It's funny how you find yourself talking to random strangers who you have never seen before, or lets say its the other way round random strangers start conversations with you when you had no intention what so ever to say anything to them, it always seems to happen.

take Wednesday for instance, I was at the dressing clinic with my bro and mother, we where sat in the reception area waiting for our turn, I noticed that there was an Asian man sat opposite us staring at us, I turned around to my mum and whispered 'what's his problem, he keeps looking at us' my mum just told me to ignore him, but that's one thing I cant do, I cant stand people who stare it bugs the living day lights out of me and it will really annoy me until I either get up and leave or that person leaves or a fight starts, in this case I started a staring match with him.

whilst the staring match was happening he automatically takes out a can of lager out of a plastic bag and proceeds to drink as if trying to tell me 'this is easy for me, I do this all the time' (apparently its his second can, are you even allowed to drink in clinics?) my eyes began to water so I had to blink, my blinking was the opportunity for him to speak, I guess he thought I winked at him, sigh.... The dude had one hell of a voice on him, we where just a few centimeters away from him yet we could have been miles and would have heard him clearly.

the conversation went something like this:

man: when did you celebrate eid? Yesterday or the day before yesterday?

mum: Monday,we celebrated eid on Monday.

man: oh, you celebrated with Al-Jazeerah? (lol, oh yeh the news channel, course!!!!)

mum: sorry

me: mama just ignore him..

mama: no miskeen (poor thing), we followed Saudi

man: oh you from Saudi Arabia?

mama: no where not

man: where you from if you don't mind me asking

me: earth..

mama: Libya

man: oh wow, ana 3isht fee misrata 7 sineen (tanslation: oh wow I lived in misrata -a city around 2 hours away from Tripoli- for 7 years)

me: oh my god, the dude speaks Arabic

mama: mashallah, really, we are originally from misrata.

bro: laughing into his jacket

man: I am originally from Pakistan, but my baba and mama traveled every where for work, my baba he was a eye doctor, you know kind fahad from Saudi Arabia?

mama: yes yes

man: baba operated on him

mama: ok mashallah

man: ana kunt atakalim al 3arabi mithl al boulboul (translation- I used to be able to talk Arabic like a hoopoe bird)

mama: oh what happened?

man: I have no Arabs to talk to so I lost most of it

mama: that's a shame, but still mshallah your Arabic is good

man: not any more love (then with a horrified look on his face started to apologies) sorry, sorry not love I mean sister

me: lol

mama: its ok

man: ok back to my life story, I am originally from Pakistan but we lived on the outskirts of Afghanistan, and when the Russians where attacking Afghanistan I had to defend it because I love Afghanistan, it was terrible sister, baba mat, mama mat, zawjatee mat (translation- mum died, dad died, my wife died)

mama: ina lila wa ina ilayhee rajee300n (translation- to Allah we belong and to him is our return)

man: yes, I got chemical burnt on both my legs, and I salute this country (he then stands up and does a saluting sign with his hand and then sits down again)

man: the government of this country took me in (wow that would have been Thatcher, nice of her to take him in to 10 downing street), I salute them, they pay more than a grand a month for my health care, my country would have left me to die, probably would have killed me to get me out the way, so I salute this country.

then the national anthem went off and we all stood up and sang - actually that bit didn't happen.

instead the man got up walked towards us lifted his leg up and my mum bless her nearly fainted from the sight, all his bandages had fallen around his ankles and where his leg was supposed to be was gunk, half of the leg wasn't there, we could actually see the bone. My mum covered her mouth and was saying:

mama: nasul Allah al 3afwah wal 3afeeyah (translation - iask Allah for good health)

man: I wont show you my other leg, you will be sick for the next week if I do, I will save you from this.

mama: thank you, subhannallah how this happen?

man: war sister, this is a cause of war, I have to many problems in my life, I am Muslim and people always judge me and look down on me cause I drink alcohol, but alcohol is one thing and having faith in my heart is another thing, they are separate things, the alcohol makes me forget and nulls the pain of life for me.

mama: Allah yihdeek inshallah (translation - may Allah guide you)

man: yes sister. so what happened to your son?

mama: fireworks brother, some one threw on at him

man: oh, if I could I will take his pain, he is only young, I have to much pain,a little more pain wont harm me.

how sweet was that? Seriously when he said that it wasn't fake, it was genuine, subhanallah.

mama: oh thanks you brother you are kind

man: no no

he then points at me at me and says: is he your daughter

mam: yes, she's my eldest

man: is she married?

me: mumbling hello im here, stop talking like im invisable

mama: knudging me, no she is not

man: oh so when you going to send her off to get married?

bro: nearly falls off his chair laughing

me: is this man for real?

mama: sorry?

man: you do arranged marriage?

my mum at this point starts to explain to him the difference between arranged marriages and forced marriages, can I point out that we had an audience in the room, people where on the edge of there seats listening to us. After the mini lecture the man turns around and says:

man: is your son married?

now it was my turn to fall off the chair laughing, my brother shouts out of course not I'm only 17.

and before he could ask if my mum was married, lol, he got called in to the nurses room, leaving us behind waiting for our turn.

how weird is that? it truly is amazing the kind of people we meet in our lives, really does make it that much more interesting....

A big Eid Mubarak to every one

I pray from the bottom of my heart that you all enjoyed your eid and that Allah swt gives you the opportunity to witness many more wonderful Ramadans and Eids (Ameen).

I'm missing Ramadan already, I absolutely loved Ramadan this year, it really was special, it always is subhannallah but this year it was something else, I managed to spend many iftars with my family for one, something that I haven't done in a long time so that was great, I managed to cook as well and learnt a couple of new dishes which was sheer bliss for my mother bless her and I spent many a wonderful time with my sisters in Islam which was great and I cherish every moment.

Eid came so soon, its so difficult to believe that already the first day has ended and that 30 days of Ramadan just flew by, I pray that we will continue what we learnt from Ramadan and that we have come out of Ramadan much better individuals amen.

woke up bright and early today to the sound of my younger brother rushing down the stairs shouting 'its eid, its eid', I swear I miss that feeling that children have for eid, I remember I used to not sleep a wink in anticipation for eid day, and I would take my eid clothes out from the cupboard at least 10 times to look at it, ah the memories, then you grow up and things don't seem as exciting as they used to be, and eid clothes are no longer a bother, but I still love the feeling of unity and togetherness and that at least for the next couple of days people will try to be civil to one another.

by half past eight we where out of the house on our way to the Muslim Youth Foundation to pray eid prayer, I walked into the sisters section and wow it was packed, it was difficult finding a place to sit but eventually I did and the prayer started, afterwards whilst listening to the khutbah I looked around me and found one of the reasons why I love Britain so much, for the sheer fact that all around me where so many different colours, faces, cultures, races etc.. it was beautiful seriously, and most people had there traditional gear on, so I was sat next to a lovely Nigerian sister on my right and on my left was a Malaysian sister, next to her was an Arab sister and next to her was a revert, and the list can go on and on, its so cool, literally the colors of Islam.

we headed home, on the way back my dad did the takbirat al eid, and looking out the window I saw so many people leaving the mosques, all dressed smartly, smiling, saying salam to one another, hugging each other.

at home we had breakfast, now usually us libyans would have to have 3aseeda, a traditional dish made from flour, difficult to describe, this is what is looks like, I love it, its tradition to have it on the morning of eid, we didn't instead we had eggs, cheese etc, I miss 3aseeda sniff sniff...

at around 12 we got a call from the hospital informing us that my brother ha an appointment at 1:30 that day at the burn clinic. so of we went, my youngest brother grumbling on about 'what kind of eid is this, blah blah blah' poor thing was bored out of his mind, but it wasn't to bad alhamdullilah because when the consultant looked at the burn, she announced that he will not need an plastic surgery but instead content dressing, creaming, and a dose of physiotherapy as well.

my mum started to cry form happiness bless her and then hugged the consultant lol.

came home after that and attended a Libyan event, it was nice because we managed to say all our eid mubraks in one room to every one, usual sweets where handed out and all the teenage girls parading there eid clothes cute, and the ladies with there you've lost weight, you've gained weight business, rolls eyes, always the same lines lol.

we kissed our way out of there, I swear to say bye takes at least half an hour, a clever man will realize this so when he says 'haya let's go home' he knows he should allow for at least 30 - 45 minutes of preparation.

came home, my parents where feeling tired so they rested there eyes whilst me and my younger brother had a game of mortal combat on his play station and can I just point out to every one that I beat him 4 times, woooohoooo, he had his excuses but they where weak excuses, he wouldn't admit that I was the champion of the house.

my parents had had there 40 winks and it was time to get ready for visiting a lovely family that we always go to on eid day to have dinner with, and it's where I continuously embarrass myself with my clumsiness.

I had been in my boots all day that I completely forgot that my right sock had a hole where the big toe is, so my toe was peeking out and at first I was kinda good at disguising this by hiding it underneath my long skirt, but towards the middle of the evening I forgot and my toe made an appearance, my mum would look at me then mouth 'your toe' to which I would hurriedly hide it, lol.

then to make matters worse for me, when it was time to get the food, I got up to help bring in the food and stuff, at first I was doing well, bringing in the different plate and what not, but then it was time for me to bring in the harisa (chilli paste) which was in a nice metal like dish, we where eating off the floor so our host had spread the sheet on the floor and I bent down to put the harisa on the floor when accidently I dropped it, it would have been ok if it had just spoilt the sheet but NO, that's not how things work for me, instead it splattered all over the sheet, walls, seating and the people, my god I was so embarrassed and all I could do was cover my mouth, laugh hysterically and say 'oh my god, oh my god, I'm so sorry, so sorry, I always do this'

my mum just sat there and then burst into laughter, saying 'white African how could you, oh no, she always does this' and then proceeded to tell stories of the many times my clumsiness had embarrassed me and her, this was to be added to the list.

what a perfect end lol....

prayers, contemplation and fire works

its amazing how fast Ramadan is leaving us, its like when a wonderful guest comes to stay with you and just as you get used to the guest and love having the guest with you, the guest has to leave.

on wednesday night it was the 27th night, and most people are of the opinion that laylatul qadr is most probably on this night so the mosques are generally packed out with worshippers, I decided to go to good old Muslim Youth Foundation with some friends and hamdullilah the numbers where just right, not many people, enough to create a lovely atmosphere.

it was such a lovely night walahi, starting from tarawih, then reminders and tahajud, snacks, dua suhur together and the fajir and mathurat after fajir, the feeling that takes over you is one of serenity and calm and you feel exhilarated and enthusiastic for the coming months and a belief that you can become a better person inshallah and that this year you will stick to the resolutions you make.

if only we had layalatul qadr every night, I guess we have to constantly remind ourselves.

around 3:30 am whilst we where praying, my dads phone kept ringing and continued to do so until he finished and was able to answer the phone, it was funny really cause he was leading the prayers and the sound of the message (his ring tone) going off in the background, very surreal..

anyway the caller was my brother, he was calling from hospital because my middle brother was coming home from the mosque after maghreb prayers, walking through the alleyway when some idiot threw a firework at him which exploded on his hand, burning him quite badly. He comes home with a red hand announcing to every one what had happened to him, opens the tap and sticks his hand under the cold water.

every so often my mum would ask him how his hand was, and he would reply 'ok, not bad, I think its going to be ok inshallah'.

so my mum and dad left and came to the mosque thinking that it was a slight burn and that keeping it cool would be fine. Turns out it's a chemical burn so it started to get really painful and blisters appearing and what not, poor thing couldn't stand the apin any longer so my brother to him to the hospital a&e, he wrapped a cloth soaked in cold water around his hand and that's how my mum and dad found him at hospital waiting to be seen.

eventually some one saw him and wrapped his hand in bandages and told him that he has a bad chemical burn and will need plastic surgery but no surgeons are available and he will have to come in after 3 days, poor thing.

my brother is left handed and it was his left hand that was burnt, so college is going to be an issue now.

how annoying is that, apparently its all the rage for stupid kids to get hold of fireworks, light them up and release them on random people, my brother being one of them, they love targeting old people especially, sick individuals, they really need to be sorted out, my brother didn't see who did it, but he will find out eventually because these idiots have a way of bragging about their acts.

what gets me is the idiot who sells these underage kids these fireworks, or the person who will buy it for them, there just as bad, they are putting peoples lives at risk by selling it to the dysfunctional members of our society who really should be sectioned under the mental health act.

and its ages till bon fire night nights, so why start selling them now? Its all about money, pathetic really.

what a way to end the night, hamdullilah it wasn't his eye or his life god forbid...

i found this article on a site called http://www.crescentandcross.com and i was really impressed by this article, and it brought a smile to my face reading this because with all this madness happening recently its nice to know that others can recognise what we as muslims woman are all about.

To My Muslim Sisters

Between the Israeli assault on Lebanon and the Zionist “war on terror,” the Muslim world is now center stage in every American home. I see the carnage, death and destruction that have befallen Lebanon, but I also see something else: I see you. I can’t help but notice that almost every woman I see is carrying a baby or has children around her. I see that though they are dressed modestly, their beauty still shines through. But it’s not just outer beauty that I notice. I also notice that I feel something strange inside me: I feel envy. I feel terrible for the horrible experiences and war crimes that the Lebanese people have suffered, being targeted by our common enemy. But I can’t help but admire your strength, your beauty, your modesty, and most of all, your happiness. Yes, it’s strange, but it occurred to me that even under constant bombardment, you still seemed happier than we are, because you were still living the natural lives of women. The way women have always lived since the beginning of time. It used to be that way in the West until the 1960s, when we were bombarded by the same enemy. Only we were not bombarded with actual munitions, but with subtle trickery and moral corruption.

They bombarded us Americans from Hollywood, instead of from fighter jets or with our own American-made tanks. They would like to bomb you in this way too, after they’ve finished bombing the infrastructure of your countries. I do not want this to happen to you. You will feel degraded, just like we do. You can avoid this kind of bombing if you will kindly listen to those of us who have already suffered serious casualties from their evil influence. Because everything you see coming out of Hollywood is a pack of lies, a distortion of reality, smoke and mirrors. They present casual sex as harmless recreation because they aim to destroy the moral fabric of the societies into which they beam their poisonous programming. I beg you not to drink their poison. There is no antidote for it once you have consumed it. You may recover partially, but you will never be the same. Better to avoid the poison altogether than to try to heal from the damage it causes.

They will try to tempt you with their titillating movies and music videos, falsely portraying us American women as happy and satisfied, proud of dressing like prostitutes, and content without families. Most of us are not happy, trust me. Millions of us are on anti-depressant medication, hate our jobs, and cry at night over the men who told us they loved us, then greedily used us and walked away. They would like to destroy your families and convince you to have fewer children. They do this by presenting marriage as a form of slavery, motherhood as a curse, and being modest and pure as old-fashioned. They want you to cheapen yourself and lose your faith. They are like the Serpent tempting Eve with the apple. Don’t bite.

I see you as precious gems, pure gold, or the “pearl of great value” spoken of in the Bible (Matthew 13: 45). All women are pearls of great value, but some of us have been deceived into doubting the value of our purity. Jesus said: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you” (Matthew 7: 6). Our pearls are priceless, but they convince us that they’re cheap. But trust me; there is no substitute for being able to look in the mirror and seeing purity, innocence and self-respect staring back at you. The fashions coming out of the Western sewer are designed to make you believe that your most valuable asset is your sexuality. But your beautiful dresses and veils are actually sexier than any Western fashion, because they cloak you in mystery and show self-respect and confidence. A woman’s sexuality should be guarded from unworthy eyes, since it should be your gift to the man who loves and respects you enough to marry you. And since your men are still manly warriors, they deserve no less than your best. Our men don’t even want purity anymore. They don’t recognize the pearl of great value, opting for the flashy rhinestone instead. Only to leave her too.

Your most valuable assets are your inner beauty, your innocence, and everything that makes you who you are. But I notice that some Muslim women push the limit and try to be as Western as possible, even while wearing a veil (with some of their hair showing). Why imitate women who already regret, or will soon regret, their lost virtue? There is no compensation for that loss. You are flawless diamonds. Don’t let them trick you into becoming rhinestones. Because everything you see in the fashion magazines and on Western television is a lie. It is Satan’s trap. It is fool’s gold.

I’ll let you in on a little secret, just in case you’re curious: pre-marital sex is not even that great. We gave our bodies to the men we were in love with, believing that that was the way to make them love us and want to marry us. Just as we had seen on television growing up. But without the security of marriage and the sure knowledge that he will always stay with us, it’s not even enjoyable! That’s the irony. It was just a waste. It leaves you in tears. Speaking as one woman to another, I believe that you understand that already. Because only a woman can truly understand what’s in another woman’s heart. We really are all alike. Our race, religion or nationalities do not matter. A woman’s heart is the same everywhere. We love. That’s what we do best. We nurture our families and give comfort and strength to the men we love. But we American women have been fooled into believing that we are happiest having careers, our own homes in which to live alone, and freedom to give our love away to whomever we choose. That is not freedom. And that is not love. Only in the safe haven of marriage can a woman’s body and heart be safe to love. Don’t settle for anything less. It’s not worth it. You won’t even like it and you’ll like yourself even less afterwards. Then he’ll leave you.

Sin never pays. It always cheats you. Even though I have reclaimed my honor, there’s still no substitute for having never been dishonored in the first place. We Western women have been brainwashed into thinking that you Muslim women are oppressed. But truly, we are the ones who are oppressed; slaves to fashions that degrade us, obsessed with our weight, begging for love from men who do not want to grow up. Deep down inside, we know that we have been cheated. We secretly admire and envy you, although some of us will not admit it. Please do not look down on us or think that we like things the way they are. It’s not our fault. Most of us did not have fathers to protect us when we were young because our families have been destroyed. You know who is behind this plot. Don’t be fooled, my sisters. Don’t let them get you too. Stay innocent and pure. We Christian women need to see what life is really supposed to be like for women. We need you to set the example for us, because we are lost. Hold onto your purity. Remember: you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. So guard your “toothpaste” carefully!
I hope you receive this advice in the spirit in which it is intended: the spirit of friendship, respect, and admiration. From your Christian sister – with love.
© 2006+ Joanna Francis

nice article, its lovley to know that in these times one can bond with other faiths....

as a muslim woman i am truly free, islam has liberated me and if you have a problem with this, with my veil then the problem is really your problem and not mine, and as all problems need to be resolved i advice you to resolve your problems and kindly leave me and my veil be.....

reminder

i love this nasheed and video, it's a reminder especially cause we easily get absorbed by our daily life and rituals that we can easily get absorbed and forget our place here on earth, a journey that we need to keep track on.

may allah forever guide us.

Recently as part of the junk mail that comes in the daily post at home as well at work, a certain person has decided to announce his business to the world, now he is not the first nor I'm sure will he be the last, I personally do not know him, but what I'm 100% certain is that he is a fraud as well as a liar.

I'm sure you all have had his advert in your post or some thing similar, the one I got a couple of days ago sounds like this:

Mr El Hadj - Clairvoyant, Spiritual Healer, World Renowned

Mr. El Hadj, medium, psychic, spiritualist world renowned for accurate revelations in past, present & future. He inherited the power from his grandparents. This is a gift passed on from generation to generation. He will help solve your problems in relationships, business, stock market, work, finance, exams, court cases etc.., bring your loved one back, health related problems that cant be identified & sexual impotency. Protect yourself and your family from bad spirits & bad luck these and many other problems

guaranteed results within 7 days.

on the side of the card it says: pay after results.

well, like I said I'm certain you have come across such nonsense because this type of stuff has been posted to many homes in Britain for years now.

I never really took any interest in it, I kinda just read it, laughed and threw it away, but a couple of days ago, for some reason I became curious, so I thought I would call this man obviously pretending to be some one else and ask him a couple of questions to see what he had to say for himself, the conversation went something like this:

me: hello, can I speak to Mr el hadj please? (I had put on a strong mancunian accent)

man: hello, who is this:

me: um my name is bianca, is Mr el hadj there?

man: your ring first time?

me: yeh that's rights

man: ok hold second please (had a strong African accent)

some one shouting in the back ground, eventually another man comes on the line

man: hello

me: hello again, is that Mr el hadj?

man: um yes, I'm el hadj, who speak please?

me: yeh hi Mr elhadj I'm Bianca, I got your business card in the post today and thought I would call you

man: hello Bianca how can I assist you (how polite)

me: well I was wondering if you could help me out?

man: yes of course, what is your problem

me: well, could you please first tell me what methods it is you use to help people, I'm really interested in this sort of stuff and you sound fascinating to me

man: yes, I have natural power

me: wow

man: thank you, also I meditate and I speak to jinn, you know magical creatures, I use quran, holy book, I can read palms and tell you future, my powers are strong and I can help with any problem.

me: wow sounds great Mr hadj, I was wondering, can you communicate with the dead? you know spirits and ghosts and stuff?

man: yes yes, no problem

me: really, that's great, its just that I have some loved ones who died and you know Mr hadj, some times I can feel them, like there watching me and protecting me, does that sound silly Mr hadj?

man: no no, you are correct

me: really? oh that makes all the difference to me Mr hadj, I swear I thought I was going mad, so could you make contact with me family then, you know get them to speak to me from the other side

man: yes yes, no problem,

me: oh brilliant, so Mr hadj what's your prices like

man: well you don't pay anything until you get results (just like his card said)

me: oh really, you that confident are you?

man: yes mam 100% success rate

me: oh ok, so no charge

man: yes but you know there is a standard 30 pounds charge for reading palms

me: oh but I don't want my future told

man: no its a must so we can do what you want

me: oh in tha case fine, 30 pounds not including the cost of the other stuff

man: yep

me: ok Mr elhadj I do have a little problem though, it's very difficult to read my hands, my friend tried once and couldn't, and I once went to a fortune teller in a circus and she couldn't, apparently my hands are made different, so could you read my feet instead?

man: sorry?

me: could you read my feet instead of my hands?

man: feet??? (at which point I was really trying not to laugh)

me: yes Mr hadj

man: yes yes, ok, no problem, I read feet or anything else

me: no just feet will do thank you

man: ok, no problem

me: ok then, what I will do Mr hadj is think it over and then call you back

man: you make no appointment

me: yeh I'm going to think about it and let you know, thanks Mr el hadj

man: ok, bye

me: bye

and that was that, it just confirmed to me that he is a fraud, and it annoys me that they actually do get suckers out there who fall for there tricks.

whets really bad is the fact that he uses Islam as a means of confirming his POWERS, is what he does allowed? a watch body should look into this and put an end to it.

I'm thinking of calling him again and just annoying him, seriously if any one is contemplating contacting him to solve there problems, DON'T, you will only come back moneyless and problem unsolved.

in the jungle

hana sis, i dedicate this to u, yo have sung it to me so many times that i interupts my dreams as well lol, enjoy girly...

Its official I have no blood in me.

for the last couple of days I have been feeling dizzy, tired and nauseas, classic symptoms that my anemia is playing up, I was prescribed iron tablets like months ago but never really took them cause they make me feel sick, so the doctor decided to put me on liquid iron which I took one table spoon of and instantly spat out, even though it was supposed to be caramel flavour, it tasted more like blood yuk!

I swear it's not nice, so I haven't been taking my medication, what I have been trying to do is eat red meats and raisins and what not, so its been ok up until Ramadan that is, its all coming back to me ( I feel I should break into celine dion).

so yesterday I thought I would have a blood test to see the iron levels, and I knew this was going to be an issue, it always is whenever I need a blood test, see what it is, no matter how deep the needle goes in and it doesn't matter where it goes in, the blood just refuses to come out, it protests and complains and will not budge not even an inch, so the result is you get one very bruised white African.

just forget about even trying to get blood out of my arms, aint gonna happen people, even when I was in hospital for like a week they tried and couldn't, so then you move down to my wrists, trying to get blood from there is not easy and not pain free, but it doesn't always work ask ever the idealist she has been there, done that and bought the tea shirt but she managed to take blood out of me so girl you are good mashallah.

I got two bruises yesterday on my hands where the needles went in and the result was no blood sniff sniff.

today I thought lets try again, so I put my hand under the hot water tap for 5 minutes trying to encourage the veins to pop out, apparently this is a trick nurses use for patients who have no veins ahem ahem, so 5 minutes later, I'm sat in the nurses room and have filled 2 bottles worth of my non existing blood TAKBIR!!!!

wow it gushed out like there was no tomorrow, finally.

so yeh this has been my excitement for the past 2 days,

Radio Ramadan 1

well yesterday I did my first show on the radio for this Ramadan and boy did it get heated.

nm, md and the revert came with me and so I knew that it was going to be an exciting and different show and seriously it was.

on Tuesday I had invited md to come on to the show and she agreed bless her and I asked her advice for a topic, instantly she said ' white African talk about the mosque issue'

of course, duh I should have realised, its a hot topic at the moment amongst my circle of friends because the mosque in our area where the majority of my friends live and where funnily enough is right behind my back garden, all I have to do is come out of the back gate and hey presto I'm at the mosque premises, any way this mosque does not allow sisters to pray, it would have been so convenient for us to pray tarawih prayers in our local mosque instead of having to treck all the way to town and risk our SAFETY (a word that kept cropping up on the radio).

just before Ramadan, md and the revert decided to pay our local mosque a visit and ask them politely if they would allow sisters to pray in the mosque, they where speaking to somebody concerning this when an older man pushed in and told them that THEY believe that woman have to pray at home and that's final, how rude!!!

well we will not stay quite about this and our voices will be heard, letters will be sent to the mosque, if that is ignored then we will petition the area as well as all Muslims in Manchester and if that does not work then protest out side the mosque will be the next step until we are given our rights as Muslim woman, what really saddens me is that the prophet pbuh did not prevent Muslim woman from praying in the mosque, so where did this mentality of preventing woman form the mosque come from? its not an Islamic mentality.

and this is why it was decided to talk about this issue on the radio, to raise awareness, well we had all met at Sanam restaraunt where MMU isoc where having there freshers iftar, we had just opened our fast and then had to dash away cause and bless the mmu committee they wouldn't let us leave without a take away of the dinner, which was delicious mashallah.

we got to the radio about 5 minutes late and started straight off, at the start it was a discussion between ourselves until the first caller called in, it was man and he was anti-woman praying in mosques, he kept asking us what was the need in us wanting to pray in a mosque, he understood our want but he wanted to know the need, want, need what difference does it make, the point us I want to pray tarawh or any of my fard prayers in a mosque.

what kept being mentioned was the hadith of the prophet pbuh which was that it is more rewarding for a woman to pray at home, fine I understand that but what the callers failed to mention was the hadith of the prophet where he (saw) said 'do not prevent woman from going to the mosque', but even though we mentioned this hadith over and over again some of the callers still turned a blind eye to it, frustrating or what.

one of the callers said that we don't have to go to the mosque any more because many mosques have a walki talky system so we can follow the imam from the comfort of our very homes and we do not need to risk our safety by leaving the house to walk to the mosque, because we all know that thousands of men are waiting round the corner ready to attack us, my god what planet are some people from????

it didn't help that 2 woman called in to the show in support of this mans statements, one of them would only speak in Arabic even though majority of listeners are English speakers, so I ha to play that role of translator, she called in to say that we should not step one foot into the mosque, that if I was looking for reward then I would follow the hadith of the prophet that says there is more reward in praying at home, she then moved on to say that it was dangerous for a woman to walk in the streets to go to the mosque, to which I repeatedly asked her whether she went shopping to which she would not answer my questions, so basically its ok to go shopping and what not because that's not dangerous, but to go to the mosque is????


she continued to say that we must accept that we are the weaker sex, that we are going against what god said - excuse me, granted we are created differenly physically but we are equal in the eyes of god in term of worship ibadah, but she still wouldn't accept this point. She then ended her conversation by saying that it is the duty of the maherm in our family to drop us of and pick up us from anywhere including going to uni, and that they should accompany us every where, yeh like they have nothing better to do, subhannallah.

we had another classic caller with a very strong scouser accent, bless her this lady did not listen to a single word we said, she rang accusing us of many thing we supposedly said when in fact such words did not even leave our mouths, pathetic really, she rang saying that she is sick and tired of these modern Muslims who come on the radio blah blah blah, the funny thing is that we are only asking for our god given rights so by asking for this we have been labeled 'modern Muslims' whatever, if following the prophet in the correct manner means being labeled modern so be it, bring it on I say.

she accused us of being feminists, sheeeeeech just because we want to pray in the mosque we have now been labeled as bra burning, armpit hair growing feminsists, see my point when I said she did not listen to us.

she said that we kept using the word liberated, walahi that word was not uttered from any of our mouths, I told her that the only liberation I want is to liberate my self as a Muslim from the fire of hell, to which she shouted 'my god, are you saying that if us Muslim woman don't pray in the mosque then we will be going to hell'

now does that sound like what I said, duh, NO, I was talking generally but it was pointless she refused to listen to any of us and continued to call us feminists, ok then...

we did have 2 supportive callers, one from a brother and another from a sister, so that was nice but to be honest I was expecting more calls of support but I guess like nm said, all our supporters are busy praying tarawih in mosques.

we ended the show with one more caller who I suspect was a previous caller but putting on a very strong Asian accent, he started by shouting 'HAAAARAAAAAAAAAAM' down the phone, 'it is HARAM for a woman to pray in the mosque' he then started to go on about how sisters these days wear rainbow coloured scarfs and wear d&g perfume, ??????????? and that such sisters should not be allowed into the mosques until they learn to dress appropriately and that includes niqab, and md bless her mentioned to him that there are difference of opinion concerning niqab but again it fell to deaf ears, he did big up Somali sisters by saying that they are good examples of how a Muslim woman should dress, which brought smiles to md and nm.

its funny but at the same time sad, you know when you reach a point of either laughing or crying, we chose to laugh yesterday but it's a serious issue and it really makes me sad to think that sisters are prevented from going to the mosque, its like the revert said, if it wasn't for the mosque that she attened she would never have reverted,

any brothers out there who are advocates of this ban woman from the mosque policy, please give us your reason because in all honesty no one has yet given us a reason, and don't bother mentioning the hadith that we get more reward praying at home, we know this alhamdullilah, the hadith does not say 'so don't you dare pray in the mosque' do not use the hadith in the wrong context.

I have rambled on enough, watch this space because it is not over yet...

Marching in Manchester

well I did say I was gonna blog about the march, unfortunately as is the usual case with me, I forgot to take my camera, pathetic really, and I always remember it as soon as I get to my destination, what is the point, so I will put up some picture but they weren't taken by me instead I stole them from the ever wonderful internet...

it was really a hectic week before the demo, we had been franticly calling the media to inform them of this amazing demo to be held in Manchester, it was estimated that 30,000 where to attend and instead we got between 50 - 60 thousand marching the streets of Manchester.

I was at Albert Square from 8 am, I hadn't slept the night before cause I was stressing over the speech I had to do, although ever the idealist your pre-Ramadan do was a de-stressor for me so thanks a million sis, your a star.

it was only me and hana and the odd stop the war person, eventually Fatima joined us and the rest of the crew as well, we where there to hunt, that's right hunting for the media who decided to turn up around 11am so we could have had some extra sleep but oh well, well worth it inshallah.

there was some weirdos around, like in the morning an elderly man approached me and hana and started to have one of the most weridest conversations I have ever heard, I don't even know what he was mumbling, and when hana politely asked him what he said he started to copy her which I thought was hilarious, eventually he got bored of us and walked away.

there was another lady,( I stole her picture from the site you gave me anglo, thanks, curtsey of br essa's handy photography), she was walking around shouting and muttering things that didn't make sense, she attracted a lot of attention but for all the wrong reasons, people where laughing at her, at one point I heard her shout ' I'VE FIGURED IT OUT ALL BY MYSELF, THAT'S HOW CLEVER I AM' figured what out? What you talking bout woman? Then she started shouting 'BIN LADEN, BIN LADEN, BIN LADEN' for no reason what so ever..

one of the guys who was standing next to me, he was from London turns around to me and say 'white African, Manchester has a lot of weirdos, man I didn't realize how weird mancunians are'

to which I replied: ' ummm excuse me, I wil have you know that we are not weird, and to be fair any demo that is held in any city including London always brings out the weirdos, its not some thing attached to Manchester only, and I bet you she's from London (no offence to lonondoners it was just a hit back).

to which he laughed and said no way, so I turn around to a fellow mancunian and I say to him ' br come on you gotta defend your fellow mancunains, our brother from London is taking the mick out of us, he thinks were all mad'.

did I find support, umm no, my fellow mancunian who is a dr turns around and says: ' mancunians are crazy, your right, do you know how many mancunians are depressed, studies shows that in all of Britain Manchester has the highest depression rates, and continued to drone on including statistics to his speech, ugh the betrayal...

more people started coming, a thousand came from Scotland which was cool, you can always rely on the Scots. There was a rally just before the march, and my speech was due soon, my heart was pacing at like 20,000 beats per second, I swear I was so nervous, I had never spoken infront of so many people, and I hadn't practiced my speech, I kept having images of me falling of the stage although I did contemplate jumping into the crowd like they do in rock concerts now that would have been funny and something for people to talk about lol.

I remember once being told that if you ever have to do a public speech or talk in front of a crowd of people, then one way of calming the nerves is to visualize every one naked, (I know I know astghfurallah and all that, but its funny and it makes every one look ridiculous).

Salma Yaacoub introduced me and as I walked towards the microphone I kept thinking to myself, why do I put myself in such situations, how is it I find myself saying yes even though I meant to say no.

approaching the microphone and seeing all those people standing there waiting for you to say something was nerve racking, the person before me was shorter than me so somebody had to adjust the microphone height, I started my speech and had just finished the introduction when a lady taps me on my shoulder and says '1 minute left please', what??? I had prepared for like a 4 minute speech like I was told to, 1 minute?? My god, I had to skim past most of the stuff and just about mentioned the main parts, she had to tap me again to remind me.

I swear the feeling I got when I finished was like a massive weight had been lifted of my shoulders, wow.

that's when I started to enjoy the rest of the rally and the march, every one started marching around Manchester town towards the GMEX where Blair and his cronies where meeting and then marched back to Albert Square, such a colourful crowd, and the atmosphere was amazing, unfortunately I didn't march with every one as I had to sort out media interviews but I heard from so many people how brilliant it was.

there was more speeches from amazing speakers like Tonny Benn who was introduced as 'the best prime minister Britain never had'

obviously George Galloway spoke and as usual he was brilliant, Tony Blairs sister in-law also spoke and said she was ashamed to be related to him, strong words...

all in all glad I went and participated in this history making event, hope it wil be a lesson to whoever will be blair's successor.

Ramadan Mubarak to all, May Allah bless you and may we all benefit greatly from this amazing month...

we got to make the most of this month, i swear i feel that the atmosphere changes as soon as Ramadan comes subhnallah its truley amazing, most people think that food is the issue in Ramadan, it's not really, its about training ourselves, its about preparing ourselves, reminding us that we have to better ourselves, ramadan is really a preparation for the next 12 months, its not a matter of keeping away from food and drink from sun rise to sun set.

its always sad to say good bye to ramadan, i write this in the 2nd day of Ramadan but within a blink of an eye lid i will be saying farewell to ramadan and only allah knows if i will witness the next one, so brs and srs make the most of it, truly an inspiring month inshallah.

Radio Ramadan is starting again here in Manchester and my slot is from 8:30pm - 10:30pm, thats kinda late, first one is tonight and i havent really prepared cause i've been working on the march but i'll see how it goes...

i will blog about the march inshallah, it was really good mashalah, over 50,000 atteneded now thats an achievement for manchester, Albert square was packed like anything..

demo tomorrow in Manchester, the place to be this satuarday, you all have to come and let your voices be heard.

we dont want the war criminal to lead Britain any more, enough is enough Tony...

Panda Bites Man, Man Bites Him Back

BEIJING (AP) - A drunken Chinese migrant worker jumped into a panda enclosure at the Beijing Zoo, was bitten by the bear and retaliated by chomping down on the animal's back, state media said Wednesday.

Zhang Xinyan, from the central province of Henan, drank four jugs of beer at a restaurant near the zoo before visiting Gu Gu the panda on Tuesday, the Beijing Morning Post said."He felt a sudden urge to touch the panda with his hand," and jumped into the enclosure, the newspaper said.The panda, who was asleep, was startled and bit Zhang, 35, on the right leg, it said. Zhang got angry and kicked the panda, who then bit his other leg. A tussle ensued, the paper said."I bit the fellow in the back," Zhang was quoted as saying in the newspaper. "Its skin was quite thick."

Other tourists yelled for a zookeeper, who got the panda under control by spraying it with water, reports said. Zhang was hospitalized.Newspaper photographs showed Zhang lying on a hospital bed with blood-soaked bandages and a seam of stitches running down his leg.The Beijing Youth Daily quoted Zhang as saying that he had seen pandas on television and "they seemed to get along well with people.""No one ever said they would bite people," Zhang said. "I just wanted to touch it. I was so dizzy from the beer. I don't remember much."Ye Mingxia, a spokeswoman for the Beijing Zoo, confirmed the incident happened but would not give any details. She said Gu Gu was "healthy.""We're not considering punishing him now," Ye said in a telephone interview. "He's suffered quite a bit of shock."

what!!!! 'no one ever said they would bite people' duh its was asleep, you disturbed it, also its an animal they bite.

beer, panda and humans just dont mix...

I dedicate this poem that I made up on the spot to ever the idealist, its just a bit of fun on my part, enjoy it and any one who wants to ad any verses please do, some one can come up with a tune and we can sing it this Friday lol

There was once a nurse by the name of ad
Who held a party for 33
In her flat near Shrewsbury
Where we squashed together so warmly

8 on the sofa laughing madly
10 in the kitchen cooking franticly
12 in the bath tub squashed soundly
3 on the carpet spread out hysterically

Food came from all friends sharingly
Music played all night amazingly
Some danced other clapped Caucasianly
Chatting and enjoying the moment lovingly

Thanks ad for the pre Ramadan get together, you where an amazing host naturally
May Allah reward you tremendously?
And may he bless you forever and keep you smiling massively.

ad I just wanted to entertain you sis while your doing your long nights at the hospital, luv you loads...

tomorrow is the anniversary of the death of the Freedom fighter, the shaheed Omar Al-Mukhtar.

I was talking to an Iranian brother last week, I was at a stop the war meeting, and he was one of the speakers, he asked me where I was from and when I replied Libya he said that one of his greatest hero's is from Libya. For a split second I thought he was gonna say the kernal himself, gaddafi, and I was preparing myself to uncover his dark secrets when he volunteered the info and to my pleasant surprise he said it was the shaheed Omar Al-Mukhtar, wow, the fact that Omar AL-Mukhtar is still a hero and a role model by the youth is amazing, and why not I say, we need such role models to stay alive in our minds, were barley scraping the bottom of the barrel as it is for some decent role models for us in today's times.

I hadn't though of Omar Al-Mukhtar may Allah have mercy on his soul, for a long time, I remember some of the Arab channels broadcasted 'The Lion of the desert' last year, and I always manage to miss most of it and only just join in the part where he's preparing himself for the hanging, and each time I still cry, I guess this is the only good thing that gaddafi has given us, memoirs of his life....

ever since a child every time I ever saw a film with Anthony Quinn I would be well pleased as I associated Omar Al-Mukhtar and hamza the uncles prophet whom he played the role of, and I always hated Oliver Reid cause of the Italian character he played in The lion of the desert, my dad would always tell me that it was only acting but I guess once you associate some body with something then its difficult to remove that stigma, kinda like what some viewers of cornation st or eastenders do when they see the actors who play villains in real life, they attack them lol....

I once was asked to write an article on the history of the shaheed as well as the then Libyan resistance to Italy, and it was really interesting finding out the information, but to be honest there really is int that much info on the shaheed in English. The Iranian brother said to me that one of his wishes is to go to Libya and research on the life of Omar Al-Mukhtar and then write a book in English on his life story, wow... Its amazing really, he wasn't young when he fought the Italians, he was ill a couple of times and many of his comrades asked him to retire and leave the country, he was 80 years old, 80 years old, subhanallah. He refused to stop and give up and kept fighting and he really deserved the name given to him as "The Lion of the Desert."

On 16 September, 1931 the Italians hanged Omar Al-Mokhtar in the city of Solouq and they forced the Libyans to watch their hero being hanged. No consideration to Omar Al-Mokhtar's old age, no consideration to international law and no consideration to world war treaties. The anniversary of his death is coming up, I pray that Allah accepts his efforts and the many others who fought along side the shaheed.

not many people know realize that Libya's history is one of blood tears and broken bones, the Italians really thought that taking Libya was going to be similar to taking candy from a baby but they where in for a shock, there aggression was courageously and strongly resisted by the Libyan people.

the resistance spread across the country from the far western region to the far east, the numbers kept growing, beginning with less than a thousand to within a short period, over 6 thousand. They united to protect their land, freedom and honour from the Italians and they fought as religious men.

the Italian-Libyan war was a David vs Goliath battle, the Italians where equipped with the then latest battle gear, all types of weaponry, tanks etc... The Libyans had old rusted rifles and there horses but despite all that they had tremendous courage and determination to liberate there country and they had faith and reliance on Allah which was there greatest weapon against the Italians.

the resistance lasted nearly 20 years, that's a long time, the Italians where embarrassed by the lack of power and control they had over the Libyan resistance which kept increasing no matter what the Italians did to destroy it.

from May 1930 to September 1930 more than 80 thousand Libyan men, woman and children where forced to leave there homes and where put into concentration camps, 55% of the Libyans died in the camps, it's reported that in November at least 17 funerals a day occurred in the camp due to hunger, illness and depression.

the Libyans never once compromised there beliefs, they continued to fight for freedom, after the death of Omar Al-Mukhtar, the Italians didn't stay long in Libya and shortly afterwards Libya gained its independence.

Libya now is going through a different stage, I pray that the likes of Omar Al-Mukhtar will rise again amongst the Libyan population, primarily the youth, and bring justice to a country in dire need of it.

saw 3 is coming out soon, usually i dont like sequals and prequals but this is different people this is saw,

so who is up for watching this???

how funny is this...

Pinocchio and friends converted to Islam

Malcolm Moore in Antalya (Filed: 31/08/2006)

Pinocchio, Tom Sawyer and other characters have been converted to Islam in new versions of 100 classic stories on the Turkish school curriculum. "Give me some bread, for Allah's sake," Pinocchio says to Geppetto, his maker, in a book stamped with the crest of the ministry of education. "Thanks be to Allah," the puppet says later.

In The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan is told that he cannot visit Aramis. The reason would surprise the author, Alexandre Dumas. An old woman explains: "He is surrounded by men of religion. He converted to Islam after his illness."

Tom Sawyer may always have shirked his homework, but he is more conscientious in learning his Islamic prayers. He is given a "special treat" for learning the Arabic words. Pollyanna, seen by some as the embodiment of Christian forgiveness, says that she believes in the end of the world as predicted in the Koran. Heidi, the Swiss orphan girl in the tale by Johanna Spyri, is told that praying to Allah will help her to relax.

Several more books have been altered, including La Fontaine's fables and Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. The clumsy insertions by Islamic publishing houses have caused controversy in Turkey, which has been a strongly secular state since the 1920s. Other books contain insults, slang and rude rhymes which mock the president and the prime minister. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is Turkey's first Islamic premier, has called for swift action to be taken against the publishers. The education ministry has threatened to take legal action against any publisher which continues to issue such books. Huseyin Celik, the education minister, said: "If there are slang and swear words, we will sue them for using the ministry logo."

how cool is that lol, we had a family friend who used to tell us all these brilliant fairy tales but with an islamic out look to them so reading this article brought back memories...

i wonder whats next on there list? you know whats really funny, watching the lion king, lilo & stich as well as other cartoons in an egyptian arabic accent, that just makes it even more entertaining?

I knew that work was going smoothly and that it was too smooth to be true, eventually something had to happen, I mean that's how things work..

seriously, how is it that one human being can really cause so much anger and annoyance, subhannallah, and at the moment I'm on the edge as it is of exploding and saying things that I don't mean although in this case what I did say I meant...

I get called to the office, and the manager (bless his patronising cotton socks) asked me to read a new notice that he wants to put up for the staff, he wanted me to double check on the spelling and grammar and structure of the notice, so I'm reading this notice and he's basically not allowing staff i.e me and the other girl, from entering the office, and from having access to the kettle unless its in our break time, the really funny thing is that we don't actually get allocated a break time, ok sure we close from 12 - 2 but DUH, like is said, DUH, I'm expected to type the letters and do the one hundred and one things that I cant do when we are open, so his rule sucks, and I said that to him which he wasn't pleased about...

ok second thing, if it was in any other office then fine, but what you have to understand is that HIS OFFICE, (bless him), has the fax machine, has the photo-copier, it has the stationary cupboard, it has the filling cabinets, its got the majority of things that allow for the surgery to function, and unless he is going to get up from his leather upholstery chair, and do the work that we generally do, then the surgery will collapse from us NOT ENTERING HIS lovely OFFICE, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, some one give me a wall to bang my head on, hey maybe if I bang my head hard enough on the apartheid wall in Palestine I will knock it down, see that's how frustrating it is some times working with certain individuals....

well I kinda said that his notice was rubbish and did a dramatic twirling of my flat shoes and walked out with my head held high (loool its so easy to anger him) and I counted the seconds (15 seconds to be precise) it took him to call me back into the office. so I counted a further 15 seconds, plastered a fake smile on my face and walked back in to HIS office ( I swear its not even his office wallahi, we don't have enough space in the surgery to allocate personal offices, even the Dr rooms are used by nurses and midwives). so I walk in he asks me to sit down, I did remember to say thank you, and then he burst not into tears but into gibberish, un related things that have nothing to do with the now situation, he does this all the time...

so I apologised for calling his master piece rubbish, I know I shouldn't have said that, it was wrong of me, I'm afraid that when I'm angry my mouth talks for itself...but I still raised my points on how ridiculous his rule was, the funny thing is he wants to ban the drs as well, see when he said that I nearly fell of my chair and rolled around the NHS carpet from laughter, but I had to contain myself and ask him whether that was a good idea, to which he replied yeh brilliant.

I had to remind him that the drs will not listen to him, and one of the drs is addicted to tea, kinda like I was to coffee, he has one after the other so how in the world you gonna tell him not to walk into YOUR amazing office and make tea?

he told me off for calling his office amazing in a sarcastic manner, for the love of Allah......

any way watch this space cause I haven't finish the battle of the OFFICE, and besides I haven't completely given up coffee, I've just reduced it, so I do need at least 1 cup....

ya Allah give me strength and patience.....

i'm supposed to put up some more morocco entries, but i'm not in the mood right now, i've only just come back from Ireland and i'm so tired that i've reached a point where i cant sleep cause i'm so tried which i know doesnt make sense but to me it does.

on the flight back from Dublin, i was sat next to a guy who i'm certain has a fear of flying cause he squashed himself into a ball and wrapped his arms around himself and did not move an inch until we landed in Manchester, and the poor guys luck was down cause we had some pretty bad turbulance so the plane was shaking really badly and i kept looking over to him to make sure he hadnt fainted or that he hadnt peed his pants although if he had i dont really know what i would have done, nothing i guess...

but his reaction of being afraid to die did trigger some thoughts in my head, well to be honest i've been thinking about my place in this life for some time now, what really triggered it was the death of a sister from Dundee.

subhannallah, she went to Thailand with a friend of mine during the summer period to help out in a project that helped out the tsunami victims ie orphans, she was the deputy president of her Islamic Society at Dundee University, and a final year law student.

i guess she went to Thailand with a plan in her mind, she would gain the experience, make a difference to some ones life, enjoy herself and come back refreshed for her final year, get her qualifications and probably gain more experience in her field as well as other plans, death was not on the plan, it's not on any of our plans, we dont really think about it.

she went white water rafting, she was with four others when it capsized in rough water. The others quickly swam to safety but Shenaz failed to reappear. Her lifejacket was seen floating on the surface just seconds later, she was'nt found until more than a week later where her body was found trapped under some rocks.

her death has really shook many people, she was 22 and the last thing on anyones mind is death, its a reminder and a wake up call to all of us, are we ready?

i pray that shanaz kapoor is amongst the people of paradise, i pray that Allah swt accepts her efforts. oh Allah swt grant patience to her family, allow them to be strong in this testing time, make it easy on them.

sister shanaz you are an example to us all, a reminder for us all, to Allah we belong and to him we return....

Day 2- Essaouira...

woke up early cause we where supposed to set of something like 7:30am which some people weren't happy about cause they wanted to sleep, but I had already announced it the night before that we where leaving bright and early so to make sure that every one gets an early night or you could sleep on the coach, 2 hours was more than enough for sleeping.

we were going to a fishing village called Essaouira it's one of Morocco's main fishing ports but before reaching there we stopped off at what appeared to be a house, it was basically a cottage industry set up by UNESCO for the local woman who where in need of a job but weren't able to find one, so they set up an argon factory of some sort, where they produce oil, soaps, creams, it's a brilliant idea, it means that these ladies can have a weekly income and support there family.

the oil is delicious and healthy and can only be found in southern morocco but the way its planted is amazing, if we had come around September we would have seen argon trees filled to the branch with goats, seriously here's what it would have looked like...

The trunk of the argon is often twisted and gnarled, allowing goats to clamber along its branches and feed on the leaves and fruit. The fruit itself has a green, fleshy exterior like an olive, but larger and rounder. Inside, there is a nut with an extremely hard shell, which in turn contains one, two or three almond-shaped kernels.
When the goats eat the fruit, the fleshy part is digested but the nut remains and when the goat empties its stomach the nut is found, so yep argon oil with a hint of goat pooh, mmmm delicious.

The production of argon oil, which is still done by traditional methods, is a lengthy process. Each nut has to be cracked open to remove the kernels, and it is said that producing one liter of oil takes 20 hours' work.
argon oil is slightly darker than olive oil, with a reddish tinge. It can be used for cooking and is claimed to have various medicinal properties, such as lowering cholesterol levels, stimulating circulation and strengthening the bodyÂ’s naturaldefensess.

here are what the ladies have to go through on a day to day basis, plenty more baskets to go through..

look at the age of some of the ladies, as old as my grandmother subhanallah...

this lady is placing the roasted seeds found in the nut and grounding them so that a paste is formed and this is used for soaps, creams etc...

we left the ladies to the chants of zaghareet, which is a noise formed by repeatedly hitting thetonguee to the sides of the mouth, mostArabb ladies do this in times of happy occasions.Wee continued our journey towards Essaouira, most people had bought creams, body scrubs, soaps, itwasn'tt every day we get to visit theoriginall 'body shops' of morocco.

we got to Essaouira withing 20 minutes and walked around for a while, first thing you notice about it is the fact that its windy anda lott of people are wearing leather coats,Ii loved the weather, second thing is the smell, fish, fish and more fish...

and crabs..

obviously where there is fish there has to be sea gulls, we where dodging themIncase they decided to drop a present onto us, 2 years ago one decided to drop its dinner all over my foot, believe me it was not a pleasant sight,Ii was so disgusted, all this goo on me, and one of my friends wasfranticlyy looking for wipes when all of a sudden aMoroccann lady out of no where comes running towards me shouting

'are you married?'

me: 'wha...what?

lady: 'Ii said are you married, (she had gotten hold of my jilbab and was shaking me when asking me this question

me: Ii was looking at her like she was an alien) uuum noI'mm not

lady: massive smile on her face, oh wow, then this is a sign, its good luck, a present from the skies, when you go home your husband will be waiting for you.

me: laughing, yeh right, sorry ladyIidon'tt believe in this stuff, but seriously what would you have said ifIi had saidIi was married, we all know thatMuslimmwomann cant marry more than one man at one time..

lady: no no, if your already then married, then it would mean that a baby would be on its way

me: laughing, ok, sure, any way nice meeting you..

so that was 2 years ago andIi stillhaven'tt married yet, but understandablyIi was trying to dodge the birds...

some more gulls surrounding this old man who was cleaning the insides of the fish...

some scenic pic of boats...

so we carried on walking and got to large, rectangular, white square called Place Prince Moulay Hassan where there where tourists sitting in a few restaurants/bars and eating lunch. The renovated recently square looked more European, it did really, reminded me more ofFrancee..

there are ramparts in Essaouira,basicallyy a large wall built round a town to protect it, but they are placed between the city and the Atlantic Ocean on a cliff coast as well.

we had to head to therestaurantt for lunch but before that we walked into a wood shop where they built every thing out of wood mainly cedar wood, smells gorgeous, Essaouira is famous for wood work and they are good at it, they havea lott ofAfricanninfluencee in there work, pretty cool,Ii bought hair clips, every timeIi put them onIi can smell the cedar..

our stomachs were rumbling so we made our way to the fishrestaurantt, nowIidon'tt eat fish,Ii cant stand the stuff soIi had steak at a fish place, and every one else had different types of aliens uumIi mean fish...

here's ookitty and blondie waiting for there fishy meal...

after the fruit salad we went for a walk and founda lott ofjewelryy shops, and girls being girls we ended spending all our time haggling over the price of beads...

shortly afterwards we had to head back to the coach, it was time to leave Essaouira and go back to Marrakech, it was nice andIi was gonna miss the cool weather although the smell of fish they can have.

we got back to the hotel andIi told every one to rest and freshen up cause by 8 every one has to be down in the lobby to meet for dinner at a traditional folkrestaurantt,unfortunatelyyIi forgot to take my camera with me soIi missed taking pic, oh well, may be 00kitty took some.

dinner was nice and entertaining, got back to the hotel and went to sleep again thanking Allah for a good day....