U.S. Muslim Scholars Issue Edict Against Terrorism
Taking a page from CAIR-CAN and Jamiyatul-Ulama Canada.
July 29, 2005
Pakistan to expel foreign students | Aljazeera
Aljazeera.Net - Pakistan to expel foreign students
"I have never done anything not seriously. I don't bluff. I do act with realism. I am realistic, not idealistic. I am very, extremely, serious."
Seriously?
"I have never done anything not seriously. I don't bluff. I do act with realism. I am realistic, not idealistic. I am very, extremely, serious."
Seriously?
July 28, 2005
July 22, 2005
London II
More bombs were planted yesterday in the London transit system, as everyone must know by now. So we've heard the usual condemnations and editorializing and all that talk. It's a blessing that no one got hurt, but one thing we must always remember is that some communities go through that every single day. While war in Iraq and Afghanistan cannot be considered an excuse for these attacks, we should not sympathize and condemn these attacks while forgetting about the murderous ideologies that are victimizing our brothers and sisters.
Whether you drop the bombs from a fighter jet or explode them out of a schoolbag, it's still a bomb, and it's still murder.
Whether you drop the bombs from a fighter jet or explode them out of a schoolbag, it's still a bomb, and it's still murder.
July 21, 2005
July 20, 2005
Toys Are Us: Part II
I passed by Mrs. Tiggy Winkles again today to see what other toys are accompanying those wacky action figures that I mentioned earlier.
Now Action Figure Moses and GeekMan are accompanied by, I kid you not, a Librarian Action Figure. If it encourages kids to read, then it's all good I guess.
Now Action Figure Moses and GeekMan are accompanied by, I kid you not, a Librarian Action Figure. If it encourages kids to read, then it's all good I guess.
Seeker’s Digest
One of my favourite blogs, Seeker’s Digest, has gotten it's own URL and has been beautifully re-designed. Shaikh Faraz Rabbani of SunniPath maintains this blog, and he has an uncannily similar set of interests as mine, including:
- Islam (particularly Hanafi fiqh)
- Technology
- Literature
- Shakespeare
- Open-Source
- Education
July 14, 2005
July 12, 2005
And now a bit about Tim Hortons
Free Tim Hortons, U.S. fund says | CBC News
I've been reading from the Riverbend blog for the last few hours, and it's been disturbing me greatly. Her writing is so effective in bringing the reader into the moment, into her neighbourhood and even into her family... I felt I needed a taste of home to get myself back on track. So an article about Tim Hortons seemed fitting; come home for lunch, they say.
Anyway, to anyone who ever stumbles upon my Irrelevant Opinions, I humbly request you to stop reading this and go to the Riverbend blog. Her writing is extremely eloquent, putting me to shame with her witty metaphors and effective analogies. And while you're at it, drop by here too.
I've been reading from the Riverbend blog for the last few hours, and it's been disturbing me greatly. Her writing is so effective in bringing the reader into the moment, into her neighbourhood and even into her family... I felt I needed a taste of home to get myself back on track. So an article about Tim Hortons seemed fitting; come home for lunch, they say.
Anyway, to anyone who ever stumbles upon my Irrelevant Opinions, I humbly request you to stop reading this and go to the Riverbend blog. Her writing is extremely eloquent, putting me to shame with her witty metaphors and effective analogies. And while you're at it, drop by here too.
July 11, 2005
Baghdad Burning
Today, I came across this blog of a sister living in Baghdad. She has first-hand accounts of what it is like to live in a country currently under foreign occupation in the midst of a massive and bloody insurgency. It reads kinda like an on-line, Muslim version of the diary of Anne Frank. It is extremely well written, and captures the personal and emotional details of the war that no media coverage can cover.
May Allah Subhana wa ta'Ala relieve the suffering of all those living under oppression. I'm sitting here and reading about all this suffering in a comfortable, quiet apartment with a stocked fridge, running water, and electricity. And yet I still complain about stuff.
May Allah Subhana wa ta'Ala relieve the suffering of all those living under oppression. I'm sitting here and reading about all this suffering in a comfortable, quiet apartment with a stocked fridge, running water, and electricity. And yet I still complain about stuff.
July 09, 2005
Heightened alert and heightened ignorance
So yesterday I'm waiting at the bus stop near my office to go for Jumu'ah. This guy comes up to me, looks me up and down and says somewhat excitedly:
"Al-Qaida?"
I reply, "No, Accenture."
He then walks away in dismay.
"Al-Qaida?"
I reply, "No, Accenture."
He then walks away in dismay.
July 07, 2005
On aliens and the alienated
I keep in touch with my cousins blog through my Mozilla Thunderbird RSS feed reader. Today, he decided it was time to give up on people and essentially alienate himself from common human interaction. In the process, he actually used the word "chooseth" which made me laugh out loud.
Today, several bombs exploded in London, killing over 50 people and heightening security all across the world. Some people calling themselves the "Al-Qaida of Europe" claimed responsibility, and somehow thought that this would be a good idea. While I doubt the claim of responsibility, there are a few facts that are established here: someone planted those bombs, and intended that some message be put forth. In the end, they will pay for it in this world or in Akhirah.
Who were they? They were most likely people who found people to be redundant, and found themselves becoming distanced from society. After some time, they decided that there was no need even to reattach themselves; they were unable to push their agenda through traditional means of social interaction and political movement. So they embarked upon their own isolationist movement and decided that they had no interest in a world that cast them aside whenever it so chooseth.
The problem was that no one cared that they were gone, and their agenda was not being promoted. What that agenda was, I don't claim to know, but in isolation these people decided that it was time to re-emerge with a bang. Not with the intention of reattaching themselves to the society that cast it aside when it choseth, but just for the reason that they were getting exasperated and needed to make some noise. Of course, they had no compassion for society and no hope of promoting any of their values. So they struck out against society in the most cowardly and sadistic way.
And when all those bombs exploded causing widespread fear and chaos, killing dozens of people, whatever values they had were not being promoted. Whatever agenda they had was not being pushed. Whatever discontent they had with society did not diminish. All that happened was that people died and hate grew. And as hate develops, more people will want to isolate themselves until they re-emerge with another deadly bang.
Sometimes we live in our own little world, and no one really understands us. It's easy to blame that on others, but it is almost never productive. It is also easy to make ourselves comfortable in that little world of ours, and keep the door shut for fear of intrusion. We feel that it us against the world, and that our only hope of survival against a world is to create one of our own.
That is not the answer. The truth is that we are the world. Together, we make it what it is. And together, we can make it better.
Today, several bombs exploded in London, killing over 50 people and heightening security all across the world. Some people calling themselves the "Al-Qaida of Europe" claimed responsibility, and somehow thought that this would be a good idea. While I doubt the claim of responsibility, there are a few facts that are established here: someone planted those bombs, and intended that some message be put forth. In the end, they will pay for it in this world or in Akhirah.
Who were they? They were most likely people who found people to be redundant, and found themselves becoming distanced from society. After some time, they decided that there was no need even to reattach themselves; they were unable to push their agenda through traditional means of social interaction and political movement. So they embarked upon their own isolationist movement and decided that they had no interest in a world that cast them aside whenever it so chooseth.
The problem was that no one cared that they were gone, and their agenda was not being promoted. What that agenda was, I don't claim to know, but in isolation these people decided that it was time to re-emerge with a bang. Not with the intention of reattaching themselves to the society that cast it aside when it choseth, but just for the reason that they were getting exasperated and needed to make some noise. Of course, they had no compassion for society and no hope of promoting any of their values. So they struck out against society in the most cowardly and sadistic way.
And when all those bombs exploded causing widespread fear and chaos, killing dozens of people, whatever values they had were not being promoted. Whatever agenda they had was not being pushed. Whatever discontent they had with society did not diminish. All that happened was that people died and hate grew. And as hate develops, more people will want to isolate themselves until they re-emerge with another deadly bang.
Sometimes we live in our own little world, and no one really understands us. It's easy to blame that on others, but it is almost never productive. It is also easy to make ourselves comfortable in that little world of ours, and keep the door shut for fear of intrusion. We feel that it us against the world, and that our only hope of survival against a world is to create one of our own.
That is not the answer. The truth is that we are the world. Together, we make it what it is. And together, we can make it better.
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