Archive for Personal
01.01.07
Posted in Personal, Current Events at 3:36 pm by Abbas
A few people showed concern about the motives and intentions behind my posting of the hanging. No one is enjoying his hanging. People are relieved and happy that an oppressor has met justice. Again, no one is celebrating his actual method of death. I personally feel at ease. He burned entire families alive in the southern and northen Iraq. He gassed his own people until suffocation and left their bodies to rot, so the vultures can feast on them. He persecuted and imprisoned anyone who even dream to practice any ritual/tradition that was affiliated with Shi’i. Over a 100 Shi’i and Kurdish scholars were martyed under his era. His demise is a time of relief and reflection. Actually, in my opinion, he actually should have gotten more for the atrocities he committed, but Allahu alim. And for those who say “…but he is a Muslim”, Yazeed (l) was also a “Muslim,” but he martyed and starved the Prophet’s family. Furthermore, Saddam never showed any signs of repetence or regret. As we all know the hypocrites in God’s eye are worse than the un-believer.
We are simply celebrating justice prevailing.
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12.29.06
Posted in Personal at 7:18 pm by Abbas
I attended the MSA-PSG Conference last weekend. I enjoyed my time there. It was well-attended and had some great content. The volunteers did a good job and there were a lot of nice speakers that addressed a plethora of issues and topics. I wish they had recorded the event, allowing the event to reach millions of people world-wide, but unfortunately, it was not (I don’t know why either?). Hotel and location was great, but the set-up and organization could have been better- at times it seemed dis-organized. Nevertheless, it was a good improvement from the previous years.
Two comments really struck me though. It made me realize things I never noticed before and gave me new insight. Brother Hassanain Rajabali was speaking on the infallibility of the Prophet (saww) and he alluded to those people that say the Prophet (saww) was only infallible when it came to revelation or Islam and fallible like a normal human in other aspects of his life. He made a great parable between that concept and the concept of church and state. He informed us how irrational, deceiving, and dangerous this position is to take. Separating the Prophet’s deeds and characer into church and state entails people to take advantage and claim something to unrelated to Islam, when in fact it is.
For example, the act of the Prophet (saww) visiting his mother’s grave on a regular basis under this notion of separation can be categorize into “church” or “state,” which leads to confusion and eventually ultimate deterioration of the Prophetic traditions, because now people can just pick and choose as they wish.
Another idea that struck me at the conferece was made by Imam Abdul Alim Musa. The panel was discussing culture and its effects in this country. He mentioned how we cannot ignore the African American communities, if we want to initiate major change in the US, because America’s youth culture revolves around standards and lifestyles pursued by the African American community. And he gave hiphop as a prime example.
Overall, the conference was a positive step. I met people that I haven’t seen in years, met people that claimed knew me (seemed like I saw everyone once before), met people for the first time, and met totally new people from all over the country. I guess if I “hung out” more I would have met more people, but oh well. May Allah make the next conference bigger and better, inshaAllah. Ameen.
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12.21.06
Posted in Personal at 12:00 pm by Abbas
I will be at the MSA(PSG) Conference (top notch speakers from academics to imams) this weekend in LA, so no updates ’till I come back. Then I will be heading to New York to visit family and friends 
.
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11.28.06
Posted in Personal at 12:35 pm by Abbas
A great book by Dr Shahid Alam has been published. For those of you who do not know him, he is a professor, whom has continued to speak out against global injustices, even after being politically smeared. I have worked with him in the past and he is a great academic. Here is a brief biography of him,
M. Shahid Alam is a professor of economics at Northeastern University, Boston. His writings have appeared in leading economic journals, including Economic Development and Cultural Change, Southern Economic Journal, Journal of Development Economics, American Economic Review, Cambridge Journal of Economics, Studies in Contemporary Islam and Kyklos; in popular newspapers and web sites including Dissident Voice.org, Counterpunch, Al Ahram, Commondreams.org, Dawn, Holiday, Asia Times, Scoop, and Outlook India; in literary journals, including Chicago Review, Marlboro Review and Beloit Poetry Journal. He has published many books including Poverty from the Wealth of Nations (Macmillan, 2000), Governments and Markets in Economic Development Strategies (Praeger: 1989), and Is There An Islamic Problem (Kuala Lumpur: The Other Press, 2004 (source: wikipedia).
The book contains an expanded edition of his political essays, Challenging the New Orientalism. It is being published by a small US publisher. The book can be pre-ordered from Amazon.com, and should become available in December 2006.
This is the link to Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1889999458/ref=pd_rvi_gw_1/102-6195633-9507316
Here is the table of contents:
Section One The New Orientalism
1 Bernard Lewis: Scholarship or Sophistry?
2 A Clash of Civilizations? Nonsense
3 The War Against Global Terrorism
4 Is There An Islamic Problem?
5 How Different are Islamicate Societies?
6 Islam: An Interview
Section Two Palestine and Israel
7 A Colonizing Project Built on Lies
8 Academic Boycott of Israel
9 Crossing the Line
10 Israel’s Proxy War
11 Illuminating Thomas Friedman
12 Lerner, Said and the Palestinians
13 Elie Wiesel: On Being Good Victims
14 Recognizing Israel: Or Selling Out
15 Another Wall
16 Voiding the Palestinians: An Allegory
Section Three War Against Global Terrorism
17 A History of September 11
18 A Day That Changed America?
19 Why 9-11 and Why Now?
20 Dialectics of Terror
21 Race and Visibility
23 Iraq is Free
24 Semantics of Empire
25 America Imagine This
26 The Islamic Resistance
27 Testing Free Speech in America
28 Real Men Go to Tehran
29 The Muslims America Loves
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11.21.06
Posted in Personal at 12:45 pm by Abbas
My work and research is going well. My managers, and higher-ups are very friendly. They even have gone out of their way in order to give me a “prayer room.”
The actual work is great. I have been updating their old programs and designing new analytical programs for primer design, for the sequencers, micro-array pattern analysis, and so forth (all of this is necessary to produce accurate results in regards to DNA testing and cloning). San Diego is not so bad either. The weather is great, and it is much more relaxing than most places, especially New York .
As you all know, I initially started with a temporary three month contract and I was very nervous, worried and stressed out about it (see: http://thenlightenment.whatheblog.com/2006/07/15/san-diego-is-where-its-at/). Pretty much the deal was if I performed well, I would get permanently hired. Well, I have been informed I will get a permanent extension and work as a permanent employee, alhamdulillah!
Please keep me in your du’as and prayers, they are very much needed and appreciated!
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11.20.06
Posted in Uncategorized, Personal at 10:43 am by Abbas
I am in need of some funding, so I have started something on the side. In the past, I designed websites and was into web development. I am now doing web-design free lance work (comparitively very cheap and inexpensive). If you are interested, please contact me at naqvia@gmail.com asap.
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11.16.06
Posted in Personal, Current Events at 2:17 pm by Abbas
This is what secret police do in third world countries, not in “civilized” countries. You do not taser someone that shows no threat, and then ask him to get up, so you can taser him more. Please protest, write something, and make people aware! Youtube video (cell phone video)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3GstYOIc0I
UCPD officers shot a student several times with a Taser inside the Powell Library CLICC computer lab late Tuesday night before taking him into custody.
No university police officers were available to comment further about the incident as of 3 a.m. Wednesday, and no Community Service Officers who were on duty at the time could be reached.
At around 11:30 p.m., CSOs asked a male student using a computer in the back of the room to leave when he was unable to produce a BruinCard during a random check. The student did not exit the building immediately.
The CSOs left, returning minutes later, and police officers arrived to escort the student out. By this time the student had begun to walk toward the door with his backpack when an officer approached him and grabbed his arm, at which point the student told the officer to let him go. A second officer then approached the student as well.
The student began to yell “get off me,” repeating himself several times.
It was at this point that the officers shot the student with a Taser for the first time, causing him to fall to the floor and cry out in pain. The student also told the officers he had a medical condition.
UCPD officers confirmed that the man involved in the incident was a student, but did not give a name or any additional information about his identity.
Video shot from a student’s camera phone captured the student yelling, “Here’s your Patriot Act, here’s your fucking abuse of power,” while he struggled with the officers.
As the student was screaming, UCPD officers repeatedly told him to stand up and said “stop fighting us.” The student did not stand up as the officers requested and they shot him with the Taser at least once more.
“It was the most disgusting and vile act I had ever seen in my life,” said David Remesnitsky, a 2006 UCLA alumnus who witnessed the incident.
As the student and the officers were struggling, bystanders repeatedly asked the police officers to stop, and at one point officers told the gathered crowd to stand back and threatened to use a Taser on anyone who got too close.
Laila Gordy, a fourth-year economics student who was present in the library during the incident, said police officers threatened to shoot her with a Taser when she asked an officer for his name and his badge number.
Gordy was visibly upset by the incident and said other students were also disturbed.
“It’s a shock that something like this can happen at UCLA,” she said. “It was unnecessary what they did.”
Immediately after the incident, several students began to contact local news outlets, informing them of the incident, and Remesnitsky wrote an e-mail to Interim Chancellor Norman Abrams.
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11.13.06
Posted in Personal, Current Events at 12:02 pm by Abbas
A really interesting debate/discussion took place where I work. Some of the best scientists gathered and discussed “whether faith in science can ever substitute for belief in God.” A great deal, if not all of them, had Christian roots, so their perception of God and faith came from there. The majority of them did not believe in God, or were not sure of it, but they were very sympathetic to the idea, and did in fact conclude that science can never substitute the belief of God. As a Muslim, our perspective and perception of God is much different than the Christian concept of God, so I wonder what would have resulted if any of them had that concept in their mind. The full article is below.
Atheists Discuss the Benefits of Faith
A gathering of scientists and atheists explores whether faith in
science can ever substitute for belief in God.
WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Jerry Adler
Newsweek
Updated: 9:51 a.m. AKT Nov 10, 2006
Nov. 10, 2006 - The great Danish physicist Niels Bohr, it is said,
had a good-luck horseshoe hanging in his office. “You don’t believe
in that nonsense, do you?” a visitor once asked, to which Bohr
replied, “No, but they say it works whether you believe in it or not.”
If one thing emerged from the “Beyond Belief” conference at the Salk
Institute in LaJolla, Calif. it’s that religion doesn’t work the same
way. Some 30 scientists—one of the greatest collections of religious
skeptics ever assembled in one place since Voltaire dined alone—
examined faith from the evolutionary, neurological and philosophical
points of view, and they concluded that some things only work if you
do believe in them. Richard Dawkins, the British evolutionary
biologist and author of the best-selling book “The God Delusion,”
said he couldn’t have a spiritual experience even when he tried.
After another panelist, neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran of the
University of California, San Diego, explained that temporal-lobe
seizures of the brain create profound spiritual and out-of-body
experiences, Dawkins disclosed that he had participated in an
experiment that was supposed to mimic such seizures—and even then he
didn’t feel a thing.
Dawkins obviously feels this loss is a small price to pay for freedom
from superstition. But even physicist Steven Weinberg, a Nobel
laureate and an outspoken atheist, acknowledged that science is a
poor substitute for the role religion plays in most peoples’ lives.
It’s hard, he said, to live in a world in which one’s highest
emotions can be understood in biochemical and evolutionary terms,
rather than a gift from God. Instead of the big, comforting
certainties promoted by religion, science can offer only “a lot of
little truths” and the austere pleasures of intellectual honesty.
Much as Weinberg would like to see civilization emerge from the
tyranny of religion, when it happens, “I think we will miss it, like
a crazy old aunt who tells lies and causes us all kinds of trouble,
but was beautiful once and was with us a long time.”
To which Dawkins retorted, “I won’t miss her at all.” Only in the
most extreme circumstances would he deign to take account of the
consolations offered by religion. He would not, for instance, try to
talk a Christian on his deathbed out of a belief in Heaven. He didn’t
say what he would do if he were the one near death, but it’s unlikely
he would be calling for a priest. The atheist philosopher Daniel
Dennett had been expected to attend, but two weeks earlier had been
rushed to the hospital with a near-fatal aortic rupture. At the
conference, people handed around copies of Dennett’s essay entitled
“Thank Goodness,” posted on the science Web site Edge.org, in which
he described how annoying it was to hear from friends that they had
been praying for his recovery. “I have resisted the temptation,” he
wrote, “to respond, ‘Thanks, I appreciate it, but did you also
sacrifice a goat?’”
It’s hard to be a skeptic, that much was clear from the conference.
Hard for the astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the
Hayden Planetarium in New York, who described trying to offer up
thanks “to the scientists who made this abundance of food possible”
at a friend’s Thanksgiving dinner, only to be shouted down by demands
for a proper grace. Hard for atheist author Sam Harris (”Letter to a
Christian Nation”) who likes to point out that people today believe
in God based on no more evidence than the ancients had for believing
in Zeus or Poseidon—with the result that in addition to all the mail
he gets from Christians, he’s now getting angry letters from pagans
who claim he’s insulted their beliefs, as well.
The moderate position at the conference was represented by physicist
Lawrence Krauss, who took the view that “science doesn’t make it
impossible to believe in God, it just makes it possible to not
believe in God.” The majority view was best articulated by Tyson, who
said that atheism is not just the only intellectually coherent
position, but a positive boon to humanity. He makes much of the
statistic that only 15 percent of the scientific elite in the United
States, defined as members of the National Academy of Sciences,
express belief in a personal God who takes an active role in the
world. That’s approximately the mirror image of the population as a
whole—but to Tyson, the mystery is that the number of believers among
the scientist group isn’t zero.
Tyson is a commanding public speaker, which is why his fellow
astronomer Carolyn Porco, the head of the imaging team for the
Cassini space probe to Saturn, nominated him at the conference to be
the first minister of her proposed (although not very seriously)
“Church of Science.” She thinks science is a perfectly adequate
substitute for religion. “Being a scientist and staring immensity and
eternity in the face every day is as grand and inspiring as it gets,”
she says. “No religion offers anything comparable.” To the promise of
immortality, she counters with the proposition that all the atoms of
our bodies will be blown into space in the disintegration of the
solar system, to live on forever as mass or energy. That’s what we
should be teaching our children, not fairy tales about angels and
seeing grandma in Heaven. “If anyone has something to replace God,”
she says, “I think scientists do.” Of course, it’s not clear that
anyone else is looking for one.
source: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15653706/site/newsweek/
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11.10.06
Posted in Personal at 12:14 pm by Abbas
Visiting my family and significant other in Texas this Thanksgiving break . It feels like forever since the last time we actually saw each other. InshaAllah, I can not wait. Please keep us in your prayers!
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11.03.06
Posted in Personal at 12:03 pm by Abbas
Questions have always arose. Seems pretty straight forward, right? Well, I have talked and conversed with many friends and people about this issue. I have been born and raised in New York, so all through-out my schooling this has entered my mind from time to time. Some are hell-bent against it, and some are for it, yet the vast majority are simply confused.
So what is the correct approach? In a pure theological approach it is very difficult to attend such gatherings. In fact, it is virtually impossible to justify it, because of the haraam and un-Islamic atmosphere including alcohol, lewd music, indecent male-female interaction, and so forth. Technically, that should be enough for us to avoid such activities. If we have a desire to want to strive towards Him (swt), then we definitely should stay away.
However, I will try to explain my opinions and views on this issue, because it is so wide-spread in this society. Some may agree, some may disagree, but my views arise from my understanding of the Qur’an and Sunnah and I will attempt to explain the philosophy behind why it is deemed as discouraging in Islam and to human-nature. And no, I am not lecturing, condemning, criticizing, judging (sunday school style!) anyone, because it goes back to the individual and the only thing that can reap real change from within is our hearts and souls.
Some may ask “What if I don’t take part in the “drinking and dancing,” but still attend. My question for those people- what is the benefit? Do you enjoy drunkenness? There are other avenues to enjoy life and socialize with your friends. Why should we compromise our beliefs? We are Muslim first, and then we are everything else. We should never compromise on our principles. We are people of principles. If we trust Imam Husayn (a) and his sacrifice, then this should be obvious to us. This religion has been revealed and protected for us for a reason. Great people were tortured, imprisoned , maimed, massacred, and murdered, so that we may be able to practice this way of life the way it should be practiced. Why even put ourselves in these types of predicaments? We should have enough faith and strength to say, “No.”
Why would you walk in Tijuana, Mexico at 1:00 am in the morning, when you can drive? It is next to suicide.
And for those that argue, “I just want to see how it is?” No, we do not have to see what it is to understand why its not good or what the “big fuss” is about (refer: http://thenlightenment.whatheblog.com/2006/08/21/recognizing-good/). Should we all commit suicide to see how it feels to be dead? Should we all induce STDs into our bodies, so we understand how they function? We need to strive and resist anything that comes our way. It is our examinations, and obstacles and we must overcome the challenges. It will only benefit us at the end. That is God’s promise.
My advice is that we should never sell our souls despite the temptations, because we will become morally bankrupt. Unfortunately, once that occurs it will be too late. Please, do not sell-out.
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10.27.06
Posted in Personal at 9:10 pm by Abbas
Someone from another blog (http://eteraz.wordpress.com), which I occasionally read and usually disagree with, commented on the use of reason and logic. This person is a respectful individual, so I was a bit shocked and suprised. I thought it would be nice to respond to his statements on my blog. I will quote his comment and then my response will follow.
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Reason does not provide an approach to Allah.
If the Path to understanding Divinty was paved (even half the way) on Reason, the truth of Religion should have been discovered and widely known by now.
Muta’zhilis would rule the world.
As it stands, reason is applied to religion every day: look at the results. Few people are enlightened and religion is a force for terrible things just as much as for good.
Reason’s road is a dead end.
There is a quote from the Holy Prophet that goes something like: “Whatever you discern with your mind and perception is your creation. It is an idol and not worth worshipping.”
But we have to know the limitations.
“Reason does not provide an approach to Allah.”
That is an absurd claim. Reason and intellect was endowed to us by Allah (swt), so that we may distinguish good from evil. Hence, leading towards understanding Him and His perfect system.
It is funny how this person uses the Muta’zallah school to justify his thoughts and views. People are at loss because we are not using our logic! The Mu’tazallites are a different issue altogether because they only used logic. There is a big difference between using solely reason and using it as just one source. We must use other sources that go hand in hand with it such as the Quran and Sunnah.
Logic and intellect is an important component in understanding Islam and the shari’a. Logic and rational must be exerted in order for us to succeed!
Reasoning or logic is called muntaq in Islamic terminology. In fact, it is a seperate branch of science in its own right. For example understanding a hadith or tradition of the Prophet (saw) one needs to understand the logic of hadith and how to deal with conflicting ahadith and contextualizing it properly. The hadith this person mentioned obviously was de-contexualize and plus no reference was given anyway.
The last statement this person makes, I do agree with. We need to rationally understand our limitations, because we have been fashioned, shaped, and placed on this earth by our Protector, Creator and Sustainer.
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10.25.06
Posted in Personal, Current Events at 2:06 am by Abbas
I have been following this movement for awhile now, and I know I have discussed and debated some of my good friends about their actions, benefits and harmful effects. When I refer to this “movement,” I am referring to those involved with MuslimWakeUp and PMUNA. Without taking about their flawed philosophy, I will touch upon their double-standards and how they have sold-out.
The PMUNA (Progressive Muslim Union of North America) and this “movement” started a few years ago, and was the big “balance” competing against the neo-Salafi influence. A good number of “moderate” Muslims really backed them, including some Sunni and Shi’a (and sufi-oriented) with the hope that the “movement” would overcome this illness (Salafi) that was spreading like wild-file with the Saudi-petro dollar (Saudi funding). Muslim WakeUp at first was a decent site with decent articles, but it took a hypocritical and dangerous turn. They hired the most liberal of liberal editors and writers. They added pointless, derogatory, and provocative stories and columns on their online newsletter, which ultimately exposed their arrogance and agenda. Only so much could be tolerated at once.
Soon afterwards, the PMUNA was established and had a “super-star” line up. Now, lets examine where this line-up is. The founder, Ahmed Nassef loves to enjoin the Zionists and forbid the Palestinian cause. He recently spoke at a pro-zionist conference with no mention of the rights and justice of the Palestinians, while he praised the Zionist state. Ziad Asali, an advisor, believes the Palestinians should “give up” and abandon their legitimate rights.
(ref: http://pmunadebate.blogspot.com/2005/03/palestinians-worldwide-condemn-ziad.html)
Ziad and his buddy Hussein Ibish are also had a dinner with Condi Rice and Turki al-Faisal, the Saudi ambassador (I thought they were “progressive”). And this man, al-Faisal had ties with bin Laden, Taleban, and Al Qaida, yet now he is a “moderate!”
Then, we have Mona Eltahawy, yet another PMUNA advisor, who occasionally writes well, with Irshad Manji at a “moderate Muslim” conference. When did lesbian Muslims, who call on “reforming” Islam with unlimited ijteehad become “moderate” (referring to Isrhad Manji).
(ref: http://pmunadebate.blogspot.com/2006/10/progressive-neo-cons.html)
So, the advisors of this so-called movement have met with the Zionists, the Saudi Wahabis, and the “Reformists.” Are they confused? Of course not, but they are smart. They have become an opportunistic organization under the guise of labeling themselves “progressive.” They are anything but “progressive.” They are extreme, just as extreme as our neo-Salafi friends.
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10.22.06
Posted in Personal at 4:28 pm by Abbas
Eid will be arriving soon. For some it would be monday, for others it would be tuesday and for others it would be on wednesday. However, it is a time to rejoice and celebrate the blessings endowed to us by God. It is a time for reflection and introspection. It is a time to forgive those who wronged us and to make peace with our perceived enemies. It is a time, where all people should band together for Allah’s sake.
I hope we all have a joyous, peaceful, and blessed Eid. Eid Mubarak!
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10.16.06
Posted in Personal at 4:30 pm by Abbas
Living in San Diego and attending the masjid has taught me to love sabzi, cottage cheese, walnuts and bread (iran/persian food). I had a hard time eating leaves at first, but now I love it. I love it, and I don’t think I can live without it anymore .
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