Another Tale from the Frontlines of the War on Poor/Average People

NYTimes article about fashion industry's efforts to obtain copyrights on clothing designs.

Okay, I see where an exact line for line copy of something in high fashion *could* be considered wrong. BUT HELLO: everyone can't afford a $1,700.00 shoulder bag or a $700 Hermes scarf. But that doesn't mean they should be limited to the latest fashions from Wal-Mart. Like the article said Raisan-Bran and it's generic counterpart aren't putting anyone out of business, each has it's own clientile. Just another reason why I, and many others, see a war on the average to poor person here in the good ole U.S. of A.

I hope that bill falls flat on it's face.

An Evening with Sheikh Abdul Hakim Murad

Yesterday was one of those days which you feel, not just after the moment, but even in the moment, that you are experiencing something great, that you will treasure and never forget. AlhamdulAllah! Allah (swt) is extremely generous with His servants, however unworthy they are (read: me).

Early in the morning yesterday, I received an email from Sidi Khalil Moore about Sheikh Abdul Hakim Murad being at Georgetown University for a short program that evening. I haven't seen the Sheikh in almost 4 years, since the 2002 New Mexico Rihla, where I initially fell in sheikh-love with him (and every other teacher there, really). I was really excited, but not sure of the possibility of going due to the logisitics of getting into the building as a non-student. AlhamdulAllah though, I called poor Sidi Khalil several times and was able to arrange a meeting time beforehand. (It turns out that I called during lunch, where he met the Archbishop of Canterbury! The Sheikh is in town for this series of dialogue-building conferences between Islam and Christianity.)

AlhamdulAllah, yesterday (as every other moment) was all about Allah (swt). I wasn't sure I would be able to get off work and get across town to the far-removed corner where Georgetown is (far-removed from the closest Metro stop, that is). So I decided to just "splurge" and get a taxi. However, I wasn't even sure if I had enough. So I finally found a taxi, and of course as usual I was running late from work. I asked the driver if $10 would take me to 37th and O (I was at 13th and G). He said "okay." But then I got in and he said, actually it's more, I said I have $13 dollars, but that would be the tip too, and he said okay. So I get there, after a pleasant conversation about the degrading standards for raising children in the West, and exchanging parenting tips - talking out the mouth as if I knew anything about that - but I got to GU around 5:30 and then waited around for a bit for the program to start with Sidi Khalil.

Tangent moment - there is something about Georgetown U. that just walking around on the campus makes you feel so smart! It's like this really concentrated mass of intelligence on this campus that permeates the oxygen. A professor type was playing fetch with a dog, and I just imagined the dog reciting the periodic table. Weird, huh? There is this other feeling, too. Let's not kid ourselves that barring a full scholarship, a GU education is mind-blowingly expensive. I wonder what it is like to attend a school where everyone is kind of, more or less, facing the prospect of being very in-debt upon leaving. I wonder if that breeds a sense of commeraderie. I asked one sister-friend about this later and she laughed and said "Yeah, it's like we all know how screwed are." Screwed, but smart.

Okay, so finally the moment came where I met up with the Sheikh to walk to the Muslim Prayer Room (a very nicely done up musalla) with him. And I proceeded to say the wrong thing. I can't remember what it was, but the Sheikh's hal was really overwhelming and I felt so shy and nervous, and basically made some fawning comments. Poor man. I was the typical "sheikh groupee" but he was very nice about it and played it off. For those who haven't seen him, at first glance, he looks like a very somber looking, tall white guy with a red goatee. But if you hear him talk, for even a short moment, you know he is a giant. I just know, looking back, that he will be considered one of the poles of our time - insha'Allah wa mashAllah.

So he gave a talk and then answered questions, broken up by salatul Maghreb. The talk, like any other talk by the Sheikh was AMAZING! He is truly a "scholar's scholar," and it's reflected from the first utterances. His talks are also very demanding on one's energy and concentration - which is good. With some talks, we can tune in and out, but with the Sheikh, you really have to be focus and attuned because you could easily miss something important. But I find that I personally really benefit, because his ideas are often complex and they force you to think. Being out of college almost (EHH!) 3 years, I appreciate any opportunity to really work my brain. Also, he does inject humor, not in your face, brash American humor, but subtle, British, intellectual humor. And it's very very funny. He made one comment, about how Muslims need to reach out to those who are oppressed or overwhelmed or just alone. And he said, "it doesn't mean smother the freshman with Ahmed Deedat pamphlets but rather..." and I couldn't stop laughing about that because there is just soo much truth in that little statement.

The talk itself was beautiful, focusing on tawakkul, and the positive benefit of "absolute, uncompromising monotheism," and increasing our reliance on Allah (swt), and wilaya, which stems from absolute reliance. I have several pages of notes, which I can't type up at the moment, but the end message, typing it all together, resulted for me, and many others there to feel this optimism about my relationship with Allah swt. It CAN change, it CAN improve and we have the tools easily out our disposal. AlhamdulAllah, reminders and rather simple at it's core, but we need people like the Sheikh, living embodiments of these ideas, to remind us that it can be done, that asceticism and wilaya in its orthodox form isn't limited to medieval wool-wearing Sufis but very much alive today and sometimes found in a tweed jacket.

Okay, so as if this blessing from Allah (swt) wasn't enough, I was able to tag along with my brother-in-law and sister, as well as Sidi Khalil (who alhamdulAllah I am blessed knowing through my sister for many years) and several of the GW brothers, to go to dinner with the Sheikh. We walked over to Fettoosh on M street, a Lebanese restaurant. I have never wanted or wished so badly to take notes during a meal in my life! AlhamdulAllah, to sit in an informal gathering with the Sheikh is such a blessing. Not that it's really that informal, everyone was still shy and overwhelmed with his hal, and all of us were aware of what once-in-a-lifetime opportunity position we were in, to just ask the Sheikh anything, in an intimate setting. And ask we did, the topics ranged from early heretical Shi'a theology to the headscarf bans in France and Turkey to studying in Cambridge and on and on. He closed the dinner with a beautiful du'a, and then a few of us actually walked him to his hotel across Key Bridge. Imagine the beauty of walking across the inky Potomac at night in the footsteps of this spiritual giant...it was unreal.

Also, the brothers and sisters I met last night, most students at GU, were amazing. The brothers that we actually ate dinner with, almost all GU students, were extremely intelligent, but well grounded in traditional Islamic sciences too. I realized, sitting there, that all those brothers will inshAllah be the leaders of the American ummah, insh'Allah in the future! It was really this tremendous blessing to sit with all of them and the Sheikh. I don't know what business I had there or as they say "what I did right" to deserve such a wonderful evening, a gift really, from Allah subhanwataAllah. Whatever it was, alhamdulillah a hundred million times!

And that was my evening with the Sheikh. May Allah bless and increase him and all our teachers a hundred times over. Ameen!

Poor Italians...

First, they have the shoddy construction problems resulting in that assymetrical, sinking tower in Pisa.

Then, they have this shoddy guy, who they allowed in for "humanitarian" reasons, and in fact is no humanitarian himself.

They should have waited at least a DAY before they jumped on this one. Then they would have found out how a simple, domestic issue got blown out of proportion and swallowed up by the scandal-hungry media machine in the West. His family didn't complain about him just because he supposedly converted, they complained because he was a crappy father. Will "converting to Christianity" be the new visa-to-the-West ticket for Afghans? Let's wait and see.

May God guide us ALL to the Straight Path!

Oh, To Be HEALTHY!

Salaams, dear loyal readership of 2. Please excuse the long absence, but I was lying in a feverish semi-unconscious state for the last week. I went a few rounds with a viral infection and got KO-ed pretty bad.

Really, this was a tough last week. I felt like I was on Discovery Health Channel's "Mystery Diagnosis", every day adding a new symptom to my cache of bodily woes, and ever further from the answer of what was plagueing me (pun intended). A culminating trip to the emergency room finally shed light on my misery: I was severely dehydrated on top of a nasty anonymous viral infection. Apparently fever can lead to tons of other symptoms, including muscle spasms, sore neck and less-than expected income tax returns. Early on in my sickness a doctor prescribed me an anti-nausea medicine that caused such SEVERE DRY MOUTH that there are no words to full explain what that means. SEVERE DRY MOUTH is when your tongue is transformed magically into a piece of sandpaper and commences scratching up your poor teeth, taking away any little enamal left on them as well as tearing the roof of your mouth into shreds. So when people ask "how did you become severely dehydrated" I respond because I had SEVERE DRY MOUTH, which to put it easiest: water hurt. Water hurt so bad, I stopped drinking that, as well as any other fluid or solid. So there, boys and girls, is a recipe for the ER. Start with SEVERE DRY MOUTH and end up with SEVERE DRY BODY. Nothing like when the side effect of a minor medication takes on an ugly life of it's own!

But aside from my silly rants, ALHAMDULALLAH, I feel 110% better now and came back yesterday to work after a long absence. I don't know if I have mentioned this before but:

GOOD HEALTH IS THE GREATEST GIFT EVER! SAY ALHAMDULILLAH 1,000,000 FOR IT TODAY, BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE TOMMORROW.

When you are so sick and weak and find yourself actually praying sitting or even LAYING down at an otherwise healthy, young age, it's truly a wake up call to get on that tahajjud NOW while you are young versus old and frail and it's too late. Insh'Allah may Allah give me the strenth to do so, as well as all people to realize the blessing of their health while they HAVE it, before they are tested by it.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrlillah!

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On another note, Sheikh Abdul Hakim Murad is coming for ONE night to D.C., at Georgetown U., and insh'Allah I plan to see him! INSHALLAH!

Also, I have finally picked out the camera I want, Canon SD600, now I am just trying to find the best possible price for it. Best Buy was asking for 350!! But I can find online, w/ free shipping for only 290! Guess who I am going with. ;-) If I had it already I would take pictures of the sheikh! Alas. :-(

Some Bible With That Bread and Water?

Interesting case of an Afghan man, Abdur Rahman (translation: slave of the Merciful) who converted to Christianity 16 years ago under missionaries that were giving aid to Afghans and Pakistanis. Apparently, they gave a bit more than bread and cooking oil.

I knew a sister who was Bosnian and was living as a young girl in a refugee camp during the mid-90s in the midst of the hell that became of Yugoslavia. She remembers these nice aid workers who came to teach her English. The textbook they were using, turned out to be the Bible. She was dumbfounded. Is it fair to hand someone a loaf of bread from your right hand and a Bible from your left hand? I don't think so. I think it's deceptive and totally unfair. Not just to ones faith, but to your religion itself.

Contrast that with the reverse: I work with a Cambodian man who always talks about how in his village there was always a heavy presence of Anglo-Western missionaries. It was common knowledge that the villagers would play the role of converted heathen - in their cases attend the services, and get baptized - all the while without anyone paying half a mind to the theology or the belief system of the missionaries. Well, maybe someone DID actually grasp what they were trying to do, and did believe and "accept Jesus" and all that. True, but the vast majority of people used the missionaries as a means for obtaining food, supplies and English instruction - all useful qualities for survival and in the case of English, upward mobility. Using the User.

How About Another Hyphen? Or, Amir Khan, Boxer.

NYT Magazine Article: The Great British-Pakistani-Muslim Hope


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Some things: Insh'Allah I plan to start posting actual posts versus article links, shortly. But it's not my fault. It the IDES OF MARCH!

Oh yes, and NOWROZ Mubarak to all my Iranian and Afghan people's out there. I'll be off in a corner drinking haft may-wah if you need me.

Also, iA I am FINALLY planning on getting a digital camera and coming out of the film age. As soon as I have one, insh'Allah it will be pics galore. Be warned.

"Islamic" "Artists" at the MoM"A"

Interesting and I think on-point critique, by a non-Muslim, of some contemporary Muslim artists. Click and view the slides with commentary.

The power of Islamic art needs no advocacy. Rather, the iron circumstances that constrain the imagination of individual Islamic artists need to be exposed.

There IS Equal Opportunity in Afghanistan

Women can be warlords too!

I have to admit, I have a grudging respect for Kaftar-jan. I hate the violence, but I realize my "cushioned life in America having self" shouldn't try to transpose my view on this lady who actually has lived the Hard Life, and met it with courage and strength.

You Go, Gurrrrl!

I just learned about this amazing group of sisters in Atlanta, the Lady Caliphs - girls basketball team, of the Muhammad Warith Deen School. Apparently they were featured in ESPN. The video is here.

It's great we have the Hakim Alojuwan (sp?) and Muhammad Ali's out there, but nice to see sisters doing their thing sometimes too. Mash'Allah!

To Be or Not To Be? Ask the Doctor.

NY Times: A Wrongful Birth?

Jew: The New Black[face]

Interesting piece on the new pop phenomenon, Matisyahu - orthodox Jew and reggae star, and historical analysis.

Matisyahu is the latest in this line, and while his music is at best pedestrian, his minstrel routine may be the cleverest and most subtle yet. Matisyahu is like a thousand other white guys from the suburbs who've smoked a lot of dope, listened to some Burning Spear records, and decided to become reggae singers. But as a Hasid, he has a genuinely exotic look—that great big beard and the tzitzit fringes flying—and the spiritual bona fides to pull off songs steeped in Old Testament imagery. It's an ingenious variation on the archetypal Jewish blackface routine, immortalized in The Jazz Singer (1927), when the immigrant striver Jolson put on blackface to cast off his Jewish patrimony and become American. In 2006, Matisyahu wears Old World "Jewface," and in so doing, becomes "black."

Explaining to the Explainer

Last week I read a piece from Slate's Explainer series about how to tell Shi'a and Sunni Muslims apart. Most of the article was on point, but two points were off.

First, Daniel Engber, the author, said that Sunnis would never wear a black turban (not true, Afghan men often will wear a black turban, and was one of the hallmarks of a Taliban soldier all Sunni).

Additionally, Engber said that Shi'as pray with their hands at their sides, whereas Sunnis do not. Anyone who knows anything about fiqh knows that of the four schools of jurisprudence in Sunni Islam, the Maliki school, named after Imam Malik, holds the strongest position for praying with one's hands at one's sides. I conveyed this to Mr. Engber, along with the fact that many Muslims who study Maliki fiqh whose families are from parts of the world which are by and large Hanafi, and have societies in which Shi'as are looked down upon (which is extremely unfortunate as they are our brothers in deen and for people to refute that is very dangerous and sad), tend to encounter much criticism in their families. They are suspiciously regarded as Shi'a converts.

Anyways, the point is today Slate issued a Correction (scroll down). AlhamdulAllah that Allah gave me the opportunity to help stimmy some confusion. Considering how looked down and misunderstood Muslims are (see previous post), every little bit helps.

WaPo Poll: Most Americans View Islam Negatively

According to this article about recent polls of American regarding attitudes toward Islam, more Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Islam than favorable. What's more, this is a higher percentage of unfavorable than after 9/11.

There are obviously many factors at play, some mentioned in this article and that I have read elsewhere, including the increasing "cool" or "okayness" of being Islamaphobic or xenophobic toward people of Middle Eastern descent. The other is the constant negative portrayal of Islam in popular media - as violent, repressive, ignorant and so on.

For all Muslims in the West who try to do to disspell these these myths, the reality is this: Islam, in the popular understanding, has been hijacked by this small radical element. The problem is Small Radical Element makes a better headline than Vast Majority Ordinary Peaceful Muslims. So the VMOPMs are working their turbans (or hijabs) off to get people to stop looking at SRM. But SRM sells more covers of Newsweek, Time and other branches of the hegemonic media tree here in the U.S. VMOPMs are relegated to back page "interest" pieces.

What the VMOPM needs is to hire some PR firm, you know redo our image like Sodexho in the post-SuperSize Me world. Oh wait, we have CAIR. But for all the work those sincere brothers and sisters do, to get pictures of the VMOPMs our there ON Newsweek, Time and the like, the hegemonic media branches won't take those god-forsaken pictures of retarded greedy kidnappers OFF! We need to have like a GIANT PEACEFUL event. Like a March on Washington. Have every Muslim in North America converge on Washington D.C. Have Sheikh Hamza be the headline speaker. (Imam Zaid might remind people of Malcolm X and we all know how much he is just loved in the American history books and cultural pysche.)

However, given that we might only have a couple of covers as a result of this act, we will have to repeat ever it two weeks. That is because, of course, SRM is always keeping busy pillaging and otherwise acting ignorantly and making all our fellow Amr-cans not like us! So who's for it? A March on Washington, organized and led by Muslims (and the occasional sympathetic agnostic), of epic proportions. Every two weeks.

Who's with me??

Reason #858730o9 Why Western, Liberal Feminism Stinks

As I was telling my girlfriend today at lunc: thank God that as a result of Islam, I have options. If I want to work, great. And if I don't, great. But having your nose to the grind every day is a M-U-S-T for the brothers. Mabrook to being a bint!

Desperate Feminist Wives: Why wanting equality makes women unhappy.

"...... we do know that traditional marriages have the advantage of offering clearly defined roles. And traditionalist wives have a peer group fundamentally in agreement about what it wants and expects from husbands, creating a built-in support system."

I Wish I Knew Why the Caged Bird Sings

This last weekend, I took my young cousins to the National Zoo, here in D.C. I have been several times throughout my life in this area, mainly with school organized trips.

However, being older and much more cynical, not to mention a practicing Muslim, my experience was hardly that of the euphoric school girl squealing "pee-eww" by the elephant cages. Rather, I found myself focusing on the cages (mostly glass and concrete versus traditional steel bars, with the exception of the elephants), the grim expressions, the boredom, the.....resignation in the faces of the animals.

To be a caged animal, on display for the consumption of the public, must be one of the more degregating experiences a creature can be subjected too. While my young cousins (all boys 5, 7 and 9 years old) fully enjoyed the experience, much like I probably used to, I found myself feeling extremely guilty and happy to leave.

But then, last night, I was sitting with my mom and a program came on TLC called "Little People, Big World." It is a reality show following a family where several members have the genetic disorder which results in dwarfism. I couldn't help but think that that show was a bit like visiting the zoo.

Wait Wait! I am not calling the "little people" animals. Rather, that this societal obsession with this kind of "viewing [insert creature that is different from us] in it's natural habitat" is everywhere. It's voyeuristic, albeit a mild and socially acceptable form of. (However that can easily be disputed. Just because we don't see it as harmful doesn't mean that those on the receiving end of our inquisitive - nosy - stares aren't negatively affected.)

In 9th grade, my class took a day long trip north to Pennsylvania's Lancaster County to learn about a lesson in subcultures, in this case the Amish. For most of the trip, we didn't see many Amish people, but toward the end, we saw some Amish boys, in their signature black coveralls with blue shirts under stopped near our bus. Suddenly, every passenger on the bus piled to the side they were near and began yelling out to get the boys attention. Then, in the spirit of arrogant 9th graders, they began actually mocking them, particularly their clothes. Even before the mocking started, I quickly pulled away from the group, and sat down next to the teacher, who was chaperoning.

"Mr. Lucier, I don't like how we are all just staring at them like they are freaks or something."

"What do you mean?" (He was the "sensitive type" always trying to have people open and talk about their feelings, obviously he knew what I meant, but in my 9th grade mind, I thought this was really ground-breaking stuff.)

"I mean, we drove all they way up here, to their home, and now we are staring at them like we are in zoo, staring at monkeys. They are human, aren't they? They are just different."

He nodded his head in understanding, empathizing all the while. Finally, he looked over at the kids still staring and pointing out the bus windows, then back to me.

"You're absolutely right."

I think I was the only one who learned something that day, and I don't feel pride in saying that.

An Imam Grows in Brooklyn

Links below to a three-part series of articles on an NY Imam:

Part 1: A Muslim Leader in Brooklyn, Reconciling 2 Worlds

Part 2: To Lead the Faithful in a Faith Under Fire

Part 3: Tending to Muslim Hearts and Islam's Future

This third part has an interactive about being young, single and Muslim in America, worth a look.

Avari/Nemah: Realtime Comments on Koran Documentary

Though there were a bunch of errors, as can be seen in Br. Haroon's wonderful realtime posting on the Qur'an documentary on the History channel, I still feel this was a much more balanced Islamically-themed documentary from non-Muslims in the post 9/11 world. Also a bit of a reminder for me how often times, the best dawah is the Qur'an itself, and not Muslims with our crazy shenanigans.

*I also was trying to understand both the beer ads, as well as those for this diet pills and body wash that showed WAY more than we needed to see of men and women in various states of undress.*

Stunning Spanish Architecture

Counting the days until I can visit Spain. 'Til then, I can live vicariously through some of these pictures.

One other nice building, not pictured in the series, is the Alhambra. Maybe you all have heard of it. ;-)

Gimme Some of that Old-Time Religion

I am really intrigued and heartened by this trend among American Christians seeking more meaningful spiritual substance. It's basically a validation of our fitrah, that mankind does long to submit to it's Creator. But our modern age, and Western culture in particular, has taken us so far away, sinking us into this me-me-me, materialistic dunya.

So many converts/reverts to Islam have discussed this desire to be in submission, and for spirituality and their paths leading to Islam eventually, from God's mercy. Two really good examples I came across of this manifestation for more from their connection with God and spiritual life are a Slate article about how Protestants are adopting stricter Catholic practices and a Time magazine article about the Evangelical movement away from mega-churches and into smaller, intimate "house churches."

May God guide us All to the Straight Path.

NPR Commentary: Shi'a-Sunni Divide in Iraq Only Decades Old

NPR has a nice commentary, with related links, on how the Shi'a/Sunni divide in Iraq is a relatively new thing.

Sheikh Nuh also has a really nice lecture out unity with Shi'as, I don't know if it's easily available online.

Basically, at the end of the day, we are brothers and sisters, and should treat each other as such. As the famous line goes "United we Stand, Divided we Fall" - utterly true, with today's Iraq as a perfect illustration.

Choice Cuts from My Regular Blogs

The order of the day is self-reflection for Muslims, as a whole and personally.

Umm Zaid has a wonderful long post about what our priorities are and should be. Extremely necessary in this time.

Br. Haroon discusses the two important areas that Muslims need to work on. I especially appreciate the part on arrogance - just because one is a PhD in one area doesn't make them an expert in all areas, particularly those dealing with the deen. Doctorates are so overrated in immigrant culture.

As Muslims in the West, I think we feel beleaguered at times by constants assaults and abrasive criticisms from within and outside of the Ummah, so we become annoyed at these type of posts - "Great, another post saying how we are soo this-and-that. Why can't they accentuate the positive?" I understand and empathize with that feeling. But the reality is right now, more than ever do we need native, CONSTRUCTIVE critiques versus Irshad Manji-style blanket declarations.

But more than that, we need to continuously renew our du'as and intentions regarding life. This advice is for me first. We should make it a habit to start each day of re-evaluating our intention for existence. We are here to serve Allah; to serve the Prophet, peace be upon him, through showing the best character and face of Islam possible; to serve the Ummah through being the best brother or sister to it that one can be. Remembering that you are, in a sense, three times a servant can best humble us and bring us to positive ends in every situation we approach.

On the other hand, if you feel you are first a servant of your nafs, then a servant of the dunya, and finally a servant people's praise and adoration, you can never be successful. So, who's servant are you?