Izzy Mo’s Blog

govmansion

Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo.

Maybe. Hey, Tariq, is this the governor’s mansion? Oh, wait, no. This is something else. I’ll get the governor’s mansion another time.

This will be very short.  Been very, very busy.  But insha’Allah, after tonight, I can exhale. 

So, as some of you may know, the IMMC is hosting an exhibit about Timbuktu which features hundred years old manuscripts straight from the fabled learned city.  Through the blessings of Allah ta’ala, I have now met someone from Timbuktu.  I guess I find it funny because you always hear the phrase “from here to Timbuktu,” as if it’s such a distance place.  Now it doesn’t feel so far anymore. 

My new friend is Shaykh Abdul-Qadir Haidara, curator of the Mamma Haidara Library in Timbuktu, Mali.  His family inherited the manuscripts throughout the centuries and protected them from theft when French colonialists went plundering through West Africa.  You can see the library’s website right here plus a picture of Abdul-Qadir Haidara.   Insha’Allah, his library and the Timbuku Educational Foundation can raise enough more to perserve these texts, as they are one of the many proofs of Africa’s literate culture. 

Funny thing, though.  He can only speak French and Arabic as far as I know and I’ve discovered just how rusty my French is.  Man, it’s rusty!  But it has gotten better since I stopped caring about how stupid I sound.  :-)  Insha’Allah, after taking Brother Yusuf’s advice, I have a taken a few photos of the exhibit.  I don’t know how great the quality will be and my battery was running on low. 

I’ll be back but this weekend has got to be free for me because…I gotta rest! 

front viewOriginally uploaded by Izzy Mo.

Okay, so I have been here one month.  And I didn’t want to say too much too soon.  But after a while, I realized somethings about myself that I didn’t know.  But I know, almost certainly, that I would never live here permanently.  That’s not so much a slam on Jackson but my own personal hang-up. 

One of the things I’ve been warned about by Tariq is the defeatist mentality and I’ve had good doses of that growing up in NOLA.  In about five years, ten tops, Jackson will probably be a bustling city with so much too offer.  But until then, what they are dealing with some huge challenges to tourism.  One of them being that the downtown area is almost devoid of restaurants.  I’m serious, there’s not a Subway or Burger King within a 10 mile radius (and no Starbucks!).  Most commerce and business has moved to North Jackson or the suburb next door named Ridgeland. 

They are building a new convention center which will connect visitors to the Mississippi Arts Center, the same place where the IMMC is now located.  Of course, all of this growth takes time, but I guess Georgia and Louisiana may have spoiled me a bit.  I have to admit that I miss living in a state with so many Muslims and halal shops.  In Georgia, the new buildings and houses are constructed all of the time and the schools are in pretty good shape.  Now Louisians is poor like Mississippi but living in New Orleans made it worth it.  Beyond Mardi Gras, there may not be much to do but there’s plenty of places to eat and New Orleanians live to eat–not the other way around.  Jackson has some abandoned buildings in the downtown area that can be a real eye sore until you breathe a sigh of relief and see the “soon to be remodeled” sign.  For the most part, it’s quiet and there’s not a lot of crime. 

You known I been teased a bit (and by some, a lot) because they can’t believe I moved here and they can’t believe America’s only museum Muslim is here.  But that’s only proof of one thing–if you set your mind to something, you can do it.  There not nearly as many Muslims here as say New York, Georgia or California and yet they were able to pull this off in a state that’s known for its bad racial history.  So what’s everyone else’s excuse?  If a handfull of Muslims can pull this off and get most of their funding from non-Muslim sources, then how can anyone living in a big city with a lot of Muslims have a defeatist attitude? 

*****

Subhan’Allah, I wasn’t finished with this post.  I just wanted to save it rather than publish it.  Oy, I’ll be back later. 

andrewj

Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo.

Salaam alaikum,

There he is. Ol’ Jacky. The Jackster…Jack! I’ll save my feelings about former American president Andrew Jackson for another day but obviously, this city is his name sake. I haven’t taken all of the pictures that I wanted. And since the IMMC doesn’t allow photography, I can’t show pictures from the exhibit. We have very old, fragile, fading manuscripts from Timbuktu and constant exposure to light will destory them. So if you want to see the IMMC, I’ll guess you have to come down.

The sisters of CT Muslimaat had a successful fundraiser.  They auctioned off donated artwork to raise funds for their organization.  And :::blush, blush:::, my work sold!  Insha’Allah, these funds will help Muslim and non-Muslim families over spousal and child abuse. 

Here’s an article about the event, which also has a little video clip attached.  Please ignore the “veil of secrecy” line and their inability to pronounce the word “Muslim” five years after 9-11. 

Wanna Learn about Hajj?

Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo.

Welp, Sunni Path is offering a class for…FREE. Learn about the essentials of Hajj. You may not go this year but you never know when you may find yourself in the holiest of holy lands.

www.sunnipath.com

Bring on, bring on, the 3rd Resurrection! 

For those of you who don’t know what the 3rd Resurrection is, please read Dr. Sherman A. Jackson’s book Islam and the Blackamerica:  Looking Towards the Third Resurrection.  Also, read Manrilla’s blog for larger commentary on the subject.  I’ll try to explain what is the Third Resurrection within a few words. 

The period after the death of the Elijah Poole (better known as Elijah Muhammad and founder of the Nation of Islam) is known as the First Resurrection.  This is the time when Black American slowly move away from his Black nationalist movement into a more mainstream, Sunni-oriented Islam.  The Second Resurrection soon followed. This period is when two main groups of African-American Muslims followed either Warith Deen Muhummad (the son of Elijah Muhammad) who brought most of his followers to Sunni Islam or Louis Farrakhan, the current leader of the nation of Islam.  According to Dr. Jackson, the next phase of Islam for Black Americans will probably be anchored in Sunni Islamic tradition with the major difference being that it will not longer have the tradition of charismatic leaders.  Personally, I feel that we are getting there but we’ve still got some stuff to work out.

I guess you can blame it on the way I came to Islam but I’ve always had some issues with what’s going on in some of the predominately Black masajid.  It’s gotten to a point where I know that the only masjid that I really like is one that is racially mixed–not these enclaves of race clubs where the Arabs go to Masjid X and the Blacks go to Masjid Y.  Both of my favorites mosques, one in NOLA and one in Fayetteville, were racially mixed and on the deen.  Yeah, that’s one of my friend’s sayings.  “Yes, that brother’s on the deen!  He knows Islam.  He’s on the deen!!!” 

But seriously, there some problems in the African-American Muslim community and bloggers such as Tariq Nelson have written extensively about them.  I just wanted to highlight some of the issues I’ve run into within these very short two and 3/4 years as a Muslim. 

*Old NOI tendencies–One that frustrates me is some of the old racisms that come back into some of the conversations that I’ve had.  For some, they will never let go because they are past a certain age and that’s just the way things are.  But for others, you should hear some of them go on and on about White people like we’re living in 1960s Birmingham.  While racism still exists and it is still the cancer that it was 20, 50, or 100 years ago, the fact remains that it is still haram to hate and it is haram to hate a person because of their race.  This isn’t too prevalent among the younger folks but I do get it from time to time from the older folks.  Islam in America is no longer the “black religion” as we see Latinos and Caucasian entering into this deen.  I know this mentality will eventually die out but hearing the old myths about how White people are a genetic deformity makes me ill.  How is saying that white peeople evolved from dogs any different than saying black people evolved from apes?  Also, I get a little tired of the Black nationalist bent.  I’m all for Blacks having their own businesses and companies but do any of you see “New Africa” coming anytime soon? 

*Aversion to learning Arabic–I don’t know why people get crazy at the mentioning of learning Arabic.  But some refuse to learn it.  I mean absolutely refuse.  I can only guess why but it seems to stem from this fear of turning into a psuedo Arab.  I really don’t know.  It could be a fear of living a foreign language but this is something that disturbs me.  Not all of us will become fluent or even conversant but you should try to learn the basics.  But what hurts is when I show some one the words “Allah,” “Muhammad,” or “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful” in Arabic and they can’t read it.  These are oft repeated words of a Muslim, not to mention every chapter (accept Surah at-Tuwbah) begins with the basmala.  And when the masjid offers these classes for free, there’s no excuse.

Gender relations–:::Clearing throat:::  I’m happy that when I walk into a WD mosque, I know that as a woman, I won’t have any trouble finding a place to pray.  I will not be turned around and told that a house of Allah is denied to me.  However, just as there are some conservative extremists, there are liberal extremists.  Such as…when I go to a Muslim marriage match-making conference, I don’t expect to spend the night dancing in a hotel with a DJ playing in ballroom full of single curious brothers.  When I’m leaving the mosque at night and the imam tells you to walk me to my car (and to not ask me for my phone number) don’t ask me for number! Talk to my wali…better yet talk to my father and see how he feels about it.  It’s rude to check out sisters during jumuah.  It’s rude to take a nap in the sisters’ prayer room.  Sisters, don’t pray in capri pants!  Brothers, make sure your shirt is long enough so that when you make sadjah in your 2 sunnah rakaats before jumuah, we sisters who sit in the back don’t see your sideways smile.  Sisters, don’t wear loud makeup, jewelry or perfume.  If you don’t wear hijab all the time, okay…cool. That’s between you and Allah. But inside the masjid, do it for Allah, and no one else.  There’s a certain level of adab that needs to be followed–dressing modestly, lowering the gaze, lowering the voice, all these things are fard for males and females.  Oh, and don’t tell another brother about how fine some sister is because…that may be his wife.

The hijab–This is another thing of contention.  Many African-American sisters who wear hijab are told that it’s stupid and that we are copying the Arabs.  Once again, your Black identity is being questioned.  May I say again and again that Islam belongs to humanity, not the Arabs, Blacks or South Asians alone.  I wear my hijab according to what the Qur’an says and what the Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salaam) specified.  Besides, if some of them actually went to an Arab country like Lebanon or Tunisia, they would realize that hijab is not worn there properly (if it is worn at all).  And, it seems the latest reason created by some very misguided people as to why Black women embrace the hijab is because we are escaping the judgement of people who think we have nappy hair.  Let me give you a moment to digest that. :::twiddling fingers:::  Okay, time’s up.  I know we ladies have issues with our hair and it’s a common female fact that there’s hardly a woman who is satisfied with her hair.  If it’s curly she wants it straight, if it’s dark she wants it light, etc.  But for these very silly people, it never dawns on them that Muslims do anything out of love for God (unless it’s killing people).  So they just can’t imagine a woman covering her hair or a woman fasting simply for His pleasure.  :::Sigh:::

Name changing–Upon conversion, if you decide to change your name, that is a good thing to do.  It’s not obligatory but recommended if your name has a bad meaning. So Lily, Clark and Robert are just as Islamic as Abdul-Rahman, Sumayya and Uthman.  It’s great if you change your name to something that you wish to embody such as Abdus-Salaam, because you want to be a good servant to the Giver of Peace.  It’s also good if you name yourself after one of the Sahaba (may God bless them) because you want to emulate them.  What I don’t like is the pressure put on some converts, and I know this isn’t just happening in the African-American Muslim community, to change their names.  Why so much pressure on something that’s not obligatory?  Many people take issue with Islam because of this false concept that you must reject everything about you that was pre-conversion even though many aspects of your personality led you to Islam in the first place.  I get this question from one brother in particular, as if my Islam is not authentic enough unless I change my name.  I mean, forget salaat, zakaat, and saum–just change your name already!  It’s really annoying coming from Muslims who don’t pray, fast or give charity.  Once again, it’s all about identity and not deen.  I didn’t become Muslim to reconnect with a lost African heritage.  I became a Muslim because of La ilaha il Allah, Muhammadur rasul Allah and I try to act on that with the best of my ability.  And for making the effort to reconnect with our ancestors’ past, we are taking Arab names rather than West African names like Chinwe and Chinua.  If this is really about Africa and Islam, then why not do the more authentic thing by taking a Senegalese or Malian name?  How about using Amadou rather than Ahmad? Or learning about the culture and arts of West Africans in general.  Insha’Allah, more African-American Muslims will do this and there’s a lot of inspiration for us in their example.  After all, the Muslims of West Africa were able to produce the great empires of Mali, Songhay and the great intellectual center of Timbuktu.  In order for us to build a “New Africa,” we have to learn about the “Old Africa” first.

Before I end this, there’s another point I wanted to touch on.  I understand that many Black Muslims change their names in order to address the injustice of slavery.  Our European surnames may be the name of our ancestors’ slave owners.  But what is not discussed is that our names could also be the result of marriage.  Many White Americans were indentured servants who married Black servants.  For decades, Irish Americans were only allowed to many other Irish-Americans, Blacks and Native Americans–which may explain why there’s a significant number of African-Americans with Irish surnames (like myself).  It’s hard to know for certain unless you have the time, money and tools to research your history.  In a PBS documentary with Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., he researched the lineage of famous Black celebrities.  Oprah Winfrey had no white ancestors while Mae Jamison had East Asian ancestors.  Dr. Gates’ roots were divided equally in Europe and West African which made him ask the question if he was half-white.  I guess my point is that our history in this country is not as cut and dry as some Afrocentrists argue. 

I may come back to this later.

DSCF1408

Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo.

Salaam alaikum,

Tres busy with exhibit and opening day activites. Therefore, here is a nice Yemeni (I think) rug to entertain with its beautiful pattern.

Pictures of Jackson may come soon. Pictures of exhibit? Unlikely since photography is not allowed at the Mississippi Arts Center where the IMMC is located. Pictures of masjid may come soon and other masajid throughout the state.

But maybe it’s good that I’m not bloggin’ a lot since my concentration is totally shot until this exhibit opens on the 28th.

As I said before, any southern Muslims who live in states that border Mississippi, YOU HAVE NO CHOICE! YOU MUST COME!!! Puhweeez!

****** Side note.

Here’s an example of using the arts as a form of activism.  I am happy to say that I am included in the ranks of these wonderful artists (such as Hajji Noor Deen, Salma Arastu and Mamoun Sakkal)  who have decided to donate their works to Central Texas Muslimaat.  This organization is made up of a group of Texas Muslimas united to fight against spousal abuse.  They are also a dawah organization and they work to help promote Muslim women in business.  :-) 

Seems like there’s some interesting discussions going on out there in Bloglandia!  Umm Zaid, Umar, Tariq, Dynamite Soul, Aaminah and others have written some very insightful posts. I feel so out of the loop!  I’ve wanted to blog but I haven’t had the time or energy.  But things may be winding down for a second and insha’Allah, I can squeeze in something meaningful.  But the only thing is, if you’re going to write about race or gender relations in the umma, you can’t get just write up a little somethin-somethin’ in 30 minutes.  Well, at least I can’t.  :-) 

So I guess this post will just be rambling random thoughts.

*********

Glenn Beck?  Why?  I just don’t understand how someone that deluded, extreme and stupid could have a TV show.  Wait, I just answered my question.  Like Umm Zaid, I wonder when did conversative values become a calling card for immature, racist morons.  I swear, this dude has gotten away with slamming the 9-11 families, calling Katrina evacuees scum and…wait for it…believing that the world was coming to an end on the day of the Miraj!  The only reaction he’s gotten is that he’s insightful and funny.  Once again, I submit the experiment of replacing all of these people with racial and religious minorities and then seeing if these comments are still funny.  Oh yeah, an Arab Muslim version of Glenn Beck slamming the 9-11 families…real funny. 

*******

I wanted to be happy with the takeover of the Democrats in government but honestly, I think we all know that it will be more of the same but in a less obvious way.  There’s still fearmongering and bloodlust for Iran, not to mention that most people are still convinced that bombing every single Muslim country will solve the terrorism problem.  And we all know that if America continues this path of excessive military conquest and raw consumerism, this country will finally collapse from within.  Al-Qeada may be evil but these corporations do things that make them seem tame in comparison.  Goodness, they don’t even know the difference between Shi’as and Sunnis.  Despite their high tech weaponry, they’ve decided that we’re all the same–foaming at the mouth, raging lunatics–and that is just one of the reasons why they’ve lost control in Iraq, Afghanistan and why every other future invasion will be a failure.  I’m with Dr. Max.  Next time people start screaming for war without thinking it through, I say those folks should put their money where their mouth is and go fight it themselves.  Yeah, it’s good to see Americans waking up to the ugly reality but I really wish so many people didn’t have to die before the alarm bell went off.

********

More thoughts of polygamy. (Yes, I’m a glutton for punishment)  As much of a challenge as polygamy may pose in secular countries, one question sticks out for me.  Why is polygamy so evil when a man who impregnates multiple women, and then leaves, gets a slap on the wrist.  A man who makes a solemn vow before God and the state that he will provide for his wives and all their financial needs is bad.  The same man who is willing to suffer the worldly and Divine law if he deviates from his duty is bad.  The same man who promises to raise, care for and be a father to all chidren produced by his wives is bad.  But a man who goes from woman to woman, treats them like disposable rags, and only is involved in his children’s lives when his money is garnished by the state for child support is good?  This is acceptible?  And worse, the woman is blamed for being stupid enough for having a sexual relationship with him when EVERYONE tells her that she’s free to be as sexual as she wants.  The messages are so mixed.  Yes, you can explore and have as many partners as you want, but if you get pregnant and/or get a disease, it’s your fault for being so promiscious.  If you can’t afford to care for the child, hey, you should have thought about that before the act.  And if you don’t get an abortion (since having personal and/or religious objections to abortion is considered archaic and anti-female) then society is free to ignore you and write you off as another irresponsible welfare queen.  Meanwhile, let’s lock up the guy who is actually doing the right thing by taking care of his wives while Joe Schmoe goes and impregnates someone else. @@

****

Oh, I’ll be back. 

No, not yet. 

Too many things happening.  Getting used to Mississippi.  Getting used to the job.  Trying to adjust which is silly because it’s only the 2nd week. 

I haven’t said too much about where I am because I don’t want to pre-judge.  Trust me,  my mind is critiquing like crazy.  But I remember when I first moved to Georgia and how much I didn’t like it.  Typical post-Katrina prejudice.  Our loyality to the Big Easy is fierce even when we’re living somewhere else.  But with time, I had grown to like it.  It’s not home but I understand my so many people want to live there.  In Atlanta and the surrounding cities, there’s so much growth and development.  It’s a sharp contrast to the stagnation of downtown New Orleans, which once boasted of chic department stores and movie theatres.  I hope that in four years, New Orleans will better.  It’s not too bad from what I hear but I hope the society gets better.  The movie industry is booming and Denzel Washington’s new film Deja Vu was the first post-Katrina film production.  So you may get to see some boats blown up on the Mississippi River!  :-) 

But anyway….

I wanted to blog about the Dems winning, about Beit Hanoun, about the Timbuktu exhibit that I’m gushing on, and Rumsfield getting canned, and Haggard getting caught, and all the silliness and violence that’s going on…but not yet.  Not yet.  I’ll be back, insha’Allah.

OH!  But since being washed out of NOLA, I’ve realized just how spoiled I am.  All my life, I have been weaned on spicy, delicious, warm Southern Creole cuisine.  Now that I can’t just get catfish and other seafood jewels like I used to, I’m in a culinary funk.  Blast!  It is a sin to charge $5.95 a pound for jumbo shrimp.  In the off season in NOLA, you can get shrimp for $1.50 a pound, during the shrimp season (subhan’Allah) 99 cents or less.  I ain’t even gonna get into the Creole knock off and imitations. Hey, any New Orleanians out there who are looking for a quick way to make some money?  Can ya cook, I mean, really cook?  Come to Jackson, open a restaurant in the downtown area and you will put your children through college AND by two vacation homes! I promise! There’s no restaurants in downtown Jackson…yet.  But you can come here and make some money!  No doubt.