it is just a good natured joke I use on east africans because they literally sound like they are attacking you especially when they speak english with an African accent.....but then again the same can be said for the nothern somali dialect. They offer swahili at my school too and the introductory 1st year course is a bird course and if you are a native speaker it is an easy route to getting an A. Dazzler I'm up for learning Sheng (I hope I spelled that right)

swahili is the language of war lol so unless we were going to war or something i can see the benifits this language could have for civilization. Nyamaza! o else me i'm going to keel you!

I always wondered what that statement really meant.

Suleyman, patriarchal misreadings are always to be found in interpretations. There is no surprise there.I guess no one asked rasulullah(saw) why a country led by a woman will never prosper. It is a heavy statement that is just suspended in the air.

I'm with everyone else you should consider going to law school. I always wanted to be an employment/labour lawyer because there is a great deal of marginalization in employment, and the BAR association is actively involved in introducing reformed laws that afford equal opportunity to women, minorities, those with disabilities etc. You shouldn't listen to people discouraging you for something they don't have complete knowledge over. As a matter of fact you should speak with muslims who went to law school. And like Jawahiir said we need to learn the laws of the countries we live in so Don't shy away.

I must have missed Haddad's article but I agree with it and it does absolve Abu Bakra's character.

Whatever! Now you can only count on debunking this hadith through it's applicability. Good luck!

to the best of my knowledge it's not Mernissi who debunks Abu Bakra's hadith due to his character (she is too busy recounting her experiences at the harem) but Khaled Abou El Fadl a secularist who is neither a scholar nor an authority over anything. He claims that Abu Bakra's verdict should not be accepted due to his being flogged for bearing false witness during the caliphate of Umar. Credible character is a prerequisite for narrating ahadith no doubt. But who are his sources? Perhaps the rafidis? Instead of half-wittedly playing the rebel without cause perhaps those who claim this hadith is not sahih should bring their proofs from credible sources and show everyone why it is weak and then we can all join the ranks of the secular feminists happily.

ps. Fatima Mernissi, Leila Ahmed and Amina Wadud etc. etc. espouse the same opinions...any one that takes these women seriously will be asking why women can't lead the salah next.

I noticed someone mentioned Fatima Mernissi a Moroccan feminist who grew up in a harem (her views are strongly influenced by this experience). Although she does provide a differing perspective I wouldn't recommend anyone make references to the work of a woman who calls the companions of the prophet (saw) names. Leadership in Islam is very complex and is open to ijtihad (the prophet has not left any clear and concise evidence as to how to approach it)so we have to go beyond quraan and sunnah. The hadith of Abu Bakra is the only source in the traditions that can be used as an explicit evidence in the issue of women and leadership. It clearly implies that any nation that puts a woman in the position of a chief executive will never prosper. This might have a lot of implications. Even if the hadith meant such there is always the legislative(women can be mujtahideen) and the judiciary (women can be judges) and I believe this has a greater scope in terms of leadership and influence. Other traditions also mention no one (man/woman) should aspire to be in a such a position(leader as in chief executive). it is also noteworthy to mention that the khulafaa and the other pious muslims rulers always ran away from being saddled with such a huge responsibility as being the leaders of nations.

MC Xamar, everytime I see your nick I'm reminded of the Somali guy on CBC that was calling out to the Canadian prime minister from the crowd; Mister Xaaaaaarbar Mister Xaaaaaaaaarbar! (Mr. Harper) lol.

They can come and defend themselves because they know who they are. Blessed it is not you.

Libaax Sankataabte, I suspect you might be referring to me.lol. I'm not for Australia! Let it be known all throughout SOL.

The probability of you being a good scientist are high if you can cook. So cooking goes hand in hand with career opportunity. lol. The women right's movement proponents haven't explored all the options so if you want to have a career in science you need to learn to cook.

This topic is interesting. I know several women who were pro polygamy before they married and were chasing the married local mosque's imam, claiming they would be his # 2,3 and 4 wife shamelessly, to become very anti-polygamy after they married. What changed hmmm...I don't have the slightest clue neither do I care. Topics like these should be for these types of women and their husbands after they improve their economizing problems. It is my knowledge that SOL attracts many a fake women pretending to have purpose and strong opinions about matters. Who are they putting on a show for? Don't know but Miss Kong ain't buying any of it.

Maybe Rudy can teach ebonics after he is done gossiping about his sisters.

I notice somali women get possessed by the jinn a lot. There is always excorcism taking place at the local masjid I attend. Acuudubillah I always wondered why?

Jawahiir lol that is the funniest thing I have heard. Are you serious? You can't be serious cuz if you are then you are in another dimension! Don't let me stop your show down. Amr Mostafa anyone? If you don't know who he is hit 6arab asap!

I'm glad we are on the same page. It is a shame people don't want to learn that because Somalia needs to be rebuilt.

It is very sad for people that listen to arabic music just for the tunes because they don't get to enjoy it fully as they do not understand the meaning. Imagine a person listening to a love song (Arabic songs are predominantly love songs, some patriotic, folk etc. etc. but predominantly love)and they don't fully grasp the meaning! This is indeed a travesty of all true appreciators of Arabic songs.

Kafaaxiye maybe if you looked like the bro from your avatar you would have no problems.

The title of this topic should be why do the Somali sista like the Ajnabi guys and not Kafaaxiye. It is too bad the fine sista didn't give you the time of day..What did the afro dude have that you were missing hmmm...who cares!

Kafaaxiye I see what you are trying to say now. I was just unclear of the extent of the interactions you were talking about when you said why can't brothas and sistas be friends. Ofcourse in any society nothing can be accomplished without working together and in our society we are constantly in contact with each other. It is very nice of you to care enough about the sisters to want to protect them. But you also have to understand where the religious folk are coming from. They are catious of shaytaan misleading them into something that might start out as being innocent and friendshipy and then end up as something else. And all long with all this there is all they hype and negetivity from our culture. Soo do we need a resolution? maybe!

Justice, arabic is a very beautiful language Masha allah. Maybe you can post up some of your choices so we can all see them. On a more selfish note I dedicate Cheb Khaled's song Didi to myself. I believe this was an early nineties hit?

Zafir, It is interesting to know you eat happy meals lol. I deliberately turned the tables on you because you were being unduly harsh on Naxar Nugaaleed. However, I still see that you are stuck on the competition theme in your second post and contrary to what you said I don't think competition is healthy at least not at this stage in Somalia a country ravaged by war. I guess when one has parents who try to influence what kind of career choices to make because one day we may eventually go back to our native country and help our people, one tends to be less suspicious of other people's intentions and why they do the things that they do. So my brother Zafir lets make excuses and not judge others for their positive efforts. PS. what do people usually study at Jaamacada farsamada? I'm totally clueless, perhaps that might explain why the "higher class" people do not attend it. It is very nice to know that you care about the young and the hopeless. Mansha allah.