Sunday 14 November 2010

Arafat Fasting

Tomorrow is a special day for Muslims, The Day of Arafat, a day where the Muslims who are doing hajj stay at the mount of Arafat and listen to the sermon there, it must be so hard to fast that day and sit out in the sun. Those of us who are not blessed to be doing our hajj also can fast where ever we are but it’s not compulsory.
 We are advised to fast this fasting wipes out the sins of the previous and the coming year.
How does this relate to food…because of fasting, let me see if I can find my take on Swiss Bircher muesli  and perfect food for getting through the day…found it and here it is, I hope you like it

Ingredients
1/2 cup 6 oz 150g rolled porridge oats
¼ cup 3 oz 75g dried sultanas or raisins
1 cup 8 oz 235 ml milk
1 Apple
1 tbsp desiccated coconut
100ml natural yogurt
25g flaked almonds, toasted
150g Blackberries, strawberries, raspberries
½ tsp ginger
½ tsp cinnamon
7 dried dates
1 tbsp Clear honey
1 tsp black seeds
Method
1.      Place the oats and  sultanas in a plastic container that has a lid
2.      Cut the dates  open and check to make sure there are no insects inside and chop again and add to oats and sultanas
3.      Add the spices; cinnamon and ginger
4.      Into the oat mix, stir in the coconut
5.      Add the milk and make sure it well mixed in to the oats
6.      Wash and drain the apple  and berries, chop the apple into small pieces and add to the oats immediately otherwise the apple  will go brown, take any green bits of the berries, black berries or raspberries add them in  and strawberries half or quarter them
7.      Cover with an airtight lid and place in fridge overnight
8.      Take out of fridge when ready to eat and place quantity you want in bowl
9.      Pour yogurt over the top
10.  Drizzle with honey
11.   And sprinkle with black seeds…up up and away!



Saturday 13 November 2010

London Citizens- the Bengali ConnectionCitizens UK

While attending Digital Activism at MRCF, i listened to an inspiring presentation by Jessica Kennedy of West London Citizens, who explained the positive changes they have been part of and that they are a part of London Citizens which is in turn part of Citizens UK.
Having heard that they did a lot of work in Tower Hamlets , where my second  “adopted me “Muslim family/community are from, I decided to ask about London Citizens  from my Bengali family.
I went to Ummrah Pilgrimage to Saudia Arabia last year with Ibrahim College, who teach Arabic and Islamic Studies in East London. They told me the College is  a part of London Citizens; who are very demanding in a positive way, mashallah (as God would have it be) and recommend that    I link up with a feisty assertive hijaabi Bengali sister who works for London Citizens. I need to ask Jessica who she is and interview her. I am part of the filming making process there this week for Migrant Refugees Communities Forum at the  5th Anniversary Event of West London Citizens in Hammersmith.
So should you have a passion to make a positive change for London, come and join us,
5th Anniversary Assembly
West London Citizens
19.00 to 21.00
Thursday 18th November 2010
Hammersmith Town Hall
Kings Street
Hammersmith
W6 7JU
 For more info email
Tel: 0203 355 6508
  

Tuesday 2 November 2010

THE KITCHEN.....a place of meeting

We are a faith based organisation based off London's famous Portobello Road,Notting Hill, interested in promoting well being of mind body and soul.using the concept of kitchen as a meeting place for women for thousands of years and the activites that go on in the kitchen like speaking and discussing and laughing and singing.For this reason the posts on this blog will be varied  and succulent like roasted lamb or stuffed peppers.

Kitchen is a place of warmth and welcoming.

Women in the kitchen have often been perceived as the stereo typical mama, only capable of cleaning the floor and roasting chicken..we are here to reclaim and re define this space of kitchen as a space of creativity and true change inshallah!

World change begins at home

Recent murmurings of discontent of educated Muslim sisters all over the world about the mediorce standard of eligible men for marriage.I used to think it was just me ; my age, that bit older, a bit too much attitude for most Muslim men- reverts as well as born Muslims .

I suppose I am alienating myself even more from men by writing this  but i was never very good at playing 'dumb blonde'...AND as my grandfather used to say"anyone can bend down and pick up s**t!"

I tried different ways of getting married within what is considered halal, getting married quick not even meeting parents,because brothers use the haddith "there are three thigns you  shouldnt delay, maariage, prayer ad burying a dead body", this haddith needs explanation.

I  marryied someone i didn't fancy because I had been on my own for three years and was financially sailing abit close too the wind(maybe that was   Shatan whispering )and I thought I shouldn't be superficial not knowing that facial feeatures are mentioned in haddith ,that there should be some sort of physical attraction, something that ugly brothers  try to manipulate, may allah help them and us too ameeen.
I marryied  some one I fancied  and my lust made me ignore his abusive behaviour before marraige and I allowed myself to be fooled by  his  thobe and beard .

So now after Islamic counselling I am taking my time and sitting on my throne and loving and respecting myself, even though the many brothers maashallah I reject try to knock me  down and harass me , some even telling that I should know my place.... and where would that be brother ??? under your thumb and maybe in your case under your foot or locked in your wardrobe? 

the following is an extract from an article on zawaj.com

http://www.zawaj.com/american-muslim-women-complain-of-lack-of-good-suitors/

A Few Good Men: American Muslim women bemoan lack of “good” male suitors

Afaf*, 25, has been searching for a husband for a solid two years to no avail.
“All my friends were getting married by the age of 22, so, naturally, I wanted to be part of the “wedding club,” she recalls. “And, of course, there was this romantic notion that it would be the love story of love stories.”
Afaf started feeling the pressure as her friends talked endlessly about wedding dresses, halal caterers and honeymoons, even though she had not been planning on getting married while in college.
“For whatever reason, getting married seemed to be the only, if not main, goal they strived for,” she says. “So, I felt I had to have this goal as well, and felt lacking among my friends that I was not married upon completion of my undergraduate studies.”
Thus began her search after graduating from college. When suitors came knocking, Afaf was surprised at the mediocrity of the suitors available and was left wondering, “Where are all the ‘good guys’?”
Afaf, now a first-year law student, is one of thousands of American Muslim women between the ages of 25 and 30 struggling to find a decent suitor. Educated, pious, beautiful and accomplished, these women should have a gaggle of like-minded men waiting outside their doors. Unfortunately, the few, if any, men who approach these women appear less than satisfactory."

Too many brothers try hard at developing that "out side of the house" character, you kow the one that goes to the masjid and strokes the beard while quoting quran and sunnah.They neglect the most important part of their character becasue they forget that Allah is the All Hearing and All Seeing Allah who sees and hears how these brothers treat their wives and children at home.

I propose that when parents  become more concious of their lack of islam at home in particular in their treatement of the wife then our genral conditon as Mulsim will improve inshallah, as the Prophet of Allah salah al alahi wa salem said in his last speech" The best of you is the best to their wives and I am the best to my wives".

Saturday 30 October 2010

hijaab style

some on drew my attention to this rapper called M.I.A who is originally
 from Sri Lanka who appeared at a music award dressed like this.
..interesting i think..i like her style maashallah!

in the kitchen.....

We are currently planning a series or gardening, cooking and drumming workshop for and to empowered   young British Muslim women and their friends working, living, studying or just being in London, we want your feedback, your help, and your ides as right now we are processing and planning and preparing for lift off! By the grace of Allah!

RECIPES FROM ALL OVER THE PALACE

Karimah Bint Dawoud is the darling niqabi cook on  Sky TV. She isa currently finishing a book complimented by gorgeous mouth watering colour fotos taken by Karimah, this book has clear step by step methods for even the novice cook. Due to the un presedent responses to her TV cooking debut she was encouraged to write this book...
Her other media appearances include being one of Sheikh Hamza Yusef’s featured international women in a series called Riahla, for Saudia Arabia MBC TV, about acclaimed Muslim women in today’s society.
She was artist in residence at Leighton House Museum, the jewel of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, for the Festival of Muslims Culture and there interviewed by BBC 1’s Riz Lateef for the 6 o’ Clock News . She is the co founder of the Karamah Holistic Arts Organisation, winners of the Muslim News Alhambra Award of Excellence in the Arts. She is featured as a makeup artist and dress designer in top Muslim photographer, Peter Sanders a.k.a. Abdul Azeem’s internationally touring exhibition and coffee table book ” The Art of Integration”.
A convert to Islam, she is mixed race, Asian, African, Scottish and English, well socialised and widely travelled. She has worked as a makeup artist for Gucci, Revlon and Bride magazine as well as having a Fine Arts degree from Central St Martin’s School of Art. Her paintings exhibited at the Royal College of Art and in Bond Street galleries. She has travelled, lived and worked as a fashion model and makeup artist in many countries, where she enhanced her cooking skills by watching, asking and tasting the world’s culinary delights as she travelled - eating swordfish in the Blue Lagoon restaurant in Jamaica, sheep’s offal with Tunisian Bedouins, and discovering secret recipes in Rome. After converting to Islam she put down her brushes and white stilettos for a while and picked up the henna cone and the Quran and continued her physical and spiritual journey, through the cultures of Islam.
This book is a great gift for any young bride-to-be, willing to learn how to win the heart of her husband or should you want to expand your cooking skills after you finished your degree or learn some new dishes from your neighbour’s culture then this is the book for you. You may want to simply learn a little bit more about international tastes of the Muslim world