Merry Christmas to all the readers of The Black Iris in Jordan and elsewhere! Here’s a little something that’s sure to put a smile on your face:

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AP Photo - Jordanian children wait for their turn to have a ride on a wood traditional swing during the second day of Muslim’s Eid al-Adha, in Amman, Jordan, Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009.
The thing about Eid is that it’s a time when people typically spend two full days visiting each other. In Amman, they go […]

Thought this Abu Mahjoob caricature was pretty uplifting for the (political) season! So Eid Mubarak to you all and I hope you have a great holiday. Stay safe, do something fun, enjoy your family time, and go some place warm!

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The Golden Rule: do unto others as others would do unto you. finding and acting out of compassion. Something to live by in this day and age, when even religion has been hijacked. Scholar Karen Armstrong started a pretty interesting project after giving a talk at TED, dubbed the Charter of Compassion. The site for […]

A new fatwa has been issued in Jordan by the country’s official fatwa-making body (it’s akin to making sausages, you don’t want to see how that’s done either) that has made chatting between two sexes haram, or, forbidden. I thought that was a rather interesting piece of news. Their “reasoning” seems to be centered on […]

Here’s the thing about Ramadan: it is a month of ominous perspectives and social commentaries. Observations that would otherwise pass as conventional cynical reminders of the day-to-day experiences in a Muslim nation, are reduced to cliches. Let me simplify.
One. Ramadan is a time when coffee-starved, nicotine-detoxing employees render services delivered unbearable and the workplace unlivable. […]

AP Photo - Jordanian veiled brides line up as they prepare to take part in a mass wedding party in Amman, Jordan on Friday, July 24, 2009. Fifty eight brides and bridegrooms took part in the 16th mass wedding organized by the Al-Afaf Islamic charity association to encourage and help Muslims marry.

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Let me break down this story to see if I have it right (if anything, for my own sanity).
A 31-year old, headscarf-wearing Egyptian Muslim woman, Marwa Al-Sherbini, who was about four months pregnant, takes her German neighbor to court for calling her a “terrorist”. Now, in the courtroom, the neighbor, Alex W., stabs her 18 […]