leaked to WikiLeaks, showed that Israel kept the US Embassy in Tel Aviv briefed on its internationally criticized blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The territory, home to 1.3 million Palestinians, is run by Hamas, which is shunned by the West over its refusal to recognize Israel, renounce violence or accept existing interim Israeli-Palestinian peace deals. [Dania sidebar: To be fair since I'm always dogging Israel, I think Hamas is pretty skeezy itself.]

"As part of their overall embargo plan against Gaza, Israeli officials have confirmed (to US Embassy economic officers) on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy on the brink of collapse without quite pushing it over the edge," one of the cables read.

Israel wanted the coastal territory's economy "functioning at the lowest level possible consistent with avoiding a humanitarian crisis", according to the Nov. 3, 2008 cable.

In a speech in January 2008, then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appeared to spell out that policy, which has since been eased in the wake of an international outcry over a deadly Israeli raid last May on a Turkish aid ship trying to break the blockade.

"We will not harm the supply of food for children, medicine for those who need it and fuel for institutions that save lives," Olmert said at the time. "But there is no justification for demanding we allow residents of Gaza to live normal lives while shells and rockets are fired from their streets and courtyards (at southern Israel)," he added.

The Jewish state says it has significantly relaxed the blockade since May, with dozens of truckloads of goods entering the territory daily.

However, Israel continues to restrict what it says are "dual-use" goods which can be used for both military and civilian means, and only allows in limited amounts building materials for projects run by international organizations.

Aid organizations have said shipments should be increased further.

Palestinians say impoverished Gaza remains effectively a "prison" sealed off by Israel, and have called for an opening to allow normal trade and other links with the world. The unemployment rate in Gaza stood at 35 percent last year, one of the highest in the world.

Aftenposten said last month it had obtained all the diplomatic documents leaked to WikiLeaks and that it would publish stories based on them independently of the whistle-blowing website's own releases.

WikiLeaks has so far only made public around 2,000 of the some 250,000 cables in its possession, in cooperation with publications El Pais, The Guardian, The New York Times, Le Monde and Der Spiegel.

Meanwhile, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark is in the Gaza Strip on a solidarity mission.

Clark met with Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday to kick off a three-day visit. He will also meet with human rights activists and visit relatives of people killed during Israel's military offensive into Gaza two years ago.

Clark did not comment to reporters, but Haniyeh's office said they discussed Israel's blockade of Gaza and recent escalation in Israeli-Palestinian fighting.

The visit places Clark at odds with American foreign policy, which shuns Hamas as a terrorist group. A longtime critic of US military policy in the Middle East, Clark was attorney general in the mid-1960s.

It's been a while

2011-01-03T12:28:00.002-05:00

I want to apologize to any readers who have missed my posts the last few months. I've been extremely busy, but in a good way. My husband and I recently welcomed our first child into the world... a baby boy. It's been an interesting, challenging, and cherished journey so far as a new mom. I had no idea the challenges that awaited me and the joy that a little one brings to life. I will do better getting some posts written for my readers and inshallah I will figure out some time management to do it soon lol.

I don't know what to say....

2010-09-03T23:23:00.001-04:00

In light of the recent wave of Islamophobia hitting America, here is an example (not representative of majority obviously) but an example of the Islamophobes fueling the phobia. Read it here.

A must see

2010-08-26T19:31:00.005-04:00

Saw this on another blog I follow and couldn't not share it.

Thought provokingly powerful article; a must read

2010-08-24T15:36:00.003-04:00

A terrible disease of the mind

By ZAID NABULSI

Published: Aug 23, 2010 23:15 Updated: Aug 23, 2010 23:15

My family and I long to return to the Gardens of Cordoba (Qurtuba). We agonize with every breath to re-inhabit the castles of Seville (Ishbeelyah). In our veins, there runs an eternal longing to walk again in the footsteps of our forefathers in Zaragoza (Saraqusta). We yearn to once again cultivate the orchards of Valladolid (Balad Al Waleed). We shall strive, by military means if necessary, to see the blessed day when we can tread along the rose-scented pathways of the splendid palace of Al Hambra (Al Hamra'a) in Granada (Ghirnata).

Every stone and every particle of sand in that Iberian holy land belongs to me and to my people, exclusively. No Spaniard terrorist has the right to obstruct the will of God and deny my family the legal title to the land of our ancestors. It is God who had given us Andalucía (Al Andalus), and it is God who promised us that we, the exiles, shall ingather in it once again.

I would indeed have to be a certified lunatic if I had meant a word of the above. Yet, the only difference between my disease of the mind and that of the millions of Jews who claimed to have "returned" to Palestine, is that in my case, at least the monuments and Arab names I am referring to are real and do actually exist today, and it is not contestable that the direct ancestors of my people did actually build that great civilization.

On the other hand, all Zionist archaeologists have failed - after digging up every conceivable corner of Palestine for the last 62 years - to come up with a single credible Jewish teapot or tablespoon, let alone excavate an alleged Jewish temple remotely matching the grandeur of any of the visible relics of Andalucía.

Not only that, but they needn't have bothered digging. Two years ago, Israeli Professor Shlomo Sand argued, with meticulous scholarship in his earth-shattering book, The Invention of the Jewish People, that the claim that the Jews of today are the ethnic offspring of the Biblical Jews is yet another Zionist myth, because all records tell us that the current Jews are the descendants of Khazar tribes who converted to Judaism, and have no genetic link whatsoever to the Jews who lived in Palestine during Roman times. The latter, he concludes, are, most ironically, none other than the Palestinians of today who converted to Islam (or Christianity), because the Romans apparently never exiled anybody. Moreover, Sand demolishes the myth of the Kingdoms of David and Solomon by proving they are pure legends that never existed. What is astonishing is that, to date, no Israeli historian has been able to debate, let alone refute, any of Sand's devastating findings.

Yet, not only would I need to be in a straitjacket if I was serious about reclaiming Spain for the Arabs - irrespective of our real history there - but the Spanish people would have the right to laugh at the sheer absurdity of my hallucinations, if not get gravely offended by their audacity.

I cannot, for example, visit the magnificent Hall of Abencerrajes (Ibn Sarraj) in Al Hambra and then, after explaining to my children that it was Muslim Arabs who constructed these wondrous architectural miracles, go on and indoctrinate them that this piece of real estate should belong to them. I cannot do that any more than an Italian tourist can visit Jerash in Jordan, and thereafter decide to build a settlement and live there because, he says, it really belongs to his great uncle, a certain Mr Julius Caesar.

This is the case simply because, in this modern world, we do not go around stealing other people's land by attributing our crime to an ancient historical link to such land, or because we believe that we belong to the same race or religion of the people who once lived there.

But the Zionists get away with it the whole time, and have been doing so for far too long - despite the total lack of any real historical connection to the land of Palestine (not that it matters or makes it any more legitimate if they did have such pre-historic connection).

For who can, in their of heart of hearts, credibly deny the blatant repugnancy of the whole underlying premise of Zionism, the very madness upon which Israel was founded? Indeed, any person who happens to support the immorality of the theft of the land of Palestine under such religious or forged historical pretexts would in reality be making up excuses for blatant colonization that are far more ridiculous than my demented ranting about returning to the gardens of Cordoba.

So why do these Zionists get away with such a ludicrous monstrosity?

We all know why. The hegemony over world media exercised by Jews is crucial so that no one can ever challenge the Zionist narrative or point out the naked, unadulterated lunacy of the whole Zionist enterprise. Coupled with a world conscience shrouded in a cloud of Holocaust guilt, an event that is forbidden to even debate, you get an oppressive atmosphere that has suffocated the ability of Western civilization to deconstruct Zionism down to its most basic insanities.

For how is it conceivable for otherwise rational populations to even entertain, let alone accept and adopt, the twisted Zionist logic about the Jews "returning" to a promised land after so many thousands of years of supposed separation? And how can these same people acquiesce to Israeli politicians openly using such religious nonsense as a justification for the contemporary and ongoing catastrophe inflicted upon the millions of guiltless Palestinian inhabitants of that land?

Take for example, José María Aznar, the former Spanish prime minister, who recently gave a solemn warning on the pages of the London Times:

"Anger over Gaza is a distraction. We cannot forget that Israel is the West's best ally in a turbulent region ... if Israel goes down, we all go down...".

Well, Aznar, we do not advocate for Israel to disappear or go down anywhere, because, despite the evil deeds accompanying its creation, Israel is a fact that we have to live with today. Likewise, the Israelis are fellow human beings upon whom I do not wish to impose the televised barbequing of the eyes and flesh of their children using white phosphorus, nor shall I ever tolerate such horrendous barbarity to be inflicted upon them.

But, hey José, if you see nothing wrong with what Israel is, and regard its Goldstone-documented war crimes as a mere "distraction", while ignoring that it is the source of all the "turbulence" of the region you mentioned, then you might as well give us back Malaga and Marbella. After all, in Andalucía, no Christian or Jew was ever persecuted or burned at the stake, nor had his bone marrow fried by any other means.

Yet, the travesty continues unabated. Take this most recent manifestation of the mental illness enveloping the racist state of Israel (branded by Jewish US Media Inc. as "the only democracy in the Middle East"). Hillary Rubin is a US Jew from Detroit who decided to move to Israel in 2006, something millions of Palestinian refugees can only dream of. But that is not the story. Rubin happens to also be the niece of Zionist leader, Nahum Sokolow, so you would've supposed that she is a Jewish notable, revered in Israel for her noble lineage. Last month, she fell in love and wanted to get married to a nice Jewish boy from Herzliya. According to Ha'aretz newspaper, after filing for a wedding license, she was refused and was told that she needed to prove the Jewishness of her maternal lineage for - listen to this - four entire generations. This is not 1933 Germany, but modern day Israel. So she got letters from four Conservative rabbis and one Chabad rabbi attesting to her Jewishness. But the Herzliya Rabbinate still wouldn't have it. To allow her to marry her sweetheart, these men of God stipulated she comes up with the birth or death certificates of her mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother, something she of course failed to do. This is not an isolated incident, but the official applicable Israeli law on the books. Oh yes, Adolf Hitler is turning in his grave at this news. "And they dared crucify me for the Nuremberg laws?," the Führer is muttering to himself.

Well, there you have it, Ladies and Gentlemen. Didn't I tell you that Zionism is nothing but a terrible, incurable disease of the mind?

-- The writer is an attorney, partner in Nabulsi & Associates law firm. He spent many years working for the United Nations in Geneva.

What do YOU think?

2010-08-20T17:29:00.002-04:00

As everyone in the world at this point is aware, in lower Manhattan, there is a massive proposed building project to erect an Islamic community center. The cost of the project is projected to be $100 million dollars and will include restaurants, an aquatic facility, teen center, and a prayer space for Muslims. It is a interfaith center. All religions are invited to take advantage of the many amenities that will be available. The controversy comes in with it's location, which is two New York size blocks from "ground zero" where the World Trade Center towers once stood. The building itself was damaged in the aftermath of the events that day. Nearly 70% of Americans oppose the mosque. Arabnews.com had posted that through their own questioning, many Arab Muslims in other countries also oppose the mosque for the simple reason that it is shedding negative light on the Muslim ummah as a whole and fanning the flames of Islamophobia worldwide. I have my own very strong opinions about the subject, but I want to know what YOU think. If you are a Muslim, leave a comment. Are you in support of the mosque or no? Why or why not? Hateful comments about ANY religion or ethnicity will not be tolerated as they are on far too many sites, so be civil and respectful.

"O mankind! We created you from a single soul, male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may come to know one another, and not despise one another. Truly, the most honored of you in God 's sight is the greatest of you in piety. God is All-Knowing, All-Aware." (Noble Quran 49:13)

Have been on a blogging hiatus but couldn't ignore this one

2010-08-20T17:22:00.002-04:00

Did you see this one? One of my many news stops of the day, cnn.com, has a v-e-r-y interesting opinion article posted. Apparently, the same church in Gainesville, Florida that hands out t-shirts printed with "Islam is the Devil" is planning an event. It is entitled "Burn a Quran Day". It aligns timely wise quite well with the flood of hatred over the proposed community center and Islamic center in lower Manhattan. Check out the article:

Editor's note: Akbar Ahmed is professor and Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington.

(CNN) -- In less than a month, Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida plans to host "Burn a Quran Day" to mark the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

The pastor, author of the book "Islam is of the Devil," is using the burning to urge American Christians to "stand up" to what he describes as a monolithic Muslim threat. A Facebook page for the event has accrued thousands of "likes" and Jones has said people have been mailing him Qurans to burn.

As a Muslim scholar, an adherent of one of the Abrahamic faiths -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam -- and as someone committed to interfaith understanding, I urge Jones to cancel this event. Not only are the actions of Jones contrary to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, but they are also against the ideals of the American Founding Fathers.

The planned burning has already caused alarm in the Muslim world, with the pre-eminent Sunni university, Al-Azhar in Cairo, Egypt, condemning it as "stirring up hate and discrimination."

At a recent dinner in Washington, a host for one of Pakistan's top TV channels confided in me that he "didn't dare" report the story because if he did, "not a single American would be safe in Pakistan." He and the cameraman were quivering with anger as they asked me to explain why Americans hated Islam.

I tried my best to explain this was not the case, but Jones' burning will have great symbolic significance to a Muslim world already feeling under attack by the United States. It will cause undue harm to U.S. relations with the Muslim world and particularly the war effort.

Gen. David Petraeus, the head of American forces in Afghanistan, has repeatedly expressed the need for winning the "hearts and minds" of local people by treating them with dignity and respect. When Afghans see that their holy book is being burned, it will cause riots and attacks that will put U.S. troops further at risk. There will be similar riots and attacks in neighboring Pakistan and Iran. It will inflame the entire Muslim world and fuel acts of terrorism.

It could also inflame anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States, especially in the context of the anger over the proposed Islamic center near ground zero in Lower Manhattan.

Many American Muslims will feel as if they are second-class citizens and it could push some angry young men toward violence.

On my recent fieldwork trip to 100 mosques in 75 American cities with a team of American researchers for the book "Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam," we documented that many mosques had been attacked, sometimes bombed. In May, not far from Jones' church in Gainesville, a pipe bomb exploded in a mosque in Jacksonville.

As objectionable as the prospect of Jones' Quran burning is, it may not cease with the holy book of the Muslims. I have always maintained that this kind of vitriolic hatred of one religion is a descent on a slippery slope, as no one can say who will be next. I was not surprised, therefore, when I heard Jones recently agree, when asked to do so in an internet podcast interview, to burn "a couple of copies of the Talmud" too.

Not only does the burning of holy texts reflect the darkest days of medieval Europe and Nazi Germany, but it is hard to think of anything more un-American, by the definition of the Founding Fathers themselves.

George Washington welcomed the Jews to America as the "stock of Abraham" while John Adams showed the utmost respect for Islam, naming the Prophet Mohammed as one of the greatest truth seekers in history. Benjamin Franklin called him a model of compassion.

The Founding Fathers read and honored the same Quran that Jones is now seeking to burn. Thomas Jefferson kept the same Quran in his personal collection and it informed his decision to host the first presidential iftaar during Ramadan.

The Founding Fathers were also inspired by Christian thinkers like John Locke, who declared that the true Christian's duty was to "practice charity, meekness, and good-will in general toward all mankind, even to those that are not Christians."

I consulted many distinguished Abrahamic friends for this article, all concerned with the drift toward intolerance exemplified by Jones' threat, who were happy to endorse this article's content and language.

They include the Episcopal bishop of Washington, the Right Rev. John Chane; Senior Rabbi Bruce Lustig of the Washington Hebrew Congregation; Imam Mohamed Magid, executive director of the ADAMS Center in Northern Virginia; Pastor Dr. Robert Norris of Palm Beach, Florida's, Royal Poinciana Chapel and member of the Presbytery of Tropical Florida; the Rev. Carol Flett of the Washington National Cathedral, the Rev. Dr. Clark Lobenstine of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington; Sister Maureen Fiedler, Sister of Loretto and host of Interfaith Voices, and too many others to name.

At the core of the Abrahamic faiths, these esteemed figures represent the need to show compassion and understanding of others. By threatening to burn the holy books of two of these faiths, the Quran and the Talmud, Jones is violating the basic tenants of all the Abrahamic faiths and doing something that is unacceptable by any standard of religion.

As an adherent of one of these faiths, Islam, and one who respects the other faiths, I implore Jones as a Christian and an American to cancel his burning event, follow the true teachings of Jesus by loving his neighbor, and engage in respectful dialogue instead.

The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Akbar Ahmed.

Israel really pisses me off vent

2010-03-23T09:28:00.002-04:00

Israel has always been a mistake. A mistake with dire consequences. Their story began in Egypt where they got in trouble with the Pharaoh. So they ran with Moses “across the Red Sea” to Palestine (which was not an empty place... sound familiar?). There they started fighting with the Philistines obviously after they told them that “God promised the land to them”, wrecked havoc in the country and its peoples for many centuries (eventually leading to the order for the crucifixion of Jesus), and were finally dispersed by the Romans in 70 A.D. after the latter had enough. The Palestinians have always lived in Palestine since time immemorial, they were pagans, some were Jewish, converted to Christianity at the time of Jesus and later to Islam under Islamic rule. The Palestinians built the most wonderful cities and villages throughout history. Palestine was one of the most culturally developed places during Ottoman times. These people were so kind as to accept Jewish immigrants to come live among them at the end of the 19th century and early twentieth, only to be rewarded by the Zionists who took over that immigration by ethnic cleansing in 1948. The Zionists could not take their revenge on the Nazis, so they channeled all their anger and hate against the Palestinians who simply refused to leave their ancestral homeland. Israel is a Western Colonial racist/religious mistake that continues to poison the world today and wrecks havoc in America's standing with the Arab/Islamic world which was just fine before 1948. The Israelis must either give all Palestinians EQUAL citizenship rights (like South Africa did to its black natives, though I have a sneaking suspicion the Israelis will never give proper equal rights to any non-Jew) or let them build their own state on the part of Palestine partitioned to them by the UN in 1947 and which Israel illegally occupies since 1967. The Obama/Clinton groveling to Netanyahu is wrong and is costing America in life, money, and positive relationships with Islamic countries. Why is this stupid, spoiled, bratty country so important to the US???? It is because of the powerful Jewish American lobby called The American Israeli Public Affairs Committee. Check out this link here.

FINALLY.... the US grows a pair

2010-03-12T19:17:00.003-05:00

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CNN Friday that Israel's announcement of new settlement construction in disputed territory in East Jerusalem was "insulting" to the United States. The Israeli announcement came during Vice President Joe Biden's visit this week to Israel. It complicated U.S. efforts to set up so-called proximity talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, the latest attempt to nudge the two sides back toward talking directly. Seriously, it's about time the US condemns Israeli actions. The question remains: are they going to back up their words with actions???

Way to go Sheik! (high five man)

2010-03-03T10:11:00.002-05:00

Sheikh Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri: At a news conference in London, England, on Tuesday, the renowned Islamic scholar issued a fatwa -- a religious ruling -- condemning suicide bombers as destined for hell, removing extremists' certainty of earning paradise after death. The 600-page fatwa is arguably the most comprehensive theological refutation of Islamist terrorism to date. Qadri said his aim was to set an important precedent that might allow other scholars to similarly condemn the ideas behind terrorism. London's The Independent newspaper reports that the imam told fellow Muslims: "Terrorism is terrorism, violence is violence and it has no place in Islamic teaching and no justification can be provided for it, or any kind of excuses of ifs and buts. The world needs an absolute, unconditional, unqualified and total condemnation of terrorism."From CNN.com.

Speaks for itself...

2010-03-01T23:49:00.002-05:00

Just when you thought France couldn't get anymore ridiculous...

2010-02-20T21:12:00.003-05:00

French police probe halal burger "discrimination"
From Arab News

French police are investigating claims that a burger chain serving only halal meat in restaurants with a strong Muslim clientele is discriminating against other customers. Prosecutors in Lille ordered the probe on Friday, a spokesman said, after the Socialist mayor of the nearby town of Roubaix sued the Quick chain for switching to Muslim dietary laws in eight of its 350 branches. Quick -- a rival to global chains like McDonald's in parts of Europe -- offers turkey and halal beef instead of pork in those branches. "Why should the people of Roubaix be forced to go to Lille or elsewhere to find bacon?" Franck Berton, the mayor's lawyer, told Reuters. French restaurants are under no obligation to offer a range of products, and there are plenty of kosher and halal eateries catering to Europe's biggest Jewish and Muslim communities.

The halal market alone was estimated at 5.5 billion euros in a December 2009 survey, and is growing strongly. However, Mayor Rene Vandierendonck and other politicians have accused Quick of "communalism" or violating the French principle of equality. While Quick started the halal service in late November, the public furor only erupted this week after far-right leaders criticized the chain -- just before regional elections in March. The row has also touched a nerve laid bare by months of state-sponsored discussions over banning Muslim face veils and strengthening French national identity. The veil ban has won support from some Muslim feminists. The identity campaign, however, has been widely criticized as populist electioneering, with some associated events descending into brawls or rants against Muslims and immigrants.

Now THIS is what it means to be a Muslim

2010-01-23T21:34:00.002-05:00

It might be one of the world’s poorest areas, besieged by its neighbour Israel, but Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip have been donating what little they have to help those struck by the earthquake in Haiti. Among the donations collected by a Red Cross representative: toys, toiletries and sweets – small luxuries that Gazans know only too well can brighten spirits in the face of devastation. Some also gave money. Dr Jamal Khudari, from the Palestinian Committee against the Siege said: “It’s a symbolic donation for the people of Haiti, for the children of Haiti, to tell them that we feel the suffering.” There are ruins in the Gaza Strip reminiscent of the scenes in Haiti. These were not caused by a natural disaster, but by bombs and shells in Israel’s deadly assault on Gaza, which drew to a close a year ago. Israel blamed attacks by militants for sparking the offensive. The reason for the destruction might be different, but Palestinians say they understand Haiti’s pain.

WHAT!?!?!?!?!

2010-01-23T21:29:00.002-05:00

According to Alwatan News, the story below about the change in process for Saudis marrying non-Saudis is not true!!!!! W.H.A.T.!!?? Please Allah say it ain't so! This is what my husband and I have been waiting for. I'm not sure who to believe since denials have not been issued by other news organizations, but Alwatan is generally considered to be a highly reliable source of information. My heart breaks and the mere thought of the devastating disappointment I would experience if the original story is indeed false.

FINALLY Saudi Arabia creates fair and not-so-painful circumstances for citizens wishing to marry foreigners

2010-01-21T20:51:00.002-05:00

So, as my regular readers know, I am married to an absolutely wonderful and charming Saudi man. We al7amdulilah have a strong and blissful marriage... however, the Saudi government has made an incredible headache for us two happy love birds in the case of our marriage being legalized in Saudi Arabia (because I myself am not Saudi). WELL!!! The Shoura Council has drafted a new law and regulations for Saudi citizens who wish to marry non-Saudis and we fit nicely into the criteria al7amduliah!! Here is an article from Arab News about the details.... non-Saudis rejoice!

Kingdom drafts revised marriage law
P.K. Abdul Ghafour | Arab News

JEDDAH: The government is set to relax regulations governing the marriages between Saudis and non-Saudis. A revised draft law prepared by the Interior Ministry and the Cabinet’s Committee of Experts allows government ministers, judges, Shoura members and students on foreign scholarships to marry non-Saudi women. The new law, which replaces the old one issued 38 years ago, should be passed by the Council of Ministers. According to Article One, Saudis who are allowed to marry non-Saudis include ministers, members of the judiciary and diplomats at the Foreign Ministry. Other beneficiaries of the law are: Employees of the Royal Court, the crown prince’s court, the Council of Ministers, the National Security Council, and members of the councils and organizations chaired by the king and the crown prince, Al-Riyadh Arabic daily said.

Staff at the Ministry of Defense and Aviation, the Interior Ministry, the National Guard, the Royal Guard and the General Organization for Military Industries including military and civilian officers as well as members of the Commission for Investigation and Public Prosecution, Customs staff and all students studying abroad under the government’s scholarship program are also allowed to marry non-Saudi women. “The above-mentioned Saudis are allowed to marry non-Saudis including GCC women after receiving permission from higher authorities,” says Article One of the revised draft law. Article Two allows Saudi men and women to marry GCC citizens. Saudi men can marry the daughters of Saudi women and non-Saudi men. But those who propose marriage should not be from categories mentioned in Article One.

Paragraph Two of Article Three says a Saudi can marry a non-Saudi woman born in the Kingdom to non-Saudi parents. However, the law insists that the woman should have a valid resident permit and birth certificate issued by Saudi authorities. Here also the man proposing should not be from the categories mentioned in Article One. A Saudi woman is allowed to marry a non-Saudi man born in the Kingdom if his mother is Saudi or even both parents are non-Saudis, on condition that the man should have a valid resident permit and birth certificate issued by Saudi authorities. He should have lived in the Kingdom for not less than 15 years, but is not allowed to propose to women in the categories mentioned in Article One. Saudi applicants who do not come under the above-mentioned articles should obtain the permission of the government to marry non-Saudis. The marriage must comply with Shariah regulations. Non-Saudi men and women intending to marry Saudis should be free from certain diseases and should not be among those listed as unwanted in the Kingdom.

The law authorized specialized courts in the Kingdom to certify such marriage contracts after making sure that they follow the conditions and regulations specified in the law. Saudi missions are given the authority to certify marriages taken place outside the Kingdom. The Interior Ministry has been given the authority to inform higher authorities if any violations are found and such cases would be taken to specialized courts. Violators of the law would be fined not more than SR100,000.

Violators will also be banned from receiving loans given by Saudi lending organizations and government grants during the period of marriage. The court can stop implementation of the punishment if convinced about the convicts’ special situation. The interior minister will issue the executive regulations for this by-law.

Attention Malaysian Muslims: You're making us all look bad

2010-01-09T23:09:00.002-05:00

I'm sure everyone has at least heard about the recent attacks by Muslims on Malaysian Christians, even so much as bombing churches, over a Catholic newspaper's use of the word "Allah" in it's publication. In the Arab world, the word "Allah" is used universally across many religions and translates literally into simply "the God". Done. That's all it means. It doesn't refer to "the Muslim God" it refers to God (as in THE God... catch my drift?). Seeing how many religions believe in the same God, including Christians, Muslims and Jews alike, I find it absurd that the Malaysian Muslims are trying to stake claim on the use of the word. As a Muslim myself, I find this embarrassing. Imagine the Christians of the U.S. banning other religions from using the words "Lord" or "Christ" and then attacking other religions' places of worship over it. Ridiculous? I hands down agree. Just another example of misguided and fundamentally minded Muslims making the rest of us look bad. Thanks Malaysia.

From Alarabiya:
A Malaysian church was firebombed Saturday, police and church officials said, the fourth such attack in two days as a row escalated over the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims. The Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in southwest Kuala Lumpur was the latest target. There were no reports of injuries. Molotov cocktails were thrown at the windows of the first and second floors of the three-storey building, the church's Bishop Philip Loke told AFP. "They narrowly missed it, but part of the walls are burnt," he said, adding "we suspect this attack is linked to the other attacks." At least three churches were struck early on Friday in an unprecedented spate of attacks in this mainly Muslim country as a row over a court ruling that allowed a Catholic newspaper to use the word "Allah" in its Malay language editions presented a major challenge to the government.

One of the churches attacked on Friday was badly burned while firebombs thrown at two others failed to cause damage. Selangor state police chief Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed Saturday's attack, saying it had caused minor damage to the building and police were investigating. "We believe this attack is linked to the three other attacks but nobody saw how it happened. There were no eyewitnesses," he told AFP. Malaysia is mainly Muslim and Malay but there are substantial ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities who primarily practice Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism. Around 9 percent of the 28 million population are Christian, including 800,000 Catholics. The use of the word "Allah" to describe the Christian God is widespread in Arabic speaking countries such as Lebanon and Egypt but Malaysian Muslims say the issue is especially sensitive in a country that has large minorities.

Now is it just me or is this going WAY overboard??

2010-01-07T18:56:00.002-05:00

The French have proposed a new bill to begin issuing hefty fines of up to $1,000 (!!!!) for women who choose to wear the niqab (or face veil or burka however you wish to refer to it). Even more amazing is that men who "force" their wives to veil will face even steeper penalties. So, France's war on Islam continues... here is the article from Alarabiya.net:

Muslim women who wear the full Islamic veil in France will face a possible 750-euro ($1,000) fine, according to a draft bill unveiled Thursday by the leader of the parliamentary majority. Jean-Francois Cope, who heads the governing UMP party in the National Assembly, told Le Figaro newspaper's weekly magazine that men who force their wives to wear the burka or niqab could face an even heavier fine. "The law will address an issue of security," Cope said in an interview with the magazine. "The proposed measure would prohibit the covering of the face in public places and on the streets, with the exception of special cultural events or carnivals." The draft legislation will be presented in the next two weeks and should come up for debate in parliament after the March regional elections, he said.The majority leader, who is also openly campaigning to succeed President Nicolas Sarkozy as the right-wing candidate for the presidency in 2017, said the burka must be banned to defend women's rights.

"We can measure the modernity of a society by the way it treats and respects women," he said. (personal sidebar: this comment really irks me). France's political establishment is divided on whether to ban the burka, with the opposition Socialists this week saying that it opposed a law even though Muslim women must be discouraged from wearing the full veil. The burka debate has heated up ahead of the release at the end of the month of a much-awaited report by a parliamentary panel that has conducted six months of hearings on the issue. Many politicians from the left and right have cautioned that a draconian law banning the head-to-toe veil would be difficult to enforce and probably face a challenge in the European rights court. Sarkozy himself has said that the burka is not welcome in France but has not stated publicly whether legislation should be enacted. Critics argue that a specific law enacted to ban the full veil would be tantamount to using a sledgehammer to swat a fly. Only 1,900 women wear the full veil in France, according to the interior ministry.

Deprivation of reasonable contact with the opposite sex leads to:

2010-01-05T09:24:00.002-05:00

Sexual harassment main hindrance for women job seekers
Badea Abu Al-Naja | Arab News

"MAKKAH: Women who are forced to go out and seek jobs to sustain themselves or help their poor families might find themselves prey to all sorts of harassment. Employers, forced by Saudization rules to hire citizens, do not usually feel happy when approached by Saudis, especially women. These companies do not only offer women low wages but may also not pay them full salaries at the end of each month. The payments may also be delayed for many months. The predicament does not stop here. Some of the women job seekers or those already emplo-yed by the private sector may have to pay a heavier price if they want to be employed or continue in their jobs.

Talking to Arab News about her bitter experience, Ibtissam, a young Saudi woman, said she had to seek a job because her ex-husband agreed to give her divorce only if she relinquished the alimony for their son. She said she got a job at a private sector establishment as a saleswoman. “The company gave me the mobile numbers of many customers and asked me to call and offer them our products,” she said. “A customer immediately started courting me the moment he heard me. It was as if he had never heard a female voice before. When I hung up on him I was surprised to hear my supervisor reprimanding me and telling me that I was not fit for the job. When I told him that the man was courting me, he laughed and said I should take him on a ride until I got what I wanted.” Ibtissam said she only stayed in that job for three months and now she is on the road again looking for a job to support herself and her son.

Eiman, another young Saudi woman, said she applied for a job at a private hospital because she needed to help her unemployed father. She said the official in charge of employment in the hospital asked her to give her personal mobile number to call her when there was an opening. “The next day he called me and asked me to go out with him if I wanted to get the job. I closed my phone and dropped the idea of getting a job,” she said. Laila is a divorcee living with her family in a small apartment. She thought of getting a job to help her father. “The interviewee asked me if I would feel happy or sad if a customer asked me to give him a kiss. When I answered him, he told me that I was not good for the job,” she said. Local Chairman of the Commission to promote Virtue and Prevent Vice Ahmad Al-Ghamdi described such cases as rare but said such behavior is an exploitation of the weakness of women and their needs. He asked private companies to appoint old men or women to receive applications of women job seekers."

So, I am married to a Saudi man and when we finish our business in the U.S., he fully intends to relocate our little family to Saudi Arabia. I have no problem with this being in that my children will grow up in an Islamic country and it will be easier to be a Muslim in general there. However, articles like this make me stop and think. Saudi Arabia is a completely Islamic country masha'allah complete with religious police and strict rules of segregation... but I am an ambitious woman who has plans of remaining in the workforce. Is this a true depiction of the struggles of women in the workplace? Obviously, I don't want to deal with this kind of situation, but are men really so depraved and desperate that they would hit on a woman on the other end of the phone (whom they have not and never will see) who is making a business call? Subhan'allah that shocks me. Am I alone in thinking this is incredible??

Happy New Year World

2010-01-01T00:29:00.005-05:00

Insha'allah this new year will bring peace to the world. I think all Muslims can agree that we all wish for peace between Palestine and Israel and the end to the malicious conflicts that infect the Islamic/Arab world insha'allah ya rab. My resolution this year is to be a better Muslimah; to increase my knowledge and strengthen my deen. Happy New Year everyone and best wishes for the upcoming year.

Islam in New York's Times Square

2009-12-24T01:28:00.003-05:00

An American Muslim advocacy group launched a massive advertisement in New York City's infamous Times Square on Tuesday in a bid to present to millions of Americans a "fair" and "accurate" portrayal of Islam. The public service announcement, "I am Muslim, I am American," was launched by the New York branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and aims to show people that Muslims are a valuable part of American society. The advertisement starts with the statement "Building Community, Serving Country" and features American Muslims from all walks of life, including a police sergeant, a Little League all-star, a human rights activist, a doctoral candidate and an attorney. "This public service advertisement features ordinary American Muslims whose everyday lives are dedicated to building community and serving country," Faiza Ali, CAIR New York's Community Affairs Director, said. Ali added that "this initiative is part of our ongoing effort to ensure that a fair and accurate portrayal of Islam and Muslims is presented to the American public.” The campaign will run from Dec. 22 to Jan. 16, and will even be shown on New Year's Eve, when at least one million people are expected to crowd Times Square for celebrations and the infamous countdown, when the ball drops at midnight.

"We have more than 400 million people going through Times Square and we thought this would be a good opportunity to send out a positive message about Muslims," Ibrahim Cooper, CAIR's national communications director, told Al Arabiya. And the message is simple "that American Muslims are a vital part of our society and people have an opportunity to learn more about them," Hooper said. And for those who have never been to Times Square, Hooper explained that the advertisement will appear on the CBS Super Screen, which is a 26-foot by 20-foot full-motion screen, called a "JumboTron," and will air 18 times a day. "We hope that the millions of people from around the nation and the world who view this public service announcement will return home with enhanced understanding of Islam and the American Muslim community," CAIR's National Executive Director, Nihad Awad, said. And according to Hooper although the advertisement has only been up for a day it has already been well received. "The reaction has been very positive and we have already had people showing an interest and donating online."

By Mona Moussly (translated from Arabic)

Take off my what? Headscarves, hats, and history - Part 2

2009-12-22T21:50:00.003-05:00

Article by Hera Hashmi, published in Turkey's Today's Zaman 22-12-09

Whenever the headscarf ban is mentioned, it quickly spirals into a debate about secularism, which is another major justification for the ban.

But what makes headscarf-wearing women in Turkey such an obstacle to a secular government when women in many Western countries and democracies wear headscarves and are able to participate easily in the public sphere? Secularism is the separation of religion and state and the neutrality of the state towards all religious beliefs. Many people do not realize that secularism originally developed in a religious context, for the sake of preserving peace among the Christians, and was not meant as a way of spreading atheism. It is no secret that Turkey’s form of secularism is based on the French model.

In France, secularism is the separation of church and state through the state’s protection of individuals from the claims of religion. Secularism is significant to France because it helped the French escape the Church’s control over many aspects of life, such as politics and education. Many religious wars were fought before secularism could be established. Turkey adopted this form of secularism because it wanted to be able to control the place of religion and make extreme changes to distance itself from its Ottoman past.

Turkish secularism does not have a strict separation of religion and state, but the state’s stance is active neutrality. The current Turkish Constitution does not recognize or promote any religion, including Islam, which 99.8 percent of Turks follow. In Turkey, the state actively controls religion through the Directorate of Religious Affairs. However, when the state is controlling religion, is this really secularism?

There are a few notable problems with Turkey’s form of secularism. First, if secularism is defined as the separation of the state from religion, then how can the state monitor and control religion the way the Directorate of Religious Affairs does? The state is organized to serve a particular religion and keep that religion under surveillance and supervision; this goes against the principles of a secular state. Additionally, the state teaches compulsory religious courses in elementary and high schools, which goes against what a secular state would do. The state-mandated religious education seems to be a bigger violation of secularism than a teacher wearing a headscarf out of personal belief. It is ironic that the controversy is about what students and teachers wear and the impact it might have on the observer, and not on whether they are directly teaching religion. A state that interferes in religion and religious activities to such a large extent cannot be called secular.

Second, the state is not neutral toward all religious sects and creeds, the second element of secularism. The state-organized Directorate of Religious Affairs imposes a particular form of Islam on its citizens. It is not neutral, but partisan. The Directorate of Religious Affairs does not serve or represent non-Islamic religions which are observed by Turkish citizens, and it does not even accept certain sects of Islam, practicing only Sunni-Hanafi Islam. Even though France’s headscarf ban was understood as primarily applying to the headscarf, it actually bans all “ostensibly religious symbols,” and technically does not officially discriminate against any one religion. The headscarf ban in Turkey only targets the Islamic headscarf worn by practicing Muslim women, violating religious neutrality. Ironically, the religious practice Turkey is targeting through the headscarf ban is that of the majority and not of the minority like in France.

While Turkey tries to be actively secular like France, religion in France is weak. In France, religion is only acceptable as a private matter and cannot be displayed “conspicuously” in public places. Turkey is trying to be actively secular like France by superseding France’s headscarf ban, but religion in Turkey is strongly established and important to the people, a majority of whom are practicing Muslims. This does not mean that Muslims need to overrun the government and implement Islamic law as some worry, but it means that their religious practice should not be impeded out of fear.

What does wearing a headscarf have to do with secularism anyway? The fact that every time the headscarf debate is mentioned, it quickly becomes a debate over the Republic of Turkey and the secular system versus Islam is only keeping this problem from being resolved by making it more complicated than it is. The facts are that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk did not implement a headscarf ban, the Turkish Constitution does not state that the headscarf should be banned and there is no national law in Turkey banning the headscarf. It is the secular elite who make the headscarf ban about secularism. The secular elite can use the ban to play off of the fears of the public about Islamic fundamentalism, but where is the proof that allowing women to wear headscarves will result in a fundamentalist regime? If you doubt this, look outside. Women are wearing headscarves everywhere you go, and it is not hurting anyone. Isn’t it time to see this problem for what it is? It is about a woman’s right to freedom of expression and religion and her autonomy to choose for herself what to wear. Yes, there are certainly challenges to Turkey’s secularism, but the headscarf is not one of them.

When France passed the ban on the headscarf, the women who actually wore headscarves and would be impacted by the ban were not consulted. Only one covering woman testified in front of the Commission Stasi, and she was not taken seriously. In order to help these women “attain freedom,” no one even listened to what they wanted or why they wore the headscarf. In Turkey, women continue to cry out against the headscarf ban, but to deaf ears. Everyone makes the decision for these women about what they should or should not wear, but does anyone stop and ask them, what do they want?

I went out and asked them. These women told me that they want to enjoy the freedom of covering their heads and fulfilling their religious duty without giving up their ability to gain an education or have jobs of their choice. They want the freedom to follow their dreams of being a lawyer, a teacher, a professor, a student, without having to compromise their religion. The headscarf does not limit a woman’s ability to think or her ability to participate in public life and benefit her community.

Their desire is not to contradict secularism and democracy, but rather they are asking to be able to enjoy the freedoms that democracy offers. Without freedom, what is democracy? The women are not challenging secularism, but rather are having an ideology imposed on them which is held by a small portion of society. If the secular elite do not want Islamists telling them how to dress and live, should they also not tell others how to dress and live?

No one wants to be told what to wear, and no one wants their autonomy taken away. The Turkish Constitution states that Turkey is a secular democratic republic that derives its sovereignty from the people, so what do the people of Turkey want?

Statistics show that most people in Turkey don’t see the headscarf as a threat to secularism and are in favor of removing the ban. Statistics from a field study titled “The Headscarf Controversy” conducted by Metin Toprak and Nasuh Uslu show that 70.3 percent of people in Turkey say that if university students who want to cover their heads are allowed to do so, it is not contrary to secularism. And 64 percent of people think that civil servants can cover their heads without any contradiction to secularism. (Where is this being lost in translation to the democratic representatives of these people?)

These data show that a majority of Turks do not see anything wrong with allowing university students and civil servants to wear headscarves. It does not undermine secularism. If there is still doubt about this, it should be erased by the fact that the people elected Abdullah Gül despite the fact that his wife wears a headscarf. A full 76.8 percent of people say that Gül’s wife wearing a headscarf poses no problem for them.

The Turkish people support the freedom of women to wear headscarves not only in universities but also in civil society. The secular elite and women’s organizations instead of trying to integrate women, a majority of whom do wear headscarves, treat them with contempt and as if they are backwards and undeserving of participation in public life and benefiting from public goods. Are these women not also part of Turkish society? A backward society is not that which is dominated by Muslim ideology; it is one which prevents women from gaining their rights, education, freedom of choice and an opportunity to work, all of which the headscarf ban is currently doing in Turkey.

The Constitutional Court treats the solution to this problem as simply removing the headscarf, but when did this become the solution? What about the woman’s choice and the violation she feels by this act of removal? What if a woman chose not to take it off? Is she then to remain shunned from society? This view of the court ignores the complex act of covering and what it means to women.

There is a large detriment to Turkey from losing talented women who because of the headscarf ban are forced to go to other countries to complete their education while being able to practice their religion. The amount of intelligence and brainpower being kept out of the workforce and the public service because of the ban is disadvantageous. Excluding women from school and the workplace strengthens the patriarchal structure and prevents women who are wearing the headscarf from having any hope for future improvement to their situation. It is not the headscarf that is keeping women from public life, it is the unequal laws that see modernization and freedom in narrow terms -- and try to force this vision on everyone.

The headscarf ban is not freeing women but rather limiting them from the freedom to choose, to gain an education, to work in a career of their choice and the ability to control their own lives and bodies. As one woman I interviewed said, “We are out of words.” All arguments have been made and rebutted time and time again. It is time for Turkey to decide: What kind of secular democracy does it want to be?

Take off my what? Headscarves, hats, and history - Part 1

2009-12-21T20:32:00.004-05:00

By Hera Hashmi, published in Turkey's Today's Zamzam 21/12/09

Does anyone stop to think what a woman feels like removing her headscarf?

Or have we become completely desensitized to this violation occurring all around us? I experienced for myself the shock, humiliation, frustration, embarrassment, anger and shame that come with the forced removal of an article of clothing. Ironically I was banned from a human rights conference occurring on a university campus unless I removed my headscarf in order to attend lectures on freedom and democracy. I was also banned from a university library and told by the guard to remove my headscarf to gain entrance. I came to Turkey as an American juris doctor student to learn more about human rights, but I did not realize I would experience a violation of my own rights. To make sense of my experience with the headscarf ban, I looked at the history and secularism of Turkey and France and gained some surprising insight.

Turkey’s headscarf ban was implemented in 1998 after the postmodern coup of 1997. In France, a formal ban was not in place until 2004. While France bans the headscarf only in public schools, Turkey’s ban applies to all schools and universities, public and private, government buildings and “public spaces.” Although chronologically, Turkey implemented the headscarf ban before France, many people point to the French example and the principle of secularism to explain and justify Turkey’s headscarf ban. It is noteworthy to analyze the historical roots of France’s headscarf ban and Turkey’s imitation of it.

As detailed in Joan Wallach Scott’s book, “The Politics of the Veil,” France’s headscarf ban is strongly based on assimilation principles that come from its colonial history. By accepting French citizenship, you are required to assimilate by shedding your individual history and roots. This is significant because of France’s troubled history with its colonization of North Africa, which it tried to rid of its uncivilized barbaric ways. When these colonizing missions failed, particularly during the Algerian War of 1954, the headscarf became politicized as a symbol of resistance to colonialism and was eventually associated with militancy. This resulted in the mistreatment and sometimes even rape and torture of women who wore headscarves in Algeria.

France first wanted to eliminate the headscarf as a way of erasing barbarism and later as a way of assimilating the North African immigrants into France and erasing the symbol of their failed colonization. This paternalistic attitude led them to push their subjects in Algeria to give up the headscarf, and later when they lost influence over their colonies, to strip them of it by law in France. This tension and loaded meaning behind the headscarf has carried into the present day.

Turkey banned the headscarf and strategically used women to display their secular identity to convince Europe of their modernization. Europeans viewed Islam as backwards and saw veiled women as a symbol of oppression and barbarism, the mentality that led France to justify its colonial endeavors, so Turkey made an exaggerated effort to distance itself from this image by showing women freed from the headscarf in order to align itself with Europe.

There are several contradictions with Turkey’s imitation of France. First, why is Turkey voluntarily implementing the colonial mentality on its own population when many countries fought to free themselves from it? In Algeria thousands died in resistance to France’s interference with their freedom and religion, and Turkey, upon gaining independence and forming a new republic, compromised its citizens’ freedoms by imposing colonial ideals willingly. This is the true step backwards, not wearing a headscarf, which women have done -- and continue to do -- in Turkey for centuries. Why is Turkey willingly forfeiting the religious freedom of its majority Muslim population and debilitating more than half the women in its country? Second, who is Turkey trying to assimilate? In France only 9 percent of the population is Muslim and the ban is to eradicate the visible differences of immigrants, but in Turkey 99.8 percent of Turks are Muslim, and 62 percent of women wear headscarves. Headscarf wearing women are the majority, but they are shunned and left without education or work opportunities. In Western countries, Islam is treated as the other because it is an unfamiliar minority religion, but in Turkey it is the dominant religion and well understood by the population and government alike, so why is Turkey alienating its own population?

Third, despite Turkey’s attempt to please the French by following in their footsteps, opposition to Turkey joining the European Union is largest in France (64.4 percent of the French oppose) out of all European countries. France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, said Turkey should never be allowed to join because it is culturally and geographically not part of Europe. Although France shuns Turkey, Turkey remains desperate to follow the French and has superseded France’s headscarf ban. This attempt to please Europe and convince them of Turkey’s modernity is clearly not working and hasn’t been for the past several decades. Turkey’s headscarf ban is overcompensating and being overly apologetic for being associated with Islam. In order for Turkey to gain respect, it must first respect itself. That respect begins with not stripping its own women and preventing them from gaining educations and jobs. It’s time Turkey stops following in the footsteps of the French and forges its own secular identity that respects its population and history.

Confusion...

2009-12-11T11:15:00.003-05:00

A prominent Saudi Sheikh Ahmed Bin Qassim Al-Ghamdi (head of the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice committee in Mecca) has come out claiming that the mixing of sexes is "natural" and halal in Islam. Say what?! He said that those who oppose mixing of the sexes are contradicting themselves as they most likely mix with the opposite sex on a daily basis, such as having female servants. Al-Ghamdi added that it is only a minority of scholars that ban mixing of the sexes and said these scholars had no strong evidence to support their claims and were leading today's Muslims astray from the Muslims during the time of the Prophet Muhammad. Al-Ghamdi added that it is only a minority of scholars that ban mixing of the sexes and said these scholars had no strong evidence to support their claims and were leading today's Muslims astray from the Muslims during the time of the Prophet Muhammad. The sheikh went on to say that mixing of the sexes was never prohibited during the Prophet's times and was a natural part of life of the Sahaba's, or Prophet's companions.

Al-Ghamdi also argued that the term "mixing" could not be found in Shariah, or Islamic law, and said Shariah says nothing about banning non-married men and women from working, studying and socializing with each other. "Islamic law says nothing about mixing unlike the numerous laws on things such as divorce, trading and war. Mixing of the sexes does not have official laws or concepts." Al-Ghamdi said the term mixing was coined simply because some scholars have exaggerated the so-called taboo of mixing of the sexes despite the fact that it is natural. "It is dangerous when the term mixing is being connected with the science of Islamic law this affects the heritage of islamic law negatively because have given a fake idea merit," which al-Ghamdi said leads to chaos. There is usually strict segregation between men and women in Saudi circles and the sexes do not mix in schools, universities, officies and even restaurants and malls have female only areas. Well, this contradicts everything we've ever been told now doesn't it? I don't really know what to think about this and am having trouble wrapping my head around it. Anyone else?

Haha... too cute... Saudi man begs for forgiveness using banner

2009-12-11T11:09:00.002-05:00

A Saudi man made headlines in the kingdom for hanging a massive banner on a public bridge to beg his wife for forgiveness after an argument, local press reported Monday. For more than two months, the man has been trying to mend fences with his wife but she has insistently refused and even moved in to her parent's house, Saudi newspaper Okaz reported, without revealing the man's name.The man resorted to erecting a cloth banner reading “Forgive me. I swear to God I love you” and chose the location for the “official apology” that was visible to her and people from the community.“I also chose this place because it is very close to my in-laws home, where my wife has been staying since we had the fight,” he told the paper. “This way, I make sure she sees it.”Although the husband insisted the fight was about something “trivial” and that his wife’s reaction was only “women’s teasing,” he was not sure that the banner would get her to come home and expected he might need to come up with other ways. “I hope she will accept my apology and come back home.” ... Awwww insha'allah she will brother. So cute.

Wow. Anti-Islam Americans never fail to shock me...

2009-12-11T10:44:00.002-05:00

Watch this video at CNN.com with an outspoken American Christian who believes Islam is violent and evil. I'm afraid his opinion is shared by far too many. Disheartening for those of us who battle the stereotypes and negativity when his reach is so much more vast that our own.

Have you checked it out?

2009-12-07T14:37:00.005-05:00

In my links, I have had for some time a link to a website called If Americans Knew. They are on a mission to enlighten Americans about their country's support of Israel and the truth about what they are supporting. It is incredible eye opening, thoroughly backed up with fact and proven sources, but most of all it is painfully heartbreaking. The plight of the Palestinians is all but ignored as Americans are spoon fed the "Poor Israel" side of the media coverage who seem to make it their personal agenda at times (I'm talking to you Fox News Channel) to spin the coverage to make the Palestinians look like a bunch of out of control, rock throwing, suicide bombing maniacs. The coverage completely misses the mark that we all like to call balanced reporting. What we don't hear about in American media is that fact that the European Union has finally grown tired of Israel and has moved to sanction it and has begun to stand up for what little the Palestinians have left. So, if you haven't checked it out yet, click here to visit one of the most important sites on the web for Americans or anyone who wants to learn more about the conflict and the heartbreaking reality that so many fail to see and so many fail to report objectively. As Muslims, we should support and educate ourselves about the plight of our brothers and sisters in Palestine. When Palestine bleeds, we all bleed. كلنا فلسطينيون We are all Palestinians.

So I'm on a mission...

2009-12-07T00:15:00.004-05:00

Every time I leave my house proudly with hijab in place, I remind myself of the visibility of my beliefs to everyone around me. I live in an area where I literally go an entire month out and about in life without seeing another Muslimah covered like myself (should give you an idea of how small our Islamic community is here). This scarf is much more than just a scarf. In fact, it's much more than just a hijab. Yes, it's purpose is to adhere to the responsibility of modesty as a Muslim, but it also serves a greater purpose. It is a badge of honor and a huge responsibility. I meet people here everyday who have never even seen a Muslim before in their entire lives. Maybe on the T.V. but never in real life, so you can imagine what a spectacle I am at times. But this visibility calls for a constant check on image so to speak. Like any other Muslim, I want to present the best possible example of a Muslim. I am always sure to be exceptionally polite, I think before I speak, and I patiently answer the usual questions of curiosity that inevitably come from the braver ones. I have been verbally attacked several times as those stong in their own beliefs feel the need to voice their opinion about mine. I have also been confronted by those who see my hijab as a sign of some kind of oppression that my husband has forced upon me all the while clearing up as many misconceptions as I possibly can. I am a warrior against stereotype and misinformation. I am on a mission... to change the perception of Muslims... one person at a time... and this is what I tell myself as I step out of the house each and every day as I use the only weapon I have - knowledge, patience, and perserverence and most importantly, faith.

Far from shocking but not any less disgusting...

2009-12-07T00:04:00.008-05:00

More absurd behavior from the haters that are the hard line zionists. Jewish occupiers on early Sunday set fire to a house and two vehicles in the West Bank village of Ain Abous, southwest of Nablus, in an apparent attempt to avenge a construction freeze in Jewish settlements. The Israeli Army Radio quoted security sources as saying that the act was carried out as part of the occupiers’ “price tag” policy following the Israeli government decision to freeze constriction in settlements for 10 months. Palestinian security sources in Nablus told Arab News that the house and properties belonged to Nadir Hashim Mofdi and Fayiz Mohammed Allan. The occupiers also set fire to 50 olive trees in the village of Um Salamoneh, southeast of Bethlehem, Palestinian sources said. The incidents came shortly before Israeli police on Sunday forcibly evacuated about 100 occupiers who had blocked roads near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim, west of Nablus, in a bid to prevent Israeli inspectors from handing out orders to implement a construction freeze. The occupiers included local settlers, girls from a religious high school, regional council leaders, and the settlement’s rabbi. The Army Radio added the Kedumim occupiers pelted the inspectors’ cars with eggs, after the officials distributed construction-halt edicts in the northern West Bank settlement. On Saturday, settlers’ leaders and Israeli Knesset members convened an emergency meeting in the West Bank settlement of Ofra, northeast of Ramallah, to discuss tactics to thwart the moratorium. Trying to calm the concerns of Israeli hard-liners, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his stance that the freeze is a “one-time, temporary decision” and that construction will resume afterward. “We made it clear that upon the conclusion of the period of suspension, construction will resume,” Netanyahu said. The Palestinians say the Israeli move is not genuine, since it does not include East Jerusalem or 3,000 homes already under construction in the West Bank. Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak sent former Minister Saleh Tarif to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last week with a message urging him to restart peace negotiations with Israel. The daily Yediot Ahronot said that the move was coordinated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Abbas’ response to the message relayed is still unclear, the report said. Read it here.

The power of the adhan

2009-11-30T23:38:00.009-05:00

Masha'allah the adhan is one of the most moving sounds on Earth even to non-Muslims. Watch this video from the BBC as reporter Kate Humble experiences the intensity of the adhan first hand in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Living in a western and Christian country, the adhan comes from my laptop or my cell phone, but it can never replace the beauty of hearing the real thing.

Swiss Muslims experience large set-back as ban on minarets gets approval

2009-11-30T11:59:00.005-05:00

Over 57 percent of Swiss voters on Sunday approved a blanket ban on the construction of Muslim minarets, according to official results posted by Swiss news agency ATS. A final tally of 26 cantons indicates that 57.5 percent of the population has voted in favor of the ban on minarets, the turrets or towers attached on mosques from where Muslims are called to prayer for any non-Muslims readers. Prior to the referendum, opinion polls indicated that more Swiss would oppose rather than support the ban. Earliest results after polls closed at mid-day showed that at least four cantons, all in German-speaking Switzerland, want a ban on minarets. Partial results also showed that Lucerne is for the ban, while French-speaking cantons Geneva and Vaud are against. The Swiss People's Party (SVP), Switzerland's biggest party, had forced a referendum under Swiss regulations on the issue after collecting 100,000 signatures within 18 months from eligible voters. It claims that minarets, the turrets or towers attached to mosques from where Muslims are called to prayer, symbolize a "political-religious claim to power." The Swiss government has asked voters to reject the call, arguing that accepting a ban would bring about "incomprehension overseas and harm Switzerland's image." Switzerland, a nation of 7.5 million people, has an uneasy relationship with its Muslim minority of around 400,000. Islam is its second largest religion after Christianity. Four minarets have so far been built in Switzerland and the construction of a fifth is planned. In the run-up to the referendum, a mosque in Geneva was vandalized for the third time during the anti-minaret campaign, local media reported Saturday. Determined to stop the SVP from gaining sympathizers, Bern issued several statements calling on the Swiss to vote against the proposal. Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz made a video broadcast to the nation, saying: "Muslims should be able to practice their religion and have access to minarets in Switzerland too. But the call of the muezzin will not sound here." However, an opinion poll published a day after Merz's broadcast found that support for a ban had increased three percentage points from a month ago to 37 percent, while those who opposed the ban remained unchanged at 53 percent. In a bid to push their case, the SVP, which had been accused of xenophobia with their election poster campaign in 2007, has once again turned to controversial tactics. Its latest poster campaign depicts a burka-clad woman against a background of a Swiss flag upon which several minarets resembling missiles are erected, sparking an uproar in some quarters. Switzerland's Commission Against Racism said the campaign defamed the Muslim minority, stirred up hatred and could threaten public peace. Religious groups, including Christians, Jews and Muslims, have also come out in a rare show of unity against the right-wing proposal. On the diplomatic front, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, had earlier expressed quiet confidence that Switzerland would turn down the ban. From Alarabiya.net.

A little late, but nevertheless fascinating

2009-11-30T11:55:00.003-05:00

This is a video of Fox News Channel from the U.S. and the parallel attacks that they used against John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election and again on Obama in last year's election. While the entire piece is extremely interesting, it is near the end of the video that contains the most jarring segments containing Obama's middle name (Hussein) and the newscaster's reaction to it and the way in which they use his name. Unfortunately, their attitudes are reflected in more Americans than not. Sad sad sad. Check it out.

The origin of the Christian tradition of the Christmas tree is directly forbidden in the Bible???

2009-11-23T12:25:00.004-05:00

According to our good friend wikipedia, the Christmas tree is, "originally derived from the Roman Saturnalia had afterwards been intermingled with the ceremonies observed by the British Druids at the period of winter-solstice, and at a subsequent period became incorporated with the grim mythology of the ancient Saxons. Two popular observances belonging to Christmas are more especially derived from the worship of our pagan ancestors—the hanging up of the mistletoe and the burning of the Yule Log. Other traditions relating to Christmas that may derive from Germanic pagan practices include the Christmas Ham, Yule Goat, stuffing stockings, elements of Santa Claus and his nocturnal ride through the sky, and elements of Alpine Folklore." There are a couple of times in the Bible in which a passage either refers to the use of trees or forbids participation in practices and rituals of pagan origins just like the Christmas tree. In Exodus 20, God commands that you shall worship no other god then he. "The Christmas tree began with some sort of religion that worshiped trees, basically "mother nature". They cut down the only tree that was living in the winter (pine) and started gathering around it worshipping." Most revealing, however, is found in Jeremiah 10:1-5 and it says, "Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O houseof Israel: "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: For one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: They must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good." Because the Christmas tree is a pagan symbol and Allah made forbidden to learn the ways of the heathen (pagan), one can conclude logically that the ritual of the Christmas tree is indeed forbidden. Thoughts?

A Muslim in the Chistmas retail world....

2009-11-23T12:04:00.003-05:00

I work in retail as a professional makeup artist for a very large luxury cosmetic and skin care line. Like the rest of the retail world in Christian countries, shoppers are beginning to come out en masse to spend their hard earned dollars on Christmas gifts. Not only do they expect to be surrounded by the Christmas twinkling lights, lavishly decorated trees, and season themed boutique items like snowman earrings and Santa socks, they also expect to be showered in Christmas spirit from the staff of these establishment.... including me. This is definitely one of the most challenging times of the year for me in my work life. Combined with the fact that I am not allowed to adhere to Islamic dress including hijab, I now have the obligation of returning and offering holiday greetings to my clients completely masking my Islamic identitiy. I love my job. I love every minute that I spend there al7amdulilah, and I realize that there are millions out there who dispise their jobs, so the pros definitely outweigh the cons. Maybe I'm just ranting, but every year when this time rolls around, I just know what's coming.. the 8 hour days full of Christmas music, people inquiring about my Christmas plans, invitations to Christmas parties, gift exchanges, furry red hats, and my boss who feels it best to keep my Islamic beliefs inside my home only to adopt her Christian beliefs while I am at work. Allah give me strength.

Murder knows no religion...

2009-11-09T22:21:00.003-05:00

An article by Arsalan Iftikhar of muslimguy.com: "Most of the world's 1.57 billion Muslims know that the Holy Quran states quite clearly that, 'Anyone who kills a human being ... it shall be as though he has killed all of mankind. ... If anyone saves a life, it shall be as though he has saved the lives of all of mankind.' Accordingly, it should come as little surprise to any reasonable observer that when Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan recently committed his shocking acts of mass murder at Fort Hood, Texas, America's Muslim community of over 7 million felt an added sense of horror and sadness at this senseless attack against the brave men and women of the U.S. armed forces. True to form, many conservative media pundits wasted little time in pointing to reports that Hasan had said "Allahu Akbar" (Arabic for "God is great") at the start of his murderous rampage. News coverage continuously showed the looping convenience store black-and-white videotape footage of Hasan wearing traditional white Islamic garb. First of all, someone simply saying "Allahu Akbar" while committing an act of mass murder no more makes their criminal act "Islamic" than a Christian uttering the "Hail Mary" while murdering an abortion medical provider, or someone chanting "Onward, Christian Soldiers" while bombing a gay nightclub, would make their act "Christian" in nature. Simply put; murder is murder and has no religion whatsoever. Professor Juan Cole of the University of Michigan once wrote that, "One most certainly does insult Muslims by tying their religion to movements such as terrorism or fascism. Muslims perceive a double standard in this regard: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols would never be called 'Christian terrorists' even though they were in close contact with the Christian Identity Movement. No one would speak of Christo-fascism or Judeo-fascism as the Republican[s] ... speak of Islam-o-fascism. ... [Many people also] point out that [it was] persons of Christian heritage [who] invented fascism, not Muslims." According to Pentagon statistics, there were over 3,400 American Muslims serving in the active-duty military as of April 2008. The Wall Street Journal reported that many officials believe "the actual number of [American] Muslim soldiers may be at least 10,000 higher than the Pentagon statistics." Thus, with thousands of patriotic American Muslim women and men proudly serving in our United States Army in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, perhaps it would behoove our army leaders to consider sending a strong message of American unity by appointing an American Muslim to be a part of the prosecution team against Hasan. This would help show that the mass murders allegedly committed by Hasan have nothing to do with the teachings of our religion. The United States Army can send a resounding message to all Americans and the rest of the world that the social fabric of our country will never become unraveled by murderous (and irreligious) gun-wielding felons -- whether it is a Muslim in Fort Hood, Texas, or a non-Muslim on a shooting rampage in an Orlando, Florida, high-rise less than a day later. By appointing a multicultural (and multireligious) legal prosecution team made up of military lawyers of all races and religions, we can set a good example to show the rest of the world that our American legal justice system is truly equal for all people, regardless of their race, religion or socioeconomic status. The larger point is that Muslims in America completely disavow and wash our hands of any acts of murder (or terrorism) claimed to be performed in the name of our religion. Acts of mass murder, regardless of their time or place, are simply ungodly criminal acts that have no religion whatsoever."

Ameen brother masha'allah.

Here we go...

2009-11-06T15:36:00.003-05:00

From Watan Arab American National Newspaper: Islamophobia Strikes Media:

Thursday's shootings at Fort Hood army base in Texas -- which have left at least 13 people dead and 30 others wounded -- were of course the "horrific outburst of violence" that President Obama bemoaned and condemned Thursday. But, because a soldier identified as the gunman had a name that led to the presumption that he was Muslim, the incident inspired an all-too-predictable outbreak of Islamophobia. News reports named the man who used two handguns in the assault on his fellow soldiers at a base that is a prime point of departure for troops headed to Iraq and Afghanistan as Major Malik Nidal Hasan. The major, who was wounded during the incident, was reportedly a psychiatrist who had served in the Department of Psychology at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Bethesda Naval Facility in Bethesda, Maryland, before his transfer to Fort Hood. Hours after the incident, and hours after news anchors and politicians cited his religion as an explanation for the shootings, a family member told reporters Major Hasan was indeed a Muslim. But that was hardly the only relevant detail about the major. For instance, according to Texas Senator Bailey Hutchison, preparing to deploy to Iraq. However, the senator said, "I do know that he has been known to have told people that he was upset about going (to Iraq)."

Several new reports suggested that the major saw a deployment to Iraq as his "worst nightmare" and recounted how he had treated victims of combat-related stress and was upset about the war. Military officials at the base and in Washington refused to speculate about motivations or intents. And Paul Sullivan, executive director of the group Veterans for Common Sense, noted that the incident might well be the latest in a series of stress-related homicides and suicides involving soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan or are being dispatched to those occupied lands. No one knew on Thursday whether stress, fear, anger over mistreatment, mental illness or a warped understanding of his religion might have motivated Major Hasan. The point here is not to defend the soldier or his alleged actions. Rather, it is to question the rush to judgment regarding not just this one Muslim but all Muslims. It should be understood that to assume a follower of Islam who engages in violence is a jihadist is every bit as absurd to assume that every follower of Christianity who attacks others is a crusader. The calculus makes no sense, and is rooted in a bigotry that everyone from George W. Bush to Pope Benedict XVI has condemned. But that did not stop right-wing web sites from exploding with incendiary speculation about a "Jihad at Fort Hood?" and a "Terrorist Incident in Texas." Fox News host Shepard Smith asked Senator Hutchison on air: "The name tells us a lot, does it not, senator?" Hutchinson's response? "It does. It does, Shepard." Neither Smith nor Hutchison had any information to suggest that Major Hasan's name offered even the slightest shred of information regarding the incident at Fort Hood.

What could Hutchinson have said that might have been more responsible response? She could have emphasized that the investigation of the shooting spree has barely begun. She might also have noted that thousands of Muslims serve honorably, indeed heroically, in the US military; that American Muslim soldiers have died In Iraq and been buried at Arlington Cemetery; that some of the first condemnations of the slayings at Fort Hood came from Muslim veterans such as Robert Salaam. "I'm sad for those killed and wounded by a traitor to both God and our country, and I regret that I even feel that I have to write something on the subject. Words cannot express my emotions and the instant headache I received when notified by my dear sister Sheila Musaji over at The American Muslim (TAM) concerning the alleged culprit," wrote Salaam, who served in the Marine Corps, within minutes after learning the gunman's name. "They have not yet released further details such as the motive but I will state for the record that no true Muslim could ever commit such a crime against humanity. As Muslims we are reminded that to take one innocent life is as if one killed all of mankind. Muslims are also commanded to keep their oaths when given." Salaam is not alone in regretting that, as a Muslim, he feels a need to respond to the incident with an explanation of his religion. But the conversation between Fox's Smith and Senator Hutchinson reminds us why it is necessary to respond.

And so Muslim groups have responded quickly and unequivocally. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, issued a statement that read: "We condemn this cowardly attack in the strongest terms possible and ask that the perpetrators be punished to the full extent of the law. No religious or political ideology could ever justify or excuse such wanton and indiscriminate violence. The attack was particularly heinous in that it targeted the all-volunteer army that protects our nation. American Muslims stand with our fellow citizens in offering both prayers for the victims and sincere condolences to the families of those killed or injured." Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, declared that, "Our entire organization extends its heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed as well as to those wounded and their loved ones. We stand in solidarity with law enforcement and the US military to maintain the safety and security of all Americans." Those are sentiments that are worth noting, especially by news anchors and senators who are in a position to inform the discussion of a horrific incident -- rather than to inflame it.

Backlash imminent?

2009-11-05T21:30:00.004-05:00

As everyone in the world has likely heard already, the events at Fort Hood military base has identified their shooter and killer as an American Muslim. While surfing around forums and reading comments following updated news stories, it saddens me to read the conclusions that the vast majority of Americans are jumping to in relation to the suspect's ethnicity and religion throwing around words like terrorist and calls for the military to remove and bar Muslims from entering the military. There have been absolutely no confirmations from any reliable sources that the man is even a Muslim. The speculation is based solely on his name alone. As the story develops, I will continue to follow it, however, after watching Larry King's broadvast tonight and listening as an "expert" ex-major and JAG officer who even spent a year in Iraq blame the entire incident on Islamic fundamentalism without any sort of information from investigators, I fear that this ignorant person unfortunately represents a large portion of Americans right now. The entire situation saddens me as I look back on post 9/11 life as a Muslim and see the direction that this is possibly (and probably) going. So sad... "Islam is about peace. Islam is about friendship. Islam is opposed to any kind 0f hatred against anybody." - Imam Shamsi Ali

New Hollywood blockbuster starring the Prophet Muhammad? (pbuh)

2009-11-01T22:46:00.004-05:00

Yep, that's right. According to Haaratz.com, our favorite Israeli daily, producers of blockbuster films like The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings is setting up to film a movie about the holy prophet (pbuh) in 2011. A reassurance has been given that the prophet will not be depicted in accordance with Islamic belief. Producers also claim that they will "attract the "best international talent" to star in the motion picture." Jury is out on this one... not sure how I feel about this. Thoughts?

America, stop sucking up to Israel

2009-11-01T20:48:00.005-05:00

"Israel of 2009 is a spoiled country, arrogant and condescending, convinced that it deserves everything and that it has the power to make a fool of America and the world. The United States has engendered this situation, which endangers the entire Mideast and Israel itself. That is why there needs to be a turning point in the coming year - Washington needs to finally say no to Israel and the occupation. An unambiguous, presidential no." - Haaretz.com Israeli New. Today, this Israeli news agency ran this incredibly candid and raw article about the attitude of Israel of late. Today, as I was reading the blogs and forums I frequent, I came across a discussion of said article. One post that struck me as particularly bold and inventive yet blatantly true: "Did anyone in Washington consider begging Saddam Hussein to withdraw from occupied territory in Kuwait?". Food for thought. Read the article here.

UK college student banned from enrollment for refusing to remove her niqab

2009-10-24T12:51:00.004-04:00

An 18 year old student in the UK was refused education enrollment at a university because she refused to remove her niqab. Shawana Bilqes claimed she attempted to compromise with the staff in order to comply but they were not willing to accomadate her religious beliefs. Bilqes is also enrolled as a police cadet and she is ironically allowed to wear her face cover in training but the local university is unwilling to allow her to cover her face in order to seek higher education. It seems France's offensive against Islamic covering is starting to infiltrate the rest of Europe... slowly but surely. Read more here.

Muslims and Christians join forces against Israeli destruction of holy sites

2009-10-23T16:52:00.003-04:00

AMMAN: Jordan has sought assistance from Pope Benedict XVI to stop Israel’s “unilateral measures” in East Jerusalem, which the Jewish state captured in the 1967 Middle East war, an official statement said Thursday. The request was made by Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh who met the pontiff at the Vatican on Wednesday and relayed to him a “verbal message” from King Abdallah. “Jordan rejects the Israeli unilateral measures which seek to change the identity of the holy city and endanger the sacred Islamic and Christian places there,” Judeh was quoted as telling Benedict. The Jordanian foreign minister also presented the pope with a “file detailing various Israeli measures and provocations in Jerusalem and the holy places there”. Judeh called for an “unequivocal attitude by the world community for confronting the Israeli excavations that threaten the safety of the Islamic and Christian holy sites and the attempts which seek to change the city’s demographic structure through forcing its Arab inhabitants to emigrate,” the statement said. Under the peace treaty which the two countries concluded in 1994, Israel acknowledged Jordan’s right to look after all Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. From Arab News.

"Fake" News broadcasts and Islamophobia

2009-10-16T11:22:00.004-04:00

An organization named Spinwatch in the UK specializes in monitoring accuracy in reporting and exposing untrue or news that has been "spinned". An interesting article on arabnews.com today discusses the impact this has had on the perceptions of Muslims around the world and the habits of the media when reporting on anything Islam. It also addresses the "terrorism" experts that we have all grown accustomed to hearing on the news and their backgrounds. Really facinating stuff here. The links below lead to the articles and websites. Check it out and prepare for a mind blowing.

Spinwatch Exposing Neocon Propaganda
The Propoganda we Pass off as News Around the World - article about "fake" news reporting
Spinwatch - Spinwatch's website

Shirin Ebadi of Iran: Human and Women's rights in Islam

2009-10-14T22:46:00.006-04:00

From alarabiya.net: As American President Barack Obama was winning a Nobel Peace Prize, an Iranian Nobel winner was speaking at a U.S. university where she explained human rights and Islam are compatible and argued discrimination in Muslim countries was based on misinterpretations of Islam's holy book. Dr. Shirin Ebadi spoke to an audience of five hundred people at Naropa University on Friday to answer questions about Islam and human rights, discrimination against women and whether Muslims would be best to "promote human rights through a secular state," Denver's The Examiner quoted her as saying. Ebadi argued that Islam, like other religions, is open to interpretation and is compatible with human and women rights. She cited examples of Muslim countries who have banned torture and others who have female leaders. The Noble winner, however, acknowledged the discrimination that takes place in Muslim countries but stressed "that the root of discrimination lies not in Islam but in the way male leaders distort it to remain in power." She cited examples of leaders who distorted interpretations of the Quran after the Iranian Revolution of 1979 to create laws to disempower women causing her to loose her position as a judge. Ebadi also argued that the current "polarization between the Middle East and West has caused Muslims to rally around their Islamic identity" and said that, instead of arguing for a secular state, progress could be achieved through more correct interpretations of the Quran. Ebadi is currently involved in creating institutions "to interpret the Quran in a way that respects human and women's rights" with other Muslim women such as the American Society for Muslim Advancement and the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality. Both associations are headed by Daisy Khan, a Muslim Kashmiri who lives in the U.S. Ebadi urged people "to go beyond our fears to understand that the Taliban and al-Qaeda do not speak for the majority of Muslims." When asked about becoming a human rights attorney Ebadi laughed. “There’s no money in it. But what comes is an inner satisfaction so when I go to bed at night I feel peaceful, "she answered. Click here for the original article.

The world is starving

2009-10-14T11:32:00.005-04:00

The importance of zakat is obvious as it is one of the pillars of Islam. The prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, "The best charity is to feed an empty stomach". Today, the U.N.'s Food and Agricultural Organization released a statement that the world's hungry has reached the highest number since 1970 and exceeds 1 billion... devastatingly, this is 100 million more than just last year alone! Read more here. There are many organizations that work to help world hunger masha'allah. You can find a decent list of there here. A quick search can turn up hundreds more. So, if you're looking for great place to give your saqadah to, consider helping our brothers and sisters in need around the world and giving to a charity that help those who desperately need it.

Airport strip-search anyone?

2009-10-14T11:19:00.005-04:00

Well, it's obvious by looking around us everyday that technology is incredible in these ultra modern times. Evidence can be found in our amazingly multi-functional computer/ camera/ video camera/game consol (and more) mobile phones. However, while technology has brought to our lives amazing innovations that have made life easier and more enjoyable, it also brings some horrifying innovations as well. Enter the airport strip search scanner. Yes, that's right: an airport full body scanner that "captures a "quite revealing" image of passengers and is aimed at spotting if someone is hiding explosives or weapons" and, "is so accurate it can detect everything from body piercings and breast enlargements to genital outlines". The upside?: "although invasive, the scanner means passengers will no longer be frisked in public nor will they have to remove shoes, belts and other clothing that most international airports currently enforce". Well that makes it all better then... not. The scanner was tested at Heathrow a number of years ago and passengers were appauled at how revealing and graphic the scanner truely was. The best of all news for travelers in and out of the U.S. is that more than 1,000 scanners have already been ordered by U.S. airports. Passengers who are aware of the invasiveness and the violating nature of the scanner can opt for a traditional pat-down instead, but will be forced to report to another area of security in order to do so. So, what's better? Someone feeling your every sensitive part while patting you down or having the Transportation Security Administration take naked pictures of you? ..... all of this just to board an aircraft..... read the original article here.

Coooool... new charter flight service for Hajj and Ummrah

2009-10-04T19:04:00.003-04:00

Read about it here!

So sad...

2009-10-01T21:54:00.004-04:00

Children at a Gainsville, Florida high school have been sent home on multiple occasions for wearing shirts that say "Islam in of the devil" on the back. To make matters worse, these shirts were distributed from their local church group... it's no wonder that Americans carry so many misconceptions of evil and violence around with them. Click here to read the disheartening article.

Sarkozy: Fighting Islamic Oppression .... say what???

2009-09-30T22:06:00.005-04:00

Back in june, French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared that Islamic veils such as burqa and niqab are symbols of the subjugation of women and would "not be welcomed in our territory".

You may remember that the French leadership's crusade against hijab ended with a ban on headscarves throughout French state schools prohibiting young Muslimah's from covering while on school grounds. It should be noted that this measure was vehemently supported by the average French citizen and triumphed by teachers and regional mayors throughout the country.

Naturally, the success of the banned headscarf has progressed to a move to ban facial coverings in any public environment in France completely. Some mayors who live among substantial populations of muslims question the potential for success with such an initiative. Reuters news writes: "Will it backfire? Will a ban encourage more veil wearing?" Claude Dilain, chairman of the Association of Mayors of French Cities and Suburbs, asked at a panel meeting on Tuesday. "Who'll be responsible for enforcing this law?" added Dilian, mayor of Clichy-sous-Bois, an ethnically mixed north Paris suburb rocked by rioting in 2005. "Police in Clichy won't even give out parking tickets in some places or at some times." Xavier Lemoine, mayor of the Montfermeil suburb east of Paris, said some Muslims there were "being re-Islamised" and France should firmly defend its secular system. But he was also hesitant about pushing a burqa ban through the National Assembly, saying: "'I prefer to do nothing for a good reason than something for a bad reason.'"

Panel chairman Andre Gerin, former mayor of a mixed suburb of Lyon, said full veils were "medieval customs" and the "tip of the iceberg" of an Islamization drive led by what he called "gurus" from outside the neighborhoods where they appear. Renaud Gauquelin, mayor of Rillieux-La-Pape near Lyon, said failing to take a stand would mean failing to defend the separation of church and state and, above all, women's rights.

"What sign would we give to women around the world?" he asked. "To Iranian women fighting for their freedom? To Saudi women who want to be able to drive a car?" All mayors said some Muslim residents were increasingly making religious demands on municipal services, such as halal school meals or women-only hours in pools. In hospitals, some women refused to be treated by male doctors (gasp!).

Ok, first of all, on what grounds does Sarkozy cite that defends his position that veiling is a sign of subjugation of the Muslim woman? Is this not simply reinforcing negative imagery and misconceptions that westerners carry with them about Islam? Perhaps that is the motive. A man from Canada commented on Sarkozy's initiative and said: "If they don't accept it, throw them in jail while waiting for deportation. The full face veil is an abnormal comportment." A Latino man noted: "If those mayors are not able to enforce the laws of France then they should leave and give the place to others who are not willing to look aside for all those Muslims who think that can impose their laws and point of views in a country that has for many millennium been of Christian and state tradition. Don't like it? Go away. You are not welcome." I have to side with an enlightened American man who said: "If France is serious about the separation of church and state, they should not even be stepping into a this issue. Allow Muslim women and men to work this out. Additionally, I don't believe Islam requires all Muslim women to wear a burqa." Ameen brother. Do you think a ban on veiling the face will lead to a ban on headscarves in public as well? Let's hope for our sisters in France that they will never find the answer to that question and have their right to hijab violated insha'allah. I will just never understand why modesty is such a hot issue. As long as women in France have the right to strut around in a bikini, then Muslim women should maintain the right to veil their beauty.

Sujud in Jewish and Christian prayer

2009-09-29T21:45:00.004-04:00

Zipping around youtube I found the most fascinating videos showing early prayer practices of Jewish and Christian worshippers. It shows that the early worshippers practiced prostration during their daily prayers. For really interesting information, go to youtube and read the sidebars the posters of the videos have written. The third video below is Biblical evidence of the command of prostration in prayer as presented from a Qu'ranic perspective complete with Biblical passages commanding prostration in prayer. Really interesting.

Beautiful Earth

2009-09-29T15:56:00.004-04:00

Masha'allah I just saw the film Earth from Disney. It was absolutely breathtaking. It made me laugh and it made me cry, but most significantly it forced me into complete awe with the overwhelming beauty and power of the world. Subhan'allah! There were so many animals that I had never even seen before. It opens your eyes to the harsh realties of nature and the animal kingdom. It goes all over the world and follows different families of animals as they raise their young and make their annual migrations and struggle for food and water against the elements and enemies. If you haven't seen it yet, it's a feast for the eyes and for the heart (and it's in the Redbox lol for $1 for those of us lucky enough to have one near us!!!) ;)

Acceptance for American Muslims on the horizon?

2009-09-29T15:26:00.005-04:00

Ever since that horrifying day that was 9-11-01, life as a Muslim and/or Arab in America changed. Muslims and Arabs and even Arab looking people were the victims or violence, harassment, and discrimination. It continues today, however, things seem to be changing for the better in recent months. Click on the link to read more:

Americans Turn from Hatred to Education by Ray Hanania

Etiquette at the Masjid

2009-09-29T09:58:00.015-04:00

I read an article on arabnews.com about the use of mobile phones while performng tawaf around the Kabaa during Umrah or Hajj. Here is an excerpt from the article by Badea Abu Alnaja and the link is below if you wish to read the whole article: "Some people, unfortunately forget that they are in the most holy place on earth, especially when they circumambulate around the Kaaba, talking on their mobile phones, discussing mundane matters or joking and laughing at the top of their voice while most others are engrossed in prayers is pure violation of the sanctity of the holy place. Ahmad Alya, a pilgrim, told Arab News that the workers in the Grand Mosque should make it a point to stop anyone who commits deeds that violate the sanctity and tranquility of the holy precinct. “One day I saw a man, while performing tawaf (circumambulation), talking on his mobile phone in a high voice and laughing. Such deeds should not be tolerated,” he said. Bara Salah, another pilgrim said, “The authorities should take steps to stop anyone speaking loudly and other actions that violate the sanctity of the Grand Mosque. I heard the man close to me discussing real estate prices on a cell phone. I told him to stop it and focus on the rites so that he did not disturb other pilgrims. His response was a blank look at me as he continued to talk on the phone.” Salah, however, was more outraged by the fact that another man was talking on his cell phone while standing under the shadow of the Kaaba. There he was more concerned in conveying the message to the other party on the phone that he was presently in Makkah and he would meet him personally when he returns from Makkah to Jeddah. This imparting of the message was more important to him then praying and completing his tawaf to seek forgiveness. As if the use and abuse of cell phones in the holy precincts are not enough there are people more intent in recording their tawaf rather than completing the spiritual journey. There are people going round the Kaaba with another person recording it on a video camera, and then there are instances of two men meeting at any point of circumambulation and opening up a conversation until the end of their tawaf." Last Friday I attended Jumah prayer at the masjid and not once, not twice, not three, but FOUR times during the khutbah the entire congregation was serenaded by the different ring tones interrupting the imam and causing the entire congregation to pause and wait for the person to retrieve and silent the music so that we can all continue. And I can't count how many times I was completely unable to hear the khutbah over the chatting. At Eid prayer, the khutbah was stopped at least half a dozen times just so that they could ask the ladies to be quiet because even the men couldn't hear over their conversations! Maybe we all need a refresher course in the etiquette of prayer and worship and the importance of being reverent as stressed by the prophet himself (sallalahu alahi wa salaam).

Things NOT to do:

Do not talk during the khutbah: It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If you say to your companion when the imam is preaching on Friday, ‘Be quiet and listen,’ you have engaged in idle talk.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 892; Muslim, 851).
If you are going to read, read a Qu'ran; save the newspaper and cell phone web surfing for after prayer.
Do not text message: Putting a cell phone on silent and stowing it away in a pocket or handbag is really the only good choice here.
Do not sleep.
If you enter after the khutbah has begun, enter quietly; save greetings and kisses and conversations for after prayer.

Article here.

Saudi Arabia's Newest Reform - A Co-ed university?

2009-09-28T19:54:00.005-04:00

Today on alarabiya.net I read about the newest educational institution in the kingdom: a co-ed university developed and built by the megapower that is Saudi Aramco. The science and technology institution is staffed with some of the greatest scientists in all the world. King Abdullah has been a revolutionary breath of fresh air for the extremely conservative country. Just last February he made headlines by appointing the country's first female minister Norah Alfayez who is now the deputy education minister for female educational affairs for the kingdom. According to Alarabiya, the $10 billion project will require students and faculty to live on campus. The kicker? Women will not be required to cover, women and men will be allowed to mingle freely, and there will even be a cinema at the commercial center! In such a conservative and traditional society, where is this coming from you ask? It is Saudi Arabia's effort to attract foreign students to the kingdom and increase the university's marketability. While I fully support reform in the kingdom and improvement to educational systems and the increase of secural thinking in the kingdom, I question whether or not such things become priority over religion. Is Saudi willing to sacrifice some of its Islamic values for the sake of being an international player? I believe that there is a way to attract talent and students from all parts of the world without forsaking Islamic morality.