Infoporn: Despite the Web, Americans Remain Woefully Ill-Informed

More than a decade after the Internet went mainstream, the world’s richest information source hasn’t necessarily made its users any more informed. A new study from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows that Americans, on average, are less able to correctly answer questions about current events than they were in 1989. Citizens who call the Internet their primary news source know slightly less than fans of TV and radio news. Hmmm… maybe a little less Perez Hilton and a little more Jim Lehrer.

SunniPath Academy: Registration Ends Friday. Register Now.

Akbar Ahmed’s Journey Into Islam Offers A Blueprint To Avert A Clash of Civilizations - Sheila Musaji - The American Muslim (TAM)

Professor Akbar Ahmed is the former Pakistani High Commissioner to
Britain and member of the faculties of Harvard, Princeton and
Cambridge, current chair of Islamic Studies at American
University.  His new book, Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization is perhaps the most important book published this year on the topic of avoiding a clash of civilizations.

West ‘must stop looking at Islam through the lens of terror’ | Special Reports | EducationGuardian.co.uk

Tony Blair would do well to listen to Akbar Ahmed when he takes up his new role as Middle East envoy in earnest. One of the world’s leading authorities on Islam, Prof Akbar says education, rather than violence, is the way to smooth relations between the Muslim world and the west.

And it is imperative that it happens sooner rather than later, he told EducationGuardian.co.uk. “Europe is going down in population, whereas the Muslim world is rapidly rising. By the middle of this century a quarter of the world’s population will be Muslim. “If that’s the case, we can’t afford an unending clash between the Muslim world and the west. The world will be consumed by religious turmoil. We are facing a major breakdown in the 21st century. Unless we begin to change now, the chances of us surviving are limited,” he said… [read on]

A Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization [Audio Interview]
Dr. Akbar Ahmed and Four Young Americans Talk about their Experiences on a Nine-Nation Tour of the Muslim World - Dr. Akbar Ahmed, Jonathan Hayden, Hadia Mubarak, Frankie Martin, Hailey Woldt

Book: Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization (Hardcover)

David Allen: The master of getting thing done - July 1, 2007

The management guru has learned to relax, go with the flow, and market his mysterious elixir of success.

Overturning Hitler’s Military Tribunals: Germany Considers Rehabilitating Soldiers Executed for ‘Treason’ - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

Most of the 30,000 Germans sentenced to death by Nazi Germany’s military courts have been rehabilitated. So far, however, soldiers found guilty of treason — in many cases unjustly, have been excluded. Now, though, Germany’s parliament may be prepared to do just that.

One million homeless in Pakistan | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited

Pakistan struggled to provide disaster relief to one million people left homeless by Cyclone Yemyin today, as bad weather continued to ground many military rescue helicopters and aid planes.

Pakistan’s normally arid Baluchistan province was the worst affected by the tropical storm, which has killed 500 people across south Asia this week, with some districts receiving four times their annual rainfall in 24 hours.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., The Path of the Law

The Path of the Law

by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Egypt: a diagnosis | openDemocracy

Egypt is stuck: its institutions, ideas and young population covered by a pall of stagnation that to many offers only emigration or radicalism as available options. What is the nature of the paralysis, and what can be done? Tarek Osman reports.

The Double Edge of Globalization

Activists have long accused global corporations of being bad environmental citizens. But the problems of climate change and deforestation are part of a larger phenomenon, in which globalization is but one factor among many. As Nayan Chanda, editor of YaleGlobal, discusses in his new book “Bound Together: How Traders, Preachers, Adventurers, and Warriors Shaped Globalization,” international consumer habits drive environmental devastation more so than globalized corporations. As a result, activists’ efforts could be more productively directed at building an international consensus on pollution reduction, environmental regulation and sustainable development. Powerful new advances in communications technology relay the realities of environmental degradation and natural disasters to the world’s public more quickly than ever before. Activists are the new preachers in a modern world – and the immediacy of technology gives them unprecedented opportunities to convey their message of morality to a global audience. Building powerful movements with online blogs and instant-chat programs, environmentalists must admit that globalization might not be so bad. – YaleGlobal

Cornell West on Barack Obama

Imam Zaid Shakir - Interview on PBS

WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future: The Slow Home Movement

In the legendary story of the founding of the Slow Food Movement,
Carlo Petrini planted his feet at the Spanish Steps in Rome and
declared that he would not stand for the introduction of McDonald’s
into the historic area. Fast food would not squelch the rich traditions
of Italian culture. And indeed it did not. Petrini not only succeeded
in elevating resistance against that McDonalds, but against fast food
the world over, by providing appetizing alternatives through the Slow
Food Movement.

In the years since, slow has become something of a meme
in its own right, applied to numerous other fields and issues as an
understood strategy of peaceful but active resistance to harmful trends
and changes. Whether it’s in food, medicine, or urban planning, slowing
down is a decidedly noble form of 21st century activism.

The newest slow kid on the block is the Slow Home Movement,
a web-based design community and resource library dedicated to taking
residential architecture back from the grip of the “cookie cutter
houses and instant neighborhoods” churned out by community-blind
development corporations, to revive the presence of good design and empower individuals
to create homes that will support and fulfill them for a long time.
It’s a sustainable approach in that — like with all products — a
commodity that is longlasting both in terms of material quality and
evolving personal taste can prevent waste and produce trusting
relationships between people and their environment. [read more]

SunniPath Blog - » What Is Islamic Spirituality?
 

Some 43 Million Lack Health Insurance

In the U.S., 43.6 million people of all ages — almost 15% of the population — lacked health insurance in 2006, the CDC reported today.

That figure is not significantly different from the CDC’s 2005 overall estimated percentage of people without health insurance. But the CDC notes a slight increase in the percentage of uninsured people of working age.

In 2006, the U.S. had 36.5 million people aged 18-64 with no health insurance. That’s 19.8% of people in that age group, up from 18.9% in 2005.

Data came from interviews with people in nearly 100,000 homes nationwide. Uninsured people were those without private, government, or military health insurance at the time of the interview.

A Sacred River Endangered by Global Warming

One of Hinduism’s most revered traditions is a trip to the Ganges River. But the sacred river may vanish as the Himalayan source, the Gangotri glaciers, melt with rising temperatures. With the current rates of melting, the glaciers could vanish by 2030 – and scientists predict that, in the long term, the Ganges will become a seasonal river that relies on monsoon rains. An immediate effect of the warming trend is declining water supplies. More than 500 million people depend on the river for water. However, the Indian government joined the US during the Group of 8 summit meeting, refusing to support limits on greenhouse-gas emissions. India does not agree with the US completely though: Like China, India argues that the wealthiest nations, such as the US and those in Europe, should set the lead in reducing emissions, while giving developing nations a chance to catch up with economic development and the accumulation of cars and wealth. Environmentalists call such reasoning shortsighted and urge nations to demonstrate global leadership by moving quickly on reductions, setting examples for all. – YaleGlobal

Click here for the original article on The Washington Post’s website.

14 Ways to Cultivate a Lifetime Reading Habit - lifehack.org

Somewhere after “lose weight”, “stop procrastinating”, and “fall in love”, “read more” is one of the top goals that many people set for themselves. And rightly so: A good book can be hugely satisfying, can teach you about things beyond your daily horizons, and can create characters so vivid you feel as if you really know them.

If reading is a habit you’d like to get into, there are a number of ways to cultivate it.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan students free hostages

Students from a radical mosque in Islamabad have released nine hostages, including six Chinese women, whom they accused of prostitution.

A top cleric at the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) said they were freed after the authorities gave assurances they would shut down mixed-sex massage parlours.

The students broke into an acupuncture clinic late on Friday in the Pakistan capital, which they said was a brothel.

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf: Creed Of Imam Al Tahawi

This is an excellent interview with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf his recent book, a translation of the Creed of Imam al-Tahawi:

Part 1: http://youtube.com/watch?v=lJlZeb_td…elated&search=

Part 2: http://youtube.com/watch?v=6SE4_f7Fy…elated&search=

Part 3: http://youtube.com/watch?v=h8xm9ndF_…elated&search=

Part 4: http://youtube.com/watch?v=bWnV0XVoM…elated&search=

Part 5: http://youtube.com/watch?v=gBQhrxYeN…elated&search=

Part 6: http://youtube.com/watch?v=y3kyRCwYy…elated&search=

And Allah alone gives success.

Faraz Rabbani

SunniPath Blog - » Importance of Learning about the Foundations of Islamic Law

Karachi is Suffering in the Heat at All Things Pakistan

Imagine 42 degrees celsius (107 degrees Farenheit) weather, no
electricity, no fans, high humidity, no drinking water, and knee deep
water on streets. Now imagine living through that for more than 24
hours. Terrible!

That is precisely what most Karachiites has been going through for more the past 2 days.
A huge monsoonal storm hit the city yesterday, followed by torrential
rains. And then the infrastructure of the city that had already
suffered several major blows in the past 2 months simply came crashing
down. The city now sits in a giant puddle, surrounded by fallen trees,
billboards, traffic lights, and rooftops. [Read on]

Kitaabun - Classical and Contemporary Muslim and Islamic Books: The Four Imams and Their Schools[c] By Dr. Gibril Haddad

The Four Imams and Their Schools
Abu Hanifa - Malik- Al-Shafi’i- Ahmad
By Gibril Fuad Haddad
Foreward  by Sayyid Yusuf Hashim al-Rifa’i
Paperback 551 Pages
Muslim Academic Trust, London

THE GREAT EDIFICE of Islamic Law is held up by four towering figures of the
early middle ages: Abu Hanifa, Malik, al-Shafi’i, and Ibn Hanbal. Because of
their immense dedication and intellectual acuity, these men enjoy recognition to
this day as Islam’s most influential scholars. By assessing and ranking hadith,
by cultivating a deep knowledge of the Arabic language, and by virtue of their
great native intelligence, they are credited with having shaped the development
of the fundamental systems of Muslim jurisprudence, avoiding the twin pitfalls
of subjective rationalism and blind literalism. By doing so they not only
protected their religion from chaos and disorder, but showed the Muslims, both
ordinary and expert, the safest and most reliable ways of avoiding error in the
understanding and practice of the divine law.
This detailed study offers biographies of these four men and their leading
pupils. It surveys the distinctive features of their jurisprudence, and assesses
their achievement.

Back to basics: the simple lessons I learnt about good schooling | Focus | The Observer

Last week Gordon Brown put education back on the agenda when he devoted his Mansion House speech to standards in Britain’s schools. Here Peter Hyman, formerly one of Tony Blair’s close aides who quit to become a teacher, reveals from the frontline why discipline and high quality teaching beat a blizzard of headline-grabbing initiatives

SunniPath Library - Hadith - Riyad as-Salihin (The Meadows of the Righteous)

• 1.Sincerity
• 2. Repentance
• 3. Steadfastness
• 4. Truthfulness
• 5. Watchfulness
• 6. Fearful Awareness of Allah
• 7. Certainty and Trust in Allah
• 8. On Going Straight
• 9. Reflection
• 10. Hastening to perform good actions
• 11. Striving
• 12. On the encouragement to increase
  good actions
• 13. The many paths of good
• 14. Moderation in Worship
• 15.Perserverance in actions
• 16. The command to follow the Sunna
• 17. The Obligation to obey the judgement
  of Allah
• 18.  The prohibition against
  innovations
• 19. The one who makes a good or bad
  sunna
• 20. On showing the way to good