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Is it possible that this mummy in front of me is the one who was chasing Moses?:Professor Maurice Bucaille

THOUGHTS ON FORGIVENESS

One of the best gifts that we can offer ourselves is forgiveness

Miracles Of The Quran

The unprecedented style and the superior wisdom inherent in the Qur'an is conclusive evidence confirming that it is the Word of God.

The Truth About Jesus Christ

Tells the truth about Christianity-How the gospels are unreliable- Audience member shouts at him a few times.

Parent-Child Relationship in Islam

Islam recognises family as a basic social unit. Along with the husband-wife relationship the Parent-child relationship is the most important one

Editor's Picks

29 June 2010

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is Mentioned in the Bible


Do you (Muslims) really hope that they (the People of the Book) believe in your religion? Whereas a party of them heard the words of God in (the Bible about the coming of the Prophet of Islam), then they altered it knowingly, after they had understood its implications! (Surah 2, Ayat 75)
 
1 - Hagar, Mother of Ishmael
 
"Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed." (Genesis 21:13)
 
Then Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. (Genesis 16:3)
 
"And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, I will make him a great nation. (Genesis 17:20)
 
2 - Moses spoke of a coming Prophet from among the Israelites' "brethren", a reference to Ishmaelites, cousins of Israelites
Ismael, or Ishmael, was the elder brother of Isaac (the lineage of Israelites). Moses explicitly promised that they are going to become a "great nation"!
 
'I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. (Deuteronomy 18:18)
 
3 - Combined reference to Moses, Jesus and Mohammad (P.B.U.H.)
 
Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
And he said: "The Lord came from Sinai, and dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of saints; from His right hand came a fiery law for them. (Deuteronomy 33:1-2)
 
It speaks of (the revelation of) God coming from Sinai (to Moses), from Sair (near Jerusalem) (to Jesus) and shining from Paran. According to:
 
He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. (Genesis 21:21)
 
Paran was the wilderness, where Ishmael with his mother Hagar settled in the Area of Mecca, Arabia.
 
4 - The pilgrims who will be passing through the valley of Ba'ca (another name of Mecca)
 
Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising You.
Selah
Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. (Psalms 84:4-6)
 
5 - Beloved God's elect and messenger to be awaited in the isles (Arabian Peninsula), who will be a descendant of Kedar
 
According to Genesis 25:13, Kedar was the second son of Ishmael, the ancestor of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
 
According to:
 
And these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, (Genesis 25:13)
 
Kedar was the second son of Ishmael, the ancestor of Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H.).
 
6 - God's help coming from Teman (an oasis north of Medina) and the holy one (coming) from Paran - that holy one who under persecution migrated from Paran (Mecca) to Teman (Medina)
 
God came from Temam, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise.
His brightness was like the light; He had rays flashing from His hand, and there His power was hidden.
Before Him went pestilence, and fever followed at His feet. (Habakkuk 3:3-5)
 
7 - Battle of Badr in which a few ill-armed faithful men miraculously would defeat the "mighty" men of Kedar (Quraish) of Mecca
 
The burden against Arabia. In the forest in Arabia you will lodge, O you traveling companies of Dedanites.
O inhabitants of the land of Tema, bring water to him who is thirsty; with their bread they met who fled.
For thus the Lord has said to me: "Within a year, according to the year of a hired man, all the glory of Kedar will fail;
"And the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the people of Kedar, will be diminished; for the Lord God of Israel has spoken it." (Isaiah 21:13-17)
 
Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you coastlands and you inhabitants of them!
Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. (Isaiah 42:10-11)
 
8 - He will speak (a scripture in a new language), with stammering lips and another tongue
 
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little."
For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people,
To whom He said, "This is the rest with which you may cause the weary rest," and, "This is the refreshing"; yet they would not hear.
But the word of the Lord was to them, "Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little," that they might go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and caught. (Isaiah 28:10-13)
 
9 - The name Muhammad is noted as "totally desirable": "Makhmad" - "Makhmadim": the adherents of Mohammad (P.B.U.H.)
 
His mouth is most sweet, yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem! (Song of Solomon 5:16)
 
10 - Jesus speaks of the coming of "the Helper, the Comforter, or the Counselor: Paraklytos"
Paraklytos was originally Pariklytos: "Ahmad" another name for Mohammad (PBUH), meaning the Praised One
Also mentioned in:
And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said: "O Children of Israel! I am the messenger of Allah (sent) to you, confirming the Law (which came) before me, and giving glad tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad." But when he came to them with Clear Signs, they said "This is evident sorcery!" (Quran 61:6)
 
"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever- (John 14:16)
 
"But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. (John 15:26)
 
"But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'
But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
"And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
"Of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
"Of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;
"Of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak of His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
"He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. (John 16:5-14)

Clear verse in the Bible which contains the name of Prophet Muhammed (pbuh), a lecture by Sheikh Ahmed Deedat in response of a great debate between him (Deedat) and Jimmy Swaggart just a night before this lecture. The Lecture has been recorded in the Year 1986. Look in the following link, it is a lecture called "WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT MUHAMMAD (PBUH) THE PROPHET OF ISLAM" by Ahmed Deedat, read it to find more evidence that Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) has been mentioned in the Bible clearly.

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PROPHET MUHAMMAD (pbuh) IN THE BIBLE
by Dr. Zakir Naik

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in the Old Testament:

The Qur’an mentions in Surah Al-Araf chapter 7 verse 157:
"Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own (scriptures) in the law and the Gospel".


1.  

MUHAMMAD (PBUH) PROPHESISED IN THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY:

Almighty God speaks to Moses in Book of Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 18:
"I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and I will put my words in his mouth; and     he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him."
The Christians say that this prophecy refers to Jesus (pbuh) because Jesus (pbuh) was like Moses (pbuh). Moses   (pbuh) was a Jew, as well as Jesus (pbuh) was a Jew. Moses (pbuh) was a Prophet and Jesus (pbuh) was also a Prophet.

If these two are the only criteria for this prophecy to be fulfilled, then all the Prophets of the Bible who came after Moses (pbuh) such as Solomon, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Malachi, John the Baptist, etc. (pbut) will fulfill this prophecy since all were Jews as well as prophets. However, it is Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who is like Moses (pbuh):

i)  

Both had a father and a mother, while Jesus (pbuh) was born miraculously without any male intervention.
[Mathew 1:18 and Luke 1:35 and also Al-Qur'an 3:42-47]

ii)  

Both were married and had children. Jesus (pbuh) according to the Bible did not marry nor had children.

iii)  

Both died natural deaths. Jesus (pbuh) has been raised up alive. (4:157-158)

Muhammad (pbuh) is from among the brethren of Moses (pbuh). Arabs are brethren of Jews. Abraham (pbuh) had two sons: Ishmail and Isaac (pbut). The Arabs are the descendants of Ishmail (pbuh) and the Jews are the descendants of Isaac (pbuh).
Words in the mouth:
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was unlettered and whatever revelations he received from Almighty God he repeated them verbatim.
"I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him."
[Deuteronomy 18:18]

iv)  

Both besides being Prophets were also kings i.e. they could inflict capital punishment. Jesus (pbuh) said,     "My kingdom is not of this world." (John 18:36).

v)  

Both were accepted as Prophets by their people in their lifetime but Jesus (pbuh) was rejected by his people. John chapter 1 verse 11 states, "He came unto his own, but his own received him not."

iv)  

Both brought new laws and new regulations for their people. Jesus (pbuh) according to the Bible did not bring   any new laws. (Mathew 5:17-18)
.

2.  

It is Mentioned in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 18:19

"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not harken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will     require it of him."

3.  

Muhammad (pbuh) is prophesised in the book of Isaiah:

It is mentioned in the book of Isaiah chapter 29 verse 12:
"And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned."
When Archangel Gabrail commanded Muhammad (pbuh) by saying Iqra - "Read", he replied, "I am not learned".

  4.  

prophet Muhammad (pbuh) mentioned by name in the old testament:

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is mentioned by name in the Song of Solomon chapter 5 verse 16:

"Hikko Mamittakim we kullo Muhammadim Zehdoodeh wa Zehraee Bayna Jerusalem."

Meaning:"His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem."

In the Hebrew language im is added for respect. Similarely im is added after the name of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to make it Muhammadim. In English translation they have even translated the name of Prophet Muhammad     (pbuh) as "altogether lovely", but in the Old Testament in Hebrew, the name of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is yet      present.


Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in the New Testament:

Al-Qur'an Chapter 61 Verse 6:
"And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said, 'O Children of Israel! I am the messenger of Allah (sent) to you, confirming the Law (which came) before me and giving glad tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmed.' But when he came to them with clear signs, they said, 'This is evident sorcery!' "

All the prophecies mentioned in the Old Testament regarding Muhammad (pbuh) besides applying to the Jews also hold good for the Christians.

1.  

John chapter 14 verse 16:
"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever."

2.  

Gospel of John chapter 15 verse 26:

"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which 
proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me."

3.  

Gospel of John chapter 16 verse 7:


"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you".

"Ahmed" or "Muhammad" meaning "the one who praises" or "the praised one" is almost the translation of the Greek word Periclytos. In the Gospel of John 14:16, 15:26, and 16:7. The word 'Comforter' is used in the English      translation for the Greek word Paracletos which means advocate or a kind friend rather than a comforter.  
Paracletos
is the warped reading for Periclytos. Jesus (pbuh) actually prophesised Ahmed by name. Even theGreek word Paraclete refers to the Prophet (pbuh) who is a mercy for all creatures.
Some Christians say that the Comforter mentioned in these prophecies refers to the Holy Sprit. They fail to realise that the prophecy clearly says that only if Jesus (pbuh) departs will the Comforter come. The Bible states that the Holy Spirit was already present on earth before and during the time of Jesus (pbuh), in the womb of Elizabeth, and    again when Jesus (pbuh) was being baptised, etc. Hence this prophecy refers to none other than Prophet    
Muhammad (pbuh).

4.  

Gospel of John chapter 16 verse 12-14:

"I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is  come, he will guide you unto all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he     speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me".

The Sprit of Truth, spoken about in this prophecy referes to none other than Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

 
NOTE: All quotations of the Bible are taken from the King James Version. 


Question to Dr Zakir Naik from a Christian

26 June 2010

Dr.Zakir Naik's Lecture in Sri Lanka


Topic: Peace Through Religion

Date : 23rd May 2010

Place : Sugathadasa Outdoor Stadium (Sri Lanka)








PART 01- Fariq Naik

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PART 02- DR.ZAKIR NAIK

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02


A Challenge to Dr Zakir Naik from a Christian




How to treat the reverts - Answer by Dr.Zakir Naik



 An Atheist embraces Islam after Dr Zakir Naiks Lecture



A born Buddhist realizes the reality of life with Jehovah's Witness and finally reverts back to his original religion after Dr.Zakir Naik's lecture

Does Quran contradict Science?

Religion and Science have always been considered to be twin sisters by Islam, and today at a time when Science has taken great strides, they still continue to be associated.

Furthermore, certain scientific data are used for a better understanding of the Quranic text.

In this century, scientific findings have dealt a fatal blow to religious belief for many; it is precisely in the light of such scientific discoveries that an objective examination of the Islamic Revelation can be made, which highlights the supernatural character of that Revelation. 

After a ten-year study, the famous French physician Maurice Bucaille 


addressed the French Academy of Medicine in 1976, and expressed the complete agreement of the Quran and findings of modern science. He presented his study on certain statements in the Quran concerning physiology and reproduction.

His reason for doing so was that: "Our knowledge of these disciplines is such that it is impossible to explain how a text produced at the time of the Quran could have contained ideas that have only been discovered in modern times".

Keith L. Moore


Decades later, noted embryologist and expert, Keith L. Moore, upon being presented with the statements made in the Quran regarding the stages of formation of the embryo -- from the mixing of the male and female gametes up to the embryo's full development remarked: "It has been a pleasure for me to help clarify statements in the Quran about human development. It is clear to me that these statements must have come to Muhammad from God because almost all of this knowledge was not discovered until many centuries later."

Professor Moore presented his findings to scientists at several conferences. Several Canadian periodicals published many of Moore's statements, and in addition, he presented three television programs in which he highlighted the compatibility of modern science with what has been revealed in the Quran 1400 years ago. Consequently, he was asked: "Does this mean that you believe that the Quran is the word of God?" to which he replied: "I find no difficulty in accepting this."

In fact, Professor Moore was so amazed at the accuracy of the descriptions and the terminology used for the various stages of the development of the embryo that he modified his own textbook on the subject. He incorporated all the relevant Quranic passages and authentic statements of the Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, , into his book, The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology with Islamic Additions, published by WB Saunders in 1987 and a standard university textbook in the United States. The book now contains passages of the Quran and the Hadeeth (verified statements of the Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) for every stage of development, and Professor Moore has also adopted the classification used in the above two sources.


Tejatet Tejasen (Professor at the Dept. of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mei University, Thailand) 


His study on the Quranic passages dealing with embryology: "From my studies and what I have learnt at this conference I believe that everything that has been recorded in the Quran 1400 years ago must be true. That can be proved through the scientific way".

 E. Marshal Johnson (Professor and Chairman, Dept. of Anatomy, Daniel Bough Institute, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA) 


Consider also the his statement when he became aware of such statements in the Quran and investigated them: "The Quran describes not only the development of external form but emphasizes also the internal stages -- the stages inside the embryo of its creation and development, emphasizing major events recognized by contemporary science... If I were to transpose myself into that era, knowing what I do today and describing things, I could not describe the things that were described... I see no evidence to refute the concept that this individual Muhammad, had to be developing this information from some place... so I see nothing in conflict with the concept that divine intervention was involved..."


T.V.N. Persaud (Professor and Head, Dept. of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Manitoba, Canada): 




T.V.N. Persaud  says "Muhammad was a very ordinary man. He couldn't read, didn't know how to write, in fact he was an illiterate... we're talking about 1400 years ago, you have some illiterate person making profound statements that are amazingly accurate, of a scientific nature... I personally can't see how this could be mere chance, there are too many accuracies and like Dr. Moore I have no difficulty in my mind reconciling that this is a divine inspiration or revelation which led him to these statements".


These are just a few of numerous quotes from the scientific community regarding the nature and the origins of the Quran. In fact, the Quran does not just speak about embryology, but about hundreds of other phenomena -- including the earth and sun being round, revolving around their own axis and following their own orbits; the origin and formation of the universe; the two types of seas between which is a barrier; the role of mountains in stabilizing the earth's crust; the expansion of the universe; the precise nature of the water cycle; the change in atmospheric pressure at high altitudes; the gender of the bee which is responsible for producing honey (female); the stars consuming themselves via the combustion of their gases and this being the source of their light and many more.
The Quran and the Sunnah (authentic sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, sallaallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) make statements on literally hundreds of phenomena, and at the same time openly invite intelligent people to verify them. If any one from the scientific community were to make hundreds of new claims regarding his specialty and call all his colleagues to prove him wrong, he would know without doubt that he is standing on shaky ground. What about the one who makes such claims about the specialties of others, would he dare to make such a claim?


Yet, one would be surprised to learn that precisely such a scientific approach has been commanded in the Quran with the objective of ascertaining its truthfulness. Allaah Says in the Quran (what means): 

"Do they not reflect upon the Quran, or are there locks upon (their) hearts." [Quran 47:24]
And (what means): 

"Do they not reflect upon the Quran. If it had been from (any) other than Allaah, they would have found within it much contradiction." [Quran 4:82]


Therefore, Islamic religious beliefs are not based upon blind acceptance, as many have generalized in all other religions, and thus falsely attributed to the Quran and Islam. This break between Science and Religion occurred in Europe over the past 300-400 years, when scientific advancement and its findings were seen as heretical, its proponents ridiculed and often exiled and tortured.


The Islamic community has never had that experience. It is true that within the academic community capabilities differ, and thus some people may be unable to ascertain the truth of Islam, and therefore may accept it blindly. But they have the opportunity to ask the scholars, those who are in a position to make such a judgment. It is from the principles of wisdom and justice that `when you don't know, don't make a judgment yourself, but rather consult one who is in a position to do so.'

25 June 2010

THE EARTH'S GEOID SHAPE

"After that He smoothed out the earth." (Qur'an, 79:30)



In the above verse, the word "daha" is used in the original Arabic. It, translated as "smoothed out," comes from the word "dahv," meaning "to spread." Although the word "dahv" also means to cover or to set out, the meaning of the verb is more than just a prosaic setting out, since it describes setting out in a circle.

The concept of roundness is also present in other words derived from "dahv." For example, the word "dahv" also refers to children dropping a ball into a hole in the ground, games involving throwing stones into holes and games played with walnuts. Words derived from that root are also used for an ostrich making a nest, cleaning stones from where it is about to lie down, the place where it lays its eggs and the egg itself.

Indeed, the Earth is round, in a manner reminiscent of an egg. The slightly flattened spherical shape of the Earth is known as geoid. From that point of view, the use of the word "daha" contains important information about the shape that Allah has given to the Earth. For hundreds of years, people imagined the Earth to be completely flat and only learned the truth thanks to technology. Yet, this fact was revealed in the Qur'an fourteen centuries ago.

20 June 2010

Behind the War on Terror

The Oil Factor

After assessing today’s dwindling oil reserves and skyrocketing use of oil for fuels, plastics and chemicals, documentary The Oil Factor questions the motives for the U.S. wars in the Middle-East and Central Asia where 3/4 of the world’s oil and natural gas is located.

With exclusive footage shot on location in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the film documents the spiraling violence now engulfing both Iraq and Afghanistan, a country conspicuously absent from the commercial media’s news segments. Interviews gathered throughout the Middle-East, Europe and the United States, including a Bechtel executive in Baghdad, also expose who is cashing in on the tens of billions of dollars requested from congress by the current administration of G. W. Bush.

With detailed maps and graphics, The Oil Factor features many experts and personalities such as former Defense Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, M.I.T. professor Noam Chomsky, the Project for the New American Century Executive Director Gary Schmitt, Coalition Provisional Authority Chairman Paul Bremer, former Pentagon analyst Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, current Iraqi government official Abdel Aziz Al-Hakim and authors Ahmed Rashid and Michael C. Ruppert. What we’ve seen is a very quiet plan to privatize Iraq’s oil. This is not really surprising from an administration that is run by former oil executives.


Watch the full Documentary to find the TRUTH

18 June 2010

Why Somalia's Fishermen Became Pirates

Ever since a civil war brought down Somalia's last functional government in 1991, the country's 3,330 km (2,000 miles) of coastline - the longest in continental Africa - has been pillaged by foreign vessels. A United Nations report in 2006 said that, in the absence of the country's at one time serviceable coastguard, Somali waters have become the site of an international "free for all," with fishing fleets from around the world illegally plundering Somali stocks and freezing out the country's own rudimentarily-equipped fishermen. According to another U.N. report, an estimated $300 million worth of seafood is stolen from the country's coastline each year. "In any context," says Gustavo Carvalho, a London-based researcher with Global Witness, an environmental NGO, "that is a staggering sum."

In the face of this, impoverished Somalis living by the sea have been forced over the years to defend their own fishing expeditions out of ports such as Eyl, Kismayo and Harardhere - all now considered to be pirate dens. Somali fishermen, whose industry was always small-scale, lacked the advanced boats and technologies of their interloping competitors, and also complained of being shot at by foreign fishermen with water cannons and firearms. "The first pirate gangs emerged in the '90s to protect against foreign trawlers," says Peter Lehr, lecturer in terrorism studies at Scotland's University of St. Andrews and editor of Violence at Sea: Piracy in the Age of Global Terrorism. The names of existing pirate fleets, such as the National Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia or Somali Marines, are testament to the pirates' initial motivations.

The waters they sought to protect, says Lehr, were "an El Dorado for fishing fleets of many nations." A 2006 study published in the journal Science predicted that the current rate of commercial fishing would virtually empty the world's oceanic stocks by 2050. Yet, Somalia's seas still offer a particularly fertile patch for tuna, sardines and mackerel, and other lucrative species of seafood, including lobsters and sharks. In other parts of the Indian Ocean region, such as the Persian Gulf, fishermen resort to dynamite and other extreme measures to pull in the kinds of catches that are still in abundance off the Horn of Africa.

High-seas trawlers from countries as far flung as South Korea, Japan and Spain have operated down the Somali coast, often illegally and without licenses, for the better part of two decades, the U.N. says. They often fly flags of convenience from sea-faring friendly nations like Belize and Bahrain, which further helps the ships skirt international regulations and evade censure from their home countries. Tsuma Charo of the Nairobi-based East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, which monitors Somali pirate attacks and liaises with the hostage takers and the captured crews, says "illegal trawling has fed the piracy problem." In the early days of Somali piracy, those who seized trawlers without licenses could count on a quick ransom payment, since the boat owners and companies backing those vessels didn't want to draw attention to their violation of international maritime law. This, Charo reckons, allowed the pirates to build up their tactical networks and whetted their appetite for bigger spoils.

Beyond illegal fishing, foreign ships have also long been accused by local fishermen of dumping toxic and nuclear waste off Somalia's shores. A 2005 United Nations Environmental Program report cited uranium radioactive and other hazardous deposits leading to a rash of respiratory ailments and skin diseases breaking out in villages along the Somali coast. According to the U.N., at the time of the report, it cost $2.50 per ton for a European company to dump these types of materials off the Horn of Africa, as opposed to $250 per ton to dispose of them cleanly in Europe.

Monitoring and combating any of these misdeeds is next to impossible - Somalia's current government can barely find its feet in the wake of the 2006 U.S.-backed Ethiopian invasion. And many Somalis, along with outside observers, suspect local officials in Mogadishu and in ports in semi-autonomous Puntland further north of accepting bribes from foreign fishermen as well as from pirate elders. U.N. monitors in 2005 and 2006 suggested an embargo on fish taken from Somali waters, but their proposals were shot down by members of the Security Council.

In the meantime, Somali piracy has metastasized into the country's only boom industry. Most of the pirates, observers say, are not former fishermen, but just poor folk seeking their fortune. Right now, they hold 18 cargo ships and some 300 sailors hostage - the work of a sophisticated and well-funded operation. A few pirates have offered testimony to the international press - a headline in Thursday's Times of London read, "They stole our lobsters: A Somali pirate tells his side of the story" - but Lehr and other Somali experts express their doubts. "Nowadays," Lehr says, "this sort of thing is just a cheap excuse." The legacy of nearly twenty years of inaction and abuse, though, is far more costly.

11 June 2010

The Three Prophets - One Message


Musa (Moses), Isa (Jesus), Muhammad, peace be upon them all. This lecture is about three of the final prophets to be sent to the world. Who were they? Did they have different messages or same call? Same religion even?


10 June 2010

Passion of Jesus: Son of Mary

Excellent talk given by Abdur Raheem Green about the mythological and the historical Jesus. This lecture also sheds some light on how this mythological Jesus, the doctrines of the trinity and original sin came about as well as how the early Christians were not concerned with the alleged death and resurrection of Jesus.

The information mentioned in this lecture is from mostly Christian scholars and historians.

08 June 2010

4 Things

The Holy Prophet (SAW) Said:


1) Four things that make your body sick:
  • a) Excessive talking
  • b) Excessive sleeping
  • c) Excessive eating and
  • d) Excessive meeting other people

2) Four things that destroys the body:
  • a) Worrying
  • b) Sorrow (Sadness/Grief)
  • c) Hunger
  • d) Sleeping late in the night

3) Four things that dry the face & take away its happiness:
  • a) Lying
  • b) Being disrespectful / impudent (insisting on something wrong knowingly)
  • c) Arguing without adequate knowledge & Information.
  • d) Excessive immorality (doing something wrong without fear).

4) Four things that increases the wetness of face & its happiness:
  • a) Piety
  • b) Loyalty
  • c) Generosity (being kind)
  • d) To be helpful to others without he/she asking for that.

5) Four things that stop the Rizq (Sustenance) :
  • a) Sleeping in the morning (from Fajr to sunrise)
  • b) Not Performing Namaz or Ir-regular in Prayers
  • c) Laziness / Idleness
  • d) Treachery / Dishonesty

6) Four things that bring / increase the Rizq:
  • a) Staying up in the night for prayers.
  • b) Excessive Repentance
  • c) Regular Charity
  • d) Zikr (Remembrance of Allah SWT).

The Holy Prophet (SAW) also said to communicate to others even if you listen to One Verse (Ayaah). This one verse will stand on the Day of Judgment for intercession.

The Holy Prophet (SAW) said, Stop doing everything during the Azaan, even reading the Quran, the person who talks during the Azaan will not be able to say the Kalima E Shahada on his/her death bed....

Please pass this message to Muslims...

**READ THIS DUAA FOR BETTER LIFE**

Allahumma- inni- ala- Zik-rika -wa Shuk-rika wa husni-Ibaadatik

(O Allah, assist me to Remember thee and to Thank thee and to Worship thee with Excellence).

A very powerful Dua'a has been sent to you. Imagine if 100 people read it just because of you. Jazakallah.