Where you'll find me these days... to what I keep in my closet (or WISH I kept there)

Asalaam alaykom ramatullahi wa barakto sisters,

I hope you're all in the best of health and imaan. Just wanted to let you know I am still working on getting ILH & BM together and cleaned up. In the meantime, please follow along at www.shedancesinthemajlis.blogspot.com where I'll be blogging more regularily. I am working on featuring what's in my closet in the way hijab, different abaya cuts and trends in Oman and other Khaleeji/Gulf countries, and basics on fabric types and costs.

I will also constantly be posting on places to shop in Oman or other faves. Just random stuff you know I like, as well as the occasional hijab tip (based around the hijab don't's I encounter more in the Khaleej) and styling advice. Follow along and stay tuned because I am working on a pretty decent post on niqab styles (as well as styling).

Some UGLY Khaleeji Abayas

"Telatubby"---people, no big shiny patch on your stomache looks good. Ever

"I am a crow-I am a bird-I am a plane. A winged insect?"

More shiny stomach appliques. Ughh.

The an orc from Lord of the Rings would wear if they were a hijabi.



Battle Star Gallactica look. Sorry Effa, but your shoulder pad designs fail even though the abaya cut itself IS lovely.



Just because the abaya came from the Khaleej or even a famous designer (I have seen ugly abayas from every design house, including Hanayen and Al Motahajaba) doesn't necessarily make it tasteful, the way that just because it is an abaya, won't guarantee that it is hijab. I've seen butt-tight abayas. I've seen UFO landing light bright crystalized abayas. I have seen tassels in places only strippers put tassels---- on abayas.

And somehow, writing a bit of design over your butt on an abaya, reminds me of those sweat pants that say "juicy". Kind of trailer trash. No body does that unless they want a give a guy an excuse ( he IS ALLOWED to look just once in the Qu'ran----and where are you leading his eyes, hmmm, your butt?). Well, excuse me, but don't complain about it later then.

Ugly is still ugly, no matter where it comes from. The examples I  have shown are NOWHERE as near to the horrors I have seen live and walking about in UAE and in Oman.

Now what would you do if, say, you knew that world was going to be taken over by evil robots?

This is a serrious Islamic post. And then, well it's also not. Because I am going to make a silly comparison. That scared me.

I was just sitting around watching the TV series "Terminator: The Sara Connor Chronicles", a. because I am a geek, b. TV in English in Oman is very, very limited so you take what you can to avoid, say "the bold and the beautiful", and c. I find the premise of the show somewhat interesting.

If you are not a geek like me, and have NO IDEA WHATSOEVER what this show is about, or even the original "Terminator" film, the premise is this, someone was sent back from the future where evil robots of mankind's own making have taken over the Earth, to warn a single woman and to protect her whose son will be the leader of the future resistance against such an ill fate for humanity. At the same time, evil future robots have followed future man back, to try and kill said woman and anyone who might try to stop the future from happening as it has.

The TV series, takes off from there, with what the mother tries to do, knowing what she knows is coming. Some call her a criminal. Some call her a terrorist. Others call her crazy. Most go on unawares.

My question is this, what if I knew the world was going to be taken over by evil terminator robots, what would I do?

Would I do what the mother in the series does, having heard such a vital message? Would I do everything I could to protect myself and those I love most, forgoing a 'normal' life for training myself for the life to come, doing everything I can just to survive to make that journey?

Would I be even braver, and risk telling others about what is to come as I know it, even if I know that some will label me a terrorist, or call my crazy, and deny the truth in my words because I don't have the proof that their faithless hearts need?

Or would I just say, to hell with it, live life before it all goes away.

What would you do, if you knew the world's future, the future of humanity was at a loss?

I know for one, I wouldn't sit around thinking about who I was going to marry, about what house I will buy, or what would I wear if I had the means... I wouldn't care about my job unless it could give me the skills needed to survive.

I would RUSH to try and get my family, my friends, those dearest to me, to safety. I would warn the kind stranger, never fear if they thought me insane or then disliked me because, well, at least I tried.

In my normal life, without killer robots after me, I DO think and HAVE thought about these things. Qu'ran tells us that's ok. That's normal to do.

I haven't always told someone who was kind to me about Islam because I didn't want them to feel I was one of those "religious people who are nuts enough to preach" or something.

But then, watching this show and randomly thinking this couch potatoe scenario (I certainly wouldn't be watching TV if killer robots were after me) I realized, Shaytaan is worse than any killer robots. He's cloaked in ourselves with whisperings and distractions so that we don't even know that he's there do His best to see us done for.

And the Qu'ran does tell us the future of man is at a loss, except for those who do good works, and urge others to good.

We've, as Muslims, have been warned even more plainly than if a single man had come back from the future to tell us what is coming. Allah subhanhu wa ta ala has sent MANY Prophets to us. We have been told what is coming. And more than that, what we can do to be one of those who are spared and rewarded with the mercy of Jannah.

So why would I think that I would change more about myself if killer robots were after me, than I am doing now, I wondered tonight.

My Exercise and Weight Tips Post Baby

Question from Kiki: "Salaams sis! I was wondering if you could do a post on physical exercise and post baby weight. InshaAllah I pray I will one day have a beautiful little one like you, but I still have a bit of winter weight I want to get rid of. Is it hard wearing niqab? Do you go to a gym?"

Answer: Wa alaykom salaam ramatullahi wa barakato sis, lol, I am TOTALLY the wrong person to ask about excersise. I have been a size zero almost my whole life and gaining weight is more the problem for me as my weight can go to scary skinny with just a simple flu and then I have to go to the hospital ASAP to be hooked up to a glucose drip or I pass out. So, admittedly, I eat alot more carbs and butter and sugars than other people need to. Since I have an iron deificiency also, and live in a warmer climate, I can eat more salt than a girl in Canada ect. .And my husband is a sports teacher, so I get a little extra push than most to keep on it.
But that aside, I do have tips for staying healthy. Staying in a good shape for one's husband and self is part of taking care of what Allah gave us;). During my pregnancy I ate my cravings but watched my weight carefully and didn't just use it as an excuse to eat whatever junk I wanted, which meant alot more iron and calcium rich foods than I'd normally eat, and like, a GAZILLION plums and slices of watermelon. I definately didn't eat bigger meals than I had before until the eighth month of pregnancy. My meals were smaller but I had more of them. Maybe eight small snacks a day, as the baby liked.

After the baby breastfeeding helped me naturally get the weight off, and I ate alot of foods with honey in them, a soooooooooooooooooooooo much chicken and tomatoe pasta sauce.

I am not a gym girl, even though my non-Muslim BFF is a personal trainer in famous gym back in my hometown and she always tried to trick me into those places with free memberships;) and my husband loves 'em.

I like to walk and I walk EVERYWHERE that I can. I find taking a camera along with you inspires you to walk farther and explore ordinary things. I don't find this a problem with niqab. I also go iceskating and rollarblading when I need to get my heart rate up. And I like to take the stairs.

Always walk 10 minutes after a big meal like the French do;)

After the baby the stomache needed firming up so I did sit ups and crunches and stretching. I lost ALOT of flexibility during pregnancy.

One thing I PROBABLY should work on is my arms which are too weak to hold my own baby for long ammounts of time. I used to horseback ride and play tennis and badminton and when I did this didn't seem a problem but I am still waiting for stables to be built near where I live to get back into horse riding.

In Oman wearing niqab is only difficult for work in certain sectors, and for running outside. If a niqabi is running here people think she is in danger and stop to offer help ect... which makes running a bit of an inconvenience.

But I wear good quality light-weight niqabs from Al Motahajiba for this. So they are alot more breathable than any I could find online while I was in Canada.

Don't know what else to say?

The only diets I've known friends who had issues with their weight used that worked was a combo of counting calories while taking spinning classes at the gym ect (womens only) if that works:) , I have an Auntie who lost 60 lbs and kept it off doing that. I think it works as long as you have a healthy body image and a reasonable goal.

Aslaam alaykom and where I am blogging now

Asalaam alaykom ramatullahi wa barakato dear sisters,

I haven't had time to post the old comments you've left me (I have 702 to go through apparently) please forgive.

I am still working on archiving all the Islamic and shopping posts on 'beautiful muslimah' and transferring ILH over there. It is over 800 posts on BM to edit, and 400 on ILH to transfer it is alot of work and I often need a break from it.

I had stopped posting on each as regularily as I had when I was in Canada when I moved to the Khaleej because I felt I'd already said most of what I'd needed to say on anything I had knowledge on, and wanted to focus on myself, and getting my Islamic knowledge applied.

Zaenab recently did an awesome post on "Stylish Muslimah" about how she blogged about hijab before she actually started wearing it and saying she knew that would come off as hypocritical. I don't think so at all, and was proud of her for admitting that. I am sure some girls found it helpful.

I have alot of Islamic Knowledge on certain subjects in Islam, alhamdulilah, and while I am comfortable writing why I know something to be the truth, doesn't always mean I've managed to apply it to myself in an unhypocritical way 100% of the time in everything I understand and can answer questions on.

For example, it is so easy to say to a woman who has converted to Islam that she cannot be married to her non-Muslim husband of many years. Truth. Easy to explain. Easy to back up with hadith.

Or tell a girl to leave behind her family and friends and wear hijab 100% and change her work and be alone.

Or leave that Saudi player that told her about Islam in the first place but never got around to marrying her Islamically.

Easy to say.

But hard to do.

Allah give all of us strength to apply are knowledge, ameen.

The women who manage such things instantly and with greatfulness to Allah I admire so much.

But the ones who can't, even if I know they are wrong, I don't judge them.

In some aspects of life, albeit not the headscarf+nailpolish or other lesser things, I have been one of them. Deep down, all of us have in one aspect of the deen or another.

That said, I will still post on Islamic issues of the great import, but until that or until BM is back in business, you can always check out my lifestyle blog here: www.shedancesinthemajlis.blogspot.com
though it probably isn't as interesting as what work I came up with for the blogs in Canada.

Here I find one has to be more self-focussed as a Muslim because even if one is surrounded by Muslims, knowledge is without the why. Everyone follows along even if they see where they are being led is the wrong path or too hard a path for it to be from Allah.

And as for hijab fashion, we tend to wear khaleeji abayas, and get them made from the tailors, so shopping is a blessed ease beyond expense. I tend to focuss more on what I wear under the abaya in Oman, and that is a great relief:)

Hijab Don't?:Reasons Sisters Give For Wearing Nailpolish When they Pray and Why they are Wrong

I wear nailpolish when I have my period. Or when I can't pray (like 40 days after delivering a baby). Or I wear it when I have time to put it on and take it off for salat (but who does on a daily basis not just for special occassions or an aweseome snap, really?).

I want firstly to clarify: I like nailpolish. I think it looks pretty. I don't believe nailpolish itself is haraam [sinful for a Muslimah] like some weirdo extremist. Nor do I believe it is an adornment via what the Qu'ran tells us to hide (that ayah is referring to body parts, hips, boobs, butt, skin, hip indent what have you). I wear it myself when I am not obligated to fulfil my duties of prayer.

But I DO believe intentionally invalidating your fard prayers/salat & not making them up with the intention never to do so again is haraam. Few would argue otherwise. Yet many do so, and tell others and themselves that how they do it is not haraam.

How do they invalidate their prayer? Something seemingly harmless, that I would seem like a big fat nit-picking meanie picking on them for it...

By wearing nailpolish.

Their reasoning why they wear it despite ALL the scholar's fatwas that it invalidates the state of wudu:

Reason #1: Nailpolish wasn't around when the Sahaba wore what forms of makeup there were such as henna and kohl which they were allowed, so isn't it just another form of makeup?

Pixie: I'd agree, but nailpolish is an enamel. It makes it impossible for water to reach the entire nail. A requirement of the ritual washing in preperation for prayer [wudu/ablution] is that the entire arm up until the elbow and the hands is washed with water at least once, but the sunnah/example of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him, was to do so three times. The Sahaba had to remove any rings ect, that prevented water from reaching ALL parts of the hands, so the nail must follow as having to be covered in entirety in the same manner.

Reason #2: Since nail polish prevents water from reaching the nail, I just make wudu BEFORE I put on the polish/do my mani/pedi and then it's all good. My hand is clean and in a protected state of wudu.

Pixie: Trust me, if that were so, I'D BE THE FIRST ON BOARD THAT BOAT to wear polish 24/7 myself. The fact is, freshly applied enamels like nailpolish prevents water from reaching MOST parts of the nails. But as highlighted in the image below of a just-applied french manicure under a microscope, there ARE ALREADY cracks in the enamel so as soon as the person does something to break the wudu like use the toilet or fart ect, their justification in reason #2 is proven to be quite premature and a mistake of logic without fact.

Beyond the fact that wudu isn't just about physical cleanlieness:)Reason #3: I leave a tiny open space on my nail for the water during ablution to touch, and that's all it needs. Wudu isn't about physical cleanliness. It is about intention, for example, when one preforms wudu with sand when there is no water available.

Pixie: That is not so I am afraid, since there are hadith about rings needing to be removed if they prevented water from reaching the hands ect., when regular wudu was to be preformed, not the special circumstance of being in the desert with only enough water for drinking ect. If water IS available, then regular, proper wudu has to be preformed. You don't just get to rub sand on your face when you're next to a river or have a bathroom sink ect. in Islam right?

As for what is said in reasoning for pro polish #3 about wudu not being about an act of physical cleanliness, THAT IS 100% TRUE. It is ABOUT spiritual PURITY, about being in a state that is ONLY FOR ALLAH in preperation of prayer. But that said, it doesn't mean we get to choose what actions we want to take from the sunnah/example/instruction of Mohammed (sallalhu alahi wa salaam) and leave the ones that don't "fit" our lifestyles. For example, if you are truly preforming ablution in the desert with sand you can't just choose not to strike your face with sand because it will mess with your makeup right? Even THAT special circumstance of ablution/ritual purification has to be done the way Allah chose for us to preform it or the salat/prayer is invalidated and one has sinned if they don't make it up in the proper state before the time for the prayer has passed and they are in knowledge that they invalidated the prayer.

So if you have water available, you have to make sure it reaches ALL parts of your hand including the nails as Allah commanded us:). If the Sahaba had to remove their rings to get the water to all parts of their hands girls, you have to remove your polish to make a wudu, no if's, and's or but's about it.

As for nailpolish in the desert and you have no water or nail polish remover at hand?

I'd feel pretty safe still making my prayers, but Allah and His Messenger know best.

....But if you have a further reason than these I have here refuted, please let me know if you believe I am mistaken, how, and why.

My Style: Saudi Shayla style, cute and casual for Out-&-About

I fell in love with an Arabesque look with flowers...So I set out to make my own by buying some silk flowers from the dollar store and affixing them to the sleeves of a plain black "Islamyia" cut abaya (it is open, but closes at the sides so is a very modest open-style abaya) I got from the Mutrah Souq in the Sultanate of Oman, and the edge of a shayla purchased from the now defunct desertstore.com. I usually wore it with a flowy Valentino chiffon top that matched the colour of the flowers and a creamy pleated chiffon skirt I found at "Dots" a Victoria boutique store. I usually accessorized it with a long necklace, and found that alot of non-muslims liked it. The shayla style also suited my face very well and worked well with niqab.