I fasted on Monday and was amply and incredibly rewarded by the greatest sunset I have EVER seen. Pictures, and hopefully a real will follow so that you can see it in all of its splendor Muslims are encouraged, but not required, to fast on Mondays and Thursdays. Monday was my first fast of the week. I intend to fast again on Thursday of this week. Fasting ‘gives back’ by giving me (anyway) a feeling of peace and serenity. Sunsets are welcomed with great anticipation because that is when you can break your fast with dates. After Isa prayer one eats real food. Rather impulsively went to view the Monday potential sunset. I could not believe my eyes and neither will you. Did I reel which I posted on Instagram and will try to have it posted on my YouTube channel. It was absolutely breath taking, another case of seeing is believing.
For me, believing in Alla (SWT).
But onto more mundane matters. Mundane is the perfect word as it means either 1) lacking interest or excitement OR 2) of this earthly world rather than a heavenly or spiritual one:
Back to the mundane.
I have resubscribed to the The New Yorker and there is already good news.A title caught my eye.: Why the South Korean feminist movement, which calls for a boycott of men, is gaining traction among American women.Looking to South Korea women in the US have ‘singed on’ to South Korea’s $B movement, It sounds rather like fun. Here is news of it. The article written by E, Tammy Kim
Last week, here in Seoul, I was trying to digest the aftermath of the election when I began to notice that my American peers were looking this way, in search of guidance from South Korea. On TikTok, X, and Instagram, women of all ages were committing themselves to some version of South Korea’s 4B movement, each “B” (the prefix 비 or bi) indicating a negation or disavowal: no marriage, no kids, no sex, no dating, all defined in heterosexual terms. “Good luck getting laid, especially in Florida! Because me and my girlies are participating in the 4B movement,” one American TikToker said. “Why exactly are you going to keep becoming subservient to a nation that doesn’t literally care about you?” another asked, backgrounded by an article about the fertility rate in South Korea. A piece in Vanity Fair was headlined “maga Has a Penis Obsession. 4B Feminism Is a Logical Response.”
She updates us on goings-on in South Korea.
The country has one of the world’s lowest fertility rates, and the marriage rate has fallen by forty per cent in the past decade. Many straight women, twentysomething through middle age, have given up on the layers of bullshit that come with dating and reproduction: sexist dudes, in-law drama, holiday rituals, dead-end job prospects. There’s also the untenable cost of family housing and childhood education in Seoul and other major cities. 4B is catchy and provocative, but it’s also way too slight to help us through this moment of crisis.
Admit that I am so weary of the US that I refuse to read about it therefore, it was a total surprise to read about Trump’s cabinet choices.
And it now seems that Trump is attempting to fill his cabinet with men suspected of sexual misconduct: Pete Hegseth, his intended nominee for Defense Secretary, had paid to settle allegations that he trapped a woman against her will in a hotel room and sexually assaulted her; Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who could lead the Department of Health and Human Services, allegedly groped a woman he’d hired as a babysitter. Trump’s pick for Attorney General, Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration on Thursday, after new reports emerged that he had paid for sex, multiple times, with a seventeen-year-old girl. (Both Hegseth and Gaetz deny the allegations.)
However, apparently it is not making the situation any better.“If you were to ask me whether gender consciousness has improved,” Jung Choon-saeng, a member of the National Assembly and a critic of Yoon’s policies, told the audience, “I’d have to say that, because of the current backlash, it’s, in fact, got worse.”
This issue was addressed in the USA in 1972. I looked up some pamphlets from that time, including one by the Chicago Women’s Liberation Union, published in 1972. It affirmed the need for “personal lifestyles of liberation,” as well as a “structural analysis of our society and its economic base”—the personal made political. “Under certain circumstances, working with men is feasible, desirable and necessary to achieve our vision,” the authors argued. Separatism “as political position is illusory.”
It looks like South Korean and B movement women are giving up on marriage. I am much married (4 University degrees, 3 ex-husbands). (Both the degrees and former husbands are relics of the past, my pre-Islamic days). Always and for all times I am determined to have more University degrees than ex-husbands – I do NOT want to go back to school so I am avoiding remarriage. Hahaha
My imagination calls forth a romantic Western style proposal of marriage
Romantic in Western eyes is some guy on his knees offering you a ring worth thousands of dollars, saying: “Darling, I will love you forever, Please pretty please say you will marry me. I might even pay for the wedding.”
That sounds romantic in Western eyes perhaps but absolutely NOT if you are Muslim This would be a an incredibly romantic Muslim proposal .
He: Pick a date in December, I am not joking. We stop beating around the bush and make it halal in a way to please Allah because that is the only way you and I can meet in Jannah.”
The man is saying he wants to be with his ‘intended’ forever — for all eternity as we know it. He is saying, I am serious about you, and about us. EXTREMELY serious. Who cares about the diamond ring. His major concern is Allah – that is what is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. His ‘intended’ loves Allah, both of them do. It was the Creator who brought them together, the meeting and the ability to forge a relationship and grow a relationship, thus far. With Allah’s blessing the couple can overcome the massive problems they will face; the nay-sayers, the jealous people, their own human frailties.
That is all about that, for the moment. Now you get to see some photos of the sunrise. Perhaps the sunset reel but here is the link to Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DC1PB1VyCwn/?igsh=MXZieGMxenUzMHQ0Mg==
I have received some stupendous news. Asked my Computer Guru to have my country statistics done again. Not sure exactly why I put in the request but did so. Who is the winner? Which country has the most views (not viewers). MALAYSIA. Statistics will follow as a photo. The chosen anonymity of the blog makes it impossible to get feedback, to truly know if all of the effort makes any difference. Or am I just a voice crying in the wilderness? Nope, Malaysians come back time and time again to read what I have to say. AND they are not an entirely English speaking country. Bahrain folks are trying SO hard. They are most diligent but few in number. Hahaha
To prepare yourself for the more serious times ahead on this blog please go to this Instagram for some serious thoughts about the Islamic faith as practiced. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DC0mGUJsue8/?igsh=MXRuODlicmp6enVsZw==
