Muslim Apple

Yesterday, in my math class, sitting one seat away from me at the end of the row was another student attentively taking notes on logarithms, preparing for our final exams. Our professor asked him why he hadn’t been in class recently and he said that he had been away on army business.

Professor: Have you been to Iraq?

Student: Yes, and I have to go back. I don’t want to go back.

Professor: Did you kill people over there?

Student: Quietly, almost like a whisper under his breath he said, “yeah” and nodded his head.

Professor: That’s terrible. If you don’t want to go back, I’ll take you to Africa. They won’t find you over there.

Student: They’ll find me.

This is just about as close as I get to the war in Iraq. Other than the Iraqis I know here in the US that are worried about their loved ones over there, and my time at the airport when we used to see military men and women shipping out and some coming home in small boxes and urns, the war doesn’t affect me on a day-to-day basis except that I know that the lives and money spent over there could be put to better use over here or elsewhere around the world.

Last Tuesday, I received a citation from a Prince George’s County police officer for “following too closely”, which I think is one of the more bogus citations a person can receive especially if there no was resulting accident because clearly the vehicles were both able to maneuver and operate safely.

I was on my way to class, behind the police officer for a while on Powder Mill Road for those of you familiar with my section of Maryland. There was a farm tractor on the road, moving slowly of course, and I wanted to pass it but didn’t feel comfortable because that would have meant that I would have had to pass both the cop and the tractor and I’m sure the cop could have found some other excuse to pull me over. So a back up of cars formed behind the tractor, the cop, and I, as no one was willing to try to pass the cop.

Then we moved onto 197 (another roadway) still behind the cop, going slower than the usual rate of speed for the road. At the flashing red light, left turn onto the campus, the cop stopped for an exceptionally long time before proceeding and then I stopped and pulled into campus. Then he pulled me over.

Cop: “You seem to be in quite a hurry this morning.

Silently, thinking to myself, “Yeah, I was trying to be on time for my class at 9:30″.

Cop: Is there any reason why you were pushing me down the road?

Me: I was not pushing you down the road.

Cop: You didn’t stop at the flashing red light.

Me: Yes, I did stop.

Cop: No, I stopped and you stopped behind me and then I went and you went as well.

Me: No I stopped behind you, and again after you went. Read more »

In light of all the invitations that I have received lately to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam, I thought it would be a good time to reprise the I Don’t Get Mawlid & Hadra series of posts. I don’t participate in these sort of events but I’m not going to knock those who do, there is a difference of opinion, and Allah knows best. I’ve always liked the quote by Maya Angelou that we are more alike than unlike, indeed.

And just so I’m not asked for the third time to delete this video, this mawlid celebration has nothing to do with the RIS Convention. It was a completely private affair between the individuals that took part.

From the Storehouse:

Mawlid & Hadra - I Don’t Get It

Shaykh Abdullah bin Bayyah on Mawlid

Deleted non-RIS Mawlid video

I was in court again this morning, for a “failure to yield right of way on left turn” traffic citation, which stems from my car accident earlier this year.

I pleaded not guilty as usual. The police officer was present but neither the driver of the other vehicle nor the witnesses to the accident were present so the case was dismissed because the state could not present any evidence to counter my claim.

The driver of the white truck that hit my car, has retained a lawyer, rejected the offer of compensation from my insurance company, and is claiming continuing soft tissue injuries and ongoing medical treatment, which may result in another courtroom appearance and trial from accident.

From the Storehouse:

Muslim Apple Slightly Concussed

No More Carpooling in This

Case Dismissed

We spent two and a half weeks in the Seattle, Washington area this summer. The weather and geography were gorgeous and just perfect for hijabis. The sky is a marvelous blue, much bluer than anything we have here in Maryland. At night the low temperatures were in the 50’s and during the day, the highs were in the 70’s.

Cruising up and down the highway there is the Olympic mountain range with its crown jewel, the majestic 14,000 foot snow covered peak of Mount Rainier, and the Cascade mountain range on the other side. Beneath you are the many lakes from Lake Washington to Lake Union to the ferries on Puget Sound and so many fantastic parks with amazing greenery. A bit farther out on the Olympic peninsula lies the great logging roads, tree farms and huge swaths of clear-cut trees, rainforest, hiking trails, and the beaches on the Pacific Ocean.

I’ve been up and down the East Coast and as far west as Chicago but the beauty of the landscape in the state of Washington has no equal in my limited experience traveling through the States.

While we were in the Seattle area, we went masjid-hopping to get a feel of the flavor of the Muslim community and I came away with a feeling of thankfulness for living in the DC metro area where the community is diverse, vibrant, and we are mostly spoiled for choice in choosing which masjid to frequent.

The first week, we went to jumuah at a masjid with a minaret. The parking situation was almost non-existent so we parked a couple blocks up on the side of the road and walked back to the masjid. Read more »

I went to minor traffic court yesterday to plead my case for what I considered an unfair parking ticket.

I live close to Al Huda School in College Park and to the Greenbelt Metro Station and so there is restricted parking on most of the streets in the area and there are small signs posted to that effect. The signs at one end of the street differ from the signs as you get closer to the Metro and the restricted timings vary at either end of the street.

So on the day we went to sign the lease, we parked our cars and decided to go together in one car to the leasing agent’s office. While we were there the leasing agent told us that in order to park in front of the house we would need to take our copy of the lease to the parking permit office to obtain the parking permits for our cars.

After signing the lease, we got home and there was a ticket on my car. Read more »

A few weeks ago, my office had a blood donation drive in the conference room. I did not sign up due to concerns over privacy, I was not too excited at the prospect of rolling my sleeve up and laying on one of those medical chairs during the process while my co-workers both male and female walked in and out of the conference room.

As I was discreetly trying to make my way out of the office that Friday, some of my colleagues flagged me down and a bit reluctantly, I offered to participate in the blood drive.

I filled out the required paperwork and then a nurse came over to ask me some questions, some were rather generic like height and weight (one of my coworkers, a former nun was disqualified for being underweight i.e. less than 110 pounds), and another colleague was disqualified for having had a major dental procedure in the last three days.

I was asked about my past travel experience, it’s a good thing that I did not travel to Nigeria last year with my family for my grandmother’s funeral or I would have been disqualified, traveling to West Africa or some other areas around the world in the previous 12 months are grounds for automatic disqualification. Read more »

by laypeople for laypeople.

Mother’s Day:

A few weeks ago, I was in a medical office and several of the staff members working there happened to be Muslim women. None of them covered and most of them were dressed in medical scrubs. They said salaam to me and I returned their salaams. Then as I sat in the waiting room, one of the Muslim staff came and sat down next to me. She asked me if we as Muslims celebrate Mother’s Day because she had been told that we were not supposed to celebrate the holiday.

I said, that I do not celebrate the holiday myself but that there is a difference of opinion. I follow the opinion that we have two eids and that is sufficient for me and I leave off all other holidays. Then the sister mentioned that some people say it is ok because they do not consider it a religious holiday and others believe that it has religious connotations. I agreed and said that there is no real significance attached to that day in our religion and that we should honor and be good to our mothers everyday. She agreed and went back to work.

Shaking Hands with Opposite Gender:

One of my co-workers came to work with her out-of-work former pastor and introduced him to us. He went around greeting everyone and shaking their hands. I kind of just hung out in the background working and keeping busy. Then he came up to me and asked me my name. I told him and then he offered his hand and I told him that I do not shake hands with men.

My colleague that came with her former pastor then came up to us and said, “You don’t shake hands because of your religion?” and I said yes. Then the pastor asked, which verse in the Quran mentions that? And I said, it’s not in the Quran, it’s a hadeeth. The pastor replied, oh a hadeeth and as he walked away said under his breath no rather I think it’s your husband. And I offered that I was not married. Read more »

I don’t know if my concussion yesterday was slight, mild, or severe but I just like the way “slightly concussed” sounds and where else except on my blog would I get to use the term.

I went to Jiffy Lube to have one the bulbs in my car’s headlight replaced and then I left to go home. I had to make a U-turn on the main street to go in the direction I wanted, I remember getting into the left-turn lane and then darkness.

I woke up and although my eyes were closed I could hear voices and the scissors as they cut off my jilbab. Then more darkness. Later, a police officer came to hand me my paperwork from the accident. He said that the other driver said he hit me while I was making the U-turn and that pushed my car up an embankment and into a light pole.

The police brought me my bag but said they did not see my glasses or my cell phone. My mother came to pick me up and then as we drove to the place where they towed my car we passed by the scene of the accident and we saw my blue bumper on the ground next to the light pole. The towing place was closed so we’ll try again this morning in sha Allah. I mainly want my cell phone, glasses, Quran and Fiqh of Love CD set.

The doctor at the hospital wrote me three prescriptions, two for pain and one muscle relaxer. Alhamdulillah, I’m alive and nothing is broken except for my car. And I have more than 180 hours sick leave that I almost never use so I intend in sha Allah to use at least 80 of them over the next two weeks.

Any and all duas are appreciated.

أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ

Has not the time come for the hearts of those who believe to be affected by Allah’s Reminder?

[al-Hadeed : 16]

Shaykh Waleed Basyouni was in town these last two weekends teaching AlMaghrib Institute’s Rays of Faith seminar. I do not know of any other Islamic learning experience as innovative or engaging and jam packed with beneficial knowledge and access to students of knowledge than the double weekend seminar system pioneered by Muhammad Alshareef through AlMaghrib Institute.

Shaykh Waleed Basyouni shared with us many memorable anecdotes including the following one paraphrased below:

He once asked a Muslim woman why she didn’t observe hijab and she replied that Allah had not yet guided her to wear it and when Allah guided her that she would wear it. The shaykh then recited the ayat of hijab from the Quran to her and said this is the guidance of Allah about the issue. The woman than said that’s all well and good but I still don’t have a hijab on my head so Allah has not yet guided me.

So the shaykh offered to walk with her to buy a hijab and she refused saying that she had not yet been guided. Shaykh Waleed then said, if we step outside the masjid and you get struck by lightning or hit by a car before we reach the hijab store then I will know that Allah did not want or give you the hidayah al-tawfeeq (guidance to implement or ability) to wear hijab. But right now the only thing holding you back is yourself so don’t say that Allah hasn’t guided you just admit that you have heard the guidance and you have refused out of your own free will. Read more »