Muslims nowadays are easily threatened and enraged when others try to disgrace Islam. Crazy things have happened, from burning stuff, causing chaos and riots, death threats, to yet another bombs. These are the sort of reactions that we have in response to (among other things) the burning of the Qur’an and/or the Danish cartoon. But is that how we suppose to react? It is important to mention that these tactics of insulting our Prophet SAW and the Qur’an are notRead more
Dear People, Would you please stop asking me when I will get married. Please?! I still can’t comprehend why people ask me this question over and over again. Will it make any difference if I get married? Will it affect you in any way, directly or indirectly? Will you get ANY benefits from it? NO, right?! What makes it even worst is that, when some people ask me whether or not I have a boyfriend (and I say no, forRead more
You may have heard about the floods that devastated 75% of Queensland, which is about an area the size of France and Germany combined. It’s heartbreaking to say that Brisbane was badly affected by the floods. I lived there for 4 years until 2007, so the city had put a mark in my heart, somehow. There were a lot of beautiful memories that I remember fondly. It’s a beautiful city and some of my good friends live there. That’s whyRead more
About two years ago, I wrote a post about the Saudi government’s plan to abolish its infamous sponsorship system (kafala), which has been constantly criticised by human rights groups. The plan to cancel the system was immediately welcomed by many people. However, two years have passed and nothing came out from it. In the beginning of this year, it was announced that the possibility of cancelling the sponsorship system had been ruled out. The government argued that it’s not easyRead more
Who have never heard of a Saudi royal by the name of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal? If you're not familiar with his name, let me give you a brief introduction about him. Prince Alwaleed is the nephew of the current King of Saudi Arabia and the grandson of the founding King of Saudi Arabia. He was born to Prince Talal bin Abdul-Aziz and his Lebanese wife. Although the father has been trying to push for reform in his country (andRead more
I escaped the snowy Eindhoven and spent my winter/Christmas break this time in the sunny Saudi Arabia. It had been 2 years since my family and I hadn’t had a vacation with the complete members; it’s either I wasn’t there, or my sister wasn’t there. That’s why this vacation was quite exciting as all of us reunited again. And I wanted it to be a bit different than usual, so we decided to go to somewhere nice that we hadn’tRead more
I wanna share a VERY interesting and enlightening video by Nouman Ali Khan. I got this video last year actually, but I always forgot to share this in my blog! I love his speech and da'wah. He delivers his messages and points in a way that is easy to understand and most importantly: not boring and monotone. He also gives many interesting examples and arguments along the way.
I have always been very ignorant about the Palestinian and Israeli conflicts. I've kept my ears and eyes shut when it came to these issues. The problems that the two nations face are too complex involving years of pain, revenge, and anger, and a number of political parties, foreign countries, and the civilians. Every time I saw the Palestinians killed by the Israelis, my heart ached. Every time I saw the reports of expansion of settlements by the Israelis, myRead more
So, the decision is final. The Swiss people don't want the minarets anymore. It was shocking, concerning that there are only a total of 4 minarets in the country. I wonder why do they even care about such thing? Why and how did this issue come out and be voted in the first place? I mean, it's only a minaret, for God sake! I saw the interview on Al Jazeera about this and the reasons that the government provided onRead more
Few years ago, I wrote about a number of accomplished Khaleeji women who became the leader of their men-majority society. Inspired by this post, I decided to wrote one about Saudi women. I previously asked in that post: When will Saudi society appoint their first woman leader? The truth is that, they already did. Well, they're not quite there yet, but it's unarguably a milestone for women in Saudi Arabia. So let’s now meet some of the distinguished Saudi women…
When I went to an Indonesian mosque in Den Haag to break my fast, I was left with astonishment. I was told to sit in a room designated for children and youngsters — there were perhaps 30 pupils or even more crammed into a small room! Few minutes before we broke our fast, suddenly a guy (whom I knew) led us to recite salawat and a number of short surahs from the Qur’an. I saw from little children to youngRead more
Two months ago, I got a job in an event management company. I was offered an interesting temporary position whereby I had a chance to develop a good connection with important people in Saudi Arabia and abroad. I actually had been dreaming about working in an IT company, so this major step was surprising for me. I was bored and had nothing to do at home. I had been searching for an IT job, but perhaps I was not luckyRead more
I got a tag from Mulia about wearing a headscarf. It’s interesting that she brought this issue up because people have been asking me about it a lot, especially when I was in Australia. And I never thought about writing this issue on my blog. I would like all my friends who wear a headscarf to continue this tag: teh Senaz, mbak Ina, Mika, and for those whose names are not mentioned (sorry if I missed out some ppl).
An Enduring Love: My Life with the Shah – A Memoir is a personal account of the life of Shahbanou Farah Pahlavi, wife of the last emperor of Iran. Born in 1938 to a middle class Iranian family, queen-to-be Farah met Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Shah of Iran for the first time in Iranian Embassy in 1959 on his official visit to France. At that time, she was a student at Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture in Paris. The king, 40, wasRead more
Sheikha Lubna Al-Qasimi In November 2004, Sheikha Lubna Khalid Sultan al Qasimi became the first woman in the history of United Arab Emirates (UAE) to be appointed in a cabinet position as Minister of Economy and Planning. Sheikha Lubna graduated from the California State University with a BS degree in Computer Science and received an Executive MBA from the American University of Sharjah. I admire her not only because of her successful careers but also because she is one ofRead more
