Halal, is it?
Last week I decided to take some relatives out for dinner to celebrate the first pay...
Halal, is it?
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 
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
…
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
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..?
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!!
After the success of my wake-up-to-jog-in-the-morning activity yesterday I tried to replicate it today as well. It was hard to get out of the bed despite not feeling sleepy at all. With a strong will, I crushed those thoughts of laziness and sprang to my feet within minutes to get ready for another session of activity.
I reached the huge and beautiful park near my residence, sat down for a while allowing the freshness to sink in. After stretching for a bit and setting my iPod to use Absar’s playlist I was all set to go.
I was feeling great and gradually building up pace. I was lost. The thoughts of getting an iPhone soon took over. I think I dropped in pace as well but I am not sure. I wasn’t looking around either. Suddenly during the song break I heard something. It wasn’t the music, obviously. And then it repeated again, twice. I came to an abrupt halt planning to see where the noise was coming from.
And then I saw it. It was a centimeter away from me staring (and barking) without a blink. It was a huge dog (kutta). A huge, ugly, son of a bitch! But what was he doing?
There was no time to think. Within a second of stopping I ran again. He chased me. I was slow. He was fast. I crossed over to the grassy land and jumped on a couple of benches hoping to see a human who would help me. No one. Where was the dog owner? The chase continued and I was taking huge steps when he finally overtook me, moved forward, slowed down and sat there waiting for me to arrive! WTF was going on? I changed direction and he followed me. Oh God! I don’t want to be bitten by a dog. After going round in circles twice, I saw man. A human! I slowed down near him and the dog quietly went towards his owner.
“Oh mate! He was just playing with you” said the owner. “I know, me too! But try keeping him close to you” was my reply.
I went back to one of the benches which I used to my advantage in order to increase the distance during the chase, sat down for a while where a sign clearly said “No Dogs Allowed.” After getting my senses back I went back to cover the distance remaining for the day while my thoughts wavered between my upcoming trip to Southampton, iPhone and dogs.
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23
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!
…
The heart is inherently dependent on Allah in two ways: from the point of view of...
Something's Wrong
If I’m to quantify the goods that have come across my way this year, I may require...
Where to..?
Some of the regular readers may recall me mentioning that I’m lucky to have a job...
Kutttaaayyy!!
After the success of my wake-up-to-jog-in-the-morning activity yesterday I tried to...
23
I have sprung out of the depressive mode that I was in yesterday with some resolutions to...