This morning as I was driving my kids to school we got stuck in heavy traffic, as the traffic moved I could see what was happening and it was a terrible sight, I really wanted to prevent the kids from seeing it but I had no choice as there was no chance of reversing or doing a U turn, a teenage boy of about 13 or 14 was lying on the freezing road face down, he had been hit by big 7 Seater car and was not moving, it was clear that he was not well, possibly even dead, there was a small crowd of people around him, many were on their phones probably calling the emergency services so there was no point of me stopping as there was nothing else for me to do so I just carried on driving and waiting for the kids response, they were quiet for few minutes, they both could not take their eyes of the boy and I could tell that they were troubled by it. After few minutes Amir asked me if the boy was dead! I didn't really want to traumatise them even more so I said that he was only hurt then Amir said: but the boy was not moving, I think he was dead, I had to tell a small lie here and told both kids that the boy was crying so he was not dead, they both cheered up a bit, of course then I had to remind them of road safety and how if people do not keep to the road code that accidents could happen, all the time I was thinking of this poor boy's parents who were probably at home or work not knowing what happened, Allah protect us all.Tuesday, 2 December 2008
Road Accident....
This morning as I was driving my kids to school we got stuck in heavy traffic, as the traffic moved I could see what was happening and it was a terrible sight, I really wanted to prevent the kids from seeing it but I had no choice as there was no chance of reversing or doing a U turn, a teenage boy of about 13 or 14 was lying on the freezing road face down, he had been hit by big 7 Seater car and was not moving, it was clear that he was not well, possibly even dead, there was a small crowd of people around him, many were on their phones probably calling the emergency services so there was no point of me stopping as there was nothing else for me to do so I just carried on driving and waiting for the kids response, they were quiet for few minutes, they both could not take their eyes of the boy and I could tell that they were troubled by it. After few minutes Amir asked me if the boy was dead! I didn't really want to traumatise them even more so I said that he was only hurt then Amir said: but the boy was not moving, I think he was dead, I had to tell a small lie here and told both kids that the boy was crying so he was not dead, they both cheered up a bit, of course then I had to remind them of road safety and how if people do not keep to the road code that accidents could happen, all the time I was thinking of this poor boy's parents who were probably at home or work not knowing what happened, Allah protect us all.Friday, 28 November 2008
I'm A Celebrity.....!!
This next clip, called the John Trevolting suite might make you scratch a bit!!
The next clip has David Van Day screaming like a girl :o)
There are many more clips on YouTube, there will be another trial tonight, I wonder who will be doing it!! I hope I didn't spoil your lunch or dinner, it is meant for entertainment, hope you all have a nice day :o)
Remember, all people taking part in these trials, do not have to do any of it, they have the optoion of opting out.
Monday, 24 November 2008
The Camel & The Train!!
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Many people complain about the heavy traffic at rush hours when going to work or school, be it driving, on a bus or a train (I do), it can put us in a bad mood and we start thinking how bad it is for us blah blah blah.... well spare a thought for those people riding on a train in Pakistan, surely our rush hours are never like that :o)
I wonder if any people actually fell off the train and if any one had noticed!!
Monday, 17 November 2008
Job Hunting!
Unfortunately at times like this, coming to work becomes stressful and you loose all interest in doing your work and just wait for the day that you have to leave, I really cant wait! and wouldn't mind having some rest but having a family and responsibilities means you can not rest until you find a new job, so its going to be a, New Year No Job or New Year New Job :o)
For something lighter, my kids have told me to watch this new Christmas TV advert by John Lewis Department Store which they find very funny not just for the weird characters but mainly for the baby that appears towards the end of the advert, I watched it and yes I laughed too, what a baby, keep an eye for this mega cuteness with a clump of hair, here it is on YouTube:
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
More Rare Pictures of Libya's former Queen
Having the Internet is such a blessing sometimes, it gives us the chance to research information that we do not have or we are not allowed to know anything about. During one of these searches I found some pictures of King Idris & Queen Fatima during a visit to Egypt in 1964, again as with the first picture I published, I saw an elegant lady that by far exceeded in her elegance Egypt's first lady and her daughters, who just could not keep their eyes off the Libyan Queen.
A good friend of mine told me that Queen Fatima was always very down to earth that when ever she came to an event, there would be a luxurious seat set up for her and that she always refused to sit there and chose to sit with the people instead, I bet not many can do that these days!
Here I leave you with some pictures that I am sure many of you have not seen before:
Queen Fatima on the left with the wife and daughters of president Jamal Abdul-Nasser

Friday, 31 October 2008
An Old English Cemetery!
The events on this post happened few weeks ago but I thought it was appropriate to post it now since today is Halloween :o)During Ramadan, I went for a walk with a friend and my son Amir, we passed a very old English cemetery and Amir got exited and wanted to walk inside, so we did walk around and it was very interesting seeing very old graves, some hundreds of years old, the place was very creepy and looked exactly like an old Hammer House of Horror English film setting.

A row of very small grave stones, I think these were poor people that could not afford the big graves and so were stacked next to each other!
A small disused church in the cemetery
These graves look out of place!! and the flowers are Plastic!

This is the grave of William Booth, he was the founder of the Salvation Army, Amir keeps telling people that he saw the grave of a King!=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Amir the Biker Werewolf and Aida the Witch
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
Child Abuse in Arab Schools
I have been appalled by this story about the 11 year old Egyptian boy that was beaten by his teacher which led to his death and the reason was because the boy did not finish his home work, it wasn't a freak accident or anything like that, the teacher beat up the boy and kicked him in the stomach repeatedly, he killed him and should be charged with first degree murder, how awful, how disgusting that in the 21 century many school teachers in the Arab world are still beating up children, hitting a school child is considered child abuse in the UK and rightly so.

London this morning, it snowed last night, apparently it was the first time in about 50 years that snow fell on London in the month of October, at the moment it is very sunny and freezing, I wonder if this is a sign of a cold winter to come! this year AGAIN we had no summer, it just rained non stop. Monday, 27 October 2008
Royal Credit Crunch!!
This actually brings me to a point I wanted to mention before, Disney channel which produced the movie has more or less taken over other kids TV channels in Britain and probably all over the world, the problem I have with that is my kids know quite a lot about America, ask Amir about many American states and their capitals and he would give you the answer straightaway, you might think this is good! but ask him about Britain and London and England?? he is still confused about them, he is not sure if London is a city or a country, he even pointed out to me the other day when watching something with the Golden Gate Bridge that this is San Fransisco, I doubt that he really knows British or even Libyan landmarks, I am not against them learning about America but it seems American culture is taking over, there are many British TV channels but no one watches them any more, not sure what the solution is but perhaps Disney should consider showing home grown TV programs here in Britain and everywhere else including Arab countries but that perhaps will never happen!!Britain has been hit so hard by the Credit Crunch, no one is immune!
Queen Elizabeth II trying to make ends meet :o)One of the greatest things about living in this country is that you can make harmless fun about anyone you want without fear of losing your head.
* Thanks dear friend for sending me this picture.
Monday, 20 October 2008
Weird & Wonderful Pictures!!
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
Arabic School & Parking!
On Saturday the kids Arabic school started at last, the school did what Libya did, that is to postpone school until after Ramadan, this is a new trend that I can not get, when I was a child in Libya we used to go to school in Ramadan, anyway the Arabic school changed premises too, now they are based in Wembley which is still not far but I wonder what the reason is that they had to change places!! I do know that in the old place they had problems with the school owners, remember that those places are normal English schools during the week but are rented out on Saturday and or Sunday to schools of faiths and languages, the problem I witnessed before was the typical ignorant attitude of many Arabs and Muslims that have no consideration for anyone else, many would drive their cars through the driveway and leave them there blocking the one way system, the headteacher of the Arabic school used to urge parents through his loud speaker every single Saturday not to leave their cars there, he even mentioned that the authority threatened not to renew their Saturday school contract if the parking problem is not sorted! I wonder if this is the reason we have a new school and how long it will be before some of the parents find another ignorant activity to practice!!The new school is actually a very old and creepy school, both of my kids loved it straight away because they said it reminded them of Hogwarts the school in the Harry Potter films, I too thought the school was great.
The day went well Alhamdulellah and hopefully the kids will soon get back into the routine of the Arabic school, it is not easy for them as they loose a day of their weekend and get extra home work but they understand they have to do it.
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Have you seen this short video? lol it is soooo Libyan :o)
Sunday, 12 October 2008
Request for Cross-cultural information about Libya
Few days ago I received an Email from the director of a website that is to specialise in cross cultural information, Mr. Michael Landers was requesting information about Libya, here is a copy of his Email:Wednesday, 8 October 2008
Pictures & Libyan Stolen Art!
Spot the Baby!
Closer!
Here it is highlighted, Weird or what?? سبحان الله
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It was very sad to read yesterday about the theft of valuable items from the Islamic Museum in Tripoli, the strange thing is that whole exhibitions have been cleared by the thieves, it just does not seem to be a normal robbery, some people working there must have many answers, what a shame to loose such beautiful artifacts and furniture, I wonder how many more stories of stolen Libyan heritage there are? I bet too many.
Here are phots of the stolen treasures from the Islamic Museum in Tripoli, apparently everything you can see has gone!!


Monday, 6 October 2008
Toilet outside a Mosque!!
2 years ago I wrote about cleanliness in some London mosques or rather about the lack of it here, while London does have a huge number of mosques, west London seems to lack behind, many of us have to go to the Central Mosque of Brent as it is the only one in that area, I have known this mosque for at least 15 years if not more, it has always been under construction, they keep collecting money but it may not be enough or something, only recently they added a dome and the minaret is still being built.The main problem with this mosque is that it really is quite dirty, the carpets are soiled, the toilets, well the less said about them the better! I usually pray on Friday in the basement because the main hall gets very busy, the basement is so dirty and full of greasy cooking pots and pans and bags of sand and cement that you end up with dusty clothes as you leave, there are even bags of cement there that have been there for years and have become rock solid yet no one bothered to remove them, this mosque is near to my work that is why I go there.
The reason I am writing this was because the Friday before Eid,
after the prayers as I left by the side door I noticed a toilet seat & flush just by this side door and I thought this does not look good but no surprise here as the people running this mosque do not seem to care anyway. Few days later I saw a Friend of mine who is Scottish and Catholic, he works in a children's home just behind the mosque, he told me that as he left the home where he works going towards the tube station, he passed the mosque as usual and just by the gate's front door of the mosque, right under the sign with the mosque's name, he saw a toilet seat standing there and looking very offensive, he thought perhaps some Islamophobic person did that as an insult to the mosque to make it look like a public toilet, he actually went in and knocked at the door of the mosque, then spoke to some old man who could hardly speak English let alone look after a mosque, then he spoke to another man and told him about the toilet seat, the man admitted that it was their fault and that they were waiting for someone to come and collect it and throw it away, my friend told him that it is shameful to put a toilet seat outside like that, that they should have more respect to the mosque and that this might make other Muslims think that it was an attack by some ignorant non-Muslim, they agreed that it was wrong and thanked my friend.
Next day on his way to work as he passed the mosque, the toilet seat was still there only this time it had a bin bag wrapped round it! I asked my friend if he took a picture, he said he thought about it but didn't want to offend anyone, shame he didn't!
I wonder if that toilet seat was put there by an anti-Muslim person, what would have happened and how much crying of injustice and Islamaphobia we would have heard??
Are people running this mosque ever going to clean it up? it really does not cost much to be clean and tidy, it is part of our faith after all.
Thursday, 2 October 2008
Libyan Eid in London

Salam everybody, we all took 2 days off work and school to celebrate Eid, as usual the first day was spent mainly with family and being sick to death of Magroud and other sweets as they were everywhere! still it was nice to be able to eat and drink :o)

Libyan boys doing what they are good at, fighting and pushing each other, some things never change! main thing is they all enjoyed the party but you can tell that the Credit Crunch has hit the event, in previous years, toys, crisps, sweets and drinks used to be given to all children, this year nothing was given to the kids apart from what was available to the adults and the 3 big bouncy castles, actually that was not a bad thing since Eid is always a bad time for junk food and sweets, the less the better and the Takaful Trust has at least managed to keep the party going even at these difficult times, I think most Libyans here are grateful to Takaful for what they are doing and for the happiness they bring to our children.




At Mughreb time I took Amir to pray with me at the main praying hall, while he has been many times to this mosque, he had never been inside the praying area before, he was amazed at the size and really was impressed with the huge chandelier hanging from the middle of the dome.
Monday, 29 September 2008
Eid Mubarak
At last we get to celebrate Eid here with Libya, I really thought it was going to be on Wednesday but it has been announced that Eid is tomorrow, Alhamdulellah.مجرودة لليبية - Traditional Libyan music by Ahmed Ben Ali
Thursday, 25 September 2008
A Film, Iftar and a Birthday!
Ramadan in this country is different from Ramadan in a Muslim country, to us here life goes on, the only difference is that you fast, there are no markets open all night or cafes and places to enjoy after Taraweeh prayers plus the fact that if you are working, then its up early every morning as usual and there is no time for an afternoon nap, I feel so tired that I keep falling asleep for a split second on my desk. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Today is my daughter Aida's Birthday, she is 10 years old today, mashaAllah how time went so quick, I can still remember the Scottish doctor that told us we were going to have a "wee girl" :o)kids these days seem to grow quicker in line with technology, presents used to be sort of easy, any thing BRATZ will do but this is not the case anymore, now it is more like MP3 players, Mobile phones and Computers, toys are not satisfying any more! well they are our children and as long as they are well behaved then there is no reason why not spoiling them occasionally, may Allah bless all the children and a very happy birthday to sweet Aida, may she continue to be kind, considerate and a treasure to all that know her inshaAllah.
Saturday, 20 September 2008
The Grief of a Community
Yet another horrific murder has been committed in Britain, this time the victims are 2 Algerian sisters, Yasmine Larbi-Cherif, 22, and younger sister Sabrina, 19, details of their awful murder are still emerging, today the police confirmed that they have charged a 28 year old man with their murder, his name is Mohamed Ali, most likely an Algerian too but this is still to be confirmed, how awful to loose 2 young lives this way, their parents who live in Wembley in London must be going through hell, I read about this murder in Alarabiya website and as usual you get many Arab idiots commenting about such awful crimes by actually blaming the victims, many have picked up on such points as, the girls lived an open life and so deserve what happened to them! many blamed what they called "the racist British society" even though it does not seem to be a racist murder,do these idiots know how devastating crimes like this are to the families and the whole community? don't these people read about the awful murders that are committed all the time in Arab countries and everywhere else? how ever people choose to live is their business, we can criticize what we do not like but to actually lay the blame on the victims is almost as bad as killing them, God only is the judge, we can not do anything but ask for his forgiveness to all victims of violent crimes.Friday, 19 September 2008
Hook the Tunisian
Thursday, 18 September 2008
With Deepest Sympathy
I would like on behalf of the Libyan bloggers to give our deepest condolences to Ibeebarbie, Amira and their family for the loss of Ibeebarbie's Dear mother.Wednesday, 3 September 2008
Amir Ben Laden!!
After hearing that, I agreed with him that she was being nasty and that he was allowed to defend himself if anyone called him Ben Laden. of course the problem is not with the little girl, what would she know about Ben Laden, all she knew it was a nasty name to be directed at lets just say, people darker than herself and who should we thank for this racist education? well her sub trash parents of course, who if they had any manners or decency they would not teach their little children to behave like this.
Turkish Coffee......mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Sunday, 31 August 2008
Ramadan Mubarak to All
I would like to wish everyone in Libya and elsewhere a Happy, peaceful and blessed Ramadan, as every year I do hope that Muslims would fast together and celebrate Eid together but this is wishful thinking and is very unlikely to happen in my life time, Libya as usual started Ramadan on a different day than most countries!For all of you with a Nokia mobile phone, Nokia has published this Ramadan Applications site where you can download greetings cards, Quran, Emsakya and other cool applications. Thank you Musiclover for sending me the Link.
For information and Ramadan time table in the UK, click on Ramadan.co.uk
For London Central Mosque information, click Here
























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