Post Tagged with "Muslim"

Gift etiquette around the world

When do you give gifts in your country? Do you choose a different gift depending on the occasion? And if you receive a gift is it polite to open it straight away or wait until later?

In continuation of our series of collaborative posts by PocketCultures contributors, we bring to you this time the different gift etiquettes across different countries of the world.

Gift Etiquettes around the world -

India

by Arwa, regional contributor for The Netherlands / India

Photo Credit – Shooz

The diverse cultures, religions, regions and festivals in India collate together to form a wide canvas of exciting colors and emotions. This diversity from the North to the South and East to the West is evident in the differing customs and traditions throughout the country, one such example of which is giving and receiving of gifts.

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Black thoughts, multicultural perspective

Eugenia Flynn is a 27 year old, Larrakia and Tiwi woman from the Northern Territory, Australia. She now lives in Adelaide, where she works as the General Manager of an Indigenous youth performing arts company, and writes about identity and culture.

She has a background in government policy development, in the areas of young people, Aboriginal health and economic disadvantage. Eugenia says:

“I like to write about the world we live in from the point-of-view of an Aboriginal Australian, Chinese, Muslim Female. I know that’s a lot of labels, but you should know that I refuse to be wholly defined by any of them.”

Eugenia is exploring her Muslim identity after converting to Islam 8 years ago and maintains a strong Chinese identity through the Teo Chew language group.

Her blog, Black Thoughts Live Here, is written in an honest, engaging and conversational style that challenges readers to examine their own views.

One popular post generating discussion is Why yes, I am a woman….. Here Eugenia shares her views on the hijab as “a reflection of my personal modesty…a beautiful expression and adornment of feminine beauty”. These notions of femininity are explored further as she examines the roles of men and women in Muslim culture.

Check out the biography section of her blog to read about her contribution to political and racial matters. Black Thoughts Live Here is an insightful blog to visit for a thought provoking read and a multi-cultural perspective of Australia.

Image credit: Neuro74 on Flickr

Read more:
Everyday Melbourne
100 Blogs on Living Abroad
What is a Global Citizen?

A different mosque each day of Ramadan

This week is the last week of Ramadan for the Muslim world, and Global Voices Online reported on a mission by two New York Muslims to visit 30 mosques in 30 days:

Two young men in New York City, Aman Ali and Bassam Tariq, are nearing the end of their journey to document visits to “30 mosques in 30 days” on their blog of the same name.

The personal project to visit and photograph the insides of mosques throughout the holy month of Ramadan (during which Muslims fast from dawn to sunset) has even attracted the attention of local New York television.

Read the rest of the post at Global Voices.

Image credit: 30 mosques in 30 days

This project shows the true diversity of New York City – the journey covered a different community every day: Sunni and Shia, Albanian, Indonesian, Pakistani, Middle Eastern and many more.

It’s a great way to see how each community celebrates Ramadan in its own way.

Read more:
Religion in the USA
Ramadan Kareem
Which are the most religious countries in the world?

6 festivals in one day

Last Friday was an unusual day – the celebration of 6 different religious festivals fell on the same day. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists each celebrated an important festival. Time magazine examines the odds, which are apparently very small.

To mark the occasion, All things Pakistan blog published a thought-provoking article highlighting the different religious groups who have been celebrating in Pakistan.

1001 Inventions

        

From the 8th Century, Muslim tradition and culture set trends in eating, music and style that still influence us today. Their experiments, discoveries and inventions with liquids, light and time opened the door to myriad new chemical compounds, measurements of time in precise and minute detail and devices used in space observation and deep sea exploration. Also a book has been published to collect this beautiful collection of information and images.

http://www.1001inventions.com