iMuslim.tv

SimSim’s Wedding Day

// July 15th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Photos

A selection of photos from the wedding day of my best friend, SimSim.

Skating at the Museum on Eid-ul-Adha 1430

// November 27th, 2009 // 7 Comments » // Photos

I continued my Eiding-in-the-park tradition this morning, alhamdulillah. I was stood behind the masallah, and had a great view of the jamaat. But I decided against taking any photos. It felt like I’d be breaking a trust. Plus, sometimes you just need to live the moment, rather than be distracted by your fervent attempts to capture it.

The good news is, on my way home from uni this afternoon, I discovered my camera in my coat pocket. Thus I was finally able to capture some shots of the Natural History Museum ice rink, which I’ve been eager to do ever since it was set up a few weeks ago.

The last shot is my favourite… I think it would make a nice postcard. Btw, am I alone in thinking ice skating is the most romantic of the winter sports? All that huddling, cuddling and giggling… Sigh.

Happy Eid, everybody!

How Old is iMuslim?

// November 9th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Blog

Well, as of this entry, the blog is 500 posts (and just over three years) old. I have deleted the majority of posts created during the period of experimentation with imported status messages, so it is an official milestone this time – no cheating.

I now present my – I mean, my blog’s – birthday wish list. And if you think birthday presents are too much of an innovation, then consider it an Eid-ul-Adha wish list instead:

• a Nintendo Wii, with Wii Fit/Active/Sports/whatever makes me sweat and get fit enough in the privacy of my own home, to eventually allow me to return to the kickboxing classes that I so dearly miss.
• a compact DSLR
• a decent haircut (blonde curls are a real possibility – an in-joke for my FB sisters)
• a Maths tutor
• a big ol’ punch bag, like I saw on TV last night. Awesomeness!
• Really good chocolate. I mean, so good that I don’t care that it makes me fat, because it’s that amazing. Cadburys and Thorntons do not fit in that category at present. Maybe Hotel Chocolat?
• a trustworthy builder to knock down the wall that currently separates our two living rooms, so that the middle room can finally have some natural light, and not be so depressing a place to sit in – especially during the Winter.
• a jacuzzi
• someone that makes me feel less ‘bleurghy’
• a good, non-trivial, real life, face-to-face conversation, that doesn’t involve discussion of the weather (unless it’s related to a debate on climate change), or the stupidity of lecture timetables.

List to be updated as and when I – I mean, my blog – decides.

Btw, the above wish list is clearly pure self-indulgence. There are many things that I – and my blog – wish for, that are less selfish, and more altruistic. I am very blessed with what I already have, alhamdulillah, and don’t feel at all lacking in respect to material goodness. I just felt like writing a ‘me, me, me’ post today. :)

What’s on your (or your blog’s) wish list?

Guy Fawkes Fireworks 2009

// November 7th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Photos

I didn’t take a tripod with me to the park tonight, so as expected, most of my shots of the fireworks display were immediately deletable. I did manage to salvage a couple of photos with a bit of post-process tweakerage:

I actually took the second one from the back of my friend’s car, on our way home. In fact, I spent more time in the car than I did watching the fireworks! Oh well… it was still an enjoyable evening, masha’Allah. :)

And She Gets Back Up

// October 7th, 2009 // 5 Comments » // Blog

Oh, happy day! Alhamdulillah, today rocked. The lecture itself wasn’t exactly super-stimulating; it was just a basic introduction to the various programming languages that we’ll be trained in over the next three months: Perl, Python and… erm, Java, I think. It’s what happened afterwards that made me grin ear-to-ear!

I asked the lecturer what his background was, expecting him to say Computer Science. But he’s actually a Biologist-turned-Comp nerd, like I wanna be! I confessed to him that I had trouble with yesterday’s lecture, which contained a lot of Maths; whereupon he confessed to me that his Maths is quite bad, too. And then, he said that the Bioinformatics service centre where he works, (i.e., the folks who help all the scientists on campus with their research projects), actually has a shortage of people with a good understanding of Biology, and skills in computing.

Yey! I may actually have a job at the end of this, insha’Allah. I am so sucking up to this guy; he might be my future boss! ;)

Seriously, I feel sooo much better today. I understood 99% of what he spoke about. In fact, only one slide didn’t make sense, and it turns out there was a typo: so I wasn’t going crazy, after all.

Day 3 of my course, we haven’t actually touched a computer yet, and I pretty much already know what kind of Bioinformatician I want to be: the kind who doesn’t have to deal with Maths! :))

My Favourite iPhone Apps

// September 23rd, 2009 // 7 Comments » // Blog

This post is dedicated to sister Ammena: owner of a brand-spanking new iPhone. You lucky gal, masha’Allah. :)

I reckon that I’ve had my iPod Touch for a couple of years now, and in that time I have discovered some great applications – and some terrible ones! But let’s stick with the goodies for now, shall we?

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Eid-ul-Fitr: Prayers in the Park, Pt III (or maybe Pt IV?)

// September 21st, 2009 // 8 Comments » // Photos

Well, I think this is the third time I prayed Eid salat in the local park. First time, second time… hmm, the blog seems to think ‘three’ too. Looks like I missed out on park Eiding in 2008… I believe I prayed one Eid at Whitechapel mosque, as it was raining… but where did I pray the second one? – complete blank – Gah! [Update (23/09/2009): After discussing the matter with SimSim, we remembered that we prayed at East London Mosque on both Eids in 2008. Alhamdulillah & huzzah for the relief!]

Anyway, one thing you’ll hopefully notice from the pics below is that I actually took a decent camera with me this time, and did not rely on the crummy camera in my phone (which is good, as I still use the same handset as I did back in 2007!). Please click on each image to see the full-size copy. [Flickr archive]

Don

Straighten the Rows: the men line up for the prayer.

Imam gives the Khutbah: Not the most effective design for a partition. ;)

Higher Daddy!: A father pushes his child on the swings during the khutbah.

The brothers sit and listen to the imam.

While the kids quietly play! The advantage of holding prayers in a playground. :)

Playground Springs: I have no idea why they have these little fountains and showers in the kiddies

Curious Child: All the kids were fascinated by the sprinklers... though I

So there you have it: another Eid in the park; another step closer to establishing a personal Eid tradition, insha’Allah.

Where did you pray today?

Eid Cookies

// September 20th, 2009 // 6 Comments » // Photos

In the spirit of my personal motto: the best gifts are edible. ;)

Ingredient for Eid Cookies: Flour, Butter, Sugar, Eggs... and LOVE! :)

Baking Some Lurve: Raw Eid Cookies

The Land of Eid Cookies: And also some fairy cakes.

Ready to Go: Eid Cookies waiting to fulfil their purpose.

On Rivalry

// September 17th, 2009 // 5 Comments » // Blog

“Bear in mind that the present life is just a game, a diversion, an attraction, a cause of boasting among you, of rivalry in wealth and children.” Qur’an 57:20

I don’t think I ever really appreciated the sense of rivalry that Allah mentions in the above verse (and elsewhere in the Qur’an), until very, very recently. I’m talking, the last two months or so. It sort of crept up over me, maybe because nearly every singleton in my life has suddenly gotten married, with other newly weds having babies, that I feel somewhat left behind in the personal life department.

A few years ago, I was on a quest to get married – but it was more like an adventure; one that I shared with friends and cousins. Alhamdulillah, one by one, my travelling companions left for the next stage of their journey, and we waved them off happily, so secure in our knowledge that we, too, would be moving ahead very soon.

Returning to the present, it seems that I am one of the few passengers left behind in the waiting room, wondering why my train is running so late. Shouldn’t it have been here by now? Did I miss it? Maybe I read the timetable wrong?

And worst of all, I’ve become one of them. You know… the ‘older’ unmarried women, that the younger unmarried women use to make themselves feel better: “Oh, at least I’m not as old as so-n-so”. They become so shocked when they hear my marital status combined with my age. That is, until they realize the expression of disapproval at their tactlessness on my face, and try to cover it up with: “Oh, it’ll happen soon, insha’Allah”. Yes, thank you. I feel totally reassured now.

Anyway, believe it or not, I’m not complaining about my fate. And if I did, I wouldn’t be complaining to you. Rather, I wanted to share how one’s perspective on the Qur’an changes with new life experiences. Now I actually feel the sting of rivalry in my heart from time to time. But the verse above reminds me of the bigger picture: it’s only a game, Mehzabeen. So be a good sport, and play it well.

Don’t Play Shaytaan’s Blame Game

// July 10th, 2009 // 10 Comments » // Blog

I attended the much hyped (my own doing) “Emasculated Muslim Men and the Feminist Hijabi” debate this evening. I actually bumped into my good blog buddy, Sumera, prior to the start of the event; so I know that I wasn’t the only intrigued blogger in the audience.

Anyway, I don’t have much to say about it all. Partly because I was asked to film it, so I was too busy paying attention to my camera, to soak in much of anything. I can tell you that it was a very mature, rational discussion, masha’Allah; there wasn’t really any kind of ‘debate’ as such, as all the speakers pretty much agreed with one another (even though the panel consisted of Muslims and a non-Muslim, men and women – “Yey!” for social harmony).

However, one tidbit that made a lasting impression, was offered by the entertaining, yet informative, Imam Shahnawaz Haque (Psychotherapist, Teacher and Khatib), in response to an audience member asking why all the attention was being placed on the deficiencies of men – what about women’s deficiencies?

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