More Reflections

Assalamu alaikum, it’s nice to see that this discussion is taking place elsewhere and that I’m not alone (not that I didn’t know that already, but I feel pretty alone sometimes). Let me try to clarify where my head is at and what I’m questioning exactly.

Firstly, I’m not considering leaving Islam, just so that’s clear. I put “Islam” in quotes in my original post(s) on this subject because what I was meaning by that was the kind of “Islam” i.e. people’s interpretations of it, that says that violence against non-Muslims, etc., is OK, and if you don’t “tow the line”, if you are too “apologetic” to non-Muslims, then you’re somehow not showing enough “wala wal bara’a” or whatever. Or, let’s just forget about that extreme for a minute, because that definitely seems to be an extreme position.

We tend to have a tendency in our community, and yes it may only be a fraction of us, but we have a tendency nonetheless to get really defensive when things like the Ft. Hood shooting happen, and yes I understand why that is. But whenever something like this happens, you start hearing of how some Muslims are too “apologetic”, or you start seeing the debates as to whether or not Muslims should serve in the military. Now, I don’t know the ruling on Muslims serving in the US military, however, there are thousands? of Muslims currently serving in the military. Maybe they converted after joining the military, perhaps they had their own reasons for joining the military. Let’s not forget that many Muslims may come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and many times, the military is the only way for people to better themselves economically, although when I’ve brought this up, I was told “the economy is no excuse”. Well, if you’re going to say that, then you should also tell that to the Muslims selling liquor, cigarettes, lottery tickets, and pornographic matterials at the myriad of convenience stores that they happen to own. Because that’s the same reason they use if you ask them why they’re selling haram things like that, “I can’t make money doing anything else” or something like that. But I digress. My point is, you can’t know why said Muslims are serving in the military, and unless you assess every individual Muslim’s situation for yourself, you can’t really make a blanket statement that “Muslims are committing haram” by serving in the military. Now having said that, I don’t necessarily agree, personally, that Muslims should serve in the military, especially given the evangelical Christian bent the military seems to have taken recently, but I’m just not qualified to say definitely one way or the other that it’s absolutely “haram”. See, this is just one example of what happens when people try, with little or know knowledge, to make rulings for themselves and not so much for themselves but to then try to make them binding rulings on everyone else, and what can happen when people attempt to discard 1,000 years or more of Islamic scholarship in order to “get back to the Qur’an and Sunnah”, as if we weren’t following that already! Surely in the 1400 years that Islam, as we know it, has been here, someone has addressed the issue of Muslims serving in a non-Muslim army. And it addressed in today’s context, where there is no “Muslim kaliphate”/ruler, and Muslim countries have been colonized, etc., and many so-called Muslims are Muslim in name only/cultural Muslims only, and not from the time of the crusades or something like that.

I’ve never been a “tow the line” kinda person, I follow what you’d probably call “traditional Islamic scholarship” in that a follow one madhhab pretty much exclusively, and I don’t go around “picking and choosing” rulings unless I have an excuse. Having said that, though, I’m also not the kind of person to go around and say what others are doing is wrong either. I’m just not qualified to do that. But as I’ve said before on this blog, I feel more comfortable following something that has been time-tested, that has some solid methodology behind it, though again, I’ve blogged about this also, so I don’t want to rehash. But basicly, I don’t like the “making rulings for yourself” methodology just simply because I’d not even know where to start with that.

Having said that, though, there are just certain things that are just common sense. So obviously, I don’t need a scholar to tell me to look both ways before I cross the street (or maybe in my case it’s listen), or to lock my doors before I go to sleep. When I talk of “rulings”, I’m speaking of issues that may come up that I may not readily have the answers to like “is it OK for me to get a dog guide”, or “is it permissible to travel alone as a woman and if so how far is the permissible distance” (and the woman shouldn’t travel alone ruling is something that I admittedly have a lot of trouble with, although my understanding is that as long as someone is meeting you at the other end and you’re taking something like a bus, plane, train, etc., then it’s permissible because your safety is guaranteed). Or “can I take my dog guide to the masjid”, or something like that.

Anyway, I’m getting off topic again, hmmm, what was I saying? Oh, yes, that I’m not a “tow the line” kinda person, meaning that I’m not a “follow the community at any cost” kinda person, or a “follow what everyone else is doing” kinda person, or “follow what the imam says” kinda person, and if you read my blog posts on moon sighting, I’m sure you’ll see that. Because at the end of the day, on yaum-al-qiyama, you’re only accountable for yourself and your own deeds. You can’t say “but I followed Shaykh so-and-so” as an excuse. Although now that I’m writing that, the “the leader is responsible for those that follow them”
opinion popped in my head, and you most often see this in relation to moon sighting issues in that “you should follow the leader even if he is wrong, because he’ll be held accountable for the decision, not you”. And then I think, who qualifies as a “leader”? and oops, I’m digressing and rehashing again, but I think I’ve made my point lol.

The thing is, I’ve always been told that “Islam is the middle way”, so I don’t “think so critically” that I take myself out of the bounds of Islam itself, however, I also am not going to be a sheep and just follow someone for the sake of it either.

I also would not describe myself as an “apologist” either. I don’t think I should have to apologize or defend the actions of a so-called Muslim who’s clearly done something beyond the bounds of Islam as I know it and which has been taught to me. However, at the same time, I think there’s a difference between being an “apologist” for and being “defensive” about the actions of so-called “Muslims”, and standing up and condemning something you know is wrong. And to me, perhaps we need to define “apologist” since many want to throw out the word so much. And to me an “apologist” means someone who makes excuses for or tries to justify the behavior of someone or something else. Thus, I’m not an “apologist” because I neither make excuses for or try to justify the behavior of anyone. But if someone is doing something wrong, and I feel the need to, I’ll say something about it. And that’s all that CAIR as well as probably other Muslim groups have done, they’ve come out and condemned the actions of Nidal Hasan in the strongest terms, and I don’t see how that’s being an “apologist”. They are just doing what they need to do, in a climate where anything a Muslim does is going to be used to once again perpetuate the negative stereotype that Muslims are supposedly violent people who have no qualms about killing innocent people “because their religion says so”. And I wish this wasn’t the case, because I obviously don’t feel that one Muslim’s actions even should or just represent the views and opinions of 1.5 or so billion people. However, it is what it is.

It’s kinda like being blind. I don’t think that my actions as a blind person should represent the actions of blind people, however, they often can and do, especially since for many people, I’m probably the only blind person they’ll ever meet or see in their life. So if I’m rude to them when they ask a question, no matter how stupid or ignorant it may seem to me, if I answer them rudely they’ll probably think twice before they approach another blind person again, because they’ll be more likely to think “all blind people are rude”, based on the one interaction they had with me. Yeah, I know it’s not right, and yeah my perceived rudeness could have been because I was upset, not feeling well, having a bad day, etc., But the truth is that for the majority population, it’s stereotypes about the minority that inform many people’s judgments about said minority, especially if they don’t have contact with the “minority” on a normal basis.

So unfortunately, for Muslims living in the West, we’re forced into positions where we have to denounce, explain, condemn, etc., the actions of one Muslim, because of all of the negative stereotypes out there that continue to be perpetuated about Muslims. Even if said actions were from someone who probably had mental issues, even if they were the actions of someone who follows a fringe interpretation of the religion. It’s not right, and we shouldn’t have to do this, but it’s just the way it is at this point.

Thoughts on Polygamy

Assalamu alaikum, there have been 2 recent posts (here and another related one here) on the topic of polygamy and sisters’ distress regarding this issue. And of course, along with kids in the masjid and moon sighting/fighting, polygamy seems to be one more topic that Muslims just can’t resist discussing. And so I’m going to do my best to add my two cents to the maylay.

When reading the comments in reaction to the article, a few things bother me about some of the brothers’ reactions, in particular. The first being the idea that polygamy is a Sunnah and so the sisters should just get over it already. I don’t think that any sister is questioning the “Sunnah-ality” and thus the legitimacy of the practice, but merely how the brothers go about “practicing” said Sunnah, and how they discuss said Sunnah with their other male counterparts. If it’s such a “good” Sunnah, such a high ideal, then maybe the first thing to do would be for brothers to treat it with the maturity and deference that attempting to follow/practice something the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself practiced and approved of deserves. And not the high-school-ish behavior that the author of the original article alludes to. Secondly, I’m once again seeing the “sissters just don’t wanna” theme again. The idea that sisters are just too proud, or too emotional, or too Westernized, to accept something that God has allowed, and whether I see this when talking about abuse in our communities (and again many times sisters’ complaints are couched in terms of how they’re not following the Sunnah enough or how they’re just a bunch of whiners and complainers, among many other things) or when discussing this current topic, again, the blame is placed solely on women. Never mind that perhaps many brothers are desirous of polygamy when they really shouldn’t be, or that perhaps they’re not even treating the one wife they have right, and yet and still they want another one, or two, or three. No, once again, it’s the sisters who have to get a grip, follow what God has ordained, accept the Sunnah, and keep their mouths shut. And another thing that bothered me was how the monogamous nature of the marriage of Khadijah and the Prophet (pbuh) was brushed off in the following statement of “The Prophet (Sallaahu alayhi wa Sallam) prayed towards Masjid al-Aqsa during the early years of prophethood, now are we to follow that particular sunnah as well? Did you ever pause and think that perhaps the verse for taking more than one wife was revealed yet since the Prophet (Sallaahu alayhi wa sallam) was married to Khadeejah during the Makkan period and most of the ahkaam were revealed in the Madinan period.

We have to look at what was the last thing that the Prophet (sallaahu alayhi wa sallam) did and died upon and made it an example for his ummah. If you agree that polygyny is a sunnah why are you discouraging it with your words, albeit indirectly. If the brothers can fulfill the conditions for polygyny and have the need for a second wife, let them be.”

But there in lies the problem… Brothers are practicing polygamy who are *not* fulfilling those conditions, and it’s also mind-boggling to me that those who are against the “have to obey the law of the land” opinion, could even think that an Islamic marriage and a legal marriage are even equal, especially in a place like the US, where a purely religious marriage isn’t recognized? And I love it when the brothers talk about marrying Islamically, and alluding to the fact that a woman/women in said purely Islamic marriage would have their rights upheld? In whose community pray tell, ’cause I’d sure like to know? Anyone who thinks this way, IMHO, and very humble opinion, is really dreaming and not living in reality! I mean, tell that to an Islamically-married woman, who’s being abused, who can’t get an “Islamic divorce” because her abusive husband won’t give it to her. Heck, let’s be honest, most men (and women too) in the community wouldn’t even support her, they’d tell her to stay, make dua, and maybe if she was a good enough of a wife that she’d not be being abused in the first place, and there’s no “Islamic judge” in any community that I’m aware of in the US anyway that would give her a divorce and you think an abusive spouse would relinquish control by voluntarily giving his wife a divorce? You’ve got to be kidding me! And she can’t go to the legal courts because her “marriage” was never legally solemnized. Or, while we’re on the subject, the woman in a polygamous marriage who can’t get health insurance from her husband’s job, either for herself or the kids, or who has no say in matters if he dies (but the legally recognized wife does), and all of the other legal ramifications that can result for a man who has a legally married and an “Islamically” married wife/wives. And all of this “oh they can be against polygamy but be OK with mistresses” stuff, is just an excuse/cover-up! And again IMHO an attempt for many brothers in favor of and actively pushing polygamy, to ignore the realities staring them in the face and who many times are also telling the sisters (and brothers too) who have misgivings not about the practice itself but how it’s being practiced that you’re ignoring a Sunnah, that you’re discouraging it, etc., when all we are merely saying is that there could be problems with the practice if it’s not done correctly and that many times brothers do not handle it in a mature way. Methinks he only way a polygamous marriage in this country could even start to be truly equal would be to have all marriages “islamically married”, i.e., have none of them legally registered, because if one marriage is legal and the rest aren’t, the condition of equality that is required in polygamous unions would not be fulfilled from the get-go, and the fact that some are actively pushing the “one wife legal and the rest not” option is worrying to me, to say the least.

The defensiveness from those pushing polygamy and the accusations of “not being Sunnah enough” or trying to override God’s commandments, etc., when all that is being done is to bring out an issue/problem in the community is truly upsetting and dare I say angering to me. And I love it when people compare apples and oranges (i.e. the Prophet’s marriage to Khadija vs the direction of prayer) to try to defend their position. So are we saying that the Prophet’s marriage to Khadija doesn’t or shouldn’t mean anything because of the time in his life that it occurred, or because it wasn’t what he “died upon”. How very convenient, and I wasn’t aware that this was a fiqhi principle. I had thought that the Prophet’s (pbuh) whole life was supposed to be an example to all mankind, not just the polygamous part of it, or the things he “died upon”, but perhaps I was wrong somewhere. And that is what bothers me that “The Sunnah” for someone is whatever they want it to be, whatever suits their fancy. They can talk about “The Sunnah” of polygamy yet apologize and enable the brother who conveniently forgets the Sunnah of the fact that the Prophet (pbuh) never hit any of his wives. Would people be so quick to brush off the marriage of Khadija if the events were reversed and it took place later on in his life and he “died upon it”? Would brothers be so willing to brush off the polygamous marriages if they weren’t “something that the Prophet died upon”? My guess is probably not, they’d still find some way to argue how polygamy is still the Sunnah, even if it wasn’t something the prophet “died upon”.

Because the truth of the matter is that for many men who either are practicing polygamy or who are desiring to, it ain’t about the Sunnah, although it’s sure a convenient excuse/reason. And we all know the “real” reason many men want a second, third, or fourth wife, and it’s sure not about taking care of widows, orphans or children either. And maybe that’s why many women are so upset about the issue, and it’s not ’cause we’re “Westernized” and have silly notions in our heads that a husband of ours might or should love us and desire us and care for us, or that perhaps, even if the fiqh says he doesn’t, that maybe if he wanted a second wife, that he’d love us and respect us enough to actually tell us and we wouldn’t have to find out through the community grapevine or some other third party that he’d gone and gotten himself a younger, prettier wife. Because while some brothers can go around crowing about how good polygamy is because “those kafirs have mistresses” the way many brothers go about practicing polygamy, they are acting just like the non-Muslims they are so quick to ridicule right down to the secrecy, the creeping, all of it, that it becomes hard to tell the difference as to whether or not they’re getting a second (or fourth) wife or a mistress. Heck, the way they act about it and joke about it, that’s what they might as well be doing. So while brothers can admonish the sisters on “following the Sunnah” etc., brothers could also start by not treating polygamy like it’s some halal way to get their creep on. And then maybe the sisters wouldn’t get so upset about it. Because unlike the brothers who not only have the right to multiple wives but the right to unconditional divorce, and both of those things pretty much whenever they want to, if they so choose, sisters have neither of these options, so brothers really need to be careful how they handle and deal with not only the polygamy issue but the divorce issue as well, which is a whole ‘nother kettle of fish.

Why I Went to LiveJournal and Why I’m Considering Going Back to WordPress

Assalamu alaikum, someone asked me last week why I moved to LiveJournal and stopped using WordPress. Well, at the time, which was merely a few months ago, LiveJournal had more posting options, namely, that one could post by email (something that WordPress didn’t have at the time) as well as voiceposting (by phone).

However, shortly after that, it seems that WordPress also came up with an option to post via email, and the sound quality of LiveJournal’s voiceposting feature, while a neat feature to have if you’re on the go, really does leave something to be desired.

At the time, though, I also liked LiveJournal’s “community-driven” features, that you could have a lot of “liveJournal friends” and read their posts, as well as yours, it seemed that LiveJournal was not just a blogging platform but a social network as well, and I thought that was kinda neat.

However, it doesn’t seem as though you can trackback from others who are linking your posts as easily with LiveJournal, and a lot of people who are commenting on your blog who don’t have a LiveJournal account don’t seem to like the commenting feature either. In short, LiveJournal seems to be for those who have LiveJournal blogs/journals for themselves and their friends, which is good, if you have a lot of LiveJournal friends, or if you have posts that you want to only share with a select few people. But for me, I’m kind of an all or nothing person, either I want everyone to see my posts or no one to see them, and in the case I only want a few to see them, well, I guess that’s what WordPress passwords are for. I mean, sometimes I want people to see my posts even if they’re not my LiveJournal friends. In short, LiveJournal can be limited in that respect, as to who gets to see your posts, and it almost makes people have to have a LiveJournal account if they want to view any of your protected entries.

Really, there are features that I like with both LiveJournal and WordPress, but one thing I do miss about LiveJournal, that I’ve just rediscovered with WordPress, is the stats feature for WordPress which Livejournal simply doesn’t have on its own. Already, since I’ve moved back to WordPress, I’ve been able to tell who’s coming to the blog, where they’re coming from (i.e. what sites), any search terms they’re using, how many people have viewed the blog today, and how many people are viewing a particular post. And do you know I’m still getting hits on my Akon rant from about a year and a half (or was it longer?) ago? *shudders*

As far as my domain name goes, it’s still pointing to my LiveJournal blog, and as I have more than one blog that I’d like to update regularly, I’m not sure if I’ll change that as of now. With me being linked to Twitter, Facebook, etc., people really shouldn’t have any trouble finding me.

The thing is, I’m sure I’ll find something to do with my LiveJournal blog, as well as the other blogs that I have, so I’m not going to get rid of it. I just think if I want to reach more people, and make it easier for them to reach me and comment, WordPress might just be the better way to go.

Stone Hearts Don’t Bleed

From Safiya’s blog…

And I really didn’t want to say how this recent spate of “exposes” has affected me. Because I wasn’t in that particular tariqa, I never went to Jordan, nothing like that, so I guess maybe I shouldn’t be affected, maybe I’m involving myself in something that was not my business to begin with.

But I went from disbelief to anger thinking that the initial allegations were a bunch of lies from supposedly disgruntled ex-murids, to starting to have doubt (what if what they’re saying is true?), to now feeling angry and dare I say somewhat betrayed and let down. And I was just someone way on the outside! I can’t even begin to imagine how someone who went through all of this must have felt or be feeling now.

I mean, it was some of Shaykh Nuh’s articles (though it wasn’t only his articles) that introduced me to “traditional Islam” in the first place, I have Hedaya Hartford’s marriage book for goodness sake!

And even if I’m not in that particular group, I still have a feeling of being conned, being misled (these were supposed to be knowledgeable people, people on the spiritual path, etc., ostensibly people “way more better than” I could even ever hope to be), I once again feel like I was naive, stupid, fell for the okey doke once again! And I think that right there puts a finger on what I’ve been feeling these past few months, i.e., stupid blind naive sheltered Ginny fell for it again! And not only fell for it but publicly so, as in the beginning I was right out there in the front, commenting harshly, both publicly and privately, so much so that I was so harsh to a dear friend that I wonder many times if our friendship still hasn’t quite recovered, I mean, I was quite harsh. Accusing people of making things up, only wanting to cause fitna, demanding proof, etc., well, heck, go back and read my comments on the blogs I’ve commented on, it’s all still there I think.

I fell for the “traditional Islam ain’t like the Salafis”, “we are caring, compassionate, we respect differing opinions”, “you can come and live here and live the perfect Islamic life”, or at least try. “you can come here and gain knowledge, learn Arabic”, etc.

Oh how I wanted so much to “go somewhere” to learn the Qur’an, learn fiqh, make progress on my journey of tasawuf, (and a part of me still does), but now I’m afraid, what if… Well, what if they’re all like “that”, what if the stories are true? What if *all* of the tariqas are like that?

And I don’t even want to admit this! I feel stupid, naive, taken, made a fool of! And I don’t mean to make this “just about me”, I don’t want to sound selfish! I never had to suffer, I wasn’t abused, I didn’t have my money or property taken, so while my ego (lol) might be bruised, other wise I’m fine! But this whole thing has taken a terrible toll on my iman. And I have to be honest and say that! Though I don’t like to admit that. It’s like talking about a traumatic incident, or something bad that happened, that you weren’t actually in or a part of and you still feel it but people say “what’s wrong with you? It didn’t affect you … What’s your problem?”

And that’s how I feel, I’m upset about the whole thing, I feel all of these things, but I’m afraid to voice that, because, well, other people who didn’t just read the books and articles, but who were actually there and lived real experiences, well, they went through so much more than me. So I don’t want to lessen what they went through by seeming like I’m throwing a pity party over here for myself.

But Safiya’s post gave me the outlet (Mashallah) that I needed and finally made it possible for me to put a finger on what, exactly, has been bothering me, that I had not been able to find words for previously. It’s kinda like a light bulb went off in my head, the answer to the question “what’s been bothering me”, that I’ve tried to blog about, but could not get my thoughts together in a coherent way. So there you have it. Well, I think…

Inshallah, some good comes out of this, because some good has to.

Promoting My Audio Scrapbook

… something that I don’t do as often as I should.

http://audioscrapbook.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/more-chloe-goodness-with-a-few-noisy-chickens-thrown-in/

More Chloe goodness, i.e., going outside, parking lol, and well, trying to get some of the strange noises the neighborhood chickens make lol. Not to mention Chloe’s seeming interest in my phone and her general happiness and exuberance, two things that she’s never, if ever, in short supply of.

Other posts include my thoughts on the death of Michael Jackson, trying to tape the loud car stereos that tend to make themselves known of a weekend evening, and other (probably boring) things.

But I figure if sighted people can take pictures, why can’t I record audio clips of things?

My Latest Journey Through the Blogosphere

Assalamu alaikum, I have a lot of thoughts in my head, just not sure how to get them out, or even if I should. Just have been doing a lot of reading, and a lot of it is *not* beneficial. And I freely and openly admit that before I go any further. So I’ll just link to where I’ve been going, providing my commentary along the way, and Inshallah, no traffic is generated to these sites as a result, or maybe I should put out a disclaimer and say that I don’t necessarily endorse the sites I’m linking to. But I begin this journey hesitantly, because I want to share my thoughts with someone, yet am at the same time afraid to do so, because I feel that sense of vulnerability creeping in, that I’ve talked about before. But here goes anyway.

So anyway…

It seems the “moon fighting” has already begun (scroll down the page to see what I’m talking about). *sigh* I don’t even think I’m even going to try to have an “opinion” on this issue anymore, because if the Muslim astronomers can’t agree (not to mention their lack of adab/their sarcasm at how they talk of other scholars/astronomers that they don’t agree with), then how are the rest of us “regular Muslims” supposed to agree on this issue? It’s kinda like the whole madhhab thing, you’ll find one opinion, that looks to you, the unknowledgeable one, to be sound, then find another opinion that seems just as good as the first, and then I’m, well, I hate to use the word but “confused”. Or maybe I should say “unsure”. I’m just about ready to just give up and follow my comunity, regardless of what I might think. Especially since the rest of my household (husband included) will be doing the same. Perhaps if I were single (and sighted) I could get away with outwardly going with the community while inwardly following my own days, but there are a few problems with this that I can readily think of. The first being trying to schedule time off work. I can just see me requesting a day off, and then being asked something like “why did you take that day off when the Eid was yesterday”? Or something like that. Or, let’s say I “attend” the Eid prayers, while secretly fasting, because the local sighting has the Eid coming a day later? If I were sighted I could probably get away with this, making up an excuse that I’d already eaten, or not staying around long enough after the prayer, or something like that, but being blind, and not necessarily knowing my surroundings, I can’t just get up and leave, and doing so would draw undue attention to myself, and in my experience in gatherings like this, someone will invetiably bring me some food to eat, what then? Make up an excuse, say I’m not feeling well? Then I’ll get the questions, or the suggestion that I should drink something, and awkwardness would ensue. It just seems easier to go with the flow on this one, and I’m not sure if there’s a valid fiqhi opinion for starting “on my own day” yet celebrating Eid with the rest of the community? Gosh, I sure don’t want to make it seem like I’m making up my own fiqh as I go along but… Well, that’s the best “compromise” that I can come up with. At least until my community decides to follow a local sighting and sight the moon every month (and I made a suggestion to my husband that perhaps our local masjid or at least all of the masajid in polk county could establish a moon sighting committee, and sight the moon every month, yet nothing has come of this so far), or until Saudi does the same for every month and not just for some of them. And this seems to be the decision that makes me feel the most at peace and takes away a lot of the doubt. So Inshallah it’s the right one. Besides, along with the madhhab issue and so many other issues we’re facing today, given that there’s so much confusion, I make dua and I have the hope that Allah will forgive us and have mercy on us, because speaking only for myself, I’m really trying to do my best.

And I’ve been reading through a couple of blogs that I know I have no business reading through (perhaps I should go back to trying to perfect my virtual long jumping abilities via Klango). Because this blog and this one (the one we all love so much), are giving me the impression that all Muslims, or at least most of us, are dysfunctional, that most if not all of are leaders are corrupt, and that there’s a “immigrant Muslim conspiracy”, to hijack the American Muslim agenda, not to mention supporting terrorist groups, etc. And though some leaders may indeed be corrupt, etc., and may be contributing to massive amounts of hurt and pain within and without their respective communities, the message I’m getting that most, if not all, of our Muslim leaders are corrupt and are only in it for their own selves, I’m sorry, I know it’s the naive side of me coming out, but I have to say that this is something that I just can’t yet get my head around, and if I actually started to believe this wholeheartedly, it would really be disastrous for me. Because if it is true that we can’t trust *any* of our leaders, then who, actually, can we trust? I don’t generally need someone to give me the Islamic ruling on every little thing I do, but I would like to increase my knowledge, but if you’re telling me to avoid just about all of the entire Muslim community, who then, should I learn from?

I really think there is a lot of pain within the Muslim community, or I should say, there seems to be, mainly because they got burned by one “scholar” or “da’ee” (sorry for speling) or another, and they’re taking that pain out on the whole community by supposedly “exposing” everyone, whether or not they did anything or not. I mean, surely, and I really hope surely, not all of our leaders are engaging in some of the supposed stuff I’ve been unfortunately privy to reading in the past few days, weeks, and months. It just can’t be! I’m sorry, it just can’t.

And I have to say that a good majority of the “stuff” that people have experienced has really bypassed me, and Alhamdulillah for that, but my goodness! Is there any good out there? If you read the two blogs above, you’d get the impression that the answer would be “no”. And I’d have to emphatically disagree with that notion. Because I have to believe that for every “bad” leader or “bad” Muslim, there are maybe tens or hundreds of others who are doing good work, who you don’t ever hear about. And perhaps we just need some balance, to “get the word out” on people we really need to avoid or be careful of, while at the same time try to spotlight the people who are doing good work in our communities. Because I have found a lot of my reading of late to be quite iman-deflating. And yes, I know it’s my own fault.

I’ve also been reflecting on the latest article from Imam Zaid’s site, though it’s unfortunate that they’re still using a captcha in order for you to comment *sigh*. I’m really trying to suppress the frustration I am once again feeling (that I always feel any time I come smack up against something that is inaccessible). Because I respect Imam Zaid, and I want to give him, as well as the site admins/webmasters, etc., the benefit of the doubt that maybe they tried to fix the issue and couldn’t or maybe they forgot about it or something. But I can’t help but feeling shut out, excluded, etc., and it hurts even more when it’s happened on the site of someone that I respect and hold in high regard, not to mention the fact that I’d thought that the webmaster had been contacted about this before? Oh, well, it’s not like I had any comment that I’d wanted to make anyway, except to say “Mashallah, good job” or something like that, I just wanted to know that I could comment if I so chose to. A fellow blogger (who happens to be blind) describes having a visual captcha on a site as akin to having a “no blind people allowed” sign on the door. And aside from the WebVisum firefox plugin, that not everyone has as not everyone uses Firefox, that’s pretty much what you’re saying. That if you use a visual captcha, that you don’t want the blind/visually impaired to comment on your site, or you don’t want them using your services as you won’t be able to log in without utilizing the captcha, or any number of scenarios in which the visual captcha is being employed today. And being that I hold Imam Zaid in such high regard, it really pains me to feel as though I’m being harsh about the matter. But not having access to things, that sighted people generally take for granted, pains me too, and causes untold frustration, almost on a daily basis.

Anyway…

Am currently reflecting on <a href="http://www.suhaibwebb.com/blog/general/hip-hop-in-the-21th-century-the-rise-of-satanism-in-urban-america-by-sh-abul-hussein/"Suhaib Webb's and Manrilla’s posts regarding hip hop and Islam. And my thoughts haven’t quite collected themselves enough to write any kind of response. Except to say that while much of mainstream hip hop is guilty as charged, I also don’t think you can throw the baby out with the bath water, so to speak, especially when you’re talking about rap/hip hop as an art form, and not the materialistic/”religious” side of it. And as regards Muslims filling up their ipods/mp3 players with nashids and hip hop songs as opposed to the Qur’an or Islamic lectures, well, hmmm, can you blame hip hop for that, or music in general? I actually have Qur’an on my mp3 player, though I don’t have any lectures as I don’t currently have any to put on my mp3 player, as I stream most of mine online. But maybe the lack of any kind of Islamic material on people’s ipods/mp3 players is just a symptom of a much bigger problem than “hip hop” ’cause if it wouldn’t have been “hip hop” it’d have probably been something else.

And there you have my journey through the blogosphere, and it’s a journey, that some parts of which I hate to admit that I’ve taken. But anyway… At this point, I’m trying to find something a bit more spiritually uplifting and restorative. Because I really do need it.

Between “Mammy” and “Miss Ann”– The “problem” with Michelle

What Tami Said: Between “Mammy” and “Miss Ann”– The “problem” with Michelle

Michelle Obama, Fashion Designers, Racism & Hypocrisy – Jack & Jill Politics

Michelle Obama, Fashion Designers, Racism & Hypocrisy – Jack & Jill Politics

Why I Switched to Live Journal

Assalamu alaikum, the short answer is that I have a lot of friends on LiveJournal, and LiveJournal had features that WordPress didn’t have that I like. Though I’ll still keep my WordPress blog, and you can find it linked from my new blog just follow the “my old blog” link.

Hopefully, within the next few days, I’ll get things cleaned up, play with some themes, get my links sorted out, etc.

And as always, any suggestions are welcom.

Linking my Live Journal Blog to my Domain Name?

Assalamu alaikum, well, if I’m going to switch from WordPress to LiveJournal, I need to know how to get my domain name www.ginnysthoughts.com, to forward to my new Live Journal blog. And I don’t want it to be something that’s going to take me all day to figure out. And this may be something that will keep me from making te switch to LiveJournal anyway. They’ve got a lot of features that I like but I’m not sure that I want to give up my “cool *not* domain name for it.

A Response to My Critics Reagrding the RIMS Article and Hamza Yusuf « Umar Lee

Assalamu alaikum, no, I’ve not read this, but am posting it to be fair. This latest bruhaha is just another demonstration of the very sad state of our community these days! And I mean that for myself mostly. The more I’ve thought about this, perhaps the best thing I could have done was to have just remained silent, as this isn’t the first time that Umar has made disparaging remarks about Shaykh Hamza, and it probably won’t be the last. Not only this, if I keep up with this, I’m sure I’ll seem to him jus the kind of person he was wary of when he closed down his comments, not wanting to deal with the “Hamza Yusuf followers” who were going to come after him.

Just as some of us follow madhhabs, some are in tariqah, some are “progressive”, Umar’s posts will always have the Salafi perspective, which isn’t necessarily going to be friendly to people such as Shaykh Hamza. And I can either sit here and waste my time (as well as display my own faults and lack of maturity) and “address” every post he puts out saying something that I don’t agree with, or I can just recognize that Umar and I probably won’t see eye to eye on anything, unless it’s classic hip hop (and I’m planning on listening to that station you told me about on Facebook, that is if your still reading this).

I have an argumentative side that I don’t like, and it’s “discussions” like this, disagreements like this, that tend to bring out the worst in me, even if I have good intentions to start with! I’ll argue and debate and hit back, and say some of the most ugly and awful things to make a point. And I’m being honest! And it’s by the mercy of Allah, that I’ve written many things down, only to Alhamdulillah delete them, before hitting the “send” or “submit” button. Or at least learning to tame this part of myself, to think, to count to ten, to make dhikr, before I say something that I’m probably going to regret later.

Before I was a Muslim, I was known for having quite a mouth. I’d tell anyone off in a second! My language was pretty colorful too. And I think that was one of the things that people who’d known me for years noticed about me when I became a Muslim, that I calmed down, toned down my language, thought about what I said before I said it, wasn’t so quick to just go off on people just because…

I’d like to think that I’ve made a lot of progress in this regard, and perhaps I have, and maybe sometimes I have setbacks. We’re always struggling as I’ve said before.

And Inshallah, even though I might continue to post others’ points of view on this, I’ll really try my best not to comment any further on this issue.

A Response to My Critics Reagrding the RIMS Article and Hamza Yusuf « Umar Lee

Imam Suhaib Has Me Thinking Again (Mashallah)

Assalamu alaikum,

From this we can garner the need and obligation for tajdid of Islamic law and our need, as Western Muslims, to take proprietorship of it, at least its presumptive elements; translating it according to our contexts and understandings. That in itself should make obvious to us all, the danger and failure of traditionalcentric movements who cling to such presumptions as though they are definite in their applications and fitting for every age to come. What is clear cut from our authoratative texts we must respect, what is based on speculative legal discourse is fair game for the qualified.

A category to which I don’t belong *smile*. Hmmm, traditionalistic movements? who cling to such presumptions as though they are definite in their applications and fitting for every age to come?

I get the distinct impression that he’s referring to something that he knows about, and perhaps more regular readers to his blog know about, as well as his personal acquaintances, but I’m out of the loop (which is OK, I just don’t really know what he’s talking about *lol*), and I feel really silly in saying that. And while these are intriguing comments, I have no idea what he’s talking about. *hangs head* And the thing is, I feel like I should. I feel like someone’s going to come along, bop me on the head, call me stupid, etc., because I somehow missed out on something that I should have known about. So much for being on the fringe of the community *smile*.

*sigh*

What was it that I said a while back about not being naive?

I’m starting to wonder if I should just stop using the label “traditional Muslim” to describe myself altogether, as it’s starting to seem like it’s becoming just as much of a stigma (in a different sorta way, though) as the word “Salafi” is in some circles.

*sigh*

Marriage Caste System in Islam? at Suhaib Webb

Thanks Mo…

… for reviving an old post that quite truthfully, I’m embarrassed about.  Which is, of course, the risk you take when you blog about something (er obsess
over it) and forget to delete it later…

*sigh*  Usually when I get a comment from a post that is like ages old, 99% of the time it’s a spam comment.  “Mo”’s comment does not appear to be so.

Commenting on the Akon topic…GHaving met the brother I tottally disagree with your point of view….

Well, perhaps if I’d met him, I’d think differently, but all I have to go on is, I guess what some would call the “evil Western Media” (because we all know that’s who’s fault it really is) tells us. That and his interviews/song lyrics, etc., etc., etc. I know that people have a public image and a private one. I’ve often wondered if anyone who really *knew* him, I mean, *really* knew him, not the “yeah I met him once and he was cool” know, I’m talking about the “first thing in the morning” know, the funky ain’t brushed his teeth yet know, the ain’t showered yet know. I mean, the people that *really* know him, if they happened on this blog, would they tell me I’m wrong. I’m not saying that you’re wrong, but “meeting a brother once” ain’t the same as really knowing him, and you’ve got about as much to go on as I do. He still makes raunchy songs, that I can’t play in front of my step daughter, and he’s not a good role model for practicing Muslims to follow, sorry. Perhaps even he knows that which is why he maybe hides his Islam and if that’s the case I can understand that. Perhaps if I “met him once” I’d think differently, perhaps would come here and say, “yeah he’s a nice brother”, but all I have to go on is the “public image”, becuase I just don’t know him like that, not like a friend or family member would.

you are entitled to your opinion

Thank you and I express it freely and often, even if it means putting my foot/feet in my mouth most of the time. My mouth has tended to get me into trouble, but try as I might, my tongue is a weakness I continue to struggle with, may Allah help me in this.

but dont discrimenate another muslim brother or anyone for that matter.

Discriminate? Who said anything about “discriminating”? *Rubs head* *Confused* Not to mention the fact that you mis-spelled the word, do you even know what “discriminate” actually means? I didn’t know that offensive lyrics and conduct by a supposed “proud Muslim” (more on that later) was “discrimination”. Must have missed that in the dictionary or our US civil rights law. Best be careful lest a discrimination lawsuit falls in my lap. But I’d think a blind Muslim woman would know something more about discrimination, or at least the real definition/incidence of it, having actually faced it myself, than someone who wrote the grand ode to women everywhere “I Wanna Love You”, (expletive changed so as not to offend). I’m not saying Akon’s not faced discrimination, what I’m saying is that by me pointing out certain things, that is not “discriminating”.

Akon is a Proud mslim”

I’ll take your word for it, as you’ve supposedly “met the brother”, and Allah knows best, so being that it’s Ramadan, perhaps he’s a proud Muslim, but why do you only hear of it publicly when he’s talking about, uh, er, “polygamy”? Did we see any beautiful newspaper articles about “Akon’s commitment to his religion” as you tend to see with famous Muslims this time of year? I’m being serious, because if there is one, I’d like to see it. Perhaps if you submit pics of Akon having iftar, or something, I’d post them. But how would you know, if having only met the brother once, whether or not he is a “proud Muslim”, and “proud Muslims” aren’t necessarily striving to be good Muslims. Just ask Faheem Rasheed Najm. I do’t want to question anyone’s Islam, but when reading articles, detailing “who is Muslim and who is not”, I think it’s OK to say that perhaps people who are Muslim in the industry may not be the best role models regarding the practice of Islam. The lyrics of some purportedly Muslim artists are just on example of this. However, this doesn’t take away from the fact that they are struggling, heck, I’m struggling.

yet you only see the fault in him,

Yeah, perhaps you’re right (unless you actually read my blog, which maybe you only stumbled on this one article), but if you’d actually read my blog, you’d see that perhaps I’ve got differing degrees of dislike, or admiration, or regret, or whatever the case, depending on how I’m feeling, or how many times I’ve listened to “Mama Africa”, you did read where I said that song would almost cause me to forgive him of his, well, “faults”, didn’t you? But I guess not, ’cause you choose to go diggin’ in the blog crates, pull out this one post and hand-slap me (’cause you supposedly have met / know this brother) and command me to “not discriminate” or otherwise correct my post. I’m sure there is a lot of good in him, I just don’t know enough to write about it. And unfortunately, it’s the bad that sticks out.

Take a look around your muslim neibhorhood

Mr. Mo, I don’t know what kind of “neighborhood” you live in, or how things are there in Australia where you live, but here in the US, we generally don’t have “Muslim neighborhoods”. I could find a lot of fault in any neighborhood I chose to take a look at… Muslim or not…

and search for fault im sure you will find more than Akon.

Actually, to be honest, I’d rather search for fault in my own self and try to correct that. And I’m working on it, I really am… Search for Akon using the search feature on my blog, if you are so inclined, and you’ll see my angst (embarrassing though it may be) on this issue.

and being of Lebanese African descent and living in Australia it is not easy growing up in Western Culture and not doing the rong thing.

Yes, I’m a Muslim convert and I can relate to you on that… But does it make it right? That is what I wanna know… I can listen to Lupe Fiasco (another commercially successful Muslim artist, though not as much as Akon), and everyone knows he’s Muslim, and by all acounts, a fairly observant one at that. He’s probably not perfect, and I’m sure if I wanted to find fault, I could, but I won’t. But this all started first, when I had a sister-in-law who loved Akon’s music, and “I Wanna Love You” came out, and that was just too much for me! That and the whole public “polygamy” bruhaha. But perhaps being a “proud Muslim” doesn’t sell as many records. It’s not easy being a Muslim in the West, but in this world, it’s not easy being a Muslim anywhere, unless, of course, you live on a mountain somewhere with no TV, no Internet, no media, and no distractions. I’ve not met a lot of “famous people” but I can safely say that meeting people isn’t the same as actually knowing them, and saying you’re a proud Muslim, African, blind person, dog lover, etc., doesn’t a proud whatever make! Akon’s lyrics offend me, I’m sorry if that offends you! I wish he’d put out more positive fare. Because he’s on the list of artists that I won’t let my stepdaughter listen to, “bust it baby” was bad enough! And if it’s so “hard for Muslims” out here in the West, why should Akon put out music that would make it harder for us trying to raise pious Muslim children?

“Proud Muslim” whatever! Perhaps he is, perhaps he’s struggling just like the rest of us! And May Allah have mercy on him, May his Ramadan be a blessed and happy one! But I still don’t like his lyrics! Sorry!

And I wish his conduct/lyrics would be more becoming of a “proud Muslim” or what we think a “proud Muslim” should be. Perhaps if I actually *knew* Akon, I’d think differently, or perhaps I’d ask him “why do you write/producer/sing this awful stuff”? But I’ll never get that chance. I’m sure Akon is a “nice person” and all of that, and I’m sure that in 1, 2 or 5 years from now, I’ll come back and read all of this and shudder in horror at my silliness, pettiness, obsessiveness, etc., and in the last ten days of Ramadan no less. And I’ll wish I’d not said any of this. Perhaps he’s doing something that would increase his rank even above me on Yaum-al-qiyama, and I’m sittin’ here thinking I’m all better than him because, well, just because “I’m not like him”. He could be making dhikr, reading Qur’an, etc., for all I know, and what am I doing? Talking about him… Allahu Akbar! I’m just sayin’. You could be wright Mo, you really could be. But I don’t choose to look for others’ faults, thank you very much. I’m too busy with my own, one of them being focusing on certain things that just plain get under my skin! And perhaps “Muslims in the industry” get put up on pedestals so that “normal everyday Muslims” like myself and sit here and knock them down. nothing I hate worse than being told what to say, what to think, on my own blog.

I guess it’s also a bit hypocritical to say that I’m too busy focusing on my own faults, yet I’ve just wasted time on this and other post, detailing the seeming faults of another person. I’m not perfect, and perhaps if I want people to understand that in me and give me the benefit of the doubt, then I should do the same for Akon, T-Pain and others. However, it’s a little hard to do thta when you have purported Muslims, who you’d think would no better, putting out songs like “I’m In Love with a Stripper” or “Bartender” or “I Wanna Love You”, etc. That is what makes it so glaring to me, so obvious, so hard to ignore. Perhaps it’s the difference between a public struggle, i.e., putting out music, and a private struggle, i.e. trying not to listen to said music. And it frustrates me that I could hear a T-Pain or Akon song, know it’s just so entirely wrong on so many levels, whether Muslim or not, and feel myself wanting to bob my head or sing along or, worse, dance to it or turn it up! I’m just being honest!

Perhaps because their struggles, public or not, tie in so much with my own, is why they bother me so, maybe that’s it. Maybe if I had them to my house for an iftar, or over for tea / ataya, we could have a discussion, one Muslim to another, as struggling people on the Sirat al-Mustaqeen, where I could say, do you understand, oh Muslim brothers, how your words, actions, lyrics, songs, hurt and offend me as your Muslim sister. And how it makes it harder for me to raise pious Muslim children, or how it makes it hard as a Muslim to avoid the haram and seek the good?

I’m sure T-Pain and Akon are perfectly nice brothers, minus the offending songs, perhaps they’d respect me as a hijabi Muslim woman. Allah alone knows best. I wish them both the best in this life and in the next. I wish them a belated Ramadan and an Eid Mubarak in advance.

And the same to all of my loyal readers who’ve made it this far through my latest diatribe. You guys are wonderful, the commenters and the lurkers. Thanks for reading and continue to enjoy, Inshallah.

Daymon Wayans Thinks Violently Attacking Black Pregnant Teens is Funny: “Abortion Man”

Assalamu alaikum, found this via the What Tami Said blog.

Now, I’ve not seen this video myself (and don’t think I want to), and I want to warn anyone who goes and looks at the video that it might be disturbing to some. And based on the description from the What About Our Daughters blog, it sounds pretty graphic and was disturbing to me. So I chose not to look at it, or, er, listen to it.

But this falls into my general theme of “society’s general decay”. We are declining fast! But I’ve already blogged on that enough so I won’t rehash.