Check out my new post over at Muslim Matters, we’re having a lively discussion in the comments. Ruth Nasrullah, a former MM writer expressed similar sentiments two years ago in her Women and the Wall post.
From the Storehouse:
Praying on Mountaintops in New Zealand
One of my coworkers and I were discussing all of the talk and preparation in the lead up to this past weekend’s blizzard, which blanketed much of the Northeast. She remarked that, the people here (in the Washington DC Metro area) were acting crazy, clearing out store shelves grabbing everything and anything they could lay their hands on as though being snowed in for a few days was more serious than the Day of Judgment, which of course, very few people actually fear much less think about and begin making preparations for it.
If we had our priorities in order, we would be preparing even more seriously for the day we will all be called to account. The day that will be equal to 50,000 years. A day when we will be swimming and some drowning in their own sweat. A day when we will be standing all alone, afraid of what we have sent forth, of our mistakes, of our sins, of our intentions (were they purely for the sake of Allah?). There will be no ties of kinship or friendship on that day, all will be standing naked. Aisha (radiy Allahu anha) asked the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam): “Won’t the people be looking at each other?” and he (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) replied, “The affair [on the day] is more severe and more serious than that.”
At Home Depot, there were only garden shovels left and the people were still snapping those up. I lost my gloves sometime last week and went to Target to try to find a new pair, I looked for the glove display only to be told by a worker that their entire inventory was sold-out. There were massive lines at grocery stores and gas stations, it looked like the aftermath of a natural disaster. All this before the first flakes of snow fell from the sky.
I’m from upstate New York where snow is just a matter of daily life in the winter. So I tend not to “freak out” over every little bit of potential snow accumulation. As a believer, I am reminded to take stock of not only if I have enough food and gas to make it through the weekend but of what I am sending forth and preparing for the real calamity. The day when the books, which omit nothing large or small are laid open and my Lord calls me to account. One of the salaf said, “Know that if Allah questions you about anything on that day, you will be punished.”
May Allah azza wa jal make us of those who remember and prepare for the final day and make us from those given our book of deeds in the right hand, and make us of those who have truly suceeded. Ameen.
Yasir Qadhi, Dean of Academic Affairs for AlMaghrib Institute spoke on July 4th at the ISNA convention about his belief and vision for the American Muslim community and the need for renewed ijtihad in the area of Muslim loyalties to a nation-state.
As a specialist in Islamic theology, Qadhi’s talk revolved around what he believes to be one of the most controversial topics today amongst Muslim theologians: the concept of al walaa wal baraa i.e. the issue of “where do our loyalties as Muslims living in non-Muslim western secular democracies lie.” He believes that the classical distinctions of dar ul Islam/dar ul harb are no longer viable or applicable in a world dominated by mostly secular nation-states and that a new thinking and ijtihad must be undertaken by the scholars of today to formulate a more pragmatic and realistic vision. A more extensive discussion on this issue can be found here: Divided Loyalties or Imagined Conflicts?
Qadhi criticized the Bush Doctrine of “either you are with us or against us,” which presents an incorrect and false dichotomy, particularly because America is supposed to have a “government of the people, for the people, and by the people.” A simple cursory reading of American history can serve as a useful reminder and refutation to those that believe the United States was founded as a Christian nation:
In 1790, George Washington responded to a letter from a rabbi at the first synagogue in Rhode Island by saying:
The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for giving to Mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy: a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship.
It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection, should demean themselves as good citizens.
And Washington concluded by saying:
May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.
May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness in our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy.
In light of recent events, I thought it might be timely to rerun these posts, which include some insider tips on how to ease through the airport security screening process, in sha Allah. Despite privacy concerns, I’m in favor of the backscatter imaging machines. I went through one on my way to Ilm Summit this past summer, it was quick and easy.
When I worked for the Transportation Security Administration, I never liked patting people down, neither in a full body nor in a more limited way, and I certainly do not like others to touch me or to be required to do the long dress/skirt two-step shuffle at the security checkpoint.
From the Storehouse:
Travel Tips for Everyone including Religious Minorities
and
Snakes on a Plane, Muslims off the Plane
and for comic relief
Yesterday, I was using one of our company vehicles and the orange low fuel warning light came on as soon as I started the van so I went to a gas station to fill it up. I handed the cashier a $50 bill and went to pump the gas.
When I returned for my change, the cashier counted the change, “5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9.11.” Then he looked at me with my hijab and said, “O my God, it’s 9.11, I just made change for 9.11, I can’t believe this!” He looked at me questioningly, and as I was eager to leave, I just shook my head and said, “I don’t know.”
I left and when I came to the first street light, I realized I had forgotten to get a receipt, which I would need to be reimbursed. So I went back and when I entered the store, two other attendants were standing around close to the cashier. When I asked for my receipt, the cashier said to the two other attendants, “O my God, her change was 9.11, can you believe that, 9.11, man!” This time, I said, “Look man, it wasn’t me,” and then I left.
This morning, my first post has been published over at Muslim Matters: Isolation to Integration: Befriending our America. It’s a review of talk given by Dalia Mogahed at this past summer’s ISNA/MSA convention. Check it out, in sha Allah.
Some highlights:
Research by Gallup demonstrates Muslims Americans are doing well or comparable to other faith groups in many indicators. Muslims are the most diverse religious group in the United States with African Americans comprising the largest group, although there is no clear or dominant ethnic/racial group.
Muslim American youth (18-29) are not doing well, not thriving, and are confused about thier identity and religion. This is not surprising considering the confusing and diverse views we hear bandied about and given legitimacy in segments of our communitites.
Mogahed’s ideas encompass a three-fold paradigm shift and behavioral shift toward more engagement in the wider society through multi-faith social service initiatives. The United We Serve campaign is winding down but Muslims contributed the majority of the projects, out of 3003 projects submitted, 2, 279 of these were Muslim-led initiatives.
At work recently, one of my co-workers saw the underside of my arm, which is lighter than the upperside and she was so surprised that she commented, “Ify, I never noticed your skin is so light, so precious!” and I was like “what are you talking about?” This woman is from a west African country, medium to dark black but the skin all the way around her arm is very even-toned unlike mine, which is a little darker on top than on the underside.
My social work professor is offering an extra credit opportunity, which includes watching the movie Precious and a writing our thoughts about the film. So this past Sunday, after watching the Hijabi Monologues, I went to see the film with some sisters. The film is disturbing although it has its good moments, we entered the theater laughing and left silent, each of us lost in our own thoughts, still processing what we had witnessed on the screen.
I had heard one review of Precious on the radio before going to see it and one of the commentators, a writer for the Root, an online publication mentioned that she noticed that all of the good redeeming characters in the life of Precious were light-skinned blacks or white and that the negative characters particularly her abusive parents were dark-skinned black.
Before, going to see the film, I watched the film Antwone Fisher and noticed the same thing, even though directed by an dark-skinned African American Denzel Washington and excluding his role as the psychiatrist most of the redeeming or helpful characters in Fisher’s life were light-skinned blacks. I’m also reading the book on which the film is based called Finding Fish. In the movie Antwone Fisher, the woman who sexually abused him is dark-skinned, his foster mom is medium-toned, the foster father dark-skinned, the mother that abandoned him is dark-skinned while his girlfriend and the psychiatrist’s wife that help soften him are light-skinned as well as his aunt who takes him in and introduces him to the rest of his family.
The same pattern is followed in the film Precious. Precious and her abusive parents are dark-skinned. Her father only figures for a moment and his depiction is quite animalistic and harkens back to all the stereotypes of the dark, naked, sweaty, licentious, and savage African only fit for slavery. The film’s redeeming characters, those that love and help the protagonist Precious are all white or light-skinned blacks. First her principal is a white woman, then the teacher at her new alternative school that is instrumental in her academic and personal transformation is light-skinned black, then the caring nurse is played by Lenny Kravitz, who I believe is mixed, and Mariah Carey as the social worker, who I’m not really sure what her background is, I believe she is also mixed, but am not sure if she is supposed to be white or mixed in the film. All this despite the film being produced by two relatively dark-skinned and successful blacks Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry. They are no real positive representations of dark-skinned blacks in Precious.
A study was released this week, which appears to show that an individual’s political bias even affects how one views President Obama’s skin tone. From NPR, Study: Politcal Bent Affectd How We View Skin Tone. Those that agree with the President tend to view his skin tone as lighter than those who disagree with his policies.
Even though I grew up in a small mostly white college town in upstate New York, my family is from Nigeria and so light-skinned blacks were definitely in the minority usually do to having a white parent or grandparent in their recent family history. I never saw my skin tone as odd, obviously I recognized the racial dynamics at play between whites and blacks. It was unavoidable and inescapable due to the demographics of my hometown, school, and neighborhood as well as my father being a professor of African and African American history teaching classes including Institutional Racism and Apartheid Today, which we often had recapped at the dinner table.
I never recall having a feeling that light-skinned blacks were somehow better, more beautiful or more likely to succeed. But I wonder how even a cursory study of the images in popular media without having strong images and role-models or even a critical mind to counteract the constant stream of “light is better” messages affects individuals and the society, which produces them. Obama may be in the Oval Office but the insidiousness continues to lurk in the hearts and minds.
For those of you who missed the show last weekend, there is streaming video available on the Kennedy Center website. The performance lasts about one hour. I arrived two hours early with some friends to get a good seat because I remember at an performance earlier this year, people were turned away because the restaurant was at capacity. We were the first ones there, prayed maghrib outside of the Kennedy Center with some others, and got seats in the first row of unreserved seats just behind Dalia Mogahed and Imam Johari AbdulMalik.
Sahar Ullah the creator and main writer for the performance explains in her opening that the Hijabi Monolgoues is:
“The inverse of Eve Ensler’s the Vagina Monlogues. Where Ensler takes something private and personfies it by giving it a voice and puts it in your figurative faces, we’ve taken something (headscarf) public, something everyone seems to have an opinion about and push it out of your figurative faces by giving the entire woman a voice.”
The performance includes several short dramatic stories and skits including the arrest of Sami al-Arian written from the perspective of his daughter Leena al-Arian, Ullah’s first college football game experience, the death of son told from the mother’s perspective, a ten things about me list, girls kicking it and making fun of the many ways Muslim and non-Muslim guys try to hit on you, public school experiences, and a story of love, sex, and an unwanted pregnancy.
The story of Leena al-Arian watching FBI agents ransack her home and arrest her father was emotional and powerful. The University of Miami/Florida State football game, ten things about me, and sisters’ chatting was funny. The play definitely reflects a more liberal sensibility, which is a reflection of the writers. The casting was diverse in terms of backgrounds including Southeast Asian, Arab, and African American Muslim women. I know some sisters felt there could have been a more inclusive presentation with more conservative voices and stories to balance the more liberal ones but I say to those wishing for their own experience to be reflected to write a story and be willing to present it. It’s far too easy to sit back and complain, get up and make a more conservative version, maybe call it the Niqabi Monologues.
Kamilah Pickett, in her ten things about me story mentioned as number ten that she often felt as though she was not living up to someone else’s vision of her. Not Muslim or demure enough for Muslims and not liberal enough for non-Muslims. She left us with an interesting quote, that her hijab is a “piece of cloth not a magic wand.” I loved that quote because it is so true. Many people focus on the outward when it comes to Muslim women, if she has hijab on, it’s all good and if not then something is thought to be wrong. But for many women hijab/niqab is only a piece of cloth, it has little or no bearing on how an individual woman lives her life. For others, hijab is a way of life, a way of being, so much more than a piece of cloth, emcompassing not only a manner of dress but an attitude, an outlook on life, and an integral part of her self-identity and religious obeservance.
When I converted to Islam, it took me some time, I’m not exactly sure how long, before I began observing hijab. In my pre-Islam days, I test-drove a few styles of hijab and fabrics and even after my Islam, I continued to experiment with styles and levels of hijab. I did as in most things pretty intensive study of hijab, the arguments for and against, from classical and modern sources and spoke to sisters. Read more
The best and most eloquent and well-researched reponse from a Muslim that I have seen surrounding the events at Fort Hood.
Imam Zaid Shakir: Responding to the Fort Hood Tragedy
I missed the last performance of the Hijabi Monologues in DC, this past January, due to obligations at work but in sha Allah, intend to be there this Sunday. I know two of the sisters performing and hope to write up a review afterward, in sha Allah.
Come early, the performance is free, seating available on a first-come, first-served basis.
From the Storehouse: The Hijabi Monologues
