Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "By the One in Whose Hand my soul is, were you not to commit sins, Allah would replace you with a people who would commit sins and then seek forgiveness from Allah; and Allah would forgive them". [Muslim].
Ayah (Quran)...
"Cursed be the liars. Who are under a cover of heedlessness (think not about the gravity of the Hereafter)" [Surah Adh-Dhariyat 51:10-11]
Quotables...
"The tongue of the wise man is behind his heart and the heart of a fool is behind his tongue." -Ali (RA)
If Saakashvili somehow survives this crisis, the opposition will probably be demolished. If Russia had effected ‘regime change’, the prospects for real change would probably have been even worse. So, no, it’s not that Putin is a good guy fighting Western imperialism. Partly, it’s just that one would appreciate balance in the discussion, and notices its glaring absence. We are facing perhaps not so much a ‘new Cold War’ as a new Great Game. Great power militarism, fuelled by a mortal combat over energy supplies, is always liable to generate nationalistic responses. We hear of ‘Russian nationalism’ as if it were something distinctly foreign, but the responses of the commentariat to this crisis - combining sanctimony with an explicit defense of ‘Western’ interests - hardly lack particularlism. The compulsion to identify with a nation-state as if it were the volksgeist incarnate, as if one could speak unproblematically of ‘our’ interests, is so universal that no one notices it until the enemy of the month appears to practise it too.
Russia will almost certainly throw its weight around a lot more in the Caucasus and Central Asia, probably arming and subsidising local proxies. America and those who support it globally will flood regional allies with weapons and money, build up the ‘lily-pads’, support any potentially secessionist current within Russia, anything that might be destabilising and drain resources, try to lure the country into a war it can’t win, and so on. In short, as I’ve said, we’ve just watched the world become more dangerous. Those who thought it would improve stability if US power was ‘balanced’ by two, three, many imperialisms were mistaken. Watch the arms race resume, see that new generation of nuclear weapons proliferate, observe as the mini-conflicts and conflagrations sponsored by different players leave thousands dead, and witness the deadly escalation in global tensions… and then you’ll see what I mean.
The Jewel of Madina is a new book about the life of Ayesha (RA)’s life from her marriage to the end of the Prophet’s life (SAW). Apparently it is also soft core pornography with no respect whatsoever accorded to our Mother or to our Holy Prophet (SAW). Al-Hamdulillah, it has been postponed for the time-being, but people - Muslims in fact - aren’t happy.
I guess I’m on a roll blogging about pathology. Why is it that people don’t understand that Islam, the Prophet (SAW), our Mother Ayesha (RA) are about more than just “history”. These ideas and individuals are closer to us than our families. Where are the limits drawn if it’s part of “freedom of speech” to depict our most beloved figures in this way. Where has the decency gone to in this world?
Maybe more later on.
I have bit of reading to do on morbid obesity for now.
Besides the terrible killings inflicted by the fanatics on those who refuse to pledge allegiance to them, Al-Qa’eda has lost credibility for enforcing a series of rules imposing their way of thought on the most mundane aspects of everyday life.
They include a ban on women buying suggestively-shaped vegetables, according to one tribal leader in the western province of Anbar.
Sheikh Hameed al-Hayyes, a Sunni elder, told Reuters: “They even killed female goats because their private parts were not covered and their tails were pointed upward, which they said was haram.
“They regarded the cucumber as male and tomato as female. Women were not allowed to buy cucumbers, only men.”
Other farcical stipulations include an edict not to buy or sell ice-cream, because it did not exist in the time of the Prophet, while hair salons and shops selling cosmetics have also been bombed.
Most seriously, Sheikh al-Hayyes said: “I saw them slaughter a nine-year old boy like a sheep because his family didn’t pledge allegiance to them.”
Such tactics have triggered a backlash among Sunnis, whom Al-Q’aeda had claimed to be protecting, the sheikh and military leaders said.
Lieutenant-Colonel Tim Albers, an American intelligence officer, told the news agency: “Al-Qa’eda’s very heavy-handed killing of civilians backfired on them. The Sunnis just wouldn’t stand for it any more.
“The self-described protectors of the Sunni community now kill more Iraqi Sunnis than anyone else.” Talk Islam
The Khawarij anyone? This is far, far beyond ridiculous. There is clearly a pathology of some sort at play and I don’t simply mean the anti-social variety.
Jabir b. Abdullah reported that a person came to the Messenger of Allah (SallAllah-u-Alaihi-wa-Sallam) at Ja’rana on his way back from Hunain, and there was in the clothes of Bilal some silver. The Messenger of Allah (SallAllah-u-Alaihi-wa-Sallam) took a handful out of that and bestowed it upon the people. He (the person who had met the Prophet at Ja’rana) said to him: Muhammad, do justice. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Woe be upon thee, who would do justice if I do not do justice, and you would be very unfortunate and a loser if I do not do justice. Upon this Umar b. Khattab (Allah be pleased with him) said: Permit me to kill this hypocrite. Upon this he (the Holy Prophet) said: May there be protection of Allah! People would say that I kill my companions. This man and his companions would recite the Qur’an but it would not go beyond their throat, and they swerve from it just as the arrow goes through the prey.
[Sahih Muslim: Book 005, Number 2316]
I hate politicians now with an ever greater zeal. As if we didn’t already know children aren’t even spared. So much for the kissing babies facade.
Apparently a young seven year old went through a “gruelling” competition to earn the right to sing at opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. At the last minute on the final dress rehearsal, the big Master Chief Man Daddy didn’t like her teeth. So he hired a cute face. And she was now under the impression that she was going to be singing. She the cute little thing goes on and on singing Hymn to the Motherland while in fact the voice being broadcast on the waves was that of the child with the buck teeth!
The heartlessness is beyong me… What was the purpose of projecting a child instead of a mega sex star if not to promote the virtues of innocence and simplicity?
Lucky for us our children have a greater sense of humility:
Yang Peiyi is said to have reacted well to the disappointment. “I am proud to have been chosen to sing at all,” she is reported to have said.
Few things are as wonderfully exciting as something that turns out to be better than one’s expectations. Episode I was something between a pile of garbage and Rasmuten’s moulded bread. So disappointed I was (now even I’m talking like Yoda) I couldn’t really bear to butcher my intensely fond memories of the classic Star Wars films by watching another parody of young adult fiction. Attack of the Clones, however, has about the mental intensity of a Disney film and the special effects of an old Pixar film. An agreeable romp then. For a while. Apparently the highlight of the film was Yoda wielding a lightsaber. Koolz.
But Episode III is just phenomenal. All the moral ambiguity of every Star Wars films finally climaxes and the deceits, downfalls, and failures of each side are laid bare. It’s almost as if each side could’ve been right. Is moral absolutism truly wrong? Were the Jedi really strong enough to do what was needed? Or was it the double standards of their principles that brought their downfall? Is benevolent hegemony the best for the Galaxy?
Absolutely a worthy prequel and a fine finale to the Star Wars saga. For me personally, a perfect forerunner to the upcoming Clone Wars.
As we watch another piece of Russia’s blood-soaked history unfold a but of rememberance may be in order.
The opposition protest reached its peak on November 22, the day of an opening session of a new parliament, which was considered illegitimate. The same day, opposition supporters led by Saakashvili with roses in their hands (hence the name Rose Revolution) seized the parliament building interrupting a speech of President Eduard Shevardnadze and forcing him to escape with his bodyguards. He later declared a state of emergency and began to mobilize troops and police near his residence in Tbilisi. However, the elite military units refused to support the government. In the evening of November 23 (St George’s Day in Georgia), Shevardnadze met with the opposition leaders Saakashvili and Zurab Zhvania to discuss the situation, in a meeting arranged by Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. After the meeting, the president announced his resignation. That prompted euphoria in the streets of Tbilisi. More than 100,000 protesters celebrated the victory all night long, accompanied by fireworks and rock concerts.
The outgoing speaker of parliament, Nino Burjanadze, assumed the presidency until new elections could be held. The Supreme Court of Georgia annulled the results of the parliamentary elections. In the January 4, 2004 presidential election Mikheil Saakashvili won an overwhelming victory and was inaugurated as the new President of Georgia on January 25. On March 28, 2004, new parliamentary elections were held, with a large majority won by the Saakashvili-supporting National Movement - Democrats, and a minority representation of the Rightist Opposition.
Perhaps, herein a lesson and encouragement for Pakistan also lies.
Putin on the Orange Revolution (the partly Georgian inspired equivalent in Ukraine):
“It’s extremely dangerous trying to resolve political problems outside the framework of the law — first the ‘Rose Revolution’, then they’ll think up of something like blue.”
I almost had a mind to completely ignore the past several millenia of inactivity on these cobwebbed pages and simply dive in and nonchalantly talk about how evernote is one of the more interesting web applications online and how it could be one of those things you eventually take for granted (like calenders, phones, and email) (if only it’d work a bit faster).
Or perhaps I could talk about how much I’m really looking forward to Batman: The Dark Knight at one point or another in my life especially since Batman Begins was one of Christopher Nolan’s poorer films. (Memento: Read Classic, The Prestige: Read Memorable, Batman Begins: Read Worth-Buying-Once-But-Only-If-You-Can-Successfully-Forget-Christain-Bales-’Batman is angry’-Voice)
Or I could tell you about how the Waterloo MSA Toolbar has fundamentally changed the way I browse and I haven’t even used half of its functionality.
So I will.
Beside’s the worship of Allah and the perpetual taxation of my Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone system, keeping my web browser as streamlined as possible is considered an important purpose in my life. This is of course not entirely true since I run Firefox which has always been broken (MyIE2 simply worked but ever since it upgraded itself, and ever since I migrated (physically), and ever since I found a couple of measly Firefox plug-ins I can’t seem to find on any other browser and am dependent upon (like Renin almost) (and believe me I’d settle for anything other than this memory-hogging, utterly unstable behemoth that is FF3) I’ve decided to focus on the ephemerality of life and just live with it) but this has always meant that toolbar add-ons were a giant no-no. Enter the experimental side of my personality which installs this phenomenal piece of work and since then I have been almost always listening to Sh. Anwar Al-Awlaki and his Seerah lecture series since I got it in. I haven’t even set up it’s automatic email checkers, or online radio (auto-detects your local stations!), or television (Islamic natch) or others I haven’t even gotten to scratch the surface of. Just a nice little list of lectures to pay partial attention too while browsing and reading and mulling.
Give it a whirl. It might get you hooked on to Sacred-Learnings podcasts and thereby encourage you to actually find a use for iTunes…
In a dramatic volte-face, the Afghan Senate has withdrawn its confirmation of a death sentence on Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, the student convicted of blasphemy for downloading a report on women’s rights from the internet.
