By: Paras Qureshi

Have you ever sat down and wondered what the other 1.57 billion Muslims in the world are doing this Ramadan?  Where are they?  Well, nestled amidst the mountainous backbone of South America, you will find Bogota, Colombia… and yes, they have Muslims!  This city has its own mini-Ummah, which is growing leaps and bounds, day by day.  With three mosques and one Islamic Cultural Center, one can seek out members of the growing population and the community they have established. 

By: Mousa Kraish

If you are ever lucky enough to go to a Middle Eastern wedding, or Middle Eastern themed wedding that white people are finding popular these days (to show their pro-Mid East solidarity, of course) you are going to have to dance. Dance you say? Yes, dance I said! Dance like Travolta did on a lit floor with a crowd cheering you on. You see, an Arab wedding is like a rave without the drugs… sometimes (well, only if you have the right crowd).

Getting a tattoo, or “inked”, is often the international sign of rebellion from teenagers in heartland of America to “twenty somethings” splat right in the middle of London. However, using permanent ink painfully etched onto a patch of otherwise pristine skin is not only a way to add a bit of color to a chosen body part, it is also an excellent way to air your political views and or beliefs” air your political views and or beliefs.

By Nazish Hamedani

Does your smoking friend use a cigarette in place of a date to open fasts?  Do they start to twitch and get angry while fasting?  We know it’s hard to quit an old habit, and smoking is the worst.  There are many techniques in aiding people to stop but some times those patches and gums just don’t cut it. During Ramadan, smoking is prohibited during the hours of the fast, which can last up to 17 hours. For a smoker, that’s way too long to go without touching their pack and lighter.  So we suggest an old school method, but an effective one, go cold turkey.  That’s right.  We said it, don’t touch that ciggie.  Use Ramadan to get focused and get passed your addiction.

By Maryam Khan
Just what we need in the Muslim world, another great American export...yes thats right, Martha Stewart is spreading her cookie baking ways to our people. 

In reaction to the global uproar surrounding Facebook’s recent allowance of a “Prophet Muhammad Cartoon Day”, several Muslims have formed an offshoot of the popular social networking site aimed at providing Muslims and “Peaceful people from other religions” with a virtual “safe space” in which to network. MillatFacebook.com seeks to provide all the functions of Facebook - minus the massive inventory of apps/games, and of course, minus the religious insensitivity. As the founders put it: “The objective is to provide a platform for all Muslims and nice, decent and sophisticated people of all religions and faiths, to come together and make a network. They should interact in a way that is socially responsible by providing them all the freedom of expression, however respecting each others’ sentiments, sensitivities and beliefs.”

In a stunning display of sense and style, the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance have taken the bold step of banning the mullet.  Yes, the mullet shall live in Iran no more!  And truly, I say bravo to them for this choice.  After watching several hours of American TV and countless repeats of, “COPS,” they must have correctly learned that nothing good can come from this hairstyle.  Of course, the ministry has placed the hairstyle within a broad category of unacceptable “un-Islamic Western hairstyles”, but I can see what you’re doing, Iranian Ministry of Culture… you’re now on my style watch list you sly minxes.

Throngs of fans crowded former boxing champion (and convert) Mike Tyson this week, as he took a spiritual tour of Mecca, while performing Umrah, that ended in tears: tears of awakening. Tyson toured the requisite sites, finally crying at the Prophet’s Mosque, saying: “I couldn’t resist shedding tears when I came to know that I was in one of the gardens of paradise.”

There ain’t nothing like the freedom of the airwaves to not only report the news and play music, but also to unite people under a similar flag. That’s what a group of female entrepreneurs in Palestine are learning after recently launching their own female-geared Arabic radio station right in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

I’ll be honest, when I received the invite to Dash Arts’ latest event, ‘Arabic Translators in Conversation,’ the excitement was minimal. An evening listening to a few translators talking while everyone else in the room listened didn’t sound all too riveting. Still, one of the translators was a friend, and I decided to go for support and mingle with London’s Middle-Eastern artsy crowd.