Those whom Allah (in His Plan) willeth to guide He openeth their breast to Islam; those whom He willeth to leave straying He maketh their breast close and constricted as if they had to climb up to the skies: thus doth Allah (heap) the penalty on those who refuse to believe. {Al An'am (06:125}
Allah is the Guide of those who believe to the Straight Way. --- (Al Hajj: 54)
Amazing Interview with a 14 years old new Muslimah!
Islamway.com
The way she speaks is really impressive .. after my conversation with her .. I thought that I must tell her the fact that she is very mature . please read her words .. and distribute it ..
IslamWay.com:
Dear Sister .. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatu Allah sister , first of all . Congratulations for accepting Islam
Sara:
wa alaikum assalam, thank-you
IslamWay.com:
Can you give us brief information about yourself ?
Sara:
My name is Sara, I am 14 years old and in high school. I live in the U.S.
IslamWay.com:
Welcome sister Sara .. I'm really amazed to see someone in your age searching for the truth .. let me admit that .. Can you tell us .. how did you know about Islam for the first time in your life ?
Sara:
Yes, the first time I heard about Islam was about 3 years ago, I was curious about God and religion and wanted to know what others believed. I started reading different materials and read about Islam. I was amazed by how much sense it made.
IslamWay.com:
Isn't it kind of strange to start reading about religions when you were 11 years old .. is there is any special thing that you have other than other kids around you ?
Sara -smiling-:
I suppose it is strange to read about religion at 11, most my friends didn't understand how I could be so interested in finding God. My family is Christian, and I have been raised in religion, so it seemed only natural for me to study religion thoroughly and decide on my own what the truth was.
IslamWay.com:
Did you read the Quran ?
Sara:
Not at that time, no.
IslamWay.com:
"A Muslim woman is oppressed and needs to be librated like the western women" .. do you have a comment about this ?
Sara:
It saddens me that so many people in the world today believe that Muslim women are oppressed. I believe that we are the most liberated women on earth! To follow the guidelines Allah has given us is the most liberating thing any woman can do.
IslamWay.com:
Well .. from what you see in the west .. are the women there librated ?
Sara:
No, most women in the west are oppressed. We are used as sex symbols. Most women wear outfits that barely cover them, they use their bodies to get attention. We are expected to have 'perfect' bodies by the media's standards, we are supposed to look and act a certain way, and we are expected to do whatever the media tells us to do, and that is to disrespect ourselves and Allah.
IslamWay.com:
So did you wear the hijab ?
Sara:
No I do not. I would like to very much, but my family is unaware that I converted to Islam, and I will wear the hijab after I tell them.
IslamWay.com:
You think that you will have problems with them after telling them ?
Sara:
I'm not sure. I supose I am allowing my fear to keep me from telling them.
IslamWay.com:
I see .. Just ask Allah to give your the power and the patience to take this step .. and I guess all Muslims who are reading this interview now will make du'a for you to ease things in sha Allah ..
IslamWay.com:
What is the thing you liked most in the Muslims community ?
Sara:
I admire the dedication Muslims have to Islam, there is an amazing peace and grace that Allah gives to those who serve him as completely as they can. To many it may seem hard to follow Allah's guidelines, but Allah gives every Muslim an amazing strength to help them. What I liked most about the Muslims I met was how friendly and caring they were.
IslamWay.com:
"Most of Muslims nowadays are not practicing Muslims .. " first of all . what do you feel about that ? And is that why Islam is not spreading too fast ? And what would you say to a none pracitcing Muslim ?
Sara:
1) I firmly believe that the statement "Most Muslims nowadays are not practicing Muslims .. " is false. I do not believe you can truly be Muslim without being a 'practicing Muslim'. Islam isn't just a religion, it's a way of life. That's one of the many things I love about it.
2) Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world, I believe the reason for this is that people see the truth in it, and when they decide to live to serve Allah, they are given an amazing happiness and grace that others see and admire, that is what draws people to Islam.
3) Trust Allah, serve him completely, and he will give you the grace, peace, and happiness you need to be a 'practicing Muslim'.
IslamWay.com:
What is your future plans ? Your dreams ?
Sara:
I've always had a dream: To become a leader in our world and once again help establish peace and good relations between different people.
IslamWay.com:
Do you have any plans for learning arabic ?
Sara:
Yes. i LOVE languages. It's something that i enjoy very much, and my parents support my Arabic education, I will hopefully begin taking a language course this Fall. My dad lived in an Arabic speaking country for years, and so he would help me study.
IslamWay.com:
oh i see .. which country ?
Sara:
Sudan (in Africa)
IslamWay.com:
Can you tell us in details how did you revert to Islam ?
Sara:
I had originally heard about Islam about 3 years ago, my parents found out that I was reading about it and discouraged me from doing so, studying it much further. Then last Fall I started highschool at a new school that has a lot of Muslim students.
When I first started going there I remembered my studying and was curious about how they would act. My parents had told me Muslims were horrible mean, militant, abusive people. So I kind of expected them to be that way, I was wrong! The first couple of friends I made there were Muslims.
They were nice, friendly, caring people. I remember them talking about their God, and I was amazed by how much they loved Islam. I began very quickly began respect them, and quickly became very curious about their beliefs. A friend of mine asked them about Islam one day, and it turned into a several hour long conversation about Allah, and Islam, and daily life. I was suprised by how much sense it all made, and how happy they were. I began reading the Qur'an and looking for more information on the internet, and soon after I said the shahadah and converted to Islam. I'm still amazed by how happy and peacefull my life is. Allah has given me much strength in every day life. Inshallah my parents will see this.
IslamWay.com:
In sha Allah .. May Allah reward you sister for your time .. and may Allah keep you in the right path .. Amen .. As-salamu alaykum
Sara:
wa alaikum assalam, thank-you
Courtesy: Sister Nazia Shaheen Ahmed, E G Y P T
With Kind Regards
Mohammad Usman
Jeddah
SAUDI ARABIA
Showing posts with label New. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New. Show all posts
Monday, April 30, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
Happy New Hijra Year
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Al-Jazeerah, January 19, 2007
January 20th marks the first of Moharram, the beginning of the new Hijra year 1428, according to the five-year Islamic calendar announced by the Fiqh Council of North America and endorsed by the Islamic Society of North America.
In a bid to end the controversy over the beginning of the month of Ramadan and Eid celebrations, the Fiqh Council of North America, last August, announced a five-year Islamic calendar based on astronomical calculation abandoning the traditional method of actual sighting of the crescent.
However, the ISNA’s bid to create unity in the American Muslim community did not succeed the first test, when in September last, majority of Islamic centers and mosques in U.S. and Canada refused to adopt ISNA’s Islamic calendar and followed the traditional method of announcing the beginning of the month of Ramadan locally on the basis of sighting of crescent.
In its decision, the Fiqh Council said that Muslims living in North America and Europe face more problems due to starting Ramadan at different timings and celebrating Eids on different days. The issue of Moon sighting is causing problem of discord among Muslims and is a bone of contention all over the Muslim world. Hence the Council, in a bid to save the Ummah this enormous wrangling and bickering over the sighting of the new moon, decided to abandon the traditional method and announced a five-year Hijra calendar on the basis of astronomical calculations.
Probably this is the second time in 1400 years of Islamic history that an attempt is being made to abandon actual moon sighting for the beginning of the new Islamic months. In the 10th century AD a calendar based on astronomical calculations was instituted by the sixth Fatimid caliph Abu Ali Al-Mansur Al-Hakim (985–1021). It is therefore sometimes referred to as the Fatimid or Misr (Egyptian) calendar. The calendar was rejected by the scholars of the time as an unacceptable innovation. According to some historical accounts of the Fatimids in Libya, the Qadi of Barqa was put to death in 953 for observing the fast of Ramadan by sighting the new moon instead of following the astronomical calculations.
It is believed that the Fatimid practice in using astronomical conjunction as the starting point for Ramadan was not due to the complexity of calculating physical sighting but rather to their belief that their doctrines were scientific. Other than the Fatimid practice, there is no evidence that Muslims have ever advocated calculation in lieu of sighting until the 21st century.
Probably, with the exception of Saudi Arabia, Islamic calendar is not followed by the 1.3 billion or so Muslims for their day to day routine. They follow the Gregorian calendar in mundane affairs while Islamic calendar is used in religious matters such as the beginning of the month of Ramadan and Eidul Fitr and Eidul Adha.
In 637 AD, 16 years after the Hijra or migration of the Prophet from Mecca to Madina, the second caliph Omer Ben Khattab instituted the new Hijra or Islamic year. The first of Muharram 622 AD, which coincided with the 16 of July 622 AD, began year one of the Islamic era.
The Islamic or Hijra calendar of 12 lunar months is determined by observation of the new moon with no effort by intercalation (addition) or other means to synchronize the lunar year with the solar year.
A lunar month may vary from 29.26 to 29.80 days. The average Lunar month is 29.530588 days or slightly more than 29.5 days. Twelve average Lunar months are equal to 354.3670 days while the solar year is 365.2422 days. Therefore, the Islamic calendar gains ground in relation to the Solar Calendar at the rate of about 11 days a year or about one-year in every 33 years.
Since no effort is made to link the Islamic calendar with solar year the Islamic months do not correspond with particular season. A lunar month is not less than 29 days or more than 30 days. But in solar calendar the days of months vary from 28 to 31.
Like Muslims, Jews followed a calendar based upon naked-eye observation of new moons for more than a thousand years. However, persecution of the Jews under the Roman Emperor Constantius (337-361) in the name of Christianity prevented communication among the Jews about the observed calendar, and forced them to switch to an entirely computed calendar. This forced Rabbi Hillel II to promulgate the fixed computed calendar in 358. Its computations were designed to simulate the practical constraints of the observed calendar (including postponements and intercalations) as closely as possible. The Jews never returned to their original tradition of following a purely lunar calendar determined by eyewitnesses; instead, they continue to determine the new moon calculation.
Two other major world calendars which used lunar dates for religious and cultural festivals are Chinese and Hindu calendars but both are now lunisolar like the Jewish calendar, i.e. synchronized with the solar calendar.
The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar based on calculations of the positions of the Sun and Moon. Months of 29 or 30 days begin on days of astronomical New Moons, with an intercalary month being added every two or three years. Although the Gregorian calendar is used in the Peoples' Republic of China for administrative purposes, the traditional Chinese calendar is used for setting traditional festivals and for timing agricultural activities in the countryside. The Chinese calendar is also used by Chinese communities around the world.
As a result of a calendar reform in A.D. 1957, the National Calendar of India is a formalized lunisolar calendar in which leap years coincide with those of the Gregorian calendar. In addition to establishing a civil calendar, the Calendar Reform Committee set guidelines for religious calendars, which require calculations of the motions of the Sun and Moon. Tabulations of the religious holidays are prepared by the India Meteorological Department and published annually in The Indian Astronomical Ephemeris. Despite the attempt to establish a unified calendar for all of India, many local variations exist. The Gregorian calendar continues in use for administrative purposes, and holidays are still determined according to regional, religious, and ethnic traditions. Most religious holidays occur on specified lunar dates but a few occur on specified solar dates.
The Gregorian calendar regulates the ceremonial cycle of the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. The ecclesiastical calendars of Christian churches are based on cycles of movable and immovable feasts. Christmas is the principal immovable feast, with its date set at December 25. Easter is the principal movable feast, and dates of most other movable feasts are determined with respect to Easter.
Now reverting to the ISNA universal calendar; in August 2006, ISNA announced a five-year universal Islamic calendar based on astronomical calculation. ISNA’s criterion for beginning the new month is moon birth before 12:00 Noon GMT. In response to my query, Syed Khalid Shaukat, national coordinator and moon sighting consultant to ISNA, explained that the moon born before 12:00 Noon GMT (say on a Friday) means it is born in every town of the world before Friday begins. It will be about 18 to 30 hours old near International Date Line on the evening of Friday. So, it would be visible somewhere on earth on Friday. In some months, it will be visible in California & Hawaii (Muharram 1428). In some months it will be visible in Alaska (Rabi2 1428). In some months it will be visible in whole North America (Rabi1 1428, Jumada2 1428, Safar 1429, Rabi2 1429). In some months, it will be visible in Hawaii (Rajab 1428). In some months it will only be visible in South America or Polynesian Islands (Dhul-Hijja 1427, Shawwal 1428).
So the practical implication for Muslims in North America is that the new moon for the months of Ramadan, Shawwal and Zel Hijja will not be SEEN in N. America by the calculated ISNA dates for 2006-2011.
ISNA calendar did not attract much attention in the Muslim countries but many mosques and Islamic centers in Europe and North America adopted it. However, ISNA did not succeed in its primary objective of promoting unity in the Muslim community at least outside the Islamic World. According to my research most of the Islamic centers and mosques ignored the ISNA calendar for beginning the month of Ramdan and Eidul Fitr last year and for Eidul Adha earlier this month.
Interestingly, the 56-member states Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) in 1997 passed a resolution on a unified Hijra calendar for the beginning of lunar month and the unification of Islamic holidays. However, no Islamic country dared to ignore the tradition of announcing the beginning of the Islamic months through moon sighting committees. Even Saudi Arabia which relies on astronomical calculations for its official lunar calendar relies on the decision of moon sighting committee for religious events.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Executive Editor of the online magazine American Muslim Perspective: www.amperspective.com
Al-Jazeerah, January 19, 2007
January 20th marks the first of Moharram, the beginning of the new Hijra year 1428, according to the five-year Islamic calendar announced by the Fiqh Council of North America and endorsed by the Islamic Society of North America.
In a bid to end the controversy over the beginning of the month of Ramadan and Eid celebrations, the Fiqh Council of North America, last August, announced a five-year Islamic calendar based on astronomical calculation abandoning the traditional method of actual sighting of the crescent.
However, the ISNA’s bid to create unity in the American Muslim community did not succeed the first test, when in September last, majority of Islamic centers and mosques in U.S. and Canada refused to adopt ISNA’s Islamic calendar and followed the traditional method of announcing the beginning of the month of Ramadan locally on the basis of sighting of crescent.
In its decision, the Fiqh Council said that Muslims living in North America and Europe face more problems due to starting Ramadan at different timings and celebrating Eids on different days. The issue of Moon sighting is causing problem of discord among Muslims and is a bone of contention all over the Muslim world. Hence the Council, in a bid to save the Ummah this enormous wrangling and bickering over the sighting of the new moon, decided to abandon the traditional method and announced a five-year Hijra calendar on the basis of astronomical calculations.
Probably this is the second time in 1400 years of Islamic history that an attempt is being made to abandon actual moon sighting for the beginning of the new Islamic months. In the 10th century AD a calendar based on astronomical calculations was instituted by the sixth Fatimid caliph Abu Ali Al-Mansur Al-Hakim (985–1021). It is therefore sometimes referred to as the Fatimid or Misr (Egyptian) calendar. The calendar was rejected by the scholars of the time as an unacceptable innovation. According to some historical accounts of the Fatimids in Libya, the Qadi of Barqa was put to death in 953 for observing the fast of Ramadan by sighting the new moon instead of following the astronomical calculations.
It is believed that the Fatimid practice in using astronomical conjunction as the starting point for Ramadan was not due to the complexity of calculating physical sighting but rather to their belief that their doctrines were scientific. Other than the Fatimid practice, there is no evidence that Muslims have ever advocated calculation in lieu of sighting until the 21st century.
Probably, with the exception of Saudi Arabia, Islamic calendar is not followed by the 1.3 billion or so Muslims for their day to day routine. They follow the Gregorian calendar in mundane affairs while Islamic calendar is used in religious matters such as the beginning of the month of Ramadan and Eidul Fitr and Eidul Adha.
In 637 AD, 16 years after the Hijra or migration of the Prophet from Mecca to Madina, the second caliph Omer Ben Khattab instituted the new Hijra or Islamic year. The first of Muharram 622 AD, which coincided with the 16 of July 622 AD, began year one of the Islamic era.
The Islamic or Hijra calendar of 12 lunar months is determined by observation of the new moon with no effort by intercalation (addition) or other means to synchronize the lunar year with the solar year.
A lunar month may vary from 29.26 to 29.80 days. The average Lunar month is 29.530588 days or slightly more than 29.5 days. Twelve average Lunar months are equal to 354.3670 days while the solar year is 365.2422 days. Therefore, the Islamic calendar gains ground in relation to the Solar Calendar at the rate of about 11 days a year or about one-year in every 33 years.
Since no effort is made to link the Islamic calendar with solar year the Islamic months do not correspond with particular season. A lunar month is not less than 29 days or more than 30 days. But in solar calendar the days of months vary from 28 to 31.
Like Muslims, Jews followed a calendar based upon naked-eye observation of new moons for more than a thousand years. However, persecution of the Jews under the Roman Emperor Constantius (337-361) in the name of Christianity prevented communication among the Jews about the observed calendar, and forced them to switch to an entirely computed calendar. This forced Rabbi Hillel II to promulgate the fixed computed calendar in 358. Its computations were designed to simulate the practical constraints of the observed calendar (including postponements and intercalations) as closely as possible. The Jews never returned to their original tradition of following a purely lunar calendar determined by eyewitnesses; instead, they continue to determine the new moon calculation.
Two other major world calendars which used lunar dates for religious and cultural festivals are Chinese and Hindu calendars but both are now lunisolar like the Jewish calendar, i.e. synchronized with the solar calendar.
The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar based on calculations of the positions of the Sun and Moon. Months of 29 or 30 days begin on days of astronomical New Moons, with an intercalary month being added every two or three years. Although the Gregorian calendar is used in the Peoples' Republic of China for administrative purposes, the traditional Chinese calendar is used for setting traditional festivals and for timing agricultural activities in the countryside. The Chinese calendar is also used by Chinese communities around the world.
As a result of a calendar reform in A.D. 1957, the National Calendar of India is a formalized lunisolar calendar in which leap years coincide with those of the Gregorian calendar. In addition to establishing a civil calendar, the Calendar Reform Committee set guidelines for religious calendars, which require calculations of the motions of the Sun and Moon. Tabulations of the religious holidays are prepared by the India Meteorological Department and published annually in The Indian Astronomical Ephemeris. Despite the attempt to establish a unified calendar for all of India, many local variations exist. The Gregorian calendar continues in use for administrative purposes, and holidays are still determined according to regional, religious, and ethnic traditions. Most religious holidays occur on specified lunar dates but a few occur on specified solar dates.
The Gregorian calendar regulates the ceremonial cycle of the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. The ecclesiastical calendars of Christian churches are based on cycles of movable and immovable feasts. Christmas is the principal immovable feast, with its date set at December 25. Easter is the principal movable feast, and dates of most other movable feasts are determined with respect to Easter.
Now reverting to the ISNA universal calendar; in August 2006, ISNA announced a five-year universal Islamic calendar based on astronomical calculation. ISNA’s criterion for beginning the new month is moon birth before 12:00 Noon GMT. In response to my query, Syed Khalid Shaukat, national coordinator and moon sighting consultant to ISNA, explained that the moon born before 12:00 Noon GMT (say on a Friday) means it is born in every town of the world before Friday begins. It will be about 18 to 30 hours old near International Date Line on the evening of Friday. So, it would be visible somewhere on earth on Friday. In some months, it will be visible in California & Hawaii (Muharram 1428). In some months it will be visible in Alaska (Rabi2 1428). In some months it will be visible in whole North America (Rabi1 1428, Jumada2 1428, Safar 1429, Rabi2 1429). In some months, it will be visible in Hawaii (Rajab 1428). In some months it will only be visible in South America or Polynesian Islands (Dhul-Hijja 1427, Shawwal 1428).
So the practical implication for Muslims in North America is that the new moon for the months of Ramadan, Shawwal and Zel Hijja will not be SEEN in N. America by the calculated ISNA dates for 2006-2011.
ISNA calendar did not attract much attention in the Muslim countries but many mosques and Islamic centers in Europe and North America adopted it. However, ISNA did not succeed in its primary objective of promoting unity in the Muslim community at least outside the Islamic World. According to my research most of the Islamic centers and mosques ignored the ISNA calendar for beginning the month of Ramdan and Eidul Fitr last year and for Eidul Adha earlier this month.
Interestingly, the 56-member states Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) in 1997 passed a resolution on a unified Hijra calendar for the beginning of lunar month and the unification of Islamic holidays. However, no Islamic country dared to ignore the tradition of announcing the beginning of the Islamic months through moon sighting committees. Even Saudi Arabia which relies on astronomical calculations for its official lunar calendar relies on the decision of moon sighting committee for religious events.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Executive Editor of the online magazine American Muslim Perspective: www.amperspective.com
Monday, December 04, 2006
New Trojan Blocks Porn Sites
CAIRO, September 8
A new program that is making the rounds in the Internet appears to be on a moral mission by blocking porn Web sites, security research firm Sophos said on its Web site.
Instead of snooping for sensitive financial information or secretly taking control of an infected computer, the new program, called Yusufali-A, monitors Web surfing habits.
It watches which Web sites Windows users visit by examining the browser's title bar.
If it detects a word such as "xxx" or "sex" it minimizes the activated window and pops up a message with a verse from the Noble Qur'an in Arabic, English and Persian.
If the offending site is not closed, a button labeled "For Exit Click Here" will appear.
Moving the mouse to that box will lock it in and the program displays a message reading "Oh! NO i'm in the Cage" and force the computer to log-out.
Sophos, a world leader in computer security for 20 years, said it first detected the new program in Iran on September 4, 2005.
Moral Mission
Other than chastising adult Web site surfers, Yusufali-A appears to cause no serious harm to infected systems.
While Yusufali-A is unremarkable from a technical perspective, its moral tone sets it apart from other malicious software.
"Unlike other malware, it appears this Trojan horse isn't trying to steal money or confidential information, but acting as a moral guardian instead - blocking viewing of websites it determines are unsavory," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos.
"This Trojan horse may have been written as a joke, or as a serious attempt to clean-up the habits of internet users," he added.
"Of course, it's possible for the Trojan horse to make mistakes and block sites which are not pornographic - such as medical sites, or social sites designed for teenagers."
Unlike viruses, Trojan horse programs do not try to spread to other computers once installed.
A new program that is making the rounds in the Internet appears to be on a moral mission by blocking porn Web sites, security research firm Sophos said on its Web site.
Instead of snooping for sensitive financial information or secretly taking control of an infected computer, the new program, called Yusufali-A, monitors Web surfing habits.
It watches which Web sites Windows users visit by examining the browser's title bar.
If it detects a word such as "xxx" or "sex" it minimizes the activated window and pops up a message with a verse from the Noble Qur'an in Arabic, English and Persian.
If the offending site is not closed, a button labeled "For Exit Click Here" will appear.
Moving the mouse to that box will lock it in and the program displays a message reading "Oh! NO i'm in the Cage" and force the computer to log-out.
Sophos, a world leader in computer security for 20 years, said it first detected the new program in Iran on September 4, 2005.
Moral Mission
Other than chastising adult Web site surfers, Yusufali-A appears to cause no serious harm to infected systems.
While Yusufali-A is unremarkable from a technical perspective, its moral tone sets it apart from other malicious software.
"Unlike other malware, it appears this Trojan horse isn't trying to steal money or confidential information, but acting as a moral guardian instead - blocking viewing of websites it determines are unsavory," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos.
"This Trojan horse may have been written as a joke, or as a serious attempt to clean-up the habits of internet users," he added.
"Of course, it's possible for the Trojan horse to make mistakes and block sites which are not pornographic - such as medical sites, or social sites designed for teenagers."
Unlike viruses, Trojan horse programs do not try to spread to other computers once installed.
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