Had I known Brother Fendi had a website up , I would have added it sooner. As it is, I noticed it in my referrer logs, and went to have a look. To my surprise, he has a section on the muslims of Poland! Now down to few thousand souls, these people are Tatars who […]
Author Archives: bingregory
Moving
First, a quick update on the travel plans: After the shock of The Midnight Fax wore off, we were able to get in touch with the university and plead for mercy. Their hearts were not unmoved, and gave as a month reprieve to set our affairs in order. So for the moment, our departure looks […]
Chechnya
Chechnya is back in the news with the hostage-taking crisis in Moscow. Chechnya falls off the front page so fast, it’s hard to remember what exactly has been going on there all this time. Alt.Muslim featured the crisis on their front page, with a number of good links. Bill Allison of Ideofact.com [who I’ve been […]
Boris speaks
So I was having this conversation with an atheist from Russia about how I wanted to live in Malaysia. I can’t blame him his perspective; he’d moved from arguably the worst place on earth to arguably the best. So he told me this story. I wasn’t swayed, mind you, but it bears repeating: A man […]
Arahan Kembali Ke Malaysia
That’s what the fax said that woke us up at two in the morning Tuesday night. The suddenness and sternness of the summons made me feel like Frank Sinatra being shown the Queen of Hearts in the Manchurian Candidate. Get thee to Malaysia! I had known this was coming; university would only grant so many […]
Samuel Wooten Photography
I stumbled across a stunning collection of photographs at Journey Through Islam. Wooten has photographed from Morrocco to China. I particularly like his pictures of the village elder from China and Mali. Wooten is an unusual name, and I immediately thought he may be related to the two other Wootens I’ve heard of before, Futureman […]
Nifs ul-Sha’ban
Driving eastbound to my home at maghrib time just now I saw the moon hanging full and low, slightly orange in color, shining bright. Alhamdulillah, tonight is Nifs ul-Sha’ban, the middle of the month. Only two weeks left until Holy Ramadan. Tomorrow is a day RasulAllah often fasted, in a month he fasted much. Don’t […]
The Importance of Qasidah
There are so many beautiful habits and customs that have become commonplace in countries where Islam has existed for centuries, like reciting salawat after Adhan or joining the du’a of the Imam after salat, that have not yet permeated the muslim community here. Most palpably lacking is the invoking of praise on the Propet, peace […]