A175

Moral of the story... Let us into your families so that we can make smarter babies

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/entertainment/restaurants-bars/bbq/article/New-trailer-serves-halal-meat-that-satisfies-6266541.php Let me know how it is, I never made it out that way when I was in the area

Few reasons: 1. Because I'm remembering how close I've been to the hellfire. The drugs, the alcohol, the crazy life... the bombs and bullets. My life could have ended so many times, and where would I be? Now where am I going? 2. Because things just got real. Waiver from the path and bad things happen. That old life is gone, even though honestly there are times I miss it... it was easier, after all. 3. I was raised Christian. Imagine living for 30 years believing you know the way to heaven, and now imagine what it's like to intentionally disregard that belief system for another. It can rip you apart. Just my $0.02

I'm not really about segregation... I mean that's sort of what I see as the problem, really. The people in the community here already have established roots, friends, and family. It's just trying to be part of that community that's the issue. It's funny... I get the "mashallah your story is such an inspiration", but it's not like they want to hang out. I'm trying to include myself, but subhanallah the effort it takes is just crazy. It's not just the discrimination, either. One of the greatest disappointments this year has been the lack of any nightly community iftar events among the Shia. They say "well, there's just so many of us it wouldn't be possible". Really??? Is that why Sunnis manage to do it every night? Because it isn't possible?

Mashallah... you put that so well. It's like the saying "beggars can't be choosers". Nobody can blame the Salafis for their amazing dawa. They'll take you as you are regardless of your color or history. I just don't feel that here... so at a certain point I'm just happy to take what I can get.

Referring to themselves as brown is hilarious, especially considering that they fought so hard to be considered white decades ago. Just an observation- As a white guy, I don't really buy into the racial pride thing. It's isn't a failure or an accomplishment, it's just the way I came out. And I realize the Black pride and Mexican pride never ruled America, enslaving and murdering white people for the sake of skin color... so even though I don't agree in the racial pride thing, I see the difference. I get the idea that white pride can be racist while brown pride might not be... But... If that brown pride is Arab pride, history and current events will reflect that Arabs have no room to criticize white people. Just sayin' I'm not anti-Arab. Far from it, I love you all and who knows I might even marry one. I'm just against racism, injustice, and hypocrisy. And listen, it's not like I've been tarred and feathered. I haven't been run out of town or been refused service because I'm white. It's nothing like that at all. It's just the rhetoric gets so ridiculous sometimes, and there seems to be some sort of innate hyper-defensiveness among Shias that prohibits anything more than minimal interaction with outsiders.

Only because you asked: As a white person, I'll say that I notice it. //rant mode on It's ironic when brown Muslims make jokes about the way white people pronounce things, but then completely [Edited Out]ize the Arabic themselves. You can't remember to put an "a" in front of "asalamu alaykum" or just lazy it up and say "salaam"... but go on the rants about white people WHO ARE AT LEAST MAKING AN ATTEMPT TO LEARN. Maybe I don't always pronounce Bint Jbeil the way you like it every time, but at least I know how to give a proper greeting... and at least I know the difference between dh and z. Imagine a kindergarten teacher calling 5 year-olds retarded because they can't to calculus. Not exactly helpful. Yeah, I get it. It's not like our history is all that great, but don't discriminate against someone and them start crying about Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism. Or even talking trash about other Arab nationalities or Asians. Brown people are different, and so are white people. My heritage is mostly Irish, Romanian, and Native American... please tell me how my ancestors enslaved and crusaded. I am basically a descendant of refugees who have bounced around from continent to continent. We are not all Donald Trump. And truthfully, I've never seen this much snobbiness until I became a Shia and attempted integrating into the community. Sunnis, male or female, never let a greeting go unanswered. Some of these girls around here paint their faces like Haifa Wahebe and think they're something special. News flash, I don't want your number. I'm just trying to be polite and fit in. I see it more from the Lebanese people, not so much the Iraqis or Yemenis. And you know what else is crazy? Some Sunnis literally hate my guts because I left them, but there are far more who will sit and have a decent conversation. I felt more love at a joint Muslim-Jewish Iftar in which I was the only Shia present than I have at most of the "community" events I've attended. I wish I could say that I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. Being an outsider, a new Shia, and a white guy trying to wedge my way into this family makes both prison and combat seem fun. There have been moments where I've questioned even trying anymore. I could walk into a Sunni mosque, pray with my arms folded, and feel right at home if I ever went back to it... and I would be invited into their homes. It's hard enough leaving "that life" and walking a straight and narrow path, but becoming a Shia and moving to an area with a large Arab Shia population wasn't exactly what I had dreamed of. To sum up, yeah you are but I can take it. That doesn't mean I don't find it dispicable and hypocritical... I have been witness to "white people" rants and then chastised for referring to someone as a hijabi (as a descriptive term, not out of disrespect). I swear, some of these folks revere Imams and members of the Ahl-ul-Bayt that they wouldn't even let become a part of their families because they aren't the right kind of Arab... or even Arab at all. They forget that they were Romans and Africans in the mix. //rant mode off.

These are at the Great Revelations Academy in Dearborn. I believe starting next weekend everything will start at 10ish, but don't quote me on that. As of now, English is from 7:30-8:30, Arabic is at 10:30. If anybody knows of anything in between, like nightly community iftars, that would be great.

Just registered. Speaking from experience, integration can be difficult; excruciatingly so as a new Shia coming from a different place, a different background (ethnic and otherwise), and a different school of thought. Many people approach you with warmth and friendship, but there always seems that there's an invisible wall somewhere... like "Welcome to the family, but not literally", if that makes any sense.

Can't help you, but you have my moral support and empathy. I'm a single, divorced, 33-year old, white male double-convert (to Islam and then Shiism) living in a new town and with a touch of social anxiety. A bit too old to feel really open and comfortable with many of the youth*, and zero people that I meet and talk to on a daily basis. *-I try, and they are truly great, but we are a generation apart and it makes me feel a bit on the creepy/pathetic side to hang out with teens. There's also only so much I would even share with other dudes. There is something special about having a woman to share your thoughts with, and not having that kind of companionship can make you miserable... especially if you came from a life where it was the norm. I know we are to live for the Akhira and say "alhamdulillah" and "inna mal usri yusra", but coming from a life of jahiliya and then taking a further step into becoming a Shia can really put you through the ringer in this dunya. It's awkward and frustrating sometimes. Most of the time, actually. I have absolutely no words of wisdom that I could say to you while being totally genuine with both you and myself, other than "I feel ya". Inshallah you find a match to compliment your heart.

He's also on this kick about claiming Shias have no hafiz.

He's in Lake Charles, Louisiana, akhi. Otherwise I'd have no problem doing that.

In that case you yet again lack integrity. I can only assume that you didn't bother checking ANY of the links I posted because the question has already been answered succinctly... kind of like this whole Injeel thing. You must be a contrarian by nature.