Am I a shopaholic?

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Shop! Shop! And again Shop! That’s what I would say if somebody asked me ‘what my hobbies are’. Amongst my friends I’m known as the one who loves shopping. But I’ve noticed that I’ve been shopping a lot lately… If I’m not down town then you most probably find me online checking out some webshops and filling my chart… I never held track on how much I spend on shopping so cant tell you much about that…

And what do I buy? Name it and I tell you probably I have it: Shoes (loads of shoes), bags, scarves, accessories (earrings, bangles, watches, hijabpins, and headbands), books, make-up, and perfume… I just keep on buying.

What is a shopaholic? This is what Luisa Cameli, PhD, Psychology, and Director of the Cognitive Behavior Therapy Clinics says: “A shopaholic is someone who feels he must shop. The shopaholic would rather go to the mall than do any other activity, A shopaholic doesn’t consider the value of the purchase, because it is the act of shopping and buying that makes him euphoric. “Buying an item, any item, is the high point for shopaholics. It makes them unreasonably happy. Once home they put the bag beside other items bought and the guilt and shame set in and they regret the purchase.”

And This is what I recently (in week time) purchased online:

So am I a shopaholic?  Let’s answer some questions that may bring some light.

Do you think about shopping every day? Hmmm

Do you shop for yourself every day or every week? Yes

Do you understand why you shop – what drives it, what triggers it, and what consequences it has (could you write those things down or cogently describe them to someone else)? I shop because I like stuff but don’t always need them. Sometimes I shop when I’m bored.

Do you ever feel bad (guilty, ashamed, fearful) after a shopping trip? No not really, sometimes I feel guilty. I hardly feel bad about my purchases and when its not what I expected, I bring it back.

Do you ever feel weirdly ‘up’ after a shopping trip (triumphant, exultant, complete)?  Nope but I do feel sometimes the urge for shopping, like craving for chocolate.

Does shopping fill a lot of your time, thoughts and creative energy? No, I go online and click what I want or go to town with friends or my sis have lunch and do some shopping.

Does shopping take a large portion of your disposable income? Yes it does.

Is your relationship to shopping one of your most important? It’s my only relationship… Just kidding but I do feel a strong connection with it.

Do you have significant credit card debt, racked up on clothing, shoes and accessories purchases? No, no debts…Thank God!

Are you on a first name basis with the sales people of your favourite stores, you shop there so much? Seriously? I do have a life besides shopping.. So no need to be friends with sales people…

Do you have the phone numbers of your favourite stores on speed dial? Helloooo, of course not!

Is the thought of not going shopping for any period of time (a month, 6 months, a year) cause you to feel light-headed, heavy-hearted or short-of-breath with the sheer mortification of it? Nope not that kind of feelings, just the craving feeling, feeling the urge and need to buy but I won’t faint or hyperventilate.

Who’s the boss – shopping or you? Me!

My shopping hasn’t brought me in to any financial trouble, like huge debts

So you decide: Am I or am I not a shopaholic?

Anyhow here are some tips that might be handy for the shopaholics amongst us..hahaha

·         Decide exactly how much you can afford to spend.

·         Go shopping when you’re  at your best, i.e. not tired, hungry, or anxious.

·         Use cash only—leave the credit cards at home.

·         Set a time limit for your shopping trip.

·         Know what you want to buy; don’t just wander in and out of stores.

·         If you want an item that’s not on your list, go home and think about it. You can always buy it later.

·         Have an emergency plan should you start to lose control, like calling a friend who knows about your problem.

(http://muhc.ca)

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Sorted out my shoes

Hmmm... No comment

Im so so Sorry

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I've been neglecting The Daily Hijab lately... Im so so and so sorry but how much multi-tasking can a lady handle?

Wiggle your toe…

For a very long time I had an issue with my toes… I was so traumatized with my feet for years.  I was ashamed of my feet. They were so skinny and long almost like fingers. I have even named one of my toe: The E.T. toe. So I never wore any open toe shoes, although I did want to. It all changed when I saw Kill Bill and especially the part where Uma Thurman was wiggling her toe and that on the big screen!!! I’m not judging Uma but come on have you seen her feet but her feet did give my feet a boost. I realized that my  feet weren’t that bad at all. Ok they don’t deserve a beauty price but I could wear open shoes, not all kind off, but I could and I dared!!!

(Uma Thurman)

(Moi)

(Moi)

(Moi)



Anyhow I made peace with my family characteristic… yes long fingers and toes run in the family thanks to my daddi-ammi (granny)

Can you see the  family characteristics? 

(lol)

xoxo

Seemi

Ask The Daily Hijab

Assalamu alaikum,

Lets address today’s issue. By now we all know Osama Bin Laden has been killed by the elite force of the US. At least that’s what they want us to believe. No single shred of evidence has been made public. And the only evidence (his body) is dumped in the ocean, so we are told. The conspiracy machine is working at full speed. Numerous conspiracies are thrown on the internet. Some say it’s all a hoax, and Bin Laden ones again helped the US. Keep in mind that Obama has recently launched his reelection campaign, and what’s a better way to boost his popularity then taking down the archenemy? I bet none. But let’s say it all did happen. And I don’t mean happen like 9-11, no let’s say they did kill Bin Laden. How should the Muslim community respond?

News reached me of celebrating Muslims. Should we really celebrate someone’s loss? Is that ethical correct? How about the Islamic view on celebrating someone’s death. On one side we have celebrating Muslims and on the other side we have Muslims in grief. Those who celebrate his death support their happiness by claiming Bin Laden spread the wrong message manipulating the Hole Qur’an. As for the grieving Muslims they probably fear the (raising) influence of the US. Recently WikiLeaks revealed that the US financially supports the opposition in Syria. Yet another Arab country on the brink of civil war. Where the Arab League has great difficulties controlling their citizens, the leaders of the western world have a easy task. The mainstream is made to believe that Bin Laden was a fundamentalist a extremist and that he was the (biggest) enemy of democracy.

With no control we are headed to face another challenge; how should the Muslim world respond on the death of Bin Laden?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read and hopefully respond to this.

Wa alaikum assalaam.

Kabir Ali.

=

Wa 'alaikum salaam Kabir,

In your email I sensed a little doubt about the death of Usama Bin Laden. You talk about that it is something that the US wants us to believe. But the news has reached to us that he is dead and the prove of it is now in the ocean. So lets assume that he is dead and how should the muslim community respond and should his death be celebrated or mourned? It al depends on from which point of view you are looking at it. Osama bin Laden has been responsible for preaching hate and using terror. I think it would have been better that he was captured alive and put in trial for the crimes he had commited so that his victims also would have a chance to see him brought to justice.

As for your question how the muslim community should respond. Islam is against terror so I do believe that he (and others who use terror and agression) hijacked islam for their own benefit. Islam prohibits the killing of innocent people. Every single life is important in islam and if you kill it it is as if you killed a whole community.

I don't have any feelings about Osama bin Laden but I am not  or was not directly connected to the terror and hate he created. I can imagine that his victims are happy that he is gone. But there are also muslims happy that he is dead like the Pakistani people who dislike the fact that Americans are on their land and with Osama gone the American have to leave. Also that they now can work on changing their image that the West has about them: Supporters of terrorist.  I can't imagine that there are people mourning his death it must be a minority. And you have a group that isn't mourning but not happy how it went. America has a history of not giving people justice and this is anothor episode of that. It would have been much better if they captured him alive and put in trial and then got punished for his crimes then how it went now.

There is no unanimously answer for this because everybody has their own view on this matter. As far as my view on this I want to quote Martin Luther King Jr:

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that"

I hope this answers somewhat...

Regards,
The Daily Hijab

Ask The Daily Hijab

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Hi Lovelies,

Ask The Daily Hijab will be constant returning topic on The Daily Hijab. If you have any questions or need answers on a certain issue or a humble advice you can email me at thedailyhijab@hotmail.com. You can send in all kind of questions and they will me answered by me or by my network of experts.

I also want to start a topic called Me & My Style so send me your pictures, tell me what your inspiration is and I'll post them up..

Love to hear from you!!!

xoxox
The Daily Hijab

Am I suppose to take this serious?

Yesterday on my way home from a lovely din din with my uni friends I came across the following billboard at the station.

For my non-dutchi readers I’ll explain what’s said on the billboard. It says that the Big Day will be on the 21th of May this year !!! Yes people I’m talking about The Day…The Judgment Day… The Day when everything and anything will come to an end.

As a Muslim I believe in the Judgment day so I deffo believe it will happen but will it be on 21 May 2011? According to the Islamic point of view it’s only God who knows when it will happen.

“They ask you (Muhammad), “when will the Dag of Judgment be?” Tell them, “My lord knows best. It is He who has appointed its time…” (Q. 7:187)

So to be honest I don’t know when it will happen, just like I don’t know when I’ll die. So it makes me wonder how the billboard maker came to idea that it will be on 21 May 2011. Has it been written in the bible? As far as my knowledge goes even the Christians and Jews believe like the Muslims in the Judgment day but that the exact day was a mystery…. Well God knows!!!

Maxi dresses in or out!!!

I so heart maxi dresses… They are such a perfect outfit for a hijabi. I find them very fashion forward and forget not very comfy in hot weathers. For I while I thought they would be out but I´m getting the feeling that they´ll keep coming back every summer and won´t be out of fashion like the jeans. And if they do get out of fashion then I’ll be a sucker in fashion because I´ll keep wearing them. I don’t know about you girls but in my country the sun has finally come out and the maxi dresses have made their appearance from my closet… Although recycling and re-using is very good, a girl should always make space for more. So here are some of the dresses I purchased and some that I’m drooling over…

This really cracked me up !!!!

Catholic Nun Forcibly Removed From Plane for Wearing "Muslim Garb"

April 5, 2011 DAYTON, OH - Sister Cora-Ann, a Catholic nun from the Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Dayton, Ohio got the surprise of her life yesterday, when she was asked to leave the plane she had just boarded at the Omaha International Airport. "I had just sat down in my seat, and started to thank God for our blessings and recite a prayer in Latin", she recalled, when one of the passengers sitting next to me called the flight attendant. The passenger was Elizabeth Bennet, who later stated: "It is not that we were prejudiced, but she did seem very suspicious. She was dressed in Muslim garb and just before we were about to take off, she started mumbling something in an Arabian or Talibani-sounding language. What was I supposed to do?" Damien Thorn was a passenger seated in the adjacent row and said: "I knew there was something sinister about her, the moment she stepped into the plane. She was wearing those burqa clothes that you see the Iranian women wearing, and she only had a very small carry-on bag." The flight attendant responded to the call and asked Sister Cora-Ann for her name, boarding pass and a photo ID.

Blanche Dubois was another passenger sitting close to Sister Cora-Ann and explained: "Once I heard that her name sounded like Koran, I got worried. That does not mean that there is anything wrong with me, does it? I just did not want to die. I was so scared, that I just yelled out her name to all passengers." Mr. Okonkwo was a passenger seated a few rows behind and stated: "Once we all heard that the passenger's name was Koran, things started falling apart." Frodo Baggins, a frequent traveler, said he had heard that Muslims do not eat beef. "I did not think that she was Muslim, and to help her out, I took out some of my beef jerky and asked the lady to eat it to prove that she was not a Muslim."

However, Sister Cora-Ann politely refused the beef jerky and reminded the other passengers that it was the time of Lent, during which Catholics often abstain from eating meat. The unrest in the plane kept growing, because most passengers were now convinced that Sister Cora-Ann was indeed Muslim and they demanded that Sister Cora-Ann leave the plane. "I did not want to cause my fellow humans any distress, so I left the plane", she said.

"We were so happy that we could continue our journey", said Frodo Baggins. "Once she de-boarded, it felt like a huge burden was lifted from us." Apparently, there was indeed a Muslim on the plane, by the name of Abdullah Abdullah the 23rd, sitting in the last row. "Of course I knew that she was a Catholic nun and not a Muslim, because I went to a Catholic school and my favorite teachers were Catholic nuns." Abdullah Abdullah went on to say "But let us face it: If you are a Muslim on a plane and someone else is being asked to leave the plane, the best thing is to be quiet and enjoy the show!"

By : Jalees Rehman

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jalees-rehman/catholic-nun-forcibly-rem_b_843485.html

Rejected :o}…

A while ago I had a job interview at an Islamic school (well they call themselves a Dutch school with Islamic morals). Anyhow I went to the interview and the director of the school started off by saying that they are a liberal Islamic school so they don’t follow a specific group and views. They have liberal views about Islam and they want to teach the pupils Islamic values but also wanted them to be a part of the Dutch society. Hmmm nothing wrong with that right? And I totally agree with that kind of views but the job interview had very soon a turning point. My qualifications, experience were no longer the main to topic but my eyeliner was. One of the teachers who were at the interview noticed that I had make-up on (eyeliner and lip gloss) and according to her I was supposed to be a role model and that I should know that make-up is harem (prohibited). I disagreed with her because as far as my knowledge goes kohl is Sunna. But still it was my personal choice, and who is she to tell me what I could or could not do!  Basically what she said if you want to work with us you have to take off the make-up as if that was not enough the director added not to look that bright and to hide my feminity. How can I hide that my feminty? And Hello!!! Like I was sitting there with tight and revealing clothes!! I was totally stunned by their comments. Where my own people (muslim) rejecting me by the way I look (dressed)? Even though I was dressed islamicly. I had my hijab on, my shirt was loose and I had loose jeans on. I just had a little make-up and that was a huge issue!!! There goes their liberal Islamic views…

Normally you hear in the West that a hijabi is rejected for a job because of her hijab by non-Muslims but now the Muslims rejected another Muslim because I didn’t fit in their mindset probably. It really shocked me but also made me very angry. My Islamic dress is a part of my identity and nobody has the right to ask me to change it!! Muslim or no Muslim. I would never ever take off my hijab for a job but I would also not change the way I wear my hijab.  I’m not a full-time abaya wearer and I don’t think it’s necessary as long as I’m dressed modest within the wishes of my creator.

I thanked the job interviewers for their time and said thanks but no thanks… This is not a place where I would like to work or be happy to work at!

What would you do if you were in my shoes? Stay true to yourself or change bits of yourself….???

London here I come!!!

intro

My name is Seemi and welcome to my blog The Daily Hijab…

I saw the light of life in a small rainy cold country called the Netherlands (aka Hollandistan). Somehow I am convinced that I should have been born in a warm country. Well what can a person do, daddy and mummy decided to live here. So they moved from Pakistan to Hollandistan.

I’ve studied Religious studies and Pedagogy. After my studies I worked as a teacher and have been teaching until last summer. Now I’m in between jobs and studying part-time Islamic theology at the University of Leiden. I always had a passion for religion and kept having this hunger about knowing more and more especially about Islam since I am Muslim and face challenges by living in the West and wanting to practice my religion. In the West the hijab (muslimveil) is symbol for suppression but for me it’s a form of devotion and my liberation.

If I had to give a metaphor to describe myself I would say ‘Just like a Jalebi, sweet and twisted’!!!

This a place where I would like to share parts of my life as a Muslim women, my likes and dislikes, to write about things that interest me like travelling, fashion, religion and all the silly things I come up with…

Love,

Seemi