So I accidentally watched MIA’s video ‘Born Free’ and all I have to say is wow. I say accidentally because I had no idea what it was/who she was, but was curious about why youtube would actually pull/censor a video with all the millions of absolute videodic trash on that site. (Remember all the vitriol from the internets about defending “freedom of speech” with the ‘Draw Muhammad Day’. Hmph.) Having watched it I can see that the video does have full nudity, sex and extreme graphic violence. (so do others still on there) But what a message. Wow. I bet there are people in high places now scared of her. Not even kidding.
I’ll just tell you so you don’t have to actually go through the trauma yourselves of watching it. Believe me it’s enough to get seared onto your brains and disturb you for a long time.
So the video is beautifully shot on a cinematic scale by some south american? director guy. It first shows all these soldiers in military uniform, one with a conspicuous US flag on his arm driving to a raid. They end up in some slummish area and break into a house to find a couple having sex. They search through the apartment building, pass buy a guy using drugs and round up some young guys and mercilessly beat the others. The couple is left nude crying trying to console each other. They round up all the guys up into a police bus for transport. Then they show all of them on the bus and it’s all ‘redheaded white ppl’. As they drive them through their shelled out town they pass 3 red-headed youths, one wearing a keffiyeh, at a corner preparing to throw something at the police convoy. They throw bottles/rocks? They also pass some graffiti sign of redheads holding rifles with the (IRA) slogan “Our Day Will Come”. The military ends up taking them out to some place in the desert. They force them off the bus and line them up and cold-bloodedly kill the youngest red-headed boy/girl? by a single gunshot to the head. (Viet cong style) Then they tell the others to run. They run, but the field is peppered with landmines and explosions are shown. They end up dying horribly and one boy is shown graphically blown up with body parts everywhere. A soldier (that could quite possibly be red haired) just stares into the distance and the screen goes black for a few seconds.
What’s interesting to me has been the reaction to this video. Many of the ppl who commented really couldn’t figure out what the video was about. They didn’t understand why she used ‘ginger-haired’ people and found it offensive. Really? Offensive? I wonder if it would have been offensive if it showed them rounding up black haired dark Arab ppl. Perhaps not, because we see this EVERYDAY in real life on the news/in movies and everywhere else. Who finds that offensive? Also some ppl thought the keffiyeh guys were actually going to do something like throw moltov cocktails or stop the armoured buses somehow. They were DISAPPOINTED, there was no HOPE in the video, they said. Hmmm. Really? They’ve never seen the videos of boys throwing stones at Israeli tanks? And they never thought to themselves ‘why don’t these people have any hope’? Mhmm. Then I noticed some commenters saying that the little boy being shot in cold blood was too much. Really? How about a soldier killing all your family members one by one, burning your house to the ground and raping a 14 year old girl. (+ pouring kerosene over her body and lighting her on fire) Not too much right?
The main media outlets from what I can see interestingly are writing op-eds reviewing the video by saying they think the video was too needlessly graphic to make its message known. Did you hear that? They think it’s “too needlessly graphic”. And youtube of all ppl think that it is so disturbing they need to remove it! Amazing. I think MIA has proved her point. (Point being they are hypocrites – graphicness when it comes to reality is ok but not in fiction, showing it with white/red-headed ppl is too disturbing.)
Why the shocking images – the nudity, why the graphicness, why show it like that someone might ask. D’uh. Because it’s real. That is real. That’s what’s happening in the world, whether you ban it from youtube or not.
At least some people were trying to figure out what it was about. Is it about the Palestinians? Is it about Afghanistan/Iraq? US Imperialism? Is it about the IRA/Tamils? Is it commentary about ethnic cleansing? Is it about Arizona? What does it mean we are born free? At least they’re thinking about these things.
After her success with Slumdog you’d think she’d go on to write music a la lady gaga style or the execs would glam her up more, even though she is undoubtedly talented. MIA’s video though is completely unapologetic. Most people are not ready for it. It is quite frankly, extremely brave because many ppl don’t get it, and those that do, don’t like it. However disturbing, it resonates truths. I think that’s why certain ppl should fear her.
You know what the scariest thing to a slave-master is? Someone telling their slave that they’re really free. MIA is telling all disenfranchised/enslaved/oppressed people they are born free. What a dangerous message.
Jazaks to sister Aysha for this awesome blog in these difficult economic times. Allah is the Best of Providers, but we should definitely be doing our part too 
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Assalamu aliekum
I’m Aysha. I am very excited to have the opportunity to guest blog for Jannah. I’m going to talk to you about a topic I personally love sharing: saving money. Who doesn’t like to save money? Since we are on a blog right now about the road to jannah, I figured why not see what the Qur’an has to say about saving money or not being wasteful.
“But spend not wastefully (your wealth) in the manner of a spendthrift. Verily, the spendthrifts are brothers of the Shayaateen (devils), and the Shaytaan (Devil-Satan) is ever ungrateful to his Lord” [al-Israa’ 17:26-27]
So let’s talk about ways to not be wasteful and save money:
1. Free entertainment. There are many ways to have fun for free. My personal favorite is free movies. Over the past year I have watched tons of movies for free. A few nights ago I got to see Knight and day for free. Best of all, I got a chance to see the movies before they were out in theaters. Now some might want to know how this is possible. This is how; many movie companies do free screenings for movies so that they can get people hyped about the movie. If I like the movie, I will most likely tell my friends about it who will actually pay to go watch it.
Well where do you find these free screening tickets?
There are many sites that provide free tickets. My favorite is www.filmmetro.com . There are also other ways to find free screenings, including visiting sites like www.slickdeals.net or www.fatwallet.com . Why pay for movies when you can go with friends for free?
2. There is no shame in couponing. Now I’m not saying start a coupon notebook and spend hours of your life trying to figure out what you can save on. I am however saying that most stores send coupons in the mail. Don’t go to the store without it. Some stores that always have coupons are Macys, New York and company, JCP, express, etc… If you do forget that you have a coupon or you get one in the mail as soon as you get home, you can always go back for a price adjustment later.
3. If there is a reward program at your favorite stores, sign up, you have nothing to lose. A lot of companies are starting these reward programs where you earn points for coupons or money off. These companies include New York and company, Sears, Ulta, Sephora, JCP etc… If you are going to make a purchase from the store, might as well earn points. When you sign up for these programs they usually send really good coupons and most will give you a free gift on your birthday.
4. There is such a thing as free. If someone tells you otherwise, tell them to check out my blog. http://amoorasfrugallife.blogspot.com Many companies are willing to give away sample sizes of things. There are many things that also have the little tag that says “try me free”. These are for mail-in rebates but none the less, it’s still free.
5. Whenever possible, eat for free. IHOP just had this free meal coupon going around on facebook. You just have to like IHOP on facebook and you get the coupon, how easy is that? You don’t always have to say you like a company to eat for free. There is free slurpee day on 7/11 of every year. There is free pancake day at IHOP, national donut day where places like krispy kreme, dunkin donuts and other places offer free donuts. Let’s be honest, most of us are on facebook. Just let facebook update you on free food items you can get.
6. Name your own price. Now we know a lot of the aunties and uncles love to bargain when it comes to buying things. Although we can’t bargain in a lot of stores in the U.S., we can bargain when it comes to traveling. www.priceline.com allows you to name your own price when it comes to plane tickets and hotel stays. It is easy to sign up and very easy to name your own price. You tell them how much you want to pay, and what area you would like to stay in for your hotel accommodations and that’s it. You will know fairly instantly if someone accepts your price or not. If they don’t accept your price then just try again. Be reasonable in the price you want to pay. I have stayed at many 4-star hotels and paid only $50 a night. You can specify your location based on the street you want be on or landmarks surrounding the area. The same goes with the name your own price plane ticket.
7. Opt for buying books online as opposed to the first store you walk into. This is for both people in college/university as well as those who buy books for leisure. The easiest thing to do is a Google search. I will sometimes do a search for the book I want to buy on Google and I will see what the sites are offering the book for. Once a find a site that is offering a good deal, I’ll buy it. If you don’t feel like doing that, just pick a site you like and stick with it. My favorite site is www.half.com I find all the good deals there and they take the lowest commission if you choose to sell books in the future.
8. Great shopping days. Remember there are days that just have amazing deals. January is the best for winter clothing shopping. As soon as Christmas is over, the sales are the best. They are starting to get rid of winter clothing to get ready for the spring selection. If you are brave, black Friday usually has amazing sales. As soon as any holidays are over, there are major clearance sales. Tax free day is also great if you are going to buy expensive items.
9. Clearance racks are your best friend. Now that you know when the best days to shop and you also know the days that have the largest selection on the clearance rack. After holidays and during the change of season there is always clothing on the racks. Yes these items are that seasons clothing but so what? There is most likely going to be items on that rack that you can use later. Example: leggings. Most hijabis at one point will wear a skirt. I wear leggings under my skirts. Also, long sleeve shirts (body shirts) are excellent for hijabis and never go out of style (as long as you get the plain ones).
10. Being wasteful also means throwing away stuff that is useable or recyclable. If you have clothing you don’t want, donate them to goodwill or even to a charity. There are always groups that are collecting clothing for moments like hurricanes, etc. Also, if you have old furniture you don’t want, offer it on sites like craigslist or www.freecycle.org . You’ll be surprised to know there are plenty who could really use that item you were going to throw away. There are also other hobbyists that enjoy refinish old and unusable furniture. Even if it is broken, there is a chance someone might use it. Trust me, even those worn out shoes you were about to throw away, Nike can recycle them and reuse them to help others out. Check it out: http://www.nikereuseashoe.com
11. Lastly, remember to give charity. After all the money you will be saving remember Allah. Allah says “Ma naqasa malon min sadaqa” which means “your wealth due to donations/donating.”
I’m sure I haven’t told you anything new but inshallah we will be able to continue to stay away from being wasteful. W’salaam!
Sr. Aysha
I thought I would post this very interesting article from a friend’s secret blog He’s an American Muslim who recently changed careers and moved overseas (unfortunately for him without his wife) to Saudi Arabia in order to teach English. I found his perspective on women there very interesting. We could also apply this to Muslim society in the US where seclusion and separation can go to ridiculous extremes (even in our Mosques/Mosque boards).
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The Role of Women in Saudi Society
by Bro. S.
Jun
18
A girly shopping topic…
Ok so you know how like when you see this girl wearing something sooo gorgeous and you’re like ‘OMG that is sooo cute…where did you get it?’. Then she says ‘ICNA/ISNA’ and to add insult to injury she says ‘and it was only 20 bux!’ and then you’re like wahhhh i went to isna and the only thing that I could find was this auntie style jilbab that was like 50 bux *cry
So I’m going to teach you how to rock the ISNA Bazaar. Now these are trade secrets, but since you read my blog I make an exception for y’all. But keep it on the d/l. 
Ok so we all know the bazaar at ICNA/ISNA is fabulous. I’m so serious. We all spend so much money during the year buying junk from malls or wherever, getting people generic gifts or wearing blah stuff to weddings/the masjid. But whyyy do we do that instead of trying to find something really awesome and also supporting other Muslims?! Where else can you get the best of the best stuff from all over the Muslim world. AND uniquely Muslim American type things you just can’t find anywhere else even if you visited stores or ethnic store neighborhoods individually. Like in the same place you have every style of hijabs, jilbabs, desi outfits, jewelery, gold, tasbeehs, all manners of Islamic books, french designer hijabi clothes, spanish muslim leatherbound albums, framed black and white photographs, wooden art calligraphy… I mean really you been there so I don’t need to go on and on..
Here’s the strategy…
First of all, during the year you should be saving money for shopping. If you don’t have any money do not, whatever you do, do not not walk into the bazaar.
Ok so a few weeks before the conference/convention coming up, start making a list of things you need and would like to get there. Are there any weddings coming up? Do you need some new lecture CDs? Want to get certain type of books? Need an outfit for Eid? Be specific too… a light blue hijab, black sleeves, hamza yusuf’s latest CD set. You can even bring fabric samples of your things to find matching colors. (There’s no better place to find exactly matching hijab/jewelry!) Write these all down on a list that you’re going to bring with you. Think of a budget for each. For the wedding gift say you’re looking for something around $75, for your friend’s wedding you want to spend about $100 for your outfit, for new Hijabs you’ve set aside $50…whatever, but try to make it practical and know your money is divided up in blocks for the certain things you wanted. Bring that amount in cash. Try hard not to use your credit card or go to the ATM which will make you go over your budget.
(Don’t forget to set aside some money for charity as well. There are so many amazing beautiful causes that set up booths in the bazaar as well like women’s shelters, islamic relief and even ppl trying to build a mosque in Alaska!)
Then you arrive… first day at ISNA/ICNA this is what you do: Walk through the bazaar at a steady pace checking out what’s there. Needless to say you should be wearing moderately comfortable shoes. From one end to the other up and down. You are window shopping to see what prices different people have for various things. BUT if you see something fabulously unique or amazing BUY IT IMMEDIATELY. Remember those hand-made Islamic spanish leather diaries, I was like ’sooo gorgeous’ I’ll buy one later, took a circuit around the bazaar and came back and they WERE GONE!! Never to be seen again at any ISNA 
So if there is something beautiful, unique or perfect buy it.
Ok so now you have the general layout of the bazaar down, you have an idea of prices and where the best quality stuff is. Schedule some chunks of time from your lecture and events schedule and go down the aisles from one end to the other. Start from one side and remember the aisle numbers, like you just did from 100 to the 500s the day before, so when you come back you’ll continue from booths 500 etc. Avoid times when the bazaar is hugely crowded like Saturday nights or main meal times. You’ll just waste time squeezing through people and getting run over by ubiquitous baby carriages. If clothes shopping, the racks are going to be full and it will be crowded but do your best to go through them all to find things you love. Most stall owners will allow you to take the item to a bathroom to try on if you’re really interested. Then over the next days you buy the things you have down on your list…. kid’s books for your niece/nephews check, a funny muslim t-shirt for your brother check, a light blue hijab and matching bracelets for your outfit at home check etc.
Don’t forget to always pick up people’s cards or catalogs for interesting products and items. There have been so many times this has been useful to me during the year when I want to refer something to someone or need something again.
YOU HAVE TO BARGAIN! Did you think cuz you were in Amreeka now everything was fixed price? Sorry no… when I was a student I was sooo good at this, I never bought anything at the first price, not even books or anything. You can usually get people to bring down their prices on everything.
The best people to learn from on how to shop at these bazaars are from aunties. Stop and watch a few and learn. These ladies grew up knowing how to shop at bazaars! I watched a few and noticed right away that they immediately start chatting to the shop keepers. They totally dig through every outfit rack and every bin to find amazing stuff. They’re not shy about saying something is too expensive or that someone’s selling the same thing for cheaper somewhere else. They get huge discounts if they buy stuff in multiples. They never act like they really want something even if they want it. They establish a ‘bargained over’ price even if they walk away so when they come back they can buy it at that price instead of the shop keeper knowing you came back for it and keeping the price high.
A Note: Now we’re all Muslim here and that’s fine. If you’re wealthy go ahead and give the shopkeeper the extra few dollars. But I’m assuming I’m talking to girls and students who have saved all year trying to buy a few nice things, so to maximize their money they should bargain and know that no shopkeeper will EVER sell anything lower than their cost.
While you’re in the bazaar enjoy yourself as well. You’ll run into old friends, meet some interesting people, maybe taste-test some new things. See some really wacky bizarre things, some really amazing new things going on in the Ummah. It’s fun! I’m a person that loves souks and bazaars. I hate malls tho Not to actually buy stuff, just because it’s so social, interesting and fun. I’d even take walks down the souk near my house in Damascus just to enjoy the experience.
Finally last day: a lot of people just drop their prices like crazy….$20 jilbabs, stuff for way less. They want to sell everything so they don’t have to carry that junk home. And you know what they say…one person’s junk is another person’s treasure Spend an hour and just go through the bazaar looking for any cool bargains.
Ok then, there you go ladies…hope you get some awesome stuff and can’t wait to see it
Love, me
Some interesting pics from last year’s bazaar:
Jun
11
Has anyone ever thought about what differentiates us from animals? Like really thought about it? They eat, we eat. They sleep, we sleep. They have relationships, so do we. Is it that we think? That we have complex societies? But so do they. So what makes us different? We worship Allah but so do they (better than us).
What makes us different is our choices. We have the choice of going against our Nafs (self). Instead of following our lower instincts, emotions and base needs, we can choose not to follow them. We can rise above and try to emulate more ‘divine’ qualities. This is what makes us superior to other creatures.
When someone hurts us or does wrong to us, our first instinct is to hate or for revenge. But to rise above it, turn against those instincts and choose to forgive or show mercy truly takes struggle and exertion. It takes our true humanity coming through. Can you see a lion standing over a baby gazelle saying, “Awww poor thing I guess I won’t eat it!”? Never happens. But humans, what makes us different is our ability to go against ourselves and show this compassion and mercy.
A Hadith says “Show mercy so that you may be shown mercy, forgive and Allah will forgive you.” The Quran asks us “Do you not love that Allah should forgive you?” [Quran 24:22]
The reason I say all this is that I’ve witnessed people not showing compassion and mercy in certain circumstances. And Yes they may have the right NOT to, having gone through a great injustice, but I can’t describe how absolutely cold and ugly it is. It is animalistic and base. It is not human. Not being able to show mercy just puts us back on par with animals.
And when is the time to show mercy? When things are all great and we are rich and we deign to drop a penny in a bum’s cup on our way into Macy’s? No, it’s in those greatest times and trials where we are tested the most. When we don’t WANT to forgive. When our rights have been trampled upon. When we have been hurt the most. When our instinct is to hurt and hate back and punish. We stand over the gazelle with the knife in our hand, hatred in our eyes, but then we stop. We breathe, we look away, we drop the knife and walk away. We even force ourselves to make sure the gazelle is ok. We realize that it is we who were wrong. That we are human beings created in the best of moulds. That we must strive towards compassion and mercy if we are to expect any ourselves.
It is hard, yes. So is giving Zakat in hard times, so is fasting when we’re hungry. What was all that about? Allah trying to teach us to give up our earthly desires and strive for something better. To train us to be above our Nafs, to become more than animals, to become the best of creation.
I leave you to think about this the next time such a circumstances comes your way when you really don’t want to forgive or show mercy.
"Show Mercy So That You May Be Shown Mercy"
