A pesticide is a substance or mixture of substances used to kill a pest. A pesticide may be a chemical substance, biological agent (such as a virus or bacteria), antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest. Pests include insects, plant pathogens, weeds, molluscs, birds,mammals, fish, nematodes (roundworms) and microbes that compete with humans for food, destroy property, spread or are a vector for disease or cause a nuisance. Although there are benefits to the use of pesticides, there are also drawbacks, as poison to humans and other animals. Pesticides are used to control organisms which are considered harmful. For example, they are used to kill mosquitoes that can transmit potentially deadly diseases like west nile virus, yellow fever, and malaria. They can also kill bees, wasps or ants that can cause allergic reactions. Insecticides can protect animals from illnesses that can be caused by parasites such as fleas.
Since before 2500 BCE, humans have utilized pesticides to protect their crops. The first known pesticide was elemental sulfur dusting used in Sumeria about 4,500 years ago. By the 15th century, toxic chemicals such as arsenic, mercury and lead were being applied to crops to kill pests. In the 17th century, nicotine sulfate was extracted from tobacco leaves for use as an insecticide. The 19th century saw the introduction of two more natural pesticides, pyrethrum which is derived from chrysanthemums, and rotenone which is derived from the roots of tropical vegetables.
In 1939, Paul Müller discovered that DDT was a very effective insecticide. It quickly became the most widely-used pesticide in the world.
In the 1940s manufacturers began to produce large amounts of synthetic pesticides and their use became widespread. Some sources consider the 1940s and 1950s to have been the start of the “pesticide era.†Pesticide use has increased 50-fold since 1950 and 2.3 million tonnes (2.5 million imperial tons) of industrial pesticides are now used each year. Seventy-five percent of all pesticides in the world are used in developed countries, but use in developing countries is increasing.
In the 1960s, it was discovered that DDT was preventing many fish-eating birds from reproducing, which was a serious threat to biodiversity. Rachel Carson wrote the best-selling book Silent Spring about biological magnification. The agricultural use of DDT is now banned under theStockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, but it is still used in some developing nations to prevent malaria and other tropical diseases by spraying on interior walls to kill or repel mosquitoes. In most countries, in order to sell or use a pesticide, it must be approved by a government agency. For example, in the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does so.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan announced on Thursday that he will surrender the Hilal-e-Pakistan award in protest of the government’s decision to confer the national honour upon US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher. “As a holder of the Hilal-e-Pakistan, I feel insulted to see this high national honour being bestowed upon Richard Boucher who has done nothing for Pakistan except pressurising and harassing the state into submitting to US policies, which have resulted in the death of thousands of innocent Pakistanis as well as destruction of FATA,†he said in a statement. Imran said the “murderous policies of the Bush administrationâ€, which Boucher had represented with ‘excessive zeal’ in Pakistan, certainly did not have the merit of getting any award from Pakistan.
Sohaib Abbasi is one of those rare breed of men whose career success is paralleled by their philanthropic activities. A successful professional in Silicon Valley, he hasn’t forgotten his roots either.
Since 2004 he is the President and CEO of Informatica, a data integration company. Prior to Informatica, Mr. Abbasi spent 20 years at Oracle Corporation where he was most recently a member of the Oracle’s executive committee and was senior vice president of two major divisions, Oracle Tools and Oracle Education. Mr. Abbasi joined Oracle Corporation in 1982 when it was a 30-person startup and was instrumental in growing the business from $4 million in annual revenues to over $9 billion in revenues and over 42,000 employees worldwide. As part of his contribution, Mr. Abbasi envisioned and launched the Oracle Tools business, which he grew from zero to $3.75 billion in cumulative license revenues. Mr. Abbasi graduated with honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1980, where he earned both a B.S. and an M.S. in computer science.
In order to bridge the chasm that had developed between Islam and the West after the Sept.11 attacks the Pakistan born Mr.Abbasi and his wife, Sara, donated $2.5 million to establish the Islamic Studies program at Stanford University.
The Abbasis also support several educational institutions in Pakistan. Mrs.Abbasi is on the executive board of Developments in Literacy,www.dil.org, an international non-profit organization that has built 200 schools in Pakistan since 1997.
Most recently Mrs. Abbasi also contributed towards the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
Courtesy Nidhi Sharma – Celebrity News Service Reporter
New York, NY (CNS) – Muslim pop star Yusuf Islam has roped in Paul McCartney, Dolly Parton and Michelle Branch for his forthcoming album. This is Islam’s second album since his comeback in 2006 when he gained fame under his name “Cat Stevens.â€
The as-yet-untitled album is due in late spring from Universal. It will be a follow up 2006’s An Other Cup, his first secular album in 28 years. The single from the album “Boots & Sand†features Paul McCartney and Dolly Parton, with a video shot by Jesse Dylan, son of Bob shot in the California desert, Contactmusic reports. While Michelle Branch and Gunnar Nelson assist on the track “To Be What You Must.†As Cat Stevens, he sold over 60 million albums around the world since the late 1960s.
His albums Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat were both certified as Triple Platinum by the RIAA in the United States; his album Catch Bull at Four sold half a million copies in the first two weeks of release alone, and was Billboard’s number-one LP for three consecutive weeks.
A prominent Jewish MP has compared the actions of Israeli troops with Nazis who forced his family to flee Poland.
Sir Gerald Kaufman, MP for Gorton in Manchester, drew the parallel during a Commons debate on the Gaza conflict.
Some members of the Jewish community – including his fellow MPs – have questioned the comments.
Louise Ellman MP, of the Labour Friends of Israel group, said the “dreadful†war in Gaza was not comparable to German actions in World War II.
Sir Gerald, who was brought up as an orthodox Jew and Zionist, told MPs: “My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town .. a German soldier shot her dead in her bed.
“My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza.â€
“The present Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploit the continuing guilt from gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians,†he said.
Palestinian deaths in the Gaza Strip have passed 1,000, medical sources in Gaza say, but Israel has continued to resist international calls for a ceasefire.
The Israeli government says the action is necessary to prevent Hamas rocket attacks into southern Israel.
Labour MP Louise Ellman said: “The Nazis were about rounding up and exterminating people because of their origins.
“What we’re witnessing in Gaza is a dreadful war and the Israelis are trying to stop Hamas continuing to launch rockets from Gaza, targeting and killing and murdering Israeli citizens.â€
But speaking to the BBC on Friday, Sir Gerald said he was standing by his comments.
“We had an IRA bomb in Manchester which destroyed much of the centre – we didn’t send troops over to Belfast to murder 1,000 Catholics.â€
Sir Gerald said he had been a long-term supporter of Israel and has personally known many of its prime ministers.
But he added: “I am not going to stand by and keep silent when the Israeli troops – with a dreadful government sending them there – kill large numbers of innocent people with no useful result at the end of it all.â€
Mohammed Azmathulla Shareef M.Sc. (Geology) 1984 Riyadh – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
January 21–Dr. Ingrid Mattson, President of the Islamic Society of North America, Offered a Prayer at the National Cathedral this morning.
Mr. Mohammad El-Sanousi of ISNA explained that “the important thing… was that there was a private meeting before the prayer, with all the religious leaders, President Obama and Vice President Joe Bidden, and the first lady and the wife of the Vice President met with all the religious leaders, including Dr. Ingrid Mattson–her message to Obama was that his speech was liberating and empowering to the Muslim community.â€
Mr. El-Sanousi elaborated that “for the first time in history he said ‘we are a nation of Christians and Muslims’–there was a great recognition there.â€
He also explained that “there were so many positive messages to Muslims and Islam†in the inaugural speech. “He mentioned his father in the speech, he mentioned his village in Kenya–and he mentioned to the Muslim world that he wanted a relationship built on respect.â€
Dr. Mattson, as the president of ISNA, offered a prayer at the inaugural National Prayer Service at the National Cathedral. Dr. Mattson is the first woman president of ISNA.
“I am honored to join distinguished colleagues from the diversity of American religious communities in celebrating this historic inauguration,†commented Dr. Mattson. “Muslim Americans join their fellow citizens in praying that our country will continue to realize, ever more fully, the American dream of freedom, justice and equality for all people.â€
Dr. Mattson is part of the interfaith leadership of the National Prayer Service that includes prayers from Rabbis, Christian clergy and Hindu leadership alike.
Dr. Ingrid Mattson is a Professor of Islamic Studies and Director of the Macdonald Center for Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations at Hartford Seminary in Hartford, CT. In 2006, the Islamic Society of North America (www.isna.net), the largest religious organization representing Muslims in North America, elected Dr. Ingrid Mattson as its President.
Lombard, IL (January 19, 2009)- Nine American and four Canadian doctors are preparing to depart on a 10-day mission to bring desperately needed medical assistance to Palestinians living in Gaza. The group is sponsored by the Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA) in conjunction with the Federation of Islamic Medical Associations. http://ammgaza.blogspot.com/
Among them is Dr. Irfan Galaria, to provide first hand medical assistance to the survivors of the Gaza onslaught. Irfan, son of Drs Ibrahim and Zarina Galaria, grew up in the Metro Detroit area, and was an active member of the IAGD youth team. He is a reconstructive surgeon, working at a Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. Please remember Irfan and his fellow volunteers in your prayers, for a safe trip and for success in this noble task.
To see his interview with a CBS affiliate TV station in Utah please visit this link: http://ammgaza.blogspot.com/
Let us all use Irfan’s action as an inspiration, and Inshallah, pledge to do what we can to alleviate the suffering of hundreds of thousands of innocent victims in Gaza. This includes Dua’a, monetary donation, letters/emails to your senators/congress representatives and by also participating in opportunities to provide your input to our new President by visiting http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/wrapping_up_the_citizens_briefing_book/
The merciless Israeli bombardment of Gaza has stopped — for now — but the death toll keeps rising as more bodies are pulled from carpet- bombed neighborhoods.
What Israel perpetrated in Gaza, starting at 11:30am on 27 December 2008, will remain forever engraved in history and memory. Tel al-Hawa, Hayy al-Zeitoun, Khuzaa and other sites of Israeli massacres will join a long mournful list that includes Deir Yasin, Qibya, Kufr Qasim, Sabra and Shatila, Qana, and Jenin.
Once again, Israel demonstrated that it possesses the power and the lack of moral restraint necessary to commit atrocities against a population of destitute refugees it has caged and starved.
The dehumanization and demonization of Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims has escalated to the point where Israel can with full self- righteousness bomb their homes, places of worship, schools, universities, factories, fishing boats, police stations — in short everything that sustains civilized and orderly life — and claim it is conducting a war against terrorism.
Yet paradoxically, it is Israel as a Zionist state, not Palestine or the Palestinian people, that cannot survive this attempted genocide.
Israel’s “war†was not about rockets — they served the same role in its narrative as the non-existent weapons of mass destruction did as the pretext for the American-led invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Israel’s real goals were to restore its “deterrence†fatally damaged after its 2006 defeat in Lebanon (translation: its ability to massacre and terrorize entire populations into submission) and to destroy any Palestinian resistance to total Israeli-Jewish control over historic Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
With Hamas and other resistance factions removed or fatally weakened, Israel hoped the way would be clear to sign a “peace†deal with chief Palestinian collaborator Mahmoud Abbas to manage Palestinians on Israel’s behalf until they could be forced out once and for all.
The US-backed “moderate†dictatorships and absolute monarchies led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia supported the Israeli plan hoping to demonstrate to their own people that resistance — whether against Israel or their own bankrupt regimes — was futile.
To win, Israel had to break Palestinian resistance. It failed. On the contrary, it galvanized and unified Palestinians like never before. All factions united and fought heroically for 23 days. According to well-informed and credible sources Israel did little harm to the modest but determined military capacity of the resistance. So instead Israel did what it does best: it massacred civilians in the hope that the population would turn against those fighting the occupier.
Israel not only unified the resistance factions in Gaza; its brutality rallied all Palestinians and Arabs.
It is often claimed that Arab regimes whip up anti-Israel anger to distract their populations from their own failings. Actually, Israel, the US and subservient Arab regimes tried everything — especially demonizing Iran and inciting sectarian tensions between Sunni and Shia Muslims — to distract their populations from Palestine.
All this failed as millions of people across the region marched in support of Palestinian resistance, and the Arab regimes who hoped to benefit from the slaughter in Gaza have been exposed as partners in the Israeli atrocities. In popular esteem, Hamas and other Palestinian resistance factions earned their place alongside Hizballah as effective bulwarks against Israeli and Western colonialism.
If there was ever a moment when the peoples of the region would accept Israel as a Zionist state in their midst, that has passed forever.
But anyone surveying the catastrophe in Gaza — the mass destruction, the death toll of more than 100 Palestinians for every Israeli, the thousands of sadistic injuries — would surely conclude that Palestinians could never overcome Israel and resistance is a delusion at best.
True, in terms of ability to murder and destroy, Israel is unmatched. But Israel’s problem is not, as its propaganda insists, “terrorism†to be defeated by sufficient application of high explosives. Its problem is legitimacy, or rather a profound and irreversible lack of it. Israel simply cannot bomb its way to legitimacy.
Israel was founded as a “Jewish state†through the ethnic cleansing of Palestine’s non-Jewish majority Arab population. It has been maintained in existence only through Western support and constant use of violence to prevent the surviving indigenous population from exercising political rights within the country, or returning from forced exile.
Despite this, today, 50 percent of the people living under Israeli rule in historic Palestine (Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip) are Palestinians, not Jews. And their numbers are growing rapidly. Like Nationalists in Northern Ireland or non-whites in South Africa, Palestinians will never recognize the “right†of a settler-colonial society to maintain an ethnocractic state at their expense through violence, repression and racism.
For years, the goal of the so-called peace process was to normalize Israel as a “Jewish state†and gain Palestinians’ blessing for their own dispossession and subjugation. When this failed, Israel tried “disengagement†in Gaza — essentially a ruse to convince the rest of the world that the 1.5 million Palestinians caged in there should no longer be counted as part of the population. They were in Israel’s definition a “hostile entity.â€
In his notorious May 2004 interview with The Jerusalem Post, Arnon Soffer, an architect of the 2005 disengagement explained that the approach “doesn’t guarantee ‘peace,’ it guarantees a Jewish- Zionist state with an overwhelming majority of Jews.†Soffer predicted that in the future “when 2.5 million people live in a closed-off Gaza, it’s going to be a human catastrophe. Those people will become even bigger animals than they are today, with the aid of an insane fundamentalist Islam. The pressure at the border will be awful.â€
He was unambiguous about what Israel would have to do to maintain this status quo: “If we want to remain alive, we will have to kill and kill and kill. All day, every day.†Soffer hoped that eventually, Palestinians would give up and leave Gaza altogether.
Through their resistance, steadfastness and sacrifice, Palestinians in Gaza have defeated this policy and reasserted that they are an inseparable part of Palestine, its people, its history and its future.
Israel is not the first settler-colonial entity to find itself in this position. When F.W. de Klerk, South Africa’s last apartheid president, came to office in 1989, his generals calculated that solely with the overwhelming military force at their disposal, they could keep the regime in power for at least a decade. The casualties, however, would have run into hundreds of thousands, and South Africa would face ever greater isolation. Confronted with this reality, de Klerk took the decision to begin an orderly dismantling of apartheid.
What choice will Israel make? In the absence of any political and moral legitimacy the only arguments it has left are bullets and bombs. Left to its own devices Israel will certainly keep trying — as it has for sixty years — to massacre Palestinians into submission. Israel’s achievement has been to make South Africa’s apartheid leaders look wise, restrained and humane by comparison.
But what prevented South Africa’s white supremacist government from escalating their own violence to Israeli levels of cruelty and audacity was not that they had greater scruples than the Zionist regime. It was recognition that they alone could not stand against a global anti-apartheid movement that was in solidarity with the internal resistance.
Israel’s “military deterrent†has now been repeatedly discredited as a means to force Palestinians and other Arabs to accept Zionist supremacy as inevitable and permanent. Now, the other pillar of Israeli power — Western support and complicity — is starting to crack. We must do all we can to push it over.
Israel began its massacres with full support from its Western “friends.†Then something amazing happened. Despite the official statements of support, despite the media censorship, despite the slick Israeli hasbara (propaganda) campaign, there was a massive, unprecedented public mobilization in Europe and even in North America expressing outrage and disgust.
Gaza will likely be seen as the turning point when Israeli propaganda lost its power to mystify, silence and intimidate as it has for so long. Even the Nazi Holocaust, long deployed by Zionists to silence Israel’s critics, is becoming a liability; once unimaginable comparisons are now routinely heard. Jewish and Palestinian academics likened Israel’s actions in Gaza to the Nazi massacre in the Warsaw Ghetto. A Vatican cardinal referred to Gaza as a “giant concentration camp.†UK Member of Parliament Gerald Kaufman, once a staunch Zionist, told the House of Commons, “My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town of Staszow, [Poland]. A German soldier shot her dead in her bed.†Kaufman continued, “my grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza.†He denounced the Israeli military spokesperson’s justifications as the words “of a Nazi.â€
It wasn’t only such statements, but the enormous demonstrations, the nonviolent direct actions, and the unprecedented expressions of support for boycott, divestment and sanctions from major trade unions in Italy, Canada and New Zealand. An all-party group of city councillors in Birmingham, Europe’s second largest municipal government, urged the UK government to follow suit. Salma Yaqoub of the RESPECT Party explained that “One of the factors that helped bring an end to the brutal apartheid regime in South Africa was international pressure for economic, sporting and cultural boycotts. It is time that Israel started to feel similar pressure from world opinion.â€
Israel, its true nature as failed, brutal colonial project laid bare in Gaza, is extremely vulnerable to such a campaign. Little noticed amidst the carnage in Gaza, Israel took another momentous step towards formal apartheid when the Knesset elections committee voted to ban Arab parties from participating in upcoming elections. Zionism, an ideology of racial supremacy, extremism and hate, is a dying project, in retreat and failing to find new recruits. With enough pressure, and relatively quickly, Israelis too would likely produce their own de Klerk ready to negotiate a way out. Every new massacre makes it harder, but a de-zionized, decolonized, reintegrated Palestine affording equal rights to all who live in it, regardless of religion or ethnicity, and return for refugees is not a utopian dream.
It is within reach, in our lifetimes. But it is far from inevitable. We can be sure that Western and Arab governments will continue to support Israeli apartheid and Palestinian collaboration under the guise of the “peace process†unless decisively challenged. Israeli massacres will continue and escalate until the nightmare of an Israeli- style “peace†— apartheid and further ethnic cleansing — is fulfilled.
The mobilizations of the past three weeks showed that a different world is possible and within our grasp if we support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. Although they will never get to see it, that world would be a fitting memorial for all of Israel’s victims.
Co-founder of The Electronic Intifada, Ali Abunimah is author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse (Metropolitan Books, 2006).
Just one of the innumerable worldwide protests against Israel’s war on Gaza held in Doha.
Israel’s war of Gaza has ended, but the carnage left behind remains to tell the tale of the horrors unleashed against a civilian population of Palestinians. The death toll rises as more bodies are found underneath the rubble and, so far, the governments of the world continue in their seemingly indifference to the Israeli aggressions.
However, citizens from all over the world have taken the good fight online to the blogosphere to keep the plight of Gaza in the spotlight. Bloggers based in Saudi Arabia started what is being touted as the ‘electronic jihad’ this past December after a large Gaza protest was dispersed by police using rubber bullets and tear gas. Taking their anger and resentment online has proven to be the best course of action and has received a wider audience than could ever have been imagined. Saudi Arabia is ranked number 37 on the list of countries with the most Internet usage by the populace, with an estimated 6.2 million Internet users in 2007 alone. Saudi bloggers are able to transcend all obstacles online, which would otherwise stand in their way during a real life protest. Information on the Internet if free flowing and cannot be distorted or twisted as it has been in some media outlets. The reach is also immeasurable as the truth about what happened in Gaza is shared with the world. A great deal of time and energy has gone into the content on these sites, which are very sleek and user-friendly. The graphic designs alone, on many of these blogs, immediately capture the reader’s attention. The most popular graphic to date has been of the Israeli flag burning in a flash of flames.
Ever since the siege on Gaza began, Saudi bloggers have been uploading photos and videos of the death, destruction and utter mayhem. Contributors have also been submitting caricatures of the siege along with cartoons of various world leaders who have done nothing to assist the Palestinians. The response has been overwhelming with many blogs receiving hundreds of thousands of ‘hits’ a day. And at each one of these blogs, visitors are asked to sign a petition denouncing Israel’s war against Gaza.
Perhaps what is most unique about the Saudi blogs is that content is offered in several different languages to ensure that the message is ‘heard’ around the world without the barrier of language. Some languages represented include Spanish, French, Chinese and Russian. Visitors can also leave comments in their own languages.
One of the most popular of all the blogs representing the electronic intifada, is www.gazatalk.com. It has shared video of global protests around the world and scenes from the destruction of Gaza. Currently, the blog has uploaded videos of how the Gazans are moving on today as they bury their dead and salvage whatever they can out of the rubble. However, one of the most popular features is a top ten list that teaches readers how they can get involved to help the people of Gaza. The tips range from recommending that people microblog on the social networking site Twitter to opening up their very own blog on Gaza complete with a death toll widget courtesy of Al-Jazeera television.
Blogging about the siege on Gaza has proven to be the safest way to launch a protest in the virtual world not only for Saudis, but everyone who has a blog. With more and more global internet users getting their information online, instead of from more traditional media, there is a golden opportunity for the truth to not only be told, but to be heard.
With ALLAH’S name, The Merciful Benefactor, Merciful Redeemer
By Imam Abdullah El-Amin, MMNS
How many times have you leafed through the Holy Qur`an and saw something very significant to the maintenance of human life that you hadn’t seen before? This scripture called Qur`an is a book of complete guidance for human beings wherever they are on the planet. This is truly the last revelation from ALLAH and there will be no more prophets bringing scripture ever. We will only have revivers or refreshers of the religion. These people are called mujeddid. They do not attempt to bring any new revelation; they only remind us of what has already been revealed.
This knowledge that Qur`an can guide us to solutions for all our problems is the most precious knowledge we can posses.
We are constantly bombarded with problems everyday that we live. ALLAH reminds us in Qur`an that even though we say we believe, we will constantly be tested. He will try us in many ways – with prosperity and adversity. The main thing for us to remember is each test put on us is an opportunity to raise you to a higher level. I read recently that the Chinese symbol for problem is the same symbol for opportunity.
A young lady came to me recently with a very serious problem. She has been hearing voices in her head telling her bad things about herself, her family, and ALLAH. Although I am not qualified to handle such serious sickness of the mind, I did notice that part of her problem was putting other people and circumstances above her.
ALLAH says there is nothing above the human being except Him.
This lady had called up about 50 of these people who say they can remove bad omens from a person’s body. I listened on the speakerphone as she re-called about 10 of them. They all said the same thing to her; “You have been ‘fixed’ and I can remove the hex but you must first send me $150.00.†These shysters only want to profit off the misery of the poor souls that call them.
As I said, I’m not a psychiatrist and therefore not qualified to treat such cases. But when I left the house from my visit, and checked the next day, her spirits were lifted from just me reminding her that Allah has placed her above the Shaitan that is whispering to her and trying to knock her off the elevated plane ALLAH has placed her on.
This is a great lesson for the rest of us who may not be as seriously affected as this young lady. Sometimes we may listen to little “voices†of self-doubt within ourselves. We may have strong in-bred feelings of inferiority.
We may look with envy and jealousy at someone we think is better than us and immediately put ourselves beneath them.
These feelings are only tools of the Devil. He is merely fulfilling his promise to ALLAH when he was given respite until the day we are raised (the day we are made aware of our true position in this life). So when we focus on the Last Revelation and what it says about the excellence of the human being, it gives us a new burst of freedom and pride in ourselves and Shaitan’s respite is over, as least as it pertains to us personally.
There is no reason each and every one of us should not be happy and peaceful every day. ALLAH has blessed us with this beautiful creation and the most excellent guide to manage it properly, and we should be grateful. For He says “If you are grateful, I will increase your bounty.
This article will address the proclivity for crime in our society, the last topic in the series of the seven major issues affecting society. I have taken this topic out of sequence and saved it for last because of my concern for the emotional impact it might generate among those who have already been frightened by governmental authorities into wanting surveillance cameras and electronic tracking devices for their security.
The promotion and use of these devices has little to do with current criminal activity or immediate threats to our safety; they are a means of watching and controlling the populace. The government’s own statistics indicate that crime has fallen in the aggregate and in most categories over the last 20 years. This information would negate any need for the increased surveillance imposed upon us other than the continual promotion of the likelihood of terrorist attacks. Still, the installation of surveillance cameras and security devices occurs at an ever-increasing rate.
Why, if crime has fallen, do we put more of our brothers in prison? We have the highest total number of men in prison of any nation. Stated more glaringly, America has 5% of the of world’s population and 25% of its prisoners—an alarming statistic and something you might want to reflect upon, especially if you have sons. The proponents of strong prison sentences point to reduced crime as resulting from that practice. By their reasoning if all the men were put in prison crime would be eliminated entirely. We certainly seem to be moving in that direction.
A statistic previously mentioned in this column—that America has the most violent boys in the world—would tend to support the need for early incarceration. Its proponents would argue that we had better get the most violent boys off the streets before they become the most violent men and really do us damage.
Why does this land of material abundance produce the most violent boys in the world? What motivates them to commit crimes? What kind of value structure do they have?
In last week’s column Lack of Morals and Ethics in Western Society, I pointed out that men of ethics build organizations, and that without ethics all organizations will collapse. 90% to 95% of the boys and men in prison came from broken homes; they were raised without fathers, they were not exposed to ethics, and they have few morals.
The prospects for crime are growing rapidly as we churn out more children raised without the benefit of a family environment. When these children roam the streets in a society that appears to be in the throes of severe economic collapse the potential for thievery and all sorts of crime will increase. The amoral environment in which they were raised, and the lack of identification with members of society, will have left them without regard for anyone.
The powers that influence our nation know what they have created by removing male authority, destroying the family, and making religion impotent. They have removed all ethics from society and reduced our behavior to what is legal and illegal. They have paved the way for a police state, which will be the only option left to maintain order and relative safety. Increased surveillance is part of the preparations for that eventuality.
Elder George’s website is www.mensaction.net and he can be reached at 212-874-7900 ext. 1329.
Peace and dignity was the theme of President Obama’s speech. Without mentioning the state of Israel, he sent a very strong message to those who turned Gaza into a gutter, that the United States would stand for peace and dignity for every man, woman and child.
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer tried to give his own spin when he said that the President Obama sent two messages to the Muslim world. One that said that we will not tolerate your violent behavior and the second that we want to work together with respect for peace.
Wolf was trying to venting out his anger at the Muslim world by twisting President Obama’s words. President Obama talked about the enemies of the United States in general without any reference to any nation or religion.
Obama’s speech was a departure from the regular run of the mill type of speeches of past presidents. He made it known to everyone that he is in control of the United States and he is different from the others.
He inspired the nation to new heights and he reiterated his commitment to the supremacy of the constitution. That means that Guantanamo Bay prison facility will close soon.
It means that the US military will withdraw from Iraq. It means torture will not continue.
Some might say it means all those who violated the constitution including the past president would be brought to justice. There is a growing demand for that, and it is not far-fetched that the past president might be tried for war crimes if not in this country than in other place of the world.
Justice demands that both Bush and Cheney must not be allowed to run away from justice and charges of war crimes are brought against them so that no one in the future can attempt to repeat them.
President Obama’s speech was unique, as he reminded the people that a nation is built on sacrifice and taking care of the poor and needy. He asked every American to stand for those who are unable to take care of themselves.
President Obama was, in fact, echoing everything that Islam stands for in terms of taking care of the poor and the needy and in terms of maintaining honesty and integrity in public work. He elaborated on the divine principle of justice and freedom with reference to history and culture.
He referred to the United States as a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and he invited each to participate in the rebuilding of new nation. Obama is giving a new vision of America, an America that is humble and more attuned to the welfare of its own people rather than imposing its will upon others.
President Obama, what you said was something this nation had forgotten during the most turbulent times of the last president–who was not only playing with the lives of people but with their hopes and future.
President Obama, you have restored our confidence in government once again, and you have reminded us that if we are vigilant, our democracy and constitution will be restored to vigor.
President Obama, we hope that your words will be taken seriously by law enforcement officials in their relations with blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Muslims and other minorities.
Students of philosophy will remember the French philosopher Blaise Pascal and his famous solution for reasoning out how to live one’s life in the absence of tangible proof of God’s existence. Pascal theorized that it made perfect sense to live life as though God’s existence was a proven fact. If one lived as though God were real and according to His principles only to find out He did not exist, nothing was lost. But if one lived believing that God did not exist and proved wrong, he could pay a heavy price.
Pascal believed he had nothing to lose and everything to gain by assuming that God’s existence was a fact. That was the safe way to go, which certainly makes sense to most people.
How his philosophy relates to investing should be quickly apparent. In no way can we know exactly what the future holds for the markets and world economies. The numerous sets of varying annual predictions coming from Wall Street promoters clearly attest to that fact, as proven again in 2008.
We can not know for sure if the markets will run higher or sink to new depths in the coming year. In the absence of any certainty, my contention is that preserving our assets during a secular bear market is the safer way to go.
If the markets continue to head lower, as I believe they will, I will still have my capital and live to fight another day. Investing defensively will limit my losses until a better investing environment comes along. Should the markets race unexpectedly higher, I will still live to fight another day, simply choosing a better opportunity to take risks.
This week’s column covers a topic I have been reading more and more about each week, namely protecting oneself with supplies of ‘’gold, guns and groceries.’’ I find that advice of this type is being heeded by some of the richer, better informed investors.
Recently, Merrill Lynch analysts reported the growing popularity of gold bullion, with sales rising 121% in the third quarter of 2008. Buying small amounts of gold bullion in coin or bar form now requires paying very big premiums over the spot price, showing quite strong demand. Many buyers, including me, are looking for protection against the rapidly falling real value of the dollar, and one look at this country’s enormous budget deficits projected for coming years could be rationale enough.
But not just the U.S. is seeing skyrocketing gold bullion sales. In Australia, the Perth Mint reports working overtime, trying to keep pace with demand for bullion. Reportedly, Russian investors are waiting in line to buy gold in response to the falling value of the ruble.
Thinking in the style of Pascal, gold buyers figure if they are wrong about the falling value of their home currencies, they will be left holding a tangible asset that, for centuries, has held its value in terms of purchasing power. Gold is readily sold for cash anywhere in the world and carries little downside risk as a metal with indestructible quality.
That example covers holding gold, but what the other two tangible items cited above, guns and groceries? These aspects owe much to how bearish economic analysts see the U.S. economy teetering on the brink of an all-out depression. Market watchers like Peter Schiff, Marc Faber, John Williams and Jim Willie have been warning for months about a coming depression. So why should we listen to what they are saying?
We should be aware simply because these are some of the same people who warned us about the real estate bust, the recession and mounting debt problems — when most market promoters were basking in the glow of the “Goldilocks†economy. While these bearish seers warned of the coming “worst case scenario,†they, particularly Schiff, were laughed out of every room where they made these predictions.
Look again at how real estate problems are still mounting, with record foreclosures announced every month. Check the workplace where U.S. workers lost about 2.5 million jobs last year. For those losing good paying jobs in finance, manufacturing or retail trade, where will they find a new job with these entire industries contracting?
With the bailing out of the corrupt and incompetent on Wall Street, almost nothing in the way of government aid has made its way to those victimized by the housing debacle. Add to this our concerns about being without work and income, and you can see where dissatisfaction and anger could grow in coming months. We’ve seen reports of widespread demonstrations in China in response to its closing thousands of manufacturing plants and terminating hundreds of thousands of jobs. This is not an exclusive event for that country. Rising discontent is already evident in our country.
Add to that example, how, in our weakened financial condition, outside threats take on more weight and cause additional concern. For example, let’s look to another seer with a solid track record for predicting the future. Gerald Celente of The Trends Research Institute, who authored Trends 2000 — a widely appreciated book about future trends, recently issued an alert. He cites the current conflict in Palestine as a potential source of trouble for the U.S., since it is viewed as an enabler of the Israeli incursion. With Israeli strikes now likened to war crimes by the United Nations’ mission there, Celente sees the potential for negative blowback on America’s support of Israel.
This may not be a radical view, when we recall the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973, which responded to a very similar situation of Israeli aggression against its neighbors and was supported by America. Celente uses these words to end his alert:
“Stay abreast of ongoing Middle East developments. Assess them by weighing the facts and gleaning the truth lurking behind the propaganda smokescreen. Should an oil embargo ensue, product scarcities will cause frenzy buying of food and fuel. Gold prices will spike, the dollar will crash and global panic will most likely break out.’’
Of course, not just another energy embargo could threaten our food supplies. Remember a few months ago when oil was selling at almost $150/barrel, which surprised most of us? Diesel fuel was so expensive that truckers began protesting, and some went out of business. Delivering food to our grocery stores became a concern.
Like Pascal, we can’t know with certainty what will emerge as truth in future economic or geopolitical events. But we can choose to play safe. If we load up on food and gold but the worst-case scenario never materializes, we will still have use for the food and a store of wealth in our gold bullion.
If rich investors prove right in stockpiling food, gold and guns for protection in a crumbling civil environment, they may have little need to be among those lining up outside the nearest grocery store and facing the prospect — along with hundreds of others in very foul moods — that rationing of short supplies is the only option. In a disruptive economic environment, such as one with prospects of possible depression resulting from rising unemployment, mounting foreclosures and growing discontent, a worst-case scenario must be considered.
Consider the most basic reason for owning insurance on your car, home or life: “just in case.†We’re dealing with the concept of magnitude vs. probability. There may be a very small chance that your home will burn down, but, if it does, you could be devastated financially. If you die unexpectedly, your family could meet with severe financial hardship, even though the chances of your dying might be statistically small.
Even though the worst case scenario, a full-fledged depression, might have a small chance of happening, wouldn’t it be comforting to know that you’re prepared, just in case the people who have been right all along about our economy are right on this prediction, too?
Have a great week. Bob
Bob Wood ChFC, CLU Yusuf Kadiwala. Registered Investment Advisors, KMA, Inc., invest@muslimobserver.com.
Tawheed Center Hifz Program and Construction Update
By Adil James, MMNS
Farmington–January 20–The Tawheed Center in Farmington Hills (at 9 Mile and Middlebelt) has made large strides in its construction project.
Last winter the work stopped with the first floor walls complete and not much more–since then two floors have been constructed with a roof–the building physically looks like a mosque, unlike how it was before; now it is complete with classrooms and more.
The building is not complete. “We are short about $150,000,†explains one of Tawheed Center’s trustees, Asim Khan. So, the Tawheed Center is planning a fundraiser in April or May to collect the $150,000 necessary to complete the project which is a beautiful effort both to make a viable mosque where many prayers and services are performed for the local Muslim community, and also where students can be educated at a level competitive with all of the local schools, religious or secular.
Presently the mosque is installing the HVAC system and construction crews from HVAC installers are present at the mosque.
In other matters, the hifz program at the school is progressing with full power–the mosque activities have expanded greatly and therefore the center hired Mufti Akram to teach the students in the hifz program.
A fifth student completed his memorization and graduated only last month, leaving now approximately 12 students who continue to memorize and also complete their secular education.
The students are competing favorably upon reentry into their extremely competitive local schools, with the great baraka of also having become hafiz Qur`an. The center’s other educational programs also continue. The Sunday School just had its midterms on the 18th.
To support the construction, or to enroll your children in the hifz program or Sunday School, or if you are interested in any of the Tawheed Center programs, please contact Mr. Asim Khan, 313-506-3215.
WEST PALM BEACH, FL– St. Mary’s Medical Center has announced that Dr. Ali R. Malek, Interventional Neurologist, has joined St. Mary’s Medical Center as the Medical Director of the hospital’s Neurointerventional Program.
Triple Board Certified in neurology, neurocritical care and vascular neurology, Dr. Malek formerly practiced at Tampa General Hospital where he was the director of their Neurosciences ICU for the last five years. He also served as faculty in the Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery with the University of South Florida.
Dr. Malek attended the University of South Florida (USF) for his undergraduate and master’s work. He completed his neurology residency at USF and was chief resident in his final year. He has completed fellowships in vascular and critical care neurology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and in endovascular neurosurgery at Providence Hospital in Michigan.
Dr. Malek has been involved in many professional and community organizations throughout his career. He was the former Vice President of the American Heart Association – Florida/Puerto Rico Affiliate and served on the Board of Directors of the Florida Society of Neurology. Additionally, Dr. Malek was Chairman of the LifeLink Advisory Board. LifeLink is a not-for-profit community service organization dedicated to the recovery of organs and tissue for transplant.
Dr. Fuad Shahin recognized with Order of Ontario
TORONTO–Dr. Ahmed Fuad Sahin has been appointed to the Order of Ontario, the highest civilian order in Ontario recognizing the unique contributions of outstanding Ontario citizens in the service of their fellow Ontarians and the country at large.
“I am pleased to invest some of our province’s most deserving citizens into the Order of Ontario,†said the Honourable David C. Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and Chancellor of the Order of Ontario. “This distinguished honour is bestowed on those who have gone above and beyond, those who have demonstrated excellence in various fields of endeavour.â€
Dr. Fuad Sahin is the Founder of IDRF (International Development and Relief Foundation), a Canadian charity doing international relief work His vision of traditional Islamic humanitarianism combined with his strong life long commitment to social justice encouraged Dr. Fuad Sahin and others to create a non-governmental organization committed to reaching out to and assisting the suffering people in every part of our world.
Dr. Fuad Sahin was born in Urfa, Turkey, the town considered to be the birthplace of the Holy Prophet Abraham. In 1958, he came to Ontario and joined as an Internship Resident in Kingston, Ontario. In 1966, he became an Urologist, affiliated with Greater Niagara General Hospital, Niagara Falls, Ontario, where he continued to practice, until retirement. In addition to his outstanding accomplishments in his own profession, especially in service to his patients, what Dr. Sahin should be best known for is his faithful service, leadership, and accompaniment of the Muslim communities of Ontario and the communities at large in which he has lived, worked, and served. He is an outstanding Muslim, an outstanding citizen, and an outstanding Canadian.
Over the years, he has been the motivational force, the founder, or co-founder of a significant number of organizations, which were created to promote greater understanding, awareness, and education about humanitarianism, peace, and the importance of upholding the dignity of all human beings, such as: Islamic Society of Niagara Peninsula, Islamic West Associates of Canada, Canadian Turkish Muslim Association, Islamic Foundation Inc., Toronto, Council of Muslim Communities of Canada (CMCC). Not only has he worked to strengthen Muslim organizations but he has reached out beyond his own faith. Dr. Sahin has been unflagging in his efforts to promote inter-faith understanding of world religion through active participation in such groups as: Christian -Jewish- Muslim Dialogue and the Christian Muslim Liaison Committee. Furthermore, Dr. Sahin has represented Canada at a number of international conferences on World Peace and World Religions.
Mosque plans approved in Sioux City
SIOUX FALLS, SD (News Agencies)– City authorities in Sioux Falls have approved plans for a mosque amidst neighbor protests. A home near an elementary school has been approved for use as a mosque on Fridays.
“For one thing, I don’t think it’s a proper use for this area,†neighbor Clinton Stickle told Keloland Television.
Stickle lives across the street from the Islamic Center. He doesn’t oppose the religion, just the location. “It’ll flatten the property values around here just like that,†Stickle said.
He’s also worried about increased traffic and parking. But the man in charge of the Islamic Center has guaranteed to the city there won’t be more than 28 people worshipping here at any given time.
“They have a right to worship here,†city planner Jeff Schmitt said. Schmitt says the mosque was approved just like any other place of worship would be. “We have churches in residential neighborhoods all over the city and for us to say you can’t worship here was difficult,†Schmitt said.
The city will review the Islamic Center’s conditional use permit at the end of the year to make sure it is abiding by the agreement.
Amherst Mosque
AMHERST,NY (News Agencies)–Officials in Amherst have approved a new mosque on Transit Road. Construction will now proceed on the Jaffarya Centre Mosque as planned. The 10,325 square foot mosque will have a single story building and will have parking space for 200 cars.
The mosque is estimated to be constructed at a cost of $3 million. Foundation will be laid by later January and bids for heating and plumbing work are being accepted through the project’s general contractor, FJ Construction of Lancaster.
Muslim student organization accused
CHICAGO, IL– An investigation of the Muslim-cultural Students Association of Northwestern University has found that the group violated Associated Student Government rules regarding publicity and contracting, according to the Daily Northwestern.
The group last year had invited Bill Ayers, a University of Illinois professor and the founder of 1960s radical group the Weather Underground, along with poular speaker Imam Zaid Shakir.
The investigation claims that the MCSA submitted the event for approval just three days before it was scheduled to take place. Student Activities Board guidelines recommend that three weeks advance notice be given for any contracts exceeding $2,000.
Despite the negative ruling the event is still planned to take place later this quarter, according to Tedd Vanadilok, McSA adviser and director for Asian and Asian-American Student Affairs.
ISGH Organized MLK Day Program In A Distinctive Manner
As President-Elect Barack Obama called upon the nation to do positive action and render public service on Martin Luther King (MLK) Day, the Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH) under the leadership of Dr. Aziz Ahmad Siddiqi, came up with an unique idea of opening the doors of ISGH Main Center and serve food to homeless and less fortunate in the society.
A very short notice was given for the event and was advertised on Mr. Obama’s National Website, resulting in many volunteers (Muslims and Non-Muslims) showing up. Some people came to avail this service at ISGH Main Center, while volunteers later on took boxes of food into various parts of Houston to distribute the food to needy.
Food was donated by four Muslim Community Restaurants: Fadis’; Kings’ Chicken; Mezban; and Shahnai.
For more information on various activities of ISGH, one can visit http://www.isgh.org/
Well Disciplined Rallies Organized By HCJPP
The recently formed Houston Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine (HCJPP) held this past Friday a Silent Protest in front of the Holocaust Museum and later on Sunday, a candlelight vigil at the Waterfall at Williams Tower, Galleria Area in Houston, to show solidarity with Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, who have endured deadly attacks by Israeli military forces over the past 22 days. Supporters reflected on the killings of 1,300+ Palestinians – over half of them women and children – and warned of the imminent starvation and death that indiscriminate Israeli attacks have caused so far. As President of the UN General Assembly Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann has warned, the staggering death and destruction caused by Israel’s attacks amounts to “genocide.â€
HCJPP spokespersons have also shown their dismay that some local media outlets instead of focusing on the real humanitarian issues in Gaza, started a new subject that their group is Hamas supporter. Moral and legal steps are being considered to tackle this situation in Houston, where instead of creating animosity, media needs to focus on finding ways to resolve the crisis in Gaza.
In a Press Statement, Release, HCJPP said we will silently stand during the candle light vigil to remember the innocent lives of the Palestinian children, women and elderly who were brutally murdered by the Israeli military, and pray for all those, who suffer from acts of war anywhere in the world.
HCJPP statement further said: “What is genocide? The Holocaust Museum Houston defines genocide as “the deliberate and systematic mass murder of a national, racial, political, or religious group.†What is happening in Gaza today is genocide, and it has in fact been labeled genocide by the President of the UN General Assembly. If not genocide, what do we call confining 1.5 million people in the most populated strip of land on earth and then dropping bombs on them indiscriminately? If not genocide, what do we call the systematic bombing of hospitals, schools, and homes? If not genocide, what do we call the murder of 284 children and 100 women, all killed inside their own homes and schools? If not genocide, what do we call the deliberate blockade of humanitarian aid to a devastated population?
An elderly man walks in a park in Mumbai January 18, 2009.
REUTERS/Arko Datta
NEW DELHI: Two months have passed since Mumbai-terror strikes and the Pakistan-based elements, India holds responsible for the incident, have still not been nabbed. Undeniably, India is paying utmost attention to gain friendly countries’ support to pressurize Pakistan to take strict action against the suspected elements. While India has certainly gained support from practically all quarters, it would be erroneous to hold this as suggestive of the same countries of having turned against Pakistan. Practically all the dignitaries who have visited India, to convey their diplomatic support to Delhi over the Mumbai-case, have also visited Pakistan. Should this be assumed as a sign of India having failed in securing the kind of diplomatic support it sought in targeting Pakistan over the Mumbai-case? At one level by through its diplomatic drive, India has signaled that the world is keeping a watch on the action that Pakistan takes against those responsible for Mumbai-strikes. India has at the same time tacitly acknowledged that irrespective of when and what action Pakistan takes, ultimately it is a problem to be sorted out at home. Along this line, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said: “We will have to tackle ourselves with our own sources and our own determination. We need to strengthen our own ability to deal with such attacks and our intelligence capability to anticipate them.†(January 17).
When questioned recently on the “perception†about India having “lost the diplomatic war against Pakistan†over Mumbai-terror strikes, Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee replied: “It is not a diplomatic war; it is diplomacy. What we are doing is not offensive; it is just and proper. As the foreign minister, it is my responsibility to convince all concerned in the international community about the gravity of the situation.†“We are doing what every other responsible country would do after a situation like this. We are doing it in a responsible manner. We have been able to carry conviction with a large number of countries,†he said.
On India having “outsourced†its diplomacy to pressurize Pakistan on Mumbai-case, Mukherjee said: “No we have not outsourced this. We are telling everybody that you must address these problems; you must put pressure on Pakistan because this is not just an India-Pakistan relationship. These issues need not be seen through the prism of Indo-Pak relationship. They are a part of global terrorism and they should be confronted collectively. Therefore, you (the other countries) will have to play a role.â€
With regard to investigations begun by Pakistan on the Mumbai-case, India has apparently decided to adopt a wait and watch approach. “We have received information from our High Commissioner in Islamabad that they (Pakistan) have started the process. Let us see how much time they take,†Mukherjee told reporters on sidelines of a function in Kolkata (January 17). Islamabad has officially communicated to New Delhi that the inquiry process was begun on January 15, Mukherjee said. On whether Pakistan was testing India’s patience, Mukherjee said: “It takes time. Diplomatic performance cannot be like switch on and switch off.â€
Dismissing the notion of there being any link between Islam and terrorism, Mukherjee said: “There is no relation between Islam and terrorism. In fact, no religion has any place for terror. Sometimes religious texts are misinterpreted to commit terrorist activities.†“Terrorists are enemies of humanity,†he said.
Amid the backdrop of concern voiced across the world on Mumbai-terror strikes, it may be viewed as one of those cases in recent history, which has put Indian diplomacy to a strong test. Notwithstanding all the hype raised about the two countries being prepared for war, it cannot be ignored, that they have exercised utmost restraint in actually reaching the war-stage. While India has repeatedly stated, that it was “open†to all options, which include snapping ties with Pakistan, recalling the Indian envoy, ceasing the bilateral trade, stalling bilateral negotiations and many other measures. What is noteworthy, India has not actually moved forward to implement any of these options. Its decision to adopt a wait and watch approach regarding the measures Islamabad takes only implies that India has no intention to rush into exercising any military option against Pakistan. With two months having passed by without the two countries reaching the war-stage despite all the war-hysteria raised over the Mumbai-issue can only be commended as Delhi having played its diplomatic cards astutely enough, quelling the war options it may have otherwise rushed into.
To a certain extent, India may be indulging in anti-Pak diplomatic rhetoric over the Mumbai-case to divert attention at both the national and international levels about it having failed to strengthen its security adequately enough to prevent the Mumbai-terror strikes. With parliamentary elections likely to be held in April-May, the anti-Pak diplomatic hype may well be viewed as also a politically motivated drive.
True, the support earned by India over Mumbai-case from other countries can at most be viewed as cosmetic diplomacy. But whether viewed as cosmetic and/or plain rhetoric, exercising such diplomatic options is certainly wiser than driving the subcontinent to the war or war-like stage. War and/or any war-like exercise would only reflect failure of diplomatic options. Exercising and/or rushing into military moves, without giving adequate attention to all other moves would certainly have been viewed as a major diplomatic mess. Diplomatically, India thus needs to be credited for not having failed the Mumbai-test!
Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Bajjah also known as Avempace, in Europe, was born in Saragossa, Spain in 1095 CE. He received his education at Cordoba specializing in medicine. He served as Vizier to the Emir of Murcia, Spain. He was the teacher of famous Andalusian philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes). After the fall of Saragossa, he went to Seville, where he wrote several treatises on logic and finally to the Almoravid court at Fez, Morocco. He died very young and it is said that a rival physician of Fez poisoned him in the year 1138 CE.
Ibn Bajjah was an Andalusian physician, philosopher and administrator who also contributed in the field of astronomy, physics, logic, music and poetry.
In physics, Ibn Bajjah gave the law of motion, which was equivalent to the principle that uniform motion. This principle would later form the basis of modern mechanics and have a subsequent influence on European physicists. Ibn Bajjah’s definition of velocity was very close to Galileo’s definition of velocity:Velocity = Motive Power – Material Resistance, here the motive power is measured by the specific gravity of the mobile body and the material resistance is the resisting medium whose resistive power is measured by its specific gravity. Ibn Bajjah was also the first to state that there is always a reaction force for every force exerted, a precursor to Newton’s third law of motion.
Ibn Bajjah wrote a commentary on Aristotelian Metrology in which he was highly critical of Aristotle idea about the milky way. He explained that the Milky Way is the light of many stars which almost touch one another. Their light forms a continuous image on the surface of the body which is like a tent under the fierily element and over the air which it covers. Ibn Bajjah explained the continuous image as the result of refraction, and supports its explanation with an observation of a conjunction of planets, Jupiter and Mars which took place in 1106 CE. He watched the conjunction and saw them having an elongated figure, although each is circular. He also proposed his own planetary model.
Ibn Bajjah was the earliest Andalusian philosopher who played a prominent role introducing the ideas of Plato and Aristotle and the Islamic philosophers, al-Farabi, Ibn Sina to the West.
His main contribution to philosophy was his ideas on soul phenomenology, unfortunately not fully developed before his death. Ibn Bajjah’s thought, particularly the idea of perfection as a state in which the mind comes into contact with the Divine Intellect and becomes itself an intellect (Acquired Intellect). He influenced Thomas Aquinas and Ibn Rushd. Thomas Aquinas mention Ibn Bajjah and his teaching in his works many times.
Some of Ibn Bajjah’s writings were not completed because of his early death. His student, Ibn Imam, edited his works after his death, including treatises on mathematics and medicine, commentaries on Aristotle and al-Farabi, and Ibn Bajjah’s own original philosophical treatises. Important among these treatises are Tadbir al-mutawahhid (The Hermit’s Guide), Risalat al-wada (Essay on Bidding Farewell) and Risalat al-ittisal al-’aql al faal bil-insan (Essay on the Conjunction of the Intellect with Human Beings). His other book on philosophy, titled “On the Soul,†is actually a treatise on logic, and it is considered by many to be an important piece of work.
Like earlier Muslim philosophers, Ibn Bajjah considered philosophy and the use of reason as the means by which the human intellect could reach its ideal. He believed that the human soul developed through three stages corresponding to the lives of plants, animals, and the human mind. The plant stage represents embryonic life, when the soul receives nourishment and grows. The soul then moves on to the animal stage, the stage of sensation, movement and desire. Finally the soul acquires thought, and the capacity for rational thinking. Ibn Bajjah described the essence of human nature as intellect, which is either potential or actual. Potential intellect has the capacity to acquire its proper object, intelligible forms and actual intellect is completely identified with its object.
In his book ‘The Hermit Guide’ Ibn Bajjah tried to show a man could, by the development of his own powers of mind, attain a union with the Active Intellect. He distinguished two kinds of action: animal action, which is a product of the animal soul; and human action, which is a product of free will and reflection.
A man who throws a stone to hurt someone performs an animal action; a man who throw the stone not to injure others, performs a human action.
The first step in the moral progress of the man is to learn to be ruled by will and reason, so that his actions may all be human. Having attained this, the man must strive for higher perfection, so that his actions may become divine.
Ibn Bajjah was a brilliant polymath who archived so much in such short span of his life. Even his critic Ibn Tufayl described him as possessing the sharpest mind and the soundest reasoning. His student Ibn Imam and Ibn Rushd conceder him as the marvel of his time in depth of philosophical knowledge and exact science. He is characterized as the second generation philosopher along with Ibn Rushd who produced original philosophical idea.
Washington DC–January 21–Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in using his middle name and not his middle initial on January 20, 2009. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by perhaps 1.2 million people, a crowd visible from space, very few of whom could actually hope to see any part of the ceremony but all of whom appeared to have shared in a universal spirit of brotherhood of man, as even cynical news reporters reported not one single person had been arrested during the inauguration, that complete strangers hugged one another and offered to help one another on that cold January day.
The inauguration was especially interesting to Muslims, not only because President Obama used his middle name as he was sworn in to the highest office in this land, the name of the grandson of our Holy Prophet (s), but also because of the overt and more nuanced messages to Muslims in his speech.
When the president referred to Muslims, his voice had an authority different from the thin invocations of peace that we have heard before from Republicans who always seemed to prefer to negotiate with Muslims under threats, whether vague or direct.
President Obama used the words “Muslim†and “Muslims†once each during his speech. He said the strength of this nation lies in its plurality–a “patchwork heritage†that he said “is a strength, not a weakness.â€
To the Muslim world he argued that “we seek a way forward based on mutual interest, and mutual respect.â€
“We will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist,†he said.
Is it just us, or did the moral authority of the United States just come back?
Although those who would kill innocents can never really have full moral authority–neither did those who argued “you are either with us or against us,†and “we may sometimes have to go to the dark side on this.â€
But now–the truth is self-evident. Ayman al-Zawahiri is reduced to racial taunts, while our president is saying he wants peace. Therefore the way forward is clear–those who want more fitnah can clearly be distinguished from those who wish for peace, but are willing to fight if necessary.
As someone whose very background embodies the two races that are primarily thought of as the American people, and as someone who has actually lived in the most populous Muslim nation in the world, these words of plurality and mutual respect have a depth and power that his predecessors did not even appear to want to have.
Interestingly, his first comments directed against terrorists were separate from his references to Muslims. In a series of paragraphs he referred to America’s past victories by means of her moral authority and not only her industrial and military might, and said that those who resort to terror and killing innocents will not win. He called Al Qaeda a wide ranging network, and not an “ideology,†which had been the language of Republicans who sought to conflate terrorism with Islam. Al Qaeda is a network, a network that certainly does not speak with any authority on what is Islam, what is Shari’ah, or what is right or wrong.
His speech must have been of some concern to despots ruling in the Middle East. He called them out, saying that they would be remembered for what they could build rather than what they could destroy. But he did not threaten regime change, and from his relatively dovish stand it is clear that his distaste for despots will likely take shape in the form of an economic cold shoulder and soft pressure rather than the military methods apparently favored by his predecessor.
As he stepped into his new office, the concern was that President Obama could easily fall into the ruts of mutual hatred and badwill with the Muslim world–those ruts that have been carved out from the time of the first crusade, 1,000 years ago, and further deepened through the past 7.5 years of sickening and unnecessary bloodshed and conflict–or he could extend a hand towards peace.
President Obama has made that first step towards peace, and we hope that that is the path of the future.
This is a path that can be mutually beneficial. Sincere efforts to solve the dilemma of US national interests in the Middle East balanced against the Israeli abuses perceived by the Arab world, could be resolved by an American president with an unhidden agenda—peace in Palestine brokered by a president with clean hands would be the antibiotic to the infection of discontent in the Middle East. Peace in the Middle East would bring increased trade, and goodwill, from the entire Middle East and its vast oil and natural gas reserves, not to mention the broader Muslim world. And the goodwill of those nations would extinguish the flame of terrorism that engulfs the world and subjects to its tyranny all of those who now inhabit the planet.
But even from now, it is clear that those making war are the transgressors–and thus we hope that peace or a speedy victory will attend this new and more fully morally justified American approach to the world and especially to the Muslim world, and we hope that his good will will shine a warm light to the many in the world who need the warmth of beneficence in this time.
Beyond this, we even hope for real, beneficial, and peaceful resolutions to the sores that have plagued, intoxicated and bloodied the Middle East, like a sore tooth that cannot be ignored, for decades—we hope for a salve to the wounds and bloodshed most of us have known all our lives.
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh.
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. Those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers … our found fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent Mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath. So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
“Let it be told to the future world … that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it).â€
America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.
