"There is no legitimacy other than that of the people."

 -from a statement prepared by the Egyptian Army.

The news of dictator Hosni Mubarak stepping down in Egypt, was great news to wake up to this morning! So much has been written, reported and discussed about the popular uprisings/movements in North African and Arabian countries during the past few weeks, it has been a lot to keep up with. Lives have been lost, thousands have been injured, but protesters were resilient in their determination to escape the throws of their authoritarian leader-impostors.

In a piece written on January 31st, Professor Tariq Ramadan shared two important points that resonated with me greatly. He said, "From our vantage point in the West, our obligation is to follow closely and lend our support to popular movements in Africa, North Africa, the Middle East and Asia as they reject dictatorship and repression and seek to live free. It is our moral duty."

And later, pointed out that the "Time has come to stand up for the principles of justice and liberty, of true democracy and respect for peoples rather than pay only lip-service to democratization and popular outrage while political systems remain hermetically sealed and collaboration with dictatorial regimes has become an open secret." He's really hit the nail on its head here.

The coming months will be trying for the incoming government and the Egyptian people. May God guide the Egyptians, Tunisians and all other oppressed people in their quest for liberty, sound leadership and a restoration of order. Ameen.

*For further reading, here is a heartfelt message to Egyptians, an interesting backgrounder on Suleiman, and an article discussing what might be next for Egypt. More to come!

In the meantime, check out this video by a few North American artists on the Egyptian plight! Here are some other songs to listen to as well!



I wonder which country may be next....?

REVIEWED: e.l.f. Studio Tinted Moisturizer

Some time back, I purchased the e.l.f. Studio Tinted Moisturizer for $1.50 CDN (hooray for e.l.f. coupons!) in the shades Nude & Sand. And even more recently, I purchased a second bottle in Sand because I didn't want to run out unexpectedly! I find e.l.f products are either a hit or a miss. This tinted moisturizer definitely falls into the former category! In fact, I have recently decided to change my face makeup routine because of it! In the hope of finding more natural looking face makeup, I'm glad to have stumbled on this TM.

In Sand.

Farewell, Friday Night Lights...

Just finished watching the series finale of Friday Night Lights and I have to say, I am quite sad to see it go. After 5 short seasons, the show's wrap up was very satisfying. They tied up all the right loose ends and having seen many a series end, I can say that this one was definitely one of the better ones.

This show contained everything you could desire from a great television show--a solid plot and storyline, genuine and sincere acting, major character growth, romances, bromances...the works!

From coach's relationship with his wife, to Smash and Vince's struggles, to Matt and Landry's bromance, to Buddy's insane energy, the show took you on an emotional rollercoaster and never failed to impress (except on the rare occasion!). Such memorable characters. Bien fait.

One of the best damn shows of all time.

You'll be missed.

DIY Beauty: Cutting your Own Hair

Like most girls (and probably some guys!), I have had some horrendous experiences at the hair salon! The few times I have received nice haircuts, it has always been at great expense. At the moment, I find myself at a point where I would like to add some shape to my hair, but am unwilling to pay a huge sum of money to achieve this result. So, in search of some cost-effective tips, I decided to head to Youtube to learn how to cut my own hair.

I have trimmed my own hair before, and have also cut my own bangs and side fringe in the past- so I'm not afraid to get messy and take a few chances. After all, it's not as if most hair stylists (in my experience) could do that much better than myself.

I'm feeling inspired by the possibility that I'll surprise myself with my haircutting abilities and that I may very well have found a solution to my hair cutting issues once and for all. The prospect of learning how to cut hair does excite me quite a bit!

I recently purchased some haircutting tools including shears, thinning shears, as well as a comb razor. I'm planning to purchase a folding hair razor for my side fringe, from Sally Beauty Supply, before I embark on this adventure though! Altogether, I think these tools should make this process a lot more complete.

So what I have done is collected what I think are the best youtube videos on women's diy haircutting. With each video, I have included my own ideas about what I feel might be good/bad/useful from each one. So let's get started!

Beauty Video Finds!

I've been spending quite a bit of time recently on the 'How-To/Style' section of Youtube! And below are some of my finds. This first video has some good suggestions on how to avoid a cakey appearance while applying foundation. There are an incredible amount of make-up how-to videos online, but I think this British fellow has a pretty solid understanding about make-up application, etc.

DIY Beauty: Nail Marbling

My sister and I came across this video recently and were pretty amazed at this technique!





We experimented a few different times with this and so here are some suggestions we think might make this process easier and more fruitful:

Interesting Finds, Part X

Great read from the ever-intelligent senior politics editor for the New Statesman, Mehdi Hasan, on the politics behind the selective usage of a term we are all familiar with.

I just want to applaud the Correctional Service of Canada for kindly and respectfully accommodating this woman and others with such unique needs. At the end of the day, minor adjustments such as these create harmonious environments for everyone to equally participate in society.

Shame on you, Quebec. You call this equality? Such bloody hypocrites! The members of the World Sikh Organization must have felt very disrespected and 'othered' when they were prohibited from entering the Quebec legislature. The acceptance of racist practices like these in social institutions, normalize a culture of bigotry, which I'm sad to say, has become deeply permeated in French-Canadian society. While I am not the biggest fan of Ignatieff, I do applaud his voice in this matter. Indeed, the kirpan is, “not a weapon. It’s a religious symbol.”

I can't comprehend what kind of insane justification one would come up with for harming another human being. Reading about this made my skin tingle, in a good way! MashAllah, this group of people have set a wonderful example of how we should be treating our brothers and sisters in humanity.

Very commendable work giving these women a platform for their voices to be heard. It is absolutely disgusting how some women are treated in areas deeply entrenched in patriarchy. The inclusion of religious, legal and other specialists should be helpful in dispelling fake religious or legal justifications for these reprehensible violations of basic human rights.

On the problematic track record of religious freedom in Muslim-majority nations, with some hope for the future. It's a great sign that most citizens, as rational human beings do not support harsh restrictions or the persecution. These countries should be setting an example of peaceful and harmonious societies, not being pinpointed for representing the opposite. 

Reviving my spirit...

During the last weekend of December 2010, I had the opportunity to attend a wonderful conference here in Toronto, the Reviving the Islamic Spirit Conference. For the past nine years, the conference has been organized by a group of young Canadian Muslims passionate about influencing and encouraging enlightenment in the local community. Today, they have become a vibrant cultural force in the Canadian Muslim community and since last year have been making strides in the American community, as well. Attendance was at an all-time high this past year with estimates above 20 000! mA!

The conference has attracted well-known and learned scholars, academics, professionals, and community leaders from across the world, 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), Dr. Ingrid Mattson (U.S/CAN), Attallah Shabazz (U.S.), Habib Ali Al-Jifri (Yemen), Dr. Aisha Al-Adawiya (U.S.), Dr. Abdal Hakim Jackson (U.S.), Sr. Ameena Jandali (U.S.), Imam Yassir Fazaga (U.S.), Ustadh Yahya Rhodus (U.S.), Dr. Eboo Patel (U.S.) and a few others.

The focus of this (or last!) year's conference was 'Rules for the Road of Life- Reviving the 10 Commandments in the Modern World'. Speakers more or less stayed on topic in the various sessions, while offering perspectives on related subjects, as well. All in all, it was a spiritually uplifting experience hearing from such passionate and knowledgeable individuals. 

Through the three day conference, I jotted down a few wise words and notable pieces of information that I thought might be nice to share here.

ISNA Canada Makes the Front Page News...

...but unfortunately, not for a good reason :-(

For one of Canada's most visible and well-known Muslim organizations, news of fraud, fund mismanagement, and nepotism is troubling news indeed.

The most concerning aspect of the revelations relate to the misuse of zakat funds (yearly alms for Muslims, also one of the five pillars of Islam) that were donated to the organization. As a central Islamic tenet, the thought that the zakat funds were used for various other purposes is baffling and extremely dishonest, to say the least. If the administration was unable to handle the cost of handling the funds, perhaps they should not have solicited them in the first place. It is shameful that people's trust would be abused this way.

Forget the potential for them to lose their status as a charitable organization; at the moment, ISNA Canada has lost some major credibility as an organization that is worth contributing towards or trustworthy enough to dispense zakat donations.

Interesting Finds, Pt. IX

Borrowed from http://newzstreet.com

It's good to see western countries putting in place a practical measure to reduce our environment footprint. It is worth mentioning that many African countries, including South Africa,  Eritrea, Somalia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya have had full and partial plastic bag bans in effect since 2003, 2005 and 2007, respectively. This certainly makes one wonder why we are so behind in such matters. In my own city, a bag tax was only introduced a year or two ago!

Troubling news for humanity. Bees help to pollinate around "90 % of the world's commercial plants, from fruits and vegetables to coffee and cotton." World food production will be greatly endangered if we are unable to determine the cause of their decline! Climate change, the extinction of wildlife, the desecration of our environment...possible causes of our eventual decline??

I'm not quite sure what to make of this. Creating artificial weather conditions is inherently unnatural, and yet it could serve some purpose. I suppose only time will tell whether such experiments will prove disastrous, or the opposite.