So, apparently Facebook ain’t all that magical

I had no idea that on the same day I posted about my love for Facebook, there was a Facebook sucks campaign in full swing! I knew that there was a petition on Facebook, and I saw a lot of breast-feeding photos, which were still there at the point in time that I checked it out, so I thought “yay, we won”, and moved on.

I breastfed all of my kids, and on occasion have even done it in public, once in Target even, and I completely support the cause, but I am a head-scarf-wearing, Muslim women living in North America, where Islamophobia is very real, where women like me are attacked everyday for our choice of clothing, where we are called terrorists for having a piece of cloth on our heads. Trust me when I say that there are no shortage of causes for me to support, and as much as I agree that what bill mahr said was idiotic, I cannot find it in me to become enraged about this, sorry.

In all honesty, I am emotionally exhausted, I cannot watch the news anymore, I cannot follow politics, I cannot even engage in conversation about the state of this world, it has become to much for me. It just boggles my mind that nuns are treated with such respect and admiration for covering their heads, but muslim women are ridiculed, called oppressed, told that they cannot vote, cannot attend school, cannot work, cannot call North America (where many of them were born) home… is this not unjust? I am moved by injustice like the Jena 6, the Darfur conflict, the freedom of the Burmese people, these are the things that stir so much emotion in me that I weep, that I gladly give of myself, that I pray for change. Of course, this does not mean that I think the right to breastfeed in public is not a worthy cause, because surely I do, and I am glad to see so many mothers and fathers make a stand.

So, back to Facebook and what I love about it, which is connecting with people, no, I don’t ‘poke’, or have a garden or a fish tank, or send gifts to anyone, but I do use it to connect with people that live all over the world, people that are not all mothers, people who are not on maya’s mom or clubmom, people that I cannot find on any other social network. You see, I live in Canada, and it is surely my home but a part of my heart will always belong to Trinidad, and I still want to hold on to those people who understand me, because it’s not easy to be understood.

I guess what I am trying to say is that in theory I am a “mommy blogger”, because I blog about being a mommy, but sadly, it’s not an easy group to be a part of, and in reality, I am just me, sharing my life with you.

We’re fasting… but slowly

We were discussing Ramadan with our kids – my almost 5 year old is carrying on discussions about fasting, “I am going to fast” he says, “by not eating too much…” he continued, and we were agreeing, “ok, that sounds good, maybe you can have a small snack”... when all of a sudden, my 3 year old speaks up and says “I am going to *slow*!”

Today marks the start of Ramadan and Muslims all over the world will be fasting for the month. It’s a very spiritual time for us, it’s a time to reflect, to help humanity, to be close to God, and to spend time with family. I hope that I can accomplish all my goals this month, God willing, and to my Muslim sisters and brothers, Ramadan Mubarak to you, and may you have a blessed month.

Beginnings

Hi, I’m muslim. It’s September 11th today and I feel I should say something on the subject, but the truth is I’m tried. Tired of a lot of things, and sad about other things...

But, today I sent out postcards to a few of my American neighbors, as part of Karen’s postcard swap and I thought the theme of “beginnings” to be somewhat appropriate.

So, whatever it is that you’re beginning, I hope you find success, fulfillment, and happiness.

Love, Shaz.

Talk to me & blogging while muslim

When I first started blogging, I didn’t really advertise the fact that I am muslim, I mean I didn’t hide it, but I didn’t make it obvious. Although I was not new to blogging, I was new to the world of “mommy blogs”, and i wasn’t quite sure how the mommies would react.

As I got more comfortable with my blog, it slowly evolved into something more personal and reflective of me, and I started to write articles about being a muslim mother, and small articles related to Islam in general. My blog readership continued to grow slowly, and I noticed a shift in my comments – I started getting comments mostly from other muslims and less from other mommy bloggers. This is something that I don’t mind, but has always been on my mind.

A little more than a year ago, I read an article (forgot where I read it now) that basically said that one of the biggest supporters of the Bush administration and his “anti-terrorism” campaign, which sadly translates into an “anti-muslim” campaign by many, were ‘soccer moms’, and I realize this is a huge generalization but I have always wondered what these moms would think of my blog, or more specifically, muslim mommy blogs.

My husband started blogging recently and all of the comments he receives are from other muslims, which I have noticed is sort of a trend among muslim blogs, unless they are political or religious in nature (as these genres seem to generate very diverse traffic). A lot of it, I know, is due to the fact that most personal muslim blogs do cater to a muslim audience, and I imagine it’s the same with other religions as well, but when it comes to a blog like mine that really is a ‘mommy blog’, just authored by a muslim women, I wonder if I would have a better chance of success if I was a non-muslim with this very same blog.

This is not to say that I have no non-muslim readers or commenters, I do, and in fact one of my favorite readers, Cakes, is the wife of a pastor! All of my readers, muslim or not, have been the reason I continue to blog, I love the support, feedback, encouragement, ego-boost, and I completely appreciate all of it! There are times when I do see the ugliness of discrimination though.

If you’re muslim with a personal blog, how diverse is your readership? And if you’re a non-muslim, what do you think the chances are of this blog being read by the ‘soccer moms’ referred to in the article?

{Disclaimer: I am not calling all ‘soccer moms’ Bush supporters or anit-muslim, I am just having a discussion based on an article that indicated this was the trend.}

Identity Crisis and Self Expression

I am posting at Nisaa today about my identity crisis, but I think that it will resonate with many people. It’s supposed to be slightly amusing, but I am told that it may sound ‘rant-ish’... It’s really not.

Also, remember the art journaling? Well, I love it so much that I’ve dedicated an entire site to it! Please take a peek at artjournal.net, an exploration of self expression, I hope you will stick around, and even contribute! I am still working on the site, so it’s not 100% functional yet, but my first art journal post is up – I know you’re curious!