Alhamdulillah! May these children always smile, sing, and have fun. Ameen!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Safiyyah on the Radio!
My friend and I were on the WKOK radio program, Leaders and Lawmakers, on September 23, talking about Islaam. You can listen here. It's a little less than a half an hour.
The first one of us speaking is my friend. The host mistakenly called her by my name, lol. She's the one with the Arab accent.
By the way, if anyone knows how I can permanently post this to my site (I have it downloaded to my computer), please let me know. I think the link is live only for a few weeks.
The first one of us speaking is my friend. The host mistakenly called her by my name, lol. She's the one with the Arab accent.
By the way, if anyone knows how I can permanently post this to my site (I have it downloaded to my computer), please let me know. I think the link is live only for a few weeks.
Monday, September 20, 2010
How Far You've Come ...
... from the Nation of Islam, years ago ... to where you are today ... loving Allaah t'ala ... being steadfast in your prayer and in all of your duties to Him ... from the mean streets of Philly to the classroom, teaching our young men of tomorrow ... Subhan'Allaah! ... I love you ... and am proud and blessed to be your wife.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Collective Guilt: The 9/11 Qur'an Burning Controversy
I read a Cagle Syndicate op ed piece in my local newspaper written by Tina Depuy.
The name of her piece is A Burning Question: Extremists on 9/11.
By now, I'm sure most of you are familiar with the Dove World Outreach Center's plans for burning Qur'ans on 9/11 in Gainesville, Florida.
I find it ironic that journalists and talking heads are going out of their way to comment that one pastor's bad decision should not reflect on all Christians or all Americans.
"Everything about our country is about to be boiled down to a picture of a heap of Korans smoldering," Depuy writes in the piece.
They fear that all Christians and the American people will be identified with the pastor. The apologists are out in full force. Even the military has taken to pleading with this pastor to change his plans. They say that the Florida pastor's actions will endanger the troops.
Oh yes - national security. As if this reprehensible act is not sufficient enough. We have to drag the troops into it.
"They" could stop this pastor. First of all, he doesn't have a permit for burning. The police could stop him. All they have to do is show up and when the pastor lights the torch they move in and arrest him for burning without a permit. Or, they can arrest him under the Patriot Act as endangering national security. After all, if it were a Muslim doing this, they'd pick him up in a hot minute. Or, they can let him go. After all, in America, we have the right to do stupid things as long as we are willing to live with the consequences.
Let's see who else in history has burned books (called "libricide)." According to Depuy's piece:
1. The Ancient Library of Alexandria - burned by Julius Caesar.
2. The Mayan codices of their history and religion - burned by the Conquistadors.
3. The Library of Baghdad - burned by the Mongol invaders.
4. Book burnings in Germany, Bosnia, Kuwait, China, and Tibet.
5. Harry Potter books have been burned.
America's in good company, eh? A book burning in America. In 2010. Imagine it!
Author and professor Rebecca Knuth who studies libricide has concluded that libricide often precedes genocide according to the article..
But the most important part of Depuy's piece is the following:
"So as all Muslims are apparently judged by their extremists who on 9/11 crashed planes into buildings - all Americans will be judged by our extremists who on 9/11 burned Korans into ashes ... but most notably it means that THE MUSLIM WORLD AND AMERICANS ARE ABOUT TO HAVE MORE IN COMMON THAN THEY THOUGHT."
Are Americans finally starting to learn a lesson about collective guilt?
Since I wrote this piece, I am thrilled to see all of the non Muslims come out and support the Muslims and condemn the extremist attitudes of some American Christians.
More importantly, they are not so much defending the Muslims as they are defending the US Constitution, religious freedom, and everything that is decent about America.
I pray that Allaah t'ala, with Whom all things are possible, makes something happen so the event on Saturday does not go forward. He tells us,
They intend to put out the Light of Allaah with their mouths. But Allaah will bring His Light to perfection even though the disbelievers hate it. (Surat As-Saff, 61:8)
Even if the event does go forward, we will be okay. As a Muslim, I will look at it as another test, and pray that "this too, shall pass" as it has with other groups in America who have traveled the same path.
The name of her piece is A Burning Question: Extremists on 9/11.
By now, I'm sure most of you are familiar with the Dove World Outreach Center's plans for burning Qur'ans on 9/11 in Gainesville, Florida.
I find it ironic that journalists and talking heads are going out of their way to comment that one pastor's bad decision should not reflect on all Christians or all Americans.
"Everything about our country is about to be boiled down to a picture of a heap of Korans smoldering," Depuy writes in the piece.
They fear that all Christians and the American people will be identified with the pastor. The apologists are out in full force. Even the military has taken to pleading with this pastor to change his plans. They say that the Florida pastor's actions will endanger the troops.
Oh yes - national security. As if this reprehensible act is not sufficient enough. We have to drag the troops into it.
"They" could stop this pastor. First of all, he doesn't have a permit for burning. The police could stop him. All they have to do is show up and when the pastor lights the torch they move in and arrest him for burning without a permit. Or, they can arrest him under the Patriot Act as endangering national security. After all, if it were a Muslim doing this, they'd pick him up in a hot minute. Or, they can let him go. After all, in America, we have the right to do stupid things as long as we are willing to live with the consequences.
Let's see who else in history has burned books (called "libricide)." According to Depuy's piece:
1. The Ancient Library of Alexandria - burned by Julius Caesar.
2. The Mayan codices of their history and religion - burned by the Conquistadors.
3. The Library of Baghdad - burned by the Mongol invaders.
4. Book burnings in Germany, Bosnia, Kuwait, China, and Tibet.
5. Harry Potter books have been burned.
America's in good company, eh? A book burning in America. In 2010. Imagine it!
Author and professor Rebecca Knuth who studies libricide has concluded that libricide often precedes genocide according to the article..
But the most important part of Depuy's piece is the following:
"So as all Muslims are apparently judged by their extremists who on 9/11 crashed planes into buildings - all Americans will be judged by our extremists who on 9/11 burned Korans into ashes ... but most notably it means that THE MUSLIM WORLD AND AMERICANS ARE ABOUT TO HAVE MORE IN COMMON THAN THEY THOUGHT."
Are Americans finally starting to learn a lesson about collective guilt?
Since I wrote this piece, I am thrilled to see all of the non Muslims come out and support the Muslims and condemn the extremist attitudes of some American Christians.
More importantly, they are not so much defending the Muslims as they are defending the US Constitution, religious freedom, and everything that is decent about America.
I pray that Allaah t'ala, with Whom all things are possible, makes something happen so the event on Saturday does not go forward. He tells us,
They intend to put out the Light of Allaah with their mouths. But Allaah will bring His Light to perfection even though the disbelievers hate it. (Surat As-Saff, 61:8)
Even if the event does go forward, we will be okay. As a Muslim, I will look at it as another test, and pray that "this too, shall pass" as it has with other groups in America who have traveled the same path.
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Goodbye 2010 Garden Season
Above is the garden once it got going: nice path, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, beans, tomatoes, peas, peppers, tomatoes (big boys, cherry, and plum), cucumbers, okra, carrots, and lots of different types of herbs.
Once it was harvest time, I was getting a huge basket of vegetables every day. My whole day consisted of picking, washing, cutting, boiling, and packing into bags for freezing. And then, there was the joy of giving everybody of the block bags of fresh veggies!
Lately, as fall approaches, I've been getting less and less.
Yesterday, the basket looked like this:
Once it was harvest time, I was getting a huge basket of vegetables every day. My whole day consisted of picking, washing, cutting, boiling, and packing into bags for freezing. And then, there was the joy of giving everybody of the block bags of fresh veggies!
Lately, as fall approaches, I've been getting less and less.
Yesterday, the basket looked like this:
One thing I am getting PLENTY of Masha Allaah t'ala is the berries. We've had a real hot and humid summer. The bees have been real busy, and the berries are looking good. They are so sweet and good, Alhamdulillah. We have been eating them with cake, ice cream, smoothies, and just plain by themselves!
We had a lot of days where the heat was well into the high 90s and even 100 one or two days. We had a bit of a drought in July, and the local farmers were very upset. But, I was out there with the garden hose every night. The biggest problem with the drought is that even the insects are looking for moisture and cannot find it. So, they start eating the leaves of everything in an attempt to get moisture. In the following picture, some type of beetle is making holes in my beautiful poppies. Oh well, I chalk it off to sadaqa. Everyone has to eat.
Other flowers have made it, though:
And mums are now in season, so I bought a few pots for my front porch. Once they start looking a little crazy, it will be time to re-pot them on the side of the house. I have three years of mums over there and the bushes are HUGE, Masha Allaah t'ala:
So - that's about it. Pretty soon, it will be time to move all of the porch furniture into the garage, and pull out Buddy's winter house.
Thank you Allaah for the wonderful 2010 gardening season. Please give me the health and strength to plow the garden under in preparation to do it all over again next year/Ameen!
So - that's about it. Pretty soon, it will be time to move all of the porch furniture into the garage, and pull out Buddy's winter house.
Thank you Allaah for the wonderful 2010 gardening season. Please give me the health and strength to plow the garden under in preparation to do it all over again next year/Ameen!
Monday, September 06, 2010
(Close-up of the carpet in the women's section of the main prayer hall of Al-Aqsa Islamic Society, Philadelphia, PA)
© 2010, S. E. Jihad Levine, All Rights Reserved
Saturday, September 04, 2010
how to get free Qurans to burn on "Burn Quran Day"
via Aaminah Hernandez on Face Book.
Jazaka Allah Aaminah!
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