Winter Fun

Memories of Winter in New York

Recently it snowed in Texas. This actually made the national news.

A ton of pictures and messages went up on every social network about how amazing it was. People were outside walking around instead of working, children were let outside of their schools. I saw tons of photo albums of little kids running around playing in the snow, people making snowmen, taking pictures happily standing in front of them, then taking pictures of their houses, their trees, their cars covered with snow. And the amazing thing is: I think it was three inches at most! Lol. We get that in ONE HOUR people!! And it snows all night here!

It’s like they never saw snow before or something

Ahhh, the beautiful thing is that it brought back to me how joyous snow could be. I have so many good memories of winter when we were growing up. I was thinking about this recently too as my young nephew and neice will be moving to (ironically) Texas and will probably never experience a real New England winter.

The first snow of the season usually falls before Thanksgiving here. The trees are all bare and when the whole town seems to be the blahest ugliest, all of a sudden one day we’ll be looking out the window in our high school and it will be snowing. Oh, the excitement!

All those kids in these pictures were dressed up in thick sweaters with hoods, poor things. They probably don’t even own jackets! Let alone what we call a “snow jacket and snow pants”. I remember when I was eight I used to have a pair of hot pink snow pants that I loved! Our usual outfits were thick jeans, a turtle-neck shirt with a sweater or thick sweatshirt, big fluffy socks (sometimes two), big boots, hat, gloves or mittens, ear-muffs, wool scarf, snow jacket and if we were little — snow pants! Then we’d go outside and maybe shovel the snow. We’d build forts on both sides of our house and we’d make up teams between my brothers, sister and I. We’d pelt each other with our arsenal of snowballs and sometimes passerbys too. (haha don’t tell our parents) We used to make snow angels in our backyard. We’d go sledding for hours and hours at the local park, or high school or local golf country club. We’d clean off the cars for money from our parents or my brothers would go clean off some neighbor’s sidewalks and we’d walk to the local store and buy the most unhealthiest foods we could find!

At our local Mosque they’d bulldoze the parking lot and there’d be this one long line of a huge mountain of snow and we’d all climb it and walk across throwing snowballs like it was some kind of trail across the Himalayas. Oh and snowdays were the best! We’d go to bed and pray and pray that it would snow all night. Then we’d wake up so early and turn on the radio or the TV and keep listening and if our school was called we’d start screaming and jumping up and down and be so ecstatic that we had a WHOLE DAY to do nothing except what we wanted. Sometimes we’d go to our friend’s house trudging through the snow, or we’d stay inside after our excursions and watch a ton of TV or play video games. The best feeling in the world was coming in after being all frozen, shaking off all our winter wear and placing it on the heaters. Then going in the kitchen and drinking some delicious soup or hot chocolate our Mom had made for us. Until today, for some reason I love to make brownies when it’s snowing! We loved going outside after midnight when we were teenagers. The streets sparkled with the glitter of thousands of diamonds and we would feel like we were living in the 1800s with all the cars and modern life covered up. We’d walk down the street and feel timeless… such are the happy memories of winter here.

A City Fairyland 1886 by Hassam Childe

There is of course the downside of snow. Getting a cold or the flu, actually having to walk to school or wait at the bus stop even when it’s freezing and snowing, making up work for the day you missed. And of course as you get older, snow is more an annoyance, having to wake up early to see if you have to come in to work. Cleaning off the car at 7am in sub-below 0 temperatures after snow and freezing rain is the absolute worst. Have you ever felt so cold with the wind and snow that you had to cover your face or else you’d die and like your eyeballs start watering because they are so freezing, Texas? Yeah I thought not

It’s enough to make people leave and it’s true that so many people haven’t been able to bear it. It’s just hard to go out and clean off your car and move it every day during snow emergencies. How about shoveling an entire driveway! Have you ever gotten stuck in snow or not been able to get your car out. Yeah it’s happened so many times. Having to clean your sidewalk after two feet of snow. Dealing with bone-chilling cold and wet frozen feet and hands and ears. Can you imagine the fear that stops your heart and jumps into your throat when your car slides on an icy road and you can’t do anything. I remember one winter while driving to Jumah, my car spun a clear 270 degrees on an icy part of a highway on-ramp. I still thank Allah that there weren’t any cars coming or going at the time. Winters can be harsh and depressing times too, with no one going out, events being cancelled, nothing going on.

Despite all this, I still love my memories of winter. I look out the window at 1am and love seeing the snow falling under the street light. And I love when, after that last storm ends and all the snow melts, we wait for that first flower of spring with the excitement and satisfaction of putting a rough winter behind us

And I have miles to go…

Dear ‘Muslim’ Terrorist,

A letter to a would-be terrorist.

What exactly did you think you’d be gaining? Like for real, did you think your name would be up in lights? Did you think people would think you’re the savior of the Muslim world or something? Did you think you were correcting all the injustices against Muslims in the world or even avenging them?

No you’re rather pathetic. First of all you did not think at all when you ‘concocted’ your stupid plan. Did you even bother to read about what Islam said about the issue? Yeah, don’t bother reading some lone crazy Fatwa someone like you with wack ideas and has no backing came up with. But did you even bother to ask a single real scholar of Islam? Like the hundreds and thousands of mainstream Islamic scholars out there. –Guess what they say– That killing innocent people is Haram. Wow didn’t get that bulletin did you. What’s that you say, the whole world is against Islam, so it’s ok to kill indiscriminately. Yeah so why don’t you just kill yourself then (somewhere alone). You know why. Yes, it’s because killing yourself is also Haram in Islam!! Life is sacred in Islam and belongs to God, not people! Yet you still dare to go against that and do it to others?!

Anyways I just don’t get it. These young “Muslim” guys had so much going for them. They could have done so much to change society and the world around them. To spread the real message of Islam and justice. Justice does not come from violence. It doesn’t. Justice comes from change. Change in thought and ideas. And you cannot get this change by violence. Especially stupid plans like blowing up planes and killing innocent people.

Really, what did those five boys from Virginia get for traveling to Pakistan to supposedly join up with some ‘Jihad camp’.  Did they save the Muslim world? They destroyed five families and an entire community. What did the Ft. Hood shooter get? Nothing except probable torture and execution. Did he make a point? Besides that Muslims can’t be trusted anywhere. No he did not. The 7th July English bombers? The Mumbai bombers? Zip except a whole lot more problems for the Muslims in their countries. What did the ‘underwear’ bomber get. Nothing except a humiliating nickname and the same as above. Even if he had been successful what would he get? Nothing except a lot of hate. From every Muslim in the United States and every non-Muslim. Thanks a lot buddy. Every amount of progress we had made since Obama came into office just went down the toilet. What point were you trying to make again? No one has heard it because we now have to stand in line two hours more for every flight undergoing invasive full body scans at every airport thanks to you! Now every innocent person from 13 Muslim countries will endure more hardship because of you. Now every single person in Yemen (an entire country! and not even your country!) will suffer because of you.

This kind of “Jihad” just does not work. It does not help our brothers and sisters dying every day in Iraq and Afghanistan and Palestine and everywhere else. It just doesn’t. A terrorist might think they are bringing the oppression over there to the forefront of people’s minds here. But it’s actually just making them feel more justified. The “threat’ is what made them go over there in the first place and you are just adding more proof to their argument. Did the “vengeance” you caused make them sit down and chat about making things better for Muslims? Or did it allow them to cause more oppression?

How did the 9/11 terrorists help Muslims? By killing 3,000 innocent lives (which BTW included some Muslims) and then by causing the killing of hundreds of thousands of lives in Iraq and Afghanistan and Gaza. Yes, all justified by 9/11. Who is to blame if your action causes great tragedy and injustice. They might carry it out but it is YOU who caused it by your stupid wrong actions. You must understand, this is not a level playing field. It may be unfair, but Muslim blood is cheap. And others’ suffering causes them to seek vengeance upon us tenfold. Terrorism as a strategy does not work. It will never bring about the justice we are looking for.

See it’s like that movie Umar Mukhtar… the colonizers were there all raping/killing and the Muslim army captures two as prisoners and one of the Muslim soldiers wants to just kill them. He raises his gun and Umar Mukhtar puts his hands over the rifle and pushes it down. “We do not kill prisoners” (an Islamic principle), he says. Well “*They* do it to *us*!” is the answer. Umar Mukhtar says, “They” are not our *teachers*!

Do you see? They are not our teachers. See we EXPECT retartedness from them. We expect wrong and evil and oppression. This is expected in the world. A lot of people do not like justice or fairness or the way of life that is Islam. That is how it is. But how can we become them? How can we compromise our Deen taught to us by our beloved Prophet (s) and our Holy Quran. Can you imagine if you said to Muhammad (s):  Yeah they’re killing us so I’m just going to go over there and blow up a mall/plane/business full of innocent people… men, women, children, xtian, muslim or jew… doesn’t matter… it probably won’t even help our cause and just makes things worse…but who cares… i might be doing it out of revenge or because i’m depressed or messed up psychologically but hey…_I’m doing it for you._  Does that make any sense to you? Can you imagine what he (s) would say.

That you’re an idiot. Yes. Even worse… you are a person that does not think. And Islam, above many things, is especially a religion for those who think. We are taught to think about our actions and reactions and responses. That’s what it’s all about isn’t it? Actions = hereafter. Doing sins has a response, we’re accountable for it. The grave and dust is not the end of all things. “All this” means something. And one day we will see the truth of everything. So why didn’t you think? Why didn’t you think of the consequences? About whether or not you were actually helping Muslims? Why didn’t you think of better ways that can bring about change in this world? To show people what Islam is really about? To work on yourself first and become a better Muslim? To help the community around you and the larger Muslim community that is suffering… instead of making it suffer more? I mean can we not THINK as Muslims and come up with rational, real effective ways of helping Muslims overseas. Why can’t you do that instead of coming up with stupid irrational vigilante justice scenarios?

Some people sympathize with you because they think you had good intentions. ‘At least you are doing something to help the Muslim world.’ Wrong. Let’s talk about acceptability of an action in Islam. You need intention AND form. If your intention is good but your means are wrong then the action is invalid, not accepted and not rewardable. And if your means are wrong and cause more harm then that will reap only punishment. A terrorist who thinks he’s a martyr, is in the end just a terrorist.

I don’t even want to talk about what’s going on overseas. Killing Muslims left and right, blowing up Mosques, marketplaces, opposition leaders, a McDonalds in Karachi?? Really? Families eating at a McDonalds? I mean really? This is what you think will get you to Heaven? If a Muslim kills a Muslim one of them is not one. Who do you think God is going to choose: you or an old man who was praying in the Mosque? you or a little girl playing in the marketplace? Think!

Ok I’m done now. My anger is spent. It’s not even for myself. I expect this life not to be easy for a Muslim. We will have hardships and challenges and we will have to live through them and gain our resolve and fight for justice in *thinking* ways. And in the end we may have to wait for our justice in the Hereafter. But it just upsets me that you would damage the name of our beautiful Deen and the image of Muslims. Another crime in so many crimes, and yet you still think you’re in the right?

Sincerely, your friend and fellow Muslim (as long as you don’t turn into a terrorist),

Jannah

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P.S. – This is an excellent lecture from a scholar for you to watch called ‘Peace with the Environment’. Especially the question answered on terrorism at the end, watch from 4min.37s here and continue in the next part.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AslHoWEPrlg#t=4m37s