I’m moving the Blog

Being as my current operating system, can not handle certain stylistic elements, I am moving my Blog over to:

http://www.hadiya425.blogspot.com

Please adjust your bookmarks accordingly…

Hadiya 425

Back to Blogging

Dear Readers,
Since most of you stop by just to read the excerpts I have posted from the Islamicity article on marriage, this may not matter to you. Regardless of that fact, I am back from my unintended blogging hiatus and now have regular access to the Internet. Be that as it may, I can now continue to spew out my little Revert thoughts and musings on a more regular basis.

Stay Tuned.

Jazak Allah Khair,
Hadiya 425

T’was a few weeks til Christmas (A Revert’s Perspective)

‘Twas a few weeks ’til Christmas and all through my house, I sat around thinking and doing little else.
I sat and I sat in my slightly ripped chair
And thought of old Christmas specials that soon would be aired.

When I was little, I’d loved all those shows
And thought they were great
As each Christmas special was shown on each December date

But now as an adult my Jahiliyyah had ended
My Shahadah has been said
So watching Christmas specials became suspended

Yet do not fault me if I linger awhile
When I change the channel and catch an old Christmas special
That still makes me smile.
For you see, I do NOT believe that Jesus was or is God
And I know God had NO sons
It is only the glimpse of Santa or Rudolph
That I associate with childhood fun.

Winner!!! November 4, 2008

Surviving Halloween: An Islamic Perspective (Source: About.com)

 Original Article can be seen at: http://islam.about.com/library/weekly/aa103098.htm

It’s that time of year again, when those of us in North America and elsewhere face the upcoming “holiday fever.”  It starts with Halloween, with its ghosts and goblins, and continues thereafter with turkeys, Christmas trees, bunnies, four-leaf clovers, etc.  Every year we as Muslims face the same dilemma:  How do we handle it?  Do we hide out and try to avoid the celebrations, or do we give in and allow our children to participate in some aspects of the fun?

To make an informed decision, we need to understand the history and traditions of these festivities.  Only then can we critically evaluate their role in our lives.

As Muslims, we have two celebrations each year, ‘Eid al-Fitr and ‘Eid al-Adha.  Our celebrations are based in our faith and our religious way of life.  There are some who argue that Halloween, at least, is a cultural holiday, with no religious significance.  They question why Muslims would have a problem with a fun, candy-filled day of revelry.  To understand the issues that Muslims have with Halloween, we need only look at the origins and history of the holiday.  (Many of the traditions have varying theories about their history, so the most reliable explanations are included here.  More complete information is available in the references and links cited to the right.)

Halloween has clear connections with the Eve of Samhain, a celebration marking the beginning of winter as well as the first day of the New Year among ancient pagans (mushrikeen) of the British Isles (2nd century B.C.).  On this occasion, it was believed that supernatural forces gathered together — that the barriers between the supernatural and human worlds were broken.  They believed that spirits from other worlds (such as the souls of the dead) were able to visit earth during this time and roam about.  At this time, they celebrated a joint festival for the sun god and the lord of the dead.  The sun was thanked for the harvest and given moral support for the upcoming battle with winter.  In ancient times, the pagans made sacrifices of animals and crops in order to please the gods.  They also believed that on October 31st, the lord of the dead gathered all the souls of the people who had died that year.  The souls upon death would dwell in the body of an animal, then on this day the lord would announce what form they were to take for the next year.

When Christianity came to the British Isles, the church tried to take attention away from these pagan rituals by placing a Christian holiday on the same day.  The Christian festival, the Feast of All Saints, acknowledges the saints of the Christian faith in much the same way that Samhain had paid tribute to the pagan gods.  From an Islamic point of view, they replaced one form of idolatry (shirk) with another.

The customs of Samhain survived anyway, and eventually became intertwined with the Christian holiday.  These traditions were brought to the United States by immigrants from Ireland and Scotland.  Some of these customs are:

Dressing up in costumes:  Dressed in disguises and masks, people imitated supernatural beings roaming the earth at that time.

“Trick or Treating”:  It is widely believed that during the Feast of All Saints, peasants went from house to house asking for money to buy food for the upcoming feast.  Additionally, people dressed in costumes would often play tricks on their neighbors.  Blame for the resulting chaos was placed on the “spirits and goblins.”

Images of bats, black cats, etc.:  These animals were believed to communicate with the spirits of the dead.  Black cats especially were believed to house the souls of witches.

Games such as bobbing for apples:  The ancient pagans used divination techniques to foresee the future.  There were various methods of doing this, and many have continued through traditional games, often played at children’s parties.

Jack-O’-Lantern:  The Irish brought the Jack-O’-Lantern to America.   The tradition is based on the following legend:  There once was a man named Jack, who was a stingy man who drank too much.  He played a trick on the devil, then made the devil promise not to take his soul.  The devil, upset, promised to leave Jack alone.  When Jack died, he was turned away from Heaven because he was a stingy, mean drunk.  Desperate for a resting place, he went to the devil.  The devil also turned him away.  “But where can I go?” pleaded Jack.  “Back to where you came from,” said the devil.  The night was dark, so the devil tossed him a lighted coal from the fire of Hell.  Jack, who was eating a turnip at the time, placed the coal inside as a lamp to light his way.  Since that day, he has traveled the world over with his Jack-O’-Lantern in search of a place to rest.   Irish children carved out turnips and potatoes to light the night on Halloween (pumpkins didn’t grow in Ireland).  When the Irish came to America in great numbers in the 1840’s, they found that a pumpkin made an even better lantern, and this “American tradition” came to be.

What should be clear to Muslims is that all of these traditions are based either in ancient pagan culture, or in Christianity.  As Muslims, our celebrations should be ones that honor and uphold our faith and beliefs.  How can we worship only Allah, the Creator, if we participate in activities that are based in pagan rituals, divination, and the spirit world?  May Allah protect us from such misguidance.  So many people participate in these celebrations without even understanding the history and the pagan connections, just because their friends are doing it, their parents did it (”it’s a tradition!”), and because “it’s fun!”  Allah described such people in the Qur’an:

“When it is said unto them, ‘Come to what Allah has revealed, come to the Messenger,’ they say, ‘Enough for us are the ways we found our fathers following.’   What!  Even though their fathers were void of knowledge and guidance?” (Qur’an 5:104)

So what can we do, when our children see others dressed up, eating candy, and going to parties?  While it may be tempting to join in, we must be careful to preserve our own traditions and not allow our children to be corrupted by this seemingly “innocent” fun.  When tempted, remember the pagan origins of these traditions (astughrifullah), and ask Allah to give you strength.  Save the celebration, the fun and games, for our ‘Eids.  Children can still have their fun, and most importantly, should learn that we only acknowledge holidays that have a religious significance to us as Muslims.  Holidays are not just excuses to binge and be reckless.  In Islam, our holidays retain their religious importance, while allowing proper time for rejoicing, fun and games.

Finally, Allah warned us about following in the footsteps of those who discard faith:

“Has not the time arrived for the believers, that their hearts in all humility should engage in the remembrance of Allah and of the Truth which has been revealed to them?  That they should not become like those to whom was given the Book aforetime, but long ages passed over them and their hearts grew hard?  For many among them are rebellious transgressors.” (Qur’an 57:16)

May Allah guide us all to the straight path, forgive us our sins, and shower us with His mercy.

My insecurities pour from me like water from broken glass

And so my insecruities pour from me like water through broken glass. I finally got up the nerve to meet that brother I had been speaking to that I had met through ICMarriage.com.

Now, now please don’t chastize, I know that I should have met this brother with the Sheikh, but I settled on a public place, feeling certain that that Sheikh would have been busy (what with it being Ramadan) anyway.

I met the brother and he was very nice both in looks and manners and even brought with him several book for me (as we are both avid readers).

After having a nice little discussioon over Starbucks, my major concerns were three:

(1) That his family would be OK with his marrying outside of his ethnicity.  He assured me that while his mother would be shocked at the prospect, that being as I am a good Muslim (his words, smile) that he would be able to convince her.

(2) That I would be able to keep my American citizenship and be able to travel with children as I wished should we make Hijrah to Pakistan.  He assured me that I would be able to remain an American citizen while living in Paksistan and take any children we had in and out of the country at my wish. 

(3) That I would be able to keep my American citizenship and be able to travel with children as I wished should we make Hijrah to Syria. He said he did not know about the citizenship rules in Syria and said he’s have to look them up.

His concerns for me:

(1) My debt accrued in the United States

(2) Whether or not I would definetly make Hijrah to Pakistan or Syria.

After our meeting I asked him if he would tell his mother about me (as we had both decided not to tell our families about the other until after we had met).  He paused and would not give an answer.  So I said well “Lets make a deal, you tell your mom about me and I’ll tell me folks about you.” “Deal” he said. 

But at this point the half-empty glass of my personality knows that he will not tell his mom about me and that this has all been for nothing.  Oh well.  Back to the drawing board.

Random Thoughts during Ramadan

It hardly seems long ago when I was riding my three buses back and forth from work each with its usual cast of characters.  I have always had a tendency to make up names for regulars who ride the bus with me such as Smokey McSmokerson and Anorexic Girl (I am sure in their minds, my nickname was “Muslim Chick”) .  Smokey always a talent of standing so that we (the other people who were waiting for the bus) were always downwind from his morning (and afternoon on the way back) cigarrette. 

Anywhooo, it brings me back to Anorexic Girl (who I didn’t mean her nickname in a derogatory, hateful sense, only in the fact that she was SUPER, SUPER skinny.). 

One day, while getting off at our second to last stop, I pulled out a diet Pepsi and started drinking it.  It was during Ramadan, but I couldn’t fast (and still can’t fast) due to various health issues and medication I have to take for said issues) so I was chillin’ with my Pepsi.  Anorexic Girl came up to me and said “Isn’t it Ramadan?”  And I replied ‘yes’ but that I wasn’t fasting. 

I was so surprised that Annorexic Girl knew about Ramadan because from the was she dressed and carried herself, I was pretty sure she wasn’t a Muslim.  But then, I thought, she always got off the bus in the morning at a local college so she obviously must have made it a point to keep herself educated on such things.

What’s the ending to my little story?  I don’t really have a great one.  She got on her last bus and I got on mine. 

The moral of the story:  It all left me thinking that I should be less pessimistic, e.g. assuming that the general public has no idea about Muslims traditions and be more optimistic when I realize that there are some people who are educated about Muslim traditions (and that people do not always think badly about Islam).

Procrastination is my worst habit

Several weeks, ago I finally called the Sheikh I was told about who could help me out with finding a Wali (or acting as one himself). Anyways, I had heard nothing back from the Sheikh and was getting a bit miffed so I asked Sister A if she and/or her husband could talk to him on my behalf. Much to my embarassment, Sister A told me that the Sheikh had not gotten back with me yet, because he was out of the country. Oops. I should have known there would be a good reason for not hearing from him.

And then, lo and behold, this past Saturday the Sheikh called me back. He said he could meet with any brother I had in mind (I am currently thinking of the brother I have become aquainted with through ICMarriage.com but have not met in person yet. Brother B only wrote me two emails and then never wrote again.) and asked me what I was looking for in a husband. I told him I was looking for someone under 40 (as close to my age 31, would be preferable) who had a steady job and at least a Bachelor’s Degree. And Masha’Allah, he said he would keep his eye out for me. So, I think I will try to bring the brother from ICMarriage.com in to see the Sheikh when he and the Sheikh and I are all available.

The Situation of Iraqi Refugees (Source: International Rescue Committee)

IRC Commission on Iraqi Refugees: Statement of the Commissioners

A major humanitarian crisis, largely hidden and ignored, is engulfing Syria and Jordan.

Iraqis of different religions, ethnicities, and backgrounds have been fleeing dea.th, kidnapping, and protracted vio.lence. Because they are not huddled in camps these refugees do not get the attention and help the deserve from the U.S. and the international community. Many have been severely traumatized and lead deperate lives in Damascus and Amman. Compounding the problem, some reporting has perpetuated myths that they are wealthy or more recently that the crisis is abating and they are beginning to return to their homes in Iraq.

Neither the U.S. nor the rest of the world is paying sufficient heed: external help provided by regional countries and major international donors has been half-hearted and woefully insufficient.

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