Sunday, January 31, 2010

Egypt won, let's get over it and focus on more important issues


I'm really really really ecstatic Egypt won! I screamed, I jumped, I update my facebook status and 'liked' everyone's status on my friend's list who wrote about Egypt's victory. I even changed my pictures on FB to Egypt-related. Okay. Now what? Third time in a row champions. Very nice. 7 time winner. Excellent. So ... Again, now what? I think it's awesome that Egyptians every where are celebrating, and especially in Egypt itself, Egyptians are laughing, being happy, cheering, and having that pride-filled sentiment.

Unfortunately everything comes to an end. We won. The End. Now let's focus on more important issues, such as that flood that happened in Egypt, that no one seems to be noticing. And that the Egyptian election is coming up and people need to know more information about who is running. I find that soccer and sports can some times be a relief to all the hardship that's going on in one's country.

I mean, yes Egypt has accomplished a lot, but in reality, it's on a pretty low scale compared to other countries. If people were more enthusiastic about overthrowing corrupt governments, poverty, injustice, imagine how amazing Egypt should be? Egypt still deserves to celebrate, the people need a little break and past time and that's healthy. And it's also wonderful that Egyptians of all social levels and religions all cheer for that one team and celebrate together.

I just think they shouldn't celebrate for too long and no not move on with their lives -- but move on to other more crucial issues in the country. I love Egypt with all my heart. And one of the goals of this blog is to not criticize my country, but to encourage others to take MORE steps in making it a better country.

Congratulations Egypt, you deserved it, and he team made us all proud. But let us always stay proud of who we are, regardless of whether or not we win a soccer game, and to strive to make Egypt a better place. I'll end with this quote in a New York Time's article that just came out, title Soccer Gains Ground on Politics In Gaza Strip: "When people ... cannot find solutions to their political problems, they shift their interest to movies and sports. Sports have become a prime interest," he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/01/31/sports/sports-uk-soccer-nations-palestinians.html

EGYPT WINS AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS THIRD TIME IN A ROW

Egypt won Ghana at the finals for the Africa Cup of Nations! This is our 7th (or 8th?) time to win it, and third time in a row!! LET THE CELEBRATIONS BEGINNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

EGYPT VS ALGERIA 4-0

And Egypt won heck yeah! We won 4-0, and Algeria (Semi-finals for the African Cup of Nations) received 3 red cards! We were awesome. I'm trying to find the video of the goals online but I don't think they are up yet. On Saturday we get to play Ghana for the final cup!!!!!! This will be our 7th time winners of the cup if and when we win, God Willing. WE ROCK! And anyone who says the referee was paid, well, then, I'll lead you to this video, and listen closely to this guy's very last phrase:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neMw-agguwg&feature=sub

MASR!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Hellz yeah Egypt!


Egypt beat Cameroon today, which qualifies them for the semi-finals in the african cup of nations!!!!!!!!1 We won 3-1! We rock. Period. On Thursday we play Algeria. Oh no. I'm feeling tremulous but confident we will win, God willing. I don't want to talk about what happened in the qualifying matches for the World Cup, because you most probably already know. And for the record -- I think both teams/fans were crazy and BOTH were at fault! Let's try to calm down a bit before the next match and not do any thing stupid!!!

On a more serious note, I find it so interesting that although Egypt is a pretty poor country, EVERYONE, well ok mostly everyone who is Egyptian will either support their team or watch it together and cheer! It's probably the only thing I can think of that all Egyptians have in common. I think it's awesome. And I think if all Egyptians had other things like this in common, then Egypt would be a better place. You know ... for example, as in opposing corruption! Opposing the president and the government! Imagineee if all those people watching the match did some type of protest or revolution. Egypt's disgusting dictatorship might end. And if not, at least we will say we tried.

Good luck Egypt! InshAllah you will win, my love!

Details about our win ... since I suck at explaining sports-related issues: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/01/25/sports/sports-uk-soccer-nations.html

hilarious video: i love egyptian soccer commercials they crack me up!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B_tbLcc0cg

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Awesome Female Muslimah: Ambreen, 15, boxer


Again, this doesn't show up in the media often. I love these inspiring young, strong, enthusiastic females! Go Ambreen--sting like a muslimah-butt-kicking- butterfly

Ambreen Sadiq, Muslim girl boxer, aims to combat prejudice to succeed in the ring

Few girls, let alone Muslim girls, can expect to be encouraged to pick up a pair of boxing gloves and go out fighting.

But Ambreen Sadiq, a 15-year-old schoolgirl from Bradford, has overcome opposition in her community to win her latest fight and aim for the 2016 Olympics.

Hailed tonight as a “pioneer” by the Amateur Boxing Association, Ambreen has already won the national female championship for her age and weight.

She has overcome opposition from her community to be nominated as junior sports personality of the year at the British Asian Sports Awards.

In the ring, she transforms from shy Muslim in traditional dress to a rapid-fire fighting machine in shorts, vest and ponytail.

Few Muslim women go into boxing, although one exception is Laila Ali, Mohammed Ali’s daughter, a professional boxer who now hosts American Gladiators.

A Channel 4 documentary tomorrow night shows Ambreen, trained by coach Naz Jalil of Eastburn boxing club, defeat Leigh Park’s Bobbie Clark.

According to one report of the match, Ambreen, who is known as “Beeno”, “dominated her southpaw opponent from the off, catching her with numerous combination shots to go 9-2 up after the first round.”

The Bradford Telegraph and Argus reported: “She continued to pressure Clark, who had no option but to come forward to win some points of her own but each time was met with a barrage of punches, leaving the score 14-3 after round two.

“The third round was Sadiq’s best. Her skills saw her slip Clarke’s punches, making her miss wildly.

“On one occasion, she slipped under a big right, turned Clark and delivered three big shots which forced the referee to give an eight count as the Eastburn girl triumphed 20-5.”

Ambreen has already attended one training session with the England squad.

Her father, Shokit Ali Sadiq, who has encouraged her since childhood, said he had predicted since she was a baby that she would become a boxer. “Nobody would believe me.”

Ambreen said: “I know you should not show your arms and legs off but I am not doing it so I can show my arms and legs off to the whole world. I am doing it so I can enjoy boxing. It is what I want.”

The Muslim Council of Britain said: “We would not take a position against this.” He said some Muslim scholars did, however, regard boxing in general as “inhumane”.

Ayesha Abdeen, vice-chair of the Muslim Women’s Sports Foundation, said: “We believe that women should have an opportunity to take part in sport and keep fit and healthy. A Muslim woman boxer I would say is quite rare.”

Martin Utley, regional coach for the Amateur Boxing Association, said she was one of the top female boxers in Britain: “There are other Muslim girl boxers but not at this competitive level. She is pioneering as far as Muslim girls are concerned in boxing.”

Not in the mainstream media: Arab-American sworn into Lackawanna office


Arab-American sworn into Lackawanna office

Well, this is good.

Arab-American sworn into Lackawanna office
By Dale Anderson
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: January 05, 2010, 10:13 pm / 19 comments
Published: January 04, 2010, 6:36 am

It was proud day Sunday for Abdulsalam Noman.

Before a crowd of about 200 family members and friends from Lackawanna’s Yemenite community, the incoming First Ward Council member took the oath of office on his father’s copy of the Quran and became the city’s first Arab-American elected government official.

He’s also the first Arab-American elected to public office in New York State and only the second in the nation. The first was in Michigan.


Lackawanna, which counts 4,000 Yemenites among its 18,000 population, also has elected two Arab- American School Board members, one of whom currently serves on the board.

All of Noman’s five brothers, including the one from Michigan, and three sisters attended the ceremony in Curly’s Banquet Facility on Ridge Road. Lackawanna City Judge Frederic Marrano swore in Noman.

Missing were only his uncle in Arizona, who wasn’t feeling well enough to make the trip, and his father, Kassim, who died in November, two weeks after Noman was elected.

“I’m proud to be an American citizen,” the new Council member said Sunday.

Noman came to Lackawanna from Yemen in 1975 with his mother and one of his sisters, two years after his father emigrated. They followed his uncle, who came to work in the steel plant in the 1950s, and another sister. The other brothers and sister came later.

He graduated from Lackawanna High School and earned a history degree at the University at Buffalo in 1986. Now the father of four, he has been a teacher’s aide and Arabic translator for the Lackawanna City School District, and the high school soccer coach, a job not nearly as bruising as the campaign for the First Ward Council seat.

“It was a tough election,” he said Sunday night. “There were four running in the primary and three candidates in November. It helped that the endorsed Democrat [Joseph Jerge, whom he defeated in the primary] threw his support behind me.”

Among his hopes as a Council member is to add more diversity to the city’s work force, which currently has only two Arab-Americans.

As for the troubles in his native land, he said he’ll be glad to see the United States send military aid to the Yemenite government.

“What’s going on over there is unacceptable,” he said. “I’d like to see the United States root it out. I support President Obama 100 percent.”

Friday, January 22, 2010

Athan ring tone, haram?


Okay, so a new fatwa was made that ringtones that are the Muslim's call to prayer "athan" and even Quranic verses are haram (forbidden). It can be "misleading." I think they are cool, some times. What if at that moment you were about to do something "bad" and then suddenly someone calls--and not your average Akon rington--rather a verse from the Quran or Athan. Would the person rethink what he or she was about to do? On the other hand, are some people just using these types of ring tones for showing off? Is it disrespectful to use Quranic verses as ring tones? I don't see any harm in it. But God knows best. Obviously there were no ring tones at the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), but it is widely known that the Quran should always be respected, as well as other holy books and other religious beliefs, not just Islam. Here's the link: Oh, and I like the picture on the top--so typical of Egyptians on the streets.




CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's top cleric wants Muslims to answer the call to prayer, but not when its ringing on their cellphones.

Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa issued a fatwa, or a religious edict, on Wednesday urging Muslims to do away with a popular fad — Quranic verses or the five daily calls to prayer as cellphone ringtones. The government-appointed cleric says such ringtones are inappropriate, misleading and demeaning to God's words.

"God's words are sacred. ... He ordered us to respect them and glorify them," Gomaa said.

Muslims are required to pray five times a day, and the time for this is announced solely with calls to prayers from mosques, Gomaa said. "The calls to prayer are to announce it is time ... using it as a ringtone is confusing and misleading."

Edicts, or fatwas, serve as advice for the pious who observe them closely. Gomaa's edict, published on the official website of Dar al-Iftah, one of Sunni Islam's earliest institution for interpreting religion, is not binding.

FAITH & REASON: The less we know, the more we fear

Islamic ringtones are ubiquitous in this country of 80 million. They are also making the rounds in Baghdad, Saudi Arabia, the West Bank and to a lesser degree, multi-sectarian Lebanon. A group of Saudi clerics recently made a similar plea to Saudis not to use Quran for ringtones.

In Egypt, verses or calls to prayer from the holy book of Quran are not only popular as ringtones. They have become the rage with screen savers and text messages in holiday greetings. The tones can be downloaded from the Internet, mobile phone company websites and are advertised on TV stations.

With a rising tide of Islamic conservatism, Egyptians are increasingly peppering their lives with religious symbols, and turn to fatwas to regulate their day-to-day lives.

Head scarves are predominant among the country's Muslim women and men increasingly sport traditional beards. Quranic verses can be seen plastered as posters or stickers on cars, offices and homes. Even daily greetings have become Islamized, with people starting and ending their conversations by invoking God's name or words.

The majority of Egyptians are Sunni Muslims. There are nearly 50 million mobile phone subscribers.

For those insisting their ringtones have an Islamic character, he suggested they use Islamic hymns or religious prose.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


link: http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2010-01-22-egypt-fatwa_N.htm
----

What do you guys think? Do you have such ring tones? Do you think they're wrong?

Debatable: Religious, "Muslim" soccer players?

This is interesting. The Egyptian soccer coach only allows devout Muslims on his team. I mean, I see where he's coming from. If you're religious, you pray to God often. If you pray to God often, you pray that you win. If you win, then you win different cups, games, etc. But to single out Christian players? What if they're religious Christian players in Egypt that are really good? And what if these so called Muslims are pretending to be religious just to be on the team? I don't follow up often on Egyptian soccer games, but I'm pretty sure there have been excellent Christian players on the teams before (El-zamalek, Ahly, etc). I just don't think your religion should be based on whether or not you get to play on a team. If you're religious, excellent. If you're Muslim--good. If you're Christian--good. Let's keep a person's religious beliefs out of this and just WIN! And pray that we win!
Here's the link:
Egypt's soccer boss says piety key to making team

United we stand--Christians and Muslims in Egypt?

From what I read, this started when a "Coptic" raped an Egyptian girl a couple months ago. So the "Muslims" wanted revenge and attacked a Church. What the hell? You people live together, are neighbors, work together, go to school together. What's with all the stupidity? Both sides need to calm down a bit and stop playing the 'you started it you deserved it' game. What happened to Egyptians bonding, regardless of religion? Christians and Muslims are friends, especially in Egypt. And watch Hasan w Mor2os for a refresher.

Link: Suspects in Egypt's Christmas slayings surrender

Muslims are good people, too.

See when negative things happen to Muslims or Arabs, the media sparks and goes on and on about them. But, when they do any good--well, they're just ignored. It's as if the media is programed to exaggerate on stupid things Muslims do. And show it over and over and over. Check out these stories about philanthropic Muslims these past couple days:
Muslim Online Haiti Fundraiser, Organized on Facebook, Raises $105K in 2 Hours with 400 Donors


Muslims Rally Support for Haiti


and

Letter from Haiti: A Haitian Muslim’s Request for Help

The least we can do is pray for them. Or at least donate a couple dollars. They need it. So do millions of other people in despair and in need of clean water and health. Let us pray and try to be the change we want to see in the world.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Stuff Arab Americans like.

please feel free to add more to the list: (note, some specifically apply to females. another note: don't get offended, laugh it off, even if you don't think it's true, some others might.)

1-Dressing up on Eid day. And I mean totally dressing up as in high heels, ties, suits, etc.
2- Saying Wallah way too many times.
3- Playing loud music in car.
4- Obsession with expensive make up.
5-Asking for discounts at stores.
6- Cars.
7- Pita bread.
8- Acting/speaking "ghetto."
9- Saying 'ya3ni' in the middle of English words.
10- Saying habeebti to girls you barely speak to.
11- Updating facebook statuses or writing on other people's walls in Arabic so your English speaking American friends will not understand.
12- Saying "FOB' or "Boater"
13- Laugh at other people's accents.
14- Engineering.
15- If you're a doctor, you're just better.
16- Nicknames like lele and lulu and susu
17- Arabs in the media.
18- Facebook.
19- Hookah. And bragging to your fellow American friends about all the diff. flavors.
20- Equality
21- Unity
22- Giving back

I'd like some hummus with the pita bread, please

We are two Egyptian-Americans searching for uncanny answers and ask provoking questions regarding Arab/American/Islamic/Egyptian related issues. We try to keep it real. Comment away.