Asalamu Alaykum very complex issue indeed you have brought up sista. Look..I don't think this is soley to do with females. Brothas be losing their 'somalianism'too, if you are a person who isn't influenced,molded and changed in any way what so ever by your environment then..hurah for you.But I feel I can speak for a majority of the sistas who were brought up in the west..being fully somali (whatever that is?)and not adopting anything from your new home(so to speak) to your character is almost near impossible. p.s Dawaco r u a traditionalist or not? The key to it as Nomad by Nature said is taking the best of both worlds.

asalamu alaykum... lol..a nice read indeed. All I have to say about George Bush and his pityful sidekicks is we shouldn't get too worked up about how they are destroying this world for Allah (swt) has promised they'll be the ones that are destroyed in the next life...over and over again. p.s Nur come on now...Oil has nothing to do with it..the U.S ( & all nations helpin' out in the war on Iraq) are liberators...?! :mad:

Asalamu Alaykum Wr Wb..may Allah (swt) reward you for your efforts sista.Amiin. Sometimes we all lose focus and forget the purpose of this life.Love Allah(swt)for He shows you his love everyday. Every new day is another chance Allah (swt)is giving you to do something beneficial towards your next and final life. May Allah (swt) help us get and stay on the right path, so that inshAllah we will become people of Jannah.Amiin. Keep ya head up sistas.

Salams y'all. One word to sum up Abdi-Miskiiin. Mistakes can happen...people can slip up (Allah knows our weaknesses) and commit Zinaa (there's still repentence) but to actualy live with someone and make it a normal way of life is a terrible thing indeed. Another sad thing is Somalis don't surprise me anymore walahi..if we are to imitate anyone ppls we should imitate Nubi Mohammad (saw) not these Kaffirs.SubxanAllah. What is this world comin'to.. :confused:

Asalamu Alaykum Wr Wb MashAllah...Although my somali reading capabilities are near none, I somehow made it all out. A great and informative piece Akhi. May Allah(swt)answer our prayers and increase our Iman..Amin Nur walal inshAllah with Allah's mercy we will be people of Jannah, Amin.

Asalamu Alaykum wr wb all.. You know what the thing about Islam is...that it's simple in it's direction. Look to the Qu'ran and the Hadiths, there's no 'well alright in your case, or 'on this day do this and on that day do that'. I make sure to tell sistas that don't wear hijab that we are no different from eachother, there's nothing worst then looking down on someone who is a bit lost or behind...Islam doesn't teach us this...furthermore our beloved prophet Muhammad (saw) would never of done this. Islam is a religion of moderation, but it's us that make it difficult. salams

salams, One suggestion is for eveyone to spend time with people you haven't seen for a while. Those cousins you only see when your whole family have made you . Eiid is about celebrating and remembering those poeple that mean something to you.Don't cancel out all the deeds you made up in Ramadan, by doing what u know ain't right...in the end it's ultimatley up to y'all. Have a great Eiid whatever it is u decide to do

Asalamu Alaykum wr wb Definetly magalo...u can take the girl outta the city but you can't take the city outta the girl! ok..halwad or ice cream? now that's a tuff cookie p.s. good game dee

Ok my name is not as profound as Conscious Manipulation's or as simple as it being my real name (eg ladyFatima). It come from two things: First constant change, I'll never be the same person two days running.I've always been told I'm always anaylising myself,and trying to mold a new me (it buggs my family and friends lol). Second, I've reached the time in my life were I want to gain/seek more knowledge about the diin.So any evolving Insha allah will be for the good. salams

Shaka, what can i say, you got a way with words. Seriously though those poems were like woah, you must be head over heals huh? Well it seems you are a very lucky guy because nobody writes like that for just any old person! Keep flowin'

Asalamu Alaykum...Ramadan Kariim to you and all your families. Nur walal you bring up a very realistic scenerio.The brother would need to understand that your life is judged in two parts, pre and post marriage.Inorder for him to get this sista he would need to focus more on his diin/iman then her, simply.This will then inturn catch her attention and everyone wins.I would personally worry more about his intentions to improve then what he's doing now..you become a great muslim gradually, you simply aren't the best muslim full stop. Everyone evolves. salams

Calaykum Asalam, Ramadan Kariim... Masha allah brother for sharing such a great and positive idea. I wasn't aware that reading the english version counted, but since that was my only hurdel I shall insha allah try to meet this challenge. My very own goal was to of memorised the 99 names of Allah by the end of Ramadan...no reason why both can't be done huh? May you and all your families have a blessed month, amiin. Salam

I wish you and all your families a successful Ramadan. Insha allah I will see all of you after eiid (with a couple more pounds..lol) Ramadan Kariim n.

what you must recognise is to aim, for the ultimate prize... Heaven. for those of you who are blessed, diin is simple, for those who aren't it can be as awkward as a forehead pimple... love one another, like she is ya sista & he is ya brotha Heaven. it's under tha feet of ya mother she often says ' i brought you into this world i'll take you out!' let her scream and shout, never say a word back to ya mother outta anger always appreciate her, she carried you, don't you remember? spend quality time with her if you can this in the end makes you a great woman or man Heaven. a dream...that can be attained. Ramadan Kariim all n.

Salam Alaykum, Sisters and Brothers... Thank you and also masha allah for posting such a great article Jabarti.The point really isn't whether it was to highlight out faults or whether it was to inspire us, but rather it was something which made you question your stand on this subject.Anything that reminds you of the most mercieful Allah (swt) truely can only be of good and not bad.So remember fellow muslims,everyone one of us has been blessed enough to have a personal relationship with Allah (swt), say Allhamdulilah as often as you can. salam.

Miss lexus sis... * always looking out for eachother Don't know about yourself but I happen to help out other malis who are in need of help whether I know them or not. So it's not a total lie, just depends on you, and what you see around you. Just thought I'd add, nice nic @che, great man he was...you should of wrote somethin' a lil' che like instead of the negative view, good to know you wouldn't want to change though. See the glass as half full ppl,think of the alternative... salams

To me be being a Somali means * Always looking out for one another * Appreciating eachothers faults ( and usually gossiping about them ) * Loving my people to an unhealthy level * Believing in ALLAH swt, almighty and devine. * Always and I mean always being the right one in argument :rolleyes: u know I'm right.... The above are just a few things that came to mind, but let me just mention one thing if I was given the power to be anything other then Somali I would simply say 'I'm already the best that I can be, thanx but no thanx'. Struggle together then laugh together.

Why thank you man, perhaps you and me should join forces to promote politics and also re-educate poor men like nin-yaaban. Bless him, 'cause he ain't got a clue. p.s. ms, if you think that then why not put him straight and have a healthy heated argument? if man is up to it.

All I can do to the post before is laugh. I am studying politics as my degree, to me there's no other topic more interesting. To answer ur question Man of Wisdom, walal an incorrect view that most women hold is that politcs is just not within their reach.Now when you have men like Nin Yaaban, it also becomes more of a challenge to win peoples respect.The quicker my sistas see it as just another field of study the better. Me on the other hand, I eat people like Nin Yaaban for breakfast! :rolleyes: salams

salam calakum sistas and brothas....This topic addresses many of our downfalls as somalis. I would like to take a minute to express that along with the bad come the good.I do agree that as a nation we do love to involve ourselves in others lives. What you must focus on is that your life is yours and you can't live it according to how your dad's friend thinks or how your aunt thinks you should. If we understand that to help eachother in times of adversity and to not judge but to encourage eachother will benefit us all individually in the long run. Culture should not over shadow diin.

lool, funny how i can relate to the majority of promblems here. But the folowing are just some i've picked up on; * trying to please ppl..when they couldn't give a damn either way about your efforts. * watching generation after generation of somali ppl refusing to change their ways, inorder to be more successful *(said earlier) ppl who don't respond back to asalamu alakum, for god's sake this doesn't make you anyless cool or whatever *always worrying about exams, and never letting your parents down Look for real though life is short enough,without ppl always hatin' on eachother. Plus whenever you have a 'my life is soo bad, i'll sit here and feel sorry for myself' days,think of the alternative.There's always someone worst off.

Good question....hmmm? My parents are everything to me, without them life would be unbearable. And there's my four sisters (my best friends) with all their diffrent personalities, the loves of my life. Now to get back to the point ... I think I would be greatly missed, but that they could carry on without me, I'm the one who brings everyone together, create chaos almost in any situation and give long term headaches to yep all of them.But do i effect the running of the house?nope! so in those aspects no, i wouldn't be needed.Hope I was always in the back of their minds. May allah (swt) bless all the parents of this world, for they truely love you, in the most uncompromising, unconditional, giving way.

I'm intimadated by perverted older men and overly aggressive guys.Perverted older men, when they look at you just makes your skin crawl and aggressive guys 'cause you heard about that one person they 'took care of' it just makes you very aware of them. aite, that's my thought on that.

lol shayma, um....some (almost all) of that is true. I'm a londoner, wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Been here 14 yrs, I live in the west, and southall isn't that bad. Especially on eid when all muslims take over! Whoever has had a bad experiance of london, was due to company and not location aite. come and see what the big deal is all about. N.

I'm a first year at uni, studying journalism and current affairs.Before carrying on with my education I thought about things such as if i was to get a job the chance for me to get replaced is higher then if i go into a job with a degree. Something like a degree is urs, and only urs, unlike the uncertainty of a job. Just my thinkin'.