Any ideas as to what might happen if I started up a website like the one launched by the Combatant Clergy Society of Iran? In the meantime, if you're looking for ideas on what you can do for Palestine check out this post by Huda Shaka over at Muslamics.
Whenever I tell fashion conscious people my name, their eyes light up and they ask "ooh like the store?" To which I respond, "yes, like the store except with an H." And why not be happy to be related in name to a great store that sells cute, classy and relatively hijab friendly store at prices even I can afford?
Instead of respecting employees' right to join a union, since Fall 2007, ZARA has engaged in conduct which may have violated the Quebec Labour Code, including:If you're as bothered as I am by this sad turn of events at a store that I and many other women love, you can take action by sending a message to the President of Zara Canada.
- Firing four employees who supported the union at ZARA's Rockland Mall store in April and May 2008
- Demoting two employees who led a union drive at ZARA's downtown Montreal store in August 2007
- Holding anti-union meetings at three Montreal stores in 2007-2008, in one case telling employees that joining a union is "treason" against the company.
Subject: Respect Zara Workers' Right to Join a Union!
Dear Mr. Pastrana,
Zara is known as a progressive company on the cutting edge of fashion, but when it comes to respect for workers' rights, here in Canada Zara seems to be stuck in the 19th century.
As a Zara customer, I support the right of Zara workers to join a union and want to shop at a company that treats its employees with respect.
Respect Zara workers? right to join a union and commit to negotiating with them in good faith!
Sincerely,
Zahra Billoo
This neighbors hadith came up in a conversation this evening. I'm posting it here as a reminder and also because I'm trying to understand the different ways it can be interpreted.
The Prophet (pbuh) explained to us how to take care of our neighbors in matters of famine and hunger: He is not believing in me, the one who sleeps full while his neighbor is hungry. [Al-Bazar]
Food for thought:
Dec 19, 2008
Senator Barbara Boxer
Constitution Avenue and 2nd Street, NE
Washington, DC 20510-0505
Dear Senator Boxer,
I join with people all over the world in condemning [apartheid] Israel's deliberate starvation of the Palestinian people in Gaza. The U.S. government sends $15 million each day to [apartheid] Israel. In addition to the military attacks against the people of Gaza, Gaza City residents are without electricity for up to 16 hours a day and half the city's residents receive water only once a week for a few hours. These are war crimes, and crimes against humanity. I demand that the United States end all funding for [apartheid] Israel.
Sincerely,
Ms. Zahra Billoo
1505 4th St Apt 203
San Francisco, CA 94158-2270
Send your own letter, it's the LEAST we can do: Act Now
I don't have one wedding story, I have two:
CAIRO: Exasperated by the pressures of a society obsessed with marriage and the production of children, a young Egyptian woman has come to the rescue of her country's stigmatized spinsters. In the hope of changing the prejudices suffered by the unmarried and to shed light on the difficulties of being a woman in a patriarchal society, Yomna Mokhtar set up "Spinsters for Change" about six months ago.
The group came to life on the Internet's social networking website Facebook, which has become a platform for a plethora of social protests in Egypt, and the 27-year-old's group now has more than 550 members. "Society takes a very negative view of unmarried people. It puts great pressure on them and marginalizes them" if they don't marry, Mokhtar, her face framed by an Islamic headscarf, told AFP.
In the conservative country where religion is omnipresent, getting married is an obligation for Christians and Muslims alike. Islamic associations regularly organize mass weddings for those who lack the considerable funds needed for their own lavish ceremony, with the aim of avoiding so-called "deviant" behavior - extramarital relations or homosexuality. Even though they may hold down regular jobs or are studying, unmarried women in Egypt are seen as incomplete, said Mokhtar, stressing the "psychological suffering" endured by some of her single friends.
An Egyptian man said Wednesday he was offering his 20-year-old daughter in marriage to Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, who threw his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush in Baghdad Sunday,
The daughter, Amal Saad Gumaa, said she agreed with the idea. "This is something that would honour me. I would like to live in Iraq, especially if I were attached to this hero," she told Reuters by telephone.
Her father, Saad Gumaa, said he had called Dergham, Zaidi's brother, to tell him of the offer. "I find nothing more valuable than my daughter to offer to him, and I am prepared to provide her with everything needed for marriage," he added.
Remember the Why Islam project I was very excited about a few months ago? I raved all about it, here. Well, great news: it's coming to San Francisco!
Volunteer, by clicking here.
Donate, by clicking here.
It's like voting: if you don't vote, don't complain about the government. If you don't do your fair share of dawah (this is definitely not the only way; if this does not float your boat, find another), you can't complain about Islamophobia.
"Never neglect to give something away every day, even if a small amount, and do this early, for hardships do not corss [the protective barrier of] charity. Never disappoint a beggar who stands at your door; give him even as little as a date or less, for he is a gift from God to you. If you find nothing to give then send him away graciously with kind words and a promise.
When you give a needy person something, smile at him and be aware that it is you who are indebted to him, for he accepts a little from you for which you receive a reward worth more than the whole world. It has been said that a single morsel of food may bring a reward from God greater than Mount Uhud.
Do not let the fear of poverty prevent you from giving charity, for it is the abandonment of charity which brings on poverty. Charity on the contrary attracts wealth. If the pursuer of the world gave much charity it would return to him multiplied."
...that is if the restrooms don't kill us first.
Check out how Hajj can have a beneficial impact on the movement to secure education and rights for women, at Muslamics.
It was my first Eid away from home, and while it was different and I missed my family and Southern California friends I had a decent time. I mean who complains when you get to spend the day dressing up, praying, eating and spending time with friends? But of course the day closed with two very important very in-your-face reminders about the world we live in:
Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, is meant to commemorate Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son on God's orders and takes place at the end of the pilgrimage. The holiday is a time for family, friendship and goodwill, a time for forgiveness and making amends and coming together.
The Hajj (pilgrimage) consists of several ceremonies, meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the Islamic faith, and to commemorate the trials of prophet Abraham and his family. The pilgrimage also enables Muslims from all around the world, of different colors, languages, races, and ethnicities, to come together in a spirit of universal brotherhood and sisterhood to worship God together.
Eid al-Adha is the auspicious day of sacrifice. The day on which Hazrat Ibrahim (Alayhi Salaam) was tested to sacrifice his beloved son, Hazrat Ismael (Alayhi Salaam) for the sake of Allah (subhana wa ta'ala). To commemorate this event, Muslims have been directed to sacrifice animals on this day so that they can reflect upon this incident and learn a lesson from it. Muslims are further reminded of sacrifice by giving away a portion of this meat to the neediest in their communities.
Read about his suffering and torture at the hands of our government AND their Muslim allies, at Affad's blog.
This adds to the discussion regarding the difficulties in ensuring women worldwide have access to basic human rights:
What do you do when women cut other women because it is the only means of attaining a livelihood available to them?
I'm writing a paper on female genital mutilation, and it's been a disturbing research experience. I'll share some of the stories I have found at another time.
However, on a related note (the depressing state of women's rights and safety everywhere) I was just forwarded a story about acid attacks in Asia. I met a victim of this this heinous crime years ago, but if I hadn't the severity of this type of attack would be nearly unbelievable:
This month in Afghanistan, men on motorcycles threw acid on a group of girls who dared to attend school. One of the girls, a 17-year-old named Shamsia, told reporters from her hospital bed: “I will go to my school even if they kill me. My message for the enemies is that if they do this 100 times, I am still going to continue my studies.”
When I met Naeema Azar, a Pakistani woman who had once been an attractive, self-confident real estate agent, she was wearing a black cloak that enveloped her head and face. Then she removed the covering, and I flinched.
Acid had burned away her left ear and most of her right ear. It had blinded her and burned away her eyelids and most of her face, leaving just bone.
Six skin grafts with flesh from her leg have helped, but she still cannot close her eyes or her mouth; she will not eat in front of others because it is too humiliating to have food slip out as she chews.
"Yes, I am an American. But I am an American in revolt. I am revolted by the holiday known as Thanksgiving."
It's as though we forget because time has passed. Or rather that we don't care, because we do not see ourselves as one with the victims of this genocide?
For many of us this “holiday” was explained for the first time in elementary school as a celebration of prosperity in the “New World”. I’m sure many of you remember those cherished moments in the Kinder when the teacher would dress you up like Colonists and Indians, y yo con un nopal en la frente often got stuck being a Pilgrim!
The teachers told us the stories of the Mayflower, Plymouth Rock, the Pilgrims and how they triumphed over the cold winter and failed crops. These colonists were to serve as examples because their “rugged individualism” set the foundation for this nation. This, unfortunately, marks the beginning of the first of many lies and half-truths taught to us in school about how this Western Empire was established.
For our purposes we must go back in time a little further to see that the origins of November twenty-fifth are in fact much older than the foundations of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Subsequently we must go to VIII century Europe.
In the 8th century the Muslims (Moors) conquered Spain, Portugal and France and controlled it for over 700 years. These people threatened European Christians, meaning Western Civilization.
It was not until the late 15th century that in Spain on November 25, 1491, Santiago defeated the last Muslim stronghold in Grenada. On this day King Ferdinand gave thanks to God for this victory and the Pope of Rome declared this day to forever be a day of Thanksgiving for all European Christians.
The Hip-Hop lyricist, Rass Kass, in “Nature of the Threat” states that: “When you celebrate Thanksgiving, what you are actually celebrating is the proclamation of the Pope of Rome, who later in league with Queen Isabella, sent Cardinal Ximenos to Spain to murder any Blacks that resisted Christianity.” These genocidal policies were justified by Pope Nicholas in the Inter Cetera Papal Bull of 1452, which called for the King of Portugal “To invade, search out, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens and pagans, whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ”.
These are the true religious and political motivations that formulated the white supremacist mindset that was the foundations for the economic colonization of the Americas and its Native peoples.
Thanksgiving in the United States is a part of this tradition that celebrates the subjugation of non-Western people for colonial purposes. Its roots are more directly connected to the events that occurred in the Northeast in the year 1637, when 700 men, women, and children of the Pequot Tribe, gathered for their “Annual Green Corn Dance” in the area that is now known as Groton, Connecticut.
While they were gathered in this place of meeting, they were surrounded and attacked by mercenaries of the English and Dutch. The Indigenous people were ordered from their ceremonial structures and as they came forth, they were shot down. The rest were burned alive in their homes. The next day, the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared a day of Thanksgiving, thanking God that they had eliminated over 700 Pequots. Subsequently, every Thanksgiving Day ordained by a Governor or President since was to honor that victory, thanking God that the “battle” had been won. The holiday on the 3rd Thursday of November we celebrate is in observation of that massacre and upholds this colonial mentality.
How will you celebrate Thankstaking day?
This one goes in the hall of shame with the desi aunty story and the scary Mosque-hijab encounter. Last week I logged onto Facebook to be greeted on my newsfeed by the use of the "n-word." A brother I knew had posted something about wanting to play basketball that night. One of his friends had responded saying "n****r lol."
"naw it wasnt a supid comment..ppl dont know why i said it..and should mind thier own business"
"naw cuz u were like i wana play ball...and i was like lets play at mile square then u changed it to irvine..so i said it..and its not stupid i can say that word i got the right."
"polluting public space..what are u a lawyer..dude people say worse things than that and mean it..im sorry if sisters dont use that type of lingo...and if i knew other ppl would see it and react that way i wouldnt have said it."
"lol dude no one can wreck this...im a junior lawyer"
"well yeah its in public..but i do have freedom of speech as u have the freedom to dispute what i say..doesnt make u right..doesnt make me right"It's a sad-sad day when I have to spend the afternoon discussing the inappropriateness of the term n****r with another Muslim. This person would likely call the civil rights and hate crime task forces if he were referred to as a "camel jockey," and yet he cannot afford other ethnic groups the same respect?
Salaams "Junior Lawyer,"
When you are able to put together complete sentences, send me a message. Until then, please feel free to go back and reread what I said/wrote. I never said anything about your right to say the word. Rather I commented on the appropriateness of its usage and my right to respond to such usage.
Considerations here would be:
1. It is widely recognized as a racist term.
2. The word was used in a public space, and therefore becomes nothing more than a commodity in the marketplace of ideas.
3. As you maintain the right to use the term, I maintain the right to say "wow" when I am disappointed about Muslims speaking ignorantly.
I would ask, would you feel comfortable just using that word around a local shaikh? Your mom? The Prophet? Shouldn't we hold all of our speech to that standard? Given such, whether it is a private or public posting, I would ask that you rethink your justification for use of such a historically negative term.
I'm not even going to get into the issue of the gender biased remarks you made regarding a sister's vocabulary. Please see my note above: this is not an issue of brothers or sisters, it is one of Muslims and people of conscience.
Relatedly, I'd recommend you check out the following links before writing any additional ignorant half sentences:
Wiki - Market Place of Ideas
Wiki - N****r
...To (Attempt To) Not To Shop At The Limited Brand Stores
1. Zionist much?
2. Sweatshop much?
And most recently:
There’s a local photography student who for one of her projects wanted to use as a subject somebody who visits the mosque. A friend referred her to me. She’s working on photographing me doing every day things and visiting the mosque. I was with her for parts of Sunday, Monday, and then yesterday and today. Today I met her at the Jones Street Mosque for Jumah prayers, and she had planned to photograph me there. I arrived to find her waiting for me on the third floor, right outside the prayer area. A few people came up to her and were really nice and attempted to let her know she could go inside the prayer hall. BUT when I got there was this man harassing her. He was essentially telling her that if she didn’t cover her hair she would have to leave.
It was so obnoxious. I couldn't help it, I attempted to tell him off. He was saying she had to “make her face like a Muslim” to come inside. I told him to go to his section and not pay attention because she wasn’t sitting next to him. And he kept saying it saying it was disrespectful to the mosque so I told him he was being disrespectful to the mosque by harassing her. And at some point he even said “well she can cover or she can go outside.” I told him there was no hijab rule at this mosque. I further told him that if there was such a rule, I knew for a fact he had no position of authority at this mosque and therefore could not enforce it. And then told him thank you for your advice and started to shoo him away. By that time, Alhamdulillah!, the President came out and told him to mind his own business.
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