Thursday, May 02, 2013
Friday, April 12, 2013
Canadian Spring
Made this meme quickly today. This April has been a mixed bag so far. We had temperatures into the teens (celcius) and yesterday and today we had snow and hail.
The Bangladesh Crisis Explored
Bangladesh is right now in the middle of a political crisis that threatens the very well being of the country and her people. I wrote an article for MuslimMatters exploring the origins and status of the present situation. You can head over there to read the article, which has been very well received by the readers.
A survivor wailed her lament to the news cameras. The channel was covering the latest atrocity in Bangladesh, when miscreants torched a small temple and desecrated the idols.
Bangladesh is in the middle of a political and communal crisis. Long been spared the curse of communal violence (Bangladesh did not see the heavy Hindu-Muslim rioting of the 1947 partition, as well as serious clashes when neighboring India was plunged into chaos in 1996, 2001 and 2006), the country's 9.2% Hindi minority are now the target of outright violent hostility. Today, Amnesty International released a statement deploring the wave of violent attacks against the Hindu minority ...
More here on MuslimMatters: The Bangladesh Crisis Explored
The Bangladesh Crisis Explored
A Country in Crisis
“Are there any Hindu temples in the country that has not been burnt yet?”A survivor wailed her lament to the news cameras. The channel was covering the latest atrocity in Bangladesh, when miscreants torched a small temple and desecrated the idols.
Bangladesh is in the middle of a political and communal crisis. Long been spared the curse of communal violence (Bangladesh did not see the heavy Hindu-Muslim rioting of the 1947 partition, as well as serious clashes when neighboring India was plunged into chaos in 1996, 2001 and 2006), the country's 9.2% Hindi minority are now the target of outright violent hostility. Today, Amnesty International released a statement deploring the wave of violent attacks against the Hindu minority ...
More here on MuslimMatters: The Bangladesh Crisis Explored
Thursday, March 14, 2013
An Ideal Mosque - Part I - The Praying Area
Lately there has been a spike of interest in mosques and attendance by Muslims of religious services. WoodTurtle has a series on Unmosqued, which is also the title of a documentary/movie. Here in Toronto, we are blessed with a huge number of mosques that vary widely in the prayer space and range of services provided. I am personally blessed to live near the Islamic Foundation of Toronto (IFT) and the Islamic Institute of Toronto (IIT), both of which are sterling examples of great Western mosques.
Recently, few close friends of mine who live way north in Brampton have started an movement to establish a mosque in their area, called BARIC. Since these are friends I have known from my Middle East days, and I was talking recently with the general secretary on the role of women in a mosque, their activity has led me to start thinking of what an Ideal Mosque should look like. This post is an attempt to crystallize those views. I will start with the praying area.
An Ideal Mosque of course existed during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and from all reports, this is a rough sketch of the praying area of the Masjid-e-Nabawi. Please note that this is simplified; there were many doors leading into the mosque courtyard from nearby houses, there was an area reserved for the Ahl-Suffa (men who lived at the mosque because they were poor or chose to be, and whose primary job was to learn the new religion and its tenets, teach new converts and who lived off the generousity of the larger Muslim community).
Note that there was no barrier between the men, children and women. It was simply a large space in which the front rows were taken by men, the middle by children followed by women, with a row gap in between. Everyone could see the imam and hear him directly. This was my original opinion of what an ideal praying space in an ideal mosque should be like. This is how the praying space at IIT is.
Recently, after having been blessed with a child, I noticed that I was no longer as enamoured with these type of mosques as I was with mosques that had separate enclosed ladies' sections - as that meant my wife could nurse our son in privacy and change him if needed. We have all seen these type of mosques.
Notice the smaller section for women and the use of close circuit television and screens (which were definitely NOT there during the Prophet (peace be upon him)'s times). Moreover, which the enclosed space was great if you had a baby, this could be a service provided by the mosque (have a separate room for nursing or changing babies). Why intrude into the praying space? Moreover, the din of children crying and/or running around in a small(er) praying space doesn't make it very attractive to women worshippers, as is the fact that you have to have a working television cable system to just follow the imam.
However, some women just like the idea of a separate women's space so they can pray in privacy and in solitude. The problem is that for younger women, used to being treated as equals everywhere else, this apartheid type barrier seems regressive. Moreover, the women's space is now fixed in size, and is often much, much smaller than the men's. So, what can be done?
Now I see more and more what a visionary Zarqa Nawaz was with the episode called "The Barrier" - the second episode of the series "Little Mosque on the Prairie". While the episode had some glaring faults, her solution to the barrier question seems to satisfy everyone (or no one).
Leave half the space covered by a barrier, but leave the other half open for women who like to pray behind the imam. Does that sound fair?
What is the praying arrangement at your mosque? Is it ideal? What are your views of an Ideal Mosque? You can get in touch by leaving a comment here, or by emailing me, or getting touch via Twitter (a_bong).
Recently, few close friends of mine who live way north in Brampton have started an movement to establish a mosque in their area, called BARIC. Since these are friends I have known from my Middle East days, and I was talking recently with the general secretary on the role of women in a mosque, their activity has led me to start thinking of what an Ideal Mosque should look like. This post is an attempt to crystallize those views. I will start with the praying area.
An Ideal Mosque of course existed during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and from all reports, this is a rough sketch of the praying area of the Masjid-e-Nabawi. Please note that this is simplified; there were many doors leading into the mosque courtyard from nearby houses, there was an area reserved for the Ahl-Suffa (men who lived at the mosque because they were poor or chose to be, and whose primary job was to learn the new religion and its tenets, teach new converts and who lived off the generousity of the larger Muslim community).
Recently, after having been blessed with a child, I noticed that I was no longer as enamoured with these type of mosques as I was with mosques that had separate enclosed ladies' sections - as that meant my wife could nurse our son in privacy and change him if needed. We have all seen these type of mosques.
However, some women just like the idea of a separate women's space so they can pray in privacy and in solitude. The problem is that for younger women, used to being treated as equals everywhere else, this apartheid type barrier seems regressive. Moreover, the women's space is now fixed in size, and is often much, much smaller than the men's. So, what can be done?
Now I see more and more what a visionary Zarqa Nawaz was with the episode called "The Barrier" - the second episode of the series "Little Mosque on the Prairie". While the episode had some glaring faults, her solution to the barrier question seems to satisfy everyone (or no one).
What is the praying arrangement at your mosque? Is it ideal? What are your views of an Ideal Mosque? You can get in touch by leaving a comment here, or by emailing me, or getting touch via Twitter (a_bong).
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Er ... Maalish
"Hey, this water from the shower is hot!"
"Um ... try turning the tap the other way, maybe that's the cold water."
"Well, this says this is cold water. It's marked blue as well."
"Why don't you try it?"
"OK ... um .... the water is just getting hotter and hotter."
"Er ... maalish!"
Welcome to the Middle East, where the shower has two settings, hot and hotter, and maalish is a word used to smooth over everything when you can't do anything.
"This car is actually driving on the shoulder of Dubai - Abu Dhabi highway!"
"Maalish!"
"The government first declared Eid on Saturday and now is saying it's on Friday! How can you just play around with the Islamic calendar?"
"Maalish!"
"I ordered 7 bananas, you only delivered 6!"
"Sorry, sir ... Maalish?"
(As an aside, you can actually get your groceries delivered to your house, for free. I am still trying to get my head around that one.)
Can this actually work in a Western context?
"Hey! You were supposed to have sent me this report three days ago!"
"Maalish!"
"You want to go for holidays for how many weeks?!"
"Maalish!"
"This blog post has absolutely no point!"
"Maalish!"
"Um ... try turning the tap the other way, maybe that's the cold water."
"Well, this says this is cold water. It's marked blue as well."
"Why don't you try it?"
"OK ... um .... the water is just getting hotter and hotter."
"Er ... maalish!"
Welcome to the Middle East, where the shower has two settings, hot and hotter, and maalish is a word used to smooth over everything when you can't do anything.
"This car is actually driving on the shoulder of Dubai - Abu Dhabi highway!"
"Maalish!"
"The government first declared Eid on Saturday and now is saying it's on Friday! How can you just play around with the Islamic calendar?"
"Maalish!"
"I ordered 7 bananas, you only delivered 6!"
"Sorry, sir ... Maalish?"
(As an aside, you can actually get your groceries delivered to your house, for free. I am still trying to get my head around that one.)
Can this actually work in a Western context?
"Hey! You were supposed to have sent me this report three days ago!"
"Maalish!"
"You want to go for holidays for how many weeks?!"
"Maalish!"
"This blog post has absolutely no point!"
"Maalish!"
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