Asma Ahmed Shikoh is a visual artist who works with oils, acrylics and mixed media incorporating popular icons, cityscapes, and social issues in her imagery. “As an artist, my concerns have always been my immediate environment, especially the cities I’ve lived in. '' says Asma.
The work is a visual interplay of popular icons and the ‘hijab' (the head scarf adorned by Muslim women), highlighting the role of individual practices in the shaping of a unique national identity. It reflects her belief in the self empowering identity of American Muslim women.
- The Bee Hive -
Honeybees bear special mention in the Quran for their healing powers, with a chapter titled, The Bee (Chapter 16), in which it says:
"And [consider how] thy Sustainer has inspired the bee: "Prepare for thyself dwellings in mountains and in trees, and in what [men] may build [for thee by way of hives]; and then eat of all manner of fruit, and follow humbly the paths ordained for thee by thy Sustainer." [And lo!] there issues from within these [bees] a fluid of many hues, wherein there is health for man. In all this, behold, there is a message indeed for people who think!"
The significance of the beehive for this project is the fact that all the worker bees are females. The installation is formed of cells representing each of the women who have submitted the scarf. Each cell holds a scarf with the identity, occupation and location of the owner.
I can't think of any sign more bolder than the tsunami Subhan Allah, but even more astounding is the fact that many more signs followed after!
Soon shall We show them Our Signs on the horizons and in their own beings until it becomes clear to them that it is the Truth. (Quran 41:53)
In Indonesia's tsunami wastelands on the northern tip of Sumatra island, little remains of whole towns lost to the colossal forces that came thundering in from the ocean.
But across these battered shores, dozens of mosques still stand, their minarets glinting defiantly in the sun - a phenomenon survivors in the deeply Islamic region credit as much to divine intervention as robust architecture.
Mosques are an everyday sight in most of Indonesia, but especially in Aceh, credited with the being one of Islam's main gateways into the archipelago of islands which now forms the world's largest Muslim-populated country.
Muhammad Yani stood on the roof of a mosque, watching the tsunami's churning waters surge past, roiling with people and debris.
"I was not afraid at the time," said Yani, 35, who later found out he had lost his parents and younger brother to the waves. "I was more aware than ever that my soul belonged to Allah."
Quakes, tremors, floods, fires, and explosions are all mentioned in the authentic traditions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as signs heralding the imminence of The Hour.
The sheer ferocity and fury of a tsunami definitely bring to our mind the Qur’anic depiction of the violent convulsions the earth is bound to undergo in its final quaking:
(When the earth is shaken violently in its (final) quaking, when the earth throws out its burdens, when man cries, "What is happening to it?"; on that Day, people will come forward in separate groups to be shown their deeds: whoever has done an atom’s weight of good will see it, but whoever has done an atom’s weight of evil will see that) (Az-Zalzalah 99:1–8).
"Nay, here are signs self evident in the hearts of those endowed with knowledge. And none but the unjust reject Our Signs. (Quran 29:49)
May the Beneficent Lord make such calamities not as a source of perdition for us in our faith but as experiences that are bound to enhance our faith and trust in Allah and His will.
Ok, I know I'm like really late with this...but if you know me, it's just one of my exquisite charms. Jokes aside, I didn't really want to watch the movie until all the hype died down so I wouldn't ultimately see the movie through rose-tinted glasses - if you know what I mean. As usual, my method always works...it's like surprising myself (lol) BOO! Anyway, after just watching it, I re-read reviews trying to find one that was atleast remotely relevant to the actual film but typically I couldn't find anything decent. All I found was a bunch of crap like...
"A cheerfully undemanding and unreflective film with a vision of India" The Guardian
''It takes your breath away at the same time as it makes you want to holler with joy or to grab the person next to you: Yes!" Telegraph
''Visually dazzling and emotionally resonant, Slumdog Millionaire is a film that's both entertaining and powerful.'' Rotten Tomatoes
Ummm...Was there another version of this film or did we watch the same thing? - ''holler with joy'' - are you serious?
This movie would have fitted into every ''dark'' genre out there and only a sadistic psycho would have hollered with joy. I mean, it was full of child abuse, child-trafficking, implied rape, parent-murdering, excruciating police interrogation, gormless protagonists, poverty, psychotic arsonists, incessant whorage, corruption and perpetual deaths! Not to mention stupid moments like the one with the ''kind'' Americans (was I da only one to smirk during that scene?) and scenes like the one where they intentionally blind the street kid...the image has been forever burned into my psyche!
The brother's relationship was the worst yet, the 'shit' scene alone should speak for itself..*ughh - poor lil' sod* but it further carries on into his later life until the older brother opts to die in a bath of money (what exactly was the symbolism here?) sacrificing his life as a tact of ''kindness'' letting the girl go as if he wasn't the one who imprisoned her in the first place! W-T-Bollocks? Even that isn't in any way conceivable, the host of the show feeding him the wrong answer to the final question (which for some reason he doesn't choose), then selling him out to the police for assumed cheating?!...Dude, I could carry on for years!
All-in-all, it was far from ''uplifiting'', ''cheerfully undemanding'' or ''visually dazzling''. Oh, let's not forget the song/dance scene in the end which was like a horribly sarcastic ''ha-ha we just mentally phucked you'' two-step!
Out of the whole album (which is great btw), this has to be a personal favourite. I'm always into acoustics and cultural guitar sounds. The lyrics is so profound, truly poetic. I just love everything about this song!
Masjid Kristal in Terengganu, Malaysia. This Mosque was built to create the new Islamic Civillization for the Islamic Country. It's absolutely breath-taking!
Honeybees bear special mention in the Quran for their healing powers, with a chapter titled, The Bee (Chapter 16), in which it says: 
