Finally, Saudi women allowed to drive

The Saudi government has passed a bill to decriminalize female driving on Saudi streets, a major Saudi news website reported today. The bill also clarifies the guidelines for female drivers (must be over 30 years of age, allowed to drive in the cities alone, and with a legal relative elsewhere) and the punishments for those who interfere with driving women. A member of the government (Majlis Al-Shura) added that women will have to carry a cellular phone to contact the female police force (since when did we have female police over there?!) in case of emergency; upon applying for their driver’s license, female drivers will have to pay a mandatory fee for on-road service to have their cars fixed, tires repaired, etc.. to insure their safety from other drivers who might be on the lookout for women on the road side. The Majlis has also recommended establishing female police units within cities, monitored by the religious police of course, and a free hot-line service to help female drivers in need of any sort of help. A study conducted by the Majlis further demanded that citizens who dare to speak to a female driver be punished by 1 month in prison and a fine, those who harrass a female driver in any way will -on the other hand- serve 8 months in prison and pay a hefty fine.

Cheers Saudi girls, welcome to the jungle! Stay Safe

Update [5:45pm E.T]: AlArabiya.net has deleted the news article in about 15 minutes of the original posting time! It looks like they still can’t go public with their article yet.. But I indeed can, right?

Update [1:00am E.T - March 20th]:

NEWS CONFIRMED BY RASID.COM
CONGRATS EVERYONE!

عصفور

عصفور

احدى اجمل الأغنيات شعرا و لحنا
أداء أميمة بصوتها الرائع و مارسيل بعزفه السحري
يجعل لهذه الأغنية جزءا من قلبي
—————

Usfoor (A Bird)

One of the best songs in lyrics and composition
Oumima’s amazing vocal gift and Marcel’s oud playing
gives this song a place in my heart

Touched..

I was touched by a response to one of my posts,

Dear Muslim Brothers:
Aslam-o-Alaikum, I am very sad after listening this news but did not see yet. I am also Bangali but can you think, all bangali muslims can be same? I cant dare to do such sin even in my own country due to fear of Allah. Please dont discriminate us due to such incident and punish all our nation by such animal behavior of only 5 Criminal Bangalis. Even in Bagladesh, We have Good and Bad people & even in Saudi Arabia, Good and bad people are there. So, dont push our poor people back to our own country with empty hand. I request you to treat us as Muslim not Jews. We have lots of hopes here for support and help because culturely we have been surrounded by Hindus and Budhs. Our country is very poor and it will go into bad economic conditions after deporting us from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. May Allah give us Haddayat. Ameen (A Bangali’s Appeal)

To clarify, I am not against Bengalis working in Saudi Arabia or anywhere else. Let me assure you that Bengalis are usually viewed as peaceful people, but the fact that Bengladish some how exports low-wage workers from their prisons is not a good idea for the image of the good people of Bengladish. There are many Bengali workers in foreign countries, and they should be rewarded with good living conditions and hospitality to insure that they feel greatful to the countries in which they work. Treatment of foreigners -and especially low wage workers- by the general public plays an important role in strengthening the ties and reduces the rate of crimes committed; clearly, the people of the GCC countries have a high rate of discriminating against foreign workers. If this problem is treated and people start respecting low-wage foreign workers, then the workers themselves will have less motives to commit crimes against the citizens.

It’s my country too!

After a tedious day between programming and physics classes, I decided with a couple of friends to go to the local mall for lunch and watch “The Bank Job” movie at the theater. We met at a bus station near school and while waiting for the bus we chatted about preparing my car for a road trip to Washington D.C. I mentioned to them a little story that happened to me once at the DMV while applying for a driver’s license:_

After waiting in line I approached the lady at the counter and presented my American passport along with my social security card
Me: Hi, I’d like to apply for a driver’s license please.
Her: Ook.. Are you a citizen of the united states?
Me: Yes I am.
Her: Since when?
Me: (in my mind: hmm?) I was born and raised here.. lived in other states, and currently here for college.
Her: Well, your social security card is laminated. I’m afraid you’ll have to get a new one and get back to us.
Me: Yeah, it was laminated at the consulate where I renew my passport abroad.
Her: Oh ok.. You’ll have to get a new one from the social security building downtown.
Me: Sure, thanks..

I continued to explain to my friends how much it bothers me when people to look at me as if I’m less of an American citizen than they are, while I -in fact- consider myself a better American than many many people who know nothing about what being an American means! -hey, I was joining the army at some point but I got a scholarship- The bus arrives, we go to the mall and have our lunch then we went to see the movie.. At around 9:30pm we were on our way out of the mall, towards the gate where the bus stop is. As we were walking we passed a couple of guys and one of them -who was talking on his phone- intentionally made us hear “…. and a bunch of mexicans, and some freaky A-raab niggzz ……..”!!!

I turned my head and looked at him while still walking with a question mark all over my face..

Him: Whachu lookin’ at?
I stop, turn around, and take a few steps back to him..
Me: What’s your problem? You always walk around and look for trouble that way?
Him: Get the fuck outta here nigga, I’ toss you to the first floor..
Me: (realize what a douche bag he is, and just smile at him keeping a laugh inside) then I start force my feet stepping away..
Him: You don’t know what I got in my pocket nigga..
Me: looking at him with sarcasm: You’re really kidding yourself..
Him: You’re in my country nigga..
Me: FURIOUSLY POINTING AT HIS FACE: IS MY COUNTRY TOO YOU GOTTA PROBLEM WITH THAT?!?!
Him: A pause.. trying to hide being surprised, kinda just noticing ~perfect American accent~college hoodie~way of speaking, expressions, etc..~
I shake my head looking at him, turn around and walk towards the gate..

Walking behind me with his friend.. just a few seconds pass, the guy makes a gun-loading “shek-click” sound with his mouth, and eventually shoots at me with a big “BOOOOOM” that resonated across the walkway (seriously).. I ignore him and continue walking out and step aside with my friends for cigarettes and he and his friend walk out towards their car (I guess he killed me already, so..)

I light up a cigarette and explain to my friends why I got really pissed off, kind of rewinding how things escalated because of an irresponsible comment.

When we were on the bus back to school, I suddenly pull the my iPod earplugs off, turn to my friends and asked “Hey, weren’t we just talking about how I don’t like people who…” My friends interrupt: “yeaa!! we were talking about it on our way to the mall from school..”

بــالـعــــربـــــي

بــالـعــــربـــــي... قررت أن أبدأ الكتابة بالعربي

Get your dose of Buddhism

The vast majority of Muslims do not know anything about Buddhism except its name, and that Buddha is a piece of clay that Buddhists worship! While Muslims very well understand Islam, Christianity, and Judaism -to an extent- they have fallen short of understanding the Asian and far-eastern teachings and religions merely because of the fact that “they are very convinced that their religion is true” and that Buddha is a man made god that cannot save itself if it fell on the floor. The average Muslim is taught to think of Buddha -and other idols- simply as a man made god with no regard to the rich teachings, history, and culture that sprung from the mind of a philosopher who would have become a good friend of Muslim thinkers if given the chance.. While Buddhism is genuinely historically uninfluenced by the three monotheistic religions, it does not -at its core- differ from the teachings of Mohammad, Jesus, Moses, or Abraham (pbut). In fact, Buddhist teachings do seem very similar to Sufi Islam! The emphasis on self observation, meditation, states of consciousness, etc are all common factors between Buddhist teachings and Sufi Islam. I -as a Muslim- broke the rules and learned about Buddhism and found it very enlightening and spiritual! I learned that Buddha was a great teacher, not a man made god as I have been taught at school..

Thanks to Alan Watts’ podcast -which I listen to on daily basis via my iPod- and freely available Buddhist texts and wiki pages on the net. I found my way to learning about Buddhism through Watts’ podcast, it has become a habit to relax at bedtime and have my dose of Buddhism through the earphones.. The lectures are very calming and spiritual, and Alan Watts’ seems to have the appropriate voice and tone to make his Buddhist lectures enjoyable at bedtime. There’s much more to Buddhism than I ever imagined, make sure you get your dose of Buddhism because you will find it enlightening..

Salam ya 3alam,
Arabilluminist