ALLAH IS MY HAPPINESS

As salaamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu, This is my life…this is my world the way “I” see it. It may not be nice and most times it is not pretty. However, it is what it is. This is what I am looking for…to live my life…..and love it……..accept it…..the good the bad……and all the ugly. You heard of love the skin you in…..Well I wanna LOVE the Life Im in…..

Saturday, May 19, 2007

the people

People are people no matter where they are from or what faith the choose to follow. I have come to KNOW that you are a person first then you are your religon. Meaning you are who you are. Just because you are Muslim does not make you a nice person. I knew this before but I REALLy know it now. Alhumduillah I have met some of the nices people since being overseas. Most of them have been reverts from all over then moved like myself, but a few have been Arabs.

Before I arrived in Egypt I came accross peopel that wanted to help me before i even arrived. I had people offering me their homes while they were on vacation, people wanted to pick me up wrong the airport, Peopel offering to show me arond.I just thought wow!!! what nice peopel. Alhumduillah they were and all the peopel i met through these people were just as nice. There were a group of women in Cairo that just made me feel welcome and i truely loved them. they had classes every week and went over Arabic, fiq, and other things. I loved this about them, they also had get togethers just to hang out. I feel if more people did this it would make it so much easier. They do this in Alexandria also but they do more. I mean they seem to have classes 4 times a week. HUM maybe i should not say this since In Egypt it is illeagle to have any group come together about Islam without the governments permission. So in reality what these women are doing is against the law. How sad.............


Now when i was in Kuwait. I met the sweetes woman. She came from the states and I tell you she and I clicked. She and her husband would have given me the shirt of their backs. They were warm and funny and so nice. We are still close. She left Kuwait also. She hated it I think just as much as I did. She went back to the states and is now waiting to have another baby Inshaallah. I met one kuwaitie that was nice but that was at the end of my stay so I didnt get to know her very well. All in all I would say that kuwait is a money country. the women seem to want to look as fancy as they can. they want to look as western as they can. All the clothes in the mall are not covering much. It was just sad in my opinion.
Here in the UAE, well things are not much better than Kuwait. I mean I am not being followed home by men but I do not feel any better. Yes, I feel safer, Yes, the women here dress better, and yes, I do think it is a nicer country. However, I really wonder why I am here. I mean I have not dont the things I prayed I would do. If I have to continue to work I will never do anything othet than that,. WORK < PAY BILLS AND DIE....isnt that a mans job....................

Oh well back to the subject.

The peopel I have net here have been nice and very helpful. All of them have been American. But nice women. That is one good thing that does come from being overseas. You really bond with people because we are alone. We came for the same reason and we try to help each other.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Why it is hard

For me living overseas can be overwhelming at times. Being alone most of the time I have to do many things for myself. Not having a man to do your everyday things can be frustrating. It is extreamly frustrating when you are a woman used to doing it all herself. Another thing that is hard is the paperwork. They have paperwork for everything. You do not do anything once here. And the last thing is even though YOU may be here to make hijurah most peopel are not, Yes this may be a muslim country but your boss usually is not Muslim.

When I was in Kuwait I was approached too many times by men wanting to buy sex. It happened 7 in the morning, early afternoon, on my way home from work, leaving the supermarket, or just walking to the bakala. They were like vultures. I HATED IT. To see these men dressed in a clean thobe and act that was was sickening. I know men are men but i didnt expect this is a Muslim country. Hijab is suppose to keep men away and protect the woman, but in Kuwait it was the opposite. when a woman is alone or with her children and she wears niqab she is thought to be selling herself. how sick is that. I left Kuwait for this reason. I did not want my girls being subjected to this type if behaviour.

when you are used to being an independant woman it ia very hard haveing to step back and let a man do jobs you are used to doing. This is very hard for me. I am used to calling to have things fixed and talkign to whoever answers the phone. here they all want to ask for the husband. This irratates me. I can talk for myself. I also do not like needing a man to sign your lease, or do anything leagle. I am a grown woman mother of 4 children and I need a man that is not even their father to sign papers for them........come on!!!! The apartment is mine. I work it , it is my job that pays the bills but he is needed to represent me.....????? This is beyond me.
Then the paperwork to get a visa for these countries. Let me tell you if you are looking to go to the gulf....really think hard and if you do have EVERYTHING DONE CORRECTLY. They are making it very hard to get a job here and they are requiring more nad more paperwork to be done in order to get a job and a visa. You have to get everything attested. A woman can only sponsor her husband or children unless she is a teacher or work in the medical field. So if you have a husband like mine that is not trained in anything usable you may have problems. Rent here is more than the price of ownign a home in the states. It is very clean and pretty but I have to say it is very over priced the rules are not very welcoming. What i mean by that is . They do not care that you are wanting to come here for Islam. It is do you have the skills they( the government ) think you need in order for you to stay here. THat is it.
I know each contry has a right to do what they want but to me. if this is a Muslim country they should be more welcoming and accomaditing to Muslims that want to come here for Islam........I mean they look at what country a person comes from to decide what job they can or can not have. A man from the US cant just come here and say you know what I will take any job. I just want to be around Muslims. Here the ads will say, For Indains only or What ever country..... This is sad. then to top it all off even if a brother said you know what i will clen the streets just to stay here. if he has a FAMILY forget it. If you have a labor job they usually come with low pay and shared housing. If you do nt make over i think 4000 a month you cannot sponsor your family to come with you. Also if you have a labor job like i said you will live with maybe 10 men ina 2 bedroon flat. So you are stuck without your wife all alone surrounded my men.....HUMMMMMMM How islamic is that. Men need their wives. some men spend years here without seeigntheri families. they may get to go home oncea year if their sponsor allows them. Famliy is very important in Islam but here It only seems to matter if you are from privaliged countries.
This leads ,me to that fact that more managers will not be Muslims and If they are they dont care that you are and will sometimes take advantage of that fact. They will offer you less for a job they will pay a non muslim. This is because they kno wmany americans are here for Islam and will do anythign to stay here so they underpay you. Sad but true. I know a woman that has a degree and many years experience but was payed WAY less than her non Muslim co workers.
I work in a school that Ahumduillahllah pays everyone that same for overseas contracts. But I also work with alot of non Muslims and I have to hear tons of talk about how they think some of the rules are outragous, or see them mock a woman thatr has on Niqab. I hear many conversation that are against Islam so this job has its downsides. I feellike i do not fit in. While I am american I do not relate to the Americans becasue they all go out and drink, go to the nbeack, partys, ect. I do not fit in the the Arabs becasue They tend to be to themselves and not see me as Muslim becasue I am American. Most think I am Muslim becasue of a man. OH pLease, My whole family is muslim from my grand parents on down. So that is far from the truth. But this is my reality at the moment.
What I do like is Uae is beautiful. I love all the beautiful Mosques and parks. My kids can go into a park and stay for hours. I love being close to the ocean I just like to see it. It is calming. I like that there are things to do.I am not stuck being bored like in Egypt. There was NOTHING to do with my kids. Dirty parks, not much to do for free. So I do like it here better, as for islam. I dont think it si a good as Egypt but I guess you haev to take the good with the bad and weigh everything out

The people

Thursday, May 10, 2007

living overseas #1

I have been thinking about all my experiences in all the countries I have lived in so far, Egypt, Kuwait, and UAE. I moved over here to live in a Muslim country. I THOUGHT I would have a better chance at learning Isalm, Arabic, and haveing my children see and be proud of being Muslim. However after being here for some times I have changed my ideas.I still think it is better here than in the US for some things. I love hearing the Athan, I love not being the only covered woman in an area, I love that my kids have more Muslim friends, I love that most food I see is Halal.

However, I do not think I can learn MORE Islam here. Yes there are more Muslims here and Yes they have classes. But mose places are geared towars men. In the states there were way more things for women to do. In the Mosque I attended women could attend all classes. There was only one class for men only. Everything was pretty much equal. Here I dont see that. Here there are alot of places that do not have women section in them. One place in Egypt had a womans section but no place to make wudu. Whats up with that! Its like saying yeah you can come but .....Now I know many of you would say oh well it is better to stay home. Yeah but you have the option not to if you do not want to. I for one do not wan tto stay home. I did not move overseas to stay home. I came here to learn. The prophets wives went to the Mosque ALOT. They taught classes, lead prayers, helped in battles, these women were not staying home. They were an active part of the Muslim society. So the notion that women should just learn from their husbands or stay home is not feasable to me. One many husband s do not know Islam enough to teach anyone. Another thing many of them say they dont have time. So what are we to do, suffer? And lastly Learning Islam is required for ALL people. Not only men.


The thing that is really hard to deal with is theat learning Islam is here I am sorry to say some people mix alot of tradions in with Islam and they think it is one and the same. This is the scary part. Because many people that come overseas are reverts. Many of them come to seek knoweledge and get here and get messed up. So, Me personally I dont think learning is a selling point for me.

My kids go to Quran class everyday. I love this. In the states it was not everday. But I have found the behavior of alot of the children here is worse that int he states.My kids never came home with the stories they come home with now. Many of the children I see are being raised by the maids and nannies. They spend more time withthem than the parents. This makes these children spoiled and not well behaved. I will leave this subject alone because i could go on and on but I think I need to use Islamic wisdom here.

Egypt, I found to be the best place I have been for learning. I have heard Yemen is great but I have not been there. Egypt had many centers that taught Arabic, Quran, and Islamic topics. I even met many people that offered to teach my family for free. I have not found that anywhere else. The people in egypt while I found them to be a bit much when I compare them to the natives of the other countries I have been I will have to say they are more down to earth and more likable. I hated Egypt when I was there but now Allah has shown me that Egypt was not the worse place on earth.....

next why it is hard to live here.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

ALHUMDUILLAH SAFA HAD HER BABY!!!!

I got a call 5 am. this morning. Safa said she is doing well. The baby was 9 lbs. His lungs are not fully developed but other than that he is ok. Masha allah she is going home tomorrow and I know She will tell everyone how she is going on her blog. I just wanted to share this happy news. I am so happy for her. Now she can stop being sick and go back to being a mom!!!!!