snow, snow, snow

after 30 hours of non stop snowing... (it didnt stop there)


lets make a ...



... snowman



and the snow war that followed ...




every single one got snowed all over

last weekend

we at ms@aau had our second qiyam ul layl program last weekend. after many failed attempts, we finally managed to invite Imam Abdul Wahid Pedersen, a danish convert imam, to deliver the talks.
the theme of the day was 'being a Muslim in the danish society'- a very timely and well chosen topic in my view.

the lectures were divided into two sessions. the former touched on the danish society and general state of Muslims in Denmark, while the problems faced by Muslim community, both from within and without, and their probable solutions was the topic of discussion in the latter.

some the points Imam Abdul Wahid made are:

1. we hv to accept the fact that new generation of Muslims are all out danes. thus the community leaders have to address them from their perspective instead of somali, or pakistani, or turkish or ... perspective.

2. we cant and should not control what someone sees and learns. rather we hv to equip people with the right knowledge, understanding and tools to differentiate between right and wrong and accept the right while rejecting the wrong.

3. as Muslims it is not enough for us to only address issues that directly concern us. we hv to remember that we are global citizens as well, and thus global issues such as environmental problems, human rights, animal rights etc. should also be our concern.


well, enough of heavy talk. now follow this link to experience some of the action on that day (courtesy of ailin vabi, as always!!!)

just do it

this is the story of aisha, an old friend of mine.

one fine day she decided she would join the club and don that hijab. 'that was an easy decision', said she, 'but when? - was the million dollar question.' any change as big putting that hijab on is always a mammoth task, and much more so living in the west.

'wat would ppl say?', 'how would my parents take it?', 'in this islamophobic era, wouldnt i hv to face lots of difficulties?', 'what if situation forces me to take it off again?'... these were some of the question bugging her from day one. and the sole reasons behind putting off its materializing to tomorrow.

then one day, a friend suggested - 'dont worry my dear. you may take that big leap at once and start wearing it for good; or take it one step at a time wearing it occassionally (to the juma or to local muslim community programs) at first. whatever it is, just do it. go ahead and take that first step... and everything else will fall in place.'

---

more or less, all of us face this sort of dillemas in life. things we want to do, but just cant get ourselves to do it thinking abt all the what ifs and what nots.

well ... go ahead and just do it. take that first step and everything else will fall in place.

and that goes to you too, mr. procastinX !!!

linked

i came across an interesting analysis of the current political situation in bangladesh in one of the bangladeshi yahoo groups.

the author analysed the buildup to the current interim/caretaker government and the players involved.
according to him, this is not something that just popped up ... it was well planned years back and accordingly games were played to take the country to current situation.

here are some excerpts

"As it was predicted that military-backed so-called national consensus govt is imminent in bangladesh."

"we can divide the ground work and emergence of the present situation into five categories
1.motiur-mahfuz-debpriya axis: intellectual and media related works
2.dr kamal, dr. badruddoza, dr. oli, enu, ershad exis: political whispering
3.media(other than m+m, motiur-mahfuz) and diplomats
4.money men/magic boys: crown prince (tareq), falu, mamun,hawa bhavan etc
5.unbearable failures in some sectors: power, price hike"

"At first, in order to gain quick public support, they may implement some popular agenda
1.total ban on teacher-students politics
2.detain of some corrupt politicians, businessmen
3.improvement of law and order
4.anti-corruptions drive in all sphere
5.control of price hike, supply of essential goods
6.automation of radio-tv etc
7.some small issues like improvement of traffic congestion, illegal eviction etc

... The prime concern of us about the hidden and open secret agenda of this unelected govt....."

read the complete series
Military-backed unconstitutional Caretaker Govt in Bangladesh: Update Version of Pakistan/Musharaf Model-1
Military-backed unconstitutional CG in BD-2: Why?
Military-backed unconstitutional CG in BD-3: Similarities with Pakistan/Musharaf Model-2
Military-backed unconstitutional CG in BD-4:Ground Work
Military-backed unconstitutional CG in BD-5: Popular Agenda

[excerpted and linked with permission]

i want you ...

... to write this 100th post for me.

through all the thick and thin, i did finally manage to reach this landmark despite being the procatinating soul i am.

and so to 'celebrate' this milestone, i would like to hear what you hv to say abt this little blog of mine.

in this age of 'freedom of speech' you are free (and welcome) to say whatever you wish. so, go ahead and make your day!!!

reflecting the life in prayer

The Internal states conducive to reflecting the life in prayer (solat) can be well summed in six words:

AWARENESS - the conscious state in which one's mind and feelings are in no way distracted from what one is doing and saying. i.e. the mind remains attentive to what one is doing, and one is whole-heartedly involved.

UNDERSTANDING - awareness that also includes the comprehension of the meaning of one's utterance.

REVERENCE - this is beyond awareness and understanding. a man may address his servant with awareness and full understanding, yet his words are without reverence, for reverence is an additional element.

AWE - it is over and above reverence, and represents a kind of fear that grows out of reverence. this is not the ordinary fear (e.g. of a snake), but the kind of fear we have of a mighty king.

HOPE - alongside fearing His punishment of our faults, we must, in our prayers, hope for the reward of God, Great and Glorious is He.

SHAME - this is something additional to all the rest, for it is based on the realization of one's deficiencies and the apprehension of sin.

----
excerpted from Inner dimensions of Islamic Worship (tr of Ihya UlumudDin) by Abu Hamid Muhammad al Ghazali.
tr. by Muhtar Holland
==============

on a more personal note ... looks like winter is finally here. the temperature had been zero or lower for the most of the past week, and according to the forecast, it is expected to remain for days to come. hmmm, just when we thought (phew, luckily) no winter this year.

and

i am bogged down with lotsss to cover by this week. so do pray for me.

...

photo credits - ekhlas

an EHM* in my backyard

unlike most of my friends, i somehow am not so upbeat about the new caretake government that has taken over the helm of bangladesh.

since fakhruddin and co. have come to power, everything seems to be going right in this otherwise 'lawless' state. dhaka streets without traffic jam, corrupt politicians being nabbed, no more road blockades and paltan maidan (hyde park of bangladesh) assemblies. its almost like the 'fairies at work with their magic wands'.

but thats what worries me most. experiences of life taught me that no drastic change is good for the health. it will either cause a reaction (often of greater force), or there are much more to it than what we normally see. lets see which of these happens in this case...

******************************************

EHM stands for Economic Hit Man, a term coined by John Perkins in his autobiographical book 'The confession of an Economin Hit Man'. According to him,
Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign "aid" organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources. Their tools included fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization.

by the way, the head of current caretaker government in bangladesh was once a world bank executive. (dunno if that is supposed to mean anything!)

blog tagged

some weeks back, i received a mail with the same subject as the title of this blog. opened the mail expecting to be yet another of those casual (and annoying) mail-tags, instead found it was a rather new concept called blog tag.

here is how it works: it started where Jeff Pulver wrote five things about himself and he tagged five people telling them to do the same. the chain, having travelled through numerous blogs was handed over to me by lu. all i have to do now is write five things about myself which people may not have known, and then tell another five people to do the same.

i will do it a little differently though. my five things will b the following five important lessons of life i learnt through personal experience last year:

1. when working towards a goal, sometimes i tend to over-emphasise on the mean to the extent of loosing focus from the goal itself.

2. everything has its rightly stated time. so neither should i want something badly, nor push aside whatever (be it opportunities or responsibilities) that comes my way.

3. Allah is interested in the inner beauty of the heart, not outer beauty of the self.

4. honesty and frankness is still the best policy. when doing things with others it is important to clarify one's position / intentions / preferences. this avoids any sort of misuderstanding and confusion*.

5. 'there is nothing called genius. its 99% hard work coupled with 1% luck'**.


and, i am passing this onto : tanim, afie, shisha man shapps, nikonian, and weatherman

* learnt this bit from euro trip last summer. i guess someone DO deserve a piece of apology... for all the 'natok's... so here it is bro.

** einstein (or someone as famous) said this. until last year, i really didnt think it was true

pursuit of happyness

" ... (he) must have known well enough that you can never attain happiness, you can only pursue it. no wonder the "unalienable rights" rights of a man are "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and not "life, liberty, and happiness" itself ... "
- will smith (quoted with slight modification from his latest movie, pursuit of happyness)