Originally posted by Lakkad: Can you please be my PUBLICIST???...i need it ==and oh yea...is this barwaqo girl by anychance be the same and only Miss BEE?..coz i don see the resemblance LoL... I'm sure you'ld see the resemblance once you put on those goggles you call spectacles! @ Rudy

Great move, Masha'Allah. She looks much prettier with the hijab.

Best remedy for stress is a long, scalding bath. A warning tho, you might get so relaxed that you fall asleep >>>> and drown.

Originally posted by Athena: Its Amazing how some people show gratitude... U'll get what u want from now on U 2 ^^ :mad: Ahem...I would like to take this opportunity to retract my previous statement. Athena happens to be the best-mannered nomad around. Athena...are we still on for dinner next Sat I'A?

Eid Mubarak.

Bananas? Extinct? But what will become of Somalis? :eek:

"My sister thinks that guys aren’t interested in her because she doesn’t wear hijab. I tell her to flat out go for the niqab. She needs all the help she can get. Shoot, wear sunglasses with that niqab while you’re at it." LoooooooooooooooooooL! Oh my goodness! Thas too cruel.

Bungee-jumping makes veins in your eyes pop, so you'll probably be sporting a lovely set of blood-shot eyes for a couple of weeks. Nice. Can a game of tennis be considered extreme? No? Oh well...

Ciid Mubarak nomads. Beware too much xalwad n biscuits.

Originally posted by Raxmah: May Allah Subhaanahu wa Taalaa make this year and every year a blessed year for our Ummah and bestow on us forgiveness of sins and may Allah Subhaanahu wa Taalaa guide me and you to what Allah loves and is pleased with and grant us a beautiful return to Him. Ameen. We ask Allah Subhaanahu wa Taalaa to keep us safe and grant us victory over our naffs (ego - desires) and to take out the hateness to each other in our hearts until we again become one nation humble towards the believers - stern against the unbelievers and to give us again the upper hand over His and our enemies. Ameen. Eid Mubarak Amiin. Eid Mubarak everyone. Mancini... Congrats mate.

I can't even tell what language I'm speaking when I'm awake, let alone when I'm asleep. Somali and English have sort of become synonymous for me, Sometimes, I automatically speak English outside the home, and Somali inside. Other times I speak a mixture both times... Dreaming...erm...I couldn't begin to tell which lang I dream in.

Finally, a male defends his gender! I can't believe it... :eek: GIRLS, we have a live one here! LIQAAYE... Am just messing about. I think you have good points, but if I could just briefly touch on one of them... I would say the supposed 'feminisation' of Somali males hasn't done them any ill. Why, from the moment they are born to when they die, their every need is taking care off. From birth to when they come of age, the mother does every single thing for them. From then on to when they get married, it is the sister's job to take care of her brother. After marriage to old age the wife takes care of his every need. And his daughters take over his care from old age. A lifetime of care....in exchange for meeting their financial and security needs. Not too bad an exchange methinks....

I get what MMA is saying...that basically there's no set style, colour or fabric when it comes to covering one's body. Hijaab in general is culturally/environmentally specific. I doubt if Malaysian Muslim women dress in exactly the same manner as Nigerian Muslims. Similarly Somali women don't really need to dress like Saudi or other Arab women. They can if they want to, and of course many choose to, but it isn't a must. Furthermore, Women living in warm climates will dress differently from those living in cold ones. It would be impractical otherwise (and probably unbearable). Since a fixed uniform hasn't been stipulated in the Qur'an, it follows that a woman can wear whatever she wishes as long as the clothes meet Islamic standards. Flying... Are you considering taking up the jilbaab? Congrats....

Originally posted by Cawaale: Madaxweynaha ha naga caayiin LoL...SORRY. I mean't to say the buffoon

^^ lol...how true. Ppl find different things romantic, I suppose.

Ameenah, I haven't read that particular book, but I have read a little about the Egyptian feminist mass movement....Fascinating. Tweety, Baashe, Shuj and Liqaye... Thanx for your responses. I do agree that theoretically there's no seperation between politics and religion in Islam. Islam is a complete system, however, through the centuries, there has emerged a very distinct form of separation which we see today in almost every Muslim country, where religion has been seperated from the mechanisms of political decision-making/governance and confined only to Mosques and other religious institutions. It is in this context that I approach the issue of hijab. What interests me the most is why the hijab has gained such importance as a political tool. Everywhere you go, the state is either forcing Muslim women to wear it, or to stop wearing it. When did the hijab go from being a simple religious garment to becoming the 'ouward manifestation' of a political ideology? Perhaps when Iranian women activists took it on as a symbol of political opposition to Western Values during the Islamic Revolution? Or when educated, previously bare-headed, middle-class Egyptian women chose to put it back on in the last few decades of the 20th century? Or has it always been percieved and used in this manner? Since the West is so hostile to the headscarf, have Muslims identified the Hijab as the last weapon to fight Western values with??

I thought I was the only one experiencing problems...I'm not even half way thru. I have never been good wit deadlines... New Challenge: Complete reciting the Qur'an...no matter how long it takes.

just one more thing..... What do you guys think of the assertion that the hijab is more a 'political symbol' than a religious one?

LoL... Any of you lot protesting the retard's visit?

Eat lots of food is my plan Insha Allah.

Hibo, Welcome back suga. Sounds like you had an educating trip! I do plan to go back soon haduu Allah idmo...but for now, tell me a little bit more about the FGM project you worked on pls. Nice weather huh?

MPs urge French ban on religious symbols Move to reaffirm secular nature of state institutions fuels row Jon Henley in Paris Friday November 14, 2003 The Guardian France edged a step closer yesterday to outlawing Muslim veils in schools after a cross-party commission of MPs backed legislation to ban all visible symbols of religious conviction from state-run institutions. The decision by the 31-member commission is sure to inflame an already heated debate that cuts to the core of one of France's most pressing problems: how far the secular republic can accommodate the demands of Islam. Or, put more bluntly, is being Muslim compatible with being French? The question is a vital one. With more than 5 million followers in France, an increasingly outspoken Islam - now tainted, rightly or wrongly, in the public mind by notions of fundamentalism and terrorism - has become the country's second-largest religion. Opponents of a law on veils in schools, the decade-old dispute that has become the white-hot focus for the whole secular state debate, say it could further marginalise France's already disadvantaged Muslim immigrants, pushing them into the arms of the fundamentalists. "In the current climate, where passions are running high, such a law will be felt by the Muslim community as a suspicion," said Dalil Boubakeur, the moderate iman of the Paris mosque and president of the French Muslim Council. "It would be turning our back on the wise solution." Mr Boubakeur is, unusually, backed by France's archbishops, who fear that new legislation would threaten the delicate century-old balance achieved in France between the primary Catholic faith and an overtly secular state. "A law would reawaken old conflicts, confrontation and exclusions," Claude Dagens, the bishop of Angouleme, said last week. The bishop of Evry, Michel Dubost, added: "Legislation would target the surface of things. The root problem is far bigger than that of headscarves in schools - it is the whole huge question of how to successfully integrate third-generation Muslim immigrants in France." But teachers and a clear majority of politicians are adamant that such legislation is the only solution. Under a 1989 court ruling, it is not illegal to wear religious symbols in state schools, considered by most French to be the near-sacred cornerstone of the republic and therefore the ideal place to transmit its core lay values. But the law does forbid "ostentatious" religious signs that "constitute an act of pressure, provocation, proselytism or propaganda". Headteachers and teaching staffs of individual schools periodically invoke this to justify the suspension or expulsion of Muslim girls who insist on wearing hijabs at school - sometimes even to PE classes. The most recent high-profile case involved two teenagers, Alma and Lila Levy, from the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers, who refused to remove their full headscarves before entering the classroom. Both girls, who were portrayed in the French press as having "fallen prey" to fundamentalists, were expelled earlier this month. "Schools are not just public spaces, they must be autonomous places protected from aggressive proselytism, intolerance and polemic," said a Paris secondary school teacher Hervè Ricard. "Every religion must be treated the same, none must be singled out for favouritism or punishment. That is the intransigent condition of true neutrality; that is genuine secularity." The ruling UMP party's general secretary, Philippe Douste-Blazy, said yesterday that a law that banned every visible sign of religions conviction - cross, skull-cap or headscarf - would "help all those millions of Muslims in France who are genuine republicans, who believe in an Islam in Franc, rather than an Islamic France". Otherwise, he said, "10 or 20 years down the line we could have some very serious republican problems indeed". The French president, Jacques Chirac, and the prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, have both spoken out vociferously against the wearing of "ostentatious" symbols of faith in schools, the civil service, and in state institutions. Mr Raffarin, as well as several other cabinet ministers, however, are hesitant about a new law, arguing that it is always better to "convince than to constrain", and that legislation "should always be the last possible solution". Mr Chirac has said he will await the verdict, due at the end of this year, of a special commission on protecting and enforcing France's secular principles. However, comments by the commission's members so far leave little doubt that it will back legislation, leaving the government with little choice. The problem is not confined to France: the German state of Baden-Württemberg this week approved laws to ban the wearing of headscarves in schools, branding it "a symbol of cultural differentiation as part of the history of repression of women". The debate is far from conclusive. "It is a big problem," admitted Mr Ricard, the Paris teacher . "Many French people consider the headscarf a political, not a religious, symbol: in some countries girls who refuse to wear it are stoned. And many Muslims, even moderate ones, consider any attempt to ban it as more or less racist. In today's climate there's no way of knowing where that could lead." In a veiled criticism of France's secular view, 22 prominent Europeans, including former presidents, prime ministers and Nobel laureates urged the EU not to ignore the continent's Christian roots in its draft constitution. The signatories of the statement, published in Le Monde, did not directly demand a reference to religion in the document, but said that Christianity was at the core of Europe's common identity. France has staunchly opposed any reference to religion in the new constitution, but the Pope and half a dozen EU countries, including Spain, Poland and Ireland, want one. German state plans headscarf ban Tuesday, 11 November, 2003, 15:40 GMT BBC online Teacher Fereshta Ludin's court victory looks set to be short lived A German state has begun moves to ban Muslims from wearing headscarves in schools. The bill was proposed by the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg following a supreme court ruling in September that allowed a Muslim teacher to wear a headscarf. The legislation is expected to gain approval from the state parliament early next year. Civil rights groups say a ban would hamper religious freedom but six other states are planning similar laws. "The aim of the law is to forbid state teachers from wearing symbols which could be regarded as political," said Erwin Teufel, state premier of Baden-Wuerttemberg. The region's Education Minister Annette Schavan said the headscarf was "seen as a symbol of cultural division and part of a history of repression of women". In September's ruling, the federal constitutional court ruled the state could not ban a female Muslim teacher from wearing a headscarf because there was no law against it. But the court also said German states could ban headscarves in schools if they passed new laws. The ban will not apply in religious education classes, and Christian and Jewish symbols will not be banned. Three states - Berlin, Hesse and Saarland - want headscarves banned in all public services. Headscarves: contentious cloths By Clare Murphy BBC News Online Few pieces of headwear prompt such controversy. A number of European countries are currently struggling with the dilemmas posed by the Muslim headscarf, which throws up a variety of difficult issues relating to tolerance and equality. Ms Ludin does not fit into the victim category On Wednesday, the highest court in Germany ruled that a school in the southern state of Baden Wuerttemberg was wrong under current legislation to exclude a female teacher for insisting on wearing a headscarf to work. The school had argued that it violated the state's neutrality in religion. The teacher, 31-year-old Fereshta Ludin, declared the school was violating her freedom of religion. The ruling does not, however, permanently settle the issue, leaving it open for individual states to establish a firm legal basis for barring the scarf from schools if they so wish. Nonetheless, it has outraged prominent German feminists, who see the head covering as a symbol of women's oppression which has no place in a democratic society - and certainly not in a school. Conflicting concerns Germany is not alone in its dilemma. Since the beginning of this year, debate about the rights and wrongs of headscarves has been raging in France as well as in Turkey, where the majority practise the Muslim faith but where scarves are banned in public buildings. For all three countries, efforts to prevent the headscarf appearing in civic spaces have raised serious questions about religious tolerance, and, in France and Germany, fuelled the ongoing row about the relative benefits of assimilation as opposed to multi-culturalism in an age of immigration. I felt discriminated against for many years and this decision is a big relief for me Fereshta Ludin Why I wear the veil Those hostile to the headscarf on the grounds of their objection to the nature of the Muslim faith - which is viewed by some as profoundly intolerant - find themselves in the awkward position of seeking themselves to stamp out the expression of a religion in the name of tolerance. The issue of women's rights and the headscarf is also problematic for many feminists. "If we allow women to wear headscarves in state schools, then the republic and French democracy have made clear their religious tolerance but they have given up on any equality of the sexes in our country," says French philosopher Elisabeth Badinter We must defend secularism - the next step may be separate train compartments for men and women, beaches reserved for one sex Alain Juppe Former French PM But these concerns about female oppression within the Islamic faith also have to be squared with the fact that a number of Muslim women are clearly keen to wear the scarf. In France, campaigns to stop the state cracking down on the wearing of the headscarf are often run by young Muslim women confident of their right to fulfil their potential and their right to express their religion. Neither does Ms Ludin fit into the category of victim. An educated young woman of middle-class parents, she has no qualms about her right to pursue a career or to wear a headscarf. "I see my religion as a fundamental part of my identity," she has declared. Secularity and freedom But while many women clearly do see the wearing of the scarf as a personal identity issue, their insistence upon it is raising issues about the political identity and the authority of the state. In France, secularity has been enshrined in the constitution since 1905. But the country has not always been so keen to assert a ban on headscarves in schools. In 1989, the then left-wing government declared that the wearing of scarves was not necessarily incompatible with France being a secular state as long as they were not ostentatious. The decision on whether to allow pupils to wear them or not has been left up to the discretion of headteachers. The new centre-right government however has said it is prepared to pass a law banning all religious effects from the classroom. This stance has been applauded by a number of women's rights activists, but has also left the government open to allegations of racism, and to the charge that it is seeking to woo the large numbers of voters who opted for the far-right, anti-immigrant leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in last year's presidential election. Other critics worry that such a law would simply push Muslim girls out of the state system, jeopardising integration. This term the country's first private Muslim school opened in the northern city of Lille. The row in Turkey, meanwhile, over women's right to wear headscarves has taken on particular resonance in the last year since the Islamic-based Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power. The headscarf, worn by more than half of Turkey's women, is seen as a symbol of Islamic fundamentalism by the defenders of Turkey's ardently secularist state and is banned in government institutions and schools. The wife of the Turkish prime minister Mr Erdogan wears such a covering, but he himself has declared that resolving the headscarf issue is not among his government's priorities. Nonetheless the country's influential generals remain highly suspicious. More articles to follow....

Lately the issue of Hijab is being debated fiercely in the mainstream media as both France and parts of Germany prepare new legislation to ban the Muslim headscarf from schools and other public institutions. One of the main reason's being cited by European MPs in forbidding Muslim women to cover their hair (other than protecting their secular or Christian values) is that the hijab is seen as "a symbol of women's oppression" in the past. The argument is that historically Muslim women have been forced to wear the hijab in Islamic countries, therefore, Europe, in all her humanity, can't bear to see these women mistreated and oppressed. So what was the solution? Forbidding the wearing of the Hijab, of course. It doesn't matter that forbidding Muslim females the right to follow their religion by wearing the hijab is itself a form of oppression. It doesn't matter that Muslim females would rather be home-schooled, or leave their jobs in the public sector than contemplate removing their headscarves. It doesn't matter that such laws will undoubtedly lead to the marginalisation and isolation of this vulnerable group of society. It also doesn't matter that such legislation will add to cases of Islamphobia and intolerance. These actions appear to directly contradict the notions of cultural and religious 'integration' that so many European politicians endorse and actively promote in their countries. What concern's me the most and what makes these actions somewhat transparent is the double standards so evident. For a continent so obssessed with human rights, the question "What happened to religious and personal freedom?" begs to be asked. Isn't it part of an individual's human right to choose what to wear? Or do human right's in the West only apply to non-Muslims? Further evidence of the blatant racist and discriminatory nature of these new laws is provided by the following quote from an article by the Guardian: the German state of Baden-Württemberg this week approved laws to ban the wearing of headscarves in schools, branding it "a symbol of cultural differentiation as part of the history of repression of women". Surprisingly, although Islamic garments are a symbol of 'cultural differentiation', orthodox Christian and Jewish garments aren't. Why? Because Christianity and other Western religions are at the heart of and form the values of German society. They can't say "WE WANT U OUT" any more clearly than that, can they? Newspaper sources follow.

Salaam Samiyah, Welcome to the forum sis and don't mind the less-than-welcoming crowd. I think hunger is making them more grizzly than usual.

Originally posted by nuune: one time i told her i will beat her to death,so she reduced her laughing period for about 13 minute,better than before,am happy with it now LoooooL @ 'beat her to death'! She didn't call the police on you?