Ummah Films

Baba Ali at IlmFest this weekend

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:54:19 PDT

I was invited to speak at IlmFest 2009 in Baltimore this Saturday (10/3/2009). I hope to see you guys there InshAllah.

Are you ready?? Kalimaat Tournament this Saturday at ICSGV

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:16:25 PDT

Baba Ali's Kalimaat: Tournament of Champions...only at ICSGV Young Adults Group Qiyam-ul-Layl event on Saturday, Sept 5th, starting at 10pm. See ICSGV.com for details...

I've been asked to host the first Kalimaat Tournament at the ICSGV (flyer). They made the trailer on their own. Pretty cool huh?

NEW Ummah Films video : Agree to Disagree

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:40:19 PDT

After receiving over 100,000 comments to the videos, I decided that it was finally time for me to comment on the troublemakers who use the comment section to start arguments. Unfortunately, many Muslims fall into the trap and end up fighting and even use the same foul language. Islamically, this is not the way we should be acting.

What is happening today isn't much different from 1400 years ago. People lie with the hopes of deceiving people about Islam but at the end they are only deceiving themselves. Actually, their false accusations of Islam has made others investigate, which has resulted in people accepting this beautiful Deen.

Kalimaat "how to play" video

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:19:48 PDT

I often get asked how Kalimaat is played so here the answer.

Ramadan Video (Ummah Films' Ramadan Reruns)

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:33:03 PDT

Ramadan Mubarak! Since most people starting fasting on Saturday, I figure its time to post up Ramadan Reruns video inshAllah.

Allah (swt) gave us another Ramadan so let's try to take advantage of it InshAllah so when the month ends, we stronger Iman and are better examples InshAllah. Remember there are many people who thought they would have another year and they have passed away so don't let the opportunity of gaining good deeds pass you by.

The point of the video is to make people more conscious of these silly actions so they will think twice before they do it. Reminding myself before anyone else, Ramadan is a blessing so let's try not to take it for granted but rather take advantage of it by increasing our Iman (faith) so we can become better Muslims, even after Ramadan is over InshAllah.

Finally, just a reminder for everyone (including myself) "If a person does not avoid false talk & false conduct during Siyam, then Allah does not care if he abstains 4m food & drink" (Bukhari & Muslim)

If you know someone who is fasting, please send them the video. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixN0qhN39k0 Feel free to post the video wherever you want. May we be the generation that makes the positive difference InshAllah.

Kalimaat on sale in UK & Canada

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:06:27 PDT

With Ramadan around the corner, Eid isn't too far away. Kalimaat is now available in Canada and in the UK. Right now, when you order Kalimaat from outside of the United States from www.babaaligames.com, you pay $13.95 for International shipping. The good news is that Kalimaat is now sold in both the UK and Canada and you'll save a lot of money if you directly through these vendors.

In the UK, the game is on sale right now on this site for £16 delivered (savings of $11)

If you're in Canada, get it through this site you can get it $25 Canadian plus shipping (savings of $8)

Another plus is that you'll get your shipment much faster too. I'm all the way in the Los Angeles (that's as west coast as you can get so it takes 6 to 10 business days for international packages to arrive)

The game was launched just a month ago and around 1033 games have been ordered thus far. I've been emailing people who bought the game from me to get their feedback. The reviews have been amazing!

With Ramadan around the corner, Eid isn't just about 30 or so days away.

No more Ummah Films videos until further notice

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:36:23 PDT

Ummah Films videos are on *pause* :(

When I made the Reminder videos, I kept saving money and buying better equipment so I could give the viewers a higher quality video. Although I made the videos for free, I didn't want to take the cheap route and wanted to do things with the same professional quality as if I was getting paid. The fruits of the hereafter are worth far more than whatever anyone can pay me in this dunya.

Anyways, the only drawback with buying high end equipment is that if something fails, its cost more than a few pennies to fix it. Long story short, my wireless mic isn't working anymore and until further notice, the Ummah Films videos are on hold. My goal was to record and edit Season 3 by the end of Ramadan but sometimes things don't work out the way you plan. Either way, we should always say Alhamdulillah.

On the bright side, my game Kalimaat has been doing really well. About 945 games have sold so far (Alhamdulillah) which is great considering the game launched a few weeks ago . Although Kalimaat from the outside looks like just a word game, it does have indirect benefits.

In a nutshell, the game is played like this: You have 60 seconds to give clues to your teammate so they can guess as many of the 10 Kalimaat words on the card. Each time they guess a word, they put a token down on the table. Once the 60 seconds is up, you'll have 30 seconds to remember what those words were. The words you remember, you get a point for...the words you can't recall, the other team will try to steal it by remembering them.

Of the 10 words, there are usually 1 or 2 words that are Islamic or Muslim-related.

So here are some of the benefits:

1. Communication: How many times have you seen a very knowledgeable person put people to sleep during Jummah. Just because one has knowledge doesn't mean that they know how to communicate that knowledge. As you know, there are some eloquent speakers that just speak nonsense but because they know how to communicate, they are able to get their message across while there are some very knowledgeable people that unfortunately do the opposite and don't get the attention they deserve. The game, Kalimaat, forces the clue-giver to speak at a level which the guesser can understand. When the Prophet (saw) spoke to people, he did it in a way so that person listening would understand. The way he spoke to a common person may have been different than the way he spoke to a Bedouin even though he was explaining the same Islam. Although the Prophet (saw) last Khutbah was short, it was effective because it was simple, informative, and to the point. These days, you can listen to a guy speak to the 30 minutes and its hard finding the actual point. Anyways, the game Kalimaat teaches you to communicate words to your partner so they will understand and because you're timed, you have to do it simple and to the point. Plus the pressure of being timed makes the game fun and entertaining (lots of laughs). You quickly learn that communication isn't as easy as you imagined and you have to adjust your words to get the other person to understand you.

2. Memorization. Even before Islam, people use to memorize hundreds of lines of poetry due to the lack of resources. Today, we can't goto the grocery store without a list and we still end up looking at the list a few times. This is because we don't use the memory part of our brain like we use to. If you notice the people who are Hafiz do really good in school because once you use the memory muscle on a consistent basis, you'll find it easier to memorize other things. Kalimaat encourages you to use your memory more and that can be very beneficial InshAllah.

3. Indirect Learning: Last but not least, players can learn indirectly. A little while ago, I was playing Kalimaat in Cleveland with some random brothers and the word "qiyas" came up and i was trying to explain it to my partner, but I ran out of time. Then one of the players from the other team later asked me what the word meant, and lead to a discussion. As you know, there is a Hadith that talks about the person who hangs out with the perfume seller vs the blacksmith. Even if you're just hanging out with the perfume seller, you're going to start smelling nice and if you just hanging out with the blacksmith, you're going to get you're clothes dirty. The idea behind Kalimaat is to provide a halal game that is fun, entertaining, and indirectly educational. Any by making things indirectly educational, people can naturally learn Islamic terms that they wouldn't normally learn.

The younger generation is constantly told this is "haram" and that is "haram" and we have to give them halal alternatives InshAllah instead of just saying every other thing is haram. I hope to make those alternative products like Kalimaat and I hope people will benefit from them as well InshAllah.

I posted some new reviews on Kalimaat from recent customers: http://www.babaaligames.com/reviews.html

New Ummah Films Video: "Muslim Convert"

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:45:24 PDT

More Season 3 videos found at http://www.ummahfilms.com/season3.html

Kalimaat Kids - This is what happens when cute kids try to play a grown up game

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:00:47 PDT

Currently working on Season 3 but I thought I share this with you while you're waiting

**NOTE: This kids is this video do NOT wear hijab. Naturally, some kids try to imitate the older people around them (clothes, talking, etc..) and sometimes they wear it for fun for the sake of imitation (like in this video).

So far I've seen Kalimaat played by mostly people between the ages of 15 to 40. I wanted to see what would happen when a 5 year old and 2 year old tried to play. To make it natural, I left the game on the table, press the record button and left the room :) Its funny when young children try to imitate grown ups.

Anyways, I put together the Season 3 page now on Ummah Films site: http://www.ummahfilms.com/season3.html

The next video for Season 3 will be ready next Friday (8/7/09) InshAllah

New Video! How to play Kalimaat

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 19:56:00 PDT

Since a lot of people ask me How to play Kalimaat, I figured I just post the animation video up.

I've been taking the game around with me during my travels, and it has been pretty cool watching people's reaction while they've played it. Honestly, I enjoying playing it with people much more than I do selling it. I guess that's why I never reprinted my first game Mecca to Medina. Although we sold thousands of them and we got about 400 order requests afterwords. I never reprinted it. Till this day, I still get phone call orders for it, and each time, I just tell them that its sold out. I much rather make new items rather than just sold old ones. My Muslim friends who deal with business think I'm crazy lol. I told on the bright side my products become like collector items. I use to sell Ummah Films shirts...done...then Ummah Films DVD...done. Mecca to Medina game...done. Now Kalimaat and eventually, I'll be done. Allah Alim.

I started selling Kalimaat a few days ago and Alhamduillah over 700 games are already gone. I hope once people play the game they bought, they'll realize that the game in genuinely very fun. When I made the game, I wasn't trying to compete with many of the dull Muslim games out there but rather I wanted to raise the bar, and compete with the mainstream games. I tried to do that with not just the quality of the packaging but the quality of the game itself. I wanted to make something that wouldn't sit on the shelf but rather would be used. I got one email back already from someone who got the game early (about two weeks ago) and he said they played the game for 8 days straight haha. Anyways, I think its time for Muslims to start making quality products that people will want and more importantly to handle the business side of things Islamically.

Sometimes people ask me what is the "secret". I'm like there is no secret. Just work hard and make things the best you can. Either your product will be "sold" or "bought". If your product is junk, then it will have to be "sold" to the people but if you product is great, then people will buy it. Maybe some people bought the game cuz they thought it sounded good. Maybe others bought it cuz they liked similar games. Maybe some people bought it cuz I made it. Allah Alim. That isn't important. What is important is that when these people play this game with their friends....that is when people don't care about that stuff but rather they care about how good the game is. Once they realize that game is really fun, then they will come back and get their own Kalimaat InshAllah and the only way for me to do that is by making someone that is solid InshAllah. By the way, I can not take ANY credit for ANY of the success of the projects that I have been fortunate enough to work on. As a reminder to myself and everyone reading my blog, all success is because Allah (swt) wills it. All we can do it put in the effort and make du'ah that Allah (swt) brings us to what is good and takes us away from what is bad.

jazakAllah khair for everyone's support.

your brother in Islam,

Baba Ali
www.babaaligames.com

Baba Ali going to MuslimFest 2009

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:49:47 PDT

The first time I performed for a Muslim crowd was at MuslimFest and now I'm going back August 1nd & 2nd InshAllah. I turned on my camera and made this video without any script....just improv. You can tell I'm having fun :)

By the way, after making the video, I realized how much I missed making the Reminder clips so I'm going to try to finish making the Season 3 of The Reminder by end of Ramadan InshAllah.

Anyways, for more info on Muslim Fest, visit www.muslimfest.com

Kalimaat Commercials: Help me decide....

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:30:12 PDT

I asked two USC film students to make me a commercial for my new Kalimaat game. I told them they can do whatever they wanted as long as they followed some basic Islamic guidelines. By the way, the actresses in the video are all non-Muslim hijabies. I can't take credit or critisim for either video because I didn't write, edit, or direct them. Anyways, I wanted to get your feedback on which one (if any) I should go with. Here are the two videos:

Video #1 (made by Ken)
Video #2 (made by Adnan)

By the way, if your interested in learning more about the game, there is cool "How to Play" video on my site: www.babaaligames.com

Kalimaat Game reviewed by Tom Vasel ( leading board game reviewer)

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:22:39 PDT

Tom Vasel is the leading board game reviewer in board game industry. On his website, he has reviewed over 700 games and owns about 1700 games himself. Since my new game, Kalimaat, is a game that can be played by both Muslims and non-Muslims, I figured I send him a game to see what he thinks of it.

In his review, he talks about how his game was more "silent" because people were too busy trying to remember the words. Maybe I should invite him to play with my group of friends. The characters I have played with are anything but quiet and are constantly trying to distract you and make you laugh while your partner is trying to give you clues.

Being that he is a missionary, I wasn't sure what to expect but the review came out pretty good Alhamdulillah.

I hope the game Kalimaat will come out by 7/27/09 InshAllah

Half Our Deen on hold

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:33:23 PDT

Wow! On July 11th, we launched Half Our Deen and we really didn't expect so many people to register. Honestly, it caught us off guard. Once the site launched, we realized that not only do we need a powerful server to support the number of members but we need to correct some of the issues on the backend. The quality of the website is more important to us than the quantity so for the time being, we're putting a temporary hold on the site so we can improve the experience the memebers. For those who have been eagerly waiting for the Half Our Deen, we thank you for your patience.

For those who were able to sign up with Half Our Deen early and have made successful payments, we have FULLY refunded all your money back. As Muslims, we want to be implement Islam even when it comes to business InshAllah and that is why we decided to send every penny paid for the site right back to the members. We want to give you the best possible experience for the price and InshAllah and we're going to go back to the drawing board to restructure the site so we can come back with an even more amazing product for you.

The goal is to launch Half Our Deen again but this time we'll be more prepared InshAllah. Please forgive us for any shortcommings and keep us in your du'ahs.
We apologize for any delays. Your overall experience is more important to us than the number of members we have.

Half Our Deen has launched! Finally :)

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:05:59 PDT

I know many of you have waited a long time for the launch of Half Our Deen and jazakAllah khair for your patience. I am happy to announce that we have just launched the Half Our Deen website Alhamdulillah.

While some may think we are done with the website, we believe we have just begun. There are many more features we want to add to the site, so we’ll be working behind the scenes to make improvements to Half Our Deen, InshAllah.

Unlike the other websites, we refuse to put up fake profiles to pull in an audience. It will take a few days to have a sufficient number of profiles up, InshAllah. From day one, we wanted Half Our Deen to be different from all the other websites, and I have personally put together a special video explaining the many differences and features that makes Half Our Deen so unique.

JazakAllah Khair for all your patience and support.

Please click below to register with Half Our Deen.

www.halfourdeen.com (remember to check out the video on the main page too)

By the way, if you have any feedback, please send it to support@halfourdeen.com

New Video! Baba Ali on the steets asking questions about Islam

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:15:36 PDT

We had some free time before the comedy show so we decided to hit up the streets and ask our non-muslim neighbors what they know about Islam. Here are some of the answers we received.

Camerman and Editor Saad Malik

Hurray for Baba Ali

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:17:30 PDT

Its been a while since my last post. I've been busy working on numerous projects. One of the projects I was asked to help out on was for Milo Productions for a series called "Hurray for Baba Ali". The video series is aimed for kids to teach them the basic things that we learn growing up.

Unlike my normal series, I act like a little kid which was kinda of refreshing. Then again, my friends will tell you that I act like a kid all the time :)

Anyways, the series was put together by a Muslim husband & wife team in Canada and their website is www.hurrayforbabaali.com. For anyone with kids that likes the series, you can purchase the full DVD from their site.

Filing for Facebook Bankruptcy

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:33:44 PDT

With over 1000 emails and nearly 4000 friend requests, I'm officially filing for Facebook Bankruptcy. I've tried answering emails and approving friend requests but the with number of emails/requests that keep coming in, I've accepted the reality that I just can't do it. So I started over on Twitter. Since posting on twitter is quick and easy (you can even do it via your mobile/cell), Twitter is much more realistic for me. You can follow me on twitter by going to this link:
http://www.twitter.com/ummahfilms

Baba Ali's new board game ("Kalimaat")

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:02:47 PDT

BUY KALIMAAT HERE

A few years ago I invented the board game, Mecca to Medina, which was a great success. Thousands of games were made and in short amount of time, the games were sold out. Alhamdulillah. At that time, my Reminder videos had just started to become popular so somehow I transitioned from making games to making videos.

About a month ago, I decided to revisit the world of game development and I figured if I'm going to release a new board game, I might as well release my favorite one :) So I made some phone calls, tweaked the game, and now as I type this blog post, my new game, Kalaimaat is being mass produced in China. I'm really looking forward to Kalimaat because I have seen the reaction of those who have got a chance to play it so far. I have taken it all over the United States, UK, and even Canada and have had nothing but positive responses. Kalimaat arrives here in the US in mid-July InshAllah.

In a nutshell, the game is word game played in teams of two. It's really fun and quite different than anything that is out there. I honestly believe that the best way of marketing is word of mouth and people are only going to tell their friends about quality product that they enjoy (no matter how much you try to advertise it). So in order for this game to be a hit, it really has to be good InshAllah. I have spent countless hours to put this baby together. Just like my first game, Mecca to Medina, the game can be played by both Muslim and non-Muslims and doesn't require previous Islamic knowledge to enjoy it. My problem with other Muslim board games is that they have ALL been the same (trivia-based). I mean there isn't anything wrong with trivia games but if one doesn't have the knowledge of the questions asked, then they have zero possibility of winning. Plus, if you're not Muslim, the game is basically pointless because you don't have the background to answer the questions. The funny thing is that every Muslim game developer has basically made the exact same board game which explains why so many of those games are played just a few times and then sit on the shelf to gather dust.

When I made Mecca to Medina, I wanted to make something different and unique. One of the vendors that played the game said he really liked the game but was doubtful that his customers would buy it because it wasn't trivia based. Not only did they buy it but the game quickly became the number one Muslim board game on the market. At one point, about 1/2 my games were sold to non-Muslims. Alhamdulillah.

I hope to repeat the same success with my new board game Kalimaat InshAllah. I'll keep you guys posted as we get an exact date on the shipment of the game.

Baba Ali in Melbourne (3rd city in Australia Tour)

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Fri, 08 May 2009 19:11:07 PDT

Just got back from Atlanta yester and had a great time. Everyone there was awesome Alhamdulillah. Tomorrow, I leave for the land down under InshAllah. I think I'm doing a total of 6 events during my stay in Australia and I think its all going to happen in like 3 days :). Add a 14hr flight each way and you're going to have a very exhausted Baba Ali. It is all good though because this is my first time in Australia so I think the excitement will balance everything out. If you're on twitter, you can follow me by going to http://www.twitter.com/ummahfilms

Baba Ali On Tour! Australia next week (this weekend Atlanta)

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Fri, 08 May 2009 19:11:15 PDT

I'm performing for the first time in Atlanta this Sunday at the Islamic Relief Fundraiser inshAllah. Next weekend, I'm doing a 3 city tour in Australia InshAllah (first time in the land down under too). Above are two of the events in Australia that I'll be in (I think I'm doing a total of 5 events there)

At this rate, I think I'm getting burned out. I think by the end of this year, I'm going to retire for doing live events and just stick with the videos. I miss making them. I work during the week and travel basically ever weekend so it leaves little time to make the Reminder clips. At the same time, I'm trying to get the new Half Our Deen site out (ETA 20 days), produce my new board game (ETA 7/14/09), and start writing the short film I've been wanting to do (ETA Allah Alim)

Anyways, here are some of the shows coming up:

04-26-09 | Atlanta, GA
IR Fundraising Dinner for Orphans

05-01-09 | Australia
Baba Ali Australia Tour

05-02-09 | Australia
Baba Ali Australia Tour

05-03-09 | Australia
Baba Ali Australia Tour

05-04-09 | Australia
Baba Ali Australia Tour

05-05-09 | Australia
Baba Ali Australia Tour

05-09-09 | Santa Barbara, CA
UCSB Event

05-16-09 | Columbus, OH
Noor Cultural Center

05-23-09 | Hartford, CT
ICNA-MAS Convention

05-30-09 | Houston, TX
Tour with Zain Bikha

06-06-09 | New Jersey
Tour with Zain Bikha

06-07-09 | New Jersey
Tour with Zain Bikha

06-20-09 | Fredrick, NJ
ISOF (in talks)

08-08-09 | Santa Clara, CA
Great America Theme Park (MUD)

08-15-09 | Tulsa, OK
Fundraiser (Peace Academy)

09-26-09 | Fresno, CA
California State University Fresno (in talks)

Heading to Virgin Islands & Cleveland State University this weekend

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:54:15 PDT

I travel quite a bit doing live events (full schedule can be seen on ww.alistandup.com/shows.php)so I decided to buy a little camera to record these interesting adventures. I'll try to take pics and post them on the blog InshAllah. This week I've been asked to perform in the St. Croix (Virgin Islands) and when I google mapped it, I realized that its really out there :) Check it out!

Baba Ali LIVE in NY this Saturday 4/4/09

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:13:18 PDT

I rarely do a solo show but a good bro MD (Muhammad) from MYIT convinced me to do it. With just 10 minutes left for the show, there was like 20 people and most of them were sitting in the back haha so we prayed Magrib and Alhamdulillah the pray lines were full. By the we finished and walked over to the hall, the event was sold out. Alhamdulillah it was a great crowd and the brothers/sisters were nothing but great hosts MashAllah.

Anyways, this week, I'm heading to Pullman, WA and coming back for another show in NY but this time in Queens. I'll be sharing the stage with many performers so I hope to see you guys there InshAllah.

For future performance dates, please visit this link

Half Our Deen Update

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:35:09 PDT

The launch of HOD (Half Our Deen) got pushed back by a few weeks. The first company we hired from China kept delaying and eventually said it was too hard (joke). Then we tried a company in India and not only did they miss their deadline by nearly 6 weeks, but they programmed the site so poorly and it took forever to load (forever!). Then we decided to try a company here in the US and we found this one really smart got who knew what he was doing. Problem was that after 20hrs into the project, he suddenly got a huge job offer to run a company so he left the project. I guess another company found out how smart he was and wanted him to themselves.

So here's where we are are now: Recently, we decided to divide the workload into two parts (CSS and PHP Integration) so we can speed up the remaining work. As far as the CSS side of things, we need to have 22 pages done and we should be getting a quote and timeframe back by tomorrow for that. As far as the PHP Integration, I put the project out for bids and got about 30 responses so now I'm in the process of trying to find a PHP guru who knows what he is doing, isn't shady :), and can stick with a deadline.

The whole process has beeen quite frustrating because of all the delays. It is truly a test of patience for me so far but khair Allah (swt) knows best.

Ummah Films on Twitter

mail@ummahfilms.com (Baba Ali) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:14:28 PDT

You can now follow Ummah Films on Twitter. You will receive snippets of what I'm up to and its an easy way to keep in touch with me as well. All you have to do is go to twitter.com/ummahfilms and sign up as a follower of Ummah Films

"Twitter is a free service that lets you keep in touch with people through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"
There is a cool little video that explains how Twitter works. Just goto www.twitter.com and click on the "Watch Video" button.

Video Blog [del.icio.us]

ummahfilms — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 14:20:46 PST