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Saudi Arabia Lifts 35-Year-Old Cinema Ban

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by Aysha Qamar

For the first time in over 35 years, Saudis will soon be able to go to the movie theater. Religious leaders forced the closure of cinemas in the 1980s, claiming they were a threat to Saudi religious identity.

A resolution allowing the Culture Ministry to license commercial cinemas has been passed lifting the ban that has been in place for over three decades.

The kingdom’s culture ministry said, the move to remove the ban was another strand of its “Vision 2030” social and economic reform plan for the country that is being pushed through by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

According to Saudi authorities, Vision 2030 aims to increase Saudi household spending on cultural and entertainment activities from 2.9 percent to 6 percent by 2030. They hope this will create new employment opportunities and provide a greater range of entertainment options while reducing the reliance on oil.

Minister of Culture and Information Awwad bin Saleh Alawwad said, “Opening cinemas will act as a catalyst for economic growth and diversification; by developing the broader cultural sector we will create new employment and training opportunities, as well as enriching the Kingdom’s entertainment options.”

Saudis often visit neighboring countries for vacations and leisure time, the government hopes to create more entertainment and leisure activities to encourage local tourism and increase touristic revenue.

Saudi Arabia is seeing many changes with the new crowned prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who has vowed to destroy “extremist ideologies” and return to “a more moderate Islam.”

From early next year, commercial movie theaters will be granted licenses, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture and Information said in a statement on Monday. It expects the first cinemas to open their doors in March.

The first movie theaters are set to open in March, with plans to have more than 2,000 screens up and running by 2030.

“This marks a watershed moment in the development of the cultural economy in the Kingdom,” Alawwad said.

ISPU Banquet Celebrates Organization’s 15th Anniversary

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by TMO Staff

Over the past 15 years, the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) has become America’s source for data for and about American Muslims.

Established in 2002, ISPU aims to conduct objective, solution seeking research that empowers American Muslims to develop their community and contribute to democracy and pluralism in the United States.

According to their website, “ISPU has been at the forefront of discovering trends and opportunities that impact the American Muslim community. Our research aims to educate the general public and enable community change agents, the media, and policymakers to make evidence-based decisions. In addition to building in-house capacity, ISPU has assembled leading experts across multiple disciplines, building a solid reputation as a trusted source for information for and about American Muslims.”

ISPU celebrated their 15th anniversary milestone with their supporters at the Fairlane Club in Dearborn Nov 18.

This banquet event, titled “15 Years of Research Making an Impact: Empowering Tomorrow,” honored the legacy of ISPU’s first 15 years. Attendees were able to view a timeline that highlighted the 15 most important moments from ISPU’s history, including milestone research projects such as A Portrait of Detroit Mosques and Promoting Healthy Marriages and Preventing Divorce in the American Muslim Community.

The program included remarks from various influential leaders including ISPU’s very own Executive Director, Meira Neggaz, who highlighted some of the many ways ISPU data powers the crucial work of other organizations and ISPU’s Director of Research, Dalia Mogahed, who talked about ISPU’s impact in the world of media. Other speakers included Harpreet Singh Mokha, a Regional Director at the Department of Justice, who discussed his work to address hate crimes and how ISPU’s research helped infuse data and the human faces of American Muslims into his department’s diversity trainings and Marwa Abdalla, a recipient of ISPU’s inaugural Young Scholar Award, who spoke about how ISPU’s research empowered her to address her elected official’s bigoted remarks.

The keynote speaker of the night was Representative Ilhan Omar, a former refugee and the first Somali-American lawmaker in the United States. Omar spoke about various important issues including our duty and involvement in democracy.

“In a democracy, it is our duty to see that the work continues and this requires steering through many complex problems. We must not give up hope in face of any adversity,” Omar said.

Omar encouraged everyone to get involved, whether it be politically or socially. She referenced how any type of involvement can surprise someone with the difference and impact it potentially can make.

We commend ISPU’s work to build understanding, catalyze community development, and safeguard American pluralism. Vist their website www.ispu.org to learn more about the organization and what they do.

Healthy Eating While Building Muscle

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by Noor H. Salem

You look around and see billboards, commercials, and online advertisements of body builders and athletes consuming protein shakes, protein bars and even products like protein chips and cookies. With the extraordinary marketing tactics or perhaps the trend amongst your friends and those at the gym, you might have fallen into the obsession of protein drinks too.

The issue is that the majority of popular protein powders, bars, and shakes come along with some detrimental ingredients. Yes, they might contain a vast amount of protein amino acids, aid you to lose a few pounds, and give you results in your body building goals. Nonetheless, the ingredients I will mention indeed can impact your health in undesirable ways- if not instantaneously then down the road. While sharing the undesirable news, I happily must mention that there are many brands I suggest to my clients, and even other essential tips to implement in your diet for you to successfully build muscle, feel energized, and reach your optimum weight goals in my book, Sunnah Superfoods. With that being said, I will share a few ingredients to be wary of while purchasing your next protein powder or bars.

Earlier, I walked into a popular supermarket to do a little research myself. Out of over 30 different brands of protein bars and powders, with the exception of a few brands, many were options I’d advise my clients to stay gear of at all cost. Various ones were full of over a dozen ingredients, contained at least four or five genetically engineered ingredients, had artificial sweeteners, and were extremely high in sugar.

Genetically engineered ingredients in protein bars and powders are usually from soy protein or soy isolate. I highly recommend you avoid products that contain genetically engineered ingredients, as they have been directly linked to infertility, cancer, food intolerance and allergies, autoimmune disease, inflammation, birth defects and more. Canola oil or soybean oil are other possible ingredients swaying in popular protein products.

Another issue I’ve found repetitively across many popular brands has been the use of artificial sweeteners. Undoubtedly, decreasing the amount of sugar consumed in your diet is wonderful, however replacing it with artificial sweeteners is in fact a worse alternative than sugar itself!

Artificial sweeteners have been linked to brain tumors, weight gain, mood swings, autoimmune disease, migraines, and more. Many protein powders and bars, especially the flavored ones, might also contain lab-made food dyes, hydrogenated oils, and redundant additives. Look for natural protein powders, free of genetically engineered ingredients, a-critical sweeteners, and a novel of ingredients.

Whether you are trying to lose weight while exercising or want to tone up and feel great, I recommend a balanced and healthy diet to gradually reach your goals. I essentially advise you to be cautious of going on short-term diets merely having protein shakes and bars, as your weight-loss will not last. It will be temporary, you will feel hungry and deprived and as soon as you return to your usual routine you will find yourself slowly putting on weight back. Instead, begin with making small changes in your diet and exercise regime. A great suggestion that helped many of my clients is to replace heavily processed and deep-fried foods with healthier options, and consume more fresh fruits and vegetables. Consume whole foods, like proteins, grains, high-quality dairy, nuts, seeds, and legumes. All in all: concentrate on having a diet low in chemicals, rather than one low in calories. Look for high quality protein powders and bars, and don’t simply rely on them alone.

Don’t merely be obsessed with looking bulky while overfilling your body with these unhealthy chemicals. They might give you the outwardly results you are desiring, but in the long-run they are truly unfavorable to your physical and mental health.

Noor H. Salem is an author, speaker, and Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, from Michigan. Noor works with clients in better understanding their bodies and healing with natural foods through her wellness practice, Holistic Noortrition. She presents various workshops, school lectures, group coaching classes, and community lectures on the topic of holistic health. Noor recently published her book, SUNNAH SUPERFOODS, a culmination of life-changing recipes and remedies, with a foreword by Dr. Waleed Basyouni. Her book consists of prophetic hadith, modern research, and delicious recipes, and is in the process of being translated into other languages.

Stress: More Harmful Than You Can Comprehend

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by Noor H. Salem

Stress: something you can undoubtedly relate to in some shape or form. Whether it’s being an on-the-go soccer mom or the pile of tasks only growing on your desk at work- you face stress on different levels each and every day. Perhaps, that stress is coming from something more severe, like the death of a loved one, relationship loss, financial stress, or emotional stress.

While stress isn’t malevolent in and of itself, as it allows us to protect ourselves or to perform, just like almost anything eventually too much stress could start to get destructive.

Forthrightly, it may sound absurd to blame it, but it’s a given fact that stress is one of the root causes of the majority of diseases and health conditions you may experience. Whether it’s insomnia, weight gain, irritability, feeling fatigue, lack of sexual desire, unwarranted mood swings, excessive cravings, loss of appetite, or even more serious conditions such as heart disease- stress may be the very seed that sprouted this plant to begin with! While some turn to prescription drugs to relieve themselves of stress, they are not aware of the repercussions on their physical and mental health.

Chronic stress takes a major adverse effect on your body’s overall well-being, as a poor maintained diet, lack of exercise, and deficiency of proper and good quality sleep do. While your body is designed to handle stress, chronic and ongoing stress is when issues start rolling in. Being in a state of fear causes your stress levels to immediately increase, as our bodies carry the “fight or flight” instinct. In this given state, adrenaline, glucose, and the main stress hormone: cortisol, are sent into your bloodstream. Your heart rate and blood pressure increase. Your digestion system, the functioning of your immune system, your reproduction and growth system, are all suppressed and put on hold. This state is supposedly our body’s normal reaction during a “flight” mode. However, if you are under extreme stress daily and your body is not taking a break from releasing hormones to balance itself out and reach equilibrium, you will regrettably begin to deal with health issues as your body is constantly in that mode. The health repercussions may not show up overnight and they might not show up for a while. Chronic stress however, has been proven and linked to heart disease, weight gain and obesity, inflammation in the joints and other organs, digestive health issues, diabetes, mental health issues, and cancer. It’s disturbing to even imagine something that you may think is so irrelevant, can in fact be so detrimental to your health.

Stress:

  • Affects your ability to concentrate
  • Increases your risk of heart disease and stroke
  • Damages blood vessel lining
  • Increases your blood pressure
  • Has devastating effects on your memory
  • Increases inflammation in your body and joints
  • suppresses your immune system
  • Quickens your aging process
  • Contributes to weight-gain and inability to lose weight
  • Leads to digestive disorders
  • Worsens ulcers
  • Increases your unhealthy cravings
  • Can lead to depression
  • Affects your relationships
  • Can increase joint pain due to inflammation
  • Reduces your sexual desire
  • Can cause eczema
  • Can lead to causing gum disease

What can you do to reduce your bodily stress levels without needing to turn to prescription drugs as your treatment method? Thankfully, there are many holistic measures you can take and with effort and patience you will begin to see remarkable results. Adjusting your body to reach for holistic remedies and medicine instead of prescription drugs can save you from a myriad of undesirable health effects on your brain, and your physical health overall. These holistic remedies will aid you to relieve stress, and if measures are taken properly, you will begin to see a transformation rapidly. Best of all, these holistic remedies don’t come with a package of long-term consequences, as the usage of prescription drugs do. Prescription medication usually aids in curing one ailment, but may rob your body of a major vitamin or mineral, and with time leads to another health issue. On pill after another, and you are slowly determining your health from within. When you reach for whole food and natural herbs as medicine, you don’t worry about side effects. I share many of these remarkable remedies in my book, Sunnah Superfoods. They wind up bringing your body other benefits, too, that may not even be a part of your goal at the time being.

Try to implement some of these remedies gradually and watch as both your physical and mental health renovate.

  • Avoiding caffeinated beverages (coffee or tea)
  • Decreasing if not eliminating sugar and sweeteners from your diet
  • Taking Epsom salt baths (search for one with lavender essential oil for a plus)
  • Exercising, daily if possible
  • Getting enough hours of sleep at night
  • Being organized! Use a planner, make to do lists, and plan ahead
  • Use the barakah of the morning hours, as the Prophet (pbuh) promised
  • Taking a power nap during the day (preferably during the afternoon)
  • Sitting in nature, at the lake or beach, or taking a calm walk outdoors
  • Using essential oils such as lavender
  • Decreasing the amount of processed foods from your diet
  • Consuming healthy fats: olive oil, coconut oil, avocadoes, salmon, and nuts
  • Drinking non-caffeinated herbal teas: chamomile, mint, sage, ginger, or rosemary

 

 Noor H. Salem is an author, speaker, and Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, from Michigan. Noor works with clients in better understanding their bodies and healing with natural foods through her wellness practice, Holistic Noortrition. She presents various workshops, school lectures, group coaching classes, and community lectures on the topic of holistic health. Noor recently published her book, SUNNAH SUPERFOODS, a culmination of life-changing recipes and remedies, with a foreword by Dr. Waleed Basyouni. Her book consists of prophetic hadith, modern research, and delicious recipes, and is in the process of being translated into other languages.