“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.

It’s been a Year?

A big welcome and air-high-five to Zamin! This is going to be one of the awesomest teams you’re going to be a part of …where getting picked last is a good thing, and “sprint” is the company Ledo works at and you can laugh awkwardly at jokes and pretend you understand them without anyone knowing because its a conference call.

This post marks about a year since I’ve joined MuslimTees. As a team we near the 2-year mark of MT itself. They say most businesses fail within the first 2 years, so I’m pretty sure we’re doing something right, alhamdulillah.

Three of the most important things I’ve learned so far: Discipline, Action and Direction.

- “We do what we need to do when we need to do it, so that we can do what we want to do when we want to do it.”

That has been the MT Team slogan and has greatly influenced the way I work. Procrastination is a ridiculous habit that many of us have, no doubt. But while we struggle to break the habit, it becomes harder to go backwards. Lack of procrastination: Action, action action. 

Execution of direction:

A new mission statement that has been formulated by our visions and aspirations, and gives us direction.

- “Offering fresh apparel to address and inspire a creative, bold, and global Muslim Identity”

We’ve narrowed it down using more descriptive words that allow us to be more broad yet focused. Like looking through various lenses…It’s the same picture but different ways of looking at it. We want to serve all people looking for unique style, with the American Muslim consumer being our target market. We don’t plan on only making shirts, but sending a cultural message across. 

We’re Muslim – a global identity, backed up with a specific American ID. I could be very confident in what I’m saying, but not neccesarily so! As America is a melting pot, a mosaic, a salad of cultures and diversities, each person is free to associate themselves with whatever culture that suits them. So it’s definately a bumpy ride in trying to define ourselves, with the cultural and ethnic baggage our ancestors have passed down to us, our religion and our current setting.

Where does that lead us? MuslimTees.com in a nutshell. I hope you’re not allergic.

One last thought to leave everyone with: The four Ps of marketing: Produce, Price, Place and Promote.

wsalams

-nora

“Ladies And Gentleman; Zamin has entered the Building”

‘*cough cough’ is this thing on? *(static)* Can you hear me? Good.

Ahem..

For lack of a better way to begin this; i have decided to start the only way I know how:

Elders; Brothers; Sisters; Respected Personalities; Entities and Egos,

As-Salam Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wabarakatu.

It gives me great pleasure to introduce myself; the 4th member of the MT fam. My name is Zamin-Redha Anwarali K. Dharsi; but you can call me Susan if it makes you happy.(not really, call me Zamin.Thats not a request); and I have been dubbed the new ‘Gallery Manager’ at MT, although im not so sure how I feel about this yet seeing as it makes me sound like Im a 30-something New York woman; but I digress..It may have been said many times; But for what its worth, It is never easy writing about ones’ self. We all know who we are, and the task of describing to others who we are is so daunting becauseno matter how much I write; these words cannot and will not describe who i am completely.

First; the artsy fartsy description:

Im a poet; Im an artist; Im a dreamer; Im a philosopher. I find beauty and I believe that Allah (SwT) has given me this talent so that I may capture it and use it to bring myself and others closer to him. Growing up, I always looked at the world around me and saw beauty; and for some strange reason I felt oddly connected to it. Sure, it could have been my adonis physique and Grecian good looks; but I felt it on a more metaphysical level..as if there was this beauty in the most simplest of things; be it a rubescent fire hydrant on the street corner or a mustard line dividing the street into segments; and somehow only I wasn’t oblivious to this beauty. As I grew, I began to truly understand this beauty. I realized that Allah has created each and every one of us with a gift, and people in history; scientists, doctors, inventors, masterminds; have used their gift to really make a difference. Allah has given us Aql; and allowed us to progress as a society and race (not like the arian race; this is the human-race folks); and so even a simple red hydrant can be so beautiful when you look at it and realize that someone used the gift that Allah gave him to design every angle, every line, every curve so perfectly. And if the hydrant, which is an invention that has barely changed since its introduction, can be perfect; then its creator must be perfect. And if the creator (Birdsill Holly that is) can be perfect, it can only be because Allah (s.w.t) has created him in perfection, because he himself is the most perfect. And it is my hope that inshallah, I am able to use the Aql and talent which Allah has bestowed upon me to truly make a difference; so I thank you readers for allowing me the opportunity to do so.

Alas; this wouldn’t be complete without some factual information, so in true ‘Zamin’ style, heres a list of some specifics:

1. Born in Dubai, U.A.E; the land of Nissan Patrols, Pajero’s and Al-Mallah Cafeteria

2. My father’s Indian-Paki; my mothers African and Indian; which makes me some sort of strange Pan-Asian American half-breed

3. I moved to the United States when I was 12 and I practically was raised here, which is great because like many of you, I am just as confused as to where Im really from..(not really; but you know what I mean..)

5. For the last 2 years I have studied Graphic Design, and alhamdulillah I have just been accepted into one of the most prestigious private design schools in America with a scholarship where I will be studying Branding, Marketing and Public Relations

6. I dream of owning a gigantic collection of CD cases one day and covering a full wall with them; mostly because I think CD art is pretty slick and probably one of the most under-appreciated modes of design to date..

7. Im addicted to Cream Soda, Fuze Juices and the color turquoise (its the answer to any color dilemma; trust me)

8. Im fascinated by colors. I sometimes spend my days in paint stores just staring at the wall of color swatches…(the paint fumes may have something to do with that..)

9. I have served as MSA Advertising Director, PR Manager, Communications Coordinator for the past year, during which we won Student Organization of the Year

10. You were so busy reading this that you didn’t realize #4 is missing (*Mwahahahaha)

So I guess this is where I ask for your leave. If you feel like discussing politics, religion, the instability of the future of American Muslims and how we can promote positive change, or examine why the Cow did indeed jump over the moon; feel free to shoot me an email anytime. Inshallah I will respond within 24 hours.

Jazaks.

Zamin

zamin@muslimtees.com

MTBT: MuslimTees Business Talk, Let’s Go!

Assalaamu alaikum,

Well, I guess it is time. Time to talk about business! Are you ready to rock!? I mean talk!? Yeaaaaah, hellllllloooooooo Minneaaaaapolis?! WHOOOOOOOOO!

Now, about those shipping cost projections…Ok, so maybe business is not as exciting as warming up a huge stadium for a rock concert but it is still plenty of fun; plus we don’t have to wear those leather pants to meetings (with the exception of Taqee, it’s cool man! I’m not judging! lol, i’m joking about the leather pants…Ledo wears them too! Ok, Ok no one does…yet :P). We want to share our experiences on small business with you. Besides helpful hints and resources we’ll add a splash of Muslim perspectives on business matters every now and then. So whenever you see MTBT you better recognize we’re about to bust open some interesting conversation on business! Helllllllooooooo Internet reaaaaaaaders! Areeeee you reaaaady? Yeah, that’s not working out too well without the echo.

Don’t worry most of the stuff will be useful to you even if you don’t want to run a business. There’s a lot of overlap between business matters and general organizational matters (Read: MSA). We’ll also have the regular high quality non-business stories that you’ve come to love.

Here are a preview of some subjects that we plan on writing about, in no particular order:

• MTBT: The Education of Business
• MTBT: Decisions, a Necessary Evil for Some
• MTBT: So you want to start a business…
• MTBT: Who motivates the motivators?
• MTBT: Bi-Polar Entrepreneurs
• MTBT: Human Resources, More Interesting than You’d Think
• MTBT: Cash Flow = Blood Flow
• MTBT: Love Your Critics
• MTBT: Benefits of Business
• MTBT: Virtual Companies, virtual water cooler discusisons
• And more!

Also MTBT will feature Stories, where we share with you a favorite story or experience that the MT Fam had.

So let me know what you think! If you see a business matter not discussed there just ask and we’ll cook something up. Business is a really interesting field that can bring a lot of good if used correctly.

Salaam. Z.