~ The Suicidal Assassins

Salam alaikum,

They are amongst us; as family members, as friends, as sibling, as parents, as children.
Beware! since these assassins attempt to victimize themselves and those around them to a slow painful death.

Personally they are perfectly normal humans, with no wish to inflict damage to their near and dear ones.
But they choose to embrace a dis-ease which is like a slow-mo suicide.
The affecting effect is long-term, with long-reach & is devastating.
Even people of high intellect get infected to it by choice, and in doing so prove that education, knowledge & intelligence can't rid one of stupidity.

Do you recognize them?
These are the people puffing n coughing deadly smoke out of their mouths every now n then, hurting themselves & people around them through passive smoking, knowing its hazards all along; .. these are the cigarette addicts, commonly called the (active) Smokers.

A smoker is guilty of several accounts, a few are listed like so:

1. Life and health is trusted from Allah to humans, taking care of it is a duty. A smoker ignores this duty. 
2. Smoking is slow suicide which is forbidden in Islam.
3. Smoking is an addiction which is forbidden in Islam
4. Smoking is a waste of time. 
5. Spending money on smoking is a waste of money; 'israaf'.  
6. A smoker ignores the warning given by people around him, and on the cigarette packs, and therefore holds complete responsibility for his actions.  
7. A smoker is a threat to the life of his wife and lil children. 
8. A smoker is a threat to his friends and colleagues. 
9. A smoker has a foul smelling mouth which causes discomfort to Allah's creatures while praying in congregation.
10. A smoker is a potential fire hazard. 
11. A smoker is harmful to nature around him, such as, plants, birds etc. 

I, by no means, am attempting or tempting to create hatred against smokers, rather these sick people need our attention & care; we need to brain-storm a way to knock some sense into them.
May Allah rid all the smokers of their addiction.
Amin.

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~ Busy Behind the Wheel

Salam alaikum,

Over & over again, i get warned by my family not to attend my cell while driving.. not that i compose sms or text something, but some calls from professors are just too important.

I ignore this advice saying that i can handle & am too good for this lil distraction & sometimes even dismiss it as too much ado about nothing..

Not until i was asked to play this lil game, which i played twice.. & scored.. well not too bad enough.. alhamduliLLAh :p

(gates missed the first time were 0% too, with an average delay while texting..)

But still not too good either, since real life is sorta different & makes me think i should really rethink my cell strategy from behind the wheel..

Its Distracted_Driver game by NYT to gauge your distraction while you're texting on the road. The game puts you driving on a road having to negotiate a number of toll booths along the way, to see how good you go. And thus it tests your ability to drive through the correct gates without any distractions, and then it makes you write a couple of text messages whilst still having to negotiate the booths.
After you finish the game, you get a comparison of your result with everyone else who has played so far.
P.S; I did see the gray lady the first time but failed the second time..

Digging through some papers i figured that the science of mobile phone use whilst driving is a developing field, with most of the recent research suggesting that you are just as impaired - or more so - if texting or using a hand-held mobile as you are if you are disillusioned or semiconscious (sleepy).

A couple of great resources if you are interested at all:

• SWOV Fact sheet: Use of mobile phone while driving was published in 2008 by The national road safety research institute (SWOV). It contains a great deal of up-to-date research. Their conclusion is that the negative effects of mobile phone use whilst driving are caused by both physical and cognitive distraction. Although physical distraction can be reduced through the use of such aids as handsfree phones and speed dialling, cognitive distraction remains the crucial problem. They conclude that handsfree phones do not have significant safety advantages over handheld phones. They also point towards research suggesting that talking on a mobile phone is associated with cognitive distraction that may undermine pedestrian safety.
• Applied Cognition Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Utah - has published a wealth of research on the impact of using in-car technologies on driving performance and traffic safety. It is well worth a browse of their published articles.

Oh n before i forget, check out the Distracted_Driver game & try it out yourself - if you too are into tech_behind_wheel ailment.

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~ Mind the Gap plz

Asalm alaikum,

Whether we want to believe it or no; Much of the world has been engulfed into globalization, for good or for worse.

As I've been scribbling & has scribbled in past that application of statistics is mind-numbingly dull, but statistics can be quite interesting when you dig deep down into the foundations..& a way - i might add - to understand the world better.

While wolframalpha has achieved a milestone in this statistical analysis - & i've been pleased to share info with my peeps - Minding the gaps (as opposed to mind-mapping) has been an awesome way of bridging such statistical gaps that prevailed the stat-horizon in yesteryears.

Gapminder
[Say no if /when asked for aborting of the flash-script.]

Here is what I tested

So, as the gap-minder guru Hans says;

"It seems you move much faster up the graph if you're healthy first than if you're wealthy first. And health can't be bought at a supermarket, you've to invest in health & educate the population."

Apparently Professor Hans talking here [Toggle full-screen in top right corner of vid-box to see subtitles clearly] uses world Development Indicators from The World Bank :/ (& UN & certain NGOs)

You will see a scatterplot where each bubble represents a country.
The position of the bubble is determined by the indicators on the axes.
The size of the bubble represents the population of the country.
And then you can play the whole thing to see the trail_of_trend.

As it turns out, recently the world bank has opened up its world-data for the world out there, based upon this same work from Hans. And they did that under the pretext of; 'being informed about the world stats is the first step towards a better humanity..' yada yada.

No matter how flashy slogans they use, its not that such usury-driven, lust-ridden capitalist can offer anything better to the world, except for forced abortions & vigorous family-plannings to their credit.

Anywho, you can put together a prototype Gapminder chart in your Excel too.

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~ Yawn

Salam alaikum,

Being a busy person does hinder one to delve deep into social matters at home or otherwise.
Nonetheless, it doesn't hamper one's observation altogether.

At these testing & kinda tug_of_war times on the globo-politico-sphere (& blogo-sphere), one gets particularly bemused at the common denominator & rampant redundant equations when one lends an ear to the (so called) voices of change.

Exceptions do exist - & naturally so - but generally speaking the common pattern is that the group of people most concerned/ outspoken/ going_out_of_their_way (& trousers for that matter) against establishment of Islam as_a_way_of_life & segregation are mostly expatriate christians, usually white blondes (married to rich saudi men), & almost always belonging to some village (or what's_its_name city) of far west.
:D

The locals that join in the not_so_melodious noise band-wagon are mostly shias, usually disgruntled dissatisfied west-impressed youth, occasionally women.

interesting init?
yeah, you bet.

AlhamduliLLAh, I've traveled round the world (except for the far west ofocurse) & frankly enough whenever I go around any foreign country, I respect it's laws / taxes / people and never criticize their way_of_life or mock n make fun of them or their women's dressing yadayada, since I'm only a guest in that country.
And if I feel uncomfortable, I leave.. simple.

I can't simply fathom what's the dual-faced problematic hoopla all about?

Saudia this Saudia that !
Free-dom this Free-dom that.. blah blah yada yada .. yawn.

A befitting response would be - as someone rightly quoted;
"Westerners - get over it. Nobody ever died from gender segregation. Live with it or leave it."

Yeah, get over it already !
Yet as it seems, it takes a while for the poor lil cry_baby to grow up, after all.

I, for one, won't be insecure or even surprised if tomorrow people here go all co-ed, co-work, co-spa err.. co-sports, so on & so forth.
I mean, heck, even the Ottoman Caliphate degenerated into a miserable wimpy mundane mess.

But I won't, for a second, bi*ch about if the journey down the gravity hill ain't swift enough or smooth enough, as per "my" calculations or "my" estimation "my" whims or "my" criteria or "my" definition of human rights or "my" understanding of how certain people should act.

That's the difference - i hope - that sets me apart from whiners, as a mentally & spiritually stable well-focused (doc?) dude.
AlhamduliLLAh..

That said -
Seriously, plz get a life.. (& a real job in this country perhaps, besides wasting hours online regurgitating nauseating theories & remedies.)

And leave Muslim matters to us Muslims.. (its not like we owe you something or need your brains/ assistance/ culture/ your religion to figure things out here.)

Thank you & Good ridd..er.. night.

~~~~~~

A Day Into The Life Of A Muslim Wife In Saudi Arabia; (part1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv4Mb_TAfbU



And part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6OJECs98S4

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~ An apple a day keeps you pocket-dismay

Asalam alaikum,

Q. What’s the difference between a mechanical engineer and a civil engineer?

A. Mechanical engineers build weapons. Civil engineers build targets.

And a quote one runs across in the book Operating Systems;

When an engineer builds a building, it’s very well built, but it’s so ugly that the people tear it down; when an architect builds a building, it’s very beautiful, but it falls down!

back then i heard; 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away..'
but then, since my consort ain't a dentist, i think im pretty contended with the variation in this familiar theme;
'an apple a day keeps the dentist away'
:)

so, here's my bit about the new purchase i made - thankx to mani for helping me out in placing the order online for much less infact.

its slick, its slim, its..its a supermaaan.. NOT.
:p
its air.
& its neat.

doesn't come handy though..
a bit overpriced, i dare say.. (got it much cheaper nonetheless :p)
but considering the world's slimiest AND a duo core, i thnk its worth it.

wasn't a knee jerk investment, neither a coincidence.
it was well planned & after much shuffling & reshuffling of choices, we finally landed on this piece of art err..air.

for some it dares to buck_the_trend, setting a new standard for mobile computing.
and others are annoyed & negatively reviewing, disgruntled that..

~ The Blame Game

Salam alaikum,

SubhanAllah..
i was reading this in Shaih al Bukhari (Kitaab ul A'thaan) today.
and was genuinely upset & quite taken aback actually.. for many of us, in our ignorance & casual laid back styles, are quick to blame their fellow brethren & even Noble Companions..
May Allah save us from such blatant misguidance.
And forgive our mistakes.

‏حدثنا ‏ ‏موسى ‏ ‏قال حدثنا ‏ ‏أبو عوانة ‏ ‏قال حدثنا ‏ ‏عبد الملك بن عمير ‏ ‏عن ‏ ‏جابر بن سمرة ‏ ‏قال ‏
‏شكا ‏ ‏أهل ‏ ‏الكوفة ‏ ‏سعدا ‏ ‏إلى ‏ ‏عمر ‏ ‏رضي الله عنه ‏ ‏فعزله واستعمل عليهم ‏ ‏عمارا ‏ ‏فشكوا حتى ذكروا أنه لا يحسن ‏ ‏يصلي فأرسل إليه فقال يا ‏ ‏أبا إسحاق ‏ ‏إن هؤلاء يزعمون أنك لا تحسن تصلي قال ‏ ‏أبو إسحاق ‏ ‏أما أنا والله ‏ ‏فإني كنت أصلي بهم صلاة رسول الله ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏ما ‏ ‏أخرم ‏ ‏عنها أصلي صلاة العشاء ‏ ‏فأركد ‏ ‏في الأوليين وأخف في الأخريين قال ذاك الظن بك يا ‏ ‏أبا إسحاق ‏ ‏فأرسل معه رجلا أو رجالا إلى ‏ ‏الكوفة ‏ ‏فسأل عنه ‏ ‏أهل ‏ ‏الكوفة ‏ ‏ولم يدع مسجدا إلا سأل عنه ويثنون معروفا حتى دخل مسجدا ‏ ‏لبني عبس ‏ ‏فقام رجل منهم يقال له ‏ ‏أسامة بن قتادة ‏ ‏يكنى ‏ ‏أبا سعدة ‏ ‏قال أما إذ نشدتنا فإن ‏ ‏سعدا ‏ ‏كان لا يسير ‏ ‏بالسرية ‏ ‏ولا يقسم بالسوية ولا يعدل في القضية قال ‏ ‏سعد ‏ ‏أما والله لأدعون بثلاث اللهم إن كان عبدك هذا كاذبا قام رياء وسمعة فأطل عمره وأطل فقره وعرضه بالفتن وكان بعد إذا سئل يقول شيخ كبير مفتون أصابتني دعوة ‏ ‏سعد ‏
‏قال ‏ ‏عبد الملك ‏ ‏فأنا رأيته بعد قد سقط حاجباه على عينيه من الكبر وإنه ليتعرض للجواري في الطرق يغمزهن

713 ,صحيح البخاري, الأذان, وجوب القراءة للإمام والمأموم في الصلوات كلها في الحضر

Narrated Companion Jabir bin Samura (May Allah be pleased with him):
The People of Kufa complained against [governor] Sa'd (radiAllah) to Caliph 'Umar (radiAllah) and the latter dismissed him and appointed 'Ammar as their chief. They lodged many complaints against Sa'd and they even alleged that he did not pray properly.
'Umar (radiAllah) sent for him and said, "O Aba Ishaq! (surname of Sa'd) These people claim that you do not pray properly."
Abu Ishaq (radiAllah) replied; "By Allah, I used to pray with them a prayer similar to that of Allah's Apostle and I never reduced anything of it. I used to prolong the first two Rakat of 'Isha prayer and shorten the last two Rakat."
To which 'Umar said, "O Aba Ishaq, this was what I thought about you."
And then he sent one or more persons with him (back) to Kufa so as to ask the people (testimony) about him. So they went there and did not leave any Masjid without asking about him.
All the people praised him till they came to the Mosque of the tribe of Bani 'Abs; one of the men called Usama bin Qatada with a surname of Aba Sa'da stood up and said; "As you have put us under an oath; I am bound to tell you that Sa'd never went himself with the army and never distributed (the war booty) equally and never did justice in legal verdicts."
(On hearing it) Noble comapnion Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) said; "I pray to Allah for three things: O Allah! If this slave of yours is a liar and got up for showing off, give him a long life, increase his poverty and put him to trials."
(And so it happened).
Later on when that person was asked how he was, he used to reply that he was an old man in trial as the result of Sa'd's dua. 'Abdul Malik, the sub narrator, said that he had seen him afterwards and his eyebrows were over-hanging his eyes owing to old age and he used to tease and assault the small girls in the way.

[Sahih al Bukhari, Book of Call to Prayers, Hadith 713]

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~ Simply put

Salam alaikum warahmatuLLAh,

Qari Mishary Rashid Al Afasy's Nasheed.
"Ana Al-'Abd" meaning "I am the Slave".
Poetry by Ibn 'Abdil Qawiyy.
Translated & subtitled by Awakening Visions Productions.

Positively beautiful containing a beneficial theme for all of us, inshaAllah.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OMXWrI8Nd4

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~ 8 Gates

Asalam alaikum,

After 500 interviews & some 7 long years, he presented his results by churning down a 2 hour presentation into a lil over 3 minutes tidbit here.

The outline:

~ Passion - do it for love, money will come anyway.
~ Work - don't be a workaholic, be a 'workafrolic'.
~ Good - practice practice practice.
~ Focus - on one thing at a time.
~ Push - thanks Allah who made mothers :) & then spouses.
~ Serve - "Best Muslim is who benefits his brother"
~ Ideas - be curious, a good listener & a good observer
~ Persist - thru failiure, thru crap.

Pretty neat.. eh?

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