We think we have people all figured out. Some of us by the first encounters, but more commonly by a person’s writings online.

As bloggers, we tend to have an idea, a feeling, of how others perceive us based on our writing. And the more we write, the more people think they have us figured out. Sure there is the argument, “You judge by what is apparent.” But how much of what is apparent, is the reality of what that person is like? And how much of what’s “apparent” is misleading to how that person really is.

What if a person’s personality is a little different online than it is in person… does that make that person two-faced?

Not at all.

Just like every single human being tends to have a slight change in personality based on the person we are speaking to, the same goes for the “Internet Facade.”

You wouldn’t talk to a six-year-old the same you would talk to a 40-year-old.

I guess it’s kind of like Facebook, you see someone’s profile picture and you’re like, “Awww she’s so pretty!” then you check the pictures her friends tagged of her and you’re like, “Is this the same girl?”

See, she doesn’t have two faces.. it’s just the lighting makes her look different (often very different) sometimes .

I would say that a person who reads my blog and has never actually gotten to know me in person, most likely has a 70% skewed perception of who I really am. Of course these numbers are based on my own estimation, and no actually research was conducted for that.

But I think bloggers out there really can relate to the “Internet Facade Syndrome.”

Sometimes, it works in the bloggers favor. They think they are better than the person actually is in person, and sometimes it’s the opposite.

The reality is, that we over simplify things. We make out people to be so one-dimensional, when in reality we are so complex, and have so much history as we grow older that anyone who thinks they have a person’s personality figured out just by their writing, is well, a little naive themselves.

While I was written my columns for “The Daily Reveille” about Islam, I really had to adjust my style of writing based on my target audience, 18-25 year old, mostly white, Christian and republican.

I tried to convey myself as understanding, knowledgeable about the subject I was speaking about, staunch on issues that Islam is firm on, and soft and gentle in inviting them to see the truth. Some people saw me as just that. But there were always those people who saw the opposite, either that I was too tough, too soft, too whiny, etc.

The point I’m making is that we are so quick to judge and label others. Of course we cannot help the persona we get when we read people’s works, but we should not use that as any basis to make any judgments about that individual.

Some bloggers are experts in a particular field and chose to talk about that particular subject matter. But does that mean that that person is obsessed and knows nothing other than their line of work? Of course not.

The Internet is a scary place. It’s almost unreal in a sense. It’s a place where someone can be anything they want to be. We hope, as Muslims, we can try to be as real as possible — but we shouldn’t judge others based on mistakes they make in public or even worse, think that someone is so amazing just based on what they write.

You can be fooled, and sometimes put in dangerous situations either in this life or the hereafter. Take everything in with a grain of salt, give people the benefit of the doubt, but be careful.

And I think we’ve all seen many times, that without a second thought, people will accuse brother and sisters in Islam of having some of the worst qualities a Muslim can have, “The brother/sister is too proud, arrogant, has no hiyaa, etc. etc.”

Let’s think about ourselves first, because we definitely know what we ourselves are like, before we decide to “figure out” everything about someone you most likely have never met in real life.

WAllahu alem.

A portion of the hits that come to any blog come from general searches. People type in keywords in Google and in the search results somewhere down the line, they see our site and click on it.

Often times, I like to see what people typed in to come to my blog and below I’ve listed some of the “more puzzling” and often bizarre ones:

effect of the turkish noor series on the egyptian society

facebook haram

i took off my hijab

i took off the hijab

hijabi girl porn (WHAT?!)

hijabi girls porn

kill mickey mouse

“khalid diab”

“off your hijab”

and the list goes on and on….

This post can be both entertaining but very sad at the same time. Subhanallah, going through the past 100+ keywords was kind of disheartening to me.

If I were to say the top three issues that dominate what Muslims are searching for online are 1. Hijab and taking off hijab issues. 2. Virginity 3. Porn

Oh and if I have to add a #4- The Turkish soap opera Nour. Seriously people get a life!

Although I have no idea what links porn to egyptiangumbo, it’s still just sad to see what people are afflicted with. I guess I realize there is a need to write about some of these issues, so that at least when they end up here, they’ll have some naseeha to go away with.

On a lighter note, I had to have busted out laughing about 10 times reading some of these key words.

What kind of puzzles me is why people would search for “hijabi porn” or “niqaabi porn” what’s the difference between that and regular pornography?

Anyway, remember people, “Marrying an Egyptian is dangerous.”

***Jazak Allah khair Albaraa for sending this my way.

Such a claim is hard to make without stating what are the reasons that lead me to believe this, so bear with me if you will while I outline some incidents you may have missed:

1. The “Obesssion DVD” distributed through swing states.

Recently, as many of you have heard, supporters of John McCain distributed copies of the Fox News produced DVD “Obsession” through various swing states during this election year. “Obsession” is an anti-Islamic DVD aimed at fear-mongering. A dirty political stunt, if you will. They distributed it via mail but more relevantly, they paid major newspapers to have the DVD inserted within the fold as a sort of an advertisement.

How do the Muslims feel about this?

Angry. Seeing any clip from the DVD is enough to make your head boil. It’s the typical anti-Islamic rhetoric we’ve been hearing since 9/11. “Terrorist, Islamist, etc., etc.”

How did the recipients of the DVD feel?

Furious. Yeah, that was a surprise to me too.

Recently, in an article published in the associated press, discribed the some of the reactions and consequences to distributing the DVD:

Although a few papers refused to carry the DVD, about 70 including The New York Times distributed it on the grounds that rejecting it would violate the sponsor’s right to free speech. The decision generated letters, cancellations and even a protest.

“This is definitely the most feedback that I’ve gotten to an ad,” said Ted Vaden, public editor for The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C. “It’s among the heaviest reaction I’ve gotten to anything. The great majority of the reaction was negative.”

Vaden said the paper received about 500 e-mail and phone messages and had some 50 cancellations. He said the paper may have sparked some of the complaints by writing a front-page story calling attention to “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West,” the DVD insert that critics have denounced as anti-Muslim propaganda.

Newspapers generally insist on giving a platform to a variety of viewpoints, but readers who complained were largely critical.

“I cannot believe that I was sent the hate-inflaming, fear-mongering video disk `Obsession’ in my newspaper!” Margaret Lewis of Durham, N.C., wrote to The News & Observer. “What will you enclose next? KKK robes?”

2. The Presidential Election

Obama, has a pretty good lead over McCain with the second of the presidential debates just ending – despite all the attempts at tying him in with Islam and “Terrorism.”

Recently, Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin made comments at a fundraiser regarding Senator Barack Obama attempting to reestablish this notion that the senator was tied to “terrorism.”

“Our opponent … is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country,” Palin told a group of donors in Englewood, Colo.

“This is not a man who sees America like you and I see America,” she said. “We see America as a force of good in this world. We see an America of exceptionalism.”

The Times reported Palin as referring to a man by the name of William Ayers, a member of the Vietnam-era Weather Underground, was exaggerated at best if not outright false. No evidence shows they were “pals” or even close when they worked on community boards years ago and Ayers hosted a political event for Obama early in his career.

In fact, the Times was particularly turned off by Palin’s statements:

In a post-Sept. 11 America, terrorists are envisioned as dark-skinned radical Muslims, not the homegrown anarchists of Ayers’ day 40 years ago. With Obama a relative unknown when he began his campaign, the Internet hummed with false e-mails about ties to radical Islam of a foreign-born candidate.

Whether intended or not by the McCain campaign, portraying Obama as “not like us” is another potential appeal to racism. It suggests that the Hawaiian-born Christian is, at heart, un-American.

It seems that the general public is sick of the fear-mongering and no longer blindly led to believe anything an opinion leader has to say, such as was seen in the aftermath of 9/11.

Nasru Min Allah, wa fathu Kareeb!

____________________________________________________________________________

So if there really is a different perception about Islam than we’ve seen in the years post 9/11, what is the cause?

Could it be that Islam is entering into every household as prophecized as one of the last signs before the day of judgment?

Perhaps mass media is not the best way to convey the message of Islam. That’s a weighty thing to say coming from a Muslim who went into mass media for the sake of Allah and spreading His deen. But my statement does not come without reason to believe that in order to really continue to change the world’s perception of Islam, we should continue with one-on-one dawah. Much like the example of the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam during the early Mekkan period.

The following is a rubric for persuasion in mass media, that can very much be applied to Dawah for the sake of Allah:

Keep in mind:

Advertising and promotional media are controlled media, generally external to the (person/organization doing the marketing/PR work), that also offers access to large audiences.

News Media provide opportunities for the credible presentation of organizational messages to large audiences.

Organizational media are published or produced by the organization, which controls the message content as well as its timing, packaging and distribution.

Interpersonal communication offers face-to-face opportunities for personal involvement and interaction.

How does this all relate to the first part of the post?

Well, if we analyze the situation of Muslims in the West post 9/11 and see what is leading to this change in perception, we should analyze this model.

It’s pretty obvious that very few successful attempts at getting the proper message of Islam dissiminated through mass media whether that was advertising and promotional media, news media, and organizational media. Those in esence reach the greater audiences but dont have as big as an impact with regard to persuasion.

However, you’ll notice that interpersonal dawah efforts sky rocketed and this still remains the case, which is in my humble opinion I see is a big factor to the changing perception. It may happen slowly but there is no doubt that it is surely happening, wallahu alem.

With that said, the reason I went into mass media is because of the lack of Muslims with a proper understanding of the deen of Allah who are actually withing the feild of mass media. Sure, I’m still learning, but I hope that through my quest to seek knowledge it’ll help reach that larger audience, the mass media.

We generally cannot say that speaking to mass audiences is not effective at all — because it is. But when you throw in elements such as the guidance of Allah, planting the seed of iman in someone’s heart, and the barakah Allah ‘az wa jal has placed in your dawah, you will not only be able to reach mass audiences, but inshaAllah perhaps have mass persuasion as well.

WAllahu ta’ala alem.

*Note: I didn’t edit this post yet, please disregard all typos and grammatical errors… it’s been a long week.

Well, Br. Nouman Ali Khan taught me to do just that in his intensive Arabic classes. MashaAllah, ever since I’ve taken two of his courses, I’ve never looked at the Quran the same again. If you guys really want to be enlightened, I would HIGHLY recommend you attend one of his seminars given through his institute, Bayyinah.

Sometimes I see something in the Quran that puzzles me. My mistake is thinking that my question would probably make no sense, and I’ll sound weird even asking it. But me being a weird person in general take those chances with the hope that I’ll get an answer that will suffice my curiosity.

If you’re confused as to what I’m talking about, I’ll give you some examples of questions I’ve posed to Br. Nouman, that he very kindly explained in detail to me. Yesterday, I emailed him with a question from Surat Al-Ankaboot, and I thought It’d be nice to share the answer with you all. In fact, I’ll go back and post some of my previous questions I’ve asked him in the past for you all to benefit inshaAllah.

May Allah reward him with Jannat Al-firdous for putting the deep love of Allah’s book in our hearts and may Allah bless his family as well, ameen.

Example #1- Surat Maryam– Laghw

My Question: I came across this verse in surat Maryam- (it’s in other sowar as well) however I was wondering if you can give me the different connotations of Laghw.

“la yasma3oona feeha laghwan illa salama” (ayah 62)

I thought laghw referred to vain talk and things of that nature. But what I was wondering was the (illa) part because it denotes exclusion. So why would salama be inclusive with laghw?

Brother Nouman’s Explaination:
In Arabic, ILLA serves the purpose of except and in some cases ‘instead’ or ‘rather’. So here we have LAA YASMA’OONA FEEHA LAGHWAN

ILLA (WALAKINNAUM YASMA’OONA) SALAAMA (meaning rather they will hear Salaama)

(The arabic above is from another source)

Which basically says that the word “hayywan” refers to continuous motion. We go to sleep in this dunya and therefore become motionless even when alive. This won’t be the case in Jannah. He further said, that by comparison it is truly being alive. Also, Al-Muheet offers the definition of “Al Hayyawan “Al Hayyah Haqqan” (actual life) meaning this life pales by comparison.

If I met ‘Isa Ibnu Maryam (alayhis sallam) what would I say? What would he think after coming back thousands of years later? Would he be amazed that the world has changed so drastically technology and science wise?

Imagine you are in the company of ‘Isa ibnu Maryam. It’s like he is your closest companion, what would you show him if you were his guide? What would you ask him?

I’d ask him about Jannah and to describe its beauty. I’d ask him about the conversation of the angels and about the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam.

I’d show him the planets through a telescope and tell him that the planets make me know the greatness of Allah, and how it’s the closest thing I have to seeing the heavens.

I’d want to hide the shameful things our society has transformed into. And ask him what I should do in order to, inshaAllah, be with his mother in Jannah, Alayhas-sallam.

I’d want to pray behind him and be amazed that even he, alayhis sallam, is a follower of Muhammad, salallahu alayhi wa sallam.

I’d ask him about those who wanted to kill him and about those who were his companions on this earth.

As I sat there thinking about what it would be like to meet Isa ‘alayhis salam, the verses from surat al Ma’eda were being recited to me. And then I realized whether I’m still alive when Allah ‘az wa jal sends him back down before the Day of Judgment or not, Allah ‘az wa jal has already given me everything I need to know.

Most of the questions I would ask him, the answers were being recited to me the whole time. The description of Jannah, the story of those who wanted to kill him and about the hawariyoon. The supplications of the angles. Allah ‘az wa jal was describing what a believer needed to do to attain His mercy and ultimately His jannah.

After seeing Jannah, it would be hard for me to believe that ‘Isa Alayhis sallam would be impressed by our society. Wallahu alem. So now I will not say “If I met ‘Isa ibnu Maryam…” I instead want to say “InshaAllah WHEN I meet ‘Isa ibnu Maryam…” for I ask Allah ‘az wa jal, to let us be with the prophets in jannah, bi’ithnillahi ta’ala.

The Quran is so amazing, Subhanallah. Ponder deeply. And put yourself in its verses.

The last 10 nights of Ramadan are here, subhanallah. If you wasted 2/3rds of Ramadan, it’s not too late to make the best out of the blessed month.

What would you ask ‘Isa Alayhis-salam?
Wallahu ta’ala alem.

Read. Ponder. Implement.
From Surat An-Nur Salmaan Al-’Utaybi:

As she grew older and older, the abuse got worse. It use to be something that happened maybe once a week but soon turned into every day. And only when she became older and aware of what was really happening, she soon realized how painful her life had just become.

One day, Eman approached her father about the abuse he was inflicting on her and the family. She sat down in front of him and boldly said,

“Ya Abi, you’ve abandoned your prayer and the pain it has caused me is too much. I love you very much and am scared for you; I’m scared that you might die in this state and meet Allah this way.”

Her father replied, “I get it, I’m a kaafir… you happy? Yes I’m bad, I’m going to hell, now leave me alone. ”

Eman still has sleepless nights sometimes, worrying about her father.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Not praying to Allah is perhaps the most selfish action a person can do.

Allah ‘az wa jal created a Mankind and Jinn so that we can worship Him. As Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says:

“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” [Quran 51:56]

But subhanallah, it’s even much much deeper than that; our lack of praying to Allah affects everyone around us as well.

We hear the reminders all the time, “We could die tomorrow.” But very few of us stop to think about what that could mean for us. One of the worst pains someone can inflict on another person is to stop the worship of Allah, know you are wrong, but not doing anything about it until it’s too late. Sure, Allah is the one who guides the hearts and similarly, whoever dies a disbeliever in Allah it is by Allah’s will. But there is no one to blame but oneself in the end.

So I’d like you to put yourself in this scenario, May Allah forbid:

Imagine you are with your mother, the woman who would give anything, even her own life if she had to, in order to see you live a healthy life. She is the one who is the most empathetic with you when you are sad, the one who stays by your side when you are sick, the one who no matter how bad you messed up at the end of the day will tell you she loves you, and the one who strokes your head until you fall asleep. Now imagine… her dying upon kufr.

Wallahi, this is the reality of many of us today. And it’s one of the scariest realities some of us will have to face in our lives. But what if it’s not someone we love who is inflicting this pain upon us, but it is us unknowingly inflicting pain on someone else? Subhanallah, how could we be so selfish. How could we completely be so ungrateful to our creator? And at the same time how can we knowingly inflict pain on the most beloved people to us?

It’s not too late to change and in fact NOW is the BEST time for change. The gates of hellfire are closed. When a believer, a sinner calls upon his lord and says “Ya Rabbi!”  Allah replies, “Labbaik ya Abdi! (I am here O my slave)”

This is a month full of forgiveness, mercy and blessings from Allah. If we aren’t practicing now is the best and easiest time to start worshiping Allah the way He deserves to be worshiped. If we are sinning constantly, now is the easiest time to rid of the weight of these sins.

Every soul will stand in front of Allah alone. But we don’t have to be alone in Jannah.

Wallahu ta’ala alem. Food for thought during your fast.

_______

*Real name not used.

I often complain about living in Louisiana, after all there are only a few avenues to seek knowledge. But wallahi brothers and sisters one blessing Allah ‘az wa jal has given the Muslims here In Louisiana is the chance to become the Ansaar of Allah.

One week after coming back from Egypt, I’m welcomed by Hurricane Gustav. (Ahh, the genius behind the name “Egyptian Gumbo.”)

The shelves in the grocery stores are empty, people lining up to fill up their gas tanks, and the interstate starting to crowd with cars coming from New Orleans in hope to get out before the storm comes. Stores are even starting to put away the jewelry in a safe place in case of looting.

Every year I’ve been a student at LSU, we’ve always gotten days off the second week of school due to a hurricane — whether it struck or not.

I received calls yesterday asking me if I could help accommodate the sisters that will be coming to our masajid for due to mandatory evacuation in New Orleans. During Katrina, we had over 100 families stay in our small campus masjid.

A solider of Allah is coming, and we ask Allah ‘az wa jal to protect us from his wrath.

It’s truly a humbling experience to be able to help shelter people and tend to their needs. And I’d very much like to share it with the world. So if happens and the hurricane does come to Louisiana, I will try to document the efforts and the needs of the victims so that inshaAllah people will know exactly what is needed in order to help them. And perhaps i’ll try to get people’s personal stories. I can’t promise anything, because 1. We are unsure what the conditions will be like and 2. My priority will inshaAllah be helping people, not filming them — but if I have the opportunity and feel it will be beneficial, inshaAllah I will. — This is, if Allah protects us and averts any destruction from coming our way.

You don’t need a hurricane to help your fellow Muslims and non-Muslims. Ramadan is here, feed those who need food. Become an Ansaari.

May Allah protect us all, and bless us in Ramadan with His mercy and forgiveness. Ameen. Keep us in your dua, inshaAllah.

The first time I saw this clip I was in awe, because it immediately reminded me of a hadith of the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam which teaches the insaan an important life lesson and advice to staying on the correct path.

First, I want you to watch the clip. Then, I want you to reflect for a moment and try to see what hadith I could possibly be referring to.

Allah ‘az wa jal shows us through nature sometimes lessons to be learned and adopted by humans.

After all, look at the story of the two sons of Adam, Qabil (Cain) and Habil (Abel), in the Quran. When Qabil killed his brother Allah ‘az wa jal sent a crow/raven before him who dug up the earth to show him how to cover the body of his dead brother.

Perhaps there are quite a few lessons one might have derived from the above clip, but the ahadith that clearly came to my mind when I first watched this, were the ahadith about friends.

In one hadith the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said,

“The example of a good companion and a bad companion is like that of the seller of musk, and the one who blows the blacksmith’s bellows. So as for the seller of musk then either he will grant you some, or you buy some from him, or at least you enjoy a pleasant smell from him. As for the one who blows the blacksmith’s bellows then either he will burn your clothes or you will get an offensive smell from him.”

In another hadith, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said,

“A person is likely to follow the faith of his friend, so look at whom you befriend.”

The ant in the above clip was inflicted with a deadly disease. Any ant nearby that saw the deranged ant would move it far away from the rest of the colony as to not infect and ruin the other ants.

Subhanallah, Allah ‘az wa jal showed us sacrifice, hardship, straying from the correct path and saving those around you all in this short nature scene.

If you want to become closer to Allah, you have to look at those around you to get a better outlook on your own state. If you see that the company you have isn’t the type to remind you of Allah, the type that gossips or constantly gets in trouble or arguments with others, than take that as a sign to start finding a new group of people to keep you company.

There is always a certain point someone can look back and say, “This is when I started to change and started to become more religious.”

I find a common thread between everyone who’s said this statement. These three things are what lead people to change into a better slave of Allah:

1. Changing friends/ environment

3. Going to the Masjid more/ seeking more knowledge

Today, I want all of us to focus on the first one. Deep down we know the type of people we should keep as company.

Just like the ant in the video, we know sometimes it requires a greater sacrifice.

In the video you saw that as cruel as it was for the other aunt to leave it to die far away and alone, sometimes this is what is needed to save the rest of those around you. When sin becomes well known others will begin to follow in it’s footstep (which is why it’s best that we not reveal our sins.) Sure, we will lose people we may care about greatly, but the greater sacrifice is for Allah; seeking His face. When you take away the root of the problem, you will see that everything else inshaAllah will fall into place and your environment will be much safer from diseases of the heart– not only for you but for those around you as well.

One ant sacrificed leaving one deviant ant to tend to itself, so that it could save not only himself but those around him.

It truly is amazing to see the profoundness of the creation of Allah and His Ayat.

wallahu alem.

His eyes had mischief in them. He looked like he was on the beach all day long. I was with my cousin and her friend getting gelato ice cream from this famous place in Alexandria that sits right across the street from the ocean. It’s the type of shop where you just park and have waiters come to your car and you sit in your car and eat. With sand covering his feet he walked toward my rolled down window.

I was getting ready to pay so I had my wallet in my lap. I see he has some beach items in his hands. He came up to me and asked if I wanted to buy them from him. We all declined. He was selling toys for kids. He insisted, but he kept looking into my eyes. My cousin Asmaa replies, “As you can see, we don’t have kids. What would we do with them?”

View of Mediterranean Sea with an umbrella blowing in the wind from Le Prince, a restaurant I went to today in Alexandria.

I looked down at my lap and realized why this 7-year-old boy was mischievously smiling at me. I had my wallet in my lap with some American dollars showing. I couldn’t help but laugh. The kid was mashaAllah adorable. His face, the way he tried to persuade us was just too cute to let go. So I told him to wait while I gave him some money. I pulled out two Egyptian pounds. He takes them, puts them in his pocket, pauses and then says, “No I want one of THOSE.”

“What? You want WHAT exactly? A Dollar?” I asked. “Yes.” He replied. So I agree, give him a dollar and tell him it’s worth about 5 Egyptian pounds. Next thing I know he yelled, “MUHAMMAD!” And goes running to tell his little friends to tell them what had just happened. Right then is when I realized we were about to get mobbed by a bunch of kids — so we jetted off.

MashaAllah, I don’t think I’ll ever forget his smile. Poverty here really gets to you. It was funny because my cousin was telling me how one of her professors at AUC (American University of Cairo) when he has to turn in something if for any reason and it’s past deadline he always jokes and says he could always use the “Third-World Excuse.” You know the excuse where you say since you live in a third-world country, everything always “comes late” and communication is “not that great.”

Then it hit me, “We’re in a third-world country…” The images here are enough to make you cry. An ayah from Surat Ya-Sin came to me:

“And when it is said to them: ‘Spend of that with which Allah has provided you,’ those who disbelieve say to those who believe: ‘Shall we feed those whom, if Allah willed, He (Himself) would have fed? You are only in a plain error.’”

Allah ‘az wa jal could have indeed made everyone rich in this world. But there is hikmah (wisdom) that only Allah knows why such things are done. But one thing is for sure, I wouldn’t have felt so humbled and grateful to Allah if I never saw these images or interacted with the people.

My cousin was also telling me how one time she went to this bakery and wanted a piece of cheesecake she saw on display. She ordered it and the woman behind the counter told her it was sold out. My cousin asked her about the one that was in the display, and the woman told her that wasn’t for sale, that it’s “just for display.” My cousin ordered something else but was very bothered and asked the woman what she would do with it to which she simply shrugged and told her “throw it away.”

Wallahul musta’an.