Naeem's Blog

I was going through some old pictures from the past few years in Saudi and I ran across some from a road trip to UAE.

The drive from Riyadh to UAE used to go through Dammam (straight East to Dammam and then shoot South to get to the UAE border). But recently, they built a nice two lane road straight from Riyadh to the border. The only problem with the road is the intense shifting sands typical of the desert, but problematic when you're driving through it.

So I wasn't surprised when I saw the first major sand dune in the middle of the road:

Note the dot in the middle of the picture. That's an oncoming truck. When confronted with such a sand shift, we'd simply have to wait for any oncoming traffic and then drive around the pile of sand.

But what was interesting was the various tactics used to battle the extreme desert winds. Here is a picture of a front-loader being used to push the sand off the roadway. It really amused us as we were used to seeing such equipment employed for clearing out snow back in the US:



(Speaking of which, the parallel between sand and snow is very striking. For example, a snow blizzard and a sand storm are equally blinding. Also, the phenomenon of the shifting sands taking over the desert highways is similar to what happens in upstate NY (and other northern regions) where a strong wind following a heavy snowfall results in 'snow dunes' appearing on recently-cleared roads.)

Another fascinating approach to controlling the rolling sands was to pour tar onto the dunes, thereby solidifying them:



And of course, no road trip in KSA would be complete without the ever-present camel. Thankfully the major cross-country highways (Riyadh-Jeddah, Riyadh-Dammam) are fenced off and the once-serious concern of smacking into a camel has been eliminated. But since this road to the UAE border is fairly new and seldom used, the fences haven't been placed, thereby allowing us the pleasure of meeting Mr. Camel up-close:

The other day, Humza threw a fit and barked out ‘I don’t love you!’ Its not the first time he’s said that nor do I guess it to be the last. In fact, it’s pretty typical of children to say such words in times of stress and anger. But it got me thinking.

While children may blurt out those words without meaning it, what if a mature loved one were to say those same words? That would be mind-boggling and absolutely heart-breaking.

For example, even during the most tense of times, my wife has never expressed such a feeling. The worst she’ll do, in the aftermaths of an argument when I try to cajole her, is refuse to say ‘I love you’. But she’ll never go so far as to say ‘I do NOT love you.’

Those are two very different sentiments.

The negation of one’s love is so much more powerful than its affirmation. Its like the Shahada which centers on the forceful negation of any other deity. The negation is a conscious act of rejection, a deliberate act requiring effort, a violent act dispensing with the status quo, an act of choosing nothing over something.

[Of course, the beauty of the Shahada is that once you choose nothing (there is NO God), it is completed with the most perfect of affirmations (except Allah).]

Relationships may become stale and lifeless, but most partners will continue to express their love for each other. But only when a catastrophic event occurs (infidelity) or the build-up of a long negative trend (abuse), will one side be emotionally charged enough to declare ‘I do NOT love you.’

That being said, let us contemplate on the instances where Allah (swt), the most Loving, has gone against His very own loving nature, and has pronounced to the universe whom He does NOT love. What has caused Him to utter such strong condemnations?

Allah does not love the transgressors (2:190, 5:87, 7:55)
Allah does not love the ungrateful, wicked one (kaffar, atheem) (2:276)
Allah does not love the disbelievers (3:32, 30:45)
Allah does not love the oppressors (3:57, 3:140, 42:40)
Allah does not love the one given to treachery and depravity (khawwaan, atheem) (4:107)
Allah does not love those who squander, waste (7:31)
Allah does not love the treacherous, deceitful (khaa-ineen) (8:58)
Allah does not love the arrogant (16:23)
Allah does not love the one given to treachery and ingratitude (khawaan, kafoor) (22:38)
Allah does not love those who exult in their riches (referring to Qarun and the like) (28:76)
Allah does not love those who spread mischief (28:77)
Allah does not love the arrogant boaster (31:18, 57:23)

Let us ponder and reflect. Let us hope and pray. Let us dread and fear ever falling into the category of those whom Allah does NOT love.

I find all the above to be referring to characteristics that have become ingrained in the person, not just one time occurrences - in much the same way that Allah’s love is unique to those who have embodied certain positive characteristics.

(BTW, I found it interesting that the trait of treachery and deceit (kha-in, khawwan) was mentioned three times, on par with more well known offenses such as transgression, oppression, and disbelief.)

Here is a tale of a child raised by his widowed mother in the time of the great Hasan al-Basri. She was a pious, devout Muslim who would regularly attend Imam Hasan’s Quran dars. She valiantly tried to raise her son on the correct path, but unfortunately when he reached the age of adulthood, he gained control of his inheritance and fell in with the wrong crowd.

With seemingly limitless funds at his disposal, he sinned his youth away.

And all throughout, his mother, a devout servant of Allah (swt), would constantly implore him to return to the right path. But he constantly refused, choosing instead to follow his nafsi whims and desires. Many times she brought him to Hasan al-Basri, who would calmly and politely admonish him, but to no avail. Even the words of the great Imam could not bring about the desired affect.

Years passed and Imam Hasan grew to tire of his wayward shenanigans and resolved that maybe Allah (swt) had simply not written for the boy to be guided. Yet, the mother remained steadfast, as only a mother could, in her wishes to reform her one and only child. Every morning, when he would return from his nights of mischief, she would call on him to make amends with his Creator and return to the path of righteousness.

As he got older and due to the effect of his foolhardy ways, sickness befell him and he became bedridden. Having squandered his wealth, seeing the weakness of his once sturdy body, and with death lingering around the corner, only then did he realize the error of his ways.

His unrelenting mother was by his bed, reminding him that it was never too late to repent. Even though his worldly life was wasted, he still had the chance to salvage his afterlife with sincere atonement, she repeated to him.

Sensing his mortality, his heart finally softened and he responded with a query, “After a life of sin, I don't know how to repent. Can we go to Imam Hasan?”

Sensing a bit of hope, she excitedly replied, “My dear son, you are too sick to walk and I am too old to carry you, but I will rush and beckon him to come here.”

When she reached him and requested his company with her son, he remembered the countless failed efforts and quickly wrote him off, “My dear sister, I have the Quran lesson for which I must prepare. Over a thousand students will come and I owe it to them to properly present my lesson. Besides, your son has consistently ignored my advise, rejected any efforts to reform and basically rejected the message of Islam so many times that I fear he is beyond assistance.

“Should I not spend my time for those who are coming to seek the knowledge, who have shown a keen interest, who are trying to please their Lord? I’m sorry but at this time, I really cannot make it.”

Dejectedly, she quietly whispered to him, “Then at least when the angel of death visits him, can you come to our home and lead the Janaza prayer over him?"

He sharply rebuked her, "Throughout his entire life, I have never seen your son pray a single prayer, fast a single day, attend a single Juma’a. I fear that he has left the ranks of the Muslim and thus, I am sad to say that praying over him would not be permitted."

With a broken heart, she returned home to inform her dying son of the tragic response by Hasan al-Basri. Upon hearing that even the great Imam Hasan refused to pray the Janaza over him, he burst into tears and made his dying wishes, "Oh my mother, I have lived a life of shameless sin and indulgence. I have wronged everyone that I have known. I have disappointed you and I have disappointed my Lord. So please, when I die please do not bury me in the company of Muslims, for I fear that they will be undeservedly disturbed by my cries of pain and misery."

And with his weeping mother by his bedside, he continued, "And before you bury me, please take my corpse, tie it to the wild dogs on the street, and let it be dragged through the streets where my final fate in this life will match my eternal fate in the hereafter."

With that he breathed his last breath.

And at that same moment, a knock came on the door. Startled, the grieving mother got up to answer it and found Hasan al-Basri standing there. He explained, "As I was preparing my lesson, I fell asleep and it was then that I heard a voice say ‘Oh Hasan, what kind of wali are you of Mine, that you have refused to pray the Janaza over another wali of Mine?’"

I updated my blogroll to reflect some interesting blogs I've come across:

Umm Yasmin
UberPost Blog
The Great Theft (Charles's Blog)
JDsg's Blog

And I also added a new section for Saudi Bloggers. Enjoy!

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Here's a hilarious cartoon (originally printed in South Korea):

It was only after I stopped laughing that I realized the subtle racist implications, namely the stupidity of the black character versus the ingenuity of the two white guys. Did anyone else pick up on that?

And was the oriental partner aware of the smarter solution (thus revealing his own hidden racism) or was he simply as foolish as the black man?

Or am I simply over-analyzing this cartoon?

(h/t Neatorama)

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Finally, here is an interesting personality experiment. Look at the twirling lady below and see which way she's turning:



Basically, if you see her turning clockwise, you're a genius with a bright future. But if you think she's turning counter-clockwise, you're a failure doomed to be a loser for the rest of your life.

Guess which way I saw her turning? :-)

Seriously, here is what the experiment tells us:

If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa.

Most of us would see the dancer turning anti-clockwise though you can try to focus and change the direction.

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS (Counter-Clockwise)
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS (Clockwise)
uses feeling
"big picture" oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images
present and future
philosophy & religion
can "get it" (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking


(h/t to Umm Yasmin)

Br. Charles over at his thought-provoking blog, The Great Theft, has brought up a very relevant issue for American Muslims (AM). In the second half of this post (which I will rag on him for making too long...trust me bro, people (meaning me) have very short attention spans...), he addresses several important points, the most important being the way we Muslims approach socio-political issues in America.

He calls for us to decouple the unnecessary appellation of ‘Muslim’ whenever addressing issues that affect our everyday lives. He takes us to task for voicing our opinions only on domestic matters that affect our Muslim identity (education, financing, war on terror, civil rights, outreach) while divorcing ourselves from issues that affect our American identity (healthcare, economy, social security, gentrification, crime, environment).

Now I’ll acknowledge that we are progressing away from this narrow way of thinking. It’s safe to say that the AM community has matured from its original stance (embodied by the immigrants of the 60’s and 70’s who never felt at home in America) where the only concern was with overseas Muslim issues. I do believe that the current generation understands (contrary to what Charles, Tariq, and others may claim) that Palestine and other foreign policy issues are not the sole issues of concern for the AM community.

That being said, the AM community has a long ways to go and Charles has introduced a most essential concern to the discussion – the misguided need to appropriate every issue into a Muslim issue:

“It has become quite clear to me that Muslims, specifically American Muslims, have attempted to sculpt and take ownership of a concrete set of issues, thus naming them 'Muslim issues', and subsequently garner support on those issues from all Muslims but in doing this they alienate the support of non-Muslims.”

While we can continue expending our energies towards developing our local Muslim communities, we must also incorporate other wider social issues such as education, parenting, crime, drug usage, abstinence, unemployment, and so on. Our participation in addressing these societal issues does not require for them to be ‘Muslim’ concerns. They are American issues and as American Muslims, we need to step up and take an active role.

The narrow mindset that one is lesser of a Muslim for volunteering at the county school board or a public shelter for abused women than with the masjid Dawah committee or Muslim youth group needs to be replaced with a more inclusive thinking that allows us to see all these acts as sincere forms of worship.

And let me be clear that taking the ‘Muslim’ out of our socio-political discourse does not require that we take the Islam out of it.

A commenter politely chided me in a recent post, asking how I am any different from the whiny complaining Ummah that I chose to whine and complain about. He asked how I would address this problem and so I felt it worthy to respond with what I thought would be an ideal approach.

In this blog, I have purposely avoided preaching absolute solutions to our problems as I believe such recourse would oversimplify the complex issues – for simple solutions to complex problems reflect a gross misunderstanding of the problem.

I'm not convinced that there is any single perfect solution or movement or ideology. Although I may have chosen a path I believe is most optimal to pleasing Allah (swt) and realizing the purpose of Islam, I'm not arrogant enough to believe that it is THE path.

Therefore, my sincere advice to anyone and everyone who is willing to listen is to educate yourself, formulate personal convictions, and WORK tirelessly towards realizing those convictions.

I would rather see someone take up political activism (a route with which I am not convinced) and dedicate his/her life towards those beliefs than see someone intellectually convinced by my personal arguments, but do nothing for that effort.

There is simply too much lethargy in our Ummah. We have perfected the useless art of argumentative discussions and counterproductive polemics. We have become experts at tearing apart other ideologies and lambasting differing viewpoints.

But we have nothing to show for it.

So whether its committing to social work at the local soup-kitchen or spending 40 days with the Tablighi Jamaat or teaching Islam to new converts or organizing weekly Dhikr sessions, I say just do it.

Act upon your convictions.

I support all forms of upright, sincere action, regardless of whichever affiliations or denominations they may be aligned with. We need to live our convictions. We need to breathe our convictions, every day, every moment, be they political, theological, spiritual, or social.

Final Note: Those of you who may counter that all my efforts are directed towards my family, I say get a life. Everyone has a family and everyone is committed to their well-being. That doesn't preclude real activists from acting upon their convictions.

Same goes for those losers who try to convince themselves that their 100-hour work weeks are for the sake of Allah as the money they are earning is needed by the community for its advancement. Puh-lease! In reality, these folks have made their careers into their lords.

Sadly, we seem to have also perfected the art of self-delusional cognitive dissonance.

Here's a nice feel-good post by Sr. IzzyMo on three different Muslim Homecoming Queens.

I really liked this neat 'Math and Love for God' post by Br. Darvish.

Finally, I thought this was a good reminder by Br. Yursil on the simple, yet profound, nature of the Mawlid.

When I first read CNN’s report on the FBI agents injured at the Islamabad restaurant, my first reaction was ‘What the hell were American FBI agents doing in Pakistan?’

Then I remembered that the two nations have a shared history where US resources (read CIA) were intimately involved with Pakistan in fighting the Cold War in the 80’s and the war on terror this decade (In the three years before the attacks of September 11, Pakistan received approximately $9 million in American military aid. In the three years after, the number increased to $4.2 billion - Wikipedia).

The Pakistani military has been a loyal customer of the US military industry complex, even getting shafted in 1990 when they paid $658 million for 28 fighter jets, but got neither the jets nor their money back due to America’s embargo against them for their nuclear weapons program. In actuality, that broken transaction pretty much sums up their one-sided relationship (unless you consider the critical role that Pakistanis play in sustaining America’s taxi and pizza delivery industries as a fair reciprocation).

So I googled ‘Pesky Americans sticking their fat noses into Pakistan’ and lo and behold, it came up with this WashPo piece explaining what the FBI agents were doing in Pakistan:

“a seven-member FBI team tasked with investigating bombings in the city of Lahore was in Islamabad at the time of the attack…The U.S.-led task force was called in to assist with an investigation into two coordinated bombings Tuesday in Lahore. At least 28 people were killed and more than 170 injured in an attack at the headquarters of Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency.”

The Naeem of old would have gone off on the intrusive nature of the FBI’s activities with its overtones of paternalistic meddling and how America still retains its colonial master mindset. However, I’ve since learned rule number one in international politics - that every nation, especially aging superpowers who are constantly looking over their shoulders, will do whatever it takes to hold on to their power.

The sooner we come to terms with certain universal truths such as cellphones are the devil’s creation or men need women just as much as women need men or back hair is once again cool (folks, you heard it here first!) or more relevant to this post - America will always interfere in the affairs of sovereign nations as long as it involves safeguarding their superpower status, the sooner we will be able to redirect our energies away from reactionary tactics and towards a more proactive mindset revolving around core issues such as education, social reform, and women rights.

So the new Naeem says ‘oh well’ when he reads about the FBI in Pakistan and instead focuses on his little circle of influence.

Over the past 5 years that I’ve been in Riyadh, I’ve been party to a most common expat pastime – bitching sessions. Almost every sitting with western expats is guaranteed to have some complaints about life in Saudi Arabia. From the annoying exit/entry visas (required every time you wish to travel outside KSA) to the haphazard bureaucracy in the various ministries to the crazy driving on the streets to the inhumane treatment of labor workers, everyone has something negative to say.

At first I enjoyed piling on to this very easy target – for sure, life seems very strange to a first-time visitor. There was a guilty pleasure in sitting with others and sharing the frustrations of this new life.

But at some point, it all started to feel hypocritical and counterproductive. Here we are reaping the benefits from our Saudi hosts and all we have to share are negative criticisms about how life here doesn’t stack up to life back home.

This hypocrisy especially hit home when I saw this same habit in the non-Muslim expats, but in a more vile and sinister manner. While my fellow Muslims and I were critical of life in Saudi, we always concluded with the acknowledgement of the blessing of being in a Muslim society. On the other hand, many non-Muslims oozed with imperialistic hubris, constantly deriding the Saudi persona as backwards and doomed to irrelevance without the white man’s assistance.

So I’ve taken a stand on not being so critical of life in Saudi and have encouraged others to do the same.

I see this attitude reflected on the larger Ummah, as typified in the streets of the Muslim world, where every corner coffee shop is teeming with talk of conspiracy theories and backroom machinations. All this bickering and complaining reflects very poorly on our collective psyche.

We have instilled into ourselves the permanent victim mentality. The fingers are always pointing outwards, looking for someone else to blame, never taking the time for any serious internal self-evaluation, never taking the effort to make lemonade out of our God-given lemons.

In fact, this same censorious attitude is found in many Hajjis, who find it very difficult to get beyond the overcrowding, lack of hygiene, and myriad difficulties associated with the Hajj. Blame is recklessly thrown around from the Saudi government to the Hajj operators to the countless illegal pilgrims.

I must admit that after my first Hajj, I was similarly disappointed with all the human elements of the Hajj and returned with mounds of negativity. It was only during my second Hajj, when I witnessed some fellow pilgrims in my group constantly bickering, that I realized how disgustingly whiny we have become as an Ummah.

For too long I would constantly lament at the unjust depiction of Muslims in the media, the all-too-obvious Muslim dehumanization and vilification by the West. I would rush to call out the double standard and the sheer hypocrisy. But to what end? All this whining does nothing the change the nature of the ignorant.

Surely there is a time and place for constructive criticism, but sadly that is an art form long lost on our Ummah. It's so much easier and self-gratifying to complain and drown ourselves in our miseries.

I’ve been a long time reader of Tariq Nelson and have recently benefited from the writings of brothers AbdurRahman and Charles. These writers focus on issues mostly relating to Black American Muslims (BAMs), such as the BAM identity, marriage/divorce, education, American politics, and so on.

One of the points that they are all in agreement upon is the rampant racism against BAMs found in the immigrant communities and the need for BAMs to finally step out of the shadow and create their own identity. These brothers are a testimony to the (relatively) new direction that BAMs are taking in redefining themselves and their role in the socio-political landscape of America. Their call for self-empowerment within the Muslim community and determination to create their own space is long overdue.

I commend them on this most laudable of efforts.

Having said that, I hope this effort is not carried out at the cost of relations with the immigrant community. That is why I was disturbed to see this recent post by Br. AbdurRahman where he expressed his criticism of Uncle Tom (my description, not his) BAM’s, who have sold out their people, and the immigrant American Muslim community who they supposedly serve. Please read his piece as well as my comment which I have reproduced below:

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AA- Abdur-Rahman,

Thanks for the background. I must admit that as I was reading your post and your understanding of the dynamics between the immigrant community and the BAM community, I immediately thought about the way Malcolm X viewed the politics of the civil rights movement, where the white establishment handpicked and vetted the black leaders who were approved to deliver a controllable ideology.

Does that sound about right?

But then my second thought was to question your suppositions. While no one can deny the outright racism that exists in the immigrant community against the BAM community, am I being naïve to suggest that talk of a conspiracy to subjugate the BAM is a bit too much?

Of course there are problems between the various communities, but to talk of a conscious effort to suppress the BAM voice is taking it to a paranoid extreme, IMO

I agree that the BAM voice needs to be heard and included in the larger American Muslim conversation (and simultaneously developed outside of that conversation, similar to the Arab and Pakistani communities who are forging their own identities).

I agree that the immigrant community had a role in advocating the ‘Just Muslim’ attitude that has stifled the growth of the BAM and resulted in a general identity crisis.

I also agree that for too long, the immigrant community has hijacked the dialogue within/out the American Muslim community and that a balance desperately needs to be achieved.

But a conspiracy? Really? Do you believe that accusations of a conspiracy are productive towards redressing these wrongs? Instead of working constructively, your approach comes off as a tad bit negative.
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I understand that the dynamics of this troubled relationship are very complex and multifaceted, but they need to get addressed in a proper manner. I readily acknowledge that an element of the solution necessitates that each community carry out internal programs to the exclusion of the other, but there must be a joint effort between both sides to build/maintain bridges and keep the channels of communication open. I fear that comments such as Br. AbdurRahman's reflect an attitude antagonistic towards such joint efforts.

If the two communities ignore each other while trying to empower and enable themselves, the soil is fertile for the weeds of animosity and hostility to creep into the fruits of any future endeavors.

As requested by a commenter, I created this open thread for any questions on life in Saudi Arabia. I've only been here 5 years, but I'll try and share whatever information I can.

But first, allow me to share a conversation I was having with a few friends last week.

We were discussing how people who settle down in Saudi have to really *want* to be here. There are so many obstacles and inconveniences here that make it actually very difficult to stay. To use an IT term, the environment here is not the most 'user-friendly'. And so it seems that those who have chosen to remain (for other than financial reasons) must really have a strong desire to stay.

Of course, no place on earth is perfect, but it sometimes seems like society here is trying to just make it difficult. From little things like the rude Saudi ladies at the checkout aisle to bigger problems like the bureaucratic run-around you go through every time you interact with a government ministry, there are really so many issues that can drive a person mad.

But at the same time, there are so many nice features in this bizarro world, that if you're willing to overlook all the surrounding negative, life here can actually be quite enjoyable.

OK, so I'll start with the questions put forth by Anonymous:

"is it true what they say about Saudi being a place you can save? compared to living in the US for instance?"

That depends on how much you make here versus what you were making there. But generally speaking, its true that you can save here. Cost of living here is cheaper than in the US. Prices were steady for the first 4 years of my stay and only in the past year have prices really started to rise.

Depending on where you live in the US, rent may be cheaper here in Riyadh. Food is overall cheaper and of course, gasoline is practically given away at the pump (45cents/gallon). There is no sales tax or income tax here, so you save there as well. And if you can adjust to local goods, as opposed to needing expensive products imported from the West, then you really start saving.

"Like, whats a decent salary? And you can compare the salaries there to the salaries to give us an idea of what is affordable in a said amount of salary there. How much do certain schools cost? How about compounds? What is there for women to do?"

Its hard to talk about a good salary because everyone has a different standard, but let me try to give you an idea. Someone with three kids making $65K in the US (living in the costly NorthEast) can afford the same lifestyle here with a job paying 10K riyals/month (salary is measured by month here, not by year). That comes to around $32K/year. Again, I'm making A LOT of assumptions here, all revolving around the lifestyle that will make one comfortable.

There are so many variables involved in making such calculations. For example, many companies provide a housing allowance (common is 3months worth of salary). 30K rent (rent is measured by year, not by month) will get you a very nice house. Forget about the nicer western compounds as they cost over 100K/year. Other lesser compounds which may be affordable on that salary aren't really worth it.

Another issue is the schooling. Private international schools that teach in English are very expensive costing around 15K/year (which is around the tuition for an Islamic school in the US). Many people go the cheaper route and send their kids to Saudi public schools, but there are a lot of social challenges (language is the least of them) that your kids will have to overcome in that environment.

Women have many outlets, if they choose to pursue them. However, women have a strong clique mentality and if they don't find the right crowd of women to socialize with, they tend to close those outlets off for themselves. There are daytime Islamic classes, evening Quranic classes, all-women clubs, and so on. The western expat community (mainly non-Muslims) has created a subculture for themselves, if that interests you.

I'm rambling, so if anyone has any detailed questions, feel free to ask. And if anyone with their own Saudi experience wants to jump in with their advice, you're most welcome!

The Amusing - Thwarted Terrorist Attacks List

I found this list of thwarted terrorist attacks to be quite humorous. Most of the plots have been debunked and shown to be nothing more than fear-mongering by the Bush administration.

I find the glaring absence of the good Dr. Goldstein, who planned to fire-bomb a Florida masjid, to be a mere clerical oversight. I'm sure FOXNews will make that correction very soon. Riiiiggght.

The highlight of this most farcical list is the Miami Seven who were plotting to carry out a 'full ground war' on the US military. (Check out this wikipedia link to read the questions taken by the Attorney General and his answers - hilarity ensues)

And how could they leave out the Ghettoest Terror Plot in History?!


The Sad - Sami Al-Arian's Plight

Having failed to get a guilty verdict against Palestinian activitst Dr. Sami Al-Arian before two grand juries, the US government is hoping a third time's the charm. All the while Al-Arian is stuck, rotting away in jail for the past 4 years. He has now begun his third hunger strike in protest of this latest stunt by Bush and Co.

Please keep him, his family, and the countless other oppressed individuals in your dua'as


The Pathetic - The 'Free' Press

Here is a very interesting article exposing the truth behind the dirty relationship between the press and the object of their coverage, the powerful. It centers on the controversial statement by Obama's advisor, Samantha Power, referring to Hillary as a monster. As soon as she made the statement to Gerri Peev, a British reporter, she asked for it to remain 'off the record'. As that was never an agreed upon understanding from the beginning, Peev rightfully refused to oblige.

Peev was later interviewed by Tucker Carlson, a prominent MSNBC talk-show person, who took her to task for not respecting the 'off the record' remark. I love how she responded, "Are you (the press) really that acquiescent in the United States?"

Carlson then responds, unintentionally revealing the pathetic principles that guide the press when he states:

"but I wonder if you could just explain what you think the effect is on the relationship between the press and the powerful. People don’t talk to you when you go out of your way to hurt them as you did in this piece. Don’t you think that hurts the rest of us in our effort to get to the truth from the principals in these campaigns?"

Read the entire piece.

It means hearing Imam Sudais and instantly returning to Mecca and later hearing Men at Work and instantly returning to the 80’s.

It means remembering the days when Libya’s Qaddafi was the big bad bogeyman.

It means remembering the days when space shuttle launches actually meant something. The entire country would come to a standstill to watch the take-offs.

It means remembering where I was when the space shuttle Challenger exploded. I faked being sick so I wouldn’t miss the launch on TV and so I saw every tragic second of it live from my family room.

It means wrestling with myself whether to watch Joe Montana lead my favorite football team, the San Francisco 49ers, on the game winning drive in the waning seconds of the 1988 Super Bowl or to catch Isha prayer at the masjid.

It means hearing the name of the Syrian scholar Dr. Ramadan al-Buti and thinking back to the days when childish references to ‘Shaykh Yar Booti’ would always make me and my friends snicker.

It means remembering the days when most Americans believed ‘Moslems’ were stupid desert Arabs or followers of the evil Iranian Ayatollah. Wait, that hasn’t changed much.

It means recalling that I was once the undefeated champion in Atari’s Pitfall right after I recently got my butt kicked in Mortal Kombat 3 by some young punk. In my defense, Playstation controls have like 20 buttons - whatever happened to the simple Atari joystick that had just one red button?! Anyone?

It means loving the granddaddy of Muslim speakers, Imam Siraj Wihaj, who was the first star of the Muslim lecturers’ circuit in the US, back when 'going overseas to study' connotated a student exchange program with some family in Sweden.

It means being blessed to hear Imam Zaid Shakir back when he was a young firebrand speaker, in the mold of Malcom X, constantly talking about revolution. As he matured and stabilized his thoughts (initiated by his overseas studies), I went through a similar evolution where pragmatism began to play a larger role than idealism. Additionally, having kids tends to accelerate that process.

It means thinking that Papa Smurf must've been a good Muslim (due to his full beard) and Smurfette must've been a bad one (due to her revealing outfit), but eventually concluding that none of them were Muslims except for Gargamel who had an uncanny resemblance to one of the uncles at our Masjid.

It means innocently hoping that the Muslims in America will one day play the Moses (pbuh) to America’s Pharaoh, reared and nurtured within the secure confines of his palace only to one day challenge his oppressive ways and bring the taste of freedom to the rest of the browbeaten Ummah. On a related note, did you know that Naeem rhymes with Naïve?

It means remembering Geraldine Ferraro and Jesse Jackson being female and black presidential candidates way before Hillary and Obama came onto the scene.

It means hating myself for ever wanting to dress like Sonny Crockett.

It means loving myself for never wanting to dress like Michael Jackson.

It means convincing myself that one-hit wonder Save Ferris was a Muslim rock band because their famous song ‘Come on Ali’ was about a Muslim. I only recently discovered that the song was actually ‘Come on Eileen’. Hey gimme a break…it really does sound like he’s singing Ali, right?

It means realizing that most of you have no clue what I’m talking about. :-)

It means that despite the undeniable imprint left by American society unto my cognitive DNA, I have grown to despise it. The naiveté of my childhood has been viciously displaced by the repulsive realities governing this society, from the ongoing corporate-sponsored wars for global resources (oil in ME, natural gas in the Caspian, minerals in central Africa, cheap labor in Central America) to the gluttony that spurs these wars (encouraged and sponsored by those same corporations) to the widespread apathy displayed towards the effects of these wars, effects such as gross economic disparities, environmental carnage, and once-healthy societies laid to waste.

It means constantly struggling to reconcile my American side with my Muslim side. And then there’s that pesky Pakistani side that always wants to have its say. God help my kids who now have to navigate through these same murky waters with the added pressure from their Palestinian side. :-)

It means I’m still working on defining what American Muslim means to THIS American Muslim.

A few days ago, I was studying with Humza for his upcoming English test and we were reviewing the lesson on pronouns. We get to a section where he has to replace the bold word with a proper pronoun. The first one says the following:

The pilot flew the airplane
A. It
B. They
C. She.

For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what the answer was. I was convinced that they had made a mistake in the textbook, having forgotten to include the correct answer (He). I mumbled something to the effect: ‘Hmmm..where is the right answer? There seems to be a mistake..hmmm..not sure…maybe they want you to use the pronoun ‘it’…hmmm…’

That’s right folks, I even considered using ‘it’ before Humza knocked some sense into me, ‘Abujee, the answer is right here…its She’

And he said it so nonchalantly, oblivious to the scourge known as gender bias. How sweet. Too bad it won’t last past middle school, I chuckled to myself.

Turns out that Humza’s way ahead of the game when it comes to the chauvinist learning curve:

I decided to do a quick experiment with Maryam and Humza with a short quiz to determine how much they’ve been effected by society’s overall predisposition on gender relations:

The leader went to visit Saudi Arabia
A. It
B. They
C. She

Humza chose They, Maryam picked She. When I asked Humza why he chose They, he shrugged and replied, ‘There was no HE.’

Atta boy Humza!

Me and my brother wish to meet the president.
A. Them
B. Her
C. Him

Humza selected Him and Maryam chose Her. When asked why, Maryam defiantly responded, 'Why not?' Just great, a feminist at the tender age of nine. Good luck to my future son-in-law!

The nurse gave me my medicine.
A. He
B. It
C. She

We saw the doctor in the surgery.
A. Them
B. Him
C. Her

They both answered these two questions in the typical way (nurse being female, doctor being male) – seems like a typical learned bias from the way society employs these roles. What’s odd is that their current pediatrician is a lady. Go figure.

The driver could not start the car.
A. She
B. It
C. They

Not surprisingly, they both had trouble with this one, especially for kids who've been in Saudi Arabia for the past 4 years. :-)

We have forgotten how to beg – if we ever even learned.

We have become so content with the blessings of Allah that we have forgotten that we are all beggars in front of our Creator.

When a beggar goes looking for a dollar, he wears the roughest garments, whimpers before the people, squirms in his clothing, and cries in his most earnest voice. If he is sincere in his quest, he doesn't simply stand stoically in the corner, parroting the same line emotionlessly.

And if that is the state of one who is begging for a dollar, what of the person who is begging to reach Allah (swt)?

Have we not become so used to making our supplications that we repeat them unconsciously, rarely considering what we are asking?

A tale of Hajjaj bin Yusuf, the ruthless caliph, highlights the poverty of our prayers.

Once while performing Umrah, he overheard a blind man making dua'a to Allah to return his eyesight. When he noticed the banality with which the old man was supplicating, he interrupted his tawaf and angrily confronted the man, 'By the time I complete my Umrah, if your sight is not restored I will sentence you to death!' With that, he assigned an officer to ensure the man didn't run and went on to complete his Umrah.

Having received such an ominous threat, the man was in total shock and began to weep profusely, begging 'Ya Allah, please Ya Allah, whereas before I was begging to You for my eyesight, I am now begging for my life! Please, please return my sight.' He cried and cried like never before and finally by the time Hajjaj bin Yusuf returned, Allah (swt) had answered his prayers and given him back his eyesight.

The caliph then remarked to the man, 'Had you beseeched your Lord for one thousand years in your casual manner, He would never have answered you. But once your heart and soul entered into your supplication, you were guaranteed a response.'

Let us all become true beggars.



(h/t to American Muslim)