Did you know that there are gifts that will multiply your happiness when you give them away? Here are seven of those gifts. Giving these gifts will allow you to share with others your most unique treasure: your authentic self. Each gift will return to you many times.
As you read about each of these gifts, think about ways that you could share that gift with someone today.
1. Share appreciation
Tell someone how much you appreciate the faith they've shown in you. Thank them sincerely for being part of your life. Tell them how much they are needed.
Feeling appreciated is one of the most important needs that people have. When you share with someone your appreciation and gratitude, they will not forget you. Appreciation will return to you many times.
2. Share time
Balance your time expenditures so you can spend time with the people that you love. Support local organizations by sharing your special talents. Volunteer time for projects that benefit others in your community, country, and world.
When we slow down and observe our thoughts closely, we will sometimes uncover gifts and talents we didn't know we had. Sharing time and talents can result in discoveries that bring happiness beyond measure.
3. Share knowledge and ideas
Tell someone about a great book that you read so they can benefit from it too. Teach a new concept or idea that you've learned.
One of the best ways to strengthen new concepts in your mind is to share them with others. The more often you share what you've learned, the stronger that information will become in your memory. Sharing knowledge also provides solutions to problems. The more knowledge we share, the more knowledge we receive in return.
4. Share friendship
Acknowledge someone's strengths. Let them know that you are willing to be there when they need you. Visit someone you haven't seen for a long time. Telephone friends or relatives who live far away. Introduce two friends who don't know each other.
Bringing one individual into another's life can result in tremendous changes for both people, and for you. We succeed with the help of others. People grow by growing together. If you'd like to have many friends, then share friendship with others generously.
5. Share kindness
Perform a random act of kindness for someone: a smile, compliment, or a favor just for fun. These will multiply and spread very rapidly.
There is a powerful quote by Stephen Jay Gould who said, "The center of human nature is rooted in ten thousand ordinary acts of kindness that define our days." Kindness is priceless. The love, kindnesses, and value we have given authentically to others will be our remaining treasures at the end of life.
6. Share experience
Keep written or photo journals of your life: things you've done, places you've traveled, things you've learned. Record successes and failures. Share a happy memory. Also share the difficult times that have helped you become stronger and wiser. When shared, the value of these experiences multiplies.
Our unique experiences and perceptions of life are priceless. Sharing experiences will build one of the strongest bonds with others. Our descendants can learn and benefit from our lifetime experiences for generations to come.
7. Share enthusiasm
If you are excited about a new success, tell someone. If you're ecstatic about a new project, show your glow. Your enthusiasm will inspire others to move forward with actions that bring rewarding achievements.
Enthusiasm keeps us looking forward to the future. It brings many of those exciting days that we can savor with gratitude. That kind of glowing excitement for life is impossible to hide. It is contagious and will quickly spread to others.
Think about this statement by Norman MacEwan: "Happiness is not so much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."
Sharing these gifts sends our thoughts on a far-reaching journey where they will touch many lives, and reconnect with our own.
All praises and thanks be to Allah, Lord of everything that exists.The most Gracious, the Most Merciful.Master of the Day of Judgment You (alone) we worship, and You (alone) we ask for help.Guide us to the Straight Way The Way of of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger, nor those who went astray. Ameen
Oh ALLAH Increase me In Knowledge(Ameen)
Saturday, March 03, 2007
A sisters dilemma: Should she propose or not?
The first time u saw him was at a talk
And u watched him as he walked
With his mates to his car
You and he seemed far away
As u drove home the opposite way
You thought about him
The rest of the week
And felt weak
Unable to breath
The second time was near the masjid
He was coming out
And u were going in
Your eyes met
And u looked away
But felt his eyes on u
Taking a long appreciative look
Since then
Your paths have crossed often
An uneasy feeling
You can’t quite imagine
Him proposing and kneeling
He’s so knowledgeable
And beautiful
In demand
While your Ms Average
In education and looks
Although u can knit and cook
He can’t be interested in you
The sisters who are Alimah’s
Give talks and have a high profile
Get all the attention
While those like u
Are ignored
You told your- friends
And they smiled and laughed
It must be love
Nice to know that
Even the pious have these feelings
We get them regularly
What to do
You didn’t know
Felt lost and confused
Friends were bemused
They said it’s easy
If u like him
Feel this way about him
Based on his Islamic personality
And other good qualities
Then instead of waiting
Contemplating
For him to notice
Why don’t u take the lead
And propose to him
Via your Wali?
The advice shocks u
Throws u into more despair
And your inner fears surface
What if he rejects u?
The shame and embarrassment
Being talked about
Then it dawns
Like a flash of lightening
This is what brothers go through
Before and after proposing
And u understand that it cuts both ways
It’s better to compromise
Find middle ground
Propose and be proposed to
As the situation demands
Instead of expecting
Waiting
Anticipating
Brothers to do all the work
Because of the pressure
by your own culture
east and West
Hard to Confess
But there it is
Truth stands clear from falsehood
Author: Showkotali@hotmail.com with help from Mahbuba
And u watched him as he walked
With his mates to his car
You and he seemed far away
As u drove home the opposite way
You thought about him
The rest of the week
And felt weak
Unable to breath
The second time was near the masjid
He was coming out
And u were going in
Your eyes met
And u looked away
But felt his eyes on u
Taking a long appreciative look
Since then
Your paths have crossed often
An uneasy feeling
You can’t quite imagine
Him proposing and kneeling
He’s so knowledgeable
And beautiful
In demand
While your Ms Average
In education and looks
Although u can knit and cook
He can’t be interested in you
The sisters who are Alimah’s
Give talks and have a high profile
Get all the attention
While those like u
Are ignored
You told your- friends
And they smiled and laughed
It must be love
Nice to know that
Even the pious have these feelings
We get them regularly
What to do
You didn’t know
Felt lost and confused
Friends were bemused
They said it’s easy
If u like him
Feel this way about him
Based on his Islamic personality
And other good qualities
Then instead of waiting
Contemplating
For him to notice
Why don’t u take the lead
And propose to him
Via your Wali?
The advice shocks u
Throws u into more despair
And your inner fears surface
What if he rejects u?
The shame and embarrassment
Being talked about
Then it dawns
Like a flash of lightening
This is what brothers go through
Before and after proposing
And u understand that it cuts both ways
It’s better to compromise
Find middle ground
Propose and be proposed to
As the situation demands
Instead of expecting
Waiting
Anticipating
Brothers to do all the work
Because of the pressure
by your own culture
east and West
Hard to Confess
But there it is
Truth stands clear from falsehood
Author: Showkotali@hotmail.com with help from Mahbuba
Islamic Personality
Syed Adil
The Islamic Personality – What is it? How can we develop a system or
a methodology that will enable our children to imbibe the Islamic
values naturally even as they grow? Obviously it is not an easy task
but not something that is insurmountable. This is a task that the
Ummah will have to undertake if they wish to come out of the morass
in which they find themselves in today. There are sacrifices that
will have to be made and the people who can play the most important
role in this are those who are on the threshold of matrimony or the
young married with little children. It is these people whose hearts
and minds have to be opened to the responsibility that beckons at
them and how it is they who can truly help raise their children as
the true Standard Bearers of Islam or those with an Islamic
Personality.
Remember Islam grew by leaps and bounds only after the conquest of
Makkah. The Makkan Jews, Christians and Pagans saw the Islamic way
of life that was based on justice and fairplay, equity and honour,
valour and concern for others, truthfulness and trustworthiness.
These were the qualities of Muslims that endeared them to one and
all and as a result Islam went on to spread light to all parts of
the World. The Khulafa e Rashidin following our Prophet SAS were
able to successfully enshrine the Isalmic form of governance that
was based on the rule of Allah with the Khalifa merely being a
trustee at best. The subsequent elements of kingship and hunger for
power initially diluted and subsequently completely took away the
concept of Allah's rule in Khilafat to set in motion a process of
degeneration in the Ummah as a whole. However the initial good work
of the four Sahabas (Khulafa e Rashidin) was enough to establish
Islam as a faith that continues to even today attract Non-Muslims in
its fold in large numbers. Only this time it is so not because of us
as a People but despite us.
As an Ummah we will have to collectively reflect on our affairs on
the basis of Quran and Sunnah. This has to be understood in no
uncertain terms if we really desire to make our respective
contribution to the cause of our Deen. I said If for something that
is really a must. As the best of Ummah (Aal e Imran 110) chosen by
Allah SWT, it is enjoined upon us to act in a certain manner, which
in a nutshell amounts to not just live Islam as it is prescribed to
us for peace, contentment and happiness in this World but also to
ensure a smooth transition into the Afterlife or the Hereafter. The
Hereafter is our Goal and the way to it is through a test by fire in
this world. Remember Iblees/Satan with not so inconsiderable powers
and with due permission from Allah SWT Himself is out here to make
this journey into the Hereafter as difficult as possible. This is
the test we have to live and this is the test we have to pass and
the examiner in this case is the Most High, the All-Powerful Allah
SWT Himself.
What is the system or the method that we need to develop and put in
place for our young to imbibe and follow? First and foremost of all
we need to understand what is the way Allah SWT has shown through
His Words (Quran) and how the same was practiced by our Prophet
Muhammad SAS (Sunnah). It has to be understood that Islam is not
just about the so called five pillars (Shahadah, Salat , Saum, Zakat
and Haj) because they only constitute the first two aspects of the
larger whole, i.e. Total Deen, which comprises of (Imani'yaat
[Belief and Aqaaid], Iba'daat [Worship], Mua'malat [Dealings with
people], Mua'shirat [Environment and Society] and Akh'laq[Manners]).
This in turn can be split into various attributes that go into
making of an Islamic Personality. As we all know it was the persona
of the Prophet SAS himself that can be termed as an ultimate Islamic
Personality. It is the attributes of his personality that we should
seek to impart on our young even when they are growing up and are
able to evolve as an Islamic personality naturally. The Prophet SAS
himself possessed in abundance a personality that was based on
Forbearance (hilm [state of dignified bearing and constancy despite
provocation]), Self Restraint (ihtimal) in the face of pains and
physical injuries, Patience (Sabr) which encompasses a much larger
meaning and incorporates values of moderation and restraint in what
we eat, how much we sleep, what we say, see and do. Finally and
perhaps most importantly Forgiveness (Awf [ the will to not hold
something against someone or the courage to let go]). Allah
Says: "Show forgiveness, enjoin good and turn away from the
foolish". Al-A'raf 199. When the Prophet SAS asked Hazrath Jibrail
to interpret this Ayat to him, Jibrail said: "Wait until I ask the
one who knows" and then after coming back he said, O Muhammad SAS,
Allah commands you to unite yourself with those who cut you off and
to give to those who refuse to give to you and to pardon those who
are unjust to you". Elsewhere Allah Says: "Let them pardon and
forgive. Do you not love that Allah should forgive you?" An-Nur 22.
There are innumerable instances that can be cited to establish how
the Prophet SAS always stood true to the highest values of character
and piety. Indeed at one time in the Battle of Uhud when the Prophet
sustained severe injuries on his face and his tooth broken, the
Prophet never lost his temper nor cursed the enemy. In fact the
Prophet supplicated to Allah to forgive them and guide them. When
some of the Sahabas (companions) including Hazrath Umar (RA)
said, "if only you had invoked a curse against them, the Prophet SAS
replied, I was not sent to curse, but I was I was sent as a Summoner
and as a mercy. O Allah, guide my people for they do not know". The
Prophet never took revenge for himself unless the honour of Allah
was violated. One recalls the Prophet forgiving the man who had come
to kill him while he was resting alone under a tree and at another
time when someone used black magic against him or even when a
Bedouin pulled at the Prophet's cloak so hard that it made an
impression on his neck. Bibi Aisha (ra) said about the Prophet that
she never saw him strike anyone with his hand, except when doing
jihad in the way of Allah. Instances of the Prophet's forbearance,
patience, piety and kindness, generosity, liberality, courage,
bravery, modesty, good manners, good nature, integrity, probity in
contracts, maintaining ties in kinship, humility, sense of justice,
trustworthiness, decency, truthfulness, sedateness, silence,
deliberation, manly virtue, excellent conduct, abstinence regarding
worldly things, his fear of Allah, obedience and intensity of his
worship are so many that one can go on endlessly. The point to note
is that here is a Prophet of Islam, the Rehmat ul Aalameen (Mercy to
Mankind) who is a shining example of one who possesses all that is
good (Al Birr) and one whose every word, deed and practice is
recorded to the last detail, yet his Ummah (the nation of Islam)
finds itself so lost and struggling to blend the Quran (Word of
Allah SWT) and Sunnah (Ita'at [Obey Prophet]
3:32,3:132,4:59,5:92,8:1,8:20,24:54,47:33,58:13,64:12,48:17,
24:52,33:71,9:71,49:14,4:64,4:80,4:14,33:36,72:23,8:13,9:63,24:56,4:8
0,53:3 and Ittiba [Follow Prophet SAS] 3:31,7:157,9:117,
8:164,12:108, 57:27,14:44,2:143,36;20, 33:21 together in order to
create a Society, a people, an Ummah that we are meant to be, i.e.
we enjoin Al-Ma'ruf (the Islamic Monotheism and all that Allah has
ordained and forbid Al-Munkar (polytheism, disbelief and all that
Islam has forbidden. Aal e Imran 110.
In order to keep this brief, I have chosen to highlight the
attribute of forgiveness (Awf) in a greater detail simply because I
have seen from my own experience that harbouring of ill-will or not
letting go your suppressed anger at an injustice done to you can
simply consume you and even bring to knot the positive traits in
your personality. I believe what we end up nurturing in our hearts
as a result of this is nothing but iblees/satan that actually starts
living with us.
May Allah SWT bless us with all that is good (Al-Maruf) for us and
protect us from all that is bad for us (Al-Munkir).
Jazak Allahu Khairan
Syed Adil
The Islamic Personality – What is it? How can we develop a system or
a methodology that will enable our children to imbibe the Islamic
values naturally even as they grow? Obviously it is not an easy task
but not something that is insurmountable. This is a task that the
Ummah will have to undertake if they wish to come out of the morass
in which they find themselves in today. There are sacrifices that
will have to be made and the people who can play the most important
role in this are those who are on the threshold of matrimony or the
young married with little children. It is these people whose hearts
and minds have to be opened to the responsibility that beckons at
them and how it is they who can truly help raise their children as
the true Standard Bearers of Islam or those with an Islamic
Personality.
Remember Islam grew by leaps and bounds only after the conquest of
Makkah. The Makkan Jews, Christians and Pagans saw the Islamic way
of life that was based on justice and fairplay, equity and honour,
valour and concern for others, truthfulness and trustworthiness.
These were the qualities of Muslims that endeared them to one and
all and as a result Islam went on to spread light to all parts of
the World. The Khulafa e Rashidin following our Prophet SAS were
able to successfully enshrine the Isalmic form of governance that
was based on the rule of Allah with the Khalifa merely being a
trustee at best. The subsequent elements of kingship and hunger for
power initially diluted and subsequently completely took away the
concept of Allah's rule in Khilafat to set in motion a process of
degeneration in the Ummah as a whole. However the initial good work
of the four Sahabas (Khulafa e Rashidin) was enough to establish
Islam as a faith that continues to even today attract Non-Muslims in
its fold in large numbers. Only this time it is so not because of us
as a People but despite us.
As an Ummah we will have to collectively reflect on our affairs on
the basis of Quran and Sunnah. This has to be understood in no
uncertain terms if we really desire to make our respective
contribution to the cause of our Deen. I said If for something that
is really a must. As the best of Ummah (Aal e Imran 110) chosen by
Allah SWT, it is enjoined upon us to act in a certain manner, which
in a nutshell amounts to not just live Islam as it is prescribed to
us for peace, contentment and happiness in this World but also to
ensure a smooth transition into the Afterlife or the Hereafter. The
Hereafter is our Goal and the way to it is through a test by fire in
this world. Remember Iblees/Satan with not so inconsiderable powers
and with due permission from Allah SWT Himself is out here to make
this journey into the Hereafter as difficult as possible. This is
the test we have to live and this is the test we have to pass and
the examiner in this case is the Most High, the All-Powerful Allah
SWT Himself.
What is the system or the method that we need to develop and put in
place for our young to imbibe and follow? First and foremost of all
we need to understand what is the way Allah SWT has shown through
His Words (Quran) and how the same was practiced by our Prophet
Muhammad SAS (Sunnah). It has to be understood that Islam is not
just about the so called five pillars (Shahadah, Salat , Saum, Zakat
and Haj) because they only constitute the first two aspects of the
larger whole, i.e. Total Deen, which comprises of (Imani'yaat
[Belief and Aqaaid], Iba'daat [Worship], Mua'malat [Dealings with
people], Mua'shirat [Environment and Society] and Akh'laq[Manners]).
This in turn can be split into various attributes that go into
making of an Islamic Personality. As we all know it was the persona
of the Prophet SAS himself that can be termed as an ultimate Islamic
Personality. It is the attributes of his personality that we should
seek to impart on our young even when they are growing up and are
able to evolve as an Islamic personality naturally. The Prophet SAS
himself possessed in abundance a personality that was based on
Forbearance (hilm [state of dignified bearing and constancy despite
provocation]), Self Restraint (ihtimal) in the face of pains and
physical injuries, Patience (Sabr) which encompasses a much larger
meaning and incorporates values of moderation and restraint in what
we eat, how much we sleep, what we say, see and do. Finally and
perhaps most importantly Forgiveness (Awf [ the will to not hold
something against someone or the courage to let go]). Allah
Says: "Show forgiveness, enjoin good and turn away from the
foolish". Al-A'raf 199. When the Prophet SAS asked Hazrath Jibrail
to interpret this Ayat to him, Jibrail said: "Wait until I ask the
one who knows" and then after coming back he said, O Muhammad SAS,
Allah commands you to unite yourself with those who cut you off and
to give to those who refuse to give to you and to pardon those who
are unjust to you". Elsewhere Allah Says: "Let them pardon and
forgive. Do you not love that Allah should forgive you?" An-Nur 22.
There are innumerable instances that can be cited to establish how
the Prophet SAS always stood true to the highest values of character
and piety. Indeed at one time in the Battle of Uhud when the Prophet
sustained severe injuries on his face and his tooth broken, the
Prophet never lost his temper nor cursed the enemy. In fact the
Prophet supplicated to Allah to forgive them and guide them. When
some of the Sahabas (companions) including Hazrath Umar (RA)
said, "if only you had invoked a curse against them, the Prophet SAS
replied, I was not sent to curse, but I was I was sent as a Summoner
and as a mercy. O Allah, guide my people for they do not know". The
Prophet never took revenge for himself unless the honour of Allah
was violated. One recalls the Prophet forgiving the man who had come
to kill him while he was resting alone under a tree and at another
time when someone used black magic against him or even when a
Bedouin pulled at the Prophet's cloak so hard that it made an
impression on his neck. Bibi Aisha (ra) said about the Prophet that
she never saw him strike anyone with his hand, except when doing
jihad in the way of Allah. Instances of the Prophet's forbearance,
patience, piety and kindness, generosity, liberality, courage,
bravery, modesty, good manners, good nature, integrity, probity in
contracts, maintaining ties in kinship, humility, sense of justice,
trustworthiness, decency, truthfulness, sedateness, silence,
deliberation, manly virtue, excellent conduct, abstinence regarding
worldly things, his fear of Allah, obedience and intensity of his
worship are so many that one can go on endlessly. The point to note
is that here is a Prophet of Islam, the Rehmat ul Aalameen (Mercy to
Mankind) who is a shining example of one who possesses all that is
good (Al Birr) and one whose every word, deed and practice is
recorded to the last detail, yet his Ummah (the nation of Islam)
finds itself so lost and struggling to blend the Quran (Word of
Allah SWT) and Sunnah (Ita'at [Obey Prophet]
3:32,3:132,4:59,5:92,8:1,8:20,24:54,47:33,58:13,64:12,48:17,
24:52,33:71,9:71,49:14,4:64,4:80,4:14,33:36,72:23,8:13,9:63,24:56,4:8
0,53:3 and Ittiba [Follow Prophet SAS] 3:31,7:157,9:117,
8:164,12:108, 57:27,14:44,2:143,36;20, 33:21 together in order to
create a Society, a people, an Ummah that we are meant to be, i.e.
we enjoin Al-Ma'ruf (the Islamic Monotheism and all that Allah has
ordained and forbid Al-Munkar (polytheism, disbelief and all that
Islam has forbidden. Aal e Imran 110.
In order to keep this brief, I have chosen to highlight the
attribute of forgiveness (Awf) in a greater detail simply because I
have seen from my own experience that harbouring of ill-will or not
letting go your suppressed anger at an injustice done to you can
simply consume you and even bring to knot the positive traits in
your personality. I believe what we end up nurturing in our hearts
as a result of this is nothing but iblees/satan that actually starts
living with us.
May Allah SWT bless us with all that is good (Al-Maruf) for us and
protect us from all that is bad for us (Al-Munkir).
Jazak Allahu Khairan
Syed Adil
No 1 Step Towards the Desired Muslim Society : Freedom from Beggary
Investing to the Needy or the Poorest will improve the standard of
living for everyone
or
Enriching the People will result in greater flow of contribution of
the community to the common fund in the Masjid
Afternoon one clock of 15th February 2007, Thursday in the Central
Masjid of Koforidua, the Headquarter of Eastern Region of Ghana, the
most peaceful country in Africa. I am one of those waiting for the
Jamaat Salaat. Suddenly I noticed the donation box with `Fi
Sabillillah' written on it. I took out some money and went up to put
the money in the box. I was inspired by the seeming transparency of
the financial transactions as seen in the display on a board.
As I put in the money and turn around to be confronted by a number
of beggars present amidst those waiting for the Jamaat Salaat I felt
guilty of not giving something to them as well. But my personal
budget allocation for donation for the day has exhausted. I remain
confused as to whether I have done the right thing or not. As it is,
the money in the donation box or anything of any masjid fund I know
of does not go to the needy. But all of it goes either to the
construction or maintenance of the buildings, or the salary of the
Imaam, the Muezzin, the cleaner etc. However the giving to the
beggars has also led to the breeding of a class of beggars across
the Muslim world. Wherever I go whether in Asia or Africa I am
confronted with begging hands, chants and bowls inside and in front
of masjids. I have even heard or read many stories of gangs thriving
on beggary by amputating the parts of human bodies and placing them
at convenient spots and collecting the money from their victims at
the end of the day. So should I give to beggars or should I not? On
the one hand the Islamic teachings insist on giving to those who ask
for help and on the other hand it prohibits begging. What happens if
by not giving I anger my Lord Creator and the Master of my fate? Or
what happens if by giving I contribute to the crimes of those who
are thriving on beggary or simply encourages people to beg? A great
dilemma, is it not?
Why not we use some of the money with the masjid fund to help the
poor in the locality? If every masjid committee takes up the job,
most of the poor will be engaged in some enterprise or the other.
Thus beggary may disappear from the Muslim community anywhere around
the world. There can be federations of masjid-based communities at
various levels which can even take up other essential services of
the community like health, education, housing, livelihood, security.
We can have energized and enterprising community down to the most
remote and grassroot level. What a great scenario it will be! As the
neighbourhood masjid based communities gain confidence in their
group enterprise, more and more percentages of personal contribution
is likely to flow into the common coffer which will spur the group
to undertake bigger and more adventurous enterprises and projects.
May be in some parts of the world, already some such efforts are
already underway. If so, can you please share your experiences so
that we all can learn from each other.
In one of our experiments, three of us met every week and formed a
fund to help the needy. None of us were well to do. One was a
salaried employee, another a daily labour, while the third a
marginal farmer.. During the course of our 12 years of work we could
help at least 5-6 poorest families from time to time. We found them
to be either widows or physically incapable. In our village which is
in a very remote area in one of the Indian states bordering Myanmar
(formerly Burma) there are six masjids and 400 plus households.
Imagine the situation if all the households are involved in helping
their 5/6 poorest families. They can literally feed them out of
their hands or provide employment or still invest in them to run
micro-businesses. We discovered that it is not the lack of resources
but the lack of imagination and initiatives which keeps us away from
the desired life we all want live. Looking up to others or
foreigners to solve our problems is keeing us away from what we can
do ourselves, and which is immense.
living for everyone
or
Enriching the People will result in greater flow of contribution of
the community to the common fund in the Masjid
Afternoon one clock of 15th February 2007, Thursday in the Central
Masjid of Koforidua, the Headquarter of Eastern Region of Ghana, the
most peaceful country in Africa. I am one of those waiting for the
Jamaat Salaat. Suddenly I noticed the donation box with `Fi
Sabillillah' written on it. I took out some money and went up to put
the money in the box. I was inspired by the seeming transparency of
the financial transactions as seen in the display on a board.
As I put in the money and turn around to be confronted by a number
of beggars present amidst those waiting for the Jamaat Salaat I felt
guilty of not giving something to them as well. But my personal
budget allocation for donation for the day has exhausted. I remain
confused as to whether I have done the right thing or not. As it is,
the money in the donation box or anything of any masjid fund I know
of does not go to the needy. But all of it goes either to the
construction or maintenance of the buildings, or the salary of the
Imaam, the Muezzin, the cleaner etc. However the giving to the
beggars has also led to the breeding of a class of beggars across
the Muslim world. Wherever I go whether in Asia or Africa I am
confronted with begging hands, chants and bowls inside and in front
of masjids. I have even heard or read many stories of gangs thriving
on beggary by amputating the parts of human bodies and placing them
at convenient spots and collecting the money from their victims at
the end of the day. So should I give to beggars or should I not? On
the one hand the Islamic teachings insist on giving to those who ask
for help and on the other hand it prohibits begging. What happens if
by not giving I anger my Lord Creator and the Master of my fate? Or
what happens if by giving I contribute to the crimes of those who
are thriving on beggary or simply encourages people to beg? A great
dilemma, is it not?
Why not we use some of the money with the masjid fund to help the
poor in the locality? If every masjid committee takes up the job,
most of the poor will be engaged in some enterprise or the other.
Thus beggary may disappear from the Muslim community anywhere around
the world. There can be federations of masjid-based communities at
various levels which can even take up other essential services of
the community like health, education, housing, livelihood, security.
We can have energized and enterprising community down to the most
remote and grassroot level. What a great scenario it will be! As the
neighbourhood masjid based communities gain confidence in their
group enterprise, more and more percentages of personal contribution
is likely to flow into the common coffer which will spur the group
to undertake bigger and more adventurous enterprises and projects.
May be in some parts of the world, already some such efforts are
already underway. If so, can you please share your experiences so
that we all can learn from each other.
In one of our experiments, three of us met every week and formed a
fund to help the needy. None of us were well to do. One was a
salaried employee, another a daily labour, while the third a
marginal farmer.. During the course of our 12 years of work we could
help at least 5-6 poorest families from time to time. We found them
to be either widows or physically incapable. In our village which is
in a very remote area in one of the Indian states bordering Myanmar
(formerly Burma) there are six masjids and 400 plus households.
Imagine the situation if all the households are involved in helping
their 5/6 poorest families. They can literally feed them out of
their hands or provide employment or still invest in them to run
micro-businesses. We discovered that it is not the lack of resources
but the lack of imagination and initiatives which keeps us away from
the desired life we all want live. Looking up to others or
foreigners to solve our problems is keeing us away from what we can
do ourselves, and which is immense.
How Islamic inventors changed the world
From coffee to cheques and the three-course meal, the Muslim world has given us many innovations that we take for granted in daily life. As a new exhibition opens, Paul Vallely nominates 20 of the most influential- and identifies the men of genius behind them.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article350594.ece
1. The story goes that an Arab named Khalid was tending his goats in the Kaffa region of southern Ethiopia, when he noticed his animals became livelier after eating a certain berry. He boiled the berries to make the first coffee. Certainly the first record of the drink is of beans exported from Ethiopia to Yemen where Sufis drank it to stay awake all night to pray on special occasions. By the late 15th century it had arrived in Mecca and Turkey from where it made its way to Venice in 1645. It was brought to England in 1650 by a Turk named Pasqua Rosee who opened the first coffee house in Lombard Street in the City of London. The Arabic qahwa became the Turkish kahve then the Italian caffé and then English coffee.
2. The ancient Greeks thought our eyes emitted rays, like a laser, which enabled us to see. The first person to realise that light enters the eye, rather than leaving it, was the 10th-century Muslim mathematician, astronomer and physicist Ibn al-Haitham. He invented the first pin-hole camera after noticing the way light came through a hole in window shutters. The smaller the hole, the better the picture, he worked out, and set up the first Camera Obscura (from the Arab word qamara for a dark or private room). He is also credited with being the first man to shift physics from a philosophical activity to an experimental one.
3. A form of chess was played in ancient India but the game was developed into the form we know it today in Persia. From there it spread westward to Europe - where it was introduced by the Moors in Spain in the 10th century - and eastward as far as Japan. The word rook comes from the Persian rukh, which means chariot.
4. A thousand years before the Wright brothers a Muslim poet, astronomer, musician and engineer named Abbas ibn Firnas made several attempts to construct a flying machine. In 852 he jumped from the minaret of the Grand Mosque in Cordoba using a loose cloak stiffened with wooden struts. He hoped to glide like a bird. He didn't. But the cloak slowed his fall, creating what is thought to be the first parachute, and leaving him with only minor injuries. In 875, aged 70, having perfected a machine of silk and eagles' feathers he tried again, jumping from a mountain. He flew to a significant height and stayed aloft for ten minutes but crashed on landing - concluding, correctly, that it was because he had not given his device a tail so it would stall on landing. Baghdad international airport and a crater on the Moon are named after him.
5. Washing and bathing are religious requirements for Muslims, which is perhaps why they perfected the recipe for soap which we still use today. The ancient Egyptians had soap of a kind, as did the Romans who used it more as a pomade. But it was the Arabs who combined vegetable oils with sodium hydroxide and aromatics such as thyme oil. One of the Crusaders' most striking characteristics, to Arab nostrils, was that they did not wash. Shampoo was introduced to England by a Muslim who opened Mahomed's Indian Vapour Baths on Brighton seafront in 1759 and was appointed Shampooing Surgeon to Kings George IV and William IV.
6. Distillation, the means of separating liquids through differences in their boiling points, was invented around the year 800 by Islam's foremost scientist, Jabir ibn Hayyan, who transformed alchemy into chemistry, inventing many of the basic processes and apparatus still in use today - liquefaction, crystallisation, distillation, purification, oxidisation, evaporation and filtration. As well as discovering sulphuric and nitric acid, he invented the alembic still, giving the world intense rosewater and other perfumes and alcoholic spirits (although drinking them is haram, or forbidden, in Islam). Ibn Hayyan emphasised systematic experimentation and was the founder of modern chemistry.
7. The crank-shaft is a device which translates rotary into linear motion and is central to much of the machinery in the modern world, not least the internal combustion engine. One of the most important mechanical inventions in the history of humankind, it was created by an ingenious Muslim engineer called al-Jazari to raise water for irrigation. His 1206 Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices shows he also invented or refined the use of valves and pistons, devised some of the first mechanical clocks driven by water and weights, and was the father of robotics. Among his 50 other inventions was the combination lock.
8. Quilting is a method of sewing or tying two layers of cloth with a layer of insulating material in between. It is not clear whether it was invented in the Muslim world or whether it was imported there from India or China. But it certainly came to the West via the Crusaders. They saw it used by Saracen warriors, who wore straw-filled quilted canvas shirts instead of armour. As well as a form of protection, it proved an effective guard against the chafing of the Crusaders' metal armour and was an effective form of insulation - so much so that it became a cottage industry back home in colder climates such as Britain and Holland.
9. The pointed arch so characteristic of Europe's Gothic cathedrals was an invention borrowed from Islamic architecture. It was much stronger than the rounded arch used by the Romans and Normans, thus allowing the building of bigger, higher, more complex and grander buildings. Other borrowings from Muslim genius included ribbed vaulting, rose windows and dome-building techniques. Europe's castles were also adapted to copy the Islamic world's - with arrow slits, battlements, a barbican and parapets. Square towers and keeps gave way to more easily defended round ones. Henry V's castle architect was a Muslim.
10. Many modern surgical instruments are of exactly the same design as those devised in the 10th century by a Muslim surgeon called al-Zahrawi. His scalpels, bone saws, forceps, fine scissors for eye surgery and many of the 200 instruments he devised are recognisable to a modern surgeon. It was he who discovered that catgut used for internal stitches dissolves away naturally (a discovery he made when his monkey ate his lute strings) and that it can be also used to make medicine capsules. In the 13th century, another Muslim medic named Ibn Nafis described the circulation of the blood, 300 years before William Harvey discovered it. Muslims doctors also invented anaesthetics of opium and alcohol mixes and developed hollow needles to suck cataracts from eyes in a technique still used today.
11. The windmill was invented in 634 for a Persian caliph and was used to grind corn and draw up water for irrigation. In the vast deserts of Arabia, when the seasonal streams ran dry, the only source of power was the wind which blew steadily from one direction for months. Mills had six or 12 sails covered in fabric or palm leaves. It was 500 years before the first windmill was seen in Europe.
12. The technique of inoculation was not invented by Jenner and Pasteur but was devised in the Muslim world and brought to Europe from Turkey by the wife of the English ambassador to Istanbul in 1724. Children in Turkey were vaccinated with cowpox to fight the deadly smallpox at least 50 years before the West discovered it.
13. The fountain pen was invented for the Sultan of Egypt in 953 after he demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes. It held ink in a reservoir and, as with modern pens, fed ink to the nib by a combination of gravity and capillary action.
14. The system of numbering in use all round the world is probably Indian in origin but the style of the numerals is Arabic and first appears in print in the work of the Muslim mathematicians al-Khwarizmi and al-Kindi around 825. Algebra was named after al-Khwarizmi's book, Al-Jabr wa-al-Muqabilah, much of whose contents are still in use. The work of Muslim maths scholars was imported into Europe 300 years later by the Italian mathematician Fibonacci. Algorithms and much of the theory of trigonometry came from the Muslim world. And Al-Kindi's discovery of frequency analysis rendered all the codes of the ancient world soluble and created the basis of modern cryptology.
15. Ali ibn Nafi, known by his nickname of Ziryab (Blackbird) came from Iraq to Cordoba in the 9th century and brought with him the concept of the three-course meal - soup, followed by fish or meat, then fruit and nuts. He also introduced crystal glasses (which had been invented after experiments with rock crystal by Abbas ibn Firnas - see No 4).
16. Carpets were regarded as part of Paradise by medieval Muslims, thanks to their advanced weaving techniques, new tinctures from Islamic chemistry and highly developed sense of pattern and arabesque which were the basis of Islam's non-representational art. In contrast, Europe's floors were distinctly earthly, not to say earthy, until Arabian and Persian carpets were introduced. In England, as Erasmus recorded, floors were "covered in rushes, occasionally renewed, but so imperfectly that the bottom layer is left undisturbed, sometimes for 20 years, harbouring expectoration, vomiting, the leakage of dogs and men, ale droppings, scraps of fish, and other abominations not fit to be mentioned". Carpets, unsurprisingly, caught on quickly.
17. The modern cheque comes from the Arabic saqq, a written vow to pay for goods when they were delivered, to avoid money having to be transported across dangerous terrain. In the 9th century, a Muslim businessman could cash a cheque in China drawn on his bank in Baghdad.
18. By the 9th century, many Muslim scholars took it for granted that the Earth was a sphere. The proof, said astronomer Ibn Hazm, "is that the Sun is always vertical to a particular spot on Earth". It was 500 years before that realisation dawned on Galileo. The calculations of Muslim astronomers were so accurate that in the 9th century they reckoned the Earth's circumference to be 40,253.4km - less than 200km out. The scholar al-Idrisi took a globe depicting the world to the court of King Roger of Sicily in 1139.
19. Though the Chinese invented saltpetre gunpowder, and used it in their fireworks, it was the Arabs who worked out that it could be purified using potassium nitrate for military use. Muslim incendiary devices terrified the Crusaders. By the 15th century they had invented both a rocket, which they called a "self-moving and combusting egg", and a torpedo - a self-propelled pear-shaped bomb with a spear at the front which impaled itself in enemy ships and then blew up.
20. Medieval Europe had kitchen and herb gardens, but it was the Arabs who developed the idea of the garden as a place of beauty and meditation. The first royal pleasure gardens in Europe were opened in 11th-century Muslim Spain. Flowers which originated in Muslim gardens include the carnation and the tulip.
"1001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in Our World" is a new exhibition which began a nationwide tour this week. It is currently at the Science Museum in Manchester. For more information, go to www.1001inventions.com
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article350594.ece
1. The story goes that an Arab named Khalid was tending his goats in the Kaffa region of southern Ethiopia, when he noticed his animals became livelier after eating a certain berry. He boiled the berries to make the first coffee. Certainly the first record of the drink is of beans exported from Ethiopia to Yemen where Sufis drank it to stay awake all night to pray on special occasions. By the late 15th century it had arrived in Mecca and Turkey from where it made its way to Venice in 1645. It was brought to England in 1650 by a Turk named Pasqua Rosee who opened the first coffee house in Lombard Street in the City of London. The Arabic qahwa became the Turkish kahve then the Italian caffé and then English coffee.
2. The ancient Greeks thought our eyes emitted rays, like a laser, which enabled us to see. The first person to realise that light enters the eye, rather than leaving it, was the 10th-century Muslim mathematician, astronomer and physicist Ibn al-Haitham. He invented the first pin-hole camera after noticing the way light came through a hole in window shutters. The smaller the hole, the better the picture, he worked out, and set up the first Camera Obscura (from the Arab word qamara for a dark or private room). He is also credited with being the first man to shift physics from a philosophical activity to an experimental one.
3. A form of chess was played in ancient India but the game was developed into the form we know it today in Persia. From there it spread westward to Europe - where it was introduced by the Moors in Spain in the 10th century - and eastward as far as Japan. The word rook comes from the Persian rukh, which means chariot.
4. A thousand years before the Wright brothers a Muslim poet, astronomer, musician and engineer named Abbas ibn Firnas made several attempts to construct a flying machine. In 852 he jumped from the minaret of the Grand Mosque in Cordoba using a loose cloak stiffened with wooden struts. He hoped to glide like a bird. He didn't. But the cloak slowed his fall, creating what is thought to be the first parachute, and leaving him with only minor injuries. In 875, aged 70, having perfected a machine of silk and eagles' feathers he tried again, jumping from a mountain. He flew to a significant height and stayed aloft for ten minutes but crashed on landing - concluding, correctly, that it was because he had not given his device a tail so it would stall on landing. Baghdad international airport and a crater on the Moon are named after him.
5. Washing and bathing are religious requirements for Muslims, which is perhaps why they perfected the recipe for soap which we still use today. The ancient Egyptians had soap of a kind, as did the Romans who used it more as a pomade. But it was the Arabs who combined vegetable oils with sodium hydroxide and aromatics such as thyme oil. One of the Crusaders' most striking characteristics, to Arab nostrils, was that they did not wash. Shampoo was introduced to England by a Muslim who opened Mahomed's Indian Vapour Baths on Brighton seafront in 1759 and was appointed Shampooing Surgeon to Kings George IV and William IV.
6. Distillation, the means of separating liquids through differences in their boiling points, was invented around the year 800 by Islam's foremost scientist, Jabir ibn Hayyan, who transformed alchemy into chemistry, inventing many of the basic processes and apparatus still in use today - liquefaction, crystallisation, distillation, purification, oxidisation, evaporation and filtration. As well as discovering sulphuric and nitric acid, he invented the alembic still, giving the world intense rosewater and other perfumes and alcoholic spirits (although drinking them is haram, or forbidden, in Islam). Ibn Hayyan emphasised systematic experimentation and was the founder of modern chemistry.
7. The crank-shaft is a device which translates rotary into linear motion and is central to much of the machinery in the modern world, not least the internal combustion engine. One of the most important mechanical inventions in the history of humankind, it was created by an ingenious Muslim engineer called al-Jazari to raise water for irrigation. His 1206 Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices shows he also invented or refined the use of valves and pistons, devised some of the first mechanical clocks driven by water and weights, and was the father of robotics. Among his 50 other inventions was the combination lock.
8. Quilting is a method of sewing or tying two layers of cloth with a layer of insulating material in between. It is not clear whether it was invented in the Muslim world or whether it was imported there from India or China. But it certainly came to the West via the Crusaders. They saw it used by Saracen warriors, who wore straw-filled quilted canvas shirts instead of armour. As well as a form of protection, it proved an effective guard against the chafing of the Crusaders' metal armour and was an effective form of insulation - so much so that it became a cottage industry back home in colder climates such as Britain and Holland.
9. The pointed arch so characteristic of Europe's Gothic cathedrals was an invention borrowed from Islamic architecture. It was much stronger than the rounded arch used by the Romans and Normans, thus allowing the building of bigger, higher, more complex and grander buildings. Other borrowings from Muslim genius included ribbed vaulting, rose windows and dome-building techniques. Europe's castles were also adapted to copy the Islamic world's - with arrow slits, battlements, a barbican and parapets. Square towers and keeps gave way to more easily defended round ones. Henry V's castle architect was a Muslim.
10. Many modern surgical instruments are of exactly the same design as those devised in the 10th century by a Muslim surgeon called al-Zahrawi. His scalpels, bone saws, forceps, fine scissors for eye surgery and many of the 200 instruments he devised are recognisable to a modern surgeon. It was he who discovered that catgut used for internal stitches dissolves away naturally (a discovery he made when his monkey ate his lute strings) and that it can be also used to make medicine capsules. In the 13th century, another Muslim medic named Ibn Nafis described the circulation of the blood, 300 years before William Harvey discovered it. Muslims doctors also invented anaesthetics of opium and alcohol mixes and developed hollow needles to suck cataracts from eyes in a technique still used today.
11. The windmill was invented in 634 for a Persian caliph and was used to grind corn and draw up water for irrigation. In the vast deserts of Arabia, when the seasonal streams ran dry, the only source of power was the wind which blew steadily from one direction for months. Mills had six or 12 sails covered in fabric or palm leaves. It was 500 years before the first windmill was seen in Europe.
12. The technique of inoculation was not invented by Jenner and Pasteur but was devised in the Muslim world and brought to Europe from Turkey by the wife of the English ambassador to Istanbul in 1724. Children in Turkey were vaccinated with cowpox to fight the deadly smallpox at least 50 years before the West discovered it.
13. The fountain pen was invented for the Sultan of Egypt in 953 after he demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes. It held ink in a reservoir and, as with modern pens, fed ink to the nib by a combination of gravity and capillary action.
14. The system of numbering in use all round the world is probably Indian in origin but the style of the numerals is Arabic and first appears in print in the work of the Muslim mathematicians al-Khwarizmi and al-Kindi around 825. Algebra was named after al-Khwarizmi's book, Al-Jabr wa-al-Muqabilah, much of whose contents are still in use. The work of Muslim maths scholars was imported into Europe 300 years later by the Italian mathematician Fibonacci. Algorithms and much of the theory of trigonometry came from the Muslim world. And Al-Kindi's discovery of frequency analysis rendered all the codes of the ancient world soluble and created the basis of modern cryptology.
15. Ali ibn Nafi, known by his nickname of Ziryab (Blackbird) came from Iraq to Cordoba in the 9th century and brought with him the concept of the three-course meal - soup, followed by fish or meat, then fruit and nuts. He also introduced crystal glasses (which had been invented after experiments with rock crystal by Abbas ibn Firnas - see No 4).
16. Carpets were regarded as part of Paradise by medieval Muslims, thanks to their advanced weaving techniques, new tinctures from Islamic chemistry and highly developed sense of pattern and arabesque which were the basis of Islam's non-representational art. In contrast, Europe's floors were distinctly earthly, not to say earthy, until Arabian and Persian carpets were introduced. In England, as Erasmus recorded, floors were "covered in rushes, occasionally renewed, but so imperfectly that the bottom layer is left undisturbed, sometimes for 20 years, harbouring expectoration, vomiting, the leakage of dogs and men, ale droppings, scraps of fish, and other abominations not fit to be mentioned". Carpets, unsurprisingly, caught on quickly.
17. The modern cheque comes from the Arabic saqq, a written vow to pay for goods when they were delivered, to avoid money having to be transported across dangerous terrain. In the 9th century, a Muslim businessman could cash a cheque in China drawn on his bank in Baghdad.
18. By the 9th century, many Muslim scholars took it for granted that the Earth was a sphere. The proof, said astronomer Ibn Hazm, "is that the Sun is always vertical to a particular spot on Earth". It was 500 years before that realisation dawned on Galileo. The calculations of Muslim astronomers were so accurate that in the 9th century they reckoned the Earth's circumference to be 40,253.4km - less than 200km out. The scholar al-Idrisi took a globe depicting the world to the court of King Roger of Sicily in 1139.
19. Though the Chinese invented saltpetre gunpowder, and used it in their fireworks, it was the Arabs who worked out that it could be purified using potassium nitrate for military use. Muslim incendiary devices terrified the Crusaders. By the 15th century they had invented both a rocket, which they called a "self-moving and combusting egg", and a torpedo - a self-propelled pear-shaped bomb with a spear at the front which impaled itself in enemy ships and then blew up.
20. Medieval Europe had kitchen and herb gardens, but it was the Arabs who developed the idea of the garden as a place of beauty and meditation. The first royal pleasure gardens in Europe were opened in 11th-century Muslim Spain. Flowers which originated in Muslim gardens include the carnation and the tulip.
"1001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in Our World" is a new exhibition which began a nationwide tour this week. It is currently at the Science Museum in Manchester. For more information, go to www.1001inventions.com
Valentines Day
It’s coming soon
And I don’t know what to do
How many cards to buy and send
To the good looking people
It’s quite funny
they never ever send me any?
Every year it’s the same
Being asked the question
How many did u get?
I lie
and say I got over twenty
Sent most of them to myself
Not into religion much
Aint got time and I am too busy
more time for that stuff when I’m older
but every Valentine ’s Day
I buy and send cards
Didn’t realise that I was a practicing pagan
Worshipping Satan
Instead of my religion Islam
I go with the flow
And the flow goes westwards
Live life based on desires
No fear for the hell fire
Religion is just a joke
In this modern age of technology
Desires satisfied
But always more to do
Humans are pretty
When u get one
The one u don’t have seems desirable
Always the opportunity cost
And sometimes u feels lost
And spoilt for choice
Who shall I date?
And have as my mate
Coz Feb fourteen only comes once a year
Full of fear
As I ask out a nice girly
Is she taken or playing hard to get
Get my wallet out
and she’s mine without a doubt
Cash always works
And the promise of a good time
Better than the last one she was with
Hope she’s not too experienced
With a good memory
Hate comparisons
But that’s just the way it goes
In this day and age
Changing partners every few months
It’s all the rage
Me and her both
Also being careful
Not be caught by the family
Otherwise
It’s the arranged marriage route
for her and maybe for me
Honour and all that
But we both lost ours years ago
I like women’s equality
Any excuse to go all the way
Hope she don’t get pregnant
Or pass me any diseases
Asian girls are cleaner
Compared to the others
So I don’t bother with protection
Feb fourteen
Is all about following St Valentine
Dating and mating
Not debating
Serious issues
As I pursue my prey
All the way
And practice being a pagan
For just one day
Even if it means
Catching diseases
Loss of honour and respect
And being caught by the family
Author: Showkotali@hotmail.com with help from Shifa and Mahbuba
And I don’t know what to do
How many cards to buy and send
To the good looking people
It’s quite funny
they never ever send me any?
Every year it’s the same
Being asked the question
How many did u get?
I lie
and say I got over twenty
Sent most of them to myself
Not into religion much
Aint got time and I am too busy
more time for that stuff when I’m older
but every Valentine ’s Day
I buy and send cards
Didn’t realise that I was a practicing pagan
Worshipping Satan
Instead of my religion Islam
I go with the flow
And the flow goes westwards
Live life based on desires
No fear for the hell fire
Religion is just a joke
In this modern age of technology
Desires satisfied
But always more to do
Humans are pretty
When u get one
The one u don’t have seems desirable
Always the opportunity cost
And sometimes u feels lost
And spoilt for choice
Who shall I date?
And have as my mate
Coz Feb fourteen only comes once a year
Full of fear
As I ask out a nice girly
Is she taken or playing hard to get
Get my wallet out
and she’s mine without a doubt
Cash always works
And the promise of a good time
Better than the last one she was with
Hope she’s not too experienced
With a good memory
Hate comparisons
But that’s just the way it goes
In this day and age
Changing partners every few months
It’s all the rage
Me and her both
Also being careful
Not be caught by the family
Otherwise
It’s the arranged marriage route
for her and maybe for me
Honour and all that
But we both lost ours years ago
I like women’s equality
Any excuse to go all the way
Hope she don’t get pregnant
Or pass me any diseases
Asian girls are cleaner
Compared to the others
So I don’t bother with protection
Feb fourteen
Is all about following St Valentine
Dating and mating
Not debating
Serious issues
As I pursue my prey
All the way
And practice being a pagan
For just one day
Even if it means
Catching diseases
Loss of honour and respect
And being caught by the family
Author: Showkotali@hotmail.com with help from Shifa and Mahbuba
We Love Allah Day
Today many will celebrate St. Valentines' Day. Many will profess their love for one another. Many will indulge in illicit sex and many will partake of Drugs (Viagra included) and Alcohol. Actions befitting a day originally celebrated in honor of pagan gods of Rome. Of course a few will relate the day to remembrance of the Saint for which it is named. Even fewer will remember the One who really loves them most.
Setting aside the irreverence of honoring or praying to persons or objects that lack any power to aid us or are deserving of any credit for our existence or our well being. Let's take a look at some other days we celebrate; Presidents day, Christmas day, Mother's day, Thanksgiving Day, and Birthdays. We remember and honor those persons or events that we Love or that are important to us on such days. Yet there is no specific day that we celebrate the most important person or event in our life's, our existence and our creator. Of course here is the Sabbath , but that is a commandment (whether it is Friday, Saturday, or Sunday it is required) besides many of us attend the observances just to show off our new clothes or our piety.
So today let us set aside a few moments and remember the one responsible for our very existence; God. It is God who loved us enough to give us the one thing none other can; Life. It is God that answers are prayers. Not any saints or prophets, not any statue or amulet, not any President or Lover, nor any priest, reverent, Imam, scholar, or Ulema . None of these can do anything for us unless God allows them to intercede on our behalves. Certainly inanimate things or mythical creatures can't do anything at all for us. Eros can not bring us love or happiness.
In fact we should instead of having a Anti-valentines day, a day that sees like Christmas and New Years' eve an increase in severe DEPRESSION, Let's start celebrating a "We Love Allah day". A tradition says that if we love Allah; Allah will love us. Why shouldn't we show love for God our creator who showed us more regard than the Angels who sang his Praises eternally.
God Loves those who:
Who Do Good
Who Are Chaste
Who show gratitude
Who are Equitable
Who are Righteous
Who are Repentant
Who Remember God
Let Us remember God today and Show our Love so that we Might Be: Strangers In Paradise
Setting aside the irreverence of honoring or praying to persons or objects that lack any power to aid us or are deserving of any credit for our existence or our well being. Let's take a look at some other days we celebrate; Presidents day, Christmas day, Mother's day, Thanksgiving Day, and Birthdays. We remember and honor those persons or events that we Love or that are important to us on such days. Yet there is no specific day that we celebrate the most important person or event in our life's, our existence and our creator. Of course here is the Sabbath , but that is a commandment (whether it is Friday, Saturday, or Sunday it is required) besides many of us attend the observances just to show off our new clothes or our piety.
So today let us set aside a few moments and remember the one responsible for our very existence; God. It is God who loved us enough to give us the one thing none other can; Life. It is God that answers are prayers. Not any saints or prophets, not any statue or amulet, not any President or Lover, nor any priest, reverent, Imam, scholar, or Ulema . None of these can do anything for us unless God allows them to intercede on our behalves. Certainly inanimate things or mythical creatures can't do anything at all for us. Eros can not bring us love or happiness.
In fact we should instead of having a Anti-valentines day, a day that sees like Christmas and New Years' eve an increase in severe DEPRESSION, Let's start celebrating a "We Love Allah day". A tradition says that if we love Allah; Allah will love us. Why shouldn't we show love for God our creator who showed us more regard than the Angels who sang his Praises eternally.
God Loves those who:
Who Do Good
Who Are Chaste
Who show gratitude
Who are Equitable
Who are Righteous
Who are Repentant
Who Remember God
Let Us remember God today and Show our Love so that we Might Be: Strangers In Paradise
For US Muslim Girls, Hijab No Obstacle
"My friends started to like me more because they know I have the courage to stand in front of the whole school and do something different,"...
----------------------------------------------------------
"We do what almost every teenage girl in America does, shopping and movies. I also go out with my family and family friends"...
----------------------------------------------------------
Even for younger Muslim girls, wearing hijab at public middle schools enhances their self-confidence and makes them feel distinguished among their peers.
----------------------------------------------------------
"I am very thankful that in my community we have youth group for Muslim teenagers at the local Masjid.
"We have events and girls only parties...
----------------------------------------------------------
Sometimes I feel different, but never isolated or left out,” ...
"Different: yes. But never isolated or left out,"...
----------------------------------------------------------
The Muslim community is growing, and non-Muslims are growing more accustomed to them. This does not prevent the stares I receive...
----------------------------------------------------------
For US Muslim Girls, Hijab No Obstacle
By Sahar Kassaimah, IOL Correspondent
"My friends started to like me more because they know I have the courage to stand in front of the whole school and do something different," said Maghawri. (IOL Photo)
WASHINGTON — For many Muslim girls in the United States, hijab is no obstacle whatsoever to enjoy their lives, but rather a source of strength, pride and a tool to spread correct information about much-stereotyped Islam. "I’ve been wearing my hijab for more than five years; since I was a fifth grader and I believe nothing has changed between me and my friends or classmates after I covered my hair," Huda Rabia, a Californian tenth grader student, told IslamOnline.net Friday, February 9.
"In the beginning they were all curious to know what this scarf is and why I am wearing it. They had tens of questions but after I answered all of them, they never asked me about it again."
During the few recent years, a debate has been raging in the West about Muslim women's right to wear hijab in public.
Describing it as a religious symbol and not an obligatory dress code as Muslims believe, France has triggered the controversy in 2004 by adopting a bill banning the hair veil in state schools.
Shortly afterwards, other European countries, chiefly Germany, followed the French lead.
But in the United States, it is a different story.
"I do what most people at my age do," said Salsabil Alwazzi, an 18-year-old and a freshman at Oklahoma City Community College. "I hang out with friends, watch movies and go out to restaurants."
"I spend a lot of time with my friends we go for dinners and throw parties for each other," added Mariam Khalid, a 16-year old and an 11th grader at El Camino Real Senior High.
"We do what almost every teenage girl in America does, shopping and movies. I also go out with my family and family friends," she added.
Nabilah Safa, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and also wears a hijab, feel pretty good about herself.
"Here in Dearborn, MI, with such a big Muslim population I feel very comfortable practicing my religion. Also I am very proud of who I am," she said.
There are between six to seven million Muslims in the United States, making up less than three percent of the country's 300 million population.
Responsibility
For many among hijab-donned Muslim girls, wearing a hijab is a responsibility that requires them to check their actions.
"Muslim girls wearing hijab are immediately recognized anywhere they go, without the need for us to say ‘I am Muslim.’ The hijab speaks for us, and I believe this helps to serve as a check on our actions, because anything we do is not just reflective on us, but on Islam as well," said Nour Habib, a 17-year-old and a freshman at Oklahoma State University.
Even for younger Muslim girls, wearing hijab at public middle schools enhances their self-confidence and makes them feel distinguished among their peers.
"I feel that I am special between all the people I hang out with because I have enough courage to do that," said Alia Maghawri, a 12-year-old and a sixth grader at Las Colinas middle school.
"I am also proud because I am different from all my Muslim friends. They are too shy to wear the hijab," added Maghawri.
For Maghawri, her hijab brings her more respect among her friends.
"My friends started to like me more because they know I have the courage to stand in front of the whole school and do something different," said Maghawri proudly.
No Isolation
"Here in Dearborn, MI, with such a big Muslim population I feel very comfortable practicing my religion. Also I am very proud of who I am," said Safa. (IOL Photo) Most of the hijab-donned girls agree that they did not feel isolated by their attire.
"Sometimes I feel different, but never isolated or left out,” said Safa.
Sarah Habib, a 15-year-old and a tenth grader, agrees with Safa.
"Different: yes. But never isolated or left out," she told IOL.
"Of course I feel different, because I am. But there is no reason for me to feel isolated or left out. There are things I stay away from, as a Muslim. But it is not because I am excluded; it is because I choose to stay away," Habib added.
Rabia wonders why a Muslim girl should feel isolated for wearing her hijab.
"I was Huda Rabia before wearing my hijab and I am still the same Huda Rabia after wearing it. The only change is that I covered my hair with this scarf. So why my friends should refuse or distance themselves from me because of my scarf?" asked Rabia surprisingly.
"I have a different belief system than most here in the US. However I was born and raised here so why should I feel any different?" added Alwazzi.
Habib believes that it is one’s actions that could isolate him/her from others.
"I believe that isolation is a choice. And if you do not choose to be isolated, then you won’t be. And the question is, left out from what? Again, it is a matter of choice. You choose whether or not to join in something, and in this way, I don’t think it’s being left out."
She said wearing hijab or being a Muslims is more like "staying out."
"There is nothing wrong with staying out of things that you feel are wrong. This is actually proof that you are 'above the influence.' By not letting someone pressure you into doing something, you are showing strength of character," she said.
Family Support
The girls, however, admit that they might face some derive their strength from strong family bonds and Muslim advocacy groups to face challenges that they might go through.
"Of course when you see other teenagers going to parties and hanging out you feel left out. But I think it is very important to have a strong family background that you know you can always go back to," said Khalid.
"I am very thankful that in my community we have youth group for Muslim teenagers at the local Masjid.
"We have events and girls only parties so that we don’t feel left out in today’s society. For example, in the summer we go camping, and during the winter’s we have snow day. During the month we have activities like going bowling and game’s night, but we also have classes on Sunday to learn more about Islam," she said.
"I think it’s a perfect balance. Even though I know I am different, I don’t feel; left out or isolated because of this youth group and my family," Khalid said.
Learn More
The girls also use their hijabs to spread correct information about much-stereotyped Islam.
"In High School, many people are very ignorant about Islam but they are also very curious," said Khalid.
"A lot of people come and ask me why I wear a scarf and I explain to them that the hair is the symbol of sensuality and beauty, and that I try to hide that. They are astounded when they discover that wearing the hijab was my choice. I also have a few classmates who are Muslim but not very religious, and they ask me questions to learn about their religion," she added.
Habib agrees.
"I believe people are getting used to seeing Muslims all around them," said Habib.
"The Muslim community is growing, and non-Muslims are growing more accustomed to them. This does not prevent the stares I receive, but I am accustomed to these as well. Not all non-Muslims look at me in the same way. I think it all depends on the level of knowledge they have about Islam."
For Sarah, people differ in their reactions, but she agrees that Muslims should be approachable to encourage others learning about Islam.
"Of course people react in different ways. I get stares all the time, some showing interest, some curiosity, some admiration/respect, and some, unfortunately, fear," Sarah told IOL.
"I try to look as approachable as possible, giving people a chance to ask what they want."
Ala Gebarin, 17, also takes into her strides stares and remarks she might come across.
"I am aware that my hijab can be intimidating, but it is only a layer of clothing," said Gebarin, a 12th grade student at Oak Forest High School.
"Once people get to know me, and how I act, their views change and really non-Muslims are very open and kind. They are often more curious than ignorant; as they are often portrayed."
----------------------------------------------------------
"We do what almost every teenage girl in America does, shopping and movies. I also go out with my family and family friends"...
----------------------------------------------------------
Even for younger Muslim girls, wearing hijab at public middle schools enhances their self-confidence and makes them feel distinguished among their peers.
----------------------------------------------------------
"I am very thankful that in my community we have youth group for Muslim teenagers at the local Masjid.
"We have events and girls only parties...
----------------------------------------------------------
Sometimes I feel different, but never isolated or left out,” ...
"Different: yes. But never isolated or left out,"...
----------------------------------------------------------
The Muslim community is growing, and non-Muslims are growing more accustomed to them. This does not prevent the stares I receive...
----------------------------------------------------------
For US Muslim Girls, Hijab No Obstacle
By Sahar Kassaimah, IOL Correspondent
"My friends started to like me more because they know I have the courage to stand in front of the whole school and do something different," said Maghawri. (IOL Photo)
WASHINGTON — For many Muslim girls in the United States, hijab is no obstacle whatsoever to enjoy their lives, but rather a source of strength, pride and a tool to spread correct information about much-stereotyped Islam. "I’ve been wearing my hijab for more than five years; since I was a fifth grader and I believe nothing has changed between me and my friends or classmates after I covered my hair," Huda Rabia, a Californian tenth grader student, told IslamOnline.net Friday, February 9.
"In the beginning they were all curious to know what this scarf is and why I am wearing it. They had tens of questions but after I answered all of them, they never asked me about it again."
During the few recent years, a debate has been raging in the West about Muslim women's right to wear hijab in public.
Describing it as a religious symbol and not an obligatory dress code as Muslims believe, France has triggered the controversy in 2004 by adopting a bill banning the hair veil in state schools.
Shortly afterwards, other European countries, chiefly Germany, followed the French lead.
But in the United States, it is a different story.
"I do what most people at my age do," said Salsabil Alwazzi, an 18-year-old and a freshman at Oklahoma City Community College. "I hang out with friends, watch movies and go out to restaurants."
"I spend a lot of time with my friends we go for dinners and throw parties for each other," added Mariam Khalid, a 16-year old and an 11th grader at El Camino Real Senior High.
"We do what almost every teenage girl in America does, shopping and movies. I also go out with my family and family friends," she added.
Nabilah Safa, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and also wears a hijab, feel pretty good about herself.
"Here in Dearborn, MI, with such a big Muslim population I feel very comfortable practicing my religion. Also I am very proud of who I am," she said.
There are between six to seven million Muslims in the United States, making up less than three percent of the country's 300 million population.
Responsibility
For many among hijab-donned Muslim girls, wearing a hijab is a responsibility that requires them to check their actions.
"Muslim girls wearing hijab are immediately recognized anywhere they go, without the need for us to say ‘I am Muslim.’ The hijab speaks for us, and I believe this helps to serve as a check on our actions, because anything we do is not just reflective on us, but on Islam as well," said Nour Habib, a 17-year-old and a freshman at Oklahoma State University.
Even for younger Muslim girls, wearing hijab at public middle schools enhances their self-confidence and makes them feel distinguished among their peers.
"I feel that I am special between all the people I hang out with because I have enough courage to do that," said Alia Maghawri, a 12-year-old and a sixth grader at Las Colinas middle school.
"I am also proud because I am different from all my Muslim friends. They are too shy to wear the hijab," added Maghawri.
For Maghawri, her hijab brings her more respect among her friends.
"My friends started to like me more because they know I have the courage to stand in front of the whole school and do something different," said Maghawri proudly.
No Isolation
"Here in Dearborn, MI, with such a big Muslim population I feel very comfortable practicing my religion. Also I am very proud of who I am," said Safa. (IOL Photo) Most of the hijab-donned girls agree that they did not feel isolated by their attire.
"Sometimes I feel different, but never isolated or left out,” said Safa.
Sarah Habib, a 15-year-old and a tenth grader, agrees with Safa.
"Different: yes. But never isolated or left out," she told IOL.
"Of course I feel different, because I am. But there is no reason for me to feel isolated or left out. There are things I stay away from, as a Muslim. But it is not because I am excluded; it is because I choose to stay away," Habib added.
Rabia wonders why a Muslim girl should feel isolated for wearing her hijab.
"I was Huda Rabia before wearing my hijab and I am still the same Huda Rabia after wearing it. The only change is that I covered my hair with this scarf. So why my friends should refuse or distance themselves from me because of my scarf?" asked Rabia surprisingly.
"I have a different belief system than most here in the US. However I was born and raised here so why should I feel any different?" added Alwazzi.
Habib believes that it is one’s actions that could isolate him/her from others.
"I believe that isolation is a choice. And if you do not choose to be isolated, then you won’t be. And the question is, left out from what? Again, it is a matter of choice. You choose whether or not to join in something, and in this way, I don’t think it’s being left out."
She said wearing hijab or being a Muslims is more like "staying out."
"There is nothing wrong with staying out of things that you feel are wrong. This is actually proof that you are 'above the influence.' By not letting someone pressure you into doing something, you are showing strength of character," she said.
Family Support
The girls, however, admit that they might face some derive their strength from strong family bonds and Muslim advocacy groups to face challenges that they might go through.
"Of course when you see other teenagers going to parties and hanging out you feel left out. But I think it is very important to have a strong family background that you know you can always go back to," said Khalid.
"I am very thankful that in my community we have youth group for Muslim teenagers at the local Masjid.
"We have events and girls only parties so that we don’t feel left out in today’s society. For example, in the summer we go camping, and during the winter’s we have snow day. During the month we have activities like going bowling and game’s night, but we also have classes on Sunday to learn more about Islam," she said.
"I think it’s a perfect balance. Even though I know I am different, I don’t feel; left out or isolated because of this youth group and my family," Khalid said.
Learn More
The girls also use their hijabs to spread correct information about much-stereotyped Islam.
"In High School, many people are very ignorant about Islam but they are also very curious," said Khalid.
"A lot of people come and ask me why I wear a scarf and I explain to them that the hair is the symbol of sensuality and beauty, and that I try to hide that. They are astounded when they discover that wearing the hijab was my choice. I also have a few classmates who are Muslim but not very religious, and they ask me questions to learn about their religion," she added.
Habib agrees.
"I believe people are getting used to seeing Muslims all around them," said Habib.
"The Muslim community is growing, and non-Muslims are growing more accustomed to them. This does not prevent the stares I receive, but I am accustomed to these as well. Not all non-Muslims look at me in the same way. I think it all depends on the level of knowledge they have about Islam."
For Sarah, people differ in their reactions, but she agrees that Muslims should be approachable to encourage others learning about Islam.
"Of course people react in different ways. I get stares all the time, some showing interest, some curiosity, some admiration/respect, and some, unfortunately, fear," Sarah told IOL.
"I try to look as approachable as possible, giving people a chance to ask what they want."
Ala Gebarin, 17, also takes into her strides stares and remarks she might come across.
"I am aware that my hijab can be intimidating, but it is only a layer of clothing," said Gebarin, a 12th grade student at Oak Forest High School.
"Once people get to know me, and how I act, their views change and really non-Muslims are very open and kind. They are often more curious than ignorant; as they are often portrayed."
Why Some People Resist Their Conscience?
One of the most important factors that people use to inactivate their
conscience is their seeing themselves self-sufficient in everything.
For instance, when asked about their observance of Islam, most people
would say that it is enough not to harm anyone and to try to be a good
person. However, this is pure self-deception. What is important is to
be a slave to God and to live as He wishes. Unless man does this,
everything else he does is meaningless and harmful. God says in the
Qur'an:
And what of him the evil of whose actions appears fine to him so that
he sees them as good? God misguides whoever He wills and guides
whoever He wills. (Surah Fatir: 8)
What makes someone see his actions as good and attractive is the
belief that his own judgement is flawless. Those who consider
themselves to be kind-hearted and generous in the sight of God are
such people. The truth is in fact quite different from what they
assume. In a verse it is stated that one's seeing himself
self-sufficient is the greatest reason for his deviation from the truth:
No indeed! Truly man is unbridled seeing himself as self-sufficient.
(Surat al-'Alaq: 6-7)
The linguistic meaning of the word 'mustaghni' (self-sufficient) is
'without need, satisfied'. Its meaning as referred to in the Qur'an is
someone's seeing his nearness to God, his fear of God and the
hereafter, his good actions and his piety as sufficient and therefore
not striving for the better. Most people deviate from God's way for
this reason.
Although people see themselves as self-sufficient, they actually know
in their conscience how incomplete they are, and what they fail to do
to please God. This is why they avoid talking about subjects such as
death, doomsday and the hereafter. When one raises the subject, they
try to close it because it is 'depressing'. The reason they become
depressed is because they are resisting their conscience, and dwelling
on the subject causes them to feel restless inside.
It is not possible for someone who listens to his conscience to feel
self-sufficient. On the contrary, he looks for the better and tries to
do the better in everything. For man's conscience always reminds him
of the Day of Account. Someone who knows that he will give account to
God about the life of this world will never see his deeds sufficient.
He practises what he is commanded by his Creator with great attention.
In the Qur'an, those who seriously strive for the good pleasure of God
and the hereafter are referred to as follows:
As for anyone who desires this fleeting existence, We hasten in it
whatever We will to whoever We want. Then We will consign him to Hell
where he will roast, reviled and driven out. But as for one who
desires the hereafter, and strives for it with the striving it
deserves, being a believer, the striving of such people will be
gratefully acknowledged. (Surat al-Isra': 18-19)
Compiled ,edited and adapted by Khalid Latif
----------------------------------------------------------
Courtesy: HARUN YAHYA
conscience is their seeing themselves self-sufficient in everything.
For instance, when asked about their observance of Islam, most people
would say that it is enough not to harm anyone and to try to be a good
person. However, this is pure self-deception. What is important is to
be a slave to God and to live as He wishes. Unless man does this,
everything else he does is meaningless and harmful. God says in the
Qur'an:
And what of him the evil of whose actions appears fine to him so that
he sees them as good? God misguides whoever He wills and guides
whoever He wills. (Surah Fatir: 8)
What makes someone see his actions as good and attractive is the
belief that his own judgement is flawless. Those who consider
themselves to be kind-hearted and generous in the sight of God are
such people. The truth is in fact quite different from what they
assume. In a verse it is stated that one's seeing himself
self-sufficient is the greatest reason for his deviation from the truth:
No indeed! Truly man is unbridled seeing himself as self-sufficient.
(Surat al-'Alaq: 6-7)
The linguistic meaning of the word 'mustaghni' (self-sufficient) is
'without need, satisfied'. Its meaning as referred to in the Qur'an is
someone's seeing his nearness to God, his fear of God and the
hereafter, his good actions and his piety as sufficient and therefore
not striving for the better. Most people deviate from God's way for
this reason.
Although people see themselves as self-sufficient, they actually know
in their conscience how incomplete they are, and what they fail to do
to please God. This is why they avoid talking about subjects such as
death, doomsday and the hereafter. When one raises the subject, they
try to close it because it is 'depressing'. The reason they become
depressed is because they are resisting their conscience, and dwelling
on the subject causes them to feel restless inside.
It is not possible for someone who listens to his conscience to feel
self-sufficient. On the contrary, he looks for the better and tries to
do the better in everything. For man's conscience always reminds him
of the Day of Account. Someone who knows that he will give account to
God about the life of this world will never see his deeds sufficient.
He practises what he is commanded by his Creator with great attention.
In the Qur'an, those who seriously strive for the good pleasure of God
and the hereafter are referred to as follows:
As for anyone who desires this fleeting existence, We hasten in it
whatever We will to whoever We want. Then We will consign him to Hell
where he will roast, reviled and driven out. But as for one who
desires the hereafter, and strives for it with the striving it
deserves, being a believer, the striving of such people will be
gratefully acknowledged. (Surat al-Isra': 18-19)
Compiled ,edited and adapted by Khalid Latif
----------------------------------------------------------
Courtesy: HARUN YAHYA
DIGITILIZATION OF ISLAM
Globalization's Gift to the Muslim Ummah
One of the distinctive characteristics of globalization lies in the unprecedented advances in information and communication technologies, which have brought about what David Harvey aptly describes as "time-space compression". He points out that globalization involves the shrinking of space and the shortening of time. Some scholars speak of "deterritorialization" as an important consequence of globalization, suggesting that the notion of space has undergone a radical transformation. Manuel Castells in his The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture (1998) shows how computer-driven telecommunications have intensified global interactions and created networks which bind together individuals located in different countries into virtual communities. What is emerging, he says, is a global network society. Phrases like online worlds, virtual communities, global cyberspaces and network society are frequently mentioned in the contemporary discourse. A highly significant feature of online networks is their openness and relative autonomy. Furthermore, the Internet is an amazingly interactive medium in that it has an in-built mechanism for immediate feedback.
Some commentators argue that the Internet is generating "social capital" in the form of networks, norms and social trust that facilitate cooperation and coordination among people who share common social concerns and commitment. There are more than 5000 transnational NGOs, most of whom coordinate their activities and programmes through the Internet. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) has established intensive linkages, through the Internet, with non-governmental organizations working for the ban on landmines. By 1999 the ICBL became a coalition of more than 1300 NGOs which successfully persuaded and pressurized 89 countries to ratify the Landmine Treaty. It was awarded the Nobel Prize for its sustained efforts.
An eminent sociologist Zygmunt Bauman has coined the phrase glocalization to highlight the fact that globalization seems to reinforce not only global and transnational but also ethnic and local identities. This phenomenon is reflected in the increasing use of modern information and communication technologies by religious communities and organizations. Thus, in Thailand Buddhist monks are making increasing use of the Internet for disseminating their religious doctrines and traditions through more than 200 websites. In India, religious and spiritual satellite channels are rapidly increasing and drawing hundreds of thousands of viewers in the country as well as from amongst expatriate Indians.
Modern information and communication technologies are playing a highly important role in the revival of indigenous languages and cultures in Europe. There are more than 200 000 speakers of Breton language in France. Breton was nearly wiped out as a result of the repressive policies of successive French governments. In recent years, a remarkable revival of Breton language has taken place in France, especially in the Brittany province. In August 2000, TV Breizh began broadcasting as France's first regional channel.
The use of modern information and communication technologies for religio-political mobilization in the Islamic world on a wider scale was witnessed in Iran prior to the Islamic Revolution in 1969. During the 1970s, many of the speeches and discourses of Ali Shariati, a highly educated and influential thinker and speaker, were recorded at Mashhad University and at Husayniyah Irshad in Tehran and circulated through audiocassettes. These recorded speeches were subsequently transcribed and published in book form. The cassettes as well as the books were clandestinely distributed through a wide network of mosques, seminaries, shrines, religious councils, community centres and colleges and universities. In the mid-1970s Imam Khomeini was exiled to Iraq and later to Paris. His recorded sermons and speeches from his Neaphle-le-Chateau headquarters near Paris were widely circulated across the length and breadth of Iran. His taped messages were transmitted through telephone lines to secret locations in Tehran where they were transferred onto cassettes for duplication and distribution. These cassettes played a highly significant role in arousing popular sentiments against the Shah. Their political impact was greatly enhanced when they were aired by Western news agencies, especially the BBC.
Computer technologies are being increasingly used for archiving and preserving Islamic texts as well as for disseminating Islamic materials. Islamic websites, which are rapidly multiplying, provide a wide range of information and materials, including an explication of the Holy Quran and selections from Hadith literature, informed opinion on the religious, social, economic, political and cultural affairs of the Muslim world, glimpses of Islamic heritage, and online fatwa.
During the Soviet era, audiocassettes of the speeches and sermons of religious leaders in Uzbekistan, which emphasized Islamic identity and Uzbek nationalism, became highly popular. The Naqshbandi Sufis established a wide network of mosques, madrasas and hospices (khanqahs) and extensively used audiocassettes for the dissemination of Islamic materials. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, audiocassettes of religious discourses and sermons were widely circulated in the country as well as among the Afghan refugees in Pakistan. These recorded speeches and sermons created a great sense of Islamic solidarity and paved the way for the emergence of a powerful movement against the Soviet occupation.
Recordings of the speeches and discourses of prominent Muslim thinkers and leaders, such as Sayyid Qutb, Ali Shariati, Mawlana Abul Ala Maududi and Dr. Asrar Ahmad, among others, are now available not only on audiocassettes but also over the Internet through the use of the latest audio streaming technology.
The preservation and transmission of the Holy Quran and the Traditions of Prophet Muhammad (may God shower His blessings on him!) was ensured through an ingenious combination of memorization, oral transmission and writing. As soon as the verses of the Quran were revealed-they were revealed incrementally over a period of 23 years-they were memorized by the Prophet and were simultaneously committed to writing at his instance. These conjoined modes of transmission-memorization and writing-have continued uninterrupted during the past fourteen centuries of the Islamic era and are still in evidence across the Islamic world. Similarly, several Companions of the Prophet recorded and wrote down his sayings and instructions-which came to be known as Hadith-during his lifetime. This process of compilation of Hadith was marked by a distinctive methodology-known as Isnad-involving a critical scrutiny of the chain of narrators and their biographies with a focus on their reliability. The preoccupation with the compilation of Hadith within the framework of this methodology gave rise to a vast body of literature. The emphasis on the written word, which has been central to the Islamic tradition, resulted in a colossal and truly monumental literary output which has no parallel in the annals of early or medieval civilizations. An indication of this amazing preoccupation with writing is provided by the existence of hundreds of thousands of manuscripts on a variety of subjects in libraries and museums in Muslim countries as well as in India, Europe and North America. Manuscripts dealing with medical subjects alone, which have survived the vicissitudes of time, are estimated to number more than three million.
On the other hand, the tradition of memorizing the entire text of the Holy Quran continues uninterrupted not only across the Islamic world but also in India (which has the third largest Muslim population in the world), China and in diasporic Muslim communities in North America, Europe and Australasia. A few years ago, the entire population of a village near Cairo, Egypt, accomplished the remarkable feat of memorizing the Holy Quran.
In recent years, there has come about a world-wide resurgence of Islamic awakening and revival, which is conspicuous not only in Muslim countries but also among Muslim living in Western countries. This Islamic resurgence is reflected in the growing demand for Islamic literature, in the proliferation of religious movements and communitarian organizations, in the increasing involvement of Muslim youth and women in faith-based activities, and in the growing use of modern information and communication technologies for disseminating and exchanging Islamic materials as well as shred concerns.
Computer technologies are remarkably adept with both the textual and phoenetic modes of storage, retrieval and transmission. In recent years, varied computer technologies, including websites, CD-ROM, homepages and audio streaming technology, have been used for archiving, retrieval and dissemination of Islamic materials. The entire text of the Holy Quran (including the Arabic text and recitation by trained qaris), its translation in English and other European languages, brief commentaries on the Holy Quran and several collections of Hadith together with English translations are available on CD-ROM as well as on the Internet. A well-known software is Alim, made by ISL Software Corporation, Marylan, USA. It provides information on a wide range of subjects. The entire Arabic text of Imam Bukhari's celebrated collection of Hadith Al-Jami' al-Sahih as well as the well-known collection of Hadith by Imam Muslim are available on the website of Al-Islam (www.al-islam.com). An English translation of Bukhari (by Muhammad Muhsin Khan) and of Muslim (by Abdul Hamid Siddiqui) are available on the website of the Muslim Students Association of the University of South California (www.usc.edu/dept/MSA). These two sites also publish the Forty Hadith by Imam Nawawi in English. The multi-volume concordance and index of nine well-known collections of Hadith, prepared by the renowned Dutch Orientalist A. J. Wensinck, has been converted to electronic form. Several collections of Hadith in English translation are available on 22 websites and in French on 8 sites.
Islamic websites, which are rapidly multiplying, provide a wide range of information and materials, including an explication of the verses of the Holy Quran and selections from Hadith literature, informed opinion on the religious, social, economic, political and cultural affairs of the Muslim world, chat rooms, and online fatwa (solicited legal opinion or edict pertaining to specific issues and problems faced by Muslims in day-to-day life). IslamiCity (http://www.islam.org), based in the USA, is one of the important Islamic websites. In addition to providing fairly comprehensive information on the Quran and the Sunnah, the website offers online fatwa service, radio and television channels, chat rooms, Islamic screensavers and electronic greeting cards. IslamiCity has published more than 5000 fatawa on the Internet. Another important Islamic website is Huruf (http://www.huruf.com), which is jointly managed by Knowledge Management Systems (KnowSys) and ITLogic. Among other materials, it offers informed opinion and comments on contemporary issues related to the Muslim world. It also espouses inter-cultural and inter-civilizational dialogue. The website of As-Sunna Foundation of America (http://www.sunnah.org/msaec/.) provides information of a general nature on fundamental Islamic themes and sources.
Some websites are specifically devoted to providing fatawa (singular: fatwa) online. The distribution of fatawa on the Internet can be classified into two broad categories:(i) archiving as well as compilation of various fatawa which are already published in specialized books on the subject (ii) solicited fatawa in response to specific requests from surfers. The Saudi Arabian Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and fatawa, a government-regulated body, runs a website called fatawa-Online (http://www.fatwa.online.com). It received over 30,000 hits from surfers between October 1999 and December 2000. The As-Sunna Foundation of America (http://www.sunnah.org/fatwa/.) offers fatawa online. Another site is Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyya (http://www.haneen.com.eg/fatwa/fatwapage.html). Prominent institutions of Islamic learning, such as Al-Azhar University in Cairo, offer online fatawa services. Online fatawa are available in English as well as Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Malay, Urdu, Thai and other languages.
The task of providing authentic legal opinion in response to specific queries from surfers entails a great deal of competence and responsibility. Only a person who is well-versed in Islamic law, has a specialized knowledge of fatwa literature and has received training in issuing fatawa at a reputed institution of Islamic learning can perform this task. One peculiar problem with solicited fatawa on the Internet is that one cannot be sure whether the person who is providing the required information or opinion is a professionally trained and competent scholar or an amateur person with a smattering of Islamic law.
Modern computer technologies have great potential and prospects for the archiving, preservation, dissemination and exchange of Islamic texts and other materials, for forging Islamic identity, unity and solidarity, and for effectively responding to the challenges facing the Muslim ummah in the contemporary world.
Computer technologies are increasingly being used for archiving and preserving Islamic texts. At the Centre for Islamic Jurisprudence in Qom, Iran, several thousand texts, both Shii and Sunni, have been converted to electronic form. An Islamic organization based in Qatar has undertaken an ambitious project to preserve, by microfilming, unpublished manuscripts on Islamic subjects, which are found in large numbers in Muslim countries as well as in India.
Contemporary Islamic movements, especially those which have large, transnational followers, are making increasing use of modern information and communication technologies for providing information about their activities and programmes and for reinforcing connectivity and internal cohesion. The Naqshbandiya-Haqqaniya order of Sufism, with roots in Turkey, Cyprus, Syria and Lebanon, is one of the most prominent Sufi orders in Western Europe and North America. The teachings as well as activities and programmes of the order are disseminated to its followers located in different countries through books and pamphlets as well as over the Internet.
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture was founded in 1988 and is registered in Geneva, Switzerland as a private, non-denominational, philanthropic foundation. One of the aims of the Trust is to increase cross-cultural understanding of Islamic architecture and the close linkage between culture and architecture in Islamic civilization. The Trust has commissioned a new project called ArchNet (www.archnet.org) at the School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. The main objective of Archnet is to provide extensive high-quality, globally accessible intellectual resources focused on topics of architecture, urban design, urban development (including restoration and conservation), housing landscape, and concerns related to the Islamic world. Archnet provides, on an accessible server, images, a searchable text library, bibliographical reference databases, online lectures, statistical information, papers and reviews. Currently there are over 8000 images and 1500 publications related to the historical as well as contemporary architecture of the Islamic world in the Digital Library.
The Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World, founded in Leiden, the Netherlands in 1998, aims at promoting inter-disciplinary research on contemporary social and intellectual trends and movements in Muslim societies and communities. Its redesigned website (www.isim.nl) is a useful source of information on the contemporary Islamic world.
One of the significant features of our globalizing era is the existence of transnational communities or diasporas which maintain a vast network of culture and communication-greatly facilitated by the incredible advances in the means of transportation and in information and communication technologies-with their countries of origin. Telephone, satellite television and the Internet are playing a highly important role in connecting the diasporic communities to their roots and their homelands. With the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, more than 50% of the local Palestinian population were driven out of their homelands. More than four million refugees took shelter in the neighbouring countries as well as in Europe and North America. A whole generation was born and brought up in foreign lands, cut off from their homelands and their cultural roots. The members of this generation are now discovering, thanks to homepages on the Internet, their religious and cultural traditions as well as the villages from which their parents were forced to migrate. The commemoration of the martyrdom of young Palestinians killed by the Israeli forces now takes place on the Internet. Furthermore, families create their own websites to search for lost relatives. Messages, images and appeals related to shared concerns are downloaded from the Internet, forwarded and circulated, printed and pasted in mosques, on university and on café walls. Historical pictures of Palestinian villages and towns before the exile and those of the intifada are amongst the most downloaded and forwarded images. The growing use of computer technology is thus transforming the Palestinian refugees into a transnational virtual community and facilitating the reconstruction of their identity. Chat rooms, websites and mailing lists provide the infrastructure for this virtual community. The cybercafe provides an amiable atmosphere for the Palestinians to meet, exchange news and messages and to socialize. This process is reinforced through the Palestinian television channel and the Palestine Broadcast Corporation.
The Al-Jazeera, an independent 24-hour television channel with headquarters in Qatar, has greatly transformed public opinion in the Middle East. It is broadcasted via satellites and the Internet around the world. Al-Jazeera's on-the-spot telecast of the intifada and live shots of Israeli atrocities on the Palestinians are immediately spread on the Internet and distributed to a wide audience of Palestinians and other Arabs.
There is a sizeable Iranian diaspora in North Canada, USA and Europe. The Internet is playing a highly significant role in connecting the diasporic Iranian communities to each other and to their homeland. One of the prominent online Iranian magazines is www.iranian.com, with several sections and links. The news section, for example, has links to more than 150 online Iranian magazines and newspapers. Interestingly, Iran's online newspapers appear much before the printed editions are available on news stands in Tehran and other cities. In addition to magazines and newspapers, one can also access through the Internet Radio Payam (Tehran's local radio) as well as Radio Sada-e-Iran (a round-the-clock radio station located in Los Angeles). In Stockholm, Iranian local radio stations download programmes from the Internet and rebroadcast them for the local Iranian community.
The Nizari Ismailis are one of the small Shii sects living in more than 25 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Australia. The members of the community, who are generally highly educated, use computer technologies, from websites and e-mail listservs to weblogs and IRCS, to access and exchange information, issues and concerns of common interest. The Internet thus serves as a means of strengthening community solidarity and identity.
Modern information and communication technologies are also increasingly being used for transnational ethnic and political mobilization. The Kurdish refugees in North America and Europe, for example, run their own television channel and extensively use the Internet for reinforcing community solidarity and for pushing their political agenda.
As the use of computers, the Internet and mobile phones among Muslims is rapidly increasing, these services are also being used for disseminating and exchanging information about such things as the dates of Islamic festivals according to the Islamic calendar and other issues of common concern. A couple of months ago, newspapers in several European countries republished highly offensive cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (which were originally published by a Danish paper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005). This produced a great deal of anger and resentment among Muslims across the world. (see "Sacrilegious Cartoons" in this edition of The IOS Minaret). Some Muslim countries recalled their envoys to Denmark and declared a ban on the import of Danish goods. Danish goods and commodities were boycotted on a wide scale across the Muslim world, especially in the Middle East. Messages to boycott Danish goods were extensively circulated and forwarded through mobile phones and the Internet.
Modern computer technologies have great potential and prospects in store for the dissemination and exchange of Islamic materials, for forging communitarian unity, for effectively responding to the challenges facing the Muslim ummah, and for reinforcing Islamic identity.
One of the distinctive characteristics of globalization lies in the unprecedented advances in information and communication technologies, which have brought about what David Harvey aptly describes as "time-space compression". He points out that globalization involves the shrinking of space and the shortening of time. Some scholars speak of "deterritorialization" as an important consequence of globalization, suggesting that the notion of space has undergone a radical transformation. Manuel Castells in his The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture (1998) shows how computer-driven telecommunications have intensified global interactions and created networks which bind together individuals located in different countries into virtual communities. What is emerging, he says, is a global network society. Phrases like online worlds, virtual communities, global cyberspaces and network society are frequently mentioned in the contemporary discourse. A highly significant feature of online networks is their openness and relative autonomy. Furthermore, the Internet is an amazingly interactive medium in that it has an in-built mechanism for immediate feedback.
Some commentators argue that the Internet is generating "social capital" in the form of networks, norms and social trust that facilitate cooperation and coordination among people who share common social concerns and commitment. There are more than 5000 transnational NGOs, most of whom coordinate their activities and programmes through the Internet. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) has established intensive linkages, through the Internet, with non-governmental organizations working for the ban on landmines. By 1999 the ICBL became a coalition of more than 1300 NGOs which successfully persuaded and pressurized 89 countries to ratify the Landmine Treaty. It was awarded the Nobel Prize for its sustained efforts.
An eminent sociologist Zygmunt Bauman has coined the phrase glocalization to highlight the fact that globalization seems to reinforce not only global and transnational but also ethnic and local identities. This phenomenon is reflected in the increasing use of modern information and communication technologies by religious communities and organizations. Thus, in Thailand Buddhist monks are making increasing use of the Internet for disseminating their religious doctrines and traditions through more than 200 websites. In India, religious and spiritual satellite channels are rapidly increasing and drawing hundreds of thousands of viewers in the country as well as from amongst expatriate Indians.
Modern information and communication technologies are playing a highly important role in the revival of indigenous languages and cultures in Europe. There are more than 200 000 speakers of Breton language in France. Breton was nearly wiped out as a result of the repressive policies of successive French governments. In recent years, a remarkable revival of Breton language has taken place in France, especially in the Brittany province. In August 2000, TV Breizh began broadcasting as France's first regional channel.
The use of modern information and communication technologies for religio-political mobilization in the Islamic world on a wider scale was witnessed in Iran prior to the Islamic Revolution in 1969. During the 1970s, many of the speeches and discourses of Ali Shariati, a highly educated and influential thinker and speaker, were recorded at Mashhad University and at Husayniyah Irshad in Tehran and circulated through audiocassettes. These recorded speeches were subsequently transcribed and published in book form. The cassettes as well as the books were clandestinely distributed through a wide network of mosques, seminaries, shrines, religious councils, community centres and colleges and universities. In the mid-1970s Imam Khomeini was exiled to Iraq and later to Paris. His recorded sermons and speeches from his Neaphle-le-Chateau headquarters near Paris were widely circulated across the length and breadth of Iran. His taped messages were transmitted through telephone lines to secret locations in Tehran where they were transferred onto cassettes for duplication and distribution. These cassettes played a highly significant role in arousing popular sentiments against the Shah. Their political impact was greatly enhanced when they were aired by Western news agencies, especially the BBC.
Computer technologies are being increasingly used for archiving and preserving Islamic texts as well as for disseminating Islamic materials. Islamic websites, which are rapidly multiplying, provide a wide range of information and materials, including an explication of the Holy Quran and selections from Hadith literature, informed opinion on the religious, social, economic, political and cultural affairs of the Muslim world, glimpses of Islamic heritage, and online fatwa.
During the Soviet era, audiocassettes of the speeches and sermons of religious leaders in Uzbekistan, which emphasized Islamic identity and Uzbek nationalism, became highly popular. The Naqshbandi Sufis established a wide network of mosques, madrasas and hospices (khanqahs) and extensively used audiocassettes for the dissemination of Islamic materials. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, audiocassettes of religious discourses and sermons were widely circulated in the country as well as among the Afghan refugees in Pakistan. These recorded speeches and sermons created a great sense of Islamic solidarity and paved the way for the emergence of a powerful movement against the Soviet occupation.
Recordings of the speeches and discourses of prominent Muslim thinkers and leaders, such as Sayyid Qutb, Ali Shariati, Mawlana Abul Ala Maududi and Dr. Asrar Ahmad, among others, are now available not only on audiocassettes but also over the Internet through the use of the latest audio streaming technology.
The preservation and transmission of the Holy Quran and the Traditions of Prophet Muhammad (may God shower His blessings on him!) was ensured through an ingenious combination of memorization, oral transmission and writing. As soon as the verses of the Quran were revealed-they were revealed incrementally over a period of 23 years-they were memorized by the Prophet and were simultaneously committed to writing at his instance. These conjoined modes of transmission-memorization and writing-have continued uninterrupted during the past fourteen centuries of the Islamic era and are still in evidence across the Islamic world. Similarly, several Companions of the Prophet recorded and wrote down his sayings and instructions-which came to be known as Hadith-during his lifetime. This process of compilation of Hadith was marked by a distinctive methodology-known as Isnad-involving a critical scrutiny of the chain of narrators and their biographies with a focus on their reliability. The preoccupation with the compilation of Hadith within the framework of this methodology gave rise to a vast body of literature. The emphasis on the written word, which has been central to the Islamic tradition, resulted in a colossal and truly monumental literary output which has no parallel in the annals of early or medieval civilizations. An indication of this amazing preoccupation with writing is provided by the existence of hundreds of thousands of manuscripts on a variety of subjects in libraries and museums in Muslim countries as well as in India, Europe and North America. Manuscripts dealing with medical subjects alone, which have survived the vicissitudes of time, are estimated to number more than three million.
On the other hand, the tradition of memorizing the entire text of the Holy Quran continues uninterrupted not only across the Islamic world but also in India (which has the third largest Muslim population in the world), China and in diasporic Muslim communities in North America, Europe and Australasia. A few years ago, the entire population of a village near Cairo, Egypt, accomplished the remarkable feat of memorizing the Holy Quran.
In recent years, there has come about a world-wide resurgence of Islamic awakening and revival, which is conspicuous not only in Muslim countries but also among Muslim living in Western countries. This Islamic resurgence is reflected in the growing demand for Islamic literature, in the proliferation of religious movements and communitarian organizations, in the increasing involvement of Muslim youth and women in faith-based activities, and in the growing use of modern information and communication technologies for disseminating and exchanging Islamic materials as well as shred concerns.
Computer technologies are remarkably adept with both the textual and phoenetic modes of storage, retrieval and transmission. In recent years, varied computer technologies, including websites, CD-ROM, homepages and audio streaming technology, have been used for archiving, retrieval and dissemination of Islamic materials. The entire text of the Holy Quran (including the Arabic text and recitation by trained qaris), its translation in English and other European languages, brief commentaries on the Holy Quran and several collections of Hadith together with English translations are available on CD-ROM as well as on the Internet. A well-known software is Alim, made by ISL Software Corporation, Marylan, USA. It provides information on a wide range of subjects. The entire Arabic text of Imam Bukhari's celebrated collection of Hadith Al-Jami' al-Sahih as well as the well-known collection of Hadith by Imam Muslim are available on the website of Al-Islam (www.al-islam.com). An English translation of Bukhari (by Muhammad Muhsin Khan) and of Muslim (by Abdul Hamid Siddiqui) are available on the website of the Muslim Students Association of the University of South California (www.usc.edu/dept/MSA). These two sites also publish the Forty Hadith by Imam Nawawi in English. The multi-volume concordance and index of nine well-known collections of Hadith, prepared by the renowned Dutch Orientalist A. J. Wensinck, has been converted to electronic form. Several collections of Hadith in English translation are available on 22 websites and in French on 8 sites.
Islamic websites, which are rapidly multiplying, provide a wide range of information and materials, including an explication of the verses of the Holy Quran and selections from Hadith literature, informed opinion on the religious, social, economic, political and cultural affairs of the Muslim world, chat rooms, and online fatwa (solicited legal opinion or edict pertaining to specific issues and problems faced by Muslims in day-to-day life). IslamiCity (http://www.islam.org), based in the USA, is one of the important Islamic websites. In addition to providing fairly comprehensive information on the Quran and the Sunnah, the website offers online fatwa service, radio and television channels, chat rooms, Islamic screensavers and electronic greeting cards. IslamiCity has published more than 5000 fatawa on the Internet. Another important Islamic website is Huruf (http://www.huruf.com), which is jointly managed by Knowledge Management Systems (KnowSys) and ITLogic. Among other materials, it offers informed opinion and comments on contemporary issues related to the Muslim world. It also espouses inter-cultural and inter-civilizational dialogue. The website of As-Sunna Foundation of America (http://www.sunnah.org/msaec/.) provides information of a general nature on fundamental Islamic themes and sources.
Some websites are specifically devoted to providing fatawa (singular: fatwa) online. The distribution of fatawa on the Internet can be classified into two broad categories:(i) archiving as well as compilation of various fatawa which are already published in specialized books on the subject (ii) solicited fatawa in response to specific requests from surfers. The Saudi Arabian Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and fatawa, a government-regulated body, runs a website called fatawa-Online (http://www.fatwa.online.com). It received over 30,000 hits from surfers between October 1999 and December 2000. The As-Sunna Foundation of America (http://www.sunnah.org/fatwa/.) offers fatawa online. Another site is Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyya (http://www.haneen.com.eg/fatwa/fatwapage.html). Prominent institutions of Islamic learning, such as Al-Azhar University in Cairo, offer online fatawa services. Online fatawa are available in English as well as Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Malay, Urdu, Thai and other languages.
The task of providing authentic legal opinion in response to specific queries from surfers entails a great deal of competence and responsibility. Only a person who is well-versed in Islamic law, has a specialized knowledge of fatwa literature and has received training in issuing fatawa at a reputed institution of Islamic learning can perform this task. One peculiar problem with solicited fatawa on the Internet is that one cannot be sure whether the person who is providing the required information or opinion is a professionally trained and competent scholar or an amateur person with a smattering of Islamic law.
Modern computer technologies have great potential and prospects for the archiving, preservation, dissemination and exchange of Islamic texts and other materials, for forging Islamic identity, unity and solidarity, and for effectively responding to the challenges facing the Muslim ummah in the contemporary world.
Computer technologies are increasingly being used for archiving and preserving Islamic texts. At the Centre for Islamic Jurisprudence in Qom, Iran, several thousand texts, both Shii and Sunni, have been converted to electronic form. An Islamic organization based in Qatar has undertaken an ambitious project to preserve, by microfilming, unpublished manuscripts on Islamic subjects, which are found in large numbers in Muslim countries as well as in India.
Contemporary Islamic movements, especially those which have large, transnational followers, are making increasing use of modern information and communication technologies for providing information about their activities and programmes and for reinforcing connectivity and internal cohesion. The Naqshbandiya-Haqqaniya order of Sufism, with roots in Turkey, Cyprus, Syria and Lebanon, is one of the most prominent Sufi orders in Western Europe and North America. The teachings as well as activities and programmes of the order are disseminated to its followers located in different countries through books and pamphlets as well as over the Internet.
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture was founded in 1988 and is registered in Geneva, Switzerland as a private, non-denominational, philanthropic foundation. One of the aims of the Trust is to increase cross-cultural understanding of Islamic architecture and the close linkage between culture and architecture in Islamic civilization. The Trust has commissioned a new project called ArchNet (www.archnet.org) at the School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. The main objective of Archnet is to provide extensive high-quality, globally accessible intellectual resources focused on topics of architecture, urban design, urban development (including restoration and conservation), housing landscape, and concerns related to the Islamic world. Archnet provides, on an accessible server, images, a searchable text library, bibliographical reference databases, online lectures, statistical information, papers and reviews. Currently there are over 8000 images and 1500 publications related to the historical as well as contemporary architecture of the Islamic world in the Digital Library.
The Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World, founded in Leiden, the Netherlands in 1998, aims at promoting inter-disciplinary research on contemporary social and intellectual trends and movements in Muslim societies and communities. Its redesigned website (www.isim.nl) is a useful source of information on the contemporary Islamic world.
One of the significant features of our globalizing era is the existence of transnational communities or diasporas which maintain a vast network of culture and communication-greatly facilitated by the incredible advances in the means of transportation and in information and communication technologies-with their countries of origin. Telephone, satellite television and the Internet are playing a highly important role in connecting the diasporic communities to their roots and their homelands. With the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, more than 50% of the local Palestinian population were driven out of their homelands. More than four million refugees took shelter in the neighbouring countries as well as in Europe and North America. A whole generation was born and brought up in foreign lands, cut off from their homelands and their cultural roots. The members of this generation are now discovering, thanks to homepages on the Internet, their religious and cultural traditions as well as the villages from which their parents were forced to migrate. The commemoration of the martyrdom of young Palestinians killed by the Israeli forces now takes place on the Internet. Furthermore, families create their own websites to search for lost relatives. Messages, images and appeals related to shared concerns are downloaded from the Internet, forwarded and circulated, printed and pasted in mosques, on university and on café walls. Historical pictures of Palestinian villages and towns before the exile and those of the intifada are amongst the most downloaded and forwarded images. The growing use of computer technology is thus transforming the Palestinian refugees into a transnational virtual community and facilitating the reconstruction of their identity. Chat rooms, websites and mailing lists provide the infrastructure for this virtual community. The cybercafe provides an amiable atmosphere for the Palestinians to meet, exchange news and messages and to socialize. This process is reinforced through the Palestinian television channel and the Palestine Broadcast Corporation.
The Al-Jazeera, an independent 24-hour television channel with headquarters in Qatar, has greatly transformed public opinion in the Middle East. It is broadcasted via satellites and the Internet around the world. Al-Jazeera's on-the-spot telecast of the intifada and live shots of Israeli atrocities on the Palestinians are immediately spread on the Internet and distributed to a wide audience of Palestinians and other Arabs.
There is a sizeable Iranian diaspora in North Canada, USA and Europe. The Internet is playing a highly significant role in connecting the diasporic Iranian communities to each other and to their homeland. One of the prominent online Iranian magazines is www.iranian.com, with several sections and links. The news section, for example, has links to more than 150 online Iranian magazines and newspapers. Interestingly, Iran's online newspapers appear much before the printed editions are available on news stands in Tehran and other cities. In addition to magazines and newspapers, one can also access through the Internet Radio Payam (Tehran's local radio) as well as Radio Sada-e-Iran (a round-the-clock radio station located in Los Angeles). In Stockholm, Iranian local radio stations download programmes from the Internet and rebroadcast them for the local Iranian community.
The Nizari Ismailis are one of the small Shii sects living in more than 25 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Australia. The members of the community, who are generally highly educated, use computer technologies, from websites and e-mail listservs to weblogs and IRCS, to access and exchange information, issues and concerns of common interest. The Internet thus serves as a means of strengthening community solidarity and identity.
Modern information and communication technologies are also increasingly being used for transnational ethnic and political mobilization. The Kurdish refugees in North America and Europe, for example, run their own television channel and extensively use the Internet for reinforcing community solidarity and for pushing their political agenda.
As the use of computers, the Internet and mobile phones among Muslims is rapidly increasing, these services are also being used for disseminating and exchanging information about such things as the dates of Islamic festivals according to the Islamic calendar and other issues of common concern. A couple of months ago, newspapers in several European countries republished highly offensive cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (which were originally published by a Danish paper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005). This produced a great deal of anger and resentment among Muslims across the world. (see "Sacrilegious Cartoons" in this edition of The IOS Minaret). Some Muslim countries recalled their envoys to Denmark and declared a ban on the import of Danish goods. Danish goods and commodities were boycotted on a wide scale across the Muslim world, especially in the Middle East. Messages to boycott Danish goods were extensively circulated and forwarded through mobile phones and the Internet.
Modern computer technologies have great potential and prospects in store for the dissemination and exchange of Islamic materials, for forging communitarian unity, for effectively responding to the challenges facing the Muslim ummah, and for reinforcing Islamic identity.
Jealousy
Jealousy is a disease of the heart. It is, perhaps, one of the oldest problems of human beings.
Causes of Jealousy
1-Enmity: One has animosity for a person or group and does not want to see anything good happen to that person or group.
2-Ambition: It hurts a person to see someone else ahead or above him/her.
3-Pride and Arrogance: When a person is self conceited and arrogant, he/she feels very jealous to see anyone else going ahead or doing better.
4-Astonishment: Some time a person feels astonished that another person could do better than him/her. He/she feels surprised: 'How come that person became so rich, so successful, so popular, etc.?'
5-Fear: Fear that if another person would have such and such thing, then he/she may not have it.
6-Desire for power and prestige: Sometimes a person becomes jealous because he/she want to make one great by putting others down.
7-Evil nature and avarice of the heart: Some people just do not like to see others happy. They want to see the whole world in misery and difficulty except their own selves.
Normally jealousy occurs among people who know each other. It happens among siblings, among family members, people of the same profession and age.
"Do not be jealous of each other, do not boycott each other, do not hate each other, do not contrive against each other. Be all of you brothers to each other.
All praises and thanks be to Allah, Lord of everything that exists.The most Gracious, the Most Merciful.Master of the Day of Judgment You (alone) we worship, and You (alone) we ask for help.Guide us to the Straight Way The Way of of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger, nor those who went astray. Ameen
Oh ALLAH Increase me In Knowledge(Ameen)
Causes of Jealousy
1-Enmity: One has animosity for a person or group and does not want to see anything good happen to that person or group.
2-Ambition: It hurts a person to see someone else ahead or above him/her.
3-Pride and Arrogance: When a person is self conceited and arrogant, he/she feels very jealous to see anyone else going ahead or doing better.
4-Astonishment: Some time a person feels astonished that another person could do better than him/her. He/she feels surprised: 'How come that person became so rich, so successful, so popular, etc.?'
5-Fear: Fear that if another person would have such and such thing, then he/she may not have it.
6-Desire for power and prestige: Sometimes a person becomes jealous because he/she want to make one great by putting others down.
7-Evil nature and avarice of the heart: Some people just do not like to see others happy. They want to see the whole world in misery and difficulty except their own selves.
Normally jealousy occurs among people who know each other. It happens among siblings, among family members, people of the same profession and age.
"Do not be jealous of each other, do not boycott each other, do not hate each other, do not contrive against each other. Be all of you brothers to each other.
All praises and thanks be to Allah, Lord of everything that exists.The most Gracious, the Most Merciful.Master of the Day of Judgment You (alone) we worship, and You (alone) we ask for help.Guide us to the Straight Way The Way of of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger, nor those who went astray. Ameen
Oh ALLAH Increase me In Knowledge(Ameen)
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