Just as a person is in relation to you a father
and in relation to another either son or brother –
So the names of God in their number have relations:
He is from the viewpoint of the infidel the Tyrant (qaher);
from our viewpoint, the Merciful.
Divan e-Kebir, tr. Annemarie Schimmel

With us, the name of everything is its outward appearance;
with the Creator, the name of each thing is its inward reality.
In the eye of Moses, the name of his rod was “staff”;
in the eye of the Creator, its name was “dragon.”
In brief, that which we are in the end
is our real name with God.

Mathnawi I:1239-40, 1244

The Legacy of Pakistan: Discrepancy in Niyyat? | MuslimMatters.org

Hmm… Hmm… Hmm…

We fail to distinguish between what love is and what love entails.

As a result, we fail to realize what it means to love the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and what loving him entails.

And Allah alone gives success.

Where Every Meal Is a Sacrifice - washingtonpost.com

Mauritania, and much of Africa, relies on imported food. As trade breaks down, destitute people face tough choices.

On Faith at washingtonpost.com

Jeremiah Wright’s sermons continue to be an issue in the presidential campaign. Why? What do you think of his preaching style? What do you wish you understood better about it?

Boys ‘might do better in single-sex classes’ | News crumb | EducationGuardian.co.uk

Research shows a tendency to ‘hide in background’ as girls take the lead

BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | The demise of Turkey’s pork butchers

The role of Islam in Turkish society is a subject of continual debate. Secularists are protesting against what they see as the government’s increasingly Islamic agenda, and as Sarah Rainsford found out, the latest battleground could be across the butcher’s counter.

10 Hacks to Improve Your Home Office Productivity - Lifehack.org

If you work from home, the central part of your work life is the home office. For some, that means the kitchen table, but most of us assign a specific room to be the base of operations and (try to) do our work from there each day.

YouTube - Subha Ha Taiba (Studio Version)

The great Qasida-e-Noor of Imam Ahmad Rida Khan, sung with passion by Owais Qadri

Introduction to A Common Word Between Us and You
On October 13^th 2006, one month to the day after Pope Benedict XVI’s Regensburg address of September 13^th 2006, 38 Islamic authorities and scholars from around the world, representing all denominations and schools of thought, joined together to deliver an answer to the Pope in the spirit of open intellectual exchange and mutual understanding. In their Open Letter to the Pope (see english.pdf), for the first time in recent history, Muslim scholars from every branch of Islam spoke with one voice about the true teachings of Islam.

Now, exactly one year after that letter, Muslims have expanded their message. In A Common Word Between Us and You, 138 Muslim scholars, clerics and intellectuals have unanimously come together for the first time since the days of the Prophet r to declare the common ground between Christianity and Islam. Like the Open Letter, the signatories to this message come from every denomination and school of thought in Islam. Every major Islamic country or region in the world is represented in this message, which is addressed to the leaders of all the world’s churches, and indeed to all Christians everywhere.

Golden Principles of Raising Children

The following is from Imam Ghazali’s: Disciplining the Soul (Kitab Riyadat al-Nafs), being Book XXI of Ihya’ `Ulum al-Din (The Revival of the Religious Sciences) translated by T.J. Winter (Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad)

Nabokov’s last work will not be burned | Books | Guardian Unlimited

Dmitri Nabokov, son of Vladimir, has decided to publish The Original of Laura, the novel his dying father commanded be destroyed

Travelers should prepare for unfriendly skies - Aviation- msnbc.com

Jammed flights, high fares, delays will affect airlines, customers all summer

BBC NEWS | Business | The US sub-prime crisis in graphics

The US sub-prime mortgage crisis has lead to plunging property prices, a slowdown in the US economy, and billions in losses by banks. It stems from a fundamental change in the way mortgages are funded.

How it went wrong:

Din seeking the Deen: Shaykh Faraz: Ibn Rajab on what made Prophet’s (peace and blessings upon Him) character great

In this lecture titled ” Being a Real Man” ( from the Radical Middle Way website) Shaykh Faraz quotes Ibn Rajab on what made the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon Him) character great. Ibn Rajab listed five matters and said that the Prophet’s ( peace and blessings upon Him) character was great because he:

1. Full filed the rights of others
2. Avoided harming people
3. Acted with people with excellence (i.e. positive, cheerful and with full attention yet was firm as and when required)
4. Responded to good of others with the good or that which was better (while also appreciating the good others did)
5. Responded to wrong of others with nothing but the good. (Shaykh Faraz said this is the most difficult of the five).

Objectives of Shari`ah in the Prohibition of Riba - IslamOnline.net - Living Sharia’h

Divorce, unwed parenting costing taxpayers - Yahoo! News

Divorce and out-of-wedlock childbearing cost U.S. taxpayers more than $112 billion a year, according to a study commissioned by four groups advocating more government action to bolster marriages.

Oxford Weekly Madrasa Programme with Sh Afifi al-Akiti | MasudBlog

A wonderful opportunity to take knowledge from one of the most brilliant traditional scholars in the UK.

Muslims in Germany: Life in a Parallel Society - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

In Germany, Islam is often equated with fundamentalism and fanaticism, a perception that imposes a heavy burden on the country’s 3 million Muslims. Their relationship to Western society is divided between integration and sometimes self-imposed exclusion.

Project Syndicate: America’s War-Torn Economy - by Joseph E. Stiglitz

Some say there are two issues in the coming American elections: the Iraq war and the economy. On days when the war seems to be going better than expected, and the economy worse, the economy eclipses the war; but neither is faring well. In some sense, there is only one issue, and that is the war, which has exacerbated America’s economic problems. And when the world’s largest economy is sick – and it is now very sick – the entire world suffers.

It used to be thought that wars were good for the economy. After all, World War II is widely thought to have helped lift the global economy out of the Great Depression. But, at least since Keynes, we know how to stimulate the economy more effectively, and in ways that increase long-term productivity and enhance living standards.

This war, in particular, has not been good for the economy, for three reasons.

‘Bad Money’ Criticizes Wall Street, U.S. Finances : NPR

Steve Inskeep talks to author Kevin Phillips about his new book, Bad Money. Phillips argues in the book that the U.S. economy is in danger because of its reliance on the financial industry. He also believes that Wall Street has steered the nation toward greater debt.

Forbes on Apple’s Success: It’s the Software, Stupid || The Mac Observer

There’s one main thing at the heart of Apple’s success, according to Forbes
magazine’s Brian Caulfield, and if you think it’s the company’s great
industrial design, there should a loud buzzer sound going off near you.
Instead, it’s all about the software that runs in that hardware.

Mr. Caulfield’s observations, which we found to be poignant, came in a piece and slideshow looking at what Forbes thinks are the seven greatest innovations in Apple’s history.

“Everywhere
you turn this year, Apple’s machines are on the march,” wrote Mr.
caulfield. “The common denominator? Software. While great industrial
design always attracts gawkers, it’s software that makes Apple’s
proliferating array of machines so comfortable to use on a long-term
basis.”

“Apple’s best products,” he wrote, “mix the curb appeal of a Lamborghini with easy-to-drive friendliness of a Honda Accord.”

Forbes on Apple’s Success: It’s the Software, Stupid || The Mac Observer

There’s one main thing at the heart of Apple’s success, according to Forbes
magazine’s Brian Caulfield, and if you think it’s the company’s great
industrial design, there should a loud buzzer sound going off near you.
Instead, it’s all about the software that runs in that hardware.

Mr. Caulfield’s observations, which we found to be poignant, came in a piece and slideshow looking at what Forbes thinks are the seven greatest innovations in Apple’s history.

“Everywhere
you turn this year, Apple’s machines are on the march,” wrote Mr.
caulfield. “The common denominator? Software. While great industrial
design always attracts gawkers, it’s software that makes Apple’s
proliferating array of machines so comfortable to use on a long-term
basis.”

“Apple’s best products,” he wrote, “mix the curb appeal of a Lamborghini with easy-to-drive friendliness of a Honda Accord.”

EcoInformatics International Inc.

The longest beaver dam observed with Google Earth to date (October 2 2007) is located in Northern Alberta. The dam has a length of about 850 meters (2790 ft). It has at least existed at this spot for over 15 years as it can be observed on the 1990 LandSat 7 Pseudo Color Imagery Provided by NASA World Wind. However 1975 aerial photo’s show that this dam did not exist in 1975.

Turkey: the constitutional frontline | openDemocracy

A legal case against Turkey’s ruling party reopens the secular-Islamist argument over the country’s future. It’s time for wise leadership, says Katinka Barysch