Anyway, I’ve been reading a lot of moving poetry about the blogosphere this week (one example), so I thought I’d dig through the MM archives and see what we have to offer:

Two short poems that I particularly enjoyed: Consolation & Faces Unveiled

And some much deeper contemplation in store as Abu Aaliyah (another MM Brit - represent!) muses over a Rudyard Kipling Poem.

I now hand the rest of the thread over to you.

Ahem.

As you were…

[Photo Credit: surrealmuse]

1) I am a Muslim woman.
2) I am between the ages of 25-30 years.
3) Masha’Allah, I am educated to the postgrad level (otherwise known as “overeducated” by my dear mum).
4) Oh yeah… I am single, and desperately looking for a decent guy to wed!

Okay, so scratch the “desperately”.

Even though I hail from the other side of the Atlantic pond, I did empathise with the main character of the article, sister “Afaf” (more…)

The response so far has been amazing. But now I feel somewhat overwhelmed… I didn’t realise this Kaffiyeh Day thing was going to be noticed by this many people! All good and success comes from God. But even with all the positive comments, I still wonder whether I did the right thing? Is this just a huge waste of time? Are things really going to change after Friday? Will the press even give two hoots about a bunch of Facebookers wearing kaffiyeh?

(more…)

Say what?

You can check it out for yourself. You lucky American Muslims have your very own Mecca! It has nothing on the Saudi version, obviously, but perhaps it is worth a visit if you’re in the area. Imagine living there? That would be one awesome postal address for a Muslim!

Anyway, after being a little more specific with Mr G. Maps, (”Take me to Mecca, Saudi Arabia - please”), I was soon gazing down upon the dusty streets of Makkah Al-Mukkaramah - and with a few sweeps of my right index finger (more…)

For some reason, halfdate.com has really caught my attention. Maybe it’s because their marketing machine is doing such a great job, masha’Allah… or perhaps there is just something different about them. I find their strategy of dedicating one whole month to a new cause, trying to achieve as much as they can within that time, quite refreshing; may Allah grant them success.

This month’s appeal was called “Care for Converts“, and as the name suggests, was aimed at helping out the newest members of our blessed community. The final event of the drive is a ’simulcast’ of a talk presented by a good friend of mine (well, I interviewed her once - *cough* listen to my podcast here *cough*), sister Na’ima B. Robert, author of the UK best selling book, From My Sisters’ Lips, and editor of SISTERS magazine. It takes place this Saturday, April 5th at 9:00pm GMT/UTC (5pm New York, 2 pm Los Angeles 2pm, use time converter for your local time.)

Please check it out, pass the word on, and make dua for our revert brothers and sisters. May Allah continue to guide us all, Ameen.

[Photo by Fairywren]

Just a short notice to the MM readers that there will be a total eclipse of the moon tonight, which should be visible anywhere in the world, except Asia and Oceania. Those who are able to see the eclipse should perform the special Sunnah prayer, known as Salat-al-Kusuf.

Please read this previous MM article to remind yourself of the significance of this celestial event, and what the prayer entails.

Here are some timings that I managed to nab from Facebook:

In North America (Canada & the US), the Total Eclipse takes place during: (more…)

]]> http://muslimmatters.org/2008/02/20/reminder-lunar-eclipse-tonight/feed/ http://muslimmatters.org/2008/01/24/muslims-in-australia-interview-with-amir-colan/ http://muslimmatters.org/2008/01/24/muslims-in-australia-interview-with-amir-colan/#comments Thu, 24 Jan 2008 14:41:00 +0000 iMuslim http://muslimmatters.org/2008/01/24/muslims-in-australia-interview-with-amir-colan/ It seems that I am gradually becoming MuslimMatters’ unofficial media correspondent, as I now blog about yet another documentary concerning a Muslim minority community. But perhaps the readers would be pleased to note that this film is not in fact more sensationalist propaganda designed to divide society, but rather the exact opposite. To explain what I mean, I’ll let the trailer do the talking. There is a link to the interview below the sleeve:

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]]> http://muslimmatters.org/2008/01/24/muslims-in-australia-interview-with-amir-colan/feed/ http://muslimmatters.org/2008/01/20/organ-donation-something-to-think-about/ http://muslimmatters.org/2008/01/20/organ-donation-something-to-think-about/#comments Sun, 20 Jan 2008 20:13:36 +0000 iMuslim http://muslimmatters.org/2008/01/20/organ-donation-something-to-think-about/ Recently, the UK PM, Gordon Brown, proposed that in order to tackle the problem of organ donor shortages, the current “opt-in” system should be replaced with an “opt-out” one, whereby all British citizens would automatically be placed on the donor register, unless they objected during their lifetime, or their family members refused permission after death. The “presumed consent” proposal has been welcomed by some, and rejected by others, including several patient groups.

I’d almost forgotten about the issue, until I came across this comment by Lord Sheikh, in a House of Lords debate on the Kidney Transplant Bill:

To my knowledge, the five major faiths in the United Kingdom do not object to the principle of organ donation. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs have all endorsed organ donation and transplantation… My understanding is as follows. (more…)

]]> http://muslimmatters.org/2008/01/20/organ-donation-something-to-think-about/feed/ http://muslimmatters.org/2007/12/16/review-of-make-me-a-muslim/ http://muslimmatters.org/2007/12/16/review-of-make-me-a-muslim/#comments Mon, 17 Dec 2007 00:23:48 +0000 iMuslim http://muslimmatters.org/2007/12/16/review-of-make-me-a-muslim/ Entries in this series:

• Can I Make You A Muslim? [intro to the programme]
• Review of Episode 1
• Review of Episode 2
• Review of Episode 3

(Updated 21 Dec.) Review of Episode 3: With trembling fingers and bated breath, I clumsily fumbled with the remote control, in my haste to find the channel that would deliver the nail-biting conclusion of the reality TV saga that has been, Make Me A Muslim.

Okay, so I wasn’t that desperate to catch the last episode, but like a great number of other British Muslims, I was certainly more than a little curious to see how our seven intrepid explorers fared, after three “gruelling” weeks of intense Islam-awareness training. And the verdict is…

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]]> http://muslimmatters.org/2007/12/16/review-of-make-me-a-muslim/feed/ http://muslimmatters.org/2007/12/13/can-i-make-you-a-muslim/ http://muslimmatters.org/2007/12/13/can-i-make-you-a-muslim/#comments Fri, 14 Dec 2007 03:49:08 +0000 iMuslim http://muslimmatters.org/2007/12/16/can-i-make-you-a-muslim/ Having spent an hour this evening repeatedly smacking my hand against my forehead whilst watching a documentary on some random American Doomsday cult, I found the same hand twitching slightly when, straight afterwards, I witnessed an advert for an upcoming Channel 4 production called: Make Me A Muslim. What is it with Channel 4 and quirky shows about religion? They obviously know what draws the punters in.

(more…)

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