Hi!

Hi, everybody! How's things?

Well, I got a semi-positive e-mail from one company I sent my resume to. They sent me an e-mail that said that they still have my resume and that they're comparing my skills and qualifications to job openings they have/will have soon.

So, not a rejection (not yet).

: ) Happy thoughts, happy thoughts....

Better late than never...

To all the Muslimahs (and brothers?) who follow my blog, I wish you a (maybe late, but not sure since I can't remember if I've already said it) Ramadan Mubarak!

Well, I got my first "Thanks, but no thanks" rejection letter yesterday from The Container Store, and I got one from Target today. *sigh* Everyone says that the military is such a great starting point, but... I can't seem to get a job! The defense contractors only seem to be interested in intel analysts and linguists with Middle Eastern languages (Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Dari, etc). Since we (in the active Army, anyway) didn't get to choose our languages ourselves, but get what we call "voluntold" (a staple of military life), and that's just not fair. Yes, I know, life's not fair, but right this moment I'm feeling pretty childish. It's an LNF time in my life.

*soooooo frustrated*

On a happier note, HijabGirl has a bunch of pretty new hijabs, just in time for Eid. Some new prayer outfits, too. I'm going to browse the site... Online shopping makes me happy. And it makes my bank account happy when I don't buy. : P

Cute new goodies!

I got new goodies! I went to Ross and got 5 pairs of jeans and a cute long black/white patterned tunic, and also found Hello Kitty bubble bath and a pink fleece Hello Kitty jacket. I got a cute Hello Kitty bracelet at an accessories store, too. And I got 4 pairs of shoes (yay, BOGO!) at Payless.

And I got all those half niqab that I ordered! Some are longer, but they're all great. I found that if I loop the back of the elastic around my bun, high on the back of my head, it holds very well.

*so excited* I'm going back to The Sunnah The Better (the Islamic store here) tomorrow to check out their new merchandise.

Pretty abayas!

While Googling "pink abaya", I found this website: www.renukasilks.com.

They have a particularly lovely abaya (two-layers, with buttons at the top of the outer layer) on page 3 of the "abaya/jilbab" section for $45. You can get that style in two-tone pink, two-tone gray, yellow and purple, blue and purple...etc. So many options! And for about 15 bucks more you can get the matching hijab and niqab.

*Bliss*

Islam 101 continued...

Hi, gals. I read your comments and I am very appreciative of them.

Yes, I am taking my time and being very deliberate in my studying. I'm going to write down the questions I come up with and pose the Islamic ones to the sisters at the masjid, and the Christianity-related ones to a local church.

The one thing that I have found odd is that I keep hearing "the Bible has been altered/corrupted/changed". My question is this: if the Bible has been corrupted, why did God instruct Mohammed/the people to ask the people who had read the Scripture before (meaning the Bible) if they misunderstood something in the Qu'ran?

Surat Yunus 10:94 --
YUSUFALI: If thou wert in doubt as to what We have revealed unto thee, then ask those who have been reading the Book from before thee: the Truth hath indeed come to thee from thy Lord: so be in no wise of those in doubt.
PICKTHAL: And if thou (Muhammad) art in doubt concerning that which We reveal unto thee, then question those who read the Scripture (that was) before thee. Verily the Truth from thy Lord hath come unto thee. So be not thou of the waverers.
SHAKIR: But if you are in doubt as to what We have revealed to you, ask those who read the Book before you; certainly the truth has come to you from your Lord, therefore you should not be of the disputers.

These are three different translations of the Qu'ran. I doubt that God would instruct people to follow the truth of a "corrupted" Bible.

Second: All the different "versions" of the Bible aren't versions. Like the Qu'ran, they're different translations. Unless I totally miss my guess, we still have the original books of the Bible, so the translations are likely being done from the original, not from translations of translations of translations of the original. I don't know how the Catholic Bible or the Book of Mormon or any of that fit into this subject (or if these are the "versions" that the sisters have referred to), since I've never read them.

Third: Why would Mohammed edit the Qu'ran, if it were whole and true? From what I've read, Mohammed revised/edited the Qu'ran every year, not just adding things, but taking things out. This leads to my next question.

Fourth: Why would God supposedly give a commandment (for lack of a better word), but then take it back a little later? I'm forgetting the examples I read of this, but I'll make a note in the future if I find it again.

Fifth: Muslims claim that the Bible says nothing about Jesus being the Son of God, and that Jesus Himself never claimed it. If not, then what about the baptism of Jesus, where a dove flew from the heavens and God said "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."?

I know I've left out some things, but I'll continue with this when I remember. This is what I get for not writing things down. : )

I am trying very hard to be objective in my study, but most of my questions are Islam-related, since I have been a part of Christianity my whole life and have more knowledge and background on it.

Islam 101

Yup, I actually went, even though I was pretty nervous. I was wearing niqab.

I didn't know where to go at first, so I just went in through the women's entrance. I went into the prayer room and there were two women there. One was probably around 50 and had been Muslim for a month (she'd converted from Catholicism). The other was probably a little younger than me, and she'd been Muslim for four months, but had studied for the eight months prior to her conversion. We chatted for a while, and another lady (another new convert) came in with her 17 month-old daughter. I talked to her for a bit, and then we all went to the class, in what was actually the cafeteria, in a separate building. There were two men there (one the teacher), and the rest (about 10-12) were women.

The man who was teaching the class seemed to know a lot. One thing he said got me to thinking. He said "People are made to want to worship one God, not 2 or 3 or a thousand." He also mentioned that all of the prophets had come with the message that God was the only God, and only He was to be worshiped. Like it says in the Ten Commandments: Thou shalt have no other God before (besides) Me.

After he said that, the wheels in my head started turning. He'd made a very valid point, regardless of whether or not I agreed with the rest of what he said (and I didn't disagree, really).

It left me with a lot to think about.

I also found out that there is a Muslim clothing store here -- it just opened a couple of weeks ago, and it's not too far from my house. It's called The Sunnah The Better. I talked to the lady who owns it for a long time -- she was very nice and gave me a CD with a sermon called "Why You Should Be Muslim". The sheikh/imam who gave it was a convert. I've listened to it, and it's very good. He brings up a lot of interesting points, including one about people who stay with the religion they grew up with because it was what their parents taught them. He said that his own mother was Christian and believed in the trinity because that was what her parents had taught.

So, even more to think about.

If I were to convert, the hardest part would be having to change my belief in Jesus. It would be like turning my back on everything I'd ever been taught or believed about Christianity. How could I reconcile that? I guess my biggest fear about all this is converting to Islam, and finding out after I die that I was wrong and Christianity was the right religion, or not converting and finding out that Islam was the right religion. I wish there were a way to know for SURE which is the right path to take.

Which of you ladies has converted from Christianity to Islam? What convinced you to do so?

It feels like a huge dilemma right now. I guess I'll keep studying and see if God nudges me one way or another.

The good thing about there being no classes during Ramadan (because they have to use the cafeteria for the after-dusk meal) is that I'll have plenty of time to read through the Qu'ran and write down any questions that I have.

I bought a new Qu'ran today -- the one I had had such small print, it was hard to read. The new one is better.

Lita (the girl around my age) invited me for Jummah prayers tomorrow. I'm planning on going.

Even right now I want to go back and sit in the prayer room and think and pray about what to do. It's like I'm being drawn back. Could that be an indication in and of itself?

Going to Islam class tonight...maybe...kinda....

There's an Islam 101 class being held in a couple of hours at the Islamic Center here. I'm thinking about going.... Actually, I've been trying to get up the guts to go for a while! So chicken, I am. : P

Why do silly things like this make me so nervous?

Cute niqab photo above to bolster my courage. LOL

SNAFU

Hi, all! I found really cheap half niqab and gloves on Al-Hannah (www.alhannah.com, for those of you who don't know). $3.00 for niqab and $4.00 for gloves? That's good stuff! : ) HijabGirl got some new stuff in, too, including a couple of niqabs.

I'm feeling really stressed out --- I haven't been paid in a month. Thank goodness I had savings! I'm trying to get the issue resolved, but anything that can go wrong, will. It's the law of anything involving the government: SNAFU - Situation Normal: All F****d Up. : P

I haven't been feeling so great for the last three days. Been really tired and stressed, and any and every physical problem (courtesy of the Army) that could flare up, has. *sigh* I've been staying up too late and trying to get my apartment cleaned up --- my cats knocked over Every Possible Thing (excluding the furniture) that they could while I was gone. I think they were protesting. My friend who was feeding them told me that she walked in and checked to make sure that my TV was still there -- they made such a mess that, at first, she thought I'd been robbed! That's bad! ; P LOL

I got a cool old chair from a friend who has a thrift store, so I'm going to the fabric store to get some leopard print fabric to reupholster it. It'll look awesome after that.

I got a HUGE long shayla-style scarf from Old Navy, on clearance. It's black and grey pinstripe with a shiny silver border. Makes a very pretty hijab/niqab!

Fun hijab quiz

I just did this fun quiz on Quizilla. It's called "What is your hijab style?"

http://www.quizilla.com/quizzes/100075/what-is-your-style-of-hijab-for-ladies-only

Mine was "Simple. Sweet. Pretty. Kind. Honest. Simply Irresistible."

There was one for niqab, too. The results are hilarious! I got "Glow-in-the-dark niqab -- you can't miss me!" LOL

http://www.quizilla.com/quizzes/1027446/which-fantastic-niqab-style-should-you-wear

What did you guys get?

Super cute new outfit!

Hi, everyone! Hope you're all doing well. I just wanted to tell you guys that I found the CUTEST long sleeved top/long flared skirt outfit yesterday at Ross while shopping for job interview-type clothes. It took me going to four different stores before I finally found it in my size. I'll be posting a photo soon, hopefully, so tell me what you think when I do!

I'm seriously excited about this outfit. (Which is weird, since I usually hate shopping for clothes.)

I also found some cute sling-back heels that aren't TOO tall, and picked up a couple of nice scarves for $6 and $7 each. The first is a more "subdued" shade of pink, and the second has a semi-floral design with some shiny silver threads woven in.

And I found some wide-leg pants (one pair is bright pink!) on the clearance racks, too. I love the clearance racks... the only problem here is that, in a store like Ross, you'll only find the good stuff in teensy-weensy sizes. This city is on the list of the fattest cities in America --- yikes! --- so anything from a 12 (not that 12 is fat, by any means) on up is gone in no time. *sigh*

Not sure what to do.

Okay, I know this is my third post of the day, but.... I'm feeling a little uncertain about what to do. There's a job fair coming up next week that I'm planning on going to. The fact that I don't have anything appropriate to wear for job hunting is one problem, but the real issue is: should I wear hijab or not? Niqab would have to be out, unfortunately.

Being single and depending solely upon myself for financial support is great, but also hard because I HAVE to have a job within the next two months. I'm afraid that if I go to this job fair wearing hijab, no company recruiters will want to talk to me, or that if I go to an interview wearing hijab, they'll reject me because of it. Yes, it's illegal, but I've heard a lot of stories from women who experienced that.

What do you guys think I should do? Wear a nice, "professional"-colored hijab, or not wear it?

Either way, once I land a job, I'm totally going to be wearing my hijab. Niqab will depend on what sort of job I get --- if I have to wear an I.D. badge with my photo on it, then I can't wear the niqab at work (for face recognition/security purposes).

Freeeeee!, my first real snub, and anti-Twilight

I signed out on terminal leave yesterday, so I'm freeeee! I can wear my hijab and niqab full-time now! *so excited*

Oh, and I have to tell you all what happened earlier today: I got my first outright snub. I've been working at my friend's book store most of the day, shelving books, helping customers, etc. Well, one older man walked in, and I greeted him and asked him if he needed any help finding anything. He walked right by me (didn't even look at me, much less respond), and then went up to another girl who was working and asked her for help finding something. *sigh*

And on another note: I found this anti-Twilight website. I'm sure you've all heard of this book series -- those of you who live in the States, anyway. It's touted by its fans as "the best book EVER". And it's written at a fourth-grade reading level. *sigh* It also promotes abusive relationships based solely on physical appearance as normal, healthy, and even desirable. The characters are shallow (obviously, since their hormones do all the talking, and they label it "love"), but the so-called "relationship" is truly unhealthy. They're obsessive over each other, jealous, the guy stalks the girl (even sitting in her bedroom all night while she sleeps --- "Twihards" - the hardcore fans - say that it's "sweet", but I just think it's creepy). He also forbids her from being around other friends, especially male ones, beats her up but calls it an accident, etcetera etcetera. And they try to pass it off as a "romance". A friend of mine has been in abusive relationships for years, and there's nothing romantic about it. I wish all these deluded people could get that... I found a good article covering all of the above here: http://theantitwilightmovement.webs.com/about.htm

Wow, I have twelve followers now! That's a big jump, and thanks to all of you who have been sharing about me with your friends. : )