Back when MrsHM and I lived in Malaysia, I was able to connect Gizmo+ to Google Voice for a free U.S. number that friends and family could call me with. Shortly after we moved back to the U.S., Google discontinued Gizmo+ service, and my free landline went bye-bye. Sure, people could call me with my Google Voice number, but only if I was Gmail was open. A tip I got on Facebook led me to the OBi100 VoIP Telephone Adapter
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Set-up was super easy. I plugged the Obi100 into my router. Then, I plugged a cheap cordless phone into the Obi100. After that, I simply followed the instructions on ObiHai’s website:
In about 5 minutes, I had a free landline! Now, when you call my Google Voice number, the phone rings just as it would if I had traditional phone service.
A couple days ago, the advertisement (an article by design) shown above appeared in countless college newspapers across America. It was put together by an organization called F.L.A.M.E. or “Facts And Logic About The Middle East”– only they specialize in demonizing Islam and Muslims.
In order to counteract the effects of hate speech and misinformation regarding our communities, I personally believe that Muslims should be proactive when it comes to engaging their neighbors. In addition to being proactive, I also believe it is important to respond simply and swiftly to articles and ads such as the one above.
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HijabMan’s Note: Please welcome our new guest blogger, Kiran. She’ll be posting healthy recipes and whatever else she feels like writing. She also blogs at 400Degrees
Salaams, Greetings & Hello I’m Kiran!
HijabMan and I have been friends for some time, but I didn’t really get to know him until he photographed my wedding two years ago. At the time I was living in Indiana and have since moved to Connecticut. After getting married I had to face several adjustments: I was beginning a masters program (I’m a librarian by training), I was moving to some strange unheard of state, and after so long, I had to share my space with another person. Fortunately he likes books and I like shelving them (not that a real librarian would).
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HM’s Note: This post describes a situation of domestic violence.
I was just reading the latest article on AltMuslimah, where the author describes her experience with domestic violence. It reminded me of a chilling experience I had three days before we left Malaysia… I wrote this immediately after it happened for a newspaper there.
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“It’s personal issue. Sorry. I appreciate you telling me.”
With a pat on the back, the guard in front of the KLCC Mall Taxi counter dismissed me, and let an abusive man walk away with his battered wife.
Just hours ago, my wife, 4 year old daughter, and I walked into an elevator lobby right below the Petronas Towers to find a man pummeling a woman’s head repeatedly. Her face was stained with bruises and tears were rolling down her face. Other people present were standing around as if nothing was happening.
I stared at him for a moment in shock before I ran outside to the restaurants near the water fountain. “HELP! A man is hitting a woman! Call the police, call the guards!”
While I was outside, my wife heard him say in Malay, that the woman was a ‘worthless wh**e’ and he had her number, if anyone wanted it.
I ran back into the lift lobby just as the man escorted the woman into the lift. Without thinking, I stuck my hand out so that the elevator doors wouldn’t close and continued to yell, repeating,
“THIS MAN IS HITTING THIS WOMAN. CALL THE POLICE, CALL THE GUARDS.”
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Disclaimer: I totally respect women’s abilities to make their own decisions about their bodies, and I’m not trying to argue that men taking an interest in these issues means that any man should have the final say on any woman’s decision.
With the very real chance of widespread power outages due to Hurricane Irene, a note on Facebook explaining the safety of refreezing breast milk was passed around. I posted it and within a few minutes, a woman asked why I as a man should be so concerned with breast milk.
Multiple reasons with the simplest first.
1. I’m a human being, and I like learning about everything… so that I can be a resource for people who don’t know.
2. Most of my friends are female. And I care about half of the human population.
3. I have a wife who travels a lot. So frozen breastmilk or breast milk sharing (yes, I am familiar, and a proponent) will eventually be a reality for me.
4. Most importantly, I believe every man should know about women’s bodies — form and function. It makes men better fathers, partners, lovers, and friends.
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Obi100 + Router + Cheap Phone
In Part 1, I described how much I hated running and papayas. And then I told you about how my super-athlete in-laws got me to sign up for an 11 kilometer run:
“[They are] so athletic, in fact, that they took advantage of my newly married, I-don’t-speak-metric, willing-to-do-anything-to-impress-you self, and suggested we all split up into teams and participate in Malaysia’s Powerman competition. This involves each of us finishing either an 11K run, a 64K bike, or 10K run.
Long story short, I’m running my first-ever 11K in a little more than two weeks. In order to prepare for the event, I promptly read dozens of articles on barefoot-running, bought a pair of Vibram FiveFingers, and laid down on the couch. 11 kilometers. That’s 1/2 mile, right?”
Well, I did it. I ran 11 kilometers (6.835 miles) non-stop, with a time of 1 hour and 9 minutes, in ‘barefoot’ shoes’.
And it felt like nothing. I actually enjoyed it!
See, I’m the kind of person that lives off of small, happy interactions. In fact, I get so much energy from someone smiling and wishing me a good day that I feel like bouncing around for hours afterwards. That’s exactly what happened during my run. I started waving and smiling at everyone standing on the street watching– the race officials, food vendors, and little kids.
It didn’t feel like work at all, and before I knew it I crossed the finish line way ahead of my competition, my sister-in-law Lin!
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It was our first Eid prayer here at the main mosque here in Blacksburg, Virginia. The mosque itself is set up such that women are on the second level overlooking the men’s space. Of course, throughout the festivities as well as during the Sermon the men could hear the women above enjoying themselves. It was, after all, Eid– a joyous occasion!
“SISTERS!” One of the men yell.
“Sisters please, ” the Imam asks the women to quiet down.
I’d like to say three things. And feel free to post this in your local mosque.
1. If you put women and children in a separate space apart from the men, they are no longer are part of the congregation. Therefore you should not be surprised when they start talking during the sermon.
2. Another reason why women have disengaged from the happenings in the mosque are the things said about women inside the mosque. (E.g. During a sermon: “The majority of the inhabitants in hell are women.”)
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