blah blah blog

Street Art Way Below the Street" By Jasper Rees (NYT)

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:51:00 +0000

I love how my vows of a writing return are promptly followed by an online disappearance.

Of course it's a super cool graffiti project that brings me back. You can read the New York Times article about the Underbelly Project which I've highlighted below, but it's probably more notable for pics of the space. Wish they had more pictures. You can also check the website online: http://theunderbellyproject.com/

Got more/better pics? Send 'em my way.

Highlights:

Known to its creators and participating artists as the Underbelly Project, the space, where all the show’s artworks remain, defies every norm of the gallery scene.

...

That’s because the exhibition has been mounted, illegally, in a long-abandoned subway station.

The difficult process of getting to the Underbelly space — which involves waiting at an active station’s platform until it’s empty, slipping from it into the damp and very dirty no man’s land beyond, and traversing that to get to the old station’s entrance — suggested to PAC and Workhorse how challenging the project would be. And the legal risks were obvious. Charles F. Seaton, a spokesman for New York City Transit, described such incursions as “trespassing, punishable by law,” and said “anyone caught defacing M.T.A. property is subject to arrest and fine.” Beyond that, Workhorse and PAC worried that given anxiety about terrorism in the subway, a large-scale, long-term project like theirs might even lead to more serious charges.

In early 2009 Workhorse and PAC began putting out feelers among street artists, seeking a mix of the established and the up and coming. (For security reasons they avoided “anyone more than a step away from someone we knew well,” Workhorse said.)

The scariest moment came around 1:30 one morning, just after Workhorse had left the site with a Moscow-based Australian artist known as Strafe (who spoke on condition that her real name not be used). They heard workers nearby and sprinted back in the dark, but once back on their platform, Strafe said, “I swung round and stepped into thin air, and literally fell onto my back on the track bed.” Too stunned to move, she looked at Workhorse, who had jumped down to join her with a flashlight. She said she saw a look of horror that said, “ ‘What are we going to do if she’s seriously injured?’ ” Eventually she was able to sit up, but they still had to wait until after 5 a.m. to leave.

After this reporter’s tour, the curators destroyed the equipment they had been using to get in and out of the site. “We’re not under the illusion that no one will ever see it,” Workhorse said. “But what we are trying to do is to discourage it as much as possible.” He stressed that any self-styled explorer who found the site and attempted to enter it would be taking a real risk.

“If you go in there and break your neck, nobody’s going to hear you scream,” he said — at least assuming there are no track workers around. “You’re just going to have to hope that someone is going to find you before you die.”

Years go by...

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 00:39:00 +0000

Another year gone, standing at the doorstep of another Ramadan...

I was sifting through my previous Ramadan posts and stumbled upon one from 2007, when I was requesting duas for a close family friend whose breast cancer had returned after years of remission. She passed away earlier this year; inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajioon [We belong to God and to Him we shall return]. May Allah swt forgive her sins, multiply her good deeds, fill her grave with noor and allow her easy entrance into the highest levels of Jannah without reckoning, ameen.

Another year, another Ramadan. Two days in and I'm still hesitant on my resolutions. Being unemployed, I feel like I have immense time to make the best use of this month...yet somehow these gaping empty hours are somehow more daunting than any tight schedule of Ramadans past. What books should I read? What lectures should I listen to? What should I do? How can I ensure that all my actions actually have an effect on my spirituality, my soul and my relationship with God? Focus on worship; remember to feel.

I love how Islam is so tuned in with our human nature. Will write about this later. Maybe. InshaAllah.

The goals for this month:
- Finish Zaid Shakir's "Scattered Pictures"; put a dent in Hamza Yusuf's "Purification of the Heart" and read along "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" for the book club
- set up volunteer hours at the food bank -- every Saturday with the group, twice a week for myself.
- Reading 5 paras (inshaAllah, inshaAllah) of the Quran on my own. I know this is doable, albeit difficult. It shouldn't be difficult. I know it's important. Must remember to read with my heart and not (just) with my head.
- Taraweeh, at least 5 nights/week.

It's the month of dua (supplication). Keep it up.

Are you there, world? It's me, fny.

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 08:09:00 +0000

I love that the frequency of my blog posts ebb and flow with my workload. Sad, that many friendships follow the same pattern.

Maybe I should use this space more often. Buzz and G-reader have become my dominant article sharing platform(s); perhaps this could be more personal?

Or not. We'll see.

I'd like to take a writing class. Especially now that my ego may be better able to handle it.

LIza Garza - My Everything

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 21:22:00 +0000

Summer of Def Poetry Jam, revisited. Will always admire those who can put themselves out there so openly...

Arundhati Roy - Come Septemeber Speech

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:36:00 +0000

In this acclaimed Lannan foundation lecture from September 2002, Roy speaks poetically to power on the US' War on Terror, globalization, the misuses of nationalism, and the growing chasm between the rich and poor. With lyricism and passion, Roy combines her literary talents and encyclopedic knowledge to expose injustice and provide hope for a future world.

Link.

My Two Lives By Jhumpa Lahiri (Newsweek)

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:38:00 +0000

I love Jhumpa Lahiri's writing. Seriously beautiful, every time. Great piece.

While I am American by virtue of the fact that I was raised in this country, I am Indian thanks to the efforts of two individuals. I feel Indian not because of the time I've spent in India or because of my genetic composition but rather because of my parents' steadfast presence in my life. They live three hours from my home; I speak to them daily and see them about once a month. Everything will change once they die. They will take certain things with them--conversations in another tongue, and perceptions about the difficulties of being foreign. Without them, the back-and-forth life my family leads, both literally and figuratively, will at last approach stillness. An anchor will drop, and a line of connection will be severed.

Nouman Ali Khan - The Healthy Marriage

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 03:48:00 +0000

Br. Nouman Ali Khan talks about The Healthy Marriage . This is the 19th of 30 lectures presented by Br. Nouman after Taraweeh every night during Ramadan 2007.

or watch here

Nouman Ali Khan - Contradicting Community

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:46:00 +0000

http://www.ilmcast.com - Nouman Ali Khan gives a talk at Ilm Summit 2009 addressing the issue of how communities need to face the reality of the world we live in and how we need to also appropriately respond them.

Highly, highly recommended, especially for people who strive to change their communities for the better. Watch below or click here.

Giving Ramadan a Drumroll in Brooklyn at 4 A.M. by Kirk Semple (NYT)

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:24:00 +0000

A few hours before dawn, when most New Yorkers are fast asleep, a middle-aged man rolls out of bed in Brooklyn, dons a billowy red outfit and matching turban, climbs into his Lincoln Town Car, drives 15 minutes, pulls out a big drum and — there on the sidewalk of a residential neighborhood — starts to play.

The man, Mohammad Boota, is a Ramadan drummer. Every morning during the holy month, which ends on Sept. 21, drummers stroll the streets of Muslim communities around the world, waking worshipers so they can eat a meal before the day’s fasting begins.

Cute, though I'm sure extremely annoying to, you know, the other 99% of the US that doesn't participate in Ramadan.

I still remember the drummers waking everyone up to eat/stop eating in Pakistan.

Uncle's got quite a few amusing quotes, though;

“Everywhere they complain,” he said. “People go, like, ‘What the hell? What you doing, man?’ They never know it’s Ramadan.”

Mr. Boota wants to be a good American, and a good Muslim. “I don’t want to bother other communities’ people,” he said. “Just the Pakistani people.”

read the whole thing here

Explaining 9/11 to a Muslim Child By Moina Noor (NYT)

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:20:00 +0000

Poignant. It seems so strange to thing that an event that changed so much and affected so many is unknown to someone. I can't even imagine beginning to explain the emotions and complexities.

Explaining 9/11 to a Muslim Child By Moina Noor

Recently on the morning drive to school my 8-year-old son asked me a question I’ve been dreading since he was a baby, “Mom, what happened on 9/11?”

Mass murder is impossible to explain to yourself, let alone a child. But how do I, as a parent, explain the slaughter of innocent people in the name of a religion that I am trying to pass on to my boy?

Bilal was just 8 months old when September 11 happened. He was just starting to crawl and put everything in sight into his mouth, and I remember having to peel my gaze away from the television screen and remind myself to keep a watchful eye on where he lay nearby.

After Bilal was born I viewed everything — especially current events — through the lens of parenthood. I knew the world had changed irreparably on 9/11, and while I mourned the innocent and raged against my crazy coreligionists, my nagging anxiety was for my son.

Even in those early surreal hours after the attacks when images of towers falling and long-bearded men in caves flooded the television screen, I knew that Bilal’s childhood would not be like mine.

When I was growing up in suburban Connecticut few people knew much about Muslims, let alone cared. My parents and their friends would gather in community rooms or church basements for our version of Sunday school. They were devout but weren’t necessarily interested in teaching their neighbors about Islam. We were few in number and invisible.

After 9/11, the spotlight was aimed at Muslims everywhere, especially here in America. Like many Muslims, I felt the need to defend my religious identity. I threw myself into all things Muslim, and explained and explained: “We are like you. Islam is peaceful. Complex sociopolitical factors create lunatics who kill people. Please don’t judge a billion people by a few bad apples.”

I hung tightly to my spiritual rope. I could not let go of a faith has given me and my family comfort and solace for generations.

Since 9/11, I’ve worried how Bilal would feel about his identity as a Muslim living in America. A survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life appeared in 2007 stating that 35 percent of respondents had an unfavorable opinion about Islam. Could one of those 3 in 10 people be Bilal’s teacher or soccer coach?

Over the past eight years I’ve read about Muslims being deported and pulled off airplanes and mosques being vandalized. My sister, a former middle school teacher in Brooklyn, heard kids taunt a Muslim student on the playground, calling him a terrorist. And even though I fear the possibility of discrimination for Bilal, what I fear most of all is that the din of Islamophobia will rob my son of self-respect and confidence.

So just as I became an activist, I became a proactive Muslim mommy. When Bilal was a preschooler, I took him to Muslim playgroups, organized activities in Ramadan and bought him board books about the Prophet Muhammed. I pushed him in his stroller at peace walks and brought him to interfaith events. These days, I organize local Islamic school classes and give talks about the Hajj at his elementary school. My husband and I read him books about Islamic contributions to math and science.

Over the years, I’ve tried to protect my son from any negative associations made with Islam. I’ve developed lightening quick reflexes — the second I hear a story about suicide bombers or terrorists on the radio, I switch to a pop music station. I’ve made my husband limit his CNN time to after the kids go to sleep. I don’t want to have to answer the question, “Mom, what is the ‘threat of radical Islamic extremism?’ ”

For me, the thought of talking to Bilal about terrorism is a bit like talking about sex for the first time. It is awkward and difficult I’m just not sure how much a child his age is ready to hear.

This year 9/11 falls during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting. I made Bilal watch President Obama’s five minute long “Ramadan Message to Muslims” on the Internet. President Obama spoke with respect, knowledge and a sense optimism to Muslims around the world. He found the speech interesting but nothing out of the ordinary. For Bilal, who is just starting to become conscious of a world bigger than our front yard, there is no “clash of civilizations”.

Bilal is proud to tell others that he was named after “the Prophet’s best friend,” an African Muslim with a beautiful voice who gave the first call to prayer. He is also a Cub Scout who has learned how to fold the American flag.

I did try and answer Bilal’s question. I relayed the day’s events in broad cartoonish strokes: bad guys attack, buildings collapse. Don’t worry, I assured him, we’ll get the bad guys so they won’t do it again. As I looked at Bilal in the rearview mirror, I explained that good and bad exists in every group, even your own. I think he understands.

Source

Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation (TED)

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don't: Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think. Listen for illuminating stories -- and maybe, a way forward.

Watch below, or click here.

Hakeem the dream: My life as a Muslim by Gary Meenaghan

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:48:00 +0000

Not the best writing in the world, but... Hakeeeeeeem!

Hakeem the dream: My life as a Muslim by Gary Meenaghan
Friday, September 11, 2009

For many involved in basketball, Michael Jordan is God. But for former Houston Rocket Hakeem Olajuwon, Jordan has an altogether different meaning: it means home. And his God is Allah.

The 46-year-old Muslim's "open and quiet life" in the Hashemite Kingdom is almost the antithesis of his years as arguably the best centre basketball has ever seen.

When the 6ft-10in Nigerian joined the Rockets in the 1984 NBA Draft from the University of Houston, he was the first pick – ahead of Jordan and Charles Barkley. Within a decade he had not only led his side to two successive championships, he also became the first player in NBA history to be simultaneously voted Most Valuable Player (MVP), Defensive Player of the Year and Finals MVP in a single season.

Born in Lagos, Olajuwon became a naturalised American in 1993 after moving to Texas in 1980 and went on to help the United States win gold at the Atlanta Olympics. The same year, he was selected by a panel of experts as one of the "50 Greatest Players in NBA History" and when he stepped off the court for the final time six years later, the Rockets retired his No34 jersey in testament to his talents.

Olajuwon moved to the Middle East shortly after, having visited the region throughout his 18-year career. Now settled in Jordan – a country he says offers a "balanced, neutral society" – his children Rahmah and Aisha attend one of its many international schools, he visits the mosque as often as possible, and he and wife Dalia practise Arabic in a conducive environment. He seems content. He sounds comfortable.

Despite being close to midnight, he has just returned from his local mosque when he speaks to Emirates Business by phone from his family home in Amman. It is Ramadan and he is fasting, just as he did when he was playing.

"It is not difficult because it is something you look forward to," he says. "Fasting is really a training programme for your willpower. The concept of Ramadan is to control yourself – to restrain.

"Whether people around you are fasting or not doesn't make any difference. If people are eating and drinking in front of you, the willpower of the Muslim should be stronger. That's what the training is for.

"It's like somebody who swims in a pool or somebody who is swimming in the ocean. The ocean is stronger so makes a better swimmer.

"I find in the Arab World that when they are fasting, they say they are weaker and they don't work as hard. But it should be the opposite."

So does he explain this understanding to his local Muslim friends, I ask?

"Yes... but they think I am crazy," he says with a deep, hearty laugh.

"But it's true. When I was playing, we were travelling and all my team-mates were drinking water. To me, it didn't matter. It made me stronger and my statistics went up; I was better during Ramadan, more focussed… lighter."

During his career, Olajuwon was for ever the focus of the sports media throughout the holy month. His fasting was analysed across America and The New York Times described him as "depleted but dominating" in a 1997 match against Jordan's Chicago Bulls.

But this was the 1990s; Muslims in North American sports were not commonplace. Nowadays there are players such as Toronto Raptors' Hedo Türkoglu and, if rumours are to be believed, Shaquille O'Neal who have found faith in Islam.

"At the beginning of my career, when my team-mates heard I was fasting during the season they thought it would affect my game and were concerned," explains the 12-time All-Star. "But when they saw that it actually made me better there was a lot of admiration and intrigue: 'How can you play at this level without drinking water, when you must need water and must be thirsty' they would ask."

Despite some reports claiming Olajuwon persistently tried to convert his Christian team-mates, he insists, now at least, he simply just goes about his day.

"I don't go out to try and speak about Islam," says Olajuwon, who recently returned from a family pilgrimage to Mecca.

"If someone asks me a question about Ramadan I speak about Ramadan, if they ask me a question about basketball, I speak about basketball. If you don't ask I don't volunteer, and that's how it should be. That's what's so cool about it."

Basketball has faced a bad rap in recent years, from rape allegations levelled against Kobe Bryant in 2003 to Orlando Magic's Rashard Lewis's failed drugs test last month. But Olajuwon says the increased exposure is not to blame for players' actions, and neither are high salaries.

Olajuwon amassed a reported $99 million (Dh363m) during his career, but he maintains there is no such thing as too much money in professional sports – so long as those receiving it remain grounded and appreciate there are virtues more valuable than money.

"There can never be too much money in basketball – it's a business," says Olajuwon, who during his playing days donated two-and-a-half per cent of his annual income to the underprivileged.

"What's more important is that they can manage their fame for a good cause – there are lots of people like that. But you also have a lot of people where they don't know how to handle success and end up destroying their career. Someone who is rich, but who doesn't have [positive] principles – these people have no value."

Olajuwon returns to the States every so often – "whenever I have an engagement," as he puts it – and made the trip last year to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Less than a week later, a monument was unveiled outside the Houston Rockets' Toyota Center arena.

However, aware that a picture or likeness is against Islamic beliefs, the Rockets instead erected a 12-foot high bronze sculpture focussing on his famed No34 jersey. Now, even though Olajuwon may call Jordan home, he will for ever be in Houston.

Honour roll

x2 NBA Champion, Houston rockets (1994, 1995)

x1 NBA MVP (1994)

x12 All-Star (1985-90, 1992-97)

x2 Finals mvp (1994, 1995)

x2 NBA Defensive player of the year (1993, 1994)

x6 All-NBA First Team (1987, 1989, 1993-94, 1997)

x5 NBA All defensive first team (1987, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1994)

x1 NBA all-rookie team (1985)

NBA's 50th anniversary all-time team

x1 gold medal, us national team, atlanta olympics (1996)

Source

Muslims in America -- Photo Essay (Time Magazine)

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:53:00 +0000

Photographer Ziyah Gafic provides an intimate portrait of America's Islamic community.

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1725413,00.html

Granted, it's not the most... comprehensive photo essay (kinda more like 'Muslims in NY'), but it's nice regardless.

Before the Report: Stephen Colbert's Rise From Sketch Shows to America's Hero by Christopher R. Weingarten

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:48:00 +0000

Watch early appearances on "The Dana Carvey Show," "Strangers With Candy" and more.

Arrogance

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 20:39:00 +0000

Narrated 'Umar bin Al-Khattab: "During the lifetime of the Prophet there was a man called 'Abdullah whose nickname was Donkey, and he used to make Allah's Apostle laugh. The Prophet lashed him because of drinking (alcohol). And one-day he was brought to the Prophet on the same charge and was lashed. On that, a man among the people said, "O Allah, curse him ! How frequently he has been brought (to the Prophet on such a charge)!" The Prophet said, "Do not curse him, for by Allah, I know for he loves Allah and His Apostle." "

[Bukhari]

I've gone about this all wrong. I'd always been asking Allah for strength to do what I knew was right, when I should've been asking Him to soften my heart, to purify my soul and increase my connection to him.

Shahr bin Haushab(Allah be pleased with him) relates that he asked Hadhrat Umm-Salamah (Allah be pleased with her): O Ummul-Mu’mineen! What was the supplication made most often by the Messenger of Allah (SAW) when he used to be in your house? She said: He most often used to supplicate:

Ya muqallib al Quloob, thabbit qalbee alaa deenik
O turner of the hearts, establish my heart upon your deen
[Tirmidhi]

Ramadan notes: Empathy, subtraction, and the ride By Ibrahim Abusharif

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 04:52:00 +0000

I know during this time of year, Muslims are often inundated with numerous articles that we "must read" regarding Ramadan, but I found this one particularly poignant.

Ramadan notes: Empathy, subtraction, and the ride
By Ibrahim Abusharif

In the days and weeks ahead, we will often be reminded of the graces truly associated with fasting the month of Ramadan, particularly its "thirds": mercy, forgiveness, and rescue from perdition. Verses of the Quran and traditions of the Prophet of Islam will be appropriately recited, in order to emphasize the great value of this prime real estate in time and the generosity, favor, and opportunity available to us. We will learn again that the most revered people in religious history, without fail, practiced fasting in some form—a tradition unbroken and now passed on to us. For them, voluntary deprivation and altered rules of consumption were more than parts of a spiritual regimen, but the expected thing to do if you took your life seriously and felt some responsibility for having a soul. The outpourings (prose and poetry) of saintly men and women have survived to our day and are frequently mentioned around this time of the lunar year. Rumi's urgent metaphors and Ibn Ata'illah's arresting aphorisms come to mind, as do the reflections of many others who speak of the various levels of the Fast and the necessities of each.

Without doubt, there is enormous benefit in hearing again these bezels of wisdom, although it's a struggle to draw from them. Our time—modern, postmodern, or whatever—is losing ground to aggressive mores that dampen human sensitivity to the sacred. Many have observed this, and it's hard to disagree. Some call it the "post-truth environment," an ethos that is unabashedly concerned with appearance, regardless of whether or not it connects with truth, just as long as it sounds right according to some market research. And yes, it's a world increasingly unwilling or unable to receive approvingly the insights of the great sages who were fortunate enough to have lived in a time when sacred tradition was a reality without a name, the natural flora of existence.

But in the end, there's a private and personal response to rituals that can mitigate the profanity all about us. By a sheer act of divine mercy and compassion, the essences of the rituals—these peculiar interruptions of behavior—have not really changed. They are able to do now, we hope, what they had done before, the same influence and benevolence originally prescribed for them.

A time-honored counsel that one often comes across deals precisely with wanting to imbibe more of the meanings of rituals. To paraphrase: If you want to truly understand what a ritual means, they say, then pay the tithe and participate more in what it calls you to do, beyond form. The larger culture of Ramadan lends itself to this advice in many ways, two of which pertain to what we can do and what we should feel.

Do something

It's often said that one of the benefits of fasting during the month of Ramadan is to experience something that poor people feel. There's probably some truth to that, but emphasizing it can have the unintended effect of viewing the indigent as an abstraction, people who live in desperation as if it were their station without parole. Fasting does have some didactic purposes that relate to the needy, but it pertains more toward empathy and duty rather than pity and abstractions. It's really impossible to simulate desperation, particularly when framed between dawn and dusk. The sheer anticipation of food and drink in a matter of hours completely dilutes the trauma and psychology of indigence. The realities of such places as the famine fields of Sudan—even when told in the descriptive narratives of the likes of Jacqui Banaszynski and others—are beyond dramatic demonstration.

It is part of the purpose and very culture of Ramadan to instill empathy that's actionable. Sympathy relates more to surface emotion that can be ransomed off with a check or, worse yet, forced distraction. Empathy, however, cannot be so easily assuaged or fooled. Empathy is connecting with others because of their humanity and their needs, no abstraction. It is about sincere giving, humility, gratitude, shared humanity, and realizing that our material condition and well being can change without notice, and each condition has an obliged reaction. The disparity of "realities" in our world are not forgiven when we show others our backs. We are a social species, which means more than tea and biscuits; we are responsible for those we know and, especially, those whom we may never meet. They are of us, and we are of them. When we fast with heart, we realize that we are in constant and utter need for things outside of ourselves, external to our so-called talents and skills. Dethroned, we realize that we are all needy, a permanent condition that's lost in our billboard world.

Sermon-talk aside, there are a thousand reasons why fasting and charity are linked together, according to scripture and prophetic tradition. They both are subtractions; one involves consumption and the other wealth. And we are promised by the highest authority that in subtraction like this, gain is guaranteed. We are charged to learn empathy and charged to do something with it.

Feel something

One thing that a thoughtful Ramadan experience is said to do is reverse 11 months of "professionalizing our existence," to borrow the phrase from Martin Amis. "Professionalizing" the religious experience means to become rote doers of rites (stiff and perfunctory); with Sunday-school heart; and exposed to pretension and self-righteousness, among the greatest risks of religiosity. If Ramadan were a proofreader's pen, it would stop at "Muslim" (the professional adherent) and strike it down to "muslim" (a person who believes and remembers why).

It's a marvel how a geologist can take a soil sample and come up with thunderous conclusions about the physical condition of the earth and the mad culture of consumption that's ravaging it. Seeing the big picture in something small and self-contained is the definition of sagacity. When Ramadan comes, things change. We all know it. It's an interruption in routine, a time that agitates a rote existence. This interruption has many purposes, but it comes down to this: It is said that if you want to see how your life is going, then look at your day, your sample, and realize (hopefully enchanted) that we are and always have been in this constant state of returning, a procession of hours and days that's taking us to nowhere but God, who made us and eventually wants us back.

To live with that consciousness and awareness of the grand ride is among the highest achievements of revealed religion. It affects everything. That awareness is also extraordinary and cannot be scaled with the ordinary. We are shown rituals—acts that are breaks from the norm—and we are taught something about them. How we engage them is really the challenge that by all appearance will not become easier. Trained to be jaded and consumers, Ramadan each year comes to us with an offer to be counter-cultural, to think differently, and hopefully remember the ride and the destination.

*********************************************************
Other Relevant Resources on Ramadan:

How to Prepare for Ramadan

Ramadan is Approaching - Imam Zaid Shakir

The Inner Dimensions of Fasting - Imam Ghazali

Daily Ramadan Podcasts - Sh. Faraz Rabbani

--

Two quotes I enjoyed reading from Rumi:

"O moon-faced Beloved, the month of Ramadan has arrived. Cover the table and open the path of praise. O fickle busybody, it’s time to change your ways." -Rumi

"There is an unseen sweetness in the stomach’s emptiness. We are lutes. When the soundbox is filled, no music can come forth. When the brain and the belly burn from fasting, every moment a new song rises out of the fire. The mists clear, and a new vitality makes you spring up the steps before you. Be empty and cry as a reed instrument. Be empty and write secrets with a reed pen. When satiated by food and drink, an unsightly metal statue is seated where your spirit should be. When fasting, good habits gather like helpful friends. Fasting is Solomon’s ring. Don’t give in to illusion and lose your power. But even when will and control have been lost, they will return when you fast, like soldiers appearing out of the ground, or pennants flying in the breeze." ~Rumi

Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food By Bryan Walsh (Time Magazine)

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:25:00 +0000

Ah, more motivation to read Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma," which has been sitting on my bookshelf for ages. In the meantime...

Full article:
Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food

Highlights:

A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that a dollar could buy 1,200 calories of potato chips or 875 calories of soda but just 250 calories of vegetables or 170 calories of fresh fruit. With the backing of the government, farmers are producing more calories — some 500 more per person per day since the 1970s — but too many are unhealthy calories. Given that, it's no surprise we're so fat; it simply costs too much to be thin.

excuses, excuses. ;)

But the quantity of that fertilizer is flat-out scary: more than 10 million tons for corn alone — and nearly 23 million for all crops. When runoff from the fields of the Midwest reaches the Gulf of Mexico, it contributes to what's known as a dead zone, a seasonal, approximately 6,000-sq.-mi. area that has almost no oxygen and therefore almost no sea life. Because of the dead zone, the $2.8 billion Gulf of Mexico fishing industry loses 212,000 metric tons of seafood a year, and around the world, there are nearly 400 similar dead zones. Even as we produce more high-fat, high-calorie foods, we destroy one of our leanest and healthiest sources of protein.

Pound for pound, a pig produces approximately four times the amount of waste a human does, and what factory farms do with that mess gets comparatively little oversight. Most hog waste is disposed of in open-air lagoons, which can overflow in heavy rain and contaminate nearby streams and rivers.

Just as the burning of fossil fuels that is causing global warming requires more than a tweaking of mileage standards, the manifold problems of our food system require a comprehensive solution. "There should be a recognition that what we are doing is unsustainable," says Martin.

Since 1935, consolidation and industrialization have seen the number of U.S. farms decline from 6.8 million to fewer than 2 million — with the average farmer now feeding 129 Americans, compared with 19 people in 1940.

The USDA estimates that Americans throw out 14% of the food we buy, which means that much of our record-breaking harvests ends up in the garbage.

How willing are consumers to rethink the way they shop for — and eat — food? For most people, price will remain the biggest obstacle. Organic food continues to cost on average several times more than its conventional counterparts, and no one goes to farmers' markets for bargains. But not all costs can be measured by a price tag. Once you factor in crop subsidies, ecological damage and what we pay in health-care bills after our fatty, sugary diet makes us sick, conventionally produced food looks a lot pricier.

Are Women The New "Deserving Poor"? by Anna N. (jezebel.com)

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:56:00 +0000

A refutation (? well, counterpoint) to a New York Times Magazine article in which "Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn make the provocative claim that ending discrimination against women and girls may end poverty and even terrorism."

Indeed, all the programs the authors support — from improving girls' education to reducing sex trafficking to repairing obstetric fistulas — are good ones. But their central thesis — that we should help women because it will reduce poverty and violence — is flawed. It relies on the notion that women are deserving of economic and social power because they are good citizens, not simply because they are human. What happens if women decide to spend their newly earned money on alcohol instead of their children's education? What if they spend it on weapons? And what if, even though they spend it on all the "right" things, their countries still fail to develop economically? Treating women as agents of social change risks leaving them out in the cold if they don't effect the change we want.

Good read. Link to the original article and subsequent other readings are also in there somewhere.

Ramadan 2009 @ The Big Picture

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:30:00 +0000

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/08/ramadan_2009.html

Phenomenal pictures, as always. You know, I've really never understood the desire to travel the world (no, seriously), but it's really starting to hit me lately. One day, inshaAllah?

Thoughts sparked by a quote from the interview with Manning Marable

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:54:00 +0000

Thoughts sparked by a quote from the interview with Manning Marable

I rarely write my own thoughts on this blog. This is gonna be weird.

Malcolm goes to Alabama, three weeks before he’s murdered and reaches out to Dr. King. King is in prison after leading demonstrations. Malcolm goes to Coretta Scott King and he says, “I want you to convey to your husband my deepest respect for him and that I am not trying to undermine Dr. King’s work. My goal is to be to the left of Dr. King, to challenge institutional racism so that those in power can negotiate with King. That’s my role.” So Malcolm understood what his role was.

Man. That is so incredible.

I recently watched a documentary with Asra Nomani entitled "Mosque in Morgantown", in which she chronicles her struggles with an extremely traditional mosque and, specifically, some of the gender issues going on there (ie, unfair/unequal treatment of women). I am by no means a fan of Nomani (and particularly not of the tactics she employs to try to accomplish her goals), but something she said during one rowdy masjid meeting really opened my eyes about her.

During a bit of a yelling match between her and other active masjid members, someone had confronted her about her tactics for bringing about change. They pushed that, had she utilized a more gentle approach, it would be far easier for her to change things and, in fact, her methods actually undermined the efforts of those who had similar goals but went about things in a different way. I wish I had her exact response (I can't find the full documentary online, unfortunately), but she responded with something along the lines of, 'you HAVE to be revolutionary to bring about change.' Through the documentary, you even see her mimicking the actions of the reformer Martin Luther by nailing something to the door of the mosque.

So what's the difference? The intentions are still there to bring about a goal that each of these individuals believe to be the best for their people. For both, goals and tactics can be viewed as questionable by outsiders, if not outright blasphemous.

It's interesting to think about in relation to some of our ALIM discussions... understanding that we each have a role in the Muslim American diaspora... where even the non-practicing Muslims can do their part to make necessary social, political, economic, etc., changes (and, in some cases, are even in better positions to do so than seemingly more religious or practicing Muslims).

In regards more specifically to the different "movements" in Islamic thought in the U.S., between the progressives, salafis, sufis, traditionalists, reformists, etc etc etc... maybe I should be worried, but I'm not. On the contrary, it's almost refreshing to see people fight so passionately for their religion... because the greatest enemy of religion isn't ignorance, it's irrelevance.

A scholar once told me that everyone feels as though they must personally protect Islam from corruption, but rarely do we realize how arrogant we are to think that God needs us to protect Islam, and that any of us would be able to do so without corrupting it ourselves.

With each of these movements... I swear, it's absolutely fascinating. I feel like there's a multi-way tug-of-war, each group appealing to a different demographic, each highlight of Islam offering something different to its adherents. Every group has its role to play, just as each individual does.

Hadith of the Week 22

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:34:00 +0000

Early, cuz I'm making up for lost time :)

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) says, "Ramadan has come to you. (It is) a month of blessing, in which Allah covers you with blessing, for He sends down Mercy, decreases sins and answers prayers. In it, Allah looks at your competition (in good deeds), and boasts about you to His angels. So show Allah goodness from yourselves, for the unfortunate one is he who is deprived in (this month) of the mercy of Allah, the Mighty, the Exalted." [Narrated by Tabarani]

The missing Malcolm: An Interview with Manning Marable (International Socialist Review)

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 08:24:00 +0000

An interview with Manning Marable, whose current works in progress include a new comprehensive biography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention (New York: Viking, 2009).

A charismatic, handsome, articulate Black leader who had a controversial past as a hustler, a pimp, a drug addict, a numbers runner, “Detroit Red,” “Little Gangster,” “Little Bugsy Siegel,” who supposedly terrorized the Harlem community in the 1940s and went to jail and was given ten years in prison. He goes through a metamorphosis, he becomes a Black Muslim, he comes out, he explodes onto the scene. He creates seventy to eighty new mosques in less than ten years, turns a small sect of 400 people into fifty- to one hundred thousand by 1960–62. Then, he turns more overtly to politics, he breaks from the Nation of Islam (NOI), he builds two new organizations, the Muslim Mosque Incorporated in March 1964 and the Organization of Afro-American Unity in May 1964. He goes to Africa and the Mideast. He is treated as the head of state. He is welcomed at the Fateh by the Saudi royal household. He sits down with Gamal, eats breakfast with Anwar Sadat in Egypt. He caucuses and meets and gets to know Che Guevara while he’s in Africa, as he alludes to in a talk in 1964 at the Audubon Ballroom. So Malcolm is this extraordinary figure, dies at the age of thirty-nine. It’s a hell of a story.

I haven't read Malcolm X's (auto)biography since early high school, and the above sentence is really pushing me to pick it up again. I know there's no way I could've appreciated it then as I inevitably would now. Perhaps after I finish 'The Sealed Nectar," inshaAllah.

Even without remembering all the details, there's quite a few really fascinating insights in this interview (and inevitably in the book). I really look forward to reading the new book, inshaAllah.

When I asked one student about a decade ago, “What was the fundamental difference between Malcolm and Martin?” He said, “Dr. Marable, that’s easy. Martin Luther King, Jr., belongs to the entire world. Malcolm X belongs to us.”

Source

'The Soul of a Butterfly' by Muhammad Ali and Hana Yasmeen Ali

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 07:51:00 +0000

So slightly late, as the first night of Ramadan starts tonight, but I finally managed to finish "The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey" by Muhammad Ali and Hana Yasmeen Ali. It was definitely quite different from what I was expecting. It's odd having this persona of Muhammad Ali (based on... nothing, really) in your head as this big, arrogant, loud fighter broken down by this book of his spiritual journey and life lessons.

Not having much familiarity with Muhammad Ali before, the book really inspires me to learn more about his life. With the book, I've seen his actions through his eyes, but it was before I had a proper understanding of his actions through the eyes of the rest of the world. Regardless, it's so incredible to hear of the incredible feats he accomplished in his life all that he had done to push forward the civil rights movement, the anti-vietnam movement, the nation of Islam (especially after its break to Sunni Islam) and more. His friendship with Malcolm X is really fascinating.

I'd definitely recommend reading this to people who are familiar with Muhammad Ali and would like to know more but... as a general read, it was okay.

"My faith has evolved over the years, and I now follow the teachings of mainstream Sunni Islam. But, a part of me will always be grateful to Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam for opening my eyes and giving me something greater than myself to fight for."

Throughout the book, he really pushes this idea of 'his purpose in life,' and working for something 'greater than himself.'

"If someone asked me what in life I considered real, I would have to say that for me, the only thing that is real is the spiritual. Only God and love are real. Pain, sickness, old age, even death cannot master me because they are not real to me. Fame, wealth, and material things are empty and meaningless without a developed spirituality. We give them value and importance in our lives. But we must be careful not to value them too much at the expense of what really matters in life. Honesty, integrity, kindness, and friendship are the true treasures we should be seeking."

(con't later, on the next page)

"Many people said I was afraid to go to war. The truth is it was tougher to stand up for my religious beliefs against the United States government and millions of people who turned against me for my decision than it would have been to go to war. The government offered me all kinds of deals. They told me I would never hold a gun. They told me I would giving boxing exhibitions and that I would never come near a battlefield. Even if this had been true, I still couldn't go. They wanted to use me to lead other young American men into the war. They didn't seem to realize that to take their "deal," I would have to denouce my religion, my faith, my beliefs. But I was free and I was determined to be true to myself and God. If I had turned my back on my religious beliefs, my life would have been like aship without a rudder on the open sea. Nothing could be more frightening to me than to try to live without my faith.

So they took my title, my financial security, and they tried to take my freedom. But they could not take my dignity, my pride or my faith, because those were solid, real, and constant in my life."

----------------------------

Just 2-3 more books to finish and I can clear my "actively reading" shelf and move on. I'll work on the Muslim ones during Ramadan and then others through this semester, iA....

Obama says Ramadan Mubara(c)k too

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:28:00 +0000

Dear Mr. President,

Thanks.

Sincerely,
f

Hadith of the Week 21

noreply@blogger.com (fny21) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:15:00 +0000

Ramadan Mubarak, everyone.

Talha ibn ‘Ubaydallah (radhiallahu `anhu) reported that two men came to the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) who had accepted Islam at the same time. One of them used to partake in Jihad more-so than the other, and so (one day) he fought in a battle and was martyred therein. The other remained behind him for another year, and then he passed away.

Talha said, ‘I saw in my dream that I was at the door of Paradise when behold, I was with both of them (the two men). Someone came out of Paradise and allowed the man who passed away later to enter first. Then he came out again and allowed the martyred one to enter. Then he returned and said to me, ‘Go back, for your time has not come yet.’
Talha woke up and began to inform others about this and they were all surprised. This reached the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) and when they informed him of it, he said:

من أي ذلك تعجبون؟ قالوا: يا رسول اللهّ هذا كان أشد الرجلين اجتهاداً ثم استشهد ودخل هذا الآخر الجنة قبله فقال رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وسلم) : أليس قد مكث هذا بعده سنة؟ قالوا: بلى. قال: أدرك رمضان فصام وصلى كذا وكذا من سجدة في السنة؟ قالوا: بلى. قال رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وسلم): فما بينهما أبعد مما بين السماء والأرض

He (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said, ‘What are you surprised about?’ They said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! Out of them both, this one strove harder (in Jihad) then he was martyred but this other one was entered into Paradise before him.’ The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said, ‘Did he not remain behind him for one year?’ They said, ‘Yes (he did).’ He said, ‘Did he not reach Ramadan, fast and pray with such and such number of prostrations in the year?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said, ‘So the difference between them is greater than what is between the heavens and the earth.’

- Sahih narration from Ibn Majah (2/345, 346) and al-Albani’s ‘al-Silsilah al-Sahihah’
Make the most of Ramadan, we seriously don’t realize its greatness, worth and reward.

Source