Palestinian Prayer

Bismillah, alhamdulillah:


You roll out of your bed
To the smell of sweet bread,
While I wake to the stench
Of a blood dried bench

You dream of western grass
A summer ready to pass
While nightmares greet me
Ahead of me nothing but misery

You watch silenced by fear
On camera a fake tear
As bleating sheep we die
Sacrificed gentiles to butchers high

Your day ends with the sun setting
You return to your family laughing
As I stand at my families remains crying
Their charred odor their final calling

'Donate' your media mantra
Assuage your people's shallow anger
With your money abound
Your shrouds lower us to the ground

In your prayers your crowds are led
To pray for God to fight in your stead
Did not someone before say
You and Your God go and fight today?

What did you suckle - wet nurse or brute?
That she left you toothless and mute
Fear my prayer for oppressed am I
God change your heart or let you die

Can we boycott Israel?

Bismillah, alhamdulillah seeking God's guidance to the truth.

With the continuing Israeli activities in Gaza the local chatter in the corridors is of people wondering what they can do to help. One of the topics of discussion has been whether or not to boycott Israeli / American companies that support Israel. This blog examines the effectiveness of such actions, the concept of divestment, related fatwas and offers some suggestions on the topic that may be of use.

Are Muslims living in the past?

Bismillah, alhamdulillah, seeking God's help and mercy.

I can still remember trudging down the wooden staircase inside a lecture theatre to the front to meet the lecturer on anaesthetics. In a brief slide on the history of anaesthesia had begun in Rome and then skipping over the Islamic bit in between he had arrived somewhere in the late 1700s or early 1800s to continue the story of anaesthesia. Those were not the days of Wikipedia which now acknowledges the role of Muslim scientists in its article on anaethesia but I had a pretty good idea that this was not quite an accurate rendition of history. I confronted the lecturer and asked him whether he was aware or not that Muslim scientists in the so called dark middle-ages were performing surgery with anaesthetic equivalents? He was genuinely surprised to hear this and confessed his ignorance. This sufficed as a small yet significant victory and time has rolled on since.

This momentum to set history correct has taken a more concrete shape in the public arena where websites looking at 1001 Muslim inventions in the past have generated Western media articles supportive of recognising the importance of the Muslim heritage to the worlds scientific achievements and progress in the current day. Yet there is a sense that these represent a pyrrhic victory, Muslims now with their past acknowledged are content. They are content to be an object of high value in the distant past, suitably remembered and displayed in the museums of the world. But the emphasis has the potential to lock them into the past. Stuck in a psyche of reminiscence and reliving past glories rather than looking forward to new ones.

What I would like to see is a website talking about Muslim scientists or inventors today, perhaps even called  www.MuslimScientistsToday.com (warning do not click on the link it does not exist). While it is important to point out the historical perspective and the heritage of the world, the Muslim world needs inspiration today to achieve tomorrow. The young can be inspired by history but even more so by the present. Perhaps this will strike a chord with someone out there and start this ball rolling.

O God let this idea bear fruit if it attracts Your pleasure.

del.icio.us Tags: 1001 inventions,Muslim heritage,Muslim inventors,Muslim inventors today,MuslimScientistsToday.com,inspiring Muslims,Muslims locked in the past,Muslims reliving ancient glories,Muslims recognised but fossilised

Dawah Resources - Yusuf Estes

Bismillah, alhamdulillah : In the name of God, with gratitude and praise for Him

 

I have been to one Yusuf Estes lecture, here in Jeddah. This was the first time I have attended or heard his lecture though I had heard his name mentioned by others. He was certainly an entertaining lecturer and the audience warmed to him quite well. During his lecture he reeled out a large number of websites. I had jotted them down and thought I would spend some time just reviewing the ones mentioned. They are listed below:

The perverse maths of Palestine

Bismillah, alhamdulillah : In the name of God, with hope and submission

I came across a well written article in the Guardian (Israel's onslaught on Gaza is a crime that cannot succeed) the following line highlights the perverse maths of Palestine:

"During the last seven years, 14 Israelis have been killed by mostly homemade rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, while more than 5,000 Palestinians were killed by Israel with some of the most advanced US-supplied armaments in the world."

I pray that  God extinguishes the flames of war and reins in the dogs of war. The following verse of the Quran comes to mind and deserves reflection:

5:64 And the Jews say, "God's hand is shackled!" It is their own hands that are shackled; and rejected [by God] are they because of this their assertion. Nay, but wide are His hands stretched out: He dispenses [bounty] as He wills. But all that has been bestowed from on high upon thee [O Prophet] by thy Sustainer is bound to make many of them yet more stubborn in their overweening arrogance and in their denial of the truth. And so We have cast enmity and hatred among the followers of the Bible , [to last] until Resurrection Day; every time they light the fires of war, God extinguishes them ; and they labour hard to spread corruption on earth: and God does not -love the spreaders of corruption.

What is a WASP?

Bismillah, alhamdulillah : In the name of God, with gratitude and praise for Him

The Prophet Muhammad (S) made jokes with his Companions, but was careful never to tell lies when doing so and did not make this his natural disposition. In emulation of this Sunnah or practice and hopefully without falling into extremism in this arena I thought I would compile the various moments of mirth I have observed from time to time.

Listening to a programme on the BBC exploring cities that encourage immigration it was looking at one of the most successful cities in the world which happen to be in Canada. One of the experts on the programme illustrated the multi-ethnicity of the city by saying that the percentage of the WASPs was relatively low compared to the USA. I noted with mirth what the acronym stood for: White Anglo Saxon Protestants.

 

del.icio.us Tags: WASP - White Anglo Saxon Protestants,Canada v USA

Islamic studies in Jeddah

Bismillah, alhamdulillah : In the name of God, with gratitude and praise for Him

There are opportunities to listen to study Islam in Jeddah, but these are not as abundant as in other cities in the country and few well advertised opportunities exist in English. I have tried to list what I am aware of sources and places to learn in English and Arabic primarily. I have briefly touched upon Urdu. Where possible I have tried to clarify the location of places.