Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Middle East and North Africa	oldies but goodies?	*waves* Now I have Destinys Child Survivors running through my head. I'm a survivor (what), I'm not gonna give up (what), I'm not gon' stop (what), I'm gonna work harder (what), I'm a survivor (what), I'm gonna make it (what), I will survive (what), Keep on survivin' (what), I'm a survivor (what), I'm not gonna give up (what), I'm not gon' stop (what), I'm gonna work harder (what), I'm a survivor (what), I'm gonna make it (what), I will survive (what), Keep on survivin' (what).	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-06-01 10:36:00
Middle East and North Africa	oldies but goodies?	So AbuS saw me on VJ recently and was like, you still read that?? Oh wait, are we the longest married MENA couple? Anyone here from 05 and before? Still hacking it through day by day and surviving? AbuS and UmmS still married, going on 5 and 3/4 years here in the US (I feel like I'm 5 and have to specify how many months it is until my next birthday, cuz gosh darn it, every little bit is important!). Still residing in the Twin Cities. Still no kids. Still cat parents to the fabulous feline Squeaky. AbuS frequently talks about going back to Egypt, forming a political party, and running for president. I'd just like to make it through the end of the year. I have several trials coming up, and it looks like I'll be working crazy long hours until January. Which means, alas, no hajj for us next year. But inshaAllah next year	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-05-31 18:38:00
Middle East and North Africa	Child Custody In Egypt (Slightly Off Topic)	Even beyond the nitty gritty of a court battle, doesn't the non custodial parent have to agree for a minor to be taken out of a country? That wouldn't happen if the dispute was bitter.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-06-23 08:13:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	Free free free course on Ramadan! Living Ramadan: Turning to Allah Together In light of the upcoming blessed month of Ramadan, Qibla for the Islamic Sciences is excited to offer an unprecedented online learning experience: Living Ramadan, a new kind of online course tailored specifically for those who want to get the best of Ramadan by learning the most practical and important points of the month under the guidance of our teachers Shaykh Hamza Karamali, Shaykh Qays Arthur, Shaykh Sohail Hanif and Shaykh Farid Dingle. A self-paced course without exams, Living Ramadan is for those who want to master the worship and spirit of the month. It offers not just the essential knowledge of the rules of Ramadan but also addresses specific questions that are most important to our students, such as moon-sighting and Tarawih, while providing motivation with new daily content throughout Ramadan. Besides the downloadable lessons, students will also have access to live sessions. Living Ramadan will give you lifetime access to teachers, audio and video content, as well as an expanding online community of students who gather to discuss, ask questions, and share experiences related to the course topic on the Living Ramadan Community Forum. Due to the launch of Qibla's new website, we are offering this $60 course as a free gift to our students and online community. Hurry up and register before Living Ramadan's official launch on Sunday, July 9th. Further benefits: No registration deadline;Indefinite access to recorded sessions Get immediate questions answered before, during, and after Ramadan Understand how to maximize your Ramadan experience with spirtual acts of devotion Understand rules related to the validity of your fasts, I'itikaf, tarawih and almsgiving Lifetime access to self-assessment activities Lifetime access to Q/A services Lifetime access to teachers, class materials, downloadable lessons & live sessions	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-06-30 13:45:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	Free fiqh of fasting courses for sisters from the Rahmah Foundation: Hanafi Fiqh Shafi'i Fiqh Maliki Fiqh Plus, the inner dimensions of fasting.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-06-27 12:49:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	A little over a month until Ramadan. Friendly reminder to start fasting a few days now so you don't feel like a truck ran you over once you get to Ramadan. Fiqh of fasting and a link to motivational material posted yesterday on my blog.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-06-23 08:09:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	More Imam Zaid awesomeness http://sheikhynotes....-shakir_12.html	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-06-16 10:12:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	Don't mind me, I'm just going to continue to talk to myself here. Awesome awesome khutbah by Imam Zaid. http://sheikhynotes....aid-shakir.html	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-06-08 08:06:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	It has been narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: “There are five nights on which dua is not rejected: the first night of Rajab, the fifteenth night of Sha’ban, Thursday night, the night before `Eid al-Fitr and the night before Eid al-Nahr (al-Adha).” -As-Suyuti Full article bouncing around the interwebs. Find it here.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-06-02 12:37:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	Lotsa awesome free stuff coming out today. I'll just continue to talk to myself: http://www.mishkatme.../programme.html This series of FREE online webinars will focus on Imam al-Ghazali's The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya 'Ulum al-Din) and other related topics. The webinars will be your chance to engage deeper with this wonderfully rich spiritual resource, and to ask further questions from the teachers who have contributed to the Travelling Light series. The online broadcasts will take place each month for the next year inshaAllah. They will feature further in-depth discussion of the chosen topic for the month, and participants will be able to submit questions by email. Details of how to submit questions are included in the webinar information sent to registered participants. Taking part in the webinars is FREE but to get the most out of them, participants are expected to have read the relevant text or listened to the original Travelling Light lesson on it. The sessions coming up are: Shaykh Seraj Hendricks :: Jewels from the Mawlid of Imam al-Barzanji Sunday 12 June - 12pm PST/3pm EST/10pm GMT More information about and recordings of the Barzanji Mawlid are available here and here. Shaykh Seraj Hendricks :: The Courtesies of Earning a Living Sunday 10 July - 12pm PST/3pm EST/10pm GMT Shaykh Seraj's original lesson on this text is available as an MP3 or on DVD. Future sessions will by led by Shaykh Seraj, Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad and Ustadh Yahya Rhodus. They will discuss and take questions on the other books covered in the series so far. Register here for the the latest updates and programme information to benefit from this exciting series!	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-06-01 14:27:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	Awesome new resource out today http://almadinainstitute.org/audio/ Sadly I do not think they can be downloaded, which means they can't go on my ipod	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-06-01 10:38:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	It's almost Rajab! That means only 8 weeks to Ramadan. Best to start fasting a day or 2 per week now, cuz you don't want to jump into the deep end of the pool without warming up first, especially in summer. on the recommendation to fast mondays and thursdays	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-05-31 18:47:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	Also, forgot to mention you can contact me via my blog - http://umms.wordpress.com/contact/ Awesome free download! Ramadan planner! Yaay Ramadan! http://halalify.com/...dan-battle-plan	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-05-19 16:32:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	Mine is here. I prefer to keep control over it, because I feel a conversion narrative is something that is constantly evolving as I continue in the deen. I think it's something intensely personal and complex, and not something easily explained. It's also probably due for another read through and update. And, my page for convert/interested in islam resources. Also in need of an update and some major reorganization. If I have a chance to take a week off this summer, I plan to do some major revisions and maybe set it up as a mini website.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-05-19 10:56:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	Wow, it's been way too long! I just wanted to say Salam alaikum!!!! wa alaikum assalam! Cross posted from my blog: Rajab within sight... …which means Shaban is just over the hill… …which means Ramadan is on the horizon! 2 and a half months left people, time to get serious! From the archives: rajab reminder it’s coming rajab mubarak	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-05-19 09:34:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	I like this explanation: “The ibtidaa (beginning) of Tasawwuf is: Innamal a’amaalu binniyyaat (verily actions are judged by the intentions). The intihaa (ending) is: An ta’budullaaha ka-annaka taraahu (Worship Allah as though you see him)” ~Shaykh Muhammad Zakariyya Khandalwi (ra)	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-04-18 08:11:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	Anyone want to give me feedback on my convert resource page? It's been awhile since it was loved, and needs some attention. Is it getting to be too long and non-user friendly? I’m thinking of breaking it up into subpages It needs updating. I’m looking both for new sections that may be helpful and new resources to go into existing sections. Web pages, audio, video, and real life resources are all acceptable. Also, if I’ve written an especially helpful blog post that you remember, let me know that too, and I can include a direct link to that as well. FYI, I'm an unabashed pro madhab, pro tasawwuf neo-traditionalist. I tend to recommend resources from that perspective, and definitely do not take kindly to madhab and/or tasawwuf bashing.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-03-23 15:08:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	Audio recordings of Habib Umar's talks here http://habibumar.org/multimedia/audio/	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-03-22 09:27:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	I don't, but I would check the Habib's website, his youtube channel and Sh. Faraz' blog for more info. Ah technology.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-03-16 14:34:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	Awesome opportunity! Habib Umar Morning lessons through Sunday!! From today's lesson “Travelling the path to God is knowledge; the intellect is the guide; God is the goal; and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) is the guide.” Habib Umar quoting a distinguished scholar… “Sternness” with disbelievers refers to remaining firm on one’s religion, not that one is harsh or hard in one’s relations; nor that one upholds anything but excellence in dealings… Never did the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) ever frown at anyone, nor insult, nor revile *anyone*… even his enemies	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-03-16 14:12:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	On tawbah (repentance) and istigfar (seeking forgiveness) The Prophet reported that Allah says: ‘O son of Adam, as long as you call on Me, I shall forgive you of what you have done, and think nothing of it. O son of Adam, even if your sins were to reach up to the clouds in the sky, and then you were to ask for My forgiveness, I would forgive you and think nothing of it. O son of Adam, even if you were to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth, and then you were to meet Me after death, not worshiping anything besides Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as the earth. [Tirmidhi]	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-03-07 09:33:00
Middle East and North Africa	Muslims	According to Abu Dharr (ra), the Prophet (saws), said, reporting the words of Allah (swt) O My servants, I have forbidden injustice to Myself and I havemade it forbidden amongst you. So be not unjust to one another. O My servants, all of you go astray except the one whom I guide. Ask guidance of Me, and I shall guide you. O My servants, all of you go hungry except the one whom I feed. Ask Me for food, and I shall feed you. O My servants, all of you go naked except the one whom I clothe. Ask Me for clothing, and I shall clothe you. O My servants, you transgress by day and night, but I forgive all misdeeds. Ask forgiveness of Me, and I shall forgive you. O My servants, harming Me is beyond you, so you cannot harm Me; and benefiting Me is beyond you, so you cannot benefit Me. O My servants, if all of you – first and last, man and jinn – were like the one among you with the most devout heart, that would add nothing to My kingdom. O My servants, if all of you – first and last, man and jinn – were like the one among you with the most ungodly heart, that would take nothing away from My kingdom. O My servants, if all of you – first and last, man and jinn – were to stand on the same level and address Me with your requests, and if I were to give each one what he had requested, that would not diminish what is with Me, any more than a needle diminishes the sea when it enters it. O My servants, it is solely your deeds that I take account of, and it is by virtue of them that I will repay you. So let him who finds good, praise God, and let him who finds other than that, hold none but himself to blame. Recorded in ibn ‘Arabi’s Mishkat al-Anwar and in the Sahih Hadith collection of Muslim	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2011-01-13 14:47:00
Middle East and North Africa	Converting to Islam	QUOTE I wouldn't even know what to do and am afraid of making a mistake in prayers....so I prefer to pray at home the way I learned when I was young and feel Allah/God won't judge me as he is loving...I know some people may attack me for doing it all wrong, but that is between me and Allah/God...... Please do not take this as an attack, but I think the bigger mistake would be to not try praying at all. Yes, Allah (swt) is al Wadud (the Loving), and al Ghaffur (the Forgiving), but He also is al Wali (the Governor) and al Hakam (the Judge). He has created for us an order and a system to follow, and we need to do our best to follow it. It is in striving to follow this system that we will find the forgiveness from Allah (swt) for our shortcomings. The blessed Prophet (saws) told us that the first thing we will be held accountable for on the day of judgment is our salat. Out of all of our actions, everything we do in this life, it is our prayer that is what will be the foremost action. Do not be afraid of making mistakes in salat. If your intention is pure, inshaAllah you will be rewarded even if you make mistakes. I learned to pray from a set of cards a sister mailed me. It has a line of Arabic, followed by the meaning in English. I would read the Arabic aloud, and then the meaning silently. After a few weeks, not only did I have the prayers memorized, but I knew what I was saying (which is incredibly important for making the prayers meaningful). I made a set of cards and have them here. If you’d like, you can pm me your address and I can mail you a set. That isn't to say that I prayed perfectly. When I met my husband in Egypt a few years after, he asked me to recite what I say in my prayers, and low and behold, I had been pronouncing things wrong. But then, at that point I could build from what I had already learned and worked to perfect it further. Even now, nearly 9 years later, I still review my Arabic pronunciation with AbuS on occasion and find there are things I need to tweak. Heck, even AbuS, a native Arabic speaker who's been praying for close to 3 decades still needs to review his tajweed. Islam isn't about perfection. It's about submission to Allah (swt). We submit to what He has revealed and what the Prophet (saws) taught, and when we fall short, we repent and seek forgiveness. That's why Allah (swt) and the Prophet (saws) taught us how to repent, and taught us to ask for forgiveness. If we were expected to be perfect, they wouldn't have bothered to emphasize that. Don't worry about falling short. The Prophet (saws) was the best example, and even he made mistakes. The important thing is that when we do make mistakes, we realize it, and if it's a sin, we repent, and if it's just a mistake, we try to improve. Re: fitting in. Sometimes you've just got to do it, as the old slogan goes. I moped for years that no one talked to me at the masjid, and then one Ramadan, I just decided to take charge. I sat with ladies and initiated conversations. I cooked and brought food for potlucks. I went to community events. I still wouldn't say I'm 100% comfortable with everyone, but it's a lot better. I have found that I tend to get along better with other converts. We commiserate about how we don't fit in in the community, lol. But seriously, we do often share similar backgrounds and life experiences, and have the commonality that we chose to practice this religion, rather than just doing it by default. Also, if you can find women your age, it might help. It's mainly middle age women at the masjid I attend, and I think a lot of our problem is that we're just at different places in our lives. When I was in college, I hung out with girls my own age through the MSA and we got along fabulously, even if they were raised in muslim families and I was a convert. Edited by UmmSqueakster, 17 December 2009 - 09:51 AM.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2009-12-17 09:49:00
Middle East and North Africa	Converting to Islam	I didn't convert straight from one religion to islam. I deconverted from Christianity after my freshman year of college and spent some time as a universalistic agnostic. But, it just wasn't spiritually fulfilling for me. As cheesy as it sounds, I felt the Divine was calling me to know and worship Him in a prescribed way. It was just a matter of finding what that way was. Edited by UmmSqueakster, 02 December 2009 - 11:00 AM.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2009-12-02 10:59:00
Middle East and North Africa	Converting to Islam	I'm a muslim (who uses inshaAllah and alhamdulilah often and has been wearing hijab for ages, even though her husband is here in the states ). I also happen to be a convert, although I'm waiting for the point when I'm considered *just* a muslim and no longer the token convert in gatherings My story is here - http://umms.wordpress.com/me/ - and I have a list of resources for newbies here - http://umms.wordpress.com/converts/ Feel free to email me (not pm, don't log in here often enough to check it), if you'd like to chat Edited by UmmSqueakster, 29 November 2009 - 04:30 PM.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2009-11-29 16:30:00
Middle East and North Africa	AP lengths	For the old timers, what was your AP? AbuS had a 5 week AP in 2005 through Cairo. The worst I can remember was CairoBound, who's husband had his interview in late 2006, and they didn't receive the visa until mid 2008.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2009-12-18 12:58:00
Middle East and North Africa	AP lengths	It seems that some of the newer members don't realize how common AP/AR is, and how bad it used to be. Please check out this old thread thread where members kept track of who had interview when, and subsequent APs and interview in hands. It really is just a part of the whole process. It doesn't even show the worst of them, which I believe were Cairo 2006-2007, where AP was routinely 6+ months to over a year. Edited by UmmSqueakster, 18 December 2009 - 11:38 AM.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2009-12-18 11:37:00
Middle East and North Africa	So is there any real rhyme or reason to AP?	QUOTE (spectheintro @ Dec 17 2009, 11:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (UmmSqueakster @ Dec 17 2009, 09:54 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I think it's best to go into the interview expecting the worst (months and months of AP). Then you can be pleasantly suprised if you have little or no wait, and not devestated if you do. The problem is, it's really difficult to do that. The last thing I want to do when I get an interview letter is tell my wife: "don't get excited, we're probably going to be put on AP." These past months have been miserable, and frankly I don't know how much more of this ####### I can take. Our relationship is awesome but between school, work, and the time difference, I'm stretched paper-thin. I don't know if I'm emotionally capable of accepting more uncertainty and an indefinite timeline. I think just about everyone on this board has been in similar situations, and 99% of us have survived at least some time on AP. I once went 18 months without seeing my husband. It just goes with marrying someone from the MENA region. If you don't think you can handle it, browse back through some threads from 3 years ago, when there were waits after interviews of more than a year. Then, settle in for the ride, because this rollercoaster doesn't end with visa in hand. It goes on for years and years after the spouse gets there	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2009-12-18 10:06:00
Middle East and North Africa	So is there any real rhyme or reason to AP?	I think it's best to go into the interview expecting the worst (months and months of AP). Then you can be pleasantly suprised if you have little or no wait, and not devestated if you do.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2009-12-17 09:54:00
Middle East and North Africa	Anyone's parent/s hate their fiance/e?	QUOTE (Jenn! @ Dec 21 2009, 10:13 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Disliking your choice in a life partner is one thing, but being flat out rude to them is another. It's amazing how some parents can't even bring themselves to be courteous. I hope it gets better for you all over time. One would think that a sense of decency would win out, but alas, it is not always the case. My mother won't even accept a family picture of the husband and myself. She invited *me* to San Francisco for vacation over christmas, but when I refused because she didn't invite the husband, she was like, oh, um yeah, no. And, the husband refuses to have anything to do with them. It all goes back to nasty disagreements that manifested when they visited him in Egypt and were increadibly rude to him, and he in turn wasn't all to polite in the face of their ugly american act. They weren't happy that I was marrying someone I met online, and thought he was a dreamer who would never amount to anything. He gave them a few more chances after that, but they snubbed him, so he gave up. Now he won't even talk to them. *sigh* I'm just hoping that the family history will win out on this, that when kids come along things get a bit better. You would think my parents would realize that our family tree is full of parents not liking and snubbing their children's spouses, including my dad's parents loathing my mom. But, apparently that experience wasn't enough to stop her from doing the same to us.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2009-12-21 13:34:00
Middle East and North Africa	Anyone's parent/s hate their fiance/e?	They hate him, check. He hates them, check. Yes, lots of fun all around.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2009-12-21 09:46:00
Middle East and North Africa	Tanya and Mohamed no more!	I hope you find peace and happiness as you move on Unfortunately, there are bad arab men out there, but there are plenty of decent arab men as well. For newbies, just be aware that you could be used, or your perfect SO could turn out to be an a-hole too. Or he could be a prince. Sometimes there are no signs, or ones that we chose not to acknowledge. It's just part of the wild ride being married to a MENA men.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2009-11-16 10:44:00
Middle East and North Africa	K visas fee is going to be 350$ instead of 131$ !!!!	I'm really trying to figure out how to say this. If you can't afford the fees, you really can't afford to support another person in your household. No judgement on welfare, foodstamps or anything else. An immigrant comes here with what's in their suitcases. They need to be insured, fed, clothes, and integrated into the society, all of which costs money. Most of the time, that burden falls on the US citizen. If the US citizen has trouble making ends meet before the immigrant comes, how much worse will it be when they arrive? AbuS didn't work for a very long time after he arrived. Sure, he kept busy, applied for jobs, volunteered, interned, studied for his auditor exam, but not a lotta money coming in from him. It was all on me to support us financially. If I didn't make above the poverty line, I honestly don't know what we would have done. These last few years have been increadibly difficult as it is. I can't imagine how much worse it would have been had we been struggling financially. I don't think all the love in the world would have kept our marriage together through that.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2009-12-23 16:56:00
Middle East and North Africa	K visas fee is going to be 350$ instead of 131$ !!!!	Just always expect (and prepare for) the worst. Expect to pay money to USCIS hand over fist for the next 4 to 5 years (which is a given). Expect the immigrant to be unemployed or underemployed for a very long time. And (if you can), delay the visa journey until you're financially stable. It sucks to be apart, but trust me, it sucks even more to be together and always have money worries.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2009-12-21 13:29:00
Middle East and North Africa	MN Mini Meet up	AbuS and I are on the recovering ends of bad colds, but in a few weeks, we should be good to go inshaAllah. Maybe a sledding outing?	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2009-12-31 13:33:00
Middle East and North Africa	Introduction	Ooo Betty, AbuS is from Mahalla. Did you ever visit? Not that there's much to see, aside from the faux Big Ben.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2009-07-14 08:53:00
Middle East and North Africa	Introduction	I'm UmmSqueakster, fka rahma. Squeakster is the squishy and fat feline love of my life. I'm married to AbuSqueakster, the ** sapien love of my life, who has been in the US for more than 3 and a half years now. *looks at join date* zomgosh, I my 4 year VJ anniversary was a few weeks ago Where has the time gone? [public service announcement] Honestly, looking back at the journey, it was long and hard, and it's still hard. The visa process is nothing compared to the adjustment once the MENA man gets here, at least in my experience. Make sure you love each other lots and are very patient, because that love will be tested and your patience will be stretched thin. [/public service announcement]	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2009-06-01 14:16:00
Middle East and North Africa	New MENA Arrival	Aww, what a cutie patootie	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2009-12-15 14:48:00
Middle East and North Africa	Just wondering....	Mmmmm... ...6 years and 4 months or 4 years and 2 months, depending on who's doing the counting. Not the longest, but definitely up there.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2009-12-29 09:21:00
Middle East and North Africa	B'Stilla	That looks delicious, but has too many ingrediants for me I'm used to mac'n'cheese hot dish (mac n cheese + some vegetable + some meat) or hummos (tahina, chickpeas, lemon, garlic). All these ingredients are so intimidating mmm, i'm so hungery now.	UmmSqueakster	Female	Egypt	2006-08-10 12:14:00