A quick question for my readers…

What's the Arabic/Urdu/Hindi word for “shop”, and how would you spell it using the English alphabet?

I do know the answer (hint: it begins with the letter 'd'), but I want to have an idea of the most commonly used transliteration.

I know at least one person who is gonna go by the book on this; you don't have to comment. {grins}

2) I am much more comfortable with my mother tongue these days, māshā’Allāh. No way near any kind of fluency; but the odd Hindi/Gujarati word pops out of my mouth, without me realising it. I think it's because I am spending a lot more time with my parents, though we still speak to each other in English. I guess I must be subconsciously picking up the lingo whilst my folks natter away to one another.

3) I get to avoid people that make me feel crappy. Example: I was talking to someone new at a family wedding yesterday, when the young lady in question asks me if I'm married. I reply in the negative. Then she asks me how old I am. I tell her, twenty *cough* – soon to be twenty *cough*. As soon as the words fell out of my mouth, she just gave me this look. I can't explain it. It's like her face fell with shock. Geez, thanks for making me feel like I'm over the hill already, love! Remind me never to leave the house again…

Anyway, this is a random “non-post”. Go ahead and share; make me feel less dumb, please. :)

Jazakallah!

‘Īd al-Aḍḥa in Park" height="394" vspace="10" width="400" />

1) ‘Īd Mubarak! Yup, ‘Īd-in-the-park/" target="_blank">I prayed in the park again… and yup, it was bloomin' cold! But thankfully not wet, alhamdulillah. Didn't harrass any small children this time, though there were two very cute girlies sat near to me. Their mum was rather clever and brought a thermos of something nice n' hot for them to sip on during the khutbah – why didn't I think of that?!

2) Does anyone have a clue about either digital video cameras and/or regular video cameras whose footage can be easily digitised? Purpose: amateur film production – really amateur. Short films. Not looking to win an Oscar for cinematography, kinda thing. Hoping to bag something in the January sales inshā’Allāh, but have no clue where to begin!

3) I want a Scottish accent. A cool one. Can someone donate one? Pleeeease? :D

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Well, it's definitely not the worst Muslim-related story to find on the front page of the BBC News website – just a little out of date! Though i noticed that it did feature a fancy, new, colour version of the digital Qur'an… nice!

With poetry, it's not about mistakes so much, but rather trying to perfect the flow. So, after reading it a few times, i'll think: “Hmm, i think this word would sound better here”, or, “I've used that word twice – it's gotta go”, etc. Sort of a poetic nip n'tuck.

So, i suggest that if you ever want to see the “finished product”, as it were, leave at least a day before you click on my name in your feed reader. Or just check back every so often, and make it into a 'spot the difference' game.

I've been quite embarrassed about this odd behaviour, cos i'm sure i'm the only one who does it (at least, i haven't notice any other sufferers), so my crazy idea was to tell all my readers about it, in an attempt to destroy the stigma, at its root – or something.

Yeah, it makes no sense, i know. I'll be quiet now.

(& you just know i've done the same to this entry, right? Sigh)

And as of this moment, the number of entries found on iMuslim.wordpress.com.

Feel free to steal them.

(Update: the erroneous comma has been removed! Jazakallah Faraz)