Take me back to the Gauley ....

I think I cried when we crossed the Gauley River dam for the last time, on the way back to our respective homes. Subha'anAllah I have found one of the most beautiful places on earth. I thought Rockport, MA was awesome, but West Virginia just takes the cake! Ok, to be totally fair, Rockport is also awesome, but they're two different types of awesome. West Virginia is truly one of the most gorgeous places on earth.

Yes folks, I headed out to the mountains of West Virginia for a weekend with some seriously awesome people. The numbers say alot:

14 girls. 5 cars. 2 cabins. 2 bathrooms(!).

white water rafting, hiking and horseback riding. brownies, smores and other amazing goodness. What a weekend!

This trip was one of the rare occasions where I did not carry my camera, and I think it was a subconscious effort. I sometimes feel that I try so hard to capture the moment that I miss it all together. I've been so blessed in recent years to have the opportunity to take these truly spectacular trips, and I don't want them to blow by - becoming mere memories on my computer. Especially West Virginia, I really wanted to experience it without worrying about capturing it. This summer has been so crazy, and I feel like I've done so much but haven't done anything at all. I guess thats what happens when you try to cram alot into a short period of time.

So, I'm taking John Mayer's words of advice -

Today I finally overcame
tryin' to fit the world inside a picture frame
Maybe I will tell you all about it
when I'm in the mood
to lose my way with words

While this post does NO justice to the weekend, I will say this - whitewater rafting was AH-MA-Zing. This is my second 'bout rafting, and it was awesome. I think I might be addicted to it ... which is problematic because it is an expensive addiction! My first trip was on the Upper Youghiogheny, at Ohiopyle State Park with the firm. I've wanted to raft for the longest time, but never had the opportunity to do so, and I think that was the same situation with my 11 raft-mates the second time around when we rafted the New River in W. Va.

White water rafting is a fantastic, exhilarating feeling - what a rush! It really makes you realize the power of nature - and reminded me that as much as we think we're in control, we're really not. Nature is so immensely powerful, and we often take that power for granted. Just because we can harness water with a dam doesn't mean that we in any way control the way it flows. We learned that the tough way with Katrina, but I wonder - did we really learn anything at all.

As we dunked our feet in the gloriously cool waters of the Gauley, we were reminded of Sh. Hamza's words of advice -Respect the power of nature.

If you get the chance, take a trip outside of the city ... out where nature is still in control, take it all in ... and deal with the fact that we're not as strong or big as we make ourselves out to be. There is a greater power that could wipe us out in a second. And, we need to respect it, and take care of it.

Interesting ...

More for my own amusement, here are a couple of interesting things I've read about today...

* Some 2000 protesters marched for peace in Tel Aviv on Sunday ; while on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. a comparable number marched in support of the Israeli ambush (I don't have a cite w/exact numbers unfortunately)

* The U.S. government requires evacuees to sign a promissory note (to be later billed) for immediate evacuation (in this case on chartered boats to Cyprus), and are responsible for their own travel back stateside. I find this slightly absurd.

Some resources to keep abreast of the situation in Lebanon...

Washington DC Blogger - here
Another American in Beirut - here
Anderson Cooper - here

"You must tell the world we do not support Hezbollah."

The quote in the subject line was the headline of Anderson Cooper's most recent post. It demonstrates who's suffering in this conflict, and who always suffers in war. Right now, the middle east is a battlefield. And the greatest casualties are those that have no say in whats going on. Unfortunately, those that have the power to make the change are sitting in white mansions, heading to bed a 9pm when there are thousands suffering from the result of military spending.

I've been terribly busy the past few weeks, and have not blogged about much that is terribly important. But this situation has risen to the level of being absolutely ridiculous.

I don't support Hezbollah's military action ... and I definitely do not support Israel's retaliation. Both sides are behaving foolishly, and while in this instance, Israel may have been provoked - there is absolutely no justification for it's response.

Lets look at where we started from - a raid resulting in eight soldiers killed and two kidnapped from Israel. In itself, that is shameful and disgraceful. In retaliation, Israel commenced air strikes - most notably the 23 tons of bombs dropped on South Beirut just an hour ago.

How about a comparison of the body count? In one week, 29 Israelis have died - may Allah forgive them and have mercy on them on the day of Qiyamaah. Over 300 Lebanese civilians have died. That's almost ten times the number of Israelis. Over a 1000 Lebanese civilians have been wounded. I can't seem to find a number on the Israeli side, but I can guarantee that if it were in any way significant - the news would have been all over it.

300 to 29.

I'm shell shocked. I'm weighed down with concern ... how can we allow this to happen? Yes, one cannot support the raids and kidnapping, but how can Israel's response be anything but excessive force? How can this be merely self defense - if we all operated under this logic, we would live in a barbaric society. Imagine someone shooting into your house, or entering your house and kidnapping one of your family members - if you picked up your AK-47, chased after the kidnapper and fired at anyone that came in your way ... and killed them ... would you not be tried for murder? Does self defense extend so far as to encourage insanity and such immense arrogance? Can we allow a nation to be above the law?

At this point, I don't even care who started this fight - if this is going to be a fight, it had better as heck be fair. What blows me away is the absolute arrogance of Israel's current administration. How in the world can you think that two of your people, are in anway worth killing hundreds of another nations people - most of whom are entirely innocent.

300 to 29.

Civilians do not deserve to die over the stupidity and arrogance of those that have arms.

I'm waiting for the day when political leaders stop listening to their egos and attempt to rise above this stupidity... case in point:

"The Israelis say they are fighting to end the control of Hezbollah over the
lives of ordinary people on both sides of the border." BBC.

The way things are going now, Israel will probably achieve its goal. Not because it was a genious diplomatic strategy, but because all the "ordinary people" on the Lebanese side will likely be exterminated.

The art of war has been lost in the technological advancement of arms ... and in the advanced corrosion of the soul.

Changing the Tide

I'm watching a video of Sh. Hamza speaking at an ICNA conference in March. And Sh. Hamza addresses some of the issues that I've been thinking about recently, more so because of a recent chain of posts and comments on a fellow-law student's blog. Sh. Hamza speaks directly to the role of Muslims in the United States, and how we, as Americans, must be active in propogating the view of Islam the people do not see. He shares a particularly troubling statistic - a recent Gallup poll showed that when asked what they liked about Islam, over 50% of Americans either said nothing, or that they did not know. Sh. Hamza hit the nail on the head when he said - as a community, we have failed. I whole heartedly agree that we are not doing enough as a community to change the tide here in the United States. Here is my transcription of one portion of Sh. Hamza's lecture that I want to emphasize:

We are a historical community. We are a part of a historical process. We are here for a purpose. We are in the United States of American in large numbers, and we should be utilizing that fact. We have a job to do, and that job is about reconciling becauase we don't want a planet that disintegrates into more war and more hatred, into more violence, into more conflict, into more human suffereing.

We don't want that. I don't want that for my children.... I don't want them to ever have to witness carpet bombing. I don't ever want them to be at the end of some type of weapon of mass destruction. Or see children blown up. I don't want them to see that. Anyone that wants war, is a war mongerer. And our Prophet (sws) was a Prophet of peace. He came to bring peace, he came in the midst of immese cycles of violence in the Arabian Peninsula. And he ended those cycles of violence, he ENDED those cycles of violence. He DID NOT generate them. He ended them. And that was a part of his historical role, he was a prophet of peace as much as Jesus was a prophet of peace. ... as much as any prophet that has come, they called to peace. They called to salaam. And thats what the Prophet said after every prayer - give me peace, let me live in peace, let me die in peace.

Sh. Hamza continues to give an emotional and stirring lecture, which can be found in its entirety here.

The fact that our Prophet (sws) was a Prophet of peace has not been communicated. His merciful character has not been communicated. There are all too many people out there to hijack Islam, and if we do not work towards communicating the true message of Islam there is no one to blame but ourselves. We can point fingers till our hands are stiff - but it will not change the fact that other people, who often do not understand Islam, are doing a better job of marketing Islam as a violent religion than we are at communicating the true Islam.

I pray that Sh. Hamza can reach out to more Muslims around this country to convince them to work towards this goal, inshaAllah.

Let us change the tide ...

Sh. Hamza speaking as a human being

Lets break it down here:

When you use Apache helicopters, when you use F-16's against an armless people that have no means to defend themselves - that's simply wrong. Thats wrong in every moral tradition on this planet. It is wrong. It is not right. And it needs to be condemned. When you create an apartheid system that was denounced in South Africa as evil - and you create that system in a nother place, it has to be denounced as evil. You can't have something right in one place, and not right in another place. It has to be right all over, and it has to be wrong all over. And thats all we're asking for - an even playing field.

And here:

People are asking why the Muslims are angry. If you're not angry about the current social conditions, you're not alive. You're not alive. You don't have a human heart. If you're not angry about 50 million people in Africa that are suffering from AIDS and that we're spending .001% of what we're spending on weapons of mass destruction. We're spending billions of dollars to learn better ways of killing people, and that we're not putting that money towards better ways of healing people - that's wrong. It needs to be condemned, and we have to condemn what is wrong. And we have to honor people that stand along side of us. We have to honor them whatever their faith, whatever their traditions. We can disagree with them on certain things, but when they stand up for whats right - we should be there to affirm that.

A timeless classic

The Princess Diaries is probably the most awesome movie - ever. Ok, we won't go that far - but it's pretty awesome. I can watch it over and over and over again - and still tear up in the last half hour. This one always gets me ...

Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgment that something is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all.

Ah, the Disney wisedom gets me all the time. Love it.

Room with a fantabulous view

The Devil Wears Prada - briefed

Watched this flick with the Ali Mohammed cousins before departing from Houston. It was definitely a chickflick, but I think that the reviews were true - Meryl Streep did a tremendous job. She was fantastic, even though it was reminiscent of her days as Cruela deVile in 101 Dalmations - she still rocks.

The movie touched a nerve with me ... since about March/April I've been fighting this battle with myself - the battle of whether or not working at a corporate firm makes me a sell out. Andy, in the movie, faces a similar dilemma ... she understands that if she makes Miranda (big editor person) happy at Runway (big corporate fashion publication), that could open alot of doors on and off the path that she chose ("real" journalism). While she started out with good intentions of - this is a means to an end, do a good job, give it all you've got because otherwise its not worth it - she gets a little too happy, taking in all the asthetics and enjoying the life of at Runway. I face a similar problem - this summer I've taken the job that I have with the intention to do my best, and see what doors it opens for me in the future. Every once in a while, I feel myself getting sucked in ... great office, great view, great perks, interesting work - I can see how people can start with good intentions, but fail to pull the covers off of their heads before it gets tucked in too tight. Its very VERY easy.

I was given some very good advice by a valued mentor - she read my mind and immediately addressed my fear - she said, "you're not a sell out by taking this job. you have responsibilities that you need to carry first before you can go out and save the world." Ok, the part about saving the world I kinda fudged, but it was the equivalent. It is easier said than done, I can see myself falling into the hole that is "big law" ... but I also count (heavily) on my friends to keep me grounded, and on task.

In the end, Andy is slapped back to reality by none other than Miranda herself, and takes the high road. It's all hunky dory in movie-land, but how does that work in the real world? I'm going to be out of law school with a fair chunk of change in debt, and inshaAllah I hope to get a job that will help me pay that off quickly - my goal is five years - so that I can concentrate on doing what I started law school to do. And its possible for me to start doing that while I've got this phantom sugar-daddy-type-job, inshaAllah.

Its amazing how much a movie can bring you in line with reality ... its also pretty amazing how different people, in different stages of their lives, can see in a movie so many different perspectives. The past couple of years have been about perspective, and I've just found a new one --- there is more than one way to save the world. I just hope that I'm on the road to it ...

From Bangalore to Houston ... tradition lives on

I'm constantly amazed at how our family has the ability to come together and have such a great time. About twenty five Ali Mohammeds (representing six of the eleven siblings) from as far East as Bangalore, and as far west as Oregon congregated at the house on Oakworth. You knew it was going to be a good time!

My weekend in Houston was spent serving (in my now permanent position) as "historian" - loading up the cameras - ready to shoot at a moments notice. Most of the time I was behind the lens, hoping to preserve the memories for the family that wasn't able to make it and so we could have some fun later on giggling at ourselves. Most of the weekend lent no rest for the weary as there was much catching up to do, and our chats lasted long past midnight. The days were spent much like this - wake up, congregate for breakfast, chat, shower/change/etc, meet to head over to Oakworth for lunch, eat, chat, head back to change, meet at the designated event, eat, chat and head back to the hotel again.

Every day someone new arrived, or someone left - it was a weekend filled with hugs, smiles and much laughter - there were few sad faces, and thats what was so special. Even when we parted, we left knowing that we had spent quality time, and that we had witnessed the union of two very special people.

Memories include ...
kababs and biryani, kababs and some fantastic dal, kababs and more kababs; swapping fun stories of our time apart, great family pictures ... and now a great family video; reuniting with cousins that we've been apart from for the longest time ... and of course, gettin' down to some cool beats. Oh, and how could I forget - the fantastic performance by the big Z and Shaz on Sunday ... if I get permission from the crew, that might be my first video blog post! :-)

Anyhoo - I wrote and rewrote this post, trying to squeeze in every memory. I realized that to do so would be impossible. The pictures and videos tell the story ... the details here don't really matter because the important thing is that it was a fantastic weekend, full of tradition and fun! Who could ask for anything more?