Hip Hop E-card

September 22 - My Birthday!!!!!!!

See in all the confusion of natural disaster I was not able to post on my b-day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!!!!!!

Hurricane Ike!!!!!

I haven't posted in several days thanks to Hurricane Ike slapping us Houston folks like we was Tina Turner or something! Unfortunately, I broke fast due to traveling to San Antonio to avoid the mayhem. I do not like Storms!!!!!! Houston is the Hurricane capitol and I've lived through many as a young child....now that I'm grown I refuse to hunker down and tough it out thru locomotive winds and armagedeon floods.

Nonetheless, I only miss a few days, but as soon as I returned to fasting mother nature called again......TMI!!!

I plan to resume fasting, but until then I will continue reading bookson Islam and listening to Quran Explorer: http://quranexplorer.com/Quran/Default.aspx

Prescribed Prayer Made Simple

This is a really good book for a person like me who is learning all the intricate aspects of salaat. It's lays out step by step the prayers and postures of Fajr, Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib, & Ishaa. Very easy to read, follow along guide for the novice.

http://www.onlineislamicstore.com/b3474.html

Coca-Cola celebrates Ramadan?!?!?!

Coca-Cola plans to celebrate Ramadan this year by decorating cans with a crescent moon and star – a widely recognized Islamic symbol.

Coca-Cola has hired a company named ATTIK to handle packaging, Brand Republic reports. Its Christmas cans are usually decorated with secular-themed images of Santa Claus, but McCarty asked the company whether it planned to introduce Christian symbols as well.

"When I learned the symbol of the Islamic faith will appear on Coca-Cola packaging during Ramadan 2008, I found myself wondering whether or not the Atlanta-based soft drink maker will soon include the Christian cross and Jewish star of David in future holiday packaging designs targeting people of those faiths," he wrote on his blog, Bob McCarty Writes.

In 2006, Coca-Cola released a statement about its recognition of Ramadan.
"In a globalizing world, Ramadan presents an opportunity to showcase the true values of Islam and what it stands for," it said. "Because no other brand is as inclusive as and no other company is as diverse as Coca-Cola, we have a unique opportunity to play a valued role as an international bridge-builder and facilitator of dialogue during Ramadan."

The company's statement also revealed its policy of supporting Muslim employees in their faith.
"In addition to the focus on Ramadan and Eid, the Coca-Cola system has also implemented policies and programs to meet the needs of Muslim employees, such as providing halal food in cafeterias and organizing special prayer rooms at company facilities," it said. "Several bottlers have also funded employee pilgrimage initiatives."

Coca-Cola has not responded to WND's request for comment.

Myasia's Transformation

My idea for my first blog is to chronicle my first real Ramadan experiences. I've observed Ramadan in the past, but I've never taken my shahadah, nor have I fulfill all Ramadan's rules and laws. I have made intention to observe this year in hopes to bring back a spiritual awareness of Islam that I once had. I was introduced to islamic concepts via the Nation of Islam and the 5% Nation of God and Earths. I fondly remember the days when I was hungry for knowledge and had an insatiable thirst for study and spiritual discipline. However, that was in 1992, a long time ago and so much has changed in my life since then. I was in 1999 when I went uncovered after 7 years of begin wrapped and 2000 when I cut my waist length dreads. It was an evolution in my eyes. Not a backwards move, nor a rejecting of certain philosophies. I was simply growing up. Many of my peers in the 5% were not. Some had return to Christianity, others sank deeper into drugs and the increasingly popular rapper party lifestyle ever associated with the 5%. Me, I was a mother, a teacher, and more mature than I'd been in the past.

Fast forward to 2003...............After many years of searching, I finally found him......my current husband. Perfectly so, we;d gone thru similar journeys searching for Truth. He;d been raised Christian, joined the Nation of Islam, converted to Orthodox Islam, and was now self-studying as a Hebrew Israelite. Like me, he was tired of depending on so-called leaders with their mis-interpretations and backsliding ways. When we met, it was perfect. However, its been a struggle ever since to actually get on the same page spiritually. Its a continual struggle to decide under which religion, philosophy, and way of life we want to raise our family in. He's been more diligent than I and I've finally realize that I had no longer been on a active search for knowledge. I'd given up. I was stagnant. And now its time to move.

So this Ramadan I make intention to devote myself to Remembering Allah. I intend to fast and pray and allow Allah to bestow the barakah (blessings) of enlightenment onto me as he'd done once before.