10/30/2004
Have you ever seen the moonrise?
Yes I drove up the California coast just to see a Sunset by the Pacific. Yes i have also gone up the Himalayas just to see a Sunrise. Yes when the sun rises over Chicago it seems as if Chicao is on fire again. Yes I have seen the sun rise in my native town too. But Subhanallah, on Friday 29th Oct, it was the first time I had ever seen the moon rise. The location was the 'A' mountain behind Tempe Masjid. The time was after around 6:45 pm. Subhanallah it looked as if an innocent child was revealing its rosy face from behind a mountain. The moon was rising from behind the distant mountain. And as against a rising sun, it did not light up the entire area. But you could just make out the silhoutte of the mountain against a soothing orangish ball. And the rise was as rapid as the setting sun (when it has already touched the horizon). I just yelled Subhanallah unknowingly. I had seen finally a moonrise and I had seen it over Phoenix/Scottsdale/Tempe and Subhanallah Allah's creations can never be matched.
10/25/2004
Trust
When we speak of trust its so difficult tobelieve in it. For example there are numerous hadith available that demand that you trust the hadith. But it is not always so. We read about Istikhara and when we make one we are supposed to feel confident that the Almighty will help us in that confusion. i guess it also depends on the piety that is necessary for us to believe in it. Basically u cannot take a decision and also dont know if you will be helped or not. I think i have been on both sides of this situation and tho it felt nice in one case it did not in another. when you are low on piety (takwaa) the calmness that follows after the acceptance of trust is really very comforting.
to be contd
to be contd
10/20/2004
Diversity in Masjids
Recently Imam Amin Nathari visited Tempe for a khutbah and I also attended a bonus section as a youth. :)
His main point of discussion was that there is too much regionalism and nationalism involved in the masjids in the usa. Indian, Paki, BDeshi, Arab, Black etc etc. And all that was covered in the halaqa was contemplation about what can be done to cross these barriers. The local imam mentioned that ICC, Tempe is a model for diversity. However I dont deny the fact that it is, but contest the administration if they feel they are totally responsible for it.
I have been to three cities in the USA so far. There are umpteen more but lemme say taht the 3 are the ones where i have spent significant amount of time. At each iof these masjids there were youth. Each of these majids are close to a school. The youth dont have a sense of ego in them and are an excellent binding glue to the mess created by arguments of elders. The youth are able to change if asked so in the correct manner. They are willing to learn. Thus in Blacksburg ISNRV the youth literally run the masjid. I myself was a part of Masjid Umar in LA, and I can bank that it was us students who would be in the masjid for most of the salats. Here again in tempe, the ICC is close to ASU and you get to see the same diversity. (Subhanallah for each of them). But on the other hand the islamic center in LA is only for the stout hearted as you can easily be lead astray. The masjid in Chicago that i visited was desi-land.
So it comes back to the only point that has challenged me from the 12th grade. Prof Moogat posed this to our batch of 40 students "Why does it happen that as students we can forgive but as we grow, our power to forgive and accomodate diminishes?" It struck me as something worth thinkingg about. I presently stand at one such cross-section. I feel I must move on from the life of a student to that of a working professional. But each time the heart asks me to remain a student. Life is better this way.
There has been only one masjid that has defied this rule- Masjid Momin in LA. Sheikh Farid is partly responsible for this. He is one person that every one in West USA shud listen to, to know about humility, humor, and the strength of Islam. This masjid makes u throw away all that ego or bloated shirt that you carry about in the name of Islam and questions you. I mutst say that many of his khutbahs are way beyond my understanding but the little that I grasp keep in ties in its splendor.
So all in all, i give an open challenge to all those shura council members who may be proud that diversity is because of them. Can they replicate it at another masjid, is all i ask.
His main point of discussion was that there is too much regionalism and nationalism involved in the masjids in the usa. Indian, Paki, BDeshi, Arab, Black etc etc. And all that was covered in the halaqa was contemplation about what can be done to cross these barriers. The local imam mentioned that ICC, Tempe is a model for diversity. However I dont deny the fact that it is, but contest the administration if they feel they are totally responsible for it.
I have been to three cities in the USA so far. There are umpteen more but lemme say taht the 3 are the ones where i have spent significant amount of time. At each iof these masjids there were youth. Each of these majids are close to a school. The youth dont have a sense of ego in them and are an excellent binding glue to the mess created by arguments of elders. The youth are able to change if asked so in the correct manner. They are willing to learn. Thus in Blacksburg ISNRV the youth literally run the masjid. I myself was a part of Masjid Umar in LA, and I can bank that it was us students who would be in the masjid for most of the salats. Here again in tempe, the ICC is close to ASU and you get to see the same diversity. (Subhanallah for each of them). But on the other hand the islamic center in LA is only for the stout hearted as you can easily be lead astray. The masjid in Chicago that i visited was desi-land.
So it comes back to the only point that has challenged me from the 12th grade. Prof Moogat posed this to our batch of 40 students "Why does it happen that as students we can forgive but as we grow, our power to forgive and accomodate diminishes?" It struck me as something worth thinkingg about. I presently stand at one such cross-section. I feel I must move on from the life of a student to that of a working professional. But each time the heart asks me to remain a student. Life is better this way.
There has been only one masjid that has defied this rule- Masjid Momin in LA. Sheikh Farid is partly responsible for this. He is one person that every one in West USA shud listen to, to know about humility, humor, and the strength of Islam. This masjid makes u throw away all that ego or bloated shirt that you carry about in the name of Islam and questions you. I mutst say that many of his khutbahs are way beyond my understanding but the little that I grasp keep in ties in its splendor.
So all in all, i give an open challenge to all those shura council members who may be proud that diversity is because of them. Can they replicate it at another masjid, is all i ask.
10/18/2004
Monotonicity
A fact well known is that monotonicity is a harbinger of boredom. I experienced this feeling on my arrival into the USA but never could understand why. It probably arose after I visited malls outside my town of Blacksburg and into the Chicago metropolis. Wherever you go aroudn the states you expect a Walmart to give you the cheapest deals, Toys and Babies R Us have the same feel, and any place can be called a mall if three out of the following stores exist viz Sears, JCPenney, RobinsonsMay, Dilliards, Hoechts, etc.
The initial proposition I believe must have been convenience and the trust of a known shop. However this has taken away the joy of visitin a new city or to obrserve the architectural beauty of a mall. Each store has the same designs arranged in more or less similar manner (All made out of the USA). Same Brands, Same owner. Same food, same drinks same smells. Same sale. Same highways.
All this monotonicity does bring to mind only the diversity that we enjoyed in India. Main Street was owned by mummys and papas and friends. Shopping meant buying as well as visiting. Each restaurant had its own cuisine and held pride in providing it. Different stores had different suppliers hence different designs. To buy something we had to visit a particular place or shop. So many things were unique to a city and umpteen attempts to make it available in your local town woul fail. Language would be different, clothes would be too. It is very very rare to find two people wearing the same outfits although our population is three times as large.
Lastly I am sure that wherever such a diversity exists that place would be attractive, let it be Egypt or Palestine or Mexico or Europe or South Asia. I only plead that MNCs from USA dont kill the local businesses. One america is sufficient for the world. It is already the epitome of monotonicity.
The initial proposition I believe must have been convenience and the trust of a known shop. However this has taken away the joy of visitin a new city or to obrserve the architectural beauty of a mall. Each store has the same designs arranged in more or less similar manner (All made out of the USA). Same Brands, Same owner. Same food, same drinks same smells. Same sale. Same highways.
All this monotonicity does bring to mind only the diversity that we enjoyed in India. Main Street was owned by mummys and papas and friends. Shopping meant buying as well as visiting. Each restaurant had its own cuisine and held pride in providing it. Different stores had different suppliers hence different designs. To buy something we had to visit a particular place or shop. So many things were unique to a city and umpteen attempts to make it available in your local town woul fail. Language would be different, clothes would be too. It is very very rare to find two people wearing the same outfits although our population is three times as large.
Lastly I am sure that wherever such a diversity exists that place would be attractive, let it be Egypt or Palestine or Mexico or Europe or South Asia. I only plead that MNCs from USA dont kill the local businesses. One america is sufficient for the world. It is already the epitome of monotonicity.
10/16/2004
From History 1
"The freedom fighters were known as terrorists before ultimately being remembered as patriots" - Ed Harris in 'The Rock'.
History as taught in school is not the most thought provocative subject. It is taught with only the view of the author in mind. As young souls this view is imparted to us and we readily accept it.
The reason for acceptance is very simple. History has always been described as a fight between good and evil. What is good and what is evil is decided by the author. Which view is made to sound more courageous and brave is decided by the author. How to describe the winner and the vanquished is decided by the author. How to make our hero sound valiant even in defeat and how to make our enemies infliction as a death-knoll is in the hands of the author (yeah this sounds like the media of today too).
There have been crazy despots in every generation (not century). So we had Chengiz Khan earlier on, and Herr Hitler and so on... If the destruction of humankind is taken as a measure then we can add many world leaders. Hence I believe that the policy that defined this destruction should be an important aspect of classification of heroes and villians. Hence Herr Hitler because of Mein Kampf fits into the villian category. But then what about hidden agendas.
Thus in a country like India which had numerous rulers uptil the 19th century has many versions to the same story. Thus Hyderabad could be talking of the greatness ofthe Adilshahi kingdom and denouncing the Marathas, but if you are in Maharashtra you learn the vice versa.
But then sometimes there is no information of the other side. With this aspect only one view is propagated and hence accepted. Isnt that dangerous? Yes it is. And frankly it is more in place today than anytime else.
But aren't we in the golden age of communications and information technology. Here lies the pitfall and the oxymoron to our age. We have learnt in history about how our countrymen stood up against the occupying powers. Let it be the british in India or in the USA. We had our identity and we would not give it up or adapt forcefully. Numerous examples exist as we may have seen in "Once upon a time in China", "Gandhi" etc. But we still cannot relate history to our present conditions. There was an occupation then and so is today. Rights were taken away then and so are today. So it comes down to identifying ourself with the hero or the villian. Humans will never ever consider themselves to be villians. Hence it is left to the method how we give the information so that we identify ourselves not always with the hero, but deciding on the basis of the gravity of the situation.
The fourth estate has done a utterly miserable job in this aspect. They did this job by adopting one simple principle. Give only one aspect and make that aspect sound like the more glorious, glamorous and heroic. Hey isnt that what all humans want !!!! Thus a critical media is absent. Sorry lets reword the last statement. A critical media exists only to criticize the critics of the presented aspect. Thus we can have criticism for two teams on the NFL etc but for real life there is only one opinion. Independent media exist but who searches for a needle in the haystack.
On final thoughts, yesterday is history, but history was not yesterday. History is today. History repeats itself, though we never live to see the repetition always. Each generation identifies with itself to be unique, though we are same for most of it. But we never learn from old generations positively. Leaders find the holes that led to failures and plug them to portray a better decision and leadership, but I would challenge that everytime.
PS: As Indian I know what occupation by a foreign power is and i dont limit this thought to India but to all those experiencing it even today.
History as taught in school is not the most thought provocative subject. It is taught with only the view of the author in mind. As young souls this view is imparted to us and we readily accept it.
The reason for acceptance is very simple. History has always been described as a fight between good and evil. What is good and what is evil is decided by the author. Which view is made to sound more courageous and brave is decided by the author. How to describe the winner and the vanquished is decided by the author. How to make our hero sound valiant even in defeat and how to make our enemies infliction as a death-knoll is in the hands of the author (yeah this sounds like the media of today too).
There have been crazy despots in every generation (not century). So we had Chengiz Khan earlier on, and Herr Hitler and so on... If the destruction of humankind is taken as a measure then we can add many world leaders. Hence I believe that the policy that defined this destruction should be an important aspect of classification of heroes and villians. Hence Herr Hitler because of Mein Kampf fits into the villian category. But then what about hidden agendas.
Thus in a country like India which had numerous rulers uptil the 19th century has many versions to the same story. Thus Hyderabad could be talking of the greatness ofthe Adilshahi kingdom and denouncing the Marathas, but if you are in Maharashtra you learn the vice versa.
But then sometimes there is no information of the other side. With this aspect only one view is propagated and hence accepted. Isnt that dangerous? Yes it is. And frankly it is more in place today than anytime else.
But aren't we in the golden age of communications and information technology. Here lies the pitfall and the oxymoron to our age. We have learnt in history about how our countrymen stood up against the occupying powers. Let it be the british in India or in the USA. We had our identity and we would not give it up or adapt forcefully. Numerous examples exist as we may have seen in "Once upon a time in China", "Gandhi" etc. But we still cannot relate history to our present conditions. There was an occupation then and so is today. Rights were taken away then and so are today. So it comes down to identifying ourself with the hero or the villian. Humans will never ever consider themselves to be villians. Hence it is left to the method how we give the information so that we identify ourselves not always with the hero, but deciding on the basis of the gravity of the situation.
The fourth estate has done a utterly miserable job in this aspect. They did this job by adopting one simple principle. Give only one aspect and make that aspect sound like the more glorious, glamorous and heroic. Hey isnt that what all humans want !!!! Thus a critical media is absent. Sorry lets reword the last statement. A critical media exists only to criticize the critics of the presented aspect. Thus we can have criticism for two teams on the NFL etc but for real life there is only one opinion. Independent media exist but who searches for a needle in the haystack.
On final thoughts, yesterday is history, but history was not yesterday. History is today. History repeats itself, though we never live to see the repetition always. Each generation identifies with itself to be unique, though we are same for most of it. But we never learn from old generations positively. Leaders find the holes that led to failures and plug them to portray a better decision and leadership, but I would challenge that everytime.
PS: As Indian I know what occupation by a foreign power is and i dont limit this thought to India but to all those experiencing it even today.
10/14/2004
Recoil
Current Icecream: HaagenDazs Banana Foster
Ratings: 4/5
Recommendation: Breyers Banana flavor 5/5
Upcoming Review: www.theislamicmarketplace.com Have to visit this store in the coming weeks.
Ratings: 4/5
Recommendation: Breyers Banana flavor 5/5
Upcoming Review: www.theislamicmarketplace.com Have to visit this store in the coming weeks.
10/05/2004
y can v not b more compassionate
Former U.N. Inspectors Cite New Report as Validation - Washington Post
Report unveils Saddam's true strategic intentions By Steven Komarow and John Diamond, USA TODAY
U.S. Report Says Hussein Bought Arms With EaseBy ERIC LIPTON and SCOTT SHANE, NY Times
Report unveils Saddam's true strategic intentions By Steven Komarow and John Diamond, USA TODAY
U.S. Report Says Hussein Bought Arms With EaseBy ERIC LIPTON and SCOTT SHANE, NY Times
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