I am a British Chinese Muslim.
However, I do not know if I can say I am proud to be any of these at the moment. If I don't speak I can get away with not being British (my Mancunian accent would give me away), but if you were to judge me from my appearance you would immediately identify me as a Muslim (and then probably make the assumption that I am Malaysian)! This suits me as when I am amongst Chinese people I don't feel Chinese although I look and act Chinese.
I do not agree with the situation in Tibet and there are other human rights issues and the fact that Muslims are largely oppressed in China by the government which makes me slightly (unproud to be Chinese).
I do not agree with the extremist elements from the Muslim ummah who committ terrorist acts in the name of Islam.
I do not agree with the foreign policy of our government in particular the Iraq war and their support for Israel.
All three have a lot to offer the world. I hope that I will one day be able to say I am proud of being all three.
When you were a kid, did your parents ever compare you to your cousin, your sibling (if you are a twin), the next door neighbour, if you were of similiar age and sex? My mum used to always say that so and so (a relative in London) was bigger than me (in height) even though I was older, and she used to compare me to some other girl that used to visit my aunties chippy (who looked scary) and it used to DO MY HEAD IN!!!
My son has a cousin who is 6 months younger than him, and his cousin is taller than him and can probably read better than him and they both started mosque (learning to read arabic) and even though my son started 3 months before him, his cousin has now caught up with him!
So, is competition (and comparing him to someone else's son) healthy? Is it a good thing? Well it works both ways. I remember the only reason I started potty training my son was cos his cousin's mother was about to start him and I really couldnt have her son out of nappies before mine could I? So in some ways it is good, but i have to stop (mentally) comparing them as they are essentially opposites. They have different personalities and the main thing they have in common is their age. I know that my son is better at other things than his cousin so i really shouldnt feel bad if his cousin excels him in some areas. I need to make a mental note to stop being so petty!
Incidentally the only reason his cousin caught up with him was because his teacher started comparing them and she deliberately put his cousin up to speed so he could catch up with my son, calling it a "competition", now that's what I didn't like cos its not good for them to be in competition with each other as one will inevitably will be made to feel bad by an adult (in this case the teacher).
We just got a new Wii Fit, its a balance board for the Nintendo Wii which has fun games as well as yoga, aerobics and muscle workouts. After setting up our profiles and entering our heights and ages, the wii board told me that my weight and BMI was ideal (a BMI of 22 indicates that you are less likely to get sick!) that wasnt very reassuring considering I have been feeling ill (with a slight cold and temperature) for the last few days!
It enables you to set yourself targets to lose weight or gain weight and has some activities like jogging and boxing which my son has been playing. We will have to wait a few weeks to see if we A) lose weight or B) get bored of it and play it once in a while.
I think i will try the yoga training after my exams:)
The local elections (for council seats) are to take place in May (only a few days away) and up crops the dilema of whether to vote or not. There are those from the Islamic school of thought, that we should not take part in the electoral process, there are those from the Islamic camp that say if you dont want to vote, then get out of my way and let me vote (Imam Suhaib Webb). From my own point of view, i just cannot be bothered.... what's the point of voting for a party that will ignore EVERYTHING they promised to do in their manifestos as soon as they get into power?? If anything the Labour government have proved just that. I have opted to vote by post. I cant be bothered to fill the form in and send it off. Not that I am Lazy, I just dont know how my vote will make a difference. I did vote last year, as there was a threat the BNP (British National Party) may get a local seat if there was a low turnout, but in general I dont see the point.
On a positive note, you do see improvements to the area that you live in, in the run up to the elections, and if they do send you a letter asking to vote for them , then just write back to them with anything you want bringing to their attention, as they are more receptive than normal, I emailed my councillor regarding the dangerous giveway coming out of our road, he is at present "looking into it!".
It will be interesting though to see who becomes the next President of the US, and indeed if he/she will get their troops out of Iraq...
What do you think is too serious to joke around about?
Well depends on who your talking to. My brother in law died on New Year's Eve and his brother was cracking jokes about the mortgage being paid off now (cos his brother had insurance), a few hours later.... that was his coping mechanism to use humour to deal with the grief.
Personally i do not like jokes about my religion, call me a fuddy duddy or whatever u want, but my deen (Islam) should not be mocked by those practising it. I dont mean people who are not Muslims can't poke fun because they do not understand, but those who make fun of the religion for no apparent reason. I also do not mean Muslim comedians, as some of them are real funny, they poke fun at the way people practise religion and their idiosyncrasies, they are not making fun of the religion itself. Again my brother in law (above) is guilty of this. May Allah help him and guide him.
Other than that you can laugh at whatever you want as long as its not me!
Show us a beverage you absolutely can't stand the taste of.
Being Chinese I have drank some of the most foul tasting drinks ever, as a child I had to drink Chinese medicine for my asthma, I would just gulp it down in one go and eat something sweet straight away.
I also used to drink a lot of home made soups that took hours to prepare, some were nice others not so nice, but i dont drink them anymore cos they not halal.
If your talking about beverages, it would have to be a strong tasting bitter coffee, on the occasions that i do drink coffee, i like it to be creamy rather than strong!
I have not provided a photo i know!
Today i went to the Bodyworlds 4 exhibition. To be honest I didnt know what to expect. I was disgusted and amazed. Fascinated and disturbed.
Although all the people/bodies consented I can't understand why people would want to donate their body to science so that people can see the inner workings of how our body works up close and personal.Also I didn't like the foetuses put on display, as they definitely did not give their consent. They looked surreal in a glass box arranged in order of age and very distasteful. The most disturbing was seeing little kids with their parents as the exhibiton is for children over ten and adults!
As for the humans on display, some of them you could imagine what they may have looked like, as they have been preserved so amazingly well, the ones with their eyes intact look haunting and give them emotion. You cannot help but wonder what they were like and who they were.
The bodies were arranged in imaginative ways, one from a scene of Casino Royale, others doing various forms of exercise. One was split in half like a scene from the Matrix. My favourite was a woman whose skin was stuck to a rock, she was arranged so that she looked as if she was coming out of the rock leaving her skin (and hair) behind.
The inventor of the technique has critics and fans alike, I think I will sit on the fence with this one. The bodies (or models) allow the public and medical professionals to examine the body in detail, but is it not a glorified freak show? The people have consented and donated their bodies in the name of "science", but it still felt disturbing to go and see them in various positions like waxworks from Madame Tussauds.
You were not allowed to take photos so heres one I found on the web:
I have been listening to a lecture series in my car on long journeys by Imam Suhaib Webb, a young American speaker on the topic Purification of the Soul. I am only on CD 2 but so far I have learnt a great deal. He told us to to get a piece of paper and write down all your bad points and work on them one by one. Are you your harshest critic?Beware of asking someone to write your bad points down as u probably wont like reading them!
- One of my problems is that I am quick to judge and criticise others but should they do the same to me I cannot handle it and get worked up over it!!! Instead I should take it on board and improve myself.
- Be more humble and less arrogant.
- Exercise more patience (especially with Kids).
- Be aware that my behaviour towards others changes depending on who I am with. (sometimes a good thing sometimes a bad thing!!)
There are more but that's enough to work on for now!
By removing one bad trait you should aim to replace it with a good characteristic, this is of course an ongoing process after all we are creatures of comfort and it is hard for us to change habits of a lifetime overnight!
Also he highlighed the fact that as Muslims we should focus on ourselves first, work to correct ourselves before correcting those around us. The problems that Muslim face now are due to their belief and understanding of the Qur'an, they do not understand therefore they cannot implement it, and that the seeking of knowledge is not to better oneself but as a basis for argument amongst each other.
Anyway, when I saw her last week I asked her if she was OK and she replied No, that her husband had left her, and took her sons too, she had no money and she was waiting for a Muslim woman who she met the day before outside the mosque, to come as she had promised to help her. She looked out of place stood outside the mosque, she wasn't there when I came back a few hours later.
Today I saw her outside the mosque again, talking to a man. She was waiting for a Muslim man she was talking to before, who said he would help her by contacting social services. As I know the man in question, I told her he usually arrives about 7 in the evening. She told me that she didn't like to ask people for help and that quite a few people had verbally abused her, with the Imam of the mosque threatening to call the police if she didn't stop hanging around the mosque. She asked me to help her by giviing her some money for food, as I didnt have much money on me I told her I was sorry I couldn't help her. She told me that the Council would give her some money this Thursday....
What would you do in this situation? I know my dad would probably have given her a few pounds as he always falls for a sob story. My mum's the opposite and has no sympathy for anyone.
If we help this person for the sake of Allah, we should gain a spiritual reward regardless of whether she was lying to us or not. If we give something in the way of charity we have the equivalent of 10 to 700 times the reward of what we gave, but as Muslims how many of us would jump at a chance to gain that reward. We are always thinking if i give X amount to charity then i won't be able to buy the latest toy, gadget, money waster etc. And I am of the guilty ones too!!
I think that as a society we have become de-sensitised to people begging, we don't have time to hear about other people's problems and we are quick to jump to conclusions. Would people coming to the mosque be more likely to help her if she was a Muslim? Probably not. As we have become used to seeing these Romanian beggars with their gold teeth and babies begging for cash every Friday. My concern would be that she would use that money to buy alcohol or drugs. However, if she was in fact in genuine need then I as a Muslim have not done the right thing by turning her away.
She told me her name was Susan. She didn't ask me what my name was but even in the dark she thought I was Malaysian!! She seemed a bit slow, but there was something very sad about her.........
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This is an old piece of news, but unfortunately for me I havent had much time to catch up on International News lately, as I prefer to watch the news or read the newspaper rather than read it online, and if it's to do with Palestine then there is biased reporting. Also we have had local issues such as extreme weather and an earthquake to contend with, plus the fact that I haven't been at home much the last two weeks (long story!)
This is Egyptian midfielder Mohammed Aboutrika when he scored against Sudan in the recent Africa Cup of Nations. I am by no means a football fan but am familiar with the footballer's trick of getting his message across as they score a goal with a t-shirt bearing a slogan underneath their team shirt, other examples dont seem to come to mind at the moment.
Needless to say he received a yelow card for his actions and a telling off from FIFA but nonetheless he should be commended for using this opportunity to speak out against the oppression of Palestinians unlike leaders of Muslim countries who refuse to condemn the situation for fear of the US, the biggest supporter of Israel.
