Welcoming 2006

Thank-You Nour!!

E.A.R. - Escaping Abusive Relationships

In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the All-Compassionate May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon You Assalamu Alaikum Insha'Allah this message finds you in the best of health and imaan, and NOT in need of any of the information or resources my new project aims to provide. Amin. However, I have been saddened and disturbed at the amount of communication I've read recently with regard to Muslimah's (and women in general) silently suffering inside abusive relationships. Even more disheartening is the fact that many sisters/women are consumed with the thought that they are helpless to escape. It is a sad fact that no matter what background you are from, what country you live in, or what religion you are affiliated with...abuse knows no boundaries. The information you will find here is just the beginning of a project that I hope, with your input, we can expand to include categories and or areas that will provide resources available GLOBALLY, so that no sister/woman ever feels she is alone, that she doesn't have a choice, or is helpless to escape…no matter where she lives. Insha'Allah. Please use the feedback form found here to send in your suggestions, links, stories, poems, news articles, etc., in support of E.A.R. - Escaping Abusive Relationships. Jazakallahu khayran for showing you care!! Ma'Salaama.

Southern Smile from Across the Miles

Digitally speaking...my daughter sends holiday greetings from South Carolina. I hope your day was great! Judging from the pretty ring on your finger...I'm guessing it was! Love, Mom

How About an Eid Sale at Macy's?

By Sabiha Khan December 25, 2005 Christians no doubt welcome the movie version of C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," but many Muslims do as well. Neither my fellow Muslim moviegoer nor I was offended by any of the movie's Christian references, and, in fact, we thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to see smart storytelling on the big screen. That may come as a surprise in light of popular myths about Muslim beliefs and practices. But Islam teaches Muslims to respect and understand other religions, especially the religions of the people of the book, among them Christians and Jews. Many Muslim core values — freedom, justice and peace — are shared by followers of the world's other great religions. And Muslims revere Jesus as one prophet of God in a long line of such prophets, among them Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist and Muhammad. American Muslims believe that Christmas celebrations should not be watered down or banned because they might offend people of other faiths or non-faith. Acknowledging Christmas — or any other religious holiday — in the public square does not infringe on my sensibilities or my right to practice my religion. Indeed, many Muslim families will take their children to see the beautiful decorations of Christmas lights on homes to share the happiness they produce. Similarly, Muslims will play host to Muslim and non-Muslim friends during the Islamic celebrations of Eid-ul-Adha (Festival of the Sacrifice) and Eid-ul-Fitr (Festival of the Feast). Perhaps the talk about a movement to de-Christianize Christmas aims to scare people into thinking that Christianity itself is under attack. We should be wary of those who try to turn this emotional issue into a rallying point against non-Christians or even secular Christians who don't share the religious right's agenda. Many non-Christians merely want their religious holidays to receive the same recognition and acceptance as Christmas. For instance, why shouldn't Albertson's put lamb and hummus on sale during Ramadan? Or Macy's set aside a one-day blowout sale on clothing the day before Eid? Or the local elementary school stage an Eid production with traditional songs? The Constitution states that government may not endorse one religion over another. This does not preclude the public celebration of our country's many ethnic and religious holidays. In the movie "The Chronicles of Narnia," the evil White Witch turned Narnia into a perpetually cold and wintry land where Christmas was banned until she was defeated. What a sad, long winter it would be if we Americans unwittingly distilled our diverse religious celebrations into a neutral, nondescript "Happy Holiday." http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-islamicxmas25dec25,0,5931968.story From the Los Angeles Times This material is made available in an effort to advance understanding of humanitarian, education, democracy, and social justice issues, religious issues, etc. It is belived that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

A Little Something to Make You Go...Awwwwww!

I've been meaning to do a blog post on this all week! Take a peek at this site...it's guaranteed to make you go, "Awwww!!" *wink* Enjoy!! www.cuteoverload.com

Here's a Thought...Volunteer Your Way Through the Holidays!

If you are a Muslim living in the United States, or a revert looking for a way to still share in the holiday spirit of peace and good will towards mankind, or just in need of something to help you get through the transition of feeling at a loss because: (1) You have no family or your family members are far away from you; either physically and/or emotionally; (2) You don't know any other Muslims in your community with whom you can associate to help you get past the holidays, since, as a Muslim you are not (or as a revert no longer) participating in the religious aspects of the holiday season, or "Christmas"; (3) You live in an area where there isn't a masjid nearby; (4) You want to maintain the essence of the "holiday" season by doing something positive for mankind in general; (5) You have some spare time on your hands; (6) You are simply looking for an opportunity to practice the Islamic teaching to occupy your time in doing good deeds, or; (7) You don't have any plans for Eid-ul-Adha! Please visit VolunteerMatch.org!! You can begin your search for volunteer opportunities right here: http://www.volunteermatch.org/results. Customize your search to select from opportunities in categories like: Advocacy & Human Rights, Animals, Arts & Culture, Board Development, Children & Youth, Community, Computers & Technology, Crisis Support, Disabled, Education & Literacy, Emergency & Safety, Employment, Environment, Health & Medicine, Homeless & Housing, Hunger, Hurricane Relief, Immigrants & Refugees, International, Justice & Legal, Media & Broadcasting, Politics, Race & Ethnicity, Religion, Seniors, Sports & Recreation, and Women. You can even be a virtual volunteer! Just use the virtual opportunity search found here: http://www.volunteermatch.org/opportunities/virtual.jsp. As a virtual volunteer you can utilize your computer, Internet connection, phone, and/or fax. VolunteerMatch makes volunteering excuse free! To date VolunteerMatch has provided 2,349,861 referrals, and has offered 34,553 opportunities in association with 37,174 organizations!! Explore the multitude of opportunities available and see if there is a place where you can make a contribution today! Imagine the blessings to be found in representing Islam with the face of a Muslim, ready, willing, and able to show that we are truly a people of peace, love, kindness, understanding and charity. Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (PBUH) said, "Giving in charity is an obligation upon every Muslim". It was said (to him): "What about one who does not find (the means) to do so?'' He (PBUH) said, "Let him work with his hands, thus doing benefit to himself and give in charity.'' It was said to him: "What if he does not have (the means) to do so?'' He (PBUH) said, "Then let him assist the needy, the aggrieved.'' It was said: "What about if he cannot even do this?'' He (PBUH) said, "Then he should enjoin good.'' He was asked: "What if he cannot do that?'' He (the Prophet (PBUH)) said, "He should then abstain from evil, for verily, that is a charity from him." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] "Every good deed is charity." [Al-Bukhari] Happy Volunteering!!

How Many Countries Are in the World?

You know, I found this really cool little blog add-on, which some of you may have noticed, that tracks visitors by the country they've popped in from. This little gadget just fascinates me! So, on noticing that there have been visitors to my blog from 55 different countries, curiosity got the best of me, and I finally succumed to the itch and ran a search on the number of countries in the world. Many an astute geography student probably already knew the answer to this question, however, I am guessing that there are just as many of us out here that didn't already know the answer so here it is: P.S. You can get your own neocounter here. After the 14-day free trial period you'll have to subscribe if you want to maintain the full customizable version, otherwise, the neoboard will revert back to the "free" version. The good news is the subscription fee is nominal - $5.95 for 6 mos. or $8.95 for 12 mos. From Matt Rosenberg, Your Guide to Geography. May 3 2004 By Most Accounts, 193 is the Correct Answer. A very frequent geographical question is "How many countries are in the world?" Different numbers pop up when one inquires or reads about the number of countries in the world. Each source you use often yields a different answer. United Nations There are 191 members of the United Nations. Unfortunately, the number 191 is too often used to represent the number of countries in the world. Although this number represents almost all of the countries in the world, there is still one country (the Vatican City) that is independent and has chosen not to become a member of the U.N. U.S. Department of State The United States' State Department recognizes 192 independent countries around the world. Their list of 192 countries reflects the political agenda of the United States of America and its allies. Missing from the State Department's list is one entity that may or may not be considered a country, depending on who you talk to. The One Outsider Taiwan meets most of the requirements of independent country or state status. However, due to political reasons, it fails to be recognized by the United States and much of the rest of the world. Taiwan was actually a member of the United Nations (and even the Security Council) until 1971, when mainland China replaced Taiwan in the organization. Taiwan continues to press for full recognition by other countries, to become "part of the club" and fully recognized worldwide but China claims that Taiwan is simply a province of China. Thus... Your Guide considers there to be 193 countries, which is probably the best current answer to the question, "How many countries are in the world?" unless Taiwan is officially absorbed into China at some point, in which case the answer would be 192. However... Recognize that there are dozens of territories and colonies that are sometimes erroneously called "countries" but don't count at all - they're governed by other countries. Places commonly confused as being countries include Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Greenland, Western Sahara, and even the components of the United Kingdom (such as Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England - sorry folks, they're not countries, states, or nation-states). ©2005 About, Inc., A part of the New York Times Company. All rights reserved. http://geography.about.com/cs/countries/a/numbercountries_p.htm

Chillin' with the Birds on a Somber Afternoon

I've had pets of one kind or another throughout my life...the first being a beautiful grey kitten named Smokey. Then came along Suki, Peanut, Skeeter, Benji, Tracy, a second generation Benji and Tracy, Lacy, Charlie, King, and Kong, Myrtle, Blaze, Christy, Dancer, and Tigger...and I'm sure I've missed a few! *lol* But of all the animals I've had, from cats, dogs, chickens, ducks, horses, turtles, and even a squirrel, I've never had, but have always been fascinated by talking birds. I've known a few people over the years with birds that could talk, and have recently become keen to have one I could teach English to in order to have someone else to talk with besides my husband! *just kidding!!* So, anyhow, yesterday afternoon I was wandering around the souk and came upon a little shop where I stopped to hang out with the birds. The guy on the right (picture above), was absolutely entertaining...or that is...entertained with himself! *lol* This bird was just whistling up a storm, every kind of whistle you could imagine, and non-stop at that! I couldn't help but chuckle as I stood watching and listening...this, of course, peeking my interest once again in becoming a bird owner. *smile* But...for as much as I yearn in my heart to have a pet in my life again...the pain of the loss I felt when my last pet fell ill and had to be put to sleep...well...was just about more than I could take...and I just don't know if I can bring myself to subject my heart to that again... Owning a pet is a big responsibility...and my last experience showed me particularly, that if your life/living situation isn't stable, you shouldn't try to bring a pet into your home. It's not fair to the animal...and in the end only leads to heart-break. So, even though contemplating pet ownership again has been on my mind the last few days...I know it's not the best idea right now...and what makes the longing sort of worse is...every time I go outside I see cats...but there's not a single one that you could pick up and cuddle, because they're just 'yard' cats. Sad, it is. Just sad. Okay, time to take my melancholy self on off to bed. Besides, Windows is trying to install an update and I keep getting this little pop-up window telling me that in order to complete the installation Windows will be restarted in 4 minutes and 59 seconds...to which you can click on the "restart now' button or the "restart later" button. Well...I've come to know, after clicking on "restart later" about a dozen times, that "later" is only like...five minutes! Annoying darn thing...later means LATER darn it! *lol* Alright...catchy'all later...