Should it be decided that the names will change, what criteria should be applied in selecting new names?
Our Islam has to be transformational.
Cultural Muslims – one has to ask what is attractive about Islam that some aspects would still be attractive to a person who might not want to engage in all the obligations necessary…solaah, zakaah, fasting, Hajj and of course tawhid.
One has to ask – how onerous are those obligations?
Islam brought civilizational change, a paradigm change.
It added to the body of knowledge and improved the human condition.
The missing element in the current Islamic narrative of proselytising is about the condition of the world that Islam came into. The celebration of Easter is one. The dialectic conversation created by Christianity between the suffering that Nabi Isa or Prophet Jesus is unproblematically coupled with confectionary and has in most countries become a secular public holiday observed by all people regardless of political persuasion or denomination
Yesterday, 28 August 2016 was the last day of our 8th year in Qatar. We will not finish a 9th and as we make the big move back home I’ve realised as awesome as my home, Cape Town is,…Qatar will be where a part of my heart lives. We arrived 8 years ago with a little girl. We now have a beautiful almost 10 year old and two Doha additions: a 7 year old and a 4 year old Alhamdulillah! Two boys, both born here in Doha. Needless to say, we leave behind many significant footprints. Milestones passed, goals achieved, small heartbreaks, friends gained, friends lost, numerous neighbours and colleagues, too many to mention. Thank you for making our stay in Doha memorable.
I remember my uncle’s advice, ‘behave like a tourist as long as you can’. That stood us in good stead because it meant that before we worked on settling in we explored the nooks and crannies.of our new home. Our first neighbourhood was Mansourah. Oh how it has changed. I remember walks to the local clinic with the babies. Enver worked a split shift so going to the clinic was my chore because when we arrived everything closed between 12 and 4pm. Full day services are a recent thing.
I fondly remember going to the grotty little soft play area in Al Meera. Trips to Rays Reef were for weekends. Discovering the best falafel in Doha at Morning Fresh and the cheapest lunch at the Afghan/Pakistani bread shop. Enjoying the moist, humid summers while sitting at Aryaas drinking mango lassi while the kids were being fed sugary sweet mithai by the waiters. Listening to the Athan everyday from the nearby masajid.
And the next stage. Practically forcing the lovely principal Mrs. Mervet to please take Zahraa into the nursery even though she was not 3 yet (hands over eyes) But what a blessing. She made a friend there who has become like long lost family. The child’s mother thought I was crazy as I tried to arrange a playmate in broken Arabic an strength realised she could speak perfect English alhamdulillah.
Some of the most memorable and one of my middle child’s favourite, is accompanied by a small story that he is fond of relating. According to him, “I am the only one that was born in the desert and it was during Hajj time and that is why my name is Isma’eel.”
We enjoyed the Corniche the most. I guess it felt a bit like home. Enver would so his run, Zahraa would ride her bicycle and I would be pushing the pram. Doha made me lazy.
The little one wanted to know if we were Qatari but I had to explain that even though he was born here and had lived here all of his 4 years he was South African because that’s where his parents were from. Then the eldest always chimes in, “But mummy you weren’t born in South Africa…you were born in Egypt.” And the story of my travelling Wilbury parents has to be retold!
مع السلامة الدوحة�…فرية سعيدة�
1 March 2014
That is how I see it, its a blog eat blog world. In fact someone else may have said that already but its so hard to be original these days. Everything has ablready been said and done. I’m just simply going to outline some of my goals and the types of things I hope to publish. To help me get started, here are some of the questions I contemplated:
I was happy to read that someone wrote that one is not locked into any of this; and one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may give you a few other post ideas.
Writing. I love to read and I would love to write well but it is hard work and writing is not as half as enjoyable as reading someone elses work. I guess its the same thing that I accuse Enver (DH) of doing. He is always watching sport
Well, so Umar was circumcised on Saturday, whilst myself and the 2 big munchkins were gallivanting at the ‘Disney on Ice ‘ Show. I did feel a slight twinge of guilt for leaving DH to deal with the little one … Continue reading
OK, so about schools. The traffic situation has worsened in the last few years, so my first comment would be: try to live as close to the school as possible. A large number of the international English medium schools are located in the Abu Hamour area, which is closer to the industrial zone. But most of these schools, barring a few, now have branches in the West Bay/Gharaffa area, which of course, as you know is close to the downtown CBD. I will list some of the schools that I am familiar with, but as I said before, there is this new rule that the SEC announced a few months ago. ******* SEC reviews new ban on mid-year enrollment at some Doha schools – Doha News -http://dohanews.co/sec-consults-schools-changes-january-registration-deadline/ ****** Also, schools will not register your child unless the child has a residence permit. The new rules seem to indicate that you must have 6 months of bank statement before you are issued with an RP. I don’t remember this being the case when we came but that is apparently how it is now. Again, as you know, all depends on how much experience the company mandoob has working with the ministry of interior. Abu Hamour/Al Waab area: American school- ASD (embassy sponsored ) Doha College (embassy sponsored ) Parkhouse Al Jazeera Academy Loydence Academy Newton British School Doha British Montessori School Doha Academy Cambridge School West Bay: Qatar International School (QIS) Doha College (embassy sponsored ) Loydence Academy Qatar Academy International School of London Al Hekma International School Markhiya/Gharaffa: Doha English Speaking School – DESS (Primary only) (embassy sponsored ) American Community School – ACS There are of course a number of schools but I am mentioning the most popular and the ones I am familiar with. A number of schools have also opened in Wakra, which is not so far anymore, because of the new highways and main roads: GEMS ( American) Al Madina International Qatar Academy (they have 5 branches in Qatar) 
There are also the the dual medium schools that follow the IGCSE based curriculum or an American based curriculum like: Al Hekma International School (3 branches) Al Arqam Academy for Girls Iqra school Al Noor Language School Middle East International School Cambridge School for girls There are also, what is called ‘community’ schools that cater to the large Bangladeshi, Indian, Filipino, Pakistani, Iranian, Egyptian, Tunisian, Lebanese, Finnish, German, Canadian, Norwegian, and Sudanese nationals. Lastly, the are the French language medium schools: West Bay Choueifat International Lycee Voltaire Lycee Bonaparte Al Waab Lycee Voltaire. There’s also a french website that can help with all the questions you have http://www.vivreauqatar.com Hope this helps.
Open Temple – Irshaad Sedick (1)
A brilliant article giving the back story on Dr. Taj Hargey. It outlines the aims of Hargey’s project and exposes the fallacy of the open mosque succintly. Sedick even offers a solution and protocol for responding.
“Do you have any children?” a nice woman making small talk asks me.
I reply pleasantly, “No, I don’t,” but my inner monologue is racing.
“Children? I don’t have children because I don’t have a husband. I don’t have a husband because I never had a romantic relationship with a guy. I never had a boyfriend, I’ve never even been kissed and I’m way older than Drew Barrymore was when she was in that movie with Michael Vartan! I’m older than Jesus ( AS) when he was on this earth! Oh God, what if it’s too late for me to have children?”
My inner monologue hysterically wonders about how hot hot flashes actually are, as I smile at the nice lady who’d innocently assumed that a Muslim woman my age is almost certainly married and almost certainly a mother.
I am an unmarried Muslim woman of a certain…
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Living like a Muslim in the Middle East 