Red Hot Sunflowers in a vase

Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo

How did that happen?

Oh, I know. I’m Spring cleaning and redecorating. Yes, Aaminah. You will be happy to know that I have changed the color scheme of my decor. Pink, purple and red have been driven out! I’ve been looking at that cheery, girly color scheme since 2005 and I needed a change. So now the color scheme is a calm, soothing green accented with neutral colors and a touch of soft blue.

I started running errands on Monday and now suddenly, it’s Thursday. Just when I thought May was going to be a slow and boring month. Where *did* all this work come from? When did that article for Azizah evolve into this huge project demanding meticulous research? And why am I writing a 10 page report even though I’m outta school?

Wow, time flies when work piles up.

Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo

Please.

Stop.

Think before you use that weapon.

Your tongue ain’t just a mere piece of flesh.

Words aren’t just sounds filling the air.

You say it’s venting and I understand having frustrations.

But you’re pointing that weapon at me.

And I did you no wrong.

I’m not your friend who stood you up

Or the husband who didn’t listen to you

I’m not the needy, crying son or spoiled daughter

I didn’t act rude to you at the mosque

Or cut you off in traffic

And while you can continue to scream and bite the backs of everyone who’s getting on your nerves,

I gotta hang up the phone.

Now!

You wreckin’ reputations with a mere phone call.

The mala’ika are busy taking notes.

And I don’t want to be a conspirator in your plot to drag us both to hell. 

Don’t take it personal.

I just don’t want to know about your sex life. 

Or about your  brother-in-law. 

Your mother will always get on your nerves and talking to me won’t change it.

There will always be rude people, racist people, stupid people.

So complain to Allah. 

He won’t tell your daughter what you really think about her choices in life.

Or complain to the one your tongue is so willing to malign

Tell your son he’s lazy and he should help you around the house—not me!

And do me one more favor.

If I start talking about other people

Don’t hesitate.

Just walk away while I’m in mid sentence

I’ll know what ya mean. 

You might have read the first part.  Now here’s some little add-ons.

9) A Neat, User-friendly Website

Please understand that we are in the digital age.  The days of word-of-mouth advertising have been replaced by email and pixels.  There’s nothing more annoying than seeing a Muslim selling this awesome product, only to have them tell you that you can only contact them through a cell phone or Yahoo. How do they expect to grow and make money?  The majority, an overwhelming 97%, of my sales come from outside of Georgia.  I hoping to remedy this in the near future but it is partly because of my website and the familiarity of my blog. 

Umm Zaid has written about this before.  Whether your business is a mosque, bakery or car shop, you should have a website.  We would all love to have a slick website designed by Brother Ruh or Sister Shazia or Dynamite Soul.  Whenever you get the money, please patronize these talented Muslim designers.  But until then, try to get someone computer savvy to help you.  After all, our community is filled with graphic designers.  I got an email from an organization that’s been around for 16 years and they don’t have a website.  I’ll end there. 

10) Listening to what you don’t want to hear

It’s not nice.  It’s like a verbal punch to the gut.  You believe you have the best idea since slice bread and suddenly, someone says, “Um, do you think that’s wise?”  The difficult part about this piece of advice is that you don’t know if the person is being sincere or throwin’ salt on your game.  Is this a Muslim concerned for your finanical well-being or the nafs al ammara getting jealous? 

Think about who’s giving you the advice.  Do they belong to the same business you’re dealing in?  If you are starting a plumbing business, is this the advice coming from a master plumber with years of experience?  Just take a moment to consider their advice and see if it’s benefical.  Otherwise, you may find yourself regretting that “better than sliced bread” business idea.

11) Pray

Pray, pray, pray and pray some more.  And then pray again! Allah is your Provider and your Sustainer. Remember that!

Brother Shaik Abdul Khafid is back!  You must remember this awesome graphic designer as he is the brainchild of our lovely blog buttons.  Yes, I finally broke down and added his latest buttons to my blog because they are so creative and chic.  He has now started creating these hilarious cartoons.  Check out his awesome blog and give him your duas and support. 

Salaam alaikum, 

So everybody’s feeling the pinch.  Or maybe it’s more like a financial headlock.  And for anyone who has little debt or no at all, they must be singing right about now.  You might have heard of the massive layoffs in the Atlanta City government.  Or you could have come across the article about Americans selling precious family heirlooms in order to make ends meet.  Some Italians are boycotting pasta, believe it or not.  And as hard as it is for us Americans and Europeans, it’s so much worse in poorer countries. 

There have been riots in Egypt over rice prices and the poverty of Haiti is so severe, some have been driven to eat mud.  Alhamdulillah, Venezuela is sending 364 tons of food to help them.  The world is facing a financial and agricultural crisis.  And while I could complain about the difficulty in finding a decent job, I have a roof over my head and food in the fridge.  It’s a lot more than most people.

But don’t these hunger crises have less to do with high prices and environmental pollution and more to do with wealth distribution?  I guess its a mixture of them all.  There will always be richer nations but…

Despite all of this wealth that we have, as people of this earth who are living in an ecosystem of abundant natural resources, why do so many countries lack basic necessities such as clean drinking water and proper sanitation and sewage systems?  Why haven’t we established a standard that ensures that everyone is entitled to health care, education, a decent income and a clean environment. 

When will our politicians start talking about that?  Maybe I wouldn’t have so much political cynicism if the majority of our politicians actually dealt with these huge problems.  Even with this election, I’m getting worn down by all the sound bites and attacks.  But this is entry would go on forever if I would start talking about this election and how I wish would we could settle on a Democrat candidate already! 

The closer we get to November, the more nervous I get.  There are certain issues that bug me about all three candidates but Obama is the only one that doesn’t scare me to death.  I hope, insha’Allah, that he’s the lesser of three evils because Clinton has some serious race issues and she’s on running on what she did while she was married to President Clinton–which wasn’t much.  She had the opportunity to reform health care and she didn’t.  And yeah, I’m still raw about her vote authorizing the war in Iraq.  She could have shown a little more courage.  And Mc Cain…well, he doesn’t know the difference between Shia’s and Sunnis and loves to sing Bomb, Bomb Iran! 

Now with Obama, I do fear his policy of going into Pakistan while our army is already stretched to its limit.  Not to mention how I believe the last thing America needs is another prolonged, senseless war.  For every war we start over there, that just brings on more recruits for Al-Qaeda.  Speaking of which, does anyone talk about Bin Laden anymore? 

*****

But in other news…yes, I’m sick of this Reverend Wright issue. 

I’m sick of the hypocrisy. 

Hagee and Parsley can say all the crazy, wackadoo things they want but they get a pass.  Why isn’t the media playing footage of Hagee calling the Roman Catholic Church a whore or saying we New Orleanians deserved to drown and die because there was going to be a gay parade!?!!?  I’m not even touching the stuff he’s said about Muslims.  Is it because, despite Hagee’s horrible rhetoric, he’s a huge supporter of AIPAC, an AIPAC has at its disposal, among other things, devoted journalists in the mainstream media?  And no, it doesn’t matter that Mc Cain didn’t attend his church.  Mc Cain sought Hagee’s support.  He asked for it. 

But America got a dose of some Black Liberation theology from Rev. Wright and did not like it!  Like one sister said, “Those folks are gonna wish they were making sujood with the Muslims after hearing what really goes down in the Black church!” 

But if you want to hear from the man himself, just check out the links below. 

Bill Moyers interview with Rev. Jeremiah Wright  Gonna give credit to Moyers for having some journalistic integrity. 

Rev. Wright Press Club Meeting part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5

Please listen to the q & a session in part 4 and 5.  It is a riot!!!!  Each piece is about 10 minutes long. 

But ya know, despite all this mess with his minister, people STILL believe Obama is a closet Muslim!

La howla wa laa quwatta illa billah. 

Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo

Jazak Allah khairn to everyone who posted here and on the flickr site. Everyone overwhelmingly agreed that the inside should have color. So I have painted the inside the same black as the side stripes of the purse. I know, I know, it looks brown but I swear I used Mars Black acrylic paint. I guess the gold painted flowers created the look of a dark chocolate brown. So, the purse looks like the color scheme of Neopolitan ice cream. Yum. 

Plus, I’m following JD’s advice by placing some black fabric at the bottom of the box. I can’t really cover the whole inside with fabric because the hinges would pull it apart.

Thank you so much. This pic will be posted on KellyIzdihar.com

Salaam alaikum,

Hijab tip to Musulmana for sending me this link. 

Amir visits to observe impact of his generosity

by John Pope, The Times-Picayune

Monday April 28, 2008, 7:22 PM

The amir of Qatar, the ruler of the oil-rich country that has pumped $100 million into hurricane-recovery projects, is visiting New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast today and Wednesday to see how and where the money has been spent.

During a busy two-day schedule, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani will tour schools, a hospital and health centers. He will see new houses that Qatar has paid for, and he will hear from recipients of his country’s aid in three broad categories: education, health care and housing.

For instance:

– Children’s Hospital received $5.4 million, the largest single gift in the hospital’s history, to care for uninsured children and to repair and re-equip two clinics.

– Habitat for Humanity was given $22 million to build 293 homes in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

– Xavier University received $12.5 million for a new building for its College of Pharmacy.

– Nearly $20 million was divided among Louisiana State University, Loyola University, Tulane University and Xavier University for scholarship. 

Now that’s more like it.  Shiny, happy Muslims doing good. 

And guess what?  This young man was honored by the Mahabba Awards for Event of the Year.

CAIRO — Provoked by the re-printing of a cartoon lampooning Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) by Danish newspapers, Danish young man Anders Botter has stood up and be counted, taking his case of defending the other’s religious sensibilities to the popular social website Facebook to say “Sorry Muhammad.”

“As an average Danish citizen, my primary goal with this Facebook group is to say that ‘I’m sorry’ to all those ordinary Muslims around the world, who have been offended by the cartoons of prophet Muhammed (sic),” Botter said in a live dialogue on IslamOnline.net.

Botter, 27, says he launched “Undskyld Muhammed” or sorry Muhammad in English to spark a constructive debate about limits of freedom of expression in a secular and democratic Denmark.

“I’m 100% support the freedom of speech – but I also respect the religious views and feelings of other people,” he said.

So, this is just a friendly reminder to those Muslims who think that all non-Muslims are out to get us.  Let’s judge folks one at a time, not in big lumps.  :-)  The Danes can’t be all that bad.  After all, they make those yummy butter cookies. 

Salaam alaikum

Bismillah ir Rahman ir Raheem

Lately, because of the recent talk within the local community about Muslims and activism, I’ve been thinking a lot about sincerity.  It’s the constant job of a believer to make sure that her intentions are correct.  What am I doing or saying this for, the people or Allah?  But recently, I had a run in with a commenter that revealed some new insights about sincerity.

A month ago, “Susan,” contacted me and asked me some questions about Islam, the oppression of Muslim women and terrorism.  You know, the two usual subjects–religious violence and the subjugation of women.  While the comment seemed angry and laced with some sarcasm, I decided to let it stay.  I also left a comment receommending Thomas Cleary’s translation of the Qur’an plus links to various websites and organizations that are addressing the problems she listed. 

She returned about month later, still not happy with her results.  She mentioned the same issues and felt that the oppression of women can not be helped because men have all the power.  She’s waiting for the Lord to fix it (her words, not mine).  So today, I emailed her.  A few weeks ago, I got the chance to meet an awesome Australian Muslim woman activist named Ayesha.  She’s the principal of a school for Muslim girls (who’s staff is 1/3 non-Muslim, by the way) and she pursuing a doctorate degree.  “Susan” also lives in Australia.  So if they are willing and if time and distance are in sync, I thought they could meet.   I emailed “Susan” and let her know that I would get Ayesha’s contact information and insha’Allah, she can work with Muslim women in resolving these issues. 

Yes, I admit, I gambled.  Part of me wanted to me if she would be excited to work with active, intelligent Muslim women or if this was just negative spam hanging in my comments box.  After coming home from my tajweed classes, there was another comment and no response to my email (and as of yet, I still haven’t received a response) about…again, Taliban.  What was sorta sad and humorous was that she said the same thing, “Muslims don’t condemn terrorism.”  But there I was, condemning it in my comments box plus sending her links to Islam for Today which has this huge webpage of, what else?  Condemnations!  And she must have missed those darling American Muslims Against Terrorism buttons that grace the blogs of people like JD, Yursil and Tariq Nelson. 

And there was the posting of hadith and the latest madness from some Taliban psycho, and we ALL know the dangers of people interpreting Islam through Digital Jurisprudence.  Subhan’Allah, I can read a book on nuclear physics but that doesn’t make me a physicist.  :-)  But this time, the comment was left by “Susan” and it ended with the name “Jenny.”  Big red flag.  What’s up with using two different names?  I have to admit, this makes me think that she’s less than sincere.  Only God knows.  While I don’t really have any concrete blog rules, I do feel like that you should at least use one name.  So in the rare times in my blogging history, I had to remove her comments.  I can’t take behavior like that seriously. 

:::By the by, do you see that no matter how much you condemn terrorism, it’s never enough?  If only Bin Laden had a blog so they could all talk to him instead of the rest of us:::

There are people who go on and on about the plight of Muslim women but when offered a chance to interact with us, suddenly it’s like hearing crickets.  That’s when you’ll see if feminist rhetoric becomes positive action or no action at all.  If you are passionate, I mean really passionate about something, whatever that something is, you work and you fight for it.  You have to put up or shut up.

But while I’m all in Susan or Jenny’s business trying to figure out if she’s sincere, I need to be more concerned about my sincerity.  What am I doing to make things better?  What can I do that goes beyond words on a blog?  How can I translate my ideas into positive change.  Well, I know my tajweed classes are taught at a small school for Muslim women called House of Muslimahs.  I think supporting Muslim women to become educated in Islam is the best way to gain taqwa and to decipher between what is Islam and what is Hislam.  My friend and cool Muslim visual artist Janet Aly used her artwork sales to raise money for the Mukhtar Mai Women Welfare Organization.  I know many of you sisters and brothers out there have given tons of money to charitable organizations and have hosted many interfaith events with people of other faiths.

So, I hope and pray that with the remaining time in my life, I can use my time for God’s good work–whatever form that may take. 

So Susan or Jenny, I’m still here.  I will get that information about the sister in Australia and if you want it, you can have it.  Let’s take our passions and direct them to something noble.  And please forgive any part of this entry that may have seem snarky.  After all, I’m American and we can be like that sometimes. 

******

Note:  11:27 pm. She cleared up the Susan-Jenny issue.  She uses both names together and seperately.  But I have yet to receive a response to my email.  If you’re still interested, Susan Jenny try the Muslim Women’s League and KARAMAH. 

Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo

Salaam alaikum,

Yeaaaaah.  I went there.  I must be channeling Kimora Lee Simmons or somethin’!  It looks like a purse but it’s actually another decorative box.  Pricing and measurements will come soon but I need some feedback.  I want your opinion on whether or not I should paint the inside of the box.  I have a flickr set which shows all different angles of this latest product. 

But a short description:  A decorative box shaped like a purse.  Colored with pink, black and white stripes with black diamonds and gold dots.  Accented with black and gold flowers, along with gold studs and latch.  Does not come with lock for security. 

Please feedback on the flickr site. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/98756806@N00/sets/72157604757228651/