Someone left a comment on my blog saying that all religion is sad, i sort of agree because if you accept what u have been told without using reason and intellect then you are conforming to a doctrine that could be false. The trick is to research your faith not blindly follow it cos your ancestors did.Many people conform to doctrines which are not classed as religions such as Marxism. Many religions have been created by people some not necessarily pious individuals. My local council has recently produced a 2007 calendar featuring 12 religions ranging from the 3 main monotheistic religions to some less well known ones such as Bahai, Shinto and Rastafari. What struck me is that most of them were founded in India!! Every human being at some point in their life will question and ponder their existence and ask themselves what is their purpose in life,if you are reading this and you have not yet asked yourself this question, then trust me you will one day. The Creator is there for you to answer your call, if you sincerely in your heart ask Him for guidance you will recieve it. Many people turn to God when they are in need, maybe they've been hit by a terminal illness or suffered some life changing event, others just want to feel as if they belong... I agree to some extent that most religions are fairytales, like i said they have been concocted by man ( a good example is Ron Hubbard and his Scientology cult)so you wouldnt expect anything less but Islam is different, its not a religion its a way of life, its the natural way. There is a catch though, Islam can only be truly discovered if you read and learn about it without prejudice, its the second largest faith in the world and is also the fastest growing, despite all media propoganda to portray Islam and Muslims as terrorists!
It's a cop out to accept that we came from apes, the whole theory of evolution is a big lie, there is no scientific evidence whatsover that suggests humans have evolved from apes, we have freewill and intellect which makes us far superior than apes but if you monkeys want to believe that hey its your funeral! For more info on the evolution and lies of Darwin please check out www.harunyahya.com for hundreds of articles all referenced and researched and if you want to be freaked out matrix style you should go to www.secretbeyondmatter.com
As for manchester being a sad place to live in, can't complain, where i live there are 28 different languages spoken in the surrounding area, truly multi-cultural, weathers bad but you can't have it all can you?
since becoming a Muslim Xmas has been less significant to me and just another day in the calendar, this year the Xmas hype has escaped me and Xmas has gone by ever so quickly maybe i have been too busy this year to notice. The Xmas songs are still the same and so are the adverts, the worst thing is the xmas family movie, sentimental rubbish. Children are encouraged to sit on a stranger's lap for a cuddle with father xmas whose beard aint even real ( a paedophile's dream). Parents tell their kids that if they're good santa (satan) will bring them a xbox or mountain bike. If i just spent 200 quid on a gift for my child i bloody well tell him that i paid for it not some non existent old man with a beard and red suit?! The average person who celebrates Xmas dont even know why they do it, it all dates back to pagan rituals. The Xmas tree dates back to when people used to worship the sun and leave gifts under trees as sacrifice. The 25th december was the winter solstice, and even the Xmas pudding has its own historical significance....people blindly follow traditions without bothering to find out the history behind it, Xmas is one big commercial set-up.
Today is Xmas day and i spent most of the day attending my friend's wedding ceremony followed by a restaurant do, it was absolute bliss you would not have been able to tell that it was Xmas, nobody attending was celebrating (except 3 girls who had to go home for Xmas dinner!!) When i got home i went to visit some relatives in hospital and again there were people just like any other day visiting their relatives, i did feel sorry for the nurses who were stuck looking after sick people, this sympathy quickly faded when i remembered they were getting paid!! My kids understand that father xmas is a fake, its best to tell them now rather than lying to them, i think they can handle the truth. since ive been out all day today ive not had a chance to watch any xmas tv, i missed the queen's speech and now nothings on except a film with David Duchovny - haha i remember how i was a fan of the XFiles and used to record it how sad!
i have been at university now for nearly ten weeks and time has flown by i must admit. The most difficult thing about studying law is the amount of reading involved, and quite frankly i don't have the time!! as a mature student i am finding i can't bloody remember something i learned the day before! if i get through this course it will be because i fluked my way through the course and also due to the help of Allah. Studying law requires you to act and think like a "lawyer" or a liar as some people might say, one must also write like a lawyer and act professional something else i am finding very difficult! The lecturer has asked me to pronounce my t's (using the glottal stop!) this has had an effect on me as i am now re-educating my four year old to speak properly before it's too late!! i don't mind attending the classes as there is a good mixture of fellow students ranging from young to mature and from serious to dossers! Surprisingly quite a few have dropped out for various reasons maybe realising that law is too difficult for them, hopefully i will have the resolve to get through the three years....
Since beginning university i have had to tell many people that i am studying law and their reactions have been largely negative and unsupportive which i find dis-heartening but this only strengthens me to carry on to prove that i can do it. There are some people who are generally pleased that i am studying, but the people i care about have not made a big fuss about it. I havent told my parents i am at university because i cannot be bothered with their negative comments there's only so much negativity a person can take!!
There seems to be a racial divide amongst the students in my class, i noticed that those of an ethnic minority are sticking with their own kind if you like and those who are white are keeping to their own. This is not a good thing and i hope that this will change during the course of the year as i feel that some people in the class are very competitive and they think they are more intelligent than others, while some are more laidback. I'm a people person which means i mingle and fit in with everyone and i hope by the end of the year i have had a conversation with every single student in my class.
University life includes joining a society, there are a number at the uni i attend but i am interested in joining only one, the islamic society, have not met anyone from there yet so i can't tell if its a good society or not. As a law student its compulsory to join the student law society, nothing much has happened there either apart from taking the £5 membership off me i havent had much benefit from them yet!!
The worst thing about university is definitely the exams which i am absolutely dreading!! I have two in january meaning my two week xmas break to enjoy Eid is officially ruined!!
i have to say the lecturers on my course have been excellent, two have a really good sense of humour and up to now all have been most helpful and understanding. Lets' hope this continues throughout the course....
Procrastination seems to run in my family, my brother confesses to it, it reflects a laid back attitude that we have which can be a bad thing sometimes! My daughter seems to have inherited this trait of ours which can't be a good thing! I had two assignments due in the same week, the first one i knew about and had eight weeks to research and write it, the second assignment due in the following day, i had four weeks to complete it. i ended up doing both in the early hours of the morning, printing it by that time i was too exhausted to proof read it and handed it in! For some people the adrenalin doesn't kick in to the last minute, but for me its plain laziness and not having the time to do it, then hoping that it'll be alright on the night!! I just got one of my assignments back today and alhumdulillah i did better than expected, a self-confessed perfectionist (only when it comes to study not cooking i hasten to add!) i did feel i could have done better but because i left it to the last minute, there really is no excuse and i only have myself to blame! My assignment scored a 63 which according to university grades is a low 2:1 but for me 63 sounds a bit average and not quite good enough. The other assignment i handed in has not been given back to me yet, but it's out of my hands now i will just have to wait and see what happens. On the subject of assignments, quite a few people failed and a number of people who you don't expect to do well did very well so it just goes to show that you can never judge or underestimate people's abilities, sometimes the quiet ones are the intelligent ones!
I recently attended the parents' evening of my two sons. My eldest son has always had a good report and the teacher's comments are quite similar to that of my daughters ie good behaviour, bit shy and reluctant to take part in class discussions but on the whole he's doing well and enjoying school. This was the first parent's evening i had to attend for my 4 yr old who started school full time in September, I was wondering then what if he got a bad report? After years of being told my children are well behaved, intelligent contributors in school how would i feel if for the first time i received a bad report from the teacher? Would i blame the teacher for not helping my son or would i take on board the comments made and help to improve my son's attainment at school? It turned out that i had nothing to worry about, I was told he's settled in nicely and has stopped falling asleep in class now (just about!!) and he was one of the select few who has learnt the phonic sounds being taught in the curriculum. The only bad news is that he hates school dinners so its packed lunch for him when he goes back to school this week!
If you become a muslim it can be a lonely world out there, your family don't understand and think you've been brainwashed, they may pray to their "God" to guide u or you may have doubts as to why you reverted to islam in the first place. It's therefore important to have a good network of fellow muslims whether new or old who can help and support you along the way.
On my journey to islam i have met countless muslim sisters from many different backgrounds but as a british born chinese muslim i have struggled to find any. I did meet a Japanese muslim at an event but as u know thats completely different. Anyway, in the space of the last few months like waiting at a bus stop for yonks 3 turn up at once!! Being chinese there are certain things english people just don't understand no matter how hard they try, one example is the attitude and behaviour of chinese parents but thats another blog for another day.
Back to the point, i met 3 chinese muslims all under the age of 30 and all recently converted to islam, it helps that they all now each other, so now i have my own little cirlcle of friends who can relate to what i been through, it helps that they are a good laugh too! We all went out for a lunch at a chinese restaurant something that i havent done for ages! If you're chinese its quite easy to accept the teachings of islam as many of the teachings can be found in the ancient works of confucious the wise old man. Even small things like how to conduct a battle during wartime are quite similiar we also use the lunar calendar and many chinese people have morals and manners required to live an islamic life eg looking after your parents and importance of family. The major issue would be the chinese' love of pork.
Chinese muslims can be found in China, those with the surnames Mo and Ma are the shortened names of Muhammed and one of the Prophet' Muhammad's uncles Sa'id Ibn Abi Waqas is buried there after staying in China to spread the word of Islam. I purchased a great book called 'In the Shade of the Tree" a couple of years ago and the author a Muslim photographer Peter Sanders,travelled to China (as well as other countries) to photograph the Muslim community. At a lecture i attended he said that they were very humble people as they suffered constant persecution under the chinese government to practice thier religion, including the government turning their places of worship into pigstys (u won't find this in the news as of course all news is censored by the government). Many of them have to practise their religion in secret as all religion in china is banned and u can forget about freedom of speech! Sanders was due to return to china to make a book solely on muslims in china but at the time the SARS outbreak prevented him from travelling there which is a shame.The Muslim population is approximately 60 million which is small when u consider the size of China but their small presence is felt with one of the oldest mosques in existence being 1200 years old from the outside it looks like a chinese temple but inside its decorated with chinese translation of the qur'an in red and gold, magnificent. The mosque is situated at DAXUEXI LANE (Big Learning Lane), Xian, Shanxi Province and was established in 706 AD approximately 96 years after Islam was established!
Back to my new friends one is getting married on Xmas and one is already married and the other shes hanging around as her family dont know she is a muslim, will keep u posted on what happens to her!! Being a muslim in these difficult times is truly a test of character, it would be so much easier to return to your old way of life but in order to grow spiritually u need to perservere and be brave, be brave is my catchphrase which i say to myself when fearing a new situation, i have taught my 4yr old son to be brave so i have to practice what i preach, whats the worst that could happen? Im rambling now so i will finish this post with an extract from an Andalusian poem
"These are our traces that we leave behind.
They indicate who we were.
So look, after we are gone, at our traces".
Everyone from politicians to sikh comedians (dat guy who won celebrity masterchef for those of u who live in U.K!) is jumping on the bandwagon and telling anyone who will listen that a muslim woman wearing a veils is separating themselves from society. Has anyone bothered to ask a Muslim woman why they choose to wear a veil? As a muslim i know plenty of muslim women (who we refer to as sisters) who cover their faces and guess what they got a nose and mouth underneath there too, the majority of them are actually very pretty and when attending social gatherings where no men are around they like to dress up and look nice just like any other women, except when they go out in public they prefer not to show their beauty to those whom they are not married or related to. Is that so wrong? Also 99% of these women when questioned will say they chose to adopt the veil themselves not like the Taliban who beat the women up, they made a conscientious choice based on their beliefs.Why does Jack Straw need to see the woman' s face when he's communicating? Communication is achieved via eye contact and body language and verbal cues. A person can communicate effectively with another human being without seeing their face otherwise emails, phones, texting and instant messaging would have died out. If we really want to see the face of someone 3g phonesales should be on da increase? do u ever use your video calling on your phone? Back to Jack, if he wants to see the womans face, what next does he want to see the shape of her body too? Does that mean men can't communicate without seeing a woman's face? The majority of the british people have not met a Muslim person before all they have is the Sun newspaper and BBC News the poor devils, if they came across a Muslim women they would probably assume she had a bomb strapped under her baggy coat. Before u say not all people think like that they wanna generalise about us so we will generalise about them. The veil is worn by only minority of Muslim women in the UK when u put that into context there are 65 milllion people with 5% of population made up of all ethnic groups thats approximately 2 million muslims. U do the maths and tell me how many Muslim women is he talking about that are so called "separating themselves from society"?
What the issue really comes down to is votes and making the general population increasingly scared of Muslims? They doing a good job of it but what sickens me is that Muslim sisters who choose not to go out half naked with their bodyparts showing, plastered in make up attracting male attention will be spat at and verbally (some physically) abused by the ignorant folk out there? Their crime? Not conforming to the western ideology of how a women should look and dress. A little town in Belgium has banned women from covering their face, the first offence will be equivalent to a £40 fine!What next?
