This article was taken from the ISM website. I thought it's quite interesting to show that Palestine is an International issue and it is being dealt in a peaceful way with some humour.

Palestinian, Israeli and international activists from ISM and IWPS celebrated the new year and their continuous determination to jointly fight the occupation by peacefully taking over Beit Iba checkpoint, north of Nablus.

I got an email this morning with some pics of Palestinians students at checkpoints trying to get to school. They weren't allowed to cross. So they just decided to have classes right at the checkpoint.

Hello readers,

I know it's been a while since I've written something. I'm just busy with a few things but sooner or later I'll be back.

Here

THE INVINCIBILITY OF MADINA

It was related that the Dajjâl would roam the earth and that when he reaches Madîna the Radiant - upon its dweller the best blessings and greetings of peace! - and desires to enter it, the angels will stand in front of him at the gates of Madîna and bar his passage.

About days ago, I applied for another job... Yeah most people know that I love my job. Well, it's true I do love my current job but it's not stable. I'm a freelance and it's not cutting it.

Every time I'm on here wanting to post something, I lose my train of thought and end up not posting anything. It's quite annoying actually. I need to post but I'm not really that focused.

When my site was first featured in Kevin Site's Hotzone over a thousand people stopped by my blog to check it out. One of these people was a church musician, Mark Frazier who was fascinated by one of my music pieces. After contacting me and taking my permission, he used my piece "Hope" in a service at South Congregational Church in Concord, NH...

The reason I accepted is because I figured that this move will help people who will get to know about this that Islam is about tolerence and can work together with other faiths. In the end we all pray to the same Creator.

This is what he had to say in the Church's bulletin... Please click here to read it.

With all that said, I hope that I can carry out the peace process with all faiths.

We're back with the what is Salah series of posts. There more to come.
The information is taken from Islam Online.

Conditions of Prayer: Physical Purity


By IOL Team 14/08/2003



Physical purity means cleanliness of the body, clothing and environment.

I just wanted to show a pic of the Ka'ba and the black stone to compliment the other post. :)

Ka'ba in the city of Mecca.

Karin asked me about what is the Ka'ba and here I am to answer that question for her and I'll continue with the prayer posts after this... This article was taken from Islam Online.

Just a little note, if anybody has a question about anything related to Islam please don't hesitate to ask. If you don't want to make it public, you can always email me at stellar101@gmail.com and in God's will I'll get back to you ASAP.

The Symbolism & Related Rites of the Ka`bah

By IOL Team & Mona Abul - Fadl

Islam is a religion of relatively few symbols because it is an open, rational and practical faith. Where symbols do occur, their nature conforms with and confirms the nature of the faith.

The central and foremost symbol of Islam is the Ka`bah and the rituals associated with it. In the Qur’an, God calls the Ka`bah Al-Bayt al-Haram (the Sacred House) and Bayt Allah (House of God). This Sanctuary of God is a tangible point in space and time to assemble and “visit”. It represents how the Muslim’s world and life revolve around an exclusive and pure devotion to the One True God. The pilgrim who visits the Ka`bah must be motivated by a consuming faith and pure devotion, for there is little worldly enjoyment there in the midst of the burning desert.

The Ka`bah is the simple cube stone building in Makkah. Within a few hundred meters of it are other sites associated with the sanctification of Umm Al-Quraa (the Mother of Cities, i.e., Makkah). These sites are two little hills named Marwa and Safa and the Well of Zamzam. The water of this well originally sprang from under the feet of the infant Ishmael (Isma`il) and has flowed ever since then for the pilgrims. Indeed, this water made settlement in Makkah possible. These sites are integral to the rites of Hajj and are enclosed in the Noble Sanctuary.

The foundations of the Ka`bah were laid by Abraham (Ibrahim) and his son Ishmael (Isma`il — peace be upon them), and it was consecrated to the worship of the One True God. However, over the millennia, human folly added to the Ka`bah so that by the half millennium preceding Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), the worship conducted there had degenerated into paganism and idolatry. The Ka`bah was surrounded by more than three hundred idols. The Abrahamic origins of the faith and its heritage of pure monotheism were all but buried. Yet it retained its aura of sacredness, and one “heretic” sect refused the customs of the people to nurture a memory and conviction of the One True God. Another residue of the Abrahamic tradition was a cult of peace and asylum related to the Sanctuary.

By the time Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was born, Makkah was submerged in polytheism and idolatry. Only vestiges of the pure faith remained in a symbol and a tradition. Thus, the mission of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was the fulfillment of Revelation, of the Message of Guidance, not its beginning. It came to restore the faith to its original purity.

Hence the message of Islam was not new. What was new was the form of this message, its dimensions and scale. The message would henceforth be preserved in a Book (the Qur’an) that would be immune to the ravages of time and the folly of man but that would be accessible to all who sought the Guidance. The repository of the faith was in the Community at large. No group could claim the privilege of special knowledge or a mission not open to others. No group or individual could come between the human being and Creator. Clergies and theocracies would be obsolete. These are the chief implications of the new form of this Last Guidance. They underline the liberating essence of its core concept and foundation: tawheed.

This liberating essence constitutes the revolutionary component and the regenerative momentum of the faith. These elements continue to retain their force and relevance because of the uncontaminated purity of its sources and its core tenets. Here are some aspects of the enduring symbolism of the Ka`bah:

1. The Ka`bah is symbolic of an essence: the idea of the prime and the core. It has remained at the center of a continuous tradition of human worship and devotion. It symbolizes the integrating and unifying power of monotheism in human life.

2. The idea of the prime and the core reinforces and confirms the basic concepts of Islam as the religion of pure monotheism, and hence as the one true religion for all men and for all time. Abraham is upheld in the Qur’an not for his ancestry of the Arabs, but for being the model and the archetype of the Muslim. In its association with the Abrahamic tradition and its commemoration of it, the Ka`bah symbolizes the unity of all true religion, celebrates the brotherhood of all prophets, and the essential unity of their message.

3. The Ka`bah is not just associated with the beginnings of the pure faith and of religion. It symbolizes the message that was addressed to the People of the Book — the Jews and Christians — in order to resolve the points of dispute among them.

4. The mission of the last messenger, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), was to inaugurate an era in which Divine Guidance was openly universal, wider and more comprehensive in scope, with its injunctions spelled out in detail. The responsibility for man's fate and moral well-being would come to rest squarely on his own free choice and on a willing initiative to respond to his Creator.

5. The Ka`bah also symbolizes the common orientation and common goal of mankind: its response to the One True God. Every mosque has a mihrab (niche) that points in the direction of the Ka`bah. Wherever a Muslim stands to pray, bow and prostrate, he faces in the direction of the Ka`bah, thus reminding him of the source of identity and common purpose and goal that binds him to his community in faith.

6. The Ka`bah is symbolic both of permanence and constancy and of renewal and renewability. Upon entering the precincts of the Holy Sanctuary, every Muslim makes a pledge as he approaches the Ka`bah. He faces its door and, before beginning tawaf (circumambulation), he renews his commitment by professing the Shahadah, the Testimony of Faith (“I bear witness that there is no god but Allah; I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”). Standing in solemn humility at this station, the Muslim identifies with a whole series of similar stations and situations in which the oath of allegiance was taken, whether during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) or at any time since Abraham and Ishmael (peace be upon them) pledged to God and laid the foundations of the Ka`bah. For this reason, the door of the Ka`bah is known as Bab Al-Multazim, the door of the one who takes the oath or makes the pledge.

7. Bab Al-Multazim is just one detail of the entire state of ihram, the state of sanctification and abstinence of the pilgrim. The pilgrim settles all his worldly debts, and then removes his worldly attire. He bathes and dresses in the fresh attire of the pilgrim and rededicates himself to the Way of his Creator.
The preservation of the Ka`bah as a living symbol down the generations to this day and age and its continuity as a haven of devotion, a shelter of refuge, and a site of grace is, in itself, a sign that invites serious reflection by all those who truly care to think.

*Summarized from Introducing Islam from Within by Mona Abul-Fadl (Leicester, UK: The Islamic Foundation, 1991). Used with permission.

A while back Karin asked me a very important question in which I believe is seriously important to be brought up. This is what Karin had to ask..

Sara, may I ask you a question? Isn't it written somewhere in the Qur'an that it is the duty of a believer to fight the "infidels", meaning, I suppose, the non-Muslims? How does what you wrote in your last post, go along with that? I am quoting ..."Islam calls for equality between all humans, doesn't matter what your race is, what your faith is, what your age and even sex." One possibility ..

Some of The Prophet's teachings are as follows :

1- When he and his fellow Muslims were tortured by the non-believers in Mecca, people asked him to curse non-believers and to ask God to punish them back, but he said: "I was not sent to curse people, but I was sent as a mercy".

2- He wants people to use their heads and take responsibility of their own choices and actions, so when asked about specific private matters he replied:"You people are more knowledgeable in matters of your own lives and business than myself.

According to the Shari'a law there is freedom of thought and religion.

1) Every person has the right to freedom of conscience and worship in accordance with his religious beliefs.
2) Every person has the right to express his thoughts and beliefs so long as he remains within the limits prescribed by the law.

I'm posting this post as a reply to Namir… The thing that bothered me wasn't the fact he's against the Islamic law being implemented in certain communities in the UK but rather the idea he has about what the Islamic laws are about and what they represent.

In this post, I'll put in 2 separate postings so you guys wouldn't get too overwhelmed with the reading.

Honestly, if my opinion is important I believe that the Law should stay the same in England but open the option for those who want to be governed in respect of their civil and personal matters by their own law.

Shari'a is Islamic law that invites Human brotherhood far from selfishness and personal interest for the sake of discarding hatred.

It is for the salvation of all mankind in an atmosphere of justice and equality surrounded by divine revelation and noble values within a sphere of ethical legislation that God has set for man.

I do understand why people might think that the laws allow subjugation and sexism.

Hello fellow readers, I'm so proud to say that today I was invited to officially be one of the contributers of Bridge the gap in Blogsphere.

One of the problems that both East and West face is the lack of understanding each other and their way of thinking… Muslims are portrayed as savages to the West and Non-Muslims are viewed as devil followers to the East.

My lastest music piece is actually out. Some of you might have already heard it but for those who didn't, no worries it's never too late. :D You can listen to it by clicking here.

A lot have been asking me what is this NLP Diploma that I've obtained. So I decided to just post about it to answer all the questions that has been asked.

First of all, this is my NLP Diploma that I'm so excited about.

After emailing people of the another Denmark website... I got this reply that I thought I'd share with you...

Maybe we all can come up with something that'll help restore order.

A letter from Another Denmark

Dear Muslim citizens in Denmark and the World

I wish to state the existence of another Denmark: a Denmark that wants to live in
peace with the Muslim world. There is another Denmark, which hopes for and believes
in respect and tolerance between religions and different groups of people.
As a Dane I have no responsibility for what a single and privately owned Danish
newspaper chooses to publish. Even so, I strongly condemn the actions of
Jyllands-Posten that have offended muslims around the world, and I understand the
need for an apology from the newspaper.

We all have a responsibility for treating each other, our religious faiths, and
convictions with dignity and respect. By publishing the cartoons, the
newspaper Jyllands-Posten failed their obligation to exercise with care and
consideration the right of freedom of speech.

I condemn all kinds of discrimination, prejudice and racism, whether it is directed
against Muslims, Jews, Christians or other groups in a society. Therefore, I reject
the hostile and prejudicial way of speaking that has marked several Danish political
parties and media within recent years.

I want to make a request to all parties involved, that opinions and protests may be
conducted in a respectful and peaceful manner. Attacks on and threats against
individuals and assets only make the situation worse for all of us.

I believe in a world where religions, ethnic groups and various political and
cultural opinions can coexist in an atmosphere of dialogue, tolerance and mutual
respect.

I wish to state the existence of another Denmark that conceives itself as a part of
such a heterogenous world and humanity.

In the sincere hope of international tolerance and respect.

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