Turning Mecca into another mecca

Definitely a sign of the times... turning the holy city of Mecca into a mecca of shopping and indulgence. It's not enough that the luxury five-star hotels surrounding the site of the Kaaba make millions off the pilgrims who come to enjoy the ultimate religious experience in the most liberal ways. It's not enough that one has to enter the city with "tour operators" that charge outrageous amounts, in addition to the high costs of applying for a visa to preform the hajj and umrah trips. Now, Saudi officials have embarked on plans to open huge shopping centers housing the best the West has to offer, from coffee to couture. The sanctity of Mecca is no more. Say hello to the white and green cups of Starbucks and the little blue Tiffany boxes... Farewell Mecca, the Saudis have sold you to the ...

Five times a day across the globe devout Muslims face this city in prayer, focused on a site where they believe Abraham built a temple to God. The spot is also the place Muslims are expected to visit at least once in their lives.

Now as they make the pilgrimage clothed in simple white cotton wraps, they will see something other than the stark black cube known as the Kaaba, which is literally the center of the Muslim world. They will also see Starbucks. And Cartier and Tiffany. And H&M and Topshop.

Full article available to NYTimes Select subscribers* or click here to read the full text.

*(which is now free for anyone with a .edu email address!)

Educate, Empower, Enlighten

International Women's Day is but a reminder. Everyday should be women's day, and child's day, and human being's day. Everyday we should recall the millions of women who cannot afford to feed their children. The millions of women who do not have access to education. The millions of women living in war torn countries. The millions of women living under oppressive dictatorships. The millions of women being abused by their governments, their employers, their husbands, their parents, their children, and even their fellow woman.

Injustice is not something preserved for women, but women are disproportionately affected by war, poverty, illiteracy, and various forms of abuse.

Women are forced into prostitution, women are raped as a tool of war, women are used to sell cars and chips.

Today I am reminded that no matter how much I complain, I am a lucky woman. I am a woman who did not live in poverty, did not live in fear, did not live in a war zone, or a refugee camp. I have had access to the best education my whole life, and my future is promising. I have not been forced to bind my feet. I have not been genitally mutilated. I have not been forced to marry someone I do not know or do not like. I have not been sold into marriage for political or financial gains. I have not been attacked for endangering my family's "honor".

Today I am grateful for being a Muslim American woman. I could have said that I am grateful for being a Jordanian or Arab woman, but I do not believe that either affiliation has granted me much. I am at times ashamed to be an Arab, ashamed to be Jordanian. I am at times also ashamed to be American. But I'm never ashamed to be a Muslim woman, although in this day and age, it is difficult to disassociate myself from the many who have misused and abused Islam.

I'm ashamed to be a Jordanian woman because my children cannot be Jordanian like me. Not even half Jordanian. I cannot pass my citizenship on to them because I am marrying a non-Jordanian man.

I'm not ashamed to be a Muslim woman because I have been able to practice my religion in the United States without provocation, and without achieving any less than if I had not been Muslim. I do not feel that I have been stripped of any rights or constrained by any religious requirement. I feel empowered by Islam's call for me to educate myself, to be an active member of society. Islam has not limited my freedom. Arab and Jordanian customs have sometimes limited my freedom. American capitalism has sometimes limited my freedom.

I am ashamed to be an Arab woman because my sisters in Iraq are being raped while the Middle East is silent. I am ashamed to be Arab because our mothers in Palestine are starving while women in Virginia and Riyadh are competing over the most expensive handbags. I am ashamed to see that Muslim women are not as educated as their counterparts around the world. I am ashamed to see that my Muslim brothers are not up in arms when one of their sisters is murdered by a raging relative claiming that his honor lies between her legs. I am ashamed that we don't stand up for our own God given rights.

This is what I think about today, and what we should think about everyday.

Let us...Educate, Empower, Enlighten.

Keith Ellison & Thomas Jefferson's Quran

Yes, Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of this nation, owned a Quran, the holy book of Islam. He was known to be an education man, well-traveled, and believed to have obtained the book because he had a personal interest in learning more about different cultures and civilizations. His copy of the Quran sits in the Library of Congress, including his own notes written in the book. At his swearing in ceremony, the first Muslim Congressman, Keith Ellison, has decided to use Jefforson's copy of the Quran.

Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, found himself under attack last month when he announced he'd take his oath of office on the Koran -- especially from Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode, who called it a threat to American values.

Yet the holy book at tomorrow's ceremony has an unassailably all-American provenance. We've learned that the new congressman -- in a savvy bit of political symbolism -- will hold the personal copy once owned by Thomas Jefferson.

"He wanted to use a Koran that was special," said Mark Dimunation, chief of the rare book and special collections division at the Library of Congress, who was contacted by the Minnesota Dem early in December. Dimunation, who grew up in Ellison's 5th District, was happy to help.

When Ellison announced that he will be using a Quran for the swearing in, some bigoted radio hosts and even congressmen objected, saying that such an act would be against tradition. Ironically, their statements are a slap in the face of our founding fathers who wanted independence so they can practice their religion free of any government or other intervention.

This is a very smart move on the part of Congressman Ellison who will be sworn in tomorrow with much attention focused on his faith. He made the right choice to remain steadfast in his desire to use the book he prescribes to and is bound to in such a ceremony. If he is expected to pledge allegiance to this country and his new position, he should do so in a manner that makes him comfortable. Condemning him for making such a choice when other representatives have chosen to use Bibles, Torahs, or no book at all, is purely discriminatory and is against the most fundamental rights this country is based upon.

Thomas Jefferson's copy of the Quran shows that although we have come a long way in developing our democracy, it is still the case that we have many individuals who choose to be impediments in the way of securing personal freedoms which every American is entitled to. These are the people we must be vigilant of, not those who choose to swear on their holy books.

Read the full Washington Post article here, and this from Reuters.
Related post: "We Don't Need Any More Muslim Congressmen"

We Don't Need Any More Muslim Congressmen

Definitely none that will take their oath on the Quran. That's what a Congressman from southern Virginia, Rep. Virgil Goode Jr, wrote in a letter to his constituents criticizing the influx of immigrants into this country and indicating that an open immigration policy will only lead to more Muslims becoming members of Congress. Fortunately, most of the public has expressed disapproval of Congressman Goode's remarks. The Washington Post lead editorial today lambastes the congressman for his bigotry:

BIGOTRY COMES in various guises -- some coded, some closeted, some colossally stupid. The bigotry displayed recently by Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., a Republican who represents a patch of south-central Virginia, falls squarely in the third category. Mr. Goode, evidently in a state of xenophobic delirium, went on a semi-public tirade against the looming peril and corrupting threat posed by Muslim immigration to the United States. "I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America," he wrote in a letter to constituents.

The inspiration for Mr. Goode's rant is Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat who last month became the first Muslim elected to Congress. Mr. Ellison, who was born in Detroit and converted to Islam in college, has decided to use the Koran during a ceremonial swearing-in, as is his constitutional right. This does not sit well with Mr. Goode, who, obnoxiously referring to his congressional colleague-to-be as "the Muslim Representative from Minnesota," warned ominously that current immigration policy would lead to an outbreak of elected Muslims in this country and unfettered use of the Koran.

Forget that Muslims represent a small fraction of immigrants to America. And leave aside the obvious point that Mr. Goode was evidently napping in class the day they taught the traditional American values of tolerance, diversity and religious freedom. This country's history is rife with instances of uncivil, hateful and violent behavior toward newcomers, be they Jewish, Irish, Italian or plenty of others whose ethnicities did not jibe with some pinched view of what it means to be American. Mr. Goode's dimwitted outburst of nativism is nothing new.

No, the real worry for the nation is that the rest of the world might take Mr. Goode seriously, interpreting his biased remarks about Muslims as proof that America really has embarked on a civilizational war against Islam. With 535 members, you'd think that Congress would welcome the presence of a single Muslim representative. Whether it can afford a lawmaker of Mr. Goode's caliber is another question. [emphasis added]

The Council on American Islamic Relations the Muslim American Society's Freedom Foundation have called upon the congressman to retract his statements and apologize. So far, he has stood by what he wrote.

We have a long way to go before we can preach tolerance and democracy to the world.

For more on the subject:

Rep. Goode's Letter

CAIR Questions GOP Silence on Rep's Islamophobic Remarks

Keith Ellison Responds

Goode Defends His Letter

VA Lawmaker's Remarks on Muslims Criticized

On "Desert Muslims"

Don't you love it when someone tries really hard to defend us poor, miserable, uncivilized bunch of Muslims and Arabs by indicating that "we're really not THAT bad"? I especially love it when a "seasoned" journalist or politician makes this attempt. This is how I read Nicholas Kristof's editorial in today's New York Times entitled "The Muslim Stereotype".

Kristof is in Brunei, an exotic predominantly Muslim Southeast Asian country, where the "sultan has two wives... women can drive... and young people can flirt together in cafes". There he declares that he "find[s] the common American stereotypes of Islam profoundly warped." One might assume that some good will come out of this piece, right? That Kristof will declare once and for all that Muslims are not terrorists and they don't live in the desert. Well, not quite.

In an attempt to indicate that the international media focuses too much on Arab Muslims (where most of the terrorists come from), Kristof makes a failed attempt at highlighting the "good" that comes of out of the predominantly non-Arab Muslims around the world, and specifically in Asia. He seems to have just discovered that Indonesia is a democracy and that Bangladesh has had two female prime ministers.

He writes that the West is really tried of looking at an Arab world that "sometimes seems to put its creative juices mostly into building better bombs". Someone help me here, please. When was the last time you saw an Arab country building an arsenal of weapons to protect itself? You'd think he would be referring to some of the most powerful nations in the world whose stockpiles of weapons continue to swell and their victims can be found in Iraq and elsewhere.

Oh wait, maybe he was referring to Iran's nuclear weapons program? But Iran is not Arab, or did Ahmedenijad turn it into an Arab state while I was sleeping? Well then he must be talking about suicide bombers! How could I forget?! How creative does one have to be to build a suicide belt? It's really an insult to say that all of Arab "creativity" is focused on bomb-making. If anything, suicide bombs represent a lack of power and a resort to cheap materials to create weapons that are used to attack Israeli checkpoints and Iraqi markets. If they were really creative, Arabs would be building stockpiles of conventional and nuclear weapons to rival the threat posed by the very creative Israelis.

Kristof is right in the sense that "Muslims" are often confused with Arabs, and subsequently, non-Arab Muslims get lost in the picture. This is not a fault of Arab Muslims, however. It's the fault of an ignorant media that chooses to reinforce this misconception. It's also true that most of the news headlines today focus on the Middle East, but that should not translate into "everyone involved in those conflicts is Muslim". He concludes by making an absurd correlation between the level of religiosity and modernity in the Muslim world and the geographical location of the country involved.

The plain fact is that some Muslim societies do have a real problem with violence, with the subjugation of women, with tolerance. But the mosaic of Islam is vast and contains many more hopeful glimpses of the future.

There is a historic dichotomy between desert Islam -- the austere fundamentalism of countries like Saudi Arabia -- and riverine or coastal Islam, more outward-looking, flexible and tolerant. Desert Muslims grab the headlines, but my bet is that in the struggle for the soul of Islam, maritime Muslims have the edge.

This is not in defense of the wrongs that take place in the name of Islam across Arabia. One cannot deny that problems do exist, many of which are caused by oppressive dictators and ignorance of Islamic teachings. But to attempt to highlight the "goodness" of Asian Muslims by overemphasizing the faults of Arab Muslims does nothing to help the ever increasing stereotypes and accusations hurled at Islam on daily basis. Kristof would be well served if he made an attempt to take a closer look at the lives of those "desert Muslims" and the reasons behind the problems he indicated.

After doing that, he should come by to Washington D.C. where cab drivers and children crossing streets are gunned down everyday, where women wait in alleys at night to be picked up, and where airlines pull passengers off planes because they pray to their Lord. Seems to me like a healthy dose of violence, subjugation of women, and intolerance right here in our nation's capital. See you soon, Mr. Kristof.

[The full article is only available to TimesSelect members. If you can't access it, email me and I can send it to you. A simple blog search will also lead to blogs that posted the piece.]

A Blessed Ramadan

Fasting in the month of Ramadan is a unique pillar in the Islamic faith. It is one that the majority of 1.6 billion Muslims around the world practice despite their varying levels of religiosity. Especially for those living in a Muslim majority country, it is hard to avoid fasting and the magical atmosphere of Ramadan. I experienced Ramadan in Dubai for 2 short years, but I would say it must be unique in every country. I would love to experience Ramadan in a more cultural and Islamic environment, but that doesn't mean that I haven't enjoyed Ramadan most of my life right here in good ol' northern Virginia.

We have a sizable and very diverse Muslim community in the Washington D.C. metro area, with plenty of mosques, community centers, MSA's, and Islamic schools. Because my family has always maintained close ties to our community here, I've never felt that I've been deprived of a sense of "Islamic-ness" during Ramadan and other Islamic holidays. I grew up going to the iftars (fast-breaking dinners) at the local mosque some evenings where it felt like we were all one big family enjoying dinner together. As we grew up, however, we stopped attending these community iftars and frequented the mosque for prayers less and less. Still, our memories as elementary school kids gathered in different parts of the Islamic center waiting impatiently for the prayer call, having iftar together, then rushing to buy candy to indulge our sweet cravings are truly unforgettable.

I remember one Ramadan when I was about 10 or 11 years old, I volunteered to help baby-sit some kids in the mosque while their mothers attended a lecture. We had a bag of lollipops and I passed them out to the kids while they played. I was proud to be fasting as I had started doing so at an early age. I got distracted with the kids, and found myself eating lollipop after lollipop. They were the small ones of which you could easily have 10 and still would want more. After going through about seven of them, my mom came to check on me and found me eating one. She said, "aren't you fasting?" And of course I was shocked, "oh my god! I totally forgot I was fasting! oh my god, how could I forget!" My mom just laughed at me and told me it was OK since I didn't do it on purpose, and that this was probably "a gift from God" since I was fasting so well for the past few years. I just can't seem to understand how I could go through so many lollipops without remembering that I was fasting! It's one of those incidents you never forget.

While in many Muslim countries most people will stop eating in public and restaurants will shut down during the day, that is not the case over here. Everywhere you go there is food and temptation. I remember in college when I used to walk through the main student union and have to face the aroma of french fries, burgers, pizza, and the works while going to meet my friends or study. In class I would cringe upon seeing a Starbucks cup and would just imagine the sweet taste of a tall chai or white mocha in the early morning. Still, nothing really ever came so close as to tempt me to break my fast, except getting sick. It's a disgraceful feeling that you have if you do break your fast for a stupid reason. This is what I feel when I'm sitting in front of the dinner table covered with all kinds of food and waiting for the clock to turn so I can break my fast. Once I drink that sip of water or juice, every feeling of hunger and weakness disappears. And you wonder to yourself how strong your body can be, but how weak your will can be as well, without faith. Because what else would make you not raise your hand to eat a bite or drink a sip during the day even if nobody can see you and nobody will know but you?

Despite all the talk of food, Ramadan is so much more than just abstaining from food and drink. It truly is a test of patience and strength. It's a time when Muslims feel that everything they do should be a form of worship. They like to pray on time, read more Quran, supplicate to the Lord, help the needy, and stay away from negative thoughts and bad language. It is a time when we should come closer to God and remember those who are less fortunate. Remember that we are nothing without the blessings of our Lord and that we are created to appreciate them and not abuse or misuse those blessings.

Just like other religious holidays that have been hijacked by businesses, this is the case in most Muslim countries where many people want to make a buck off of their Muslim brethren during this holy month. It's sad to see that Ramadan is being taken advantage of, and I'm glad that being in America keeps me away from that. I'm glad we don't have "Ramadan tents" over here to entertain us all night with coffee, sheesha, and belly dancers. How this concept could even be related to Ramadan still manages to shock me every time I see it on Arabic satellite channels. Instead of people praying for peace in Iraq, Palestine, and Darfur, they are smoking and drinking the night away so they can sleep the day away as well.

This Ramadan, I will pray for our communities across the world that are suffering from war, poverty, disease, occupation, oppression, and ignorance. I will pray that our youth are guided away from those who seek to take advantage of them for personal gains that cannot be justified by Islam. I will pray that our global community is not weakened by any attempts to sow disunity among Sunni and Shi'a, and that people of all faiths will continue to respect one another despite their differences. Ameen.

~Wishing you a blessed and peaceful Ramadan~

Ramadan prayers in Jakarta, Indonesia (REUTERS/Supri)

[technorati tags: Islam, Ramadan]

Sticks and Stones...On the Pontiff's Words

As if we don't have enough frustration and anger in the Muslim world for the wars, occupation, poverty, unemployment, humiliation, lack of freedoms, and so called terrorism that plague us, the highest authority of the Catholic faith decides that there is a pressing need to reiterate the ignorant and insulting message the Danish cartoons portrayed only a few months ago. And as if we don't have enough people saying we're crazy angry terrorists, a few Muslim lunatics had to go prove the Pope's statements by throwing fire bombs at churches in the West Bank town of Nablus. Do people not think anymore?! Is it really that hard to think twice before saying or doing something that might cause harm to many people around you and many people who listen to you?

The 'cartoon controversy' is still fresh in the memory of most people around the world, especially Muslims. The Prophet Muhammad was defamed in the satirical Danish cartoons with complete disregard for the feelings of 1.6 billion Muslims around the world who consider such drawings offensive at least and blasphemous at best. Millions of Muslims around the world peacefully protested the cartoons and some of course violently protested. It took much effort on the part of the Danish to retract and apologize for the actions of a few of their countrymen, and it took a lot more effort from the Muslim world to begin a dialogue about the important role the Prophet plays in the Islamic faith with the West. Discussions, conferences, and countless dialogues were held in order to bring both sides together to recognize the sanctity of different aspects of religion for followers of different faiths. This is the only positive result of the Danish cartoon controversy.

But just as people are beginning to calm down and realize that discussion and exchange of ideas is the only way to educate ourselves and each other about our beliefs, ideals, and customs, the Pope decides to spark yet another controversy by insulting the most revered figure in the Islamic faith, the Prophet Muhammad.

Muslims around the world have demanded an apology from the pontiff, and rightly so, for his insulting and inflammatory statements. Today, the Pope issued a statement, which most media outlets are still debating as to whether it constitutes an apology or not. The BBC says the Pope has apologized, while CNN says his statement comes short of an apology. [The full text of the statement is here.]

Thank you, Pope Benedict XVI, for "regretting" that your statement "could have sounded offensive" to Muslims around the world. Unfortunately, the damage has been done, yet again. And while most Muslims want an official and personal apology, that is not likely to change the reality of what happened. We all make mistakes, that is true. But we also know that a Pope is given such an important responsibility that he could not mistakenly make such a statement in a well-prepared for speech before a large audience.

And to those individuals who claim to represent me and my religion by attacking sacred churches and burning effigies and flags, please remember that the Prophet would not have, in a million years and in the face of thousands of insults, ever acted this way. His neighbor threw trash in front of his house every single day and the non-Muslims in Mecca insulted him verbally and even abused him physically. He turned the other cheek and prayed that God would forgive them and guide them. The Prophet said, "The strong is not the one who overcomes the people by his strength, but the strong is the one who controls himself in a moment of anger."

I conclude with a very well written editorial in the New York Times today which analyzes the situation very clearly and effectively:

There is more than enough religious anger in the world. So it is particularly disturbing that Pope Benedict XVI has insulted Muslims, quoting a 14th-century description of Islam as “evil and inhuman.”

In the most provocative part of a speech this week on “faith and reason,” the pontiff recounted a conversation between an “erudite” Byzantine Christian emperor and a “learned” Muslim Persian circa 1391. The pope quoted the emperor saying, “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

Muslim leaders the world over have demanded apologies and threatened to recall their ambassadors from the Vatican, warning that the pope’s words dangerously reinforce a false and biased view of Islam. For many Muslims, holy war — jihad — is a spiritual struggle, and not a call to violence. And they denounce its perversion by extremists, who use jihad to justify murder and terrorism.

The Vatican issued a statement saying that Benedict meant no offense and in fact desired dialogue. But this is not the first time the pope has fomented discord between Christians and Muslims.

In 2004 when he was still the Vatican’s top theologian, he spoke out against Turkey’s joining the European Union, because Turkey, as a Muslim country was “in permanent contrast to Europe.”

A doctrinal conservative, his greatest fear appears to be the loss of a uniform Catholic identity, not exactly the best jumping-off point for tolerance or interfaith dialogue.

The world listens carefully to the words of any pope. And it is tragic and dangerous when one sows pain, either deliberately or carelessly. He needs to offer a deep and persuasive apology, demonstrating that words can also heal.

[technorati tags: pope, catholic, vatican, Islam, Islam, Muhammad]

The Hijab: The Pathway to Fame?

I watched with great interest yesterday the weekly program on LBC, الحدث ("The Event"). The program, hosted by Shada Omar, discusses issues of interest to Lebanon and the Arab region including those related to politics, economics, and society at large. Yesterday's show focused on what the producers called a "new trend" on the small and big screen in the Arab world: actresses, singers, presenters, and news anchors donning the Islamic headdress, the hijab. The topic of the show was not whether hijab is a requirement for Muslim women, but whether the decisions of various popular female personalities to dress this way was driven by a quest for more popularity and fame. Without a doubt, it was a heated discussion between the show's guests because the issue involves fame, religion, women, and of course: "the veil".

I'd like to reflect on some of the statements made by the women on the show, and elaborate on the topic of the show without getting into the religious intricacies related to whether hijab is a requirement in Islam and the bigger issue of women & Islam. So please, take this as a disclaimer. I'll try my best to focus on the issue discussed on the LBC show without digressing too much. Also, I will attribute to the guests statements that I recall them making on the show in Arabic and will translate to the best of my abilities in English. This is *not* an English translated transcript for the show, rather my own interpretation of the statements, and I will try to make it clear when I'm putting my own thoughts and when they are the speakers' own words (from my memory).

The show featured three female guests: Khadija Ben Guenna, senior AlJazeera news anchor & presenter; Mona Abdel-Ghani, Egyptian actress & singer; and Iqbal Barakah, editor-in-chief of the Egyptian women's magazine "Hawwa". Khadija and Mona chose to begin wearing the hijab in the past few years and have fervently defended their decision to do so as a personal matter. Of course, women like these two who became "household names" initially gained a lot of media attention for donning the hijab, considered a "controversial" issue for some people. Most female artists in the Arab world who choose to make this decision usually put an end to their acting or singing careers and choose to remain out of the spotlight for a few years, although some return to host Islamic oriented shows or play less scandalous roles in TV series or movies.

Iqbal Baraka, who repeatedly nagged about authoring a new book on the subject, accused Ben Guenna and Abdel Ghani and other popular female figures of choosing to wear the hijab in order to gain attention and fame. She argued that these women represented a "dangerous" trend that "pressured" women across the Arab world to follow in their footsteps and take on this "radical" step, which she believes is not required by Islam. At one point she said, "I don't want to learn my religion from a women who just decided to wear the hijab and who probably knows less than I do about Islam. She's not a scholar, yet when she dons the headscarf, people treat her like she is. She receives offers to host religious programs and is instantly on the cover of popular magazines across the region." In my view, Baraka came off as unprofessional and simply weak in her argument because she resorted to personal attacks (see below) and ignorant generalizations.

Khadija Ben Guenna was the most eloquent of all, as I had imagined she would be. She spoke using sound arguments, and defended herself not by attacking others, but by using pure logic. She wondered why people made a huge fuss about her personal decision to wear the hijab, which she said was rooted in personal conviction and without any desire for fame. She bluntly told Baraka that she was a well-respected and popular news anchor before she wore the hijab, so she didn't need to wear a headscarf to gain attention. Khadija added that she had expected to be faced with a negative reaction and prepared herself for this challenge, but was now being accused of having ulterior motives for her choice of dress. Directing her question to Baraka, Ben Guenna asked "why some women who claim to champion women's rights seek to constrain other women like herself from practicing their religion freely, a right that is guaranteed in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?" She also mentioned that ban on the headscarf that countries such as Turkey and France have in place which cause significant challenges for many Muslim women. This includes herself as she experienced this scrutiny when she was assigned to interview French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin whose country recently decided to ban the hijab in state schools. Ben Guenna added, "In many Muslim countries today, Muslim women wearing the headscarf represent a majority. If television and art is a representation of popular culture, shouldn't these millions of modestly dressed women be entitled to a handful of females on television screens who 'represent' them?! Is it too much to ask for some representation?" I think not.

Mona Abdel Ghani also stated that her hijab was her personal choice and that she did not accept this generalization about the motives of actresses like her who had begun wearing the hijab. She bothered me a little because she kept interrupting the guests and didn't speak as eloquently as Ben Guenna, but then again the latter is a respected and well-educated journalist whose job depends on her ability to speak publicly. (This article gives a better idea of Mona's thoughts on her hijab decision).

Hanan Turk, one of the most popular actresses in the Arab world today, also appeared on the show via phone as she confirmed rumors that she had decided to wear the hijab in the past few days. Asked by the show's host for the reasons why she had made this decision at this point in time, Hanan confidently responded saying that she had been "considering this issue for years now" and that Allah had finally given her "the strength to take this step." Is this a temporary thing or your final decision? asked the host. Hanan said that she had taken this decision with "full conviction" that it was something she was "required to do by her religion as a Muslim woman" and that she "prayed to Allah to help her remain steadfast and patient." She said that she is not stopping her acting career, and is in the midst of taping the series "Awlad Shawari3" produced by Dubai TV. As soon as the call with Turk ended, Iqbal Baraka began attacking her, sarcastically saying "Thank you Hanan for that wonderfully crafted speech which I can see took you a long time to memorize and practice. Now that you are such a religious and spiritual person, you can keep regurgitating these lines all over television shows and in other interviews." How much more childish could Baraka get?

In any case, I found the discussion to be insightful especially because it was not just another show that attempted to delve into the scriptural details of the obligation of modesty in Islam. This type of discussion usually gets out of hand and defeats the purpose as most guests on such shows loose their temper and begin hurling insults at one another.

My personal view on the whole subject can be narrowed down to a few rather simple points:

1. Women, Muslim or not, should have the right to dress in any way they want without being intimidated or discriminated against. Whether it is a headscarf, yarmulke, or sari, such choices are personal and should be respected especially when they are a manifestation of an individual's religious beliefs. These decisions do not threaten the freedoms of others and therefore should not be scrutinized and/or jeopardized.

2. The decisions of women to put on or remove the hijab is a personal, regardless of whether they are public figures or not. In Islam, the belief is that individuals will be judged for their actions and intentions, the latter of which can only be determined by Allah. Therefore, speculations about the reasons why a news anchor wears a headscarf are simply that: speculations. Whether I agree or disagree with the individual's choice, I should not be allowed to prevent them from making that choice.

3. Feminists and others who's goal is to champion women's rights should be the first to defend a Muslim woman's right to wear a headscarf. As long as it is a personal choice and not one that is forced by any other individual, then there should not be any consternation about it. Islam itself is a religion that does not advocate any compulsion with regards to religious duties, "Let there be no compulsion in religion" 2:256. The idea that women who did not wear it before, especially those who are educated professionals such as Ben Guenna, are forced to wear it is absurd.

4. If anyone is pressuring young girls in the Arab world to dress a certain way it is the dozens of scandalously-clad-cheap-looking-hoe-like "pop stars" who's skirts keep inching higher and tops inching lower. Their images are plastered on billboards and music videos are incessantly replayed across every TV screen in the Middle East. The idea that modestly dressed women on a few religiously oriented programs and possibly a news anchor or two are "pressuring" young girls in the Middle East to dress more conservatively is laughable. The latter are proving to be role models for young girls, empowering them to educate themselves, and decide if that is a step they would want to take. On the other hand, the Haifa Wahbi type wardrobe sits in the windows of boutiques and malls across Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, luring young girls to show as much skin as possible, inevitably turning some girls into the sex-symbols that feminists should be speaking out against.

5. The real pressure is also on news anchors, presenters, and even other singers who choose to remain somewhat descent when they appear on our television screens. Whether they are threatened with losing their job for choosing to wear a headscarf or refusing to wear a tighter shirt and shorter skirt, women in all fields and especially those public ones are losing this freedom of choice. As long as her way of dressing does not get in the way of completing her job, then women should not be harassed to wear or not to wear the hijab or any other article of clothing.

Clearly, this subject is larger than one single post, and I may come back to it because it has been deemed so "controversial" in recent times, an argument I simply don't buy. The root of the issue is freedom of choice, which should be respected by all to avoid discrimination against certain segments of society who wish to fulfill certain religious or moral obligations. Intentions of individuals are theirs alone, and whether we believe they are pure or not, does not entitle us to discriminate against them, especially in the work force and education sector. Preventing women from getting an education because of their dress does not liberate them and will only help to promote ignorance and oppression.

I'd like to see the energy used on debating the hijab focused on more pressing issues facing women in the Middle East such as lack of access to education, discrimination in the workforce, domestic abuse, health problems, lack of political participation, etc. I don't like double standards. A woman's choice is a woman's choice, whether it's considered "liberal", "conservative", "Marxist" or anything in between. Unfortunately, when the spotlight is placed on women's rights in Islam, double-standards, generalizations, and misconceptions are common.

[technorati tags: LBC, hijab, Islam, Khadija Ben Guenna, Hanan Turk, Arab World, popular culture, feminism]

Automatic Wudu' Machine

Is your mosque suffering from slippery bathroom floors because too many people are splashing around while making wudu'?
Do you notice that people are preforming the pre-prayer Islamic ritual in the wrong way?
Would you be interested in a tool that can help them make ablution the right way without wasting time teaching them how to do it?

Do not fear, the Automatic Wudu' Washer is here!
Coming to you all the way from Aussie land, this state of the art user-friendly technology is for all your wudu' needs. It does everything for you, without wasting or splashing too much water. It even dries you off, so no need for all those paper towels! It's clean, efficient, and very convenient for your home or business :)

(click photo to enlarge)

Order one today!

And for a limited time offer, when you order 10 AWW's, we will send you a complimentary Automatic PRAYER Chair*! Yes, you heard me, a Salat chair! Just pop your butt on the seat, strap your arms to the sides, and your feet to the bottom, and the rest is on us! The chair will move you in all the right directions. Worried about how long your ruku' or sujood will last? No worries! This amazing technology allows you to program how long your sujood and ruku' will last.

BUT WAIT, there's more! The side of the headrest includes discreet earphones which you can put on and click on the chapter of the Quran that you would like to recite. Haven't been memorizing those verses have you? Well, no worries, the Quran recitation system is included and will help you if you stumble on a verse or two! (Heck, if you don't want to read it, just listen!)

Don't miss out, quantaties are limited (the Saudis already ordered 5,000, enough for the whole royal family!)

Please call this toll-free number now: 1-800-LAZY-MUSLIM

[*the Automatic Prayer Chair is a figment of my imagination, but don't be too disappointed, because the Wudu' Washer really is in a store near you (if you live in Australia, but I'm sure they deliver)!]

Bin Laden & Zarqawi Speak Out... And I Shout Back!

Apparently, they're in the mood to talk these two thugs. Osama bin Laden released an audio tape on Sunday reiterating his prevoius assertions that the West is at war with Islam. He cited recent events related to the cutting of aid to the Hamas led Palestinian government as proof of this "crusade" against Islam and Muslims. Bin Laden also called on his supporters to prepare for a long war against the "crusaders" in Sudan. These calls fell on deaf ears as both Palestinian and Sudanese sources distanced themselves from bin Laden's statements.

Today, a website that broadcasts information related to Abu-Musab Al-Zarqawi's insurgent network released a video showing an unmasked Zarqawi making more threats against the "crusaders" in Iraq. He threatened that "what is coming is even worse." Zarqawi also admonished the US for not accepting a truce offered by who he referred to as "our prince and leader", Osama bin Laden.

Two these two cowards, I say:

We don't need your sympathy. We don't want to hear your conspiracy theories explaining everything going on in the world. We don't need to hear verses of the Quran from you because you are hypocrites, choosing to exclude most of the basic principles in Islam. We don't need you to feel bad for the Palestinian people. We don't need you to ask the world to help Hamas, because unlike you, Hamas chose a civilized way to enter politics and change the status quo of the Palestinians. We don't need you to tell us about human rights and crusades in Darfur. We don't need you to tell us to go fight our Muslim brethren in Darfur who are suffering everyday, and not because of a "crusader" war.

We need you to get the hell back in your stupid cave and stop talking to us. You've done enough damage claiming you are acting like a righteous Muslim, blowing up innocent people in planes and hotels and resorts. You know nothing of jihad. You know nothing of what Muslims across the world are going through because of your murderous acts.

You do not know that Muslims in America and Europe are suffering everday because of your sick interpretation of the noble concept of jihad. You do not know that young American Muslim girls are being targeted because of your filthy words. They are being physically attacked, their headscarves torn off by extremists of other religions, just like yourself and because of your actions.

You do not know what our Muslim brothers go through in the West everyday when they are in the airport, in a college classroom, in their offices, on the trains. They are all suspects now, all because of your sick ideas and your personal ambitions, none of which have to do with our beautiful religion.

Everything that we have accomplished and every step that we have made to bring the beauty and essence of Islam to the rest of the world has been hijacked by you and the innocent young boys that you prey on. You brainwash them into thinking they are doing the work of God. There are many of them across the Arab and Muslim world. Poor, hopeless, jobless, willing to do anything to put out the rage inside their hearts. Their ineffective leaders have sucked the life out of them, and you deceive them even more. You lie to them and tell them they will go to heaven, to meet their Lord. Oh my Allah, how He has taught us in the Quran to LIVE for Islam before we die for it. To live for others, to help others, to spread Islam through our peaceful and kind actions.

How dare you even begin to think that you are following in the footsteps of our beloved Prophet Muhammad...how dare you taint his image. How dare you cause cartoonists to make fun of him because of your murderous actions. They are not at fault. You Osama and Abu Musab are at fault. That caricature was of YOU and NOT our beloved Prophet. He is innocent of what you claim he has preached. He preached nothing but peace. He was a patient and soft spoken man, not a sword wielding one. He cared for his neighbors, even the Jewish one who threw trash in front of his home everyday. Yes, you heard me, his Jewish neighbor.

Leave the Muslims alone. We don't want you to speak on our behalf. We don't support your terrorist tactics. We don't need your conspiracy theories. We need you to go back to your cave and ask Allah for forgiveness for all the sins you have committed. I, for one, will never forgive you for what you have done to my brothers and sisters in humanity whom you have killed, and I cannot forgive you for the damage you have inflicted on Muslim communities across the world, especially those in the West. May you live in misery throughout this life and may you burn in Hell in the next one.


[technorati tags: bin Laden, Zarqawi, news, failures, Islam, Muslims, peace]

Dutch Scientific Council: Islam & Democracy Compatible

Thankfully, someone has recognized that a mixture of Islam and politics does not always result in something ugly and scary (ie: al-Qaeda).

The Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) in the Netherlands, advising the government with the reports it prepares, acknowledges that Islam is "in perfect dynamism" with democracy and human rights.

The council, covering relations between Islam and democracy in its latest report titled "Dynamism in Islamic activism," stresses the frequently used statement that in principle Islam conflicts with democracy along with the cliche "clash of civilizations" leads to blocked dialogue among cultures.

A new opening is needed, the Council diagnosed, giving the following advice to EU countries: "Instead of exporting democracy to Muslim countries, democratic attempts harmonious with their own traditions and cultures must be supported."

The study reveals a lack of direct communication with Muslim nations, and describing Islam together with the words "clash of civilizations" and terrorism are the biggest obstacles facing dialogue. The report stresses new policies on a global scale must be put into practice in order to decrease the tension between Islam and the West.

Full story

[technorati tags: democracy, Islam, human rights, Europe, Netherlands, politics]