Taking 7…

Assalaamu alaikum,

Due to the financial crisis..lol, just kidding. Don’t you hate how everything is blamed on the financial crisis these days?

Some examples:

• It’s a rainy day outside – thanks to a high pressure front coming in from the financial crisis.
• Ewwww your foot stinks pal – well, it didn’t stink before the financial crisis.
• Ugh, I gained 3 pounds – finannnnnnncial crisis?!
• I lost all my money in stocks….financial crisis….

Ok, well the last one may be valid.

Wow that was an unnecessary diversion.

Seriously speaking though we are taking a little break to refocus ourselves and asking ourselves the following questions:

• Is the Muslim graphic screen t-shirts a viable market to be in?
• Are we serving the market correctly?
• What do we want to do in the remaining 50 years or so of our lives (assuming we live that long)?

Alhamdulilah everyone on the team is doing well and is pretty much unaffected by the prevailing financial crisis. We appreciate your dua and any advice or guidance you may have regarding the questions we are posing to ourselves.

Salaam. Z.

Brilliant advertisement. Brilliant message.

What a great message and awesome execution. Hats off to DDB, very persuasive work.

The Faculty: Muslim Music You Should Know About

Disclaimer: Taqee Khaled, one half of the superstar Muslim hip-hop team The Faculty, was once an active member of MuslimTees where he left his legacy with the Somali Star design. We have a personal relationship but this record is seriously hot fire! Thus the reason I’m writing this post.

If you haven’t heard of the Muslim hip-hop duo The Faculty consider yourself missing out in a major way. Well here’s the introduction. Meet The Faculty, a fresh new take on genre dear to all of our hearts: Muslim hip-hop.

While the team is new, the players are well experienced in their respective domains. Mohamad Elmasry, a 13-year veteran to rap writing, peppers the track with raw and intelligent lyrics reflecting the state and aspiration of today’s Muslim youth when he’s not working on his PH.D in Journalism and Mass Communication. Taqee Khaled lends his voice to act as a melodic counterbalance to Elmasry’s flow; Khaled is no rookie to music, he plays the piano, saxophone, tabla, and guitar.

The Faculty, composed of Taqee Khaled and Mohamad Elmasry, are the latest Muslim hip-hop group to hit the scene.

While the group is Muslim, the lyrics do not overwhelm the listener with Islamic overtones. Actually listeners will have to listen carefully in order to catch the full meaning behind these lyrical gems like on one of my favorite tracks ‘Like Rain’ Elmasry raps, “Who’ll be present at the sentencing, of all the weakened souls/I was present at the witnessing a long time ago/You bore witness too man – don’t act like you don’t know/You could probably find the record cuz that’s just the way it goes.” Writing it out does not give it justice.

In that verse Elmasry is referencing two specific events detailed in Muslim tradition: the Day of Judgement and the Islamic belief that all souls bore witness to Allah as their Lord prior to the creation of humans. Even if you don’t believe, the rap verse allows the listener to relate it back to their own experiences.

The track is backed by a smooth jazz-like beat and Elmasry’s reflective rap on this track reminds you of a conversation you would have with a close friend late at night.

Another noteworthy track is ‘Faces in the Crowd’ the hook is especially addictive with Khaled crooning behind a popping tabla beat, “And if it’s truth you’re looking for, then hold the prism to the colors in and white within the spectrum within yourself and ask ‘Was it worth the price?‘ ‘Was it worth the delusion to understand that this was all a dream?’“

 

At the end of the day The Faculty delivers on their introduction on their website offering “music that reflects deep political consciousness and spiritual awareness, all wrapped neatly with a mix of hot beats, dope delivery, and smooth harmony.” Professionally produced and well thought out, for a mere $10.50 The Faculty is definitely ‘Worth the price.’

Salaam. Z.

 

Check out their website FacultyProductions.com and make sure to taste some samples.

Great ISNA 2008 and….RAMADAN CLEARANCE SALE!

Ramadan mubarak!

Jazaak Allah Khair to everyone that stopped by the MT booth at ISNA! The team told me a lot of great things about the people they met there. Going to ISNA, or any convention is a lot of fun because you get to really connect to the customers you serve and see what kind of impact your product has on them. It is also a great time to get feedback on how your company is doing and where you can improve. We are in debt to everyone who took our survey’s for $1 off, a couple of minutes for you provide us data we spend lots of time reviewing to try and improve our services.

We love hearing stories from the people who wear our shirts, from the compliments they receive to the questions that people have about the meanings behind our designs. We’ve often heard our designs provide a

Ledo talking shop with customers

conversation peice for people to share more about Islam and the particular culture they come from. It is always a treat to hear young people recant stories on how observers were surprised their shirt came from a Muslim company.

The reaction to our new collection, MT Essence, was a big hit. This collection was the debut of our lead designer Zamin Dharsi to much praise. Khaled ‘Ledo’ El-Sawaf mentioned in his post-ISNA report that, “Zamin’s new line definitely made a strong statement and definitely gave us a new direction with regards to our designs.” Needless to say, you’ll see a lot more of his work inshaAllah.

However, in order to get more of his shirts on our line-up we need to make some room for them. That’s why we’re running a sale to move some of our older products. Check MuslimTees.com to see all the shirts that are on sale – sale prices are only good as long as we have them in stock.

As the winds down we hope to be adding more designs, more products, and more web functionality. If at any time you have any suggestions, comments, or criticisms we’d love to hear them – that’s the only way we grow!

Salaam. Z.

Faith; Strength and Dreams..

Theres a saying in urdu that goes “Raat ke baad aati hein Savera”
Loosely translated, it means ‘After Dusk comes Dawn’;
Ive heard countless sayings like this in practically every language and I believe the reason for the consistent repition is simple: It is a concept that is very common for most people.

As the summer comes to an end; its always a good time to reflect on the last couple months; and whoa this summer has definately been…interesting; to say the least! I can simply say (without divuldging too much information about our personal lives) this summer was truly a big test for all of us at the MT House. We all have had to deal with countless tests in our personal, professional or educational lives. Most of you should by now know of one of the major occurances that has effected myself personally this summer(and if you dont, you havent been reading! FOR SHAME!! ok ok..ill let it slide this time; read below!) And alhamdulillah; this was only one of the many things that tested me this summer. I say alhamdulillah because now that some time has passed; I am truly greatful for all those instances because Alhamdulillah, it has made my Faith in Allah (swt) stronger.

A good friend of mine, upon my consistant whining (u know the ‘WHy Me!!’ sort), once said this to me:
“Zamin.” (don’t u love when people start with your name?)
“Zamin. You know in Life, the things that hit you out of nowhere and knock you to the ground are good for you. They are tests. And why you? Well the answer is simple. You passed the previous test and now you are being tested again! Think of it like school; You work hard all year to achieve greatness and at the end of the year you must Pass a tedious, difficult exam before your allowed to move to the next grade. And if you do then the course-work (see: Life) only gets tougher and the exam is even harder up ahead. So if you are being Tested; it only means that you successfully passed the previous test, and now is the time God is trying
to get you up to the next level; but Before you can, He must know if you are ready; and So you are tested.”

So quotation marks for that are a bit Sketch ’cause i dont really remember what they said word-for-word; but Im on the right track..

After all is said and done; I think the only way to truly represent how I feel right now (as cliche as this may be) is:
What doesnt kill you (and subhanallah I mean this literally) Will only make you Stronger.
And mashallah I think as a person I feel very strong and as a team, we have never felt stronger! They say that most businesses fail within the First year; and for those that survive; 90% fail within the first 5 years. Mashallah we have passed the one year mark and a little after our 2nd anniversary this past summer, we were hit by something that, in my opinion, could definately have made us fall. But we fought hard, and we are now Stronger than Ever!

I think what I am coming to is this:
From personal experience; I can only tell you that we will always be hit and thrown to the ground by a mountain of unexpected obstacles. And we have a choice: You can Give up, or you can be Strong. And in my opinion, giving up is not an option because Alhamdulillah we have Faith; to give up in Life is to Lose Faith in Allah and his Title ‘All-Knowing’;
So Fight my Brothers and Sisters; Fight with all your Might; and I promise you (from personal experience) you WILL end up on Top.

Thank-You to all of my well-wishers in my time of illness; I can truly say that I am now alhamdulillah back 100% and feeling better than Ever. I honeslty wish I could thank everybody for their support; but alas that List would be too long; So i will just take the time to thank the few who, in retrospect, had a profound effect on me:
1. Allah (swt) for testing my Faith, helping me understand that i am Mortal and Helping me make my faith Stronger.
2. My mother; for Everything.
3. Z, and the MT fam. For the inspirational conversations, for giving me the time I needed and for their Patience.
3. H&M/BK; Thankyou for Believing in Me; your friendship and love is what makes me stronger.

To all of you I can say one thing: Life is too Short to not follow your dreams. We do not know what tomorrow holds in store for us; So why wait? Do it NOW!

You dream of building a house? Do it! Want to go back home to see the family? Do it! Dream of finding the 7th Horcrux so you can finally destroy the evil Lord Voldemort? Whats holding you back!

Wallahi life is too short; so Take one step at a time; keep your Faith strong and let your Dreams guide you: Who knows where you will reach; but atleast you will be happy when you get there..

So heres your task; Click the word ‘comment’ below (see it? its not That small come on!)
and tell me; What are Your Dreams? Lets’ make ‘em Happen people.

W’Salam.
Zam

Ps-is it weird that I am so excited that i just learnt how to use color on here!?!?!

Life, it kind of happens…

Hey salaam everyone!

It has definitely been a while!

The message of this post is really all in the title. As you might have been able to tell MT has been kind of not moving much the past few months. I’ve been traveling for work, Ledo has been busy with LSAT stuff, Nora summer school, and Zamin getting better – it is been tough cranking out new designs.

Unfortunately to make matters more complicated Zamin’s computer was stolen last week and along with it our new designs. I once heard a story in a juma’a that I thought of instantly when I heard of Zamin’s recent unfortunate incident.

As my memory recalls it goes like this: There was a sheikh who was a prominent merchant in a land and while in a halaqa or some gathering a messenger came to him and said, “Oh sheikh your vessel caught fire while coming to port and sunk along with all the goods on board.” The sheikh looked down for a moment and then back up and said ‘alhamdulilah.’ Later on, the messenger came back and told the sheikh that he was mistaken and it was not his boat that sank. Again the sheikh looked down for a moment and then said ‘alhamdulilah’ in the same manner as before.

A student asked him why he did that upon hearing both sets of news explaining that he himself would have been devastated when hearing the first set of news and overjoyed at the second set. The shiekh said, “When I heard that my ship and goods were lost I took a moment to see if my faith was affected. When I found that my faith had remained fully in tact I was thankful to Allah. Then when I learned my ship was safe and again went back to make sure my faith had remained unchanged. When I found that it was I was thankful to Allah.”

Like I said, I do not remember the story exact and can not find it online (if you know it please share it). But the point (which I am getting to) still remains valid. Things WILL happen in our lives, we WILL be tested by Allah! As promised in the Quran (and easily accesible by Islamicity.com’s awesome Quran search):

21:35 Every human being is bound to taste death; and We test you [all] through the bad and the good [things of life] by way of trial: and unto Us you all must return.

In the sheikhs case he was tested by both the bad (loosing the ship) and good (regaining the ship) of this life. We just have to be careful enough not to get caught up in either or.

Zamin, you my brother are being tested now, and through your tests the MT team is being tested. InshaAllah you will remain patient and inshaAllah we will remain patient along side you. If you yourself are being tested right now just keep the end in mind and remember how quick fortunes can change. Remember like life, the deen is a marathon and not a sprint.

Salaam,

AbdulAziz

“Alhamdulillah”

Ill say it, recently, things havent been going so well. I’ll spare you the gruesome details, but to quote a good friend of mine:

“Wow, ure kinda cursed.slightly..”

So yeh things have been pretty up and down lately. But ive begun to realize one thing; the power of the word ‘Alhamdulillah’.

Think about it like this; what reason do you not have to say Alhamdulillah? Are you living in a war-torn country? Do you have to suffer the wrath of Malnutrition? Are you afraid to leave your home because a stray bullet may hit you? Are you so hungry to the point of Starvation? Are you so thirsty that you may fall over from dehydration? Are you so beaten down that you have no strength to stay and fight?

Then Congratulations, you are better off that 2/3’s of this world’s population; Go ahead and get your ‘Alhamdulillah’ on..

As quoted by Sheikh Khalid Yasin, whom I had the wonderful opportunity to speak to last night; 

“Even the population of Americans on welfare have more assets than 60% of the population of the 14 OPEC countries that happen to be Muslim. Those of us here on welfare have 3 color-tv’s, you have 2 cars, you have 2 dvd players, you have an iPod, a computer, a laptop, you have a king size bed, your children have their own bed, the brothers got on $300 Kicks, the sisters got on Gucci Bags and the best of scarves from around the world. The fact is that animals get better healthcare treatment in this country, then the humans do in Muslim Countries.”

Subhanallah; tell me your not lucky?

You are truly blessed two-fold. From society, you are blessed, and Subhanallah, from Religion, you are blessed.

1) You are truly blessed for being in a country that allows you the highest level of civil liberties and constitutional freedom, a country where you

can say whatever you like about the ruler, without fear of being attacked for voicing your opinions. 

2) You are blessed to be in a religion that is like Google Earth; your religion has provided you an insight on everything that has ever been created:

Example: The Quran forbids you from eating the flesh of a pig. Today modern medicine has shown scientific evidence that the sodium level in the flesh 

of that certain animal is so high that it is unhealthy to eat and has shown to be the cause of heart-attacks. Subhanallah.

You are blessed to be in a religion that has shielded you from the pot-holes of this society and has acted like guard protecting you from doing all thatis toxic to your body, mind and soul.

Sure, we all have troubles, we all have problems, we all live paycheck to paycheck, and as Tyra Banks taught us: We are all that much closer

to being homeless. But lets just stop for 1 minute and take an example from Allah: 

“Innallah Ma’As Sabireen” – “Verily God is with the Patient;” Is God with You? Why not?: You live in a country which provides you the opportunity to build yourself out of nothing, and a religion

that gives you everything without asking for anything; so go on and get your ‘Alhamdulillah’ on and see what a difference it can make for you.

Zamin.

Cool Links

Summer is a busy busy time for the MT Team. While we’re working on outputting an extremely hot and amazing new line (from 3 different timezones so bear with us ), here are some links to entertain and educate.

- Muslim Fashionista: Fashion Designer Rabia Z brings Muslimah modest and stylish fashions to the international runway. watch the video: http://current.com/items/89001365_islamic_fashionista

- Raef Band: This group won the MAS Youth Voices for Change National Talent Competition and opened for the national Outlandish tour this past month. http://www.raefmusic.com/ 

- Also, I attended the ALIM Summer Program last summer and it was truly an amazing experience. It’s from  July 13th till August 9 in Livonia, Michigan. This years theme is “Think Outside the Box” and the speakers that are there are very knowledgable, inspiring and relevant –  the best part is that they are still accepting applicants so go register!! check it out at www.AlimProgram.com (its something you’ll never regret!)

Until next time! (inshallah)

-norra

Muslims and Jobs

On my way home last week from summer school (which rocks, btw; new love: Economics), I was listening to NPR’s Talk of the Nation. The topic was about the current job market and recent grads. I have a while until I graduate, and I have a bunch of friends who have graduated college or are even just graduating high school and are trying to decide on a major. I think as Muslims, we need to expand, greatly. Of course we do…but How? and Why?

MashaAllah, as we alll know there are many many Muslims in the health and human services field. There is also your share of engineers, lawyers, and businessmen as well. So in all honesty, these days, many times its all about the prestige and the money. Of course it is, and its valid as well, people need money to live, sure. But to grow culturally within the context of Islam and American, we need to leave our comfort zones. We can’t just keep talking about that, and keep sending our kids to med school.

Some amazing examples of Muslim Americans, of which I had the chance to see at a MYNA Youth day in my city of Toledo on May 17 (Shoutout to Linda!), Singer/Songwriter Dawud Wharnsby Ali and Pianist Idris Phillips, Comedian/Filmmaker Baba Ali and Nasheed group Native Deen and Spoken Word artist Mark Gonzalez (not Muslim, but an honorary one were all present. They all gave workshops (with the exception of Baba Ali) about what they do and shared with the audience how they too, can express themselves. Let me tell you though, it was an amazing group of individuals, mashaAllah, that know exactly what they are doing, why they are doing it and excel greatly at what they do. They all encouraged the youth to go out and express themselves, as Muslims and as Americans, and to be proud of being Muslim American. And as Imam Johari Abdulmalik pointed out, there is no clash between the two but rather, they compliment each other. We just have both in us, and we’re cool with that.

Although all these youth loved all the speakers and the workshops, I wondered how many would actually go home to their parents and tell them they want a degree in the liberal arts…or, music, art or history. Or something that is culturally accepted for their gender (education for men and law for women) Or God forbid, just not in the medical field, but rather something they have a passion for.

One of the guests on the Talk of the Nation was author David J. Rosen. He wrote a book titled “What’s That Job and How the Hell Do I Get It?: The Inside Scoop on More Than 50 Cool Jobs from People Who Actually Have Them”.  I haven’t read the book yet but I plan on checking it out soon inshaAllah.

Rosen works at an advertising agency, I believe, and noticed how people always asked him what he did to get where he is, and what he does all day. So he took the initiative to interview 100 people in over 50 different jobs and detailed how to get there, and what they do all day, for a living. People called in with their Dream Jobs, and Rosen would give them an idea of what they have to do to get there. One of his main points was networking. Network, Network, Network. Meet people that know some people that know some people. He mentioned that thanks to the internet, social networking is easier than ever, aka Facebook. Although the show was aimed at recent grads, it led me to thinking how this can be applied to Muslims, all around the world.

What areas can muslim kids who are graduating from high school consider? The Arts. Liberal Arts, such as History, Communication, Journalism, Fine Arts, Visual Communiation, Film, among many others! And Business! (of course, no bias there We need more women in business. There is a total of 4 girls in my summer microeconomics class, out of about 24 people. As a friend said, there must not be enough women who want to take over the world!

There are many ways you can make a living, and as Imam Zaid Shakir once mentioned at the Zaytuna Minara Program in Dayton, Ohio, said: We don’t need more doctors or lawyers, we need people who are good at what they do (paraphrased).

If anyone needs any advice about any of the non-traditional careers I listed, please feel free to contact me(nora@muslimtees.com) where I will do my best to help or at least hook you up with someone who can.

 

-nora

Hello, Bonjour, Anhyan, Salam.

Im sitting in a hotel room on the 7th floor of a 3-star hotel in the heart of Chicago, IL. A couple of friends and I decided that there wasn’t a better way to celebrate the end of finals than by spending the long-weekend 1200 miles from home. Ofcourse, 2 hours into the trip; I suddenly realized that half of the Midwest felt the same way, as the supposed 6 hour journey ended up taking over 10. Khair, Alhamdulillah we made it here safe. Fast forward 2 days and it is a rainy Sunday afternoon.I have just gotten off the weekly MT Conference call. Now let me tell you something about our Internal Team;we are made of 4 fabulous individuals who live all across the world (well okay; 2 continents, but still, the continents are pretty far off!). We work from three different time-zones; and conduct our finances in 2 different currencies.Over the years, we have managed to create a system so that we can work efficiently without having to be in the same location. But until today; until this very moment; I have never realized how amazing this truly is. Because of technology, today a business meeting was conducted from not 3 but 4 different locations, on 4 different time-zones infront of 4 different bodies of water (well; not really..)Technology has allowed the world to become smaller, and given individuals the opportunities to make connections,and build relationships on a, in lemans terms, ‘non-existant’ (see: Virtual) platform. I mean, who else can boast that they have never even had the opportunity to shake hands with their boss? (Shoutout: Z!) In a word; technology has allowed the world to become smaller, it is now our responsibility to bring the Ummah together. 

I must say, I am pretty STOKED about the launch of ‘MT GLOBE‘. Incase you have been living under a rock, or a shell, or some sort of rural farm where you don’t get telephone reception (if this is the case, trust me; you need Sprint! It has the ULTIMATE network) Muslimtees has recently opened up our Shipping to all International Locations; from Burma to Brazil, Dubai to Dakkar, maybe even Narnia (Please Note: If you live in Narnia, allow additional time for the delivery of your T-Shirt).

Why is this so exciting you ask? Well first off, the fact that my 50+ first-cousins who live all around the globe (Shout-out: Bashy!!) have the opportunity to rock out in Clothes which I have designed. And although the Muslims all over the world will inshallah be rocking out in MT, there’s just something about ones’ family doing it as well. But I digress..

The bigger, more important reason that International Shipping makes me so happy is because we, as muslims, and as a company will finally begin to take advantage of technology. Our goal as a company has always been to bring together Generation Y Muslims in America and allow them an artistic medium to express themselves; and a thread to keep them connected. Alhamdulillah by the grace of Allah (S.W.T) we have managed to successfully begin a movement. And now, we are taking this movement and expanding it by bringing together Brothers and Sisters all over the world who share one common belief: “La-Illaha Illallah’ There are over 1,600 Million muslims all over the world; we control just under 25% of the World’s Population. This means that 1 out of every 4 people you meet each and every minute of every day is a Muslim. Let’s step back for just a moment and think how amazing that is.. 

And yet, the sad truth of our existence is that we are not as successful a demographic as we have the opportunity to be. There is nosuper-power or even ‘potential super-power’ that believes *officially* in the shahadah. On the way to school or work, we are not reminded of any amazing discovery or invention that has been created by Muslims. Truth be told, whenever I myself see a brother; the first question that comes to my mind is ‘Is he Hispanic?’ It isn’t until I here the accent that I realize he is infact one of me. So why is it that if we are so many, that we are not as visible as can be? In a word; I feel we have all missed one of the most important ayats in the holy Quran:

“And hold Fast-All of you together, to the cable of Allah; and do not Seperate.” –Aal Imran, 103.

The sad truth is that we as a population, have come to look at our differences, be it secular affiliations or distances; instead of looking at the one common denominator: Allah. It is my belief that maybe we are not making that big of a positive impact towards society because, as much as you might not want to hear it, 

we are not as close as we should be. And alhamdulillah, there are no excuses for us either!! Technology allows us to come together and make that change. But change can only come if we, as an Ummah, can come together. 

It is our responsibility as the next generation to ensure that we can take our population and bring those positive impacts by banding together and creating something great. Inshallah, it is my hope that International Shipping will become our Pandora’s Box (in a good way that is) and be the first step in bringing us together. If nothing else; it will inshallah be the thread that holds us all together..

Jazaks for reading this; and let’s get out there and make this world a smaller place! 

Let’s make a statement to the rest of the world; let our clothing become the significant visual identity that shows the world that whether we live in America, or Afghanistan: We are all muslim, and we are all united.

Salam.

Zamin