A Few of My Favorite Things

Hello! I am back from Dallas and had a wonderful time visiting with my parents and my sister, (and dh too, although I'm around him all the time!). I'm not really big into gifts, materiality wise, but this year I got a few gifts that were really amazing and made me appreciate my family that much more. My mom spent the last 6 months pulling together every family recipe that I have ever enjoyed since childhood from all her cookbooks and put them together into one cookbook that she typed up along with her commentaries on the recipes. Wow! She even got it bound together at Kinkos. Another special gift, a mancala set from dh, which is a great game that I love and which was "borrowed" by an acquaintance a few years ago and never returned. It is a traditional African counting game and its also great to teach your kids to count, but even us so-called adults think its fun! If you have never played it I definitely recommend and it is not very expensive to get, see pic above!

The Cherry Tree Carol

When I first reverted to Islam I was especially attracted to learning about the stories of Isa and Maryam in the Qur'an, probably because it was the most familiar to me, so it made the reversion process easier. Anyway, the story of Maryam and the fig tree in the Qur'an really struck me as oddly familiar the first time I heard it, but I knew that it was not a traditional Christian story:

From Surah Maryam:

17. She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent to her Our Ruh [angel Jibrael (Gabriel)], and he appeared before her in the form of a man in all respects.
18. She said: "Verily! I seek refuge with the Most Beneficent (Allâh) from you, if you do fear Allâh."
19. (The angel) said: "I am only a Messenger from your Lord, (to announce) to you the gift of a righteous son."
20. She said: "How can I have a son, when no man has touched me, nor am I unchaste?"
21. He said: "So (it will be), your Lord said: 'That is easy for Me (Allâh): And (We wish) to appoint him as a sign to mankind and a mercy from Us (Allâh), and it is a matter (already) decreed, (by Allâh).' "
22. So she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a far place (i.e. Bethlehem valley about 4-6 miles from Jerusalem).
23. And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a date-palm. She said: "Would that I had died before this, and had been forgotten and out of sight!"
24. Then [the babe 'Iesa (Jesus) or Jibrael (Gabriel)] cried unto her from below her, saying: "Grieve not! Your Lord has provided a water stream under you;
25. "And shake the trunk of date-palm towards you, it will let fall fresh ripe-dates upon you."
26. "So eat and drink and be glad, and if you see any human being, say: 'Verily! I have vowed a fast unto the Most Beneficent (Allâh) so I shall not speak to any human being this day.'"
27. Then she brought him (the baby) to her people, carrying him. They said: "O Mary! Indeed you have brought a thing Fariya (an unheard mighty thing).
28. "O sister (i.e. the like) of Hârûn (Aaron) [not the brother of Mûsa (Moses), but he was another pious man at the time of Maryam (Mary)]! Your father was not a man who used to commit adultery, nor your mother was an unchaste woman."
29. Then she pointed to him. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?"
30. "He ['Iesa (Jesus)] said: Verily! I am a slave of Allâh, He has given me the Scripture and made me a Prophet;"
31. "And He has made me blessed wheresoever I be, and has enjoined on me Salât (prayer), and Zakât, as long as I live."
32. "And dutiful to my mother, and made me not arrogant, unblest.
33. "And Salâm (peace) be upon me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!"
34. Such is 'Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary).


Hmm it sounded so familiar, just like this Christmas Carol from my childhood, which is a very very old carol (13th or 14th century) and which is not very commonly sung as far as I know, but it was one of my mom and my favorites.

The Cherry Tree Carol:

When joseph was an old man, an old man was he
He married virgin mary, the queen of galilee
He married virgin mary, the queen of galilee
And one day as they went walking, all in the garden green
There were berries and cherries as thick as may be seen
There were berries and cherries as thick as may be seen
Then mary said to joseph, so meek and so mild
"joseph, gather me some cherries for i am with child"
"joseph, gather me some cherries for i am with child"
Then joseph flew in anger, in anger flew he
"let the father of the baby gather cherries for thee
Let the father of the baby gather cherries for thee"
Then up spoke baby jesus, from out mary's womb
"bow down ye tallest tree that my mother might have some
Bow down ye tallest tree that my mother might have some"
So bent down the tallest tree to touch mary's hand
Said she, "oh look now joseph, i have cherries at command"
Said she, "oh look now joseph, i have cherries at command"
When joseph was an old man, an old man was he
He married virgin mary, the queen of galilee
He married virgin mary, the queen of galilee

How did this story enter Christianity in the form of an obscure carol when it is not a part of the modern day bible? Was it taken from the Muslim neighbors of Europe during the Crusades? Or is it a part of Christianity that was later wiped out of the Bible, only to be confirmed in the Qur'an? I don't know the answer, but it sure is interesting to think about!

Christmas Shopping Blues

It is that time of the year again. Time to battle the crowds at the mall, agonize over what to buy for your family and generally (in my case) get grumpy about the whole situation. First of all, my parents are impossible to shop for. They have no hobbies, or very few hobbies that aren't very stuff intensive (for example, my dad is a soccer referee, you can only buy so many yellow jerseys!). My sister isn't that hard to buy for because she is a college kid so she always needs something. And this year I thought---thought- that dh and I made a deal to make each other little stockings with lots of small goodies in them. $50 limit. We don't really celebrate Christmas since we are Muslim, but it is part of my culture as an American and my family is Christian, so I still like the traditions like giving presents, eating cookies, and so on. Anyways, back to me and dh's deal with the stockings. I spent 5 hours last night finding cute things for him and today he says, why don't you just pick whatever you want out and that will be your present from me. NOOOOOOOO!!!!! I want him to pick something. Is that too much? I don't really want anything, I just want something thoughtful from him. I can't even think of something that I want for myself?????? Ah well, there are still a few days left, maybe we can work something out. Also, I have Christmas depression from getting in a huge fight with my sister over the phone yesterday, but that is a whole other story. Salaams!

That's This Cricket....

Not This Cricket

Pakistani Cricket Madness

Today is the last ODI (one day international, for you less cricket savy readers) and my dh and his best friend Yasir are watching in the living room, while I am chilling in the bedroom. I am definitely cricketed out after having watched every match in the last series. For those of you who don't know, a one day cricket match lasts approximately 8 hours and when they are playing Pakistan, the game starts at 1 am and goes until about 9 am. So you have to stay up all night and watch. I will say that I am a secret fan now, even though I complain about it. And of course I cheer for Pakistan! I even know most of the players. My faves, Shahid Afriidi (he hits all those sixes!) and Inzamam (the captain, I think he looks like a big teddy bear). I don't like Shoaib Akhtar because he had such an attitude and his hair is always long and greasy, lol. Sorry if I butchered any of their names. Well, it is 3 am now and England is batting, and I am ready for sleep. Can't wait till January when Pakistan plays India, I am sure that we will be up all night for that too!

I'm Baaaaaaaack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, first of all, let me say that my pre-new year's resolution is to actually write on this thing, although noone reads it! That's ok, I am just going to use it to spout off and hopefully it will help me even if it isn't any good. I have just finished the worst semester of my entire life (including the second semester of my junior year of high school when I had mono). I am sooooo glad that it is over. I think that I am going to make a resolution to blog a little bit everyday, even if it is just a paragraph or so. My problem before is that I was trying to write too much at once, which made me feel like I didn't have time to keep up with it during school. So hopefully I will do better and maybe someone will actually start leaving me comments that aren't ads for weight lose or low interest mortgages. (hint-hint to anyone who has left or is planning to leave those types of comments, please don't do it, you get my hopes up when I see the comment email in my inbox until I figure out that its spam).