Salaams; When certain Somalis speak of Arabs in a critical manner they are often speaking of the small cluster of Oil rich gulf states whom some consider to be the custodians of the Muslim Ummah I think it’s healthy to be critical of the wrong actions of our brethren in faith – especially of one makes a point of expressing their anger at the people who are in a position to change the situation. What we get in SOL are people who bundle all Arabs together; throw insults and abuse at Arabs in general – that constitutes racist prejudiced gossip in my book. As for who is an Arab; I've heard a hadith of the Prophet (saw) where he has said; ' man kalima carabi fa huwa carab' - He who speaks Arabic is an Arab. I don't really know if this was in the context of Arabic being ones first language or that it applies to all those who learn the Arabic language. However; I know the Prophet of Allah (saw) dies not lie – so using this hadith; I’d say any country where Arabic is a national language - from Algeria to the gulf - is an Arab country. I’d also say that anyone born to parents or a people who are descendents from these regions is also an Arab. This is where the Somali – Arab connection comes in. It’s undeniable that some Somali tribes (particularly those of xamar) have Arab origins. There’s also the argument that other Somali tribes have Arabic origins… that’s questionable – I don’t personally buy it, hence I consider myself an African associated with Arabs through Islam, history (those Ottomans have helped us in many a battle with the Amxaaris) culture and perhaps even language to a certain degree- I can’t say whether this applies to all Somalis – it does to me. Coming back to your post; I thought it conceding that an Algerian is considered a French man who has learnt Arabic as local dialects exist in every language. Even in Saudi Arabia you'll find some rather incomprehensible local dialects. The Arabs have dealt with this obstacle by agreeing on a standardised Arabic dialect which is the one used by the media.

@ Raula. Thats cute gabar. oh you are Narcissistic tribalist I dhoon keer! Here's more 'narcissisim' for you my sweet..! *ahem* Inanyahay wareertey qabqablayaasha Nairobi Wax laisku haleeyo maaha Nacasnimoy ku dadaleen feedhba warkoodi koobey dalkii la ilow, Xamarna laga khashaaf Nabad daa hadalkeed Dimuquraadiyad ha haweysan xisid iyo qabil kursi iyo bakhshiish ayuu maankoodu ku daaley Isku soo wada duub Anoon ku fogaanin Xumaanna u gaysna hadaan ka talaabey danteyda ku daaley dadkeyga u daryeelay dowlad iyo dastuur degenimo nabadeysan ka sameystay dhulkayga ma danbi baan galay Huuno? No! You just mad because your sujui behind doesnt have the option of flip floping between two Somali governments.. NaNa

Having said this, do we feel sorry for those who suffer from it? Or are they to blame? What about the victim's families, friends etc.? I think it’s best to look at it for what it really is; a medical condition influenced by a man made psychological disorder. I’ve heard of girls as young as 10 worrying about their weight and going on a diet. I see it as a societal issue as it’s society, the media that is responsible for promoting vain and unrealistic perception of beauty on young women. Somalis are particularly high on the vanity drug- am sorry it just needs to be said. One might ask why bulimia and anorexia is low in our community – and I think it has a lot to do with Somali perception of beauty – I mean according to our elders if your skinny you don't stand a chance of bagging a husband, let alone be considered pretty…. But the trend is changing amongst younger Somalis and I predict this will be a major issue in our society in the next 10 years… just like the skin bleaching crap. Coming back to your question who is to blame; I think mothers, older sisters have a direct impact on a young girls perception of beauty. They pass on notion of what makes one beautiful and how-to get there. We in turn; put these ideas into play as we get older and so you get many sisters bleaching their skin or deliberately using the wrong shade of foundation just so that they don't fall into the ‘doqon iyo habeen baa madaw’ category. My point is; we need to watch what we tell our younger sisters. Having grown ip reading black literature; I've gown accepting that I'll be curvier and that getting a tan made you look better - not a digsi gubtey as Somalis view it. As a community we should revolutionize our thoughts on beauty. A strating point is to question what beauty is and who decides. Does Allah create ugly? People also need to understand that we can only improve on what Allah has given us by taking care of it. It's better for our sanity to giveup on up on this silly notion that any man made regimen, cream and diet will make us look beautiful- in the cat walk context. Furthermore; we should realise that even if we were to achieve our goals… it doesn’t change us as a person – I mean have you ever seen a beautiful sister, looking slick and all but she seems to have forgotten how to smile… and that just makes her look like an unapproachable person? Is it me or are men that spend half their time in the gym the dumbest- what a waste. Beauty is more then whats on the surface – youngsters should be told that.

Hadal badanaa dadkeenu :rolleyes: :mad: Forget what others have or have not paid! Did you yes you dig deep enough into your own pockets? Allah will not ask you how upset and ashamed you were with the Muslims in general but how well you've spent the Provisions He has provided for you... Bottom line folks - our Muslim brothers some who our or own kith and kin (Somalis) are in dire need of change, cloths, food ETC.... what have you got to give? As foe gift aid.. it's not as sweet as it seems. Anyone read Nurradine Farah's book: Gifts? Wassalaams

^^Wishful thinking my sweet brother. Honestly; this topic is as over-rated as Somali politics. You'll never get anywhere ….. But anyway; did I tell you all that I'm planning to move to Dubai or preferably Abu Dhabi in the next year or so.. damn I need toget out of the UK before I go INSANE If you live in this part of the world I Neeed you.... I work in education (no, I don't teach) and working on My TEFL certificate.. Hook me up, hook me up...! What’s the schooling system like? Do they have Guidance counselors in place…is this an area that’s under review? When do they start teaching English at school (age / grade) is there a News Paper devoted to education? is it available in English / online? is there teaching aprpoach similare to that of KSA? I'm I getting on your nerves (I've no one else to ask) is there website that has this information…? Thank you in advance...

I've heard of White Sand Village when it was in it's planning stages; have they finished it. The link is some how not working for me.

Errrm; may I just lighten this topic up with this song I've learnt recently. Aight here it goes: *cough, cough, ahem* Anagu Xamar doonimayno Xumaanna u gaysan mayno Xidhiidh laba dowladood iyo Xuduud baa naga dhaxaysa *Kulmiye Anthem Okay, since I'm such a diplomat ya'll feel free to call me uncivil, unIslamic, a hater, regionalist, tribalist Somali. I dhoon keer

^^I hear that! People actually risk having 40 days worth of prayer rejected by approaching and considering the foretells of these individuals. That’s a total 200 prayers: eek: :eek: now, now ladies put that magazine down. As for next year; May Allah grant us goodness in the world and jannah in aakhira. Peace and Bariis I’A

A little information fort those of you who aren't familiar with Yvonne Ridely- she is the British Journalist that was captured by the Taliban. She has since reverted to Islam and became very active in campaigning for the rights of Muslims- she is particularly outspoken about the Palestinian situation. Related news: Muslim dress row returning to court War on Islam Audio by Yvonne Ridley

Assalamu Alaikum Nomads; Please read the following article and the subsequent responses from British readers. Sisters living in the UK should consider responding to letters sent in by The Observer readers to challenge some of the ignorant perceptions of the Hijab. You can send your letters to letters@observer.co.uk and forward this letter.. Jizaakum Allah The original article: 'It's only a piece of cloth' Can a woman in a hijab still get a taxi? asks Yvonne Ridley Sunday December 12, 2004 The Observer Wearing a headscarf is no big deal... unless you happen to be a Muslim, in which case this simple piece of cloth arouses opinions, hostile glances and worse. When I converted to Islam I knew I would have to embrace the Muslim head-dress. As for many converts, it was a huge stumbling block and I found all sorts of excuses not to wear the hijab - basically a symbol of modesty and a very public statement. When I finally did, the repercussions were enormous. All I did was put on a headscarf, but from that moment I became a second-class citizen. The reaction from some people was unbelievable. I knew I would become a target for abuse from the odd Islamaphobic oik, but I didn't expect so much open hostility from complete strangers. I can no longer be sure of getting a black cab in London... something I had taken for granted for many years. Let me give you some examples from the past two weeks: Edgware Road in London, an area with a substantial Arab population: three black cabs, orange 'for hire' lights glowing, drive past one after another. It's about 11.30pm and I'm freezing and desperate to get home. A fourth taxi stops to discharge a white passenger. I reach the vehicle and tap the window, beaming from ear-to-ear at my saviour. The driver turns and stares hard, his face contorted into hatred and rage, and drives off. Last month, pre-hijab, he would have returned the smile; now, in his eyes, I have been transformed into a terrorist. Next day, horrified by the events ofthe previous evening, I tell my story to a non-Muslim friend who is not sympathetic. 'Well if you go around looking like a Chechen Black Widow what do you expect?' she says. But black is my favourite colour. It's just that my little black dress has become a big black dress. That afternoon, I change my black hijab in favour of a paler silk turban-look which still covers my head. Very Vivienne Westwood, I think. I get my black cab without hassle, just a mere wave of the arm and I am taken to the West End for lunch with a very close friend who happens to be Jewish. It was the first time she had seen me in a hijab but she just laughs and makes some nice compliments. In her eyes I am the same person she became friends with five years ago. No change. What a relief. Later that day I meet some Muslim friends who also have not seen me for some time. They are excited to see me wearing a hijab, but tell me I look like a cross between a cancer victim and an Israeli settler. I report the unsavoury incident in the Edgware Road which had reduced me to tears. 'Welcome to the real world. This is what we have to put up with 24/7,' one tells me. There is more laughter at my apparent naivety, but I am puzzled and peeved at their acceptance that this is the way of things in Britain today. A couple of days later I attend Yasser Arafat's memorial at London's Friends' Meeting House and dress appropriately in black with matching hijab showing a small sliver of Palestinian kaffiyeh across the forehead. I may as well be sporting a Hamas-green 'jihad' tattoo across my temple from the openly hostile glares I receive from some passengers on London's Underground. Feeling uncomfortable and intimidated I get off at Baker Street and go to a taxi bay for the shortish journey down Euston Road. 'It's just across the road, why don't you walk?' barks the cabbie before returning to his newspaper. There have been other incidents including one taxi driver's, 'Don't leave a bomb in the back seat,' or, 'Where's bin Laden hiding?' There are also amusing moments such as being congratulated in Regent's Park mosque for my excellent grasp of English. But, in the eyes of many, I no longer am a real person. Waiters talk loudly and slowly if I am on my own, and if I am with a non-hijabi female, she is asked what I would like to eat. So, when I see a woman wearing a hijab, regardless of whether I know her, I smile and say in Arabic, 'As-Salaam-Alaikum,' which means, 'Peace unto you'. I know that the rest of her encounters that day may well be hostile. Yvonne Ridley's current affairs show The Agenda will launch on the Islam Channel later this month. Letters written in response to article in The Observer Sunday December 19, 2004 Yvonne Ridley's 'it's only a piece of cloth' (Comment, last week) is as unconvincing as couples afraid to commit to getting married who say 'it's only a piece of paper'. No Muslim woman today has to wear even a headscarf (the last vestige of the chador), particularly in a free society where women have been fighting for so long not to have dress as men choose. Oppressed Muslim women have been fighting to be allowed to walk around bare-headed and it seems a retrograde step to voluntarily put the clock back. Nick Alexander London SE22 Yvonne Ridley declared: 'When I converted to Islam I knew I would have to embrace the Muslim head-dress.' Who told her that? Among the Muslim women I grew up with in the Middle East, wearing the hijab was seen as a matter of choice or a tribal/cultural adornment. Let's not forget that this 'cult' of the hijab is relatively recent and should not be perceived as a religious necessity. Tanya Tier Worthing Sussex While Yvonne Ridley is happy to describe the hijab as 'a symbol of modesty and a very public statement', she is curiously unwilling to take any responsibility for the statement she chooses to make. There is something ridiculous, not to mention offensive, in the suggestion that it is immodest for women to show their hair in public. To argue that the clothes you wear have a specific meaning in society, and that anyone who does not approve of this meaning has to pretend it does not exist, is self-centred. Wearing a headscarf is no big deal if that's all you're doing; making 'a very public statement' is something else, and it's something we're all allowed to do, even those of us who believe that the decisions of women such as Ridley help to maintain the status of all women as 'second-class citizens'. Victoria Dutchman-Smith Summertown Oxford Yvonne Ridley shows little understanding of the hostile reaction to her wearing of the hijab. To the 'hostile', it represents an alien doctrine that treats women as enshrouded, segregated second-class citizens. One that requires abasement five times a day. To make such proclamations of adherence to a creed so at odds with prevailing secular attitudes can only be provocative. A Adler London SW17 Yvonne Ridley seems to want it both ways. She wishes to demonstrate her allegiance to Islam, and asserts her clothing's symbolic significance; yet when that symbolism attracts less than courteous interest, she claims that symbolism doesn't exist. Perhaps Ridley should consider the possibility that some of those 'glaring passengers' might have lost relatives to the terrorist organisations whose fashion sense she shares. David Thompson Ranmoor Sheffield

^^So true walahi. Death is indeed xaq. Strange how we forget sometimes. May Allah have mercy on our dead, guide and protect our living. also, samir iyo imanto all those who lost a family member. Amin.

^^^Is that Rodah Caydiid Rageh, the Lecturer who moved to Dubai from the US? Thanks for the links Classique, your one of the most resourceful nomads around here. Weynow eedo, weynow as islamuhu say LOL

Mansha Allah, sounds like a worthwhile event. We had a few in London but I was way too busy to go. Anyway; Tamina, X-quisit and Baashe. May Allah reward ya'll for keeping us posted.

I didn't participate in the first discussion because the letter didn't apply to me then. and now that it does; my immediate response would be 'iinyo, waan diidey! Am not sharing my husband. Alhamdulilah, he doesn’t meet the criteria for polygamy- thank God for Britain’s meager salary range. Kaftan aside; As the brother before me said; there are plenty of single, eligible brothers who are ready to wed these sisters. So, why not put some effort in finding suitable matches for these brothers; instead of creating fitnah in a happy household? You'de get double ajer for helping two people find a partner. Wassalaam

2005 shall be a BIG year for me insha Allah. These are some of the lil things that I need to get in order… *Work on my Iman *Increase my knowledge & practice of Islam *Get my CELTA *Improve my Arabic *Give up on trying fixing Somali problems / going to meetings regarding this matter!

Originally posted by The Paradigm: sIs mOd..Ameenah sup with you, What do u mean with:- ---------------------------------------------- A miserable piece of research, it does raise some questions. ------------------------------------------------ as a mod, you are supposed to enhance some sort of discussion..or rather contribute positively..where is your PR ego?What kind of ? do u wanna ask.. :cool: Calm down dear; I wasn’t attacking the writer, I was merely expressing my disturbance with her findings. As a Somali woman it saddens me that female Somali poets were belittled and marginalized - for simply being women. Hence I think it's miserable? That’s my initial thoughts on the matter and I shall post my questions when Insha Allah I read the rest of the research. The whole purpose of research is to address issues and subsequently raise further questions requiring further study and plus; it’s not my style to launch into a discussion without knowing the full story. Warrior of Light: Please continues to post the rest of the research –then we can have a discussion on the state of Somali women?

How about the week of 8th since that would be a month as agreed? It's an easy; short storey. Would love to see your thoughts....

^^jealous I am. I've always wanted to be a xilwa in the Masri context- the poem about the uses of gabadh with xalus always filled me with nostalgia and for that reason I'll pass on the sit ups.. Laakin, milk to calm the body...?? now, you wanna explain that?

^^ No, I saw your latest pics dee. Didn't fancy doing qarxis on ya but you asked for it Anyhoot.. I want ultra radiant skin by May.. any tips?

And Muslims are even celebrating Christmas in their own ways. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: OTT on political correctness! I do agree with the article; I think it's the secularists who have a problem with religions and how people express their spirituality and faith.

Looks like we can all do with somerest and to recharge our batteries with some positivity. Thanks raula, have fun be good and lay of the EG - it give you calool wayn I pray Allah makes this the year of realisation and victory for Muslims.

A miserable piece of research, it does raise some questions. However, it might be worth it to read the rest. **Nice post Ms Warrior.

Do you think our fellas have it easier than us? I thought so when I was younger, but now I'm more then grateful for what I perceived to be a stricter up bringing in comparison to my male relatives. I feel as a Woman am more able to take care of me and those around me then they can. And... Read my signature which is from the song: Hablaha Geeska Africa, celebrating the Greatness of Somali women who according to Hadrawi excel in everything that they do, that I think is basis of our hooyos mission. Of course we’d never measure up to our super women Ayeeyos...

Those of us that dont feel comfortable praying in public when they have to (including me), i think we need to pray for a stronger iman...!! True malab, May Allah grant us the strength to worship Him alone, any time and any place!

Jizak Allah walaalo, both of you! I'm always on the look out for the work of the Great Ghazzali (raxumuhllah). So if anyone has anoy more links.. please post up! This should be my holiday reading. insha Allah. Wassalaams