KZBlog

An American expat living in Astana, Kazakhstan

Tag archive for ‘Islam’

  • Would the Koran Have Been Approved by the Government?

    I’ve been meaning to post on the new religion law which just passed the Senate in Kazakhstan leaving it up to the president to sign. The Huffington Post has nice breakdown of the law, what it says and where it sits in historical context. And a link to a nice review of the law! As […]

    10/11/11 • (6)

  • Ramadan Mubarak

    Ramadan Mubarak

    Hope this doesn’t offends anyone. I thought it was kind of amusing, and it does illustrate the sacrifice that is celebrating Ramadan.

    8/01/11 • (Comments Off on Ramadan Mubarak)

  • Happy Ait!

    For the end of Ramadan, a nice video by Lena Khan, a Muslim American director. She asked 2000 American Muslims what message they wanted to send to the world and this is the result. A beautiful and funny film/music video set to a wonderful song by Kareem Salama.

    9/09/10 • (1)

  • Happy Ramadan, whether you fast or not

    Happy Ramadan or Ramazan or whatever you call it. Whether you fast or not, a funny Ramadan commercial video.

    8/11/10 • (Comments Off on Happy Ramadan, whether you fast or not)

  • Pork Pork Pork

    The Biotechnology Center of Kazakhstan has developed a test to tell if there is pork in your food so that Muslims can avoid eating pig inadvertently. Apparently, pork is cheaper than beef or lamb in Kazakhstan (we never buy it, so I don’t actually know) meaning that some restaurants or cafes, or maybe butchers, slip […]

    5/08/10 • (Comments Off on Pork Pork Pork)

  • Teacher Asked Not to Wear Hijab

    I wrote earlier about an apparent ban on wearing hijabs in schools. However the plot thickens. A teacher is appealing to the Prosecutor’s Office for permission to wear a headscarf. Aida Dekebaeva, a geography teacher in Taldy-Kurghan was told by the principal of the school not to wear a hijab, after the school adopted a […]

    12/09/09 • (3)

  • Happy Kurban Ait

    Happy Kurban Ait

    Happy Kurban Ait! This is the day that Ibraghim (or Abraham) was commanded by Allah to kill his son Ismael (Ishamel) as a sacrifice. When Ibraghim was about to bring down the knife, Allah sent a goat to be killed in Ismael’s place as a reward for Ibraghim’s total obedience to God. This is where […]

    11/27/09 • (3)

  • What Exactly is Banned?

    According to an article by Interfax, wearing the hijab in Kazakhstan schools is forbidden. Apparently a student in Taraz wanted to wear one and the school administration did not allow her to, citing rules regarding the school uniform and the Taraz city education department supported this decision. Interestingly, apparently the Minster of Justice wrote on […]

    10/02/09 • (1)

  • The Road to Beket-Ata

    The Road to Beket-Ata

    As promised in my post on Aktau, I want to write about the road trip to Beket-Ata. In Western Kazakhstan, there were a number of Sufi teachers who came and lived in caves in the area, running medressahs, consulting on difficult matters and healing people. They say there are 365 of these cave complexes (sometimes […]

    8/25/09 • (5)

  • Burger King Must Stay Open Late in Egypt

    Burger King Must Stay Open Late in Egypt

    I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned The Tin Cocoon here before. It’s a fun blog by an Afghan woman (Miss Talibonita) living in the US. Great commentary on pop culture both Central Asian and American and some awesome posts on how Central Asian culture is viewed by Americans. I particularly wanted to share this image […]

    9/23/08 • (Comments Off on Burger King Must Stay Open Late in Egypt)