who decides ..

..what you should do with your life?
..how you should handle your responsibilities?
..what should be best for you?
..how you should react in tense situations?
..what's right and what's wrong?

What are these decisions based on?
Are these fair?

Inspired by the Olympics

just play the game
and play it fair
fight the fight
and don't despair

If you think you've lost
then you have
But don't think you've won
until you have

accept the challenge
grasp every opportunity
push your limits
and you'll have victory

(Insha'Allah)

tip: google theme logo's - every day a new olympic google,
for example (nr 08 basketball):

chilling out the hecticness

I've been more than excited in April, with the start of my job. But in june the first dark clouds arrived. Internal reorganizations highlighted the end of my contract, in octobre 2008. There were no means, nor any need, to keep me any longer.

At least not at the location where I worked. I tried my luck and applied with a location, not far from my house. And now 1 month later, I don't have to live in tension anymore :) The managers have come to an agreement: as of the first of September I shall be transfered to my new second home!

Besides my personal situation, work has been very demanding as well. A lot of cases had to be wrapped and closed. All unfinished business had to be finished. I did (at least) twice the work I did normally.

It didn't help dat Umar Haroen hasn't been feeling so good either.
Busy at work, busy at home, no time to relax and feeling that I was tiring out.
But no need to worry, this week has been a turning point. Calmness has returned in my life and the sun is shining again (as a figure of speech, obviously). I've done very well with my deadlines, Umar is feeling better again and my job is secure again!!

My plans for the next month?
Sit back, relax and enjoy the 'summer'!

Stepping into the world

The time has finally come that my son will go to the nursery. On the 2nd of April it will be his first day, a whole day without his mother, father and other relatives. A whole day surrounded by strangers, most of them kids - who happen to be a bit older than he is. I can only imagine how scary that must be for him. On the other hand, he likes playing with kids and there are lots of toys at the nursery - he might just forget that it's scary and enjoy himself. Either way, he's stepping into the social world, where there's a lot for him to learn. One step into the world of the grown-ups.

And as he will, I'll do the same. I too shall take another big step in the world of the grown-ups. It will be the first day of the rest of my working life. YES, I've finally got a job - it only took me 6 months (*sarcasm*). I'll be working in a team of child-protection, which is a branch of social work, focused on the safety & health of children in problematic families.

I couldn't be more excited. I'm having flashbacks to the first day of school, all of them. How I prepared myself for the big day, by buying new clothes and make-up and trying different styles. My way of preparation hasn't changed :P

I think it'll be alright, both for me and my son. We'll manage just fine, and I'm sure that we both will be happy about taking that very big step.

What I want to see .. beauty ..

Non-religious folk tend to be skeptic towards anything and everything related to any religion. Where religious people are struck by miracle after miracle, nonbelievers will say "you only see it as a miracle, because it's what you want to see". And I have to give it to them, it's quite true - if you don't believe in miracles, you won't see them as such. There's always another scientific explanation, which makes more sense most of the times.

For me though, my religion has shown me a different look on the world. It has exposed to me the beauty of the creation, as it is more perfect than I could ever imagine. Everyday, for example, I'm amazed by the colours that decorate the sky.

On sunday, 17/02/2008, I saw death. When I went to feed my guinea pigs I found that one of them had died. As a normal woman, I was shocked to see her dead and I cried almost hysterically. I pulled myself together and went back to the cage, where I had to double-check. Sadly enough I wasn't mistaken, Pokì had died. But there was something else that struck me. Her face was in the direction of the Qibla, the direction we read our Salat (muslim prayer), the direction of Kaaba in Makkah.

Was that a coincidence? Did I only see that because I'd like to believe that it's true? Does it matter if I'm right or not? All I can say, is that to me it was a little (HUGE) miracle, and it comforted me. It gave me the feeling that my guinea pig had died in peace. That her last thoughts were with the Creator, and that she told Him that she was on her way to Him.

It sure sounds beautiful to me.

Dear Diary

Hi, it has been a while. I know I've neglected our friendship a bit, I'm sorry. It's really nice to see you again!

Do you remember how close we were 10 years ago? We had our secrets, our laughs and our tears. And sometimes, we just sat there on my bed, in silence. No one else got to know me the way you did. To you I could say anything and everything, you'd let me be me. And I'll always love you for it.

Now I have a new friend. A blog. But that friendship will never be like ours, it will never be the same. My dearest diary, I guess I just wanted you to know that I haven't forgotten about you.

Love,
Naila

ps. I'll make sure I'll write this down, as soon as I find you ..

But I DO want to be in the middle!

I just can't believe the teaser I just saw on the tv-screen. I didn't know they were working on this movie. Never guessed they'd make a 'sequel'. But it's real, and it will be on the big screen from thursday on.

What am I talking about? Only about nothing less than:

ALIEN VS. PREDATOR 2!!

Can't wait to see it!

Gotto go .. have to find a babysitter asap :P

Am I Legend?

There have been many movies made about 'creatures' that hunt human beings for food. So what is it about 'I am legend' that differs it from the rest?

The only think I can come up with, is that it starrs Will Smith. I have only half a good word on the movie, because the first half of the movie was good. Can we blame the poor writing of the second half to the writers's strike? I'd like to, because I can't imagine any other reason why it was so terrible..

It all started when I disagreed with Will. Just after the scene where one of the infected ones came out in the sun, Will Smith said that "they were devolving" meaning, that they were no longer humans, but creatures who only act upon instincts. But it was obvious that the infected ones came out of the building in attempt to rescue it's girlfriend - showing signs of social attachment and courage.

No wonder Will Smith didn't see that trap coming ..

Rating: O O _ _ _

I yield..

I've fought for years now against me signing up with the network 'hyves'.To resist any temptation I even refused to visit the site ... until yesterday.

Yesterday I looked up a friends of mine who had invited me to Hyves a couple of years ago. I recognized many of her 'friends' from our high school period, and I thought that it was so cool to speak to them again. After seeing that more of my good friends were in the network, I yielded and signed up.

So go and check out my hyves-page!!
http://nailaghani.hyves.nl/

update: It's really fun to speak to my old friends again!

Eid Mubarak!!

Once upon a time in a land far far away,
there was an old man named Abraham. Abraham was a pious man en one night God spoke to him in his dream.
"Abraham, you must sacrifice your son to Me"
The next day Abraham told his son about his dream, and his brave son Ismael tol dhim what to do.
"Dad, if Allah wants you to sacrifice me, then you must."

And together they walked up the hill to the altar. When Abraham was about to slaughter his son, an angel appeared with a goat.
"Abraham, you have proved you willingness to sacrifice the one thing that's most dear to you in life, for Allah. Now, take this goat and sacrifice it instead."

To remember the piousness of Abraham, and stop to think about how much our beloved ones and precious posessions mean to us in relation to Allah - muslims celebrate the day of Eid-ul-Adha, on the 10th of Dhul-Hidja (this year the 19th or 20th of december)

WISHING YOU ALL A BLESSED EID-UL-ADHA!!!

I believe in..

When I was a little girl I was sent to mosque every saturday & sunday. There I learned to read the Qur'an and had to memorize short 'prayers'. At the time, I had (of course) no idea what the meaning of all those texts were - because I didn't understand Arabic and no one bothered to give any explanation.

As I grew older, I found some meanings out myself, and one of my favourites was the 'Ark`an al Imaan', also known as the 6 pillars of Faith. One of my favourites because of it's meaning. And though I've read it often, it never struck my heart as it did when I heard Talib al Habib's version on YouTube. (I prefer the short one :) )

The short version:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5Y-4zFyRv-A
The original version:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7FhN9Y-neQ0


The translation:
I believe in Allah,
and in His angels,
and in His Holy Books,
and in His messengers,
and the Last Day (Judgement Day),
and that both good fate and bad fate are predeterment by Allah,
and in life after death.

For more info: http://anwary-islam.com/life/pillars_iman.htm

Sinterklaas

When you try to read 'sinterklaas' in english, it isn't so strange that it sounds a bit like Santa Clause. In fact, that is exactly how Santa Clause has been called into living :)

In Dutch folklore Sinterklaas gives presents to the children who have been nice the whole year. He comes all the way from .. no not the north pole .. but from SPAIN, together with his white horse and his companions the 'zwarte pieten'. The guys are black, and dressed in very colourful clothes - they are the ones carrying the bags with presents and they go down the chimney to put the presents in the shoes of the kids. It's because of the chimney that they've turned black.

As any holiday, there's more to the story than is being told. Many people don't know the history of Sinterklaas, and they probably don't care :P

In short, what I know of the story:

Sinterklaas' real name is Saint Nicolas. He was a bishop in the town of Mira (lies in Turkey). He was a good man, involved with the community and was nice to kids. He also freed some slaves, and out of thankfulness they remained at his side to accompany him. I don't know how Spain got in the picture, but if I'm not wrong St. Nicolas was/is also the saint of the shippers. That's why he comes with the boat, and well .. the boat has to come from another country, so why not Spain. The holiday of Sinterklaas is celebrated on the 5th of december, on the eve of his birthday.

For more info (in Dutch) and colouring fun, click on the picture!

In search of knowledge

Due to my brothers take-over of the nintendo DS, I had to look for a new hobby. I wonder if it's wise to work on a new project, while other 'projects' aren't done yet. Is it possible for me to combine them, to manage my little time properly so that I can do the right thing? I hope so, because working one project at the time just isn't my way. Whenever I feel inspired, I just have to act upon it. And so it is the case with my latest hobby-project.

Eventhough I am officially a psychologist now, I don't feel like one. Mostly because I'm not working atm :p Another factor is that I don't feel specialised enough. Mostly because I'm not working atm :p:p
SO, I've decided to educate myself further in the field of ISLAMIC PSYCHOLOGY! -- which has nothing to do with how muslims try to indoctrinate non-muslims or anything like that ;) in case you were wondering ..

No, I am interested in the Islamic views and perspective on the human being and it's psychological (emotional, social, cognitive, moral, etc) development. I've found some very interesting websites, that can help me in my search, and if you're interested in the subject then don't hesitate to visit them.

Koranische psychologie (dutch)
Muslim Psychologist (blog)
Islamic Psychology Online (articles and books)

And you know, to be honest, this is way much more fun than playing Zelda.
(but I do hope you finish the game soon bro!!)

edit 03/2008:
new links
Islamic Psychology 1
articles Islamic Psychology

Superstorm expected

I received a disturbing fwd-msg today, about a superstorm hitting the Netherlands in November 2007. Why would something that happens all over the world be disturbing, if it were to happen in such a small country in the world?
Well, because ... I LIVE THERE!! :p

In short: there's gonna be one storm between the 8th and the 13th of November, this is not the superstorm
The big one is expected between the 24th and the 28th of november, with winds going with more than 200km/h!! This will surely mean the end of the Netherlands, with half of the country under sea-level ..

The email I got said it was a dutch translation of the english text on weatheraction.fi - the prediction is made by a guy named 'Piers Corbijn'. Sceptic as I am, I went to the site.

Not suprised to find that no such site exists. There is however a website called weatheraction.com also naming Piers Corbijn, so perhaps that's where I may find this disastrous forecast. But I couldnt find any article or comment or statement regarding the Netherlands. No search results showed up when I typed 'superstorm' ..

The site however seems to be from a freelance forecaster, you can buy your forecasts there.. : It rieks of scams and hoaxes, so I left the site. Feeling a bit more reassured that there probably isn't gonna be a superstorm after all.

..

..

or is there? Do you remember the 'hilarious' prediction of a US-something-something-department? The one they made halfway the 90's, in which they said the Netherlands will be flooded in. .. 2007!! I remembered and .. Oh I found something ..

here it is:
"Key findings of the Pentagon Report:
· By 2007 violent storms smash coastal barriers rendering large parts of the Netherlands inhabitable. Cities like The Hague are abandoned. In California the delta island levees in the Sacramento river area are breached, disrupting the aqueduct system transporting water from north to south"
(source: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0222-01.htm )
..
tutututututu (twilight zone music)
.

Newest Zelda

It has been released and I got it the first day. Well sort of, I bought it 'for my sister', because she's the one with a Nintendo DS.

The Phantom Hourglass. I LOVE it!! The gameplay is so much fun with the DS-pen (stylus) and a whole lot easier than the other Zelda-games. There is something annoying about the game though and that is the temple. The monsters in there will chase you whenever they see you, and since there is no defeating them you have to avoid being seen. This doesn't only take a lot of time, it is also immensely tricky. And time isn't something you have in the temple. What's worse, when they get to you and hit you, you lose time!! (and a heart)

Nevertheless, i still LOVE it, and can't wait for my sister to finish the game. So that I can borrow it!

NY's gonna explode!!

Wait, stop, hold it right there!! I know I'm a muslima and that I write some Islam-related posts, but I can assure you that this post is in no way whatsoever linked to al-Qaida.

I'd like to write something about my favourite series at the moment 'Heroes'

The characters all have special powers, the idea is similar to x-men - you know, next level in evolution and stuff. And they are learning about their powers and the good, bad and ugly that they can do with them. One thing is sure, New York will explode unless these characters, the heroes, find a way to stop it.

Funny thingy in the series is, how everyone has his/her own ideas of what a hero is. Very intriguing to watch. It was also fun to spot Stan Lee.

..

what else.. I can't say too much without giving away any spoilers, so just go and watch it ;p

Ban on Qur'an?

Seriously?
Yes, the Dutch politician Geert Wilders has made himself popular and impopular again. He claims that the Qur'an, the Holy Book of muslims, is a fascistic book and should be banned from the Netherlands. Mosques should be forbidden to sell them, and there should be a penalty on having a copy at home. It's the same blabla we've been hearing Geert Wilders say, ever since he popped out with his blonde coupe. Im not shocked to hear these words from him.

I am shocked however to hear other politicians reply on his statement with the words "The wholde idea is unrealistic. There's no way we can ensure such a ruling."
Unrealistic?!! Try 'unreasonable' or 'ridiculous' or how about 'idiotic filled with stupidity and not worthy of a serious reaction'!!
What am I, a dutch muslima, to think of the term 'unrealistic'? I know exactly what it means, it means that they agree with Geert Wilders and would want nothing more than a way to get rid of the Qur'an, but putting a ban on it would simply not be realistic ..

And people wonder why muslims in the Netherlands complain so much and take a defensive attitude.

I Tube on youtube.com

I've decided to enter the youtube-dimension.
Hmm.. no, I have to put that differently.

I've decided to enter Umar Haroen to the Youtube-dimension.
: )

Here he is:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XKjGL8YDVSU

I was surprised to see how many ppl post a video under the name "very cute baby"
;p

still looking..

Now that I've exchanged my glasses for lenses, I can see more clear then ever and that may help me find a job.

Bright as I can see, it's hard for me to look on the bright side of life - tu du tu du du du du. After sending out letters since March, I now finally got an invitation. They expect me next monday in Utrecht, which is so close (monday is only 4 days away) and yet so far (Utecht isn't around the corner).

What do I do with the baby? Take along or leave with Dadi-ji? My husband probably can't come along, so I must leave Umar Haroen behind for a few hours. I'm scared :P

I am happy though for the invitation, all the other institutions seem to have forgotten about me. I phoned one up, 2 weeks ago, and they said they were still doing letter-selections. I don't understand all this sloppiness .. do they need people or what? And if they're not interested, they could at least turn me down politely .. or not politely, at least I would know that my services are not welcome.

Meanwhile, I'll see what will happen monday and keep looking around..

update 17-05-2007:
The interview went almost horrible. When I left i had the strong feeling that the leader of the project didn't like me. And probably I was right. I didn't get the job ;p The reason - I wasn't exactly wat they were looking for as a teammember.. well, their loss :D

muslim directory

My aunt in England told me about the muslim directory that they use over there. It's an easy way to look up products and services provided by the muslim community.
Why don't we have anything like that in the Netherlands? I for one would find it very useful!!

And of this week, the 22nd of April to be exact, we do have one in the Netherlands. It just isn't finished by far, but there is something to build on.

Hooray! And check it out: http://alleshalal.nl

SABR

= patience (arabic)

And of Thursday 12th of April, it's also the name of an Islamic student's association in the Netherlands. With my husband (who actually is a student) and my son I witnessed the opening of this association. Eventhough I couldn't follow everything of the program, things like that happen when you have a kid, I'm happy that I went. I think it's important for anyone who approves of such an association to show up at these sort of events: we are all needed like a bunch of cheerleaders, a main core of support, a backbone.

So what does this new student's association stand for, what are they willing to achieve, and most importantly .. was the opening any fun? :)

They started of with welcoming messages and moral messages like: "Everything comes in time, for those who have patience" and "Patience can be learned"

--
They've set up 6 goals:
1) To inform religious and non-religious students about Islam
2) To stimulate the experience in spiritual value of religion
3) To stimulate integration among students of different backgrounds
4) To support intereligious dialogue in order to increase respect for each other
5) To look after the interests of students when it comes to their education
6) To increase social involvement of the students

Sounds neat eh? That's what I thought. Insha'Allah (Godwilling) they'll achieve these goals and any new ones that develop. It 'only' needs a lot of hard work and of course .. patience.

For more information see http://www.sabr.nl/

ps. The food was delicious - always important at any event ;)

Occulo Reparo

Bad news. My Glasses broke. I tried to tape them together, but it didn't work. I even tried Occulo reparo, but you need a wand for that spell.
Good news. I have sunglasses made for my eyesight. This is very good news, because my eyesight is so bad that I can't see anything without glasses. It was also very sunny this week, so I didn't look all too weird.

Bad news. New glasses cost a lot. I have to pay around €350,- per glas, and around €100,- for a new frame. Quite a lot money for someone who doesn't have a job.
Good news. Lenses are much cheaper, €100,- per lens.

Bad news. Lenses hurt and stuff. You can lose 'm. You can break 'm. They're difficultly put in the eyes.
Good news. Lenses are cheaper. And they look good ;)

So I'm getting my contactlenses this week, I can expect a phonecall on Saturday.
Hooray.

edit:
I received a phonecall on the next wednesday. A bit later than expected. Doesn't matter, cause now I have lenses!! Yeaii! (and a little ouch)

Islam in the Netherlands

As a muslima I believe that the Holy Quran is the Word of Allah. I do not only believe it is, I testify that it is! And with me all the muslims in the world, I'd reckon. It would be therefor very unrealistic to search for muslim editors who'd come together and make a 'legal' version of the Quran for the Netherlands.

What?! A legal version of the Quran?? What does that mean?!

I don't know. All I read was this newsarticle (in dutch)
http://www.parool.nl/nieuws/2007/APR/05/p1.html

So now all the politicians in Holland can come together and discuss the matter, but it won't change a thing. In believing that the Quran is the Word of God, I also believe that therefor it can not be changed be men.

Fruit 'n vegetables

Umar Haroen (the baby) is allowed to have some fruits or vegetables for 1 meal in the day. That's big news for us, of course, for every new thing about the baby is a major thing for a parent.

The day before yesterday he had his first banana, alright, half a banana. He really really really liked the banana and everything was still clean when he had finished it. Yesterday, same story, half a banana - deliciousss!.

Today I tried something new, the banana was new and that worked so this would work as well. I thought.. and I thought wrong. I had a piece of broccoli on the menu for him, I like broccoli myself and since Umar Haroen is my kid, he might like it as well. Well, he didn't like it.

Lucky for me that I did, because his dad wouldn't have it either ..

First blog on blogspot

This is it then. My first blog here. I hesitated for a while, whether I should start another blogblog, yes another.
The other one I had, I've decided to give up. I'm afraid it won't be long until the same fate will befall this blogblog.

I was never any good in keeping up with anything, especially diaries.

Till then I'm here. Oh and before I get overloaded with comments on my english, don't bother .. english isn't my first language, dutch is. So, that explains, right?

and this is a sentence I probably will use a lot: "the baby is awake, gotta go", because i have a six month old baby who is awake a lot.

Like right now. So : ) gotta go.