One of the arguments used by those in favour of the permissibility of music is that Prophet Dawood, 'alayhis salam, is reported to have used instruments – Allāh knows best.

That is why I thought the above lyrics would be quite fitting for my début stage production, based on one of the most fiercely contested fatwas in Islam…

“Music is Haram!”… The Musical

Of course, the score would have to be either voice-only, duff, maybe some b-box… just to ensure neutrality/ respect/ bums on seats. And, cuz, y'know, I also kinda follow the 'music is not good' ruling myself. Shh.

You can book your advanced tickets to the hottest show in town (most likely as the theatre will be fire-bombed in protest) by placing a comment in the box below.

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 ‘Īd al-Aḍḥa 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?

First off, I had a 'mad' craving for summit sweet after dinner – but horror of horrors: no decent chocolate in the house. What to do? I suddenly came up with the idea that I would make raw cookie dough. Them US peeps seem to be crazy about the stuff, and actually buy it in packs ready-to-eat, so I thought it must be worth a go – especially as I have all the ingredients in the house from ‘Īd-cookies/" target="_blank">last week.

Top Chef Google found me an egg-less, choc chip recipe. However, I didn't have any choc chips, so I added chocolate sprinkles (insert laugh here), and a generous pouring of hundreds and thousands, for added crunch factor. It looked okay, and tasted okay, but after a few nibbles I realized that I was not going to be able to eat much more. I actually felt a little nauseous later on (don't tell mum that; she warned me eating raw dough would be a bad idea).

So after that failed kitchen experiment (results: Americans are weird), I then decided to go all out, and just bake some darn cookies! I added some self-raising flour and a couple of egg yolks, rolled it out, cut some shapes, and shoved the lot in the oven for 10 minutes, et voila: biccies that didn't taste all that bad, māshā’Allāh.

My parents were pleased, alhamdulillah, (and no doubt surprised that I pulled it off without making a big fuss). But I, being my own worst enemy, found them a tad too sweet. So, to finish off the whole American tribute, I prepared myself a plate of cookies, with a side of milk – finally, a US treat that agrees with me!

Final Recipe (makes approx. 25 cookies, 7 cm diameter):

2/3 mug of plain flour
2/3 mug of self-raising flour
1/4 mug unsalted butter, melted
1/2 mug granulated white sugar
1 tsp of vanilla essence (alcohol-free)
2 medium egg yolks
1.5 tbsp milk (part of original cookie dough recipe, but it didn't seem to harm the end results)
an undetermined amount of chocolate sprinkles + 'hundreds & thousands'

Instructions: Mix ingredients in a bowl, leave the dough to set in the fridge for a few minutes, roll it out (3-5mm thick), make whatever shapes you please, bake in 200oC oven for just under 10 minutes (depending on how brown you like them), leave to cool, then eat!

]]> http://imuslim.tv/2009/09/29/impromptu-american-cookies/feed/ 3 http://imuslim.tv/2009/07/13/a-sad-realization/ http://imuslim.tv/2009/07/13/a-sad-realization/#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:49:04 +0000 iMuslim http://imuslim.tv/?p=2334 A few moments ago, I posted the following status message:

Mehzabeen wonders why the Star Trek Voyager crew (or even DS9 – though I'm not really a fan of that spin-off) never got their own 'motion picture'?

I am not sure why I posted it, because, truly, I don't expect anyone on my FB or Twitter, or even my Googable blog, to answer it… unless they want to point out how much of a geek I am for thinking about such things, which is so freakin' cliché, that I'd be forced to throw a virtual chappal at them for not having the imagination to come up with something wittier. I mean, c'mon!

Anyway, it got me thinking about the last time I actually had a friend whom I could share this gloriously abnormal side of me with, as there is no-one in my life right now. For some reason, girls generally aren't into SciFi, never mind Muslim girls.

To be honest, I think the last time was in secondary school; not even undergrad. Sure, I hung around with student folk who had similar interests, but I wouldn't class them as “friends”. Just people in my extended social circle. (No, I wasn't part of the university SciFi soc).

I don't even have hope for a future husband-type to have a similarly nerdy streak in him; people are just so BLAH. Or, if they're not boring, they're already married – most likely to women who don't appreciate that quirky side. Gah!

Honestly, am I just a one-off here?

Is there anybody else out there?

Hello -oh -oh -oh…? [echo dissipates into the darkness]

Sigh.

Jumu'ah is a significant day for Muslims, as the most important congregational prayer is held on that day, every week. But how do we know that the day we call “Friday” in the Gregorian weekly calendar is the same day that we call “Jumu'ah” in the Islamic calendar? Have Jumu'ah prayers really been held consistently, every seven days, since the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him? It's not like we can check using the Moon, like we do when determining the beginning and end of the Islamic calendar months.

I suppose the same question applies to every day of the week, seeing as Mondays and Thursday have special significance with regards to the practice of ritual, Sunnah fasts.

I can trust that the Arabs have it right, from the point of view of uninterrupted tradition. So when the Gregorian calendar was introduced to the Muslim world, did they simply synch the two systems, noting that Friday was equivalent to Jumu'ah? I guess it wouldn't be very difficult, seeing as both weeks contain seven days. Imagine the chaos otherwise?!

Okay, now I suspect that my question is very silly indeed. :/

Anyway… after carrying a bunch of heavy duty equipment across East London, debating American racial politics, and eating a good dinner, poor Media Guy collapsed into an ocean of velvet, and felt absolutely no shame in snoozing in full view of the surrounding public!

Black, hooded thobe >> Grim Reaper catching some Zees.

I guess young media guys can get away with these things… {smiles}

Anyway, while I wait for the moon dust to settle, I'll leave you with this fantastic text message my friend sent me about ten minutes ago (edited restoring 'txt spk' to 'real speak'):

Mubarak. It has been formally and unanimously agreed upon by all the religious bodies, jamiat, Imam, radio stations, Dewsbury [a town in England], Saudi, Morocco, Madina, along with all the biggest governing bodies – and not to mention Islam and 'S' Channel – that tomorrow, inshā’Allāh, will definitely be….

..

..

..

..

Tuesday!

It had me laughing on my prayer mat, anyway – haha!

Click here to view the embedded video.

You see, I lost the manual that came with my body. It was on loan to my parents, but I think they threw it out with some old baby toys when I entered secondary school – which explains the totally horrendous awkward teenager phase that started around the same time.

Maybe some of you still have your user guides, and could help a sista out?

It's a very specific button. For my emotions. Not the girly, hormonal kind. No… It's for those gut feelings that seem to originate from the solar plexus.

For the past week, this bulging mass of nerves and vessels have been positively pulsating 24/7, and it's beginning to drive me mad. It's not the subtle kind of “hmm, I have a strange feeling…” feeling. It's more like: “WooOOooop! WoooOOOop! Strange feeling alert! STRANGE FEELING ALERT! Man the life boats! Ova and stem cells first!”.

I feel like something is going to happen at any moment. I feel expectant (no, not expecting… a totally different abdominally-centered feeling). Or maybe I just really want something to happen.

But nothing is happening. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. And without a somethingness to expunge these feelings, the nothingness is eating away at my insides. Often I sense the waves of nerve fire reverberating off my heart and stomach. And depending on my general mood, this has either resulted in an extra spring in my step, or a slow descent into teary madness. Tch, women, eh?

So, could someone help me find the off button?

Or alternatively… give my solar plexus something worth pulsating over?

Thanks in advance.