The Adventures of Umm lol cats: Episode I: The Phantom Mullah

Umm lol cats may not be a super hero (or super heroine) but she can have less than a dull life and so I present to you “The Adventures of Umm lol cats.” A few words of caution. The object of the current episode is not to mock everyone in KSA but rather only certain people. You may say that we should not mock anyone. Well yes and no. After you see people breaking apart successful Muslim communities here in America because some Saudi educated guy comes along and thinks that indigenous American Muslims ought to live like the Saudis well enough is enough. Also I am not trying to mock the Middle Eastern Accent but such people usually do have that accent. For people who do not know the terminology, hijab is usually referred to as the hear covering worn by Muslim women, Najd is a region in Saudi Arabia and Mullah roughly means a religious leader. The sad thing is that I have seen people who do think that the real scholar of Islam are in Najd and that most other institutions in the Islamic world are whack. Some background of today’s episode: In KSA, there are some indications that the ban of women driving may be lifted soon. Anyway I hope that people like “The Adventures of Umm lol cats” and if enough people like it I may even make it a regular section of the site.

Click on individual images for a larger view.

P.S: Just joined the Facebook under this alias. Ping me.

Hello Kitty converts to Islam!

 Alright folks I am back (details later). Its with much please that I would like to announce that my beloved Hello Kitty has converted to Islam. lol. Just kidding. But as I noted in one of my earlier posts, it would be cool if someone did came out with a hijabi version of Hello Kitty. Welcome look no further, there is indeed a hello kitty in traditional wedding costume and even a niqabi Hello Kitty here. O dear!

Roadtrip ….

I will be on the road for the next ten days so I won’t be posting for almost a fortnight. Wishing everyone the best of luck on everything. Next stop New York.

K-pop guide to Muslims: Yun Eun Hye and the Environment

Here is Yun Eun Hye wearing a T-shirt in support of the environment. She started her career as a pop singer in the group Baby V.O.X. but later moved to acting which has proved to be more successful. Despite initial skepticism her role in the drama Princess Hour was able to win over her critics. So she is not just another pretty face. Speaking of environment, environmentalism is not something which people usually associate with Islam or with prophet Muhammad (pbuh) but there are ample examples from the life and saying of prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that can bolster the claim for an Islamic idea of environmentalism. Consider the following sayings of prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

• “No Muslim, who plants a shoot, except that whatever is eaten or stolen from it, or anyone obtains the least thing from it, is considered [like paying] almsgiving on his behalf until the Day of Judgment.” (sahih Muslim)
• “There is reward in [caring for] every living being.” (sahih Muslim)
• “Faith is some seventy branches, the highest of which is “There is no god but God, and the least is removing obstacles from the path of people. (sahih Bukhari and sahih Muslim)

It makes me wonder, we do see the effects of urban sprawl run amok in many parts of the Muslim world and environmental degradation also. We should learn from the example of the prophet (pbuh).

Around the blogsphere in 80 days: Don’t Be Sad

You know what this means people. Basically I will be recommending, irregularly most likely, different blogs from the blogsphere. The first one is the “Don’t be Sad Blog.” It seems to be an excellent compendium of quotations where anyone can get their daily fix of great quotes. Here is the description of the blog from their about section.

Initially the idea of the title came from the book Don’t sad by ‘Aadiah ibn Abdullah al-Qarni, which was discovered in a small bookshop amongst those in Makkah, Arabia (actually I’m on my second copy- the first was given to a friend-both were brought in Makkah on successive trips there). Readers, of all faiths and backgrounds are referred to this text if they enjoy reading this blog as many of the quotes are taken from here.

Collecting quotations has been a long time fascination- the blog allows each to be catalogued and made easily accessible.

So, please be curious and explore.

Update: one of the major projects at Don’t be sad is now collecting and posting submissions for the Random acts of kindness series.

K-pop guide to Muslims: Tonight’s Episode Ivy and Rights

Here is Ivy, a Korean singer. She has a nice voice but her debut was via the “sexy route.” The record company that launched her decided to promote her in this manner which is too bad. She was later able to reverse some of this image but her albums did not do that well so she again took the controversial route. If you get a chance, check out here songs. And you all pervs out there the whole video thing is just made up. :p Speaking of controversy, one of things that frequently comes up in the media is women in the Muslim world. To some extent Muslims are to be blamed e.g., according to Islamic law the possessions of a women after marriage do not get transferred to her husband and she has no obligation to spend money on her family. However the same does not apply to a Muslim man who is required to spend money on his wife and his family. In theory the wife can keep her money AND spend money from her husband. In reality this rule is not followed by a lot of Muslims but interesting ain’t it.

Still confused about the K-pop and Muslim remix?

Hello Kitty Contacts

I am nominating this to be the coolest invention of 2007- Hello Kitty Contacts! Wish I could get one but may be one day but I am sure by that time they will have something even cooler. In the mean time all Hello Kitty fans can rejoice. Hello Kitty is a cat so it fits well with Umm LOL Cats. Speaking of marketing I wonder why they have not come out with a hijabi version of Hello Kitty?

K-pop guide to Muslims

(Image: Korean Pop Singer JJ)

Muslims are presented in the West in a rather one dimensional manner and to make matters worse some interpretations of Islam mainly originating from KSA also wants to paint Islam in a one dimensional manner but there is far from the truth and reality of Islam. In the mainstream media and even outside of the mainstream media Islam and Muslims are usually presented in a rather boring manner which paints the picture that Muslims are robots who just follow certain rules. Thus we have such absurdist pronouncements by the media like do Muslims have a sense of humor? This is such a stupid question that the stupidometer should go off the charts while measuring its stupidity, it implies that there are a billion people in the world who do not have a sense of humor. Its as if Islam is something genetic which renders people immune to jokes instead of it being a belief system. Now you may wonder, what is the link between Muslims and K-pop? K-pop refers to Korean popular music. It is also something which is not quite unknown in America. So I thought I may combine two of my interests – Muslims and K-pop. Some may find it strange, some may find it absurd, but this is my take on the Muslim world, the people, a guide through Korean pop. Hopefully it won’t be boring. And to my Muslim brothers reading this post, I ‘ll say “Lower your gaze.”

So anyway watch out for this space in the future — K-pop guide to Muslims. Don’t be too alarmed by the images, I like to remix stuff. :p

Happy New Year

Happy New Year people. May everyone has a blessed year 2008.