Showing posts with label islam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label islam. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

The Koran is Used to Teach Hate...

... of environmental degradation.

Huh?

A class of madrassahs (called a "pesantren") in Indonesia uses Islamic principles to teach environmental conservationism. Sure, you must be thinking, this is some glitzy, new age PR by Jihadists hoping to win over Greenpeace types.

One such institution, however, is Pesantren Guluk-Guluk, also called Al Nuqayah, which was established in 1887 -- more than a century before the invention of powerpoint presentations, let alone the greening of Al Gore. Its founders recognized that many social problems came from the island's poor ecology.

Respect for the environment arose both out of ethics and necessity. Indonesian Muslims, like the Muslims of the prophet's times, lived in environs where the state of nature was close to people's lives, an essential part of survival and important spiritually.

Saleem Ali, associate dean of graduate studies at the Rubenstein School for the Environment at the University of Vermont, said "There is a reverence of nature that stems from essential pragmatism within the faith."

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Saturday, April 19, 2008

Starplex Cinemas vs. USA vs Sami Al-Arian

Coming under pressure from "anti-Muslim bigots," Starplex Cinemas in Irvine decided to cancel a screening of the USA vs Sami Al-Arian this past Monday. The cinema breached a contract signed with CAIR-LA to show the film at their theatre in Irvine today, just a week before screening. Here are more details about the incident:

Calif. Theater Cancels Al-Arian Doc After Pressure from ‘Anti-Muslim Bigots’

(ANAHEIM, CA, 4/17/08) - The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) said today that Starplex Cinemas succumbed to pressure by “anti-Muslim bigots” and canceled a screening of "USA vs. Al-Arian," a documentary highlighting the injustices faced by former Florida professor Dr. Sami Al-Arian.

CAIR-LA officials say Starplex Cinemas breached a signed agreement to screen the documentary.

When the Starplex-owned Woodbridge 5 theater in Irvine, Calif., canceled its contract on Monday, the company released the following statement on a blog: "Starplex Cinemas has no ties or relations with the organization that rented the theater to do a film screening. The intent and content of the film was not disclosed. We have not political affilication [sic] and have canceled the screening. We thank the community for brining [sic] this to our attention. For any questions or comments, please contract [sic] Kristen Wheaton at kwheaton@starplexcimemas.com."

"By succumbing to pressure from anti-Muslim bigots, Starplex Cinemas sends the message that only some points of view deserve to be heard," CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush. "It is un-American for any group to stifle free speech by seeking to censor political views."

Ayloush said another theater has agreed to screen the documentary this evening. The theater, also located in Irvine, is a newer facility and is able to accommodate an additional 100 guests. That facility is also coming under pressure from the same anti-Muslim sources.

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Thursday, April 17, 2008

Bardot the Bigot Could Be Fined For "Race Hatred Remarks Towards Muslims"

According to the Hollywood Reporter, in 2006, revered French actress Brigette Bardot wrote a letter to now president of France, Sarkozy, protesting that the Muslim method for slaying sheep for Eid Al-Kabeer. However, more problematic were the sentences that followed:

"We're fed up with being led around by this whole population which is destroying us, destroying our country by imposing its acts," she wrote.
With the possibility of paying 15,000 euros ($25,000) for "inciting racial hatred toward the Muslim community," the French starlet, with a history of "similar offenses," could face her fifth fine (my favorite part of the story):

Prosecutor Anne de Fontette said she was "a bit tired" of pursuing the former starlet for the same offense. Bardot has been convicted of similar offenses on four previous occasions since 1997 and fined $2,250-$7,500.

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Monday, April 14, 2008

Muhajabats in America: Over-exposed?


Why does every Western representation, photo-essay, primetime special feature on Muslims in America exclusively focus on the muhajabat when portraying the American Muslim woman experience?

Time magazine's online photo-essay "Muslim in America" features 16 pics of "ordinary" Muslim activity in New York. Ironically, I have a good amount of friends featured in this pictorial account of Muslim life in NYC.

The only scene with a hijab-less Muslim woman is one in which girls who look to be between the ages of 5-8 are playing in elegant dresses at a Muslim wedding reception.*

And this is only a small ounce of the super-sized meal America has been fed of muhajabats doing "ordinary Western things." From Jordanian boxers in profiled in a salon.com article titled "Muslim women head to head, hijab to hijab," to a little covered Pali girl getting surfing lessons from world-renowned surfer (and Arab!) Kelly Slater, and lastly to a muhajabat fashioning a rendition of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" on the oud, there seems to be an implicit campaign to prove that "Muslim women" too "can be all they can be."

Within this context of a monolithic representation of female Muslim American identity, where does that leave me and others like me who don't choose to veil? Where are our voices and images? And why you ask, is it important to include us in the Muslim American narrative?

Well, for one, I am tired of ignorant-ass, non-Muslim people CONSTANTLY coming up to me judging my Islamic authenticity based on the fact that I don't wear a hijab. The overall perception in my experience with those unfamiliar with the religion and culture is that a Muslim woman's obligations are to:

1. Veiling: to cover one's head and body.
2. Abstain from eating pork and drinking liquor
3. Subordination to men: obedience towards one's husband/men in a woman's life.
For them, Americans unfamiliar with Islamic religious and cultural practices and expressions of faith, these outward performances become primary indicators of a woman's level of devotion to her Islamic faith. Although I shouldn't and don't necessary care how dominant culture perceives me, what I am concerned about is how we as a Muslim community encourage and accommodate this monocular exoticism of our women. Islamically, it is acceptable to cover, and it's permissible not to. But, have our Muslim American marketing strategies failed because we follow suit with how the West wants to represent what appear to be "exotic" religious practices, instead of pushing for a more diverse representation. I am awaiting the day when a Muslim female public intellectual/talking head/ pundit or sitcom/drama character who does not veil makes it onto our flat and silver screens.

Understandably, post-9/11, Muslim groups and organizations worked overtime on publicity campaigns to alter America's perception of muhajabat. Very visibly, these women, empowered because they "can do anything a Muslim man or Independent, modern American woman can do," became the poster-child of the American Muslima movement, and I dare say, the face of Islam in America. I feel like in pre-emptetively tempering hostility towards muhajabat, us un-veiled sisters' suffering has gone unaccounted for. Besides the fact that our devotion to our faith is constantly questioned by both Muslims and non-Muslims alike; our experiences are regarded as invalid in the discourse and visual representation of what it means to be a Muslim in America. All I'm asking is to include our voices and experiences in the construction of this narrative.

*For a more detailed, on point breakdown of the shortcomings of this latest attempt by American to "understand" Muslims, check out
this brilliant post by Melinda at Muslimah Media Watch.

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Thursday, March 27, 2008

KABOBpoll IV: Proof Obama is a Secret Muslim

Two men, same religion, same haircut but with very different pointing tones.

KABOBfest readers are convinced Barack HUSSAIN Obama is trying to pull a fast one here. Not only are they sure he is an undercover Muslim brother, but they have the undeniable logic figured out: his haircut very much resembles Malcolm X's. How can you argue with that?

he lacks foreskin.
6 (10%)
his middle name is Hussein.
7 (11%)
his wife always stands behind him when he's seen in public.
15 (25%)
the Jihadis will dance in the streets if he wins.
16 (26%)
he has a Malcolm X haircut.
22 (36%)
he attended madrassahs in Indonesia.
8 (13%)


Please vote in the newest KABOBpoll (at the top right)

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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Japan and Middle East Politics in History

The paper begins, "Most people at the turn of the twenty-first century have forgotten that there was a time in Japan before World War II when Japanese nationalists showed an Asianist face to the world's Muslims, whom they wanted to befriend as allies in the construction of a new Asia under Japanese domination." Muslims saw the rising Japanese power as a counterforce to Western imperialism. What a fascinating history.

On a similar, but very separate, note, check out this interview with May Shigenobu, the daughter of imprisoned Japanese Red Army founder, Fusako Shigenobu. May was at the center of a controversy over a talk she gave at a school. She also criticized her mother's lack of access to health care in prison.

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Thursday, March 06, 2008

Muslim Connection to NYC Explosion?

Early this morning a small explosion went off on the front of the Armed Forces Career Center in New York's famous strip of visual diarrhea, Times Square.

Care to read my early morning, breaking news analysis? As an Arab-American, I hold secrets in my mystical palms...

In case we do not understand what a small explosion at such an office could mean, the media are helping us by calling its source an "improvised explosive device," which are also what the US military calls the bombs used by Iraqi insurgents. Are they trying to scream "Iraq"? I know this sounds like splitting hairs, but such subtle suggestive cues are quite powerful. If they weren't, Times Square would not be riddled with advertisements.

Then again, why else would anyone target a military recruitment office? Is it out of solidarity with the insurgents, or anger at US militarism, or by a veteran who saw the measly benefits and care they get (or had to buy his own equipment), or a "home-grown terrorist," or an alienated college student who finds random shooting sprees so passe, or a prank?

I doubt we'll get an answer to this, but if the purpose is for us to rethink this war, I doubt it will work -- the vast majority is already against it. We're too busy soaking up tube, paying our credit card debt, and eating to do anything about it.

Okay, maybe we'll vote for Obama or that recent convert against the war, Clinton, but besides that, do not count on us to do much more.

Mayor Moneybags Bloomberg is going to give a press briefing at any minute. The police are considering whether this could be related to previous small explosions at the British and Mexican consulates in the past years.

While police search for clues, they are missing one obvious suspect. Just so I can beat the right-wing loonies to the punch, I will find the Arab-Muslim link to this.

The New York Times revealed that a Muslim, possibly Arab, man "witnessed it":

Mohammed Hossain, 39, whose coffee cart, is at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 44th Street, said he heard the explosion before 4 a.m. “I heard a loud noise and I turned around and saw smoke,” he said. “And then the cops were everywhere, within minutes.” Mr. Hossain, who has operated the cart for 15 years, said police asked him to close up until about 7:15.
15 years? Yeah right. He's just trying to get a little free publicity for his coffee cart, making it seem like a vintage establishment. A little waterboarding in Guantanamo can get the truth out of him.

Rudy Giuliani would have got the truth out of him.

Hopefully we can get one of the two NYC-based KABOBers on the scene, since they probably have nothing else to do.

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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Danny Glover, Daniel Pearl's Wife, and Kareem Abdul Jabar Also Disagree with Me

So, don't feel alone in your crusade to challenge my criticism of the Lena Khan produced music video of the Kareem Salama song "A Land Called Paradise" - which is not the official music video for the song, by the way.

The Cali native filmmaker and UCLA alum (and coincidently a facebook friend), won the "Muslims in America: Stories Not Stereotypes" online film competition sponsored by Islam in America-focused, philanthropic collaborative One Nation Many Voices.

Interesting enough, her explanation of the film's purpose, which, according to her, was to "humanize Muslims," validates the uneasiness I felt about the short film's almost campy sensibilities in its "wholesome-cheesiness" (more like Kraft easy whip than Wisconsin cheddar type of (in)authentic cheesiness) attempt to prove a Muslim American's humanity to the general public.

Once again, my fervent censure of the project is exclusively reserved for the actual video and not the Kareem Salama song used for the video. I will even go as far to say that the video, as a creative interpretation is an abomination to the song. Here is the USA Today article on the recent prize announcement:

Young filmmaker put lives of Muslims in focus

By Jason Millman, USA TODAY, February 20, 2008

Muslim Americans say they often feel like strangers in their own country, and the struggle to overcome stereotypes became more complicated after 9/11.

So when given the chance to tell their stories, more than 100 young Muslim American filmmakers poured their creative energies into producing four- to five-minute films about Islam and its followers for an online competition. Winners are being announced today.

More than 18,000 people voted online for six finalists in six categories. A celebrity panel of judges, including former basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, actor Danny Glover and Mariane Pearl, wife of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, selected winners in the six categories, who receive $5,000 each. There will be one $20,000 grand prize winner.

"Film is one way, one avenue, in which we can change the perception of men, women and children who share the Islamic faith," Glover says. "I found what I saw to be both insightful and informative, and I was really moved by it."...

Lena Khan, 23, an independent filmmaker from Alta Loma, Calif., won the grand prize for A Land Called Paradise, which asks Muslims what the world should know about them. The answers, which included "I, too, shop at Victoria's Secret" and "Islam inhibits my suicidal thoughts," were meant to humanize Muslims, Khan says:

We should be dealing with a better understanding across cultures," says Kim Spencer, president of Link TV, which co-sponsored the competition with the non-profit group One Nation. "For there to be an entire group of people who are misunderstood and we can't talk about is absurd."

The winning films can be seen at www.linktv.org/onenation/films/finalists.

A Land Called Paradise, Bassem Is Trying
Grand prize, One Minute and Less categories
By: Lena Khan, 23, Alta Loma, Calif.

Frustrated with the myths and stereotypes surrounding Muslims in the media, Khan wanted to help viewers relate to Muslims in America. "The idea was, 'I really wish everyone knew this about Muslims,' " says Khan, a USC film school graduate. So she collected more than 2,000 comments from Muslim Americans, many of which she put into a music video set to Kareem Salama's song A Land Called Paradise. In Bassem Is Trying, Bassem is shown "trying way too hard all the time" just to fit in, Khan says. He tailors his clothes to make them look more American, and he blasts rap music from his car when he's stopped at a traffic light. But in the end, he still draws suspicion because of his Muslim appearance.


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Speaking of a Whiner... or Weiner, that is

Vogue magazine had a big write-up of Hillary Clinton's "Traveling Chief of Staff," Huma Abedin (Fadi referenced her in the last post and Nimr was all over that too). If Vogue didn't look like it reeks of perfume samples, I might actually pick a copy up just to find out more about her.

From what google can tell me, Abedin was raised in Saudi Arabia, that beacon of democracy. She is half-Pakistani, half-Indian, and on her cell phone or text messaging half the time I see her on TV (just look for the brown girl behind Hillary). Her role as Clinton's chief donut-retriever makes her one of the most powerful Muslim-Americans in the race -- besides Obama, of course.

Rumors of her having an affair with Hillary aside, there are other rumors circulating that she is sneaking around with that gaydar-inducing Congressman, and arch-Zionut, Anthony Weiner.
She was reportedly seen with the bachelor Weiner going into the Maritime Hotel. What that actually means is up to your dirty mind's speculation. And rumors are not very reliable sources, kind of like some of the comments left on this site.

What this all means is that if Billary wins, we might see a Muslim-American in one of the highest political posts in the White House -- the catch is that it would be just one more Zionut-loving Moozlim in the service of empire.

Then again, maybe she is like Obama, a secret Jihadist infiltrating America from the top... muuuuaaaahhhhhh hhhhaaaaa hhaaaaa!!! Load up on duct tape, Bill Cunningham!

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Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Writings On the Wall-from Caves in From the Basalt Desert in Southern Syira to the Cave-like tunnel at the subway station at Columbus Circle

How does one a sense of the pulse of a city? Sentiments of a people? Hit to the New York City Subway to discover the sentiments of the inescapable "New York Street."

With the artful stroke of the sharpie, here are poetically depicted reactions to Islam and 9/11 on the subway station walls and on corporate in-train ads. the sentiments of the inescapable "New York Street."

The walls of the Columbus Circle stop on the 1, A,C, D, and B


A close up-zeroing in on a reaction to a reaction :

Written on top of "AN" is "Asshole" and to the left of "911" is "DREAM ON, FOOL" and there is a swastika to the bottom right of the "n" in "AN."

And finally, the ever sensitive and astute observation on Islam:


One question: Why did homeboy feel compelled to air out his grievances with God on a flower delivery ad on the 1 train???

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Wednesday, January 30, 2008

The Match-making Chronicles: Race/Ethnicity/Nationality of Ideal Husband

When I addressed the issue to my father, as in what qualities he expected an ideal mate of my to have, he said:

"All he has to be is Muslim and very ambitious...and passive, because you are a very dominant personality. You can't have two dominants. It's like electricity. You need a negative and a positive charge."
After belabouring the point that my father called me a "negative charge" and trying to guilt-trip him about that metaphoric comparsion (I failed, foolishly ignoring what Patai knew all too well, that Arabs can't be guilted into anything, because they don't have a conscience, and thus you need to appeal to their sense of shame to get to do what you want*), I decided to move on and tackle the other part of what he considered ideal Husband credentials. Knowing fully well that my father had a much more specific portrait of the ideal or acceptable mate for me-I pushed him further by testing him:
"So, you would be happy if I married a white or Latino Muslim?"

"No, they have to be Arab. You have to relate to your mate culturally. That is the only way you are going to have a successful marraige."

Rewind to a week ago when my father dumbfounded by my Arab-philia, inquired: "Why are you Arabicized-we didn't raise you that way?"

Knowing again, that my father had an even more specific and constricted definition, I pushed him again:
"So, you would be fine if I married a Moroccan?"

"No, they are not real Arabs."
After objecting to and debating this unfounded claim for a good ten minutes, I moved on to the next part of my interrogation. Knowing the position of Yemenis in the inter-arab racist hierarchy, I pushed once again:
"How about a Yemeni"

"No, they are not real Arabs."

"But Dad, they are from South Arabia-they are the "realest" Arabs."
After naming every one of the member countries of the Arab league (with the exception of Syria), and being met with resistance, I sought to confirm what I thought my father believed considered an acceptable mate:
"How about someone from Damascus?"

"No, they are different."
So, there you have it, what I an initially suspected that my father refused to commit to was true:

The only acceptable mate in my father's eyes would have to be an ambitious, type-B Muslim from a "good family" from Halab. Apparently that's what "ambitious, passive Muslim" is code for.

*oozing with sarcasm

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Monday, January 14, 2008

Hijabi Fashion on the Syrian Streets

Having spent a summer in Damascus this past year, I would have to say blogger/cartoonist Puppeteer at the brilliantly titled Journal...of an Axis of Evil Citizen has hit the nail on the head with her rendition of Syrian (more like Damascene) Hijabi street wear


[click on image to enlarge]


The only recommendation I would have is to expand the trendy/sexy hijab categories, as there are so many different varieties of these species-like Designer Hijab, Hip Hop Headwrap Hijab, or my favorite: “accidental” front-hair-showing hijab.

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Thursday, January 03, 2008

Who is More Unelectable than a Black, a Woman, a Hispanic or a Mormon?

2 Answers: an atheist and a Muslim.

Barack Obama has to face e-mail chain letters suggesting he is an atheist, and others that he is a Muslim.

This Chicago Sun-Times article illuminates the whispering campaign being used to discredit Barack Obama. It is based on accusations apparently most detrimental to an American politician: being godless or worshiping "Allah."

While the media raves about the historic possibility of a woman or African-American as President, and a Latino candidate (Bill Richardson), this shows that the American public still has several psychological, prejudicial hurdles to go, this is, if an African-American and a woman are actually electable. I would like to think that given their leading positions now, it is possible, at the least. Time will tell.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Just hours before Thursday night’s caucuses, White House hopeful Barack Obama did interviews on five networks and plenty of local television stations this morning, then hoarsely greeted diners at a downtown Des Moines food court.

And he faced a surprise question from one woman who asked him if he was an atheist.

“I’m a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ. I’ve been a member for 15 years,” Obama replied, adding, “Don’t read e-mails.”

E-mails have circulated in recent weeks saying Obama is a Muslim or an atheist or took his oath of office on a Quran instead of a Bible, none of which is true.

“I hated having to ask him that,” the woman, Zanetta Moore-El, said. “But I heard he was like an atheist. I don’t want a president who’s an atheist. I’m a firm believer in God. I just really wanted to make sure because I really wanted to vote for him and he has some good topics and everything.”

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Monday, December 31, 2007

How many Muslim women leaders can you name?

Charismatic, striking and politically sly, Benazir Bhutto, 54, was reared amid the privileges of Pakistan's aristocracy and the ordeals of its turbulent politics. Smart, ambitious and resilient, she endured her father's execution and her own imprisonment at the hands of a military dictator to become the country's - and the Muslim world's - first female leader.
The Muslim world's first female leader? Really? Are they serious? Maybe the first democratically elected prime minister of a modern nation-state that is majority Muslim, but to make the jump to say the first leader in the entire history of the 'Muslim world' is misleading and incorrect methinks.

What an incredibly misleading way to begin a story. I said as much to someone, and they said, why is that misleading? So I said umm, Aisha led politically (right?) after the death of the prophet. The person said, "Well I didn't know that." And she's right- no one does, which is why major respected papers with international readership can get away with making such a statement (which really has not much to do with the rest of the article). Notice how the author can write a biography of a female leader of a Muslim modern nation, something that would contradict the stereotypes of most of the readers, without actually challenging the stereotype. With that sentence they reinforce the idea that women can't lead- she must have been the first.

Can we please note here that there hasn't been any non-white non-male president in the US?

Here are some of the FEST's favorite Muslim women leaders (min zamaan and in this current zaman):

Khadija: The first wife of Muhammad. Also his elder, his distant cousin, and his financial sponsor. She was the first person to convert to Islam, and the prophet didn't marry any other wives until after her death. She is remembered as having a leading role in early Islam.

Aisha: A later wife of Muhammad, remembered as having had a special relationship with him, who after his death was respected for her accounts of the prophet's sayings and actions. Up to a quarter of Islamic law may be attributed to her explanations. In the battle that split Islam into Sunni and Shia, she raised up and led an army.

Najah Al-Attar: Syrian Vice President as of 2006 and former Minister of Culture. Don't let her fake wig distract you from her accomplishments.

Khaleda Zia: Bangladeshi Prime Minister from 1991-1996 and 2001-2006. Also she was Forbes' 33rd Most Powerful Woman in 2006.

For a plethora, see here.

Tarboush Tip: Nadeem, May, Fadi

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Sunday, December 23, 2007

2007 Haj Factoids and Eid Mubarak!

Cause I know how much Americans revere factoids-why else would sports stats and game shows like Jeopardy and Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader be so popular if not?

The Haj Round-up:

  • 2,454,325 pilgrims from 181 nations, 1,707,814 outside of Saudia Arabia, performed the Hajj this year.
  • This is the first Haj on record with no fatalities. And, according to Interior Minister Prince Naif, no single accident. My father says it's because my brother was there to bless the scene.
  • Ahmedinajed was the first President of the Islamic Republic of Iran to perform the Haj. He was invited by King of Abdullah to attend.
  • "Pick up your Zem Zem, tall extra hot double shot skim gingerbread latte, and $1000 quilted bag all in one trip." There is a Starbucks and a Chanel in the vicinity of the "sanctuary of the Kaba"! For some reason, I have heard no talk of this from media outlets. Wonder why...
Once again-HAJJ is spotlighted, while Eid remains in it's shadow-with little to no coverage of Ramadan and Hajj's stepsister, I dedicate the rest of this post, in true TRL style, to shouting out EID!

HAPPY EID AL-ADHA!

Kil 3mtoo bekhair!

Slay a lamb for me!

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Thursday, December 13, 2007

If You Are Part of the 1.5 Million Strong...

And you are reading this right now, you are obligated to pick me up some Zam zam water!

Look for a Fayyad Fatwa, official unofficially binding decree, to follow shortly.

More than 1.5 million join pilgrimage to Mecca

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AFP) - By Wednesday, 1,467,515 people from around the world had arrived in the desert kingdom, the official SPA news agency quoted the hajj central commission as saying.

Nearly 2.4 million people flocked to Saudi Arabia to perform the last hajj, including more than 1.6 million from outside the kingdom.

The annual pilgrimage, which also attracts hundreds of thousands of Saudi faithful as well as foreigners resident in the kingdom, begins on Monday, the eighth day of the month of Dhi al-Hajja under the lunar calendar.

Saudi Arabia has announced that the high point of the hajj, when pilgrims converge on Mount Arafat near Mecca, would take place on Tuesday, and that Eid al-Adha, the Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice marking the end of the pilgrimage, would be celebrated the next day.

Muslims slaughter sacrificial lambs to mark the feast of Eid al-Adha.

All Muslims are required to make the hajj to Mecca, in western Saudi Arabia, at least once in their lifetime if they have the means to do so.

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Friday, November 30, 2007

Much Ado About Something

Speaking of when religious conservatives attack, Sudanese officials jailed a British school teacher for her ghastly act of allowing the school children to name a teddy bear, Mohammad (gasp!).

Since there is not much else to worry about Sudan... right. It is hard not to see this as absurd, even from someone relatively non-judgmental as myself. However, there is a lot to learn about this, including the generally low state of mutual understanding in the world today -- one exacerbated by invasions, conflict and the irresponsible leaders stoking the flames.

There are glimpses of hope. BBC News asks in a quite sober way: when can the prophet's name be used? It finds that like almost everything else in Islam, opinions are divided depending on how strict the interpreter is. In short, Muslims cannot accuse the West of misunderstanding, and the West cannot accuse Muslims of acting as one unified, intolerant while, thanks to this BBC report.

Speaking of names, there is another way to look at this. The Teddy Bear is named after the 26th President of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt -- an avowed imperialist who sought American colonies and ports around the world. I would not expect the offended officials and clerics to know this, but it signifies that historical context cannot be forgotten.

I wonder if part of the reason for her jailing is that she is British, an identity viewed in Sudan in light of Britain's own imperial aims, including the conquering and re-conquering of Sudan more than 100 years ago. Britain, as America's right-hand man in the War on Terror, is seen as invader junior throughout the Arab world.

It may be her cultural naivete, or this may be a form of historical recrimination. It may the mirror image of American policies towards foreign Muslims -- stick them with the law whenever you can. In the US, it is with "anti-terrorism laws." There, it is with "incitement to religious hatred" or "demeaning Islam" laws. It also hard not to see this in the context of the Mohammad cartoon fiasco in late 2005; something fresh in the minds of people on both sides.

Forces in both countries are not letting this be a small issue. CNN-International (the decent version of CNN) reported that leaflets distributed earlier this week by Muslim groups promised a "popular release of anger" at demonstrations called for Friday. It also said that British newspapers condemned this, and one called for sanctions and recalling the ambassador. It is pretty plain that the Teddy Bear incident is not just because of a Teddy Bear, nor about the 15 days in jail.

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Friday, November 02, 2007

An InCANtation, For a Change!

It may be a touch too attar-y for some, but homeboy, otherwise known as "Parables in The Qu'ran" and "Stairway to Paradise" host Moez Masoud, to my Coelho, al-Ghazzali, Rumi, Kirshnamutri, and Khalil Gibran-inspired sensibilities...that part of me that academia has tried so hard to kill in me!

And, if I can convert at least one person with this clip, with words laced in the message of universal love spoken by an attractive man, maybe then I can secure myself 4o virgins in heaven!

Go me!

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Monday, October 29, 2007

Planting Little Wahhabis All Over The World, Like Really Little Ones

This could sound like a plot to take over the world and turn it into an Islamic empire, each country from within, except the slimy Saudi men who have their entire central nervous system concentrated in the tip of their penises and rent prostitutes abroad over the summer and try, somehow, to make it seem legitimate by documenting their adultery with a “marriage contract,” are nowhere near thinking about other than sex, let alone having long term plans for world domination.

JEDDAH — The summer season is known as a primetime for male Saudi tourists to marry women from other countries while on holiday abroad. These marriages are generally unplanned. Most men undergo such marriages with an intention of enjoying their vacation in the companyof women who are "religiously" legal for them.

The marriages are ones of convenience. While men look for fun, the women are usually experiencing financial difficulties and see summer marriages as a way to be spoilt and have money spent on them. The real victims of such marriages are their children.

Read more about the Children of Summer

Ironically, such temporary marriage contracts, some of which known as Mut’a or Misyar, are most common among women in need, and men who are too pious to have sex simply out of wedlock. As if screwing a women all summer, taking advantage of her poverty, or the dearth of her husband, after which she becomes an undesired candidate for a meaningful relationship, or a broke college student backpacking through Europe, who was planning to have sex in most cities she goes to any way but does not mind somebody paying for her meals and stay in the mean time, impregnating her, and leaving her with the child are less of a sin than just having consensual sex.

While the above concepts are generally new to Islamic law, at least in their current form, and find acceptance among some religious figures, they are diametrically at odds with the Islamic vision of marriage, which intends longevity, faithful commitment, and the building of a family structure that strengthens the society as a whole. So one needs not to read an explicit text in the Quran stating so to realize such actions are Haram, to put in a language those holier-than-thou’s understand, despite the loud objections we are about to hear from Will.

Any person who is religious enough to chose such a route over out of wedlock sex likely knows enough about Islam to recognize the illegitimacy of those marriages, but they manipulate the religion rules of which they claim to be the guardians to suit their wishes, just like the Israeli Rabbis who manipulate the same law of Shmita they enforce, but who can blame them, every body knows there is no finer delicacy than a check-point aged tomato.

Such actions are often sanctioned by religious figures of higher authority, albeit a minority; you only need the opinion of one if you are only looking for an excuse. Should you have doubt about the public being well informed on the legitimacy of their actions, the Imams and Muftis definitely do. Those leaders, however, sanction popular wrong-doings in order to buy allegiances and assert authority. Kind of like the sale of the indulgences by the Catholic Church.

But who could blame them, I’m lacking as an entrepreneur, but the moment I find a new way to get you to fill the world with debauchery, while I collect financial and political royalties on it, I’ll be enlisting all of you, bitches.

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