Why the Resistance?

I've actually came across some Islamic style blogs after doing some late night cruising on the highway of info...I would venture to hazard a guess and say nearly all of the ones I came across were very anti Moderate Muslim thinking....they make being a Moderate Muslim sound similar to being a kafir....God forgive them....I dont understand this thinking as Islam is considered the "Middle Way" according to our prophet and moderate by definition means not too extreme and not too lenient...exactly what our prophet preached and what we should be following if we know whats good for us....right? Wrong! Muslims are the "either your with us or against us" sort of people....either you agree with us 100% without doubt or argument or even the teeniest bit doubt....or you might as well call yourself a Christian since they are so wishy washy when it comes to practice anyway....or so Ive been told.

Whats wrong with reforming Islam? Seriously I want to know? Is it written in stone...or is it flexible? I do realize that some rules just cant be changed...dont kill anyone...thats a good one and should stay of course...we do enough killing without permission from God...I can only imagine the horrors if we suddenly decided that to "kill was better than not to kill"....no to stealing as well...whats mine is mine unless I give it to you willingly...but enough with the handchopping business...I cant imagine chopping off a bodypart is going to make someone suddenly become Gods little angel on earth...it would only hamper more what was probably a fairly messed up situation to start with. If we can do away with slavery, which is actually allowed in Islam, then why cant we do away with hand chopping? Just a thought. Also, whats with the black sack that many Muslim women are required to wear to be deemed and seen as pious? Why black and why a sack? I can agree that black is a slimming color when worn properly but most countries that seem to forcefully require women to wear it are countries that suffer daily temps of the 150 degree type...I dare a Muslim Man to wear a black thobe rather than his oh so cool white one while out and about some time and see if he doesnt feel like a baked potato after only 2 minutes in the blazing sun. Only then might he have a bit of mercy on the women in his family that suffer this everyday of their lives....walk in their shoes and all that. If anyone has ever read a piece about safety in clothing...especially when it comes to toddlers then they will know that extremely loose clothing can be a hazard. How many times have I seen a Muslim woman trying to hold her shopping and keep her abaya wrapped around her only to see her lose her grip on one or the other in the end....why should she have to juggle like that...throw in a 2 year old that needs his hand held and you got a 3 ring circus with a front row seat...the part that gets your sympathies moving is usually when we see her doing her juggling act all the while her hubby is cruising along unemcumbered hardly aware of her difficulties...now thats justice. Ive also seen women who get their abayas caught in car doors or revolving doors...with the expected result... a quick whipping off of the one thing between her and her "modesty and reputation"...or a near strangulation...please tell me how thats something God wants from women...to place their very lives in danger just to keep the male population from ooglying...what happened to "lower your gaze" and all that? I think the entire male Muslim population should be made to wear the black sack for at least one full day during the hottest time of the year....they must shop, drive, keep kids in line, and constantly check to make sure no part of their body is being shown to the always leering hormone driven hordes of female pervs lining the streets...just one day...and I can bet those same Muslim men might not be so demanding on us poor women folk that seem to always get burdened with the harder part of every religious deal known to man...of course if we dare to complain about the heat we get the same stern warning..."how much hotter are the fires of Hell(cue the sinister music score)......more on that later.

Excuse me but I dont hate Arabs!

I guess it could seem possible viewing my posts that I hate Arabs...do I sound a little antiArab here and there? I suppose I do but in fact I dont hate Arabs as a people...some of the finest people I have met are Arab, my very best friend in the world is Arab, and my beautiful children are half Arab so how could I hate something that is a part of my own flesh and blood...? I do not hate them....but I do hate how they have taken control of Islam and made it into an Arab religion rather than a religion from God. As I said before....many Arabs believe deep down that if your not a pure blooded Arab then there is no way your a pure blooded Muslim(is there such a thing as that or did I just make it up...?).

I constantly have been asked over these 20 years if I am in fact a "real Muslim"...what does that mean I wonder? If I believe in God, the prophet, and the 5 pillars does that make me real or must I also prescribe to the Arab thought proccess and traditional customs to be seen as legit? Most of these people who asked me that question could very well see the hijab on my head at the time but still felt inclined to ask...whats up with that? Isnt the hijab supposed to be a Muslim womans identifying trademark as a Muslim? Would I be wearing hijab just cause I was having a bad hair day....for 17 years in a row? I could imagine if someone asked me that question today as I do not wear the hijab anymore...but shouldnt my actions speak louder than my clothing when it comes to identifying me as Muslim...? Unfortunately when it comes to the general Muslim masses that isnt always the case....no matter that our prophet advised us not to judge someone purely based on seeing them go up and down in the mosque...but by how they spent their time and with whom....my hijab or lack there of shouldnt be my sole source of judgement...but it is...for me and for millions of other Muslim women out there. I dont hate Arabs but I also want to kick some Arab butt now and again for letting this rediculous notion that women are only pious if they are covered and not so pious if they are not be the soul source of determining her level of taqwa....Muslim men have no such on the spot judgement made about them based on clothing alone...all though having a beard down to your ankles and a shorter than average thobe does sometimes make you jump to the conclusion that he is Mr HajibeardedMan and oh so pious...I for one have discovered that is far far from the truth...but thats another story.

Anyhow, for those that read this and assume Ive got a bone to pick with Muslim Arabs then you are right...I do, because even though they are not the worst offenders when it comes to antiMuslim behavoir around the globe...much of what we determine to be Islamic was enforced on us and made Holy by the Arabs that came before us...Arab culture and tradition equals Islamic theology and practice...and that is what I hate and thats the bone I want to pick...more on that later.

Your Either With Us or Against Us

Now calm down! this is not a GWB idiotic statement revisited...this is what I have come to learn having spent 20 years in the Middle East. There are two types of Muslims....the Arab Muslim and then all the rest of us. After 1450 years of Islam having been given to our prophet and then passed on to us I have learned that there are two kinds of Islam as well....there is Arab Islam and then theres just regular old Islam that God tried very hard to instill in us. I like to call them Hislam and Islam respectively.

Islam: means peace and complete submission to Gods will...this is followed by an entire book filled with all thats necessary to live a just and God fearing good Muslim life without too much strain or burden. God doesnt say He made it easy for us just cause he likes to hear the sound of His own voice...right?

Hislam: means all the patriarchal mysoginistic b.s. that snaked its way into Islam by way of early Arab culture and which has stuck around so long its practically been canonized and made Holy and therefore must be followed for you to be considered a Muslim....failure to comply leaves you branded either kafir(extreme) or bad muslim(weak adab).

Arguing with an Arab Muslim that something they practice and expect the rest of the Muslim world to practice is based on culture and not the Quran is frustrating to say the least....I might as well argue that the makers of Chocolate hate me and have all conspired to make me fat(they are doing a good job btw). You cannot get an Arab Muslim to believe that culture and Islam are two distinctly different things...they have meshed the two together to such an extent that nearly the entire Islamic concept as given to us by God has nearly been replaced with what Arab Muslims have thought or believed for the last 1450 years. God never had a chance when up against the hyped up ego and male dominated pride concept in that early Muslim community. You can lead an Arab to Islam but you cant make him think....beyond his "I am Arab therefore all I say or believe to be Islamic is in fact Islamic"....no questions asked. One moment while I pause and pull out some hair.....sigh!

It would seem that Arabs just plain do not like to discuss differences of opinions when it comes to Islam...there can be no differences...a different opinion means someone was thinking outside the box(a box predesigned by Arabs oh so long ago...with no escape route apparently)..opinions by nonarab Muslims...or nonarabs in general are hardly ever seen as having any validity in Islam whether those people are learned in Islam or not...simply because they are not Arab...very sad to be so limited in your acceptance of others. Wheres the...:I made nations to know each other" in all this? An Arab will quickly denounce all such differences as being influenced by the West and thus haram...and will refuse to partake in any sort of discussion on that particular subject...might as well bang your head on the wall...the pain is all the same.

I love Arab people in general...my very best friend in the world is Arab...and yet I cannot discuss anything even with her when it comes to Islam...they wrapped up Islam(Arab version) packaged it in a pretty little nonporous box(nothing gets in nothing gets out) and then proceded to shove it down our throats as the only Islam acceptable by God and our prophet...not even a cup of gahwa to make the swallowing easier....if we choke on it then its our fault for not being Good Little NonArab Muslims...try as we might we will never measure up...more on that later.

Is God Just or not?

As I said before...mention hijab to muslims and you've got them foaming at the mouth more often than not...it certainly gets the religious fanatics out in force with the least provocation. Just see France not too long ago....it would seem that a govt of a country could pretty much pass what laws it seems are necessary to keep the peace or whatnot...right...except when it comes to hijab...tell the muslim masses that women can no longer wear hijab in school and suddenly you've got riots and protesters coming out in force....crying about our rights in Islam...our rights as Muslims....our rights our rights our rights!!! What they really mean is "our rights as Muslim men to control what our Muslim women wear...at home(in our Islamic countries) and abroad(in nonIslamice countries) because isnt it funny that these Holier than Thou Muslim men that were protesting and claiming that wearing the hijab is a right for Muslim women and no one can tell them otherwise...are the same Muslim men(ok not the same but having the same fanatical thought process) that forced young girls back into a burning building cause they were not wearing hijab...some of these girls burned to death because of the backward thinking notion that God wants a womans body(and girls for that matter) to be completely hidden from men at all costs...her very life means little if proper hijab is not worn.

The Quran is a beautiful piece of work...its poetic style and rich vibrant text comes alive with meaning and images when read....just listening to it can bring one to tears...even non muslims or muslims who dont know arabic have felt the spell of its recitation.....and yet we are often brought to tears over hadith that are harsh and condescending of women...that limit what God explands...that force down what God picked up....what oppresses what God enlightens....God sees women as an equal half of humanity...equal creations with rights, obligations, and rewarded or punished in the same manner as men.....God is Most Just in all matters without a doubt. Yet muslims will come along and say that ...while yes we are all created equal...we differ in that women are just sooooo damn sexy and tempting that men are by nature toooo damn weak to resist them...hence women should cover up against the weak nature of men....hows that for unfair unjust religious thinking? God says we are all accountable for our own actions...God says that both genders are required to "lower our gazes"...that both genders are required to observe modest behavoir and thought....that both genders will judged according to what they themselves did or didnt do...not on what they did cause someone looked hot in a pair of short shorts or cause her hair was just awesome with the sun shining on it...picking out highlights and twinkling at me just daring me to reach out and touch it....sounds like men have a built in "get out of jail free card" when it comes to sin against women....if the woman is showing her hair(or if she isnt) if she's near me(as in within a few hundred meters) if she's looking at me(as in glanced my way at some point) if she's talking to me(as in asked me directions) if she more or less intruded on my male space with her physical body...her voice....her smell....her whatever....then she is obviously not a good muslim girl and subject to my advances....she cannot cry later and say "I was minding my own business" as a muslim girls business is never her own...its the entire ummahs and they shall determine what her business is and where she can take care of it.

Hijab is just a whitewash of religious responsibility for muslim men....its the excuse given or blame placed for every single act committed against muslim women....if she was raped...its not the fault of the rapist who obviously wasnt thinking about God or Heaven or Hell while raping her....its her fault for not wearing proper hijab(if she wore hijab then for not wearing niqab....if she wore niqab then its for being out of her home...the excuses are endless)...but basically its her fault.....she will be punished either by her family or community....or both more than likely....the man hardly ever gets blamed or even punished for sex crimes...how can he when its clearly understood that men are the weaker sex....they have no control over the little head that rules their lives...they eat, sleep, and dream of sex...its programmed into them to start wanting sex from an early age and to want it, seek it, and obtain it at whatever costs until they die...no way around it girls...we are sex machines waiting to be acted upon by helpless male robots. No blame for them for being what God created them to be...right? What about women? Dont we want sex, dont we think about it...dont we seek it, dream about it? Why arent women viewed as being driven by the desire for sex the same way men are...? We are seen as the sluts while men are studs...we are promiscuous while men are....well studs...we are loose while men are...once again...studs. Any hint that we had sex, talked about sex, thought about sex, looked at pics of sex or even hinted that we know men have penises and also know how they are used....means we are immoral sex depraved nymphos that deserve whatever men see fit to give them...how very sad. Where is Gods Mercy on half his creation in all this...where is Gods justice on half his creation in all this...where is God in any of this "gender equality' that scholars are soooo quick to give lectures on....but rarely ever mention the reality? More on that later....

It seems nothing can burn up people and get their tempers flaring faster than the words....I don't believe in hijab. Thats akin to saying you dont believe in the prophet or Islam and boy do people take it oh so personal when you claim such a belief. All the ayats in the Quran point to a personal relationship with God. We have religious authority in Islam...no pope or similar that sends down religious orders from on high that all devout followers must obey in order to be seen as good and worthy of eternal happiness. We do have scholars...thats for sure...more than we know what to do with it seems. Anyone can be a scholar these days....memorize a few hadith and presto! Scholar extrodinaire. If someone has the name Imam or Mufti or even Dr in a front of their name then apparently everything that comes out of their mouths should be viewed as holy and Godlike....anyone who professes disbelief in what some scholar has said is once again committing apparent blasphemy...of course that comes with an exception(everything in Islam seems to these days). A scholar is only a scholar if his(always a him) opinion agrees with all the million or so scholars that came before him. In other words, if your scholar holds a differing opinion than the Holy Consensus then your scholar has no doubt been influenced by the Devil West and is not worthy of passing ijtihad or even one tiny fatwa.

I find it curious that God exhorts us time and again to use our brains...think and reason for ourselves...and most especially to not follow leaders blindly without checking first if they deserve our obedience....and yet the majority of Muslims out there will solemnly declare that to not follow a scholars opinions...no matter how inane or unIslamic it is, is, once again that magic word...Blasphemous! Practically shirk for Gods sake! These men are men of God....spent their whole lives bent over a hadith book until their backs were twisted...burning the midnight oil and cruising the superhighway of hadith literature to find every single instance in which the prophet supposedly declared something halal, haram, or possibly neither...so allowed but maybe not really halal...oooh better to avoid it...maybe its from the West and so bida....God save us from the Devil West and all its kafir technology and evil thoughts....I'd do the cross sign now but might get zapped by lightening...you never know how God is feeling at any particular moment.

Anyhow, I digress....hijab. Now quite a few Muslims out there believe with all their hearts and minds and religious fevour that God did not order women to wear hijab....its not mentioned in the Quran and the few hadith that mention(very few) are weak....not to mention the plain fact that our prophet had no authority to deem something haram that God Himself did not make so. i find it ironic really that there really is very little mentioned in the Quran in terms of modest dress and whats required....and all the hadith that mention womens dress are weak and unsatisfactory and just not all that Islamic sounding...and yet the magic little piece of cloth that prevents unwanted looks, grasping fingers and shoulder bumps in crowds....not to mention softens the words of mens and takes over their sexual thoughts until they are tamed...preventing rape you know(or maybe you didnt know that....its true ask any muslim...hijab prevents rape...better than a can of mace)....and causes the man to treat you with respect whether he wants to or not. he has no choice...you wear hijab....he automatically has to treat you with respect...its in the Muslim code of honour...of which many many Muslim men have not taken the time to ready I might add. Please please someone do a survey on how many women who do wear hijab have actually been molested or harassed or God forbid, raped despite not showing a single hair and lowering her gaze at all times? Any hands? Well, mine is waving frantically in the air as I was repeatedly treated disrespectfully by these so called Muslim men while I had my hair securely hidden and minded my own business. Hijab has taken on the burden of being the "6th pillar of Islam". Or should i say that women have taken on the burden of being the spokespeople for Muslims the world over....see our pious Muslims sisters that dont walk around half naked for non muslims to lust after and molest....that our job thank you very much and we intend to keep it that way. The magical qualities of hijab...books could be written on the subject....oops I forgot...they have been.....more on that later....Nuff said for now.