Grossly In-congruent

Although Islam to me is a Great religion - as the harder things in life usually tend to reap their respective rewards accordingly - it has more or less become a thing of mere theory with more and more of the masses each day. A style or a fashion statement, an anti authoritarian fad, a terrible misconceived melodrama turned funny.

Traits of piousness in any religion are displayed through actions. Having said that, most of these earnest practitioners of their respective Divine faiths tend to display a thing or two that make them identifiable within a crowd. Such as a white collar as far as men of the Cloth are concerned. A beard for Jews and Muslims. The veil for Muslim woman etc. I won't get into all of them right now but as far as Islam goes, we all know that such physical traits don't do any justice without accompanying actions.

Do these sound familiar; a vocational worker that isn't so crafty but sports the Islamic style beard in a hope to accrue browny points for not being all that knowledgeable in what he is supposed to be, in other words pleading with your more compassionate side or maybe even tryna send the message - I am a terrorist at large - don't mess with me or I might go Bin Laden on your Ass, at best he is a hustler especially when he bluntly wants to charge you an arm and a leg for something he didn't even do properly.

How about having a close relative who aspires to be the GURU of local sheikh-hood, sporting the long beard, short trousers, claiming to have memorised more Quran than you yet has a serious issue with Allah. Meaning he isnt happy with what he has been dealt in life and feels it incumbent upon him to take what his lacking judgement deceives him into thinking is his rightful entitlement. Meaning your lunch for example, trust me, that's to say the least. This is nothing short of the shia ideology to me. A self centered sheikh, whaaaat.., no way, that feels that he has been given the short end of the stick and goes all out tryna get his, including spreading pre-Islamic style lies, using deceit etc? No wonder more and more people are misunderstanding Islam every passing day. The sad thing is, that this fake ass sheikh -- that just so happens to be closely related to me -- admits that he isnt a sheikh, he just camouflages himself as one as it makes him feel at ease. Aaaaagh! Does anyone hear the phrase FASHION STATEMENT?

How about Steven Spielberg's support for Israel and the slaughtering of Palestinian babies, yet has the balls to say that he withdrew as the media consultant for the bejing games because of China's -- get this -- lack of involvement in putting an end to the suffering of Darfur residents. Somebody yell "HOG WASH ALREADY PLEASE," I mean what a hypocrit, please. Although he makes pretty good films.


How about catching a glimpse of a fine young female, due to her sporting her lower half in acrylic spandex or tight ass AX Armani's, only to pry your gaze away from her tightly wrapped butt up to her torso and bust, to find that she is [get this] veiled. In my opinion this is making a mockery of Islamic garb as this confusing at best to most people.

i mean lose the hijab already please. It's also kind of like being at a nude beach, because everyone is nude, nobody really cares because you are supposed to be nude, but when someone with a bikini or a Speedo walks on to the beach, people start checking them out, human intuition makes your mind wander to whats underneath that bikini or whatever. Reason being, it is human nature to want to discover the unknown. Curiosity killed the cat remember.

Now let me move onto family, both my parents have performed their obligatory Hajj, are both Dr.'s, both pray 5 times a day. You would think that they are the epitome of Muslim tolerance and understanding right? Not! I mean I love my parents both to death but their actions and their fighting seriously got me contemplating changing my religion over to Catholicism or something. As did a lot of other things in my family and circle of friends families, such as all the profound charity work that some folks do yet are so damn self centered, egotistical and stubborn, and some times all out rude and obnoxious. However in the end I decided that it is not Islam's fault that about 60% of the people I know that claim to be Muslims are better of if they practiced Voo-Doo. Plus I didn't want to become an apostate and realized that I was insane for even thinking of changing my religion as I love Islam so very much. It is like the promise of a better life just like the American Dream except is concerned with both heaven and Earth and is not really a dream but a logically inevitable leap of faith.

I mean a religion that protects you from all the ills of humanity, that protects the weak, gives people their rights accordingly and is also so grossly misunderstood sounds like a very special thing. The last thing you want when admiring such a private and personal awe inspiring thing such as Islam is a bunch of lunatics running around acting like imbeciles, claiming complete submission to this religion, it can make you feel like a creep for even having anything to do with it. Do you know what I mean?

Taking Personal Inventory ..

It looks like it is clean up time again on this side of the Nile, which ever side that is. It sure seems that I have pissed off a lot of people in one way or the other by just simply being me. Whether it be family members like my mother or one of my many around the way siblings.

Being absent for 10 years in a row and pronounced dead more times than anyone cares to recount, I got away with a certain type of candor upon my return to the vibrant land of the dead. Systematically now though, I feel Egypt's reality is hitting me upside the head and making itself ever more apparent. Getting away with less and less as each few months goes by, not that I am doing anything wrong, but my celebrity status has all but dwindled into future taxable offences.

Having nearly stopped all contact with my mother, saving myself the grief of hearing her shamelessly complain about her ex-husband that she divorced 17 years ago, who just so happens to be my dad. He has been happily remarried after many years and my mother seems to be in extreme denial over here unresolved feelings for the man. Today I was awoken by her call , informing me that she felt bad because I hadn't upgraded my car as I had wanted and that I can choose any car I wanted up to a certain price range. Here comes the good part, pending that I not only relay her feelings to my dad, but I take a nasty message to his wife.

Needless to say, I am still driving the same old piece of shit, which is better than the last form of transportation that I had - my running shoes. Her behavior was another enlightening moment in my life as I saw where I get the out right mental defectiveness that goes hand in hand with addiction, alcoholism and obsession which has prompted me to continue to take personal inventory and when wrong promptly admit it.

My siblings that have sided with my dad or are neutral were pleased that I was steadfast and wasn't tempted by a new 08' Civic or Lancer and the others were in disbelief that I didn't even play on her weakness to get a better car. A few years ago, the family wouldn't even say disturbing things in front of me, completely shielding me as if I was a baby. Now I have proven myself to be their rock, the steadfast reformed bad boy who has a world of wisdom to shed on issues from politics, science, psychology, love and my favorite - how to make a buck. I developed the latter way before my using days.

So meanwhile I am building my credit all by my lonesome, averting any cataclysmic family fall outs and hoping to do exactly what I did back in my other home - North America- being completely independent.

Who Do You Think You're Calling Terrorist ..?

In an ever changing world where one already has to go through extreme lengths in order to keep his or her roots & individuality in tact, a new wave of combative antisemitism vs. Islamophobia has arisen. Making it endemically impossible for one to practice the religion of Islam moderately or freely, without being labelled a fundamentalist follower of the cult of death called Islam by radical antagonist elements.

It is almost like their behaviour taunts us easy going Muslims to actually go out and become terrorists or at least be instigated into doing something stupid that would inadvertently make us out to be the savage cult that they so precariously make us out to be. Making the only option to get around such regressive thinking, is to actually join in a little bit, in the smear campaign against Islam. This will avail us the brownie points required to be in their good favor & gain there so badly needed acceptance. What .. ? Not me!

I have seen this malady on the numerous blogs of several Egyptians. The sad thing is the more they are against Islam & say pro Zionist anti-Islamic crap, the more popular this novelty is & their blogs become.

I mean everyone is entitled to their own opinions & everything but seriously, what the hell ever happened to believing in God & Country? What happened to ethics, morality, patriotism, belief and not selling out?

My frustration was vented a short while ago on someones blog, when I said that I was not in the habit of blindly pleasing my ex-colonial captors. Now get this, I was blasted by someone other than your typical Islam hater, it was a pro Islamic fellow whom I have since become pals with. But it was his initial reaction which got me thinking that there must be some sort of unwritten political code in the blog world, where one must adhere to a conceptual norm of moderation in order to appease the common crowd that erected these beliefs, this is what got me curious about blogging.

You are right to think that I would not like to be labelled a terrorist or have my religion made fun of in any way shape or form. But now that it has come down to it, although I am not a terrorist or a terrorist supporter, I will be glad to be called a terrorist before I join in the bashing of my very own religion.

No matter how misunderstood my religion is, your calling me a terrorist does nothing to corroborate your absurd claim that it is a bad religion. On the contrary, it is the simplest & most direct, completely unchanged religion in the Universe, case closed. So go ahead & call me a terrorist if that's what your ignoramus personalities require of you. Meanwhile I will be respecting all faiths whilst you continue not to leave mine alone. Why, because that's what well rounded moderate Muslims do.

Recovery -- Blogging -- Anonymity

The anonymity involved in blogging has allowed this vastly growing pass time to literally develop into a way of life. Empowering different peoples throughout the world from all walks of life, enabling uninterrupted communication, freedom of expression, while all but eradicating the distance gaps and pulling different worlds closer together through the advent of technology.

People can now autonomously express their views, as well as anonymously with the entire world and gain critical feedback, no matter how sensitive the subject matter.

IAnonymity is the main principle behind the most successful recovery program known yet, anonymity is the ruling principal behind the [12 step] anonymous recovery program. Recovering addicts are actually a rare breed, few individuals actually ever recover from this deadly disease. It is frowned upon by our society and considered the lowest of social ills, due to its incommensurable nature and high mortality rate.

Naturally during a recovery process, one would like to keep their private business a secret from every Tom, Dick & Harry, so it is crucial to practice a modicum of anonymity, especially on the internet, where a blog can get literally get thousands of hits within a matter of hours.

Anonymity is an integral variable in the equation. Imagine you had an addictive streak in you and were attending a 12 step anonymous meeting. Could you be sure that some of the less than close colleagues at work, if they were to find out wouldn't gossip, I doubt it. Those trying to recover from gambling disorders or other addictions aren't looking for anyones support. I mean how would that look, in a place where Iyou may have out done yourself, proved your expertise, competence & worthiness time and time again, being a favorite amongst your clients and being branded the most trustworthy? If it were suddenly to become common knowledge that you are attendind 12 step meetings, even with heavy connections in the industry, there would undoubtedly be irreparable damage done to you, as word will get out and there would be anything but a positive reaction career wise.

Quoting one of my buddies who happens to be in recovery:
"My past-using-buddies have all passed away and those that haven't are approaching a slow but sure death, so you see the party for me is so over. The program has taught me things that money just can't buy and has protected me from certain insanity, pain, grief and hardship if not imminent death."

Why anonymity, because it Focuses on the oneness of the group as a whole, not as individuals. Later it focuses on each and every individual, one at a time. Success would be impossible if everyone who enters the program were to just think of themselves. One can not quit and live a psychologically sound & healthy life based on sheer will power alone. A sophisticated battle proven method with a help apparatus can though, if we are willing to partake in the journey. And thank God people have..

There is Sex Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, Over Eaters Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, Cannabis Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and many more, the most popular being the latter two. Whatever your addiction might be, the 12 step program is the most succesful of all the recovery tools. And get this, there are meetings 24 hours a day all over the world including online.

"When we first quit using, we are not familiar with dealing with any emotions or handling situations with out being intoxicated and suddenly being able to feel things can actually be pretty scary. In time we become equipped and learnt how to deal with situations that used to baffle us."

Another quote from an N.A. member in Egypt:
"So in the beginning I didn't like going to meetings with so many addicts in one room for various reasons. Some owed me money a long time ago that never paid me back and others, I just got a bad feeling about, as if I may have owed them money but had totally forgot about it. Not to mention that I felt that all these addicts wore their hearts on their sleeves, some thought that it is OK to relapse believing if they do, then it is God 's will and the program will always be there when they decide to come back and try again, although a lot never made it back at all. Others more or less quit only for a while in order to lower their tolerance to dope so that when they use again they don't have to use as much to get high. Others gathered to meet up and score, then there was the insane dating scene, 8 or 9 guys taking turns hitting on the same girl, pretty much all at once. And ofcourse the losing suitors calling her a slut, till there was no point in attempting to retain any serenity from these meetings at all as it became futile. Also a great number of folks ended up relapsing and overdosing. However in the end it was well worth sticking around till I found a group that fit like a glove because I was able to recover. It's like finally finding a nice restaraunt where you like the food and ambience and everybody knows your name and you just feel at home being there."

"Yes it was quite the mess until I finally settled in with the right crowd, until I did I was lucky enough to be able to harness the power of anonymity on the net by hanging out in the 12 step chat rooms."

Now that I started blogging I wanted to pay a tribute to the anonymity that makes all of this possible in recovery & blogging.

"After a lot of clean time, I went back to some of the large local meetings and they didn't seem as menacing as before but none the less brought back memories of how timid I was in the beginning. So if anyone has some sort of grave obsession or addiction, I recommend checking out the 12 steps. Believe me if I can do it then anyone can do it, once a person realizes that if there is no pain there is no gain & is willing to go the distance, they will find themselves in a way better place than the one they were in, even before the addiction or obssesion which availed the oppurtunity to address such issues that otherwise wouldn't have been addressed."

My hats off to all the recovering 12 steppers out there in cyber space as well in the rooms they call home groups.

Anonymously..

Egyptian Reverse Culture Shock

I remember years back once when it was like 5:00 a.m. in the morning after a long night of partying and drinking whilst listening to the newest tunes under a talented mixoligists at the Atlas Hotel, our group headed out to check out the new nearby Mcdonalds for an early breaky.

Even though they still lack the basic breakfast menu here in Egypt like Egg Mcmuffins and Pancakes and what not that you can find in the West, Egypt has still come a long way indeed since the early 80's.

Back then there was only one channel on tv, things were just a little backwards to say the least.

I explicitly remeber coming to live in Egypt for the first time -- for some strange reason -- way back 1982 from Washington D.C.

Being accustomed to good ol American Junk food and what not, it was so depressing moving to Egypt, I remeber full well. You couldn't even buy a pizza here except at a place called La Cassetta, and it was really expensive. My folks kept on telling me that it was the equivelant of two weeks pay of a government employee with 5 kids. Just so that I would appreciate them taking me thereto eat every blue moon or so.

You also couldn't grow your hair past your ears back then if you were a guy, even though Michael jacksons' thriller topped the charts back then. The population was 30 million and people thought that was an astronomical figure lol, compared to todays 70+ million. That means the population has more than doubled in the past two decades, wow.

There was lots of traffic back then too but not as bad as today, now way and I remeber that Ahmad Adawiya song "zahma ya Donia zahma," he was the equivelant of todays Shaaban Abdel Rahim I guess you could say.

Mcdonalds didn't come to Egypt till the mid 90's, I guess it hasd something to do whith when saddam invaded kuwait and all the Gulf Arabs were like 'What - there is no God damn Mcdonalds here!' Though I must admit there was KFC & Wimpy back then long before I even arrived in Egypt.

So in essance you see Egypt has come a long way but in all reality I think it has a long way to go yet.

Having reverse culture shock is quite common every time I leave egypt for a couple of years and return. So I have learned to accept the fact that Egypt will never really be anything like the West and I should stop comparing.

For what it's worth, good job egypt yet you still have a long way to go.