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The hosts of “The View” were jittery and gagging every two minutes about the appearance of ‘ Lady Gaga’ on the show. I was intrigued….I decided to watch this instead….. I mean, who isn’t intrigued about her? About the monstrosity that is her. I watched her in fascination, hand-guided into the studio on 2 ft tall platforms shoes, having to be ushered in by two attendants, in case she fell flat on her face. She bathed in the empty overflowing praise of the hosts, repeating the same regurgitated media rhetoric of, ‘how do take your success’, (with sugar and milk ??), did you ever think you be this famous, your outfits are amazing’… blah blah… and then innocently, cocked her head to the side and answering with genuine conviction and belief, exuding her philosophy in every answer . An overwhelming sensation of awe came to my mind.
Needless to remind any of you who are in the ‘know’, that her message is one of self-belief, adoration and worship. To love and be yourself. I was touched by her enthusiasm and the love that emanated from her to her fans…her ‘little monsters’ as she lovingly names them.

My four year old son came running into the room and I quickly started flapping around and jumping and scrambling on the couch looking for the remote control…”this is for adults – please stay outside till I finish watching the scary news, Omar!” He left before the pale apparition dressed in Black, with a cruella-styled black and white weave fashioned into a bun with a massive gothic cross dangling off it, could flash him with her white teeth through her blood-red lips, parting with a kindly smile.

Ok! I decided, thats enough of that! But could not stop thinking about this 25 year old girl all day. As I was getting ready to leave, and looked in the mirror, I bemoaned those under eye circles and put on some light make up to look less tired. That’s better, I thought…. When I was done and heard Gaga’s voice in my head.

” I was born this way”

I laughed. I was anything but born this way – I had just put on my own, albeit, small and insignificant compared to Gaga’s, Mask for the day.

I wonder how the irony passes, day in day out, that Lady Gaga imposes on her little Monsters each day. The audacity in which her outrageous, but yes, stupendous and artistically contrived image is passed of as, natural- ‘she was born this way’.

I remember the clear message of the Quran that we are all born in a state of natural ‘fitra’. An image of a newborn infant- purity, peace and serenity filled my mind. As I contemplated on this a sudden vision gatecrashed my meditation. I imagined a mini- Gaga, a little baby Gaga with bright red finger nails which looked like claws and a huge platforms jumping into the delivery room… ‘ being born this way’

It struck me with some darkness in my mind, that such a huge lie could be passed off as artistic rhetoric and imagined all of her idolaters swimming in her message. Then the dichotomy of it all, when they dressed exactly like her, instead of embracing the message of, ‘being themselves’.

There are so many points I want to make about .. ‘ being born this way’.. the idea of fitra, the idea of self adoration, the self-satisfaction of our condition, the need or desire to conform, donne metaphorical masks or in her case- absolutely not conform… The themes of modern day celebrity idolatry …but I would rather hold on to hear my brothers and sisters – the hosts at OLR have to say about it.

So my articulate and inspirational sister (and namesake) Ms. Mogahed, and Shaykh Shuaib and Mr. Birdman… talk to me about being, ” born this way”. I want to hear some ‘Real Talk”.

The series commences this week, Monday with the analysis of the beginning of Surah al Isra, as the night of Isra wal Miraj falls on Tuesday, 28th June. Ustadha Maha is joined twice a week by two of her students, Salma Kweider and Yasmin Bhuj, who accompany her as we hope the listeners will and serve as a sounding board as well demonstrate the reaction and effect of the verses as one encounters them.

As a student of Ustadha Maha, one thing that astounds me (and will you, as you listen yo her inshallah) is just how much knowledge is behind each ayah that we encounter – its a blessing to be able to absorb this knowledge, and it is delivered in a way which is reflective of our daily lives – we can relate. We can connect. Alhamdulilah, why not tune in and see for yourself.

Consensus airs live weekly on One Legacy Radio each Wednesday at 5 PM PST. Host Todd Gallinger covers National and International News from a Unique American Muslim Perspective. Tune-in live or stream from OneLegacyRadio.com, apps also available for iPhones, Blackberries, Android and Noklia devices. Podcasts available at Podbean.com or on iTunes.

On this show we had sister Maytha Alhassan join us for a talk on Dr. Manning Marable’s book “Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention.”  She helped in researching various documents and information for Dr. Marable and is now educating various organizations in regards to the author’s life’s work.

Sorry we missed yesterday’s show as I was out taking the GRE, but we’re back today with “Tying Your Camel.”  Tying your what?!  That’s right, tying your camel just like the Prophet Muhammad (saw) said to a bedouin who he saw leaving his camel without tying it so he asked the bedouin:

“Why don’t you tie down your camel?” The Bedouin answered, “I put my trust in Allah.” The Prophet then said, “Tie your camel first, then put your trust in Allah” (At-Tirmidhi).