Meriem_DZ

Eeesaan, for your information, it is the type of attitude and condemnation that I read or hear about from people like you that turns me away from Islam. I'm married to an amazing man who is the epitome of what I think is a good Muslim. He's sinned in the past, but haven't we all? The way he talks about God and faith is inspiring, as is his way of treating people. He lives out his principles and I am constantly amazed by it... to the point that I accept Islam as A truth. He, his family, and the warmth, welcoming, open arms of many Moroccans I have spent time with have convinced me that Islam is a true, real path to God and one that I can only imagine He accepts.
I've thought about taking that path myself and feel somewhere between Christianity and Islam. I don't know where I am or where God will put me. I'm not rushing anything: I feel that God is probably happy with my journey, and I am confident that God will make clear where I am supposed to go.
When I read the things that you post: with the tone, the condemnation, and the judgement, the holier-than-you, superior sentiment, it puts a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe you don't realize it, but fear and condemnation isn't going to bring people to believe. Respect, love, care, and living the principles of the book while leaving judgement to God is a lot more inviting.

I don't know about his credibility, but what was going on at Guantanamo (and Abu Ghraib) are serious blots on our credibility.
This guy was held for more than 6 years, although

rub the smen+ couscous btwn your finger, then sprinkle with water , steam for about 7m then repeat 3x-- secret to prefect couscous!

Officer Covington,
Five years ago today, my Moroccan fiancé and I arrived in PHL. He was coming here on his K1 visa. You took him into the room to interview him, and then you wanted to talk to me. You were extremely rude. You told me to send him back to Morocco instead of marrying him. You told me I wouldn’t be in any trouble if I did. You said at the very least, I should put off the marriage as long as possible to give myself time to change my mind. You said Moroccan men are notorious for marrying “women like us” – older, unattractive, overweight, but who had a little money. You told me he’d beat me up, take my money, and leave me within 2 years, and you’d be surprised if he didn’t.
Well, guess what. He’s still here. Because of the economic environment in this country, we (like many others) are barely scraping by, even though we’re both working. I’m a few years older, and a few pounds heavier than I was in 2006. I’m not unattractive, though – I don’t know anyone who would look beautiful after sitting in an airport for 2 days, then flying for many hours. He has his citizenship. He’s never hit me. He didn’t take money. And again, he’s still here.
You were SO wrong, and I want you to know that.
So, can you explain yourself? Can you explain why he’s still with me? All of the reasons you assumed he was with me are gone – the money, waiting for the green card, waiting for citizenship, etc. He has absolutely no financial or immigration related reason to stay with me now. As a matter of fact, he’d probably be better off financially if he did leave. His income alone would support him better than our combined incomes support the two of us and my children from my previous marriage.
OH MY! Could it be that he’s a decent person, and actually LOVES me? Could it be that he really DID come here just to be with me? Imagine that!
You said something about stopping by to tell you you were wrong if he didn’t leave, but I really have better things to do than drive to the airport to try to find you. Maybe this message will get to you some other way.
And I hope you find peace in your life, because apparently you don’t have any. Or at least you didn’t on December 23, 2006.
Happy Holidays.
venusfire
P.S. I’m SO glad I ignored your ‘advice’.

this is a criminal man that happens to be Muslim there is nothing in Islam that allows this
sara

This has nothing to do with religion.

Its about religion and would take a long time to try to explain but simplistically put.....our beauty is only for our family and our body is only for our husbands....we also try to keep our mind clean of sexual thoughts ....pretty hard to do i admit.....I did not move from a Muslim country to the USA most of my family was born and raised right here in the USA......beings our wonderful country is a free country why should we not be allowed to be attended by a women if there is one available? In this particular case there was a woman that was available but was not given the opportunity to attend the Muslim female
In a matter of life or death there is not time to look to see if there is someone acceptable to treat the Muslim women......in cases of non emergency (life or death situation) there is time to look for one that is acceptable....
sara

Congratulations Samira, on your new little bundle of joy!
Hi everybody. I too have not been around for a while. Just wanted to check in and give a quick update. Hachemi and I celebrated our very happy 5th anniversary this past Sept. He did get his citizenship this year and just started a new job with Toyota Manufacturing. It is a huge new plant that will make Corollas. They had 43,000 applications for 1500 positions. We are so thankful that he is one of them. They have wonderful benefits and so happy to have great insurance now. We lived about 45 minutes from the plant so we put our house up for sale and bought another house closer to the plant in Tupelo MS, (the birthplace of Elvis) LOL. We have been in the new house since Sunday and slowly getting everything in order.
I hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving weekend!
Meriem

If the kids count towards counting them in the household size, why shouldn't money that comes into that house for their care count too?

Ridiculos statements really. What you are saying is you disagree with irresponsible parenting. Good for you. What does that have to do with child support? If a couple is married and the kids live in rags and the woman is getting manicures is that somehow better?
Bully for you that you put the child support in savings. Maybe better to have stayed married and done the same? I mean we are judging here, right? We are allowing someone else to decide what we should do for our kids? Right? So let's use MY standards instead of yours, OK?
Child support is simply a form of payment to replace what would have been there if the parents were still together. A family has expenses, the expenses benefit all in the family. OUR children benefit when WE pay the electric bill, the mortgage, the car payment and health insurance. They rely on US to do that. We use ALL of our income resources for that. We do not have "child support" as income in any way. Yet ALL of our income is child support and far beyond some mythical cutoff age of 18. Seriously?
You cannot say to a person that "you must meet the income requirements for a family of four" and then remove one of the sources they use to pay for those expenses. The suggestion is ludicrous. Daft.
Why not deduct their "income" further by the amounts paid for housing, utilities, etc., etc? Why? because THAT is what is meant by qualifying for a family of four!
I mean if we are going to judge this then why not simply raise the level of income required far above what it is...for the children?
You, and the government, simply cannot decide that a person's income sources cannot be "counted" because "it is for..." All the people in a family "count" and all the income resources "count"
The only problem with this picture is that we have to do this AT ALL. There should be NO affidavit of support in any part of this process. The government does not care if you, your spouse or your children live in a box under a bridge. Anyone making that mistake in judgement needs to wake up. What they care about is being able to collect on their expenses if they should grant your spouse benefits in the future. Simply say NO BENEFITS. Done. You should both sign a contract stating that you understand that NO BENEFITS will be available to that person unless they become a citizen.
IF you do get benefits the government WILL count "child support" as income and use it to determine the amount of money they dedcut from your income to re[ay the benefits, yet you do not think it should "count"? Silly. Not only silly, but it demonstrates a lack of knowledge of what the process is for. This process has nothing to do with responsible parenting or what, ultimately, the money is used for. Stop imagining that it does.

Dear E (OP), after reading your posts and watching your video, I just want to add that I truly wish you the best in life and love. I hope that your situation will be solved as soon and as best as possible. *HUGS.*

Bexar County Courthouse Break-In May Have Been Prank
SAN ANTONIO -- Five foreign nationals accused of breaking into the Bexar County Courthouse early Wednesday morning may have been playing a prank, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said.
During a news conference, Wolff said surveillance video from inside the courthouse showed some of the men wearing sombreros and waving a court gavel. Wolff said the men appeared to be having a good time.
"I don't think we know at this time still yet what their motives are," Wolff said. "It was a very unusual event to happen. They certainly didn't steal anything because they didn't take anything out of the courthouse."
Bexar County Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz said the men, who may be of Morracan descent, didn't speak much English but were cooperating with the help of translator. An earlier report that two of the men were on the FBI's watch list hasn't been confirmed, officials said.
When deputies responded to a burglary alarm at 1 a.m., they found two of the men walking outside the building, sheriff's officials said.
Sheriff's officials determined that the men broke into the building through a door on the fourth floor, sheriff's officials said. Three men were located inside the building and two were found outside near a recreational vehicle, which contained several documents and proof the men had been traveling across the country for some time, sheriff's officials said.
there's a link in the story to view pictures of the guys arrested, they look intoxicated. their moroccan-ness doesn't appear to make this any more than trespassing, intoxicated dumba$$es making fools of themselves. the items found in the rv sound like items carted around like the tourists they are, not terrorists. "water systems"-what, a fountain? photos taken at wild waves? http://www.ksat.com/news/29526902/detail.html

Mainstream Americans have radical Muslims in their midst. I'm sure a lot of them have jobs, like most of us do. With our small numbers spread across the country, and most of us not regularly attending masjid, it's more likely that non-Muslims will have routine encounters with Taliban Tariq than a lot of Muslims will.

somewhere between 1.6 - 2.8 million muslims in the country, and the FBI thinks that are all evil?
While I don't doubt there are sleeper cells here in the states, it's a bit absurd to place an entire group of people into one classification.

I've been following this thread and really don't think that any of us have the right to tell Sarah how to spend her money and what to buy or not buy. The truth of the matter is she works very very hard to give her and her family a nice life and if she wants to forgo insurance to pay for a maid and or buy a decent car then she should. Its not up to us to tell her otherwise. I and many of us understand how some of these men are totally spoiled and hopefully something will make him change his ways. But if he follows Islam, which I don't know if he does or not. He can't tell her what to do with HER money, she earns it, its hers. He is the one that is supposed to pay the bills not her, so if she decides she wants a maid, then I say go for!

Salaam...your situation is common here..there are many of us that belong to that group that I affectionately call 'VJ 2.0'
Mohammed and I divorced in 2007 after he got his 10 year greencard. I married Ibrahim in 2008 he also got a 10 year greecard. I know MANY of the members here have petitioned more than once. As long as you have the expected proof in hand you should be just fine.
Good luck to you and if you would like some suggestions how to submit awesome 'proof' send me a message. I have some good ideas for you.
Jax
Importer/Exporter

This has nothing to do with Islam or Sharia law. This is strictly about politics.

weird. i'm muslim, but i don't wish for a world where there's zero of you or anyone else like you who shares your non-belief in any religion. i guess i'm missing what the big funny is supposed to be here? i guess all the non-believers i know are humorless fools cause they never crack jokes at me telling me how awesome the world would be if i weren't in it either. hardy har har.

The irony is, you allow yourselves the luxury of debating whether his beliefs and acts reflect on the larger Christian community. Muslims are not allowed to decide; it's been decided for us that terrorists define Islam and that all Muslims bear responsibility for their acts and beliefs. You believe you can refuse the broad brush even while using it on others, and don't realize how self-serving that hypocrisy appears from the outside in.

I couldn't agree more! I have made many good friends from this forum.. Most ladies here are generally nice and offer sincere help.. Even though there are particular people that turn every possible civilized discussion into a train wreck even when they are not addressed in the discussion..
I generally refrain from participating in a discussion going downhill and has the same member(s) everybody know(s)... People who know me from this forum, do know well I have never been anything but nice to everyone in my stay here... And, I personally think in order to keep this forum civil and hate-free some moderation action must be taking towards the member(s) that fuels hate and misinformation in almost every thread...

A word of advice here for anyone who doesn't know any better: You can never ask a question in any MENA thread as all the people who are bored here or have their own issues will come here and make it a madhouse and make you out to be the worst person in the world and then go off topic and start fights of their own like some zoo. I usually read and run because I get so disgusted, but I will say something this time and for anyone sane out there in MENA land: please don't ask for any advice in this forum or give any of the crazy ones on here any personal info-they will tear you apart unfairly while thinking themselves perfect!
Just because she asked a naive question does not mean that her relationship is doomed just because her fiance wants custody of his child (right or wrong)! Please. Get a life. There are a few of you who are sane on here, but I have been sadly disappointed reading the MENA forum for years now and it's too bad because I am married to a Muslim too and will never find a sisterhood here, that's for sure. I don't understand why people are so mean and nasty here.

Excellent post Aya! Thankful my adopted mom is my mother... one who could not carry any children in her womb but adopted 7 of us to become her own! I love my mom!

So you are not ok with alienating a female parent, but you are ok with alienating a male parent from a child? lol
A bad parent is a bad parent no matter what their gender is! And, nobody mentioned alienating any parent out of any child's life anyway...
I love how you build imaginative scenarios and build stories and opinions over them
FYI, moms in the US don't lose custody just for the lack of financial ability, there any many programs for struggling mothers in every state...

O. dear. Heavens!
Kat ... please dont give Aya any advice, shes one girl that definitely got her head on her shoulders and knows how to handle her own business and take care of her children/family.
Morena, its not necessary to get upset and uptight about someone elses situation that you dont know 100% about. You havent been around VJ long enough and frankly no one at this moment knows the outcome of the OPs future but GOD alone. Just chill a bit on this whole subject.

i lack the words to emphasize how completely nauseated it makes me to hear you attempt to lay a guilt trip on this woman, who you continue to spout inaccurate information about, when i can attest to reading some of the most blatantly ugly comments i've ever read about arab women in your past postings. you are not a champion of downtrodden arab women. sick sick sick.