The Manrilla Blog

The Manrilla Blog

Sister Scorpion: Living on the Outside: Appearances

Sister Scorpion: Living on the Outside: Appearances

It’s A Boy! — Inshallah…

Assalamu alaikum, all! My brother and his wife had another prenatal appointment today, where they found out that, Inshallah, they are having a little boy!

I asked if they were sure it was a boy, and let’s just say that it was pretty evident!

May Allah bless them, and make my sister-in-law’s pregnancy easy! Ameen!

Inshallah, the birth will be easy and uncomplicated too! And that he will grow up to be a strong, healthy, good person.

A Rihla to the City of the Beloved: A legless pilgrim richer than I

A Rihla to the City of the Beloved: A legless pilgrim richer than I

Assalamu alaikum, I got this from the

Sunni Sister blog.

RSS Readers?

Assalamu alaikum, could someone recommend to me a good RSS reader? I’m thinking of trying one out, to see if it’s worth it? What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance.

House, Inshallah…

     Assalamu alaikum, well, my brother, his wife, and I most likely will be moving in 1 to 3 weeks, depending on how long it takes the current occupant to move out.  The house is a 3-bedroom, 1.5 bath, has a fenced-in backyard, a small deck, and a basement, which as of now, is not finished. 

 

     Please make dua for us that the move goes smoothly.  Also, make dua for my sister-in-law, that her pregnancy continues to go smoothly, and that her and my brother, and the rest of our family, are blessed with a healthy baby! 

 

     She’s got a baby page, that I’ve been meaning to link to this blog, but I keep forgetting to have her send me the link.  Anyway, that’s all for now, gotta get to bed. 

 

Sunni Sister � Blog Archive � Ain�t I a Muslim? …

Sunni Sister � Blog Archive � Ain�t I a Muslim?

Assalamu alaikum, another one of Umm Zaid’s posts has spurred me to post it here on my blog, and to also offer my own take on it.

On women’s prayer in the masjid… I’m all open to the “women’s pryaer is better in the home”. But it’s one thing to say that when you’re in a Muslim country, or around other Muslims, and thus, you can obtain that spirituality in other ways than going to the masjid. However, it’s quite another thing to say that to new Muslim sisters, whose only exposure to the Muslim community and Muslims, in general, is where? At the masjid! So what is a new Muslim woman to do if she is barred from the masjid, and by extension, barred from seeking any kind of knowledge? And all of this, after being told how Muslim men and women have the same status in the eyes of God, and have also been told how Islam is so good to women and gave them so many rights? But then, after all of this, they are denied entry into the masjid? Of all places?!

How can any Muslim, who has told a woman, either directly or indirectly, that she can’t come to the masjid, then turn right around and talk of the supposed equality of men and women before God? If men and women are supposedly equal before God, then shouldn’t we as Muslims be doing a better job of providing them equal accommodations in the house of Allah, the masjid?

Sure, the prayer of a woman may be “better” in her home, but isn’t it also said that women shouldn’t be prevented from going to the masjid either? So yes, prayer may or may not be better in the home, but at the same time, it should be up to the woman to decide for herself, whether or not she wants to go to the masjid or not!

Umm Zaid also touches on the misogynistic aspects of why women are not being allowed into the masjid, and in general, among some Muslims, there are definitely misogynistic undertones in what they say. For example, Umm Zaid mentions one comment where some stated that if women are allowed into the masjid, then the masjid will become a “dating pool” like the churches are? OK, now, maybe I’m living under a rock or something, but none of the masjids I’ve been in, where there were both men and women present, have become “dating pools”, nor any of the churches. And what s worse is when women themselves make these sorts of comments, like, “if you let women in to the masjid, there will be fornication and all sorts of thingt”.

I mean, who would think these sorts of things? I mean, I wouldn’t have thought anything like this? And to me, it’s the whole idea of morality and good manners and good character being placed squarely on the shoulders of the women, and men not being held accountable for said morality, good manners, and good character. And not only do you have this, but you have the added feeling that if you let women “out”, then they will go out and do all sorts of immoral things, so they must be kept in the house, and only allowed to go out for certain specific things.

All I know is that this is not the Islam I thought I’d found when I first became interested in and embraced Islam. And I don’t think it is “true” Islam. And especially so if you look at the women of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) family, and you look at all of the things they did, and all of their accomplishments. I’ve gotten to the point that I don’t care what kinds of excuses Muslims use to perpetuate the status quo, or perpetuate their authority over others, or perpetuate thier own self-hatred, in the case of women, all I have to do is read about the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and I have all the defense I need against this foolishness!

We Muslims sit here and wonder why some non-Muslims think we’re a bunch of misogynistic terrorists, but how can you blame them? And I guess I’ll leave it at that. It’s just so frustrated when the beauty of Islam is ruined by so-called Muslims.

i-Newswire.com – Press Release And News Distributi…

i-Newswire.com – Press Release And News Distribution – Commitment from Gambian government to prevent female circumcision

allAfrica.com: Gambia: London Bombings Condemned

allAfrica.com: Gambia: London Bombings Condemned

allAfrica.com: Gambia: Gambian Cookery Show Smash …

allAfrica.com: Gambia: Gambian Cookery Show Smash Hit On UK TV

[CADTM] The Limits of Cotton: White Gold Shows its…

[CADTM] The Limits of Cotton: White Gold Shows its Dark Side in Benin

Herald Bulletin: Islam is a false religion

Herald Bulletin: Islam is a false religion

Northwest Indiana News: nwitimes.com: Hating Chris…

Northwest Indiana News: nwitimes.com: Hating Christians, Jews is part of Islam’s doctrine

A Touching Dog Story

     Assalamu alaikum, a friend of mine, a fellow graduate of Leader Dogs for the Blind, told me an interesting, if touching, dog story last night. 

 

     A friend of his had gone out at like two in the morning to take his dog to use the bathroom, and the dog kept looking in a certain direction.  So the man started following the dog, going in the direction that the dog wanted to go.

 

     Now, the dog started going in a way that they had never gone before, but the man somehow trusted the dog to know what he was doing.  So they went through grass, weeds, mud, etc., eventually ending up at a dilapidated house, with an equally dilapidated porch.

 

     The dog pointed with its nose, and the man followed the nose and found a dead mama dog, with two puppies still living.  The man was a holistic health doctor, and upon examination of the dead mama dog, determined that the mama dog had died while giving birth, and that she had been dead for quite a while.  He also determined, by how her stomach felt, that some of the puppies she was attempting to deliver were too big for her, and had become entangled inside of her, and thus caused her death.

 

     The man found a milk crate, took the two still-living puppies, put them in it, took his dog guide, and set off to try to find some help for the puppies.

 

     So the man, is dog guide, and the puppies set off going back the same direction they had come, passing the man’s house, and ending up at a nearby Walmart, which the man frequented, because it was the only place still open at that hour of the night.

 

     He tried to find someone to help him, but at first, everyone just wanted to take them to the pound, and he wanted to make sure that no matter what happened to them, they wouldn’t be killed, because they had been through so much already.

 

     Finally, a lady agreed to take them, and promised that she’d make sure that no harm would come to them, because they had been through so much already.

 

     Subhanallah, this story almost made me cry!  Poor mama dog!  What an awful way to die!  This just happened like last Thursday, so I have no idea what happened to the puppies after that.

 

 

TheStar.com – Simple heart and muddled head

TheStar.com – Simple heart and muddled head

A defiant Islam rises among young Britons | csmoni…

A defiant Islam rises among young Britons | csmonitor.com

Kurzweil Educational Systems – Assistive Technolog…

Kurzweil Educational Systems – Assistive Technology Software for those with learning disabilities or who are blind or visually impaired

Assalamu alaikum, since I have a job and can actually afford things like this, I’m considering purchasing / upgrading, the Kurzweil software I used to use when I was in college. Basically, what this software does is convert the document which is scanned in, using a scanner hooked to your computer, and it converts the printed word into text.

So, you can scan your books, mail, anything that is printed, basically, except for anything handwritten. And maybe now it scans handwriting too? I’ve not yet looked through the website to see what is new in the software.

Anyway, I’d like to get a scanner so I can start buying all the books I’ve wanted to buy, that are not available as audio books or in Braille!

I’ve always loved to read, and I’d like to get back to reading regularly again. The thing is, my reading list has grown so long, that I can’t remember now all the books I’d wanted to read! I guess that’s what I get for keeping my reading list stored in my head, instead of writing it all down.

OK, before I go, I need to adjust the time stamps for my blog posts, because they’re not correct. It’s like it’s set on Pacific time or something. Can someone help me with that?

All Rock, No Action – New York Times

All Rock, No Action – New York Times

London bombs terror attack The Times and Sunday Ti…

London bombs terror attack The Times and Sunday Times Times Online: The first burial: a young Muslim woman from the East End

Commitment from Gambian government to prevent fema…

Commitment from Gambian government to prevent female circumcision

Assalamu alaikum, this is interesting, considering the last I heard, the Gambian government had no interest in doing anything to curb or prevent the practice of female circumcision.

Didn’t Jammeh even threaten people who opposed it?