Egyptian Gumbo

I just saw this news article, which just made me say, “Subhanallah!” We tend think about earthquakes, tornadoes, cyclones and tsunamis when referring to natural disasters — but now you can add “Sinkholes” to that list. And apparently there is a major one in Texas.

I’ve never heard of sinkhole before today. News.aol.com reported sinkholes can sometimes be caused by “The collapse of an old salt dome where oil brine and natural gas are stored underground.”

It’s apprently expanding and takes about 2 weeks to fully stabilize. It just shows another ayah of the might and power of Allah! One thought always comes to my mind when thinking about these natural disasters: they Day of Judgment; how scary it actually is when you see these things. WAllahul musta’an.

Alhamdulillah, so far there have been no reports of injuries. Here are some pictures for your viewing: (I’m going to be “un-journalistic” and not put captions nor credits for these photos.. if you want to see the source to go yahoo news and aol news.. nor will I edit this post, I’m tired.)

this thing is 900 feet wide and about 200 feet DEEP

Here’s an article about it:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080509/ap_on_re_us/texas_sinkhole;_ylt=AtE7YKFaZ9_wabM6dU10b1BsaMYA
La qowwita illa billah.

“Who are YOU to tell ME anything?!”– We’ve all heard this some point or another when we got into a “heated debate” with someone. In essence, if someone spits this out at you they most likely want your resumé; your credibility. (And most likely they think they’re better than you, bad friend I tell ya.)

I started the first post of a series on the Leechon Blog called “The Best Persuader, Muhammed (Salallahu alayhi wa sallam).” I’m currently writing a book (which has been on hold for a while) about the art(sunnah) of persuasion in light of the sunnah.

This is REALLY useful information… so read on inshaAllah:

(photo courtesy of futoor.com)

Yesterday, I held a conference call with my PR team and the issue of ethos, pathos and logos came up into the conversation. With these three things properly executed in a message, one can achieve persuasion, by the Will of Allah.”OK Gumbo, what are you talking about?” I’m talking about establishing credibility (ethos), having an emotional appeal (pathos) and having a factual or logial appeal (logos). And there is no doubt the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam would have all three of these elements in his speech. *these terms are terms of contemporary rhetorical scholars, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam set the first and prime example for mankind*

So first let’s give examples from the life of Muhammad, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, then let’s apply that to our lives today.

When studying seerah, you will notice how scholars are not shy of establishing the credibility of the Prophet,salallahu alayhi wa sallam. For indeed, Allah ‘az wa jal chose the best of the best of the best to deliver and carry the message of Islam.

Imam Ahmad narrates a hadith in which people were talking about and describing the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam in different ways. For example, one person said that Muhammad sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam was like a green tree growing in the desert. In reality what they were trying convey was that Muhammad sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam was the only good
person in the clan. So Ibn Abbas says “certain things the people were saying reached the messenger of Allah, so he mounted the pulpit and asked, ‘Who am I?’ they replied ‘You are the messenger of Allah’ he replied ‘I am Muhammad bin Abdillah bin Abdul Muttalib. Allah divides the creation and made me amongst the best of His creatures and He made them all into two groups placing me in the better of them. He created the tribes and placed me in the better of them and divides them into clans and placed me in the best one and I’m the best of you in clan and in spirit.’”

So the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam is saying, I’m not the best person in a group of evil people. But instead he was saying that I am the best and from among the best. You’ll also notice that he referenced his linage back to Abdul Muttalib who was of course well known and highly respected in all of Hujaz.

The prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam also said, “Verily, Allah granted eminence to kinanah from amongst the descendants of Ishmael, and he granted eminence to Quraysh from among kinanah, and he granted eminence to the bani Hashim from Quraysh, and he granted me eminence from the tribe of Banu Hashim.”

Again, this establishes his credibility in a line of the best of tribes and clans. So what exactly does this credibility do? This catches the audience’s attention. It makes the speaker seem that whatever they have to say is both valuable and should be considered due to the that person’s ethos.

And what about other instances from seerah? The fact that the Prophet Salallahu alayhi wa sallam was NEVER an idol worshiper, never drank alcohol, that Allah protected him from listening to music before his prophethood. These are all things that can be categorized under ethos (or credibility of the speaker- salallahu alayhi wa sallam)

How does this apply to YOU?

Let’s say you make Islamic videos, write a speech to be delivered, have a blog or business, or even just give dawah to muslims and/or non-Muslims. You NEED to establish your credibility. And to use specific examples:

Let’s say you are giving dawah to a Muslim and you are trying to convince them to pray regularly and become more practicing. Perhaps you or someone you know was in the same position a while ago and you(or they) completely changed since that time. You should mention this experience to give you better ethos in their eyes- thus, better convincing them to take the same path you did to become closer to Allah.

Another example: Why do you think all those weight loss pills and diets catch on like wildfire? It’s because of all the testimonials they see and read about. REAL PEOPLE getting REAL RESULTS. I mean c’mon have you seen those infomercials?!

Or even just look at the sheiookh when they speak at conventions or in different communities. You will always see a moderator or MC first give an introduction with a background of the sheikh before he speaks to establish his credibility to his audience.

If they do it, you should too. Wallahu Ta’ala Alem.

*if you liked this post, remember to give it a “thumbs up” on StumbleUpon.

Farewell haters, bigots (and that one crazy woman who stalked me.) It’s been entertaining, enlightening and stressful.

What can I say, It’s been a good 1.5 years of writing about Islam (with a semester break in between somewhere), Alhamdulillah. I’ve gotten people asking me how I managed to get my job as an opinion columnist. I guess it’s kind of funny; I never really mentioned this to people, until now. Gather around chickadees while I tell you the story of my wonderful journey into journalism. Sure, I could say something like “It’s because I’m a good writer,” and stop there. But truthfully that’s not really how I got my job. *This post might get a little long, but inshaAllah it’ll be worth it*

In high school, I had an English teacher whom I really didn’t care much for — Mrs. Wimberly. (I called her Wimbo for short.) Just as she thought my writing was mediocre, I thought her outfits with dinosaurs on them were pretty mediocre too. I would say they were really tacky, but I couldn’t help staring and smiling at them all throughout class time. Wimbo would hand back my papers disappointed that I didn’t see the biblical illusions she saw in the books we would read. But that wasn’t my fault. The woman was a little crazy. It really wouldn’t be a stretch to say that if I gave her the book, “Elmo’s Big Adventure” Mr. Elmo would be the biblical illusion because he was “red and represented the blood of Christ.” Anyway, I didn’t really listen to her criticisms and decided to take journalism classes in high school, thus sparking my first interest in media.

Ahh, that really has nothing to do with how I got my job… but do I miss those dinosaurs.

Anyway, fast-forwarding to the end of my freshman year at LSU. Everyone read and still reads The Daily Reveille on campus everyday. One day, I picked up the paper and saw a cartoon drawn on the op-ed page that not only caught my attention, it infuriated me. This wasn’t the first time The Daily Reveille printed something bigoted and completely offensive to Muslims. I decided to head over to the newsroom to have a little talk with the cartoonist but to my dismay he wasn’t there. Surely, I wasn’t going to leave without complaining. After all, I had to defend Islam. And I’m a girl, complaining is in our nature.

So, I requested to speak to the editor-in-chief at the time. It turned out I wasn’t the only one offended by a cartoon which depicted the Iranian President sitting at a laundry mat waiting for his brain to be finished being “washed” with “Quran Detergent;” other people had apparently been complaining all day.

After complaining about how unacceptable it was for him to print the cartoon, he sincerely apologized and told me he “wants to make sure that it doesn’t happen again in the future,” even though he was graduating only week later. He told me that at that very moment they were holding a forum for people who wanted to apply for being on the opinon staff for the next semester. He highly recommended I apply for a position after knowing I was a mass communication major. Subhanallah, it really was the Qadr of Allah that I went to complain at that very moment, because next thing I knew he led me into the room in which I was to apply. And I did. And so did about 100 other people who wanted one of 12 spots.

Anyway, I applied, got called for an interview and then alhamdulillah I got the job. And that started my work in mass dawah. Which wallahi has been such a blessing from the very beginning. However, you have to have a strong heart when speaking the truth about Islam. Don’t sugar coat things, don’t fall under the pressure of those around you.

Wallahi I can’t tell you all how many times I got people saying “Write about something else!” and subhanallah for a brief moment you think about it… then you realize that you are doing this purely for the sake of Allah and I figured if they fire me for not wanting to write about anything other than Islam, then so be it. But they actually loved the readers I would bring and the hits I would bring to the website too, alhamdulillah.

Anyway, so it’s been a good time. I’ve seen a lot of results coming from my columns. People seeing the truth about Islam, new members to our community, changing people’s perceptions; all by the tawfeeq of Allah.

So without further adieu, my last column for the Daily Reveille (I don’t want to re-apply). This column sums up my final message to all the non-Muslims out there- Pick up the Quran and be enlightened, literally:

“‘Hijab Challenge’ successful, enlightening” — (I don’t get to chose my own headlines, that’s why they are always boring!)

It’s nothing great because it came in the middle of my finals, but alhamdulillah ,no complaints. Wallahul musta’an.

“The End” to that chapter in my life…

DEEN SCOPE COMING SOON! -Watch out Islamonline.net muahaha..

Yesterday was a really awesome experience, alhamdulillah. A couple of weeks ago I challenged the women on LSU’s campus to wear hijab for a day. If you want to know how this deals with viral marketing, read on.

I wrote a column called surprise, surprise: “Columnist challenges women to wear hijab for a day.” And that day was April 25th. Writing my columns I really had no idea how many people read them. I know I get a lot of hate mail, and a lot of hate comments, and I knew at least a couple of thousand people read them every week, but this hijab challenge took it to a whole new level.

Melissa and Sarah B. sitting in front a fountain in the Quad at LSU

I got several emails from girls saying they wanted to participate. So I helped them out; I met with some of them and showed them how to wear the hijab. and I even ate lunch with a couple of them yesterday while they sported their hijabs. They were all some of the sweetest girls I’ve met so far at LSU.

Soon after lunch, I got a call from my friend Sarah M. who reverted to Islam about two years ago and she’s telling me that even someone at a coffee shop on campus asked her if she was wearing the hijab because of the challenge. There was a buzz already going around campus. I go the masjid later that night and some of my friends are telling me that so and so was talking about how they read my column and so on and so forth.

My plan worked.

I was able to start dialog all over campus about the hijab. Afterward I got a various people emailing me wanting interviews, I gave a talk about women in Islam to a Women and Gender Studies class; It’s definitely the type of dawah opportunity no one could turn down. That was a lot of potential ajr to pass up. People would ask the girls why they are wearing it, and they would tell them and explain to them why Muslim Women wear the hijab and how we are not oppressed. It was a mass dawah effort. A lot like viral marketing/PR. It’s no wonder why people are all about getting more Muslims in the media. The potential is HUGE for dawah. Imagine, A hijab day on campus could turn into a nation-wide awareness day, which is very possible once we get more Muslims to be trained in media and marketing work.

That’s why I’m starting my own PR company soon. Business proposal should be done tonight and my company should be legally registered soon. There is so much potential out there and so many ideas on how to tap into this field. I’ve seen It work and have felt the sweetness of Allah ‘az wa jal making my efforts successful. Wallahi it’s only by the Will of Allah. And I realize as well, that this is all a test from Allah.

Melissa, Michelle, and Maggie posing for a picture at Atcha Bakery (mmm’ Atcha.)

The Fruits And Veggies of your Efforts:

Melissa was perhaps the sweetest of them all. She was very enthusiastic and excited to take on the hijab challenge, and told everyone she knew about it. We ate lunch and at night she came to our masjid. I stole about 10 girls (unintentionally) away from the youth halaqa to join in our discussion about the hijab. Subhanallah, although I’ve taught these girls before *shout out to you girls :P* and I see them all the time at the masjid, I learned so much about them just from that discussion.

One of the girls came out with the news that she had just started wearing hijab officially last Sunday. Another told of how she started wearing the hijab a couple of months ago, and came with the new news that she had given up listening to music. MashaAllah, la qowwita illa billah. I couldn’t have been happier.

Alhamdulillah, Allah ‘az wa jal gave me such a blessing to be able to change people’s lives. They jokingly (but truthfully) told Melissa how I used to chase after them like herds of sheep and how I wouldn’t start the halaqah until I swung my lasso and reeled them all into the room (that’s southern talk, y’all). They said how at first they ran away from lectures. Then When I would gather them they would come for half the time then leave, then they said that the more they listened to the words of the lectures, the more they wanted to stay on their own, until it lead them to change.

Conclusion?

Don’t give up on what you are doing even if you don’t see immediate results. Never give back or refuse to accept a gift Allah is offering you (i.e. opportunities for dawah). It could be that if we turn down these opporunities and freebies that Allah gives us, that He ‘az wa jal will in turn never give you that opportunity again and give it to someone more greatful.

It is an amazing feeling seeing the fruits of your actions and the potential that is to come, but only if you remember that it was all done by the Will of Allah. and Allah is truly the one that guides the hearts.

Stay tuned for my follow up column in The Daily Reveille next Friday about the results of the Hijab Challenge, inshaAllah. It will inshaAllah be the last column I write for the paper. It’s been a good 1.5 years, alhamdulillah and an awesome way to end that chapter of my life. Wallahu ta’ala alem. So, what are YOU going to do to spread the deen of Allah? (And, do you need a PR person? :P)

So I’m no longer writing for Islamonline.net. I was fired hehe. They like to call it “Administrative Changes” I wasn’t very comfortable referring people to that site anyway because of the questionable material and fatawee they had. Why exactly am I not writing for them anymore? read on…

Here was my first (and last) article I wrote for them:
Seeking the Highest

And just to give you some examples of the problems I saw:

1. When I turned in my first article they took out about 4 or 5 hadith that I used to support what I was saying. They said that Youth don’t like a lot of Quran and Hadith because it’s “Preachy.” To be honest, that’s really sad. The people who go to read Islamic articles online, aren’t really the ones who are completely lost. Also it supported what I said, and gave my words more credibility. So that was strike number one.

2. The way they edited my article: I was not made aware of the changes they had made to my article until after it was published. There were a couple of things, but the thing that surprised me the most was this sentence: “If you work toward haram goals in this world, your ultimate goal is lost; the goal of attaining Al-Firdaws; seeking Allah’s grace.”

They had changed “Seeking Allah’s FACE to grace” hmm no, I specifically meant Face. (Jallah wa 3ala.) Which tells me there’s a little bit of denying Allah’s names and attributes going on there. Although there is nothing wrong with seeking Allah’s grace, I’d rather not have people edit my articles as such.

3. They tried to control all email content! (which is actually the reason I believe they let me go):
If you look under the articles they have a generic email address. I asked them how I can check the email that gets sent to me or where it gets forwarded to, and they told me that it’s policy that they don’t let their writers have access to the emails. Instead, they will forward the emails to the writer if it is addressed to them. They also mentioned that they like to “See the feedback, and see how their writers are doing.”

That was strange to me. I’ve never seen any newspaper or magazine or company in general monitor the emails.

If that wasn’t enough:

4. They made me CC them when I would reply to the emails that would be sent to me. It was like Big Brother. Why do they need to see the naseeha that I’m giving to the youth? They come to me for advice and I give it to them.

I kept questioning their policies. And apparently they didn’t like that

Anyway with that said: Me, my sister, and a friend of mine were planning on starting a blog for the youth. Just in Baton Rouge alone, we have around 30 girls that regularly come to the Youth Halaqa every Friday night at the masjid. However, I’d like to make this blog something for all youth. It’ll be awesome, inshaAllah.

More updates on that soon inshaAllah.