In the Company of Women

#78 by sisterscorpion

Sis, the fault is not in our stars – only in our nicks! Forgive me if the term “scorpion” puts all kinds of violent imagery (like consumed-upon-consummation males) into our minds and scares away simple souls like this interactor and motivates them to take up defensive positions.

Why in this day and age – when all kinds of beautiful words are available to chose from – take for example – “Laila” (perhaps THE ideal woman and the one your parents had in mind (but they merely ended up one letter off)) of the Laila and Majnu fame – instead we see people going for “scorpion”!

What kind of sadistic, deprived creature would stoop so low, you tell me?!

Where is the woman?! That tree which gives shade – that eternal source of comfort and succor to man kind?!!

Whose company brings joy, warmth, a sense of peace, as depicted in this article – those ingredients so sorely missing in this world – especially in THIS one!

The eternally beautiful woman! Not just physical beauty, but the inner beauty of the spirit, the agent of man’s love, and through love, his lifeline to God.

Instead – upon the simplest of provocations – what a retort!

She hits left, she hits right – she makes those ears ring!

Instead of soft words peculiar to her sex – she brandishes her sting!

Not the angel of love – merely a hobbit!

Instead of the beauty of flowing golden tresses and braided hairpieces and curling locks kissed by the breeze – we have Lorena Bobbitt!

#74 by bjk

Was that a ``welcome to the chowk-nest`` hazing?

You`re free to kiss mine, although I`d have to say, it`d be quite the unpleasant experience.

My post wasn`t for you, it was for her, and because I enjoyed reading her contribution.



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#75 by Jawahara

They`re the ones under my name (Leila Montour).

Just a few additional words of my own! Just my words – so don’t nobody try to look for profound wisdom therein!

(Note: if you are holding your breath for Shakespeare, you may have to hold it for a very long time!)

(Disclaimer: I am no writer.)

Those of you with that satisfied smirk after reading the preceding line – wipe it off right now! You are not it either!

We are not writers – none of us really is. We are all like books with a lot less control over what appears in those pages than most of us would like to think. That is the simple reality.

Words are like children. They come out in many different shapes and colors. We – the individuals – create them but in reality we do not control them (even though some of us think that we do). Controlled words lack life – they are like a lab report or an accounting book, no matter how precise or down-to-earth, they are always boring! Children, on the other hand, are creations of God (the only Writer around) and they are never boring because they are never predictable – a fact sometimes rued by parents just likes some writers read their own words from time to time and shake their heads! And just like sometimes the children won’t come no matter how earnestly the parents keep calling them – the words don’t show up either – driving us mad.

But we love them anyway!

[Writing is a lonely process.]

It need not be. Yet, in many ways, writing on one’s own emotional and other internal resources is like drawing water from one spot – one can draw only at a certain (moderate) rate and still provide a good quality drink – drawing faster than that would invariably lower the water level and degrade its quality and bring out the muck! The trick I suppose is to place a well close to a reservoir which has enough of a body mass that it does not deplete easily. In many ways, perhaps this article describes a situation of that sort.

#75 by Jawahara

[…Do let me know (via email …) which piece was yours.]

You mean you did not even feel the sting!!!

And how come NOBODY welcomes me ANYWHERE?!!!

Welcome sisterscorpion, good to see you here. I too didn`t see either the apologism or the Islam-bashing in this anthology. It was interesting to be a part of this book. Do let me know (via email if you like at jsaidullah@hotmail.com) which piece was yours.

#73 SisterScorpion

O-mi-gawwwd!

Sis, my scorpion of a sis, don’t tell me!

Not another one of those!

You know the type I am talking about.

The type everyone knows around here.

The type that kisses!

Yes, kisses – again and again with those puckers – perhaps for eternity!

Right on the ass!

Hi all,

Well. I`ve went and signed up with chowk so I can comment on this entry and a few others. Aside from the various tangents going on in the discussion section (politics, Shakespeare, various lit, and whatnot), I`d like to thank Jawahara for her thoughts on her writing experience for this anthology, of which I, too, am a contributer. When I finally got hold of my copies, I was so pleased to see the other women`s (and one man`s) writings and to find they were well-done, too. Personally I didn`t see the work as either being a work of appologists nor something with the intention of being anti-Islam, and seeing as both are quite oppositional to one another, I`ve got to wonder just how many of the commenters have read the book as of yet, or are just speaking in a general sense upon other issues in the greater community. There`s religious criticism in the book, yes. And that`s not a bad thing, either, if you ask me. At the same time, there`s plenty of affirmation and empowerment, though I`d never dare to describe it as being appologistic (where`s the apologetics in the book? I`ve yet to find it...) My favorite part of the anthology is its decent balance of various ``types`` (possibly a bad word in this venue, LOL) of Muslim women from different backgrounds and schools o` thought and all that.

Anyway, Jawahara, your sense of writing while ``knowing`` there were other folks out there in a similar boat, caring about these issues, etc is something I myself felt once I read the book. Seeing as I didn`t interact or know most of the other contributers, I was anxiously awaiting the book so I could actually find out what the others had written and produced. By the end of it, I had to say that I felt as though I had sort of ``snuck in`` under the wire into a good book with my own writing, especially as a white american convert to Islam who`d obviously had no experience growing up in my youth as a Muslim or around Muslim folk. But at the same time, I surely don`t regret my sneaking in to share the pages with the other writers and artists in the book.

Regards,

Leila Montour

Apart from the Shakespearean discussions and other stuff, it`s interesting that there are two reactions to this piece. There is the group that considers the writers (me included) Muslim apologists trying to shove Muslim womens` issues under the rug. Then, there are those who consider the book and its writers to be anti-Muslim, hell-bent on insulting Islam. I couldn`t help but notice that.

#69 H<sub>2</sub>

Ama H<sub>2</sub>, stop vacillating!

Make up your mind and stick with it!

Make up your mind – it can not be both ways – is T<sub>2</sub> “lethal” or just “kooky”?

#69 You are now splitting hairs by distinguishing between ``insane`` (which is actually the term you used for those appreciating shakespeare) and ``dangerous``. How many insane individuals would you trust to drive your car, e.g.?

But it is a relief to know that you do not consider to be potential terrorists all those millions of people through the centuries who have read and watched shakespeare`s plays, or approvingly quoted (knowingly or unknowingly) from one of his many great quotes.

The last thing we need is a bunch of unemployed Shakespearean actors hijacking planes and forcing the passengers to perform A Midsummers Night Dream.

Re: # 67

i never said shakespeare `fans` are dangerous - just kooky ! ...... on the other and, fans of that other masterpiece can be quite lethal .......

hamidm: and dont drag the Quran (or Koran, if you wish) and Masadi into everything. That is a cop out.

hamidm: So, appreciating shakespeare makes one a kook? and a dangerous one at that!! Or, as Shakespeare put it: cassius has a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.``

And so all those fellows who pay good money to watch Shakespeare`s plays - whether at the Globe Theater or at the Kenney Center - must also be dangerous kooks. Your world is full of dangerous characters, my friend. :-)

Re: # 65

bj,

..... actually i was referring to tahmed himself - he is not that far from masadi when it comes to the divinity of book - he just want to interpret it a lttle different ......... personally i think that shameless apologists like tahmed and bina are just as dangerous, if not more, than obvious kooks like masadi .........

#64 H<sub>2</sub>
[....... but then there are also people who think the koran is a divine masterpiece!]

A pathetic, thinly disguised attempt to get into the good books of T<sub>32</sub> by dumping familiar deluge of drivel on that good ole staple diet called Masadi!

tahmed,

....... good try, but i still think shakespeare is poppycock and balderdash and i put him in the same category as poser khalid ........... in my view he does not hold a candle to naipaul, coetzee and naguib mahfouz - no comparison, period.. bus!

p.s. i don`t know anyone who reads shakespeare for pleasure and seriously doubt the sanity of anyone who does ....... but then there are also people who think the koran is a divine masterpiece !