Happy May Day!

May Day occurs on May 1 and refers to any of several public holidays.[1] In many countries, May Day is synonymous with International Workers' Day, or Labour Day, which celebrates the social and economic achievements of the labor movement. As a day of celebration, however, the holiday has ancient origins and can relate to many customs that have survived into modern times. Many of these customs are due to May Day being a cross-quarter day, meaning that it falls approximately halfway between an equinox and a solstice.
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May Day can refer to various labour celebrations conducted on May 1 that commemorate the fight for the eight hour day. May Day in this regard is called International Workers' Day, or Labour Day. The choice of May 1st was a commemoration by the Second International for the people involved in the 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago, Illinois. As the culmination of three days of labor unrest in the United States, the Haymarket incident was a source of outrage and admiration from people around the globe. In countries other than the United States and Canada, residents sought to make May Day an official holiday and their efforts largely succeeded.

For this reason, in most of the world today, May Day has become an international celebration of the social and economic achievements of the labour movement. Although May Day received its inspiration from the United States, the U.S. Congress designated May 1 as Loyalty Day in 1958 due to the day's appropriation by the Soviet Union.[4] Alternatively, Labor Day traditionally occurs sometime in September in the United States. Some view this as an effort to isolate American workers from the worldwide community.

Source: Wikipedia

Yes, this holiday also had religious origins. However, unlike Christmas or Halloween I'd say it has fully evolved. May Day has a no (or at least fewer) religious remnants while one might argue Christmas is still a very religious holiday. Further, it's current form serves a purpose greater than wasting money on costumes and potentially inflating your dentist's bill (i.e. Halloween).

If you're going to celebrate only one "Western" holiday, my vote goes to May Day!

A Common Word - Christmas Greetings

PARIS: Leading Muslim scholars have addressed warm Christmas greetings to Christians around the world, a message notable both for what it said and the fact that it was sent at all.

The greetings, sent by a group of 138 Sunni, Shi'ite, Sufi and other scholars who recently proposed a dialogue with Christian leaders, called for peace on earth and thanked church leaders who have responded positively to their invitation.

The message, as the dialogue proposal made in October, was unprecedented because there has not been until now such a large group of Islamic scholars that could draft a common letter.

Continue here

For complete statement, click here

Christmas gift

Many years ago a child known as "Little Annie" was locked in a dungeon of a mental institution near Boston- her doctors' last resort for the "hopelessly insane." At times, Annie seemed to fit the label. She was known to behave like an animal and viciously attack those who came near her "cage". At other times, she sat in a daze.

An elderly nurse, however, didn't see Annie as an animal. She began to take her lunch breaks outside Annie's cell. She hoped to find some way to communicate God's love to this troubled girl.

One day, she left her dessert, a brownie, next to Annie's cell. Annie didn't acknowledge the gesture at the time, but when the nurse returned the next day, all that remained of the brownie were crumbs. From then on, the nurse brought Annie a brownie every Thursday.

As the months passed, the institution's staff noted changes in Annie's behaviours. She was removed to a more humane room. Ultimately, this once hopeless case was told she was able to return home.

Annie declined. A young adult by this time, she chose to stay at the institution to help others. One of the people she taught and nurtured was Hellen Keller. As you've probably guessed, Annie's last name was Sullivan.

From God's Little Devotion Book for the WorkPlace

I came into work this morning and found a Christmas gift nicely wrapped sitting on my desk. Being a Muslim, I don't celebrate Christmas, but I still appreciate a gift! It was a book from one of my co-workers, from which I quoted the story above.

The book has a whole bunch of other inspiring true stories and wise quotes which I am enjoying. As you can imagine, almost all the character traits (I haven't read the whole thing yet) discussed in the book (honesty, optimism, kindness,...) apply to good Christians and good Muslims (probably good Jews and good Hindus too) and are encouraged by both faiths.

Here's the funny part. I was depressed yesterday because after a week long vacation which I tried to make the best of ibadah [worship]-wise (Thul Hijjah first 10 days and all) I was back in the office and I felt it was difficult to keep my promises and survive all fittan the [tests] one is exposed to in a work environment.

As I was reading from this book, I realized that there are other people around me(who may not even be Muslim) who are undergoing the same tests and trying to do their best. It helps to know that I am not alone.

Ramadan Kareem Ads

Just to give you an idea of the Ramadan ads here in Dubai (and probably in the rest of the Arab world). Krispy Kreme has a cool one too with date filled doughnuts and all (sorry, couldn't find it online).

On one level, it's kinda cool how Ramadan is everywhere. On the other hand, all the "commercialization" takes away from the spirituality sometimes. Kinda like what happened to Christmas.