Greedy Bellies, Hungry Hearts

Romanticism and materialism are by-products of categorisation, conflicts, wars, order, races, etc. Greedy bellies have converted us into mere expats fleeing from that suffocating periphery. Living up to people’s expectations causes greed, whilst we grow expats because social norms insist on leaving us adrift. Human psyche is easily acquainted with, but still difficult to be redressed.

Accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Hellotalk,etc, are meant to be hearts’ food. Compliments and emoticons are tidbits would never make us full. To my way of thinking, relationships, especially, online ones are paintings relying on the painters. We are the painters who choose which one to show off, or dismiss, which is considered a masterpiece, or barely a scribble.

According to science, order is woven into the tapestry of life and it is something unchangeable as evolution occurs differently. However, religions have another standpoints that human beings are equal before Allah.

“And drive not away those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, desiring His Face. Naught of their reckoning falls upon thee and naught of thy reckoning falls upon them, such that thou shouldst drive them away and thus become one of the wrongdoers.”

This Quranic verse was reportedly revealed when a group of prominent Makkans indicated that they wished to join the Prophet’s teaching circle, but were loathe to sit among and be associated with some of Muhammad’s other followers who were of low social standing (including Bilāl and other freed slaves) and so asked the Prophet to send them away.

Universal trust: with money as a go-between, any two people can cooperate on any project.

Human beings believe that money is the key overshadowing hearts. I am deep down sure that there is a relationship between money and that void in our lives. Accumulation of one side will definitely shrink the other one. Ironically I have none of them, but that void is unbearable!

Rumi

The soul: a wide listening sky with thousands of candles.

When anything is sold, soul gets given in the cash: people waiting at a door.

A ladder leaning on a roof, someone climbing down.

The market square bright with understanding.

Listening opens its amazed mouth.

Restoration Of Saudi Women’s Entitlement

Saudi women are finally allowed to travel on their own. In a place where relics and traditions overshadow religions and its essence. Before Islam, women were goods and chattels inherited after their master’s death. They were concubines, dispossessed, dependants,etc, until Islam came down. However, it sounds nomadic lifestyle outstrips even holy scriptures.

Can I travel alone with no mahram?

It is permissible for a woman to travel without a mahram “guardian” provided the way, destination, and return journey are safe and provided she does not meet with any harassments jeopardizing both her safety and religion. It has been narrated through Aidy Ibn Hatem that the prophet told him, “And if you live a long life, you will surely see women traveling from Hira till they circumambulate the Ka’ba, fearing no one except Allah“.

Imam Ahmed’s report of the hadith includes: ” By He in whose hands is my soul, verily Allah will bring this mattar (Islam) into completion till women travel from Hira and circumambulate the Ka’ba without being accompanied by anyone”. From this hadith with its different chains of narration, some scholars have derived the permissibility of a woman traveling alone if her safety is guaranteed. Moreover, they have used this hadith to restrict other prohibiting hadiths which, according to them, referred to the lack of security associated with travel in the distant past.

The majority of scholars have permitted a woman to travel for obligatory hajj without a mahram if accompanied by trustworthy females or company. They based their opinion on the precedence of the Mothers of Believers (may Allah be pleased with them) who went on hajj after the prophet’s death and the caliphate of Umar was accompanied by Uthman Bin Affan.

Allah create us different to know each other and witness his phenomenal creation on earth. I am so glad and looking forward to hearing more pleasant news about Saudis and others!

A Solo Journey

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable. When I remember who I am, I read the prophet book, Gibran Khalil Gibran with the song, https://m.soundcloud.com/haydarhamid/dnlywl3n7wvy

How You Can Master English From A To Z Without Paying A Penny!

If you want to study abroad rocketing your future, you have to learn English. Diseases are terrifying, unexpected, yet they can be treated and cured if you are acquainted with its disorders. English is the language of science and research. We are locked up into the same room, insulars, parochial, digest only what we receive. What changes this loathsome condition is ENGLISH. Politics, history, education, health, better places to live in, second opportunities, etc rely on English and better comprehension.

“People may say mastering English is out of reach as it requires bulging our bank accounts in the first place. You would never learn English, unless you mingle with native English speakers and only native English speakers. I was born and raised in Egypt and willing to spend the rest of my life there. Therefore, it is utterly ridiculous to waste time on learning. I would never learn, I am a nonentity!” All these are mere hallucinations and superstitions. We are living in the third millennium where the internet is easily accessible to everyone. You only need your persistence and determination to outstrip.

Once upon a time, in 2011, there was an Egyptian girl, a fresh graduate, a hopeful, but the atmosphere shattered her dreams. Wherever she went, predestination forced her to return empty handed. There were that moments of crying, despair, and even envy. After four years of going back and forth, she made up her mind and decided to break the mold. She set off her new solo journey of learning and immersion. Now, that mature woman is running her own blog, ironically, that blog is in English, not in her mother tongue. Besides that, she is about to move up her ladder and have a glittering career.

Success and failure are two sides of the same coin. Who never savoured failure, would never appreciate the taste of success. Hopefully, I can inspire even one person to better his/her life someday. Let me tell you what I have done to learn English in detail.

• First and foremost, you have to study and write down whatever you read, others’ hints, and tips. English consists of grammar and vocabularies, so dismissing any of them may ruin the entire journey.

• Follow Michael Youssef’s plan as he is my role model and thousands as well.
• Surround yourself with English as much as possible, download BBC prodcast, watch documentaries and turn on CC.
• Download Hellotalk, thus you can make friends from all over the world to chat with them, correcting each other’s posts, and grammatical mistakes.
• There is another useful application which is Lingebe. Lingebe is a good option for those who prefer anonymity because it is only for calls.
• Currently, my only pastime is to read through anybooks application, but it is suitable for advanced-upper intermediate users.

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Patience is the key to get to your desirable destination, otherwise the vehicle would jerk then flip! It took me three years to get where I am today. It may be longer or shorter according to the person and their utmost effort. A couple of years to enlighten the other decades on earth.

• Useful applications: Hellotalk, Quora, Reverso, Lingebe, Oxford dictionary, Anybooks, BBC news, BBC podcast, The Guardian.

• Some useful channels on YouTube: Real Stories, Al-Jazeera English, TEDx, DW, 60 Minutes, CBS news, etcetera.

Beginners’ plan, https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/0BzXUdSWn9JveTVd4Z0RwWFc3UWc?usp=drive_open

A good plan for intermediate level, https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/0BzXUdSWn9JveVTFpZllQMkttS3M

Who prepare for IELTS, https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0ByyZWo08OOcUbG1ubUJvWG9YZUE

Life is about evolution. Don’t stay put!

Marriage What Makes Our Lives, As Women, Uneventful!

Definitions belong only to the definer, not the defined.

She may be called a spinster in the Middle East, or a leftover in the Far East which elucidates how sketchy her self image is without a man. Ironically, if a man does not get married, it is because he is not willing to do so. On the other hand, if a woman does not get married, this means she is a relic, a surplus, etc!

every society accumulated layer upon layer of cultural ideas and norms that have little to do with biology. Societies associate a host of attributes with masculinity and femininity that, for the most part, lack a firm biological basis!

In a larger space, for example in North Korea, the sexes become segregated. At mealtime, the women huddle together over a low wooden table near the kitchen, eating cornmeal, which was cheaper and less nutritious than rice, the preferred staple of North Koreans. The father and son eat rice at their own table.

At the time, girls are not supposed to ride bicycles. There is a social stigma. People think it unsightly and sexually suggestive, and periodically the Workers’ Party have issued formal edicts, making it technically illegal.Therefore, if a girl rode a bicycle, men would try to pass her on their bicycles, cursing her for her audacity.
“You’re going to tear your cunt,” they would scream at her. Ironically, North Korea is not a religious country, but it is as abhorrent as the Arab world.

Ostensibly, objectification turns us, as women, into a burden which prompts the society to get rid of even if the ring will turn into handcuffs!

Without marriage, the rhythm of your life will get cacophonous. However, marriage is a contract which is based on mutual consent between a man and a woman to fulfil their sexual needs and support each other. There are neither slaves nor masters. It is an equation of caretaker with woman’s resourcefulness.

The picture shows what was prohibited for women in the medieval history because of culture and only culture! We still have miles of illumination to go before we sleep.

An Outcast

“These displaced persons are mostly unwanted where they fled from; unwanted where they are, in refugee camps; and unwanted where they want to go.”

“With the exception of those born in refugee camps, every refugee used to have a life. It doesn’t matter whether you were a physician in Bosnia or a goat herder in the Congo: what matters is that a thousand little anchors once moored you to the world. Becoming a refugee means watching as those anchors are severed, one by one, until at last you’re floating outside of society, an untethered phantom in need of a new life.”

I think this book shows only a sample of refugees and immigrants and how they are living where they are now. As someone who was born and raised in Egypt willing to live in a better place someday; the scene does not sound beautiful, but my humanistic instinct is prompting me to flee at least to keep it safe.

You may want to check out this too The Displaced.

5 Minutes For The Next 50 Years Of Your Life, Oprah Winfrey.

All of you living here, have the potential for enormous success. There is a price comes with that. First and foremost, knowing who you are. Knowing who you are!

Being able to answer this question: “Who am I? And what do I want?”

I am asking the bigger question of “Who am I”. Who am I really?! And what do I want?

I do not just want to just be successful in the world.

I do not want to just make a mark or have a legacy

The answer to that question, for me, is: I want to fulfil the highest, truest expression of myself as a human being.

You must have some kind of vision for your life. Even if you do not know the plan, you have to have a direction in which you choose to go.

You want to be in the driver’s seat of your own life because if you are not, life will drive you!

Knowing who you really are in this space and time that we embody. You must find a way to serve.

“NOT EVERYBODY CAN BE FAMOUS, BUT EVERYBODY CAN BE GREAT, BECAUSE GREATNESS IS DETERMINED BY SERVICE.”

Now we live in a world where everybody wants to be famous, and where we admire people for just being famous!

We think being known bring us value. The truth is all of that will fade in time. In three years, you will not be able to name the housewives of Atlanta. The real truth is that service and significance!

Service and the significance that you bring to your service is that which is lasting. When you shift the paradigm of whatever it is, you choose to do to service, and you bring significance to that. Success will, I promise you, follow you. Service and significance equal success.

Here is the key: learn from every mistake, because every experience, encounter, and particularly, your mistakes are there to teach you and force you into being more of who you are. And then, figure out what is the next right move. What is your true calling? What is your dharma? What is your purpose?

All of you living here, have the potential for enormous success. There is a price comes with that.

People do not always like you, and they are not happy for you. And if you surround yourself with people who are not accustomed to your success, they become fearful. They become scared. Because you are reflecting back something to them that they do not recognize.

People who want the best for you, want you to be your best. So, my greatest advice to you is to surround yourself with people who are going to fill your cup until your cup runeth over. And what I know for sure is that the biggest choices begin and end with you!

Your internal big question: who I want to be in the world? Be excellent! People notice! Let excellence be your brand. Everybody talks about building a brand. I never even knew what it was. When people say “You are a brand”. I would say “No. I am just Oprah”. What I recognize now is that my choice is in every way. In every example, in every experience, to do the right thing. And the excellent thing is what has created the brand.

Experience what counts, otherwise is a figment of your imagination, as nothing precious will fall into your lap!