Blogs of note

I’m just staying home much of the time enjoying my these early days with the new baby, recuperating a little from the birth before we go off on our hols insha’Allah. Oddly, despite this being my sixth baby and despite being (obviously) older this time round, the birth was probably the easiest of the bunch and the recuperating has been much faster. I didn’t have that pale, ‘washed out’ look that I normally have after the birth and generally have been feeling very well – masha’Allah.

So, due to staying home, there is nothing much to say that is blogworthy so I thought I’d just give mention of a few noteworthy blogs.

Almiskeenah: The blog of an American muslimah living in Madinah Al-Munawarrah. I love visiting her blog to see the awesome photographs she posts of Madinah and the surrounding area and her beautiful, poetic way of describing things and her poignant Islamic reminders.

TryingtopleaseAllah: The joint blog of three Muslim ladies, living in polygyny and sharing their experiences. A refreshing blog as it shows polygyny in a positive light and shows the good that can come of the situation.

Itto’s Moroccan Berber Journal: I always enjoying popping over to Itto’s blog; it is the blog of a German Muslimah trying to live a natural and sustainable life in the High Atlas mountains of Morocco.

Simplicity by the Sea: A really nice foodie blog maintained by a Hungarian muslimah living in Algeria. Quite an eclectic blog – recipes from many different countries and plenty of photos to drool over.

My princess

So, here she is! The newest little princess of the family masha’Allah Tabaarak Allah, Ahsanu Khaliqeen (Glory to Allah, the Best of Creators)! Now Ibrahim has five sisters to contend with!

It is wonderful to be breastfeeding again – I weaned my other daughter about 4 or 5 months into pregnancy as my milk dried up and it was about time she weaned anyway (she was nearly 2 1/2) but now bubs and I can look forward to at least two years of breastfeeding insha’Allah. Truly a beautiful blessing and mother-child bond from Allah.

Been MIA!

Have been MIA for a while and part of that was due to not being able to sign into my WordPress account and getting an error page every time. I decided to have another go today and whoo hoooo… here I am!

A lot has happened over the past couple of months or so, most importantly I gave birth to a beautiful fifth daughter eleven days ago. I had a normal, uncomplicated delivery Alhamdu Lillah.

So now I am getting used to the whole breastfeeding thing again and having six children in tow when we go out instead of five – I have to do a head count now to make sure noone is left behind!

More to come insha’Allah!

Publish, Donate, Promote

 

• PUBLISH – publish a post or posts highlighting some aspect of poverty
• DONATE – Go to one of the websites in the previous post and DONATE any amount of money you can afford, however small
• PROMOTE – Promote this event all over the web: on your blog, facebook, twitter, forums, Myspace or wherever you happen to hang out in order to raise awareness.

I have fulfilled each of the above today (I chose Islamic Relief UK); what are YOU going to do?

Islamic Charitable websites

Some Islamic Charity work websites where you will find projects ranging from disaster relief to more ongoing projects (sadaqa jariya) such as sponsoring orphans, helping to fund the building of orpanges, wells and other projects. Whichever country you reside in, you should be able to find a website below where you can go to find out how you can help.

Islamic Relief USA

Islamic Relief UK

There are also Islamic Relief partners in the following countries: Germany, Beligium, Netherlands, France, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Sweden, Malaysia, South Africa, Canada

Just go to the Islamic Relief UK website and click on the appropriate flag for your country.

Muslim Hands - Various projects including orphan sponsorship

Alyateem.com - Orphan welfare

ICNA Relief – Canada

Sister Farhana’s blog, Sketched Soul  where she has several charitable projects going on and updates regularly.

Girls Orpanage in Africa

Blog Action Day – Poverty

 

 Tomorrow, October 15th is Blog Action Day 2008 

Bloggers Unite

On October 15th bloggers everywhere will publish posts that discuss poverty in some way. By all posting on the same day we aim to change the conversation that day, to raise awareness, start a global discussion and add momentum to an important cause.

Why

Every blogger has a unique voice, audience and perspective. By speaking to their readers on topic about an important issue we can discuss global issues like poverty in a new and hugely multi-faceted way. And from discussion springs action.

88 Ways to Take Action Against Poverty Right Now

(list from the blogactionday.org website, click title above to go to the website)

1. Eat meatless meals 2x a week. Donate that grocery money to a local food bank. – TarotByArwen
2. Be homeless for a day/night. – Lex
3. Stop putting off adopting a child through an organization like Compassion International (or adopt another one). – Lex
4. Make a loan on Kiva, or buy a couple gift certificates and give them away to friends. – Lex
5. Get a group together to go door-to-door collecting canned foods for your local soup kitchen/shelter. – Lex
6. Take a homeless person to dinner and actually sit/talk with him. – Lex
7. Stop being lazy. Find a way to do your job better so that you can save an hour a day, or be that much more productive. – Alex Shalman
8. Stop buying junk to make yourself look pretty and donate it to homeless people and hungry people. – Craigsnede
9. Make flyers to stick in the local library. – Craigsnede
10. I’m interviewing a Capuchin monk vowed to Poverty about his work with Detroit’s poor for my blog, and I’m trying to arrange a fund raiser with my author and PIVTR radio station friends.
11. Find a gripping picture or video having to do with poverty and publish it on the Web.
12. Stop drinking Coke and bottled water for a day and save on plastic. Will save a lot of plastic if each of us does it for only one day.
13. Share your skill or knowledge, so they can improve their knowledge to increase their life/prosperity.
14. Visit an orphanage.
15. Stop being lazy.
16. Give comfort to the poor.
17. Donate.
18. Check your closet and make sure that anything you have not used last winter is taken to a charitable organization. Ask your friends and neighbors and volunteer to pick up the clothes, launder them and deliver them to those organizations. They will do no good in your closet and a world of good to someone in need.
19. On one day only eat food that you have asked someone for directly or for the money you need to buy it. Pay attention to the feelings.
20. Have a “sponsor me” day. Donate money to a poverty relief cause for everyone who leaves a comment on your blog that day.
21. Designers for Blog Action Day group on Flickr. Submit your designs: http://www.flickr.com/groups/bad2008design/
22. Organize a Hunger 101 Program for a local youth group. Our Girl Scout community learned about what they could do to help the working poor in our community. http://spedr.com/da5f This inspired them to organize several Take Action events: http://spedr.com/krfw
23. Add the “Women Rock” badge to your website or Facebook page.
24. If any of us knew or aware about any organisation which can help educate them, like, skills centre, entrepeneurship centre..u know, stuff they do to help these pople actually do something to improve their life, we might try to collect name carsd from these organisations (NGOs or ministries), and walk around and passed these cards to them, with of couse, maybe some donations of any supplies.
25. Skip a weekly trip to the grocery store and donate the money saved to a food bank. I do this once a year for my family of 5. For that week we only eat what is left in the pantry or fridge. By the end of the week, pickings are slim and we get a sense of what it feels like to not have the luxury of tasty, well balanced meals every night.
26. Make a personal fundraising page in 5 minutes on Firstgiving.com. Raise money securely online for any US-based nonprofit committed to ending poverty in the US or around the world. Here’s an example page: http://www.firstgiving.com/bapbwm.
27. Have dinner on the floor and make it a very small meal (like chicken broth, watered down milk, and maybe a small piece of bread?) Talk about the blessings you have and that the meal represents those who don’t get to eat “big” on a daily basis.
28. Volunteer at a soup kitchen!
29. Play freerice.com!
30. If you have take out coffee, skip it for an entire week, donate the savings!
31. Give 5 bucks to a homeless person who looks hungry!
32. Talk with your children about poverty and who it affects.
33. Save your old stuff and sold it for charity
34. Support charity organization in your country. Reducing poverty may start in your nearest region.
35. Do something to touch 3 people or to reach out to 3 people and get them to pay it forward.
36. Give a gallon of water to each of 3 people who need it?
37. Give a $10 gift certificate to each of 3 homeless, single mothers so that she and her children can have one hot meal at a fast food restaurant?
38. Ask 3 entrepreneurs to each make a donation to 3 people or causes?
39. Holding perhaps daily or weekly community classes for imparting knowledge from our side and educating the local masses is something we all can do by coming together at grass root level.
40. Avoiding overconsumption.
41. Contributing to relief funds which can assist this cause.
42. Host a 1 day famine and collect donations. With the donations, pass it to a Welfare/Poverty Organisation.
43. Plan a pot luck/BBQ or a get together inviting close friends and neighbours, to bring awareness and also to raise funds for a shelter home. Funds can be used to purchase the necessary groceries for the home.
44. Pray for the comfort and safety of the world’s poor. Pray for the strength, wisdom and courage to help each of them find prosperity.
45. Combat corruption!
46. Don’t just talk to your kids about poverty – get them involved by having them go through their toys and clothes to find concrete things to pass along. The next time they want you to buy something for them – talk about what that money could buy for someone who had no food… then follow through and donate the money you didn’t spend.
47. Donate your time and expertise to teach a class to those trying to find a new way to earn a living.
48. To add to the previous suggestions, rather than just donate money to homeless people, why not use the money you would use on yourself for a coffee to buy one for someone else. If you get coupons for free beverages or meals, keep them with you and give them to someone in need.
49. As you find organizations to which you like to donate food, clothing, etc., spend some time volunteering for that organization. Contribute to the organizations you are already supporting in other ways.
50. Educate others. If you are a teacher, talk to your students about poverty. Get their opinions. Inspire them. If you work in other areas, strike up a conversation with your colleagues in the lunchroom or lounge. Get educated so you can answer questions and provide information that might spur others into action.
51. Visit The Hunger Site every day and click the link to feed the hungry. It’s fast and it’s free and there’s absolutely NO excuse not to do it every day you’re online!
52. Be compassionate.
53. Invite friends to watch documentaries how poverty destroyed ones life,family and their future.
54. Do not waste water on that day.
55. Express your love and compassion for one street child by having an enrollment conversation with her.
56. Ask your child to share her food with the child of your maid on that day.
57. Make a list of five items you haven’t used for long and have no plans to use them in future either. And distribute them among local poors with all humility.
58. Compose a poem on the theme ‘Making Poverty A History’ and get it published in a local magazine or paper. Also, ask your baby to recite the poem in her school.
59. Talk to your five relatives about the poverty issue and invite them to come up with their suggestions to eradicate poverty.
60. Organize a drawing competition for kids on the poverty theme and exhibit their works in a local school or community centre.
61. Do not overeat on that day.
62. Save electricity on that day and contribute the equivalent savings to a local charity.
63. Contribute your one day salary to a child rehabilitation centre.
64. Get a few friends, gather all your unused items, sell it and buy something a meal for the poor in your neighborhood.
65. Travel to a poor country or area. Look for ways to make a difference on the ground there.
66. On your next off day from work, go to a homeless shelter and help serve food to those who are there, talk with them, listen to their stories, you will find that they were at one time, alot like yourself.
67. Let’s learn to love and respect one another, and to give to those who have less.
68. Pictures. It’s one thing to say that the milk my son spilled at lunch this afternoon was more than some kids get. But some people don’t see how real that is unless they’re looking at a picture.So, I’m looking for them.
69. Talk about poverty.
70. To most Americans, it’s not real unless we see it. I’m going to be revamping my blog so that poverty is prominent, and I’m talking about it more often.
71. Don’t stop at the generalities. War, famine, corruption, etc. all happen, and should be resisted. However, let’s dig deeper and go into the specifics. Not just talking about thousands of people dying of thirst … let’s talk about a real person.
72. Pull out the hearts of the readers, and make them confront what they know is right and wrong.
73. The more intelligent we are and the more productive we are, the more fruitfully we can spend our time, and the more we can produce to give away.
74. The reason why poverty still exists in Indonesia is because people are giving cash money to the poor at the streets and those money usually being used for things that usually destructive/not good (buying drugs, etc.) In order to stop poverty, the government already got their program to fight it but it didn’t go successfully for people still think that they are better off at the streets and there’s this what-so-called ‘mafia’ that organize these poor people at the streets.
75. In order to fight this, the people started to give food/meal/clothes to the poor instead of cash money so it would stop the process.
76. I think in order to stop poverty is to give what the people really need, not just giving it away for the sake of ‘being kind’
77. Fund educational programs for women.
78. Ensure that women have legal protections.
79. Educate people about the plight of women around the world.
80. Educate yourself on one aspect of poverty that affects women, whether it’s educating yourself on what’s going on with rape or abortion legislation in your own local area, or finding out what you can do to help women in other countries attain the basic human rights they deserve, by doing research on organisations that help women and contributing to those organisations in some way.
81. Do a campaign of creative advertisements for public awareness and a call to action. Do a poster, do an ambient campaign, write a radio or TV spot.
82. Breadline Africa is launching a Blogger Bake Off to help raise awareness and funds. If you want to do something on Blog Action Day, you should turn your talking (which is very worthwhile) into action: donate to a charity. Organisations that use funds directly in poor communities will be using your money where it can do the most good: at the grass roots level.
83. Educate yourself.
84. Prepare a space in your home for the poor to stay as needed.

Pick something from this list. Go NOW. Do it. And the world will be richer in mind and body.

This is a very important issue and it is something that is mentioned time and time again in the Qur’an and Hadith. So many times we are reminded of the rights of the poor over us and the importance of generosity to those who are worse off than ourselves. Even for the well-off person there are countless benefits in giving sadaqa to the poor and I hope to discuss this issue in more depth tomorrow. For now, read through the list above and see if there is something you can do and perhaps think of making a post in support of Blog Action Day tomorrow.

Guilt free

Do you ever look wistfully at all the yummy dishes on recipe blogs and other websites and feel guilty for not producing those kinds of culinary delights for your family?

Well, here’s a food blog post today designed to take away the guilt and expose me for what I am! I have had a few comments from readers about how wonderful my cooking looks and what a ’superwoman’ I might appear to be (yeah right! ) but we all need to take benefit of convenience food from time to time. Yesterday I just wasn’t in the mood to cook so we had chicken popcorn and chips from the freezer, quickly fried (naughty I know) and a simple salad with homemade dressing that I keep ready made in the fridge.

Because sometimes, you just have to!

Life is good…

Life just got better… I found raspberries in the supermarket today. A big 1lb tub of frozen English raspberries. I’m so happy!

I already have raspberry and white chocolate muffins baking and thinking up what else to do with the remaining raspberries.

It is goooooood finding something like this that I miss from the UK! [*contented sigh*]

What’s cookin’?!

So what’s cooking today? I’ve decided to keep it simple as there are leftovers each day; we finally managed to rid the fridge of leftovers at iftar yesterday so I can start afresh today.

I am making lentil soup which we will eat with samosas (samboosas/borek depending on where in the world you live) and to follow there will be Panini sandwiches which will be filled with tuna, cheese, chopped olives, sliced tomato and mayonnaise. I also have some ready made Palestinian felafel which I am defrosting. It looks like regular felafel but the golden, crispy discs are filled with spicy onion; delicious in pitta bread with lettuce, tomato, parsley and hummus or tahini sauce.

For suhoor tomorrow morning I am trying out Saudi style Brioche filled with Nutella. If I succeed, I am sure this will be a hit with the children.

Justice for Aafia Siddiqui – Protest in London

 

I received this in the email from a friend today and as there has been so much buzz on blogs about this case recently in order to make known the plight of this lady, I want to publicise this protest which is scheduled to take place next Friday.

Further reading about this case at Muslimmatters and Anwar Al-Awlaki online

 

JUSTICE FOR AAFIA SIDDIQUI PROTEST

Friday 12th September 2008

6-8pm

Outside the US Embassy, Grovesnor Square, London

Speakers include:

Moazzam Begg (Ex-Guantanamo detainee, Cageprisoners)

Lord Nazir Ahmed

Yvonne Ridley (Press TV, Respect)

Andy Worthington (Author, Reprieve)

Asim Qureshi (Cageprisoners)

Imran Khan (invited)

Speeches will commence at 6:30pm. Iftar and Maghrib at 7:30pm.

A petition for Aafia Siddiqui as well as leaflets and postcards will be available. Donations will be collected for Aafia’s fund. Please design and bring your own banners!

WHO IS AAFIA SIDDIQUI?

Detained Incommunicado for five years. Abused physically and psychologically. 11 year old son in custody in Afghanistan. Her two youngest children remain missing. Dr Aafia Siddiqui, the American educated Pakistani scientist and mother of three was detained for years by the US in Bagram. She has been the victim of the US programme of secret detention for five years since having been kidnapped in Karachi by Pakistan security services in 2003 along with her three children.

On Monday 4th August 2008, federal prosecutors in the US confirmed that Aafia Siddiqui was extradited to the US from Afghanistan where they allege she had been detained since mid-July 2008. The US administration claims that she was arrested by Afghani forces outside Ghazni governor’s compound with manuals on explosives and ‘dangerous substances in sealed jars’ on her person. They further allege that whilst in custody she shot at US officers and was injured in the process.

According to her lawyer, Elaine Whitfield Sharp, “We do know she was at Bagram for a long time. It was a long time. According to my client she was there for years and she was held in American custody; her treatment was horrendous.”

Aafia’s claim is contrary to the heavily contested position of the US administration that she was detained in July by Afghan forces while attempting to bomb the compound of the governor of Ghazni. The US has previously denied the presence of female detainees in Bagram and that Aafia was ever held there, bar for medical treatment in July 2008.

Aafia Siddiqui now faces trial in the US in circumstances that can only be described as strange at best. Questions remain as to her own whereabouts over the last five years and still that of her children; the US government have recently acknowledged that her eldest son Ahmed, an 11 year old US national, is in Afghan custody. The whereabouts of her youngest two children remain unknown.

Aafia’s health has deteriorated since her transfer to the US on August 4th. She suffered multiple bullet wounds whilst in custody, the loss of part of her intestine, and extensive surgical incisions resulting in multiple layers of external and internal stitching prior to her extradition. There are a number of other healths concerns and subsequently her medical condition condition needs to be fully investigated by several different specialists. Physical injuries aside, Aafia’s psychological injuries obviously leave deeper scars. Her ordeal is heightened by the degrading and humilating strip and cavity searches she is forced to endure before every legal visit.

SUPPORTED BY:

Islamic Human Rights Commission (www.ihrc.org)

CAMPACC (www.campacc.org.uk)

For further information:

07973 264197

contact@cageprisoners.com

www.cageprisoners.com

www.aafiasiddiqui.org

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