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Earlier this year, I wrote about the importance of reading and made some
book recommendations. For people not exactly willing to tackle 300 pages at a
time, leafing through a magazine is a solid alternative. While newsstands are
usually stocked with American or British publications, there are some impressive
Canadian magazines that don’t get their due share of the spotlight, perhaps
because of a shrinking industry.
Here, I’ll briefly review two publications that I think make for worthy reads.

The Walrus: In many ways, The Walrus is Canada’s highest quality magazine.
It provides the type of long-form, narrative journalism found in American
publications like The New Yorker and Harper’s, while still maintaining a balance
of Canadian sensibilities. It has a comfortable distribution of fact and fiction;
each issue contains at least a few short stories and poems. The topics discussed
are usually rather weighty and thoroughly researched. The only downside? It
publishes infrequently, only 10 issues per year. http://walrusmagazine.ca

This Magazine: A staple on the Canadian political scene, This Magazine has
proven to be an excellent breeding ground for up and coming young journalists.
The writing is simple and to the point, the stories are relevant and topical. It is
very clearly a left-leaning publication, but takes great pains to be representative
of the broader Canadian electorate, as its diverse roster of contributors suggests.

“A fresh taste of Afghanistan” – indeed it is. This Afghan restaurant opened up in my Mississauga neighborhood earlier this month and it offers a great variety of foods and flavours. The menu is made up of four meats: chicken, beef, lamb and fish, and there are many vegetarian options available as well. Pamier Kabob serves rich tasting foods and also provides many options for spicy food lovers. All of the meals are served with naan and salad and give you the option of adding rice. They also have excellent family combos which offer a variety of different dishes in their platters.

Some of their most famous dishes are the shahi chicken kabob, sultani kabob and the mazari lamb kabob. There are many more options to choose from to suit your own taste.

Pamier Kabob has two locations, one in Mississauga and the other in Brampton. The restaurant offers a pleasant environment for dining in, and they also offer delivery services. Their service and staff are satisfying and I would definitely recommend this restaurant to all those who like Afghan or Lebanese style food or those who are simply looking to try something new.

And best of all, it is HALAL! :)

 

Mississauga: 3355 The Collegeway Unit 6 & 7, Mississauga, ON L5L5T3

Bramption: 200 County Court Blvd. Unit C, Brampton, ON L6W4K7

www.pamier-kabob.com

The Quran Pen Reader is the latest in Muslim technology and can be yours for only $139.99 (+ taxes, S+H). But, wait there’s more if you call now…

The Quran Pen Reader is a device that when put near the Quran recites the verses it is pointing at. The device does cost about $140. It is nice to see technology being used for the sake of the religion and learning; and I can see its benefits for those who wish to self-study or are older and maybe shy of going to a teacher to learn.

But, I have to say the traditional form of learning with a teacher is best. As I believe the human touch can never be replaced by technology. The expectations of a teacher in itself is a great motivation to learn and compels one to meet goals and complete lessons.  Our tendencies are to be zealous in the start of a new project but gradually we lose interest. Traditionally the Quran has been taught by one person to the other and this creates a chain of transmission that can link back to Prophet (S.A.W.) with technology replacing the teacher the transmission leads back to Made in China.

All-in-all I do like the device but I believe the best teacher is a person.

Pros
·         The pen has a built-in rechargeable battery
·         Can be used like an MP3 to listen to the Quran
·         Good for self-study

Cons
·         Expense
·         Non-traditional 

The Bata Shoe Museum is one tourist attraction that not many people visit. It is located near St. George station in Toronto, Ontario and displays a wide variety of historical footwear. It is highly interesting to see where current fashion originates from. If you are into knowing little details and just looking at interesting displays than you will enjoy this place. It has a quiet environment and is suited for families and visits with small groups.

The one thing that took me back the most were chopines which are basically historical high heels the size of stilts! And I thought heels these days were too long.

There is nothing there that will make you shout and scream but you can learn a lot. Tickets prices are $12 for adults and $6 for students.  On Thursday evening between 5-8pm the admission is pay what you can with a suggested donation of $5. So, go check it out!

Exact Address: 327 Bloor St. West, in downtown Toronto

The story of the Americas is usually taught as follows: the Native peoples were organized into tribes that lived off the land and these tribes lived a very basic life. They, as the story goes, lived isolated from all of humanity for thousands of years until they were ‘discovered’ by Europeans who brought them civilization. Occasionally, it is mentioned that some civilizations did exist in a few parts such as those of the Aztecs and Mayans.

However, what is omitted in the common telling of the history of the Americas is that the Native people had very sophisticated societies with advanced economies, science and architecture. Also neglected is the Aboriginal contact with Muslim explorers, primarily from West Africa and later Andalusia (Muslim Spain). Evidence of Muslim contact and settlement in the Americas is still being researched and some of the discoveries are detailed in this book. Some of the discoveries are linguistic—Arabic and African roots of Aboriginal words—while others are economic, coins and gold alloy from Muslim Caliphates in Africa. Still other discoveries are cultural and they including Andalusian inspired dress and Arabic/African place names and settlements of African people before the time of Europeans and slavery.

Although it is a short read of 80 pages, the information presented in this book has profoundly changes my view of the Americas and world history as a whole. It is common knowledge that genocide of the Aboriginals in the Americas took place after the arrival of Europeans. However, what may not be considered is the cultural genocide that the Europeans vigorously pursued as well. The written records of Aboriginals were systematically erased, all African people, regardless of their status and origin were declared slaves and Arabic and Islam was outlawed in many places. Therefore, it is clear that the history of Islam in the Americas was not so much lost as it was stolen and suppressed.

It may be that to some reclaiming lost history is unimportant. However, consider the social trauma that exists in communities with a history of subjugation. If people are allowed a real opportunity to discovery where they come from and investigate the roots of the social diseases that plague them, they will undergo profound positive change, insha'Allah.

I personally believe that part of the mental emancipation that all peoples suffering from Post-Colonial trauma and modern Imperial propaganda must undergo includes a re-assessment of history. Whether we admit it or not, we are those people who suffer from Post-Colonial trauma and modern Imperial propaganda. In pursuance of riding ourselves of it, we can all start by reading this book!

And it is little wonder that Muslim exploration has become the catalyst which has opened up this Tawhedic understanding of Human civilization and development.

Allah says in the Qur’an:

For We assuredly sent amongst every People a messenger, (with the Command) "Serve Allah, and eschew Evil": of the people were some whom Allah guided, and some on whom Error became inevitably (established). So travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who denied (the Truth). [16:36]

Below, I have quoted some passages from the book Deeper Roots.
_________________________________________________________________
 
The Garifuna People- Descendants of the Early Mandika

            Another part of the stolen pre-Colonial legacy that has been coming to light in the past few years is the origin of the Gafrifuna people, sometimes knows [sic] as Black Caribs. The Carib people are usually identified with the Native (Indian) group that populates parts of South America and the Caribbean…P.V. Ramos in an article that appeared in the Daily Clarion of Belize, Central America, on November 5, 1946, wrote:

When Columbus discovered West Indies about the year 1493 CE, he found there a race of white people (i.e. half breeds) with woolly hair whom he called Caribs. They were seafaring hunters and tillers of the soil, peaceful and united. They hated aggression. Their religion was Mohammedanism (Islam) and their language presumable Arabic. (32)
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In Retrospect

The Colonialisation of the Americas by the Spanish was an extension of the Reconquista (reconquest) of the Iberian Peninsula. Muslims had ruled much of Spain for over 700 years, dominating Europe culturally, educationally, and economically. The early explorers were, in many cases, Spanish soldiers who had fought in Spain or Africa and sailed the seas to destroy the power of Islam. They recognized the influence of Islam wherever they journeyed an ddid everything in their power to convert the people to Catholicism. When Hernan Cortes (the ‘Conquerer’ of Mexico) arrived in the Yucatan, he named the area “El Cairo.” The men of Cortes and Juan Pizarro (the 'conqueror' Peru), some of whom had taken direct part in the struggle against Muslims, called the Indian temples “Mezquitas” (Spanish for masjid). Ironically, the first Christain to see American land, Rodrigo de Triana or Rodrigo de Lepe, on his return to Spain became a Muslim, abandoning his Christain allegiance. Columbus did not give him credit, nor did the King give him any recompense.

During the rule of Ferdinand, the Catholic, in spite of excesses against Islam in Spain, some of the Moriscoes (Muslims in Andalusia who were forced to convert to Catholicism), who travelled to the Americas as explorers, soldiers and labourers, began practising their true faith and succeeded in propagating Islam among the Indians. A series of laws was decreed in order to stop the flow of Muslims, free or enslaved, to the Americas and to win back the Muslim native Indians. (35-36)
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Slavery: Cultural Genocide

Bryan Adwards, author of a well known work on the history of the British West Indies, considered Muslim slaves (especially Mandingos) to be a sizeable proportion of those taken to the British islands. One such example of a Muslim slave reads as follows:

An old and faithful Mandigo servant, who stands at my elbow as I write this, relates…of his national customs and manners he remembers little, being at the time of his captivity, but a youth. He relates that the natives practise circumcision and that he himself has undergone that operation and he has not forgot the morning and evening prayer which his father taught him. In proof of this assertion, he chants, in an audible and shrill tone, a sentence that I conceive to be part of the Al-Koran. La illa, ill illa. (i.e La ilaha illa Allah, there is no god but Allah) which he says they sing aloud at the first appearance of the new Moon. He relates, moreover, that in his own country, Friday was a strict fasting day. It was almost a sin, he observes, on that day, to swallow his spittle. Such is his expression.

Review: MIST

MIST (Muslim Interscholastic Tournament) is famous for being a fun, educational, interactive program of competitions and workshops geared towards bringing high school students together from around the nation to develop leadership, communication, and other creative skills, all while gaining a deeper understanding of Islam and Muslims. (http://www.misttoronto.ca/?page_id=2)

This year, MIST was held at the University of Toronto and alhamdulilah, I had the wonderful opportunity of attending. What a blast! The tournament spanned 2 and a half days and there was never a dull moment. Beginning with basketball on Friday afternoon and running until the awards ceremony on Sunday night, the participants of this exciting event brought life to the UofT campus (oh, and the Hangar out in the middle of nowhere, too!).

Though I didn’t get to catch many performances, I thoroughly enjoyed the awards ceremony at the end. The theme of the tournament was “Lantern of Modesty: Reflecting the Light from Within” so each team was responsible for creating a video to illustrate this theme. Some made me laugh, others made me cry, but at the end of it, all of them made me realize why I wear hijab. Just kidding! Though this was a common attribute of most of the films, they were all very creative and insightful.

Also at the ceremony were artists Boonaa Mohammed (spoken word artist), Obaida “Phatwa-Factory” Abdul-Rahim (comedian) and Halal Meat (nasheed artists). As young, talented individuals, each with an expertise in their field and the fuel of Islam propelling them forward, they were all truly inspirational.

But what got me most was at the actual distribution of the awards. Picture: a huge auditorium filled with students from rival schools, many up for the same award, each one a potential threat to you winning, each one is possibly competition… You wait… There goes third place… There goes second place… And -There goes first place. You lost. Your school lost. So you… CHEER?! SubhanAllah, I was absolutely amazed by the spirit of our young brothers and sisters. It did not matter who won the award, they were genuinely happy for one another! I’ve never, ever seen anything like that before. And I don’t mean one or two people who might have just been cheering for their friends; I mean entire schools chanting the names of those who defeated them. It was just. Too. Cool.

All in all, the tournament was a success and a definite reminder of the power of our youth. We have so much young blood and equally as much enthusiasm to move in the right direction. I pray that Allah SWT keep us moving in that direction and enable us to utilize our talents to serve the ummah for His Pleasure, ameen.

So now tell us – were you MISTified?

Al-Ghazali on disciplining the soul and breaking the two desires (books 22 and 23 of The Revival of The Religious Sciences) translated with an introduction and notes by T.J. Winter (available at Robart’s @ the University of Toronto).

If any of you are as oblivious as I am, you may not know who Abu Hamid al-Ghazali was. Fear not! There is a brief biography at the beginning of the book. Also, here’s an excerpt from the synopsis:

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058–1111), theologian, logician, jurist and mystic, was born and died at the town of Tus in Central Asia, but spent much of his life lecturing at Baghdad or leading the life of a wandering dervish. Because of his success in revealing the compatibility of the outward forms of religion with the inner experiences of the Sufi tradition, he is commonly regarded as the ‘Renewer’ of the fifth Muslim century, and the most influential thinker of Medieval Islam.

I should now mention that this is less of a review (since I don’t have that kind of credibility) and more of a recommendation. Here’s why:

I often feel like our religion has been watered down for us. We live according to a diluted version of the Sunnah of our Nabi (SAW) and the Qur’an. What I mean is, we’re forgetful of (and sometimes just ignorant to) the weight of things. Reading this book, which is a brief part of his much longer work Ihya’ ulum al-din (Revival of the Religious Sciences) has been a powerful wake-up call for me. Through extensive discourse and cross-referencing of various scholars and the Prophet (SAW), Al-Ghazali explains how and why we should tame our nafs. It seems an obvious matter; Islam is all about struggling against our desires and submitting to the Will of Allah SWT. However, this has become a selective struggle (for me, anyway), whereby some desires have been completely okay to fulfill, and this is not true.

For example, in Breaking the Two Desires, Al-Ghazali talks about the importance of not eating too much. Of course we shouldn’t, the Prophet (SAW) always spoke of the middle course, maintaining moderation in everything we do, not being extravagant or miserly in any affair. But I personally was not aware of the massiveness of this matter. In one hadith, the Prophet (SAW) said “The light of wisdom comes from hunger, while remoteness from God comes from satiety… Therefore never eat to repletion, for you would thereby extinguish the light of wisdom which is in your hearts…”  In another, “You should beware of extravagance, and it is extravagant to eat twice in a single day.”  SubhanAllah. I’ve read multiple ahadith on how we should eat and the appropriate etiquette when eating at a gathering. I’d also heard of not eating one’s fill, leaving one third for water and another for remembrance (or air, breath). But that we should really only eat as much as can keep us going, that this desire was one to be fought year-round, not just during Ramadan or through fasting – this was news to me.

This is a brief recollection of the very many beauties this book has compiled within it. It’s filled with examples and judgments of the pious and I’m certain that if you come to it with an open mind, you will inshAllah find reason in their claims. Happy reading!

Don Mills Shopping Centre located at 1090 Don Mills Road, Toronto is a complete renovation of a previous mall. The new facility built is meant to integrate living with consumerism. It is important to note that most of the residents in the surrounding area are seniors. It is for this reason and our climate that the new centre is completely ludicrous and out of place.

The centre houses many high end shops with large alleys to DRIVE THRU. Each shop is separate and distinct from the other. What this means is that there is no indoor passage linking of any of the shops together. This means every time you wish to visit the next store you must embrace the elements.

This was all done for the sake of looks; it looks high-end out of California. Aesthetics has given way to practicality and comfort. The sole purpose is to be pleasing to the eyes. I understand it’s a high end shopping area but honestly how can it ever work in Canadian weather?

And this trend is increasing alarmingly with the new design of bus stops and other public places. The insanity of such structures must stop. When you are freezing in the cold weather you don't care how beautiful anything looks like. Especially concerning is that seniors are the ones who are most likely to shop there and they are prone to diseases and illness even by the slightest weather change and unfortunately they must use this inconvenient centre.

Have you seen things that just don’t belong? Let us know via the comments. 

There are many different sites one comes across when surfing the web, but one particular site caught my attention. I was searching for a site which presents a balanced package of Islamic material, and when I came across kalamullah.com, I had found it. This site covers a variety of different topics and is aimed at a large audience. It has specific sections for brothers and sisters, as well as youth and adults.

Kalamullah presents material which is strictly religious, such as the Quran and Hadith, as well as more communal issues such as those of family and society. Each section of the site offers a great variety of views and materials that one can look into for further details.

Kalamullah also has a very useful feature, which is its collection of books, videos and lectures. Each of these sections offers a variety in terms of writers, lecturers and schools of thought. One thing I was impressed by on Kalamullah, was that it did not promote or condone any particular viewpoints or schools of thought. It offers a great variety of all kinds and this allows visitors to be exposed to all of the differing views that are out there.

All in all, Kalamullah is a source of information and a medium which allows “humanity to develop a better understanding about the pure Islam and the real message that it teaches: Peace, Submission, Surrender and Obedience to Almighty God and to clear up all the misconceptions anyone might have about this way of life that strives for peace.”

www.kalamullah.com