If you’re living comfortably, what’s the point of having more?

A quote from a Reuters article about Craig Newmark, the founder of craigslist:

The founder of craigslist, the free social-networking and classifieds Web site, said on Thursday he is not interested in selling out, just hours after MySpace.com was valued at $15 billion.

"Who needs the money? We don't really care," Craig Newmark said in an interview at the Picnic '06 Cross Media Week conference in Amsterdam.

"If you're living comfortably, what's the point of having more?" Newmark said.

Read more:

• Craigslist founder says he won't cash in

Fear a Day in Which You Will Be Brought Back to Allāh

Shaykh Muhammad Jibrīl led Salāt at-Tarāwīh (a special night prayer performed during Ramadān) tonight, and he recited the following verse a total of five times in two rak‘ahs, placing an incredible amount of emphasis on it:

وَاتَّقُواْ يَوْمًا تُرْجَعُونَ فِيهِ إِلَى اللّهِ ثُمَّ تُوَفَّى كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّا كَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لاَ يُظْلَمُونَ

Wa ttaqū yawman turja‘ūna fīhi ilā Llāhi thumma tuwaffā kullu nafsin mā kasabat wa hum la yudhlamūn.

And fear a day in which you will be brought back to Allāh. Then every soul will be paid in full that which it has earned, and they will not be wronged.

(Qur’ān, Sūrat al-Baqarah, Āyah 281)

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The Arabic text from Surat al-Baqarah was taken from Fahrasat al-Qur’ān al-Karīm.

The English translation of the verse was adapted from The Majestic Qur’ān: An English Rendition of its Meanings, translated by Ali Özek, Nureddin Uzunoğlu, Tevfik R. Topuzoğlu and Mehmet Maksutoğlu, edited by Abdal Hakim Murad, Mostafa al-Badawi and Uthman Hutchinson.

New York Times: Islamists Calm Somali Capital With Restraint

Jehad Nga for The New York Times

The New York Times ran an interesting article today about how Islamists in Mogadishu have been bringing about peace and stability to a city accustomed to violence and anarchy. Here is an excerpt from the article:

It is hard to imagine that this is Mogadishu, the same Mogadishu of “Black Hawk Down,” and clan against clan and 15 years of anarchy. But over the past three months, the Islamists in control here have defied international expectations — in many ways. Not only have they pacified one of the most dangerous cities in the world, they also seem to have moderated their message.

Instead of acting like the Taliban and ruthlessly imposing a harsh religious orthodoxy, as many feared, the Islamists seem to be trying to increase public support by softening their views, at least officially, delivering social services and pushing for democratic elections.

Read more:

• The New York Times: Islamists Calm Somali Capital With Restraint
  
  And make sure to check out the photo gallery.

Reflections from the Qur’ān: The Conditional Covenant with the Children of Israel

It is often said by Zionists that Palestine is the promised land of the Jews by virtue of the fact that they are God’s chosen people. They imply that His chosen people have had favors bestowed upon them that others have not, and this is what entitles them to occupy other people’s land.

What they fail to mention, however, is that they were chosen to fulfill a covenant with God. And this is a covenant that by any measure, today’s Zionists have failed to uphold.

Allāh explicitly describes the covenant in Sūrat al-Baqarah:

وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَاقَكُمْ لاَ تَسْفِكُونَ دِمَاءكُمْ وَلاَ تُخْرِجُونَ أَنفُسَكُم مِّن دِيَارِكُمْ ثُمَّ أَقْرَرْتُمْ وَأَنتُمْ تَشْهَدُونَ

ثُمَّ أَنتُمْ هَـؤُلاء تَقْتُلُونَ أَنفُسَكُمْ وَتُخْرِجُونَ فَرِيقاً مِّنكُم مِّن دِيَارِهِمْ تَظَاهَرُونَ عَلَيْهِم بِالإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ وَإِن يَأتُوكُمْ أُسَارَى تُفَادُوهُمْ وَهُوَ مُحَرَّمٌ عَلَيْكُمْ إِخْرَاجُهُمْ أَفَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِبَعْضِ الْكِتَابِ وَتَكْفُرُونَ بِبَعْضٍ فَمَا جَزَاء مَن يَفْعَلُ ذَلِكَ مِنكُمْ إِلاَّ خِزْيٌ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يُرَدُّونَ إِلَى أَشَدِّ الْعَذَابِ وَمَا اللّهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ

Wa idh akhadhnā mīthāqakum lā tasfikūna dimā’akum wa lā tukhrijūna anfusakum min diyārikum thumma aqrartum wa antum tashhadun.

Thumma antum hā’ulā’i taqtulūna anfusakum wa tukhrijūna farīqan minkum min diyārihim tadhāharūna ‘alayhim bil-ithmi wa l-‘udwāni wa in ya'tūkum usārā tufādūhum wa huwa muharramun ‘alaykum ikhrājuhum. Afatu’minūna biba‘di l-kitābi wa takfurūna biba‘d. Famā jazā’u man yaf‘alu dhālika minkum illā khizyun fī l-hayāti d-dunyā. Wa yawma l-qiyāmati yuraddūna ilā ashaddi l-‘adhāb. Wa mā Llāhu bighāfilin ‘ammā ya‘malūn.

(O Children of Israel, remember) when We made a Covenant with you, saying: “You shall not shed blood among yourselves, nor expel one another from your homes.” And you confirmed it, and were witnesses thereto.

But in spite of this (the solemn promise you made), you were slaying your own brethren and driving them out from their homes and helping others against them with sin and aggression. And when they come to you as captives you ransom them, although the expulsion (itself) was unlawful for you. Do you believe in one part of the Scripture and disbelieve in another part? Those of you that act thus shall only be rewarded with disagrace in this world, and with the most grievous punishment on the Day of Resurrection. Allah is not unaware of what you do.

(Qur’ān, Sūrat al-Baqarah, Āyahs 84-5)

Beautiful Speech by Prophet Muhammad on Ramadān

This is a summary of a khutbah (speech) by the Prophet Muhammad (may Allāh bless him and give him peace) on the holy month of Ramadān. Always eloquent and succinct, his words provide a powerful reminder of how to approach this month.
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O people! The Month of Allāh the High has come with blessings, mercy and forgiveness. To Allāh, this month is the best month. Its days are the best days, its nights the best of all nights, its hours the best of all hours. And this is the month which you have been invited to be the guests of Allāh and you have become the graced ones by Allāh.

Your souls in it are glorification (of Allāh).
Your sleep in it is worship.
Your deeds in it are accepted.
Your prayers in it are answered.

So ask your Lord with truthful intentions and pure hearts that He would grant you success in fasting and reading His book. For that the unfortunate is the one who forbids Allāh’s forgiveness in this great month. With your hunger and thirst, remember the hunger and thirst of the Day of Judgment. Give to your poor and needy. Respect the elder. Have mercy on the younger. Be nice and keep in touch with your relatives. Protect your tongues. Cast down from what is not halāl (permissible) for your sights to see and what is not halāl for your ears to hear. Be compassionate and caring for the orphans of other people, so that your orphans would be taken care of and receive compassion. Repent from your sins. Raise your hands towards Him in du‘ā’ (supplication) during the hours of prayers. Those hours are the best hours, and Allāh looks at His servants with mercy; answers them if they ask for help; answers their call if they call upon Him; answers their du‘ā’ if they ask Him.

O people! Your souls are held hostage by your deeds. So let yourselves free by asking Allāh’s forgiveness.

Your backs are heavy with loads, so make it light by prolonging your sajdahs (prostrations). And know that Allāh has vowed to His Dignity that He would not punish those who pray and those who make sajdah. And He would not worry them with Fire on the day which people rise to the Lord of the Universe.

O people! Whoever feeds a fasting believer during this month, to Allāh, it is as if he has freed a slave. And his past sins are forgiven...

Whoever does one farīdah (obligatory deed) during this month, it is as if he has accomplished doing 70 good deeds in other months. Whoever increases sending blessings on me, Allāh will make his rewards heavy on the day when people’s rewards are light. Whoever recites one āyah (verse) of the Qur’ān will receive the reward of finishing the whole Qur’ān in other months.

O people! The gates of Heaven in this month are open, so ask your Lord not to close them on you. The doors of Hell are closed, so ask your Lord not to open them for you. The devils are in chains, so ask your Lord that they do not rule you.

Ramadān Mubārak!

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

Yā ayyuhā lladhīna āmanū kutiba ‘alaykumu s-siyāmu kamā kutiba ‘alā lladhīna min qablikum la‘allakum tattaqūn.

O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those who came before you; that you will perhaps be God-fearing.

(Qur’ān, Sūrat al-Baqarah, Āyah 183)

Ramadan is finally here. A month in which the Messenger of Allāh (may Allāh bless him and give him peace) tells us, “O people! The gates of Heaven in this month are open, so ask your Lord not to close the on you. The gates of Hell are closed, so ask your Lord not to open them for you. The devils are in chains, so ask your Lord that they do not rule you.”

May Allāh enable us all to take full advantage of Ramadān, and may Allāh enable us to attain taqwā (God-consciousness).

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The Arabic text from Surat al-Baqarah was taken from Fahrasat al-Qur’ān al-Karīm.

Bush Killed More Americans than 9/11

2,973: Death Toll on 9/11
2,974: Death Toll of U.S. Military in Afghanistan and Iraq as of 9/23/06

It’s official: U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq have now exceeded the death toll on 9/11. By misleading this country into two catastrophic wars, Bush is now responsible for more deaths than the perpetrators of the attacks on 9/11.

And that number, of course, pales in comparison to the number of Afghan and Iraqi civilians who have been killed in both wars.

Unknown News estimates that at least 268,013 people have been killed, and at least 565,756 have been seriously injured in Afghanistan and Iraq. They state that “About 4 times as many Afghans and 85 times as many Iraqis have been killed in these wars and occupations than the 2,973 people who were killed in the ghastly attacks of September 11, 2001.”

Perhaps Bush should be sent off to Guantánamo for interrogation.

Read more:

• Washington Post:War Price on U.S. Lives Equal to 9/11

Do not Express His Personal Thought? Is He Serious?

Pope Benedict XVI delivered a speech on September 12, 2006 at the University of Regensburg in Germany, during which he said that Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus

“...addresses his interlocutor with a startling brusqueness on the central question about the relationship between religion and violence in general, saying: ‘Show me just what Muhammad [may Allāh bless him and give him peace] brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.’ The emperor, after having expressed himself so forcefully, goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul...”

The Pope made reference to this emperor’s clearly incendiary remark without refuting it or issuing any disclaimers before or after it. He just simply moved on with his speech.

Then, after several days of widespread Muslim agitation (as should expected) over his speech, the Pope issued an apology in a manner as if to suggest that he didn’t realize he did anything wrong in the first place.

“At this time, I wish also to add that I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims.

“These in fact were a quotation from a medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought.”

Do not in any way express his personal thought? Then why bring it up in the first place? If there was something so deeply profound about the emperor’s statement, that it just simply had to be brought up, why not refute it or issue a disclaimer when quoting him?

Furthermore, how does the leader of the Catholic Church speak with any moral authority about religious traditions spreading religion by the sword? Perhaps while searching through history books, he could have read up on the the Medieval Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition, the Roman Inquisition, and the Portuguese Inquisition. And that is not even to speak of the atrocities committed by the Crusades, in sharp contrast to the military conquests of Salāh al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī (Saladin).

And this expresses my personal thought.

Paying Suiciders

This is the so-called leader of the free world. Is suiciders even a word?

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Bush Defending the War in Iraq
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Bush Responds to Serious Question with Jokes
Length: 1:52

Khatami Speaks at ISNA Convention

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami is visiting several cities in the United States as part of a visit lasting nearly two weeks. He is the most senior Iranian to visit the United States since the 1979 takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran. The State Department issued him a visitor's visa without restrictions, which has upset many Zionist groups.

Over the Labor Day weekend, Khatami spoke at the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America in a Chicago suburb, as well as at Bait ul Ilm Islamic Center in Streamwood, IL.

While promoting increased dialogue between civiliazations, as has been his trademark, he condmened the Bush Administration's policies.

“As America claims to be fighting terrorism, it implements policies that cause the intensification of terrorism and institutionalized violence.”

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami
speaking at the ISNA Convention in Chicago, IL

Khatami is expected to travel to Washington and then speak at events at the United Nations and Harvard University.

There are also potential plans to meet with former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, which should prove to be interesting, because the U.S. embassy hostage crisis marred Carter's presidency.

Read more at:

• IslamOnline.net: In US, Khatami Urges Dialogue with the Other


• Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran: Khatami says US policies foment terrorism


• BBC: Iran's Khatami condemns US policy


• Chicago Tribune: Ex-Iran leader speaks in Chicago

Moroccan Boy Reciting Qur'an

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Courtesy of IslamicVideos.net.