Bashar Al Assad Wishes You A Happy Ramadan

Bashar Al Assad lives on another planet, he thinks by butchering people left and right he would quell the protests in Syria. So far for five months now, he has failed to stop anything. The protest seems to spread around the country and he is becoming more isolated.

Instead of sending those people food and jobs, he sends them guns and hit jobs. Sure some might still like him in Syria, but as of right now it seems that not many chose that. He has fewer friends and it seems that he is going to murder his way out of Syria and then hide some some basement in Iran or better yet he might be gunned down. So much for the reformer he sold himself to be.

Killing more than 100 people on the even of Ramadan tells you, he is losing it and his regime is hitting all the panic buttons they can find.

Poet Kareem Al Iraqi, The Man Behind The Hits

If you were impressed by an Iraqi song in the past 20 years, then chances are it was c rafted by the mighty poet of Baghdad, Kareem Al Iraqi. All your Iraqi favorites have sang his lyrics and many more wish to collaborate with him, but to his credit, he only gives his all Iraqi lyrics to the best of the best.

Latest pop singer to sing his work was Shatha Hassoun, the starlet of Iraqi and Arabic pop, lady that can sing pretty much any song and hit all those notes a song may require. Majid Al Mohandis, Katehm Al Saher, Saber Al Rebaei, have all performed his songs and carried the local Iraqi songs to new frontiers.

Kareem seems to favor Kathem Al Saher as his lyrics always find their way to this iconic Iraqi singer who packs talent in music, singing and lyrics. Kareem Al Iraqi's philosophy is that a poet who writes lyrics has a mission which is to spread optimism and hope while communicating the message of the little guy and injustice.

he is currently working on an Iraqi play, a children album, a poem publication, so he has a busy life. His style of music sometimes picks the artists and sometimes the artist finds him, in all cases he is always doing the writing. Kareem also likes to see his songs filmed in music video which helps get the word out. that's one of the reasons his collaboration with Majid Al Monhadis is rare. Majid has yet to film a song whose lyrics come from Kareem's.

On the other hand, Kathem Al Saher has sang an impressive 100 song of Kareem's, and filmed about 10 of those. Out of those 10 filmed music videos, his least favorite is Madinat Al Hob, Baghdad City of Love. He is not a fan of that clip. He is also not entirely happy with the filming of Sha'alha, a song that Shatha Hassoun filmed recently.

Kareem Al Iraqi is most proud of his poems that has been turned into official Iraqi state stamps. He has four of them. An Iraqi singer that Kareem has tried to collaborate with, but has yet to see something significant materialize is Rida Al Abdallah.

This is a song that made it big in 2009 and told us that Kathem can have a hit and that hit does not have to be the works of the beloved Syrian poet Nizar Qabbany. As of who wrote the lyrics for this epic song...you guessed...Kareem Al Iraqi is the answer.

Kadem El Saher FT Asma Lemnawar arasmo bilkalimat 2009

Touched by "Allah" by Hassan El Shafie

This is a really touching and well made video about faith and about worship. The vocals are by Hassan El Shafei and featuring Wael Mansour. This is a very timely song for Ramadan. This is a brand new song that is playing on some local Egyptain TV networks and radios.


Allah - Hassan El Shafei ft. Wael Mansour -الله - حسن الشافعي و وائل منصور

In Nablus Palestine, They Also Pray

If it's Ramadan, it's Taraweeh prayer, the Ramadan exclusive evening prayer that keeps many at the mosque for well upward of 30 minutes. Men, women and little boys and girls gather once they have shared the meal of breaking the fast and pray in groups at the local mosque. While the city is famous around the world for its sweets and its soap, it's also known for having a wonderful university too.

The person leading the prayer or the imam almost always have to have a great voice to help people concentrate on their prayer and enjoy the prayer and the verses of the Koran being recited over those microphones.


This is a clip for a mosque in Nablus, Palestine. The West Bank city known for its industries. See the sole line of praying people forming a line on the even of Ramadan, they best thing about it, is the little kids.
مقطع من صلاة التراويح اليوم نابلس - مسجد النصر

Ramadan Rituals I Grew Up With

As a little Palestinian boy in the United Arab Emirates, Ramadan was always a fun time for me. For starters, 15 days prior to the holy month, the young boys and girls would tour the neighborhood knocking doors and asking for treats. This is known as “Haq Al Lylah”. Some families would give us food, others candy and drinks, and few would give us cash. This is like that country’s Halloween without all the ghosts and the creeps. Once or twice, someone unleashed their dogs on us, but it wasn’t that bad. As a boy I heard countless stories of people being granted their wishes by the country’s rulers who were feeling rather charitable on those nights. Then Ramadan came, and everybody focused on drawing closer to God and, of course, indulging in overeating. In the UAE, my dad’s boss who is one of the native people would drop off fresh buttermilk for our family every week. Others would drop off fresh gooey dates, wanting to share the blessing of the month with everyone.

While we were guests of that country, Ramadan was the one time when we felt just like the local people. It was a wonderful time - a feeling of unity was over the country and everyone had plenty to eat and was able enjoy the special season. I remember on some evenings my family would skip Iftar to go to the mosque where they served an extravagant meal after the sunset prayer. On those nights, rich and poor ate together, Muslims and non-Muslims breaking bread together on the floor. The more affluent in the area would bring all sorts of food to share with the local people. I particularly remember going to those meals for the local food, the kind my Palestinian mother wouldn’t make: Harees, Hareesah, Haneed, Qimat and that pinkish drink we used to savor and use to quench our thirst with. A lot of people from India and Pakistan would be present there, too, as they tended to be single and have little income. The true feasts on those nights really brought the month of Ramadan to me.

At night my parents would take us to a Lebanese/Palestinian sweets shop in downtown Dubai, which was then a lot more local. The adults would sit around talk about politics in pre-Intifada Palestine and we would enjoy whatever deserts they are serving that night. The street lights and decorations were dazzling to our little minds. Afterward, Mother would go to the market, an open-air market and do her shopping for the next day. Going out to shop in the heat of the day was never very attractive to her or anyone else. During Ramadan my dad, who’s a smoker, would be rather on edge, so we kids all avoided getting on his bad side. But my mom would just laugh and dismiss his occasional silly outbursts.

Mid-day dad would go to the mosque to read some Koran as the boys in the block played a pre sunset soccer match. I remember we had a good team. I have always liked the goalie position. Dad would join us sometimes, and dare the kids to score on him as he stood in the goal. He pledged to pay any kid 10 Dirham if they could score on him. I remember being proud of my dad for doing that. He would claim he used to play for a team called the black panthers. Only one boy of the older kids ever managed to score on dad. After soccer we would walk together to the house for the Iftar meal. But right before the call to prayer, our Syrian and Egyptian neighbor would send us some of their dish of the day, and then we kids had to go back and give them some of what we had cooked. Toward the end of the day, everyone in the house would head to the mosque for Taraweeh prayer. I remember the prayer being very long, so the kids would cheat and play hide and seek at the mosque door and when the adults were done we would walk back with them as if we were praying there all along.

Then we headed back to Gaza…

[Tarboush Tip: Clay Adir]

Khawater Song By Maher Zain

In Arabia, there is this popular TV show called Khawater, and for that show, they needed a theme song, and since the show is about doing good, they hired Maher Zain to voice the song which deals with being true to oneself. The revolution themes are all over this song.

But most of all this show is about being the best version of yourself, serving others, and seeking justice. The show hose Ahmad Al Shoqiry keeps the show fun, uplifting and most of all worthy of watching.

خواطر 7 تتر- ماهر زين - Khawater 7 song- Maher Zain

Finally, Basel Khoury Releases Somthing

No one knows about how messy the music business in Lebanon as much as Basel does. He is a Jourdain young musician singer. This young man who took part of season 7 of Star Academy had so many production companies wanting to sign him up to sing him up, but none of those empty promises materialized.

This time it's for real, Basil strikes with a song that offers wisdom and love about growing old and missing out all the great things. This is a terrific romantic performance set in surreal world where authenticity is not a stranger. This is all complimented with the dude with a guitar personality.

Basel wrote the lyrics himself which explains why he is feeling them deep down in his soul. The young star had a recent concert in Norway for the Arab immigrants living in that country.

باسل خوري - عم نكبر