Is he fat? No he is "horizontally challenged"

Are you always Politically Correct in what you say? Meaning do you refer a bum as a 'displaced homeowner' or a blind person as a 'visually challenged' person? Or am I the only one who mostly calls a spade a spade?

"Politically Correct"
According to wiki (well they have referenced it to a book so it's not the work of a 12 year old kid):
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, handicap, and age-related contexts. In current usage, the terms are often used to connote intolerance, while the usage politically incorrect has been used by some as an implicitly positive self-description.

Some examples
Say no to fat, say yes to "horizontally challenged"
Say no to thin, say yes to "horizontally challenged"

Say no to tall, say yes to "vertically challenged"
Say no to short, say yes to "vertically challenged"
Say no to midget, say yes to "vertically challenged"

In the US, say no to black, say yes to "African American"
In the US, say no white, say yes to "Caucasian"
In the US, say no to Indian, say yes to "native American"
In the UK, say no to Paki, say yes to "Pakistani"

I don't know how correct they are but a list of "politically correct" words can be found here. A book that is quite good is The Official Politically Correct Dictionary.

Nobody likes racism
I see the point in many cases. Racism exists and racism is a disease. In the UK, the word 'Paki' has been misused so much so that you can't call a Paki a Paki anymore. This Prince whatever got into quite a mess for using this 'Paki' word. And it makes sense.

The funny thing is when Indians or Bengalis get called 'Pakis' by the Caucasians (trying to be politically correct here!). If one knows it, the Southern part of India (Tamil Nadu, etc) and Srilanka demographically have darker skin colour than the northern part of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc. When a Tamil gets called a Paki (and it happened to my Tamil colleague), it gets strangely hilarious. It's like calling Caucasian Brits as Polish!
Imagine a White bloke saying to a South Indian "Go home, Paki" to which the South Indian replies "Get lost, you Polish freak". Nah, my South Indian colleague wasn't like this when he got called a Paki, but I have this phrase in my mind just in case I get called 'Paki' by a Caucasian Brit!

Similarly, everyone knows well the sensitivity regarding the word 'black' and 'nigger'. There's a lot of politically correct words these days to replace such words.

Nobody likes mockery
Racism is the most common issue that initiated so many politically correct words today. However, people can get offended without having to resort to any racial terms.

Take 'fat' for example. A lot of fat kids in school are subject to bullying and harrassment due to the fact that they are overweight or sometimes obese. Now obesity can be a medical condition; it's not always down to eating shit loads of junk food. And grown-up fat people also get victimised by the 'physically fit' people regularly. Hence the politically correct word 'horizontally challenged'.

Similarly, midgets are to be called "vertically challenged", a ghetto area/neighbourhood is to be called "economically disadvantaged area".

Excuse my mind for thinking about this particular conversation -
Person A: You live in a ghetto!
Person B: No you twat, I live in an economically disadvantaged area.

Nobody likes insults
Sister term for mockery really. A bum might feel insulted if you call him a bum, so call him a "homeless person". And don't call a lunatic a lunatic! Before you know it, he might turn you into a "physically challenged" person. Mentally ill is the politically correct word for a crazy person.

And there are many cultural terms as well, that are sometimes grouped into racial insults but they are usually used by people to refer to a person from their own race that they see as not 'culturally fit'. 'Fresh-off-the-boat (or FOB)' is one such word used in America to imply any immigrant and 'Freshie' is the corresponding word in England. The ironic thing is when third-generation immigrants use these words to new immigrants (or first-generation immigrants) that come in the land of opportunity for the same reason as their own forefathers. Try calling your dad a FOB and your mum a freshie next time!

"I'm not racist, I just don't like white people!"
Haha that's a good one. I know some "Desi" people (South Asians) have this mentality and so do some black people. It is okay for an Indian to vote nobody but an Indian, or a black to vote for nobody but Obama, but it ain't okay for a white to vote a white!

You're just as racist as a white person who insults non-whites if you are a non-white person insulting a white.

"Support Our Troops"

Have you heard this phrase before? If you're a blog reader, then probably yes. But what does it mean literally and in essence?

Our/Their/My/Your Troop
Who is the "our" here and which troop represents "us" here?

Let's start with the obvious one. "Our" is the US-UK population and the troop that represents "us" are the "American-British" troop in foreign lands. But has the other side of the coin ever crossed your mind?

That "our" means the Afghan/Palestine population and the troop that represents "us" are the "Taliban-Hamas" troop.

Or "our" meant the Cuban/Vietnamese population and the troop that represented "us" are the "Cuban-Vietnamese" troop.

Or "our" meant the Indian/Malaysian population and the troop that represented "us" are the "Indian/Malaysian" troop that drove the British out of their lands.

So who is "us" and what is "our troop"?

Still not clear? Maybe these two contrasting pictures would help or make it even more unclear:

Picture 1: Support Our Troops (Our = US army)


Picture 2: Support Our Troops (Our = Talibans in Afghanistan)



The US army/Talibans don't necessarily represent "us"
A lot of stuff have been dedicated for "our" troops, claiming they represent "us". Music bands (like 3 Doors Down) and celebrities in general have gone platinum with their performance showing support for "our" troops. But do they really represent "us"?

Someone said, "Our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are not serving our country, they are serving Bush's stupid plans."
And another said, "And I say that the Talibans are WITHOUT A DOUBT oppressors."

Don't forget the very truthful phrase: "One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist".

And even if they represent "us"
So what if they represent "us"? Do they represent justice and truth? Or do they represent torture, oppression and massacre?

Would the German population be correct if they were saying "Support Our Troops" in WWII? Is your support based on nationalistic and tribal grounds or is it out of justice and truth?

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 in India against the British forces, were known to the British as the "Great Mutiny", but to Indians as the "First War of Independence". Who was "our troop" there to be supported?

"Get out of America"
It's quite sad and hilarious as well when some Americans, while supporting their troops blindly, throw this phrase to anybody who don't support "our (US)" troops. If that is not bigoted racism and nationalism, then what is? Thankfully, we have native Americans who beg to differ and don't support "their" troops if they are committing mass murders and rapes in the name of "war casualties".

Another braindead guy asked anybody not supporting US troops to stop "usual oil digging propaganda theories and killing of innocents" as a shield. This is the internet so I don't know who that braindead guy is; for all I know, he could be Lynndie England's high-school sweetheart.

Tighter Rules Fail to Stem Deaths of Innocent Afghans at Checkpoints

Hitler and supporters of Hitler are in the making, with these foolish people, supporting "their" troops no matter how much oppression and genocide they are causing. We can all sing along "When I'm gone" as long as "I" is one of us.

I enjoy satirical shows where a lot of humour is presented by way of ironical statements. Here's one such script:

"You know, I'm a man who believes in the American dream. I-I really do. And that dream is I'm in charge, and if you don't like what I'm sayin', then I'm gonna make wisecracks a-and drop a bomb on 'ya. That's it! That for me is, the, uh, the American dream, OK? And maybe, our country oughta sing a song about it, and have me walk around in slow motion.
That's the fully realized dream. You know, maybe then you could make a movie about me doin' that and we could do action figurines and then myself makin' a movie about blowin' the shit out of you while I make a wisecrack. That's the beauty of America. I'm allowed to dream! That's the dream!
... We'll be right-we'll be right here in the air conditioning, watching the news, and stewing over people like you who-who are trying to break into our houses, and trust me, you come into my house, buddy, you know there's gonna be, uh, uh, in store for a little double-barrelled surprise, OK? I will take you, and I will shoot a hole in you! And then I will torture you, and your family... for...freedom."

I'd really like to see the day when the oppressed people have the option to say what troop they want the rest of us, not being oppressed, to support. People like, the children of Gaza, as in here.

Dowry Culture to Groom: That's Retardism (Part 4)

Enough of external news, let me share some insider news now. And let me first tell you that I am ashamed that such incidents happened and continue to happen in my culture, but when you are ingrained to understand something in a certain way, anything contradictory to it sounds odd and unacceptable. Try talking about the ill-effects of fornication and drinking to many Westerners and you would see how their minds are ingrained into thinking how right fornication and drinking is.

My uncles and aunts
When you have the popular Indian culture with regards to dowry as defined here, being the parent of unmarried daughters is seen as a social burden. We have a local word for these parents, they are called "kanyadaygrosto pita" which translates into "father burdened with an unmarried daughter", and the social perception towards such fathers/mothers is not very pleasant.

My grandfather from my mother's side, has 8 daughters and 0 sons, meaning I have 7 maternal aunts and lots of cousins. My grandfather wasn't exactly the 'wealthy' person in society, and marrying off his daughters to good, respectable grooms (i.e. my uncles) seemed a mountainous task. I know many proposals that came to my younger aunts got turned down after the groom's family found out that my aunt's family is not rich enough, that they cannot make them 'happy' with the 'dowry gifts'.

My own mother, may Allah be kind to her always, also had to go through some of the ill-effects of dowry culture. A lot of times, it is the groom's family, who puts a lot of mental pressure to the bride and these things don't always come out because women in my society has the reputation of 'enduring social injustice' without complaining.

The opposite is true for my uncles who got married to outsider women, i.e. my aunts. Less than 10 years back I think, an uncle of mine got married and received plenty of 'gifts' including a car, a TV, new furnitures and stuff. Even then, my uncle's side complained that during the wedding feast (if I remember correctly), the bride family didn't make a good impression, and the car that they gave as a gift, was not the most pretty, newest model in the market.

Subsequent harrassment
This is again untold stories in my culture. It gets leaked or gets out only when the harrassment reaches the extreme condition, like the ones mentioned in Part 2 and 3.

The husband or the family of the husband would remind the wife of her family's shortcomings during the wedding (i.e. the 'gifts') in every opportunity that arises.

Ponder O Muslims and humans!
No wonder many women in my society now see 'Western' culture to be the liberating society for women, because back in her home, she is treated like a trash. No wonder they turn into Socialists, because Socialists and Human Rights organisations are the only heard voices in my society against such inhumane prejudice. No wonder many women in my society then links this behaviour from their husbands to Islam, this humiliation upon them as a product of Muslim culture.

Laa! Do not mix this with Islam. This is Hinduism and paganism. This is oppression.

Our Lord says (as translated):
“…And live with them (the women) in kindness…” [Qur’aan an-Nisaa'4:19]

The Messenger of our Lord, peace and blessings be on him, said, "A believing man should not hate a believing woman. If he dislikes something in her character, he would be pleased with some other trait of hers." (Saheeh Muslim)

And the Messenger said, "The most perfect of believers in faith is the best of them in character. And the best of you are those who are the best to their women." (Sunan at-Tirmidhee)

Dowry Culture to Groom: That's Retardism (Part 3)

Ponder upon two more stories, and I am mentioning them both in one Part.

Monimala 'set afire for dowry,' fighting for life
A young housewife, set afire allegedly by in-laws, is fighting for her life. The victim, Monimala, 20, got more than 40 percent of her body including face and chest burnt during the incident. Source

Newly married woman killed for dowry

A newly married woman was killed by her husband over dowry. The victim, Rozina Khatun, 18, got married only 20 days ago. But her husband Jahangir Khan tortured her regularly for dowry money after their marriage, the police said.

Failing to realise the dowry money, Jahangir beat up his wife and strangled her at his house at about 10:30pm on Thursday. Jahangir and all his family members went into hiding following the incident. Source

Dowry related deaths is one of the chief concerns in India, and guess who are most vocal against it? The Socialists. (Rising number of dowry deaths in India)

I wish the Muslims were more vocal than them and I wish the Muslims would raise their voice against the 'elderly scums' and Muslim terrorists oppressing my sisters.
I can post news after news such as this and all of this is to illustrate one point and one point only: Dowry culture to groom is retardism and turns humans into animals.

Dowry Culture to Groom: That's Retardism (Part 2)

Ponder upon this story and see if you are human enough to appreciate the inhumane characteristic of the perpetrators:

Parvin Khatun, 25, had both her hands amputated at wrists and made almost blind by a vicious bomb attack allegedly orchestrated by her husband and in-laws in October 2000, for dowry.

Just three months into Parvin's marriage with Mohammad Alamgir Hossain Tipu in April 2000, in exchange for a dowry of Tk 9,000 (£90), 1.25 bhoris of gold ornaments, and nine bhoris of silver ornaments, she was approached again by her husband and in-laws for more.

Her husband, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law pressed her to return to her parents and bring at least Tk 5,000 more, or nine pieces of corrugated tin, putting Parvin, who was only sixteen back then, in a very difficult situation.

Only three months ago, her father, Mohammad Abdul Alek, a day labourer, had to endure immense hardship to arrange a dowry for his daughter's wedding.

"I didn't know from where my father would get the extra amount. However I went to my parents, but returned empty handed two days later," Parvin said as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I'm the only daughter with three sons in the family, and I could feel the pain of my parents and the brothers, who were feeling totally helpless," she added.

When Parvin tried to explain to her husband and the in-laws that her parents are too poor to meet their demand, her husband's entire family became furious. They started citing, day and night, examples of other families in the village who had received larger amounts of dowries.

One Saturday morning in October 2000, her mother-in-law and sister-in-law asked her to collect hay from the harvest of paddy, and pile them up in front of their house. As she gathered the hay, she found two neatly wrapped packets underneath.

"My mother-in-law and sister-in-law asked me to take the packets to my room and to open those. They ran out of the room, and I don't remember anything after that," Parvin said.

She was admitted to Rajshahi Sadar Hospital with horrendous injuries, where doctors amputated both of her hands from the wrists. She lost one of her eyes, and can hardly see with the other. She said all her body bears marks of injuries.

As usual a case was filed with Paba police station, which kept dragging on. At one point a village shalish (an unofficial court of village elders and influential people) 'settled the matter' by ordering her husband and his family to return the entire amount of dowry that Parvin's family had paid at the time her wedding, and granted her husband's family immunity from any punishment.

"They did return the dowry to my parents, but I got nothing. Now I'm struggling hard to live on as a handicapped person," Parvin sobbed. (Source)

Apart from the dowry related oppression, let me remind you that these 'village elders' are of similar cults as those scumbags that I mentioned here. And you can easily spot the trend with these cults: make an arbitration council, shame the victim, give respite to the criminal, and sometimes torture the victim even further. This is the type of cult that is existent in many parts of the world today, sadly. And when you hear or see a Muslim screaming against the oppressive Zionists and non-Muslim soldiers (as they should), please remind them to scream against these Muslim terrorists as well and not be biased against their Muslim sisters being tortured by animal-like Muslims, sometimes in the name of 'Islam'.

Dowry Culture to Groom: That's Retardism (Part 1)

This has been in my mind for a long time. I grew up in a culture that is heavily influenced by the Indian culture and traditions, and from one of the despicable practices that Muslims in Bengali/Indian culture have acquired is the practice of dowry to the groom, i.e. the husband, as a condition for marriage to take place.

What is Dowry?
This needs to be defined first. Dowry is payment, in the form of cash, cheque or other goods, to the groom, before marriage between them can take place. Any money paid to the bride (or the bride's family) before marriage is technically dowry but that is not of concern here, as that is not the subject of oppression in society, nor is it the generally accepted usage of the term dowry (feminists should definitely agree with me on this!). Henceforth, whenever dowry is mentioned, it is with regards to dowry to the groom, not the bride.

Gift: We don't call a spade a spade
The word 'dowry' has caused a lot of social tension and is now linked to the groom (and his family) being shallow and oppressive. Hence people don't like calling a spade a spade.

Dowry is now referred to as a 'Gift' or an 'Honour'. Cool. I want gifts too! I want a Porsche 911 and a mansion in Beverly Hills, California as 'gifts'!

Origin of Dowry (aka 'Honorary Gift')
I think most Westerners and 'educated, civil' society in the non-Western world, who are accustomed to this word dowry, know that it has something to do with Indian culture or Hinduism. Therefore many Hindus have tried to explain and defend this origin, to appear this as civilised and acceptable, but make no mistake, the concept of 'dowry' is from Hinduism, just as accepting a man to be the literal 'Son of God' is also from Hinduism (no, I will bet, it is not an Abrahamic tradition!)

At this point, let me mention that dowry was very much practised in Europe as well, in ancient Greece and elsewhere, dating back to the ancient Babylonian 'Code of Hammurabi' (read).

I will not beat around the bush here. I will take in from the horse's mouth (Hindu literature and rituals) to remove any doubt you may have, that dowry ('gift') is not from Hinduism.

"The ritual of worship while crossing the border (Simantapujan):

1. Definition: The practice of honouring the groom at the border after he leaves his village (or if the proposal is from the same village, when he leaves his house) and enters the bride’s village by the bride’s relatives offering him clothes, etc. is known as the ritual of worship while crossing the border (Simantapujan).

2. Welcoming the groom and honouring the elder son-in-law: ‘In this ritual of worship (puja) the bride’s father washes the feet of the groom and offers him clothes and ornaments. At the same time he also offers betelnuts and betel leaves to all other members of the groom’s side. Before the ban on the dowry system by the law, the bride’s father would give the dowry to the groom’s father. The groom’s father would receive the dowry fearing that it may not be given after the marriage. According to the scriptures the offering to the groom (Varadakshina) is given after the giving away of the bride (Kanyadan)." Source

So within this Hindu source (that wishes to unite Hindus all over the world), one can see that not only is dowry a part of Hindu ritual, the father of the bride also has to wash the feet of the groom to honour him! So if any man out there wants to be honoured by having your feet washed by the father of the bride, marry a Hindu girl!

One may also notice that the dowry ban is talked about, which is the ban in India (read) after Hindus misused this ritual by finding loopholes into it. And then came the politically correct word 'gift' with no pre-conditions attached to it. Obviously, India's laws are defined as per the notion of the country being a 'socialist, secular, democratic, republic' and consideration to Hindu laws and rituals do not officially come under the country's laws if they contradict the Constitutional values of India.

The Indian legal advice website, mentions some interesting things about dowry (bearing in mind, they are not representing Hinduism but rather Indian supreme laws):

"The ancient marriage rites in the Vedic period are associated with Kanyadan. It is laid down in Dharamshastara that the meritorious act of Kanyadan is not complete till the bridegroom was given a dakshina. So when a bride is given over to the bridegroom, he has to be given something in cash or kind which constitute varadakshina. Thus Kanyadan became associated with varadakshina i.e. the cash or gifts in kind by the parents or guardian of the bride to the bridegroom. The varadakshina was offered out of affection and did not constitute any kind of compulsion or consideration for the marriage. It was a voluntary practice without any coercive overtones. In the course of time, the voluntary element in dowry has disappeared and the coercive element has crept in. it has taken deep roots not only in the marriage ceremony but also post-marital relationship. What was originally intended to be a taken dakshina for the bridegroom has now gone out of proportions and has assumed the nomenclature 'dowry'." Source

And I would be fair here. It was not meant as a coercive persuasion, with the groom's family demanding "I want this, this and this"; rather it was a ritual that the bride's family gave as gifts to honour the groom. However, without this ritual, the marriage is not complete and Hindus exploited it, with their caste system (read), whereby it was expected that the bride's family must make the groom and his family 'happy' with the 'gifts'; otherwise that would mean the bride would later be harrassed and tortured with even the possibility of cancellation of marriage.

So the popular 'Indian culture' as related to dowry was set out as follows:

"One of the evils of Hindu marriages is the ubiquitous dowry system. The amount of dowry can be a very substantial amount, even in dollar terms, depending upon the financial status of the parties involved. Sometimes greedy mother-in-laws and husbands subject the poor brides to innumerable hardships for not meeting their expectations in respect of the dowry. Cases of bride burning are not unknown. Indian penal code prescribes severe punishment for such acts. But the cases take years and decades before the courts deliver justice.

Hindu marriages are also very expensive because of the status, dowry, expensive gifts, family prestige and other issues involved. The bride's parents have to bear the brunt of most of the expenses and in many cases it leads to their financial indebtedness." http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_marriage.asp

It is this dowry culture that has led to unthinkable degrees and numbers of oppression and violence towards women. Sadly, many Muslims who should have nothing whatsoever to do with this 'caste system' and 'dowry', are more eager than the modern Hindus in this respect to exploit women and humiliate them. That is what I am going to highlight in subsequent parts, God willing.

Make things easy, Muslims! (Part 1a)

Another long series, inshaAllah, addressing the hastiness and improper, incorrect means of conveying information and calling to the Lord. This is quite religious in nature, therefore I think it is best to dedicate whole of Part 1 of the series with proofs from Quran and Sunnah and what the Scholars mentioned as appropriate, about patience, wisdom, kindness and associated characteristics.

I'd then focus on various practical examples that I have personally known or heard of and perhaps put forward few very plausible, hypothetical situations to pin-point the characteristics that go directly against Quran and Hadeeth.

What is established from the Speech of our Lord is that one must have correct knowledge about what they are talking about, be patient and kind, and exert wisdom in conveying the information to those who do not know.

Quranic Verses

The following translated Verses are appropriate (and commentaries to follow later):

1. "Say: this is my way, I call to Allaah upon sure knowledge (Baseerah); I and whosoever follows me ..." [Surah Yusuf 12:108]

2. "And follow not ( i.e., say not or do not or witness not) what you have no knowledge of. Indeed the hearing, sight and the heart, one will be questioned of all of those" [Surah al Israa 17:36]

3. "The believers (Mu'minoon) are nothing but brothers to one another. So make reconciliation between your brothers, and fear Allah, that you may receive Mercy" [Surah al Hujuraat 49:10]

4. "O you who believe! Let not a group amongst you mock another group; it may be that the latter is better than the former! Nor let (some) women ridicule other women; it may be that the latter are better than the former! Nor defame one another, nor insult one another by nicknames. How evil is it to insult one's brother after having Faith (Imaan)! And whosoever does not repent, then such are the Oppressors (Zalimoon)" [Surah al Hujuraat 49:11]

5. "O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion; indeed some suspicions are sins. And spy not, nor backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? And fear Allah..." [Surah al Hujuraat 49:12]

6. "Invite (mankind, O Muhammad) to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better" [Surah an Nahl 16:125]

7. "And by the Mercy of Allaah, you dealt with them gently. And had you been severe and harsh hearted, they would have broken away from around you; so pardon (their faults), and ask (Allaah's) Forgiveness for them" [Surah Al ‘Imraan 3:159]

8. "And speak to him mildly, perhaps he may accept admonition or fear Allaah" [Surah Taha 20:44] (Referring to Prophet Moses in his admonition to one of the worst people in the history of mankind, Pharaoh!)

9. "...Only those who are patient shall receive their reward in full, without reckoning (i.e. limit)" [Surah az-Zumar 39:10]

10. "And do not insult the false gods that they worship besides Allaah, lest they insult Allaah wrongfully without knowledge..." [Surah al Anaam 6:108]

Prophetic Hadeeth

1. The Prophet, peace and blessings be on him, said, "Make things easy and do not make things difficult, give glad tidings and do not repel the people [from you]." (Saheehayn)

2. The Prophet said, "O Aaishah (wife of the Prophet), Allah loves kindness in everything." (Saheehayn, in which Aaishah went overboard in her speech to the Jews!)

3. The Prophet said, "Proceed with calmness and tranquility up until you enter their (disbelieving) land, then invite them to Islaam and inform them of what Allaah the Most High has made obligatory upon them (as it relates to the religion). For by Allaah, if Allaah was to guide a single person through you, then it would be better for you than red camels.” (Saheehayn)

4. The Prophet said, "It is enough lying for a man to speak of everything that he hears." (Saheeh Muslim)

5. The Prophet said, "It is enough sin for a man to speak of everything that he hears." (Saheeh Muslim)

6. The Prophet said, "And Allah dislikes gossip (قيل وقال) for you, asking too many questions." (Saheeh al-Bukhari)

7. The Prophet said, "Allah has sent this command to me through revelation: Take to humility. Let no man pride on another man, nor adopt superiority complex and let no one be unjust to anyone." (Saheeh Muslim)

8. The Prophet said, "Truly the religion is easy. And no one contends with the Deen except that it will overwhelm him. So seek out a balanced correctness, do as much as you can, and rejoice (at your reward). And seek assistance (from Allah) in the early morning, the afternoon, and some part of the late night." (Saheehayn)

9. The Prophet said, "What an evil habit it is for a man to say: 'They claimed...'" (Sunan Abu Dawud)

10. The Prophet said, "O you who have spoken the words of faith but faith has not entered your hearts! Do not backbite about the Muslims or seek our their faults, for whoever seeks out their faults, Allah will seek out his faults even if he is in his house." (Sunan Abu Dawud)

11. The Prophet said, "Indeed you (Muslims) were only sent to make things easy, and you were not sent to make things difficult."

Relevant narrations from the Commander of the Believers

1. 'Alee, the son of Aboo Taalib, said:

"Narrate to people what they can understand; do you want Allah and His Messenger to be disbelieved?"

(Saheeh al-Bukhari, Chapter about a person preferring some people with certain knowledge to the exclusion of others.)

2. 'Umar, the son of al-Khattab, said:

"Beware of fitnah (trials and afflictions), for a word at the time of fitnah could be as devastating as the sword"

To be continued...

Now this Part 1 needs a bit of research and I need to be careful about what I say, since speaking about Verses of the Quran and Hadeeth is not for every Ahmad. The Prophet of Allaah said:

1. "Whoever says anything about the Quran without knowledge, then he should take his abode (home) in hell" (Sunan Abu Dawud)

2. "Whoever talks about the Quran on the basis of his opinion, and even if he says something true in it, he has made a mistake" (Sunan Abu Dawud, Sunan an-Nasa'i)

Please bear with me as I would update you, God willing, with the commentaries of these Verses and Scholarly clarifications.

Edit:

Part 1b (April 2010)

Part 1c (April 2010)

Facebook mania (Part 2)

A lot of matured people would agree with me on this as they are not uncommon.

Wasting time and being addicted
Look at that teen kid who failed his school test. From the most normal reasons is that he was playing games for too long or he was into 'social' stuffs instead of studying. From checking facebook status and notifications to the newly developed 'chat' mode, many people spend more time on facebook than with their family. And that is perceived to be the cool thing to do!

I have seen guys chatting with over 10 people simultaneously on facebook. It's not unique to facebook, as MSN and Yahoo would do this as well, but time wasted on talking about what that girl was wearing the other night and what that guy was talking the other day takes up more than time spent on life outside of facebook. It's very common to see in buses and trains, people checking on facebook and updating their 'status'. 'Twitter' is also another similar stuff, while that is more mobile-based.

No wonder companies and schools monitor how much time their employees and students spend on social sites and make redundancy decisions based on such information. Many companies and schools have blocked it as well. I am myself guilty of checking facebook and updating stuff during work, but I got away with it!

Some interesting and somewhat obvious quotes from an interview done by Associate Professor (Reader in UK) of Psychology in Carleton University, Canada can be read here. Various surveys and statistics are also available (use 'google'!) to see the time spent on facebook. We had drug addicts, sex addicts, games addicts, etc and now we have 'facebook addicts'!

Who's your friend?
The privacy concern is always there. Let's be honest, how many of your contacts do you know well enough? How many have you met or talked to over the phone?
I can pull out pictures, notes, private information about many people who are not even in my friends' list just by going from one page to another page. Security settings are not as secure as you think they are. And maybe your security settings are strong, but that photo album from your friend's friend contains photos of you and your lover smooching in that club which you probably don't want everyone to see!

And what happens when that picture is not only seen, but also shared to the whole world? How would you feel to see an almost naked picture of your sister in a 'drunkteens.com' type of website?

You might think, well I'm a guy, what can happen to me! Well, think again dude. A newspaper reported in Bangladesh that various groups of frauds are active, whereby they posed as 'hot chicks', befriended the guy, set up an appointment, took a hooker with them, let the hooker have five minutes of pleasure with the guy while the group secretly films it and takes photos, and then before you know it, they blackmail you. And you may happen to be this honest, decent guy everyone knows or a respected person in your family and stuff, and all that is about to die away.

All this might sound all about gloom and doom, but really, who's your friend and who's your friend's friend?

Poking other people's business
Now this is somewhat natural I guess and therefore people might just say it ain't poking, it's getting to know what your friends are up to. Well whatever you call it, your friend probably doesn't want you to see what type of conversations she is having with her future husband or her mother, and you may not want others to see that particular wall-to-wall conversation with one of your contacts.
Obviously, you should have used private messaging but other business, like what groups you join, what applications you use, it's all open to the world. And many people might have nothing better to do other than to catch up with what you're up to! And you may not even know that 'friend' of yours!

Blackmailing and misusing
I already mentioned about it above. But I emphasize again, I know of facebook accounts that have been hacked or maybe somehow the person got control of it, and then misused it fully. From using your private pictures to using your friends and family's private pictures and sharing them and putting them up in websites is not unheard of.

So what then?
Well people would use facebook, regardless of these adverse effects. I use facebook and would continue to use it. But it's important not to let this usage turn into an addiction or to put something in it that can be misused.

I know people use facebook for genuine, perfectly valid reasons, like being in touch with your brother who happens to live in Congo. Someone once commented, how would life be without facebook? I say, just go back about 4 years and you'd see how life was without facebook. People survived well without it, and will survive even if it stops tomorrow.

Facebook mania (Part 1)

Reading my earlier posts, one might assume I am always a very serious person with some sort of agenda or propaganda or something. Other than what I have stated about my blog, I'm sorry to disappoint anyone who's thinking otherwise. I think it's good time to talk a bit about less-serious stuffs like facebook instead of rape and murders and genocides. Although, honestly speaking, expect a lot more serious stuff like that, in future, God willing.

"I'm into facebook"
I first came to know about facebook in the autumn of 2006, in an internet forum for students, and when this member started posting her profile link and all, I really thought it's just like any other site and a total waste of time. (Well it is a waste of time in many cases though!)

I have used other social networking sites prior to that, like hi5 and zorpia, but they all failed the test of time and popularity compared to facebook. An entrepreneur was talking the other month about how genuine the ideas of sites like facebook and google were, but come to think about it, social networking sites and search engines were already existent before facebook and google. But yes, the creators had talent and insight into the business as they knew exactly what the users wanted and needed (being users themselves) and provided a very simple, safe and free solution to the user needs (that other social networking sites and search engines could not give).

It's very normal to see school, college and university students (teens and youths) to be on facebook, and that was the case initially, but in recent years, even the middle-aged and elderly (not to be confused with the village elderly scums I mentioned here) people are on facebook. Of course while the 20-year old daughter happens to have just over 500 friends, the 50-year old momma happens to have just under 50 friends, but almost everyone (using the internet) is there.

I know my cousins and friends are there and almost every single person I met at uni is there, and I am there too!

Here's a real-life facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=423147527852&ref=mf

"I've been fraped"
With any new craze, expect new urban words and phrases popping all over the place. 'Frape' is a good example. It's when you leave your facebook account signed on and someone else (your roommate or friend) comes and 'rapes' your account, i.e. makes you look like a freak.

Finally guys can claim to be raped too, or fraped. Though you can probably understand easily that the person has been fraped, if you know him/her well to know that he won't say "I like sausages, hot and big" for a facebook status.

The entertainment industry is also capitalising on such things. You now have stand-up comedians making people laugh over something that happened in facebook (try Aziz Ansari) or TV shows and movies making references to it (Gossip Girl, etc). It's expected though; coz facebook is the happening thing these days (along with al-Qaeda and terrorism).

"Add me up on facebook"
Please don't disagree with me on this coz it's so damn true. Facebook has replaced the traditional way of communication, just as emails replaced letters.

• You like someone, find the person on facebook.
• You looking for someone, type his name or email address.
• You want people to come to this happening event (birthdays, parties, conferences, etc), put up an event invitation to your 500 friends and you can save money trying to text them or call them or do it the traditional 'card invitation' way.
• You want to preach your ideas to your contacts and unknowns, set up facebook groups, notes, links, etc. (Blogs, forums and websites also fall under this purpose but they are not as happening as 'facebook'!)
• You have this arranged marriage thing going, get to know your bride/groom on facebook.
• And the list goes on and on...

It's even opened doors to the shy ones, the geeky and nerdy ones, the "social outcasts". Never mind not being able to say a single line when you're with the person, open up your mind on facebook! It's like the MSN and Paltalk chatters, the virtually 'social' people.

People also tend to do whatever they like, knowing fully well that contacts would see them or comment on them. From crazy photos from nights out to the coolest gadget you got, you'll get noticed! Certainly, this facebook mania is here to stay until something else takes its place. If you're not in it, that's probably because you got bored, so step back and watch the 10-12 year old kids take your place and get this mania going!

I'll mention few things about the ill-effects this mania has caused in Part 2.

Double Homicides & Gang Rape by Terrorists

These are two very recent stories that came out. The first one is about two terrorists, one a Muslim by name and the other a Hindu by name, uniting for one purpose: to turn a girl into an orphan by killing both her parents. The second one is about a poor girl who was gang raped, while the neighbours were all aware of her screams during the incident.
I will let you decide which is a greater act of terrorism.

First incident
One of the terrorists proposed marriage to the victim's parents for their daughter, but due to the criminal reputation of the terrorist, the parents duly refused his proposal. It happened in the capital city of Bangladesh, and the parents had even made arrangements for their daughter to flee off to Malaysia in an effort to save her from the terrorist. Read here in Bengali.

Murderers are sadistic in general, but what is even more horrific is the way they commit such murders and the mentality they have. These terrorists, while killing both the mother and the father, told the elder daughter (the elder sister of the family, who was present during the act of murder) as a solemn mode of confirmation, "We have left your mother and father dead, now stay alone."

I personally don't think even an ounce of humanity is left in these terrorists. I would leave the Words of our Lord for such terrorists when He said (as translated), "“And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell to abide therein; and the Wrath and the Curse of Allaah are upon him, and a great punishment is prepared for him”
[Quran, Chapter 4: al-Nisaa, Verse 93]

Maybe it's of no use preaching to braindeads, which is why I'll expound on what is the prescribed punishment for these terrorists later, God willing.

Second incident
The story is as follows: the poor girl lives with another girl in a slum and the local drug addicts have been bothering her for some time and on the day of incident, they made an attempt to rape her but the girl strongly defended herself with a dagger-like knife (locally called 'boti') which prompted the addicted youths to threaten her and leave.
Following that, she and the other girl she lived with felt very insecure and went to the neighbour's house for shelter. (In case you're wondering, in places like that and situations like these, the victim does not have access to security forces and the local police are sometimes corrupt enough to rape an orphan-girl themselves.)

What happened after that is tragic. During dinner time, the neighbour liaised with the youths to bring them over and this time, betrayed by the neighbouring family, she could not defend herself. The scums dragged her in another room, gang raped her and left. The number of rapists probably were more than 10 (yes, ten!) and there were loud screams initially that the entire neighbourhood could listen, but nobody did anything to save her, until the screams disappeared to silence.

I don't really have much to say on this incident. One of the readers of the news commented that he cried just reading the news and another commented the entire neighbourhood are to blame and should be hanged for failing to provide security to the girl.

I'd again leave off with the Verse of our Lord for such people:
"The recompense of those who wage war against Allaah and His Messenger and do mischief in the land is only that they shall be killed or crucified or their hands and their feet be cut off from opposite sides, or be exiled from the land. That is their disgrace in this world, and a great torment is theirs in the Hereafter"
[Quran, Chapter 5: al-Maaidah, Verse 33]

What some Muslims do (Part 1b)

Following on from Part 1a here, I have had some time to digest the story and comment on it.

The type of story mentioned is not uncommon, I'm afraid. They occur frequently in various lands but what is so ironic about such stories is that sometimes the culprits try to put forward or hide behind something that is inncoent of such crimes, for instance 'Islam'! Here are few issues that I've been thinking:

1. From where did these idiots get the notion of having an arbitration council that would not include anyone outside of their locality? In other words, according to their rationale, you can now go to their village, kill these idiots, and get away with it, because you are not from that village!

2. When you have security forces, local governments and other means of legal procedures, who gave those "elderly" fools the permission and validity of having a council of their own that would judge capital crimes?

3. The council found the girl guilty of "illicit sex". Of course, if a woman is pregnant, and the baby is not from her husband, that is technically speaking, due to "extra-marital sex".
Technicalities aside, these so-called village elders judged by something that is from the act of ignorance, or maybe from a cult they practise in their village, but it's certainly not Islam.

In case of a woman who is raped, if it is during her early days of pregancy she has the right to abort the baby, and if it is during the later days, she is prescribed to keep the baby as the baby has already been given life. Moreover, in Islam, every child that is born, regardless of who their parents are, is innocent and pure, and this is from the novelty of Islam.
For more on abortion out of rape in Islam, read this.

One does not need to belong to any religion to appreciate that women that are raped and subsequently getting pregnant are not guilty of "illicit sex". I wonder what religion or cult those idiots ("village elders") truly belong to. Could be something like the medieval Christian cults led by Pope John XXII and others that engaged in what is known as "witch hunting".

4. The council gave the 'guilty' 101 lashes. I have never heard of any 101 lashes being the prescribed punishment of a girl being raped and subsequently pregnant. What about the rapist Enamul Mia? Oh I forgot, he ain't from the same village.
It would be sadistic for me to say this, but I would say it anyway, how about an outsider psycho cuts off the genitals of these elderly idiots and then have an arbitration council where these idiots are given 101 lashes each, for being transsexual?

5. Why the hastiness in executing the 101 lashes punishment? Why not bring Enamul Mia, do some DNA tests, get some witnesses, etc.? My bad, that's not the ritual of their cult!

I will stop here. It's getting too long and I hope everybody got the point already. What these idiots have done is from injustice, oppression and creating loopholes for future rapists.

What some Muslims do (Part 1a)

Right, this is going to be a long series highlighting events and incidents showing the ugliness of some Muslims while they hide under the banner of Islam. Part 1 highlights the plight of a 16-year old girl who was raped. If that was not enough, she was whipped 101 times by the "elderly, influential" scumbags of a village in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh. One wonders, is this 2010 or pre-Islamic ignorance where honour killings of women and daughters used to be practised regularly (oops, honour killings still exist today!!)?

So here's the story (read):

A 16-year old school girl was on her way to High School when she was raped by 20-year old Enamul Mia.

The girl was too ashamed and too afraid to lodge a police report against the rapist. By the time the family discovered the rape, she was already pregnant. In a desperate bid at damage control, the family managed to marry her off to a man in the neighboring village. But a month after the marriage, the husband became suspicious at her rapidly ballooning belly. A medical examination quickly established the fact that she was 7 months pregnant!

So the outraged husband promptly divorced her. With no place to go, she returned to her father’s place. She then underwent an abortion. But now the whole saga had become public knowledge.

On January 17 this year, about 8 months after the rape, an influencial group of matabars (village elders) led by Manik Mia decided to form a so-called arbitration meeting at the father’s place. The arbitration council included 2 Imams from neighboring mosques.

The press report stated that at one stage of the inhuman torture, the girl collapsed and fainted. She regained her sense after two hours.

In any event, the village arbitration council found the girl guilty of illicit sex resulting in pregnancy (ignoring that it is from a rape) and issued a fatwa (religious edict) for her to be given 101 lashes of the cane. Village leader Delwar Hossain alias Ullashi executed the durra (lashes) on the same day, January 17.

Furthermore, the arbitration council also fined the victim’s father Tk 1,000 (£10) and issued another fatwa that her family would be forced into isolation and branded an outcast if he failed to pay up. The father said that the family is being watched to prevent them from seeking legal advice.

The rapist Enamul Mia is left untouched and unharmed.

I think I lost the will to comment further at this point. To be continued, God willing.

Said like a true Imam

This was originally brought to my attention by one of the brothers in his blog. This Muslim preacher called Yahya Ibrahim (to know more about him and listen to his talks, visit here) met the Imam (one who leads the congregational prayer in the Mosque) of the Prophet Muhammad's Mosque in Madeenah, KSA, called Shaykh Salaah al-Budair (صلاح البدير) in 2009 in a conference held in Mumbai, India.

Shaykh Salaah is one of the permanent Imams of Masjid an-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) and is also a Judge (Qadhi) in high court in Madeenah. His recitation of the Quran can be listened from here. Yahya Ibrahim relates a beautiful experience with him, which is what I am going to share here for the readers.

The Question
Yahya could not initially gather up the courage to ask Shaykh Salaah this question as it is a bit sensitive and can be misconstrued. But once he did, he asked:

"O Shaykh (addressing him with respect), Allah has honoured you and has bestowed an enormous Grace upon you by granting you the duty and privilege of standing on the very Pulpit of the Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam), in his Masjid, within sight of his home and burial site, sala Allahu alayhi wa salaam. You lead the prayers and advise others on his (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) behalf. O Shaykh, how do you prepare yourself for this? How do you prepare your sincerity (ikhlaas) to find the courage to stand where you stand and lead where you lead?"

The Reply & Following Incident

Shaykh Salaah smiled. He bowed his head down and politely said:

"Every level has its Divine assistance. To abstain from that would be Riyaa (showing off)."

It was not over then and there. The Shaykh gave an instant reply with intelligence.
Later in the day, Shaykh Salaah pulled Yahya to the side and said privately:

"Every day I pray that Allah take my life rather than allow me to stand in the place of the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) with an overwhelming hypocrisy in my heart. I pray every night that I not wake if I do not discharge the trust placed upon me."

Both of them wept.

And so...
If you are a Muslim, you would appreciate the sensitivity of the question. But even as a non-Muslim, you can appreciate the sincerity and humbleness of Shaykh Salaah in what he said and does. That is the saying of an Imam (leader). That is the saying of the follower of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be on him.

What they don't want you to know (Part 2)

I provided a snippet to the plight of children in Gaza and how it breeds terrorism and terrorists earlier here. Let me start off with another clip, this time a BBC on-air conversation featuring Tony Benn (President of 'Stop the War Coalition' read), wherein he talks about providing donations to war-torn Gaza:



If you listen carefully, Tony Benn, a veteran of Royal Air Force (RAF) in UK, mentions few times about us being humans. One could say he was being emotional and not rational because as BBC presenter mentioned, "aid can go to Hamas". Very good concern there by the presenter!

So, when aids are being provided in Africa, in developing nations in Asia, in South America and elsewhere, do you think all the aid goes to "poor and needy people"? Seriously, how preposterous is the point raised by the presenter?

As Tony Benn rightly mentioned, Hamas is the controlling Palestinian authority in Gaza, and many relief camps, hospitals, schools, etc, would naturally have something to do with the authority. Does your logic tells you that we should now stop donating because Hamas is the democratic authority in Gaza? Sorry I am a human and I am a Muslim. I don't buy conspiracy theories and closed-door talks.

I thank the Saudi government and others who were humane enough to raise donations for the people in Gaza. And I mention to any Muslim reading this post, the hadeeth of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be on him, in which he cautioned one of his noble companions, to fear the cry of the one who is oppressed, for there is no barrier between Allah and the supplication of the oppressed.
واتق دعوة المظلوم فإنه ليس بينها وبين الله حجاب

Beginner's Guide to Arabic Proper Names (Part 2)

Continuing from Part 1, let me illustrate what I mentioned with some examples. Please feel free to comment if you have confusion or want to add a point.

Some examples of Arabic names and their explanations:

One can easily notice that names do not necessarily contain all five components as discussed. The omission of any one component from the name does not necessarily imply that the person lacks it; more often the names are presented in different ways in different places to different people. Such as Aboo Bakr as-Siddique (the first Caliph of the Ummah) is known by his kunyah ("Aboo Bakr") and laqab ("as-Siddique") only, but his full name containing ism and nasab and nisbah are generally unknown to common people, except those who know him well!

Sometimes it is practically impossible to know whether the middle (or the end) part of a person's name is the secondary ism (in case of people having double isms) or the nasab or the laqab just by reading the name of the person, because of people not fully complying with the traditional Arabic conventions. Such examples have also been given and discussed below.

1. Aboo 'Abdillaah Aal Ahmad al-Bengaalee
This means and translates into: Father of 'Abdullaah (son), of the family of Ahmad, from the land or tribe of al-Bengaal (Bangladesh and the part of India known as West Bengal)

Aboo 'Abdillaah = Kunyah, where name of son is an ism
Aal Ahmad = Nasab, tracing the family name which is an ism
al-Bengaalee = Nisbah, tracing the land or tribe of the ancestors or the usual location of the person
Hence the structure is: Kunyah + Nasab + Nisbah

Note that the kunyah does not necessarily mean the person already has a son called 'Abdullaah. Also the nisbah does not necessarily mean the person normally lives (or ever lived) in al-Bengaal, but it can show his geographical origin or tribal connection, which helps in identifying the person by foreign people and also helps the person to maintain kinship.

Also note that son is called 'Abdullaah but to place this in the father's kunyah, it becomes 'Abdillaah, as in Aboo 'Abdillaah. This is essentially to do with Arabic grammar.

2. Muhammad ibn Yoosuf ibn Yoonus Aal 'Uthaymeen al-Jaamaykee al-Amreekee
This means and translates into: Muhammad, son of Yoosuf (father), son of Yoonus (grandfather), of the family of 'Uthaymeen, from the land or tribe of al-Jaamaykaa (Jamaica), from the land of al-Amreekiyyah (America)

Muhammad = Ism
Ibn Yoosuf ibn Yoonus = Nasab, going back to two generations
Aal 'Uthaymeen = Nasab, tracing the family name which is an ism
al-Jaamaykee = Primary Nisbah, tracing the land or tribe of the ancestors
al-Amreekee = Secondary Nisbah, tracing the land of the ancestors or the usual location of the person
Hence the structure is: Ism + Nasabs + Nisbahs

Note that the two generation nasab relates to the isms of the father (Yoosuf) and the grandfather (Yoonus). Also the nasab is fully complete; it includes past two generations as well as the family name of the person. The nisbahs are also adequate to identify the tribe and location of the person.

3. Umm Ahmad Maryam bint Ahmad al-Jaamaykiyyah
This means and translates into: Mother of Ahmad (son), Maryam, daughter of Ahmad (father), from the land or tribe of al-Jaamaykaa (Jamaica)

Umm Ahmad = Kunyah, where name of son is an ism
Maryam = Ism
Bint Ahmad = Nasab, going back to one generation
al-Jaamaykiyyah = Nisbah, tracing the land or tribe of the ancestors or the usual location of the person
Hence the structure is: Kunyah + Ism + Nasab + Nisbah

Note that the name of the person's father occurring as an ism (Ahmad) has been preserved or carried forward by giving it to the son. This is common in many families and tribes.

4. Faatimah Ahmad
This means and translates into: Faatimah, of the family of Ahmad or daughter of Ahmad

Faatimah = Ism
Ahmad = Nasab, tracing the family name or may go back to one generation
Hence the structure is: Ism + Nasab

Note that the ism of the person is clear since Faatimah is feminine and Ahmad is masculine. However, Ahmad written or read after Faatimah may mean the family name of the person or the name of the person's father, both of which is considered as nasab. It appears that the name has been written this way for convenience or out of ignorance. The name should have been correctly written (or read) as Faatimah Aal Ahmad (Faatimah, of the family of Ahmad) or Faatimah bint Ahmad (Faatimah, daughter of Ahmad).

5. Aboo Hakeem Bilaal Davies al-Jaamaykee
This means and translates into: Father of Hakeem (son), Bilaal, of the family of Davies or son of Davies, from the land or tribe of al-Jaamaykaa (Jamaica)

Aboo Hakeem = Kunyah, where name of son is an ism
Bilaal = Ism
Davies = Nasab, tracing the family name or may go back to one generation
al-Jaamaykee = Nisbah, tracing the land or tribe of the ancestors or the usual location of the person
Hence the structure is: Kunyah + Ism + Nasab + Nisbah

Note that the detail for the nasab is ambiguous as explained in the previous example. However, Davies is a common non-Muslim family name, implying that the person is a revert to Islaam. The surname of a non-Muslim commonly refers to the family name of the person; hence it is most likely that Davies is the family name of the person. In such case, the name should be correctly written as Aboo Hakeem Bilaal Aal Davies al-Jaamaykee, though dropping 'Aal' before family name is becoming increasingly common for convenience or due to ignorance.

6. Aboo 'Abdir Rahmaan Muhammad Naasiruddeen al-Albaanee
This means and translates into: Father of 'Abdur Rahmaan, Muhammad, supporter of the religion, from the land or tribe of al-Albaaniyaa (Albania)

Aboo 'Abdir Rahmaan = Kunyah, where name of son is an ism or a laqab
Muhammad = Ism
Naasiruddeen = Laqab, meaning supporter of the religion
al-Albaanee = Nisbah, tracing the land or tribe of the ancestors or the usual location of the person
Hence the structure is: Kunyah + Ism + Laqab + Nisbah

Note that the laqab of the person comes immediately after the ism in this example, but it could precede the ism in some cases. The person is likely to be known primarily by his laqab, when both ism and laqab are available. The name of the person's son occurs as an ism, though it can be regarded as a laqab since the name ('Abdur Rahmaan) occurs in a compound form.

7. al-Hasan al-Basree
This means and translates into: al-Hasan (the good, the handsome), from the land or tribe of al-Basrah

al-Hasan = Ism or Laqab, meaning the handsome
al-Basree = Nisbah, tracing the land or tribe of the ancestors or the usual location of the person
Hence the structure is: Ism or Laqab + Nisbah

Note that the name of the person can be either an ism or a laqab or both ism and laqab, as it is preceded by the definite article. As per the general rule of thumb, it is the ism of the person. The nisbah does not necessarily mean the person's ancestors are from the tribe of al-Basrah, it may well be that the person lives (or lived) primarily in al-Basrah. (And the historical person al-Hasan al-Basree primarily lived in al-Basrah even though he was born in al-Madeenah.)

8. Muhammad Moosaa Aal Nasr
This means and translates into: Muhammad Moosaa, of the family of Nasr

Muhammad = Ism
Moosaa = Secondary Ism or Nasab, going back to one generation
Aal Nasr = Nasab, tracing the family name
Hence the structure is: Ism(s) + Nasab(s)

Note that the second part of this particular name, Moosaa, is ambiguous. It can be the second ism of the person (if the person has double forenmes) or the nasab going back to the person's father or the nasab tracing the family name of the predecessors or starting the family name for the successors. Since the part 'Aal Nasr' follows the part 'Moosaa', it cannot be the nasab that traces the family name of the predecessors, but whether Moosaa is the second ism or the nasab going back to the person's father cannot be verified from the information given. Also, the word 'Moosaa' cannot be considered as a laqab since it is not preceded by the definite article.

If the word 'Moosaa' is actually the ism of the person's father, then it should have been preceded by the particle 'ibn'. And if the word 'Moosaa' is actually the secondary ism of the person, then it should be kept as it is, but such secondary isms are not common in Arab cultures and it is not advised to have double isms which cause confusions.

This is a classic example of how it can be sometimes impossible to know, just by the information given, the exact description of some parts of a person's name. The problem rises when the middle part (or the end part) of the name is not preceded by a prefix such as ibn, bint or Aal or when the name does not occur as a laqab.

In some cultures, the part of the name after ism al-'aalam almost always denote the nasab tracing the family name, whereas in some other cultures, it usually denotes the secondary ism, and in other cases, it usually denotes the nasab going back to the person's father. In the first instance, Aal should be added as a prefix; in the second instance, the name is fine as it is though such practice is not common or encouraged; and in the final instance, ibn or bint should be added as a prefix. In case of a laqab, the format of the name helps identify it, such as Naasir ad-Deen automatically implies laqab.

References and suggested further reading:

1. Islam: The Religion and the People, by Bernard Lewis and Buntzie Ellis Churchill, Chapter – Some Practical Matters, page 171 onwards. Sections of the passages can be read online from: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=IVyMAvW9slYC (please go onto page 171)
Note that the book is not an authentic representation of Islaam and I do not endorse this book as a reliable source of beneficial knowledge about Islaam.

2. Islamic Names, by Annemarie Schimmel. Sections of the book (1989 CE edition) can be read online from: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qThvezos8LgC&dq
Note that the book may not be fully accurate or reliable from cover to cover, but it is a very good read for non-Arabs to learn about Islaamic names.

3. A Dictionary of Muslim Names, by Salahuddin Ahmed. An excellent dictionary listing Muslim names for males and females, together with their original Arabic words and corresponding English meanings. Sections of the book can be read online from: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=g72WpOWFMj8C&dq
The book can be purchased online from many websites for less than £10, such as from here: http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/id/A_Dictionary_of_Muslim_Names/9781850653578

4. The Typology of Arabic Proper Nouns, Department of the Arabic Resources, The CJK Dictionary Institute, Inc. The original 50 page treatise can be purchased for a fee by e-mailing jack@cjki.org and the first three pages of the treatise can be read online from: http://www.kanji.org/cjk/arabic/Typology_of_Arabic_Names.doc

5. Alfiyyah Ibn Maalik fee an-Nahw was-Sarf (ألفية ابن مالك في النحو والصرف)
This is a magnificent piece of Arabic literature, authored by Aboo 'Abdillaah Muhammad ibn Maalik, may Allaah have mercy on him. He was an Arab grammarian, who lived and died in the seventh century AH (thirteenth century CE). Ibn Maalik was born in al-Andalus (الأندلس), commonly known as Spain today. He mastered the Arabic grammar and the Shaafi'ee fiqh after migrating to Damascus (Dimashq) in Syria (Sooriyyah), where he lived and died.

6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_name

7. http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/islamic.shtml

8. http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/names/arabic-naming2.htm

9. http://www.openlingua.de/ol/dictionary/english-arabic/

N.B. If someone finds any error or mistake in spelling, transliteration, translation, explanation or otherwise, please make a constructive comment for the error to be corrected. If someone feels something should be added, deleted or modified for whatever reason, please comment as appropriate. Thanks.

Beginner's Guide to Arabic Proper Names (Part 1)

Since many of my posts would contain names of people who have Arabic names or Arabic structure, I think it is best to mention few basic things about Arabic proper names in general to avoid confusion. For instance, if I mention Abuz Zubair Shadeed Muhammad, a person might think I am talking about three different people here: 1. Abuz Zubair 2. Shadeed 3. Muhammad. In reality, it is one person and each of the elements in the name is from the full structure of Arabic names. So let's get started ...

Arabic and Islaamic proper names are ordinarily composed of five parts. A person may be mentioned by one or more of them, or by all of them. Sometimes, a person will be mentioned by one component in one place and by others in another place; this is especially common in historical works.

The parts are:

1. The ism (الاسم) or 'aalam (العالم): Ism (Plural: Asmaa أسْمَاء) means noun and اسم العالم (ism al-'aalam) is the definite proper noun in the grammatical sense. The personal name of a specific person is referred as ism al-'aalam in the strictest sense, or just ism or 'aalam in the short, informal sense. This is the first name or forename given to the person by his parents after birth. (Ism can also refer to names of things and be used in the general sense.) It can be –

(a) an Arabic name (occasionally even a pre-Islaamic one), including adjectives and nouns with specific meanings, such as Muhammad (praised), Ahmad (more praiseworthy), 'Alee (exalted), etc. Sometimes, the name is formed with the definite article (al-), as in al-Hasan (the good, the beautiful), al-Husayn (the diminutive form of al-Hasan), az-Zubayr (the noble Companion), ash-Shifaa (the curing, the healing), etc although most of these names can occur both with and without the article. When isms are preceded by the definite article, they are normally considered as laqabs (descriptive titles or nicknames);

(b) a biblical name in its Quraanic form, such as Haaroon (Aaron), Ibraaheem (Abraham), Sulaymaan (Solomon), Yoosuf (Joseph), Moosaa (Moses), Ayyoob (Job), etc;

(c) a compound name, usually a combination of 'Abd (slave) with one of the ninety-nine names of God, as in 'Abd al-'Azeez (slave of the Mighty), 'Abd al-Kareem (slave of the Generous), 'Abd ar-Rahmaan (slave of the Compassionate), or simply 'Abd Allaah (slave of God). The feminine equivalent would be a combination of Amat (أمة) with one of the names of God, e.g. Amatullaah (female slave of God), Amat al-'Aleem (female slave of the All Knowing), etc. Christian Arab names may also take this form, e.g. 'Abd al-Maseeh (slave of the Messiah) but it is not appropriate for a Muslim to call anyone by such names. All compound isms can be considered as laqabs and there is a benefit to it, as will be explained later;

(d) a Persian (e.g. Jamsheed, Rustam) or Turkish (e.g. Teemoor) name.

In some Muslim cultures or traditions, a person is given double (or even triple) forenames, usually the first being Muhammad, as in Muhammad Hasan, Muhammad Dhafar, etc. Such a person is usually called by the second of his given names, for example Muhammad Hasan is called Hasan by the people. This phenomenon of having or giving double (or multiple) forenames is not common in Arab cultures.

2. The kunyah (الكنية): a name or a title, composed of Aboo (father of) or Umm (mother of) plus a proper or a common noun, such as Aboo Bakr (the first Caliph). The kunyah always precedes the ism, as in Aboo Moosaa 'Alee ('Alee, father of Moosaa) or Abul Qaasim Muhammad (the kunyah and ism of the Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). In principle, Aboo or Umm is followed by the eldest son's forename (e.g. Umm Ahmad, "Mother of Ahmad"), although this is not always observed.

If the ism is preceded by the definite article (al-) such as al-Hasan, the parent's kunyah becomes Aboo al-Hasan, which is shortened as Abul Hasan. As will be discussed below, some consider isms preceded by the definite article or isms that are compound in nature (such as 'Abd al-'Azeez) to be laqabs (descriptive titles or nicknames), hence it follows that the kunyah may be attributed to the ism or the laqab.

Kunyahs do not always represent actual parental relationships. Several kunyahs became associated with certain personal names (isms), either by custom or out of respect for the precedent. For example, a man named Ibraaheem is often called Aboo Ishaaq (Father of Isaac) or Aboo Ya'qoob (Father of Jacob) because of the biblical/Quraanic precedent, regardless of whether or not the man actually had a son named Isaac or Jacob. The kunyah may express the hope for a son or an offspring with the intention of giving him a certain name.

It was traditional to avoid using certain kunyahs, also out of respect. During the Prophet's lifetime, people were prohibited from taking his kunyah (but not his ism); after his death, it was permissible to take either his kunyah or his ism, but not to couple them as Abul Qaasim Muhammad.

A person may have more than one kunyah. 'Uthmaan ibn 'Affaan (the third Caliph) had three kunyahs: Aboo 'Amr, Aboo 'Abd Allaah and Aboo Laylah. Sometimes, warriors would use one kunyah in peacetime and another during war. In written or spoken form, only one kunyah can be used at a time, even though the person may have multiple kunyahs. For example, a person with two kunyahs: Aboo 'Abdillaah and Abul Hasan can be called either Aboo 'Abdillaah or Abul Hasan, but not "Aboo 'Abdillaah Abul Hasan" together.

Kunyahs are commonly metaphorical, alluding to a desired quality or some characteristic (either positive or negative) or distinguishing mark that the person possesses, as in Abul Fadl (Father of Merit), Abul Khayr (Father of Goodness), Abul Dawaniq (Father of Pennies, the kunyah of the 'Abbaasid Caliph 'Abd Allaah al-Mansoor, alluding to his stinginess), Abul Dhubaab (Father of Flies, referring to a man's bad breath), Aboo Shaamah (Father of Birthmark, referring to his birthmark), etc.

If a person's son or daughter is given double forenames as done in some Muslim families and tribes, the person is usually given the kunyah using the name that the son or daughter is known by amongst the people. For example, the father of Muhammad Hasan, where Muhammad and Hasan are both isms, is given the kunyah Abul Hasan. Sometimes the father himself may have double forenames such as Muhammad Kareem; hence his kunyah becomes Abul Hasan in this case to avoid successive usage of the name Muhammad. This problem is not encountered by Arabs who do not normally give or have double isms.

In some non-Arab cultures, males are given just kunyahs such as Abul Qaasim, without any isms. This prompts many people calling the person by his (future) son's name, for example Abul Qaasim is called Qaasim by the local people out of ignorance of the Arabic structure and meaning of names.

3. The nasab (النسب): the lineage, a list of ancestors beginning with the father, each introduced with the particles ibn (son of) or bint (daughter of). This is, properly speaking, a patronymic. It can be loosely referred to as the surname or family name. Often, two generations are given with or without the common family name, but in biographical dictionaries, for persons of great importance, the lineage is traced back as far as possible. The lineage comes right after kunyah and ism in usage, such as Aboo 'Abdillaah Muhammad ibn Yoosuf, Abul Hasan ibn Rabee', 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab, Maryam bint Ahmad, etc.

The lineage do not normally contain metronymics, meaning the name of one's mother or maternal ancestors. The chief exception to that is 'Eesaa ibn Maryam (Jesus, son of Maryam) due to the miraculous nature of 'Eesaa's birth. Nasabs (Plural: Ansaab أنساب) do not necessarily have to contain the ism al-'aalam of one's ancestor; it can be traced to the kunyah of the ancestor such as Ibn Abee Taalib (note that 'Aboo' changes to 'Abee' when placed in nasab), or traced to the laqab such as Ibn al-Qayyim, meaning son of the attendant, as the father of the person was given the laqab "al-Qayyim" since he was an attendant at a local school.

The nasab can also include the common family name or ancestry of the person, meaning the paternal family one belongs to. This is the name that is common to predecessors and/or will be common to successors of a family, not just the father or first-born child. It is common to replace ibn (ابن) or bint (بنت) with Aal (آل) to denote family names, such as Aal Sa'ood (the family of Sa'ood), Aal Salmaan (the family of Salmaan), Aal 'Imraan (the family of 'Imraan), etc.

In spoken form, both ibn (or bint for females) and Aal can be used to refer to a person, such as Aal Sa'ood can be called Ibn Sa'ood for the male or Bint Sa'ood for the female, especially when the nasab is used in isolation without the other parts of the full name. The person who initiated the family name must not have the particle 'Ibn' before the family name (which is to be carried forward to the future generations), since Ibn can only be used as a prefix before the nasab for the successors of the original initiator. The initiator is to be called by the family name itself with or without 'Aal'.

In Persian, ibn is expressed by –i (e.g. Hasan-i Sabbah) or by zade (son), as in Qadizade/ Kadızade (Son of a Judge).

In Turkish, ibn is expressed by oğlu (son), as in Mihaloğlu (Son of Michael).

In modern times, especially in the West, ibn or bint before ancestor's name is ommitted intentionally for convenience, such as Faisal ibn Yoosuf is known as Faisal Yoosuf. This results in people calling the person by what is perceived to be his/her surname, where in reality it is the name of his or her father (or even grandfather). Hence particles (ibn or bint) before patronymics should not be dropped.

4. The laqab (اللقب): an honorific or descriptive epithet, originally a nickname. In later times, these were adopted as titles and conferred with great ceremony. A laqab normally comes immediately after the ism and before the nasab, though it may precede the ism at times, and occasionally the laqab comes to replace the ism.

Many people are known principally by their laqabs such as Salaahuddeen. It is detested in Islaam to give an insulting or aggressive laqab to a person, based on the person's race, culture, appearance, etc. A number of Quraanic Verses and Prophetic Ahaadeeth highlight this issue, such as the hadeeth in the Saheehayn, where the Messenger of Allaah said to his companions during his last Hajj, "Verily your blood and your wealth and your honour is sacred (to one another) as the sacredness of this day, as the sacredness of this month, as the sacredness of this land".

The laqab (Plural: Alqaab ألقاب) can be –

(a) a physical quality, such as at-Taweel (the tall one), al-A'war (the one-eyed), al-Jameel (the beautiful), etc. The isms that are preceded by the definite article (al-) are generally considered to be laqabs, especially if the meanings imply a certain quality or characteristic of the person that the person possesses or would like to possess, such as al-Hasan (the handsome), etc;

(b) a person's profession, such as al-Khayyaat (the taylor), al-Haddaad (the blacksmith), al-Jarraah (the surgeon), etc. It should not be understood that they all indicate an individual's present profession; the professional laqab of an ancestor is often used for generations and simply becomes a family name (nasab);

(c) a person's characteristic (positive or negative) or special quality or merit that the person is known by (or would like to have), such as al-'Abbaad (the worshipper), Roohullaah (spirit of Allaah), ar-Rasheed (the rightly guided), etc. They can be turned into a family name (nasab) or an ascription (nisbah) for generations;

(d) of a theocratic nature, expressing dependence or reliance on God, e.g. al-Mansoor Billaah (the one made victorious by God), al-Mahdee Billaah (the divinely guided one), etc;

(e) a compound with the word deen (religion) or dawlah (state), such as Jalaal ad-Deen (majesty of the religion), Sayf ad-Deen (sword of the religion), Ghiyaath ad-Deen (helper of the religion), Ameen ad-Deen (trustworthy in religion), Aftaab ad-Deen (sun of the religion), Taaj ad-Deen (crown of the religion), 'Ameed ad-Dawlah (support of the state), 'Imaad ad-Dawlah (pillar of the state), Rukn ad-Dawlah (cornerstone of the state), etc.
Sometimes deen (دين) and dawlah (دولة) are coupled in titles such as Ghiyaath ad-Deen wad-Dawlah (helper of the religion and the state);

(f) a compound with a word such as Islaam or Mulk (kingdom), such as Nidhaam al-Mulk (administrator of the kingdom), Sayf al-Islaam (sword of Islaam), etc.

All compound isms (such as 'Abd al-'Azeez) and isms preceded by the definite article (such as al-Hasan) are normally considered to be laqabs. Using this reasoning, a person such as Muhammad al-Hasan is not considered to have double forenames (isms); Muhammad is his ism and al-Hasan is his laqab. Similarly, one with the name Muhammad 'Abd al-'Azeez is considered having Muhammad as the ism and 'Abd al-'Azeez as the laqab. This reasoning is valid and very useful when a person has a forename (primary ism) followed by another given name which is compound in nature or is preceded by the definite article (laqab or secondary ism). In such cases, the person is known primarily by either the laqab or the ism, depending on the culture and tradition.

When a person is given just one forename which is compound in nature (e.g. Amat Allaah) or starts with the definite article (e.g. az-Zubayr), it can be regarded as either ism or laqab or both ism and laqab. There are no strict rules defining such situations, but as a general rule of thumb:
if the person has just one forename, it is considered as ism;
if the person has double forenames, the forename that is compound in nature or starts with the definite article is considered as laqab and the other forename is considered as ism;
if the person has double forenames, none of which is compound in nature or starts with the definite article, then both forenames are regarded as isms, with one set as primary and the other as secondary.

5. The nisbah (النسبة): an adjective derived from the place of birth, ethnic origin, childhood or usual residence, or sometimes from a sect, tribe or family. It is an ascription that flows through generation after generation to uniquely identify the clan or identity of the person and his family. The nisbah comes at the end of all the other components of a name, such as Aboo Moosaa Muhammad ibn 'Abdillaah al-Jaabiree.

A person may have several nisbahs. The primary nisbah always refers to the land or tribe of the ancestors, whereas any other subsequent nisbah refers to the land of the ancestors or the normal geographical location of the person himself. The person's father or grandfather (or great-grandfathers) may have migrated to a new land or the person may have been born or raised (or the person normally lives) in the new location, but none of these facts change the primary nisbah of the person. If the person is commonly known by just one nisbah, it may be attributed to the land or tribe of the ancestors, or it may be attributed to the usual residence of the person. The relation that one ascribes to depends largely on time, place and people.

Each nisbah is preceded by the definite article (al-), as in Ahmad al-Madanee (Ahmad from Madeenah), Maryam al-Amreekiyyah (Maryam from America), etc. The masculine nisbah ends with 'ee' and the feminine nisbah ends with 'iyyah' after the name of the place or tribe or sect. Sometimes the name of the place or tribe is slightly modified when used in nisbah, such as al-Madeenah becomes Madan(-ee or -iyyah) to accommodate the nisbah.

Unlike multiple kunyahs, multiple nisbahs can be used together in both written and spoken form, although it is normal to use just one nisbah in spoken form for convenience. For example, a person having two nisbahs: al-Jaabiree and al-Amreekee can be called "al-Jaabiree al-Amreekee" in both written and spoken form, but the person is likely to be called just "al-Jaabiree" or "al-Amreekee" in spoken form for convenience.

If there are many different tribes or places in one geographical location, a person may have an appropriate nisbah in addition to the usual nisbah, to correctly identify the person's particular location or tribe. For example, an Arab Muslim belonging to al-Jaabir tribe within the Arab lands, may have two nisbahs: al-Jaabiree and al-'Arabee. The nisbah "al-Jaabiree" is the only nisbah likely to be used as long as the person is in the land of the Arabs, whereas "al-'Arabee" or "al-Jaabiree al-'Arabee" combined may be used when the person is in foreign lands such as Amreekiyyah (America).

What they don't want you to know (Part 1)

Let me start off with a youtube clip to create the base of this post:



Now there is a lot of talk, on and off air, about terrorism, suicide bombing and related stuff. Does anybody remember the infamous phrase "axis of evil" initiated by ex-President of USA, George Bush, in 2002 where the countries Iraq, Iran and North Korea were referred the three evils of this world. I would let you guess what the "axis of evil" is to these children in Gaza.

Development of terrorists
I find it highly hilarious how many governments, with the US and British governments as the heads, think they can defeat terrorism by eliminating few terrorists or terrorist groups in certain parts of the world. It requires an ounce or less of common sense to know that these children, who saw their family being slaughtered in front of them, would live and grow for one reason and one reason only: to avenge the murder of their family. So take note, the intelligent one, that terrorists in 10-20 years' time are already under construction.

And it is said that the Afghans in general are very rough and they do not forget nor forgive wrongdoings. Many of them are known for taking revenges 2-3 generations down the line, meaning if your father is out there who happened to be responsible for the death of a civilian Afghan ("war casualty!"), it is likely your son or daughter would face the consequence, in what would be desribed as "terrorism".

"We would teach these barbarians a lesson for messing with us"
Now this is the mentality of many Westerners. Trust me you do not wish to teach anyone a lesson that backfires. Hitler wanted to teach a lesson to the world and we all know the lesson he taught and the consequence he and his allies faced.

Back to children in Gaza
Here is the reality check, as mentioned by an Englishman, studying at Hertfordshire University in England: "Children of Gaza: we ain't got no problems; life is easy".

If you still happen to have humane mentality, you'd appreciate, even within the comfort of your homes, the plight that children of Gaza are facing every single day of their lives. They are the potential terrorists and suicide bombers of tomorrow, so either campaign for terminating them totally or campaign against the oppresive Israeli forces.

Don't stop the Muslims if you can't convince the Christians!

An old Church in Lincoln, UK was meant to be converted into a Mosque. Basically, the St. Matthew's Church in Lincoln was sold in 2006 to the Lincoln Islamic Association. The Muslims really hoped to find a place for a bigger mosque as the current mosque cannot accommodate the large number of Muslims in the area, especially during Friday prayers and the blessed month of Ramadan (Hijri Calendar month).

Surprisingly, in 2008, a fire destroyed much of the already sold-Church building on the same day that the approval for turning it into a Mosque was collected: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/7589455.stm
This led to a halt to the proposed Mosque conversion.

More surprisingly, in October 2009, after a long discussion by the City Council, it was decided not to approve a Mosque in the place: http://tmf.lincoln.gov.uk/Agendaitems.asp?sec_id=3681&type=Minutes
Co-incidence? Accident? Feel free to come up with any conspiracy theory!

The reasons for denial that were cited, in their own words:
•There was public concern regarding unacceptable harm due to traffic/parking problems.
•Concerns regarding noise and dust pollution.
•The impact of the building on the character and residential amenity of the area.

Nice. Let us look at the reply of the applicant called Dr T Ahmed:
•Approval had been given by the Council the previous year for the same build and use as a purpose built mosque.
•The day he picked up the approval for the mosque the former St Matthew's Church building was destroyed by fire.
•This was the second time a mosque had been destroyed in the City by fire.
•The City did not have a purpose built mosque.
•Muslims had worked in the City for half a Century they had a right to worship.
•The Orchard Street mosque had been in operation for 28 years and had no dedicated parking facilities; 60-80 people worshiped on a Friday and there was no evidence of harm to local residents.
•The Islamic Association would work with local residents to manage the parking situation.

And yes, the application was refused. I have few layman's questions:

1. Why was approval given in the first place without assessing the impact of the Mosque to the local community?
2. Does the committee or those who were against the proposal realise the lengthy, exhaustive process one has to go through to buy a property, especially when it is being bought by an Association that has no state funding available?
3. The building got destroyed by fire on the same day as approval was finalised. What is the inside story?
4. If parking problem in current Mosque can be got around, why can't adequate steps be not implemented in the new location? In fact, no parking sign and use of towing and tickets are very easy to deter any responsible person from abusing parking place.
5. How many Churches do Lincoln have and how many of these Churches are actually used adequately by the locals? (This is the case with most places in UK where large Churches lay bare and almost empty while small Mosques are overwhelmed by practising Muslims.)
6. How does the impact of the Mosque affect the character of the area?

Enough questions asked. One does not have to be a Muslim to see the obvious bias against the Muslims in the area.

I beg to put this point forward. It is not the Muslims' fault that Christianity cannot attract enough 'disciples' in Churches, when many atheists and agnostics and even 'non-practising Christians' who were born into Christian families mock Jesus and Christianity almost like out of habit. And when you have the belief that you are 'saved' already and love of Jesus is in your heart, then why bother going to Churches instead of enjoying a pint with friends?

Muslims are passionate about their religion. Many Muslims go overboard, and they should be punished. In fact, their prescribed punishment is severe enough to deter other Muslims not to go overboard.

But please do not stop the Muslims to be good disciples of Muhammad if you cannot convince Christians to be good disciples of Jesus.

Mother's Day in UK gone by...

Ok I will keep my first post simple. UK celebrated it's 'Mother's Day' on 14th March 2010 (Sunday) and it got me thinking few things ...

I knew the Mother's Day was coming beforehand, but I did not take any preparation or make any special arrangement for it. You know the fancy cards and gifts, calling your mother in the morning and wishing her, or saying you love her, or spending the day with her, that kind of stuff. In fact the 'importance' of this day really struck me when I messaged one of my friends to come to this social gathering we had and she replied back saying it's Mothers Day and she's having lunch with her mother. How sweet.

I didn't know if I was supposed to feel ashamed of myself that I was not having lunch with my mother on Mother's Day or that I did not wish her at 12 am or early in the morning. Many of you might think I should be. Hmmm...

Origin of the Day
So here is a bit of digging up of Mothers Day origin and dates (courtesy: Wikipedia). Some say it came around as a follow up tradition of what used to be the honouring of the 'mother of the gods' in ancient Greece, then there is the Christian origin of honouring Virgin Mary (and the 'mother' church), and there is also the political feminist belief in USA attached to it.

Now with the origin identified, I am hard pressed to see how the very first Mother's Day had anything to do with the child's expression of love to his/her mother and honouring her out of love and respect. Bluntly speaking, that is not the reason why 'Mother's Day' came into existence.

Also, Mother's Day is celebrated on several different days, depending on the country/region. There is no universal day attached for this occasion.

So why the fuss?
I therefore ask, is there a reason for me to be ashamed of not following this pagan origin, that had nothing to do, whatsoever, with loving your mother as a child?

One might say, what's the big deal about the origin? It's what you do that matters.

I say, 'what' is normally done this day once a year, I do it as part of my habitual action throughout the year and I still do not feel I have done it enough number of times. To fix it as a one-day event in the year is simply cheap and superficial to me.

I further say, if you must know, I have "celebrated Mother's Day" throughout the year, without having to resort to a specific UK day or a USA day.

Some narrations, stories and incidents to reflect on:
I hope to write various entries on my mother and mothers in general in future, God willing. As for now, I just wish to put few narrations/incidents that the righteous people have done, prescribed others to do, and set examples that no son or daughter can emulate in the so-called Mother's Day:

1. Allah commanded in the Quran:

And your Lord decreed that you should worship none but Him and that you be dutiful to your Parents. If one of them or both attain old age in your life, then do not say to them uff (a word of disrespect), nor shout at them, rather address them in terms of honour / And lower for them the wing of submission and humility through mercy. And say, “My Lord! Grant them Your Mercy as they brought me up when I was small.” [Qur'an - Al-Israa' 17:23-24]

2. Mu’aawiyah ibn Jaahimah as-Sulamee narrates:

My father, Jaahimah, went to the Prophet Muhammad - Sal Allahu alayhi wa Sallam - and asked, "O Messenger of Allah, I would like to go out and fight for the sake of Allah, and I have come to you for advice."
The Prophet Muhammad asked him, "Is your Mother alive?" He (Jaahimah) said, "Yes."

“Then stay near her,” advised the Prophet - Sal Allahu alayhi wa Sallam, “For at her feet is Paradise!”

[Compare this with staying near your mother just for a day in a year]

3. Dhibyaan ibn Ali ath-Thowree used to travel with his mother to Makkah. There - in the scorching heat - he would dig a little pool and fill it with cool water. Then he would turn to his mother and say, "My mother, sit in this water to cool yourself."

4. A Yemeni man was making tawaaf (circumambulating around that black box) in Mecca, carrying his mother on his back saying, "I am her humble camel ..."

Then he said to the man called Ibn 'Umar, who was a companion of Prophet Muhammad, "Do you think that I have repaid her (rights)?"
Ibn Umar said, "No, not even a for a single moan that escaped her during child birth."

And finally...
I do not say that for you guys in UK who are accustomed to this type of thing, it is 'wrong' to honour and spend time with your mother on 14th March. But seriously, why 14th March 2010? Why take a pagan origin that worshipped the mother of gods and say this is your expression of love and honour for your mother? What happened on 13th March 2010? Was that day not meant to be loving and honouring and celebrating with your mother?

I am not saying people 'celebrating Mother's Day' love their mothers any less than those who do not celebrate it. In fact, love is something that can never be measured, especially with regards to one's family. I am questioning the rationale and superficial nature of this day.

For me, every single day is Mother's Day. And I regret every single day not being able to spend with my mother, every single meal not being able to join with my mother. I know my mother knows I love her, but I don't think she knows enough. Nobody but my Lord does.

For an Islamic perspective towards Mother's Day and mothers (or parents) in general, refer to: http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/books/93