Articles by SA STAFF

Religion

Ask a Muslim Scholar Volume 6

Q: I understand that women are allowed to remove facial hair if it makes them look like a male in any way, but are they allowed to remove hair from their arms and legs? If they are allowed to remove hair form arms and legs are they allowed to use a blade?   A: Islam generally encourages Muslims to appear neat, tidy and well groomed; this applies equally to males and females. Greater emphasis in this matter, however, has been placed on married couples more than others; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) set the perfect role model for all married couples when he said, “I prepare myself for my spouse, and she prepares herself for me!” The reason for this is not hard to comprehend, as such appearance may go a long away in contributing towards marital stability and fulfillment as the spouses are supposed to serve as garments of protection for one another. In keeping with the above spirit, we find the Islamic sources laying greater stress in recommending wives to appear attractive before their spouses. The only limitation applicable here is resorting to practices that may amount to direct altering and tampering with Allah’s creation, for…

Health

The Importance of Child Spacing

Child spacing is a practice in which people decide and act on when they want to have children and how often they want to have children. Child spacing provides health, social, and economic benefits for individuals, families, and communities. It is a way to make sure the baby and the mother are healthy and strong before another baby comes. Child spacing helps the mother to regain her health and helps the child to get all the attention, care, and love they deserve. A mother’s body needs time after giving birth to get her strength back before she becomes pregnant again. A woman who delivers children who are very close in age can easily become exhausted by the many pregnancies, childbirth, breastfeeding, and looking after small children. Moreover, if a baby can breastfeed longer, he or she will be healthier. The first child will have more time to grow up healthy before a new baby comes. Children benefit from more time with their mother and father. Also, child spacing enables the father to support and take time with his family. Planning when to have babies may not be widely discussed in some cultures. Some people feel that it is a decision…

Lifestyle

Good Credit Matters More Than Ever

Credit matters more than it did 20 years ago. Why does your credit score matter more than it did 20 years ago? Because more and more businesses are using it to sell, hire and rent to people. Nowadays, some companies check the credit score of an interviewee before they even hire them.  In today’s interconnected global market, your credit worthiness can directly affect your quality of life or the success of your business for that matter Not only is good credit essential for obvious things like qualifying for a loan or getting a credit card, but also for less obvious things like getting cellular telephone service, renting a car, and even getting a low insurance premium. Managing your credit will also help you save for a rainy day. A strong credit history, reflected in good credit scores, will let you qualify for lower interest rates and fees, freeing up additional money to set aside for emergencies, retirement, and other smaller unexpected expenses. Decreasing debt and increasing savings reduces stress and leads to greater financial freedom. The good news is that having good credit is not difficult. Simply follow these five fundamentals of good credit management and you will build and…

Community

Recent Shooting of Justin Damond Weakens Relationship Between the Somali Community and the Mainstream Media

Written by: Ibrahim Hersi When the Minneapolis police officer involved in the shooting of Justine Damond was identified last week as Mohamed Noor, Suud Olat’s iPhone lit up with calls and texts from journalists around the country. Most of them came from news organizations that were already familiar with the 25-year-old Somali-American, who has made a name for himself as an advocate for refugee communities during the three years he’s lived in Minnesota. This time, though, the journalists didn’t want him to talk about refugee issues; they wanted information about Noor, a Somali-American who shot Damond after she called 911 to report a suspected sexual assault. Olat talked to reporters from several local and national media organizations — including the Star Tribune, Minnesota Public Radio, The Associated Press, Voice of America and CBS News — about the one-time brief interaction he had with the officer some months ago in Minneapolis. Later, when his comments appeared in the news, Olat’s iPhone started to blow up again. This time, though, the calls didn’t come from journalists; they came from people he knew from the Somali-American community, almost all of them saying he should stop speaking to the media about the shooting. “The community…

Community

BOQORKII FARTA LA’AA

Waxa jirey nin boqor ah oo aad u kibir badnaa.  Dadka iyo duunyadaba wuu ku amar ku taag leeyn jirey.  Qof la doodi jirey ama hadal ku celin karey muu jirin.  Wax alaale wxii maskax diisa ku soo dhaca ayuu ku dhaqaaqi jirey. Laaakiin wuxuu lahaa nin wasiir ah oo aad u aqli badan. Talooyin wanaagsan ayuu siin jirey.  Wixii ceeb ah ee uu leeyahayna wuu dabooli jirey.  Wasiirka lagama agwaayi jirin bqorka agtiisa. Gacantiisa midig ayuu ahaa.  Safar hadduu u baxayo wuu raaci jirey. Bqorku ninkan wasiirka ah aad buu ugu kalsoonaa.  Talooyinkiisa iyo wax kasta oo uu u sheego wuu u dhega nuglaa. Boqrku haddii uu u sheego wasiirka wax dhibaato ah ama dhiilo ah, wasiirku marka uu talada siiyo wuxu odhan jirey oo uu hal hays u lahaa “in ay khayr inoo tahay ayaa dhici karta.” Maalin maalmaha ka mid ah, boqorkii waxa soo gaaray dhaawac.  Far baa ka go’day. Wasiirkii markii uu arkay waxa ku dhacay boqrkii ayuu aad u naxay.  Boqorkii ayuu warestay sida ay wax u dhaceen iyo sababta ay fartan u go’day.  Boqorkii ayaa u waramay wasiirkii.  Borkii siduu talo iyo duco u sugayey ayuu wasiirkii yiri, “waxa dhici karta in ay khayr…

Community

Somali Week 2017

This year’s Somali Week at the beginning of July was filled with festivities and activities staged by local organizations. The festivities began with a soccer tournament, followed by a spoken word event at the Minnesota Historical Society, a basketball tournament and the Somali Independence Day festival. The Somali-American newspaper set up a booth at the intersection of Nicollet Avenue and Lake Street where we were able to capture a lot of special moments. Somali Week began a decade ago in 2007 as a single-day parade that grew to an activity-filled week, The Somali Independence day festival attracts around 50,000 people, spans 3 blocks on Lake Street and blocks traffic from 11am to 10pm. The event is attended mostly by Somali Americans, but many non-Somalis show up as well. One of the main attractions of the Somali Independence Day parade is the children’s play area which includes a large inflatable slide, face painting, henna designs, traditional animals and more.  This year’s event was held on July 1, a pleasant Saturday, a week after Ramadan, and most people were in a celebratory mood. As participants waved Somali flags, the parade kicked off in high gear around 2pm. At the intersection of Lake…

Religion

Ask a Muslim Scholar Volume 5

Q: I have a question related to requirements for a prayer space. At some schools, they are not able to offer students a Musalla only for Muslims, but instead want to provide an interfaith prayer room, which means other religious groups could use it during the day. What requirements should we have for such an arrangement? A: Prayer requirements are very simple and precise. The place we pray in should be clean and should not be contaminated by Najasah or filth. It should be free of idols and statues. If we have a choice, we should ask for empty room which can be consecrated as a Musalla. If any of these conditions cannot be met, then the principle of jurisprudence “Al-Mash`qa Tajleb At-tayseer” or ‘whenever there is hardship the law is relaxed’ is applied.  If, therefore, the only room available for prayers is an inter-faith hall where idols and statues are found, we can pray there provided we cover them up.  This is the least we could do. Prayer is fine, and Allah will take us only to ask if we violate the laws intentionally. We are required only to fear Allah to the best of our ability.  In conclusion,…

Community

Around the Diaspora July 2017

Facebook Founder eats iftar meal in Minneapolis Earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook, embarked on what he called “a great American road trip,” saying  his goal was to visit all 50 states and meet the people who make American great. The trip brought him to Minneapolis on the last 3 days of Ramadan where he shared an iftar meal with some local Somali Minnesotans. Here is his own Facebook account: “Tonight I had my first iftar dinner with a group of Somali refugees in Minneapolis. As a refugee, you often don’t get to choose which country you end up in. When I asked one  man who had spent 26 years in a refugee camp whether America now felt like home, he gave a simple and profound answer: “Home is where you are free to do what you want. Yes, this feels like home.” There are few places in the world he felt comfortable to be who he is: the country where he was born, and our country that values freedom. What a beautiful tribute to America.  Thanks to my hosts for being so gracious at the very end of Ramadan. I left impressed by your…

Health

Measles Outbreak Identified by a MDH Outreach Worker

On a Tuesday morning in April 2017, Hinda Omar, a Somali outreach worker with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), learned that there were 3 children with measles in the Somali community. She recognized immediately that this could be a serious situation and affect many more children in the community. Vaccination rates for the MMR vaccine – which protects against measles, mumps and rubella – had been going down in the Minnesota Somali community over the last decade. This meant more people, especially children, were at risk of getting sick with measles. As of June 19, 2017, there have been 78 cases of measles making this Minnesota’s worst measles outbreak since 1990. Most of the cases have occurred in the Somali community in the Twin Cities area and the vast majority of the cases were not vaccinated. In 2004, the Somali community had one of the highest vaccination rates for MMR vaccine. However, after 2006, families stopped vaccinating putting many at risk. “I was worried about the community,” said Omar. “I knew the [vaccination] rates were low, and I was concerned. I did not know what an outbreak would look like in my community.” Omar has been working with the…

Community

SHEEKO SADDEXAAD

Waxa la yiri saddex abaarood baa jira: Abaar Rag Abaar Dumar iyo Abaar Geel Abaar Rag: Abaar rag waxa ugu weyn waa arin la’aan. Raggu hadduu meel wada joogo waxa haboon in ay arinsadaan oo wax isKu ogaadaan.  Hjaddii nin walba uu kelidii ama koox yari ay go’aan iska gaaraan iyagoo aan la tashan raggii ay meel wada joogeen,  arin kaasi wuxu keenayaa kala shaki wuxuuna ku dambeeyaa fashil iyo bur-bur. Weliba waxa dhici karta in dagaal uu ka dhex qarxo ragga arin isku maan dhaafa. Arintan wada tashiga ah waata keentay in dalalku ay yeeshaan gole wasiiru oo wada tashada iyo barlamaan lagaga dodo arimaha dalkaas. Inta badan wadamada ay xukumaan  niman digtaatoor ah way burburaan.  Sidaas darted raggu haddii uu wada tashado guul buu gaaraa.  Haddii ay wax qaldamaan cid gaar ah laguma eedeeyo. Abaar Dumar: Abaar dumar waa ubad la’aan. Dumarku wxay hoygooda hantaan marka ay ogyihiin in ubad ay u hayaan ninka ay wada joogaan.  Inta badan waxa dhacda in dumarku shaki badan ka qaadaan saygooda (ninkooda) haddii caruur labadooda isku xirta ay meesha ka maqanyihiin. Mar kasta  waxa ay Ku fikireysaa goorma ayuu naag kale kula guursandoonaa.  Naagta war-war qabta uma hagar baxayso ninkeeda. Ninkuna…