Category: Essays

George Orwell transformed into a writer because of his travels to Burma and the injustices he saw. He wrote “Down and Out in Paris and London” and “The Road to Wigan Pier”.

He travelled to Spain, it caused him to write 1984 and Animal Farm.

When Che Guevara travelled through South America, he transformed into a leftist revolutionary. He wrote The Motorcycle Diaries during his travels.

When Siddhartha Gautama travelled, he saw suffering and he transformed into Buddha.

When Malcom X went to Hajj he transformed into Brother Malik and lost his anti-white rhetoric and left Nation of Islam.

Travel …. transform.

A masjid is an empty room, well lit by natural light, empty walls, good carpet, and if you have been in anything else, you have not been in a mosque.

Islam is minimalistic in Design.

Types of Gender on which most Western civilizations laws were written:
1. Make

2. Female 
Types of Gender on which Islamic law is written:

1. Male
2. Female
3. Hermaphrodite

Types of Gender today:

1. Agender/Genderless/gender neutral: does not identify with a specific gender

2. Androgynous/Androgyn/Gender benders: combination of masculine and feminine traits

3. Gender conforming: conforms with cultural and traditional expectation of his/her perceived sex.

4. Bigender- someone who identifies as both a man and a woman with spectrum of mixing.

5. Cis- all of these terms capture that a person is not trans or does not have a gender diverse identity or presentation.

6. Cis Female (see also Cis Woman, Cisgender Female, Cisgender Woman); a female who identifies as a woman/has a feminine gender identity.

7. Cis Male (see also Cis Man, Cisgender Male, Cisgender Man); a male who identifies as a man/has a masculine gender identity.

8. Cisgender: A person who has the gender identity commonly associated with their biological sex (e.g., someone who is assigned as a female at birth and who lives as a woman).

9. Female to Male/ FTM- a trans person who was assigned female sex, and now lives as a man and has a masculine gender identity.

10. Gender Fluid- someone whose gender identity and presentation are not confined to only one gender category. Switches between male and female as they wish or feel.

11. Gender Nonconforming- Someone who looks and/or behaves in ways that don’t conform to, or are atypical of, society’s expectations of how a person of that gender should look or behave. (See also this excellent article by Dr. Eric Grollman about gender conformity & gender non-conformity).

12. Gender Questioning- Someone who may be questioning their gender or gender identity, and/or considering other ways of experiencing or expressing their gender or gender presentation.

13. Gender Variant/ naturalist/ Gender bon-conformist – an umbrella term that refers to anyone who, for any reason, does not have a cisgender identity.

14. Genderqueer- Someone who identifies outside of, or wishes to challenge, the two-gender (i.e., man/woman) system; may identify as multiple genders.

15. Intersex- Generally refers to someone whose chromosomes, gonads (i.e., ovaries or testes), hormonal profiles, and anatomy do not conform to the expected configurations of either male typical or female typical bodies. Some intersex conditions are apparent at birth, while others are noticed around puberty or later (if ever).

16. Male to Female/MTF- a trans person who was assigned male sex (likely at birth), and now lives as a woman and has a feminine gender identity.

17. Neutrois- An umbrella term within the bigger umbrella terms of transgender or genderqueer.

18. Non-binary- Similar to genderqueer, this is a way of describing one’s gender as outside the two-gender (i.e., man/woman) system and/or challenging that system.

19. Pangender- “Pan” means every, or all, and this is another identity label such like genderqueer or neutrois that challenges binary gender and is inclusive of gender diverse people.

20. Transgender- an umbrella term that includes all people who have genders not traditionally associated with their assigned sex. People who identify as transgender may or may not have altered their bodies through surgery and/or hormones. Some examples:

21. Trans Man (see FTM above); Although some people write the term as “transman” (no space between trans and man) or trans-man (note the hyphen), some advocate for a space to be included between “trans” and “man” in order to indicate that the person is a man and that the “trans” part may not be a defining characteristic or central to his identity.

22. Transsexual person – For many people this term indicates that a person has made lasting changes to their physical body, specifically their sexual anatomy (e.g., genitals and/or breasts or chest), through surgery.

23. Transsexual Woman – Someone who was assigned male sex at birth who has most likely transitioned (such as through surgery and/or hormones) to living as a woman.

24. Transsexual Man- Someone who was assigned female at birth who has most likely transitioned (such as through surgery and/or hormones) to living as a man.

25. Transmasculine- Someone assigned a female sex at birth and who identifies as masculine, but may not identify wholly as a man. Often, you’ll encounter the phrase “masculine of center” to indicate where people who identify as transmasculine see themselves in relation to other genders.

26. Transfeminine- Someone assigned a male sex at birth who identifies as feminine, but may not identify wholly as a woman. Often, you’ll encounter the phrase “feminine of center” to indicate where people who identify as transfeminine see themselves in relation to other genders.

27. Two-spirit- This term likely originated with the Zuni tribe of North America, though two-spirit persons have been documented in numerous tribes. Native Americans, who have both masculine and feminine characteristics and presentations, have distinct roles in their tribes, and they are seen as a third gender. (Recently, Germany and Nepal adopted a third gender option for citizens to select).

Dear Bystanders

Please attack bigots when you witness bigotry …. mob attack them.

Don’t tell kids to stand up against bullying when you are a silent bystander to islamophobia and racism.

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

In Islam, voting is basically being vocal and active in religious arenas. When the moderate mulims didn’t “vote” (being passive and unparticipatory), the Extremists took over Islam and the Islamic agenda.

Muslims are waking up late to that.

We have promoted being vocal and aware from 2005 in IRSHAD. We have promoted departing from sectarian rhetorics and defeating the Sectarian labels. We have promoted re-reading of history and removing immunity from all holy figures and texts. We have promoted a true, honest, and objective re-examining of our Islamic doctrines and positions.

The majority of Muslims agree with our movement and identify with it. But the ones that are willing to “vote” are few. Our speakers were isolated intentionally from all local mosques and conventions and still are.

When people don’t vote, we forfeit truth, and embolden bigotry and hatred.

Always!

Islamophobia is anti Semitic

Average time French people spend eating a day: 150 min (2.5 hours)
In America: 75 min
% who eat with other people in France: 80%
In America: 40%

Eating is a social activity! Our Islamic heritage and Arabic traditions have insisted on eating in groups, talking while eating, and sharing plates.

The only condition for marriage that there is a consensus on by all Muslim scholars is Consent.

Everything else is just a symbol of consent that emphasizes it (like dowry and seegha and announcement), and seen by many scholars as unnecessary.

And the religion of the spouse is irrelevant if there will be no effect on the Muslim spouse’s faith.

With that, Islam might have presented the easiest way in the history of the world for marriage …. basically a consent in the heart. ❤️

All the complications are cultural and legal.