Laundry/الغسيل

Happy Eid!

2010-09-09T20:17:00.000-07:00

Aside from all the Arab world troubles, we decided to be cheerful for once and congratulate you on the arrival of Eid Al Fitr, may God forgive you and you enjoy these few days before you go/ throw your kids back to school.

So go ahead, swallow a ton of chocolate and gain a few dozen pounds, meet some family and enjoy your time.

Happy Eid!

The Bab-il-Hara Rant!

2010-08-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been any recent posts here only because I shut my head and decided to stop noticing terrible things going around, so to trick my brain into thinking everything is fine. Well, it still felt the same as when I knew the Arabic world is falling into a pit in Hell.

Today I want to write about Bab il-Hara and how anyone ever came to watch it to the last minute without swearing under their breath. Yes, I'm the person who never watches it and never watched a full episodes. Fractions and clips of that series were enough to tell that it's complete rubbish.

(How do you judge something you didn't watch? Well, if I liked it, I'd be all over it like the many of you. I'm not. Get over it. Not everyone has to like what everyone else likes... You're just a victim of peer pressure.)

To start with, Bab il-Hara is well-advertised, and obviously, like many other well-advertised things, it's not the best just because it covers the screen. In fact, there's nothing good about it to start with. It innuendoes just the perfect misunderstandings a woman can ever have about herself.

A good story doesn't have to outline Utopia, but at least start with real acting, instead of the typical-Arabic dialogue acting where people face each other and chat and that's all. El-Nims is basically the only one with decent acting skills.

Only, AND ONLY, for the purpose of being very honest with you, I loaded one episode. The one that was planned to be watched sometime last week, but everyone should have at least ONE better thing to do rather than watch something so cliché , so disturbing, so sexist, and so discriminating as Bab il-Hara.

Bab al Hara, Part V, Episode 10, so help me God!

This is what went through my head while watching it:

Are people on the show drunk? All I see is men waving their hands in the air. Where the man can "invite anyone he wants to dinner whenever he wants even if there's no time to cook." That's disgusting., I thought the whole town-values would be MEN RESPECTING THEIR WOMEN. Not hens. Hens are cowards. Hens should die. They [men on the show] also eat like pigs. Your two women will give you a heart attack? Why are you even married to two with no good reason? Oh, yes, go divorce them. What a piece of...

He constantly prays God to take them. Oh, good riddance. They won't have to be a part of this farce anymore. Okay now, great, the scene where the Hen starts yelling at them and one of his wives calls herself "stupid". Where is self-respect there? Living in terror. When was marriage a Master-Servant relationship?

They make a woman fear divorce is the end of her life, and when the Hen raises the divorce card, they run as if they are about to face Death.

Why it is whenever a man talks to one of the women on the show, they become all tender and... the weak weak poor maid in the big mansion. Disgusting. But when she's alone with her girl friends she becomes like a wh*re at a pub.

I hate whoever directed it; trying to show the SACRED man-pride. Yeah, right. after our Hen HUMILIATINGLY and disgustingly sends both his wives to their original Homes, they wear this face of disgrace upon them. How is it disgraceful that your husband needs anger management and can't drop the Majesty Hen act? It isn't her fault, but hey, we're Arabs, right?

Then we hear another failure of a man yelling at his daughter. He explains why his daughter has been thrown out of her house blaming her 'long tongue'. Oh, c'mon. That's not sick enough for you? And what does she do? She just cries like a helpless child. Yes, a grown woman cries like a baby. I will not continue watching this episode. Just lost 20 minutes and 14 seconds of my life that will never return.

You're a man if you kick your wife out of HER OWN HOUSE! You're a man if you completely flip out when your honor gets thrown in the muck. Oh sorry, are these really the values you want your 5-year-old daughter or your 7-year-old sister to adopt? It's quite amusing to watch them [not], but God forbid this all happens in real life!

Better Dead Than Alive?

2010-08-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

Going through the local news websites daily has made me aware of a rapidly increasing phenomenon, suicide. (Murder is also becoming more widely spread but that's for another post.)

When I started thinking to myself as to why would people commit suicide here, the only logical conclusion my brain reached was: Why not?

We're poor, one can barely keep up with the bills, taxes and day to day needs making life quite rough to say the least and death sure doesn't cost much, and if it did, you would be too dead to care or for it to matter.

We're helpless, in every single aspect of our life. We're politically frustrated, we're sick of the Arab stand- if indeed such a thing exists, we don't even have a soup with the artificial flavor of a stand (quoting Ahmad Al-Zou'bi). Nepotism and cronyism are every where telling people to not even bother trying because it's useless.

We live in a restricting- to the point where you are suffocating- culture, we are constantly judged and told what to do, what to think, what to believe that eventually you lose the value of your life and mind, you lose sense of it thus it's rendered invaluable and unimportant, why bother keep the extra baggage then?

The fact that so many suicides are happening in what is considered a conservative country where suicide is heavily tabooed is quite alarming, it tells you of the extent of the damage that happened to people because of poverty and other reasons mentioned above.

Wear Burqa, just not in France

2010-07-22T04:06:00.000-07:00

Only a while ago I read somewhere that there are 2000 (or less) women wearing Burqa or Niqab in France. Just to make extra sure, here are some numbers:

Population in France: around 63 million.
Population of Muslims in France: around 5 million.
Population of Muslim women in France who chose to wear Burqa: less than 2000.

“A report by France’s domestic intelligence agency, published by Le Figaro, estimated last year (2003) that there were 30,000 to 50,000 converts in France.”

So I said to myself, 2000 or less only? Is that a good reason to hate a country where many are godless or only dress to the European standards? Yes, fine, about 50 thousands were converts (about 500 of those are wear burqa!), but who am I not to tolerate those who immigrated there and insist that France took their rights of Burqa. When Jordanians travel to the KSA, they wear their traditional “sort of” Islamic uniform. I once even read a Saudi-Arabian Fatwa saying “women are not allowed to wear or dress in the color white since it expresses similarity to men and/or is a sort of tom boy!”

“Patrick Ollier from the Centre Right said: “'The burqa involves the dignity of women. It’s an important subject and we’re voting for this law against the burqa, because we want women to be protected from those who force them to wear this piece of clothing that has nothing to do with religion.' ”

I will not be biased about this. Burqa and Niqab have their negatives. A woman covering her face completely does not appear normal or natural to the eye. It could also be a man (a while back, men would have too much dignity to dress as women, now all shame is gone which is a reason why Niqab is becoming more of a problem rather than 'extra modesty' ). She gets to see who you are but you cannot see who she is. It is an extremity in a religion that is meant to be understanding and easy with people . It can be taken advantage of and used in theft or kidnapping. It makes people feel unsafe having a stranger with no face walk among them and near their children. It has been used before in exams (Tawjihi) to cheat by hiding extra notes under or inside the gown.

Protection will speak against freedom. You, for example, tell your daughter or son not to go to certain places. A girl, specially, gets banned from certain places where she cannot protect her self due to lack of physical power. (Doesn't mean that males don't get beaten up a lot either and don't raise a finger.) There is no freedom when there's danger.

In my opinion, extremities should not be allowed. If you allow Burqa, you will also have to allow nudity. If you ban Burqa, nudity should be banned, too. I'd like to see them ban Lady Gaga from France. I wouldn't oppose it.

As a Muslim female who only wears the head dress (showing face and hands and sometimes feet) I never saw in Niqab and Burqa anything more than an act of freedom. Some women may choose to wear it at will, the rest are either forced by family members or law or society. I don't see any 'religious' value of it more than a woman in a modest Hijab. I even feel it restricts movement. It ruins some health (eyes, skin, muscles, vitamin D deficiency). It prevents them of having a normal social relationship with others. Never have I tried it before, though, so my judgements are meaningless, but still, those are the reasons not to wear it. Women in Niqab should understand that they make the surrounding people feel unsafe and uncomfortable. They should take that into account. Nevertheless, I respect how they insist on what they believe is right.

Of course, then, it would be ridiculous to ask a woman who has covered her face for years to uncover it suddenly. That is emotional abuse.

“Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual.)”-- Ayn Rand

As a Muslim, I'm convinced there are differences in opinions about Niqab, Burqa, and veil (or not wearing veil) for a reason. What is normal, to a Saudi Arabian woman is not normal to a Jordanian woman, thus is not normal to the French people.

It may seem or have seemed normal for a woman to cover up years ago, but it mostly can't be accepted at this time. There has to be difference in opinions and fatwas; Islam can thus suit all cultures, nations, and times.

Signed—————————————

Ignorant Scholars

2010-07-17T02:48:00.000-07:00

Only yesterday I have decided to give up listening to Mid-eastern scholars for good (with all due respect to the very few exceptions,) for it has gone too far just yet. I couldn't help but notice the highly sexist fatwa. People who know me know that I adore the word sexist, because I'm so used to it, because it's everywhere! As long as there will be many 'scholars' who are men, there forever will be fatwas that allow them and their fellow men to enjoy all sorts of pleasures with females, like forced sex with your wive, or a man being able to beat her up freely if she refuses the sex (rape, ain't it?) or her not allowed to see God's great sun by not allowing her to leave the house, or having the 'right' to keep her from seeing relatives in the name of 'God gave me control over you'. If I practice MY ISLAM the way those scholars want me do, I'd just turn myself into a slave and go to my wedding with a chain and a metal ball tied to my foot, how about that?

All I hear is 'A man can, and a man can, and a man can!' Well, you know what? 'A man had to do this, and that, and that, and that, and he did nothing of those'.

There's nothing surprising with sexist fatwa in an equal religion. Doubtlessly, many 'scholars' are lustful and greedy and have the POWER, the AUTHORITY, and the LEGAL ABILITY to do what they like and change the standards of this society like long ago when the Jilbab fashion broke out, or when people were first introduced to Televisions and 'scholars' called them T.V's 'The Greater Devil' until only the creative scholars were able to spread a message through it by broadcasting Quran and religion shows. Thank you, dear 'scholars', you have successfully ruined the name of MY ISLAM. Arabs to this day use marriage as a tool to get rid of their children.

If you give up your 2-year-old to some man, how can you be sure he's not going to sexually molest her? If your father gave your 2-year-old sister to some man, why did you shut up and not say anything? Who's responsible for this is you and me.

Truth it is that too many fatwas tried to pull people back to the stone age. Even if Al Sayeda Aisha was married at the age of five (or six or seven) ~~which I DOUBT with all my heart, even if it was true~~ (in an era where women were both mentally and physically mature at the age of five and six and when marrying young women was widely spread!) would she be like a 21-century girl of age of five? And isn't that completely against the Quran where it says 'Marry WOMEN' and not CHILDREN.

Yes, I have my doubts about many Ahadith (Hadiths) narrated by Al Sayeda Aisha (may God bless her), and I even doubt they have been somehow either altered or else. Some of them are opposite to Quran, out of context, highly sexist, or abusive to women. The worst of them show Prophet Muhammed (peace and prayer be upon him) as the man he is not! Who truly validated those Ahadiths (Hadiths)? How is it possible for us to validate them? Isn't validation better than trying to explain them to suit the Arab mind? Even the early scholars explained Islam in a somewhat restarted and highly sexist way. Why? Well, with all respect to the wonderful gentlemen who sought this life in thought and wisdom, scholars were mostly men, too. A woman is not even allowed grab the microphone in the mosque and say what she has to say even if it's true and worth being spoken out. Why? I don't see anywhere in Quran when it says Women can't give speeches like men. How about the queen of Sheba? THE QUEEN OF SHEBA, people! A woman in POLITICS! Oh, don't seclude women from societies, dear 'scholars', because you can't handle them! So yes, most 'scholars' were men, and thus, sadly, even one man (high authority and wealth will help) can be sexist and drag the whole population down with him!

Only because ~~you~~ some of you parents failed to raise your children on the human Fitra (natural feeling) and good manners, it doesn't give you the right to make them marry young to protect them from Zinna (adultery).

(Note: I have used the word scholars between two apostrophes to indicate the false ones. No names will be mentioned. (We're still Muslims and we like to keep scandals under a thick blanket.))

Signed

Artist of Rebellion

2010-07-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

قصيدة إلى ناجي العلي

ــ أحمد مطر ــ

شكراً على التأبين والإطراء

يــا مــعشـر الخطبـاء والشـعـراء

شـكراً عـلى مــاضـاع مـن أوقـــاتـــكم

في غـمـرة الـــتـدبـيج والإنـشـاء

وعــلى مـداد كـان يــكـفــي بـــعــضـه

أن يــغـرق الـظـلمـاء بالـظـلمـاء

وعــلى دمــوع لـــو جـــرت في الـبـيـد

لانـحلـت وسـار المــاء فوق الماء

وعـــواطـف يــغـــدوا على أعــــتــابها

مـجـنـون لــيـلى أعـقـل العقلاء

وشـجـاعـة بـــاسم الــقـــتـيـل مشـيرة

لـلــقـاتـلـيـن بـغـيـر ما أســـماء

شكراً لكم ؛ شـكراً ؛ وعــــفـواً إن أنا

أقلعت عن صـوتي وعن إصغائي

عـفواً ؛ فلا الــطـاووس في جـلدي ولا

تــعـلـو لـسـانـي لـهـجـة الببغاء

عــفـوا ً؛ فـلا تروي أسـاي قـصـيـدة

إن لم تـكـن مـكـتـوبـة بدمــائي

عفـواً ؛ فــإنـي إن رثـيـــت فـإنــــما

أرثــي بـفـاتــحة الكتـاب رثـائي

عــفـوا ً؛ فــإنـي مــيــت يـــا أيــهـا

المـوتـى ؛ ونـاجـي أخــــر الأحياء

ناجي العلي لقد نجوت بقدرة

مـــن عـارنـا ، وعـلـوت لـلعـلياء

إصـعد ؛ فــمـوطنـك السماء ؛ وخلنا

فــي الأرض إن الأرض لـلــجـبناء

لــلمـوثــقــيـن عـلى الربـاط ربـاطنـا

والــصـانـعـين الـــنـصر في صنــعاء

ممن يـرصـون الــــصـكوك بـزحـفهم

ويـــنـــاضـلـون بـرايـــة بـيــضـاء

ويـسـافحون قــضـيـة من صـلــبـهم

ويــصافـحــون عـــداوة الأعــــداء

ويــخـلفـون هـزيـمــة ؛ لم يـعـترف

أحــــد بــها، مـن كـثـرة الآبــــــاء

إصـعـد فـمـوطـنـك المـرجى مخـفـــر

مــتـعـدد الــلهـــجــات والأزيــــاء

للشــرطـة الخـصـيـان؛ أو للشــرطـة

الـــثـوار ؛ أو للشــــرطــة الأدبـــاء

أهل الكروش القابضين على القروش

مـن الــعـروش لــقـتـل كــل فـدائـي

الهـاربـيـن مـن الـخنــادق والبـنـادق

لـلـفــنــادق في حـمـى العــمــــلاء

القـافـزيـن مـن اليـسار إلى الـيـمـيـن

إلى اليسـار إلى اليمين كقـفزة الحرباء

المـعـلـنـيــن من القـصور قــصورنــا

واللاقــطـيـــن عــطـيـــة اللـقــطـاء

إصـعد ؛ فـهذي الأرض بـيت دعارة

فـيــها الـبــقــاء مــعــلــق بـــبـغاء

من لم يـمـت بـالسـيـف مات بطلقة

من عــاش فـيــنــا عـيـشـة الـشرفاء

ماذا يـضـيـرك أن تــفــارق أمــــــة

ليـسـت سـوى خـطأ مـن الأخــطاء

رمـل تــداخل بـعــضـه في بـعـضــه

حـتـى غــدا كالـصــخــرة الـصـماء

لا الريـح تـرفـعــها إلى الأعــلى ولا

الـنـيـــران تــمــنـعــها من الإغـفـاء

فـمـدامـع تبكيــك لـو هي أدركت

لـبـكت عـلى حــدقـاتـهـا الـعـميـاء

ومـطـابـع تـرثـيـك لو هي أنصفت

لـرثـت صــحـافــة أهــلــها الأجراء

تـلك الـتي فـتـحـت لنعيك صدرها

وتــفــنــنــت بــروائــع الإنـــشــاء

لكـنــها لم تــمـتــلـك شــرفاً لكي

تــرضــى بــنــشــر رسومك العذراء

ونعتك مـن قبـل الممات ؛ وأغلقت

بــاب الـرجـــاء بــأوجـــه الــقـــراء

وجــوامــع صــلت علـيـك لو أنها

صــدقـت لــقــربــت الــجهاد النائي

ولأعلنت بـاسم الـشـريـعة كفـرها

بــشــرائـــع الأمـــراء والــــرؤســاء

ولـــساءلــتــهم : أيــهم قـد جـاء

مــنــتــخـبــاً لــنـا بـإرادة الـبـسـطاء؟

ولــسائلتهم: كيف قد بـلغوا الغنى

وبـــلادنــــا تـــكتـــظ بــالـفــقــراء؟

ولمـن يرصــون الـسلاح؛ وحربهم

حـب ؛ وهــم في خــدمــة الأعــداء؟

وبــأي أرض يــحكمــون وأرضنا

لم يــتــركوا مــنــها ســوى الأسـماء؟

وبأي شــعـب يـحكمون، وشعبنا

مــتـــشـعــب بــالــقــتل والإقــصاء؟

يحــيــا غــريــب الدار في أوطـانه

ومــطـــارداً بــــمـــواطــن الــغــرباء

لــكنــمـا يــبـقى الـكـلام محــرراً

إن دار فـــوق الألـــسـن الخــرســــاء

ويـــظـل إطـــلاق الـعويــل محللاً

مـا لم يـــمـــس بـــحـــرمــة الـخلفاء

ويــظـل ذكرك بالصحيــفة جائزاً

مـــادام وســـط مـــسـاحـــة ســـوداء

ويــظـل رأســك عـاليـاً مادمــت

فـــوق الـــنـــعش مـحمولاً إلى الغبراء

وتــظل تحت "الزفت" كل طباعنا

مــادام هــذا الـنـفــط فــي الــصـحراء

الــقــاتــل الــمأجـور وجه أسود

يخــفــي مــئـــات الأوجـــه الـصـفراء

هي أوجـه أعجازها منها استحت

والخــزي غــطـــاهــا عــلـى استحيـاء

لمــثـــقــف أوراقه رزم الصـكوك

وحــبـــره فـــيــــها دم الـــشـــهـداء

ولـــكاتــب أقـــلامــه مـشدودة

بــحــبــال صــوت جــلالــة الأمــراء

ولــنــاقــد "بـالـنـقـد" يذبـح ربه

ويــبـايــع الــشــيــطان بـــالإفـــتــــاء

ولــشاعر يكتـظ من عسل النـعيم

عــلى حــســاب مــرارة الــبــؤســـاء

ويـــجـــر عـصـمته لأبواب الخنا

مــلــفــوفــة بـقـصـيــدة عـــصــمــاء

ولــثــائــر يــرنــو إلى الـحــريــة

الــحـــمـــراء عــبـــر الـلـيـلة الحمراء

ويعوم في "عرق" النضال ويحتسي

أنــخــابـــه فــي صــحــة الأشـــــلاء

ويــكــف عـن ضغط الزناد مخافة

مــن عـجــز إصـبـعـه لـدى "الإمـضاء"

ولحــاكــم إن دق نــور الــوعـي

ظــلـمــتـه ؛ شــكا من شدة الضوضاء

وســعـــت أســاطيل الغزاة بلاده

لـــكــنــهـــا ضـــاقــت عـــلى الآراء

ونــفــاك وهـو مخمن على الردى

بـــك مـــحــدق فـالـنـفـي كالإفـنــاء

الــكــل مــشــتـــرك بقتلك؛ إنما

نـابـت يـــد الـــجــانــي عــن الشركاء

ناجي، تحجرت الدموع بمحجري

وحــشــا نــزيــف الــنـــار لي أحـشائي

لمــا هــويــت مـتــحــد الـهــوى

وهــويــت فــيـــك مـــوزع الأهـــواء

لم ابـك ؛ لم أصمت ؛ ولم أنهض

ولم أرقـد ؛ وكــلــي تــاه في أجــزائــي

فــفـجـيـعـتي بك أنني تحت الثرى

روحي ؛ ومـن فـوق الـثـرى أعــضــائي

أنــا يــا أنــا بـك مــيــت حـــي

ومحــتـــرق أعـــد الــنــــار لــلإطــفاء

بــرأت مــن ذنـب الـرثـاء قريحتي

وعــصــمـت شـيــطـانـي عـن الإيــحاء

وحـلــفـت ألا أبـتــديــك مودعاً

حـتــى أهيــئ مــوعــــداً لـــلــــقــــاء

ســأبــدل الــقــلـم الرقيق بخنجر

والأغــنــيـــات بــــطــعــــنــة نــجـلاء

وأمـد رأس الـحاكـمـيـن صحيفة

لــقــصــائــد ... ســأخـطـهـا بـحذائي

وأضـم صـوتــك بذرة في خافقي

وأضــمــهــم فـــي غـــابــــة الأصــداء

وألــقــن الأطـفـال أن عـروشهم

زبـــد أقــيـــم عــــلى أســــاس الــمـاء

وألـقــن الأطـفـال أن جـيـوشهم

قــطــع مــن الــديـــكــور والأضـــــواء

وألــقــن الأطـفــال أن قصورهم

مــبــنــيـــة بــجــمــاجـــم الــضــعـفاء

وكــنــوزهــم مــسـروقة بالعدل

واسـتـقــلالــهــم نــوع مــن الإخـصـاء

سأظل أكتب فـي الهواء هجاءهم

وأعــيــده بــعـــواصـــف هـــــوجــــاء

ولــيــشــتــم الـمتلوثون شتائمي

ولـــيـــســتــــروا عــوراتــهـــم بــردائي

ولــيــطـلـق المستكـبرون كلابهم

ولــيــقــطـعــوا عــنــقــي بـلا إبــطـــاء

لــو لـم تــعد في العـمر إلا ساعة

لـــقـــضــيــتــهــا بــشــتــيــمـة الخلفاء

أنا لست أهـجو الحاكمين ؛ وإنما

أهــجــو بــذكــر الحــاكـمــيــن هجائي

أمــن الـتـأدب أن أقـول لــقاتلي

عــذراً إذا جــرحــت يــديــك دمـائــي؟

أأقــول لـلـكلب الـعـقـور تـأدبـاً

دغــدغ بــنــابــك يـــاأخي أشـــلائــي؟

أأقــول لــلــقـواد يــاصـديق؛ أو

أدعــو الـــبـــغـــي بــمـــريـم الـعــذراء؟

أأقول لـلـمـأبـون حـــين ركوعه

حرمـاً؛ وأمــســـح ظـــهـره بــثــنــائي

أأقـول لــلـص الـذي يسطو على

كــيــنـــونــتـــي : شـكـراً على إلــغائي؟

الحاكمون هم الكلاب؛ مع اعتذاري

فـالــكــلاب حــفــيــــظــة لـــوفــــاء

وهم اللصوص القاتلون العاهرون

وكـــلـــهـــم عـــبـــــد بــلا اســتـثـناء

إن لـم يــكونوا ظالمين فمن ترى

مــلأ الــبـــلاد بـــرهـــبــــة وشـــقــــاء

إن لــم يـــكونـوا خائنين فكيف

مــازالـــــت فــلــســطـيــن لدى الأعداء

عــشــرون عــامـاً والبلاد رهينة

لــلــمــخـبـريــــن وحــــضـــرة الخــبراء

عشرون عاماً والشعوب تفيق من

غــفــواتــهــا لــتـــصــــاب بـــالإغـمـاء

عــشــرون عـامـاً والمواطـن ماله

شــغــل ســـوى الـــتـصـفـيــق لـلــزعماء

عـشرون عاماً والمفكر إن حكى

وهـبــت لـــه طـــاقـــيـــة الإخــــفـــــاء

عشرون عاماً والسجون مدارس

مــنـــهـاجـهـا الــتــنـكيــل بــالــسـجـناء

عــشــرون عــاماً والقضاء منزه

إلا مـــــن الأغـــــــراض والأهــــــــــواء

فــالــديــن مـعتقل بتهمة كونه

مــتــطــرفــاً يـــدعـــوا إلــى الـــضـــــراء

والله فــي كل الـــبلاد مـطارد

لـــضــلــوعـــه بـــإثـــارة الــغــــوغـــــاء

عشرون عاماً والنظام هو النظام

مـع اخــتـلاف الـلـــون والأســـمــــــــــاء

تمــضـــي بــه وتـــعـيـده دبابة

تــســـتــبـــدل الــعــمـــلاء بــالــعــمـــلاء

سرقوا حليب صغارنا؛ من أجل من

كــي يـــســـتـــعيـــدوا موطن الإسراء؟

هتكو حياء نسائنا؛ من أجل من

كي يـــســتـــعـــيـــدوا مـــوطـن الإسراء؟

خـــنــقــوا بــحـرياتهم أنفاسنا

كــي يـــســـتـــعـــيـــدوا مـوطن الإسراء؟

وصـلـوا بــوحـدتهم إلى تجزيئنا

كــي يـــســـتـــعـــيـــدوا مـوطن الإسراء؟

Forced to hang up the line!

2010-07-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

We only question the Gov't because it looks ~~kind of~~ really really fishy.
Did Education suddenly drop from the Gov't's priority list?

"It seems to us the caller is righteous, decent, and is speaking all truth; thus, we're forced to hang up the line!"

يا قوم لا تتكلموا إن الكلام محرم - O my people, do not speak; speaking is forbidden!

2010-07-15T05:53:00.000-07:00

My friend just posted this on my facebook, and if you read the comments following the article, you will find the epic post number 29.

يا قوم لا تتكلموا إن الكلام محرم ُ
ناموا ولا تستيقظوا ما فاز إلا النّوّم ُ
وتأخروا عن كل ما يقضي بأن تتقدموا
ودعوا التفهم جانبا فالخير ألا تفهموا
وتثبتوا فى جهلكم فالشر أن تتعلموا
أما السياسة فاتركوا أبدا وإلا تندموا
إن السياسة سرها لو تعلمون مطلسم ُ
وإذا افضتم في المباح من الحديث فجمجموا
من شاء منكم أن يعيش اليوم وهو مكرم ُ
فليمس لا سمع له ولا بصر لديه ولا فم ُ
لا يستحق كرامة إلا الأصم الأبكم ُ
ودعوا السعادة إنما هي في الحياة توهم ُ
فالعيش وهو منعم كالعيش وهو مذمم ُ
وإذا ُظلمتم فاضحكوا طربا ولا تتظلموا
وإذا ُأهنتم فاشكروا وإذا لُطمتم فابسموا

I will even bother translate the first few lines for the foreign readers:

"O my people, do not speak; speech is forbidden!
Sleep and do not awake; only the sleepers win!
Be restarted at every thing you must develop at,
And leave understanding out; it is better you do not understand!"

To be honest, what that person wrote or did not write doesn't concern me; what concerns me though is that Jordan does not own the internet, or do they? I understand this person must have done something very ugly, but since when is it civil to lock people up for their opinions, even the worst opinions? It is vital the Jordanian people understand what would drive any person to mock King Abdullah? A few years ago, when the Kind went to Hajj, or Omra, I cannot recall, with a number of other rulers and monarchs, I was young, thus a little thoughtless, and mocked them while my Father was watching TV, and upon that he slapped me. That was disgusting of my Father. We have to learn to talk to our children openly about these matters, and teach them to be civil toward politics, instead of either afraid or hateful toward them. We also have to tell them not to be afraid to speak up, but speak up in sense and meaning instead of the way this young man chose to t arrange his words.

But again, seriously: Jordan doesn't own the internet.

Arabs in the USA mirrors

2010-07-14T13:37:00.000-07:00

I'm willing to bring out the ugly out of this by discussing two things: how we see foreigners and how they see us. We need to analyze problems to find solutions for them. We need to accept people of different cultures and religions to become a better nation. Why? Because Islam is a symbol for tolerance.

First of; how we see them.

Many of you had race talk before, which gives a clear image of how we imagine foreign people to be in mind and lifestyle. When you say, for example, a person comes to visit from outside, say America for instance, you get thoughts such as the following:

Positive thoughts: free-minded, fluent in English, generally good people, fun to talk to, interested in cultures, smart looking, know how to have a fun time.
Negative thoughts: careless, in open relationships, purely uneducated and dumb, sex-driven,
and irreligious.

Where do they get such ideas? I was surprised to find out one of my classmates thought Christians are going to hell. Are we truly just as judgmental as we suppose they are? Is religion a reason for discrimination? Are our ideas and view-points a reflection of western movies?

هل تسمحون لي
ان اقول لابنتي ان صديقتها المسيحية ليست كافرة،
والا تبكي خوفا عليها من دخول النار؟

"Do you allow me

to tell my daughter her Christian friend is not an infidel (kaffir),

and not to cry for her in fear of entering hell."

We cannot be proud of being racist. I'm sick of Jordanian people rendering the good treatment of Americans with phrases such as "Americans are liars," or "Americans are obscene," or "Americans don't have deen (religion/morals)." Even thinking we're better than them because of Islam is irrational. American Muslims have proven to be sometimes even better than Arab Muslims. Why? Because here, most of us are Muslims, so why care much about being a good one? Why advice people or right and wrong since we're all Muslims? This is typical thinking!

This here is Dr. Jeffery Lang. A former Atheist who converted to Islam, and yet, he gets attacked by what I call typical thinking simply because he thinks outside the box, and out parents have taught us well that it's scary outside the box!

Do not go with the flow if the flow is going in the wrong direction! You are not a sheep in the herd. You are an individual and you should be independent in thinking. You should not be ashamed of the things you like in life because no one else may show appreciation in them.

And back to the topic:
Second of: how they see us!

Judging the Google auto-complete search above: If they truly think so, are we giving the wrong impression? I think Arabs there are matters that have a general opinion only that no one wants to change. "Arabs are there, and that's enough to know" sort of thought. Arabs have been featured in movies and TV series, even the most famous of them, sometimes as normal people, but mostly as terrorists from Iraq. Does the west only see Palestine and Iraq from their window?

In contrast, I find Americans interested in our ways of life. They sometimes ask about Hijab while we convince them we're very pleased with it. Many wonder how we manage to pray five times a day. They actually see us as a mystery to explore, regardless of some few who are still racist.

Here's a beautiful example:

A French businessman is offering to sell properties to help Muslim women pay any fines that they may receive for wearing the full veil in public if a law is voted through France's parliament.

Lawmakers will vote on the bill on Tuesday, which would see women fined €150 if they wear the full veil, known as the burqa or niqab, in public places.

-READ MORE

If we want a better Jordanian society, we must learn not to judge.

CNN fail

2010-07-12T20:57:00.000-07:00

Dear everyone,

Apparently, the Liberal Media will gladly fire you for your opinion.

"CNN yesterday ended the 20-year career of Octavia Nasr, its Atlanta-based Senior Middle East News Editor, because of a now-deleted tweet she wrote on Sunday upon learning of the death of one of the Shiite world's most beloved religious figures: "Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah . . . . One of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot." That message spawned an intense fit of protest from Far Right outlets, Thought Crime enforcers, and other neocon precincts, and CNN quickly (and characteristically) capitulated to that pressure by firing her. The network -- which has employed a former AIPAC official, Wolf Blitzer, as its primary news anchor for the last 15 years -- justified its actions by claiming that Nasr's "credibility" had been "compromised." Within this episode lies several important lessons about media "objectivity" and how the scope of permissible views is enforced." -READ MORE.

Hey, it's not me who suggested the media is controlled. Only, I'd rather never end up watching CNN. Here, look at that! "Pakistan: Taliban brainwashes kids with visions of virgins."

The link above is rather awesome. Now that's an artist with vision...
Only I don't quite see Heaven in there--- Not of course that any human could ever recognize Heaven.

"Did MTV and CNN brainwash you?

No, that's impossible because you have no brain."

Let's logically track down why this cannot possibly be a brainwashing image for Heaven:

No rivers of honey and milk. This is obviously water.
No people dressed in green. I can't recognize virgins, if that's the case.
At the end of the landscape, you can clearly see navy-colored tents and camels traveling.
Nothing else that could possibly indicate Heaven as a place by any means. It looks like a normal river side with a few people resting by it.

And only to make the final statement in this post, I'd like to ask you NOT TO BASE YOUR IDEAS ON MEDIA REPORTS.

"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone elses opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."

Welcome!

2010-07-12T06:15:00.000-07:00

Hello rapists, strangers and stalkers. We welcome you to our blog.

To intrdouce ourselves, we are mere nuts (Mcadamia, NOT room temperature) who are trying to mend society. Now, we know it's a lost cause but two girls can dream, right?

"!ما اضيق العيش لولا فسحة الأمل"

After reading/seeing the above, you can see one of the flaws in Jordan, one out of many, we'll simply address them here and leave it up to you to express your opinion (in a civilized manner, unlike some people on Facebook).

-N

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We are two carefree individuals who have spent their lives in Jordan, and didn't like the way things go. If you people really wish to keep up with your Jordanian standards, it's time to make a better society out of this excuse of a society. If ever I wished to take pride in Jordan, I'd take pride in it for a reason. People here have been blessed to be born on this land (if born at all,) but this should make you loving toward your country, and not proud. You did not decided to be born in Jordan, and you did not work hard for it. Well, while you're there anyway, you could do something meaningful, and then take full pride in lovely Jordan.

"I dare you to be proud
To dare to shout aloud
For convictions that you feel
Like sound from bells to peal
I dare you to speak of your despise
For bureaucracy, hypocracy- all liars." *

-Sh

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*Double Dare; Bauhaus.