I read this story yesterday online, not thinking much of it other than it was, in fact, one of those stories as a journalist that you realize makes for prime front page space. It has all the elements of newsworthiness: prominence, conflict, conspiracy, wealth, beauty, fame, etc., etc.

Today, I find out that I actually know the guy who was sentenced to hang’s niece. She is my cousins very close friend. I’ve met not only her, but her mother (who in the story was reported as having fainted when she heard the verdict) few times, and I can’t say they were anything but nice people.

Apparently, her uncle was the one involved in this scandal and when I was watching the news today with my aunts I saw her and her family in the court room when the verdict was called crying. Wallahi weird things happen here, subhanAllah. I saw her mom (Hisham Talat Mustafa’s sister) fainting and they had to carry her out to an ambulance.

As a journalist this story is gold in terms of newsworthiness, but as someone who knows the guy’s neice girl and her family (although not very well), I actually feel horrible this is so public and has forever branded their family’s name with murder and scandal.

The story is below:

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Egyptian Tycoon Sentenced to Hang in Death of Singer

By Maggie Michael
Associated Press
Friday, May 22, 2009

CAIRO, May 21 — Suzanne Tamim shot to fame in an “American Idol”-style TV show, a green-eyed Lebanese beauty whose pop songs about love’s agony mirrored her troubled life. Now, the man reported to be her secret lover — a married, politically powerful Egyptian tycoon — has been sentenced to hang for paying a former government security agent $2 million to slit her throat.

Billionaire Hisham Talaat Moustafa showed no emotion Thursday as he was convicted and sentenced for ordering the killing of Tamim — the latest chapter in a tale of sex, power, money and murder that was closely followed throughout the Middle East.

Many had wondered whether the 50-year-old real estate mogul, an influential member of the ruling party with ties to President Hosni Mubarak’s son Gamal, would get away with murder in a region where the rich are often thought to be above the law.

The courtroom erupted in chaos after the conviction of Moustafa and the former security officer, Mohsen el-Sukkary, who also faces the gallows. Moustafa’s sister fainted, and his two daughters burst into tears.

Tamim rose to stardom after appearing on an Arab talent show in 1996, appealing to Middle Eastern audiences with her sultry dancing, cascading chestnut hair and melodramatic crooning. She soon fell upon troubled times, separating from her Lebanese husband-manager.

Tamim and Moustafa met in the summer of 2004 at a Red Sea resort, according to transcripts of Moustafa’s interrogation. Moustafa said he wanted to marry her in 2006 but then retreated, and they broke up. Tamim left Egypt and hooked up with a kickboxer.

Moustafa, apparently angry over having been jilted, turned to Sukkary, who worked at his Four Seasons Hotel in Cairo. The prosecutor said the tycoon helped arrange visas and tickets for Sukkary as he trailed the singer first to London, then to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.

Transcripts of alleged phone conversations kept by Sukkary and seized by police have Moustafa telling him, “The agreed amount is ready,” and, “Tomorrow, she is in London and you should act.” In a later tape, Sukkary explains that he missed his chance in London and “will wait to move it to Dubai.” Moustafa chides him and then says, “Okay, let’s finish with this.”

According to Dubai investigators, Sukkary followed Tamim last July 28 to her apartment in the swanky Dubai Marina complex and attacked her repeatedly with a knife.

Jazaki Allah khair sr. Asma for a wonderfully written article.

Students moved by class on literary beauty of Qur’an
By Asma Ahmad, IFN Staff Reporter

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Visibly moved, students who diligently attended the first-ever seminar on the literary characteristics of the Qur’an for a non-Arabic speaking audience could not stop talking about the experience afterward. “This course completely picked up my perception of the Qur’an, shook it as an earthquake would move the earth, and smashed it back down to the ground,” wrote one student in an anonymous survey about the three-day class. “My prayer has changed, my love for the book of Allah has skyrocketed, and my faith in its divinity has been multiplied.”

About 150 people attended the class, held Feb. 13-15, at Cal State Long Beach. It was organized by the Bayyinah Institute, a national educational organization whose goals are to make learning Arabic and the Qur’an affordable and accessible.

Bayyinah founder and instructor Nouman Ali Khan took the audience on an awe-inspiring linguistic journey through the Qur’an, exposing them to its unique literary features.

These included, among others, the choice of words; integral relationship between the beginning and end of ‘surahs’ or chapters; coherence and harmony between surahs; and the use of allegorical references, metaphors, and imagery.

It is known that at the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), even his enemies would secretly listen to his recitation of the Qur’an in awe.

If they, too, were mesmerized by the literary beauty of the divine message, Khan said, it is unfortunate that Muslims today are so unaware of its marvel.

Attendee Jaafar Husain from Corona agreed.

“This course offers a perspective on the language of the Qur’an that most of us don’t pay attention to,” he said.

The 30-year-old instructor, previously little known in Southern California, seemed to have swept away his audience with his presentation.

“I was extremely impressed with his level of knowledge,” Husain said. “It is a gift of Allah to us that He raises amidst us such people.”

Khan, who does not come from an Arab background, formally started his Arabic studies in Chicago in 1999 with Dr. Abdus-Samie, founder and formal principal of Qur’an College in Faisalabad, Pakistan. He then supplemented with self-study from classical and contemporary texts.

The young father of four now focuses all his energies toward Bayyinah.

“The Qur’an is stunning in its beauty, captivating in its words, overpowering in its message, enchanting in its harmony and baffling in its subtlety,” Khan explained. “This treasure must be shared with all Muslims.”

Khan founded Bayyinah in 2005 in New York. The institute offers students courses around four major tracks within Arabic study; beginners, Qur’anic, standard and classical Literature taught as weekend seminars, 10-day evening sessions and online.

Next year, Bayyinah plans to offer a 10-month Arabic immersion program, which will graduate students at par with Madina or Al Azhar students, Khan said, without having to go overseas.

Bayyinah has currently partnered with the national AlMaghrib Institute, offering its students Arabic courses to fulfill their degree requirements.

The next Bayyinah seminar due to take place in Southern California this summer will focus on ‘tajweed’ or proper pronunciation and recitation of the Qur’an.

On the Web:
www.Bayyinah.com
www.Understandarabic.com
www.bayyinahsessions.com

I know Egyptian Gumbo has been lagging for a while… but “I’m busy” is definitely an understatement for me. I’ll explain in detail in a later post… but for now…

I wanted to highlight a new blogger in the blog-o-sphere.

Ms. “Fool4thought.”

At first glance the title seems to be sort of an oxymoron, and that was partially intended. But “fool” is actually a very popular Egyptian food that Egyptians like to eat almost everyday. Fool in the morning, afternoons and evenings!

The blogger is a journalist from Egypt who also happens to be very close to me. In fact, she’s my cousin I guess journalism somehow runs in our family.

She is currently a senior at the American University in Cairo, and used to serve as the editor-in-chief of their school paper. She also worked for international human rights organizations that I cannot name, because they seem to not like their workers be opinion columnist.

She has interviewed major political and influential people in Egypt, including other free-lance journalist and bloggers who have made there way to the Egyptian prison system for their political writing. (I actually have her interview talking about it, but decided not to post it up.)

Her writing is superb, and I thought I’d introduce my readers to her work. Here is one of her most recent articles:

When I was younger, I used to see pictures of the same young man with long hair in a lot of random places—on t-shirts, on wall posters, and even on the occasional Egyptian soap series. When I asked my mom who he was, she told me he was Che Guevara, the big revolutionary.

I didn’t get it. Why was an Argentinean man halfway across the world, whose name I couldn’t even pronounce properly, popular enough to be plastered on the bedroom wall of a random teenage soap character? (Give me some credit, I was only 10).

I was reminded of that moment last night as I watched footage of a delegation of Egyptians presenting the Venezuelan ambassador with a token of appreciation for Hugo Chavez’s expulsion of the Israeli ambassador during the latest war on Gaza.

The footage was aired on journalist Ahmed El Moslimany’s show, El Tab’a El Ula (First Edition). Apparently, immediately after the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador, El Moslimany had called on his viewers to send thank-you letters to the Venezuelan embassy. The letters flooded the mailboxes.

El Moslimany then decided to take a delegation of 10 (out of several hundred volunteers) to personally deliver a gift to the Venezuelan ambassador, and another to a representative from the Bolivian embassy to thank Bolivia for it’s decision to cut ties with Israel. The delegation included El Moslimany himself and Egyptian journalist Wael El Ibrashy.

Nearly 10 days after the ceasefire (which we all know isn’t really a ceasefire), Egyptians are still wrestling with the fact that while Venezuela and Bolivia had actively severed ties with Israel, Egypt had resorted to rhetoric—and weak rhetoric at that. The words, Did you see how Chavez kicked out the Israeli ambassador, are still part of everyday conversations and Facebook names and statuses still read Chavez.

Sure, President Mubarak’s words on the eve of the ceasefire offered some comfort:

“Egypt is working towards the end to the aggression and securing its borders with Israel and the Gaza Strip and it will never accept any foreign presence of monitors on its land. I say this is a red line – I have not and will not allow it to be crossed.”

“I demand Israel today stop its military operations immediately. I demand from its leaders an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and I demand from them a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Strip.”

It’s nice to know that Cairo wasn’t going to let Condoleezza Rice and Tzipi Livni make decisions on Egypt’s behalf without so much as a consultation, but these words were too little too late, especially for those people demonstrating in the streets.

So the thank you notes and tokens of gratitude are being sent to the Venezuelan embassy instead of the Presidential Palace, because it was Chavez who did what Egyptians had hoped their own government would do.

Now, Chavez is no Che. But Egyptians–and Arabs–are finding in him that same inspiration they saw in Guevara. Feeling betrayed by their own governments and outraged at the Israeli injustices, they are rallying around Chavez because whatever his political motivations were, he gave us all some respite.

So, at least as long as the war on Gaza continues–and the latest Israeli air attack confirms that it’s far from over– Facebook statuses are still going to say, ‘Chavez’.

Visit her blog, subscribe and pass it on! www.fool4thought.wordpress.com.