Busy Baby Mama blogs

Make each Friday a day of Eid. Let it be more special than any other day of the week.

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I remember growing up and watching my grandpa prepare for Friday starting the day before. On Thursday, he would decide what he was going to wear, and he would check his gas tank to see if it was full and ready to go! On Friday morning, he would iron out his clothes neatly pressing them with perfect creases (his clothes were usually taken care of by our house keeper, but he insisted on taking care of his Friday clothes himself). Playing the Quran in the background, he would get his things ready before the shower; polishing his sandals and making sure they were clean, placing crisp money notes in his vest to place in the sadaqa boxes and in the hands of the needy, choosing his socks with pleasure (only the best looking ones will do for Friday!), he even brushed his furry-looking Jummah cap to give it a special shine! He would have a buzz around him…that was pretty contagious!

Each Friday when I awoke, I knew it was a special day, because I could smell the fresh smell of Itar (natural perfume) on his clothes in the air, and the Quran playing in the background. I knew it was a day to be excited about. He would make sure we all were dressed to our peak, personally brushing our hair and especially making sure my brother’s hairdo was one that he approved of, often combing his gelled hair all the way to the side before placing his cap on. I would let out a giggle watching my brother’s face squirm when my grandfather would carefully slick all his hair neatly to the side imitating his own! He would then get all of us little ones to hop into the car with him and arrive at the masjid at least an hour before prayer time.

He would visit all the needy and poor lined up by the masjid walls (they all seemed to know him quite well), and hand us the money to give to them. We would watch him say salaam to all the masjid goers, make some small talk and catch up with everyone. Once inside he would find us all a place in the first row and sit down, make dua and read Quran.

After the prayer, we would pass by a bakery down the street, and he would always stop there and buy us pastries and sweets (yes, only this day were we allowed to have our dessert before our meal!) We would return home to find a delicious meal laid out on the table prepared by my mother. These were the memories I had growing up….they are not so difficult to emulate for our own children and help them learn that Friday is a great day for us Muslims!

Here are some more ideas, I found doing this with my children every Friday, made them look forward to this Jummah day.

Sr Alif blogs

Around this time, Islamic school teachers are searching for songs and nasheed to sing and practice for graduation. Some are oldie but goodie. I’m about to get my little kids prepared…maybe we’ll be singing “Children of the World” and dress up in the colorful costumes from around the world…or we’ll sing the Arabic alphabet song and hold Arabic Letters.  Hmmm….have you got any ideas for me?

Here are a list of  websites that have free downloads for Islamic songs and nasheed.

http://www.guidedways.com/nasheeds.php

http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/index.php?page=islamicsongs

http://www.a2youth.com/audio/arabic_nasheeds/

http://www.muslimkidsville.com/

Artsy Ummi blogs

I have always been obsessed with Japanese products. How can you not fall in love with those cute colorful dolls, pens, papers, and mini food shaped erasers? I used to collect them as a child and recently gifted my entire collection to my daughter, much to her delight. I’m not surprised she is in love with Hello Kitty and Japanese characters, it must be in the genes!

Then I met someone who is Japanese, Mashallah, who grew up Catholic, but accepted Islam during her years in Art University, San Francisco. We instantly became the best of friends. While exchanging emails on cute Japanese toys (see link below), she mentioned to me “If more Japanese people accept Islam, we’ll probably have a lot more cute Islamic stuff!!”  Ha, I couldn’t agree with her more!

I want to share the link we were discussing about…aren’t these so cute?

http://coocoocafe.blogspot.com/2010/08/islamikawaii-series-1-caramel-chocolate.html

And here’s a cute online store for engaging in your Japanese cravings!

http://www.kyotogeneralstore.com/

There is a growing Muslim anime artist population, although some may frown upon using eyes in the face…they are catchy enough to bring the Muslim youth to take pride in their Muslim identity and in a graphic form. I found Nayzack’s anime both professionally done as well as making an excellent Islamic statement. His gallery can be viewed at here.

The secret fascination of anime in the Muslim youth circle is undeniable. A college Muslim niqabi in the pharmacy department confided to me that she couldn’t resist reading Naruto. Some Hafiz students in Madressah use their pass time to secretly read the anime cartoons on line (the clean ones). Japanese anime has taken Muslim youth by storm! That’s why I think there should be alternative anime for the Muslim youth. I admire the work of muslim manga website  which is a good start for providing graphic novels (fancy word for comics) to the Muslim youth of this generation. I especially love this manga “The Pious Student” , adapted from a famous Islamic tale told by Maulana Siddique Ahmed Saheb Mudda Zilluhu. It can be found in the book “Addab ul-Muttallimeen”. I recognized this from listening to a Khutba on Friday! It could also be printed and used as Islamic discussion in Sunday schools for older kids.

Sr Alif  blogs

Here is a great way to have students do a Bake Sale or a Jumma Lunch Sale to raise charity money for the Japanese earthquake victims and learn about Japanese culture too…

Some of the ideas were originally done by Sister Bushra Zaman and Sister Jameelah at Hamza Academy, NY

1. Make cupcakes and top them off with some cute origami decorations. Read the instructions from this amazing blog.

2. Make obento boxes in aluminum lunch containers with clear tops. Make little Anime rice balls and hot dog octopuses! Read more about it here!

3. Make vegetable sushi rolls. Easy to do and a fun cultural recipe to learn. Learn how here.

4. Make cherry blossom cake or cup cakes.  Don’t have time? Why not purchase these sugar cherry blossoms and decorate your cupcakes with one stem and a flower? Here and here.

5. Serve green tea -hot or cold! Recipe here.

6. It’s a hot day? Why not get some students to make Green Tea Ice cream? Recipe here.

7. Make these popular Japanese snacks that my daughter just adores…Pocky Sticks! Recipe here.

8. Stir up some hot Miso Soup to hit the right spot! Recipe here

9. Buy small Japanese inspired items at bulk price from discount stores. Sell them for a dollar or two along with your eating goodies. Ideas here.