it is a difficult dilemma. mostly because we, the somali diaspora, have adopted an attitude of a micro family when concerning each other. ayoub, yr comment actually doesnt make sense. charity starts at home... as in clean up your own house before looking into someone else's lot, right? I think that is exactly what Emperor is suggesting. Why let these criminals walk amongst us like our brothers/sisters when their crimes should be enough to distance them from us. Protocol, it is funny you should see it as our duty to our host country to identify these criminals, when in fact i think that is the very reason why somalis/muslims shy away from informing the authorities. they (we) see it as treacherous to our deeper bonds. on the other hand, i firmly believe that we, as believers, have a duty to inform people of authority about dangerous activities that could be a threat to the community at large (rape, child abuse, terrorism etc). it is simply the moral thing to do. yes, we are supposed to hide the faults of our brothers and sisters, but not when those faults can harm others. thats my two cents on the matter.

okay abwaan, how exactly are we to ensure that the masses, including myself, know the rules? two professors devoted some time, but who is reading aff soomaali? weekend classes arent going to help, we need some actual written literature.

i know. please re-read what i wrote. i said exactly that. im saying if you want our language to survive, you'd better start writing and teaching people to read aff somali. the literacy rate in somalia is pretty low.

congrats, mubrak!

dont front, i see you callin' that hotline all sorts of hours.

the thing is nephy... yr hajj can actually help you to be more committed in the deen. you know you can make other duas at hajj right? you know all yr duas are answered but Allah swt is even quicker to answer those done during hajj, right? i think if you have the means, than go. insha Allah if this one isnt perfect, than Allah may grant you the chance to perfect it another time, or he may be merciful and forgive you. on the other hand if you miss this chance, who is to say you will get another chance? i think you're struggling with waswaas. there is absolutely no reason a person should forego an act of ibada. especially shortcomings and sins, because its those very acts of ibada that will get you closer to Allah swt and distance you from your sins/shortcomings. you think the power to wear hijab, or to increase your taqwa and haya is from you? it isnt, its from Allah swt, and He gives and guides whomever He wills, so ask Allah. sister, its good that this is something you want to improve, but you're shutting the very doors you have to go through to help you. its like a person who neglects his salaat and does haraam who by the grace of God knows he should turn back to Him and leave the haraam bt doesnt believe to have the will power or even the full commitment for it. do you think he should reject salaat? an act that is obligatory? an act that purifies us on a daily basis? the daily act that connects us to our lord creator and master. sister, hajj is an obligation, and Allah doesnt prescribe these acts in vain. they are our means for success in the dunya and the akhira. walaal, furthermore, no one is perfect. even the most outwardly commited brother or sister struggles with their haya, taqwa and obligations to Allah swt, but the most successful of them are those who turn to Allah swt with acts of ibadaah.

the guy on the bottom right hand corner looks like prince... PRINCE IS PERFORMING?!?!?!?!

btw, salaat, though meritorious and for our benefit in the dunya and akhira, isnt a good deed because it is a fard. if someone however has been neglectful of their salaat and returned to Alah to establish it, the re-establishment of his salaat would be a good act, but everything after that is just about fulfilling your responsibilities in this dunya. and Allah know best. praying nawafil, or istikhfara would be a good cleansing act though.

Abu Dhar Jundub bin Junadah and Abu Abdul Rahman Mu’adh bin Jabal, radiyallahu anhuma, reported that the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, said: “Fear Allah wherever you may be; follow up an evil deed with a good one which will wipe (the former) out, and behave good-naturedly towards people.” [Al-Tirmidhi relates it, saying: It is a good (hasan) Tradition. In some copies he says: It is a good and genuine (hasan and sahih) Hadith.] ibn Abbas, radiyallahu 'anhu, reported that the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, related from his Lord (glorified and exalted be He): "Verily Allah has recorded the good deeds and the evil deeds." Then he clarified that: "Whosoever intends to do a good deed but does not do it, Allah records it with Himself as a complete good deed; but if he intends it and does it, Allah records it with Himself as ten good deeds, up to seven hundred times, or more than that. But if he intends to do an evil deed and does not do it, Allah records it with Himself as a complete good deed; but if he intends it and does it, Allah records it down as one single evil deed." [Al-Bukhari & Muslim] know that your lord, is the lord of the universe, both seen and unseen, and He is the most/intensely merciful, and the most consistently kind.

i dont trust it

she is writing ABOUT somali literature... we are an oral nation, we have millions of stories, they just arent written. your statement of thousands of written literature is hyperbolic. whats the distribution on any of these literature pieces? how early/when were they published? if there are even 500 of our literatures written out i aff somali, youre still talking about things that were written within the past 50 years, not exactly staples of literature. plus, what is literacy rate in somalia? im not trying to insult our language, i think its beautiful, but if you and i want it to survive, than we'd better start translating some classics in aff somali, and start writing our stories on paper.

you'd be surprised at what you do when you do it sincerely. imo, if your hajj is accepted, you'll notice a change in your behaviour after hajj. furthermore, if you ask Allah swt to make ibadah easy for you, He will, and before you know it niqaab will not only be easy, but will seem like a beautiful option. (believe me) besides, the majority of scholars say it is not an obligation. there is a sound hadith of the prophet (peace be upon him) advising asma (may allah be pleased with her) to cover everything except the face and hands. che, you paying for your mistress wouldnt invalidate her hajj (unless of course its a payment for her services, in which case it would be haram and invalidate hajj... money has to be halal), but if she left with clean intentions and a reflective mindset, dont be surprised if she leaves you afterwards. hajj, when done correctly and with pure intentions wipes out all previous sins, dont you think the spiritual renewal will show itself outwardly? from what i know, a good deed can invalidate a bad deed, but not the other way around. it is possible though that your bad deed outweigh your good deed on the day of judgement and i seek refuge in Allah from such a faith. Allah knows best.

we dont have any written literature. we're an oral people, and unfortunately a strong factor in the survival of any language is whether or not they have a written literature. comparing aff somali with chinese and japanese is moot.

there is no standard spelling in aff somali, what qualifies this person to teach written grammar?

jb you ddnt answer my question. the law states those who lived in the peripheries of somaliland prior 1960. there are people whom lived there due to marital ties, but are tribally linked to another region... the law doesnt state qabil. plus, since when is qabil an ethnicity?

. A Somaliland citizen by birth is anyone whose father[11] is a descendent of persons who resided in the territory of Somaliland on 26 June 1960[12] and before. so what if a persons grandfathers for numerous generations lived in the territories now ascribed to somaliland but are tribally linked to what is now puntland? are they somalilanders?

^^^ uhm, thats a lil extreme. although i initially have the same sentiments, it seems to me people are nostalgic for a) their childhood in somalia b) a more peaceful time in somalia (mogadishu was still cosmopolitain during his rule, every clan was stationned in the capital) and c) a combination of a & b.

i respectfully disagree. the clan structure is not the cause of our mistrust, but years of civil war and nonsensical violence is; you cant ask people to discard their clan.you can, however, ask them to form ties through the bonds that unite us already, such as somaalinimo, islanimo, and just general neighbourliness. the leaders have to take the first step in that regard, though and than others will follow.

question: exactly how does solar power cooking work? what instruments must be involved? and are people really killing each other over charcoal?

more like brave new world... were doing it happily.

i dont get it, why are they being trafficked? to be refugees? or to be refugees who will pay a fine to leave country?

cool. yay fatima!

what about the hadith that describes what should be covered as "everything except [the face and hands]?

subhan Allah... i marvel at Allah when i see such creatures.

wouldnt inflation render everyones money worthless? im no economist but... wouldnt prices rise in order for companies to keep their profits high? besides the poor and uneducated would be the first to literally squander it. a better solution would be to eliminate money altogether.