apropos of anything

I know it’s not John McCain’s campaign sending out the DVDs. But… it’s also not John McCain telling anyone to stop.

I know it’s not John McCain’s campaign piping a “chemical irritant” into a room full of children who were waiting for their mothers to finish their taraweeh prayer. But… it’s also not John McCain being outraged that something like this could happen.

They’re acting on his behalf. He needs to take a stand. The fact that he doesn’t reinforces yet again why I plan to vote for the other guy.

Friday night was khatamul Quran at Al Farooq (and at ICNF, and in Augusta, and, I’m sure in half a dozen other mosques around the metro Atlanta area (not that Augusta is metro Atlanta by any means, but I know for sure they had it there). It’s one of the Ramadan rituals that I will always find a way to try to attend, even if it means contorting myself and my schedule in spectacular pretzel-like fashion. I love the crescendo leading up to the final surahs, and I love the du’a at the end, and I love the powerful emotional impact of feeling like you’ve accomplished something as you stand there at the end, thinking through all the surahs that have been read through all the nights of prayer over the past 27 days (because Al Farooq, like most other mosques, always finishes on the 27th night). This year was especially beautiful, in our brand new spacious masjid that despite its size was packed to the brim, so much that people were praying on out in the marble hallways.

And I love the post-khatam days when the taraweeh no longer has a daily script, freeing the imam to read the surahs people recognize, like Ar-Rahman or Ya Sin, so that even though the prayers themselves are shorter, the connection, the focus remains because instead of concentrating on the progress through the Quran you are instead concentrating on the verses you know so well. But the arrival of the post-khatam days also means the month is almost over, and while that makes me sad every year, this year it’s like a physical hurt, like I can’t catch my breath, because how can Ramadan already be over?

I think it is because I know that this year I did not do all that I could, that this year I let the length of the day and the demands of my job interfere with my dedication to Ramadan, and I want another week, or two if I could get it, to do it all the right way. And because I take indescribable comfort in the structure of Ramadan, the pattern it gives my days; while they might be difficult and busy, when I am on my game and taking full advantage of all the month has to offer, they are also incredibly satisfying.

I will miss Ramadan. I want it to stay.

But I suppose we can’t always get what we want, so instead of being sad over the course of the remaining few days, I am going to take advantage of this 29th night of Ramadan, a possible lailatul qadr night because He says to call on Him and He will answer. I began this post with the intention of sharing again, but I don’t think I can anymore, so instead — mubarak, and enjoy the end of Ramadan, and pray for me, please, because I will be praying for you.

(Top picture courtesy of Taha Kazi. Bottom two pictures courtesy of http://www.boston.com. Clicking on any of the pictures will take you to the original photo.)

Because seriously, I am in awe that everyone isn’t as floored by this as I am:

The James Fallows analysis is here.

And no, I don’t think the Obama campaign should hammer away at her in lieu of McCain. They’re right that McCain’s running for president, and therefore McCain should be the focus of their attention, but the more this woman speaks, the more I question McCain’s judgment.

Also, I am seriously offended by the number of times she worked “Islamic terrorist” into that brief clip. As I’ve said before, a terrorist is a terrorist is a terrorist is a terrorist. Who he prays to at night doesn’t really factor into the equation… or, at least, it shouldn’t.

Sarah Palin’s myth of America.

I thought it was an incredibly well-done column. Klein’s really been raising the bar these days — something must have him pretty motivated.

Also, yes, ANOTHER new design. I’m trying it out. It needs some tweaking (because my goodness is it monochromatic), but I don’t know if I will get to that until October. In the meantime, please don’t mind the bugs and wonkiness.

The Shaamir wedding has come and gone (and of course the pictures are on Facebook already), leaving us all with just enough time to turn our focus elsewhere: Ramadan. It has arrived. Quietly, this year, or possibly that was just me, since I’ve been caught up in the Shaamir extravaganza for the past couple of weeks.

On Sunday Alicia and I made jam, partly because I had oodles of fruit left over from the Shaamir festivities and partly because I think we are both just slightly nuts. Why make jam when you can buy jam? Because ours doesn’t have preservatives, or even pectin! Plus, on which supermarket shelf are you going to find blackberry plum jam where the plums are direct from Chile and the blackberries from a riverbank in Tennessee, hmm?

I meant to take pictures, but with all the boiling and taking care not to suddenly find ourselves covered in varying degrees of burns, the only photos I managed to snap were of Mars sitting in a box we thought was too small for him. (Silly humans that we are, we were wrong.) I’ll photograph Jamming: Round Two whenever it happens (because plum jam is yummy and I really do want to be Anne Shirley when I grow up) and document the recipe in case anyone else is also slightly nuts and wants to make their own, but…

On Sunday Alicia and I made jam, which ran a little longer than I expected and so I didn’t quite get to Al Farooq at 9:30 like I’d planned… and then I had to circle for a few minutes before I found a parking space in a section of the deck they’d meant to cordon off but didn’t quite get to. It was a larger-than-normal crowd for the first night of taraweeh, but I figured, hey, it’s a holiday weekend, people are taking advantage of not having to work tomorrow.

Al Farooq Masjid in midtown Atlanta. Photo courtesy of R. David Coolidge.

On Monday, it was worse. I was even later because the perverse part of me didn’t want to go, and it wasn’t until I got a text message from Randa asking if I’d left yet that I actually got in the car and drove down to midtown. I’ve never seen taraweeh is never so full on a weeknight except for when they are finishing the Quran. It was equally surprising and exhilarating because we are so blessed to have this beautiful shiny new masjid, Alhumdulillah, and to have it be FULL like it should be. What a wonderful way to start off the month of Ramadan.

Now if only those Al Farooq board members could do something about the complete and total lack of parking, that would be fabulous.

Ramadan mubarak, everyone. May we all strive to new heights this year, insha’Allah.