Kareem Salama

Kareem Salama is a talented Muslim country music singer if you've heard such thing. Originally from Oklahoma, his parents were from Egypt. Kareem Salama is quiet well known in the Muslim communities. I am hoping he will receive more exposure so the general public can enjoy his music. Enjoy some of our family favorites below.

Who Speaks for Islam

Dalia Mogahed and Reza Aslan interview on link TV were excellent. Check it out. The interview was based on the book that Dalia co-authored with John Esposito, "What One Billion Muslims Really Think". I think the voices of moderate Muslims are starting to get heard a little louder. Despite major networks doing the same old thing. Here is the link to the full interview http://www.linktv.org/wsfi. Both were very articulate and balance in presenting their views and the views of many other Muslims.

Here is a part of the interview.




The full interview.




Here is an interview with Reza Aslan on Islamic Identity in the US . He is excellent at putting things in perspective, making sense of complex issues that are otherwise difficult to understand and offering a different take on things.




Asma Afsaruddin is less well known but nevertheless has done a large amount of work that Muslims in the US should be proud of. She is currently a professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. A transcript of an interview link below.
http://www.thatreligiousstudieswebsite.com/Religious_Studies/World_Faith/Islam/asma_afsaruddin_part1.php

There are of course other excellent scholars and activists who also speak for the moderate voice of Islam. I'll try to feature them as well in the near future.

Koran Verses Appear Mysteriously on Infant's Body

This is giving me goose bumps. And the ABCnews network pick up the news. Some thinks it is a hoax. But with this much publicity is it still possible to pull something like this? Pictures in the video show very clearly the verses which were written beautifully.

From ABCnews:
Thousands of Muslim pilgrims are flocking to the home of a 9-month-old boy in Russia's southern republic of Dagestan to see the verses from the Koran that seem to appear and fade on his body every few days.

A pilgrim shows off the leg of baby Ali Yakubov at his house in Kizlyar in Russia's Dagestan Region,...
A pilgrim shows off the leg of baby Ali Yakubov at his house in Kizlyar in Russia's Dagestan Region, October 19, 2009. A "miracle" baby has brought a kind of mystical hope to people in Russia's mostly Muslim southern fringe who are increasingly desperate in the face of Islamist violence. From hunchbacked grandmas to schoolboys, hundreds of pilgrims lined up this week in blazing sunshine to get a glimpse of 9-month-old baby Ali Yakubov, on whose body they say verses from the Koran appear and fade every few days. Picture taken October 19, 2009. (Amir Amirov/Reuters)
Religious leaders in Dagestan say the verse "Be thankful or grateful to God" appeared on Ali Yakubov's right leg in Arabic script earlier this week, according to Reuters. By the time foreign journalists had arrived, the verse had faded to a single letter.
In photos, the words look like pink birthmarks a few inches high. Ali's parents told reporters at first they thought it was in fact a birthmark or a skin irritation but doctors couldn't explain it. The lettering appears on different parts of his body and shortly before a new set is about to appear, his parents say, the boy's temperature spikes to about 105 degrees.


This http://www.weirdasianews.com/2008/10/03/womans-paper-skin-walking-notepad/ talked about a medical condition called Artificial Urticaria where you can literally write on the skin and it'll appears like welts and disappears after a while.

And this blog has more pictures http://strawberryanarchy.blogspot.com/2009/09/artificial-urticaria-notepad-skin.html. So could it be possible that the baby has the same medical condition?

Howard Gardner, multiple intelligences and education

"I want my children to understand the world, but not just because the world is fascinating and the human mind is curious. I want them to understand it so that they will be positioned to make it a better place. Knowledge is not the same as morality, but we need to understand if we are to avoid past mistakes and move in productive directions. An important part of that understanding is knowing who we are and what we can do... Ultimately, we must synthesize our understandings for ourselves. The performance of understanding that try matters are the ones we carry out as human beings in an imperfect world which we can affect for good or for ill." (Howard Gardner 1999: 180-181)

To me morality is very important although in the world today morality is a subjective and a relative thing more so than before. And just as religion means different thing to different people, morality is important to understand in order for us to have a more harmonious world. Separate isolationists and elitists world does not work anymore. We are a living in a village where everyone is in close proximity wheather we like it or not. Although far separated geographically our individual impact is far reaching. Therefore the need to understand each other and what each other is thinking is essential for better relations and cooperations.

Cherien Dabis

Cherien Dabis was invited to speak at the annual ISNA (Islamic Society of North America) convention this year. She shared some of her life experiences growing up in the midwest and on the making of the movies itself.

I find this interview very interesting besides her being obviously intelligent, graceful and charming. Many good questions and some very interesting points were raised about the movie as well. and I like/agree with many of the answers she gave. By the way please ignore the noisy ships in the background.

Amreeka

Interesting movie by an Arab American director/producer, Cherien Dabis, a christian Arab American with (Jordanian/Palestinian) parents who imigrated to the US right before she was born. The name is pronouned Shereen but spelled Cherien in French. The movie chronicles the live of a Palestinian women of non religious Christian background immigrating to the US from the occupied territory of the West Bank; I am mentioning her religion so some Muslims will not be confused. Many Muslims also still think that all Arabs are muslims not just the nonMuslims thinking this way by the way.

A part of an interview with Cherien;





And here is the trailer;





It is just too funny (if you familiar with the culture), warm and tender. I love it just through watching the trailer. It has successfully portray Palestinian Arab families and the culture very well. As well as capturing the hardship of new immigrant adjusting to a new life in an unfamiliar environment. By the way the actress who play the mother and the boy who play the son are both Palestinian who have lived in the West Bank. Job well done to the producer. There are many reviews on this movie if you search the internet. Many have lots of good things to say, out of fifteen reviews I would say maybe two will have nothing much to say about it. I personally can't wait to see it. The movie is rated PG13 due to language and some drug use.

My birthday

It was my birthday a few days ago. Got wonderful gifts from kids and hubby. A nice lunch at The Journey, flowers, chocolate and two beautiful cards. Thank you guys...... Lunch was really really nice (who wouldn't enjoy a chocolate fountain?), pink and white roses were beautiful, feraro roche (sp?) were yummy as usual, cards were special. Could not ask for a better day and gifts. I am truly blessed. Alhamdulillah.

Ok now ..... who is next?

Bola sepak

Semalam ada dua game. Satu game utk tentukan tempat kedua dan ketiga. Satu lagi utk yg ketiga dan keempat. Kemenangan game pertama itulah yg sangat 2diharapkan. Anakku yg sorang ni nak menang sangat. Dah empat tahun main bola dengan kelab disini. Dah tenguk seaneka game kat TV. Dah berlatih macam2 trick. Dah besungguh2 berlatih kat belakang rumah. Bercita-cita tinggi bila dah besar nak main dgn kelab kat europe. Aduhai anakku..... Semuga cita2 mu tercapai.

Dah la temperature sejuk. Dekat nak paras beku. Yg dia.... tak sejuk mama. Panas lagi berpeluh katanya. Pakaikan baju panas dibawah jersey, ditolak lengan baju kesiku.... lengan baju ganggu konsentrasi. Muka serius je. Game bermula. Badan budak2 team yg satu lagi, kus semangat, besar ya amat. Team anak aku badan chekeding semuanya. Kena langgar dgn budak2 badan besar melayang.

Lepas dua gol baru team anak aku dapat gol pertama. Masih tak give up bersungguh depa main. Kesian pulak aku tengok. Dah la sejuk nak mati, nak bergerak pun susah. Tapi masih main bersungguh-sungguh sebab nak menang sangat2. Lepas tu other team dapat gol lagi satu. Aku dah tak larat nak tengok. Parents lain masih bagi kata perangsang dari sideline. Yg bagus nye parents dari team yg dah nak menang ni pun bagi kata2 perangsang kat team anak aku. Anak aku masa coach ganti dgn pemain lain, duduk kat bench menangis, tapi tak obvious sangat la, dah tak boleh tahan air mata dia meleleh, sian aku tengok. Dua2 coach dtg pujuk.

Team anak aku dapat satu lagi gol. Bila dah nak habis team satu lagi dpt satu lagi gol. Penat aku yg tengok itu belum main lagi. Adui..... lepas habis game, kami pegi makan, sepanjang perjalanan dalam kerete pot pet pot pet pujuk anak supaya belajar menghadapi kekalahan. Setiap permainan mesti ada yg kalah dan yg menang. Problem nye team dia sepanjang season ni tak pernah kalah. Coach pulak sangat percaya dgn kebolehan dia. Itu yg dia rasa keciwa sangat.

Anakku sayang, masa depan dan hidup ini akan menjanjikan cubaan, kekalahan dan kemenangan yg lebih hebat. Harapan ibu kau akan tabah mengharungi segalanya. Aku tanya dia, dengar tak mama terjerit-jerit kat sideline tadi. Dia kata dia fokus pada bola je, I thought it was all silent, katanya. He was in 'the zone'.

The Muslims Are Coming 2

I guess this is what Dean Obeidallah article refered to yesterday. See below.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/10/15/investigation/

Don't miss the 400 some comments at the end of the article. Ahhhh the beauty of freedom of speech. Muslim dominant countries should certainly learn from this.

Friday Prayer

The mosque in town has decided to hold a second sembahyang Jumaat at 3:30 for high school students in the area that attend public schools. Public schools generally end at 2:50 and the usual Friday prayer is held at 1:15. Often times these students hold their own Friday prayer at school in their own small congregation or had to miss some classes in order to go to the masjid. Either way they have to deal with explaining things to their teachers and the school administrators. So this is a good move from the masjid administration. The khutbah/sermon will be all in English. Regular Friday prayer sermon starts with Arabic and then translated to English and depending on who is available that week the quality of the translation varies. In all the prayer ended at about 2:15. Prayer with English only sermon will certainly be shorter. My kids are excited. Anything that can take them out of their seat at school however short the period is, is generously welcome! Although this arrangement is intended for high schoolers I would imagine many parents with younger children in junior high, middle and elementary schools will take advantage of this.

Mo Amer

This guy is really good too. My kids fell of the chair laughing at many of his jokes in Allah Made Me Funny video. They can totally relate.

Swine Flu on the rampage

So far the public schools in our district have high absentee rate, up to 20% in extreme cases. CDC Center of Disease Control advice schools to inform parents when absentee rates get this high. Also possibly close the school when it gets higher. Hospitals restrict patients visit to adults 18 and above only. No children except to certain parts of the hospitals.

The Muslims Are Coming!

This is hilarious!!!!! And don't miss the movie clip at the bottom..... very American.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dean-obeidallah/the-muslims-are-coming_b_321764.html

Dean Obeidallah is a comedian that a whole family can enjoy, clean yet funny. There are a few of his clips on You Tube doing stand up comic.




He was also a guest on The View.

Al_Aqsa Besieged

Does anyone knows about this http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1254573453665&pagename=Zone-English-Muslim_Affairs/MAELayout ? Sounding pretty urgent don't you think?

Poet Daughter

Just like to share daughter latest accomplishment as a poet.
http://www.peevishpenmancontactus.blogspot.com/ This site reprinted two of her poems, one on each side.
http://www.muslimamericangirls.com/09_10oct.html This site published her poem for the second time now. All the way at the bottom.

macam-macam

Four-year-old neighbor's son told my kids not to come close to him because he was sick with ----something. My youngest son ran into the house and told me W has amnesia! I asked him if he was really sure thats the disease W had. He said yes and widen his already big eyes as if I am the one with amnesia.

Son number two came into the house and announced to me that W has ammonia and half of his lung is full of water! Okaaay....I can sure smell ammonia in the air at this rate of weirdness that I have encounter!!!!!!!

Finally tween daughter came in and nonchalantly announced to the whole house that W has pneumonia. That sounds more like it.

Son number two is not feeling to well today. His team is in the soccer tournament this week and in the morning temperature can dip into the the 40s and 50s F. Plus it is not helpful when someone thinks that wearing a long sleeve shirt under the soccer jersey is not cool...... eeeemmmm

Send him to Sunday school anyways........ an hour later receive call from school asking to pick the sick son up because he is sick. He is now blissfully resting, while watching his favorite European soccer tournament on TV.

Perfect Guacamole

This is an excellent recipe for guacamole! Try it. This recipe is from this website: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_guacamole/

Perfect Guacamole Recipe

Ingredients
2 ripe avocados
1/2 red onion, minced (about 1/2 cup)
1-2 serrano chiles, stems and seeds removed, minced
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of fresh lime or lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
A dash of freshly grated black pepper
1/2 ripe tomato, seeds and pulp removed, chopped
Garnish with red radishes or jicama. Serve with tortilla chips.
Method
1 Cut avocados in half. Remove seed. Scoop out avacado from the peel, put in a mixing bowl. (See How to Cut and Peel an Avocado.)
2 Using a fork, mash the avocado. Add the chopped onion, cilantro, lime or lemon, salt and pepper and mash some more. Chili peppers vary individually in their hotness. So, start with a half of one chili pepper and add to the guacamole to your desired degree of hotness. Be careful handling the peppers; wash your hands thoroughly after handling and do not touch your eyes or the area near your eyes with your hands for several hours.
Keep the tomatoes separate until ready to serve.
Remember that much of this is done to taste because of the variability in the fresh ingredients. Start with this recipe and adjust to your taste.
3 Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to prevent oxidation from the air reaching it. Refrigerate until ready.
4 Just before serving, add the chopped tomato to the guacamole and mix.
Serves 2-4.
Variations
For a very quick "guac" just take a 1/4 cup of salsa and mix it in with your mashed avocados.
You don't need to have tomatoes in your guacamole.
To extend a limited supply of avocados, add either sour cream or cottage cheese to your guacamole dip. Purists may be horrified, but so what? It tastes great. In fact, guac with some cottage cheese added to it is my favorite.