iMuslim.tv

SimSim’s Wedding Day

// July 15th, 2010 // 4 Comments » // Photos

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

New Blog & FOSIS Video Competition

// June 24th, 2010 // No Comments » // Announcements, Video

Salam blog. It’s been a while. I have something to tell you. I think you may want to sit down.

I’ve been playing away from home.

No, no… don’t cry, blog. I still love you. You’ll always be my first. No, wait second… Actually, more like my third.

Anyway, stop blubbing foo, and listen up.

Sisters’ Film Club has officially launched! We have produced our first videos, and have a
sparkly new blog to match, masha’Allah.

The videos are part of a submission to the FOSIS video competition – an annual contest open to all UK Islamic Societies. As this is our first production, we would really appreciate your support. Please watch, vote for, and share our videos via the SFC blog. Feedback welcome!

JazakumAllah khair.

Macro Gone Mad

// May 9th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Photos

I’ve gone a little ‘macro’ nuts, lately. I dig how the shallow depth of field makes the most mundane of things look, like, totally awesome, masha’Allah.

Btw, I’ve realized just how lazy I’ve become wrt my camera. When I bought my first digicam way back in 2002 (a Minolta summit or other), I was so excited by my shiny new purchase, I insisted on fiddling with every manual setting available. These days, I normally shoot on auto-mode. It works out okay in well-lit environments, but the picture quality becomes extremely naff (I mean, more so than I’d expect) in anything less than daylight. I keep reminding myself that I need to figure out the best settings for indoors – especially as I hate using the flash – but bah… laziness.

Then, the other day, I lent my Canon to another sister from the ISoc, and within a few minutes she’d taught me five new things about the camera, like how to control the flash intensity (I had no idea I could do that), and change the aspect ratio to widescreen (though I’ll probably stick to doing that during post-processing). This is one of the few times in my life that I’ve been outgeeked by a fellow Muslimah! I am totally going to leech off of her knowledge, insha’Allah. In a good way.

In other news, the first meeting of the Sisters Film Club went well, masha’Allah, in spite of clashes with the Muslim Medics AGM, and general exam stress all round. We have our sights on the first project, which should be ready for June, insha’Allah. More details as they become declassified for public release.

Panto Time

// March 12th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Blog

This post is partly an extension of a message I left on TweetBook recently. Imperial College ISoc is sending off Islam Awareness Week by hosting two plays/pantos: each of which was written and shall be performed by the guys and gals of the ISoc, respectively.

Both plays take place on the evening of Friday, 12th March (i.e., in less than 24 hours!), in the SAF building (no. 33 on the map), at the South Kensington campus.

The sisters’ play starts at 6.15pm (female-only audience), and the brothers’ (all welcome) is straight after at 7pm, insha’Allah. I pray that the show runs by GMT, and not MST!

I’m not performing, but I have made three short videos for the sisters’ play, and as of yesterday night, will be taking care of ‘tech’ (which basically means playing a list of odd, a capella sound effects on cue!).

Regarding the vids, this was my first time filming ‘fictional’ pieces, as opposed to conducting interviews or covering events, so I’m quite interested to see how well they’re received, especially by the non-Muslim attendees. The ideas and scripts were written by other sisters; I was roped into filming and editing at the last minute, i.e., making their crazy ideas a reality!

At first, I was reluctant to help, mainly because the publicity team hadn’t yet finished making the IAW trailer, I only had a week left to make the videos the girls wanted, and tbh, I kinda hate editing these days.

But when it actually came time to film, I had such a blast, I actually felt a bit guilty for not being more keen initially. And even better, going through the 100+ clips that we had amassed over two afternoons of filming was a joy in and of itself. I was often creasing with laughter during playback – which made me realize: it’s not that I find editing a chore; it’s that I find editing boring stuff a chore.

Anyone who regular goes through the process knows what I mean: you’re sat alone in a room for hours on end, your backside getting progressively more numb whilst you traverse backwards and forwards through hours of footage, in order to find the best five minutes worth. Then you have to decide on the cuts and transitions between scenes, where mere microseconds can mean the difference between glory or disaster.

If you’re lucky, you’ll have a good soundtrack (music-free, if you swing that way) to work with – it really makes the job of editing 1000 times easier. But the ‘No Musical Instruments’ (and sometimes, no musically stuff whatsoever) barrier presents a real challenge. And frankly, I am getting pretty tired of the same five anasheed that every Muslim video-maker seems to use these days. Please people, we need some new material already!

Anyway. This whole experience has served as a nice prelude to the ‘women-only film club’ idea, that I recently proposed. At first I was umm-ing and ahh-ing about whether women-only would work, but masha’Allah, it really does. Especially when you have access to bright young minds. The results speak for themselves – which you can judge for yourself, if you’re around tomorrow night, insha’Allah. :)

Do Not Push

// January 22nd, 2010 // 4 Comments » // Blog, Photos

I snapped this while changing the tapes on my HV20 camcorder. I thought it was a good message.

Anyhoo, I have been discussing the possibility of setting up a film club within my ISoc. I am tempted towards making it a sisters-only gig – mainly cuz I’ve been wanting to recruit a talented woman to help me edit all the footage I have sat on my external hard drive for a while now. Insha’Allah, a fruitful legacy will be born out of my selfish needs.

The good news is that everyone I have spoken to thus far seems keen. The challenges include: a lack of equipment (I seem to be the only one with a camera, and decent editing software), and most of the people with the necessary skills and experience have a Y-chromosome.

The answers to both problems shouldn’t be too difficult to solve, insha’Allah. I think the university TV station is still going; we may be able to tap their resources. And we can always hold training sessions for sisters to pick up basic film-making skills. You mainly learn through doing, anyway; the only formal training I’ve had thus far is a crash course on Final Cut at the Apple Store.

The women-only suggestion is more about pragmatism than anything else. I want it to be a safe-space to learn, and channel creative energy; like a women-only book club, or an art class. I do not believe that men are the ‘enemy’ (though I admit to going through phases in that regard).

I won’t be restricting membership to Imperial students; it’s just easier to establish this kind of thing within the framework of an existing community, such as an ISoc. So if you’re based in London, and are interested in joining in, then stay tuned to this blog. I’ll let you guys know if/when we have our first meeting, insha’Allah.

Your suggestions are welcome.

A Safe Space

// September 28th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // Blog

I’ve noticed that I refrain from commenting on several blogs, even my regular reads, because I don’t deem them ‘safe’. I don’t mean that I fear being tagged by intelligence services (I don’t think I’m controversial enough for that; though Allah knows best), rather, I just don’t feel comfortable speaking up, for one reason or another.

I wonder, do people feel the same on my little corner of the web? I don’t think I have enough readers to warrant attention from Islamophobes and general nasties. But there are many other reasons to be timid.

Which sites to you feel safe on and why? Do you do anything special to welcome and reassure your readers?

Speaking of fear, last night I had a mini-panic attack that took me a while to overcome. I was already emotionally vulnerable as I had been suffering minor illness for several hours.

(more…)

Eid = Mendhi Time

// September 26th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // Photos

Mendhi is the Hindi word for ‘henna’. I am quite bad at applying it to myself, but I still have a go anyway, usually around Eid time, like tonight. Here is an example of what is known in the industry as, “the squiggly finger”. Okay, maybe not…

The dried henna has now been removed; we’ll see how dark it turns out, insha’Allah. I don’t usually do anything special, like apply henna oil. Mainly because my design is so childish, that I’d like it to wear out as quickly as possible!

Is the Eid-Mendhi association an S.E.Asian thing, or do Arab/ African/ etc sisters apply it at this time of year too?

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.

Tips for Ramadan Taraweeh (Tarawih) Prayers

// August 29th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Blog

My latest contribution for MuslimMatters.org: a list of simple tips for a more productive Taraweeh experience, insha’Allah. Please visit the site and add your own! :)

My Big Day Out

// July 27th, 2009 // 7 Comments » // Blog

As I mentioned in my last status update, Thursday 23rd July ended up being quite a productive day for me, masha’Allah. For a start, I was actually active between the normal working hours of 9.30am and 4.30pm. Amazing! I didn’t even manage that during my PhD.

The day involved two major meetings, each relating to the two main projects that currently dominate my unemployed life: Deaf Muslim initiatives (e.g., SignLabs), and blogging. As the content of both meetings was pretty much confidential, I’ll skip the details, and just describe the basic aims.

(more…)