Al-Baal Café

Halal Mix Tape Vol. 1

2008-01-11T01:52:00.000+01:00

I haven't laughed this much in a gazillion years as I did after watching this video by Lota-Pani Productions and Gandaghee. Young North American Muslims with a huge sense of humor!

Al-Baal Café ends the year...

2007-12-30T11:37:00.000+01:00

...with the beautiful song by greek duo Kostas Hatzopoulos and Katerina Nitsopoulou also known as Anemos.

Miazis me fotia (tr: you look like fire) she sings in greek with a hint of middle-eastern and medieval sounding tunes playing in the background. I absolutely LOVE it, and I am sure you will too.

Purchase the CD A Mediterranean Odyssey for more amazing tunes like Miazis me fotia.

Rain over Rawalpindi

2007-12-29T14:02:00.000+01:00

One persons death can have such a great impact on the world. I spoke with a friend in Pakistan who tells me about streets with not a single car on them at 8 pm in the evening, not a store open, and flights not going in the major cities of Pakistan, like Lahore. Riots, violent attacks on any car that dare go out in the street for whatever errand.

Benazir Bhutto was a strong personality if anything and with her death, whatever indescrepancies she has been associated with, they will be forgotten and instead the last memory of her in her signature white "duppatta" (headscarf) waving and smiling to her supporters, defying all threaths to her life, will remain in even her opposers mind.

I have been phoned by swedish media asking me to comment on her death and if there were going to be any memorials for her by the pakistani community in Sweden. Her death and funeral has been all over swedish media. People really were affected by her, in whatever way, she did leave a lasting mark.

As I wrote earlier, as a child growing up she was an inspiration to me as a Muslim girl looking at a strong, intelligent and charismatic Muslim woman, defying all rules of traditional conduct. And perhaps her last sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice for her country forces us to think that perhaps she did care about the future of Pakistan.

Initial reports on her death said that she had died from a bullet wound, or some sort of shrapnel from the bomb, in her neck. Now all of a sudden the official version has changed dramatically. She died from a fall in her car somehow banging against the sunroof?

Few believe that theory. I doubt we will know for sure what version was the real one.

The future of Pakistan? People I talk to are worried, sad and depressed. They fear something worse is waiting. We can only pray and hope things calm down.

The hunt goes on to find the culprits of the murder of this mother of three, daughter of the east, reunited with her father and main inspiration.

In the news:

Email only to be used "If I am killed"

Oxford friends remember "fiery and fun" Benazir.

84 flights cancelled.

BB manuscript rushed into print

Happy Birthday & gTunes!!

2007-12-12T03:30:00.000+01:00

It's been exactly one year since I started www.globalthemes.org and today, 11 000 vistors and more than 1000 posts, two Photobloggies 2007 Awards nominations, 20 photographers from diverse backgrounds and more than 40 themes of photography later, the blog is still going strong and has become a hub of psoitivity and photographical exchange on the web.

To celebrate the past year, a sister blog called gTunes has been set up where all the fabulous Global Tunes that have been playing on www.globalthemes.org will be collected with info on artists, videos and pictures.

So if you haven't visited www.globalthemes.org or gTunes yet, now is the time!

Benazir Bhutto Returns...

2007-10-19T00:14:00.000+02:00

..and so does mayhem. More than 100 human beings with families, jobs and lives, killed in Karachi. The spread of extremism is just increasing day by day, the longer the war on terror goes on and the longer one ignores the socio-economic reasons for the spread of extremism, the bloodier Pakistan will get.

I avoid writing about politics in general because I am no politician, no conoisseur of the political life and thought. I have a general naivity or dismay for politicians...not the desired ingredients of a commentator on politics.

Having said that, I don't have to be a plumber to know a clogged drain.

I always liked Bhutto. The few years I spent in Pakistan as a young girl while she ruled as PM, I saw her as a positive figure, a Muslim woman (the first Muslim female leader in the Muslim world) amongst men, charismatic and elegant.

But the truth of the matter was, Pakistan under her and subsequently Nawaz Sharif was a big disaster with corruption allegations left right and centre. In NWFP where I lived time stopped. And the rich got richer, and corruption flourished. Looking back on it now I am reminded that she, as a woman, never did a single thing to change the faulty Hudood ordinance for rape victims (the one where supposedly a woman has to produce four witnesses to prove a rape case). She had two terms as PM to do something about it and never did.

In an interview she says:

“I am a female political leader fighting to bring modernity, communication, education and technology to Pakistan.”

Musharraf however, being the dictator he is, did something about it and the law was modified earlier this year (with the help of Dr. Hassan Hanafi of Cairo University whom I met with earlier this year). Whether he did it to score browny points or not, I will never know.

Democracy, yes. It is important, it is vital and it should be the goal. I hope to see it in place in Pakistan again. But Pakistan has had it for decades and each leader that came hid behind it and sucked Pakistan even more dry than before, and as Bhutto steps out of her plane with a decade old corruption charges against her, waving her heavily bejeweled hands, sparkling with gold (after her 8 years in Dubai), a feeling of worry hits me.

Have the cleaners come back to Pakistan?

A cracked olive branch

2007-10-18T02:12:00.000+02:00

I had dinner with a friend of mine the other day. She had been to see her relatives in Betlehem over the summer and served a bowl of green olives from her Grandmother's 30 year old plantation. As she served me some she told me that this is the same plantation that doesn't exist anymore after it was bombed by the Israeli Military last summer.

We ate those olives like they were the last olives on earth. "I'm really sorry," was all I could bring myself to say. I didn't know what else to say to her, and she herself said nothing more on the matter.

She doesn't hate Jews or Israelis, and we often talk about the situation "down there" and more than often is she critical of "her own" people, in particular the new trend of being a "hamsawiyyeh" (follower of hamas) or not being one.

But I cannot help but react to the stories I hear from her and many other friends who visit or try to visit their family in Palestine. The harassment at the airport in Tel Aviv, not even being sure if they will be let in or not. The resentment that is created cannot be good for the future of the land?

I want to understand.

11 000 year old paint

2007-10-17T10:54:00.000+02:00

Those of you who have followed my blog from the start know how much I love Syria and its people, food, culture and language. So I am happy to present to you what is believed to be the oldest wall painting in the world, 11 000 years to be exact, found in Jaadet Al-Maghara. Like the article in NG suggests, it does look like modern art!

"Researchers uncovered the prehistoric artwork while excavating the dwelling near the Euphrates River some 280 miles (480 kilometers) north of Damascus (see map)."
-National Geographic Online Continuation of story...

*Photograph by Directorate of Museums and Archeology/HO/AP

Main Vari Vari

2007-10-16T21:06:00.000+02:00

In 2005, Bollywood produced a historical film by the name of Mangal Pandey : The Rising. It refers to what the British historians (many of them til this day) called The Mutiny in 1857, but which in reality was a revolt against the opressive rule of the British Raj.

The music which can be credited to A.R. Rahman (whose website in itself is a treat!), is truly a delight to listen to and one song and video in particular stands out; Main Vari Vari (click to listen to it).

But it is best heard together with the amazing classical indian dance video with english subtitles.

A fellow blogger has uploaded the whole movie to his/her blog and can be watched here.

How many villas can a person have?

2007-10-16T10:50:00.000+02:00

Founder of SOS Children's Villages, Hermann Gmeiner
together with children in Poá, Brazil
Photo: Alexander Gabriel

Henning Mankell, one of Sweden's most popular authors, whose books have been translated into many languages, decided that it was time to do something about the 800 000 orphaned children in Mocambique, so from his own quite large pocket he extracted 15 million Swedish crowns, which is roughly 1,5 million Euros. Together with one of my favorite organisations SOS Children's Villages, he is building a village for 150 orphaned children in a country he has spent almost 25 years living in off and on.

According to Svenska Dagbladet Mankell was surprised that more people with larger fortunes didn't do the same.

"How many villas can a person have?" he replied.

You can follow Charles Kiyimba, official SOS Children's Village Blogger as he with words and pictures unfolds the reality and everyday going ons at the Children's Village Gulu in Uganda.

Don't be such a turtle!

2007-10-15T19:11:00.000+02:00

In Tanzania or Tanganyika as it is called in Swahili, a large population of Muslims live. Being almost half of the country's population, Ramadan of course does not go unnoticed.

Not every Muslim Tanzanian fasts, and for those that pretend to be fasting while secretly eating anyway, the Swahili speaking Tanzanians have given the name of Kasa which means Turtle. Perhaps because the turtle is both on land an in water and has a shell to hide under?

Human before Muslim

2007-10-15T13:35:00.000+02:00

There used to be a blogger by the name Human before Jewish on blogger many moons ago. She lived in New York and on her blog Jews of different opinions met, along with me, and it was a learning experience for me to be able to listen in on how some Jews feel about being Jewish or being Americans or Israelis. The fears, the moments of joy and celebration, the suspicion, the voices of calm and resoning all collected in one spot.

I suppose it is not different for a non-Muslim joining a gathering of Muslims. One may find similar ingredients in the conversations and thoughts of the people in that particular gathering. We are all different, yet the same. But we should all be Human, and view everyone else as human, before anything else we or they may be.

This particular blogger stopped blogging unfortunately but her spirit is still with me and the more one sees of the world today the more important it feels to have to say; I am human before Muslim.

*Photo taken at the exhibition "I am an immigrant, I am a Muslim" in Stockholm.

Ramadan Kareem Blog!

2007-09-10T17:06:00.000+02:00

Join us at the yearly running Ramadan Kareem Blog for pictures, views, polls, recipees and discussions on everything Ramadan in different parts of the world!

www.ramadankareem.blogspot.com

Blogs, Breaks & Ramadan

2007-09-02T19:15:00.000+02:00

I have, as is evident, taken a break from Al Baal Café and will do so for a while. I will be back after Ramadan sometime in October God willing as with everything else in life.

Meanwhile I have two other blogs that I am/will be running.

I started Global Themes photo blog a few months after Ramadan ended last year and it is now a thriving meeting place for people who love photos, seeing the world and meeting people they normally may not have "met". I have placed my heart and soul in it, and everyone who has worked on it with me are wonderful people. Thank you guys and gals!

Since Ramadan is coming up soon , sometime in mid-september, we will be running the Ramadan Kareem Blog once again this year. An idea fellow blogger Kaya had of creating a blog where people could share recipees grew fast into a platform and living room where people from all over the world shared photos and stories on what Ramadan and fasting is all about for them. Fellow blogger Destitute Rebel and myself spent a lot of time setting it up, marketing it and running it last year and had several thousand visitors joining us. I hope you can join us and contribute!

All the best dear bloggers and readers, have a blessed Ramadan those of you who partake in it, and may God accept your fast and deeds, Amen.

Fabulous Fujairah!

2007-07-14T17:15:00.000+02:00

On my last trip to The UAE I visited Fujairah and did two amazing dives at Dibba Rock. Clownfish, barracudas and turtles galore! Not to mention beautiful coral reefs, in contrast to Dubai's "dead sea" due to all the construction work.

Fujairah is growing! it said on posters next to the road. Sweden's Fritidsresor now flies its holidaymakers to Fujairah and when I visited Fujairah's Tourism site I was pleasently surprised by fabulous music. Have a listen. One can only hope that Fujairah's waters are spared from excessive construction work.

Al-Baal Café featured in Gulf News...

2007-07-10T13:35:00.000+02:00

...with the post Seven Wonders (to make you wonder).

The New 7 wonders

2007-07-09T10:35:00.000+02:00

I did a post on the naming of 7 new wonders of the world in January of last year. This year on July 7th 2007 (777 oohh!) 7 new wonders were named. Among them Petra in Jordan, The great Wall of China, Taj Mahal in India, Machu Pichu in Peru and the Collosseum in Rome.

In my previous post I wrote down the seven wonders of my world, asking you to come up with the seventh wonder. Here is a recap of them, and the invitation still stands so start your mind machines and get creative!

The seven wonders of my world:

1. The rickshaws in Pakistan: tiny, three wheeled yet carries up to a total of 4 grown ups, still maintains a high speed and manages to re-arrange your entire organ content, ending up with your heart literally in your throat, for a mere price of 15 rupees.

2. The taxi cars of Cairo: some have doors, some don't. Some have windows, some don't. And should they have windows, they don't have the device needed to wind it down. But they all come equipped with your own state of the art driver who manages to make even atheists call to God for help once in their life.

3. The donkeys of Petra: I lay my life in their hands and surprisingly I survived. Taking a ride on a donkey up a steep, narrow mountain is something of a death wish, but these donkeys knew exactly where to go without needing their master show them. Props to the donkeys! Which is more than I can say for Jordanian cab drivers...

4. PIA (Pakistan International Airlines): or Perhaps I'll Arrive... I once took a flight from Lahore to Islamabad that later was bound for London but after landing in Islamabad, picking up a few passangers, it went back to Lahore again. Why? They said they had to fill the tank...need I say more?

5. The Pakistani People: Whenever the son or daughter gets married and it's time to "move out", they always amazingly enough manage to find the only available apartment or house in that city at that time, directly placed in front of their own. Sometimes it's so close that you can actually look into each others living rooms and wave!

6. Microsoft Word: Can you believe that the word "Kaaba" (I also tried Kaba) doesn't exist in its "dictionary". The most famous and holy building for Muslims. Instead I got the suggestion of "Kaibab" and "Kabala". However when I try writing the Jewish words "Kibbutz" and "Bar Mitzvah", there is no problem whatsoever. I am happy for the Jews, don't get me wrong. It's great to be represented with words that are of significance to your faith or culture. Still, it sure makes you wonder. Microsoft... Get a grip.

As for the seventh wonder, I invite my readers to come up with suggestions... now be fair...

Weird Tag

2007-07-09T10:21:00.001+02:00

When you blog, no matter how serious or non personal your blog is, you must be prepared for the occasional tag to break the pattern and lighten things up so Um Ibrahim, thank you for this one.

6 weird things about me:

1. I have three passports, two nationalities, one of them a country I have never set my foot in and have no "ethnic" ties to.

2. I love old books and visit every sunday market both here and abroad with a mission to "rescue" all old books, and take them with me to my growing library.

3. After a few days in a country I usually start understanding and speaking the language there. It quite freaks me and the people around me out. Last time was in Bosnia.

4. Before I drink water from a tap I have to fill the glass and pour it over the tap imagining that the tap is clean now so the water too is clean...compulsive behavior?

5. I love eating cold pasta with ketchup...

6. My sister and I have had our own secret language between us (that changes all the time with new words) since childhood that has rubbed off to our friends and family, so now everyone is talking "weird" around here.

Female Doctors & The Eternal Muslim Plea...

2007-06-28T17:33:00.000+02:00

Having worked in the health care system in an immigrant dominated suburb in Stockholm, one picks up on a lot of things going on with people behind closed doors and text book replies.

One of the main issues for patients visiting a doctor has been the lack of female doctors to meet the huge demands of a large immigrant population, some perhaps not used to going to a doctor of the opposite gender.

In the suburb in question, Wahabi inspired Islam seems to be spreading more and more. The influx of Somali refugees, many (but of course not all) of them having lived in Saudi Arabia, has affected the spirit in this particular suburb. Seeing women in Niqab on a daily basis is nothing strange here. I must add though, most of these women don't work and it doesn't seem like it's part of any future plans.

To become a doctor, all of you surely know, hard work is needed. Night shifts and working in environments with men and women, female and male patients.

These women (with the encouraging tune of their husbands) who for religiously claimed reasons won't see a male doctor even if it has to do with examining a throat, are no where to be found in medical schools or nursing schools but rather make themselves scarce when the subject is brought up and it is not uncommon to get the reply:

"It's not islamic for a woman to stay away all night
(referring to night shifts), or to examine male patients."

But a female doctor, they must have.

From Stockholm to Yemen. In Tarim, an area near Hadramout, there are no female doctors to be found, at all. Well, apart from the imported female Russian doctors. But no woman will go, or rather, no husband or father will allow them to visit a male doctor. So I ask myself: from where are these female doctors supposed to rain down on us?

A hommage to the Markets of Sharjah

2007-06-24T16:44:00.001+02:00

The Fruit Market. If you are looking for Pakistani Mangos or
Dates from the UAE there is an abundance of them here.

The Fish Market. Here a fisherman sells a catch of reef sharks.

The Meat Market. A long line of stores all selling halal meat.

The Plant Market alongside a road. Buying plants is an expensive
business due to the cost of growing or importing them in
the otherwise very dry and much too hot UAE climate.

The Vegetable Market can be found right next to
the Fruit and Meat Market.

The Animal Market. If you need a camel, horse, cows or
some sheep, this is the place to go to.

There are many more Markets in Sharjah worth mentioning, like the Iranian Market or the Pet Market, but that will have to be for next time! On any trip to the UAE I recommend a visit to these markets to get a feel of what everyday life is/was like in pre-Shopping Mall crazy United Arab Emirates.

Team Work

2007-06-18T01:34:00.001+02:00

Local fishermen in Alexandria, Egypt together pulling a fish net with the catch of the day.

Silence is man and Speech is woman...?

2007-06-05T10:37:00.001+02:00

On one of the most widely seen arab-muslim channels, Iqraa, a man by the name Sheikh Jassem al-Mutawah explains the differences between Man and Woman.

I was very surprised to see that a channel like Iqraa, known for its moderate and contemporary elements would allow such a man camera time to voice what is no doubt a Wahabi inspired Saudi view of Women.

Watch what he had to say, with english subtitles.

Ps. His words are not lost in translation. His arabic corresponds to what has been translated.

Omani Dancers

2007-06-02T13:11:00.000+02:00

The energy in this crowd of Omani dancers visiting the Sharjah Heritage area was amazing. I, together with the polish woman and her friend, was one of few women there so I had to respectfully make my way around the crowd. I got nothing but smiles from this happy crowd of dancers who swung themselves around in all kinds of ways to the tunes of the drums and bagpipes.

Smoking Scents & The fate of Local Tradition

2007-05-31T23:00:00.000+02:00

A local woman burning incense inside the clothes of

a Polish journalist, to cover them in lovely scents.

In Sharjah, during the Heritage Village exhibition of "local life" both past and present, I met this lady in red. She is a Polish journalist and one of the women responsible for a lot of the work behind the exhibition. The world you meet is not one of fast cars and big mansions but of fishing, music and dance, honey, perfume and handicraft. A lot of cultures have been affected by globalization and modernization but as she put it quite bluntly;

"I know more about the local traditions of the UAE than most locals do today".

Fluent in Arabic, she walked around talking to the women of the countryside and Ras Al Khaimah, many who knew her well from her frequent visits to them. The women smiled as she approached them. Apparently the red dress she was wearing was traditional bridal wear and it reminded them of their own weddings.

How is it that the fate of local UAE tradition and its future is partially held in the hands of a Polish Journalist?

Al-Baal Café introducing...

2007-05-28T18:15:00.000+02:00

...Africando!!!

If you haven't heard of one of West-Africa's most popular Salsa groups, then you have certainly missed out...big time. I was introduced to this group in the late 90's by a friend who was working in the Ivory Coast at that time.

Salsa has been popular in Senegal since the 40's and 50's interestingly enough, and the group combines African and Salsa rythms singing in languages like French, Spanish and Wolof. To get their unique sound they mix Cuban musicians with African voices from Benin, Cuba, Haiti and Senegal and the result is a musical fiesta worth celebrating.
Currently playing on ABC: "Senegal" by Africando.

Listen and purchase downloads of the songs here.

A minox to Mecca...

2007-05-27T16:43:00.000+02:00

...is the name of an exhibition photographer Aasil Ahmad held in Toronto, earlier in May, part of the A light unto the Nations exhibition with Muslim and Jewish photographers.

View the online photo gallery of what is a rare peak, due to photography in general being forbidden during the Pilgrimage, into what happens during the annual Pilgrimage to Mecca.

You've been hit by...a smooth Muslim!

2007-05-27T16:00:00.000+02:00

Who said Muslims don't have humor? I certainly didn't. I stumbled upon a site called Maniac Muslim and a rather hillarious remix of Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal. Ya3ni are you ok?

Watch the video here

Expedition Linné

2007-05-24T22:43:00.000+02:00

Carl von Linné is being celebrated in Sweden and across the world in many different ways. Swedish Television made a fanatstic documentary where three youth travel the world in search of the plants that Linné or his disciples discovered and named. On their journey they realise what damage man has done to the dwellings of many species. It is in swedish and english but the pictures are telling. Here is the link.

Burj Al Chocolate!

2007-05-24T17:20:00.001+02:00

English Prudence Emma Staite is the genius behind this 17 kg edible chocolate replica of the famous Burj Al Arab in Dubai. It took her a couple of days and long hours to make this at the Burjuman Mall in April, this year. I asked her what she would do with it once it was done:

"I might auction it off for charity. Must be some rich local who can pay a good sum for it." She jokingly added, "Maybe he wants a wife too?"

Al Baal Café in Gulf News

2007-05-22T22:43:00.000+02:00

Well well, isn't that nice? Some fellow bloggers and my ABC post on Automatic Room Refreshners have been highlighted in gulfnews.com

Rambo, Apples & Sweden

2007-05-22T12:45:00.000+02:00

Ever wondered where Sylvester Stallone's character Rambo got his name?

Me neither... However I stumbled upon some interesting information in correlation to Sweden celebrating the 300 year jubilee of our Botanist, Physician and Zoologist Carl Von Linné (also known as Carolus Linnaeus), the man who organized and gave names to the world's plants, animals and gave us the name of Homo Sapiens.

In 1639, a swedish family living in Ramberga left for America, like a lot of Swedes have done for centuries. With them they brought the seeds of swedish apples. Upon arrival they took the last name of Rambo. Most likely a referral to their original home in Ramberga.

They planted the seeds and the apples were subsequently named Rambo. Carl Von Linnés student, Pehr Kalm travelled to America in the mid 1700's and found the tree and spoke to a descendent of the Rambo family who described the apple as very suitable for the making of cider.

A couple of centuries later in America, the scriptwriter of the movie Rambo was trying to come up with a last name to his character. His wife walks in the door with apples and a bottle of cider made of Rambo apples.

The rest is, unfortunately, history.

War & The need to be tidy

2007-05-21T12:00:00.000+02:00

On my trip to Bosnia last summer, I came to terms with war in the heart of Modern Europe. I stayed with my friend and her family in Hadjic outside Sarajevo on an estate situated on top of a hill overlooking green valleys and Sarajevo.

I noticed how tidy her father was, and everything had to be in a certain place. He noticed that I was looking at him in wonder and he went on explaining why he had become so tidy:

"During the 4 year siege on Sarajevo by Serb forces, we seldom had electricity so one learns to organize ones life in a way that should one even be blind, one can find things. The comb, nail cutter, glasses, everything has to be at a decided place and never move an inch from it."

Global Themes goes (dot)org!

2007-05-20T15:09:00.001+02:00

The Photo Blog I started a couple of months ago, Global Themes , can now be accessed at www.globalthemes.org!

If you haven't been there yet, now is the time to click on to a photographic journey with weekly themes ranging from Antique, Eye-brow raisers, Places of Worship, Transportation and Water.

Join our fabulous photographers from all over the world at Global Themes!

How Greek became Bosnian

2007-05-14T12:57:00.000+02:00

Bosnian singer Amira performed last night at Södra Teatern in Stockholm to a small intimate crowd. The singer who is not yet 30 years old, has the soul of an old woman in her young voice and with a clear tune sings the traditional Balkan Sevdah whose songs are called sevdalinke. I particularly enjoyed the song Sambaranfil (which is a samba version of the song Karanfil meaning carnation).

The word travels
Sevdalinke can be described as songs of yearning, love and heartache. The word sevdah which comes from the Turkish word sevdah meaning amorous yearning, which in turn comes from the Arabic word sawdha meaning black gall. It was believed by ancient Arab and Greek doctors that the black gall in the human body was responsible for creating a sense of melancholy and irritable mood. Thus in Greek the word for melancholy is the word for black gall, melan hôlos.

In her latest album Rosa, Amira sings traditional Sevdah from Macedonia, Bosnia and Serbia. Listen to the first song of her CD here.

To read about Sevdalinke and listen to other songs click here. I recommend U Trebinju gradu.

Squirt Attack

2007-05-13T13:26:00.000+02:00

As I finished my meal at Beit al Mandy in Sharjah I went to the bathroom to wash my hands. All of a sudden I heard a squirting noise and felt something moist smelling good. It scared the hell out of me seeing as I was alone and had no idea where that came from!

As I looked up I noticed this little device on the wall. Being from Sweden where we do not have what seems to be a timed room refreshener, timed to squirt every 20 minutes, I felt like a country girl arriving in the city for the first time! Well you learn something new everyday, ey?

The Hitchhiker's guide to the UAE

2007-05-11T11:39:00.000+02:00

Hitchhiking in the UAE is forbidden. Should you find an old man from the subcontinent walking down a highway in the middle of nowhere under the scorching sun and give him a lift, be ready to pay 500 dirhams.

Going to Fujairah
On my way to Fujairah, we did just that. He was walking where no taxis go, especially on a friday, so we stopped our car and asked him to jump in. To be honest, police are rarely in the remoter areas so there is less chance of being fined whereas in the city you are most certain to be. He was an older man in his late 60's or early 70's from the sub-continent.

Baba (a name of respect used to older men in the subcontinent), where do you want to go?
Ras al Khaimah, someone from my village has come. Where are you going?
We are headed to Fujairah. Have you ever been there?
No, what should I do there? I don't go many places.

He was going to walk all the way to Ras Al Khaimah under the sun, which would take hours, just to see a person from his village who probably brought with him letters from his family, (stamps are not a cost many workers can afford).

Baba, how long have you been in The UAE, and is your family with you?
I have been here 28 years, and my family has never been here, they are in Pakistan.
But why not?
I have tried getting a Visa but with no success, and it is expensive.
Baba you are not in an age to be working, how old are you?
Well I have to work, my two sons can't find work and I have a daughter and wife to look after. I don't know how old I am, maybe 50?

He really had no idea how old he was, something not uncommon for people from villages where there is no sense of time structured in dates, months and zodiac signs. He worked on a date farm for 28 years in this country and he still cannot afford to bring his family to visit, to spend money on going to visit neighboring towns in the UAE unless someone from the village comes with a letter and some news of the life he left behind him.

In Sharjah
So why do people hitchhike in cities? There are cabs and busses?
On a friday evening, when everyone seems to leave Sharjah to go to Dubai, and the workers have their one day off, the streets are flooded with men having their "Friday night out" which consists of standing straight on a pavement or street talking to friends, or for those who can afford it, sit at a restaurant where tea costs 1 dirham watching the cricket game on a small tv. Taxis are scarce in Sharjah in the less affluent areas and you see a crowd of 20 people circling one taxi negotiating over who saw it first and what passengers were headed the same way.

Black Cabs
A solution to this lack of transportation available is the occurrence of giving people a lift but in return asking for money. The law forbidding hitchhiking have these people in mind. But is it that simple?

Some of the cars that gave lifts in Sharjah were cars owned by people who must be in a profession that earns them a good living to afford a car like that. So why do they need the extra cash?

Costs of living have become so high in The UAE that many people have sent their families home to Pakistan or India, and those that haven't have to find ways of keeping the children in schools and paying for rent . By giving someone a lift from Sharjah to Dubai, he gets his fuel costs paid seeing as he was headed that way anyway. A way to keep the costs down.

A UAE local

2007-05-09T11:56:00.000+02:00

Binding red and silver thread together, this bedu woman from Ras Al Khaimah was employed like many other locals to showcase her country's heritage at the Sharjah Heritage Village.

Time for a Tag

2007-05-08T10:31:00.000+02:00

It has been a long time since I did a tag (and this is by no means a hint to tag me more!) So ClayFuture here it goes:

A - Available or Single
Available for dinner, ice cream, anything that is related to food.

B - Best friend
The greatest blessing in the world. And thankfully I have one.

C - Cake or Pie
CAKE CAKE CAKE

E - Essential Item
My glasses

F - Favourite Color
Green

G - Gummi bears or Worms
Gummi bears

H - Home Town
Stockholm & Peshawar

I - Indulgence
Travelling

J - January or February
February is the most depressing month in Sweden, January anyday! New beginnings.

K - Kids
Yeah, what about them?

L - Life
is a beach and then you dive!

M - Marriage
we'll see :)

N - Number of Siblings
2

O - Oranges or Apples
Apples

P - Phobias, Fears.
Fears: To loose a loved one.

Q - Favourite Quote
If it weren't for hope the hearts would shatter.

R - Reason to Smile
My best friend.

S - Season
Summer, please I just want some damn sunshine!

T - Tag Three People
Whoever
wants
to

U - Unknown Fact About Me
I'm a certified diver.

V*W - Worst Habit
Blogging

X*Y - Your Favourite Foods
Paratha, Dhai balla, anything Pasta, Tsabhe with Injeera (eritrean dish), grandmas pancakes, Fatayer, Zeit wo Zatar etc.

Z - Zodiac
Taurus

Must eat Mandy

2007-05-07T01:39:00.000+02:00

As far as I have been told there is only one restaurant in Sharjah (The UAE) serving Mandy, atleast in the special way they do it at Beit Al-Mandy.

You can find the restaurant in Dubai as well but without the special seating arrangements. It's a popular restaurant among locals and families. One sits in small booths on soft carpeted floors with closed doors.

I ordered Mandy and got a delicious round plate served with rice, chicken, onions and tomato/mint chutney with yoghurt. I am not sure wether it is a local dish or not but I do know it is best eaten with ones hands!

The oldest Mosque...

2007-05-05T14:38:00.000+02:00

...in the UAE can be found in Fujairah. Al-Bidyah Mosque is believed to be 580 years old. The construction reminds me a lot of the clay mosque in Mali. The simple lines, the feeling of being a building that sprung out from the earth beneath it.

The Imam of the mosque is a stout Bengali fellow. As I entered the mosque I stood in the doorway and was quickly welcomed in with a smile. "It's ok, pictures are allowed."

Men prayed on one side of the tiny praying space, and women on the other side. Equal space, side by side.

Inside Al-Bidyah Mosque

2007-05-04T15:25:00.000+02:00

The Imam welcomes the visitors.

The stairs are his pulpit.

Muslims, the new Communists of America

2007-05-03T22:55:00.000+02:00

"Deprived of my own freedom, and from my cell in a U.S. prison, I foresee the day when true fraternity and a bond of humanity will overcome the ugliness of exclusiveness, injustice, and occupation. When Palestinians and Israelis live side by side, celebrate their common traditions and heritage and rejoice with the peoples of the world in the spirit of universal peace and understanding."

-Sami Al Arian

He has spent 1533 days in prison and counting, even though the Jury acquitted him of the most serious charges of terrorism filed against him in America. Why?

Al-Marhoum Mosque

2007-05-03T12:07:00.000+02:00

This beautiful mosque stands by a roadside in Dubai. I came there at prayer time and there was barely a soul using it besides the usual three or four men from the sub-continent. The work put down on making this mosque more than just a hastily erected monument is inspiring.

Going Solar

2007-05-03T12:00:00.000+02:00

It's all about using what you have. One thing The UAE has is sunlight, lots of it all year round. I saw these parking metres both in Sharjah and Dubai all run on solar power. Parking metres use up a lot of energy seeing as they run 24 hours a day all year round. In Sweden there is talk of trying to develop some sort of a sleep mode on the parking metres, much like that of computers to try conserve energy but nothing beats using solar panels.

The UAE in patterns

2007-05-01T20:26:00.000+02:00

The Sub-continent meets the Gulf in this pattern.

Al-Baal Café on The UAE

2007-05-01T10:10:00.000+02:00

I've returned from my trip to the UAE with fond memories, lots of pictures and stories to go with them. I will be sharing those here on ABC. The pictures however will not only be restricted to the usual ones you see when people mention Dubai or the UAE. I will be showing you places which many people haven't seen, don't want to see or simply just haven't had the chance to see yet.

I have had an amazing time. It is a beautiful land which amazes me one way or the other everyday. A lot of good initiatives and projects can be found here. However it is also host to many contradictions and eye-brow raisers which force one to at times question humanity and oneself.

Al-Baal Café taking a Tea Break in Dubai

2007-04-14T09:41:00.000+02:00

I'm off on my camel for a break, bit of travel and work. I should be back to blogging in May however I might drop a post or two while on the road.

Meanwhile I am featured on the 8th Carnival of Islam in The west with a few of my posts. There are some fab posts featured on it by other muslim bloggers from all over the world. Fellow blogger Baraka from the States is hosting this month's carnival.

So take care dear readers and enjoy the good to be had in life and the people around you, and not to mention the fabulous pictures on Global Themes!

Al-Baal Café playing: Fhear A Bhata, a scottish folk song sung by Andy M. Stewart of Silly Wizard.

If all of us were happy, and none were sad,
And all of us were good, and none gone bad,
would we know what we were feeling, would it have a name?
How do we know we aren't hurting if we've never felt pain ?

Fhear A Bhata (The Boatsmen)

2007-04-14T01:14:00.000+02:00

I'm often hunting, the highest hilltops
I scan the oceans, I sail the seas
Will come tonight love?
Will come tommorow?
Wilt ever come, love, to comfort me?

(Chorus)
Fhear A Bhata
Na horo eile*
Fhear A Bhata
Na horo eile
Fhear A Bhata
Na horo eile
Oh, fare ye well, love
Where 'ere ye be

They call thee fickle, they call thee false one
and seek to change me, but all in vain
for thou art my dream, yet through the dark night
and every morning I watch the main

(Chorus)

Theres not a hamlet do well I know it
where you go wandrin or sit awhile.
but all its old folk, you win with talkin
and charm its maidens with song and smile.

(Chorus)

Dost thou remember the promise made me
The tartan plaide, the silken gown
that ring of gold with thy head in portrait
that golden ring I shall never now own

(Chorus)

*Note: Na horo eile, doesn't mean anything in gaelic. It is the gaelic equivalent of "yeah, yeah, yeah" in the song "she loves me yeah, yeah, yeah". Words used as fill in lyrics in verse.

How Pakistani Are you?

2007-04-13T09:14:00.000+02:00

Arey, you are 49% Pakistani!

Not bad, but not good enough to call yourself a real Pakistani either! You seem more London than Lahore, so why not try wearing a shalwar kameez for a week and maybe that'll bump up your rating...

How Pakistani are you? (first class number one!)
Create a Quiz

This has got to be the most hillarious test ever. Whether you are Pakistani or not (I reckon you can substitute Pakistani with any type of desi), it's worth taking it for a good, long laugh. I am quite happy with my results, after all I am half Pakistani.

*I got this off fellow blogger Baraka's blog

What's your global footprint?

2007-04-12T11:12:00.000+02:00

We're all talking about global warming but do we know exactly how we are contributing to it?

A very interesting website called My Footprint will tell you just what your ecological footprint is. The results are disturbing and after taking the test myself I was told;

"If everyone lived like you, we would need 6,2 planets."

And I don't drive a car, don't use public transport more than maximum twice a week (I walk or bicycle). I fly a lot though. Don't eat meat products that often yet dairy everyday. Apparently the meat and cattle industry contributes to global warming immensley.

What's your footprint?

The Black Bird

2007-04-11T12:38:00.000+02:00

Should the black bird come, let it not be too soon,

let the day begin, let it atleast pass noon.

As evening approaches, and it knocks on my door,
I may not answer, but I'll leave a note on the floor.

"Come back again later, I am not ready yet,"
but death cannot read, and it will not forget.

*picture taken at the Vatican in Rome

Hindi in the American Ghetto?

2007-04-08T11:33:00.000+02:00

Globalisation and all, word etymology can be an interesting phenomenon at times.

The Brits in India during the time of the Raj (colonial times), had encountered a practice known as thagi. This was in no way representative for Indians nor was it a widespread "phenomenon" yet the Brits used the occurence of thagi in their campaign to stress the difference between themselves and their Indian subjects in order to justify a need to stay on and "civilize" a nation they sought out to declare uncivilized at all costs*.

The thags were a group of people who worshipped the goddess Kali and they would steal from and strangle their victims, as a sort of offering. Thus during the 19th century in Britain a thug came to be knows as a particularly nasty kind of ruffian.

From 19th century Britain to 21st century Brooklyn, where one is "positively" self-declared as a "thug for life". Ironic.

*Ideologies of the Raj by Thomas R. Metcalf

Loneliness á la Sweden

2007-04-06T18:07:00.000+02:00

Easter Holiday is celebrated all over Sweden and one thing you can be sure of Swedes doing these days is shopping for groceries for all the dinners usually spent with family.

An old man approached the woman at the cashregister with his groceries. After scanning them all in, she announced the total sum of 152 swedish crowns (15 euros). The old man took up his wallet and said;

"Only 152? I was hoping it would have been more than that. If I had family I would have surely bought loads of things."

Chinese Calligrapher

2007-04-05T11:44:00.000+02:00

Haji Noor Deen Mi Guangjiang is a master of Arabic Calligraphy. He has taken it to another level incorporating his Chinese heritage into the way he writes Arabic.

Born in 1963 in Eastern China's Shandong Province, Haji Noor is one of roughly 20 million Chinese Muslims. The first Muslims came to China in 631 AD, sent by the second Caliph Uthman and settled peacefully with the natives due to the mutual values shared by the Muslims and the Chinese at that time; tolerance, respect and compassion. The Muslim settlers embraced the Chinese way of living which can be seen in the today more than 35 000 mosques, built in accordance with Chinese traditions.

Haji Noor has held workshops upon invitation all around the world including Harvard and Cambridge University as well as the Zaytuna Institute in California (founded by American Muslim Hamza Yusuf.)

To order handmade originals by Haji Noor online visit; Zaid's Online Store (that is where I ordered mine)

View Haji Noor's online galleries; Gallery 1 and Gallery 2

Battling faulty sharia law

2007-04-04T10:38:00.000+02:00

"Islam is like new wine in old bottles."

I met with Dr.Hassan Hanafi, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cairo. The Pakistani Government recently approved a bill that argued for a change in the old sharia law that stated that for rape a woman would need four witnesses.

Dr. Hanafi's writings on sharia and islam helped provide the necessery facts needed to refute such a faulty sharia interpretation (one that only Pakistan had), and he was consulted by President Musharraf throughout the whole process. The only time four witnesses is needed is to prove zina (adultery). And for that to be proved, the witnesses have to see both organs meet. The design of this law is basically such that it is next to impossible for four people to see the organs meet. Thus next to impossible to ever accuse anyone of adultery.

Sweden's first working Minaret?

2007-04-02T10:26:00.000+02:00

A small city in Sweden, Västerås, will be the first to allow Swedish Muslims to use a Minaret in the traditional sense, calling out to prayer five times a day.

The Minaret they will be using does not belong to the Mosque. Instead they will be using the tower of the city hall (which actually looks like a Mosque), previously home to ringing bells that apparently annoyed the people living there.

5 times a day as of yesterday April 1st, Imam Mahmut Ongun will be calling to prayer.
The City Council of Västerås, led by Roger Haddad feels that the 5 calls to prayer a day will be a refreshing change for the inhabitants of Västerås.

Right... this is what you could read and listen to on the Swedish Radio website yesterday, April 1st. Swedish Muslims are now confused over whether this article is in fact an April fools joke or if it is true. Well how about that people?

Joseph Ki-Zerbo 1922-2006

2007-03-29T22:01:00.000+02:00

"We are not exploited because we are black, we are black because we are exploited. The day we are seen as equals, people will stop seeing the colour of our skin."

Joseph Ki-Zerbo was the first African professor of History in Paris having studied at both La Sorbonne and the Paris Institute for Political Studies. Born in Burkina Faso, he later came to be involved in politics, wrote many books, among them a standard book on African History, established the Centre for African Development Studies and dedicated his life to free his continent from colonialism and later on postcolonial chains that have helped suffocate the sense of worth and respect in the peoples of Africa. He spent some time in Uppsala, Sweden due to the political unrest that sometimes erupted in his home country.

Ki-Zerbo retells a story of an african woman, something very striking which can be seen in peoples of many nations that have been colonized whether it is Senegal or India;

"An african woman went to see her doctor. He told her that he would have to make a small operative incision but assured her he would give her local anaesthetic. The woman became very scared upon hearing the word local and said, "no doctor, please, I want french anaesthetic."

Women Praying & Sultan Qaboos Mosque

2007-03-26T16:07:00.000+02:00

The beautiful mosque, one of the largest in the Arab world was recently built in Muscat, Oman by the Sultan Qaboos. Whether it was to make up for the fact that it is commonly percieved that he killed his father, the former Sultan of Oman, I do not know. Either way, it is absolutely beautiful with large gardens and courtyards and for once, the female area was not a room with white walls and a funky smelling carpet, but rather a work of art on its own. Although not comparable to the main prayer room only the men get to enjoy.

It was even hard work getting the men to let me even enter to take a photo. Even then I kept only to the entrance.

I am still waiting for the day when I as a muslim woman can enter a main prayer room and pray there, which is my right. The way it was done at the time of the Prophet Mohammad* when no mosques had upper levels, or walls seperating the men and women.

But we live today as if that time never existed and as if the way mosques were built pre-Wahabi influence, never existed.

Look at the Omayyad Mosque in Damascus, a mosque where Imam Al Ghazali and many other great scholars of traditional Islam studied in the past; no walls. Same is the case with Al Aqsa in Jerusalem. All men and women pray together in one room, on different rows or sides of the room. Think about it next time you pray in a Mosque, what does it look like and why?

*May peace and blessings be upon him

Desert Beauty

2007-03-23T11:47:00.000+01:00

This is the main building at Anafora in Egypt. It is basically built in the middle of dry vast lands, eqivalent to a desert with trees growing scarcely. There is sand everywhere. More can be read about it if you go to the archives and click on February.

Craft at its finest

2007-03-20T11:17:00.000+01:00

Taken of a mosque in Alexandria, Egypt on my last trip in January 2007.

Children of Abraham

2007-03-18T11:44:00.000+01:00

A new online project has started which is mighty exciting involving youth from Damascus, Paris, Marrakech, London, Teheran, New York, Jakarta, Montreal, The UAE and more:

"Children of Abraham seeks to build an international community of Muslim and Jewish youth that celebrates their religious identities. Through an engaging project involving a photographic exploration of Jewish and Muslim communities around the world..."

It's really a fabulous idea, using photography to build bridges. Kind of like what we have been doing on Global Themes. Check out some amazing pictures from The Children of Abraham's photo gallery.

Madhubala - A legend

2007-03-15T18:05:00.000+01:00

Born on Valentines Day 1933, Madhubala is said to be one of the Indian filmscreen's most beautiful and charming actresses with a life story more tragic and fascinating than most of the 70 movies she acted in.

She was the 5th of 11 children in a very poor conservative Muslim Pasthun family in India and at a young age a holy man predicted that she would become very successful but her life would be filled with unhappiness.

Her greatest life work can be seen in the movie Mughal-e-Azam (1960) that took 9 years to film where she plays the role of real life historical figure and courtesan Anarkali, who fell in love with the emperor's son Jehangir (played by Dilip Kumar). It's a tragic love story that also reflects in real life. Madhubala and Dilip Kumar had a relationship/affair for 7 years and she wanted to marry him but he was never serious about her and eventually married a 20 years younger actress named Saira Banu.

She was diagnosed with a heart disease in 1950, before heart surgery was available, yet she concealed it from the film industry and continued working hard, at times coughing blood on set knowing she had a large poor family to support. Many of her friends later recount that she was never the same after her relationship with Dilip ended and many say she suffered from a lifelong depression.

She died with a hole in her heart in 1969 after being bedridden for 9 years, and was buried by her family and husband Kishore Kumar (whom she got married to in 1960).

A must see song & video:
In this scene where she sings one of the most beautiful songs in film history Pyaar kiya to darna kya - having loved what is there to fear from the movie Mughal-e-Azam you see her as Anarkali singing to Jehangir (played by Dilip Kumar, the younger man of two men on thrones in the video without a turban, her failed real-life love) and to his father wearing the turban, the emperor, who strongly dissapproved of their love. Madhubala was ill all through the making of the movie including this scene. She starts singing after about 2 minutes.

It is said Madhubala never stopped loving Dilip Kumar and watched the video to Pyaar kiya to darna kya 500 times on her death bed.

It is hard not to be moved by her song to him, whether she is Anarkali singing to Jehangir, or Madhubala singing to Dilip Kumar.

"I'd like a new cell number..."

2007-03-14T11:21:00.000+01:00

-That will be 1,5 million pounds, please.

A buyer in Qatar recently bought the world's most expensive cell number 666 6666. So I guess we can all give him/her a call now that they have publicly announced it to the whole world, Sweden included.

The money did however go to charity, donated by Qatars national phoneoperator Telco Qtel who also arranged the auction.

Previous owners of the world's most expensive number 8888 8888 was Chinese Sichuan Airlines who payed a mere 270 000 pounds for it. Why did they want 8's? Apparently the word for rich in Cantonese resembles that of the word for the number 8.

Salam Café Australia!

2007-03-13T16:31:00.000+01:00

A group of young muslims in Melbourne figured they wanted to give the people of Melbourne a window into being Muslim and started the tv chat show Salam Café. They are currently on season 3 and have had guests like Australian author and human rights activist Randa Abdel-Fattah and American comedian Azhar Usman and report with humor on life in Australia and highlight important events in Australia be it multicultural or interfaith based.

Watch highlights from different episodes here.

Watch an episode from season 3 featuring Azhar Usman here.

Sakina and Raya: Egyptian Serial Killers

2007-03-11T22:23:00.000+01:00

Sakina and Raya

In the music video I posted about earlier, Egyptian singer Shams' song Ahlan Ezayek, Shams in one scene plays the part of Sakina and Raya. Concidered to be some of the 20th centuries most ruthless criminals and have inspired the makings of both movies and theatrical plays in their name.

In the year 1919 in a poor district of Alexandria called Al-Labban, the two sisters began their murder spree. They had opened several brothel like houses which they ran together. Raya would often be the one going to markets eyeing out the women with the most jewelry on them (in order to steal it) and striking up conversation using some excuse to lure them to their brothels. There both the sisters husbands would help them kill the victims through suffocation and bury them in the back yard.
One day in 1920 a man noted the authorities, he had found a skull in the grounds of his house (previously owned by Sakina). Police began sniffing a trail that literally led them to her sister Raya who was burning unusual amounts of incense in her house. Raya had 2 bodies in her grounds while 15 other bodies were found at Sakinas house. The victims were all women, mostly married, in the ages 17-50.

The death sentence, at that time hanging, had never been given to females previously. However Raya and Sakina broke that trend and were hanged in 1921, along with their husbands and two other helpers.

What I find particulary noteworthy about this piece of fascinating and disturbing history is the motivation for previously not issuing the death sentence to women as stated by the Public Prosecutor of that time, Suleiman Ezzat; "...women's crimes generally demand an element of mercy and compassion, such as crimes in which women are driven to kill their husbands' second wives or in which they poison someone who has brought them harm."

Quote of the day

2007-03-09T11:18:00.000+01:00

Look at life through the windshield, not the rear-view mirror.
-Byrd Bagget

*Picture taken in a taxi in Cairo.

Women's Night in Bogotá

2007-03-08T10:46:00.000+01:00

Today we celebrate International Women's Day. The Mayor of Bogotá in Colombia, Antanas Mockus, introduced a new tradition in 2001 called Women's Night. It was celebrated the night before March 8th and men were asked to stay home with the kids and contemplate over themselves and their women, and the work they do. The women in turn went out to parks and enjoyed themselves with their grandmothers while policeofficers made sure no man disturbed them.

Result: There was not a single murder on the streets of Bogotá, which normally witnesses 15 murders a night. *

Also Watch the fabulous feature documentary about Women and AIDS. A Must See!

*From the article "Aborto Libre" by Magnus Linton, 2005

Al Jazeera TV, is one of the supporting media groups for the IWD.

Cruella and The Knight in Broken Armor

2007-03-07T12:54:00.000+01:00

A humorous "ode" to the fairy tales we have been brought up on.

Here you come riding back again,
on your limping horse, riding the wrong lane.
"I come with glad tidings", you say, so say?
But there's nothing but hot air blowing my way.

You get off your horse, the poor thing falls,
"I have your glass slipper that you left at the ball",
You must be mistaken, see it doesn't fit me?
besides this is plastic, how cheap can you be?

"I'm a knight in armor here to take you away",
but your armor is broke so now what do you say?
Nothing, there you go giving up again,
on your limping horse, riding the wrong lane.

A hundred years later you decide to return,
You have had many lessons and a chance to learn.
"Let down your hair, I wish to climb your high fort ,"
Oh I'm sorry but last week I cut it short.

Let's talk about AIDS, Ambassador

2007-03-03T21:41:00.000+01:00

I met with the Saudi Ambassador to Sweden at the Kuwaiti National Day Celebration in Stockholm and after finding common grounds with his music taste (Abdel Halim Hafez in particular) I moved on to talk about the AIDS situation in the Muslim World with emphasis on the Middle East and Gulf Region. He seemed unaware that the fastest growing region for AIDS/HIV was the Middle East. He seemed to believe that although cases had been found in Saudi Arabia it was by far "not as problematic" as the situation in "the west".

The first case of AIDS in Saudi Arabia was detected as early as 1984! (UNAIDS) That is 23 years ago. No data on HIV testing is available according to UNAIDS. Of course not, it is stigmatized, there is little awareness and a strong belief that it does not exist in the Holy Kingdom.

He told me there is no current health plan in Saudi Arabia to battle the AIDS epidemic that will no doubt hit it very hard in a decade or more (along with the rest of the Gulf Region and the Middle East). With the increased travelling, prostitution and sexual experimentation of a lot of the married and unmarried men (and to a lesser extent women) and youth of the region with new religious fatwas supporting their new found sexual freedom of zawaj friend (friendship marriage) allowing them to have a dame in every port, and the other zawaj orf (similar to zawaj friend). *

-What do we do about it Ambassador, I asked him.
-Well, I recommend you start with Dubai and Bahrain. They are very open and would perhaps welcome the discussion because they have a lot of tourists and expatriates, he replied.

Ok, but I was actually talking about Saudi Arabia?

*The fact that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) twice forbade mut'a (temporary marriage) until Judgement Day, seems to be of less significance to them.
**Picture courtesy of UNAIDS

Poll Result: Cure for AIDS

2007-03-03T21:16:00.000+01:00

It seems we are a positive crowd out there, 76% of us believing a cure for AIDS will be invented in the future. If it were not for hope the hearts would shatter, or so the Arabic proverb goes.

Vote in my next poll: How should one battle the spread of AIDS/HIV in the Muslim World?

A.R. Rahman sings for the UN

2007-03-02T12:28:00.000+01:00

Now playing on Al-Baal Café: Famous Indian Artist A.R. Rahman has produced a new track "Pray for me Brother" dedicated to the UN's millennium goals. Rahman released the single through his A.R. Rahman Foundation and Nokia.

Cairo Book Fair 2007

2007-03-01T00:10:00.000+01:00

Theme: Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian Nobel Prize
Winner of Litterature in the year 1989.

Kuwaiti Embassy celebrates in Stockholm

2007-02-26T22:40:00.000+01:00

The Kuwaiti Ambassador to Sweden cutting the cake
with the very excited Saudi Ambassador to Sweden.

At the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, in the beautiful Spegelsalen (Mirror Hall) the Kuwaiti Ambassador stood lined up at the entrance with his wife ready to greet the guests. Kuwait celebrates 46 years as a state today and among the many people invited to this banquet and musical evening we found the ambassadors of Mocambique, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Algeria, Syria, Egypt as well as representatives from Palestine, Iraq, the UAE and Pakistan among many more intellectuals and journalists in Sweden.

The Prophet*, cats and dogs

2007-02-24T00:02:00.000+01:00

As I was walking with friends on our way to a café in Alexandria, we met with these two darlings. One of them was limping and the other stood by its side all the time, leaving only to try and find something to eat by the boats that had been put on the corniche by a busy road. there was nothing but sand and dust.

We searched the corniche for a place with raw meat to feed them with, and as I fed the injured one, I noticed that this was the first time it had seen real fresh food, and thus wouldn't approach it. After patiently sitting with my arm stretched out holding the piece of meat, it slowly approached limping, taking small bites off it.

In Cairo I remembered the children sleeping on the side of the busy roads, homeless and dirty. Was it wrong of me to give the food to the cat? Maybe the children would have had better use of it. Don't they deserve it more?

I then remembered the saying of Prophet Mohammad* about kindness to animals which was narrated by one of his companions who was in fact nicknamed after his love for cats, Abu Huraira;

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may pace be upon him) as saying: "A prostitute saw a dog moving around a well on a hot day and hanging out its tongue because of thirst. She drew water for it in her shoe and she was pardoned (due to this act of hers)." Sahih Muslim, Book 026, Number 5578

*May peace and blessings be upon him

Swedish terrorist?

2007-02-21T12:04:00.000+01:00

Meet Hassan Asad. Palestinian/Jordanian born father of triplets, one blind, one in a wheelchair and one healthy son. He himself has undergone several operations and has a pacemaker. His whole family recently became Swedish citizens but for some reason he was denied it. Apparently the Swedish Secret Service, SÄPO had given confidential material to the immigration officials.

Asad is now to be sent back to Jordan (where he will no doubt be tortured) on the grounds of being a "threat to Swedish Scecurity". And what is he accused of? No one knows. Nor him or his lawyer have been told, nor do the Swedish public or media know.

Sweden is running errands for the US no doubt, just like they did a few years back when they let masked CIA agents take away Ahmed Agiza and Muhammed Al-Zary on Swedish soil! to Egypt without a trial, without being informed of what they had been accused of and being humiliated and tortured by both the agents themselves and Egyptian authority.

The Swedish public went into an uproar when they found out and apologies were made left right centre by the Government saying they were told by the CIA that the men would not be subjected to torture (which by International Law is a prerequisite if one is to leave out ones citizens). Both men returned to Sweden after being away for years.

A big campaign has been initiated, the Swedish Red Cross and many Muslim Organisations and other Swedish professionals are behind it. Let us hope Sweden doesn't make the same mistake again when his case is decided by the supreme court. We could all be in his shoes...

Read more about him on the private site that has been set up to support his case.

Bush starrs in Arabic Music Video

2007-02-20T14:04:00.000+01:00

In my hotel room in Cairo I saw this music video by singer Shams, Ahlan Ezayak (Hi, how are you). It criticizes in a comical way the whole Bush Administration's dealings with Iraq and Guantanamo as well as touching on the topic of plastic surgery. Refreshing for a change. Watch it here.

Tinku's World

2007-02-19T16:16:00.000+01:00

I have earlier blogged about American-Indian Muslim lawyer/comedian Azhar Usman and his hillarious ensemble of Allah Made me Funny. I recently stumbled upon a side project he has been working on with two short pilot episodes where he plays the character Tinku Patel, outsorced by a Chinese company from India to make a documentary in the US about the American Dream. Hillarious!

Episode 1
Episode 2

Bibliotheca Alexandria

2007-02-19T11:40:00.000+01:00

The library in Alexandria, Egypt.

Covered in letters from the world's alphabets.

A wonder in Egypt

2007-02-18T12:41:00.000+01:00

Cheop's Pyramid, Giza
2,3 million stone blocks

Shaykhspeara meets Hans Blix

2007-02-15T01:55:00.000+01:00

If you had a chance to ask Hans Blix a question, you know, the former UN Weapons Inspector to Iraq, the man who told President Bush that there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction, what would you ask him?

I was in Alexandria earlier this year together with a group from Sweden and we were in luck because Hans Blix had decided to go there for his vacations as well as hold a lecture at the Bibliotheca Alexandria on his WMD report. So the Swedish Institute in Alexandria were kind enough to host us together with Blix for a lunch and a small lecture/discussion.

He talked about the importance of not claiming to have the truth but rather be in search of it, pointing towards the US Administration's persistent claims (backed by both CIA and MI5) of the existence of WMD's contrary to the finds of the UN. Also Blix described how sophisticated the techonology has become in detecting if there is nuclear action in a country through what is called environmental sampling, just by analyzing water samples.

Iran is the latest name on the Nuclear discussion agenda. I decided to play it dumb and ask Blix, why exactly everyone is on Iran's back and is there any law or resolution or agreement that would prohibit Iran from developing nuclear power for energy purposes?

In 1968 a non-proliferation agreement was established which meant that those who signed the agreement were not to posess, produce or fight with nuclear weapons. Iran signed this agreement. The agreement does not say anything about forbidding refinement of Uranium or using that nuclear energy for energy purposes. Even Sweden uses that.

-"No you are right," Blix answered, "there is no agreement or resolution that prohibits Iran."
-"So why does the international community hold one tone with Iran whilst other countries remain in posession of fully developed nuclear weapon capabilities? How do you justify it legally?"
-"Well", he continued, "legally we cannot, however we do not want the region to become destabilized and also there are concerns that if Iran posesses the capability to refine Uranium they can also produce nuclear weapons. I do not think they will and we haven't found enough evidence to prove they are hosting illegal activity."
-"But don't they have a right to deliver energy resources to their growing population just like Sweden does?"
-"Yes of course, we are not against Iran having nuclear energy. We have been presenting a solution where Iran can purchase the Uranium at a low cost from a controlled market and then use it for its nuclear energy plants."

I do not wish to see yet another country with nuclear weapons or capabilities however, I cannot help but see the absurdity in the rhetoric against Iran. There is clearly no international law or agreement to restrict Iran yet one has chosen to use another tone and treatment against Iran that I see will inspire nothing but a disrespect for International Institutions and the world community at large. How do you tell Irani youth (and all other Arab and Muslim youth who have been drilled with the idea of a "western" conspiracy and double-standard against them) that one set of laws apply to them because they are Iranis (or whatever else is the fashion to dislike at the moment) while Israel, Pakistan, the US and India have fully developed nuclear weapons?

This is the challenge all of us who wish to work for a more balanced and peaceful world face. Peace Organisations, International Institutions and world leaders wont be able to convince people to follow international law when they adjust it to whatever winds are blowing at the moment.

"My little paper boat"- Woh kagaz ki kashti

2007-02-13T23:05:00.000+01:00

Do take my gold, and my fame, if you must

You can have my youth if you so do will

But do give me back my childhood showers

My little paper boat, the fresh rain's thrill

Do take my gold, and my fame, if you must

You can have my youth if you so do will

But do give me back my childhood showers

My little paper boat, the fresh rain's thrill

She, who, lived here as old as the road

She, whom we children, called granny

She, who wrapped fairies in sweet songs

She, whose wrinkles of years so many

And who, try as much, could forget them

Her fresh long tales filling nights so tiny

My little paper boat, the fresh rain's thrill

To walk out in the scorching heat

To larks and those jays and chasing butterflies

We'd marry our dolls and fight over it

High in our swings jumping far from watchful eyes

And those little trinkets of copper and bark

Those deep scarlet marks of broken bangles and cries

My little paper boat, the fresh rain's thrill

To drag our feet over smooth high dunes

A castle here, a hillock there

Our innocence filling every picture and tune

Our life of toys and dreams

In a world of joy, relations none did prune

Wasn't it beautiful, that life of ours?

Lyrics to the song Woh Kagaz ki kashti, currently playing on Al-Baal Café

Translation by S.A.A.R, with many thanks for a fantastic translation of the Urdu original.

Anafora in Pictures

2007-02-12T22:46:00.000+01:00

Anafora, Egypt: Bishop Thomas whom I wrote about earlier, created this haven during the past 20 or more years. Where the food is home grown and organic and nothing but natural light during the day and candles at night is used to light up the interior.

Strange Street Signs

2007-02-11T21:16:00.000+01:00

Global Themes Photo Blog, for those of you who have missed out on its existence, has been revamped and updated. The past week the theme has been Street Signs, and we have displayed signs from Kabul to Cambodja and Bosnia. The latest publication from Dubai is particularly hillarious and worth seeing.

Join us over at Global Themes!

One voice, two people

2007-02-09T13:35:00.000+01:00

Read more about the Israeli-Palestinian movement, and sign the petition: One Voice Movement

Proverb in the sand

2007-02-09T01:51:00.000+01:00

-Man ya3eesh yara; he who lives shall see

I was flying back to Sweden from Alexandria when we got the news at 1 am that no plane had landed or taken off from Alexandria's Burg el Arab airport in more than 3 days. Off to the Hilton courtesy of Lufthansa for a 3 hour nap. At 9 am our bus was to take us to Cairo Airport and subsequently home. No bus arrived and no word from Lufthansa. I did what any sane person would do; ran out at the back of the hotel to the amazing beach and played around in the water. The sand was like soft cake so I decided to cover as much of it in Arabic writing as I could.

Literally living in a Box

2007-02-09T00:58:00.000+01:00

Cairo: Taken on my recent trip to the "mother of the world". I stopped as I saw Ahmad arranging his bottles in his makeshift home.

-"Can I take your picture please?" I asked him.
-"My picture? But why? You know you can get into trouble for that. The authority doesn't want scenes like this to be spread around the world."

As odd as it was the he lived in a box, what was even more remarkable was his resigned attitude towards his situation. He didn't ask for a penny although he was clearly in need. What do you say to a man like that?

To the Egyptian authorities however I would like to say, "3eib 3aleykom". (Shame on you)

Shaykhspeara in Egypt: Bishop Thomas

2007-02-04T13:14:00.000+01:00

Irini: Peace in Coptic.

In a small area between Alexandria and Cairo, Bishop Thomas has created Anafora. A spiritual retreat and getaway for people of all religions to meet and get to know eachother.

In the fall of 2006 he was in a car accident on the road to Cairo with a Swedish family. The mother and daughter passed away and the father and Bishop Thomas made it with serious injuries.

I met with him more than a week ago at his place in Anafora. I was informed he wasn't to be tired out so brief was the word. I had questions about the situation of the Copts in Egypt, being a Christian minority in a Muslim majority.

"Layers, it's all about layers" he started. "On a social level things may seem OK, people meet, socialize attend each others parties and gatherings."

He turned to me and my group and asked us "How frank can I be with you?"

"I wanted to set up a school for the poorer children at Al Qusayr where they would be able to learn foreign languages like English, French or German. At the bottom of the list of languages that would be available to study I had placed Coptic."

Apparently the man incharge of supervising the project in that particular area had taken one look at the list and said; Coptic? What's that?

Bishop Thomas was asked to remove it saying it was not allowed to teach it in the school.

"In my area (Asyout, Al Qusayr), a new church hasn't been built since 1932, it is next to impossible to get permission to build one or restore an existing one there and yet when I travelled to Uppsala (Sweden) and a new mosque was about to be approved to be built I got the question whether I thought it was a good idea to let the Muslims in Sweden build a mosque or not. I told them, let them build it. Why not?"

And yet in Cairo you see many new churches. It was never clear whether it is Egyptian law that discriminates or Egyptians in charge themselves. In Cairo I met with Hisam, a young Coptic Egyptian who had a different view on life as a Coptic in Cairo. It was clad with far less reservations against the ruling majority.

However Egypt is a vast land and one area can differ from the other in attitude and implementation of laws.

Bishop Thomas left me with a slightly worried feeling, of the increasing polarization in between Muslims and other Muslims and non Muslims, brought on by the growing media influences of islamo-political channels in the Muslim world. Each channel with its own message and direction indirectly not letting its viewers accept any other message or point of view, being far from self-criticism.

The issue of the situation of the Copts in Egypt was raised by our group with a local muslim NGO and they were all surprised and upset to hear about the attitude towards the coptic language. Hopefully they will carry on investigating the why's and why not's.

In this globalized world it is ever more clear that you can be a minority and a majority at the same time. A Muslim minority in Sweden a Christian majority in Sweden, and a Muslim majority and Christian minority in for example Egypt. In a position of dependance and power, all at once. With added awareness and responsibility as a result of that, but do we take heed?

Writings on Dubai, Oman and the Gulf

2007-01-01T15:10:00.000+01:00

Travels & Encounters in Oman

Women Praying & Sultan Qaboos Mosque Reflections from my travels to Muscat, Oman

-----------------------------------
Travels & Encounters in The UAE 2007 & other related Articles

A hommage to the Markets in Sharjah Photography

Omani Dancers Reporting from the Heritage Village in Sharjah, The UAE.

Smoking Scents and The fate of Local Tradition A polish journalist preserving local heritage during the Heritage Village exhibition in Sharjah, The UAE.

Burj Al-Chocolate A display at the Burjuman Mall in Dubai.

Al-Baal Café in Gulf News Al-Baal featured in gulfnews.com

Squirt Attack An incident at a restaurant in Sharjah, the UAE.

The Hitchhiker's guide to The UAE Black Cabs, Guestworkers and Friday Night in the UAE.

A UAE local Photography and local women at the Heritage Village in Sharjah, The UAE.

Must Eat Mandy Restaurant and food review in Sharjah, The UAE

Al Bidyah Mosque: part 1 and Part 2 Inside the oldest mosque in The UAE.

Al Marhoum Mosque Dubai, The UAE.

Going Solar Parking metres on solar power in Dubai.

The UAE in patterns Art

Al-Baal Café on the UAE Reflections

"If Dubai can do it, why can´t we?" Tourism

UAE President shopping in Stockholm

Yusuf Islam aka Cat Stevens in Dubai Album signing in Dubai

-----------------------------------

Al-Baal One Year

2006-12-25T13:31:00.000+01:00

On exactly this day, one year ago I started Al-Baal, now known as Al-Baal Café. The idea was to create an atmosphere like that of Al-Baal Café in Damascus which I used to frequent many moons ago. It was a café where people would meet and discuss life, music, art, religion. Share both happy and sad moments with friends, while music played in the background.

I'll be going away for quite some time and will see you all hopefully sometime next year God willing. I might have some particularly interesting pictures and articles to post so do look out for that.

Thank you to all my readers and dear fellow bloggers for making it a pleasure to blog.

Eid ul-adha will take place most likely in the end of december so I wish everyone a Blessed and Happy Eid, and to those Muslims who have partaken in the Hajj, may God accept your efforts and prayers and I hope you all prayed for a better world for Anandeep, Carlos, Sergej, Nkosi, Zahra, Maria and all the other children that have not been named.

How about we make a collective new years resolution? Avoid jumping to conclusions. Which will lead to avoiding judging people wrongly. Which will avoid injustice. And ultimately lead to a better world. Simple, huh? *laughs*

Take care everyone.

Happy Holidays

2006-12-24T20:05:00.000+01:00

Al-Baal wishing all its readers who are celebrating the Holidays,
a peaceful and happy Christmas together with near and dear.

A swedish tradition during the holidays is to insert small cloves into an orange.
Not only does it look decorative, it sends out a sweet and musty aroma
throughout your apartment.

"If Dubai can do it , why can't we?"

2006-12-22T20:36:00.000+01:00

Little Dubai has more tourist visitors than the whole of India!

National Geographic writes about the tax-free emirate and how it went from a fishing village to a world class business investment zone.

In their Did you know? section you can read about the making of the Dubai Palm Islands.

As time goes "bye"

2006-12-22T01:17:00.000+01:00

When things around you have always been black,

Recognizing white takes time.

When your heart is a minefield,

No one can approach you without getting hurt.

When you don’t know which way you want to go,

No compass will lead you.

"Circumsize me!"

2006-12-19T20:57:00.000+01:00

According to a statement by UNAIDS, WHO, UNFPA and UNICEF, male circumcision can decrease the risk of being infected with HIV.

Campaigns taking into account religious and cultural sensitivites will be launched around the world as a consequence. Men will be standing in line ready to go under the knife. The question is; will news like this help decrease the spread of AIDS or will men assume that they are now next to immune and indulge even more than before?

Although the report presented by the previous mentioned organizations has taken into account the risks of spreading such information and thus has emphasized the need to stress that circumcision by no means is a protection from HIV/AIDS but merely a complementary source of protection, one still cannot help but worry about the effects of word of mouth.

I can imagine a conversation between two Muslim men in a poorer area of Casablanca:

-I heard that men who are circumsized don't get AIDS.
-Come on Amin, who said that?
-What? Are you saying I'm lying? A nurse told Boubakir and he told me.
-Wallahi? You see! The wisdom of Islam. God has protected us from AIDS*...

Update: Interactive AIDS map.
*Since circumsicion is obligatory for all boys in Islam. Converted adult Muslims do not have to do it.

Saudi PhD in Sweden

2006-12-18T12:43:00.000+01:00

Dr. Mazen Matabakani recently toured cities in Sweden lecturing at state libraries and other institutions on Muslim peace culture. He teaches at both King Faisal Centre for Islamic Studies and King Bin Saud University, both in Saudi Arabia.

He specialized in Orientalism or al- istishraakiyyah as it is called in Arabic, and had the following facts presented at one of his lectures in Stockholm;

-In 1873 the first World Congress of Orientalists was held in Paris. Every 3 to 5 years a new one has been held in different parts of the world.

-Kyoto University in Japan has recently composed a volume on Islamic Political Thought from past to present.

-A Danish Institute has been set up in Damascus following the controversy of the demeaning Muhammad Caricatures printed by Jyllands Posten in the fall of 2005.

After his lecture was over, I couldn't help myself but ask him about issues that had nothing to do with orientalism but more to do with the enigma that is Saudi Arabia.

I mentioned the AIDS situation outside Aqaba (read previous post) and how unfaithful Saudi men are at risk of being infected by HIV and unknowingly carrying it on to their wives. His comment to that was, "We deserve it."

"I am an immigrant, I am a Muslim"

2006-12-15T10:45:00.000+01:00

Earlier this month, two Bosnian artists Lejla Porovic and Alija Isanovic held an exhibition called "I am an immigrant, I am a Muslim" in Kista Shopping Mall, Stockholm. It was sponsored by the one and only anti-discrimination bureau in Sweden that has been established by Swedish Muslims.

Old man looking into a broken mirror in the video

In the middle of the shopping mall, you noticed a tv had been set up playing a film in black and white of different immigrant Muslims walking up to a broken mirror watching their distorted faces. Under the tv a thin film had been glued to the ground covered in black and white photographs of the very same immigrant Muslims.

To the right: Lejla and Alija discussing their work

I asked Lejla what the pictures on the ground signify;

-The feeling of being a newly arrived immigrant in a country is a bit like starting at the bottom, being stepped on, not noticed. And the video complements that feeling by showing how one looks in the mirror and not quite recognizing oneself anymore. The photos in black and white represent a feeling of nostalgia for our past. There are even coffee stains on them to give them that used feel.

First Pic: A visitor avoiding stepping on Alijah Isanovic

Second Pic: A visitor walking all over the whole foto display

The most interesting part was watching how the Mall visitor's reacted to the pictures on the ground. I found there were three types of people; the one that as he/she noticed the pictures, made every effort not to walk on the faces. The second type that would walk around the pictures. The third type that wasn't bothered at all and walked right over everyone.

Swedish-Iraqi Lucia

2006-12-13T21:56:00.000+01:00

Every year on December 13th, Swedes celebrate St. Lucia Day, marking the beginning of the christmas season. A girl is chosen to play the role of St. Lucia, donning a long white dress with a crown of lit candles on her head.

I attended the Lucia Concert today in Blåhallen, a beautiful old hall, that was arranged by The Culture School (Kulturskolan). I spotted a young girl wearing the headscarf participating in this semi-Christian/Swedish event. Something unthinkable when I grew up in Sweden many moons ago.

A great effort had been made to make it a multicultural Lucia for everyone by choosing a Swedish-Iraqi girl as Lucia that later danced to an oriental tune played in typical Swedish folk-music style with flute.

Classical music and other Swedish folk-tunes were sung by children along with latin chamber music and at the end of the event the most enjoyable part was listening to the older Swedish people saying; "well I think it is nice how they mixed all those cultures".

Turkish Bath in Stockholm

2006-12-12T22:21:00.000+01:00

Near Stockholm's main mosque, a turkish bath or hamam as it is generally known as, is very likely going to be built and ready for use around 2008. The bath has been purposely chosen to be built near the mosque because hamams in Turkey and many other Muslim countries are generally always built next to the mosque.

They are now looking at having 1 or 2 days a week reserved only for women. Swedish culture however promotes a very lax attitute towards having men and women together in baths due to the Scandinavian sauna culture.

New Blog: Global Themes

2006-12-12T12:35:00.000+01:00

Global Themes is finally launching its Photo Blog!

Contributors from all over the world, Dubai, Tel Aviv, Stockholm, Boston, Abu Dhabi and more, will post pictures on a weekly theme. This week's theme is Water.

This is a chance to see the world and different issues from diverse perspectives while global music plays in the background like "The Gypsy Girl" by Nikos Kypourgos.

Join us over at Global Themes!

Ridiculous Rumours

2006-12-11T18:14:00.000+01:00

In Sweden we have had many cases of girls and now even boys being killed by family members because of alleged love affairs (physical or emotional). Primarily Islam is being attacked for this primitive, barbarian behaviour.

So what's it all about?

To think that this is a male invented phenomena would be to laugh in the eyes of all victims off honor killings. The fact of the matter is, men and women are both in on it, maintaining and executing.

In Jordan, honor killings are given a milder sentence. Thanks for such a legal view can be given to France, where the idea stems from. Crime de passion (crime of passion) as it was once labelled. In France it was used in a context where often a man had killed his wife out of jealousy. Because of the "upsetting" circumstance, he was not to be held as harshly accountable for killing her.

In Jordan this year 15 people (mostly girls and women) have been murdered by family members. Often a brother, father or uncle. Only recently a 21 year old girl and her would be fiancé according to Jordan Times.

Her own mother had heard from their neighbor that the young couple were having a sexual relationship. She then told her husband, the girls father, who later called the boy's family over pretending to want to finalize an engagement. He asked to speak privately with the boy and his daughter and fired 14 shots at both daughter and boy killing them.

He "defended the family honor." Medical reports later showed the girl was a virgin.

It is irrelevant whether she was a virgin or not. Whether she had sex with the boy or not. How do you kill your own daughter? There can be nothing but a sick society and culture that would encourage such behaviour.

Playing devil's advocate, had he not killed his own daughter, he would be put under great pressure by his surroundings, both men and women. And as the Pakistani saying goes, he would have "lost his shalwar" (meaning lost his pants, become shamed).

This sense of honor exists in many cultures, and although nothing in Islam has ever and will ever support such behaviour, Muslim men and women continue to make a case against themselves for being the most primitive bunch of lunatics on the planet. A legacy every Muslim (particularly in the west) is forced to bare whether they agree with it or not.

World Lullabies

2006-12-06T18:09:00.000+01:00

In the sub-continent and many parts of the Muslim world, children fall asleep to the tunes of la ilaha ill'Allah* sung often by their mothers.

Every country has its own traditions of lullabies. One thing they all have in common is a soothing effect on recipients of even an older kind. Playing on Al-Baal Café is the song Cancion para dormir by Beatriz Pichi Malen from Argentina.

It can be found among many wonderful world lullabies on the Putumayo Record, Dreamland.

*Arabic for There is no god but Allah. The Islamic testimony of faith.

Russian Spy died a Muslim

2006-12-06T00:06:00.000+01:00

"Litvinenko's father, Walter, said in an interview published today that his son - who was born an Orthodox Christian but had close links to Islamist rebels in Chechnya - had requested to be buried according to Muslim tradition after converting to Islam on his deathbed.

"He said ’I want to be buried according to Muslim tradition’," Mr Litvinenko told Moscow's Kommersant daily."

-Article in Times Online.

Al-Baal Café

Halal Mix Tape Vol. 1

Al-Baal Café ends the year...

Rain over Rawalpindi

Happy Birthday & gTunes!!

Benazir Bhutto Returns...

A cracked olive branch

11 000 year old paint

Main Vari Vari

How many villas can a person have?

Don't be such a turtle!

Human before Muslim

Ramadan Kareem Blog!

Blogs, Breaks & Ramadan

Fabulous Fujairah!

Al-Baal Café featured in Gulf News...

The New 7 wonders

*Weird* Tag

Female Doctors & The Eternal Muslim Plea...

A hommage to the Markets of Sharjah

Team Work

Silence is man and Speech is woman...?

Omani Dancers

Smoking Scents & The fate of Local Tradition

Al-Baal Café introducing...

A minox to Mecca...

You've been hit by...a smooth Muslim!

Expedition Linné

Burj Al Chocolate!

Al Baal Café in Gulf News

Rambo, Apples & Sweden

War & The need to be tidy

Global Themes goes (dot)org!

How Greek became Bosnian

Squirt Attack

The Hitchhiker's guide to the UAE

A UAE local

Time for a Tag

Must eat Mandy

The oldest Mosque...

Inside Al-Bidyah Mosque

Muslims, the new Communists of America

Al-Marhoum Mosque

Going Solar

The UAE in patterns

Al-Baal Café on The UAE

Al-Baal Café taking a Tea Break in Dubai

Fhear A Bhata (The Boatsmen)

How Pakistani Are you?

What's your global footprint?

The Black Bird

Hindi in the American Ghetto?

Loneliness á la Sweden

Chinese Calligrapher

Battling faulty sharia law

Sweden's first working Minaret?

Joseph Ki-Zerbo 1922-2006

Women Praying & Sultan Qaboos Mosque

Desert Beauty

Craft at its finest

Children of Abraham

Madhubala - A legend

"I'd like a new cell number..."

Salam Café Australia!

Sakina and Raya: Egyptian Serial Killers

Quote of the day

Women's Night in Bogotá

Cruella and The Knight in Broken Armor

Let's talk about AIDS, Ambassador

Poll Result: Cure for AIDS

A.R. Rahman sings for the UN

Cairo Book Fair 2007

Kuwaiti Embassy celebrates in Stockholm

The Prophet*, cats and dogs

Swedish terrorist?

Bush starrs in Arabic Music Video

Tinku's World

Bibliotheca Alexandria

A wonder in Egypt

Shaykhspeara meets Hans Blix

Weird Tag