Palestinian Refugees: 60 Years of Suffering

In 1948, 3/4 of Palestinians were uprooted from their home and their towns and villages were destroyed by Israeli militias. Today more than 6 million children, women, and men are languishing in 59 refugee camps and in exile all over the world.

On the 60th anniversary of the continuing catastrophe that characterizes life for Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and Diaspora, The Muslim Public Affairs Council released its "60 Years of Palestinian Suffering Resource Kit". The kit provides vital practical tools to organize public awareness efforts and includes a historical timeline of events, web resources, and a petition to circulate and deliver to members of Congress.

CLICK HERE to download the kit.

Summer Solstice... Bronze Beginnings

So if you click on that ^ it will lead you to this site where you can see each item separately and where it can be purchased from!

I really like the bronze look (and obvi don't try on all of this stuff together - but it's a collection of my favorite bronze make up). Also, the look - with some practice - is subtle! So it won't look like you've piled on a lot of make up / or that you're a walking rainbow. Thus, you look pretty and glowy (if that's a word?) and are still keeping it refined. All of this make up can be found at Sephora if you get curious and want to try some of it on (:

I'm done with testing, yaay for summer!


ps bronze and pink look really cute together if done right!

"Paradise lies underneath the feet of your mother" (Nasa’i)

So today is Mother's Day and it would be fitting to commemorate a very famous mother in Islam - Hajar (ra) the wife of Prophet Ibrahim (as) and the mother of Isma'eel (as).

Each year millions of Muslim pilgrims pay homage to Hajar as they perform the Hajj ritual of Sa’i - running or walking between the points of Safa and Marwa. Hajar has become a permanent symbol not only of a mother's love for her offspring but of a true believer's faith in the delivering power of God.

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated, 'Prophet Ibrahim brought Isma'eel's mother (his wife, Hajar) and Isma'eel, while she was still nursing him, and then camped with them next to (the area where) the House (the Kaa'bah) was to be built, next to a large tree just above (the area where now exists the well of) Zamzam and which is also above the Masjid (the Holy Masjid in Makkah). At that time, Makkah had neither inhabitants nor a known source of water. He left them there and left with them a bag full of dates and a Siqaa' (a jug usually made of leather) full of water.

When Ibrahim started to depart, Hajar followed him, saying, 'O Ibrahim! Where are you going and leaving us in this valley that does not have any inhabitants or anything else?' She repeated this several times, but he was not paying any attention to her. She then said to him, 'Did Allah command you to do this?' Ibrahim replied, 'Yes.' She said, 'Then certainly, He will not abandon us.' She went back, while Ibrahim kept on walking, until he was next to a hill where he could no longer be seen. He then faced the direction of the House and recited the following supplication,

"O our Lord! I have made some of my offspring to dwell in an uncultivated valley by Your Sacred House; in order, O our Lord, that they may perform prayer, so fill some hearts among men with love towards them, and (O Allah) provide them with fruits so that they may give thanks." [Surah Ibrahim 14:37].

Afterwards, Isma'eel's mother nursed nurse him and drank from the water (that Ibrahim left with them). When they ran out of water, she and her son became thirsty. She looked at Isma'eel and saw that he was turning around on the ground (out of thirst). She hated to see him like this, so she left and went up on Mount Safa, the nearest mountain to her, then looked down to the valley, trying to locate any person. She then descended down Mount Safa until she reached the valley, and then raised her sleeve (trying to protect her eyes from the sun). She walked just like an exhausted person would walk until she reached the end of the valley. She then went up on Mount Marwah and stood trying to locate anyone, but she did not see any person. She repeated this sequence seven times.

Ibn Abbas then said, "The Prophet Salla Allahu Alayhi Wasallam said, 'This is why people walk between them (between Mounts Safa and Marwah, while performing the rituals of Hajj).' When Hajar went up on Mount Marwah (for the fourth time, completing seven trips back and forth between Mounts Safa and Marwah), she heard a voice, and said to herself, 'Shush,' and tried hard to listen. She heard something again, and then said (aloud to whom she thought she heard), 'I heard you! Do you have relief so that you will provide us with assistance?' She then saw an angel digging up the ground with his wing where Zamzam exists today, and water then started to flow. She then started to contain the water with her hand (trying to make a pool of mud to collect the water in it), and she was also cupping her hands to fell her Siqaa' (water jug), yet the water was flowing as fast as she was filling."

Ibn Abbas then said,

"The Prophet Salla Allahu Alayhi Wasallam said, 'May Allah bestow His Mercy upon Isma'eel's mother! If she had left Zamzam - or if she had not cupped her hand - Zamzam would have been a flowing spring.' Ibn Abbas then said, 'So she drank and nursed her son. The angel then said to her, 'Do not fear abandonment, for a House for Allah (the Kaa'bah) will be built in this area by this boy and his father, and most certainly, Allah does not abandon His people." [Al-Bukhari].

Prophet Ibrahim's sincerity with Allah was evident in his leaving his wife and son in an uninhabited area, just as Allah commanded him. Also, his wife's sincerity with Allah was evident by her attesting with certainty that Allah will not abandon her and her son, since it was Allah Who commanded Ibrahim to leave them in Makkah.

Did Allah abandon them? No, indeed. Prophet Ibrahim and his wife had a type of sincerity that brings strong emotions to all those believers who hear their story. Because of sincerity, Allah made Zamzam flow with water, not only for Isma'eel and his mother, but also for the billions of Muslims throughout the ages, all drinking from it while visiting the House of Allah.

Taken from ”The Muslim Creed” February 2005 Vol. 13 No. 2 Publisher: The Daar of Islamic Heritage

Hajar (ra) is viewed as the pioneer women who paved the way to the institution of a new civilization. She is seen not only as Ishmael's mother but also as the mother of all those who later became the followers of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), a descendant of Prophet Isma'eel (as). Her story is amazing and there are very few others in history that can match it.

Salaam and Happy Mother's Day!

Update soon...

sorry about the lack of posting... school's a little crazy. but keep checking back (:

Not Your Erotic, Not Your Exotic - Suheir Hammad

Another powerful Muslim sister! Suheir Hammad is a Palestinian-American poet, activist, and author
she's AMAZING.
I love her casual-yet-oh-so-powerful style.



"Exotic" - Suheir Hammad

Don't wanna be your exotic
Like some delicate fragile colorful
bird imprisoned caged in a
land foregin to the stretch of her wings

Don't wanna be your exotic
women everywhere look just
like me some taller darker
nicer than me but like me
Just the same women everywhere
carry my nose on their faces
my name on their spirits

Don't seduce yourself with my
otherness
the beat of my lashes
against each other ain't some
dark desert beat it's just
a blink get over it

Don't build around me
your fetish fantasy your
lustful profanity to
cage me in clip my wings

Don't wanna be your exotic
your loving of my beauty ain't
more than funky fornication
plain pink perversion in
fact nasty necrophilia
because my beauty is dead
to you
I am dead to you

Not your harem girl
geisha doll banana picker
pom pom girl poom poom short
coffee maker town whore
belly dancer private dancer
la malinche venus hottentot
laundry girl your immaculate
vessel emasculating princess
don't wanna be
not your erotic not your exotic


My favorite line is "it's just a blink - get over it" huzzah! She's discussing the sexual exploitation of women of color. The concept of "orientalism" is very strong in this poem too, and if you don't know what that is, then I suggest you do some reading. I could attempt to explain on here, but it's quite lengthy and I, myself don't have a strong grasp on it. It's along the lines of how the West views everyone from the East as "the other" or "them" as inferiors... this is where being "exotic" and all that steps in. Definitely is a heavy subject - but as Muslim-Americans, we are going to come across orientalist comments many times in our lifetimes, so it's best to be knowledgeable about it!

Salaam

Chill, It's Spring Outfit

Finally, a new outfit!The top is from H&M, the tote, sandals, and scarf (howw cute is that scarf?!) are from Urban Outfitters, the new seventies jeans are from Victorias Secret, and the bracelets are from Forever21. I feel like this is a very earthy outfit. Speaking of earth, I planted flowers a few weeks ago and they started budding - but today when I checked on them, one whole pot of flowers was completely dead :( I think it was the drastic weather change that did it...

On a happier note, I received mail today! And not just any mail - this was lonnnng awaited mail. It is an 8-cd pack of lectures by Imam Suhaib Webb called Purification of the Soul. I've heard many good things about it so I am quite excited about the drive to school tomorrow because I'll start then. What a good way to begin my day! I'll report back when I finish i'A.