Burkini fashion, Islam, Men, and Christianity.

Hijab style of a Turkish woman.

Iranian futball player !!!!

Burkina Fashion


Aheda Zanetti created the burkini for her niece, who wanted to play netball. Her young niece wore the hajib for modesty, as other Muslim girls and women did but that was not enough of a covering to be a respectable, and modest Muslim woman. The point of women's dress was to somehow lessen the attraction to the form of a woman's body. In its depth of understanding it is important to understand that this is a reverse way of men disciplining their spirits; but that subject we will set aside for further analysis, as well as the contradictions of Christian and Islamic values and the predator nature of Western man, and the Arab man.

The child's mother had to debate and reason with the family to get the girl's permission to play the game. This was in early 2004 in Australia, where Aheda searched for a reasonable outfit for a woman to wear to the beach, or to play sports in public, and not finding anything developed to wear by the fashion industry from this concept she created the burkini.

IN Aheda's story, she sent out questionnaires to the community to properly discern the attitudes about the outfit and following old tradition and instinctive inclinations listened to the family's thoughts and feelings on this new intervention between wanting to play and appear in public in the Western world modestly. She says, "It is about integration and acceptance and being equal and about not being judged." She knows the holy Qu'ran does not ask women to cover their face and that the Burqa is not in the holy text. But, being Muslim anywhere in the West is now dangerous because white citizens are terrified of things and consequences other people can be insensitive to, or resentful of because those paradigms believe not in the natural order, but the world as they perceive it.

After 9/11, many things changed in the Western world from the perspective of Americans, not about safety, but out of fear of historical consequences. France began making Muslim women remove their burkinis on their beaches. The police became more military and the military became more aggressive charged by an urge to go after an ill-defined enemy and blurred understanding of world histories to inform thought and behavior. Airline service became wooded, and climate in the air and airports became depressive and subdued as passengers, mule like, shuffled through long lines submitting to humiliating searches and enduring profiling; fearful of their usage of language.

The United States waged war in the Middle East saying they are fighting for freedom in America with a fractured economy, and torn apart in its soul they stomped around the globe threatening smaller governments to side with their agenda. Meanwhile, Muslims around the world were reevaluating their positions in their relations to American and European extremes. Prior to this event (9/11) the Arab world was careful about Western influence over their cultures. There was a lot of smug resentment from Americans of this trait, but it revealed how important Americans thought their thoughts and sensibilities were to them, and felt their ways should not be scrutinized by people in the Arab world.

It is important to understand these views of the world, and the way Americans thought of themselves prior to the successful attack against the U.S. in 2001, and know how our influence actually feels to people we dismiss, as beneath us. This is a quiet way of saying our arrogance is our diplomacy. Our estimation of Muslim women being modest in public repulsed Americans first prior to the 20th century, and terrified them in the 21st century! What we have are governing concepts at odds within Christians. If we are going to link Islam with sacred dress for women, we must analyze Western Christianity reacting to a historical past with the Arab world.


Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
April 13, 2017

Casual elegance implied by the smile, the style

Part II
modesty

Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman said she gives no heed to critics of her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit photo shoot -- it's something she expected.

"I knew people were going to say that I wasn't a good role model and all of this stuff," Raisman, who posed topless in the magazine, told Motto. "I did the issue because I love my body. I can express myself in any way that I want. But that doesn't give anyone the right to judge me. I think being a role model is about being a kind person."

"It really made me realize women do not have to be modest in order to be respected," Raisman added.

So deeply does the water pour into the pool. This young woman recites into the pool from what her predecessors stirred. It is not from a place of understanding the depths of contradictions steeped in fearful transactions white women's looks pay tribute to; it is from a sense of freedom based on hopeful assumptions of how things should be if men were impeccable of mind, spirit and emotions.

For the most part men are not trained to be impeccable.

Against this backdrop the young Olympian states a claim saying: "It really made me realize women do not have to be modest in order to be respected." The boast is naïve and it is ignorant, but applauded by young and older women living in a bubble crying because of, and straining against the tyranny of men, who prey upon their bodies and their souls. 

"Do you understand this?" I cry from within to countless women I have seen and interacted with over my decades. Many do. Many don't. What is promoted on television, as freedom of expression, is an irrationalness hard to focus upon knowing the history of religion, belief and white European and Arabian men in their histories! The next logical question is not apparent to an ignorant assumption about freedom. 

Freedom. "What is freedom in the context of this subject?" 

What it is not, is divorced from the spiritual responsibility of men to be engaged at young ages by their Wise Men, the Elders from a strong tradition of initiation. Freed men engage the resources of spiritual powers Western ideology rejects. Most are trapped in a culture unable to free itself from its pride in being divorced from archaic ideas and practices that believe in God, and understand the Sacred. What we are afraid of is the truth of who we are supposed to be inwardly. 

Being Sacred is far removed from how we govern ourselves in this country. For that we pay heavy prices, and women and innocence are the first victims of what is profoundly ugly and evil within men divorced from the sacred processes into true masculinity. 

This is where I stop, and should not have come face to face with in this medium for the simple, and complex reason a father does not feed meat to an arm baby nursing on his mother's breasts. 


This takes us back to the young woman's words, "It really made me realize women do not have to be modest in order to be respected." 

What she is pointing out is unobvious. Men should be required to have the type of impeccability her statement requires to be supported in general society in sexy, or modest styles of dress. 


Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 
April 13, 2017

Aly Raisman's Sports Illustrated 2017 magazine pose.

Part III
declaration

When a man wants to undress a woman it is she who makes resistance difficult. Responsibility for decorum is the man's. It doesn't matter what she does. It is what we know to do and who we are in relation to the truth... - Gregory E, Woods, Keeper of Stories 4/13/17  

Spiritual Practice: fasting

Fasting Is Prescribed in the Abrahamic Faiths <3 span="">

The Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions all enjoin fasting. Moses observed a fast of forty days at Mount Sinai at the time of the revelation of the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 24:18) Although less common now, it is Jewish tradition to fast when mourning or when in danger. Most practicing Jews still fast on the Day of Atonement and for the one-week commemoration of the destruction of Jerusalem in 597 B.C. Jesus of Nazareth, peace be upon him, also fasted on the Day of Atonement and the forty days of Moses’ fast to ward off Satanic temptation.

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.” (Matthew 4:2)

Many Christians observe a forty-day pre-Easter fast, although now it includes abstention from only certain food items rather than all food and drink. Muslims fast the month of Ramadan and may, optionally, fast on most other days of the year.

The One God prescribes fasting for the faithful; and it has many benefits. Material pleasures can be generalised into food and drink, sexual pleasures, and vanity. Fasting requires abstaining from these, going against the natural instinct of Man to observe the commandment of God.This builds and strengthens a person's self-control, nearing them to their Creator. Other benefits of fasting include:

• Fasting instills patience, teaches self control and discipline.

• Fasting increases compassion for the less fortunate.

• Fasting builds focus on spirituality and deminishes focus on materialism.

• Fasting has many health benefits.

• Fasting can be atonement for sin and can earn great reward.

• Fasting is part of a strong spiritual and physical renewal plan.

• Fasting commemorates important sacred religious events.

The Muslim fast of the month of Ramadan is a continuation of the long history of fasting in the Abrahamic faiths. The self-improvement benefits of fasting make it an important means of improving one’s faith and practice of religion.

“And men who fast and women who fast…God has prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward.” ( Holy Qur’an 33:35)

Broken by LAW

Murderous woman.

"The deepest fear a woman can conjure within a man is her being absorbed into killing..."

~ Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories

Feb. 12, 2017.

Death certainly stalks women scared inside of marriages and relationships with men violent in their nature who feel dominance is based upon the subjection of his woman to his will. In the aftermath of her breaking point his death is his design. The law doesn't see it that way because laws meant to protect men's proclivity towards violence against women needs to be protected by law so that by chance if a law maker finds himself in such a predicament facing jail time for beating his woman he has an escape route. Biblical laws, the laws within the Torah, and the Qur'an protect men's inability to have restraint. It is this simple. My studies have shown me nothing to contradict this finding.

When Death stalks it finds a way to reverse roles. The beatings a woman receives from a man is a beating from men. In her defense is her endurance, and the breaking point when she can take no more and kills the man. It happens in a variety of ways. For several reasons there are women who get away with murder. As much as it is wrong it is right.

Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories

Feb. 13, 2017

Beauty from there to here...

"Middle Eastern woman's hijabi deepens the sophistication of how she carries her culture, her faith, her womanhood and humble feel of beauty." - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 

[This] Middle Eastern woman's hijabi with a Primak faux fur snood, Imaan and beauty printed scarf, Debenhams bag, Asos studded leather jacket, H&M skinny jeans & some badd Missguided Chelsea boots. 

TO Ponder

A small passage of Ziyrat Arbaeen that is read about Imam Hussayn's actions on the day of Aushura.

"... He met with deadly dangers, acted justly and fairly, made use of everything belonging to him to pay full attention to give sincere advice, took pains, made every effort and put his heart, mind, soul and life at the disposal of Thy mission to liberate the people from the yoke of ignorance..."

-Ziyarath e Arbaeen

FEAR within white folks!

Runa Lucienne simply lovely in a simple summer dress. 2016.

Muaaz Qureshi, whom I assume is Muslim said in response to the bikini clad body of former Playboy bunny, Runa Luisemme: “Woman is a delicate creature with strong emotions who has been created by the Almighty ALLAH (God) to shoulder responsibility for educating society and moving toward perfection. ALLAH (God) created woman as symbol of His own beauty and to give solace to her partner and her family.”

The insight, the words are so close to the Bible! Are Islam and Christianity the same, or linked? If so, why do Americans not know this and behave as if there is no history between the U.S. and the radical extremists in the Middle East? Is there a base fear Europeans, and white Americans share they don't respond to truthfully, or are they ignorant of pasts, or beyond their past in their imaginations? - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories [6/25/17] 

THINK about IT!

Contemplative white women are coming into a fashion of sorts as the social tides of conservatism and religion across the globe target their gains for returns back to the containment areas of history familiar to Arabs and Europeans. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories Jan. 11, 2017

a Sacred Woman is Still

sacred poise 

Well, there is a spiritual law at work. When any of us project into the universe our intentions those words are a declaration and a challenge. The universe will test every utterance and challenge the integrity and strength of one's intent. It is the way the invisible comes into matter. That is the core of the Adamic story between Eve and Adam in that order. We are mysterious forces in nature and the universe. Small we may be, but our word and our spirit can reach beyond the scope of our presence into the timeless quality of will, intent and integrity into the Beyond, the Unknowable Unknown!

Detractors are not so much haters as they are spoilers and deeply despondent. They haven't formed their alliances with the higher powers within or outside of their being. For them it is comfortable to be fearful in their mind's eye. It is their illusion, and it is their painful illusions that teaches our will and assertions. Our job and immediate concern is to make right choices!

Now, the Biblical scripture that reads, "No weapon formed against you shall prosper." is a shield. It is a powerful shield defending one's soul and esteem from attacks. Not said, but implied is the completion of a warrior's effectiveness relying on offensive strategies. At this juncture of the teachings it is important to point out one of the innate problems of a Christian's focus and obsession with a Messiah. This obsession has the tendency to weaken one's powers by defending a faith and a belief mechanism. A warrior need need not primarily defend his God, or his essence because the warrior is the essence of the 'how' and the 'whys' of that discipline. A warrior's skills and purposes are misplaced defending his faith. He/she lives their life and the life force it creates generates its own offense and defense when necessary. Not understanding the depth of the warrior's main discipline has killed and injured millions in numerous wars for God over the centuries. The question to that state of being guides the student of religion and Self into the low echelon of soul sickness.

Let history speak to that story.! ~ Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 7.12.14

Glance into a Woman's Life 

ISIS and the U.S.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: If ISIS Represents Islam, Then The KKK Represents Christianity (VIDEO)

By Jameson Parker on February 17, 2015 3:07 pm            



It’s a distinguishing fact of human psychology that people hate to be stereotyped, but love stereotyping others.

In today’s context, the issue of whether or not the Islamic State, a group of radical extremists terrorizing the Middle East, can be considered “Muslim” is at the forefront of a debate that’s taking place across the world. In the United States, the conversation became even more heated after President Obama remarked that “ISIL is not ‘Islamic'” but a “terrorist organization, pure and simple.”

If taken literally, Obama’s claim is dubious. The Atlantic ran a cover story by Graeme Wood that essentially debunked the idea. Like it or not, Wood argued, ISIS is Islamic, in that they derive their ideology – however warped – from Islamic teachings.

The most-articulate spokesmen for that position are the Islamic State’s officials and supporters themselves. They refer derisively to “moderns.” In conversation, they insist that they will not—cannot—waver from governing precepts that were embedded in Islam by the Prophet Muhammad and his earliest followers. They often speak in codes and allusions that sound odd or old-fashioned to non-Muslims, but refer to specific traditions and texts of early Islam.

Members of ISIS certainly believe they are Muslim and acting in strict concordance with that ideology.

A more careful reading of Obama’s remarks, however, suggests that he wasn’t arguing that the members of ISIS aren’t Muslims (as conservative media attacked him for), but that when you think of Islam, you would be remiss to view it as symbolized in ISIS. They may be Muslims, but they are certainly no ambassadors for Islam – the faith that over 1 billion people on Earth worship.

Furthermore, ISIS has positioned itself as conquerors, targeting weak areas in wartorn countries and quickly seizing land. Their behavior is driven not just by Islam, but by the practical concerns of a nascent group trying to gain power. It’s no secret that much of what ISIS does is driven by monetary concerns. They seize oil refineries, poppy fields, banks vaults, and hostages in order to enrich themselves and increase their might. Ignoring that motivation means making a huge mistake.
Enter former basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, himself a Muslim, who made the point with a profound eloquence.

While speaking to MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Abdul-Jabbar said viewing ISIS as representing Islam would be like viewing the Ku Klux Klan as representing Christianity. Both groups derive their ideologies from religion, but neither can be said to make a claim for the vast majority of people within them.

“You can make parallels to things that have happened here in America. Like the Ku Klux Klan saying they are the Christian knights,” Abdul-Jabbar pointed out. “And they do not practice Christianity.”

In much the same way as ISIS, the KKK and other hate groups have always used religion as a way of justifying atrocities and hatred towards other groups.

“People use that as an excuse. It’s not an excuse, it’s no excuse and oppressing one group means that we have to look out, all groups have to get together to fight that type of oppression, because we all should be free.”

In this way, these hate groups have more in common than different. One need only to look at historical examples to find ample proof that Christian groups were capable of savagery that ISIS would recognize in their own. If people point to the fact that the KKK is (relatively) muted in recent decades, the thanks lies squarely with moderate people pushing society towards no longer tolerating the group’s terrorism. The KKK didn’t suddenly grow a sense of morality – they were aggressively suppressed by the people and the United States government until they were a non-factor.

Dismantling the KKK didn’t require the destruction of Christianity, but rather a shift from the virulently toxic form advocated by the hate group towards a more tolerant one. If ISIS is to be defeated, the goal has to be similar. Condemning all Muslims in an effort to cleanse the world of ISIS would be similarly unachievable, and ultimately foolish.

 

Judging from the text ...

Ch. 32 Prostration v.19-22, The Holy Quran

19. As for those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah Islamic Monotheism) and do righteous good deeds, for them are Gardens (Paradise) as an entertainment, for what they used to do.

20. And as for those who are Fasiqun (disbelievers and disobedient to Allah), their abode will be the Fire, every time they wish to get away therefrom, they will be put back thereto, and it will be said to them: "Taste you the torment of the Fire which you used to deny."

21. And verily, We will make them taste of the near torment (i.e. the torment in the life of this world, i.e. disasters, calamities, etc.) prior to the supreme torment (in the Hereafter), in order that they may (repent and) return (i.e. accept Islam).

22. And who does more wrong than he who is reminded of the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of his Lord, then he turns aside therefrom? Verily, We shall exact retribution from the Mujrimun (criminals, disbelievers, polytheists, sinners, etc.).

 

 

 

 



bathing in serenity cares for the soul...

 

 

 

 

the ENEMY of USA is SELF

Caroline Dyer-Smith Photography



patriotism worn by Kim Kardashian says, Go America !!!!
Instagram/Kim Kardashian

The profound pride the average American seems to have knowing as little as possible about the myriad of things citizen's of a global power should know in depth isn't enough to engineer pride in mature citizens throughout the world where Americans know little about. Fear induced pseudo intellectuals are running rampant across the social spectrum with their heads tucked under their arms and what is pitiful and has long been disgusting in the American psyche is stirring citizens into frenzy around the cauldron of the blackest of sorcerers.   

 

My depth of understanding Islam and adherents to the faith comes from living in an Arab country in my formative years and the deep study of the 'blood religions' (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) I undertook over the years. Study is a prerequisite to being a follower of a religion. The fundamentals of the blood religions are from one source and the pride Americans enjoy being ignorant is the fault any enemy can and has played with with ever growing success. Like all bullies there is a blind spot they cannot perceive, and cannot look through because introspection is not considered valuable.

For any enemy of the United States this flaw has always been the basis of offensives in the wars against us and what we have done to others the world over. Because the fundamentalists of the U.S. government, the Christian church, and the core of American perception: white supremacy cannot 'see' themselves that blind spot is the weapon 'terrorists' use against our place in the world. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories



flag - International Indigenous Unity flag held by Natives (2016)

A holy woman who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca is as important as a Beloved Woman of the Cherokee People. But, as history has shown do not respect or listen to the voices of mothers and grandmothers. As President Bush administration drove home during his tenure after the towers fell the government would not listen to the voice of grieving mothers whose sons died in war and base decisions. In the early days of this country's formation the white men who studied the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy could not swallow the power women had to select their chief, and to declare war. Benjamin Franklin and the other intellectual giants and visionaries of the Colonial period were cut from the cloth they came from and women had no place or influence in government, or finance or any other major area in life.

This historical flaw is a fact. This long standing philosophy leaves Americans unable to understand why and how Muslim women can strap on bombs and blow up people! But, a people whose men used to cut Indian women's vaginas off their bodies to dress the horns of their saddles have trouble fathoming female suicide bombers. Why is that?

As we know, Islam, as in every day for the last 15yrs. is dominating the headlines. Some of us are and will be approached to explain the entire Middle Eastern narrative and apologize for "Islam" as expressed by the media and other either uninformed sources.

I say to my family, friends, colleagues and associates, you should want to know the intel on Islam but you should want to make the effort to seek an understanding. It will not be a 30 second sound bite because it is an entirely different paradigm than you've been spoon fed, complicated by political agendas that don't run parallel to the Faith or Humane universal principles. You must also know the history of your government's foreign policy and its foundational principles as a World Power. That's a lot.

In the meantime, if you have a relationship with a Muslim look at their example, think about the 1.6-2 billion Muslims in the world. If we moved as one big monolithic thingy and we were coming for you...You know how this would end...

Just Sayin'... Find your Common Sense, if you don't have the time to intellectually process the current events.


Note: Muslim Countries and Muslim Majority countries and Black People all around the GLOBE currently control all the resources that make America Great. You do the Math.  Hajja Ayisha Jeffries Cisse 




Skull of Flowers



Iranian rich woman from Tehran in sports car



Muslim bridal party from the Caribbean



Turkmenistan is bordered by Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. It has vast reserves of crude oil & natural gas to supplement the economy, but misuse of state revenues drove investors away.

 

MOTHERS in ISLAM

Many parts of the world will celebrate Mother’s Day this Sunday, focusing on mothers and their contributions to their families. Since there is a negative stereotype of how Islam views women, many people may not know that mothers specifically and parents in general are held in very high esteem in the faith. There are verses in the Qur’an and hadith that emphasize the burdens that a mother carries and the respect that should be accorded to her. In this post, I will focus on the importance of mothers in Islam.
The verses of the Qur’an that address the mother emphasize the difficulties of pregnancy, labor, and breastfeeding and the need to respect one’s mother. These verses many times mention parents in general but go into detail in regard to the mother because she faces challenges that a father does not. Verse 15 from chapter 46 illustrates this point.

And We have enjoined upon man, to his parents, good treatment. His mother carried him with hardship and gave birth to him with hardship, and his gestation and weaning [period] is thirty months. [He grows] until, when he reaches maturity and reaches [the age of] forty years, he says, “My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to work righteousness of which You will approve and make righteous for me my offspring. Indeed, I have repented to You, and indeed, I am of the Muslims.

This verse begins with a command for both parents, but goes into detail in regards to the mother and the difficulties she endures. The command to treat parents with kindness means to treat them with respect under all circumstances, to obey them unless it goes against an edict of the faith, and to care for them in old age as they cared for you as a child.

A man came to the Prophet and said, ‘O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the most worthy of my good companionship? The Prophet (PBUH) said: Your mother. The man said, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man further asked, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man asked again, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your father. (Bukhari, Muslim)



Family happiness

 A man once consulted the Prophet Muhammad about taking part in a military campaign. The Prophet asked the man if his mother was still living. When told that she was alive, the Prophet said: “(Then) stay with her, for Paradise is at her feet.” (Al-Tirmidhi)

On another occasion, the Prophet said: “God has forbidden for you to be undutiful to your mothers.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari)
 
In the first hadith, the Prophet highlights the importance of the mother over the father by repeating “your mother” three times and then saying “your father” once in response to the man’s question.

The second hadith illustrates the significance of the mother by placing caring for her over going to war to defend Islam. In other words, caring for his mother is also a way for a man to serve God. By saying that entrance into paradise is linked to caring for and respecting a mother, the Prophet accords them a great honor. In the last hadith, the Prophet asserts that disobedience of mothers is a sin.

All the verses and hadith on mothers demonstrate the importance of this figure in Islam. They also show that the mother is accorded a higher honor than even the father because of all the responsibilities she has towards her child. The Prophet never saw his father because he died before his birth and he lost his mother when he was six years old. Yet many hadith show that he understood the importance of one’s parents, especially the mother. Many Muslims will say that Islam emphasizes the importance of the mother so much that Mother’s Day is not one day a year but should be everyday. -

Hajja Ayisha Jeffries Cisse 

May 6, 2016 near Atlanta, GA ·

 

 

 

Angolan mother & her child. photo by Eric Lafforgue



Heather M. Levy with her son . . .



nursing her baby.





Staceyann Chin breasts feeding on steps of Union Square in NYC. July 27, 2012



 

WHAT the mn said

I want to add my voice in support of Muslims in our community and around the world.
After the Paris attacks and hate this week, I can only imagine the fear Muslims feel that they will be persecuted for the actions of others.

As a Jew, my parents taught me that we must stand up against attacks on all communities. Even if an attack isn't against you today, in time attacks on freedom for anyone will hurt everyone.

If you're a Muslim in this community, as the leader of Facebook I want you to know that you are always welcome here and that we will fight to protect your rights and create a peaceful and safe environment for you.

Having a child has given us so much hope, but the hate of some can make it easy to succumb to cynicism. We must not lose hope. As long as we stand together and see the good in each other, we can build a better world for all people. - Mark Zuckerberg, CEO & founder of Facebook December 9 at 5:02pm 

a shared HISTORY IN PICTURES



1945 John W. Mosley took a photograph of 3 young people in Atlantic city in the Colored section, Chicken Bone beach.

Rima Fakih, Lebanese-American, Miss USA in 2010, astounded the country being authentic underscored the aversion & fear white Americans feel towards Arabs. Why this is is within the histories of the two worlds. - Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories 12.8.15

 

a truth to TERROR

Rima Fakih would not survive the scrutiny of fundamentalists Muslims, or Christians. Unable to see character & integrity beyond exposed flesh doesn't mean exposure is wrong, just a state of being vulnerable. - Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories 1.8.15



Rima Fakih, former Miss USA is Lebanese-American.

 

Contrast, and Clash of Mentalities

Rihanna
2 of 9

Rihanna, see the contrasts and the contradiction? For the sake of argument, and for the sheer beauty of a captured moment this is, for me, the best and most telling of the shots taken by the photographer!! How did he get those older women in the background, by chance? Were they secretly wishing to rebel and get a cameo? Was this their act of civil disobedience? - Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories 10.29.13

photo: 9 of 9

This is a sultry woman. Is Rihanna seductive clothed in a black fashionable version of modesty, or to American taste humble of attire in front of the mosque? In this controversy the administration of the Sheikh Zayed mosque in Abu Dhabi felt her body beneath the cloth and the way she used her body was too much for the sanctity of the grounds, their tradition, and the environment of prayer and reverence common to sacred space. 

It is very hard for millions of Americans to understand how religion fits into the fabric of the Arab world. The Europeans and the Americans by definition of  their law and bullying, and missionaries spent 500 years ripping this ideological merge of elements out of the cultures of the indigenous peoples of the North American continent. Knowing that it is no wonder a Rihanna and a creative crew would miss the nuances of worship and reverence, custom, and politics Arabs practice and have a fashion shoot in a holy place. 

In practice, Americans do not hold land sacred. To other peoples in the world that is a dangerous spirit. A people who would invade the holy land of their proclaimed religion without reserve, or regret is an incomprehensible creature. With the same horror the Apaches felt watching the Spanish/Mexican sheep herders copulating with their sheep millions of Arabs were horrified watching American bomb the cities of Iraq, where the Garden of Eden once existed for Adam and Eve. With that as a backdrop here comes Rihanna. 

You see? - Gregory E. Woods 10.29.13

Rihanna lying in the court yard of the sacred place of the Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu  Dhabi  in 2013.

the Story 
is translated from Arabic into English, I believe. So don't be put off by the language usage in the short script. - Gregory

8 Forces = Creation

hair flung into the air by belly dancer

During the years time moved around and gave me age I've thought about the so-called struggle with the Devil, and I began to see the emphasis on him as a Magician's Trick; a clever way of throwing out of sync where the focus of spiritual work should be: within. Not only is the universe reflected within our being the shadows and the light of our souls is reflective of the elements that compose Creation. Creation is a dance of elements. It is math and law, as Old Man taught me over the same years that gave me age, and insights.

Morihei Ueshiba, who founded Aikido, observed and shared that "Eight forces sustain creation: movement and stillness, solidification and fluidity, extension and contraction, unification and division."  When the Sioux war chief, Sitting Bull was in a battle he said, "Today is a good day to die, for all the things of my life are here." Jesus said, "I am the way the truth and the Light..."

These are long ways of men saying what women teach by their powers of Birth. Life-death-resurrection is the fundamental thread within the mystery teachings of Judaism, and from the ancient mysterious of the Egyptians, and many other indigenous traditions lives these sensible  observations felt in the way one lives with the Earth, our Mother.

War-like cultures have to have an enemy. Islam talks about the holy jihad as the inner battle, or struggle one undertakes within one's soul between light and dark, good and evil. These themes are fundamental to growth, and uncovering the mysteries we come from and are born into and are compelled to explore. If one needs a devil to focus on to become his/her best self; so be it. It is just that Old Man forbade me giving Satan any energy by acknowledging, or saying his name. Old Man said Christians say his name, and gave him more credit for things than they do Jesus!

- Gregory E. Woods, 

Keeper of Stories

10.10.13

Resolve through Knowledge

Scholars -  Tijaniyyah Scholars in Dakar in partnership with The Carter Center's Global Human Rights Project
July 29, 2015·
 

 

The Inheritors heart emoticon Warith heart emoticon Tijaniyyah Scholars convening in Dakar in Partnership with The Carter Center's Global Human Rights Project heart emoticon They know do you??? heart emoticon

“Then We gave the Scripture as inheritance unto those whom We elected of Our servants.” [Qur’an, 35.32]

Abu al-Darda’ (Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:

“Scholars are the inheritors of the prophets.” [Related byTirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Nasa’i, Ibn Maja, Ahmad, Ibn Hibban, and others] Ibn al-Mulaqqin, Zayla`i, Ibn Hajar, and others seemed it sound (hasan) or rigorously authentic (sahih)]

The knowledge possessed by these scholars is the knowledge deemed beneficial (al-`ilm al-nafi`) by Allah and His Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace). This knowledge was defined by Imam Ghazali as being, “Knowledge of the way to Allah Most High and the next life.”

It is not just information: rather, it is the way of transforming oneself outwardly and inwardly, in order to become true slaves of Allah, on the path of His Beloved Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).

This is the “deep understanding in religion” that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) praised when he said, “Whomever Allah wishes well for He gives deep understanding (fiqh) in religion.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

This deep understanding (fiqh) was defined by Imam Abu Hanifa (Allah have mercy on him) when he said, “Fiqh is to know one’s self: what is for it and against it.” Deep understanding of religion encompasses all three dimensions of the religion: beliefs (iman), outword actions (islam), and, most importantly, spiritual excellence (ihsan).

The person who possesses this knowledge is one deserving of being called a true scholar (faqih). A true scholar is defined as being, “A person of knowledge (`ilm) who acted (`amal) on their knowledge, so Allah bequeathed them knowledge of what they didn’t know.”

Just Sayin"... from Hajja Ayisha Jeffries Cisse