Izzy Mo’s Blog

Sister Aaminah muses on why writing is such an important part of the Islamic tradition and why it is so crucial for Muslims to pick up the pen (or punch those keys) to express our point of view. 

Is Writing Haraam?

Is Writing Haraam, part 2?

Vive La Revolution pour les artistes Islamique!!!!!

DSCF1647Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo.

Salaam alaikum,

Brother Yursil had to wait a while for this but alhamdulillah, he won’t have to wait for long. Hope you like the flickr show I made of this box, brother!

Oh, that box should be turned sideways so you can see the Ottoman seal.

When you’re telling a single sister about a single brother who is looking to get married, have some information about him. 

Tell her something other than he’s single and he’s Muslim. 

Start off by getting a name.  Yeah, that’s good.  Said brother should have a name.  How about where he lives?  That’s a good one, too.  It’s hard to make a decision about meeting someone if you don’t know where he lives.  How about his age?  You might not get it right just by looking but you can give a ballpark estimate. Asking about his race isn’t bad either and it doesn’t make you a racist. 

You see, I’m a bit worried about this trend because it’s based on the assumption that a couple shouldn’t know much about each other before they get married.  I don’t think I’m crazy or picky to presume that I should know the brother’s name…am I?  (smirk)  How can I show any interest if I don’t who he is other than he’s obviously has heaps of testosterone and he’s Muslim (and even that is questionable)? 

I’m just sayin’. 

I’ve been really bad about not answering my comments and basically blogging in general.  I haven’t been proofreading my posts.  :-(  Sorry.  That’s what I get for trying to blog and do all this other stuff on the side.  That picture below is a painting that I just finished and I hope I can get it into this art show so I’ve been kinda busy.  Plus….I’ve been commissioned to do these four pieces.  (The other works are the Apples Together piece, I noticed the link is broken).  A new and approved KellyIzdihar.com website will be coming very soon.  Be on the lookout.  Actually, I need to remake them since I lost them in Hurricane Katrina. 

But I do have a small blog post at Nisaa entitled, the Pity Party.  I’ll be back. 

love & mercy

Originally uploaded by CloudMan82.

Happy New Islamic Year, y’all!!!!

Check out this cool pic from Cloud Man 82!!!!

Continuing…..

Stick to the serious issues

When you think you should tell someone about a particular action, what is the gravity of the action?  Because honestly, we should speak up when a brother/sister is doing something so reckless that their dunya and akhira are both in danger.  Some are willing to point out the way how someone else wiggles their finger during prayer.  But what about child abuse?  Or how about someone who is having unprotected sex with their lover or he/she is cheating on his/her spouse?  People don’t mind gossiping about this stuff but how many are actually willing to sit down and have a serious talk with that person?  We’ve all been there.  It’s hard to talk to a loved one about destructive behavior, especially when you feel like that person will shoot you down.  Let them know that their present life is in danger, such as disease and pregnancy for a person having unprotected sex.  Most people, and this includes some religious folks, are not really persuaded by brimstone and hellfire.  All I can say is if you proceed, do so with caution.  I’ve had many a friend that preferred to run head first into a brick wall before listening to any piece of advice. 

Check holier than thou attitude at the door

Really, I mean it.  You can’t enjoin good and forbid evil with a smug attitude.  You can give dawah to people if you think they are beneath you. Think about like this.  You are a Muslim.  You have been exposed to the Truth.  Therefore, on the day of judgement,  you won’t have any excuse before the Lord of the Worlds.  Someone who hasn’t been exposed to the Truth or whose heart is not yet ready to receive the Truth has an excuse.  Just remember that what you see may not be all that’s there.  The person you think is so sinful may spend their nights praying qiyam al layl.  Or that tight wad of a brother is spending his wealth on the poor like there’s no tomorrow.  Just keep in mind that only God knows our stations before Him. 

Abu Sinan and that “shaykh”

Brother Abu Sinan, that story was just, umm…very disturbing.  I’m still feeling kinda sick after that one.  You know “doctors” during the Victorian Age did the same thing?  I guess they thought hysteria was caused by repressed desires.  I guess that’s what hysteria and hysterectomy have the same root word.  I’m assuming that those women he was supposed to help were mentality ill.  Please tell me they were mentally ill.  Is he still alive?  I’m surprised a group of vigilantes didn’t go after him.  That kind of stuff, as much as it pains me to hear Muslims doing that, other religious hypocrites do that, too.  There was a minister in Ponchutula, Louisiana who did the same thing–just with children and animals (audhubillah!!!!)  That kind of hypocrisy is just disgusting.  I hope you and your family can find a nice, level-headed Muslim community close to where you live.  I know there’s some nice places in Georgia and I’m sure you’re living in a place where there’s more Muslims.  Insha’Allah, maybe you and some brothers, even if it’s just three of you, can get together and have a close knit type of thing with your families.  Sometimes you need a break from the community.  And is there a way for you to meet some “sunnah” Saudis?  Hey, Sister Manal is normal so she must know some normal Saudis, too.  I know they’re out there but I couldn’t tell you where because those other folks and their behavior can be an iman killer.  Insha’Allah, you and your family will run into some nice, normal Saudi folks very soon. 

Giving salaamz, gettin’ the gas face

My philosophy is that you give salaams when you can, no matter what.  I don’t really care what they are doing at the time.  It’s the best thing to do, it’s sunnah and it’s polite.  Now I don’t know what to do when you give salaams and that person looks at you like an alien.  I guess I would just have to keep that person on my list of people who I should be careful with.  I would also ask them about it later on.  Some Muslims may prefer to be incognito and they don’t want to return the greeting.  It’s stupid but it’s their prerogative. 

glimpse

Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo. Second part of Nasiha is coming, insha’Allah. I just getting caught up in some stuff. Maybe by late May I’ll have more time. I’m finally starting the mysterious thesis paper so I can get out of school already.

Comin’ back!  But some words

Mosque on the Prairie?  Umm, sorry, this will take a whole entry.  I’m into about 7 minutes of it and…it’s not looking to good.  But haven’t you guys had enough of shows about Islam and Muslims that starts with that stupid, whiny so-called Arab voice?  You know…”Waaaa-eeee-yaaaa-eeeee-ooooo-waaaaaaa. Yaaaaaaa…yeeeeee…oooooooooowaaaaaaaaaaaa—-Allah!” Cue in guitar and exotic sounding drum.  You got throw in God’s name when you’re singing gibberish.

In other news, somewhere in America, there’s a very scared, right-wing, zenophobic man thinking, “Aaaaaaah!  Obama!  Obama!  Sounds like Osama!  He’s so…so…so Black!  Didn’t he study at a mah-drah-saaah!?!?!?  Aaaaah!  They’re taking over!  They’re taking over.  Believe you, me, next thing ya know, Kwanzaa, Ramadan and the Chinese New Year will trump Christmas.  All because of diversity.  Aaaah!  I just hope my daughter marries inside her race so I won’t have mixed grandbabies.  God help us and protect Amereeeka from the Ayrabs, Blacks, and the Jooooooos!”

After thinking about some of the comments on the last post, I put together this entry to sorta sum things up. 

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Verily, God loves kindness.

Sister Baraka brought up a very important point.  Nasiha is best from those we know and love.  Kind words and good advice are better appreciated by a relative or friend rather than someone you just met at the mosque.  So unless the person in question is close to you, maybe it’s just best to make dua and keep it to yourself.

Accept differences of opinion. 

Brother DA pointed out a very common problem.  Sometimes we have the tendency to point out actions that aren’t sinful, they’re just valid differences of opinion amongst scholars and schools of thought.  You know what I’m talking about.  Stuff like telling women who don’t wear nijab at the masjid that their prayers won’t be accepted or putting down brothers who don’t have beards.  Not every man can grow a full beard and I have seen brothers try very hard to do it.  And some of us have been berated over the way we pray.  Usually, if I see someone praying in a way that I haven’t seen before, I just assume that there’s something I don’t know about the prayer or they are praying according to a different madhab. I guess it’s just human nature to point out the little things rather than focusing on the most important things such as having sincerity in the prayer or trying to make the mosque a place where people can run to if they need help.  I don’t think most of the bloggers I know have a problem with different schools and sects of Islam but we all probably know someone who does.  Make dua for them too so that they can see that Islam survived the Mongol Horde, it can definitely survive a Hanafi and a Salafi praying in the same masjid. 

Check yourself first before you check others. 

DA and Abu Sinan pointed that old hidden sin of hypocrisy which is very important.  Before you call someone out on what they’re doing, make sure that the person isn’t able to come back and reveal your big sins.  Here’s an example.  Some people criticize Muslimas who don’t wear hijab and talk about how they are ruining the umma.  Meanwhile, this same person is backbiting like no tomorrow, or sells alcohol or abuses his/her children.  Come on!  Or what if a person talks about how a certain mosque has bad aqeedah and this same person doesn’t even go to the mosque or pray.  We’ve all run into that kind of behavior.  As Yursil pointed out, we are mirrors for each other.  The weakness that we see in others also reflects the potential weakness in ourselves. 

Private counsel

Sister Anonymouse suggested privacy and adab when approaching someone.  Another problem that we have (I mean as people, not just as Muslims) is that urge to “correct” someone publicly and loudly without realizing how hurtful that can be.  Okay, you saw so-and-so at the strip club but that doesn’t mean you wait to “correct” him/her in front of everyone at the next halaqa. I know of one scholar who said that part of being a believer is pretending not to see others’ faults.  Now, that’s pretending not accepting. You know it’s wrong, you just don’t expose it in front of everyone. 

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I’ll come with part two later, insha’Allah. 

You have reached the online journal of Izzy Mo.

Sorry, she’s not in at the moment.  She’s expected to be back very soon.  She is currently trapped in her studio (cough!), getting ready for a possible exhibition in Dallas, Texas.  While she’s busy trying to avoid stepping on paint tubes so that paint doesn’t get all over the carpet, she’s left this nice photo gallery for you to view entitled “Desimania.”

Please leave a message or just come back later when she’s not acting so coo-coo.

Beeeeeeep!

Since there were so many thought-provoking responses to the last post on giving “sinful” Muslims nasiha, I will try to answer them in a seperate entry that I’m working on.  I hope to put all of your suggestions together to create a guide for Muslims who want to help other Muslims who may be stumbling on the path (which probably includes all of us ). 

In the meanwhile, here’s a lovely link to the Islamic Arts Mall, sponsored by Eric Broug of Broug Ateilers.  If you are an artist or craftsperson who wants to share their work with the world, please email Eric for more info. 

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Hey, what do you guys think about what’s happening to Jimmy Carter?  Subhan’Allah, they’re treating him like he’s some rabid anti-Semite.  The fact that he’s a former US president doesn’t seem to matter.  It just amazes me that there’s more honest criticism of Israeli policy in the state of Israel than there is in the United States.  There’s also this petition calling for Amazon.com to do a fair review of Carter’s book or they shall face the boycott of at least 11,000 potential customers. Robert Fisk has written a review of the book.  I guess I better get my copy now before it’s banned or removed from the shelves.  Remind me again…doesn’t freedom of speech mean the right to say things that are not popular?  So if Muslims get upset about cartoons and articles defaming the Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salaam) and pundits lying about Islam what it stands for we should bare it for the sake of free speech, but if someone dare criticize Israeli policy towards the Palestinians we should stop them , even if the criticism is principled and just? 

Alhamdulillah, it is a best seller.