491 Unmoderated Comments, OH DEAR!!!!

Asalaam alaykom ramatullahi wa barakto dearest sisters (and extroidinarily LOYAL followers):

I have been AWOL. I have 491 unmoderated comments! I don't know what to start with. I still don't have a computer so please forgive me, I don't like to go to internet cafes.

As for my personal life, I have settled quite nicely in Oman. I have a beautiful villa in a safe neighborhood (as opposed to before) and Y is coming in Ramadaan. Boxie will be back unless we marry her off.

I got offered a job in the abaya industry and in journalism here but for some reason where I am working right now just seemed more right. I am focussing less on dawah and more on educating myself (forgive all LOL, it is one of the blessings of being in the Gulf). But I still get to give dawah, ironically, to born Muslims.

I truly do love Oman. It is peaceful here.

A unique thing I have learnt about the country is the types of Islam practiced here. The main population of Oman practices Ibhadhi Islam, a small small minority are Shia (mainly in Mutrah area), and the Sunnis tend to be from Sur (Sharqiyah region). So I have had the oppurtunity to study Shia sources and Ibhadhi ones. I still hold fast to believing my readings in the Sunnah carry more weight and the basic principles of Shiaism to me are very wrong (also the history of the Saudi Royal Family makes me soooooo mad about what they practice as 'sunnah'). One of my friends who is shia got kicked in the head on hajj for using her clay stone. I of course think the use of the stone a bida but kicking someone ( a little girl of 8!!!!) in the head????? HOW IS THAT GOING TO CHANGE HER MIND? MAKE HER MINDLESS maybe... Grrrr.

Anyways, love Oman, will try to post more regularily. I have just taken a vacation from blogging. Please forgive!

Love always,
-Pixie

UPDATE @ what's going on at ILOVEHISHMA

So me and my husband have been talking and I've decided to start wearing niqab as soon as my job for the bank I work for is over. InshaAllah, my husband is worried for me, but he supports me, lol, even if he thinks it is mustahaab, rather than wajib. Alhamdulilah. Don't worry! I still love hijab fashion and will keep posting on that, inshaAllah:P

I have also been asked to be interviewed about niqab and the role of the munaqaba in Islamic and Western societies, to inform and break down stereo-types, and talk about key issues like integration, a woman's right to chose hijab, protecting women from anyone who would force them to it (their compulsion should be to Allah subhanhu wa ta'ala and NOT any mortal being is my take on it), ect.... So InshaAllah something good will come of that.

And after Eid I shall be reporting from UAE, and other Gulf countries:D Boxie and I will be making more style videos for ILOVEHISHMA, inshaAllah, and it'll be so much fun:p Also, lol, you'll have to visit our online souq, when th website is posted:D

Sorry if I have been so busy, not posting comments or responses to the comments like I do usually, like within five hours of them being made. I haven't even answered alot of friends' emails. SO I have alot of requests, especially for Jum'a Thoughts, issues ranging from the ayah in the Qu'ran often taken out of context to be read "beat" a woman, to slavery, and an illustrated guide to jilbab that has been in the works a long while. Since these posts require alot of research (and often of a classic Arabic grammatical nature), bear with. They take me some time to make clear and in-offensive. When I rush them, lol, someone always gets offended. I am also working on my civil ceremony wedding for my parents to attend, and that's been great and crazy, and booking flights and playing around with itinerary and our budget has been a greta maze of delights. So please bear with. More fashion is coming your way inshaAllah, and as we all prepare for Ramadaan, more Jum'a Thoughts.