Peace! Fifteen years ago, I started calling myself “HijabMan.” Dissatisfied with the community of Muslims surrounding me, I donned this new moniker to attract attention and created a web site chronicling my struggles as a first-generation American Muslim of South Asian descent. But a lot has happened since then… read moreRead on »
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Why I Dress My Daughter In “Boy” Jeans.
Back when I was an undergraduate student at the University of Massachusetts, I took several women's studies… READ ON »
What Would You Do If She Said You Could Be A Househusband?
Note: This is the 5th part in a series about how I met my wife (and daughter). Just joining us? Check… READ ON »
Three Beautiful Things: My Wife Laughs In Her Sleep Edition
It's been quite a while since I've posted here regularly, but I'm finally ready to change that. My buddy… READ ON »
My Hate-Turned-Love Relationship With Running. Part 2.
In Part 1, I described how much I hated running and papayas. And then I told you about how my super-athlete… READ ON »
That’s an Arabic Name. Are You The Babysitter?
On Friday my mom took care of Eryn while I took some sorely needed “me” time to run some errands.
When… READ ON »
The Muslim community, in general, has become obsessed with the way an animal is slaughtered, despite the fact that our tradition actually speaks not just about the way an animal is slaughtered but how it is treated during its life. Duh! Why do we call meat ”halal” when only the last step of the animal’s life is according to ‘Islamic’ (Read: ethical) principles. That’s right, the meat labeled ‘halal’ is most likely from the same factory farm as any other meat in the grocery store– just slaughtered in a different way. Most people don’t realize that the ‘halal’ label refers only to the way the animal has been killed.
In the era of factory farms and hormone-fed animals, the label of “halal” has been watered down and exists only as an empty brand name. If you are a heartless person who doesn’t care about the treatment of animals, consider this of your beloved label:
“75 percent of Halal meat in America produced in the year 2000 came from pork fed cows, according to Dr. Stephen Emanuel, from Agway Feed Company.” - SoundVision
Thankfully, I’m not the only one who feels that ‘halal’ doesn’t mean much. Check out the new stream of ‘organic and halal’ meat suppliers like GreenZabiha, founded by Yasir Syeed. (Full disclosure: I photographed his brother’s wedding)
“Muslims are directed in the Quran to eat food that is Halal and Tayyib. Halal is defined as food that is permissible according to Islamic law. Tayyib means wholesome, pure, nutritious and safe. Traditionally, Muslims in North America have emphasized the Halal over the Tayyib when it comes to meat consumption, Hussaini says.” – SoundVision
(More disclosure: That quote was from 10 years ago, but the emphasis on the method of slaughtering of the animal over the health and treatment of the animal hasn’t changed much.)
Some Muslims like to use the excuse that when someone sells you ‘halal’ food you should take it at face value, as they are the one making the claim. I don’t buy that. Read on »
Today, MrsHM and I locked in our interest rate at 3.125% for a 10 year mortgage with a 20% down-payment. In late May, we will move in and begin our monthly payments. MrsHM has a full-time gig, and we’ve decided that my work will be flexible, consisting of part-time jobs. We were pre-approved for a $250,000+ mortgage.
Instead, we bought a $135,000 townhouse after looking at all sorts of properties. We saw old homes, new homes, townhomes and single-family homes. One day, our real estate agent commented, “I don’t think you guys know what you want.”
Wrong. We just wanted to see what was out there. We knew exactly what we wanted:
- To live WAY below our means
- Something we could easily rent out
- At least 3 bedrooms
- A spacious kitchen
- Outdoor space for gardening
- Little or no grass to mow (What’s the point? I’d rather plant vegetable and fruit gardens!)
- Laminate or hardwood floors
- 2 bathrooms would be best (We ended up with 1 full bath and two half baths) Read on »
HijabMan’s Note: This article was previously published at Patheos.
At the age of 12, my father decided to put me in Islamic Sunday School at our local mosque. Since I was new to Sunday School, the teachers put me in the kindergarten class. Within one year, I was skipped to second grade and then to fourth grade, before I was ultimately promoted to instructor in an alternative Saturday school. Can you say, “lowered expectations?”
It is not uncommon for mosque Sunday Schools to be staffed by volunteers as young as 13 who just parrot what they’ve heard. As for the content, I learned about how birthdays are prohibited in Islam, that only prostitutes pluck their eyebrows, and how a one-eyed monster will come and get me on the Day of Judgment. In short, I left Islamic Sunday School with the perception that God was a big scary being that was going to throw me into hell.
The experience, however depressing, did inspire me to read the Quran for myself. It was only then that I realized that the vast majority of fairy tales they teach you in Sunday school are not in the Quran—which, by the way, is what Muslims believe is God’s message to humankind. In fact, the lessons taught in my Sunday School growing up didn’t come close to capturing the spirit of the holy book. Read on »
Last week, I shared Amer‘s recipe for hummus and it got such a great response that I’m posting this falafel recipe a little bit early. I’m gradually cutting more and more meat out of my diet, and as a result I have to come up with vegetarian dishes for dinner. While deep frying isn’t exactly the healthiest thing in the world, it’s definitely a nice treat every now and then! Just like the hummus recipe, this involves throwing everything in a food processor– the only extra step is frying.
Ingredients:
1 lb bag of dry chick peas (soaked overnight)
1 whole bulb of garlic
1 medium size onion
1 jalapeño
1 cup cilantro
1 cup Italian (It’s the flat-leaf kind) parsley
1 table spoon coriander powder (freshly ground if possible)
1 ½ teaspoon cumin powder (freshly ground if possible)
Afterthoughts: 1. Good farmers are also consistent. 2. This does not refer to just people who label themselves Muslim— it refers to everyone. God made a covenant with each community– grow your own soul by following that promise.
Related verses from the Qur’an:
91:7-10 (Qur’an) By the Soul, and the proportion and order given to it; And its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right;- Truly s/he succeeds that purifies it, And s/he fails that corrupts it!
2:155-156 (Qur’an) And most certainly shall We try you by means [of danger, and hunger, and loss of worldly goods, of lives and of [labour's] fruits. But give glad tidings unto those who are patient in adversity -who, when calamity befalls them, say, “Verily, unto God do we belong and, verily, unto God we shall return.”
89:27 (Qur’an) [But unto the righteous God will say,] “O thou human being that hast attained to inner peace!
89:30 (Qur’an) yea, enter thou My paradise!”
5:105 (Qur’an) O you who have attained to faith! It is [but] for your own selves that you are responsible: those who go astray can do you no harm if you [yourselves] are on the right path. Unto God you all must return: and then He will make you [truly] understand all that you were doing [in life].
2:286 (Qur’an) God does not burden any human being with more than s/he is well able to bear….
59:18 (Qur’an) O YOU who believe! Remain conscious of God; and let every human being look to what s/he sends ahead for the morrow! And [once again]: Remain conscious of God, for God is fully aware of all that you do;
Happy Beautiful Thursday y’all. I’m allowed to say y’all now that I live in the South. Okay, y’all? Here you go, three beautiful things!
1. Revelation. The Books revealed to the prophets and messengers of God. Sure, some people pick out verses from them that seem unjust. But if you look at them as a whole, if you look at the message, they are beautiful. Believe. Do Good.There Will Be A Day When You Will Be Judged. Today I was gifted a Bible by Stan, a friend of mine who is also a United Methodist pastor. We meet [almost] every Thursday for breakfast, and I’m honored to speak with him about revelation and the followers of revelation. It’s always an inspiring conversation and it gets my brain churning– both informing me of my own faith tradition (and covenant) as well as other peoples’ covenants.
Today, we spoke a bit about the description of Judgment Day in the New Testament (what Muslims refer to as the Injeel, and also considered a revelation of God)… it echoes a similar description in the Qur’an…
I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. – New Testament, Revelations 20:12-13
And [on that Day] you will see all people kneeling down [in humility]: all people will be called upon to [face] their record: “Today you shall be requited for all that you ever did! This Our record speaks of you in all truth: for, verily, We have caused to be recorded all that you ever did! – Qur’an, The Kneeling, 34:28
2. Home-made food. Before I got married and gained daddy status with WarriorPrincess, I talked the talk about eating healthy but rarely walked the walk. Having a family forced me to be consistent, and so I began to use as many local, organic, and unprocessed foods that I could. I avoid additives like the plague. When I looked at the list of ingredients on a package of butter, I noticed that one of them was “natural flavoring,” and I wanted to puke. How do you add flavoring to butter? I want to taste butter! Not what some chemist thinks butter tastes like! Read on »
