I am from Portland originally so it would offer me a way to visit family and shop... so there's a business idea for you ??? I can really use another prayer rug. hehe

I don't think it's any big secret that there is some conflict between Palestinians and Isrealis or Arabs/Zionists (not necessarily jews).

Bigotry is a reality. I don't see the need to bury it or cloak it in pc-speak to stifle experession, as long as it isn't done to titilate. No one here has done any name-calling or engaged in ad homineums, so I don't see where a line has been crossed.

To solve that problem...

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=129916

A topic for Muslims to discuss Islam and its many wonders

There are more Muslims OUT of the MENA area than IN.

Jackie

True Jackie....the new thread mentioned above might have been better in the General Area so all can see it and participate.

I agree... not sure If I put it there... actually I started the thread in the Morocco Portal. Maybe that's why?

Hey guys I found a site where you can watch movies for free if you want to see "Arranged", it looks good so far! The only downside is that you can't make it full-screen, but who cares, it's free! Enjoy!

http://moviecase.net/watch/arranged-2008/101#more-101

Question!!! Going in to change my name to my married name for my passport... but my pic should it be in hijab since that is what I wear and will they let me???

Oh look same sh!t in here too.

I dont know if they will or not one time they let my mom but she had to show her ears and the next time they didnt...........

AWWWWWWWWWWW Jen,
You want me to tell you a good juicy story I can make up something good, make you smile



I think they have to let you take your picture with hijab, as long as they can see your face, I see nothing illegal about that.

Ganja girl I was thinking of you last night!!!! We were watching an episode of Criminal Minds and my husband blurts out "I just LOVE serial killers!!!".



I asked him to splain while i had one foot out da door and he clarified that he loves movies and books about them.

They have to let you. I didn't know my rights when I got mine and they made me sign a paper stating I wore a scarf for religious reasons and then still made me take the big scarf off and only allowed me to leave the underscarf, exposing my neck/ears/etc exposed. I found out later that they CAN'T make you do that and have had no problems getting my other ID with my hijab on without moving it back by telling the ppl when they asked me to that I have the right to religious freedom and they can't force me to remove it.... they just make you sign the paper after that.
I have to have my name changed on my passport because I had my legal name changed this year and now my passport doesn't match but I doubt I'll be going anywhere outside of the US anytime soon anyway, unless some rich person out there wants to sponsor me for a much needed vacation Anyway, when I do I'll have to submit a new photo and I'm going to make sure they know I know my rights this time

Yeah, that's the same exact thing I heard from other sisters who took the pic with hijab. Also, I had legally changed my name on my SS card but not for my passport and I went to Quebec and they didn't sweat me at all, but if you're not going anywhere then you won't have a problem changing it, but it takes a while these days I've heard!

Bridget, I didn't know that your husband was this wonderful person with a wonderful hobbie. I must always honor this man, for I can see by his interest, he has a lot of class. Tell him he has hit the jackpot with being in America, we got all kinds here, even women.

Well he's not as into it as you are!!! LOL. Just likes movies about them but when he said that I almost said, "oh wow, ganja girl likes that stuff too!", but then I'd have to explain who "ganja girl" is and I hate talking in the middle of a show/movie. lol

If you just changed your last name for marriage it may be different but I changed my entire name (except my surname) so they'd probably give me a little harder time.

Oh ok. Well that's different.

Hey btw I just watched the whole movie "Arranged" and it's great! I totally recommend it, thanks to whoever mentioned it, sorry I forgot and don't want to go back looking through the posts, but it was a wonderful movie! I'm gonna watch it with my mom when I go back so she can see how cool both traditions are and how similar! (I've always been educating her on other religions...I like to quiz her on the names of the houses of worship for each major religion)

LOL, I changed my legal name to the name I chose for myself after converting to Islam.

Yes, arranged is a wonderful movie. I wasn't the one who originally mentioned it but I love that movie. I want it on my Zen!

Yeah so since you mentioned it.... I only changed my last name on my social security card and haven't changed my first name to my Islamic/Arabic name. Is it bad that I am called my "American" name at work and my Islamic name everywhere else... I mean I wear the hijab everywhere but ..... now I feel so torn. My mother named me after my late grandfather, he died the same day I was born however his son/my father has disowned me since my conversion.. I love my Islamic name (Rajaa) meaning hope... any thoughts??

The only reason I changed my name when I converted is because my given name meant "god like" or "like god" and, well, that's self explanatory I think.
Up until I changed it legally this year, I was known by my legal name everywhere except the masjid until I had it changed on my SS card and then I changed it at work but a lot of ppl kept calling by my old name until I was laid off. My family still calls me by my old name, of course but everyone else now knows me by my new name. I don't call it my "Islamic" name because I don't think it has any significance in Islam but I thought it was pretty and it has a little history for me.
There isn't any rule in Islam that you have to change your name when you convert unless your name means something bad or against the religion.

I kept my dad's last name and didn't change it to my husband's which I'm really glad I did now.

I am so sorry that he felt the need to disowned you just because you have different thoughts on your faith. I am sure they will come around, most times people fear what they don't know. At least you have your mother.

well my father has always been difficult... but we are supposed to endeavor to make our parents proud so I continue trying. And work hard not to cry when I am snubbed.

I know its hard just keep praying and trying and try to understand that he just dont know what happened to his sensible daughter ..... i have a good friend that converted and her parents took her to a shrink they thought she was having a nervous break down........

I often think if i went the other way... say partying, drugs, boys he would be more accepting. Yeah my mom she's the 60's 70's hippie so she kind of thinks it's a "stage" i think.

I need to get away from my computer..... going for a run lol yep in hijab!!! only second day so can use the support.

second day of what? if for hijab then i ask Allah to support u and increase ur faith if for running ... YOU GO GURL U CAN DO ITTTT !!!! lol

lol sorry not clear there... yes running. And I am doing it in hijab. But I did it whooo hoooo wanna surprise my hunny when we see eachother again insha'allah

Surprise him with what? You're already zweeeeeeeeeena bazaf! Since we're sharing how parents reacted to our converting, my mom too thought I only wanted to become Muslim because she thought I was in love with my Lebanese Muslim college professor (whose class I took was The World of Islam but I had already had an interest) It had to take her meeting him to understand how cool he was in a non-romantic way and that I did genuinely want to convert. I didn't realize how hard it was to convince someone that you ARE NOT in love with X person! Geez. Yeah the whole drugs/sex thing, it would've been easier to believe. Kind of hard for my mom to believe that I wanted to become religious. (I wasn't that bad before! It's like "hey Mom what are you tryin to say!")

April... you're making me blush and the funny thing is I knew what you said whooo hooooey I've been trying to learn as much Moroccan as I can. Shookran! lol but I would like to drop about 20 lbs in the process. but we'll see insha'allah

btw its called Darija...not Moroccan. lol Good luck with the learning process!

Really????? lol cause when I was there they kept telling me how I was having to learn three languages... French, Arabic and Moroccan... their words not mine. Darija... cool. Thanks

LOL well I don't know who told you that but the Moroccan dialect of Arabic is called Darija. It varies from what is spoken in other Arabic speaking countries like Egypt, Lebanon, etc. Many educated Moroccans can also speak classical Arabic, but to live in Morocco you only really need to know Darija. French comes in handy too.

It's not at all uncommon for the dialect to be refered to as Moroccan in Morocco.

Yeah it was the moroccan's who called it moroccan and honestly they called "Arabic" "clasical Arabic" lol. Thankfully, his family speaks, English, Spanish, French, "classical Arabic" and Moroccan or Darija so I am in luck!!

The funny thing is here in the U.S. We're lucky if we learn two languages....but than again English is an acceptable world wide language... I was impressed with how French is too.

ok ok.. I watched that movie Arranged on netflix!!!!!! Great movie..... not too serious but nice from an entertaining aspect and interesting at the same time.

Heeeeeeeey you got your NOA1! Contrats masha'Allah! Mabrook 3lek. So are you one of those who checks the USCIS website every day to see if they touched it again? I am...

Yeah my in-laws were trying to teach me classical Arabic when I first moved here and I was like slow down a minute! I wanted to learn darija first, because there are similarities but then sometimes the words are totally different. But I did learn one word: dajajatoon! LOL My BIL's wife is from Nador so her whole family only speaks shilha (the Berber language, although they are not Berbers) but she also speaks darija and classical Arabic because she went to school.

Btw, my darija from the northeast is very different from darija in Casa or Agadir or Marrakech, because we share a lot of words common to the Algerian dialect because we're on the border. Like in Casa they say "komira" for baguette, but out here we just say baguette! They say couscous in Casa but we say ta'3am out here like the Algerians. In Casa they say zweena, we say zeena...it goes on and on. But I like knowing both. But forget trying to watch Egyptian soap operas, they are so good but they speak way too fast! I need subs!

LMBO!!!! While there those soap operas cracked me up..... now they're supposed to be all dramatic but wow.... BZZZAaaffFFFF the eyes and someone is always cryig. My husbands Mwe (grandmother) always watches them and some times they'd have to leave me with her... can't be alone you know. And she does't speak English so we would just sit and watch these things, for hours lol. Yes I will start checking
eVER day and so will hubby I think. lol.

bump

ok... soo what's this about the "Evil eye?"

hummmm nothing??

The evil eye is a folk belief that the envy elicited by the good luck of fortunate people may result in their misfortune, whether it is envy of material possessions including livestock, or of beauty, health, or offspring. The perception of the nature of the phenomenon, its causes, and possible protective measures, varies between different cultures.

Belief in the evil eye is found in Islamic doctrine, based upon the verse of the Qur'an, "And from the evil of the envier when he envies," [Chapter al-Falaq, verse 5][1] and the statement of Prophet Muhammad, "The influence of an evil eye is a fact..." [Sahih Muslim, Book 26, Number 5427][2]. Authentic practices of warding off the evil eye are also commonly practiced by Muslims: rather than directly expressing appreciation of, for example, a child's beauty, it is customary to say Masha'Allah, that is, "God has willed it", or invoking God's blessings upon the object or person that is being admired. [3] Aside from beliefs based upon authentic Islamic texts, a number of unsubstantiated beliefs about the evil eye are found in folk religion, typically revolving around the use of amulets or talismans as a means of protection.

I grew up with people who were not born in this country, so I have heard all that evil eye stuff, I used to be scared of gypsies, always thought one of them had given me the evil eye, than my friend who is English told me one day that he use to fight with the gypsies all the time in England, and he is very successful, so I guess my excuse of the evil eye on me is not holding much weight. I have to say this, I claim that I have questions on God, but ask my family if I am atheist, they will say no. I was telling my mother the other day about how I feel about organized religion, and she starts yelling, you are not an atheist, you are just confused. Also olive oil is the cure all for all that ails you, and when I had some kind of pain somewhere on my body, my grandmother would say you have a cold there. Wtf is that, all I ever wanted when I was young was the normal American family, the Brady bunch kinda of life, where you eat tuna casserole which to me is so American. I used to be so embarrassed when I was in school, cause when you called my house, no one was good at speaking English, and I always got the question, your family doesn’t speak English. This was in the late 60’s early 70’s, when speaking another language was not as cool as it is today, didn’t help we lived in a white neighborhood. I took after my German father who is whiter than snow, so when you look at me, you never expect my family to be dark, it always shocks people. I love that now.

Now that's some good info.. thank you. And will you look at that we just got married and now there is some trouble. My husband is always warning me about this "bad eye" he calls it.



Ganga_girl I can top that... imgaine being a teenager and your parents passing the bong to your firend.... not cool. I never liked drugs probably cuase they were so front and in my face. Hamodlah I don't worry about those days much anymore... they use a pipe now.

I would have smoked the bong with them, just kidding, I totally understand. I remember I forgot my lunch at school; I might have been around 8 at the time, and the school sectary had to call my home to get my lunch. Well guess who answers the phone, my great grandmother, whom never likes America, and spoke maybe two words of English. The sectary starts her normal speech your child has forgotten their lunch and you need to come to the school to bring it to her. The sectary’s face just froze and she looks up at me and said, your family doesn’t speak English? EMBARESSED, this is an all white school, we had one black girl on the class, who was my best friend, and looking back I guess we found each other. My ex-husband was an alcoholic and my daughter saw what it did to his life, and I am happy that she so far has never drank. So totally understand about the pot smoking your parents did. I smoked during my chemo, and when I get really sick, which hasn’t been in a long time. Parents, at least they didn’t call my father, he is a pathological liar, I am not even kidding, and he lies about everything. One time my sister was over at my fathers, and he was cooking shrimp, so she goes, that looks like some good shrimp, now get this, my father turns to my sister and says, I am not cooking shrimp. Wtf, WHAT A TOOL

LMAO... i really needed to laugh thank you. Sorry at your expense though... oK here is one. So I am now @ 16 and I have my 18 yr bf with me (before being a muzzie alright) and I went to get something out of the kitchen i come back to the front room and my mother has her hand on his knee!!!!!!!

Next!!!!!!

Sounds like we come from the same family, my father gave me up when I was 13, my sisters were much younger, I had to go to court, they took me into the judge’s chambers and asked if I knew what was going on, of course I know, of course my father showed up to court with wife #5, anytime I saw him it was usually in court and he always had some new girlfriend. When I was married to my ex-husband and had my daughter, this is about 14 years ago, I called him, this is after I got my diagnosis, you will love this response, "I don't know anyone by that name," than he called my sister and told her that I called and would not tell him who I was. LIE LIE LIE, he is priceless, my ex-husband always held it over my head saying that I would turn insane like him. Now he is trying to slime his way into my sisters life, what a tool.

Don't forget that even if the evil eye exists, nothing will befall you unless Allah swt allows it to. So I wouldn't be so much afraid of the evil eye as I would be afraid of Allah swt Himself. And I like to think that if you yourself say masha'Allah and tabarakallah to people, then Allah will reward you for giving Him props. And whenever people are like ooooh wow for whatever and all they say is wow, I myself say alhamdulillah and masha'Allah and hope that that will suffice with Allah, and usually they pick up on it too and repeat it after me. I like the hand necklace, what they call "lkhemsa", but I wouldn't necessarily use it in a religious way because that just might fall into the category of bid3a. I like the keychains and decorations with it because it's pretty, but not because I believe in its powers, I don't believe it has any powers, only Allah swt can protect me from the evil eye.