Hajj - The Mother of All Pilgrimages

It's been the most humbling and fascinating experience performing Hajj last December. I have been struggling to find a way to capture this unique experience in words but have not been able to do so yet.

As they say, a picture is worth thousand words, so here is the pictorial story of my Hajj.

Hajj 1428 Pictures

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President Obama?

Is America ready for a President who is not white, and not black either? Senator Barack Obama, who announced his candidacy for the Democratic Party nomination yesterday, has forced people to ask this intriguing question. Obama is a product of a Kenyan immigrant father and white mother from Wichita, Kansas. His father left the family and returned to Kenya when Obama was only two years old. Does this make Obama a Black American? He is not a descendant of a slave from West Africa to qualify as a Black American. In fact, he is more white than Michael Jackson.

Why should it matter whether someone is white or black to be elected as the President? Luckily for Obama, it does matter. White Americans may find enough white in him to vote for him and for blacks, he is one of them. And if he wins, it will be a national celebration on the streets of Nairobi as "their son" will become the President and Commander-in-Chief of the only superpower in the world. One more national holiday for Kenyans!

If this Black n White debate was not enough then there is another twist in this fascinating story. Obama's middle name is Hussein. That's right, Barack Hussein Obama! Now all the Muslims will also jump on his bandwagon. Sorry, Hillary. Looks like Obama has all bases covered.

It will be the first time in the U.S. history that they will have a President whose name rhymes with their enemy #1 of the day. Consider the recent Presidents and their chief nemesis of the day:

Carter vs Ayatollah - no rhyming at all!
Reagan vs Qaddafi, Gaddaphi, Khaddafi (all three of them)
Bush Sr vs Saddam
Clinton vs Gingrich?
Bush Jr vs Saddam (part 2)
and now ...
Obama vs Osama - now we are talking! and rhyming!

There could be interesting exchanges between the two.

Obama to Osama: Yo mama so stupid she hears it's chilly outside so she gets a bowl.
Osama: Hey, dude. Chill. Come, share with me my favourite food, Shawarma.
Obama: Sorry, I am too busy. I go to Alabama.
Osama: Why in Iraq you make all this Hangama?
Obama to Osama: I'll tell you in a minute. First, come out of the hole, if you are a Mardana.


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Little Mosque on the Prairie

The TV show everyone is talking about, Little Mosque on the Prairie, the new CBC comedy about Muslims living in a small prairie town, is created by Zarqa Nawaz, a Canadian of Pakistani origin.

You can watch the first episode at the YouTube. Here are the links - its uploaded in 4 parts, the show starts at 2 minutes in the first part.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu2-lXDe2to&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmSAYyTKD0o&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4SH-vxBZEo&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsOH7Kmmfrs&mode=related&search=
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