What’s up with the issuing of fatwas over every newest fad and technology to emerge? I remember sitting in a lecture being given by an ‘aalima (religiously educated woman), and she said something about Hell Phone. Since I don’t speak Urdu, those were the only two words I picked up, and after the lecture was over, I asked one of my friends if I really heard those words, and what the heck was she talking about?

Apparently, the woman was talking about cell phones, and all the funky ways young people do all sorts of haraam activity with them, and so you should take your kids’ phones away from them as soon as you get back home. Now, I understand that this is a bit of a problem, a very real, very legitimate problem among young adults of today. There is definitely a need to stress the importance of morals, and the Islamic definition of morality, to growing minds and hearts. But, seriously, calling the cell phone a hell phone is not the way to address that situation. Allow me to illustrate a few ways in which a cell phone is really a God-send, arguments that your own child will certainly use on you when look at his phone the wrong way:

1. Cell phones are a brilliant tool for parents to keep in constant touch with their kids. Yes, now you call your kid during lunch, while she’s blushingly pulling out her peanut-butter-&-jelly sandwich in the middle of all the cooler kids who are buying their lunches from the vending machines and what-not…and you can embarrass her by talking really loud so that every kid within 15 feet will hear you asking, “Sweetie, have you eaten your lunch yet? Don’t forget to call me before you leave from school so I know you’re safe!” Sure, your poor kid will feel like it is indeed a Hell Phone at that point, but you and I know better: You’re pretty happy making life miserable for the dear with the very phone she begged for!
2. Additionally, if you’ve ever been in a car accident during rush hour and the guy who hit you is behaving like a completely petulant child, then you know how nice it is to be able to call the police to the scene (so they can write up the accident report) from the comfort of your own vehicle, rather than walking down the street to find a pay phone. If I had to search for a pay phone, in that kind of situation, then I’d be thinking the pay phone is the Hell Phone.
3. Lastly, cell phones now have awesome browsing, GPS, and of course photo-snapping abilities! When I’m in Barnes & Noble, trying to decide if I should buy a book there, or see if Amazon has it cheaper, believe me, my cell phone does not feel like a Hell Phone. Perhaps, to the bookstore, if they come up on the losing end of that query, they’ll think it’s a Hell Phone, but me? I’m sitting pretty. When I’m lost someplace, how absolutely spectacular is it that I can power up my phone’s GPS and get pretty rocking directions? Heavenly delicious! And then there are the times when I’m completely bored, or totally inspired, and don’t have my real camera on me…but hey look! Cell phone to the rescue, because this baby has 3 mega-pixels worth of power, and is actually worth taking pictures with! Hell Phone? I don’t think so.

These are just a few examples to illustrate the absolute silliness of an admittedly catchy label. Believe me, your child will come up with more and better reasons for the term Hell Phone to never cross your mind ever again. So, you might want to discuss potential inappropriate behavior and the reasons behind those behaviors if you really want to help your young adult become a responsible human being.

I realize this type of labeling is not a new trend; such lazy cleverness has been ongoing ever since at least the invention of the television. The TV, while now old-fashioned, still occasionally gets the label FitnaBox, and Shaytan Tube.  Another common thing emerging is renaming FaceBook to FitnaBook. I’ll bet Twitter is going to become something like Haramster (I’m not good at coming up with these things, as you can tell!).

When are we going to get it that the technology is not the problem, it’s how you use it that leads to potential problems? Everything has a good side to equal it’s bad side. Pretending like the technology is the root of all ills is just crazy, makes the religious class sound crazy, and encourages apathy towards really examining our moral compasses. On the one hand, the labels are kind of catchy-sounding…on the other hand, they really annoy me with the lack of intellectual depth that comes with using terms like Hell Phone, and FitnaTube. It smacks of fear-mongering, and haven’t we all had rather enough of that?

This is the question that the always stimulating Organic Muslimah is asking of women in the West who wear the niqab. Since my writings tend to get a bit lengthy, I decided to answer the question on my own blog. Also, while this was triggered by Organica’s post, this is more of a response to a variety of questions by others on the opposite end of the niqab spectrum. So, it’s not personal to any particular blogger at all.

First of all, I take a bit of an issue with the question, for it appears to imply that whatever good there is in the niqab, it is so negligible that the bad surely outweighs it. The reason I feel the weight of such an implication, real or imagined, is because I generally feel offended when I hear any Muslim ask, “What is the good in doing such and such Islamically ordained deed?” Mainly, I feel this way because the good is fairly obvious: it (whatever it is) is (supposed to be) pleasing to Allah. Regardless of whether or not that implication is my own interpretation, it is a good question, and as a muntaqiba in America, I feel compelled to address it.

The idea of children being scared after seeing a woman all covered up is definitely an issue. Indeed, adults do also gasp in shock, horror, whatever upon seeing a niqabi. These reactions, however, are far from the norm, for Americans of non-Muslim inclination are no more monolithic than Muslims are. There are a good deal of Americans, children and adult alike, who display absolutely no amount of fear when confronted by a niqabi. For me, as a Muslim woman, to base my mode of dressing on how others might respond is both unrealistic and impossible. Where I to shed my niqab, and only go forth with hijab and abaya, I would be then asked to remove one more layer: my abaya, for perhaps the abaya makes me look dowdy and oppressed. Once I remove my abaya, I might then be asked to remove my hijab, or wear it in a way that is more fashionable, more attractive, more whatever. At what point do we say, “Enough. I am not shedding any more of my self for you. It is about time for you to accept what you see and hear of me?” It invites a domino effect to the manipulation of our values, and it assumes that the vast majority of Americans are shallow enough to not accept us for who we are. This, I have found, is definitely not the case.

Do we have a responsibility to make sure that people not feel threatened by us? Sure, we do, to an extent. I will be the first to wave hello to a child, and smile at their mother to make her comfortable and not think that I’m trying to sweet-talk their kid into a kidnapping. It’s a tenuous balance, indeed, but not anything that any niqabi is incapable of achieving. Walking along in a bubble and pretending that it doesn’t matter that 1 out of 10 children is going to be scared of us is naive, unproductive, and downright selfish. So, niqabis, make the effort to make your surroundings comfortable with you, as much as you expect them to be comfortable with you. For the kids, it’s worth it. And who the heck wants to scare a kid into screaming for hours just coz he saw a thing in black? Humanizing ourselves with a wave and a cheery, “Hi!” usually goes a long way to avoid such a screaming situation. Also, there was a time when the entire United States feared black men, and while today there are pockets of resistance, they are small enough that a black man, one generation removed from Africa not only ran for President, but actually won. People will be scared of millions of things; changing ourselves to “help” them overcome their irrational fears is not a solution…it’s a band-aid.

The other issue that was brought up in the blog post was that of doing effective da’wah, and that most non-Muslims are familiar with the niqab as an Islamic construct, but not with the fact that Islam preaches belief in One God, the most basic and fundamental of Islamic principles. This is unfortunate, but it is way too simple to think that removing our niqaab is the solution to effectively teach those around us about Islam. If we were to shed every physical, outward difference between ourselves and the dominant culture, why would anyone be interested in Islam? Who would know that Muslims walk among us? I would assume that more da’wah has been conveyed since Muslims in the West assumed Islamic garb in the past 10-20 years than in all decades before in which Muslim were a completely invisible minority. The niqab is more of a springboard to da’wah than one would assume…or maybe that’s just specific to my own location in the United States. The ones who are freaked out at the sight of a muntaqibah are not usually the ones who are all that open to da’wah.

Another aspect of da’wah is this: how do I convey the teachings of Islam if I find reasons to avoid practicing some teachings that may be inconvenient/difficult/impractical? When I dispose of the niqab, in the same way and for the same reasons that some dispose of hijab, or the beard, for the sake of my own insecurities, am I not in effect saying that Islam is full of disposable requirements? Islam is an easy and flexible religion, but to dispense with things rather than confronting the obstacles they present is simply making it all way too easy. Many niqabis prefer to take the path less traveled, because someone has to do it…and if we’re able to handle the risks and responsibilities of it all, then we might as well seize the moment. We all keep different sunnahs alive; that is part of the diversity of Islam, no matter where we are. How will anyone ever know an unoppressed, fully covered Muslim woman if we all just ditched the niqab, and simply talked the talk without walking the walk?

Are there times when a woman in niqab is not going to be able to participate in certain aspects of life? You bet. It’s virtually impossible to obtain a professional job in this country while fully covered. This is a compromise that any muntaqibah who needs a job (and there are many of us) will acknowledge. Perhaps this will mean being a part-time niqabi, and that is something some of us do grapple with in order to get by in this world.

Ultimately, I keep coming back to the idea of limits and boundaries. When we give one thing up, and then another, and then another, when do we stop? Do we finally just give it all up, call ourselves Muslims, and that’s it? All because everyone is too scared of us, or because we’re afraid to take the risk that someone might spit in the face of our faith? When we’ve given up everything, and all that’s left is “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammed is His final Messenger,” will someone come along and ask us, “Why say Allah, when God is the same thing, and is less scary to me as a non-Muslim?” And then what will we say? Will we say “ok, for the greater good of making you comfortable?” When do we stand our ground and demand that others be comfortable with us on our terms, in the same way that we, the majority of Muslims, are comfortable with them on their own terms? Do we demand it once we’ve given it all up, and it no longer even matters? It’s a subtle and silent form of activism, and I really don’t see it as a form of tarnishing the image of Islam. Indeed, I am rather disturbed when I hear people proclaim that adhering to one aspect or another of Islamic teachings tarnishes the message of Islam.

And finally, where I always differ with other Muslims is on the premise of Islam needing a makeover to make it more palatable to the eyes of the world. Muslims need a makeover, not Islam. We can rearrange the pieces of the Islam puzzle till it’s a shadow of itself, but it will be of no use to us or the world. The Qur’an exhorts us to change our condition, precisely because it’s so much more tempting to change the tenets of the faith. We can be kind, we can be good, we can be dignified, and we can do it with a veil or a beard…or not. One demands a makeover of ourselves, which is what Islam demands of us anyway…the other option is a makeover of our faith.

This is a rant, and it’s largely going to sound like male-bashing or even Muslim bashing. Men and women who don’t think they need to sit through this, feel free to keep on clicking. However, if you do keep reading, I can guarantee one of two outcomes: You’ll leaving thinking a) that woman is a nutcase and a half; or b) that woman is just a nutcase. Guarantees don’t come better than that! Onwards…

What do we Muslims think we’re doing? I am talking to people, men and women, who choose to live in the West. We have got severe problems. One such problem is this whole routine we do about “Islam expects us to obey the laws and customs of the land we live in, so {popular with women} polygyny is not an option and {popular with men} we can’t hold down a job while having a beard and {popular with pretty much everyone} we have to celebrate Halloween with devil costumes and Thanksgiving with turkey, cranberry sauce, and a football game nobody really cares about! We just have to!”  There are about a million other things we justify doing under the guise of “we have no choice, it’s the way of the world now, we chose to come here so we should all just go with the flow and anybody who doesn’t is a backward third worlder!”

Then along comes a sticky situation that nobody wants to deal with honestly and with integrity. For example, a couple gets divorced and the man doesn’t want to let his wife go once and for all. So, he pulls out the old, “It’s a kuffaar court, so the divorce is not the same as talaaq, I signed the papers but I didn’t want to and I had no choice” routine, and everyone happily goes along with it, because my God, doesn’t the man sound so holy and pious? I mean, hello, he knows the word talaaq and everything! And this poor man is just suffering under the mighty heavy hand of the kuffaar! Forget the fact that Islam allows a woman to be free of a marriage that she cannot live with. Forget the fact that the Qur’an encourages men to let their wives go with “kindness and justice” even when they’re absolutely fed up with the women in question. Forget all that, because a) it’s just inconvenient, and b) well, it’s the kuffaar’s fault for interfering, don’t you get it? Oh, and c) it’s all about intention and he didn’t intend to divorce, so there.

Actually, no, I don’t get it. Because while a woman in such a situation* will not be able to get married again Islamically, the man still can, because Islam allows multiple wives, and he’s not violating the (kuffaar) law because he signed his divorce papers under duress of the kuffaar court. Talk about a win-win situation! Now, I have a few questions. Islamically, since we obviously care so very much about what Islam has to say in this whole sorry mess, doesn’t this man owe both wives equality? Equal maintenance, clothing, housing, etc? Or does he then get to pull out the “she left because she wanted to, and I don’t owe a disobedient wife anything” routine?

It’s retardation like this that gives the Irshad Manjis and Asra Nomanis of the world so much to work with. When we stop playing these stupid, petty games with ourselves, our deen, and each other, those people will melt away like so much hot air. But no. We’ll be on this merry-go-round for a while yet. All the “kuffar made me do it” people will make sure of that.

Meanwhile, they will be enjoying their beardless/hijabless/”Americanized” lives, dressed and acting like every other American in every way visible and invisible, while when white America wants someone to pick on, they’ll come to women like me and ask me if I’m oppressed. And I’ll wonder why they are asking me such a stupid question…until I remember all the “kuffar made me do it!” people who actually do make those questions legitimate. And I’ll send a little thank you prayer their way…or something a lot ruder and not fitting for any good Muslim to think, let alone say. Or maybe I should just send that impolite epithet their way, and justify it in my head by saying, “the kuffaar made me do it, it’s the way of the world now, don’t you get it?”

Yes, I am a nutcase. And yes, my rant is over. I feel a lot better for getting that off my chest. Thank you for reading.

*Situation exists all across America, and even in the supposedly Muslim world. I’m not talking about anybody in particular here. This is based very loosely on a recent reminder.

We Muslims have a lot of -isms. Just amongst the Sunnis, we have the Salafis, the Sufis, the non-mabhabis, wahhabis (whatever that is, usually an uncreative catch-all),and of course the four madhabis. These are just the ones I know. I’m sure there are a few more. Amongst the Shi’a, there are Ismailis, Qadyaanis, Aga Khanis (they might be all the same, just different names, I don’t know), and I’m sure quite a few more. But, do we let the existence of the -isms come in the way of understanding the other’s -isms? For examples, do Salafis really understand the Sufis? Do Sufis appreciate the core principles of the Salafis? If so, great, end of post. But it’s not so. Salafis pronounce takfir on Sufis every now and then. Sufis warily eye Salafis from the other corner of the room, thinking there is something wrong with “those people.” Madhabis are constantly defending the correctness of their madhabs. Non-madhabis are usually getting in the faces of madhabis to provoke a reaction of some sort. Some madhabis are so confused, they mix non-madhabi principles into their practices and then insist it makes sense even when it clearly doesn’t. Some people call others Wahhabis just because they can’t really figure out what they are (I’m talking about Muslim abuse of this weird term) when in fact they are into the Tableegh movement. This is basically a chicken soup of -isms, and while chicken soup may be good for the soul, it really isn’t when the soup has endured beyond it’s shelf-life. The chicken soup needs to be tossed out. We need to cook up a new batch, oh people of the Ummah.

What caused these yawning divides between you and me? You is not you the reader. You is referring to the Muslim Ummah in general.  Me just might be me specifically. Me is definitely the Muslim with the ism on his or her shoulder. Because, sometimes, it feels like it’s me against the world. No, not just the world, but the Muslim world. Me, personally, I am a Sunni Muslim. I see the beauty of Sufism…and I see the beauty of it’s flip side, Salafism. I can’t really say I see the beauty of the other -isms, because I either a) don’t, or b) know nothing about those other -isms. But I do know just enough about those who subscribe to traditional methods of tasawwuf and those who subscribe to ideas of traditional Salafism to know that there need not be a chasm between us. Those on the path of salafism like to say that they are on the manhaj, the true path, and I have no doubt that they are. Salafi sheikhs have a way of crystallizing points of tawheed to the finest grain, and I have no doubt that they all transmit the importance of tawheed accurately and beautifully. I have no doubt, of course, because I went beyond my prejudice finally and actually read them. Those who are on the path of Sufism like to demonstrate their belief in the oneness of Allah and the beauty and grace of his Nabi sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam in more poetic and analogical ways. Perhaps, this differing style of communication is the cause of misunderstanding between the two ideologies. I don’t know…I am not smart enough to figure it out. There are extreme Salafis and extreme Sufis who really have nothing to do with either path, yet they are there murking up the chicken soup. Perhaps, one day, we’ll be smart enough to figure out that the murkier ones are not the ones we need to be paying attention to. Yes, this might be a pipe-dream.

So what caused this? Has it always been this way? Are the gaps ever going to close? Is it going to get a lot worse before it gets better? Allah knows best. All I know is that it’s oftentimes easier for us to go along and get along with non-Muslims than with each other. I have no problem with getting along with non-Muslims; some of the nicest people I’ve known are not Muslims. I’ve learned some amazing things about how to be a better person from non-Muslims. I’ve even found it easier to be friends with some non-Muslims. So, that is clearly not my issue, but it is a problem when we value the other, despite the differences between us, more than we value each other, despite the similarities among us. That is just sad. And that is not a problem that you or I can solve by ourselves. It is a problem that we have to face collectively.

I don’t remember ever reading this before, and I might be just a bit behind on my World Affairs Trivia. The LA Times has a fascinating article about the Uighurs of China, and the time they keep in the Xinjiang province:

When communist China was formed in 1949, Mao Tse-tung decreed that everybody should follow a single time zone, no matter that the country is as wide as the continental United States.

But Uighurs, the dominant minority in China’s northwestern Xinjiang province, balked at running their lives on Beijing time, which would have them getting up in the pitch dark and going to sleep at sunset.

“It is as ridiculous as having Los Angeles following New York time,” said Alim Seytoff, who left Xinjiang in 1996 and is now secretary-general of the Uyghur American Assn. in Washington.

So the Uighurs follow their own unofficial time, which is two hours earlier — in effect following the dictates of the sun rather than of Beijing, about 2,000 miles away.

The separate time zones are in fact a metaphor for the chasm between the Uighurs and Han Chinese living in uneasy proximity in Xinjiang. Since 1949, the ethnic Chinese have grown from 9% to more than 40% of the province’s population, and Uighurs accuse the Chinese government of suppressing their culture and faith.

By the time I got to the end of the article, I was convinced that it must be an early April Fool’s joke. But it’s not! All of China really does follow Beijing time, meaning that 5 am in Beijing is 5 am in every part of China. Time to rise and shine, whether it’s the sun you see, or the moon.

Ali Tash, a 28-year-old tour guide, said it’s really quite simple. Pointing at empty sofas in a hotel lobby, he explained how he would set up a hypothetical meeting with a Chinese friend and a Uighur friend. “So I say to the Chinese guy, come at 4 o’clock, and to the Uighur guy, come at 2 o’clock, and then everybody will be there the same time. No problem.”

This reminds me of how Muslims in the West get into a tizzy over the beginning and end of Ramadaan, and the day of Eid al-’Adha. Most conversations are like this in my community:

Other Sister: Will you be at the masjid on Monday morning?

Me: No, why?

Other Sister: Don’t you like coming to the Big Masjid for Eid?

Me: It’s too early for me… *trying to avoid the inevitable*

Other Sister: *persistent* When are you doing Eid? *suspicious now*

Me: On Tuesday *bright smile*

Other Sister: *look of horror and distaste* But, sister, for the sake of unity… *long lecture begins*

Ladies and gents, can’t we just do like the Uighurs? You have your time, I have mine. Be grateful my time is different from yours only 3 days (or perhaps 6 if we combine them) a year. At least it’s not a daily conundrum we have to face.

فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ

Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny?

[Al-Rahman]

Yesterday was a day of spending. While I didn’t spend too much, and I did not spend unnecessarily, I did spend with an uncharacteristic insouciance. I usually agonize a bit more about spending money, both before and after the fact, than I did this time. This casual dropping of cash might have been the result of a hellaciously loud computer that was aggravating the daylights out of me for the worse part of two years. The loud  fan or hard drive or whatever it was that has been incessantly screaming at me caused me to panic into sincerely believing that I will lose all my data if Noisemaker decides to finally up and die.

After we came out of the electronics store and deposited my shiny (literally) new laptop in the trunk of the car, my mom started reminiscing about the computers we’ve had, and how afraid we used to be of technology. Like seriously scared-to-death-don’t-want-to-touch-that-monster scared. The fact that I’m an IT person is a total irony of fate; I took the closest thing the Comp Sci department had to an Internet 101 class, except that it was a Global Networking, let me teach you about TCP/IP protocols, kind of class. I fell in love with Comp Sci, and as a family, we’ve done an almost about-face with respect to technology since then. So, when we breezed in and breezed out of Best Buy with the nicest computer for a miserly $555 (I’m cheap, ok?! and that does include taxes!), it was something that would have been inconceivable nearly half my lifetime ago. We got to talking about the terrifying first computer experience, the barely better second computer, and realized that I am now on my third laptop.

My third laptop. When I type that, it literally brings tears to my eyes. When I was in high school, the cost of computers was so high that I thought the only place I would use one would be at school. Today, they are commonplace, and to be without one would be the oddest thing in the world. It’s like a second brain, a third arm, a sixth toe. When I was in college, my first few years of it, we had a hand-me-down computer from hell, and nobody to give us moral or technical support. When it would spontaneously (I swear, it was unprovoked) shut down, I’d lose entire essays…and nobody could tell me why. I used to save my WordPerfect documents every 30 seconds, just in case. was Yesterday, when I confused about which laptop to buy, I turned on Twitter, and called for help. And I got it…very good advice at my fingertips, quite literally. From someone who is, outside of the blog world and Twitter, a complete stranger, in a different time zone, with nothing but gracious kindness. I wonder what I did to be so blessed? Thank you, Cookie Monster, for the help. It is greatly appreciated.

Ever since yesterday, the ‘aya I quoted above has been running through my brain. While transferring stuff from the old computer to this one, while installing applications, while adding the new laptop to my wireless network, I realized that I have been Supremely blessed. Alhamdulillah. I have done so much to not deserve the blessings I’ve been given. Yet, Allah has been Most Gracious to me. And there are no favors from Him that I could deny.

I’ll leave you with a beautiful recitation of Surah al-Rahman, as well as the first few verses of this surah. I feel like I understand it in a more real sense today. Or perhaps in a different way.

The Most Gracious (Allâh)! (1) He has taught (you mankind) the Qur’ân (by His Mercy). (2) He created man. (3) He taught him eloquent speech. (4) The sun and the moon run on their fixed courses (exactly) calculated with measured out stages for each (for reckoning). (5) And the herbs (or stars) and the trees both prostrate themselves. (to Allah. See V.22:18). (Tafsir Ibn Kathir) (6) And the heaven He has raised it high, and He has set up the Balance. (7) In order that you may not transgress (due) balance. (8) And observe the weight with equity and do not make the balance deficient. (9) And the earth He has put down (laid) for the creatures. (10) Therein are fruits, date-palms producing sheathed fruit-stalks (enclosing dates). (11) And also corn, with (its) leaves and stalk for fodder, and sweet-scented plants. (12) Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny? (13) He created man (Adam) from sounding clay like the clay of pottery. (14) And the jinn He created from a smokeless flame of fire. (15) Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny? (16) (He is) the Lord of the two easts (places of sunrise during early summer and early winter) and the Lord of the two wests (places of sunset during early summer and early winter). (17) Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny? (18) He has let loose the two seas (the salt and the frsh water) meeting together. (19) Between them is a barrier which none of them can transgress. (20) Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny? (21) Out of them both come out pearl and coral. (22) Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny? (23)

There was a very interesting article I was reading yesterday relating to a debate over water. The question that many nations and NGOs are trying to answer is this: Is access to clean water a basic human right? I think it’s a ridiculous question to be asking. It’s been drummed into our heads since we were little tots that humans cannot do without water for survival, that if you’re stranded anywhere (deserted island, middle of the Mojave, wherever), the one thing you will need is water. Not your cell-phone, not sushi, not even sunblock. No, you will need water within a couple days.

Given that a dummy like me remembers this from kindergarten makes it a particularly bad question for much smarter and powerful people to be asking. According to the article discussing the ongoing water conference in Turkey,

One of the thorniest issues governmental officials at the forum have struggled with has been this question of the right to water. A declaration to be signed by the ministers of some 120 countries attending the forum is expected to refer to access to water as a “basic need,” rather than a right.

The United States – along with Canada, China, and several other nations – has so far refused to recognize the human right to water.

I was surprised to see Canada resisting the notion of water as a human right, since they usually implement laws that seem to be more in line with common sense. And then I read this:

There are concerns among some countries – based on a misconception, experts say – that enshrining a universal right to water would force them to share their water resources with other nations.[emphasis mine]

…which means, once again, that it really comes down to the most basic of human elements: greed. Pity, that.

As I was reading the article, I kept thinking of the numerous ahaadith that encourage us to share water:

Narrated Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه:

The Prophet صل الله عليه و سلم said, “There are three types of people whom Allah will neither talk to, nor look at, on the Day of Resurrection. (They are):

1. A man who takes an oath falsely that he has been offered for his goods so much more than what he is given,

2. a man who takes a false oath after the ‘Asr prayer in order to grab a Muslim’s property, and

3. a man who with-holds his superfluous water. Allah will say to him, “Today I will with-hold My Grace from you as you with-held the superfluity of what you had not created.”

[Volume 3, Book 40, Number 557]

Narrated Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه:

Allah’s Apostle صل الله عليه و سلم said, “Do not withhold the superfluous water, for that will prevent people from grazing their cattle.”

[Volume 3, Book 40, Number 543]

Narrated Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه:

that Allah’s Apostle صل الله عليه و سلم said, “Do not withhold the superfluous water in order to withhold the superfluous grass.”

[Volume 3, Book 40, Number 544]

Perhaps this could be encouragement, from the religion of peace, to do the right thing.
With that, I bid you all a fabulous Friday, inshaAllah. Jumu’ah Mubarak

The Christian Science Monitor is discussing the impact of hijab in Norway. Apparently, Norwegians have been reduced to a state of outrage over a Norwegian policewoman’s desire to incorporate the hijab as part of her profession uniform. The outrage includes the burning of hijabs, on International Women’s Day, no less. So, the next time you see brown people burning a flag or something, remember: blonds can also burn. Unfortunately, the photographic evidence of such is a bit more difficult to acquire (there are pictures…but they are mostly of dark-haired Norwegians). Hmmmmm.

The Gallup Poll’s recent survey on the various religious groups in America makes for interesting reading, particularly the data with respect to Muslims. I’ve noticed a few bloggers objecting to being labeled as Muslim Americans, but this is not a particular problem for me. First of all, compared to other things we’ve been called, I don’t get the objection. It beats being called a Terrorist Loving American. Or an Oppressed Muslim Woman. Or how about that Sand Nigger American? Oh! I almost forgot: Wahhabi American and Taliban American! Yeah, so Muslim American is music to my ears and my heart. I’m easily pleased that way. Secondly, so what? You’re not just an average American; you’re like every other minority in this country. There are African Americans, Chinese Americans, Irish Americans, and now Muslim Americans. So, this is a breakdown by religion…but the survey also talks about Jewish Americans. Given that it’s a survey of religious groups, they are discussing Catholic Americans, Jewish Americans, and Protestant Americans, too. That is the nature of the very survey! Some say that this is a code name for Pakistani American. I don’t really see it that way. Indo/Paks in this country call themselves…wait for it…Indian American and Pakistani American all the time. And when they’re feeling particularly cute, they call themselves ABCDs (American Born Confused Desis) routinely. Muslim American is just that: A Muslim who is also an American. It’s a discussion of a religious identity as opposed to a nationalistic one, and there is no reason to read more into it than there really is.

So, that’s the bloggers. Then, there’s the poll itself. It reveals our incredible racial diversity (nobody in the Muslim American community should be surprised), our amazing levels of education (again, should not be a surprise) second only to Jewish Americans, and that our gender economic parity is unparalleled. Basically our men and women are earning equal salaries, both in the high and low ends of the scale.

On the other hand, only about 51% percent of us vote, the lowest of any other religious group. We are the least likely to see ourselves as “thriving.” And 90% of our youth did not smile the day before. Why do so few of us vote?! I don’t get it. Voting is free, people. They won’t throw you into Gitmo for voting. Maybe your vote won’t make a difference, but how the hell will you know if you didn’t even bother to show up?! With regards to the non-thriving bit…yes, I can see where this is coming from. We’ve definitely suffered an image problem over the last couple of Presidential terms, which is a significant period of time. This image problem definitely extends to the university campuses and workplaces across America, and it certainly is demoralizing. Conversely, out of the Muslims in various Western countries, we are among the groups with the largest percentage of respondents to say that we are thriving. Basically, we have less to worry about than our brethren in, say, France, Germany, or Great Britain. Out of places in the Muslim world, the only country where Muslims have a similarly optimistic outlook on thriving or not is Saudi Arabia. So, basically, America makes us about as happy as Saudi Arabia would? If I’m reading that right. Of course, those of a neo-conservative philosophy should love that parallel.

As for the fact that 90% of our youth have not found something to smile about the previous day, this is downright tragic. Kids, you’ve got your text messaging cell phones, your Facebooks, your education, pretty much everything you could ask for. In addition, when you bring home that 4.0 GPA (think back to the education part of the poll), your parents treat you like kings and queens for about a decade. You’ve got a lot to smile about, and if there isn’t anything to smile about, we have to remember the hadith that says, “Even a smile is charity.” If you chilled out with your friends the day before, did you not smile with them? If you went to the mall, did you not smile at random strangers as a basic form of human greeting? (Or is this just more proof that I’m weird?)

I wonder…are we not thriving or smiling as a community because we’re too busy freaking out about being called Muslim Americans? Dudes and dudettes, there are people in the world who really have nothing to smile about. There are people in the world who really aren’t thriving. At least you got a chance to take part in a survey. The least you can do is feel acknowledged and smile about it! I know it may sound like I’m trivializing the seriousness of our ills, but I’m truly baffled.

The latest shockwave within the “Muslims in America” community was the killing of Aasiya Zubair Hassan. I know I’m a bit late blogging about this, but it really did take me a while to assimilate my thoughts. There are so many things about this case that jumped out at me:

• The irony that the suspect being charged with second degree murder founded a TV station to help improve the image of Muslims in America.
• The fact that this woman had a protective order against her husband, and still managed to be killed.
• The idea that once again, Muslims must defend Islam for the actions of singular individuals.
• How much anger does it take to commit such an atrocity on another human being?

The part that gets to me the most is the first and the last, though. First of all, should we not be more concerned with our image within our community more than we worry about our image without? Is it that days of looking inwards, solving family issues first, community issues second, and da’wah issues last are long gone? If this man had focussed more on his image before his wife, children, and family, he would have served the community image so much better. Nobody would know his name, nobody would know to praise him for his good deeds…but it would be one less huge stain on every Muslim in America. It brings to mind the concept we have in Islam that says: One person’s sins affects 40 people in the neighborhood. In the aftermath of such events, we can only realize the truth of that.

As for the idea of Muslims needing to defend Islam in times like this, I am of mixed thoughts. Do we require such a defensive posture from other minorities? Not really. Does Islam need defending against it’s myriad of detractors? I don’t know. I don’t really think so, though. For one, Islam is Allah’s, and He alone can defend it. On the other hand, these moments do reinforce the perception that Muslims are only all about beheadings and oppressing women. This makes life difficult for the Muslim men in our lives, who must face their non-Muslim colleagues and classmates, look them in the eye daily, and convince them that this is not the face of Islam. More than defending Islam, we just end up needing to defend ourselves even more, and pointlessly at that. This is time we could be better spending praying for the Muslims suffering not just in other countries, but even in our own families. Instead, we are once again back to square one: restoring our image. Such a vicious circle we spin around in!

And lastly, we see the wisdom of Islam’s insistence that we control our anger. I try to imagine what it would take for a man to behead another human being, and I can only think that it must have been an unthinking, all-consuming rage. We all have felt a taste of some sort of rage…you feel your head getting hot, the blood pumping through your veins. When you calm down, you realize that it was Shaytaan coursing through your blood. And this is just an everyday, basic type of anger where you might lose control of your tongue. There is a really good article on ways to control anger, from the perspective of the Sunnah that should be required reading for every Muslim. And there are more articles to be found at the same site. Even if you don’t think you need it, it makes for interesting reading, and might be of benefit to someone you know.

It’s so much harder to remember to say “audhu billahi minashaytan nirajim” rather than “Oh damn it!”…but so much more effective. May Allah protect us all from the ravages of Shaytaan. Ameen.