Happy Friday Wishes !!!

[Jenn! 918]

This is an example to me of just one of many times that I feel extremely alienated. I really do find this kind of post inappropriate. I am not Muslim, and I have never brought religion into any of my posts because I do feel that it's a personal choice and doesn't belong in an immigration forum. I know many of you are very passionate about your religion, and I accept that and I think that's great but it's not my religion however in this forum it has become part of the daily routine to refer to Allah and the Quran. I guess I'm just the type who likes to keep religion part of my personal life and to not give it presence in this forum which is for support and immigration. I have personally never seen anyone writing Bible verses or praising Jesus here and I would appreciate it if we could leave religion out of this forum as I would feel less alienated each day.I know this will probably not happen it's just something I hoped everyone would think about and not be offended by. Thanks,

Sarah

I have seen many a bible verse and Jesus reference around just for the record.

I do understand how you feel, Sarah. But at the same time, I think it's only fair to give the ladies of this forum credit for being non-judgemental when it comes to religion. I am neither Muslim nor particularly religious, but I don't feel that anyone has said anything to me here that would make me feel not welcome because of it. I also find that the women here tend to know the religion of the person they are speaking to and modify their post accordingly.

I think you will find that the ladies here are so wonderful about it really, and hopefully everyone will make more of an effort to not make you feel excluded.

[sarah and hicham 3]

Sorry just to make this clear, I am not looking for more Bible verses, I am not religious at all. I am just saying I like to keep religion separate is all.

[Henia 11]

Asalaamu Aleikum wa Rahmat Allah wa Baraketu...

dear sisters and brothers...

chers soeurs et frères...

Jumuaa Mubarak...

~Wishing everyone a very blessed Friday...and a very restful, wonderful and blessed weekend.

May Allah refresh all your hearts in faith and give you all your rest with your families...

Allah Maak (i)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am really sorry if someone has felt LEFT OUT of my MOST SINCERE FRIDAY GREETINGS...

My intention was only to tell everyone HELLO and HAVE A GREAT FRIDAY, AS IN THE ME-NA ITS A SACRED DAY.....BUUUUUUUUT ALSO IN THE USA, AFTER 5PM THE BEGINNING OF THE WEEKEND....TIME OF REST....GET THE PART WHERE I SAID... give you all your rest with your families... I am rolling my eyes now really...

TOTALLY NOT THE POINT IF YOU ARE MUSLIM OR NOT... THE POINT WAS THE SINCERE WISHES BEHIND IT. AND ALSO NOT TO START ANY FIGHTS OR WHATEVER, BUUUUT THIS IS A ME-NA FORUM, WHERE MOST OF THE SPOUSES AND FIANCEES ARE PROBABLY MUSLIM...SOOOOOOOO IF YOU HAVE EVER BEEN TO THESE PLACES OR AROUND THE PEOPLE, YOU WOULD GET WHAT I AM SAYING...

AND ALSO ANTOHER POINT... ALLAH MEANS THE GOD IN ARABIC...SO EVEN JEWISH OR CHRISTIAN ARABS SAY ALLAH...

and if anyone would come saying Merry Christmas or Happy Easter... or even Happy Sunday, lets go to Church....i wouldnt cut them down...I would return their greetings with the utmost sincerity... COS why...ummm well, we are ALL sisters and brothers...esp here where we are all going the SAME stupid immigration process...

SO in the end all i have to say is.... Net is filled with many things...things we like, things we dont..things that are helpful and also things that are harmful...but ya know whats the key here.....FILTER OUT WHAT YOU DONT LIKE.... and hon, this is the USA.....thing called FREE SPEECH.... so if advise anyone EVERYWHERE if you dont like what i got to say....close your eyes....

I hope this reply wasnt wasnt too nasty, as that wasnt my intention at all...and also it wasnt pointed towards anyone........

And i wanted to close by SAYING to EVERYONE , so that includes non muslims TOOOOOOO....

PEACE, BLESSINGS AND MERCY BE UPON YOU... AND I TRULY WISH AND PRAY FOR EVERYONE HERE TO GET ALONG AS WE ARE HERE FOR THE SAME PURPOSE, LETS TRY TO UNDRSTAND EACH OTHER AND HELP ONE ANOTHER....AAAAAAAAND I PRAY FOR EVERYONE TO BE REUNITED WITH OUR LOVED ONES....

Thats all i have to say....

[sarah and hicham 3]

Ok once again I am not trying to get everyone riled up. I don't care what religion it is it makes no difference that most of the people here are Muslim, if people were quoting the Bible on such a regular basis I would still feel the same thing. I believe that religion is a personal choice, I don't feel the need to advertise my beliefs I like to keep that personal. That's it, I am not trying to start a fight. I really dislike the tone that you replied in, I think it was rude and I don't know why you said some of the things you did. I am not trying to be mean or rude or have people hate me I am just stating something that I have thought about for a looong time about this forum. That's it.

[MrsAmera 41]

Sarah - I'm sorry I didn't mean to attack you and I understand what you are saying. I don't want you to feel excluded or alienated. I try to keep religion seperate (the American way ) and I hope I haven't alienated or excluded you at any point.

[sarah and hicham 3]

Sarah - I'm sorry I didn't mean to attack you and I understand what you are saying. I don't want you to feel excluded or alienated. I try to keep religion seperate (the American way ) and I hope I haven't alienated or excluded you at any point.

No you have not, and thank you for understanding. I seriously was not trying to start anything I just wanted to share something that I have been thinking about a lot here. I do feel alienated in this forum but I appreciate everyone here for their help and knowledge. I just wanted to give my opinion about what I see a lot is all.

Sarah

[Henia 11]

Sarah, I am pretty sure no one here is trying to exclude you... we are all here for same the reason...

Most of us here are so open-minded as i seen here...so many awesome and strong ladies...you included... also definetly not trying to be rude or use any kind of tone with you...just trying to spread some good feelings/greetings... anyway i have so much mooore things to worry on then this. Have nice weekend.

[Bosco 1]

Sarah,

I understand how the religion may make you feel excluded. I am sorry you feel that way and respect your opinion. However, I don't think it is easy for (most) Muslims to check their religion at the door.

Islam defines Muslims - how they greet people, how they interact, what they eat, how they dress, how they offer and receive support, etc., all in the example of the Prophet Muhammad. It isn't a religion as much as it is a way of life. If the Muslims in the forum are asked to leave out their religion, they are being asked to leave out an essential part of what defines/shapes and guides them as individuals.

I am glad you shared how you feel and hope you don't feel attacked by any of the responses.

Rebecca

[UmmSqueakster 54]

My parents, while they go to church on Sundays, absolutely don't discuss or even think about religion during the rest of the week. They're very uncomforatable with my choice of religion and husband. So, I try to tone things down when I visit - pray only in my room when they won't notice, don't wear a scarf in a muslim way (although any scarf still gets them riled up), make sure that I expunge certain phrases from my vocabulary like inshaAllah.

While I do this because I love them, it also makes very uncomfortable. As Rebecca mentioned, for some of us, it IS who we are. When I purposely hide that part of who I am, I don't feel that I am really me. I can express myself with the muslimness, but it just seems kinda hollow.

Also, one of the reasons I married a ME/NA man is because religion is very intwined in his being and in his culture. I'm here because of my husband, and an essential part of our relationship and visa process has been our faith.

It's a delicate balance I guess, how we can all feel comfortable. I'm not quite sure how we can find that balance. I suppose when I start a thread that is religion related, I can put a note in the description, so that those who want to avoid it can. I do hope we can find that balance.

[jordanianprincess 0]

Hello All

It has been quite some time since I posted on VJ but I do read every once in awhile and do talk to some of the friends I made here offline.

First of all I'd like to say that the reason I stopped coming here is because of all the religion talk. I am Christian and I don't appreciate the way Islam is always being shoved down my throat here. I could do the immature thing and start posting bible verses everywhere but that is simply not who I am. I realize that there are people here of many religions and backrounds and I do my best to respect them all. Saying Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Eid Mabrook, is in no way the same as quoting verses from Quran. It is true that Christians and Muslims and Jews refer to god as Allah, but as someone here was referring back to the ways of life in the middle east, just because you have been to one place doesnt mean its that way everywhere. There are alot of Christians in the middle east and they live harmoniously side by side with muslims. They wish each other happy holidays and are good friends, however they don't quote relgion to one another because is just a simple means of respect. This is the way the real arab world lives. I am arabic, and we have lots of muslim friends, but we simply dont talk about religion. As Rahma said tehre are times where you need to tone it down.

This is a forum about immigration, not religion. I can appreciate that some of you are passionate about your religion, but you can take those discussions elsewhere as a means of respect for those around you that don't feel the same way. This doesn't mean that you are checking your religion at the door. Islam defines Muslims, Christianity defines Christians, the fact that I don't quote bible verses doesnt mean that I am turning my back on my religion.

I am in full agreement with what Sarah has said today and I know there are many here that feel the same way because they have told me personally. No one is saying this is about free speech. This forum is a tightly knit community of women and men that have began to share personal aspects of their lives with one another. Therefore people must respect those of differnt backrounds, cultures, religions, genders, etc.

This is my opinion. Take with a grain of salt if you like, but I would like to highly encourage everyone here to take this at face value and not dig deeper into the meaning of what I have written. There is no need to nitpick each word I wrote. This is not an attack on any one person or religion. I'd like to say thanks to those of you who understand what I am saying in advance, I mean no ill will towards anyone. I have felt alienated just like Sarah, so she is not the only one. I do realize that there are alot of muslim women here, but how would you feel if it was the opposite? What is it were mostly Christian women here? I think you would feel the same if we constantly talked about the Bible and Jesus and Christianity. Please put yourself in someone else's shoes.

[UmmSqueakster 54]

Soooooooooo, should muslim posters not say inshaAllah? Say SubhanAllah or Alhamdulilah in response to something good? Not post topics related to the ME/NA and Islam? Post a quranic verse specifically in response something a fellow muslim says? Have something Islam related in signatures or avatars?

I'm honestly trying to see how I can participate here. My persona, and especially my online persona says inshaAllah and looks to the quran for inspiration. I'm not sure I can turn that off. I don't want to have to worriedly look over my posts before I send them or feel bad because I forgot and put an inshaAllah in it. I wish we could all be ourselves here without having to censor what we write. If you don't want to mention religion in you post, I won't be offended.

*sigh*

[iceyspots 0]

Muslim women in a christian country... maybe for most of us, this is the only interaction we have with other muslim women. I can't include myself, but I can think of a few off the top of my head who are many many miles away from any masjid ...

Being a christian in a muslim country is difficult just as being a muslim in a christian country is difficult..

besides.. on these boards I've been told to go read the book of matthew..

If I dont like to read something in a forum, I skip over it, just because someone else is christian or jewish or atheist and is proud, I dont feel alienated because of it..

[LaL 418]

i don't even know how to respond anymore to this forum, its like its BROKEN!! so many people offended, alienated, hypersensitivity, attacks, stressed due to delays AR, etc. and accusations of OUTSIDERS invading this *little corner*

for as long as i have been here, VJ has had its ups and downs, and this is definately a down for this forum. i am just waiting for the calm to resume. i still have a journey ahead of me and am going no where.

Edited July 7, 2006 by lal_brandow

[samir_shannon 0]

happy friday wishes............. its friday already? i have to work 32 hours this weekend ....#######

[Bosco 1]

Soooooooooo, should muslim posters not say inshaAllah? Say SubhanAllah or Alhamdulilah in response to something good? Not post topics related to the ME/NA and Islam? Post a quranic verse specifically in response something a fellow muslim says? Have something Islam related in signatures or avatars?

I'm honestly trying to see how I can participate here. My persona, and especially my online persona says inshaAllah and looks to the quran for inspiration. I'm not sure I can turn that off. I don't want to have to worriedly look over my posts before I send them or feel bad because I forgot and put an inshaAllah in it. I wish we could all be ourselves here without having to censor what we write. If you don't want to mention religion in you post, I won't be offended.

*sigh*

First, I do understand how people may feel excluded and it saddens me that anyone feels that way.

I thought this forum, specifically this ME/NA forum was for "General Discussion > Regional Discussion", not necessarily immigration issues. I can see where the types of posts that are sometimes found here would be inappropriate on the K1 or AOS forums. However, it seems to me they would fit here. As we discuss the region, we discuss the people, the culture, the religion, etc.

I have not seen what I would consider excessive posting directly from the Quran or ahadith (with a few exceptions), although I don't read every post. I do see signatures quoting the Quran, but feel that a signature is a place for a person to express themselves, as is their avatar. However, maybe I am bias. I love to hear and learn how everyone approaches their faith - it fascinates me.

I feel people expressing themselves through their religion has given me the opportunity to know them as individuals better (and this goes for VJ Christian posters on the OT forum as well). I feel Rahma, in particular, has given us a window into who she is by her messages - and I for one have been grateful for it. I feel she and others have shared a part of them that is dear to them and I would hate for them to turn that off.

For me, it would be no different than if they expressed their passion about something else, their children, their job, etc. It is a glimpe into their life and I am thankful for the chance to get to know any of you better. I personally have never felt anyone has forced their religion upon me and feel bad others have felt this way.

Rebecca