Jim Khalili At It Again

Jim Khalili brings us another installment of his exposition of Arab contribution to sciences in Pathfinder - the paperback version.

Here is the author information :

Jim Al-Khalili OBE is a theoretical physicist, author and broadcaster. He is currently Professor of Physics at the University of Surrey, where he also holds the first Surrey chair in the public engagement in science. He was awarded the Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize for science communication in 2007, elected Honorary Fellow of the British Association for the Advancement of Science and has also received the Institute of Physic's Public Awareness of Physics Award. Born in Baghdad, Jim was educated in Iraq until the age of 16 and it was there, being taught by Arabic teachers in Arabic that he first heard and learnt about the great Arab scientists and philosophers. He has long championed the influence of Islam on science and hopes to bring attention to the rich Arab heritage in our understanding of science today.

The book description is here:

For over 700 years, the international language of science was Arabic. In "Pathfinders", Jim al-Khalili celebrates the forgotten, inspiring pioneers who helped shape our understanding of the world during the golden age of Arabic science, including Iraqi physicist Ibn al-Haytham, who practised the modern scientific method over half a century before Bacon; al-Khwarizmi, the greatest mathematician of the medieval world; and, Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, a Persian polymath to rival Leonardo da Vinci.

And here are the reviews:

Brings alive the bubbling invention and delighted curiosity of the Islamic world ... his command of Arabic mathematical physics invests his story with sympathy as well as authority

-- Tim Radford, Guardian

A fascinating and user-friendly guide to this whole scientific movement --

Noel Malcolm Seven, Sunday Telegraph

Jim Al-Khalili has a passion for bringing to a wider audience not just the facts of science but its history ... Just as the legacy of Copernicus and Darwin belongs to all of us, so does that of Ibn Sina and Ibn al-Haytham. To think otherwise, as this book so powerfully reveals, is to do disservice to the tradition to which they belong

-- Kenan Malik Independent Spry

 informative and timely ... Al-Khalili takes the reader through a brisk survey of the highlights of the period
-- Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday

A fascinating introduction to a neglected area. His approachable style and ability to distil extensive knowledge into simple narrative makes Pathfinders an absorbing read
-- Siobhan Murphy, Metro

Enjoyable and informative ... provides ample evidence for the compatibility of Islam and science
-- Sameer Rahim, Daily Telegraph

He has brought a great story out of the shadows Literary Review This captivating book is a timely reminder of the debt owed by the West to the intellectual achievements of Arab, Persian and Muslim scholars
The Times

Asian Age on Farhan Mujib

A piece by Shruti Badyal.

The soft winter breeze was filled with silent tears as guests poured in at the do. Some called his works shamelessly gorgeous, others talked about his love for food, and then there were some, whose voices choked while paying a tribute.
Such was the presence of Mujib, even after he is gone. “He made surreal beautiful pieces from scratch. Each of his paintings was a catalogue in itself. He will live in the warmth of his endless conversations,” said a friend.

Hitting at the Core of Faith

The media getting drowned in support of the author of a banned book was a rather grotesque site.
There were people like Barkha Dutt, she of the mediation in Telecom Ministery allocation fame, talking about it.
And then there were many more.
Now cut one nonsense out of the scene -that Muslims have not read the infamous book.
Enough of us have - do not worry about that.
And we have read magic realism also. The said author is an extremely poor imitation.
Coming back to the crux - most of the cry foul crowd consists of separation of Church ans State.
Now state is suppose to watch out every activity - particularly the public ones. It clearly can not be a party or even an onlooker when the secular activities hit at the core of a religion.
That is what the banned book sought to do.
It was an overt attack on the core of Islam.
Beloved Prophet (PBUH)'s wives are considered mothers of the faithful.
If you name fictional women of easy virtue after them then you are hitting at a very delicate place.
And one thing is very clear here - Muslims can not retaliate in kind.
Use of filthy language takes you in the direction that is not part of Islam.
But when someone is hitting at the core of Islam, and by now it must be clear to any body who cares that this was all done by design, then this can not be taken as a mere act of creativity. The author might be creatively drinking but he has not taken it to the limits of drinking life threatening liquids.
Of course when creativity has serious repercussions for Islam and Muslims then it is taken as the most legitimate target. Crusades never died - at least in the intellectual realm.

Tragedy of Residual Communism

The RC, residual communist, intellectual insists, among other things, on absolute freedom of speech and expression. Of course the erstwhile USSR, by design, never was an epitome of the freedom of expression. After the demise of the USSR our RC intellectuals take their ideological solace from the other western sources - the US and the Europe. Now take the example of Azaan. By no stretch of imagination it can be classified as offensive. But then why is it banned in European countries? Clearly the sources of inspiration to our RC intellectual is a phony ideal. And the way the US authorities have been treating the demonstrators in the Occupy Wall Street case is a clear indication that the so called absolute freedom of expression is an expansive toy that has been devised by the west as is used against the orient. True that it finds some currency in the west - you can criticize the US President even in their capital but we have just enumerated some examples where they too, the west, realize that this idea of absolute freedom of expression has got its limitations. RC individuals clearly are unoriginal and poorly creative.

Mukul Kesavan on Farhan Mujib

When Farhan Sahab started contemplating on taking collage making as a full time profession, those tentative moments where the new thread is not yet connected and the old one is not broken, there were moments of pondering. "Will it make financial sense?', he would mull. At the hind sight it was - fabulously so. And what profound words can be used to describe his work? This type of mulling came in the share of yours truly. After a little bit of trial the realization dawned that this is not everybody's cup of tea to use the right words for a creative work - even if you were quite familiar with. But soon the natural course set in and those profound words  about his work started flowing in. And these are still coming in even after he is gone. It was for the second or the third exhibition that he said that all the collages are occupying Mukul Kesavan room. Why? Because the writer has to get into the mood to write a critique of his collages. It was interesting - a realization of the work that goes behind the creative process. Creativity is not always spontaneous. As Winston Churchill famously said that all of my off the cuff remarks have been prepared well in advance. And now Kesavan is one of those many people who are left looking at the trail of that meteorite called Farhan Mujib.

Source : The Hindu

Your Own Choice?

Alright. Do it yourself.

I've heard people tell me stories filled with frustration of going to dinner after dinner, party after party, and a variety of speed dating, singles, and networking events with the expectation of meeting someone, and walking away more confused than when they had first ventured out.

From Hijab to Pyjama

Now it is time to ban the pyjamas.
Some where in UK.

8 Percent Cut : Leaner and Meaner

US is about to cut its military strength by more than 8 percent. That is reduction of a hundred thousand troops and reduction of billions of dollars in military budget. Hope it brings much deserved respite to the world from this nation that is very suave in its talk and merciless in its actions.

Source : BD Daily Star, BBC, Reuters

Greatness Thrust Upon Her

What do you know about Antonia Edvige Albina Maino?
A lot indeed for she is none other than Sonia Gandhi.
Who could imagine that a woman born in Italy will become third most powerful woman of the world - and most powerful in India.
A woman who would give India two children who will be treated like a prince and a princess.
Indeed Allah(SWT) gives without count to whomsoever He intends.
And there are Signs of Allah in the things around us for those who want to see them.

It Is Sweet, It Is Bitter

Janab Muhammed Hamid Ansari Sahab, Vice President of the People's Secular Republic of India, arrives at the parade observation stage at Raj Path, New Delhi, on January 26, 2012.
And the air is filled with Hindi words for welcome.
It is sweet indeed.
The Vice President is a Muslim. He is also an Alig.
And why will it not fill the heart with happiness.
Blessings of Allah(SWT) in this world are His Grace.
And for every blessing a thank is mandatory.
And all thanks are due to Allah(SWT) for all of His blessings.
And God willing he might be the next President too.
And thank you dear country - it is an honour indeed.
To think of Zakir Hussain.
Of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.
Of course the bitterness is that it would be even better if this was combined some things beyond tokenism.

Professor Mehdi Hasan and Janab Zafar Iqbal

Both of them have been chosen for Padam Shri Award this year.
Congratulations to both of you.
Of course yours greedy Alig could have done with at least twenty of hundred odd Padam Awards but that is a different matter.
Zafar Iqbal Sahab is quite humble about it.
Here is something about Professor Hasan's marathon Anatomy teaching career.
And even better information is here.

Cool and Discrete Killers

Iraq, Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan saw the latest western military actions of history. Apart from the latest, most sophisticated and most fearsome technology including drones for mechanized killing there is one aspect that is not known as the front page news but might be the most decisive element in complete reduction of the society to the levels that might look prehistoric. These are the snipers employed by the western forces. Here the killing is cool, calculated and brooded. First reports completely regularize this process but that is the perpetrators perspective. Victims certainly are not around but their near and dear ones will shed their tears as long as they live.

Richard Dawkins and Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins is humbled before astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson. One reason is that out of the whole electromagnetic spectrum we can see only a very narrow band which we call the visible light.

Now this is indeed a humbling experience - only if Richard Dawkins was humbled before his creator rather than denying Him. To be humble before creation of God is good and to be humble before God is even better. Richard Dawkins is so close to the truth yet so far.

With Apologies to Muzaffar Ali

Old friends are old friends. Like Muzaffar Ali Sahab and Farhan Mujib Sahab. With old friendships goes the informality and a light banter. Once Farhan Sahab and Muzaffar Sahab met some where on G.T. Road and former said that let me introduce you to my wife.
Farhan Sahab : Which one? (Obvious reference to much marriedness of his friend.)
Muzaffar Sahab : Do not be crude. (Badtamizi mat karo.)

Well the man who could crack original jokes without an advance notice is silenced by Lord Most High.
Verily we are for our Lord and unto Him is our return.
And may He guide us on the Right Path.

PS: The condolence meeting for Farhan Sahab, held on January 22, 2012 in New Delhi, turned out to be overwhelming to, at least, two very composed people - Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi. Caroline D'Cruz in the Times of India:

A tribute for the late artist and teacher Farhan Mujib was organized in the capital recently, and childhood friend Javed Akhtar was there along with Shabana Azmi.
The couple was quite moved when an audio-visual presentation about the artist was screened, and Javed, whose eyes were often wet, did not speak much to the press about the artist, who passed away on 15 December, 2011. However, Shabana spoke a few lines about the artist before she too left the room in tears. Also present were Muzaffar and Meera Ali.

Justice Americana

A US soldier responsible for killing of twenty five unarmed civilians in Iraq will not serve any prison term.
In a so called attack on US interrogators a women, the accused, is the only one hurt and she is sentenced to eighty six years of prison.
Welcome to Justice Americana.

NDTV Coverage

Just a few hours ago the purported appearance of an infamous writer on video link at the Jaipur Literary Festival was cancelled. NDTV was reporting it. The mood of the reporting was queer. Banning of the book of the said writer was a government decision - keeping in view the sentiments of a very sizable minority community of India. Once it is a government decision it should be taken as a national decision. But that was not the attitude of the reporters indulging in it. There were talks that there should be police action against the protestors who had turned up at the news of the possible video appearance of the said writer. Now this is playing hide and seek with law with some cheekiness thrown in for good measure. A writer just by avowing to his profession does not stand absolved of all social responsibilities. Just because the people who are on the reporting circle happen to have the same ideology as some of the authors does not give them a right to heap their free speech on the society. This is an eating your cake and having it too type of demand. Trying to play with the sentiments of a community that is very large in numbers is a very strange adamant attitude on part of these people. It is also learned that some of the writers are petitioning to remove the ban on the book. Just because a few people have got hold of their pen how does it prove that they have got God given right, or Satan given right for that matter, to hurt the vast population?

Religion vs religion

Yours truly uses capitalization in the middle of sentences like writing Religion where one might expect that religion would be perfectly alright. In reality Religion is used in the sense of Deen which is religion combined with a complete way of life. See here the post at Asrafia for further clarification.

Saving A Neighbour

(1) Barkha Dutt and Mani Shankar Aiyyar want to save Pakistan. And they are accepting help from Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy. See it here. She called Dr Hoodbhoy the foremost voice of public opinion in Pakistan. Now this is strange. He does not represent the official government view because of obvious reasons - leftist ideology has spent most of its time in anti-establishment mindset. He also does not represent Islamic opinion again because of his leanings. Now superficially the socialist ideology is the ideology of the masses but only superficially. there is too much evidence in front of us that it is all about using the masses for a purpose that might have begun with a fresh idea of distributing the wealth amongst all, or amongst none at all, a sort of logical conclusion of Robin Hoodism, but the end product of socialism is complete dis-functioning of society and at the end of the day it, we mean socialism, it has reduced to a new elite activity of the privileged. Now that is not public voice. Even in the beginning it was elite voice imposed on the public and now it has reduced to elite voice which has burned out. Let us call it Residual Marxism. Tehelka, the media venture, is one example of this phenomena and so is Dr Hoodbhoy. No diminishing of his scientific contributions and his commitments intended but to call him foremost voice of public opinion in Pakistan is not very complementary to him too. Public can be considered genuine but not sophisticated and by any stretch of imagination Dr Hoodbhoy is not the spokes person of public opinion in our neighbouring country. His is an audible voice and there is no doubt about it. If one can hazard a guess then one would be inclined to believe that he belongs to the same class in which Muslim elite decided to adopt the new Marxist ideology to maintain their position of privilege. This is not what is public opinions is sourced from.

(2) Coming to brass tacks.(Summary only and not the actual transcript.)

BD : Before talk of saving Pakistan let us ask whether it needs saving.

PH :  Possibility of exaggeration is always there but situation is bad in itself. Bad public security. Religious radicalism permeating society steadily. Deep trouble in Pakistan. Nature of problem different in different places. People in Baluchistan feeling oppressed by Punjabis. Killer of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer is a criminal but the majority of the people in Pakistan feel that he has done the right thing.

BD : And the judge who delivered the death sentence on him had to leave the country.

PH : To saudi Arabia.

BD : Mani Indian imagination on Pakistan has not gone very far. (It is knee jerk.) Even in case of Pakistan flood the PM (Dr Manmohan Singh) could not assert his view to have peace with Pakistan.

MSA : We Indians have to get our thoughts cleared about Pakistan. It is a historical fact and irreversible geographical fact. Fear our neighbour? Grimace in anger at it? Or take seven steps to save Pakistan? Pakistan is not a failed state or a failing state, it is a nuclear state with terrorists of conventional kind and potentially nuclear kind and hence we are really saving ourselves. The hostility towards India in Pakistan is nowhere near to the hostility in India for Pakistan.

BD : Before seven steps is it India's problem to save Pakistan?

MSA : Yes because you do not want a failed state next to you. Pakistan is like Belgium - they quarrel among themselves in peace time but when faced with external threat they forget their internal differences. Friendly attitude to neighbour will have positive ripple effect across the northern sub-continent.

BD :  Pervez is there a love-hate relationship between us?

PH : Yes. When some goes to the other side the there is bonhomie and they go to restaurant together and the restaurant does not charge!

Regarding India's responsibility for stabilization of Pakistan - India is responsible for some things. Like nuclear explosions of 1974 and 1998. And then Kargil followed immediately.

BD : And what about secret nuclear peddlers like A.Q.Khan?

PH : A.Q.Khan is a product of 1974 action. And then nuclear weapons are equalizers. Nuclear weapons make conventional Indian superiority meaningless and Pakistan can harbour terrorists. Everybody has lost out - you and we.

BD : The best achievement of first UPA government in India was the secret nuclear deal on which the government nearly fell. Do you think there is going back on nuclearization of South Asia?

MSA : Oh yes. The deal proposed by UPA one and continued by UPA to is far reaching idea - idea of border less Kashmir proposed by Pervez Musharraf and Manmohan Singh. And then why not border less India-Pakistan?

BD : And, God forbid, if there is another terrorist attack?

MSA : Before that there should be an interrupted and uninterruptable dialogue between India and Pakistan just like the US and Vietnam communists at the time of worst period of their relationship. Put the talking table at Wagah border. (Audience applause on the consequences.)

BD : Are brave and outspoken people like you are increasingly isolated in Pakistan? Are liberal voices in Pakistan finding themselves at the periphery?

PH : True. Marginalization taking place because of relentless Islamization ever since Zia-ul-Haq. School text books changed. There has been a change towards a Islamic state from a Muslim state - the two are completely different. Muslim State - where majority of the people are Muslims, Islamic State - state where there is Islamic rule. Zia-ul-Haq took steps towards that. Chairman of university departments were expected to lead prayers. People started praying on side walks. As a reaction people wanting pluralistic society turned towards liberalization. Two nation theory has worked it course and a an inclusive idea of nation is required.

BD : As a teacher you spoke against burqa because you wanted to connected to your class. Is is a difficult stand to take?

PH : As a teacher I need to see little bit more then just two eyes.

BD : Mani have we gotten over partition - I think in India we have.

MSA : I as a Tamil refugee from Pakistan have gotten over with but we as country have not. To add to Pervez's observation - the efforts by the government in past seventy years to foster hatred for the other people have failed - as seen from personal relationships between the people.

Ghalib and Science

Mr Syed Hasan Shahid Rizvi, who has retired ans Senior Scientific Officer from Physics Department of AMU, used to say that Ghalib was a physicists.
You got to know his take - why does he think that?
There is phrase in one of Ghalib's ghazals - Ya Ilahi ye majrah kya hai, O God what is this matter?
Bingo! That is science.
To be pedantic Ghalib was not pondering on the properties of matter but the things that will rightfully belong to psychological and social matters - if not spiritual. Let us take the full couplet

Hum hain mushtaq aur woh bezar
Ya Ilahi ye majrah kya hai?

I am eager and he (or she) indifferent
What's this matter O God!

There goes physics and science in general out of it. But when you are bent upon putting science in it then it is a different matter altogether. In fact there is a well accepted principle in literary criticism that it is not necessary that a poets knows all the aspects of his work! there you go.

Real scientific matters are dry. Be it Physics or Chemistry, Zoology or Botany. Things get exciting here and there in a different way but by and large the vocation of science is an ascetic profession. There are many people who try to make it interesting for sake of communication, and this is good, but so many times they end up in a situation in which they cease to be convincing to their own colleagues.

In poetry there may be shades of all emotions but joy is supposed to be the core of it. There will be boring exceptions but that is it - these are boring. Hence we end up in a situation where we have two, by and large, disconnected disciplines of life - poetry and science.

Over and out.

Now we can add some thing from Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

Kayee baar is ki khaatir zarre zarre kaa jigar cheerah
Magar ye chashm-e-hairaN hai ke is ki hairani nahin jaati

So many times, for the sake of it, atoms were split
But this curiosity (of mine) is all the same unsatisfied

Now that is science.
And that is religion also. You are left amazed at the intricacies of the world around you and you start agreeing that the ink of the oceans will be over before the descriptions of the wonders of Allah(SWT) can be described even if the oceans are filled with ink seven times.

William Lane Craig Wipes Floor With Harris, Hitchens and Dawkins

Watch it to believe it.

Child Abuse by British Soldiers

British Character : A Facet

(1) BBC: UK troops arrested over Afghanistan child abuse claims

(2) The Sun: Two British soldiers ‘abused kids aged ten’

(3) Telegraph (UK)  :  Hamid Karzai condemns alleged Afghan child abuse by British soldiers 

(4) Global Post : British soldiers arrested for Afghan child abuse

(5) The Indian Express  :   Two British soldiers arrested after Afghan child abuse report

Sokoto Caliphate

In summary:

Founded during the Fulani Jihad in 1809 by Usuman dan Fodio,it was one of the most powerful empires in sub-Saharan Africa prior to European conquest and colonization.

Sounds familiar, isn't it?

Past and Present

Main apne aaj se hara  koi baji nahin hota
Agar lipta hua mujh se mera mazi nahin hota

I would not have lost any round to my present
Only if my past was not all stuck with me

Nadeem Shaad Deobandi


It is strange that this young poet has put his finger of the current Muslim dilemma.

I Do Not Hate Religion

Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy vehemently disagreed with Hamzah Tzortzis that he does not hate Islam. Now we have an article by him on Tehelka that says : The proof of religion being insufficient is everywhere. 


Now will you love something that is insufficient? Hardly.

No Mr Sanghvi

According to a report in Mid Day :

In a hard-hitting message about the Salman Rushdie saga on Twitter, well-known journalist and commentator Vir Sanghvi reacted by saying, "Don't take power away from the people and give it to the bullies".

Excuse us Mr Sanghvi who are these bullies?

Silly Writers

This is from Jaipur Literary Festival. According to Qaumi Awaz (and other media outlets):

Authors Hari Kunzru and Amitava Kumar used their session at the festival to read from "Satanic Verses", giving clear indications that the festival was organized to create ill will within India.

This is indeed silly. The aforementioned book was banned because of certain reason. This reason was not hurt Muslim sentiments. By reading passages from the banned book the said authors might be making a statement, as these type of people live by making statements, but they also violated the law of the land. Any willful violator of law should be ready to face the legal process. They way democracy is for the people every institution of democracy is supposed to be for the people. To sabotage it goes against the grain of the system. There is nothing ingenuous or inspiring in this activity. A desire to hurt the sentiments of a twenty crore strong minority is certainly there. And that makes it all the more silly. The institution of literature is a voluntary one - the state does not decide that Mr A and Mr B shall be the writers. Writers and authors who do not represent the interests of the people betray a sacred trust and that is third silliness in this episode. 

Marital Confusion of US and Europe

A man marrying up to four is not alright.
A woman trying to do that will be alright.
We kid you not - this is the beginning of this BBC report.
And then they do not listen to Islamic solutions.
Too bad.

On the Path of Shariah

From a BBC report:

Sharia has been operating in the UK, managed by locally-appointed councils, in parallel to the British legal system since 1982.

But the informal councils have no legal powers and they cannot impose any penalties.
They deal with civil cases alone, but many Muslims are choosing to voluntarily accept rulings made by the scholars.

The number of people approaching Shariah Councils and the number of Shariah Councils themselves are increasing. Of course the BBC report focuses on the disease part called injustice to women in Islam but the truth is difficult to circumvent. And the future, Lord willing, is bright:

As a demand for Sharia thrives, a number of British law firms are starting to tap into the booming market.

Unlimited Islam

This is oven fresh from Mufti Rafi Usmani Sahab (DB). People limit Islam to Madarsa, Tabligh and Jihad. This is a gross error. Every aspect of our life is supposed to be governed by Islam. So much so that worldly disciplines like engineering, medicine and management too have a high priority in Islam - the are Social Duties (Fard-e-Kifayah). Islam is all inclusive frame work for life.

Thoughts on a So Called Writer

  When I first heard of Salman Rushdie

AIJAZ Z. SYED

When I first heard of Salman Rushdie I was at university. The Satanic Verses had set off a perfect storm in India and around the world. The book was banned in India following fiery protests by Muslims. Many died in Mumbai when police opened fire on angry protesters. Then came Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa sanctioning the novelist's death, sparking a global debate on free speech and "excessive" Muslim sensitivity. 
One day, discussing artistic freedom in one of his lectures, Prof. Isaac Sequiera, who headed the English department at Osmania University and taught us American literature, launched a blistering broadside against Khomeini's fatwa and attempts by "some people" to curtail free speech. Prof. Sequiera was one of those brilliant teachers who would draw you to the class day after day. Yet it wasn't easy to stomach his critique of the Muslim response to Rushdie's book, comparing it to the infamous Spanish Inquisition. Was it the same thing?
The church burned “heretics” on mere hearsay — and everyone who didn't subscribe to its worldview — at stake. When Galileo suggested Earth was round, rather than flat as the church insisted, he was given a chance to reconsider his opinion while he spent the rest of his life behind bars.
Rushdie, on the other hand, has repeatedly abused his creative license, and the gift of creativity, to assail a billion people's revered icons. As someone born in a Muslim family, he knew what he was doing and its possible consequences.
No freedom is absolute — not even in the anything-goes West. Blasphemy is a serious crime in many European nations including in Denmark. Every freedom is qualified. Every right comes with responsibility. You can't go around happily waving your big stick and hitting people in the name of freedom. The freedom of your stick ends where my nose begins. And if you think you have a right to offend, well, others have an equal right to take offense. If Rushdie is free to exercise his creative freedom to attack people's sacred icons, shouldn't his victims too have a right to exercise their freedom of action to deal with him?
Of course, I couldn't say all this to my teacher. Blame it on my moral timidity or the fact that I was painfully shy and the only Muslim in the whole class. That was nearly two decades ago. Today, as this row over Rushdie's participation in the Jaipur literary festival rages on, I am amazed by the fact how little has changed in this whole debate over the past two decades. The latest report is Rushdie has cancelled his visit to India for the Jaipur festival due to security reasons.
The Muslims are upset over the invitation being extended to someone whose name has become a curse word for them. On the other hand, the increasingly shrill voices in the media are crying themselves hoarse as they invoke India's fabled tolerance while ignoring the sentiments of the minority community.
Indeed, more than their concern for the nation's secular ethos, it's their intolerance of all things Muslim that has them batting for Rushdie. They defend his right to visit his “motherland” oblivious of the fact that the man has repeatedly heaped abuse and scorn on the same motherland and its icons in his books, from Midnight's Children to Shame to The Moor's Last Sigh.
The late Premier Indira Gandhi took Rushdie to court over Midnight's Children which describes her as a “black widow.” He was forced to expunge parts of the book that had Sanjay Gandhi accusing his mother of killing his father, Feroz Gandhi, by neglecting him. Rushdie argued in court that it was only fiction, only to be snubbed by the judge who pointed out that Indira and Sanjay Gandhi were real people.
In the case of Satanic Verses too he hid behind the same fig leaf launching cheap attacks on the Prophet, peace be upon him, and his blessed household, outraging his billion plus believers.
The outrage was deliberate, just as most of his books have been deliberately offensive and provocative. He loves to provoke and offend because it sells in the West. And Islam and its icons and followers have been a fair game for centuries. Free speech? Gimme a break! Freedom and free speech have nothing to do with it. Even the so-called liberals and Hindutva fanatics cheering for the author and lecturing Muslims on tolerance know it. They love him because the Muslims loathe him.

Fronm an article at ArabNews.

Imam Abu Hanifah and Hadith - 1

 An original Deoband.org article
By Shaykh ‘Abd al-Hafiz al-Makki
Translated by Ismaeel Nakhuda

Translator’s foreword
The following is a translation of the introduction (by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Hafiz al-Makki) to Shaykh Latif al-Rahman al-Bahraichi al-Qasmi’s Al-Rasa’il al-Thalathah al-Hadithiyyah, a collection of three hadith compilations containing narrations transmitted by Imam Abu Hanifah Nu‘man ibn Thabit. It was during the Hajj of 2009 that I was sat in a tent in Mina, a stone throw away from the Jamarat, when I was forced to listen to a young man’s rant on how weak Imam A‘zam Abu Hanifah apparently was in hadith.
Ignoring the sanctity of the venue and time, this young man — who it later transpired was an instructor at Al Kauthar Institute — gave a very colourful and misleading description of the respected imam’s supposed lack of knowledge and prowess in hadith. He also gave very little opportunity to others to rectify his wrong impressions. During this lengthy and greatly troubling speech, this young man — who, to add legitimacy to his views, claimed to be Hanafi and cited several contemporary Hanafi ‘ulama to support his claim to this effect — made many frivolous comments regarding the great imam that left me greatly pained and astonished. I also wondered how one could indulge in such slander of an individual who met and narrated from several Companions of the Prophet (may Allah be pleased with them), and that also at such a sacred time and place.
I pray and hope that by translating writings on this subject, misconceptions about this great tabi‘i, hadith scholar and faqih will be removed, insha-Allah. To add salt to my wounds, the Al Kauthar instructor also insisted that Imam Abu Hanifah apparently only knew seventeen hadiths! La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah. I will, insha-Allah, deal with this issue in a subsequent translation.

 Source : Deoband Dot Org

What is a Mutant?

It is a term used in genetics about those organisms that are produced by manipulation of the DNA of naturallly occurring species. In common usage it is a pejorative word. Here is a dictionary entry. In the context of Islam there is a possibility of kufr to use this term for human beings because homo sapiens is regarded as the best of the creatures and after mutation that distinction may not survive.

Jaipur Literary Festival

If you are fond of literature then phrase like literary festival will indeed leave you drooling.
But there is a hitch in the context of present literary scenario.
When yours truly was being tutored, like every one else, the common observation was that literature if the mirror of the society.
Now what happened in the mean while?
Why is literature, a literary festival in particular, present the all inclusive society?
Some time around the middle of the last century the rebellious, so called freedom loving, socialist, so called liberal and Marxist oriented group misappropriated literature scene.
Just like the intellectual space in country called India.
The situation remains the same.
The biggest loser are the Muslims.
If you do not have atheistic tendencies then your art and creativity do not make a blip on the radar of Indian literary scene.
The same infamous writer who has brought the Jaipur Literary Festival to the fore had trashed the Indian vernacular literature.
And then everybody forgot about that.
Where are those people who should have been hurt - or at least who should have been awaken by such rabid, rude and condescending remarks?
Contraction of social, economic, cultural and political space of Muslims is tragedy of gigantic proportions and their marginalization at a literary festival is just part of a big pattern, however unpleasant, but why this marginalization of other literary streams. Does only leftist oriented, rebellious, morality busting literature count?

Dear Lawyer Think Again

When Hazrat Fatima (RA) was heart broken at her father's condition after a difficult day he (PBUH) assured her that the Religion of her father will enter every adobe and every house. Hence it is the Will of Allah(SWT) that Islam will reach every home. In view of this it is futile if some famous Norwegian lawyer wishes to extinguish the flame of Islam, at least in the context of his own country.

Of course there is some misunderstanding. The lawyer feels that Islam threatens Norwegian culture. This of course is quite far from truth. Islam is not a cultural think. (Even RSS can relax - let us repeat - Islam is not a cultural thing.) It is a faith, a belief. The only faith and belief acceptable to Lord Most High. Let us give the proof. If you go to Haj you can tell that these are Indians, these Malaysians, these Chinese and these African Muslims. If you view Muslims from different cultural backgrounds in their settings you can differentiate all of them. So much so that one can differentiate between Indian, Pakistani and Bangladesh Muslims. Even the Biryanis from different cultures are not the same. So Islam does not destroy a culture.

So dear lawyer relax.

Beware of Zealots

Remnants of Khawarij and Mutazila in the present day society

Today I went to a different Mosque, many times the Khutbah is something related to recent events.The Imam quoted a lot of things today, I cannot recollect or understand most of them and also I was late.

The Imam mentioned a lot of the deviant beliefs of the Khawarij and the Mutazila sects. If someone asks any believer if who gives the power to raise ones finger the answer will be Allah . But they think otherwise, also they say that committing a major sin is Kufr, which is a deviant belief. These deviant sects quote the Quran and Hadith to justify their deviant claims so many people fall into their trap. In the time of Ali(ra) he send Ibn Abbas (ra) to debate with the Khawarij. The Prophet had made dua for Ibn Abbas (ra) for a good knowledge of Quran, and it is unanimously agreed that the best scholar of tafseer of the Quran is ibn Abbas(ra). He went to the khawarij and defeated them in debate and many of the followers realized the truth and came back to Ahlus Sunna wal Jama'a the mainstream Islam. But there were remnants of them in the society and it is a well known fact that they created havoc(Fitna) during that period. They even murdered some of the sahabah.

The truth even in the modern era there are remnants of these deviant sects in the society. They use the Quran and Sunnah and misquote them and misinterpret them to propagate their deviant beliefs. The Imam said we should be careful while listening to cds and lectures. He also quoted many local incidents of some muslim sects, one of which was the sect said the children studying in the sunni madressas should be killed because they are following shirk. The mentality of these sects are that of the Khawarij. Finally he made dua 'May Allah make us recognize Haqq(truth) as Haqq.' Ameen.

Source : SF

An Example of Godless Morality

A professor of Philosophy was presenting his views in a meeting of intellectuals and soon he ended up saying something on which no one agreed. And then the argument started. During the argument he said many perfectly agreeable things, though still mixed with unacceptable content, but people would not agree to them. Curious.
But that is not the point of the post. The professor had summarized some sort of evolution of social thought and at one point made the statement that in the above process Immanuel Kant appeared on the scene and he asserted that morality, the moral trends, are good in themselves.

This is the strange thing that occupies us right now. It does not matter who said it. The problem is with Godless morality. We are aware of one Godless morality. That is socialism. There are other obvious examples. If God has made one person rich and another poor then who are we to change this situation by force? A charitable attitude towards the poor is not absent from religion - it is integral part of religion. Also socialism has been proved wrong by practical application - erstwhile USSR is an example. Too many scientists cling to socialism in spite of the fact that the USSR debacle is an empirical fact - a scientist is not supposed to ignore physical evidence.

The Tale of a Bankruptcy

According to a BBC report:

Eastman Kodak, the company that invented the hand-held camera, has filed for bankruptcy protection with a US court.

Kodak said in a statement that its business would keep going as normal for customers.

This is nth reminder to us that this world is perishable. This world is not reliable. Whatever resources Allah(SWT) has given us are there for a very short duration only and it makes sense to use them to prepare for the hereafter. If one does that then one has the chance of becoming a detached viewer of all the disasters going on around us including collapsing companies, countries in down turn as well as natural disasters. May Allah(SWT) give us the ability and capability to live our lives according to His wishes.

Hamza and Pervez

As in Hamza Andreas Tzortsis and Pervez Hoodbhoy.
Hamza says that Muslim world is suffering from a crisis and the crisis is not Islamization but the disease of liberal capitalism combined with the frame work of secularism.
And want to talk to Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy.
He even tries Urdu - aao yaar bethein - baat karein, Come dear friend - let us talk.
Apparently the talk has already taken place - itchy people call them debates. According to Hamza:

It has been a busy and exciting few days. Yesterday I gave a talk at UCI in Islamabad on the purpose of life. Straight after the talk we had to drive down to Lahore to participate in the debate on religion and rationality with Professor Hoodbhoy at LUMS. I presented the rational foundations for Islam while expressing empathy on valid concerns the Professor has written about concerning religion and science. However, the Professor's presentation lacked any substance, his content was full of logical fallacies and misrepresented my arguments. He did not breakdown any of my arguments and he continued his monologue even though I had addressed and clarified his contentions multiple times. Towards the end of the discussion he walked out of the lecture theatre, most probably due to the fact that he had no substance and was exposed for his irrational and fallacious thinking. Today I gave a talk at an Islamic university in Faisalabad presenting the need to engage and how to respond to key atheist/secular contentions. I also delivered a workshop at a mosque. The day ended with a private dinner with over 20 of the leading medical doctors in Faisalabad. I delivered the dinner speech and discussed the need for intellectual engagement, and what we can do to counter secular and atheist narratives emerging in the Muslim world, specifically Pakistan. Tomorrow is another busy day. I'll update you later.

Professor Hoodbhoy is has a leftist  inclination. He has been mulling over the science versus faith issues for quite some time and had got the prestigious Kalinga Prize of UNESCO (given in India) for science popularization. He has written a book, also in the context of science and religion, as well as a few years ago he wrote a very popular article in the magazine Physics Today (and a new one too). His attitude towards these issues is sort of the majority view in the scientific circles and this interaction between Hamza and him will be sort of path breaking. A physicists had written a rejoinder to Professor Hoodbhoy after his Physics Today article but the present discussion has some potential to bring the issue to the fore.

As of writing the video of the talk and the transcript is not available. But some internal reports are scattered here and there. There is excitement of anticipation. Professor Hoodbhoy apparently kept trying to bring the debate to his pet grounds and brother Hamza did not allow that luxury and his assertion that Professor Hoodbhoy hates Islam or Islamic world really cracked him - he staged a walk out.

Internet commentators are adding their own perspective. Someone pointed out that Muslims consist either of Mullah ignorant about modern world or modern educated Muslims hating Islam. Some one else pointed out that most of the Muslims are in the middle of these demarcations. Another comment was that universities in Muslim world are producing western influenced class.

On Ghalib

We shall begin with an anecdote told to us by late Miyan, may Allah show His Mercy to him. The story is about Dr Zakir Hussain's stay in Germany. Some one asked him as to was the greatest poet of his mother tongue. Naturally Ghalib's name came in the discussion. Anything of him available to the foreigners? When some book was presented to that person on Ghalib's poetry he remarked how shabbily you treat your best poet. A good point. No wonder Dr Zakir Hussain, with the help of some one else, published a short collection of Ghalib's poetry in a presentable form.

Now let us come to the point that was roaming in the ecology of yours truly's mind. There is couplet by Ghalib:

Ye masa-il-e-tasawwuf, ye tera bayan ghalib
Tujhe hum wali samajhte jo na badah khar hota

This discourse on Mysticism, this sermon of yours
But for your drinking would have mistaken you for a Wali

A Wali is a Friend of Allah - a pious man.
Here the first observation is that this is self criticism by the poet. Seeing his overall attitude one will conclude that this is a patting of the self on the back. But this too can not be the whole truth. One has to look as to what he used to think about himself in the serious moments. There is a reason for that. Suppose there is a person with overall careless attitude but this attitude is just to overcome the miseries of life in which he finds himself and can not, in fact does not want to, share with others. Then the overall visible reality is completely replaced by this single technical detail. It is a great loss if a person squanders away his time in carelessness and in those actions that do not bring rewards in the hereafter but this does not cancel the license to Jannah. Jannah depends on faith and belief in Allah(SWT)  as He is in his attributes and in accepting all of His injunctions. This much is already included in There is no god bu God and Muhammed (PBUH) is His messenger.
And one decent rule of life is to keep things simple.
So if we take the couplet at the face value it only says that he is accepting his weakness - an action of piety.
Thus a good thing for us too will be to get back to our duties.

Another Round of Phosphorus in Ghaza?

In 2008 Israel bombed Ghaza for weeks, even used of phosphorus. This was called Operation Cast Lead  by them. Apparently in few months we can expect the next round of massacre.

Sykes - Picot Agreement

This is basically a division of cake problem.

Britain and France decided, in 1916, to divide the territories of Ottoman Empire after its would be fall. In 1917 the minor partner to the conspiracy, Tsarist Russia, had the Bolshevik revolution and the latter disclosed the secret pact. The rest, as they say, is the history. You did not need a French or British diplomat to dissolve the Islamic Caliphate.

Randomly Chosen Alig

This blog is about Aligs and we can talk here about a randomly chosen Alig. Right? So we pick up Dr Pervaiz Anwar. The CV says, among other things, MS (Nuclear and Biophysics) 1974. Ah those were the days when biophysics used to be there in the Physics Department of your Alma Mater. Salam to Dr Anwar, Adjunct Lecturer, Mathematics, Jamaica, NY.

Dr Farhan Mujib : A Condolence Meeting

Dr Shaheer Khan has posted a notice about a condolence meeting in the memory of Dr Farhan Mujib, to be held in Delhi. It will be nice to remember a very charming departed friend so see if you can manage to be there. The notice is reproduced below. Unfortunately yours truly will not be able to make it to the meeting.

All are invited to attend the Condolence meeting cum Celebration of Life and
Achievements of Farhan Mujeeb being organized by friends and admirers of the
collage artist and academic who passed away in Aligarh recently.

Farhan Mujib took early retirement from Department of Physics, AMU to pursue his
interests in collage art and quickly gained fame. He passed away in Aligarh on
December 15, 2011.

What: Condolence cum Commemoration meeting
When: January 22, 2012 at 4:00 PM
Where: Triveni Kala Sangam, Mandi House, New Delhi

The event is being organized by friends of Farhan Mujib and every one is
welcome.

The Answer is Yes

Q: Did media make Hawking famous?
A: Yes.
Sorry Hawking fans.
Hawking is a good physicist. A very good physicist. And that is all.
The trouble is that when above mentioned fans are in their fanny mood they, like any other set of fans, do not realize that the earth is not moved by the mention of their hero for all the people on the earth.  But they would not know for the earth does move for them and it is a replicable result - for them. Talk about objectivity in science. No, no we do not insist that Hawking-Penrose singularity theorems were a fluke. Neither was black hole radiation. And if it was a fluke then it was indeed a brilliant fluke. And black hole information conundrum is indeed a topic that should be discussed with the roll of drums. But the world does not revolve around Hawking. So dear Hawking fan will you please grow up?
 
Source : Columbia Journalism Review via Physics and Physicists

For BJP, Against Muslims

That is the advice to the voters according to a news item in the Times of India.

What type of Muslims will try to do damage to the Muslim interests?
And when combined with what dear Aligs are discussing it becomes all the more pungent.
Aligs are talking about how India was sold to the British. See here.

A Few Shaharyar Couplets

Now that we are talking about Shaharyar Sahab it will be appropriate to analyze a few of his couplets. As late Dr Farhan Mujib had asserted the poetry by Shaharyar Sahab is about feelings. Feelings are a way more difficult to grapple with. Even psychologists are accepting that it is much more difficult and crucial to manage feelings then ideas and intellectual thoughts. Here is one, very popular and  liked by himself, couplet

Justju jiski ki thi usko to na paya hum ne
Is bahane se magar dekh li dunya hum ne

Whom I wanted, I did not get
But with this excuse, I saw the world

This couplet is a strange mix of a complete life experience. In the first line there is shattering implosion of unfulfilled love. On the other hand the second line makes a statement about an achievement that declares a life fulfilled. This shaking you out of smugness and contentment is perhaps what makes a Shaharyar.

Then there is another one.

Har qadam par mod the, har mod par manzar naye
Umr ki eik eik sa-at sar pe hairaani huyee

Every step had a turn, every turn came with new vistas
At each and every moment of life waited a surprise

Here the word equivalent for surprise has an element of not fathoming the events of life. A person who finds himself in this situation will identify with this puzzlement. And too many of us find ourselves in such situations and at too many times - hence the appeal of Shaharyar poetry.

Finally,

Is natije pe pahunchte hain sabhi akhir mein
Hasil-e-sair-e-jahan kuchh nahin hairani hai

This is the conclusion that everyone reached at the end
The achievement of life is nothing but puzzlement

This one is self evident and potent enough to reach every heart. And that is what his poetry has done. Yours truly finds it difficult to capture a lot of Shaharyar poetry and it is therefore clear that those who have a feeling for poetry might indeed be getting affected in a much more profound ways. Some of these things can be expressed and some not. One of those who was capable of reaching to the required depths of his poetry is no more with us. That was Dr Farhan Mujib.

A Heart Breaking Story

This is about fiction.
Mirza Hadi Ruswa wrote a very heart breaking novel called Umrao Jan Ada.
This is the story of a women who is snatched away from her normal life and is condemned to live a famous one. The author has indulged in such mixing of real and fictional elements that it is difficult to decide whether it is a story or it is autobiographical narration. This only accentuates the pangs of pain inherent in the story.

Dey phadane  ki ijazat sayyad
Shab-e-awwal hai giraftari ki

Allow me to writhe in pain o hunter
This is only my first night under arrest

And even the beginning of the story is is devastating.

Lutf hai kaun si kahani mein?
Aapbeeti kahun ke jag beeti?

Which story has the joy?
Mine one or others'?

All these emotions were triggered by an interview of Professor AMK Shaharyar by Faridoon Sharayar. Thanks to Dr Shaheer Khan for the hat tip. Professor Shaharyar is not at his best in this interview but even then it is great to have him around us. May Allah(SWT) grant him good health and long life. May He guide us all on the Right Path.

Technical Details Are Absolutely Relevant

There is a much quoted saying of Hazrat Muhi-us-Sunnah Shah Hardoi Maulana Abrar-ul-Haq Sahab Haqqi (RA). The original one goes to Hazrat Fuzail Bin Ayaz (RA). According to this saying both sincerity and technical correctness are necessary for acceptance of a deed in the Court of Allah(SWT). The punchline is that technical correctness is more important than sincerity. Now sincerity (ikhlas) is a mighty necessary condition for acceptance of deeds. How can there be something more important than that? The answer is simple. For deed to be acceptable it must be good deed. And this goodness is the technical qualification.

This was reminded again by a lecture of Ahmed Deedat (RA) : Muhammed in Bible : In Response to Jimmy Swaggart. Shaikh Deedat said both Swaggart and his wife are very charming people and if charm was the criterion then I would have been a Christian by now. But the reason that I am not is because that the theology is not quite right. We are talking about the technical correctness.

A point to be remembered by all Callers to truth. Do not spend too much time on the secondary things like charm and presentation. Also do not get influenced by the fan fare of the Christian missionaries. These are just diversions.

Rangraliyon pe zamaane ki na jana aye dil
Ye khizaan hai jo ba-andaz-e-bahar ayee hai

Do not get distracted by the fan fare of the world, O heart
This is autumn that has presented itself in the garb of spring

Defending Aligarh Movement

Rather than offending the people around them Aligs can better spend their valuable time in defending Aligarh Movement. One simple consequence of Unity of Allah(SWT) is the unity of purpose of life. This entails some uniform standard for Muslim behaviour - in particular Islamic society can not be chaotic, free for all or a pandemonium is progress. It is strange the coming of Islam in contact with the west has produced precisely that. Here is a discussion group that looks like a troubled US neighbourhood. This will be alright if they would keep it to themselves. But they do not. Here is a comment about Aligarh Movement and Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (RA):

Aligarh Uni is in Aligarh, UP, not hyderabad. Mohammadan was the name given to Muslims by the brits. To be more disgusted by Sir Syed, read 'The Loyal Muhammadans of India'. Ask kamran if he can arange a copy.

AMU might have been mentioned in some lecture but those lectures are not available as of now on the above thread but the mood is clear. The topic of thread is a conference about which the Original Post says:

This month at Lewisham Islamic Centre we will be focusing on the Ahmadiyyah, the Shia, the Nation of Islam, the Sufis and the neo-salafis.

Clearly the group is trying to sow divisions in Muslim Ummah and any such activity can not be Islamic. The event is two years old but it will be interesting to follow their subsequent activities. One thing is already clear that this western idea of unchecked freedom is fragmenting Ummah from within - the intended goal of successors of Macaulay.

The second example from the same site is the following quote:

Any form of Muslim resistance against the British occupation of India was branded as ‘Wahhabi influenced’ and the British Raj desperately sought an answer to this ‘Wahhabi’ problem. One such answer came in the form of Sir Sayyad Ahmad Khan (1817-1898). Western historians honour Sir Sayyad as a ‘modernist and Islamic reformer’, but Indo-Pak Muslim history remembers him differently: as a traitor to the Muslim freedom movement. Sir Sayyad was employed by the British Raj, and was renowned for vigorously advocating Muslim acceptance of the invading forces, to the point that he called upon all Muslims to loyally become subservient to the British Raj and abandon any legitimate opposition to the British occupation.

Uh! What was that again?

Orange Human Bundles

Those are the detainees of Guantanamo Bay facility.
On the face of it this is about crime and punishment but in reality a chilling reminder of how cruel civilized behaviour can be. BBC has a photo gallery on ten years of this horrible experiment.

Theory and Practice

A brother tells of his experience:

In my days working as a doctor in training these days, I have learned an important lesson. I have learned firsthand that theory is something and by Allah, practice and reality at the patient’s bed is something else. There is a different sense of urgency, a different perception of reality, a different feeling of ability and a different feeling of preparedness to work to help the Ummah. I think a person in his intern/house officer years learns nearly 10 times more than he does in theory years. There is no one to humble a doctor more, then a patient and his disease.

Yours truly is not a physician but in other field of life these things, when properly extrapolated, are absolutely true. Brother has extrapolated these things to the field of Islamic Dawah and there too it is so true.

Just Redefine Your Relationship With UK

A BBC show has made fun of India.
Enough is enough.
Just redefine your relationship with that country. Take some proactive steps. This inferiority complex with respect to white skin is really sickening. For once one could show some grit.
And if this is too much for our weak hearts then we at least start doing home exercise that white skin is not necessarily superior.
Is that too much to ask for?
Even Nation of Islam had more self-respect as compared to us the largest democracy.

More and More Murky

This is becoming more and more murky. Some nerd called OxOmar published Israeli  credit card details. Israel threatened to retaliate in kind. Now same or different OxOmar has published credit card details of Saudi people. 

Source : BBC

Dense Intelligentsia

It is mighty difficult to communicate a few things to Indian intelligentsia. Like we Muslims are very sensitive about some things. The personality of beloved Prophet (PBUH) is one of them. The west kicked out religion from their life and they expect others also to follow suit. And the Indian intelligentsia very readily dishes out the freedom of speech thing. Isn't it coming from white skin and therefore the white truth? How dense and devoid of self-respect one can be? If you do not respect your mother, your father, your elders and your Prophets then why is it so difficult to understand that others might?

Urinating American Marines

They were urinating on three dead opponents.
All in a days work and the life in uniform.
And when it was discovered then the US authorities went into self-righteousness over drive.
It is sickening - to say the least.
Source : BBC

Turn Your Back On Tension, Depression and Frustration

Most of the worldly degrees are acquired to alleviate financial problems.
All the depression cases are of these people whose degrees have not done this trick.
They got degrees but degrees did not assure their worldly well being.
Dangerous degrees?
This is not to give trouble to these unfortunate people but to make a point that worldly things are only as effective.
And finally about depression. We mean the cure. Alright you went to it so just come out. Ultimately it is that simple. It is a sin and you just have to turn your back on it. You might need the help of a Shaikh. Just do that.

Inspiration: Shaikh Moola

US Funding for Sectarian Conflict

From Dawn:

US government website Usaspending.gov shows that the group, the Sunni Ittehad Council, received $36,607 from Washington in 2009.

The tragedy of our life is that too many conspiracy theories end up in being integral part of history.

The Party Line

A girl performs Umrah at the age of 11. Marries a man who converted to Islam to marry her when she was 18. They divorce after six years having had a son by that time. She has since been living with an older man and now believes in trinity. She treats her original family members as ignorant. When asked about her eroded faith she gives the all American answer:

"I am free to make my decisions and should be respected and accepted for them. I am an adult and fully capable of knowing right from wrong. You should accept me for the person I am, not for the religion I follow."

Guidance is from Allah(SWT) and He guides or leads astray who so ever He wishes and He is Just. We must all the time worry about our own faith.

O Allah do lot lead us astray after guiding us to the right path and have Mercy upon us, verily you are the granter of supplications.

May He(SWT) guide this unfortunate sister back to His Path.
Accept O Lord merely by your Mercy.

All Eerie

You childhood memories some times are very vivid. One of those vivid moments are the stories about spies. Particularly the CIA and Mossad type. Who knew that their real actions will be played in front of your eyes and in those times when you can understand their full implications? Iranian nuclear scientists are dying unnatural death. Iranian nuclear programme is getting hit by computer viruses. Just to compound the suspense CIA owners say that they have nothing to do with it. Of course 60 years later one will hear (actually the people of those times) that only intelligence was supplied by us or only technical expertise was extended by us otherwise we did not take part in the operations that compromised the Iranian scientists. There is trickery and then there is trickery on your face. One thing that the US of A does not realize that this trickery technology one day will lead to a situation that they will find one day that no one believes them. People will ask them as to why you atom bombed Japan - they were already broke? People will ask them as to why they committed all those atrocities in Vietnam? People will ask them why they killed millions of Iraqi kid by proxy? People will ask them as to why they attacked Iraq - there were no weapons of mass destruction there? People will ask them why they had one nuclear policy for Israel and another for others? It is unlikely that the whole world will come together to destroy the US at that time when these questions can be asked but it is certain that no one would like to take action against them for by that time US will be past miserable superpower - to be ignored or at the most pitied.

Ref :  BBC

Not in Praise of Harum Yahya

Harun Yahya is the pen name of Turkish philosopher Adnan Oktar. He was born in 1956. He has written a large number of books on Islamic revival and mainly refutes Darwinism. He is influenced by Badiuzzaman Said Nursi. Sometime back Abu Ameenah Bilal Phillips accused him of holding the Wahdat-ul-Wajood doctrine. Being self proclaimed idealist his outlook is unlikely to be purely Islamic because idealism can make any body an ideal - not beloved Prophet(PBUH) exclusively. Though the western people do not accept his refutation of Darwinism but that has to be taken with a pinch of salt - our western brothers, in spite of all the scholarship, are no where close to understand Islam and Islamic thoughts. Then recently a few hours long videos have surfaced where he is seen enjoying music in the company of beautiful girls - of course liberally sprinkled with Insha Allah and Masha Allah. Then there is this report that he has given hundred similarities between himself and the Mahdi.
Is is a fast  dive in to ignominy? If that is that then it is very sad indeed. The last link also reveals that he has more than three hundred scholars working for him. This explains the prolific out put by him - proper credit be damned.

20 Crore Do Not Like Him

Let us get one fact in front of us - 20 crore people in India do not like Salman Rushdie. Even then the government is bent on allowing him into the country. And there must be people in the government who know very well that India is the only country that made the ultimate sacrifice in their struggle against this author.

"Oh the west has gone to the Moon but you are still struck with Rushdie".

In that case please take him with you to the Moon but do not bring him here - this is aggression.

Source : India Today, Zee News, IBN, Telegraph, Times of India, BBC, NDTV, Asian Age, Hindustan Times, Rediff, DNA, More
PS: (1) And please do not bring any pro Rushdie petition to yours truly - it is rejected and you deleted from the friends' list.
(2) Twitter Comment : More publicity he gets more people will rush to read his book.
Reply: may be. And thus some of the people will come to know what the problem is.

(3) Twitter Comment : Has Deoband really read the book?
Answer : They do not have to. There are enough of us who have read it - some thoroughly and some just a few paragraphs. You do not have to eat the whole cauldron to check how the broth is.
(3) Twitter Comment : Even Iran eased the Fatwa on him 10 years ago.
Answer : (1) You were fed that information - look carefully and you'll see that Iranian Fatwa is still in place. (2) We did not give that Fatwa in the first place - our response was very restrained.
(4) Twitter Comment : Labelling something blasphemy betrays lack of better argument.
Answer : Better argument has not reached you. Take a look at this book.
(4) (Urdu Newspaper Roznama Rashtriya Sahara 12.01.2012) reports about support for the demand from New Delhi, Mumabi, Jaipur, Saharanpur, Muradabad, Sambhal, Gulaothi, Islam Nagar, Ghaziabad, Panipat.
(4) (Urdu Newspaper Roznama Rashtriya Sahara 13.01.2012) reports about support for the demand from Afzalgarh, Bijnor, Muradabad and Najibabad.. 

Appalling Civilian Toll in Afghanistan

Editors of The Hindu newspaper in Chennai interviewed David Miliband, former British Foreign Secretary. One question the editors asked that the civilian toll in Afghanistan has been appalling. And dear Miliband squarely blamed it on Taliban. Perfidy perfected.

I Am Not That Religious

This is what one gets to listen rather often, "I am not that religious."
One question that can be immediately asked whether you are religious enough or not.
The situation is that these people have never thought about it - how much of religion they should have in their life.
It is pure and simple carelessness.
And all of them will testify to it that carelessness is bad.
They are not that religious because it is convenient.
They shall also testify to that fact that life is not a convenience - probe a little and every body will agree to that. This too means that they are taking some thing for granted.

Gamal Banna

From an article in LA Times:

Here in Egypt, the army rules. It has killed protesters and stifled civil liberties even as the nation votes for a new parliament. Security forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad gun down protesters daily. Yemen is beset by warring tribes, Al Qaeda militants and deadly political intrigue. Bahrain is an island of royal repression and rifle shots in the night. Moammar Kadafi met a brutal, surreal demise, but Libya is torn by clan animosities and militias.

91 years old brother of Hassan Banna should have been able to tell us more than this. This much  any one can observe or conclude. May be revolution has come to those people who do not know what to do with it.

Convenient Truth

Here is a BBC report:

Taseer - who had a record of protecting minority communities in Pakistan - was campaigning on a blasphemy case, that of a Christian woman called Asia Bibi.
Some Muslim women in her Punjab village accused her of defiling their well by drinking out of it and they demanded that she convert.
She refused and they accused her of blasphemy.

Here is the Wikipedia page on the relevant issue. Now decide whether BBC has covered the whole news or not.

Do Not Do That

We mean do not hang Husni Mubarak. Reason is that on the face of it he does not seem to be such a monster. Of course the voice of yours truly does not reach far, even dear Aligs do not read AAA that much, but it feels bad when Muslims become known only for grotesque like killing a erstwhile dictator on the streets.

Source : BBC

Dr M. Ghayas-ud-din Siddiqui

He is an Alig and a well known personality in the Civil Line area. He is a Nadwi also and he runs a Madarsa located at the by pass. This is a branch of the Nadwa. He amongst those rare people who manage the Deen (religion) and Dunya (world) with equal expertize. His thought came to yours truly when a Maulvi was delivering the monthly magazine published by above Madarsa. Name of the monthly is Nida-e-Aitidal (Voice of Moderation). Just to give an example of the worldly management many of the Aligs will remember the case when a female medical student of the Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College of AMU swept around six or so Gold Medals in her MBBS examinations. She is his daughter-in-law Sumaiyya. And no we did not get the whole story above - she maintains full hijab.

Deenphobia

Deenphobia is the term coined by yours truly just a few minutes back to represent the disdain, fear, hatred, lack of regard and respect of Islam among Muslims themselves. This feeling arises out the observation of the power, affluence and  prosperity and influence present in the non-Muslim societies particularly the west. It manifests itself in various attitudes towards religious Muslims in particular but Muslims in general. In the former case it will manifest in the attitude when a person asserts or implies that Madarsa people are either backward, or illiterate or regressive or unsophisticated. In latter case is common among the so called progressive people for whom the Muslim tag is a burden. Deenphobia is a malady of Muslim society and it is mandatory for every Muslim to make efforts to eradicate it.

Apologize With Sincerity

How to Apologize

Ahmed

Those who do not really want to apologize for the wrong they have done choose words that make it seem to be an apology yet it is not. “I am sorry for how you felt” is neither an admission of guilt nor an apology for what was done. It is more like saying, “What I did was correct but how you felt was wrong.” The same applies to those who “apologize for how you reacted”.
Is it not foolish to apologize for a reaction by someone else, of our deed or utterance? If we were truly apologetic for what we did, we would consider ourselves wrong and put aside all pride by choosing words like “I am sorry for what I said or did”. Many times when a “but” is added to an apology it is a mere justification or a showered down apology which could be insincere.
Whenever we apologize we should consider the wording of the apology and be as clear and sincere as possible. Never allow pride to block, disrupt, delay or water down an apology owed to others. May the Almighty forgive our shortcomings and guide us to the straight path.

Mufti Ismail Menk

On US Navy Battle Ships

These are horrors for all except the US. Sometimes French, Italian, British or even Indian Navies might send their ships to participate in joint exercises with them but the matter of fact remains that US is a selfish and self-indulgent power. There will be no Euro Zone if it was not for US.

So coming back to US Navy battle sips. Here is a small run down.
The main battle ship in a fleet is called the Capital Ship. Simple isn't it? Every country has a capital then why should there not be a capital in a fleet? If you are not convinced then know it that the Capital Ship of a fleet in itself is more powerful than most of the countries in the world - the exceptions are countable on your fingers. So there you have it - the Capital Ship.

Then there is the Class of ships. The list of classes is here. Our focus will be US and Nimitz Class in particular. These are ten nuclear powered air-craft carriers. Why ten? Well nice boys like to have some extra toys. One or two can be found with so many countries. These are the largest Capital Ships and the length is 333m. Join three of them and you end up with a kilometer of Capital Ships. They use two A4W pressurized type nuclear reactors to power them. The total power in around 190 MW and the maximum cruising speed is 56kmph. In other words, though it sails on the sea, it will reach Agra from Delhi in a few hours. Of course such distances are inches when compared to the range of its weaponry. The service life is fifty years. The also claim that it does not need refueling for twenty years but this is silly. They can not stay on sea for twenty years because they shall need the oil for their air crafts. Carries rums on nuclear power while the air crafts run on good old oil.

It is one of these ships that was noticed by Iran and was scared away.

Qader, Nasr, Nour

These are the surface-to-surface, surface-to-air and air-to-surface missiles test fired by Iran.

These armed forces world over really like their toys. No exception about them. We also heard that military people really think low of us civilians. No one complains about this racism. Anyway Iranian exercise is to make it apparent to anybody caring to listen that :

The BBC's Iran correspondent James Reynolds says Iran is using the exercises to try to show that it owns the Gulf and has the military capability to defend against any threat to its dominance.

Iran had spotted a mighty US destroyer USS John C Stennis from the US Fifth Fleet in that area. And Iranians were not scared! In fact the US ship went away from the line of action.

India is Spam Capital

In the last quarter 14.6 percent of the spam originated in India making it the spam capital of the world. We have also arrested six Nigerians for indulging in spam fraud. Question is why so late. Fraudulent e-mails  supposedly originating in Nigeria have been in circulation for long. To be frank it is insulting in the extreme that foreign elements were duping Indians from our own soil.

Source : BBC

Connecting With Tarek Fatah

"Could one of you produce a single sentence where I have criticized  Islam," asked Tarek Fatah.

Of course it will be good question to ask as to who is Tarek Fatah.

He wants separation of religion and state.
He wants dilution of Islam.
He opposes Shariah.
He thinks homosexuality is normal.
He thinks that Islamic Caliphate is a mirage.

See he is such a nice Muslim. Unfortunately he was talking to Dr Maxter.

Visit by the Qur'anist

A Qur'anist friend of yours truly kindly paid a visit today. And yours truly made it sure to bring in Qur'anism in the conversation.

But first about Qur'anism and the Qur'anists. These are the people who believe in Qur'an only and reject the Prophetic Traditions. And this tendency hold some attraction for the young and impressionable minds because of the intellectual inclination of the arguments presented in favour of this ideology. The minimization of religious overhead is an added attraction. Isn't Qur'an only simpler than Qur'an+Hadith - they ask.

So this friend was told that he is a Qur'anist. He was pleased. Perhaps he heard the word for the first time. Clearly he discovered this profound ideology all by himself. When it became apparent to him that yours truly has negative feelings about Qur'anism it was time for him to admonish yours truly for devaluing Qur'anism.

But one more thing has to be taken care of now. If so many people are discovering Qur'anism independently then does it not confirm its truth? Answer : No. Reason : Everybody goes through the natural phase of questioning whether there is a purpose behind the creation of the universe. This question has neither Scholastic (Kalam) answer - you can argue quite convincingly for both of the answers. Nor the question has empirical answer. What experiment will you do to determine the purpose of life? The answer can only come from Divine revelation.

And then one more thing before we come to the real purpose of the post. Above arguments and the arguments below are only for those people who feel in their hearts that rejecting Hadith can not be the correct thing to do. We say this because many people were not convinced by these arguments or were not even willing to consider them. In reality this is also a question of guidance. Allah(SWT) guides those whom He wills.

And finally the purpose of this post. The purpose was to present two arguments by Mufti Taqi Usmani Sahab (DB) in refutation of the Qur'anists (also called Ahl-ul-Qur'an or the Hadith rejectors.) These are taken from his book An Approach to the Qur'anic Sciences (p.48-49 of the edition published by Adam Publishers, Delhi) (English translation of 'Uloom-ul-Qur'an) as follows.

(1) In Al-Baqarah (2:143) Allah (SWT) says : And We appointed not the Qiblah which you (O Prophet) have had except in order that We might know who followed the Messenger from those who turned back on their heels.

Here Allah(SWT) attributes the appointment of first Qiblah to Himself. But there is no Verse in the Holy Qur'an that asserts that first Qiblah is hereby appointed to you on this day. Clearly the information about the first Qiblah came through that Wahy that is not part of the Holy Qur'an. Any Muslim must think for himself about the wisdom of this argument before imagining to convince the Qur'anists about its truth. They are not your responsibility (to convince) but you are.

(2) In Surah At-Tahreem (66:3) Allah (SWT) says: Then she informed about it (to the other) and Allah (SWT) disclosed that to him (the beloved Prophet (PBUH)), he had made knwoen to her a part of it 
 and passed over a part ...

This is a matter about a house hold incident in Prophet (PBUH)'s life whose details need not concern us here. The delicate point is that though Allah(SWT) tells us that He told about the even to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) but the story itself is not narrated in the Holy Qur'an. clearly there is part of Islam that is taking place in the life of beloved Prophet (PBUH) but it is not completely reported in the Holy Qur'an.

Mufti Taqi Usmani Sahab (DB) adds that many such incidents can be compiled but only two are presented as samples. The point is that one or two are sufficient to convince those who have an open mind while even an opus will not be sufficient to convince a person who is determined to exclude the truth.

So above two events were from Mufti Taqi Usmani Sahab (DB). What yours truly presented to the visiting Qur'anist was Surah 'Ahzab (33:21)  : There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often.

Here beloved Prophet (PBUH) is being hailed as the best ideal/model/sample for us. A Qur'anist must believe it because it is in the Qur'an. But the whole of the life of the beloved Ptophet (PBUH) is described in the Hadith literature. If they claim to follow the Qur'an then they must obey this Verse.


Our friend was not amenable to this argument also but he really had no argument against it.