0 CommentsI’ve been thoroughly baffled by recent news coverage of the Arab ambassador who cancelled his Muslim marriage to his veiled bride upon lifting it and discovering she had a beard and a squint.
The groom had never seen his wife-to-be’s face because she wore a niqab throughout their courtship.
It throws up so many interesting questions, don’t you think?
0 CommentsI just found a really interesting Al Jazeera article and video on Muslims in Azerbaijan. The programme is part of a series in which the news station follows Muslims from around the world preparing for Hajj.
An Ancient Land with an Ancient Landmark…
I only found out through this fascinating article that Azerbaijan, the meeting point of Europe and Central Asia was where the Garden of Eden was! Or that Azerbaijan was one of the first countries to embrace Islam in the 7th century…
When Azerbaijan became part of the USSR in 1920, atheism became state policy; many Muslim leaders were exiled or killed and mosques were closed down or destroyed.
But, when it regained independence in 1991, many Azerbaijanis rediscovered their Muslim roots. The result is that today, 95% of Azerbaijanis are Muslims and Islam is experiencing a real revival in the country.
0 CommentsI have all the time in the world for Adel Said Bishtawi. This Palestinian-born Arab creative polymath has written extraordinary articles, novels and produced documentaries on Muslim and Arab culture around the world.
A Career Dedicated to Arabic Culture
I feel that A.S. Bishtawi has mined, explored and revealed some of the most beautiful aspects of the Arab world with beauty, poise, clarity and enveloping sensitivity. He’s also been a fountain of political and historical knowledge, and has interviewed some of the worlds’ most illustrious characters such as Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher and Sheikh Issa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, Emir of Bahrain. The author even interviewed Afghanistan President Hafizullah Amin and his family shortly before the leader’s execution at the dawn of the Russian invasion of his country.
0 CommentsI love finding out about how Islam has made its way around the world and changed cultural landscapes: particularly if it took an unusual route. Take for instance Australia. It’s a well-known fact that Australia has a significant Muslim population (340,392 in 2006). Given as to the best of my limited geographic and historical knowledge, the crusades didn’t get down under, how did Islam arrive in Oz?
We Go Back, Way Back…
Muslims got to mainland Australia in the 16th and 17th Centuries, predating European settlers. The first contacts between Aborigines and Muslims include some of the first links Aborigines had with the outside world.
0 CommentsSara Khoshjamal is what you call a real fighter. In 2008, this 21-year-old Iranian women’s tae kwon do champion took her fight from the outskirts of Tehran to the Beijing Olympics.
She was the first Iranian woman ever to earn a spot at the Olympics, just losing out in the quarterfinals but winning the respect of women around the globe for her extraordinary journey and determination.
Sara featured as number 22 in Time Magazine’s Top 100 Olympic Athletes to Watch. Making the Olympic qualifiers in Vietnam and beating the world’s top-ranking woman in her weight class in 2008 transformed her into a national icon. In a country with limited options for competitive female athletes, she personifies the potent combination of talent and ambition.
0 CommentsAs a Muslim living in a Catholic country, (Spain), Christmas is always an interesting time of year. I kind of dance around it, taking advantage of the time off work and the chance to catch up with friends, as it seems the apex of the year when everyone naturally gets together and good cheer emanates and effuses from every possible home, store, café and bar.
I often wonder how it works for other Muslims living in Christian or secular societies, now that Christmas has become such a commercial symbol. I read a great article about how Muslim families in Germany feel about Christmas on the Radio Netherlands Webpage.
When in Germany Do as the Germans?
Presents maketh Christmas, and some German Muslim families find their children feel left out when their Christian friends are being showered with gifts. So what do you do? Tell your children it’s not their festivity or put your own spin on Santa et al?
0 CommentsNow, not that I’m one for stereotypes, but I sometimes find them amusing. Take for example, my Russian heritage – what do I get “ah, snow and vodka, right?”
When it comes to Saudi Arabia, the typical associations that always make my friends chuckle are “ah, sand and camels, right?”
The Arab and the camel have a long, rich history together, one that has had a beautiful development in recent weeks, thanks to an unusual Saudi Arabian campaign. At the end of January, Saudi camel-lovers united to save 6000 Australian camels by… airlifting them to the safety of the Saudi desert!
0 CommentsDid you know London footwear guru Dato’ Jimmy Choo OBE, was born and brought up in Malaysia?
Maybe I’ve had my feet in the sand, but I didn’t!
In fact, Choo, (born Jimmy Choo Yeang Keat in Penang), made his first pair of shoes in his native Malaysia when he was 11 years old.
Tiptoeing up to the Red Carpet
Jimmy was born into a family of shoemakers and went to London to study, graduating in 1983. He worked part time as a waiter and a shoe factory cleaner to help pay for college.
0 CommentsThe issue of where Islam stands on Muslims and non-Muslim friends is a hot topic for me as someone who loves her faith but doesn’t live in a Muslim country and has friends of many different faiths. I found a great article on the topic at islamonline that helps clarify the issue and dispel some of the media myths about Islam being insular.
It opens by emphasizing that Islam urges all Muslims to deal kindly and justly with all people and to have good relations with all people of all faiths in all contexts. I have always felt that our faith is factor that unites people and naturally paves the way for friendship and community, yet it is neither exclusive nor discriminatory.
Good Muslims, Good Friends
I particularly like the response to this question by Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, President of the Fiqh Council of North America:
“The Qur’an does not say that non-Muslims cannot be Muslims’ friends, nor does it forbid Muslims to be friendly to non-Muslims. There are many non-Muslims who are good friends of Muslim individuals and the Muslim community. There are also many good Muslims who truly and sincerely observe their faith and are very friendly to many non-Muslims at the same time.”
0 CommentsI love old movies – especially love stories from the 40s and 50s that give you a glimpse into a world that no longer exists. It’s the details… the formality and elegance, the hats, gloves and letters and the lack of modern props – like cell phones and computers.
I watched Joseph Pevney’s classic Istanbul again this weekend. You seen it? Errol Flynn, Cornell Borchers and Nat King Cole. It’s a delicious flick. A remake of a 1937 film called Singapore, set around the Turkish capital, diamond smuggling and a stormy love affair.
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