Sisterswhoblog Network

Salam

Bismillah!

Amber Misk at Sisters who Blog just posted a link to a new networking site. It looks really cool mashaAllah and I encourage all of you to join so that inshaAllah it is easier for other women who are just starting to blog or be interested in what we do/say/think/etc to find us :-)

Here is the link

Ugh

Salam!

Bismillah

I was on the bus today riding to class and this is what they were playing over the loudspeakers:


"American Made" Oakridge Boys

Seems everything I buy these days
has got a foreign name
From the kind of car I drive
to my video game
I`ve got a Nikon camera,
a Sony color T.V.
But the one that I love is from
the "U.S.A." and standing next to me.

My baby is "American Made"
Born and bred in the "U.S.A."
From her silky long hair to her sexy long legs
My baby is "American Made"

She looks good in her tight blue jeans
she bought in Mexico
And she loves wearing French perfume
everywhere we go
But when it comes to the lovin` heart
one thing is true
My Baby`s genuine "U.S.A."
red white and blue.

My baby is "American Made"
Born and bred in the "U.S.A."
From her silky long hair to her sexy long legs
My baby is "American Made"


It is amazing how much sexist and ethnocentric sentiments can be crammed into such a simple and repetitive song...

I wanted to vomit.

I still want to, but I'm refraining.

Cooking :-)

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته


بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I have been doing a bunch of cooking lately and just loaded some new recipes/how to's/food observations on my food blog.

Stop by and check it out!!

HERE!!

Authenticity

As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh

Bismillah ar-rahman ar-raheem

I went to a lecture today about authenticity. Specifically it was about African American literature and how it is affected by the need to establish "authenticity" and "keep it real" while at the same time is no longer able to define African American culture with such strict limitations. It talked about authenticity as a mask that conceals as much as it reveals and how just because you are born into the African American community does not mean that you fit into the "New Black Aesthetic."

It was a great lecture and it got me thinking so much about Muslims and how we deal with a lot of the same "authenticity" issues. Who are the real authentic Muslims? We argue about this all the time. Sunni/Shi'ah, Arab/Non-Arab, Born/Convert, Fundamentalist/Liberal.

Also on a more personal level it made me think: What Am I? Am I an Authentic Anything? What makes a person authentic?

Am I an Authentic American? The government thinks so, but I don't think a lot of other Americans do. I have turned my back on most of the "main stream" American ideals. Does being BORN in America make me authentic American? Or does accepting all the precepts of American society make me authentic American?

Am I an Authentic Muslim? Alhamdulillah Allah thinks I am. But would every Muslim recognize me? Or to some will I always be just American? Someone who might revert to my "old life" at any moment?

I cannot be fully American because I don't fit here, but because I happened to be born here, I'm not sure if I can fit anywhere else.

What do I do?

Video

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

بسم الله

I found this video on youtube and mashaAllah, it gave me goosebumps!!!

Arabic Keyboard

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم


I was thinking that a lot of you might be interested in typing in the Arabic alphabet. You have a couple of options here:

1. Turn on the Arabic keyboard on your computer in the languages part of the control panel. This requires a lot of memorization of where the letters are on the keys, but would probably be beneficial to learn if you plan on doing a lot of writing in Arabic.

2. Find a good online Arabic keyboard. If you just use a few Arabic words here and there or just want to experiment, this is what I would recommend.

The online keyboard that I use is http://www.yamli.com/arabic-keyboard/ . It is a "smart" keyboard and works really well. All you have to do is type what you want to say in the English letters (like "in sha' Allah") and it will pop out the Arabic for you. It is way faster than any other keyboard I've used and is really accurate. It even lets you choose from a list of words just to make sure that you get the right one.

This is also connected to www.yamli.com which is a search engine that searches for the Arabic word along with the English transliteration. It shows them all up on the screen at once which is really great! :-)

Let me know how you all like it إن شاء الله !!!

المؤنث

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

المؤنث

Nouns in Arabic are all either masculine مذكر or femenine مؤنث . There is no neutered form "it" in Arabic. The easiest way to tell the difference is to pick what word is مؤنث and then all the rest are مذكر .

Rules for Recognizing a Feminine Noun إسم مؤنث
1. Feminine by Form: with a few exceptions, the word ends in a ta marbuTa ة or alif hamza اء or alif maqSura ى

2. City, Non-Arab country names: City names are feminine because they follow the gender of مدينة (city), Some Arab countries are feminine but you would have to learn these by memorization

3. Words referring to Females: Like the word for girl بنت does not end in ة but is feminine because it refers to a female. This includes proper nouns like names of women.

4. Non-human plurals: for example, the word book كتاب is a masculine singular noun. It would take a masculine singular adjective, such as beautiful جميل . However, in the plural form books كتب (pronounced kutub) it would take a feminine singular adjective such as beautiful جميلة .
So beautiful book is كتاب جميل (kitaab jameel)
And beautiful books is كتب جميلة (kutub jameela)

5. Parts of the body that come in pairs: such as hand يد or eye عين

6. Any exceptions that you just have to memorize: like sun شمس or soul نفس