Tsunami's: My own research.

A bit of research and here is a description of a Tsunami from Wikipedia:

Although often referred to as "tidal waves", a tsunami does not look like the popular impression of "a normal wave only much bigger". Instead it looks rather like an endlessly onrushing tide which forces its way around and through any obstacle. Most of the damage is caused by the huge mass of water behind the initial wave front, as the height of the sea keeps rising fast and floods powerfully into the coastal area. The sheer weight of water is enough to pulverise objects in its path, often reducing buildings to their foundations and scouring exposed ground to the bedrock.


According to PBS A Tsunami is describe as:

• A vast volume of seawater in motion
• They are creatures of the open ocean, trains of giant waves that can travel for thousands of miles across the sea and still pack enough energy to smash towns and drown the unwary

So why am I interested in Tsunamis and what is this post for? Well because I believe that the Quran talks about them. I shall give more details in my next post.

The First Sin

The first Sin recorded in the Quran to be that of Iblis (Satan) refusing to obey God's orders and bow down to Adam as God has ordered. In Surat Al-Baqara verse [aya 34]God says : "they all bowed except for Iblis, he denied and was haughty. "

When Satan was asked why he refused his answer was "You created me from Fire and created him from Clay".

Therefore it was obvious that the first recorded Sin was disobeying God due to racism. To judge someone by means other than what they have done. We often do that, we jump into conclusion about people because of nationality , religion, race, clothing style, etc ... Lesson to be learnt here is to judge people only by what they do.

How would one describe a Tsunami?

If someone would describe a Tsunami, how would you go about doing that using as little words as possible.

For example, to describe an earthquake one would say:
Vibration, pressure release, destruction ... and so on.

I would like to receive comments about this. Please feel free to write your responses.

John Hagee

I just finished watching a sermon by John Hagee, an evangalist pastor full of hateful sermons about Islam. What can I say? No wonder the US sends soldiers to kill heartlessly all over the planet. He has not let any nation escape his lies.

At the end of the sermon of course is his time to make money. The man of God sells those books to you. He also writes them pretty quickley it seems. The latest one has the Iranian president's face on it. Claiming "Iranian President vowed to have Israel Blown of the map". Now pastor Hagee , do you really have to lie? Isn't that a sin? Or do you speak Farsi while the rest of us don't?

Here is what BBC reported ....

Should I listen to my Sheikh/Imam or the Quran?

I don't know if this is the official website for Al-Azhar ? There are two websites, the other one is here. I can't tell which one is which. I sure hope its not the first though. Because they seem to teach "Mental Arts" and God help us for that.

Some readers may think I am mocking them. I am not ... I Just feel sad that we lack decent leadership. I feel sad since many people think that Al-Azhar is a source of religious knowledge. Islam is not what it should be, nor is it what it used to be. Muslims miss the point big time. They think that Islam is about not drinking Alcohol or eating pork. They think that Islam is about growing a beard, wearing a veil, or being forceful. Islam is none of that ... In fact only some of those things are mentioned in the Quran. Islam is simply about God. It is about worshiping and believing in God. This worship entails not to eat pork and to avoid Alcohol, but its not about doing those things. Many Muslims try to tell you that eating Pork is unhealthy and so on. Well, it may or it may not be. The point is that God has decreed it to be forbiden for Muslims. Therefore, it is part of your belief and duty towards him to avoid what is forbiden. I don't necessarly believe that Pork is bad for your health. It is sort of like avoiding fishing on a Saturday for the Children of Israel. It was but a test for them. It is about what you are willing to give up to show loyalty.



That is besides the point. The point I am trying to make is that through out the 14 centuries since Mohammaed peace be upon him delivered his message. It is only logical that religion has changed. Especially due to language issues. Arabic spoken today in the streets is not the same Arabic that was spoken in his time. Time and passing generations also play an important role. Moreover, many nations have come and gone. There were many conflicts, assassinations, a lot of politics etc. They all played a role in forming the Islam we have received. Only one thing remained unchanged through out this time however. It is the Quran.

God did not give us the Quran just because ... It is what made me believe. It is what Mohammad used as proof that he is a messenger of a divine being. It is what drew many of the early believers to Islam. It is what the prophet used to argue his message to Quraish and their mockery. It is what he used to convince the people of the book.

How come we don't use it anymore? The Prophet never used "Hadeeth" to convert people. The Quran is a great book. It is not for us to read in Ramadhan and collect hasanaat. That is but a misconception. I don't know where that came from!

Anyone can state an opinion of course, I will however try to prove mine. First of all, I need a starting point. I choose to state as a starting point that the Quran is the word of God. Of course not many people believe this. However, I am not preaching Islam here. My objective is an open dialogue with other Muslims.

Since the Quran is the word of God and no Muslim can by definition deny that. Then I will use verses from the Quran to make my point.

Therefore, let us look at the word "Quran" alone "قران" within the book itself. Not taking into account words like Forqan, Thikir and so on. Because there are other names for the Quran. We will find that it has 43 occurrences.


I will not list all of the 43 occurrences however I will point out 16 of those. Then categorize those occurrences based on the meaning of the ayah.
[note that this research is as accurate as the tools I used to conduct the search, in other words if the program that I searched with did not pick up certain occurrences then this search will be incomplete]

1. Four Occurrences state that the Quran contains "Amthaal" "أمثال" which would mean in English Analogy, Correlation, or metaphor. I will quote from soorat Al-Zomor [39] and verse [aya 27]: "و لقد ضربنا للناس في هذا القران من كل مثل لعلهم يتذكرون" "We have set forth for people, in this Quran every kind of Parable, in order that they may refer to it" Of course a lot can be lost upon translation. Therefore, please forgive me if I err. The other three are from soorat Al-Room, Al-Israa', and Al-Kahaf.
2. Four Occurrences state that God made the Quran easy to read, recite and refer to in soorat Al-Qamar [54] "ولقد يسرنا القران للذكر فهل من مدكر" "And we made the Quran easy for understanding/remembering/refrencing so are there any reciters?" . Two Occurrences also refer to the Quran as "Thikra" "ذكرى" as in a reminder; one of which is in soorat Al-Israa' [17] and verse [aya 41].
3. Three Occurrences state the this Quran is a source of guidance "Huda" "هدى" one of which is also the first occurrence in the Quran in soorat Al-Baqarah [2] verse [aya 185].
4. Two occurrences ask do they not contemplate "Tadabbor" "" the Quran? "Do they not contemplate the Quran or are their hearts sealed?" " أفلا يتدبرون القران أم على قلوبٍ أقفالها". Soorat Mohammad [47] verse [24].
5. In One occurrence the Prophet peace be upon him says to God: "And the messenger said Oh my Lord my people[clan] have disregarded the Quran" "وقال الرسول يا ربي إن قومي اتخذوا هذا القران مهجورا" in soorat Al-Forqaan [25] verse [aya 30].

Most of the remaining 43 occurrences refer to the Quran as being a "Hijja" "حِجَّه" Affirmation, proof, assertion, or evidence. Again there are many other names for the Quran that I could search for. That would require some research to list them all.

I am like every other human being, subject to making mistakes and misjudgment. Therefore, my goal is not to preach but to get people thinking.

To politicize or not to politicize

Even though this post is supposed to discuss theology rather than politics, I keep finding myself being urged to write about politics never the less. Which begs the question, can religion and politics be seperate?

The answer seems to be No. The reason for that is that religion is mainly a way of life. A way of life which instructs the believer to follow certain guidlines. Usually, they lead into the formation of a community and an institution. Therefore, the well being of that community as whole is what causes religious leaders to get involved in politics.

With that said, I will try to refrain as much as possible from getting too political in this Blog.

Freedom of speech (The solution to the clash of Civilizations)

Despite my condemnation of the riots and the way the reaction of Muslims was. I must express my disappointment with the way the Canadian Media has been handling this issue.

Not to be specific but I was just watching TVO's "Studio 2" with host Paula Todd this evening. Whereby she kept on pushing the argument that the Danish Papers had every right to publish those cartoons. Shortly after that I saw Steve Paikin so smoothly lay blame on Arab Media publishing hate filled cartoons.

I am certainly not pleased with my people. There is mention that Muslims are hypocrites and they allow cartoons to be published which demonize Israelis; yet they are offended by the Prophets Cartoons. Well Paula and Steve I have news for you. Israel doesn't necessarily publish love caricatures of Arabs either. Though it is funny I never seem to hear anything about that in the news. The problem with this world is its full of hypocrites. The West is full of it, so is the Islamic world. There is only one difference, the west meddled in the Middle East way before the first cartoon or bullet was fired. Since the start of the 20th century and Her Majesty's soldiers have stepped on many tombs. Well... it was his Majesty at the time ... Shortly there after it was the Zionists. Then shortly thereafter it was good Ole Uncle Sam.

So I hope you forgive us if we seem a little bitter [sarcasms] towards the west. Forgive us if we seem skeptical about your good democratic intentions and if we don't believe you when you declare it is Freedom of Speech.

Alas, I have a fail safe solution to this "Clash of Civilization", it even comes with two options:

A: To prove your true intentions that the west is FREE to speak. Then get those "Damn Muslims" to shut up ... Go ahead and insult the rest of the worlds nations. Practice what your preach. WAIT!!! I am not going to leave you with that ... I have figured it all out for you ....

• To offend the Catholics, lets have a cartoon of Pope John Paul II peaking in an all small boys school shower.
• To offend African Americans, lets have a cartoon of Martin Luther King Jr. wearing hip hop clothes while trying to break into a car ... Maybe even show some drugs in his pocket.
• To offend the Jews, lets have a cartoon of the Holocaust being fabricated in a Hollywood studio with Hitler as the main actor.
  
• To offend the Israelis lets have a cartoon of a Chassidic Rabbi in a synagogues firing range teaching his students how to aim at Palestinian children. Maybe even have a sign saying "Sniper riffle 101"
• To offend the evangelists, lets have a preacher "of your choice" sit in his back stage with a prostitutes legs in the air shouting "OH DEAR GOD I .... I ... I ... HAVE SINNNEEEEED!"

Then there is option B:

B: Just Apologize to the Muslims and outlaw Media outlets that incite hatred.


FINE PRINT: Of course I have utmost respect to Martin Luther King, and also Pope John Paul. I also sympathize with African Americans and their struggle with Racism, and I respect Jews and Christians as being "people of the book" and those who share the same main belief in the One God whom worshiping is what life is all about.

E-mail chain about the cartoons

Here is an e-mail I received that forwarded onto me through someone. Apparently it originated from Egypt. At the very bottom the writer says: " Note: This article has been verified and is authentic it appeared on Egyptian Sat (Nile Sat) channel X and on channel Y etc ...
Meanwhile, unfortunatly its full of fabircated information. Not to say that the gist of it is not true. However, what aggrivated me, is why would someone lie more to aggitate the situation?

This person added what we call "Salt and Pepper" to the article. Which is shameful to say the least. Ironically this person is supposed to be a Muslim. Well my friend, you are helping the Danes by your noble efforts.

When will we change?

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>رسالة إلى من يهمه الأمر
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>
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>الى كل شاب وفتاة تحب الله ورسوله ... الى كل من عاهد الله  ان يسير على
خطى
>الحبيب محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم
>>
>الى كل قلب مملؤ بحب رسول الله والشوق اليه ... الى كل من يغار على دينه
>ومقدساته .

>ابعث برسالتى هذه......فمنذ فترة قصيرة حوالى 3 اشهر نشرت جريدة دانمركية
>ذائعة الصيت وذات مصداقية كبيرة لدى الشعب
>الدانمركى
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>نشرت هذه الصحيفه مسابقة لرسم احسن كاريكتير للرسول محمد عليه الصلاة 
>والسلام  و بالفعل ارسل القراء اكثر من 100 صورة تم نشر حوالى 12كاريكتير
منها
>تصور رسول الله وهو يلبس عمامه مليئة بالقنابل والصواريخ وتصوره وهو يصلى
فى
>اوضاع مهينه للغايه ولقد تم نشر هذه الصور علنا وعلى مدار عدة اسابيع
وبمعرفة
>وموافقة بل وتاييد من الحكومه وتفاعل الراى العام الدانمركى معها   ولقد
حاولت
>الجاليةالاسلامية هناك الدفاع عن الاسلام ومقدساته وذلك بوقف نشر هذه
الصور
>رفض رئيس التجرير مجرد  مقابلتهم وتضامنت كل الهيئات الحكومية مع الجريده
>ورفضت كل محاولات الجاليه الاسلاميه ......فقاموا بعمل بعثه اسلاميه لعمل
جوله
>فى العالم العربى للتضامن معهم عن طريق فرض حصاراقتصادى بمقاطعة كل
المنتجات
>الدانمركيه ومنع استيرادها .....وكل مارجوه من كل من يقرا هذه الرساله ان
>يقاطع كل المنتجات الدانمركيه من البان مجففه نيدو, انكور وغيرهااو زبدة
>لورباك او اى جبن  دانمركى او غيرها.
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>وارجو من كل تاجر ان يوقف استيراد هذه البضائع ارجوكم يا جماعه فالامر
جدا
>خطير فلقد تجاوزت هذه الدوله كل الحدود ولا تنسوا انكم سوف تلقون رسول
الله
>يوم القيامة على نهر الكوثر فماذا ستقولون له  وقد علمتم
>ماعلمتم ؟ ارجوكم ياشباب لاتجعلوا الامر يمر عليكم مرور الكرام وتخيلوا
لو ان
>احدهم سب امك اواختك فماذا سيكون رد فعلك؟ وهل اهلك وذويك احب اليك من
رسول
>الله ؟
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>طب اعمل ايه؟؟؟..... ارسل هذه الرساله الى كل من تعرف ... او ارسلها على
هيئة
> رسائل قصيرة ...بلغ اصحابك جيرانك  اطبع ورق ووزعه ا افعل كل ماهو ممكن
ومتاح
>فكر ولن تعجزك الوسيله   ولتكن قدوتك فى هذ الامر اصحاب رسول الله اللذين
>دافعوا عنه باموالهم ودمائهم وانفسهم واجعل شعارك وقدوتك قول ابا طلحه
حين قال
>وهو يدافع عن رسول الله يوم بدر "نحرى دون نحرك يارسول الله"
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>وصدق حسان ابن ثابت حين قال فان ابي ووالدتى وعرضى لعرض محمد منكم فداء .
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>ملحوظه: هذا الخبر موثوق منه وتمت مناقشته فى برنامج العاشرة مساء على
قناة
>دريم2 يوم8\12\2005 وكذلك برنامج البيت بيتك وتم التاكد من صحة هذه
المعلومات
>من قبل السفارة المصريه التى اتصلت بالسفارة  الدانمركيه فاكدوا لها
الخبر وتم
>نشر الصور الكاريكترية على التلفزيون المصرى
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>انشرها على كل من تعرف
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Controversial Cartoons

More than 3 months after the fact, people sharing my faith are expressing their anger in many forms some of which is violent. I Thought I'd express my feelings as a Muslim and someone who sees Mohammad as an idle.

Mohammad Peace be upon him was a great Man, despite what the enemies of Islam want people to think. For someone who doesn't believe that he had any connection with God should at least respect the message he brought to this earth. Unfortunately, the message is distorted 1400 years later.
He was the first man in History to promote democracy, and denounce racism and discrimination. Something the West sees as a foundation of their civilization. (I shall provide proof of that claim in a separate post). Amongst other things Mohammad was a great leader way ahead of his time. Personally I think that he was but a messenger from God and so did he. If he was alive and you would ask him , he would tell you that he nothing but a man with a message.

So how do I feel about all these protests and the "Cartoons" ?
Well I feel saddened by them and by the public reaction they caused. While I could condemn the Danish newspaper and the other 19 countries whom wanted to show "solidarity" , I am most disappointed by the Muslims and their reaction.

If it shows anything , it shows that they know nothing about their religion nor about Mohammad peace be upon him whom they claim to respect. Did those people find in their texts an incident where Mohammad burnt buildings? Did they read in their texts anywhere Mohammad encouraging riots? How about Anger? I am sure, somewhere in those texts Mohammad was angry or encouraged anger?!?! No?? Come on!!!

The answer is certainly not. On the contrary Mohammad was known to be Kind, Merciful, Soft Spoken amongst many other great qualities. None of which those people who profess their love have.

In fact Mohammad was insulted and harrased much more than what those cartoons have done. Yet, his reaction at the height of his power was forgiveness. I am referring to Fatih Makkah (Liberation of Makkah- فتح مكة). A historical incident whereby Mohammad after many years of persecution and struggle became powerful and at the right time marched towards his enemies after they broke a truce they had agreed upon with Mohammad. His reaction only spoke of God's will and his character. He marched towards the city not spilling a drop of blood.

I could go on and on about how the riots, violent reaction and protests are unmuslim like. However, this requires a book.

What else angers me about the riots? Well they are cowardly and hypocritical. Through out the past year while Muslims are being murdered and slain by Americans and other Muslims (in the name of Islam mind you) none of those hypocrites said a word. They sat down in their homes watching their pathetic TV programs and being lead like sheep. Meanwhile, since Denmark is a small country and boycotting its products only means not eating Danish Cheese. They still ride their Fords, Buick, GMs, and of course German cars. Mind you they can't afford to boycott those countries because they are cowards. You want to protest against the US, build your own computer manufacturing company. Better yet, build German quality cars. Hell at least build your own ..... anything ...
What about the Thousands of Iraqis who have died in the past 3 years? Have you nothing to protest there?

What will those riots achieve? Let me tell you ... Now that its all over the news, everyone who hasn't seen those Cartoons will want to see them. If nothing else they have created more publicity about that. Actually, probably the only people whom haven't seen those Cartoons are the people rioting. Hey, they have been TOLD that they were bad. That's what Muslims are good at ... Being told what to do and how to think. How can I not be saddened by such events?

Of course this post is not meant for the western reader but more for the Muslim who has some hope/desire for improvement.

Until we Muslims start to behave with intelligence and less anger, we will always be subject to oppression and will make Mohammad Peace be Upon Him subject to to insults if they see that the people who follow him behave this way. The answer to Islam's problems is found within the Quran:
"Kontom Khair Ummatin Okhrijat lilnaas, ta'moroon bil ma3roof wa tanhawn 3an ilmonkar" Soorat 3, ayah 110.

Until we know that the Monkar is killing innocent people we don't agree with, then we will always be subject to oppression and maybe God's anger.

As for those countries which published the cartoons in the name of "Freedom of speech". The only thing they are free to do is act as hypocrites. Something Muslims failed to act on properly is ask to have their portrayal of Israeli figures published in the news papers. Of course that would never happen as it will be dubbed Anti-Semitic. In fact Freedom of speech is only free as long as it doesn't criticize the Jews and the Jewish state. There are many such examples the last few I remember are the fuss made before the movie "Passion of the Christ" was aired. As well as Madonna's Video "American Life" which was withdrawn, as well as Dixie Chick's comments about George Bush that they were forced to apologize for. Really, now where was Germany, France, and the lot when the Dixie Chicks were not free to speak? The answer is simple, those who control the Media call the shots. Think about what things are impossible to publish and then you will understand the freedom to hypocrisy. One final thought about Freedom of speech, is Al-Jazeera and the Canadian Government imposed restrictions in 2004. The Canadian Government said it will allow Al-Jazeera to broadcast only that it won't be live and it will be subject to monitoring and editing 24 hours a day:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/WV-dyne/articles/-2004Jul25.html


If only Muslims had acted in a smart manner. The world would show more respect to them.

Thi Al Qarnain (ذي القرنين)

In soorat al Kahf (18) Ayah 86 in the Quran God talks about Thi Al-Qarnin a personality which some say is a man from the past while others say he could be someone in the future. The identity of this man is not my concern here, I wish to discuss the meaning of the ayah 86 and ayah 90. Whereby God talks about the East and West. I am curious as to how to interpret these two ayaat. Hoping that someone out there can shed some light. Of course I have access to the traditional interpretations of those ayaat. Not really satisfied with that I have read.

If anyone can shed some light on this I would appreciate it. There is mention of reaching the sunset. Of course we know that there is no real sunset and that it is but the way the sun disappears due to the rotation of the earth around itself. What I hope to understand is can we say that there is an absolute Sunset / West ? If so where is it? Of course we know that there is longitude line where by Humans agree splits the east from the west. I am not sure what the technical term for is "International dateline" ? Anyway, it obviously won't be an absolute anything.

Any ideas?

My Position

I feel that I need to clarify my position on Islam and the school of thought I subscribe to. This way the reader would be able to read my posts with more clarity. I am sure I shall receive many criticisms from people who oppose change and from those who oppose Islam.

I am not an apologist. Many so called "Moderate" Muslims think they need to apologize or mold their religion to fit Western values. I definitely, will not apologize for something I believe to be God sent to please a man made civilization (Western Civilization). With that said, however, I surely don't subscribe to old school fundamental Islam where you are taught NOT to dare question but to accept anything you are told. I am referring to such teachings as Wahabism.

I am also a non Shii' non Sunni Muslim. When the Quran was revealed to man, there was no such thing and therefore, it is not a part of Islam no matter what someone might tell you.