Loathe Thy Neighbor

This is regarding the infamous incident with the Katy Masjid and their neighbor holding pig races (article).

Watch the video from the Daily Show: click here.

Muslim Progression and Non-Muslim Regression in the News

Found these two great stories today. First, Islamic Artisans Constructed Exotic Nonrepeating Pattern 500 Years Before Mathematicians. Some highlights from the article:

“Here is evidence it [the pattern] was being used, if not understood, 500 years ahead of when we had any idea what was going on with [it] in the West,” says physics graduate student Peter J. Lu of Harvard University.

And,

O’Connor says that the heyday of Islamic mathematics occurred between the ninth and 13th centuries. “By the 15th century, the Renaissance was going on in Europe,” partly stimulated by the introduction of mathematical concepts from the Islamic world, including trigonometry and algebraic symbols, he says. “If they [quasicrystals] had been out there the whole time, it’s rather nice that everyone had overlooked them.”

In quite the opposite trend of sophistication, Psychics have been Hired to Search for Bin Laden.

Psychics were recruited by the Ministry of Defence to locate Osama Bin Laden’s secret lair, it was claimed yesterday.

Newly declassified documents revealed that the MoD conducted an experiment to see if volunteers could ’see’ objects hidden inside an envelope.

….

However, after running up a bill of £18,000 of taxpayers’ money, defence chiefs concluded there was ‘little value’ in using psychic powers in the defence of the nation and the research was taken no further.

….

And Mr Pope said: “I don’t think this was a waste of public money. Many people will say so, but I think it is marvellous that the Government is prepared to think outside the box.

“And this is as outside the box as it gets.”

I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. Has it really come to that? They couldn’t find anything better to do for 18,000 pounds? I wish someone would pay me money to “guess what’s in the envelope” .. Allahul Musta’aan….

Please check out the Aqeedah Blog

It seems like the Aqeedah Blog has gotten more active lately, and they are working on making a full aqeedah cirriculum starting. It is split into aqeedah 100, 101, 102, 201, and 202. According to the about page they are planning on making it more comprehensive and linking to English resources like Audio and books.  It seems like the 202 page has a lot more advanced stuff, but I hope once the other sections are rounded out, it will be a good reference point for anyone to learn aqeedah.

Good Article on AlMaghrib

Finally some good press.. from the Washington Report.

AlMagrib Institute: Islamic scholarship meets “cool” and “hip”

Contrary to conventional wisdom, fundamental Islam and “cool” are not necessarily mutually exclusive. In fact, since 9/11 the pursuit of Islamic scholarship has grown exponentially, and part and parcel of this revival is a new generation of hip and self-confident young Muslims. While previous generations sought to emulate mainstream American society by shedding their scarves and beards, today’s younger Muslim Americans increasingly show up in classrooms wearing traditional Muslim garb with self-esteem.

Much of this phenomenon is in response to the microscope put on Muslims since 9/11. The intense scrutiny and resulting introspection have caused Muslims to defend, protect and relish their faith and identity. As a result, North America is witnessing a burgeoning of organizations promoting Islamic education and awareness. Foremost among these is AlMaghrib Institute, which offers university-level double-weekend seminars to a growing student body of 7,000 in the United States and Canada.

Perhaps the AlMaghrib phenomenon is the result of its state-of-the-art advertising, graphics and 21st century vernacular. Or maybe it’s the way reverent material is delivered with a touch of, well, irreverence.

No Appeal for Gitmo Detainees

Sad news,

Guantanamo Bay detainees may not challenge their detention in U.S. courts, a federal appeals court said Tuesday in a ruling upholding a key provision in President Bush’s anti-terrorism law.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 that civilian courts no longer have the authority to consider whether the military is illegally holding foreigners.

Read the rest of the story here. This is kind of egregious use of powers, who is going to see if the military is doing something illegal or not? This reeks of fascism:

Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc. (source)

Related Posts:

• Locked up for real

Little Mosque on the Prairie Episode 5 (review and video)

I think this was the most repulsive episode so far. I knew it was only a matter of time before they got really close to making fun of something in the deen - I just didn’t think they would have the audacity to do it with salaah. Don’t even get me started on the convert dude angle and ending. It doesn’t even seem like Muslims are writing this show, I have seen more accurate portrayals of Islam in non-Muslim media.

I’m really curious now to see how those Muslims who are supporting this show feel now that even the prayer in Islam has been made fun of and mocked. If you think that last statement was a bit extreme, then the least that can be said is they portrayed salaah in a negative light. I don’t know how any Muslim with an ounce of emaan in their heart can still support a show after seeing that.

Alhamdulillah for this Fatwa!

Question:
I am a specialist doctor and I work mornings at a government university hospital. I have some free time during my work. During this time can I make use of the computers in the hospital to listen to lectures and do some research, or is that regarded as using it for personal reasons?.

Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.

If that is during your free time, and will not cause you any pressure that will affect your work, and does not cost the hospital money, such as using their paper and the like, then there is nothing wrong with it.

And Allaah knows best.

Islam Q&A

(source)

A Simple Verb Conjugation in Arabic

Here is a simple conjugation chart for Arabic verbs in the present tense:

Please see my related post on this topic as well: Learn 1 Quranic Vocab Word a Day.

A`budu (أعبد) = I WORSHIP
Ta`budu (تعبد) = SHE WORSHIPS or YOU WORSHIP (MALE)
Ta`budina (تعبدين) = YOU WORSHIP (FEMALE)
Ya `budu (يعبد) = HE WORSHIPS
Ya`budani (يعبدان) = THEY (TWO PEOPLE) WORSHIP
Ta`bud ani (تعبدان) = YOU (TWO PEOPLE) WORSHIP
Ta`buduna (تعبدون) = YOU (ALL) WORSHIP
Na `budu (نعبد) = WE WORSHIP
Ya`buduna (يعبدون) = THEY (ALL) WORSHIP
Ya`budna (يعبدن) = THEY (FEMALES) WORSHIP
Ta`budna (تعبدن) = YOU ALL (FEMALES) WORSHIP

*for the conjugations in blue, the letter before the suffix (in this case the dal) becomes sakin (has a sukun on it). Then a nun with a fatha (a “na” sound) is added to the end.

Do Google / YouTube Censor Anti-Islam Content?

Over the past few weeks I have seen a couple of instances where some anti-Islam things were taken out of Google or YouTube. The latest example is of Nick Gisburne, a well noted atheist. There was also a similar incident last year with Michelle Malkin.

I have to admit I am a bit torn by this debate. On the one hand, according to the free speech principle here, they should be allowed to say what they want in a non-violent manner. On the other hand though, I can’t help but feel a little happy about this. After seeing how worked up the neo-cons and right-wingers have gotten over this issue, I feel like they are finally getting a small taste of their own medicine. Muslims are slowly being deprived of their rights, first and foremost free speech.

*Please note* I am not endorsing the hate speech some whackos spout off, but I am defending our right to peacefully speak about our religion and not be marginalized like the butcher job the UK Dispatches people did. For more on the Dispatches issue, please see the following:

• UK Dispatches Documentary on British Mosques
• Yasir Qadhi Response to Dispatches
• Bilal Philips Reply to Dispatches

Fisibilillah Discount (UmmahFilms)

This is pretty good. Reminded me for some reason about the whole debate over AlMaghrib charging tuition. Another thing I remembered was something Muhammad AlShareef mentioned in Fiqh ad-Dawah about seeing some Saudi soccer jerseys selling for $80/each and how they sold out since it was a quality product, so people paid for it. Anyway…enjoy..