:: Deep Thoughts ::

:: 3.3.2004 ::

Reflections on the South/Islam
gotta read some stuff for my social history of new south class. the worst class i ever had i tell you. the teacher is so butt crazy and reeaaallly racist. before i leave this univiersity i plan on giving her a piece of my mind but as of right now i fear for my grade. but the class did at least get me thinking about the question that she asked the first day, "do u consider yourself a southerner?" while i was born in the south and have lived here all my life, i would have to say no, because i consider myself a muslim first and also b/c i have never really been involved in the southern culture. my culture has been the culture of my parents, desi culture, and the culture of islam that i learned from my p's and from the masjid. that is the only way of living i know really. i have had some glimpses of the southern culture from living here, from my schoolmates, my teachers, my neighbors, etc, but i still dont really understand it. i know some stuff about it like they are into family, religion, very proud of being southern (something i can somewhat relate to b/c i love where i'm from and i hate it when people from other places make blanket assumptions about 'southerners' or people from the south), and some stuff about what they eat (pork, pork, and maybe some other meat now and then, a few veggies filled with sugar, apple pie, and hey why not throw in some more pork) but thats about it. i cant really understand their culture and thus i cannot say that i am a southerner. my sis on the other hand says that she thinks of herself as a southerner. but just b/c you grow up in the south dont make u southern. as my prof says "the south is transferrable" b/c u can be born in the north, grow up there, then come to the south and after a few years feel that you are southern. STILL, even though i dont feel southern, i am surrounded by southerners and they have had profound effects on my life. they have taught me some positive things, i suppose, but mostly i have felt pretty much shunned by them and by the southern society i live in. they have said racist things to me or, as they do most of the time, they have given me these long, incredulous, ignorant, shocked, what-the-hell-are-you-doing-here stares, the kind of stares that have made me want to get up and leave this crazy place that's supposedly 'home.' but then these stares happen to u so much it's like you get immune to them. and that's pretty sad when u think of it. getting immune to hatred, to ignorance. you'd think these people would want to UNDERSTAND the OTHER, the people that are not like them, the people they know nothing about but instead their first instict is to shun, to criticize, to say "oh lord jesus what the hell is that" or "what are u doing in our country" or "go back home you terrorist". they're so caught up in their own small, contained lives and believe everything that lying box of moving pictures in their living room tells them to believe that they see something and they immediately react without thinking. maybe they could learn something from me - they never think of that. the foreigner is the enemy and must be expelled from their blessed land. and that's what i have learned from the south. maybe i'm being overly bitter and dramatic and playing the role of the victim too much, but its the truth. but still despite all my 21 years of stares and hatred from the south, i have also gotten a dose of southern hospitality and met some people along the way who actually have open minds and want to understand. and those few positive experiences have made me feel that there actually is very little difference b/w myself and the south, between US and THEM. we're really all people trying to make our way in this crazy world, trying to find ourselves and (hopefully!) find God as well. and knowing that we're so similar makes me feel sorry for the southernes (which is kind of ironic considering they feel sorry for me, thinking i'm the one who's oppressed) and makes me want to tell them about Islam, about my Truth (the one Truth really...) and make them see that we're not the enemy but ignorance is.
:: a muslim 1:41 AM [+] ::
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The seven heavens declare His glory and the earth (too), and those who are in them; and there is not a single thing but glorifies Him with His praise, but you do not understand their glorification; surely He is Forbearing, Forgiving. - 17:44 -->reminds me of the Pythagorean idea of the 'music of the spheres'
:: a muslim 12:35 AM [+] ::
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Real Knowledge and Junky Gossip
i havent written on here in a while. almost a year in fact. so now i'm back. and i dont know what to write. well...let's see. i'm graduating this semester! i'm excited about that, but although i will (inshallah) be graduating with two bachelors degrees, one in philosophy and one in history, i still feel like i know nothing. but i think that's normal actually b/c people go through phd's and still feel they know nothing. that's b/c human beings can only know so much and no matter how much you study there's still more to learn. we're all imperfect with a limited amount of knowledge; only Allah, the Divine, is perfect with an infinite amount of knowledge. so why is it that people feel they know so much? b/c they're full of themselves, a common problem i might say. i myself have experience this problem many, many times. at least now i know its a problem of mine and now if i act like that, i stop myself later and bring myself down to size. besides, even though there is so much knowledge that can be obtained in this world, there's a lot of useless knowledge floating around out there that we dont need. in fact, i've noticed most of what people think is important (like what celebrity is married to who and what kids they have and who they used to be married to, and what are the latest songs and who won what at the oscars and oh-my-god did u see what she was wearing at that wedding and....etc, etc, etc) or at least what people talk about ALL THE TIME is just JUNK. it pisses me off. it really does. i cant stand sitting around listening to people gossip anymore, which is a problem considering everyone i know does it at some point or another and then i get sucked into it too sometimes and then i get pissed at myself.....ok so what was i talking about initially? knowledge? right...who knows how i got sidetracked into gossip. anyways, going back to knowledge, i've been reading some Socrates and Plato for my Ancient philosophy class and Socrates always asserted, after going through these huge arguments arguing a certain view of virtue or justice or something else that he really didnt know anything, and while our teacher was making fun of it, i think it makes sense. we really do know nothing, even if we study something our whole lives, we still only have a minisicule amount of the knowledge 10 people would have studying it and a barely visible amount compared to the vastness of Allah's knowledge, b/c he is Alim al-Ghaib wa ash-Shahada or Knower of the Hidden and the Apparent.
:: a muslim 9:48 PM [+] ::
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I've been studying Hegel and his ideas of freedom and community and how that relates to Islam...no time to expound on that right now but I will post later.
:: a muslim 8:25 PM [+] ::
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Shaheedat
well it's been quite a while since i updated this page...almost a year in fact. the last post i did was last ramadan and it's almost ramadan again...yeah maybe i should update more often. so what i want to write about is about the Arabic word shaheedat, which means martyrdom. I've been studying Arabic since last year and the word shaheedat comes from the root word shahada which means to bear witness. Moreover, when a person becomes Muslim they recite what is called the shahada, "ashadu anna la ilahi ila allah wa ashadu anna muhamadun rasool allah", which translates to "I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah." Thus, the word shaheed, which is translated as martyr, also means witness. So when a person becomes Muslim they bear witness to what they believe is true and a martyr is someone who bears witness to the truth even when it results in his/her death.
:: a muslim 5:24 PM [+] ::
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RAMADAN MUBARAK/KAREEM! :)
"O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, even as it was prescribed for those before you, that ye may ward off (evil)" (2:185)
"The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for mankind, and clear proofs of the guidance, and the Criterion (of right and wrong). And whosoever of you is present, let him fast the month, and whosoever of you is sick or on a journey, (let him fast the same) number of other days. Allah desireth for you ease; He desireth not hardship for you; and (He desireth) that ye should complete the period, and that ye should magnify Allah for having guided you, and that peradventure ye may be thankful." (2:185)

:: a muslim 12:01 AM [+] ::
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Afghanistan
I dont see how American citizens can justify the deaths of Afghan civilians. It doesnt make any sense. Not just that but the US govt. is saying that their deaths are "collateral damage" and they're doing everything they can to avoid killing the civilians. Yeah right, and I'm the easter bunny. If they were really doing everything they could to avoid killing civilians, they would stop bombing Afghanistan and instead go in there and get Osama since that's supposedly who they really want. These bombings arent doing anything to help anyone and they're not doing harm to Osama all that much, since it's obvious he's still alive and well and sending messages thru al-jazeerah. But noo...they cant stop the bombings. Not even for Ramadan. And yet they continue to say it's not a war against Islam. I beg to differ. I really do. I'm feeling victimized and so are a whole bunch of other Muslims, and not just in the US. In fact, I bet the majority of Muslims worldwide are feeling victimized because innocent Afghan Muslims are dying. Our brothers and sisters in Islam are dying and suffering and trying to get to refugee camps where the situation isnt all that better. It's gonna be a sad Ramadan.
:: a muslim 2:55 AM [+] ::
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hello
:: a muslim 8:22 PM [+] ::
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"It is in moments of violence that we have confrontation, that we find out what we believe in, whether we have soul and spirit. They are the pivotal points in our lives." ~Harlan Ellison

:: a muslim 8:02 PM [+] ::
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