About time Muslamics has a post on Ramadan!

Rapidly, months pass before our eyes until Ramadan is upon us. The first days may seem stretched, but thereafter they dash by Having realization of the movement of time is part of the Ramadan project.

Harboring suspicion, rancor, or negative opinions about other people is especially noxious in Ramadan. The same goes for all forms of cheating, vanity, and irrational anger. Ramadan is a month of remembrance, for we stand long in prayer listening to the Quran.

Boasting and arrogance are starved in Ramadan. How can they survive, while we admit our abject need of God and His generous provision?

All of these blessings of Ramadan come with the obvious caveat: nothing is automatic. This is not the system that God set in place in our lives and the world in which we live. Without effort and sincere trust, Ramadan can easily be just another 30 days in a year, no special moment.

Even for those who fast, who mechanically deprive themselves without striving to reach deep into their soul for spiritual lessons, replenishment, and climbing, the month comes and goes with only the sense of inconvenience and then a celebration at the end. Then life goes on as it did the months of the year before. One cannot help but notice a tragedy in this: God so generously opens portals in time, truly special opportunities for us to grow, learn, and build for our Hereafter, yet people turn away from it with casual notice and perfunctory interest.

Excerpts from Purification of the Heart

May Allah (swt) make us of those who take advantage of this magnificent gift, and not of those who are heedless towards it, ameen.

For more on preparing for Ramadan check out this, this, and this (for lecture-junkies, the last one has a whole bunch of them).

If you have any cool tips for making the best of Ramadan please share!

Osama bin Laden -The Latest Fake

Whatreallyhappened.com has released a few photoshop images in which they successfully (in my opinion) attempt to debunk this new supposed Osama video. They point to several of his facial features including the differences in the nose, cheekbones and his beard. I'm not sure if anyone has had the chance to look at the images of Osama in the new video, but they really don't look like him. Coincidentally this new tape is released amidst the anniversary of 9/11, tensions with Iran and the results of a new Zogby poll indicating Americans want a new 9/11 investigation. Now, I know not all Muslims agree with my theory here but whether you think these are real tapes or not, one has to wonder why they are always released on a silver platter during the most convenient political times. Additionally, IntelCenter who is releasing the tapes, does not have the best reputation when it comes to dependable information. You can write me off as a conspiracy theorist, I don't care, but what bothers me most is that if these tapes are manufactured, not only Americans but globally, people defend the actions of groups and governments to curtail the rights of Muslims worldwide. In my experience I have not come across many Muslims that will publicly declare they believe 9/11 was an inside job. I wonder however what Muslims in America think of these videos not only of Osama but of the laughing 9/11 hijackers, Al Zarqawi and others. Feel free to let me know.

You can find the article here: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/

I wish we had business cards in grad school!

This post on MuslimMatters and the comments on it make some very good points and touch on an issue I've been wanting to blog about for a while now: the challenges of observing the Sunnah in the professional world, specifically the corporate world.

As a graduate student in the US, things like not shaking hands with the opposite gender or not attending gatherings where alcohol is consumed got 'in the way' sometimes, if you know what I mean. The hand shake thing was particularly awkward. I was much less 'social' than I would have liked to be: I avoided meeting visiting scientists or students as much as possible. I did the common tricks of carrying stuff to meetings to have my hands full, or coming in late and leaving early...you know, the usual.

It got better with time as I got more used to handling the situation but I just could not get over the uneasy feeling I had whenever I knew I was going to meet new people at school. I was comfortable explaining the reasoning behind the 'no hand shake' rule; however, in professional gatherings, there was never really the chance to do that properly.

Anyways, starting a job in the Dubai corporate world, I was interested to see how those issues would play out. I didn't know what to expect seeing that I had never 'worked' in a Muslim country, especially one with such a diverse population.

AlhamdulilAllah, it was actually easier than I expected. To start with, the people I work the closest with are females which is great: I can actually look them in the eye when tallking to them! Second, unlike in other Arab and Muslim countries, it is very much in the culture of UAE locals not to shake hands with the opposite gender. As for Arabs/Muslims from other regions of the world, they do understand when I don't extend my hand or decline to shake theirs (although sometimes that surprises them), so it's usually not very awkward.

Of course, there's also the non-Muslim colleagues/business partners or those Arabs/Muslims with an identity crisis...that's where it gets interesting.

I've noticed something about the corporate world, especially in meetings: it's all about the image (surprise, surprise!). The expensive suit, watch, cell phone, glasses, cufflings...it's all about the image. And of course, the arrogance that comes with the huge pay checks.

This is when I started gaining a new appreciation of the significance of Islamic guidelines especially for attire and social interactions. The top brand names don't usually make long skirt suits so it's easy for me to avoid spending half my salary on over-priced clothes or constantly comparing my wardrobe to others'. As for the hand shake, I love bursting a dude's ego and reminding him that I don't have to conform to stupid corporate 'rules'/expectations if they go against my personal beliefs. Also, I think it's a great reminder for me (and those around me), that- even at work-I should do what I do to please Allah, not anyone else.

I've learnt a really neat trick too: I always take plenty of business cards to meetings. When someone extends their hand to greet me, I smile and give him my business card! That way his hand isn't just stuck in the air. I wish we had business cards in grad school!

Anyways, I'll stop here and look forward to hear your opinions and stories on this issue.

Fresh off the Unity Parade

Shia Jaffari School of Thought to be added to Al-Azhar University

This was brought to my attention recently -yesterday - and I did some research. While there is an incredible lack of news out there on this major step, I did find blogs on this issue. I guess that is the purpose of the blogosphere, getting micro-currents out to the masses.

Firoze Shiker states-

It should be of interest to know that a few decades ago, a group of Sunni and Shia scholars formed a center at al-Azhar by the name of "Dar al-Taqreeb al-Madhahib al-Islamiyyah" which translates into "Center for bringing together the various Islamic schools of thought". The aim of the effort, as the name of the center indicates, was to bridge the gap between the various schools of thought, and bring about a mutual respect, understanding and appreciation of each school's contributions to the development of Islamic Jurisprudence, among the scholars of the different schools, so that they may in turn guide their followers toward the ultimate goal of unity, and of clinging to one rope, as the well-known Quranic verse, "Hold fast to the Rope of Allah and do not diverge" clearly demands of Muslims.

The Fatwa as follows published in 1960's:

His Excellency was asked:

Some believe that, for a Muslim to have religiously correct worship and dealing, it is necessary to follow one of the four known schools of thought, whereas, "al-Shia al-Imamiyyah" school of thought is not one of them nor "al-Shia al-Zaidiyyah." Do your Excellency agree with this opinion, and prohibit following "al-Shia al-Imamiyyah al-Ithna Ashariyyah" school of thought, for example?

His Excellency replied:

1) Islam does not require a Muslim to follow a particular Madh'hab (school of thought). Rather, we say: every Muslim has the right to follow one of the schools of thought which has been correctly narrated and its verdicts have been compiled in its books. And, everyone who is following such Madhahib [schools of thought] can transfer to another school, and there shall be no crime on him for doing so.

2) The Ja'fari school of thought, which is also known as "al-Shia al- Imamiyyah al-Ithna Ashariyyah" (i.e., The Twelver Imami Shi'ites) is a school of thought that is religiously correct to follow in worship as are other Sunni schools of thought. Muslims must know this, and ought to refrain from unjust prejudice to any particular school of thought, since the religion of Allah and His Divine Law (Shari'ah) was never restricted to a particular school of thought. Their jurists (Mujtahidoon) are accepted by Almighty Allah, and it is permissible to the "non-Mujtahid" to follow them and to accord with their teaching whether in worship (Ibadaat) or transactions (Mu'amilaat).

Signed, Mahmood Shaltoot.

The basis of the effort began with this Fatwa. It then worked toward creating this institute and now there is this trickling of information that the Jafri school of thought will now also be taught at Al-Azhar.

Which to me is great news. But for many it seems like this is not good news. I guess I await your responses, updates on this as well as information regarding what you all think about the Sunni-Shi'a split.

I will ask the moderator to heavily moderate the comments on this post. Not interested in hate and stupidity.

Dialogue- agreeing to disagree

Anonymous- identified as Jewish with Muslim best friend- took some time out to leave a message for us at Muslamics and I felt that the least we can do is highlight the message, and address issues raised. (Unfortunately, I am finding blogger to be problematic in its ability to manage comments so I just caught this message and I apologize that a response took so long to come) I would like to address some very valid points you made and will not be able to address everything in one post.

Apparently, being proud of being a Muslim, per your definition, involves making defamatory statements against conservatives.

History- Being a very informal process began earlier this year by American Muslim bloggers on the west side- Muslamics- really is still in its development stages. With that said I do believe we can work on refining many things including how we define ourselves. However, to get that we are proud to be Muslim and into defaming is a bit unjustified. Often times, the internet does not serve well to carry out sarcasm, wit and just plain frustration.

Your comment was posted on a video I had posted. I can understand where your comment is coming from, where your frustration is coming from and also how you might be repulsed by this and other things posted on this site.

However, as an American, I personally do not see Fox News in good light- I see them as being "Right Wing Nut Jobs" (or however I defined it). If Kaufman took away something else to do something else with what I had posted that is his issue. I only deal with those who sincerely want to dialogue such as yourself. People like Kaufman are beyond dialogue and I do not need to "win them over."

What you get here is our perspective. You, as stated, might not agree with everything- and I respect that- but it is our forum and our space. We appreciate all positive criticism and feedback and knowing that this blog is read by many others I can develop a different style of presenting information because to be honest for a long time I was under the impression that my fellow bloggers and our friends read the blog to fill in some empty time, but obviously this can be better used as a forum- however, I do think this is a good way to let out frustration and my frustration is with the way this Administration is approaching Iran and many other things. We might not agree on it and differ on how to handle this issue, but this might not be a place for me to write about it.

Great way to 'win over' those you think don't like you based on your religion.

I think Muslims in the United States are far from winning over anyone who does not already see us as being American. I feel there is a polarized perspective on Islam and Muslims and at this time Muslims really just need to show themselves as being present and participating and loud (vocal) citizens. The smear campaign against me only reinforced that belief and lead me to quadruple my blog output.

When people can get the drift that you can not just pack away Muslims and ship them back home (nearly 40% of the population is African American, Latino, Caucasian, while a good 50% of the 33% of the immigrant population was born in the United States) I think we can consider strategies on how to "win over" the don't likes. And we can disagree on this approach. I would love to hear on differing opinions, because as a Jew in America I believe your community has faced (faces) many of the challenges we as Muslims face. On Jewcy I had a chance to read about the identity debate and there are many parallels in our community that it surprised me, yet it should have been expected.

I am not afraid of muslims, nor do I hate them.
I AM afraid of fundamentalist islamists who twist their religion to create chaos and promote hate.
I am jewish. My best friend is a muslim.

I am really happy that you have a neutral if not semi-positive view of Islam. You are not alone, there are a few of you out there. I am afraid of fundamentalist as well, not just in my religion but in all forms including the secularists. There are Jewish fundamentalist- Zionist- who are hijacking not only Judaism but also American foreign policy to the detriment of America and stability in the Middle East. I believe the rhetorical war in the media against Iran and Syria are such cases- I do not believe in Iran or Syria's form of government and their policy is questionable at the least- but I am not interested in a war with either and agree to this statement:

But we both also understand that the way towards peace isn't through a bomb or threat, but rather through dialogue untouched by hatred.

As for speaking out-

Start speaking out against terror bombings. Start denouncing radicalism. Start showing the rest of the world that there are two islams - the one based on peace and tolerance and the one based on hate and twisted scripture.

I can not tell you the times how I have spoken out on my blog, in talks to the Muslims and also non-Muslims, and will continue to do so, however if you are looking for blanket condemnations, then I have to disagree on that and hope you can respect this groups perspective, again I might only be speaking for myself and encourage my fellow bloggers to chime in.

(On a side note, I almost feel like- but not as bad as- that this sort of framing is like constantly asking a Catholic to apologize for the deplorable sins of the priests or a Holocaust survivor- or a Jew- to apologize for being Jewish and causing such a horrendous atrocity to be carried out, Muslims did not ask for these extremist to carry these incidents out (we can discuss the issue of did Muslims do enough to curb this ideology), so many Muslims are suffering and dying at the hands of this lunacy so to constantly have to speak out, denounce is like being guilty for being Muslim because being Muslim is associated (or sharing qualities) with these fanatics. (I hope I am not going to extreme on this analogy but I do see it to describe the shear frustration (?) I feel to always address an issue I am disgusted and angered by the actions of the few.)

The last statements on Iran, I have to leave for another post seeing how long this already is. I do want to say that I have an understanding that is different then yours based on my Iranian/Persian friends and our dialogue on this issue. I respect your views and value the fact that you took the time to give me and us such positive feedback. If as you say the way my posts come off is antagonizing and defamatory, then I believe there is no reason for me to not evaluate and think critically on my posts rather then going with my gut/frustrated reactions, however I do want to point out that this has been the case with my most recent posts and is not so for ALL my posts.

Anyone else freaking out about global warming?

As Hurricanes Felix and Henriette make landfall, I can't help but get nervous about global warming. There's a heatwave in Southern California (that's already claimed the lives of 7), and 102 F seems like a good day near the Sacramento Valley area.

On my drive on the Interstate 5 from Southern California to Northern California, there was a horrible ten-mile stretch where the sky was yellow with pollution and the sun appeared blood red as its light was diffused by the thick layer of smog. I could only see a thin strip of blue sky at the horizon, and I was anxious to drive faster to be able to get out of the shadow of this horrible shadow of smog and dust. It was a weird out-of-body experience, as though someone had time-transported me to the future during that ten-mile bit of road. I couldn't help but thinking, Is this what my children will see? Will their breathing be impeded by the smog that gushes out of our exhausts everyday? Will they never know of a blue sky, or a yellow sun? Will the blues and greens of nature become a thing of folklore and history, depicted in story books and museum paintings? I was able to drive past the smog, and come out blinking into the beautiful azure of the evening sky, but I worry that it won't be as easy as driving faster for those who will come after us.

What does it take to live in a greener world today? I can't be the one to preach. It's hot in my apartment and I have the A/C running. The fact that it's on low doesn't merit any praise either. But we really have to think about the ramifications of our actions, be it jumping in our car to drive a block to the grocery store, keeping the air conditioning running all night, or letting the water run while we're brushing our teeth. As vicegerents of this earth -- the only home we have -- it's a sin to let it go to waste right before our eyes.

Apartheid- a new vocabulary word

Something that Carter, Tutu and Mandela would agree with

In a speech to a Jewish group in London, Ha'aretz Arab affairs editor Danny Rubinstein stood behind his characterization of Israel as an apartheid state.

Speaking to about 100 people at the New North London Synagogue on Monday evening, less than a week after he declared Israel was "an apartheid state" at a U.N. conference in Brussels, Rubinstein said "apartheid" is a political term he and his newspaper increasingly use and he is not sorry for invoking it, audience members reported him saying.

The thing is, Ha'aretz is a widely respected paper amongst the Israeli population- the Zionist here in the States would tend to disagree.

Victory for Bil`in!

A Palestinian protester at part of the security fence in Bilin. Photograph: Oded Balilty/AP

From the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) media advisory:

Following popular non-violent resistance through joint struggle between Palestinian, Israeli and international activists, a court decision has been made in favor of the petition by Bilin village to change the current route of the Apartheid Wall.

The court decision dictates that the military are obliged to plan and implement a new route for the wall. It has been ordered that the new path will allow for all Palestinian agricultural land to be on the Palestinian side. Furthermore, the court has ordered that the state should not take into consideration the area earmarked for Stage B of the planned expansion of Matityahu East.


Although today’s decision is seen a victory in the struggle against oppressive consequences of the Israeli Occupation and a victory for the villagers of Bilin, it is important to recognize that the route of the wall still deviates from internationally recognized armistice lines and is still in violation of international law, resolutions and advisories made within the International Court of Justice and within the UN Security Council.

Turkey's First Lady Snubbed by Military Leadership

Turkey's new President Abdullah Gul attended the army's Victory Day celebrations on Thursday, but in a fresh snub the new first lady, who wears the Islamic headscarf, was not invited.

Gul, who was elected on Tuesday as strictly secular Turkey's first president with an Islamic background, sat between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and chief of staff Yasar Buyukanit.

But the three men barely exchanged remarks as they watched the ceremony. First lady Hayrunnisa Gul, whose headscarf hard-line secularists view as a symbol of political Islam, was absent, as was the wife of Erdogan who also covers her head.

Read on at: MAS News & Views

Make Love Not War

Back in March of 2007 I wrote about the Google Trends tool and soon after Brother Amad at Muslim Matters picked up on it and also it was reported that Zaid Shaker or it might have been Hamza Yusuf who spoke at length about it- but it seems that Muslims are just as addicted to sex as their non-Muslim counterparts even when its their avowed enemies- the Israeli's.

Here is an interesting Israeli-Arab twist to the idea of sex and the internet in the Middle East. Ratuz.il is a website that caters to Israeli porn addicts. They installed a tool to allow them to track the web locations of their visitors and low and behold the majority of visitors were coming from Iran, Jordan, Syria, Egypt and Suadi Arabia. They immediately converted their website into an ARABIC version after which the charts when out of this world with hits. Get this, .il addresses are blocked in these countries.

What makes this more than a tale of clever entrepreneurs making a buck off Middle Eastern sexual repression is that Ratuv isn't an ordinary porn site. It's a clearinghouse of political parody porn, making fun of Israeli affairs such as sex scandals and often featuring Mossad agents or army soldiers getting out of uniform, thus providing a view of the Israeli military seldom seen in the Arab world. The next step, says Ratuv's manager, is to make movies with Israelis and Arabs performing together, in order to foster more intimate relations between the two peoples . . . read on at the LA Times

What gets me is that these are the people most likely out in the streets yelling and screaming for the downfall of Isreal or even if they are not doing that they most likely are buying into the world conspiricy propaganda that is rife through out the Arab streets. Globalization at its best (or worst) and yet the Palestinians continue to suffer.