As promised, the rest of my Spring break… for those of you who want to know how I spend my time when I have nothing to do.

Wednesday morning Saqib dropped me off at the Metra station in downtown Lisle and I took a train to Union Station downtown to get on another Amtrak train to Ann Arbor.  I was a little nervous about using “so many” trains to get to my destination, because public transportation makes me nervous.  The schedules, tracks, fees, and employees are generally confusing or not very helpful.  But alhumdu’lillah, I made to Ann Arbor in one piece, to be picked up by my bhabi.

Wow, what a driver.  Hunno really knows how to make good time.  She picked me up right when I stepped off the train, and we were off to the grocery store before I knew it.  We had to pick up a few items for ammi who was waiting for me back at home.  Hunno, who wanted to make good time, managed to pick me up, stop at the store and get me home all within one hour.  Impressive, wouldn’t you say?

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I’ve been exclaiming those two words around my husband since Friday when I came home from school.  It’s my way of making sure everyone knows I’m on… Spring Break!

Since I came home on Friday I’ve been having a lot of fun, alhumdu’lillah.  Friday, Saqib and I started studying for the Rays of Faith exam that was on Sunday.  As boring as studying normally is, it was actually enjoyable to review the class material with him and jogg my memory of all the interesting points that Shaykh Waleed had mentioned more than a month ago during the class.

Saturday, Saqib went to class and I stayed home to get a few things done on my own.  I went to the gym, cleaned the bathroom, dusted the furniture and made kaana.  We had a bunch of mushrooms left over in our fridge so Ummy wanted me to make use of them.  I added some mushrooms to my normal recipe for lasagna.  It turned out pretty much the same, ‘cept the meat layer tasted a little more meaty.  That night after kaana we continued studying for the exam until it was a quarter to midnight and we were getting tired.

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I saw this in a magazine when I was at the gym the other day.

From Allure’s February 2009 issue; BODY NEWS by Kristin Sainani; pg. 84

Do people really need research to tell them that your value goes up when you’re hidden?  It’s called scarcity… why do you think Osama is such a hott commodity.

Imagine a world where every woman covered herself.  All the men would be satisfied with their partners, and maybe women wouldn’t feel so insecure.  *sigh* insha’Allah one day.

Today in the teacher’s lounge I had an interesting discussion with the Islamic studies teacher.  She was mentioning to me that the book she has to use to teach fiqh is so heavy and dense with information that it overwhelms the kids.  It has a lot of “nit picky” details all stemming from the Hanafi madhab.  She doesn’t seem to like the book much.

Personally, I don’t think I’d like it much either.  Not for high school students, at least.  I don’t think that any of them really need to know, just yet, considering their situation in life and at school, so much in depth information about how to pray.  Teaching the details implies that you know the basics, and unfortunately I’m not sure that that is the case.  I know from seeing it first hand that some of these kids can’t get through 2 rakah of sunnah without making major nullifying mistakes.  So why do they need to spend hours learning how to hold their hands, or which degree to make their backs form during rukuh, or just how low to go when it comes time for sujud?

The way I see it is:  Imaan isn’t in the details.  And I think these kids really need something to raise their Imaan, not something to drag it down with too much information.  The idea of being slammed with rules and regulations for something they have to do everyday (pray) would just be dreary and uninviting.  As another teacher put it, we want to show these kids how easy it is to practice this religion, and that it is made to make our lives easier–not more confusing.

If in the future, once these students have perfected their basic salaah by meeting the fardh requirements, THEN they should move on to the advanced aspects and details of it.  Until then, as I told the teacher, I’d be happy just knowing that they know they have to pray and they get that much done.  Maybe my standards are low, but it’s easier to have them met.

I’ve had it!  Buying modest clothes is IMPOSSIBLE and too EXPENSIVE!

I’ve been trying for years now to build a wardrobe of long shirts, very loose pants, skirts, and jilbabs, but it just ain’t happening!  After all this time I have a bunch of mismatched items that cost me a fortune.

I tried once to sew my own clothes, because I couldn’t find what I was looking for in the stores for a reasonable price, but that was disastrous.  The hemlines on my skirts were crooked, and I looked like I was wearing a bag.  Then I tried having a “professional” tailor sew me some skirts in Pakistan, and that was even worse.  The materials looked all wrong and the buttons and zippers were breaking off left and right.

So I’ve tried scowering malls and stores in Muslim-populated areas (ie, Dearborn, MI) but everything is either way too expensive or extremely tacky.

Recently I’ve tried shopping online, but foreals… 50 dollars for a skirt for a CLEARANCE skirt at shukronline.com?  Okay, maybe once or even twice is okay because I was looking in malls for so long for a nice long skirt.  But after that?  I can’t afford to drop $80 for a shirt and a skirt.  I’m not made of money… I’m a teacher for crying out loud.

Why does it have to be this way?  Why isn’t it easier for Muslim girls (of all shapes and sizes) to find modest loose clothing at a reasonable price?  Am I really asking for too much?  If you go to any regular mall, a pair of pants on sale might cost you $20, but are you ever going to find a normal skirt for that amount?  Tshirts and tank tops fly off racks for $5 in the summer, but just finding a long sleeve loose shirt is like looking for a needle in a hay stack.  Don’t get me started on the designer prices! (I think most designers realize that modest clothing is actually classy, so they’re interested in making modest clothes… at $100+)

Dah!  All I want is to dress modestly, why does it have to be sooo FRUSTRATING!!!!!