Check out this video about his journey on video editing and subsequent intro to his anti-ordinary Webinar:

Its interesting that he already has 90 responses to his video. If I was Belal I would not have made this venture an “Islamic” one. I think by virtue of him being known Muslims would have taken his webinar and used it for dawah purposes. Nonetheless I understand he is doing this feesabeelillah (for the sake of Allah) thus hes made it free, and marketed it to Muslims as a seminar to help them make good dawah videos. IMHO I think we have to do more mainstream projects which expose everyone to Muslim life, and give them an insight into the lives of American Muslims. Hopefully people will benefit from his videos and improve their skills and use those skills for good works.

Belal mentions a brother who asked him to work on the promo Video for YM. That was me. A brother named Bassim actually suggested it to me. What I love about Belal is that he is a go-getter. May Allah (S) enable him to continue doing the stuff he does, and increase him in his skills and vision. He is currently also working on a documentary film about Muslim Relief efforts in response to Hurricane Katrina (which I feel should be marketed to non-Muslims somehow). I once asked Belal to do a workshop on how to edit video at a leadership seminar for Muslim Youth. Some of those youth leaders did not understand the need to give this topic so much time and attention.

This is the youtube era. I’m glad some other guys have picked up on this skill set i.e. Atif aka Khanartist. There are some other brothers like lotapanipictures that did the Gandaghee DVD, which in my opinion is the best Muslim produced comedy sketch video/DVD ever made!

> The National Desk at NPR is posting a two-year
> reporting position to focus on coverage of Muslims
> in America. We are looking to develop a significant
> body of work that explores the political, cultural,
> religious, sociological and demographic trends in
> this community.
>
> This position will involve significant domestic
> travel and possibly some international travel.
>
> Qualifications for this position include a
> demonstrated expertise and experience covering
> Muslim cultures, history, political trends.
>
> Fluency or a working knowledge of Arabic is highly
> preferred.
>
> If you are interested in learning more about the
> position or want to apply, please contact me within
> the next two weeks.
>
> Steve Drummond
>
> Senior National Editor
>
> NPR News
>
> 202-513-2245
>
> www.npr.org

Well I received an email recently from angry Muslims asking me to sign a petition to ask Wikipedia to remove images of Muhammad from its page on Muhammad (S) linked under the entry on Islam. I refrained from commenting on it at the time. Now Nytimes has picked up on it. So I guess its time to speak up. Like most stupid Muslim issues, ignoring them is not enough in hopes of having them go away. So sometimes these issues need to be responded to. Many times to help Muslims understand what the correct Islamic viewpoint is on a situation.

Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia which allows users to contribute to its pages. Wikipedia has set guidelines to follow for its users. The issue at hand is that after the Cartoon Controversy stirred up by a Danish Cartoonist Muslims have become very sensitive about any and all depictions of the prophet (peace be upon him).

Firstly it should be noted that the images that caused the controversy in Danish newspapers were depicting the prophet as a Terrorist and Blood Thirsty war mongerer. The pictures in question on the wikipedia site are not the same type of “cartoons”, Rather they are historical images drawn by Muslims themselves in different eras of history which have survived till now. The objection that Muslims raise is that it is impermissible for Muslims to draw images of Muhammad (S) or any other prophet. Now you have to step back and examine this situation: Obviously if Muslims from different eras in the 12th and 15th centuries indulged in this inappropriate activity obviously to them it was not seen as inappropriate.

It does not matter whether I as an individual think that its inappropriate. Every Muslim at every period of time has the right to adopt their understanding of fiqh, even if it is totally incorrect. Back to Wikipedia. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia and those images are historical. There is no real reason for Wikipedia to remove those images. They are a part of history whether you/we like it or not. History is history, which can’t change because it happens to hurt your/our feelings.

Many times when trivial issues are concentrated on, someone will comment: Muslims should be worrying about and discussing other issues. But many times we fail to denote what those other issues are. Well Here’s a list for ya:

Pakistan falling apart | The CIA Admits to Water boarding | The deteriorating Situation in Gaza | How Americans perceive Islam | Climate Change | Racial and Religious profiling as a counter-terrorism measure | Niqabis in Wrestling (okay fine the last one is not as serious as the rest)

Lets chew (slowly) on this food for thought before we end up choking on our own tongues.

In an effort to gain support for his children’s freedom from slavery, the newly freed American slave Abdul Rahman once wrote out what was supposed to be the Lord’s Prayer in Arabic.

Years later, it was discovered that he had actually written out Surah Al-Fatihah, the opening chapter of the Qur’an.

After forty years of crushing servitude in a strongly Christian land, this former African prince still remained faithful to Allah, with the memory of His words still in his heart and mind.

Mos Def is the narrator for this film. Michael Wolfe and Alex Kronemer are the Executive Producers. Sulayman Nyang is one of the advisers for the making of the film.

Visit: Official Site for the Film |

A team of 3 brothers: Ismaeil, Hassan + another brother (don’t know his name) and their friend Abdullah are really creative and deserve to be commended, and have their videos subscribed to. I love how Ismael makes stuff up as he goes along.

Here’s some more videos from Shadibadoo that I really like:

All Youtube Videos from Shadibadoo | and their friend Abdullah’s youtube videos

I have seen this film in its entire length. It’s really good. So good that it won at the Tribeca Film Festival this year for Best Documentary Short. I also had the pleasure of working with Musa Sayeed and Yoni Brook (the producers and director) of this film on a short documentary of the AerosolArabic USA Arts and Islam Tour. You can view an early version of the documentary they working on for that tour here.

A Son’s Sacrifice is about:

Imran, a young Muslim American, struggles to take over his father’s neighborhood halal slaughterhouse in New York City. The son of an immigrant, Imran must confront his mixed heritage and gain acceptance from his father’s conservative community. On one of Islam’s holiest days, Imran must lead a sacrifice that will define him as a Muslim, as an American and as a son.

A SON’S SACRIFICE premieres Tuesday, January 22 on Independent Lens, a weekly series airing on PBS. Hosted by Terrence Howard, the acclaimed series showcases powerful and innovative independent films. Presented by ITVS, INDEPENDENT LENS is broadcast on PBS stations nationwide.

Visit the Web site for more:
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/sonssacrifice/
Official Movie Site: http://www.sonsacrifice.com/

{gallery}toyotaad/{/gallery} 

I saw the fine print and shady wording being used. It states it has 0%
deals for up to 60 months. In the fine print it says only on select
models. So my wife calls in and specifically asks if "Camy Hybrids are
available at 0% apr for 60 months). So the sales person says come right
in tomorrow and schedules an appointment with the manager (Genie).
When I get there around noon time Genie is busy and asks me to talk to
Jean, a West African gentleman who seemed pretty likable.  

Right off the bat I tell Jean that I am only interested if they are
offering the Camry Hybrid at 0% apr for 60 months. He first takes us to the showroom to look at the car. A Muslim finance guy says salaam to us and tells Jean to come to him if he needs anything and he wants to take care of us. Jean takes the advert
and goes to discuss it with someone. He comes back with a sheet which
more or less looked like this. 
So he says the Camry, Hybrid in particular is not part of this specific
sale. So then he looks into my credit and comes back praising my credit
score and says that maybe they can do something because of my great
credit history. He asks me if I want to make a downpayment and I agree
on paying $500 as a down payment. Then I go for Jummah (Friday Prayers)
and come back.

The first thing he tells me is that he has brought the car over and
they are preparing it for me, and that I can take it home today. The
next step is to get my insurance, so I call Geico up, and they tell me
that I have gotten 3 tickets in the past 5 years and as a result they
have to charge $130 more than what my initial quote indicated. So after
dealing with that mess, Jean tells me he has to speak to the Financial
Bosses  but he wants all the paperwork in hand and keeps assuring me
that everything is going smooth and I'll get to take the car home
today.

So he goes up talks to them and comes back down after almost 40
minutes. I ask him if everything is set. And he tells me we are almost
good to go. He says I have to see the finance people to talk about
security systems and other additional products which I may want to look
at. We're asked to wait for another 15 minutes. Then we meet one of the
financial bosses, Jaime. He has the license plates ready and on the table. He
gives me the title paper to fill out.   He then asks what Apr was set. He says
"5.9 right?". And I'm like.. ugh… no… From the beginning I have
been talking with Jean about getting this car on 0% APR for 60 months,
and I told him: "this is the deal I am looking for or else I am not
interested". He acts as if he is totally surprised and says he knows nothing about a 0% deal.  

 So
he walks in and out of the room a few times. And then he says its not
possible. He flips through some pages he has, charts and such on
finance rates. He then calls in Jean and asks him if he told me that I
can't get the Camry hybrid for 0%. And Jean says "That's what I've been
trying to explain to him". Thats when I got pissed off. And I told them
straight up again: This is the deal I want, either make it happen, or
let me end my long (ass) day. So they ask me if I would consider other
models.. When he kept insisting that I go with a low rate of 5.9% I
told him that as a Muslim I don't deal with interest, giving it, taking
it, or witnessing it. Then he says "well we have alot of Islamic people
who do this, why can't you do it too?" The dude even starts making sly
comments about specifics about my
credit report i.e. a Family member who I have a cc card under who owes
money on their card. Then he calls in some guy with Red hair named Hind
who is the sales supervisor. And he basically says no they can't do it.
Then they say the best they can do is 24 months at 0% or they can hike
up the price by $7,000.00 and then do 0%. The guy had the gall to say:
"Where is the bank going to get their money?". This fiasco finally ends
with him taking the license plate off the table and stuffing it in a
drawer in a dramatic fashion. That was my cue to leave.

 I
know and if you are reading this you know that I was set up. This sales
person was trying to get my hopes up of taking this awesome car home.
Meanwhile he is pretending that the deal I am looking for is possible
and has been approved thus he does all the paperwork.  Only to take me
to the financial bosses hoping that I will fall for one of their rates.
I was there from noon time till 6 PM. I had invested my entire day (a
business day, missed work) to be played like a fool. I stood my ground
and was being straight forward like I was from the beginning. Genie
could have saved my time by telling me what I needed to know on the
phone (Like Bay Ridge Toyota had the courtesy to do). Jean could have
easily spoken to the financial people and told me they were not going
to do it around 2:30. Instead all these people tried to deceive me into
doing something I told them I did not want to do. I'm sure these guys
had a game plan. The result of their game plan was a lost customer.

Lessons I learned from todays debacle:
-0% isn't commonly offered, especially not on cars which are selling
well. Unless you get really lucky on a deal i.e. VW has a zero percent
deal running till Sep 4.
-Never trust a sales person, ask to first speak to someone from Finance
Dept first before taking the time out to fill out any paperwork
-Oh and NEVER EVER mess with Toyota of Manhattan, they will waste your time and treat you like crap!

And finally here's how APR rates work… According to Car.com this is how finance rates work at the dealer:

""When
a [car] dealer arranges financing, it earns some type of compensation,
which can sometimes be passed on to the buyer," Fritz Elmendorf, vice
president of communications for the Consumer Bankers Association, says.
This may be in the form of a lower price or a lower interest rate.

Car dealers borrow money at wholesale interest rates, which they then
mark up and pass on to you. Because the dealer's rate is lower, the
rate you get may be no higher than one you arrange yourself.

Elmendorf agrees but says there's a caveat. "Consumers can get very
competitive rates at the dealer, but [they] need to educate themselves
to make sure that happens," he says."

{mos_sb_discuss:7}

"What Polls About US Muslims Don't Tell You "
http://www.altmuslim.com/perm.php?id=P1923_0_24_0

Republication Presidential Candidate causing controversy by saying blow back caused 911:
This is how it started:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7d_e9lrcZ8
More here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD9eO7qToTk

The Nation coverage of Republication Conference.. this thing is hilarious!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByLqJD36F7E

Simpons Mock Fox News and Fox itself:
http://www.hahmed.com/blog/2007/05/22/the-simpsons-on-fox-news-vs-the-liberal-media/

{mos_sb_discuss:15}

David Wright blasted home runs in first two at bats. Then he was intentionally walked his next 3 batting appearances. Everytime they chose to walk him, the fans chanted: “Yankees Suck! Yankees Suck!” That took the cake for me. I loved it! When the game was over the chants continued while the mass mob was exiting the stadium, on the ramp all you heard was a thunderous echo of a chant which went a little something like this: “Sweep, Sweep, Sweep!”

I overpaid $50 per ticket on stubhub (including commission and shipping) but I think it was well worth it. Thank God the weather complied. Sitting in the upper deck towards the back does have its caveats (a little roof to block out the rain!)

One thing that annoyed was that we had seats in the Non-alcoholic section, but all these people were buying beers from inside and bringing them to our section. May Allah Guide them. Shea should be a little more strict about that. I also had real problems trying to find kosher hot dogs even though their site does say they have them in some select places. Fan services pointed us to section 12 in Mezzanine, but we didn’t find anything there. Can’t wait till the day they have halal hot dogs.

I’ll put some pics up when I get a chance.

{mos_sb_discuss:7}

Mohammed is not the only contemporary Muslim artist celebrating his Muslim identity and fusing it with contemporary art. Asma Shikoh, a Pakistani American who holds a Bachelors in Fine Arts from the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi recently held a highly successful solo exhibition entitled "Liberated". Her pieces contained an interesting mix  of themes. Her Identity as a practicing Muslim woman residing in New York resonates throughout her artwork. She produced what she calls the Beehive, A series of connected cardboard cells forming the shape of a honey comb with each cell containing 100 different Hijabs contributed by women from all over the world. Each cell having a description provided by its original Muhajaba etched into it explaining its significance to them. Other pieces include a New York City Subway map completely translated into urdu, A blend of NY City Metrocards cut up in various classical Islamic art shape formats to create a kaleidoscope, 3D/2D mixed city landscapes, and portraits of Muslima Superheroes. “As an artist, my concerns have always been my immediate environment, especially the cities I’ve lived in. ‘Liberated’ juxtaposes my fascination with New York City life and my experience with the self empowering identity of American Muslim women,” says Asma. 

What makes the work of these artists so provocative is that its clearly western and at
the same time unambiguously Islamic. They employ the usage of Islamic
themes and messages yet their work carries a universal appeal which people from
all walks of life are drawn to. This approach helps to make Islamic Art
mainstream, and on a broader level helps to establish Muslims as a
permanent thread in the Western fabric. While the acceptability of Muslim women covering is being debated by
others and while many are worried about homegrown terrorism reoccurring in the West, one woman with a brush in her clutch and one man with a spray can in
his hand serve as a models of homegrown art, culture, and hope for the
fusion of Islamic Identity and Western citizenry.

I've been wondering if I should start Joomla consulting on the side….. hmn… Leave some comments people!

{mos_sb_discuss:7}