#muslim prayer in english

[maihonhassan]

Two raka’at when you need something and Two raka’at thanking Allah when you get it.

“It will change your life.”

[la7ma-mafrooma]

I wanted to share something personal because I don't think a lot of you understand the influence of the West and its atrocities on an Arab child's upbringing. English is not my first language; I learnt it initially due to my interest in the language and Western cultures. However, seeing the true face of the West motivated me to continue learning the language to dismantle the false image of Arabs and Muslims which was portrayed by the West. I also talk about how this impacted my standing with the Palestinian cause. Bear with me as this post is long and a little messy, but I need to try and give everyone a clear and full image as much as I can.

I grew up consuming Western media due to my fascination with the English language. However I noticed the lack of Muslim and Arab representation.

When I started seeing representation later on, it was mostly Arabs and Muslims being depicted as 'terrorists' and 'barbarics'.

When a Muslim woman is depicted, she is depicted as 'oppressed' and in need of 'saving'.

I was on social media starting from a very young age. Seeing people online describe my people as 'terrorists' was not only scary, but also confusing. Why am I as an Arab Muslim child -who's living a normal childhood as everyone else- being labelled as a 'terrorist' by the West? Why are people claiming all Arab and Muslim children are trained to use guns by ISIS or/and Hamas? I remember asking my parents as a kid "Is this a real gun with the police officer?" Because I only saw weapons in movies.

I asked questions such as "Why do they think Arabs = Muslims?" The lack of acknowledgment of Christian and Jewish Arabs and non-Arab Muslims confused me.

Why were Muslim women always 'oppressed' in these movies and TV shows I saw? This is not as common as they make it seem. Why are they using the struggle of some Muslim women to demonize an entire religion? Why are they pretending to be saviours when they're actually contributing to further oppression of Muslim women? Why are they weaponizing the awful struggle of some Muslim women against the vast majority of Muslim women? (White feminism is not saving us. It's actually a form of oppression of Muslim women)

Misrepresentation bothered me and made me angry and disappointed. I couldn't finish watching a movie or an episode of a TV show if I saw any mentions of Muslims or/and Arabs, because I knew what would happen next.

When it comes to the Palestinian cause, every Arab grew up watching endless footage of Palestinians being brutally murdered LIVE. Everything and all the footage all of you are surprised to see during this genocide, were a part of our upbringing.

When I was a kid I stumbled upon a newspaper in the house with a headline about a Palestinian father who returned to his house and found all his children shot. And I remember the image very well. The father was holding a prayer mat with people holding him as he broke down on his knees. His dead children were on the floor next to each other. Seeing this image of children my age murdered by the Israeli occupation shocked me. I remember my parents having to hide the newspaper from me because of the impact this image had on me.

I had to start reading into politics at a young age, and I realized that everything that Western media was trying to portray about the West being 'civilized' was a lie. How can you be civilized if you're a murderer or/and contribute to the murder of the innocent?

When I learnt about the history of imperialism, colonialism, slavery,...etc. growing up, I recognized the pattern that colonialists use and I saw that the colonizers of yesterday, are the same as today, except Western media is doing a great job covering for them nowadays, and a lot of people only started noticing that recently.

The West seemed fascinating to me as a child, but after seeing the horrendous false images that're being portrayed of my people in the West, all of my fascination turned into anger and motivation to fight against it.

The real terrorists in the world are not the brown and bearded men, veiled women, or the innocent children. The real terrorists are the ones who set the stage for the murder of innocent people, the exploitation of their resources, using propaganda and painting an image of the innocent that cannot be more false and racist, and the fascists that put on a 'civilized' mask.

I will forever stand with my Palestinian brothers and sisters. I will forever defend my Arab and Muslim brothers and sisters, and I won't give room to any misrepresentation. Enough is enough.

Edit: I wanted to add that growing up, I was scared of telling people about where I'm from, my religion, and what language I speak due to the microaggression and discrimination I was subjected to. Not to mention the amount of times I saw on the news Arabs or/and Muslims getting killed in Western countries (aka hate crimes).

[flowerandblood]

Paradise Fruit (1)

[ Kingdom of Heaven • King Baldwin x female ]

[ warnings: watching each other masturbate, soft, poetic smut, a detailed description of the deadly disease and the unpleasant symptoms associated with it ]

[ description: After being treated by King Saladin's physicians, King Baldwin begins to leave his chambers. The people of the court whisper around her that the young ruler will not even live to be thirty years old. As a lady of waiting of his sister, she attracts his attention. ]

Author's Note: I said it and I did it: I know this isn't your typical Ewan Mitchell character, but I couldn't resist. I'm glad I wrote this because I had too many thoughts after watching this movie and now my soul is at peace! For those who haven't seen Kingdom of Heaven, I highly recommend it, it's an amazing production.

Word count: 3.900

Part 2 – White Marriage

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

My other works: Masterlist

_____

Jerusalem seemed to her at once a paradise and a hell on earth, both beautiful, sublimely sacred, as much as broken, dirty and cruel. The reign of King Baldwin IV was a reign of restraint and peace, the greatest evidence of which was his rich diplomatic correspondence with King Saladin himself.

Baldwin gave permission for the Muslim part of Jerusalem to hold prayers as it wished, on payment of appropriate taxes – a huge step towards reconciling the city's disparate population and a cause of contention among the Christian knights.

As lady of the court, she accompanied the royal sister, Sibylla, like her shadow, serving her with conversation, reading books in her company, being the equivalent of her friend and confidante, watching over her welfare.

She was the third daughter, and was therefore a burden to her lord father, who sent her to Jerusalem to the royal court when she was thirteen. Her father hoped that Sibylla herself would find her a suitable husband and put up the coins for her dowry, allowing her family to glory on the Old Continent in the fact that her chosen one was favoured by the God in the Holy Land.

Looking at Princess Sibylla's marriage, she prayed that she would never meet her fate, preferring to eventually fade into old age in a monastery.

Her Lady abhorred her husband: not in a physical context, for he was not unlike other great knights in stature or appearance, but in his heart, which was filled with the lust for power.

Although he believed that he was acting in the name of Christ on the Earth, he represented neither his mercy nor his prudence, being a simply unkind and spiteful man.

Sibylla was given in marriage to him at the age of 15, and she watched her sufferings and humiliations in silence, only being able to allow herself occasionally to close her hand on hers, giving her encouragement.

It was known that her husband's dream was the death of the King, for it would then be his wife who would become heir to the throne. Someone might laugh at this wish, knowing that King Baldwin was only 16 years old when she arrived at court.

However, despite such a young age, it was known that the King would probably not live to see his thirtieth year.

The cruel disease that had descended upon his body when he was still a young child, leprosy, was the reason why his whole body was covered, and his face was adorned with a beautiful silver mask – the only thing visible through it were his eyes, bright and wise, the skin around his eyelids all red.

His sister despaired at his undeserved suffering, at the thought that his body was falling apart, his skin peeling and pulling away from his muscles, causing him excruciating pain. He could not touch anyone or be touched directly because his disease was contagious.

Thus, one of the greatest rulers of Jerusalem, a man who had accomplished the impossible and ushered, at least for a while, the Kingdom of Heaven into this forbidden holy land, suffered daily torment.

As she prayed for the health of her family and his sister, she also prayed for him – since Christ was able to miraculously cure lepers, as the Bible itself said, perhaps there was hope for him too.

As a sign of respect and friendship, the Muslim King Saladin sent a retinue of his best physicians to relieve the King of his pain, which must have helped at least to some extent, for although she had previously only seen him in audience standing by his sister's side, now the King began to walk through the palace gardens on his own.

One day, when Sibylla noticed him standing next to one of the monks, she approached him immediately, praising his name, and she moved humbly to follow her, feeling grateful at the thought that the King was indeed feeling better.

That perhaps her prayers had been answered.

"Brother. It rejoices me to see you in the fresh air, away from the suffocating comfort of your chambers full of books and parchments." Sibylla said, pulling her shawl from her mouth, revealing her face to her brother.

As a married woman, she covered her face out of sheer decency, as her husband was a jealous man, but she, as a maiden, in addition almost always being in the presence of her Lady, did not have to do so.

"Your judgement is too harsh, dear sister. Books and parchments are my solace in the hardest of times." He said calmly and lazily, effortlessly – it was the first time she had heard his voice this close and she thought the words coming out of his mouth were like humming.

He had a white linen cloth draped over his head that reminded her of the headgear of the pharaohs, a richly embroidered white robe and gloves on his body, a silver mask portraying the features of a handsome, masculine man on his face.

She swallowed hard as his gaze shifted to her, catching her looking shamelessly at her ruler's face, causing her to lower her head immediately.

"Let's take a walk. We should take advantage of the beautiful weather." Said his sister, wanting to take his arm, he however moved away immediately and shook his head.

Pain and sadness crossed Sibylla's face, but after a moment she only nodded and forced herself to smile, walking ahead with him, letting her and the King's servant walk a few steps behind them.

That evening, for the first time, the King summoned her.

"Do not fret." Sibylla said. "My brother is a man of decency and sensitivity. Rest assured, he will not set upon your virtue or force you to do things unworthy of a lady. He confessed to me that he would like to look at your face for at least a moment longer and asked me to convey his wish to you, indicating that you may refuse."

She looked at her in disbelief, feeling the blush of embarrassment appear on her cheeks at her words, feeling her heart begin to pound like mad.

"If it is the will of our beloved King, I will do so." She said, and Sibylla nodded, giving her one satisfied smile.

She wore her most beautiful robe and hair adornments as if she were about to attend a nuptials – the material cast over her body was blue, fastened at the shoulders and waist with golden buckles, in her hair at the sides jewellery resembling a wreath of laurel leaves.

As she entered his chamber, candles burned all around, she was also struck by the intense scent of lavender – she noticed immediately his white, seated figure bent over thick tomes. His head turned towards her, in his mask she was able to see the reflection of everything around him.

"Do not be afraid. Come closer." He said softly and she nodded, feeling her heart flutter in her chest like a bird.

Her footsteps on the stone floor echoed through his chamber, the rustling of her robe as she sat down opposite him made her sound similar to the rustling of leaves.

She swallowed hard as she watched him sigh and spread out comfortably in his chair, looking her straight in the eye – she immediately looked away, unaccustomed to such confidentiality with anyone.

"No." He said. "Don't deny me this pleasure."

She tightened her fingers on the material of her garment, lifting her gaze to him again, feeling herself involuntarily begin to breathe through her mouth.

She could see the calm and curiosity in his eyes – his head was tilted slightly to one side, as if he was thinking about something, silence all around him.

"I'm making you uncomfortable." He concluded.

She shook her head quickly, horrified, thinking that something in her posture or gaze had discouraged him.

"No, Your Grace. I just don't know how to behave. What is appropriate for me to do or say in your presence. Silence is safe." She confessed in shame, lowering her eyes to her fingers again, reminding herself after a moment that she should not do so.

The King hummed at her words.

"Do not take my words as my attempt to mock you, however, knowing how little time I have left in this wretched world has made me tread lightly in courtly etiquette." He said with amusement, not taking his eyes off her, something flashed in his gaze as if someone had lit a candle inside them.

"We waste time feigning care and respect, hiding what is true, arising from the depths of our hearts, because that is what etiquette demands of us. When we stand before God, will we say to him: I have never really loved or sympathised, but my lips have left many beautiful, great words?" He asked, and she looked at him in disbelief, completely surprised by his approach and what she had heard.

Some part of her knew he was right.

"In this world, only the King can afford to lack beautiful words." She muttered, hearing after a moment that something akin to a chuckle had left his lips.

"You are mistaken. One word from the King can either create or destroy."

She lowered her head, wondering if he had just rebuked her, he, however, seemed satisfied.

"My reign will end with my death, which will be in a few years at the latest. I will not beget an heir to whom I can pass on my philosophy of ruling, the values that are essential. My sister's husband and his greed will sit on the throne, and Jerusalem will fall." He said calmly, as if he were telling her about the weather, his fingers clad in a white silk glove tapping rhythmically against the table top.

She swallowed hard, feeling a squeeze in her heart, wondering if perhaps the reason he had summoned her was quite different from what she had suspected.

"What shall I do, my King?" She asked, and he laughed again, louder this time, looking at her as if something in her question gave him pleasure.

"Your devotion rejoices my heart. Do not think, however, that you will hear from me an order that would condemn you to eternal damnation. I could not then leave this world in peace. No. I wish that when I disappear, someone will watch over my sister. To help her escape when all is lost here, no matter what her husband will desire. Do you understand what I have in mind?" He asked softly, and she nodded, thinking she felt more respect towards him than ever.

"Yes, my King." She replied.

He smiled at her words, she saw it in his gaze. She lifted her gaze higher, towards the windows by which the shoots of dried lavender hung, surrounding them with a pleasant, refreshing scent.

"I had these beautiful flowers brought in from far away. They mask well the unpleasant ailments of my illness on hot days. The smell of rotting flesh is one of the most disgusting to man, for nature equates it with spoiled food from which he can die." He explained, and she looked at him in disbelief, feeling hot shame ripple through her body at his words.

His suffering must have been unimaginable.

"Knights praise their own greatness and bravery during battles wishing for songs to be sung about them. I, for one, hope to hear songs about Baldwin IV, a wise and prudent King, a merciful Monarch who fought each day with his own suffering and triumphed. I do not know the words that can convey my admiration for your person." She mouthed in a trembling voice, feeling that her hands lying on her thighs were quivering all over with emotion, burning tears for some reason squeezed under her eyelids.

The King looked at her for a long moment in silence, something in his gaze that made her feel a pleasant tingling in her fingertips.

"Your soul is as beautiful as your body. You are like a breath of cool wind on a hot day. I am grateful to you for allowing me to experience this joy."

As she left his chamber, for some reason she burst out crying.

She could not understand why: it seemed to her that her heart squeezed all over in pain, not only out of compassion, but also out of a sense of injustice that a man so great and enlightened was experiencing undeserved torment every day.

Or was it through his ordeal that he became such a man, such a King?

If the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven were to open before anyone in the second life, it was before him, she thought.

That night she could not sleep: she was ashamed of herself for thinking about him. She tried not to pay attention to men, knowing their nature, knowing that they might consider it an invitation on her part to sin.

However, the time she spent with him, although she might perceive his words as ambiguous, seemed to her something almost spiritual, a moment of awakening, as if she had been in a half-sleep until the moment she looked into his eyes.

His gaze would find her in the audience among the other servants and ladies of the court. She knew this because his eyes stopped on her face, and although he listened intently to what his subjects were saying to him, she knew that for that one moment he was focused only on her.

The flutter of her heart shamed her, allowing her to realise that, like a flower, a warm and pleasant feeling was blossoming within her, coming from God.

"You occupy my brother's thoughts. He follows you with his eyes." Said Sibylla as they walked together through the corridors of the great, cold stone fortress.

"It was not my desire to distract him from the affairs of the Kingdom." She confessed with shame, entwining her fingers on her womb, looking sadly at her fingers. His sister snorted at her words.

"Jerusalem is destroying him. It is the Kingdom that is his disease. He has taken upon himself all its sins, purified it. He gave it years of peace and dignity." She said with a pain from which she felt a sting in her heart.

Why was it that whenever she thought of him she wanted to cry?

"I want to relieve him." She said finally, looking at her uncertainly, afraid of how the words sounded when they left her mouth. Sibylla stopped, looking at her with furrowed brows.

"Don't be a fool. My brother will not condemn you to a fate similar to his own."

"There are many ways to experience relief. You said so yourself, Princess."

Sibylla looked at her thoughtfully and after a moment nodded, giving her wordless consent to whatever she wished to do.

The trust she had in her intimidated her.

As the siblings' chambers were next to each other, walking along the corridor from one quarters to the other was not a problem for her – Sibylla dismissed her guards so that no one could see in what negligee she went to the king's chamber.

Her long hair was loose, her body covered only by a thin nightgown, rubbed with fragrant oils, on her shoulders a cashmere shawl with which she covered herself to protect herself from the cold.

When she closed the door behind her and turned to face him, his eyes were wide in shock. He was silent for a moment, clearly not knowing what to say.

"No." He said finally. "Go back to your chamber."

"I have not come to you to sin. Does the sight of me disgust you, my King?" She asked in a trembling voice, feeling that she was breathing heavily through her mouth, her heart pounding like mad in her chest.

She saw something in his gaze that looked like he felt pain, his figure creased slightly, as if he had run out of strength.

"God created you to subject me to the ultimate trial. He is torturing me like Job."

She felt a single, warm, heavy tear run down her cheek at his words, her body trembling all over, hot and cold at the same time with desire, though she did not know what kind or what was causing it.

"God sent me to soothe your suffering." She whispered.

They looked at each other like that for a long moment that lasted an eternity, and only after a while did she realise that his silence was due to the fact that he wanted whatever she was going to do to be due to her free will. Therefore, she moved tentatively towards his bed, on which she saw a clean, snow-white sheets, and lay down on her back, putting her shawl aside.

She looked up at him – his gaze was fixed on her, his silhouette sitting in a chair by the window frozen in stillness, the whiteness of his attire seeming to her to shine amidst the candles and the surrounding darkness of the night.

She swallowed hard, feeling the dryness in her throat as her fingers lifted to the ties of her nightgown – she untied the knot, a pleasant squeeze spreading between her thighs, something sticky beginning to leak from it onto the sheet beneath her buttocks.

"– does what I am doing disgust you, my King? – is it a sin? –" She asked, sliding the thin material off her shoulders in a gentle, soft motion, unashamedly revealing her plump, sweet breasts. His gaze fled to them, as if what he had just seen simultaneously terrified and excited him.

"– looking at you, all I feel is desire – it's me sinning in my mind, not you –" He whispered so that she barely heard him, his hand sliding from the table top to his thigh.

Though she knew it was wrong, her whole body screamed, wanting him to touch her, to check for himself how soft and warm her flesh was, her moist, swollen womanhood, pulsing around nothing in desire.

"– not just you, Your Grace –" She muttered in a trembling voice, shamefully mimicking his movements, her long, small fingers sliding down her belly between her thighs, sinking into her warm folds like the moist flesh of an exotic fruit.

His head bowed as they both made a strange, unnatural sound full of surprise at the same moment, a moan as if they had caused each other pain, but yet all she could feel was a wonderful, hot tingling in her quivering womanhood, in her lips, in her nipples, in the tips of her fingertips.

He did not allow her to look at what he was touching under the material of his robe, she could however see the shape of that part of his body outlined on the material – his manhood was long and fat like a piece of stick, growing larger and larger with each squeeze of his hand.

She threw her head back, imagining feeling something that big inside her, in an involuntary reflex finding with her fingertips her puffy slit, slick and tight, resisting her as she tried to slide it inside her.

"– let me see –" He whispered, as if asking for something dirty, disgusting, repulsive.

She, however, felt only the heat of pleasure at his words shake her body – her thighs involuntarily parted, her legs bent at the knees allowing her nightgown to shamelessly reveal all that only her husband should be able to look at.

She felt tears under her eyelids at the thought of wanting to be his wife.

"– you have my love, my King – you have my heart –" She breathed out, digging her fingers deeper into the delicate structure of her folds, teasing again and again the small bud from which her body went through shivers of wonderful, familiar pleasure.

His eyes were fixed on what was between her thighs, his gaze hazy and hot, his breath heavy, the sound of his hand smacking against his flesh sticky and lewd.

"– like the inside of a ripe fruit – like Eve in paradise –" He breathed out, staring at her as if he were looking at something delightful, accelerating the splats of his hand with a low grunt of pleasure. "– so beautiful –"

She felt a thrill of pleasure shake her, shivers ran through her cheeks, breasts and legs at his words, so shameless and yet poetic, beautiful, like the Song of Songs of King David.

"– her breasts are like two fawns –" She hummed, quoting one of the biblical verses, the gaze of her King again fixed on her face, full of fire, heavenly or infernal. "– like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies –"

"– her lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb – milk and honey are under her tongue –" He whispered in reply, quoting another of the songs from the manuscript, making her involuntarily allow her own fingers to invade her insides at last.

She threw her head back with a girlish moan, her free hand gripping the frame of his bed, rolling her hips back and forth, stretching her tight interior with the sticky clicks of her wetness.

"– she is a spring enclosed – a sealed fountain –" He muttered and let out a low, helpless groan of relief, leaning down, his hand lying on the table top clenched into a fist.

She felt a wonderful convulsion shake her body at his words, her fleshy, moist walls beginning to throb and clench around her own fingers.

She imagined that her body had just sucked his seed deep inside her, which would take root in her like a tree, giving him a future and an inheritance.

She moaned as she felt her pleasure reach its peak, seeing for a moment only the darkness before her eyes – her fingers, all wet with her moisture stroked for a moment more the little spot deep inside her, her whole body hot and sweaty from the exertion.

Her release was wonderful and sweet, as if she had tasted the most delicious of fruits.

She opened her eyes and met his gaze, his figure relaxed and spread out comfortably on the chair, his hand laid back on its armrest, his glove sticky with something pearly and shiny.

They breathed loudly for a while, just watching each other – she decided not to cover her body, wanting to give him that pleasure, wishing only his gaze could see her like this.

Bare.

He sighed quietly, cocking his head, his gaze satisfied, indicating that he had clearly made a decision in his heart.

"– I will marry you tomorrow at dawn –"

She blinked and raised herself up on her elbows, horrified.

"– my King – that's not –"

"– I know that this was not your intention – I also know that you will understand that it will be a white marriage, which I will declare to all and sundry – you will not lose your maidenhood – you will not bear me children – the Kingdom will treat you after my death as a saint who stood by the dying King in his misery – when I join my Father in the Heavens, you will be free to remarry –" He explained and she shook her head, feeling offended by his words.

"– I will not take another husband –"

He fell silent and swallowed hard, as if something in the certainty in which she said this moved him deeply.

"– very well – I have only one condition: you will never take off my mask – not even after my death – you will see me as I am only in the Kingdom of Heaven –"

[fairuzfan]

I've seen you posting a lot about Palestine and i wanted to ask something. I'm doing what i can wrt spreading awareness and boycotting (unfortunately do not have the funds to be donating at the moment) but this is all so terrifying and it doesn't feel like enough. Idk if this is overstepping or unnecessary or anything, but i was wondering if there's any sort of Muslim prayer i can do on behalf of the people in Palestine. It might not mean anything coming from someone who's not religious but i know people take their faith very seriously and if it means something to them it feels like the least i can do. I would do the same thing for any Christian friends or family going through a difficult time, the only difference is i have no idea how to go about it in this case (I don't really have any Muslim friends, and it's primarily Christian in the area i live). Do you have any suggestions on how i could do this? Or is it not something i should do at all?

Hey thanks for this. Its very kind of you to ask. Honestly, prayers are quite appreciated and I, and other Muslims, would never turn down such a sweet request, nor would we look down on this.

Prayers (or duaa as we call it in this instance) are definitely welcome no matter any religious affiliations. There are also many Christian Palestinians in Gaza as well.

In Islam, duaa, or supplication, is when we ask God (Allah, in Arabic) for things both material and ideological. You cup your hands together and hold them in front of you while you say the prayer. Here is an English version of a prayer you can do:

“O Allah! I complain to You of my weakness, my scarcity of resources, and the humiliation I have been subjected to by the people. O Most Merciful of those who are merciful. O Lord of the weak and my Lord too. To whom have you entrusted me? To a distant person who receives me with hostility? Or to an enemy to whom you have granted authority over my affair? So long as You are not angry with me, I do not care. Your favour is of a more expansive relief to me. I seek refuge in the light of Your Face by which all darkness is dispelled and every affair of this world and the next is set right, lest Your anger or Your displeasure descends upon me. I desire Your pleasure and satisfaction until You are pleased. There is no power and no might except by You.”

Though even putting your hands together and asking for the safety of the Gazans or any other wishes you might have are also acceptable. You don't have to do a formal prayer in which you recite something—as long as it's a genuine wish, then it's more than accepted in Islam.

You can do this anywhere and anytime. Even if you're unable to use your hands, you can still do this as long as your intention is for it to be a Duaa.

I'm not sure how Christians pray so I can't speak on that if someone else wants to provide insight.

[send-up-my-heart-to-you]

tips for writing muslim characters

except im a muslim, born and raised

dont mix it up with arab characters, yes a muslim can be arab and muslim but theres a difference. the link to my post abt writing arabs is here

first and foremost, not all muslims are arabs, and not all arabs are muslims. yes, most terminology and the holy book is in arabic, but that doesnt mean its exclusively arabs

indonesia (not an arab country) has the highest population of muslims worldwide

the arab country with the most christians is egypt, but the arab country with the highest population of christians is lebanon 

not all practicing muslim women wear hijab (some extremely religious women might not wear a hijab)

five prayers a day: fajr (before sunrise), zuhr (midday), asr (afternoon), maghreb/maghrib (sunset), ishaa (nighttime)

call to prayer is known as 'azan', you can listen to it on youtube

muslims use the lunar calendar (known as the hijri calendar), which also has 12 months but its around two weeks shorter than the gregorian calendar. most people only remember the ninth month: ramadan

fasting consists of not eating/drinking from fajr until maghrib. you stop as soon as the azan for fajr sounds, and you can start again as soon as the azan for maghrib sounds. you fast for the entire month of ramadan, but its also encouraged to fast on mondays, thursdays, and the 14th/15th/16th days of each month of the hijri calendar

allah isnt the name of god. allah is the arabic word for 'god'

women dont have to cover up completely until puberty, athough some girls cover up before then and other women dont cover up at all

women can be religious and not cover up

the word 'hijab' doesnt show up in the quran, its 'khimar'. hijab is to cover up completely, not just hair. you cant wear a headscarf with a short sleeved shirt

men have to cover up too. from their navel to their knees absolutely has to be covered up, and (in most islamic cultures, not necessarily exactly religious) they cover up their chests as well 

also men are told to avert their gazes from women more than women are told to cover up. youd find a lot of men in muslim countries not looking up from the floor when walking, especially in areas w a lot of women

kids by the age of eight can usually recite at least four chapters from the quran (the first one and the last three, mostly. it doesnt matter if theyre not arab)

if you want to use verses from the quran for whatever reason, i recommend quran.com

theres only one version of the quran. the same copy thats existed for 1400 years and millions of people have memorized it

on that note, people who memorize the quran are called hafiz, and there isnt a particular age. theres a three year old hafiz and a woman who didnt memorize it until age eighty three

there are two different sources for islamic law: the quran (holy book), and hadith (quotes of the prophet). dua' is completely different, its a prayer used to ask help from god, but unlike the five prayers, it doesnt really require a specific ritual. you just sit, face the direction of mecca, and say the dua'

superstitions are haram, but muslims do believe in black magic (its sihr in arabic and its one of the biggest sins) and djinn (there are djinn muslims but theyre widely regarded somewhat like monsters who encourage/help you to do black magic)

allahu akbar means "god is greater" or "god is the greatest". it isnt used as a signal to blow people up, and it isnt a term used purely by islam extremists

assalamu aleikum / waaleikum assalam mean, respectively, "peace be upon you" and "and peace be upon you too" basically just our way of just saying "hi" along with the reply

subhanallah means "glory be to god" usually when witnessing a miracle or when amazed

mashaallah - there arent any exact english equivalents but it means "what god wills". usually for compliments or to protect someone from evil eye

insha'allah - simply "god willing" but we use this when talking about the future (like "will you come to school?" "insha'allah" or "we'll get the gift, right?" "insha'allah"). can be replaced by the lesser used "bi'ithn illah"

alhamdu lillah - "praise be to god" or "thanks be to god. used in the way you might imagine, but also as a way to express that youre doing fine. "how are you doing today, sister?" "alhamdu lillah" (also when finishing a meal / finishing drinking water)

astaghfir ullah - "i seek forgiveness from god" whenever we see someone do something haram or when we ourselves do something haram and wish to repent

bismillah - "in the name of god" we use this whenever we begin something. a lot of arab literature starts with this. every chapter im the quran starts with this. every meal starts with saying this before eating

you can submit asks if you have any questions, but try to be a lil specific !!

feel free to rb with more info :)

[ardentpoop]

Do you have more muslim sam headcanons? 😭

I adore you 💞💖💗💕💞💖💗💕💞💖💗💕

and yes here you go:

he is super obsessive about doing wudu correctly and praying every rak’a correctly so if he catches his mind wandering in the middle of it he starts over from the beginning

type of american muslim to ask abt pork cross-contamination when he eats out (dean bullies him ruthlessly for being Prissy about it)

doesn’t cuss while fasting during ramadan and if he accidentally does he’ll automatically cover his mouth and go “astaghfirullah” like 5 times (again dean bullies him ruthlessly for this)

fasts even when he’s sick against the advice of all the muslim Q&A sites he frequents

type of guy to beam at a hijabi girl in public (mozlem american solidarity but she doesn’t know that)

never misses fajr prayer no matter where they are. he’s prayed in some really weird places/positions before.

makes duaa in both english and broken arabic and owns several editions of the quran in english, simple arabic, and classical arabic.

dreams of the kaaba sometimes

cries while listening to recitations of surat al baqarah (“the cow”) and surat al rahman (“the merciful”)

TL;DR he’s a more pious muslim than I ever was lol. I like to take the spark of magic I used to feel as a child on long ramadan nights after iftar with my family and let it run through sam’s entire being. or whatever <3

[hadeth]

عَنْ أَنَسٍ، عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ ثَابِتٍ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ: تَسَحَّرْنَا مَعَ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ثُمَّ قَامَ إِلَى الصَّلاَةِ‏.‏ قُلْتُ كَمْ كَانَ بَيْنَ الأَذَانِ وَالسَّحُورِ قَالَ قَدْرُ خَمْسِينَ آيَةً‏.‏ صحيح البخاري ومسلم حديث ١٩٢١ - ١٠٩٧

Narrated Anas: Zaid bin Thabit said, "We took the Suhur with the Prophet (peace be upon him) . Then he stood for the prayer." I asked, "What was the interval between the Suhur and the Adhan?" He replied, "The interval was sufficient to recite fifty verses of the Qur'an." Sahih al-Bukhari 1921 In-book reference : Book 30, Hadith 30 // Sahih Muslim 1097a In-book reference : Book 13, Hadith 58

قَوْلُهُ  قَالَ قَدْرُ خَمْسِينَ آيَةً أَيْ مُتَوَسِّطَةً لَا طَوِيلَةً وَلَا قَصِيرَةً لَا سَرِيعَةً وَلَا بَطِيئَةً وَقَدْرُ بِالرَّف��عِ عَلَى أَنَّهُ خَبَرُ الْمُبْتَدَأِ وَيَجُوزُ النَّصْبُ عَلَى أَنَّهُ خَبَرُ كَانَ الْمُقَدَّرَةِ فِي جَوَابِ زَيْدٍ لَا فِي سُؤَالِ أَنَسٍ لِئَلَّا تَصِيرَ كَانَ وَاسْمُهَا مِنْ قَائِلٍ وَالْخَبَرُ مِنْ آخَرَ قَالَ الْمُهَلَّبُ وَغَيْرُهُ فِيهِ تَقْدِيرُ الْأَوْقَاتِ بِأَعْمَالِ الْبَدَنِ وَكَانَتِ الْعَرَبُ تُقَدِّرُ الْأَوْقَات بِالْأَعْمَالِ كَقَوْلِهِم قَدْرَ حَلْبِ شَاةٍ وَقَدْرَ نَحْرِ جَزُورٍ فَعَدَلَ زَيْدُ بْنُ ثَابِتٍ عَنْ ذَلِكَ إِلَى التَّقْدِيرِ بِالْقِرَاءَةِ إِشَارَةً إِلَى أَنَّ ذَلِكَ الْوَقْتَ كَانَ وَقْتَ الْعِبَادَةِ بِالتِّلَاوَةِ وَلَوْ كَانُوا يُقَدِّرُونَ بِغَيْرِ الْعَمَلِ لَقَالَ مَثَلًا قَدْرَ دَرَجَةٍ أَوْ ثُلُثِ خمس سَاعَة. 

     وَقَالَ  بن أَبِي جَمْرَةَ فِيهِ إِشَارَةٌ إِلَى أَنَّ أَوْقَاتِهُمْ كَانَتْ مُسْتَغْرَقَةً بِالْعِبَادَةِ وَفِيهِ تَأْخِيرُ السُّحُورِ لِكَوْنِهِ أبلغ فِي الْمَقْصُود قَالَ بن أَبِي جَمْرَةَ كَانَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَنْظُرُ مَا هُوَ الْأَرْفَقُ بِأُمَّتِهِ فَيَفْعَلُهُ لِأَنَّهُ لَوْ لَمْ يَتَسَحَّرْ لَاتَّبَعُوهُ فَيَشُقُّ عَلَى بَعْضِهِمْ وَلَوْ تَسَحَّرَ فِي جَوْفِ اللَّيْلِ لَشَقَّ أَيْضًا عَلَى بَعْضِهِمْ مِمَّنْ يَغْلِبُ عَلَيْهِ النَّوْمُ فَقَدْ يُفْضِي إِلَى تَرْكِ الصُّبْحِ أَوْ يَحْتَاجُ إِلَى الْمُجَاهَدَةِ بِالسَّهَرِ. 

     وَقَالَ  فِيهِ أَيْضًا تَقْوِيَةٌ عَلَى الصِّيَامِ لِعُمُومِ الِاحْتِيَاجِ إِلَى الطَّعَامِ وَلَوْ تُرِكَ لَشَقَّ عَلَى بَعْضِهِمْ وَلَا سِيَّمَا مَنْ كَانَ صَفْرَاوِيًّا فَقَدْ يُغْشَى عَلَيْهِ فَيُفْضِي إِلَى الْإِفْطَارِ فِي رَمَضَانَ قَالَ وَفِي الْحَدِيثِ تَأْنِيسُ الْفَاضِلِ أَصْحَابَهُ بِالْمُؤَاكَلَةِ وَجَوَازُ الْمَشْيِ بِاللَّيْلِ لِلْحَاجَةِ لِأَنَّ زَيْدَ بْنَ ثَابِتٍ مَا كَانَ يَبِيتُ مَعَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَفِيهِ الِاجْتِمَاعُ عَلَى السُّحُورِ وَفِيهِ حُسْنُ الْأَدَبِ فِي الْعِبَارَةِ لِقَوْلِهِ تَسَحَّرْنَا مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَلَمْ يَقُلْ نَحْنُ وَرَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لِمَا يُشْعِرُ لَفْظُ الْمَعِيَّةِ بِالتَّبَعِيَّةِ... فتح الباري شرح صحيح البخاري لابن حجر

فِيهِ دَلِيلُ اسْتِحْبَابِ تَأْخِيرِ السَّحُورِ، وَتَقْرِيبِهِ مِنْ الْفَجْرِ. ابن دقيق العيد

الحديث ترجم عليه الإمام البخاري –رحمه الله تعالى- بقوله: باب قدر كم بين السحور وصلاة الفجر أي: انتهاء السحور وابتداء الصلاة، يعني: المدة بين انتهاء السحور وابتداء الصلاة؛ لأن المراد تقدير الزمان الذي تُرك فيه الأكل، الفاصل بين نهاية الأكل الذي هو نهاية السحور وإقامة الصلاة.

"والمراد بفعل الصلاة أول الشروع فيها" وصلاة الفجر ليس المراد نهايتها؛ لئلا يقال: إن الخمسين آية في نفس الصلاة. 

والمراد بفعل الصلاة أول الشروع فيها، قاله الزين بن المنيَّر فيما نقله ابن حجر. وقال العيني: مطابقته للترجمة من حيث إن فيه تأخير السحور إلى أن يبقى من الوقت بين الأذان وأكل السحور مقدار خمسين آية... شرح كتاب التجريد الصريح لأحاديث الجامع الصحيح للخضير

Hadith Translation/ Explanation : English French Spanish Turkish Urdu Indonesian Bosnian Russian Bengali Chinese Persian Sinhalese Tagalog Indian Vietnamese Sinhalese Kurdish Hausa Portuguese: https://hadeethenc.com/en/browse/hadith/4457

[tu-es-gegg]

untuk hari bahasa ini, saya cubalah mengajarkan semua tentang sikit budaya melayu dan berkongsi kosa kata juga (ENG TRANSLATION)

(for this language day, I will try to teach a little about Malay culture and share vocabulary as well)

i made the original post detailing some fun stuff abt my culture of being malay (specifically from perspective living as a Malay from Singapore), i want to do an english translation so its more accessible to those who don't speak malay. This isnt an exact translation (plus im adding mroe additonal info) so keep that inmind

FIRST, what is the Malay language? This is an Austronesian language, also the national language in Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore. Malay is usually written in Latin script, also known as Rumi. There is also Jawi script based on Arabic writing. If you want to know (most) letters in Jawi, this is a video stuck in my head from Andalus (I'm bad at writing in Jawi and Arabic too, even though I study, I don't know much;;;)

Malay culture is deeply connected with Muslim culture, that's why a lot of malay festivities and celebrations revolve around the islamic calender. one such celebration is Hari Raya. there are two ceremonies; Aidilfitri and Haji, I will talk about Hari Raya Aidilfitri only because it is close this year and most well known (for context, its litterally in april this year).

The previous month is Ramadan where we fast/puasa. We do not eat from Subuh (around sunrise) to Maghrib (around sunset) (these are two of the names of the prayer times, in Islam we are supposed to pray around 5 times a day during different intervals. it goes Subuh, Zohor, Asar, Maghrib, Isyak). Before dawn, want to eat Sahur and then pray. At Maghrib, want to eat to break the fast/ berbuka puasa (usually say "buka" for short). Also in this month before Aidifilti, the family will prepare by cleaning the house for visitors, buy new baju kurung, get kuih, etc etc.

aaaa there are a lot of kuih, here's anything I can name (many are from Singapore); kuih lapis, kuih salat? ondeh ondeh, kuih bahulu, kuih dadar, BISKUT CORNFLAKES OMG does that count?. there are many more lol.

ALSO! In Singapore, during Ramadan, there is a huge Night Market in Geylang. Not only in Geylang there is a night market but this is very popular. There are MANY stalls selling food. Everyone who buys from geylang night market knows Ramly Burger, deep-fried Oreos, vadai, KEBAB, DENGDENG. (I like to buy rolled ice cream and chicken kebab mmmm)

In Geylang too, they will buy traditional clothes to visit family. Baju kurung (ehh for traditional clothes, women wear baju kurung, men wear baju melayu but the names are the same anyway) is the normal clothing. Often, one household will choose to coordinate colors together (but it's not mandatory, lmao my family doesn't care)

For men, they wear songkok (that flat black hat) and samping (the long scarf wrapping around the waist)

For women, wear a sarong (skirt) with a long top. If desired, will also wear a tudung (type of hijab) (i should also clarify for muslim women its their choice whether they want to habitually wear hijab. its not just specific to just baju kurung. for example i have lots of aunties that dont wear hijab at all meanwhile i have a lot of aunts who do)

Baju kurung is also worn at other festivities, such as weddings

(my whole childhood I attended so many weddings, this is another topic lmaooooo)

On Hari Raya Aidifilti but before going to raya (this is what we generally call going out to see family), close family in will ask for forgiveness. (it's important the forgiveness is not one-sided, the adults will also ask forgiveness from the younger family members too). Usually this is when people start crying. After that, we go RAYA!!! When in someone else's house, if you are not working now, you can get duit raya! (because I grew up in singapore surrounded by chinese influence, I also call this "angpao" too)

OHHHH THERE IS A LOT OF FOOD;;;; My grandmother would cook a lot during Ramadan and Hari Raya. Rendang, lontong, KETUPAT OHHH KETUPAT, CHICKEN CURRY (my mother every aidifitri cooks green chicken curry, FOR HARI RAYA AIDIFITRI ONLY, ohhhhh that's my favorite part, ASBFKASB I'M HUNGRY.)

(theres also like way more cuisine than this, iu havent even mentioned nasi goreng and nasi lemak and briyani and FUCKIGN BEGEDIL;;;;)

ketupat is kind of icon to represent Aidifilti holiday, for example:

other icons of hari raya include: bunga api, neon string lights, bamboo torches, etc.

I love Hari Raya even thoug my feet hurt ALOT after visiting LOTS OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS OH MY GOD:;; it's okay if you take your shoes off in the house somehow your FEET WILL HURT at the end of the day;;;;;;

uhhhh others about malay culture? we have art! A martial art is silat melayu! I don't know much about this but it's great

there is performance art: one example is dikir barat

juga ada permainan, ada yang terkenal ialah wau (kite)

and congkak (like that one club penguin game, mancala, im not kidding)

there are many malay cultures that are also from indonesian culture because of its influence. (Mainly malay culture was influenced by its neighboring cultures such as from Thailand, Sumatra, Java. Malay culture were from Hinduism before then converting to Islam) That's why we have wayang kulit (natively from Java) (a lot of indonesian culture and malay cultures share similar things because of kinda their similar roots and their spread of their own culture, hence why we also have similar dishes, traditonal clothes, even our language is kinda 70% the same)

Do you know; Singapore was discovered by Sang Nila Utama and was originally Malay kingdom (at that time the island was called Temasek before it was owned by the British) (the original indigenous of Singapore are called Orang Laut, litterally translated to "people of the sea"). That is why in Singapore, the language and the national anthem (Majulah Singapura) is in Malay. Singapore is not only for Chinese people, we Malays and Indians are also here;;;

(and im not at all from malaysia god please none of my relatives are. Malaysian is referring to the country, Malay is the language and the ethnic group)

There's a whole lot more I haven't even touched on, like lmao there's a whole thing about weddings and a whole baby shower thing.

theres also a lot of singaporean stuff i want to share i haven't even mentioned singlish but thats a post for another time

[octuscle]

I’m tired of the problems created in the neighborhood lately, and I’m sure is fault of the arabs that are coming. I wanted to use “Good American” option to transform those arabs into normal people, but they caught me and use the app against me transforming me into a arab jock, help I don’t want to be like them, they will probably turn me into a thief and sell drugs to minors like they probably do!

Relax! I'm pretty sure no one wants to hurt you. How do you feel? All good? It's getting started. It doesn't start in your head. But it starts on your head. Your MAGA cap disappears. And instead you have a knitted white prayer cap on. You don't even notice it when you go to the bathroom to pee. Just as you don't notice your circumcised dick. Fuck, these American toilets are really unhygienic. How much would you like to have a good Arabic standing toilet. But here? With the infidels? Rare to get. That's when your prayer app kicks in. Midday prayer. You do your ablutions, roll out your carpet and do your duty as a good Muslim. Actually, you are not overly religious. But it's good to be one with Allah at least once a day.

Now let's get some fresh air. You greet the Abbas family, who are having lunch on the terrace next door. After the midday prayer, it is routine for you to go to the gym on Sunday. There are mostly brothers here in the gym anyway. But early Sunday afternoon is the best time if you want to be among yourselves. There are hardly any Christians here then. And no one makes a stupid remark when you talk in Arabic. Although you usually switch directly to English when an infidel is there. Out of politeness. And so that no one thinks you are planning bomb attacks. The Christians are really all sons of bitches!

It's 4:00 p.m. when your cell phone rings. Your boss, Mr. Abbas. Sure, Sunday is a normal working day for you. And in emergencies you have to react quickly. A quick look in the mirror. Yes, Arabs are the alphas. Not the lazy and effeminate "good Americans". They would suffocate in their own filth, if people like you would not take care of their shit. In your locker are your stinky work clothes. You really don't need to shower to put them on. Outside is the van with the imprint "Abbas' Sewer Cleaning". Off to the customer. It's going to be another shitty job, in the truest sense of the word.

Your work jacket is in the back of the van. You used to have to gag when you put it on. Now you get a boner. You don't have to be ashamed of your job and your heritage. Unlike your fucking MAGA neighbor, you're a hard-working American and a taxpayer.

[rose-tea-and-strawberries]

Celebrating Ramadan With Kalim and Jamil

Masterlist

First of all, I would like to say that all of this is incredibly self-indulgent. I know that everyone has their own traditions and ways of celebrating Ramadan but this is how my family observes this month. I would love to hear anyone else’s input.

Okay, my mother would love to meet them because they are good, respectable boys.

Every year my mother goes abaya shopping where she has to buy three different abayas (one for Eid, one for Taraweeh/Jummah prayers at the mosque and one for everyday wear) and she always gets upset because I’ve been using the same abaya for the past three years and I only get another one once my previous one has been worn down. Well, now she shall be disappointed no longer because not only would Kalim buy me three wardrobe’s worth of the most luxurious abayas known to man with the fanciest matching shawls but he also, most probably, would get her the fancy abayas as well.]

Kalim would win her heart by buying her those really luxurious hijab shawls.

Oh my god, Eid dress shopping would be a whole other monster. After finding out that I buy two dresses/outfits for Eid, he would be like ‘ha you thought’ and just pull up a thick magazine and ask my mother to point out anything and everything she wants me to have - since she’s the one that does all of the Eid shopping - and the next day I’d find a pile of readily tailored clothes in my bedroom.

A few weeks ago, my mother bought me a golden bracelet with my name written in Arabic on it and honestly part of the reason I love it is because it is exactly the kind of gift Kalim or Jamil would give me.

Iftar and Suhoor would be a feast with Kalim, Jamil and the Al-Asim wealth. Like these boys would stroll up with the rich people dates and my mother would be sold (my mum and her dad love dates).

This has nothing to do with the rest of the post but I know for a fact that the Scarabia boys would get my name right on the first try and I love them for that.

(Context: I have an Arabic/Muslim surname and I spent all my life going to a whiter-than-the-antaractic primary school that used to be a church. That place was so white that we didn’t even have proper assemblies, we had ‘service’ where the priest from down the road would come and talk about the Bible to the entire school whilst the 10-20ish Muslim kids would sit at the back of the hall and read books. So whilst I was there everyone would pronounce my last name as the way you would spell it out in english whereas the actual arabic pronunciation is different but since everyone including my teachers, the librarians, my mum and dad’s coworkers etc called me by the western pronunciation, I thought that that was what my name is. It was only after my Arabic/Quran teacher pronounced my surname in its Arabic way that my dad told me that it's the proper way of saying it. Not going to lie, it felt kind of weird knowing that I’ve been getting my own name wrong for over a decade and I still use the English pronunciation to this day)

Similarly to how Kalim would win my mum with dates and clothes, Jamil would win my mum with handmade kunafa. Trust me, my family loves kunafa.

Also, my parents love arabic tea. My mum collects tea sets and her two favourite sets are her Turkish tea glasses and silvery metallic Moroccan tea set. Jamil would see her arabic mint tea leaves and he would offer to brew it for her and it would taste like perfection, I just know it.

There was this one Ramadan where my mum got into Arabic calligraphy so she bought this big canvas and some black paint and my sister and I tore out pages from my cartridge paper pad and used my calligraphy pens and we just sat and tried to replicate the arabic calligraphy art we saw on google images whilst listening to nasheeds and I KNOW that Jamil would love to do this. Like he would come out with a masterpiece after ten minutes and then judge watch me try to make mine look half decent before trying to help me. 

I don’t think Jamil would be allowed in the kitchen when my sister, mum and I prepare food for Iftar since it’s a girls only zone but if he could enter it, I know that he would be all calm and everything would be ready at least ten minutes before the adhan compared to the rat race that happens in my house where there are some days where we are laying the table like a minute before it’s time to break fast.

So the day before or two days before Eid, my mother or her friends would invite all of the ladies and their daughters for a henna party where we pay a professional to come and put henna on our arms (and sometimes feet) and we play music and sing and dance and eat sweets and it's a whole thing. Kalim would be upset that he can’t join us but he’d understand since it’s a girls only party and there will be women who want to take off their hijabs and relax but he would pay for like ten of the best henna artists he knows and order food for us and he’d be such a sweetheart like he’d be so happy when I’d show him my designs and he’d talk about how his siblings would wear henna and he used to wear it before he got tattoos.

So, my family likes to celebrate my dad’s lunar birthday since he was born during Ramadan and then, since my sister and I made a big deal of it, my parents decided that they’ll also celebrate our lunar birthdays as well - and by ‘celebrate’ I mean that my mum would order takeaway from our favourite restaurants for dinner - and I can so see this as a thing that Kalim would do only he would treat my lunar birthday as an actual birthday with cake and presents and the whole she-bang.

I kind of want to introduce Kalim to my grandma only to see his reaction to her calling my little sister ‘shaytan’ (satan/devil) as a term of endearment.

Speaking along those lines, I also have a very artistically talented friend who shares the same morbid humour as me and as a gift she made me a canvas with the words ‘Kullu nafsin thaiqatu almawti’ (Every soul shall taste death) written in arabic calligraphy that I have hung up in my bedroom and I would love to see Jamil or Kalim react to that just being one of the first things they see.

[archangeldyke-all]

can i please request sevika with an arab reader, people always write about poc but never arabs specifically

sure!

just a disclaimer! i'm not arab-- so if i get anything wrong please feel free to let me know and i'll change asap!

men and minors dni

first of all, if you speak arabic, sevika would be enchanted by it. she'd always ask you to speak arabic to her-- even though she can't understand any of it, she just loves the way you sound speaking your language.

sometimes, if she can't sleep at night, she'll have you read something in arabic to her. it doesn't matter what. sometimes, you read her a book, but sometimes, you can just read her an instruction manual to a table in arabic. she doesn't understand it, and either way she'll be snoring in minutes.

she'd be obsessed with the food. hummus, dolma, kebabs, falafel, fattoush, shawarma-- she loves it all. i always picture her as someone who likes savory, spicy flavors the most, and arabic food has sooo many delicious dishes that highlight these flavors.

she's always begging you to cook for her. and if you can't cook, she starts teaching herself how to cook so that the two of you can indulge in your culture's food whenever you want.

she's convinced arabic poetry is the most romantic poetry in the world. for your anniversary, she buys you guys a big book-- a collection of arabic love poems, written in both arabic and english, so you can read it together, side by side. (it's littered with post-it notes when you receive it-- all of them placed by her next to lines and poems that reminded her of you)

this becomes the go to book for you to read to her when she's trying to fall asleep.

she starts to practice the language. she's always having you teach her new words, and you laugh each time at her pronunciation, but she really does try her best.

she also loves seeing you write in arabic, and she's always asking you to write things for her. especially her name.

she learns how to make tea the way you like it, so that she can always press a warm cup in your hand. she knows that it's a custom in arab homes to have tea with most meals, and she wants you to feel at home with her.

if you're a hijabi (i know that not all arabs are muslim, but i think about 90% are) she's constantly coming home with new scarfs for you to wear. and if she can, she gets a poncho in the same fabric-- so you guys can match.

also, if you're muslim, sevika loves watching you pray. she'll find you on your prayer mat while she's searching the house for you to ask you a question, and she'll freeze in her tracks, softly admiring you as you pray. sometimes, she'll sit down in the nearest chair and watch you until you're done.

you always jump when you turn around and find her behind you, smiling sweetly at you. she always laughs.

"what do you want?" you ask as you roll your prayer mat up. she just shrugs.

"dunno. i was gonna ask you something but i got distracted watching you." she says honestly.

she's always playing arab music at home for you. she doesn't understand what they're singing, but she likes the way you smile when you hear the familiar music in your home. sometimes, it makes for funny moments, like when she puts on a song she thinks is incredibly sensual as she tries to seduce you and you have to stop her half way though to laugh when you register that the lyrics of the song are actually about a man planning on lighting his ex's new boyfriend's car on fire.

taglist!

@fyeahnix @sapphicsgirl @half-of-a-gay @ellabslut @thesevi0lentdelights @sexysapphicshopowner @shimtarofstupidity @love-sugarr @chuucanchuucan @222danielaa @badbye666 @femme-historian @lia-winther @gr0ssz0mbi3 @ellsss @sevikaspillowprincess @leomatsuzaki @emiliabby

[uma1ra]

Narrated Anas ibn Malik: I was sitting with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and a man was offering prayer. He then made supplication: [3]

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ بِأَنَّ لَكَ الْحَمْدَ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ الْمَنَّانُ بَدِيعُ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ يَا ذَا الْجَلاَلِ وَالإِكْرَامِ يَا حَىُّ يَا قَيُّومُ

Allahumma inni as'aluka bi - anna lakal - hamd, lailaha illa ant, al - mannanu badi'us - samawati wal - ard, ya dhal jalali wal ikram! Ya hayyu ya qayyum

English Translation:

"O Allah, I ask Thee by virtue of the fact that praise is due to Thee, there is no deity but Thou, Who showest favour and beneficence, the Originator of the Heavens and the earth, O Lord of Majesty and Splendour, O Living One, O Eternal One."

There is great virtue and reward in supplicating with these names. The narration continues, "The Prophet ﷺ then said: He has supplicated Allah using His Greatest Name, when supplicated by this name, He answers, and when asked by this name He gives."

References:

[1] Muhammad Saed Abdul-Rahman (2009). The Meaning and Explanation of the Glorious Quran. MSA Publication Limited. p. 63.

[2] Sahih Muslim 592a

[3] Sahih (Al-Albani) Sunan Abi Dawud 1495

[qualcosadelgenere]

A "DESERT LION" NAMES ANALYSIS + name meanings related hcs PT.1

And PT.2 here:

DISCLAIMER: if any of the information reported here is wrong or even just partially incorrect/imprecise, feel free to let me know; as my main sources for this analysis were Wikipedia and baby names sites (lol).

Nasser Mustafa <English Wiki> (Nasir Mustafa/Nasir Mustafà <alternative dub names>):

Nasser Mustafa

The Arabic name Nasser (and his alternative spelling Nasir), means  "granter of victory".

Mustafa is one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and it means 'chosen', 'selected', 'appointed', 'preferred'. It's used both as a name and a surname.

Headcanons:

From the moment Nasser was born, his parents, family, and tribal clan had great expectations of him. As the only male son of the chief, his name perfectly reflects the high expectations his father and everyone else has for him.

As a result, Nasser's parents' frequent verbal criticism, whenever their unrealistic expectations didn't quite meet reality, began to take a major toll on his psychological well-being from an early age. He began to link his self-worth to his efficiency and capabilities so much that soon negative self-talk, anxiety, and burnout became recurring struggles for him.

Whether it's in school, sports, personal relationships, or generally just life, failing is his worst fear.

He has a complicated relationship with Messer, but other than that he (tries and) gets along with everyone (probably due to his desperate need to be liked and fulfill the expectations his family has, or perhaps because he feels extremely lonely and vulnerable).

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Far Farouk <English Wiki> (Faraz Farooq <alternative dub names>):

Faraz Farouk

Faraz is a Persian gender neutral name that means “elevation”, and figuratively “one whose condition in life is improving”.

Farouk is an alternative spelling of the Arabic surname Farooq, which literally means "the one who distinguishes between right and wrong."

Headcanons:

He's quite equilibrated in his way of living life.

His parents are kind and generous, as sharing what they have is their biggest joy-bringer. They're proud and supportive of their son's talent in making date cakes and encourage him to explore this culinary passion he possesses.

His father is a doctor and his mother a lawyer and both couldn't care less if their son chooses to pursue a high-status career like their own. They love him and his little sister so much that whatever brings a smile to their children's faces brings a smile to their own.

He was raised to be very objective, not easily swayable by illogical thinking and common opinions.

He's friendly with anyone, but he specifically enjoys hanging out with Musa, Djamel, Messer, and Seiyd.

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Bjorn Kyle <English Wiki> (a super random name choice imo) (Bilal Kalil/Bilial Kalil <alternative dub names>):

Bilal Kalil

Bilal is both a name and a surname of Arabic/African origin. It's meaning varies from site to site, but the main are "full moon", "moist", "water" and "refreshment". Bilal is also linked to the name of a companion of the prophet Muhammad who became the first person to call Muslims to prayer.

Kalil is a less common variant of the Arabic name/surname Khalil, which means "friend", "companion".

Headcanons:

Bilal is not the friendliest and most approachable guy per se, but once you gain his trust and friendship, you can be sure to have a loyal friend.

His parents are affluent and successful Qatari and they have high expectations for their older son (he has younger twin siblings, a sister, and a brother).

He received the best care while growing up, attended prestigious schools, ate high-quality food, and wore refined clothes. Everything was designed to be perfect, except for one crucial element absent from his flawless lifestyle: his parents' support and unconditional love.

Bjorn always feels like a burden and believes he never lives up to his parents' expectations. Their cold and distant parenting left Bjorn feeling insecure and introverted, and he craves love more than he'd care to admit. The few friends he had growing up were carefully chosen by his family to align with their ambitious and success-driven social circle. They were sons of doctors, politicians, lawyers, etc., and didn't share any of Bjorn's interests or hobbies.

To add fuel to the fire, Bjorn realized early on that he didn't quite have an eye for the opposite sex like his so-called friends had, but needless to say, his environment was far from safe and supportive.

He knows very well what his family's stance on homosexuality is and he's already given up the prospect of living a happy domestic life with someone he actually loves a long time ago. He's terrified of what kind of consequences his eventual coming out would bring and prefers to behave under what he thinks is cowardice, rather than die at his parents' hands.

If he were to choose who he's closer to he'd probably pick Nasser and Zack.

He sympathizes deeply with the first, due to how similar their parents are in terms of how fake they are in loving and caring for them.

He thinks of him and Zack as like the moon and the sun. Zack is the sun in Bjorn's eyes because he's a whirlwind of pure warm energy, easy to be around, and genuine, as opposed to the kids he was forced to befriend. Whenever the darkness threatens to eat Bjorn alive, Zack becomes a beacon of light capable of leading the way out with his uninhibited optimism.

When he's with the Moroccan, the Qatari-born has finally the fleeting sensation of being free and safe.

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Djamel Djammadu <English Wiki> (Jamila Wali/Jamel Jamald <alternative dub names>):

Djamel Jammal

Djamel is the North African variant of the Arabic given name Jamil, which means "beauty", "radiant" and "handsome".

(Jamila is the feminine form of the masculine Arabic given name Jamil, and Jamel is very likely another variation or transliteration of the latter.)

Wali is a name based on Arabic short form of Wali Allah "friend of God", "protector". However, this surname is more common in Kashmiri Pundits than in Muslims.

(The surname Djammadu doesn't even exist on the internet, and Jamald, again, is possibly just another variation of the name Jamil. The only other surname I could find something about is Jammal; from the Arabic personal name Jammāl meaning "camel driver").

Headcanons:

Djamel, the youngest of five siblings, has been spoiled rotten by his family and neighbors. His cuteness has definitely played a part, but he is also a very social kid, as he enjoys interacting with people.

Adults around him are always surprised when he engages in conversations about their country's economy and tourist industry, with extreme ease. He dislikes it so much when people automatically assume that just because he's young, he doesn't have the ability to talk confidently about certain matters.

Camels are his favorite animals, and because of this preference, he and Zack quickly became friends. Djamel is greatly interested and fascinated by his teammate's knowledge of such creatures, even though they don't get to speak about it often as Zack usually cuts the whole conversation short, as if embarrassed to be overheard talking about such things. Weird.

The teammates he's closer to are Zack, Far, Rajab, and Majidi.

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Musa Sirer <English Wiki> (Musa Sylla/Musa Saila <alternative dub names>):

Musa Sylla

Musa is a male name of Semitic origin, it's associated with the biblical Hebrew name Moses. In Arabic it takes the meaning of "saved from drowning".

Sylla is a surname prevalently found in Guinea, from the name of the Sylla clan of the Soninke people, it can be interpreted as meaning 'horse people'.

Headcanons:

He can't swim for shit, lol. His parents tried when he was a toddler, but he just couldn't bring himself to stay calm when surrounded by water up to his ears.

On the other hand, he loves horses and knows a scary amount of facts about them. Just make the mistake of asking him about it, it's basically a hyperfixation.

When he was little and went to visit his grandparents every few months, his grandad would happily let him ride one of the most beautiful Arabian horses on their farm, as his grandparents used to own a stable for equestrian purposes. Musa never forgot his equine best friend once he passed away and that's how his love for these animals began growing. He'd love to have a stable of his own someday.

He considers Khalfan his best friend on the team. Another good friend of his is Yusuf, along with Far, and Seiyd.

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Yusuf M'hadi <English Wiki> (Yusuf Massoud/Yusuf Mahadei <alternative dub names>):

Yusuf Massoud

Yusuf is a male name meaning "God increases". It's the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew name Yosef and the English name Joseph.

Massoud is an Arabic/Persian given name and surname meaning "happy", "fortunate", "lucky" and "prosperous".

Headcanons:

Yusuf is a happy-go-lucky person known to have disarming luck in everything he does.

He gets homesick very easily and can get quite anxious when change is involved.

His parents rooted in him a deep connection with Qatari cultural traditions, and sometimes that can lead to high expectations he holds for those around him (especially con-nationals) that don't get met.

Such misunderstandings bring some issues as he relates to others, especially with free-spirited and more Western-oriented teammates. More than once he feels the pull to "correct" the behavior of some of them when they act in a way that by his standards (often religious driven) is wrong and borders on being immoral.

But then again, he knows better than to do that (on one occasion he said the wrong thing to the right person, at the wrong moment, and by the end of the whirlwind of carefully crafted insults and harsh accusations of hypocrisy his comment triggered, Yusuf ended up crying his eyes out in his room out of embarrassment).

He's really close to Khalfan, Seiyd, and Far. He also enjoys the company of Nasser and Musa. He doesn't enjoy the infamous teammate's company anymore, but they used to be on good terms.

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Sulai Sulaiman <English Wiki> (Sulayk Sulaiman/Sly Salomon/Sly Sulayman <alternative dub names>):

Sulayk Sulaiman

Sulayk is an Arabic given name that means "traveller" and "walker".

(Sulai and Sly are not even actual names according to what little information I could find about them. Other smilar Arabic names I've found are Sulay and Suli, but apparently they're both female given names.)

Sulaiman is one of the many English transliteration of the Arabic name/surname Suleiman. It means "peaceful" and "man of peace" and corresponds to the Jewish name, Shlomoh, and the English one, Solomon.

Headcanons:

He's the sweetest guy you'll ever meet, always generous and considerate. He's non-confrontational, often trying to mediate or defuse fights when they break out.

He dreams of traveling around the world and plans to go on an exchange program abroad during his last year in preparatory school (Qatari public school service from age 13 to 15) and who knows; if he really likes the place maybe even for uni.

The sea has always fascinated him since he was a toddler, and whenever he can, he likes to spend his days at Khor Al Adaid (Inland Sea), a renowned tourist attraction located in the southeast of Qatar, where the sand dunes meet the sea.

I also have a hc about his ethnicity that I developed a few years ago when I first started to get into Desert Lion.

In my setting, he is originally Palestinian, born in Nazareth, and his family is of Arab-Christian descent. However, that never stopped him from befriending Adel, whose family is devoted to Islam. Even though their families follow different beliefs, they bonded quickly.

Zack is hilarious, but annoying when he bypasses boundaries for the sake of a joke. Nasser is super nice but also too stressed out and Bjorn is a good friend, yet sometimes he turns cold and ignores you for no apparent reason. That kinda hurts, but oh well!

Sulai gets along well pretty much with everybody on the team.

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Seiyd Armand <English Wiki> (Sayid Armand/Seid Armand <alternative dub names>):

Sayid Armand

Sayid is an alternative spelling of the name Sa'id, which means "blessed", "good luck", "joy" or "happy" and "patient".

Armand (Armand is a French name/surname, the closest Arabic (Persian) name/surname is Arman, meaning “wish” and “hope.”).

Headcanons:

He is a patient person and usually maintains a good mood that is hard to spoil, tending to see the bright side of things, and having a very positive attitude toward life.

The relationship with his family, namely with his French-born father, is strained due to how contrasting their outlooks on life are. That is, much to his dismay because Seiyd's family is well-known around their hometown for their chronic pessimism.

Seiyd spends most of his time arguing with his overly dramatic father over daily events and how much his apparent bad luck influenced them.

If there's one thing Seiyd is not neutral about is how much he dislikes fatalistic individuals. However, it's not like he can just get rid of his own family, especially because despite all that negativity they seem to possess, he loves them to the moon and back.

Seiyd and Talal are really close friends. He also has a strong bond with Far, Bjorn, and Musa.

[troybeecham]

I usually eschew political postings (the last was about the Dobbs ruling in 2022), because they always lead to overwhelming Leftist outrage, including death threats from “Christians”, but I feel that I should be unambiguous about such an important issue. So, allow me take a few moments to adress the 7 October 2023 Muslim Arab terror attacks against the Jewish people of Israel, acts of such profound wickedness and horror, and the astonishing outspoken support of “mainline” Western Christianity for Hamas and the eradication of the Jewish state of Israel under the pretext that Israel is an apartheid state.

To keep this from becoming a book, I will not provide sources for all of my comments. If you disagree with something, ask me and I will provide sources for you that undergird my statements.

First, let me speak to my faith community. On the one hand, Christian silence about this atrocity, and on the other hand showing outright support for Hamas in the face of this evil, is itself evil. The Church has not always had a good relationship with our fraternal twins, the Jewish people. Over the last two millennia, we have gone from being a primarily Jewish sect following the Jewish messiah Yeshua (Jesus in modern English) to an almost completely Gentile religious community. In the European Middle Ages, Western Christianity failed utterly to obey the command of Jesus to “love one another as I have loved you” when it came to our Jewish cousins. We committed atrocities against them for centuries. It was only in the aftermath of the Holocaust that Western Christianity began to do some serious soul searching. Speaking for the Catholic Churches, comprising some 1.3 billion people worldwide, Pope John Paul II made the historic step of acknowledging the terrible history of the Church regarding the Jewish people, and asking for forgiveness from the Jewish people. He became the first Pope to visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem, and at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem placed his prayer note in the wall, saying,

“God of our fathers, you chose Abraham and his descendants to bring your name to the nations. We are deeply saddened by the behaviour of those who, in the course of history, have caused these children of yours to suffer, and asking for your forgiveness we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the covenant.”

Protestants are still a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to the Jewish people and Israel. Over the last few decades, the “mainline churches” have increasingly taken anti-Israel stances, calling for boycotts, disinvestment, and sanctions against Israel, labeling Israel an apartheid state, and some, including the Episcopal Church in 2018, have even sought to remove any mention of Israel from their religious liturgies. All of these are based on the growing acceptance of Leftist propaganda by Western people, including Christians, which has been steadily replacing orthodox Christian theology over the last century with Leftist ideology. Orthodox Christianity has been slowly replaced, leaving the mainline ecclesial communities as little more than social justice organizations using the names “Christian” and “Jesus” to sanctify the ever widening departure of Western Christianity from the actual Gospel of Jesus. This can be seen see clearly in the growing anti-Jewish ideology, which comes with a deep revulsion of Israel, the kind that we are seeing in campus protests across the nation, and an unimaginable sympathy among Christian’s for Muslim terror states and organizations, validating their atrocities, because of non-stop Leftist propaganda that Arabs are experiencing oppression and apartheid by Jews.

Let’s define some terms here that may help with this.

First, “Palestine”. Palestine was first used to describe the region by the Roman Empire after they had destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70, killing over 100,00 Jews, taking 50,000 to Rome to be sold as slaves, and forcing some 40,000 children, women, the elderly, and injured Jews into the wilderness to die. But by God’s grace many persevered and thrived. Rome sought to commit the genocide of the Jewish people, but by the grace of God they endured because they had been living as a diaspora throughout the region for over 600 years, both in Israel and beyond the reach of Rome. In the aftermath of the Jewish Wars, Rome renamed the region Syria Palaestina in AD 132 in an attempt to erase Israel and the Jewish people from history, a history that begins with the migration of the patriarch Abraham from Mesopotamia to what was then Canaan, c. 2000 BC. Over the last 4000 years, the historic homeland of the Jewish people, Israel, has been claimed by empire after empire, yet has always had an indigenous Jewish population.

In the aftermath of WWI, between 1919 and 1922, the League of Nations created the “Mandate for Palestine”, which directed the region to be under British administration as “Mandatory Palestine”. This was the first time “Palestine” was used to describe the region since the 4th century AD. This new administrative region was comprised of modern Israel and Jordan. Gaza was part of Egypt. Mandatory Palestine was intended to be split between Jews and Arabs. The international community ultimately gave 2/3 of the region to an Arabic outsider Hashemite king who had allied with the British in WW1, leading to their expulsion by other Arabs from the Arabian Peninsula. They are, in fact, the occupying, non-indigenous government.

All that goes to point out that there has never been a “Palestinian state” prior to 1922.

Second, “Palestinian”. There has also never been a “Palestinian” ethnic group or people. Not until 1922. Prior to that, the inhabitants of the region called themselves simply Arabs, Jews, and Druze, among others. The Arabs are the non-indigenous people, who conquered the region during the violent Muslim Arab expansion out of the Arabian peninsula beginning in the 7th century AD. It is a matter of record that the Arab population of Mandatory Palestine refused to be called “Palestinians”. It was the Jews who adopted the name. The Jewish English paper of the time was the Palestine Post, later renamed the Jerusalem Post. The creation of an Arab “Palestinian” identity was only later crafted by the Muslim Arab States during the 1960’s, during their wars of invasion, and especially utilized by the terror organization the PLO, to drive a political propaganda machine to create international outrage of the treatment of a supposed indigenous “minority group”, when statistically the Arabs, non-indigenous to Israel, are an overwhelming majority, and to delegitimize the re-founding of the Jewish homeland, Israel. The so-called “Palestinians” are not an oppressed indigenous minority. They are Arabs, part of an Arab population of 475 million people in 22 countries.

Third, “apartheid state”. The propaganda that Israel is an apartheid state continues to work, sadly, despite the facts. In 1900, there were roughly 94,000 Jews, 70,000 Arab Christians, and 600,000 Arab Muslims living in Israel. The population of Israel today is 9.7 million people, with over 2 million being Arabs, Muslim and Christian (though the Christian Arabs have dwindled over the last 60+ years due to Muslim violence) who are full citizens, who vote, and have political representation in the Israeli government and military. In fact, 20% of students, doctors, nurses, and professors in Israel are Arab citizens, proportional to their population. 45% of new medical students in Israeli medical schools are now Arab. The “refugee camps” that still exist in Israel are under UN jurisdiction, not Israeli jurisdiction. They still exist because it serves to validate the anti-Israel propaganda machine. Tell me again how Israel is an apartheid state?

If the 7 October 2023 terror attacks and continued holding of hostages, including children and infants, had happened to any other nation, everyone on Facebook would have their profile picture changed to the flag of that country, just like everyone did with Ukraine. And not just changed their profile pictures, but threw 100% support to Ukraine to fight off Russia. Where is the same outrage, the same showing of support for Israel? Where is the same absolute and total condemnation of Gaza, Hamas, and Iran, the chief supporter and financier of Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Muslim terrorist organizations? Where is American outrage that the administration of Mr. Biden so recklessly tried to endorse the international terror state Iran with $6 billion, and to whom Mr. Obama gave $1.7 billion in 2016?

America is being led down a dangerous path by Leftist ideologues who are seemingly intent on strengthening the enemies of freedom around the world and here in America. American “mainline” Christianity has been lead down the same dangerous path.

Israel has done nothing since the refounding of their state but protect itself in two wars of invasion by Muslim Arab nations, decades of ongoing Muslim Arab terrorism, and yield to pressure from the West to give away territory in hopes of creating peace. Israel has even agreed to a “two state solution”, but the Muslims Arabs have rejected it. Twice. There is, in fact, already a “Palestinian” Arab state, Jordan; but Jordan refuses to patriate the Arabs in Israel in order to keep international outrage going. For that matter, there are multiple Muslim Arab states that could, and should, patriate their Arab Muslim brethren, but they refuse in order to strike the flames of anti-Jewish outrage. No one on the Left is willing to answer the question, “How can you have peace with Muslim states and terror organizations who constantly reiterate that they will not rest until all Jews are dead?” Hamas leaders have repeatedly said that they love death more than the Jews love life. This is pure evil. This is Satanic. What Hamas has done, the gleeful murdering of babies, pregnant women, and children is the very definition of evil. Hamas gave cameras to their troops to film their horrific acts of evil, which Western media groups have shown, acting as second hand terrorists. How can you make peace with evil? You cannot. We cannot. We must name it without hesitation and confront it in every way possible. We must not bow to the pressure from Leftist and Muslim ideologues in our own country or internationally who understand how desperately Westerners want to be liked and to be thought of as virtuous. But it is not virtuous to believe and repeat a lie, or to validate evil. A recent poll of average Arabs in Israel (including the “West Bank”) and Gaza showed that Fifty-two percent of Gazans and 85% of West Bank respondents - or 72% of Muslim Arabs respondents overall - voiced satisfaction with the role of Hamas in the war. This is not about a few radicals. It is the overwhelming majority of Muslims who desire the extermination of the Jews and the state of Israel. That’s what “from the river to the sea” means, chanted so vigorously by propagandized Western students, Muslim terror groups, and average Muslims around the world.

It is long overdue that Westerners and Christians wake up and acknowledge our own growing anti-Semitism and support of terrorist organizations who desire the genocide of the Jewish people. And do not play the game of saying you are only anti-Israel, not anti-Jewish. Such a splitting of hairs is factually unsupportable, and is contrary to the Gospel of Jesus. It is long overdue that “mainline” Christians joined the overwhelming majority of worldwide Christians fully to embrace orthodox, catholic, Biblical Christianity. We must embrace our Jewish cousins without hesitation and defend their right to be free from constant attack and terrorism, and to have a secure and prosperous homeland. It is time for all freedom loving peoples around the world to throw off wicked Leftist ideology, recognize the utter incompatibility of fundamentalist Islam with freedom and with orthodox Christianity (FYI, Christians are the single most persecuted group in the planet. On average, 15 Christians are murdered simply for being a Christian every day, mostly in Muslim dominated countries. Fundamental Islam commands not just the death of the Jews, but also Christians and any who will not convert to Islam), and to stand resolutely with the Jewish people and all people who are actually being oppressed and murdered by Leftist/socialist/communist regimes and Islamic terror states.

[dailyhadeeth]

Perfect Reliance on Allah

Hadith: Arabic Text followed by English Translation.  عن عمر رضي الله عنه قال‏:‏ سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول لو أنكم تتوكلون على الله حق توكله لرزقكم كما يرزق الطير ، تغدو خماصاً وتروح بطاناً‏ رواه الترمذي ،  ٢٣٤٤ وقال حديث حسن صحيح ‘Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying: If you all depend on Allah with due reliance, He would certainly give you provision as He gives it to birds who go forth hungry in the morning and return with full belly at dusk Jami` at-Tirmidhi, 2344. At-Tirmidhi said this hadith Hasan Saheeh Download The New Sunnah Assistant Android App: Manage all your To-Dos & Tasks to help you become a Better and Productive Muslim. It includes an option to get Prayer Time Alerts and Sunnah Reminders Download Now for Free

[thegreatlibraryfangirl]

I keep meaning to make this meta post and then executive dysfunctioning my way out of it because it feels too big. So let's just start and see where it goes. I can always reblog it with additions later.

Khalila is an interesting Muslim to me, because she's not a stereotype. She's devout, and fierce about it, but she seems to choose which hadith she follows. (More on this in a sec)

I like to interpret this as a deliberate, highly reasoned-out decision but partially a reaction to what is either her upbringing, or the influence of certain family members. To explain my thoughts:

She's from Riyadh, which as we may remember from her hilarious put-down to Dario being racist/Orientalist/anti-Arab, whatever your buzzword is, is a modern, technologically developed city. This indicates certain things about history, which are backed up by the later discovery that the country name is still Saudi Arabia. So its history has been very close to that of our own, which in an absolutely tiny nutshell means that it was unified in 1932 by a member of the Al Saud family. The family had long been in alliance with the Wahhabi/Salafi movement, a reactionary movement largely against European colonialism/imposition of values, which leant hard into things like perfect adherence to the hadiths judged authentic and forbidding reasoning/logic being applied to which of these should be followed.

This is how we got to Saudi Arabia pre about 2017, with its incredibly powerful religious police, separation of men and women, women can't drive/travel anywhere alone/wear anything other than (black) abayas&niqabs or even burkas, stoning, etc etc.

Now, I don't know about you but when I first came across this information, my brain went straight to one particular scene: Khalila's Ink and Bone introduction.

In it, Khalila is being vigorously chaperoned by her uncle, Nasir:

"...when a man moved over to take a seat next to her. He was a rounded fellow, older, expensively dressed in traditional Arab robes ...The uncle gave Jess a warm smile, rose, and gave him a bow in return. It was all very civil, but he wasn't leaving the girl's side, that much was obvious ... the departure of Khalila's uncle. He clearly didn't like leaving his girl to the unwashed masses, but he went with good grace."

(This is also, through sheer elimination, probably the uncle who was a Library inventory for 30 years who she apprentices with, mentioned in S&I)

Khalila is not only chaperoned (the only one to be so) but is wearing a black hijab. Jess not mentioning any other colour makes me convinced that Khalila is actually wearing all black here. I think that she is doing this against her will, as in the entire series we never see her wearing black again after this (apart from adopting the explicitly English mourning custom for Morgan).

Adding this comment that Khalila makes about her uncle -

"Rough company," said Dario. "Unsuitable for an innocent flower like you." "You sound like my uncle. One can be innocent and not be ignorant, after all."

-- and I am claiming that at the very least, Khalila's uncle is a Salafi Muslim. I dither over whether the rest of Khalila's family is the same, since there's no evidence either way. Given that in our real life history, there has been a huge loosening of restrictions in Saudi Arabia from about 2017, I like the idea that her family in general are more progressive/lenient/different school of thought, and it's just Nasir who is a strict Salafi still. (Poor guy having fucking Rafa for a son.)

Other things that Khalila very quickly goes against that are mentioned or inferred here: being alone with unrelated men and touching the opposite gender. (Having a Christian boyfriend, even chastely, is ... that's a big can of cultural worms lol I'm talking about her being alone with, for example, Jess, and also freely doling out hugs and other physical affection). Hadiths and customs that Khalila does still adhere in the series to include the five prayers, wearing hijab, and calling both tattoos and alcohol haram.)

Anyway. I forgot my point. Basically, freed from the restrictions of her uncle and a religious movement that she clearly does not agree with, Khalila chooses her own way to be a devout and proud independent Muslim woman. Idk. I just love her.