Anas Imtiaz

Halal, is it?

// February 13th, 2010 // 14 Comments » // London Diary

PS. Never ever ever take your elders to a place where you havent been before yourself

Last week I decided to take some relatives out for dinner to celebrate the  first pay with them. Weekends are the only time such events can take place for two reasons: weekdays are terribly busy and I live far from the city.

So, on a fine Saturday evening we all decided to go out to a restaurant with subcontinental cuisine. No one had been there or seen that place before so it took a while to locate the restaurant exactly and it was closing at that moment. What the heck? Who closes a restaurant at 9pm on a Saturday night in such a busy district? With very little option owing to the halal(ness) of the food we opted for the Arabian restaurant nearby which I had seen before but never tried. I doubted whether it was a halal place or not but they had a certificate on the door and a banner saying WE ARE HALAL!

Startving, we went in. Apart from the guy who opened the door for us none of the staff really looked interested in serving us. I glanced at one waiter and motioned for him to present the menu cards. He nodded. Then asked me to wait a few seconds.

The atmosphere was expectant. People already eating looked excited while the staff were making sure everything is in order. Within couple of minutes the loud Arabic music started to play. It was so loud that you couldn;t hear the guy sitting next to you without some effort. Then it stopped for a minute and started again. Just when I was about to get up and tear apart a member of the staff as to why he isn’t serving the customers and also to kill that music, the lights went dim and a door (which I earlier thought was an emergency exit) opened. I slipped back in my seat while everyone started clapping.

And there it was. The surprise. A young Arab lady dancing on the tunes of the loud music. It was the Saturday special! Bellydance! Now, this wasn’t ordinary. The aforementioned lady, although dressed nicely in her lower half was barely covered in the upper. (I couldn’t look at her much even if I wanted to because of the guests I was entertaining). Now her dress wasn’t the only problem. She was brave enough to go to every table .. too close to the tables … and dance .. as if exclusively for you. Sitting on the corner, I quickly realised how dangerous my position was. A very small prayer from the heart perhaps got answered immediately as she skipped us (perhaps because of the small kids? and the lack of interest we showed). It was utterly embarassing for me!

Done with the dinner after the awkward moments we decided to leave. Food wasn’t bad. On exiting the place I glanced at the banner that said WE ARE HALAL and all those sorts.

It is really sad to see how Halal is being restricted only to food items these days. This is really making a mockery of the concept of Halal. And no, its not the non-Muslims who are doing it. Its us! Sigh. A non-Muslim would rightly question how one Muslim is supporting the act while the other is calling it unlawful. Sadly, we (the Muslims) are distorting our own image.

The next morning I went back to that place, alone this time to have a chat with the manager. I asked him the same question. He smiled. His reasoning were simple. He says belly-dancing is our (Moroccan) tradition. People love it. They come especially to see it. And that they are abiding by the religion to serve halal but preserving tradition. Quickly I decided against wasting time and left.

The pre-Islamic era in the Arabian peninsula was full of such practices. They aren’t supposed to be preserved in the name of culture. The fact that they are, just goes to show how the Muslims are heading back towards that age of ignorance that prevailed before the dawn of Islam.

May Allah (swt) guide the Muslims to the right path. Ameen.

PS. Never ever ever take your elders to a place where you havent been before yourself

…

// November 25th, 2009 // 8 Comments » // London Diary

The heart is inherently dependent on Allah in two ways: from the point of view of worship, which is the ultimate goal, and from the point of view of seeking His help and relying upon Him, which are the means to that end. The heart cannot be sound, or succeed, or find joy, or be happy, or feel pleasure, or be good, or be at peace, or find tranquillity, except by worshipping its Lord, loving Him and returning to Him. Even if it attains all that it can enjoy or created things, it will not feel at peace or find tranquillity, because it has an inherent need for its Lord, for He is the focus of its worship, love and seeking, and this is the only way to attain joy, happiness, please, peace and tranquillity.

Ibn Taymiyah

Something’s Wrong

// November 23rd, 2009 // 5 Comments » // London Diary

If I’m to quantify the goods that have come across my way this year, I may require an ‘extra sheet’ to do justice to the question. Alhamdulillah, it has been amazing. I even feel guilty of being neglectful and turning to prayer mat when in need of something while being casual otherwise. In some ways I’ve always wanted something which was better for me. So here I am, have more than what I asked for. More than what I ever dreamt of at this stage and far better than what I could plan for myself.
But for some reason, I’m not that happy. Either I’m being ungrateful, or I’m disturbed by something which I’m unable to zoom on. I don’t know why but I feel sad and depressed and am unable to focus on anything.
Maybe it’s just the negative cycle of the sinusoidal wave of life. I just hope it passes away soon.

Where to..?

// November 9th, 2009 // 12 Comments » // London Diary

Some of the regular readers may recall me mentioning that I’m lucky to have a job in this time of recession (Alhamdulillah), and I will be joining it soon if my visa switchover goes on smoothly. Now what I didn’t mention at that the office is based in a place called Kings Langley, about 40-minutes drive during non-rush hours from the place where I currently reside.

Hence, I’m required to move to keep the travelling time short(est). Now this place (Kings Langley) is designated as a village although I didn’t see cows and sheep there on my last visit but still its not large enough to be a town. The nearest towns from this village are Watford and Hemel Hempstead. Both are about 4-5 minutes journey by train and about 2miles in distance. All this means I have 3 options to choose the destination. Either its the village, Kings Langley or any one of the two towns. There are obvious advantages and disadvantages to all, but it boils down to village v/s town in the end. Here’s what I think:

Kings Langley

Its a very peaceful, historic and beautiful place. Close to workplace, so should be about 10-15 minutes of walk. The problem I anticipate is the lack of proper shopping places, there is a small high street though where you can get the basics…but nothing much. I will visit the place in a couple of days for a detailed survey, but I don’t think there is a halal outlet or anything like that either. A counter argument is that if the towns are so close I can always catch a train and hit the town within minutes where I can find everything. Another point in favour is that this place is (possibly) cheaper, but I haven’t noticed a huge deal of difference compared to the town prices.

Watford/Hemel Hempstead

Both these are places where you have at least one huge shopping mall and all other things you’d find in a normal city. Not as busy as London (thankfully), but then going to the office would require a walk to the station and then a train journey. The journey would cost some money so that can be added to the expenses of living here, and whether I can find a place close to the railway stations is also questionable. Basically, these are small cities in a way, but still relatively peaceful.

While writing this I also found that its hard to find a place in Kings Langley because its such a small place and there is hardly any studio of 1-bed flat vacant at the moment. The whole village will know if something’s vacant I guess

In either case, I’m trying to find a studio or 1-bed flat rather than a shared accommodation. My father thinks I should have it shared with a friend but I don’t know anyone who’s moving there and I don’t want to share with someone I don’t know and then regret it later.  So that’s out of the equation for now, unless enforced by circumstances.

I’m really unable to choose which is a better location for me. What do you guys think? Am I missing any factor that I should be considering? It wouldn’t be so difficult if I was sure of getting a driving license any time soon, but I can’t bank on something which has only a 40% probability.

So I know for a fact that I am moving some time around next month, but I really don’t know where.

Kutttaaayyy!!

// October 26th, 2009 // 11 Comments » // London Diary

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23

// October 8th, 2009 // 35 Comments » // London Diary

I have sprung out of the depressive mode that I was in yesterday with some resolutions to help myself and make my life a bit purposeful. The reason for my last post was perhaps the emptiness I [always] feel whenever free from academic responsibilities. The other reason was probably my 23rd birthday, and the feeling of getting old and having nothing great on my plate of achievements. Some may contradict that, but it is obviously more important what I feel for myself rather than what people may think of me. Thirdly, it was a routine (scheduled) task of self-check to analyse my one-year performance. And finally, and importantly, on such occasions I miss my family and close friends who have always made the day special for me.

Back to normal, I have list of things to do in my spare time and I had a look at it again today. I have radically modified it and some of my huge shower plans (the plans I make while showering) have been shelved in favour of more realistic and important aims. Lets see how it goes, but I hope of achieving something in these 2 months.

The past week I have been tinkering with digital photography. A couple of pics are shown here, and more will be added soon to my flickr stream. I need to learn a lot to be good in this field and I am already finding faults with my work. This is another of my problem. I really want to excel in any thing that I do (that’s not the problem though) – but if for some reason I believe that I can’t reach the highs I will not even venture in the field – and this is bad.

The two pics are both a reminder of a wonderful time I had at Imperial College

Finally, I will be working on a wordpress personal blog theme from scratch next week. Any input about what a theme should or shouldn’t have will be appreciated.

Time for me to leave – and finish off my chocolate fudge cake!

Pre-flight Nerves

// September 12th, 2009 // 8 Comments » // London Diary

Right then, about 24 hours from now I will start my journey to homeland. Yes only 24 hours to go!!! Yayyyy! (if the flight isnt delayed ofcourse).

I grew up in the Middle East and we used to travel to Pakistan at least once a year. The frequency increased when I was able to travel on my own and even when I moved to Karachi, with my parents in UAE, the visits were frequent. Add to this some domestic flights as well. But each and every time I am just unable to do anything the day before travel! The nights are sleepless too. Its not that I am scared, but I dont know what it is either.

As soon as I get inside the plane, all these feeling disappear and life goes on normal, apart from the pain that may be experienced by pressure changes.

And almost always while leaving the house I have this feeling that I am forgetting something. Lets see if things change around this time.

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Guilt

// September 6th, 2009 // 31 Comments » // London Diary

Just because I am going to Karachi after a year or so, I am supposed to get gifts for people, esp. the close ones i.e. dad, mom, sis and bro-in-law, right? WRONG! At least thats what I thought. My plan was to buy some stuff for my niece only. But it came to my knowledge yesterday that my dearest sister, who had no idea that her poor brother was coming over for eid, bought a set of kurta-shalwar and dispatched it via courier so that I don't feel left out :S

This completely changed my plans! The feeling of guilt poured in and it is important to mention some incidents to show why the feeling was so heavy. First of all, whenever my sis used to visit UAE from Pakistan, even if it was for 2 days, she used to get gifts for everyone (esp. me), but yeah not a big deal, she's the elder sis

On our parents' wedding anniversary, she used to buy gifts and add my name on those, even though I always reneged on the promise of paying her my share of money back for the expensive gifts. I was mean, I know! But I did buy the gifts once, after she got married, which was a real pain to look for 'em!

Anyway, so these two are enough to support why I felt bad and since I already had a plan to buy stuff for Musfirah (the niece) and myself, I spent the day shopping around today. Needless to say, the overwhelming belief that finding presents for women is the toughest task on planet, was profoundly confirmed today.

Note: This theme is so great that I keep visiting my own blog just to have a look at it

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Karachiiii

// September 5th, 2009 // 12 Comments » // London Diary

Its official then. I have purchased the ticket and I am flying to Karachi on 13th September!!! Only a short tour of 10 days and then I will head back on 23rd because I have to submit my dissertation on 25th (I can get an extension of a week though). So I am already imagining myself typing for 2-3 hours in the plane, in an attempt to do as much work as possible before landing in Pakistan. I dont have extra batteries otherwise the 8 hours of flight time would have been very productive for writing the dissertation Oh and few hours on the way back, and 2 sleepless nights before the deadline and I am pretty sure of pulling it off on the last day. I think I wrote earlier in one of my posts that for some reason things have to go to the last day. Here it is, they were well on course for an early finish lekin maine socha aisa pehle kabhi nai hua to ab kyun ho!

Only 9 days to go now…agar kisi ko kch chahye to abhi bata do

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Decision Making

// September 2nd, 2009 // 14 Comments » // London Diary

One of the hardest things to do is to choose the right answer from a given set of seemingly correct choices. All are correct. One needs to be selected, obviously with justification to support it, and possibly to rule out others. This is somewhat analogous to how humans make decisions. There is no such things as a WRONG path, the question usually is whether the path suits you or not.

Anyway, in the 22 years of my life I have taken ALL the important decisions of life myself. I do discuss issues with people to get a fair bit of idea but eventually I know that I will have to decide myself and stand by it later even if the decision may not have been the best one. This way you don't have to blame others for making your life miserable. And why should you? You were the one asking for help earlier.

So right now, I am once again faced with a toughie! And I have no friggin' idea what to do! There is this thing which is bothering me for about 5 days and I am completely occupied by the thoughts. I have two options and I am not sure which way to go.

Pulling hair, biting nails, eating chocolates, sleeping to avoid thinking hasn't helped at all. There are so many variables involved in this case, and factors which are not in my control.

How does one proceed in such cases? Just close your eyes, think for a while, and go with the gut feeling? What do you guys say?

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