Eid Mubarak people! For me too, it seems to be just another day, in fact not one Muslim outside my immediate family has wished me Eid Mubarak, walaahi I even forgot that it was today. I also wish I could be in some muslim country now and soak up the festive atmosphere. Sometimes I become a little jealous of the passion and fervor when non-muslims celebrate their Christmas holidays. It is strange that us muslims in the West, don't have or even bother to create that same communal experience of a celebration.

Was the teacher flirting with the kid? :eek:

To my horror I've found myself in surfer speak territory lately. I caught myself saying ...like totally a lot. Darling also pops up quite frequently. Yes it is usually patronising, but it's very useful for when I forget people's names or when I can't be bothered to remember them. I also tend to say "I'm a laydeeee" very often for no reason at all.

Goodness, everyone knows she's only doing things to get attention. Nobody, especially an MP, comes out with comments like that if they didn't want to stir things up or have a reasonable debate. She's not interested in debate, but in furthering her own agenda. Honestly, the only reason muslims pay attention to her idiotic comments, is because a large number of Dutch non-muslims are taking her words for gospel. Still, I don't want muslims killing her or someone else either. God knows what will happen when someone decides to make a martyr out of her.

Originally posted by dawoco: As if subjecting us to his bad kareoke wasn't bad enough, he actually tried to make us pay for it :eek: Oh God, that made me laugh so hard I hurt myself at my desk. Ngonge, you can't live in England and not get caught up in the whinging frenzy that's sweeping the country. Honestly if we didn't have other things to complain about, we'd be forced to complain about ourselves. The weather is so rubbish today.

Thanks guys for your proverbs so far. Well I'm not sure if I need any dirty proverbs, but I certainly don't mind the very subtle ones that one uses in courtship or something. The reason I need so many proverbs is that I want to capture some of that lyrical quality that the Somali language has and exaggerate it so that it plays a central role in the film. I've always been a big fan of word plays and I'm only just starting to learn about this aspect of our language. And Ngonge, I am planning on directing this film. It started out as an idea for a short film, but I think I might have enough material for a feature. The problem is that even low-budget films need funding. But I'll deal with that later, once I get the hard stuff out of the stuff, i.e the script.

This is really interesting, thanks for taking the time to share this. It's really good practical advice, especially the bit about compatibility in the ways of practicing Islam. The advice I usually receive is limited to "Make sure he prays every day, the rest doesn't matter." The emphasis tends to be on getting married, without much regard to the type of partner or even the type of marriage that one needs. ANyway, thanks again.

I'm working on a script for a Somali film and I need Somali proverbs. Lots and lots of proverbs, and I was wondering if you lovely nomads could help me with them. Remember that my Somali is shaky at the best of times, so could you write it in Somali but explain it in English. And if you can give me any background to the proverbs that would be helpful, you know, whether certain phrases are only used in certain regions or by certain people. Thanks a lot

You scored a 84% on the "How Somalian are you?" Quizie! 671 people had a score lower than yours 81 people had a score higher than yours 44 people had a score the same as yours

For some reason, Sri Lankans always insist I'm from their country. :confused:

Originally posted by Raganimo: quote:"Londoners who travel by public transport will know the pain of our existence are fellow travellers" ...Tell me about it! Or rather, don't. I'm still trying to forget today's experiences. For you non-Londoners, you can come up with all kinds of terrible examples, but nothing, NOTHING, can compare with the human trash-infested tinboxes that snake their way around this city. Let me tell you about our buses and the people who use them. London busses have been engineered to attract the vilest most obnoxious of customers. Every year, on Friday the 13th, His Royal Highness Ken Livingstone holds a meeting to discuss the most effective way to alienate 99% of its customers. Despite the ticket prices being higher than the average annual income, it still manages to attract the kind of people for whom genocide is not only considered acceptable but mandatory. However, I can deal with old ladies terrorising me for seats. I can deal with huge prams the size of trucks taking up all the space. I can deal with people who put their twenty shopping bags on my lap. I can deal with screaming babies. But I cannot deal with ........ all the bloody SINGING! God knows I am a patient woman, but there is something about a group of teenagers subjecting me to 30 minutes of incessant shrieking pulses of terror that they call singing - that really brings out the Hitler in me. Rapping is almost worse. Just because certain words rhyme, it doesn't mean that it actually means anything: I have a car And a big scar I can't see far In Madagascar Seriously, imagine having to listen to worse things than the rubbish above for an hour. I hate teenagers. I hate Somali teenagers in Woolwich even more, because why aren't their parents smacking them upside the head like they ought to? I rather have my head smashed through the window of the bus by the fat man sitting next to me, than having to listen to the terrible, soul-shattering shrieking noises these kids make. (ugh, don't mind me, had a bad day)

^^I agree On top of the above, some of our members can scare away potential suitors for their exceptional good looks, If they were not committing to their faith, these ladies could hypnotize any man including your husband, but they wouldn't for Allah's sake This alone would turn me against the women, the arrogance.

Originally written by Beard: Although a husband has to consult his first wife when he desires to marry a second one, the chances of getting a positive answer is so small, there is no need bothering. If I was married to any of the negative sisters above I would simply over rule them and go ahead. You good sir, are the reason why so many Somali women object to polygamy. Why even bother to ask a woman's opinion on a second marriage, when all you want is a positive answer?? If you're going to overrule your wife anyway, why bother with the pretence and ignore her opinion like all the other unworthy Somali men. Your blatant disregard for your wife's opinion is disgusting if you don't mind me saying. So you marry another woman, with your wife objecting to it, then what? You have a household of conflict and strife? Of petty arguments that hide bigger conflicts? What kind of child will you raise, when they witness the betrayal of their mother on her face every single day? Luckily she has the right to object to a second marriage, and seek a divorce if such an arrangment doesn't suit her. A woman has no right to outlaw what Allah(subhana wa ta'ala) has permitted. If she is prone to jealousy, just pray for her as the prophet(salalahu caleyhi wa salam) did. This is the problem right there! People have a right not to do something, even though it is halaal as long as it's not compulsory. She is not preventing other women from having a polygamous marriage, she is not even saying it is a bad sort of marriage. All she is saying is that she doesn't want it for herself. For example. Would you say that a man who refuses to marry another woman, though his wife is encouraging it, is OUTLAWING something that's halaal, or is merely expressing an OPNION and a PREFERENCE???

Originally posted by Nur: XU sis you write: " A lot of muslim men are just as fanatic in promoting polygamy as an obligation or natural institution as women who are promoting it as some deviant arrangement ." I promise, I am not one of them men! Never said you were, but I'm responding to the men who are complaining about the objections of women to polygamy. XU Writes " First of all, God made it halaal. There is no point denying that, the Holy Quran is very clear on that, and the ladies need to understand that discouraging other women from becoming a second wife based purely on your own feelings is very intolerant ." However, you men need to understand had Allah (SWT) wanted to encourage men to marry multiple wives, the Quran would have been more clear about it . No hard feelings but this statment seems as total contradiction with the first one. The audience are my witnesses . There's no contradiction at all. I'm just underlining, that though polygamy is halaal it is not encouraged otherwise the Holy Quran would have been more explicit about it. Some Somali men are always saying that because it is halaal, one cannot object to it. It's like saying that even though meat is halaal, one cannot refuse to eat it or even object to the idea of eating it. As long as you don't object to other people eating it. XU Writes " Polygamy was offered as an alternative to monogamous marriage. It is more natural for a man to marry one women, why else do you think this is more prevalent amongst muslim men who otherwise could afford more wives ?" I agree, that when we have a balanced society, not in civil strife, wars, druga and qaat infested society, the one wife one hisband is natural, however when as in present situation there is a lack of proper correspondence of desirable couples, polygamy is more natural, other alternatives are to deny other women achance to have a family if we lock every man to a single woman. I don't deny that polygamy can be a solution to this imbalance. However, as long as we make it clear that it's not a solution that will work for everyone. Another solution could be to marry muslim brothers from other countries. XU writes " Muslim men need to stop questioning a woman's imaan when she refuses to share her husband. People are not automatically charity currency, If you have 8 children and your neighbour has none because she can't have any, would you question the imaan of the woman who doesn't want to give up a child? The analogy of a woman with 8 children and a woman with no children is not right, you cant share chidren, but you can share husbands, at least that what you wrote in the first paragraph if I am correct. Yes you can share children, some women do it when they can't handle the pressure. A husband is sometimes as dear to a woman's heart as her own children, a husband is family, someone deserving of the highest love other than Allah and then your parents. Islam permits sharing children, simply because it doesn't forbid it. A woman who allows another woman to raise her child out charity is surely deserving of the same reward as the woman who shares her husband out of charity. Yet, you don't hear objections when women refuse to share their children with childless sisters. " Another solution to the imbalance of compatible somali partners, is to educate the other faraaxs. I don't see the point of keeping the best marriage candidates restricted to each other. Why not spread them out a little? It's more likely that a good partner will have a good influence on a lesser partner, than the other way around ." This solution is a long term solution, meantime, sisters need a practical solution here and now. As for spreading good women to marry less desirable men, would you go first to marry and educate a Qat chewer, who uses abusive language and who had a rough street life? To be honest, personally (notice the emphasis on personally) I find that idea as objectionable as becoming a second/third wife. " You also make the mistake of referring to husbands as resources. A husband is not just a means to have children. I'm sure many marriages are conducted with only this purpose, but the vast majority are not. You forget about love ." Allah wants earth to populated by good people, it takes good people to breed other good people, so as a bribe, marriage was built on Mawddah and Raxmah, Love and affection, for a purpose beyound that love. Love is just a mean, not an end on its own, its like a bait for a fish, how many people yoy know would put up with marriage if there was no love in it? Fine, we agree on that then. However, many people have different perceptions of love, and it rarely includes other people. " Personally I passionately believe in love and the idea of soulmates. If I love my husband more than any other man on earth, if I dedicate myself to him and no other, don't you think it's hurtful when he doesn't feel the same way ? I second you that feeling, but I train all of my love to Allah, that way, Allah makes others love me , like he said in Quraan " Inna ladiina aamanuu wa camiluu as saalixaati sayajcalu lashumu Arraxmaanu WUDDA (LOVE )" If you love a mortal or worldly goods you will suffer pain when you loose them which is a sure thing, but of you confine your love to Allah SWT alone I agree, however loving another is still natural. And before you start saying that pride, jealousy, greed and anger are also natural, remember that unlike those qualities, love is the best of qualities when it doesn't exceed the love for Allah (swt). But then again, you'll probably say that love of any other thing exceeds the love of Allah. :rolleyes: " I'm not a demanding person, I only have one wish in this world and that is to love in the most intimate and passionate way and have that love returned. I don't see how it makes me a bad sister if I stick to that dream. " You sound like my past robotics professor " I am not a demanding professor, " all I expect from you Nur is that you understand the whole book, end to end" Lower your expectations in this world, and I wil guarantee you happiness, expect less of people, give them, and do not take from them, honor them and do not expect them to honor you. It is better to be surprised with occassional good news, then to be let down when you hold people higher than a mortal, Only Allah SWT will stand with you, not a human, find peace with him, and share what you got, with those less fortunate, if its yours, it will remain with you, if not, it wasnt meant for you to begin with. My wish is not that much, it's a small personal desire in the life of one who desires to help her brothers and sisters in many other ways. The love between two people is the most the most basic thing, it has nothing to do with having high expectations, but with having the basic, most natural assumption of a relationship. Peace and Love to you too.

Oh come on. The Gregorian calendar happens to be the one we all measure our everyday lives with. New Year's day is a start of another cycke for most of us, I don't see the harm of wishing anyone well for the next cycle. Happy New Year everyone! May Allah grant you happiness and guidance for the next year!

I for one know plenty of Somali people who are eligible for those courses. However, some of those courses would destroy the eccentricity that makes Somali people so endearing.

This man is obviously a fake! IF HE WERE FOR REAL, WHY DID HE FORGET THE EVENTS ANY TWO-BIT PSYCHIC/TABLOID-ASTROLOGER COULD HAVE PREDICTED: "Terrorism will reach its peak in 2005 so the US will suffer more deadly terrorist attacks than the September 11 attack," Professor Yu Hsueh-hung, 54, said this week. Yeah, but our clever 'astrologer' failed to mention that when Mars is in the fifth house opposite the conjunction of Venus' second house with Jupiter: every tower in New York will EXPLODE without the use of ANY weapons/vehicles. In fact, Osama Bin Laden will be sending strong spiteful wave patterns from his cave in Talibanistan, that will destroy any infidel in its path. However, Bin Laden will fail to anticipate that the debris of of all those towers will be fertile enough to grow nuclear bombs. "Osama Bin Laden did not launch the attacks before the US presidential election because he was waiting for the election result. Hah! If ever there was proof of fraudulent psychic behaviour, this is it! Osama was NOT waiting for the US election result!!! He was in fact waiting for the election results in Ukraine! Not that he had any nefarious intentions towards this country, but because the whole absurd election process was so highly entertaining. It was his favourite program on TV. "Unlike the 9/11 attacks which hit only several targets in the US, this time there will be many attacks, mainly in the US but also in Europe," he said. This is a completely FALSE prediction. Osama will not attack these targets. He will only provide consultation to WESTERN consumer groups who say that they want such abnominations as Disneyworld themeparks and Luxembourg eradicated for the health of our future children. "China will not be involved in the war, but will continue its robust economic growth. Taiwan-China ties will improve and Taiwan may even lift the ban on postal, transport and trade links with China," Yu said. Yes, but why didn't our 'esteemed' Yu not mention that China will organise every Chinese national to point in the general direction of West and simultaneously say: "neh neh neh neh, look at us, we're so cool, we're so fine, neh neh neh" Yu based his prediction on the 1 500-year-old Tui Bei Tu (Push Back Chart) which predicts China and the world's future and is China's equivalent to French prophet Nostradamus's Centuries. According to Tui Bei Tu, the chi - or energy - of the world completes a cycle every 60 years. Sixty years ago, the year 1945 saw the end of World War II but also the fiercest of fighting between Japan and the Allied Forces. Whilst Tui Bei Tu is a very reliable source of vague predictions, it is not the only one. Mr. Yu has failed to take into account the ominous movements of the influential planet Krypton and Mars, which predict beyond any informed doubt, that much misery on its way. Some of the tragedies that are bound to happen in 2005: - Contrary to popular belief, celebrities still have a bit of dignity left to sacrifice for another fifty unreality programs. - Holland will legalise human surrogates for animals. When *****es are unable to reproduce, dogs will be able to artificially fertilise women so they can bear the puppies instead. Holland will also legalise the following: gay marriage for gay couples who aren't already married or don't even want to get married (a law will be passed to force them to get married); heroin/crack/opium will be declassified from Class A drugs to Class Recommended Drugs; Killing of sick people who DON'T want to die; Killing of people who are not even sick; prostitution of animals; The right of anyone to poke Muslims with a stick (this is strictly limited to the eyes) Dear BOB, I'm afraid you were deceived. This is obviously a not so clever hoax designed to target the gullible and the downright insane. Now if you will excuse me, I have to measure the angle between the planets Pluto and Afghanistan to find out when my heart will start beating again.

A lot of muslim men are just as fanatic in promoting polygamy as an obligation or natural institution as women who are promoting it as some deviant arrangement. First of all, God made it halaal. There is no point denying that, the Holy Quran is very clear on that, and the ladies need to understand that discouraging other women from becoming a second wife based purely on your own feelings is very intolerant. However, you men need to understand had Allah (SWT) wanted to encourage men to marry multiple wives, the Quran would have been more clear about it. Polygamy was offered as an alternative to monogamous marriage. It is more natural for a man to marry one women, why else do you think this is more prevalent amongst muslim men who otherwise could afford more wives? Muslim men need to stop questioning a woman's imaan when she refuses to share her husband. People are not automatically charity currency. If you have 8 children and your neighbour has none because she can't have any, would you question the imaan of the woman who doesn't want to give up a child? For the woman who doesn't mind sharing her husband, that's graet for her. May Allah reward her for her character and generosity. However, women have a choice for a reason. Remember that. Another solution to the imbalance of compatible somali partners, is to educate the other faraaxs. I don't see the point of keeping the best marriage candidates restricted to each other. Why not spread them out a little? It's more likely that a good partner will have a good influence on a lesser partner, than the other way around. Permit me to quote from www.Islamonline.net: First of all, you should know that the general norm in Islam is monogamy and not polygamy. Also, the position of Islam towards polygamy is that it is neither mandatory nor encouraged, but merely permitted. More importantly, the permission to practice polygamy is associated with compassion towards widows and orphans, and is not associated with mere sexual satisfaction. Allah says: If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice. Surah 4 Verse 3 You also make the mistake of referring to husbands as resources. A husband is not just a means to have children. I'm sure many marriages are conducted with only this purpose, but the vast majority are not. You forget about love. Personally I passionately believe in love and the idea of soulmates. If I love my husband more than any other man on earth, if I dedicate myself to him and no other, don't you think it's hurtful when he doesn't feel the same way? I'm not a demanding person, I only have one wish in this world and that is to love in the most intimate and passionate way and have that love returned. I don't see how it makes me a bad sister if I stick to that dream.

Originally posted by BOB: P- is for p@nis, apparently deranged Cambodian man cut off his own little partner and waved at ghosts who he believed were pestering him for food. This is the funniest thing I've read all month.

This was really interesting, thanks for sharing it sis. Strange that people simply don't notice the strength of muslim women.

Thank you Paradigm for your comments, it is nice to be reminded that though sex may matter in the eyes of Man, it doesn't in the eyes of Allah. Yeah generally I'm very happy with being a woman, however it is just that sometimes I face all these conflicting roles that I am expected to fulfill. It's confusing sometimes. :confused: Oh, I was only joking about the money, women and power thing. Didn't want to be accused of stereotyping, but between you and me who are we kidding really?

Do you think our fellas have it easier than us? I do sometimes, I feel like everything I do is a statement of some sort. My mum was always somewhat of a feminist, and with everything I do, she kept asking: "how will this contribute to the cause of women" or "or what example are you setting for Somali women?" Sure, they are valid questions. But on top of a careerwoman, you have to be a good mum, good wife etc. The same woman who teaches me to take no **** from my husband and that women are more intelligent than men, is also teaching me the correct way to cook baasto for my future husband or how to wash his laundry. There is also all the physical stuff, periods, childbirth, overeating when emotional etc. There are all these semi-contradictions when people tell me how to behave: Speak softly but argue with people, go out and explore the world but stay at home with your parents, think but not too much, adapt to western society but don't mix with the infidels. arrgh Is it true that men just have a better time growing up and suffer less from this feeling of in-betweenness? Is it because women are more complicated than men, and men are satisfied with simpler things like money, women and power? (just kidding )

^^ I think he was setting up his alibi, in case the police question him.

This is kinda wrong. People won't slow down when driving until you hit them in their wallets.

I don't think you have much of a case, I used to work in a retail store that sold clothes. Generally big shops will allow you to exchange items without a receipt, because they want to keep the goodwill of the customers, and think it's worth the cost of people committing fraud. However, you might a case when the product didn't specify how to go about using a dryer. If it only said to be cautious, say you were being cautious, used to lowest temprature etc. Blame them for not specifying explicitly how to use a dryer. If you don't have a receipt I don't think they'll help you at all. Only if you had returned the item in its original condition. Stores do have a legal obligation (in the UK at least) to refund or exchange faulty items with a receipt. So like someone already said, check your statements, see if something comes up. If you do try to return that item, be prepared to get annoyed glances and patronising behaviour from the staff. As a former retail assistant myself, we tend to hate customers like that. If all else fails, try wearing the jacket and claim it's a fashion statement. If you pull it off and start a trend, the manufacturers will definitely put Dry-cleaning recommended on their labels. Good luck!