Izzy Mo’s Blog

kuficmuhammadOriginally uploaded by Izzy Mo.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the character and virtues of the Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu alayhi wa salaam).  What has spurned this recent preoccupation was something that happened a few months ago.  I had another Muslim call me out on my behavior.  Apparently in this person’s eyes, I wasn’t being the good Muslim I should be.  The accusation wasn’t without its flaws because I know this person is an open fornicator.  Still, the impact of being told that I wasn’t the best Muslim I could be was a tad bit jarring.  After getting over the initial shock and anger, something or should I say Someone, prompted me to learn more about the beautiful and impeccable character of the Prophet (sallalahu alayhi wa salaam). 

These last months few months in Jackson have been a challenge because I was constantly faced with difficult situations and I couldn’t easily find a response to them.  As with the situation described above, I didn’t know how to act in a manner befitting a believer.  So, my ignorance led to a non-reaction or avoidance.  I didn’t want to confront the situation at all for fear of doing or saying something that I would regret.  All this motivated me to do a little reading.  I finally pulled out my book, The Content of Character, translated by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf.  It’s a collection of various hadith complied by a renowned African scholar named Shaykh Al-Amin Ali Mazrui (may God Most High bless him).  Sister Umm Zaid has already introduced the beauty of his work on her blog. It’s a deceptively small book.  It’s less than 80 pages but the information inside can not be easily read.  You must take the translator’s advice by reading one or two sayings of the Messenger (sallalahu alayhi wa salaam) and meditating on its meaning. 

I must admit that when confronted with his excellent example, I can’t help but feel very low.  I try to avoid feeling so low that I won’t even try to cultivate his example within myself.  After a reading a few hadith, I realized that there is still so much that I need to work on.  Had I really comtemplated the following sayings?  “Abandon your desire for this world and God will love you.  Abandon your desire for others’ goods, and people will love you.”  (Ibn Majah) “Keep God in mind wherever you are; follow a wrong with a right that offsets it; and treat people courteously.”  (At-Tirmidhi) Have I really been improving my character or simply perfecting the externals of my practice?

With the coming of Rabi al-Awwal and another recent challenge to my faith, the life and example of the Best of Creation (sallalahu alayhi wa salaam) became even more important.  As Muslims who follow different sects and interpretations, there are some of us who take part in mawlid celebrations and those who don’t.  Many of us, especially those of us who come from the Christian tradition, may fear that talking about him or reserving a day or month for salawat is veering dangerously close to shirk.  I’ll give my opinion briefly on this topic.    Everyone is free to follow their own heart and the advice of trusted scholars.  But nothing endears the believer’s heart to God’s Beloved more than reflecting on him and sending him peace and blessings.  We shouldn’t fear talking about him too much.  Think about all of the nonsense that flows from our mouths each day.  Wouldn’t you rather have the angels record your salawat than your opinions on the latest episode of American Idol?  Isn’t it better to shed tears over the description of his life and words than over anything else?  Muhammad ibn Abdullah (alayhi salatu wa salaam) was a flesh and blood man who faced every challenge with excellent behavior.  He was a man who ate, slept, laughed, wept, made love, married and raised children, suffered  his enemies’ slander, dealt with stress and sadness, held down a job and did all of the things that we as human beings do—only he achieved supreme and absolute God consciousness and humility before His Lord.  And our Messenger (may He receive the highest station in paradise) taught us how to achieve the same thing. 

His sunnah is eating and drinking in a certain way but it is also in the way we raise our children or how we deal with those who try our patience.  Just yesterday, I had a visitor in the museum tell me that I was going to hell because I didn’t believe in God.  I didn’t want to pick her brain to see how she came to such a ludicrous conclusion.  My first reaction was bewilderment because her friends were so nice to me and they asked me so many sincere questions about the exhibit.  I just told her, in my nice tour guide voice, that I was sorry she felt that way.  She went on to say Islam is all a cult (she really must look that word up sometime).  Keep in mind she paid money to enter our museum.  Apparently, disbelief makes a person rude and somewhat nonsensical.  Now maybe my next reaction was evidence that my character is getting better or it could have been that annoying tour guide persona I have where nothing can rattle me and I just continue to pour the sugar on you.  I asked her, very nicely, “Well, um, why did you come?”  “Well, I’m leaving.  I’m leaving now because this is a cult.”  (She paid to enter a cult’s museum, y’all!)  I just sorta shrugged and said, “Well, I’m sorry.  I’ll pray for you.”  (Yes, I still have some salt in me).  And I’m sure she’s praying for me, too.  It took her a good five to ten minutes before she left.  I guess the desert tent scene and the pictures of West Africa irked her.  Subhan’Allah, her friends, who probably didn’t know the incident took place until they left the museum, smiled and said to my co-worker, “Oh, yeah, we loved the show.  And she was a great tour guide!” 

There was a time when something like that would have made me cry hot steaming tears before exploding into a self righteous anger.  I would have bitten her head off and chopped her up verbally with Biblical scripture.  There was even a time when I would have said nothing but stood there in angry silence while some stranger condemns me to hell because I don’t share her intolerant interpretation of Christianity.  I can only hope that my latest reaction is proof that I’m getting better.  Maybe I’m chipping away at the crust around my heart.  Insha’Allah, I can cultivate enough of the Prophet’s practice (may God bless him, his family, his companions, and his followers) so that it can save me from my greatest enemy—myself.  Maybe, on the Day of Judgment, when everything is cast asunder and I’m standing before the Supreme Judge, hopefully my feeble efforts to live with Muhammadan virtue will earn me the gift of Paradise and seeing our Messenger’s noble face.  May the peace of God Most High be upon him. 

Musulmana asked me to address this issue and since I had a few minutes, I wrote this short entry.   She was concerned about the growing trend of apostate bloggers and some of their efforts to confront Muslims online.  Here’s my thoughts on the subject. 

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While this development is somewhat troubling, the only thing we can do as Muslims is ignore them and make dua.  This may be difficult since I know of one apostate (at least) who actually links my blog and other Muslim blogs to his website.  Plus he links to my entries and writes about how (fill in the blank with insulting adjective) they are.  I admit, though, that for folks who really hate Islam and Muslims, they certainly spend a lot of time trolling Muslim blogs.  I’m not fond of the Kuu Kuu Klan but you don’t see me searching for their blogs online. 

I guess they are developing a new tactic where they pretend to be sincere and then they slam God Most High and His Messenger (alayhi salatu wa salaam).  When people like that come to my blog, I delete and block them because they would love nothing better than to get you into some silly online debate.  Most apostates of any religion usually don’t hang out around their former co-religionists.  Just as you don’t see me hanging around Catholics and bugging them about their faith.  They do this because they’re trying to provoke a reaction or start something with no good in it.  We’re essentially dealing with bitter people who haven’t worked out their issues with Islam and complaining about Muslims is a profitable industry.  I think the only websites more popular than anti-Islamic websites are probably pornographic websites.  :-) 

They’re a new breed of missionary apostates spreading their ideas (as incorrect as they will always be) about Islam and Muslims.  Let’s not forget.  These folks are part of a long standing tradition of people who have always said horrible things about Islam.  I certainly don’t mean to belittle the sin of someone who slams the Best of Creation (alayhi salatu wa salaam) but if that person wants to do that and bring that sin on his/her soul, so be it.  On Yaum al Qiyama when we are all called to account, it’s “Nafsi, Nafsi.”  They will be the last people on my mind. 

Then you have to consider whether or not these people are really apostates.  I mean, subhan’Allah, there’s a guy out there who pretends to be Jewish while he trolls Muslim blogs looking for a fight.  I’m sure many of them are true apostates while some of them are just liars.  Make dua, make dua, make dua.  Pray for them to return to the deen of God Most High or at least to move on from their bitterness and stop bugging the rest of us who want to be Muslim.  Who knows what kind of experiences they may have had with the Muslim community?  In fact, who knows if some of these folks were Muslims to begin with?  Whatever their perogative may be, you are a believer, you have every right to say La ilaha illa Allah.

If they don’t like it…well, that spam button works wonders.  :-) 

DSCF1973

Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo.

I have painting that’s very close to this shot, but it’s done in multi colors. I may do a painting of this but in the picture’s original colors. The contrast of those white flowers and the dark brown bark of the trees is fabulous.

DSCF1953

Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo.

Hee-hee, no. Some students were painting at the Mississippi Musseum of Art and I decided to take a close-up picture of one of their palettes. I do like the soft blues and that splatter of white paint. Makes me feel like I should explore some abstract expressionism for my works. (For you non-art nerds, it’s when an artist puts paint on a canvas and ya can’t tell what he/she has painted!)

Spring is here.  Allahu akbar, spring is here!

The animals have been praising the Lord of the all the Worlds like there’s no tomorrow.  Shouldn’t our worship be the same way? 

A couple of days ago, at midnight, I heard the birds chirping.  It’s a sharp contrast from January when it rained for most of the month and you didn’t hear anything.  Now, before fajr, the birds are chirping up a storm.  I feel like my prayer pales in comparison to the early morning choir of sparrows, robins and blue jays. 

And the bees or should I say beeeeeez.  They are everywhere getting drunk off the pollen in the air.  As I type this entry, the bees are flying head first into my window because they’re so intoxicated.  There they go again.  Tap! Tap!  Plunk!  The buzzing is nice, I guess, but as long as they don’t sting me, I’ll be alright.  They’ve taken over all the bushes and trees around here so getting the mail or walking to my front door can be a daunting challenge.

Plunk!  There’s goes another one.  High on pollen. 

I’ll be back with something more poignant.  I promise. 

So, there’s all this talk going on in Blogistan about race relations and what not in the American Umma.  And Ubah made a suggestion about Sister Aaminah and I getting together with a few other sistes to start a sisters publication.  I would love to start something up but I can’t really do anything until late July.  I gotta pass this class and defend my thesis already so I can close this chapter of my life. 

But wouldn’t it be great if we had some kind of publication out there addressing all of these issues?  Ya know–people falling in and out of the deen, racism, classism, sexism, ignorance of the deen, spousal abuse and sexuality?  Of course some folks would hate it but they wouldn’t be able to stop talking about it. 

These issues were and continue to be addressed on MWU.com.  But I think we all know the reasons why that website and its group, the PMUNA, went downhill.  I mean, if you want to engage the conservative imam at your mosque about women’s prayer, it’s probably best not to write an article about him being a closet homosexual. 

So, how ’bout it?  State of the Umma?  The American Umma? 

In light of Dr. Lang’s pleas to our community, it’s obvious that the formation of an American Muslim culture is sloooooooooooow to take root.  We really can’t afford to move at glacial speed.  There are dozens of Muslims that are trying to meld the best of American culture with Islam.  But as Shaykh Hamza mentioned at the 2005 Tampa Minara program, “10% of the Amerian Muslim community is active while the other 90% is just doing their own thing.” 

Brothers and sisters, I asking for us all to take part in cultural coup of the current leadership.  I’m not talking about an angry overthrow of the unchanging, stagnant mosque board.  We have to go outside of the masjid to get work done. I’m talking about a gradual transfer of power.  Now there’s some progressive mosques out there and if you live around one, please support it and make dua for that community.  But…what’s stopping us from forming our own local support groups? 

Okay, I’m getting off track.  I may come back to this.  This was going to be a gripe about our problems but we are well aware of those things.

four years since this war started,

four years of lies,

four years of hate and anger, of greed and corruption,

four years…four years!

Four years of rapes, torture, bombings, and rivers of tears.

It’s obvious that this current president will not end it.  To end it would mean admitting failure.  The mastermind(s) behind 9/11 are still free.  Osama bin Laden still lurks about, somewhere, content in the fact that he will never be caught or tried for anything.  Because whether he is innocent or guilty is not the point.  Whether he is dead or alive is not the point.  He must be kept alive in the minds of an ignorant populace in order to scare them into supporting the current regime’s project of American Imperialism.  Does it matter to those who hate us whether the war is in Iraq or Afghanistan?  Or better yet, Eurasia or Eastasia?  As long as a very small but very rich cabal can convince the general public that it has it’s best interest at heart, that public will willingly send their sons and daughter off to die.  In fact, they will stoke the fire of their hearts with religious and patriotic ferver.  Even as the American dead return in body bags….I’ll stop here. 

Forgive me, but I will smile and cry tears of joy the day when their plans come tumbling down.  I already see signs that the end for them is nigh.  But for now, I mask my hopelessness with cyncism. 

 ”War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent.”  George Orwell–1984. 

For stories like this, I have made a new category called Oppress This!

Jewish grandmothers patrol West Bank checkpoints
By Bernd Debusmann,

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Hanna Barag remembers the day an Israeli
soldier called her a Palestinian whore. She was 67 and had just
joined Machsomwatch, an all-woman group set up to curb human rights
abuses at military checkpoints in the West Bank.

“It was at the Qalandia checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah,”
Barag said, “and the remark at first struck me speechless. But then
I asked him two questions: ‘Do you really think a woman my age has a
chance at that profession? And would you say what you said to me to
your grandmother? “‘

The soldier said nothing but was embarrassed, and when Barag, who
was born in Israel and describes herself as a Zionist, returned for
another “shift” of watchdog duty a week later, the soldier was
there — and apologized.

That was in the early days of Machsomwatch, set up in 2001 by three
Israeli women who were alarmed by a spate of reports of beatings and
abuse of Palestinians at the hands of Israeli soldiers manning
checkpoints.

The group takes its name from the Hebrew word for checkpoint,
machsom. From a few dozen in the beginning, Machsomwatch now numbers
around 500, many of them grandmothers, who take turns watching 40-
odd checkpoints in the West Bank.

“We do this 364 days a year,” said Barag. “Except for Yom Kippur
(the most solemn Jewish holiday).”

The sight of Barag, now 71 and just five feet tall, recently in
action at a busy checkpoint south of Nablus shows why women are more
effective than men in dealing with soldiers when lines are long and
tempers frayed.

After conveying, with a smile, a complaint to an officer who towered
over her bird-like figure, she remarked: “Who wants to fight with a
little old lady?”

STILLBORN BABIES

Over the years, Machsomwatch has recorded a long list of checkpoint
incidents: babies stillborn to mothers held up in queues, sick
patients denied passage to hospitals, arguments that ended in
Palestinians shot, food rotting on the way to market, students
missing their final exams and bridegrooms their weddings.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs in Jerusalem says there are 528 permanent and temporary
checkpoints in the West Bank, 40 percent more than a year ago.

Most are not between the West Bank and Israel but between West Bank
towns and villages, a fact that makes anti-occupation Israelis and
Palestinians doubt the Israeli government’s contention that their
primary purpose is security.

“The idea is to make life so unpleasant and so uncomfortable for
them that they just give up and leave, emigrate to an Arab country,
to Canada, wherever they can go,” said Nomi Lalo, another veteran of
Machsomwatch.

For Palestinians, the checkpoints, and the permits they need to
cross them, are a constant source of anger, resentment and
frustration.

“The checkpoints haunt your mind,” said Sireen Droubi, a teacher who
has to go through several on her commute from her home village to
work in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarm.

“You think of them all the time. You never know how long it will
take to pass them. You can’t make plans. It’s like living in a cage.”

CRITICISM

The vast majority of Israelis think checkpoints and travel
restrictions for the 2.4 million Palestinians in the West Bank are
needed to protect Israel from Palestinian suicide bombers.

“As long as they bomb us, let them stand in line as long as it
takes,” said one Tel Aviv resident. “If it’s 10 hours, too bad.” Tel
Aviv has been the target of several suicide bombs, the latest last
April. It killed nine people and injured 50 at a popular restaurant.

Barag and several of her fellow activists are on a right-wing
group’s Internet list of “Self-Hating Israel-Threatening (SH*T)
Jews” and the right-wing volunteer group Women in Green has called
them Judeonazis.

Some Machsomwatch members also face criticism from their own
families. “My four brothers all served in the army and they think
I’m crazy,” said Barag. Her own army service included a stint as a
secretary for Moshe Dayan, then chief of staff of the Israeli armed
forces.

Lalo has two sons who have completed their army service and a 17-
year-old who is about to begin. “My eldest is very critical of what
I do. But I think it’s important. We are making a difference.”

How much is difficult to judge but the women’s monthly incident log,
published on its Web site (www.machsomwatch.org), is read by the
Israeli Defense Force, advocacy groups and probably at least one
member of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s family. His left-wing
daughter, Dana, belongs to Machsomwatch.

niqaabi justin

Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo.

Y’all aint heard about Brother Justin taking shahada?!

Where ya been?

Ain’t it lovely to see a young Muslim man going the extra distance by covering his face? He’s a sorta modern male niqaabi conplete with stylish suits and a face veil.

Sorry, girls. No more shirtless performances. No more simulated sex with Miss Janet during the Super Bowl. From now on, he’s only singing anasheed and using percussion instruments.

:::snicker::::

Side note: How much would you bet (that is, if you gambled) that if he converted, few women would have a problem being his second, third or 20th wife?! Ya wouldn’t hear them complaining about oppression while sipping tea in their own penthouse.

Ou est-tu, Izzy Mo?

Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo.

I’ve been unexpectedly detained by work, more work and work. I shall return soon, insha’Allah, with…something. In the meantime, play nice out there in Blogistan.

I must owe Umm Zee, like, 5 memes!