The Small Things, II

Just a few posts ago, I shared the very first installment of what I hoped would be a recurring blog post! I am happy to be making an addition to The Small Things with this post!

I came across the photograph below in a local daily, I was struck by the juxtaposition of the living and vibrant flowers against the dearth of the desert. I wondered, can life spring in an environment as uninviting as a dry desert?

Scorpian weed in the Mojave desert.

 There is definitely a lesson to be learned from these purple Scorpian weed: Two seeming opposites, coexisting unexpectedly when the conditions are just right...

#Peaceonearth

RECIPE: Baklava

I've always wanted to try my hand at homemade baklava and I finally made it happen this past weekend. Much like the Scottish Shortbread cookies, this recipe is pretty foolproof. There isn't much room to go wrong, even for the novice baker! So don't be afraid if this is your first or second foray into baking.

I basically followed DedeMed's recipe, with a few minor alterations. Her recipes and videos can be found here and here. There are only a few items that you will need to pick up from your local Middle Eastern/South Asian/etc grocery store: Rose water, Orange Blossom Water, Phyllo pastry & nuts of your choice.

Here are the ingredients you will need:

• 1 package phyllo dough
• 1 1/4 cup of butter melted
• 1 1/2 cups of finely chopped nuts of your choice
• 6 tsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp cloves 
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup of Simple Syrup (recipe found below)
• Ground pistachio to decorate

Simple Syrup/Atyr

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp rose water
• 1 tbsp orange blossom water 

 So now that you have all of the ingredients...you're probably wondering what to do with them!

Reviving my Spirit, 2011

Christmas weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the 10th Annual Reviving the Islamic Spirit Convention in downtown Toronto. For the first time in ten years, the conference sold out with an estimated 20 000 participants. Last year, it seems they were somewhere between 17 and 20 000. Attracting scholars from near and far, one great addition this year was Professor Seyyid Hossein Nasr, whom I'll discuss a little later.

The subject of this year's conference was "Control, Chaos or Community: Three Ways, One World, Our Choice." A very fitting title, considering the socio-political/economic/popular worldwide turmoil. I think in all this 'chaos', it was beneficial to get some religious/spiritual perspective on what role/responsibility we have as human beings and western Muslims.

As with previous years, a number of scholars attended, including Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson (U.S), Professor Tariq Ramadan (Switzerland), Professor Umar Faruq Abd-Allah (U.S), Imam Zaid Shakir (U.S.), Shaykh Abdalla Idris Ali (CAN), Dr. Jamal Badawi (CAN), Attallah Shabazz (U.S.), Habib Ali Al-Jifri (Yemen), Dr. Abdal Hakim Jackson (U.S.), Imam Yassir Fazaga (U.S.), with other guests including Shaykh Mishary Alafasy, Dr. Seyyid Hossein Nasr, Shaykh Sulaiman Mulla, Dr. Tawfique Chowdhury and Toronto's own- Sister Tayyibah Taylor.

I thought I would run through a few highlights from a few speakers. My words won't do justice to the emotion and passion behind some of their words, but I will try my best.