Inshalla Time

From what I've seen, when foreigners come to Egypt or this part of the world one of their most common complaints is the lack of respect for time. They even have a phrase for that. "Inshalla Time". When I heard that at first I laughed but after thinking about it, I became saddened. The term inshalla time is just another piece of proof as to how much people misuse their religion and butcher a perfect religion. Also another tool people use to attack an otherwise perfect concept.
A term that was taught to us in order to rid an over successful society of arrogance has instead been turned into an excuse to being lazy.
When the term Inshalla was mentioned in the Quran, it was in the chapter, "The Cave". The story behind it was the Prophet (PBUH) was asked by some people about the story of the men who slept in the cave for over 300 years. He confidently said "I will tell you the story tomorrow." About two weeks past before the Angel came to Prophet Muhammad with the story and people had started challenging him. He thought it was because of his personal shortcomings and was very pained and saddened thinking he must have done something wrong. Then the chapter of "the cave" was revealed with the verse saying "do not say you will do this tomorrow except if God is willing."
This verse reminds people that there are two sides to action and getting things done, the first is taking action and the second part is knowing that with the action you take you must know that things will get done only by God's will.
Some people have now interpreted "Inshalla" as a way to hang their own laziness on God's will.
Inshalla by no means means we can be late to everything or not fulfill a certain committment. It is merely a reminder that you should work hard and do your part but know that what you do is all by God's will. It is a lesson in knowing you have control but not total control. However, a balance is important you must do the work in order for things to get done and when they get done you know that it is by the will of God.
In Egypt so many aspects of daily life are out of our hands. Traffic can suddenly stop because someone decided they needed extra security. The electricity can shut down freezing a whole companies operation. Anything can happen, so people say inshalla knowing that somethings are out of their hands. It would help to put these things into consideration when dealing with time in order to bring the term back to its original context.
It's up to us to change the perception of "Inshalla time" to a positive one again.

Pink

My 3 year old son sometimes chooses things because they are the color pink. Many times he does it thinking he is "rebelling" for choosing something that is for "girls." Other times he says I want blue because blue is for boys.
Even before I had him I used to say I don't want to make colors gender based let my kids wear whatever they like.
But really who specified pink for girls and blue for boys?
and everything else...
are these tags and labels there because people made them up so it stuck or are they there because they really do give certain vibes?

A Passive Reaction

Alot has happened since April and alot is happening now with the beginning of the new year.
On a personal front people got married, babies were born. My daughter started walking, my son ventured off into the world when he started nursery.
On an international front the first black president was elected for office in the United States. Bush was hit by not one but two shoes at a press conference in Iraq. The olympics in Beijing was a success and very entertaining! The stockmarket crashed.
And Gaza is currently being attacked once more with the weak Israeli excuse of protecting themselves from the "evil terrorist organization Hamas" which unfortunately our beloved Egyptian government has believed themselves. By refusing to meet with the democratically elected Hamas faction from Gaza President Mubarak gave the Israeli government the silent approval of all the death and destruction going on in Gaza.
Last night a very loud and organized march took place on my street hear in Alexandria. Loud chants, "Oh Palestinian, your land is my land and your religion is my religion," "There is no god worthy of worship but Allah," "God is great." It shook the street and everyone was looking out of their balconies to watch.
And then what?
What good is the voice of the people when the ruling party supports the attrocities?
To me this march reminded me of the passion I felt for the Palestinian issue and now how passive I have become in the face of the Palestinian plight. But staying quiet and keeping our sadness to ourselves is what made me become this passive. The selfishness of feeling content with my life therefore not worrying about anything else in the world is what is pulling the whole situation backward.

Then and Now

A friend of mine was reading my blog. She said for a moment she forgot who was writing because of the content. All the talk about children and marriage was uncharacteristic of me. Ofcourse, the me she was refering to was college me. Since the transition was sudden and quick many people did not have a chance to let reality sink in.

A part of me hasn't let it sink in either.

After being the type of person who on occasion would spend a quiet afternoon at home...very rare occasions, I am now the person who enjoys a nice relaxed evening out on occasions...extremely rare occasions.

When my day once started by lazily getting out of bed by the sound of the call to the Dhuhr prayer on my days off and on school days whenever my classes are. The only responsibility is classes and courses i choose and when I sleep I sleep, when class is over thats it. Vacations are truely vacations.

Now the summer time is the busiest time for me. I have to take the kids out all day long. The work is never ending. My day begins at the sound of one of the kids calling for mommy at around 5 am.

On my rare days out without the children my mind is always on them.

Which is better then or now?

I am reminded of the answer everytime one of my children succeeds in something and shows promise of becoming an active and positive member of his/her society.

Life goes on and each stage in life is different. Although I enjoyed my childhood much more than I am enjoying now but I will work hard to give my children the memory of a good childhood to comfort them when they are struggling in their adult lives for a better world.

Do Not Tell Me...or wait Tell Me

Ignorance is bliss.
But Knowledge is power.
Which one is it?
Recently I found out so many things about people around me that are very disturbing. So I keep saying I do not want to know. At the same time I keep asking questions. Trying to find out more and more. I figure the more I know the more I can make an educated opinion. Since I was already told part of the story I should hear the rest of the story so I have a clear picture and I can give advice based on the whole picture.
But really, how much should we know?
The more you learn the more responsibility is placed on your shoulders. Even in our religion we are ordered to spread the knowledge. An Arab poet, Ahmed Shawqy, said a teacher is almost like a messenger.
So at what point do we say enough, dont tell me anymore. Or is it better for the world to try to know everything? Socrates asked a lot of questions and got killed for that. Meanwhile, at the corner of my street the begger's ignorance is what led him to the life he is leading.
When my friend told me just highlights about her marital problems i gave her advice. When I found out details of her problem I realized my advice was horrible.
The more you know the more you can help your society.
The less you know the more you can live a happy life.
Selfish.
But Happy.
You choose.

Drugs

In the famous graduation speech titled "Everybody's free to wear sunscreen" there is a line that says, "Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander and you too will get old and when you do you will fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders."

I find myself at 26 doing just that, fantasizing about the past yet I try to bring myself back to reality every now and then although the reality is sometimes so painful and scary it makes me want to crawl into the safety of my past and build my home away from the filth that is infiltrating our societies.

Drugs are now sold in broad daylight on sidewalks and infront of schools. All kinds of leaves of the Cannibis family can be find anywhere and for a very meager price. It has become so normal that you never know which person walking down the street is awake or only half awake.

When we were young drugs were not so accesible and the norm was not that in every family at least one or two people have tried a drug. So yes prices did rise, politicians were noble and children did respect their elders because now if more children respected their elders then less would be doing drugs...

JUST SAY NO!

The Art of Free Time

A friend of mine asked me the other day whether with two kids I have any time to do anything for myself. I said of course I do.
Then I thought, then how come I never get anything done?
Today for a rare hour of the past 6 months my children and husband were asleep in the middle of the day leaving me time for myself to do whatever I want without me being too tired.
Because it was the middle of the day I had so many things that I had to do and some things I wanted to do.
I could wash the dishes, fold the laundry, pick up the toys and finish cleaning the house. I can study something. Write something. Read one of the many books I started and never finished. Pop in a movie. or Write. By the time I decided that I would make myself something warm to drink and relax with a book, my son woke up. and free time was over.
Is it that time isn't enough? or like everything else the more organized you are the more you can squeeze things to do in a short amount of time.
Time is a blessing and if your time is blessed it seems to be stretched.
Now I sat around just to relax and it is already late and so many of the things I wanted to finish before I sleep are still left undone.
Tell me. How can I master the Art of Free Time?