The Newest Not-so-good Trend: Turkish Shows

First it was the Mexican telenovelas... now it's the invasion of the Turkish shows. The newest plague dominating Arabic television screens is Turkish shows that have been dubbed in Arabic. Two shows that are broadcast on MBC are apparently having a significant impact on Arab society: 'Nour' and 'Sanawat Al-Dayaa'. Interestingly, these shows are being broadcast at least 3 times a day, morning, afternoon and night, in order to prevent the mostly-female audience from missing a single episode. At this point, over 100 episodes have been broadcast and there is no end in sight.

Being that it's the middle of summer and I have little to do, I decided to research these two shows that have become staples in Arabic-speaking homes and have directly led to divorces and family problems in the middle east. After some web searches and catching a couple of episodes of both shows, some conclusions can be made.

Sanawat Al-Dayaa (Ihlamurlar Altinda in Turkish) and Nour (Gumus) are two shows which practically feature the same main plot: one beautiful woman who is being fought over by two men. In the midst of this is a little bit of adultery thrown in with some villas, abortions, wine consumption and murder. Yup, nothing like a western-influenced serial portraying 'normal life circumstances' to Arabs who are all too willing to accept these shows as realistic examples.

The thing that frightens me the most is that the main heroine from Sanawat Al-Dayaa, the 'stunning' Lamees which many a female look up to as a role model, has just been revealed to be pregnant with her boyfriend's illegitimate child. I cannot imagine how this show will impact the young girls who watch it alongside their mothers on a daily basis.

Allah yustur.

Tall Buildings in the UAE... who cares?

My passion for architecture and urban design takes a hit every time I read another article about an Emarati project setting out to build another record-breaking structure. Burj Dubai, a $20 billion project, is the latest among this pathetic trend.

Everyone and their mother has shown disgust in regards to how wealth from black-gold is being used to compete in the most ridiculous competition ever: who can build the tallest building in the world? How about taking your billions and spending one dollar on every starving child in Africa because honestly, we don't care how tall your hotel/mall/apartment/office building is.

Source: http://news.in.msn.com/international/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1445171

Protests=Facebook Picture Marathon???

The situation in Gaza is a dire one; please read up on it if you are not aware of the blockade being imposed on over a million innocent people there.

AlhamdoliLah, on a whim, I decided to drop by a local protest for Gaza. It was nice to be out of the house and to actually do something. Sometimes, the things I see at these protests are discouraging and make me think twice about continuing to attend (only for a second though), and i'm not talking Zionists.

I am NOT easily offended. However, I find the idea of using a protest as a photo-op session deeply offensive. After every major protest, there are always those who choose to document the event in a Facebook manner... you might know exactly what I'm talking about. I find it peculiar that people feel the urge to act silly at a protest for a humanitarian crisis. And after the fact, I have to see it again and again as people post pictures of their disrespect all over the place. Perhaps, I am overreacting.

when EVERYTHING is going wrong...

SubhanAllah, it's in moments like these when I realize the power of dua. When everything is going wrong and it seems like the world is falling apart and I can't make it through another day, the power of dua comes in. Things aren't fixed yet. In fact, i'm still at the bottom of a million flights of stairs; still, I feel optimistic and I know eventually I can climb up. Allah (SWT) is with me inshAllah and I trust him alone to save me, once again :).

PLEASE! Enough with the Corny Stuff!

There's a TON of corny stuff on Youtube that tries to portray the Muslim American. On the other hand, this video, although not perfect, is AMAZING:


InshAllah, I hope this video sends out a positive message about Muslim Americans to the public. I also hope it inspires Muslim filmmakers to step it up a notch. Please.

Livin' the College Life

Sometimes, I sit in class at my university and start to ponder what on earth I'm doing there (which really means "why did I come to lecture when I could be having sushi right now"). As much as I would love to pretend that I have profound interest in Galilean transformations or circular motions, the truth is that I don't care for what I'm being taught 95% of the time.

Ideally, I would attend school with a zeal for what I'm learning and an intention of using this knowledge for the sake of Allah (SWT). However, this is mostly not the case (quite lacking in the zeal for learning arena). Instead, each term consists of a particular routine of chill sessions, with a few midterms and papers sprinkled in here and there (see, you're not the only one who lives college this way). After the wrapping up of the term, cramming begins in anticipation of a long, sleep-deprived finals week. And, the cycle repeats until graduation. As for true intentions, let's just say the focus is dodging Academic Probation while simultaneously keeping a GPA that is safe enough to get into graduate school... if all else fails that is.

I wonder why I fall into this cycle like so many around me. I would argue that it's because of choosing a concentration I hate and for all the wrong reasons, except this is NOT the case at all. I am deeply interested in my field, just not in taking classes about it. Truth is, I have no excuse. I'm just maintaining laziness, wasting thousands of dollars of tuition on nothing more than a degree mill of my own making. And so are you if you follow through with the cycle.

Don't worry, it's not too late to change! We can start a revolution of passion for what we learn and do class readings daily, show up to class, even show up on time... actually, let's just start slowly and do this gradually. Let's set an example to our non-Muslim peers by inspiring them with our driven, Muslim character.

I should take my love for sushi and apply it to school; that would definitely be a winning situation. Ya Allah, please give us the wisdom to take advantage of our education and put it to positive use while we still can.