U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinny & 20 other human rights workers kidnapped by Israel

Please visit the following links:

 http://www.freegazamovement.org

http://colorado.indymedia.org/node/1853

Please, take action and get the word out.

Jordan Chandler Confesses That Michael Jackson Didn’t Molest Him

After the death of Michael Jackson boy comes forward and admits he lied about being sexually molested. 

Check out the link below:

 http://current.com/items/90292625_jordan-chandler-admits-he-lied-about-michael-jackson.htm

Set Yourself Free

I haven’t posted anything on this blog in a long time.  In about a year…

I came up with this last night:

 

A photo captured has no purpose if it simply stays within the camera.  The photo has to be exposed for the greatness to be fully revealed.  The same is true with knowledge.  The same is true with goodness.  The same is true with truth.

 

set yourself free

reveal yourself

you shall see

 

- Having knowledge without sharing it is as if one knows nothing.

- Having goodness without sharing it is as if one has no good.

- Having truth without sharing it is as if one is allowing falsehood to spread.

I Realize + Peace Conference

It’s late and I’m tired. It was a long trek from where I was hanging around today to where I’m staying.

I realize I shouldn’t of went off in my last post, but at the same time I’m not apologizing for how I felt.  I’ve deleted that post, however.

While I was wondering around I accidentally came across a peace conference at some Buddhist center in Santa Monica. The lady giving the peace speech is the one who runs the Joan B. Kroc Institute of Peace and Justice. http://peace.sandiego.edu I caught the tail end (the last half hour) it was pretty interesting. The center was just presented with the Everest Summit Award in Kathmandu. The lady mentioned how women all over the world are doing things to promote peace and justice and shared what we could do ourselves..not only around the world in other countries…but right here in our own communities.

I’m emotionally and physically exhausted… So I shall end this post now. (edited below)

 

****EDIT***   —

I was just looking in my bag and found something I picked up at the peace conference.  It’s a Victory Over Violence pledge… something I need apparently.  I’ve taken the pledge, will you?

Here’s what it says:

I will value my own life.

Recognizing that a lack of self-identity and hope for the future lay at the roots of all violence, I will reach beyond my limitations, taking concrete steps each day to uncover my real potential.  I will never give up on my dreams, even if they seem impossible.

I will respect all life.

Recognizing that violence comes in many forms, I will not isolate myself but create an environment where others feel comfortable and can be themselves.  I will see beyond superficial differences and reflect on my own behavior.

I will inspire hope in others.

With courage, I will resolutely stand up against violence, be it verbal, physical or passive and teach others through my own example.  I will support others and encourage them to follow their dreams.

What a Journey

I’m writing off the top of my head right now.  I’m suppose to be sleeping. I just have a lot of thoughts running through my mind and someone suggested to me that I start writing again tonight. Thanks friend, brother.  I’m actually gonna have a new blog soon, but I’ll be anonymous on it.. because I’m going to express myself more through writing and some of it is kind of personal.. especially poems and pieces I write sometimes.  Some are really depressing…which is how I felt at a certain moment in time…while others are things I wrote when everything was good. Honestly, most of my poems are really depressing because I tend to write whenever I feel terrible.  It really helps to get my emotions out on paper. When the way I feel is put into a rhythm..like a poem.. it helps me to focus my energy to what’s going on and really express the way I feel.  As most writers know – when it comes..it really just comes and your pen is just trying to keep up with what’s coming out. It’s truly amazing.  It really is when you think about it. 

I was just thinking…there are so many times in our lives that we just forget and lose focus. As a Muslim I know my main focus should to submit to God. In order to do that I have to learn the ways of submission. There are many different ways to submit and worship God. There’s Prayer, there’s fasting, there’s so much more. Even smiling at your neighbor can be submitting to God. Whenever you help make someone else feel better when they’re feeling down.. that’s a huge thing.

With all that we know we need to do… we have to set priorities and decipher which things are more important to work on … on our list of things to improve. I know that in the past few years a huge thing for me has been to get over what other people think and not be afraid or shy around others.  Now as it’s been said… shyness is a good trait..it’s modesty and modesty is good.  Well, it all depends. If I was too shy to defend a poor dog someone was throwing in the cold Mediterranean..then how is that good? Indeed no one else made the evil guys stop abusing the dog… but why didn’t I step in?  You know.. that’s not good shyness. And that’s what I want to step away from. ..being too afraid to make a stand. To let something that isn’t right happen or to let someone say something that’s just not right and not saying anything.  In the future inshallah I won’t let a dog or any creature get abused in my sight if I can help it.

In recent weeks I’ve been thinking a lot..reflecting a great deal… I’ve got a birthday coming up… yeah so I’m feeling older and I’m thinking..what do I really have to show for it.  Yeah I’ve been here and there and I’ve really had quite an interesting life. It’s been one heck of a roller-coaster. There have been times that I absolutely thought I was going to die because life just was so terrible. Yet other times I’ve been high as a kite so to speak because I got to experience some amazing things. I never thought in my life I’d ever even leave the United States..no matter how much I desired to travel. But I’ve been to Canada, the UAE, and even lived in Egypt. I’ve touched the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, Lake Erie, Niagara Falls, the Persian Gulf and the beautiful Mediterranean.

I’ve been to ancient Native American mounds, I’ve met some amazing people, I’ve climbed a pyramid.. I’ve just done so much..compared to a lot of people where I’m from. I should be so thankful for it and I am.  Still something more is missing.

I know that I’m not quite content because I don’t have the career I want yet and I don’t have someone to love me. When I was a little girl at age 7… I remember my twin asking me what I wanted to be when I grow up. I knew what I wanted then.  I wanted to be a school teacher and a wife to someone. I wanted to help people and I wanted someone to love me basically.  The best of both worlds. Well, I’ve tried the teacher thing and I really admire anyone who teaches. But I’m not 7 anymore and I really don’t think it’s my calling.  However, we teach people all the time without even realizing it…so in a way I’ll always be a teacher as well as a learner. As far as being a wife goes.. well even though I’m older I haven’t grown out of wanting that of course.  Who doesn’t want someone to have, to hold, and to cherish?  I want someone I can always grow with. I want someone who’s willing to stand up for me and I’m willing to stand up for them. I want someone who is loyal and compassionate. Who doesn’t? (some ppl don’t , but they just really need help). Anyway, that’ll come in time inshallah.  God’s the perfect planner.

Like someone once said, ‘This life is a journey … and this journey is a test’ .. wow is that ever true, you know?

This life is such an amazingly awesome journey.  Every day comes something new. Everyday is also a test. And our main goal should be to pass the test. We’re  given certain situations (from God) as a test. Rather or not we past the test depends on how we handled the situation.  Take the instance of when I was on the beach in El-Agami and those guys were outright abusing the dog.  Everyone in my group saw it – yet we did nothing more than comment on how awlful those guys were. What was our problem? And we definately didn’t pass the test that day.  Subhanallah.

But for instance, you are walking down the street and you see a child that just looks really sad for no reason …and you smile at them .. you may just warm their heart and make them feel better. That child could be a child that is abused in some ways (like the majority of children on this earth) ..rather it be from a bully at school, their Mom’s boyfriend coming to their room in the middle of the night to do things no little girl or boy should ever go through, or rather it’s their father putting scars on their back from a belt.  ..whatever the case is.. making a child or anyone else feel better is definately a good deed and is helping you on your journey. It helps you to help others. Now..we can’t all give in really huge ways…we may not have the money to really help in a certain area or we may need to really fix ourselves before trying to fix others. But even if you’re a broke human..either financially or just need worked on in other areas… you can still do little things to help the people of the world.. as I just suggested..smiling. Being friendly to others.. like last week when I was in Braum’s..an ice-cream shop.. a man bent over and his money fell out of his pocket, but he didn’t noticed.. No one said anything.. so I got up and told the man his money fell out of his pocket. That’s a little thing, but that could have been his money to pay his house rent or something.  It could have meant a huge deal to him.

These are just little ways to please God and help ourselves as well as others at the same time. What a great thing.

In conclusion,  we never stop this journey ..it won’t stop until we’re all called up on that day..and even then I guess it’ll still be going on, eh. There’s just too many thoughts that I have write now … I’m really tired and should have went to sleep ages ago.  Maybe I need to fix the fact that I ramble on too much. 

With that..I’m off to sleep inshallah.

Feel free to comment and share your thoughts.

Thanks for being a listener. 

 

 

 

Strange

A lot has happened since I last posted… even though for me the last time I posted was pretty recent.  Since then…  I’ve made my way to the pyramids at Giza, to the Egyptian Museum, Khan elKhalili, and Masgid Hussein in Cairo.  It  was amazing!  Alhamdulilah I’m very glad to have seen everything I’ve seen.  ALHAMDULILAH.

 

___________________

EDIT:    The paragraph that was previously here has been deleted by me.

Autumn – thanks for your concern. And koshary is quite good if made by the right folks. Mmm.

___________________

Please keep me in your prayers (whoever reads this). 

Thanks a bunch.

 

Been a While

It’s been quite a while since I’ve written on this.  Everyone keeps telling me I should write about my time in Egypt (in and around Alexandria) … So here it goes …

I’ll start with today.  I couldn’t sleep well last night – I can’t breathe.  There is dust everywhere…so much dust. I’m so sick of dirt.  Everyday not only is dust all over my shoes, – it’s all over my clothes, skin, and I believe it’s starting to settle in my lungs. I hocked up some stuff.  Needless to say I don’t feel very well right now.  I never thought I’d say this… but I’m considering wearing niqab while I’m out and about… just so I won’t breathe in as much dirt.  Yes, it’s that terrible (I won’t get into how the roads flood with sewage or how people try to jip you every where you go – but hey, that’s Egypt)… 

Everywhere one goes …. one has to take the good with the bad. I’m blessed to be around so many Muslims,  I’m blessed to hear the adthan(call to prayer) 5x daily. I’m blessed that I can wear my hijab(or hegab as they say here) without having it ripped off my head … as was done to me back in the states.  I’m blessed that I’m a short walk from the Mediterranean Sea.  I’m blessed to be able to go to the beach and play in the sand like I did the day before yesterday. I’m blessed that I got to ride in a boat on the Mediterranean Sea around Alex from Qait Bey to Stanly. I’m blessed that I went out to eat with some people and got fed a ton of delicious food yesterday evening. I’m blessed that I’ve an entire front balcony and a back balcony that is completely private. I’m blessed that I have cable television. I’m blessed that I’ve web access. I’m blessed that I’ve hot water.  I’m blessed that I’ve a huge bucket to hand-wash my clothes in. I’m blessed that the sun shines all of the time here. I’m blessed that Friday inshallah I’m going to the pyramids at Giza & the mummy museum, etc. I’m also may go with one of my teacher’s to Al-Azhar to get a Muslim certificate … so inshallah whenever I’m ready and able to go on hajj (or hagg as they say here) I can…(prob. be a few yrs before that happens)

  I’m blessed, alhamdulilah…

Alhamdulilah.

Back Again

It’s been a good minute since I’ve blogged.  Three of my family members have died in the past month and one of my cousins is currently in the ICU in critical condition.  Last night I couldn’t sleep.  Right now I’m very tired.  A lot has been happening.  I can’t type it all up.  I’m exhausted in more ways than one.  For the past few days everyone has been telling me how pretty I am.  I don’t know if they meant it or not , but I’ve noticed that people judge others by looks a lot.  It’s really got me thinking about how stereotypical and judgemental people can be.  I hope I can put aside people’s appearances and look deeper at the more important aspects of people. Inshallah.  Sure we should all present ourselves well and take care of ourselves, but there’s somethings that people sometimes can’t change about how they look.  I once knew someone who was so ugly but once I got to know them they had the most beautiful soul I’d ever seen, mashallah.

Recently I sent pictures to someone, sending them the not-so-good ones I had first. Sure enough I believe they didn’t want anything to do with me because they thought I was ugly.  God forgive me if I’m wrong. I’m so sick of this life (no I don’t mean I want to die right now)…what I mean is I’m sick of how everyone worries about things that will all pass away when we die.  In the end all that will matter will be how we lived and what we submitted to.  My goal is to submit to God alone. I’ve realized especially in the past few weeks with having to deal with death so much… that this life can easily be taken away and that we don’t need to waste our time with anything that isn’t beneficial towards our goal of Heaven.

g2g Write more when I get the chance.

Don’t Know When

I’m not certain when the next time I’ll be able to blog will be.  Today is the last day of school.  I’m happy it’s summer.  I’ll miss a few good friends I’ve made here and I’ll miss my religion class where learning was fun.  I have learned a lot this semester and not all of it was from books or from my instructors.  I’m looking forward to the summer.  Inshallah in June I’m going to California to visit Auntie Maryam.  Aunt Maryam is my 1st cousins’ Aunt but I have adopted her as my own.  :-)  She told me to. heh.

In regards to what I posted on here yesterday… I know no one is perfect and everyone I think has something about them they’d like to change but it’s really difficult to. I know.  I just don’t understand why anyone would want that type of lifestyle… the “carefree” kind. They should care.  They’re not only hurting themselves but those around them.  Their families and their good friends.  It makes me very sad.  May Allah help us all. ameen.

~fi aman Allah.

***EDIT:  I just learned I’m getting 3 books in the mail alhamdulilah.  The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the 14th Century, Three Early Sufi Texts, & Divine Governance of the Human Kingdom. Yay.  :)

Note: Whenever I get the time and am able I will post reviews of books I’m reading.  Inshallah. 

assuredly

 To those of you who left comments on what I posted last on here, thanks.  To answer your questions…yes that was my personal feelings I was writing about.  Do I still feel that way? I’m getting over it.  I know Allah is always here for me even if no human is.  Allah is the Reality and to the Reality I want to submit to.  I saw this in my email today .. it’s an ayah from the Qur’an:  “(God) the Most Gracious will bestow (His love and the love of fellow humans) on those who believe and work deeds of righteousness.”
The Holy Quran, 19:96

I also was reading the Quran the other day and I came across this ayah…something everyone needs to read:

“Know that the life of this world is only play and amusement, pomp and mutual boasting among you, and rivalry in respect of wealth and children.  (It is) like a rain (Ghayth), thereof the growth is pleasing to the tiller; afterwards it dries up and you see it turning yellow; then it becomes straw.  But in the Hereafter (there is) a severe torment, and (there is) forgiveness from Allah and (His) pleasure.  And the life of this world is only a deceiving enjoyment.” [57:20]

and

“Beautified for men is the love of things they covet; women, children, much of gold and silver (wealth), branded beautiful horses, cattle and well-tilled land.  This is the pleasure of the present world’s life; but Allah has the excellent return with Him.” (3:14)

I don’t want to get decieved by the world.  It’s only a deceiving enjoyment. We shouldn’t covet things. This world doesn’t last. Our focus should be pleasing Allah. We need to remember this.  I need to remember this.

Remembering yesteryears… …  Thank you Allah for making me, guiding me, helping me along.