Izzy Mo’s Blog

Salaaaaaaaam alaikuuuuuuuum!

Hey, hey! 

Azizah Magazine has just released it’s highly anticipated commercial on YouTube and Facebook!  It will soon show on Bridges TV insha’Allah.  And….there’s a quick appearance by yours truly!!!! LOL!  Don’t blink cuz you might miss it.  Please leave your feedback in the YouTube comments area. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guK7QTiOFVs

Izzy Mo taking a picture of Umm Zaid taking a picture of the rocks of Petra

Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo

Hee-hee. Oh, this is too cute. Insha’Allah, when I write my entry on Jordan, I will also write my ode to Queen Alia Airport. LOL!

I was supposed to write about my travels, wasn’t I? 

Why the delay? 

Laziness.  Inability to think of a proper way to write about the trip. I went back to work.  Plus and I am tweaking the business plan, again!  (Dubai gave me some inspiration, alhamdulillah)  Plus I’ve got three glass pieces I need to do and a large order of paintings.  Insha’Allah, I will finish it before I die (praise be to God for patient patrons).  I decided that I will dedicate no more than three blog posts to each country.  It would be too time-consuming to write about everything single thing that happened.  Besides, there are pictures which can be more entertaining.  I plan on writing about my personal, biased observations on three countries that I bashed around in.  No more, no less.  So the next entry, however long it may be, will be about my time in the United Arab Emirates. 

*****

Note to Musulmana on Orientalist Fantasy Entry:

Just some thoughts.  You said…

<quote>I hate to be insensitive, but why can’t some of these same sisters look for husbands who aren’t African-American?</quote?>

There’s a lot of reasons for this.  Black women have always been fiercely loyal to Black men.  I don’t know of any Black woman who hasn’t dreamed of marrying a Black prince.  In the back of my mind, the Black prince still exists but I’ve also made room for a multi-culti click of possible marriage prospects.  Maybe it has something to do with our history.  I mean, Black families were systematically seperated during the days of American slavery.  This idea of preserving Black marriage, Black families and ultimately, the Black race, was a very influential part of our collective psyche.  In some ways, it still is.  I know that attending an all Black high school deeply impacted the way I saw my role as a young Black woman in American society.  But some of us won’t consider non-Black men (especially White men), because we would be labeled traitors and self-hating.  Black men who date/marry non-Black women get flack for it, too.  But when Black women do it, we get more of it. 

Some Black women think that men of other races can’t fully understand us or they don’t want us.  Or if non-Black men do approach us, sometimes we assume it’s because of cultural stereotypes about Black female sexuality.  In reality, the guy probably thinks the Black woman is cute and he’s not out to take advantage, ya know?  But we all bring our baggage with us.  Plus, there’s some horror stories going around about we shouldn’t marry Indo-Pakistani or Arab men (and certainly not White men!  No, never, ever a White man!) because they are notorious for their abuse and misogyny.  (As if we’ve never experienced abuse from a Black man before!)  @@  Insha’Allah, I’ll write more on this later but I think that as far as Black Muslim American women are concerned, we should extend our selection to Muslim men of other races.  Why shrink the pool of potential spouses when it’s already small to begin with?  But you don’t know how many times I’ve been warned, “Oh, girl, don’t marry an Arab.  He might have a another wife back home or he’ll beat you black and blue.”  When will we learn? 

Hatin’ on Our Heroes

A must read!!!!!  Please check out Sister Aaminah’s take on some Muslims casting suspicion and doubt on the Hajj experience of Brother Malcolm X (rahimahullah)

Inside the Ladies Musalla in the King Abdullah Mosque

Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo

Salaam alaikum,

Well, I took a lot of pictures in Jordan so it’s taking me a while to go through them all and delete the bad pictures. So, just wait a little longer folks. In the meantime, here’s a picture from inside of the ladies prayer room of the King Abdullah Mosque in Amman, Jordan. Wait until you hear about my wacky-do adventures inside of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. It’s a real riot! ::snicker:::

DSCF3181

Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo

Salaam alaikum,

The UAE Flickr set is now up! I had to take this picture for our dear friend, Bint-eh-Adam of Tranquilart. She often signs her emails and blogs with her signature phrase of “The Camel Land!”

Well, honey, I went all the way to Dubai to see Camel Land and you were not there! Just kidding. They’re these cute stores throughout Dubai shopping mails called the The Camel Company. Everything, and I mean everything, is decorated with camel art. Mousepads, pencils, magnets, toys, poster art and t-shirts. This store made me think of you, Bint! I wish you could have been there! You would have loved it!

The following 90-something pics are pictures of hotels and malls throughout Dubai. I also visited Abu Dhabi and Sharjah so some pics of those cities are mixed in there, too.

UAE 2007

Argh!  I was tagged by Leila!  I must answer her!

1) I don’t like salad.  Scratch that.  I don’t like raw vegetables.  People think I’m weirder than weird when it comes down to rejecting the Caesar salad but I can’t help it.  My vegetables have to be cooked!

2) Recently, I’ve discovered that I’m too quiet.  “You’re too quiet!  Why don’t you talk?!?!?!”  This character trait drove one of my coworkers insane.  Really insane.  In fact, she flipped out and suggested that I had some psychological problems (which is code language for “I’m upset with you because you won’t share the most intimate details of your life with me” She could not stand me sitting at the computer, doing my work and not saying a word.  Weird, huh?  I don’t know why but I can sit in silence and not feel the need to fill the air with chatter.  People start getting nervous around me and then they start making up things to talk about.  Sometimes I wanna say, “Relax.  I’m not upset or depressed.  I’m just chilling.” 

3) I collect artwork of coffee cups paintings for my kitchen.  I just started this weird habit but I like those old-timey pictures of French coffee shops and hand-painted tea and coffee cups.  I even started a painting of a picture of a cup of coffee that I took at Cafe du Monde in the French Quarter. 

4) I buy and collect books that I swear I will read but honestly, I may not read them until a year or two later.  I just like having for when I’m ready to read them.

5) Some people think this is weird but my old music collection was filled with every genre of music you could think of–West African pop, North African rap and Rai, hip-hop, adult contemporary, alternative rap, classical music, traditional Arab and Indian music, electronica and French jazz.  “Girl, how you gonna have Missy Elliot, Sade, some Indian sitar player and Sting on the same bookshelf?”

6) Nerdy as this may seem, art supplies are a great birthday gift.  Most folks would hate that but there’s nothing sweeter than 10 tubes of acrylic paint and some bristle brushes for my B-day. 

7)  The smell of fresh paint is niiiiiiiiiice. 

I tag Aaminah, McPagal, Saifuddin, Baraka, Leena, Bint and Peaceful Muslimah

Pretty White Flowers

Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo

I have over 500 pictures. 500!!!!! That’s just crazy. Alhamdulillah for digital cameras. I can just delete what I don’t want. Oh, but the work involved! Anyhoo, here’s some flowers that I found in Dubai, UAE

Okay, okay.  I know I’m supposed to be writing about my trip but this has something to do with it! 

While I was busy bashing around the Middle East, I did try to keep up with the happenings of Bloglandia. Apparently, much has been written about the trend of Black Muslim men seeking wives from Morocco and all of the controversy that goes along with it.  I can only give my limited perspective as a Muslim in the South but from looking at the various communities throughout the US, the whole “Moroccan wife” thing is very rare in the South.  I only know of one sister who’s son is married to a Moroccan.  But every African-American Muslim woman that I know is married to African-American Muslim man.  From the way they interact with each other, the brothers don’t seem to be looking for an “upgrade” anytime soon.  I think this is primarily, though not exclusively, a Northeast American Muslim phenomenon. 

The majority of southern Black Muslims belong to or affliate with the WD Mohammed community.  Being the Sunni Islam off-shoot of the Nation of Islam movement, naturally, there is more talk about African-American culture.  We’ve all heard of the New Africa project so I doubt that within this particular group of Black Muslims, imams and laypeople will start advocating some sort of Moroccan Mail-Order Bride program.  And honestly, if a brother loves and cares for his Moroccan wife, that’s awesome.  Personally, I think African-American and Moroccan can make a beautiful combination of cultures. 

It only becomes a problem when brothers are marrying women from overseas because of this Orientalist fantasy of beautiful, obedient and compliant women.  And if seeking this type of woman is their reasoning for going to Morocco, or wherever, then it’s obvious that non-Muslims aren’t the only ones who suffer from Orientalism.  It seems that some Muslim men entertain the notion of a this obedient, caged virgin, piously hiding her lovely curly locks and ample busom under her black garb.  The sweet maiden was raised within the confines of a pure Islamic society so she is sure to be inexperienced and innocent in all matters.  She waits, oh so patiently, for her husband to come home so that she can cook his meals, fulfill all of his sexual desires, rub his feet, call him by the most affectionate nicknames and always remain in state of rapturous beauty.  She is soft-spoken, quiet, gentle and understands her place in the home.  She never complains or has an opinion that differs from his own.  And most importantly, she isn’t corrupted or tainted by the scourges of feminism and racism that have rendered the Black American woman unwanted and undesirable. 

Good grief, give me a break!  This is Orientalism run amock but this time it’s Western Muslims falling into the trap. 

Poor, poor brothers!  Did you really think this woman was real?  Did you think that there existed a woman with no hang-ups, complaints, personal needs or “issues”?  Did you think there existed a pure woman who could be your love goddess/live-in maid/Islamic scholar/home chef/Arabic teacher all at the same time without having her own faults and flaws?  I guess what happens is that this poor brother walks into this marriage with this fantasy and eventually wakes up to the nightmare of having to deal with a actual human being! Oh goodness, this lady actually has a will, opinions and spunk! 

By anyway…I digress.  I’m not too worried about this trend for many reasons. 

One:  As an African-American woman, do I really want to be with someone who thinks I’m less than worthy because I’m Black like him?   I know some Blacks sisters are complaining but honestly, wouldn’t you rather have a brother who has self-love and loves you because of who you are and not what you are?  Those brothers who are following the Oriental fantasy aren’t capable of giving any woman the kindness, love and respect she deserves. 

Two:  Despite the hype, Black people still love and want each other.  Just because some guys are marrying outside their race for all the wrong reasons doesn’t mean that there aren’t Black men who are still looking for a Black queen.  Because interracial marriage is encouraged in Islam, our community will always have more interracial marriages than others–and that is a good thing.  But I don’t forsee this ultimate abandonment of Black Muslim women by Black Muslim men.  The marriages in my community suggest that people are getting married younger and that many Black Muslims are having successful, happy marriages. 

Three:  Black women are wanted and considered desirable.  There I said it!  Subhan’Allah, I get tired of crazy complaints about Black women are this and that.  After centuries of being taught that we are ugly, brutish and masculine, it’s hard not to internalize those negative feelings.  For some of us, I guess it’s slap in the face when we are passed over for someone else–and not because that someone else had more taqwa but because they weren’t African-American.  And lately there seems to be a stigma associated with being Black, female and educated (As if we had a choice in the matter.  After all, we have to take ourselves since no one else is going to do it for us).  It’s time for us to stop being the mules of the world.  For those brothers who think we are damaged goods (emotionally, physically or both) all I can say is this, if you won’t love us, somebody else will. 

Prior to becoming Muslim, I kept my mind open to marrying someone of another race.  Becoming Muslim has made it a necessity.  After all, we’re only 1 or 2% of the American population and some of our brothers marry Christian or Jewish women.  I’m not going to limit my pool of choices in light of these grim statistics–especially if non-Black Muslim brothers are making offers of marriage.  So my Black Muslim sisters, don’t be too surprised if your future husband is not the Black prince you dreamed of but Blond and Fair guy that’s been checking you out at the masjid. 

Of course, we could squash all this by marrying people for reasons based on taqwa, character, compatibility and what not.  Oh, but wait, that’s the Islamic way!  I guess some of us are not ready to try that. 

Mosque in Doha, Qatar

Originally uploaded by Izzy Mo

Salaam alaikum,

Because I only had a few days in Doha, Qatar, this is my smallest batch of pictures. I only saw a few things and I sent most of my time at the Islamic Art Symposium and the hotel. But I hope you enjoy.

Qatar 2007