Choosing the perfect watermelon - The New York Times
August 18, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · Leave a Comment
Video Library Home Page - The New York Times: “Watermelon can be one of the most disappointing fruits of summer because finding
the perfect one is so difficult. Kim Severson seeks the elusive perfection of the juicy gourd. “
Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: plenitude (not plentitude) - Oh! Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: plenitude. Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: plenitude.
August 18, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · Leave a Comment
Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: plenitude.
So spelled. The word is derived from the Latin “plenus” (”full”) — the etymon also for “plenary.” Unfortunately, through confusion with the word “plenty,” the misspelling *”plentitude” has become common — e.g.:
o “Poulet de Bresse . . . is considered to be the world’s best chicken, a breast and leg with a plentitude [read 'plenitude'] of wild mushrooms.” Janice Okun, “Savoring a Three-Star Evening in Paris,” Buffalo News, 6 Nov. 1996, at D1.
o “In its scant 181 pages (including a well-organized index), the reader will find a plentitude [read 'plenitude'] of good shopping theory.” Georgia Brown, “Gonzo Shopper,” Wash. Times, 2 Jan. 1997, at C11.
o “Moore coaxes out colors and pictorial incidents from his canvases, creating a plentitude [read 'plenitude'] of sensation.” Mary Sherman, “Warrick’s Singular Images Also Her Most Compelling,” Boston Herald, 20 Apr. 1997, at 47.
Of course, the phrase “a plenitude of” can very often be shortened to a simple “much” or “many.”
Language-Change Index — “plenitude” misspelled *”plentitude”: Stage 1.
*Invariably inferior form.
For a profile of Bryan Garner, check out the Dallas Observer.
View Garner’s Modern American Usage and Bryan Garner’s other works here.
Watch Bryan Garner’s YouTube videos. Just do a name search.
YouTube - Keith Olbermann Special Comment: There Is No ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ - 08/16/10
August 17, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · Leave a Comment
YouTube - Keith Olbermann Special Comment: There Is No ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ - 08/16/10: “Keith Olbermann Special Comment: There Is No ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ - 08/16/10″
CNN: Understanding Islam, Ramadan, extremism, communication, and the West - Shaykh Jihad Brown & Tayyibah Taylor
August 13, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · Leave a Comment
Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com
Shaykh Jihad Brown of Tabah Foundation and Tayyibah Taylor, editor of Azizah Magazine, talk about the role of Islam, Ramadan, communication, and the West.
Part One:
Part Two:
Why is the world unmoved by the plight of Pakistan? - Asia, World - The Independent
August 13, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · 3 Comments
Why is the world unmoved by the plight of Pakistan? - Asia, World - The Independent
Surrounded by brown, fast-shifting water on all sides, the 40 or so families in the village-turned-island had received no food, no medicine and no news as to when they might be rescued.
“We’re dying of hunger,” shrieked the woman, Sughra Bibi, as volunteers on the boat handed over plastic bags of lentils and cartons of milk to the villagers who gathered around her. One of them shouted out: “We don’t care if it’s the chief minister or the prime minister, but no one is sending anything to us. We are only waiting for God’s help.”
Across a huge swathe of central Punjab, Pakistan’s famously fertile agricultural belt, now besieged by unprecedented floods, such scenes are being played out a thousand times or more. While countless numbers have by now been rescued from the waters, hundreds remain cut off from dry land.
Why Has Islam Become So Controversial in America? | The Atlantic Wire
August 10, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · Leave a Comment
Why Has Islam Become So Controversial in America? | The Atlantic Wire
What began with the right-wing political campaign against the “Ground Zero Mosque,” an Islamic community center that is neither a mosque nor located at ground zero, has now become a national phenomenon. Crowds of protesters, sometimes aligned with the conservative Tea Party movement, are now rallying against proposed mosques in such locations as Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Sheboygan, Wisconsin; Bridgeport, Connecticut; and Temecula, California. What’s behind this sudden and severe backlash against Muslim-American families? And where is it headed next?
- Typical Anti-Immigrant Sentiment The New York Times’ Lauren Goodstein reports on several of the anti-Muslim protests. “In all of the recent conflicts, opponents have said their problem is Islam itself.” However, she finds in the protests “a typical stew of religion, politics and anti-immigrant sentiment.” A Muslim-American doctor attempting to open one of the proposed centers tells her, “Every new group coming to this country — Jews, Catholics, Irish, Germans, Japanese — has gone through this. Now I think it’s our turn to pay the price, and eventually we will be coming out of this, too.”
- Eroding America’s Greatest Defense Against Terrorism The Economist’s Lexington writes, “something about America—the fact that it is a nation of immigrants, perhaps, or its greater religiosity, or the separation of church and state, or the opportunities to rise—still seems to make it an easier place than Europe for Muslims to feel accepted and at home. … America is plainly safer if its Muslims feel part of ‘us’ and not, like Mohammad Sidique Khan, part of ‘them’.” However, U.S. conservatives such as Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin are “relitigating the victories and defeats of religious wars fought in Europe and the Middle East centuries ago.”
Help our brethren in distress: Pakistan floods: ‘We are now in God’s hands’
August 10, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · Leave a Comment
Pakistan floods: ‘We are now in God’s hands’ | World news | The Guardian
Habiba arrived in Sukkur in the early hours of the morning, after travelling nonstop for three days to find somewhere that had not been washed away by the floods. She left her village, Marakh Bijarani 40 miles away in Kashmore district, with 60 neighbours and relatives packed on to one tractor and trailer, with a few clothes, cooking pots and bedding piled underneath them.
Only half the village managed to escape – those who had taken refuge on the raised bank of a dyke at the moment when the water suddenly rushed in. Habiba made it out with two young children, but she has no idea what happened to her husband and five other children….
Read More: Pakistan floods: ‘We are now in God’s hands’ (The Guardian)
Do something: Donate and encourage your friends, family, contacts, and community to donate: Islamic Relief Pakistan Flood Emergency Fund
Free Webinar with Shaykh Hamza, Shaykh Abdal Hakim, and others in aid of the Cambridge New Mosque Project - Sat, August 7…
August 6, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · Leave a Comment
Mishkat Media & SeekersGuidance :: Webinar in Aid of Cambridge New Mosque Project
SeekersGuidance & Mishkat Media present
‘Healthy Hearts, Healthy Communities’
The life and teachings of Imam al-Ghazali in the modern world
A webinar in aid of the Cambridge New Mosque Project
Saturday August 7th 2pm EST / 7pm BST (6pm UTC/GMT)
REGISTER HERE!
Featuring exclusive contributions from our respected and beloved teachers:
A special message about the Cambridge New Mosque Project from
Shaykh Hamza Yusuf
Talk with LIVE Q & A by
Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad
Talks by
Shaykh Yahya Rhodus &
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Subscribe to the SeekersGuidance Islamcasts for free at iTunes
August 4, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · Leave a Comment
SeekersGuidance IslamCast - iTunes
SeekersGuidance Islamcasts provide practical guidance on living the deen of Islam in your daily life. Sound scholarship and accessible teachers will help you apply the guidance of the Qur’an and Prophetic teachings (sunna) to living as a Muslim in the 21st Century.
You can subscribe to the SeekersGuidance Islamcasts for free at iTunes.
Also accessible through the SeekersGuidance site at: http://seekersguidance.org/islamcast
Recommended: Ethica Institute’s Live Webinar: Career Options in Islamic Finance - Your Questions, Our Answers
August 4, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · Leave a Comment
Live Webinar: Career Options in Islamic Finance - Your Questions, Our Answers
Your Questions, Our Answers. Free Live Webinar on Sunday, August 8, 2010 at 5:00pm (Dubai time. Check your local time for this webinar)
Learn how you can join the fastest growing sector in banking today! At a time when the financial industry struggles to recover from the global financial crisis, Islamic finance emerges the most resilient. Banks are still hiring in this exciting sector and new
countries continue to develop their Islamic finance expertise. Demand for students and professionals continues to grow!
If you have a career question send it to questions@ethicainstitute.com NOW! On Sunday, August 8, we’ll be answering these questions along with your live questions.
Join Atif Khan (Managing Director, Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance™) and Yusuf Jha (Sharia Controller, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank), to:
- Figure out what kind of Islamic finance job suits you.
- Learn how to connect with the right people.
- Gain the right kind of experience before applying for jobs.
…And much more.
You get:
- A downloadable version of our number #1 YouTube video ‘Why Islamic Finance?’ (All attendees).
- 1-on-1 career counseling with an Islamic finance expert (Only 3 attendees).
- Special offer on Ethica’s CIFE™ training and certification program (Only 10 attendees).
Space is limited for this webinar. Reserve Your Spot Now!
Videos from Islamic Finance Conference - Shaykh Nizam Yaquby, Sh. Taha Abdul-Basser, and others
July 28, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · Leave a Comment
Straightway Ethical Advisory Blog | UFANA Islamic Finance Conference on March 30-31, 2010 (VIDEO): “Below is part 1-4 of the Sharia`ah Scholars Roundtable discussion on the AAOIFI standards and other topics of note. Sh Taha Abdul-Basser introduces the panel, which was held at the UFANA Islamic Finance Conference on March 30-31, 2010. Speakers in the series (1-4) are Sh Taha Abdul-Basser, Shaykh Nizam Muhammad Salih Yaquby, Mufti Barakatulla (England), and Sh Dr Aznan Hasan (Malaysia). “
Americans flock to Toronto to buy coveted Pakistani mango - thestar.com
July 28, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · Leave a Comment
Americans flock to Toronto to buy coveted Pakistani mango - thestar.com
It was an impulsive act of love, almost bordering on obsession, which led Waseem Haider to do the unthinkable: smuggle a harmless, yet forbidden, substance across the U.S.-Canada border.
The goods – two cases of sweet and juicy Pakistani mangoes of the chaunsa variety – didn’t get very far.
Listening to Quran Online Is Easier than Ever! « Creative Muslims
July 28, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · Leave a Comment
Listening to Quran Online Is Easier than Ever! « Creative Muslims
At work? Are you ready to pop in your iPod headphones well before you think about checking your music out, you might want to pay attention to something much more important – the Quran. Ramadan is not far , check out the following three sites where you can listen to Quran in Arabic, in Arabic with English, in Arabic with French, and more! These interfaces are simple and load fast!
1. Halaltunes – User friendly interface, clear high quality audio, extremely easy to stream, organized by chapters of the Quran
Arabic Reciters:
Abdus-Samad Abdul-Basit (Mujawed)
Abdus-Samad Abdul-Basit (Murattal)
Mishary Rashid al-Afasy
Ahmed al-Ajmy
Abdullah Basfar
Salah Bukhatir
Saad Said al-Ghamdi
Mahmoud al-Husary
Muhammad Jibreel
Abdullah Al-Johany
Mohammed Siddiq al-Minshawi (Mujawed)
Mohammed Siddiq al-Minshawi (Murattal)
Tawfeeq As-Sayegh
Abu Bakr al-Shatri
Saud al-Shuraim
Abdur-Rahman as-Sudais
2. Quran Explorer – Easy to use, clear high audio, multiple translations of the recitation (in English, Spanish, French, Urdu, etc), multiple reciters to choose from, text of the Quran and translations are easy to read and present to follow with the recitation
Arabic Reciters:
Abdul-Baasit
As-Sudays-Shraym
Khalil-Husari
Mishari-Rashid
Mishari-Rashid-HQ
Saad al-Ghamdi
Salah Bukhatir
Sheikh-Ahmed-Ajmi
Sheikh-Al-Huzaifi
3. Quran.com – Easy to use, appealing visual interface, multiple languages for the translation, large easy to read text (Arabic & translation are side by side), tafsir is included with each ayat, organized by chapter, audio streamed from
Reciters:
Many (http://quranicaudio.com/)
On Faith Panelists Blog: No religious basis for 9/11 - Hadia Mubarak
July 25, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · Leave a Comment
On Faith Panelists Blog: No religious basis for 9/11 - Hadia Mubarak
While opposition to the opening of an Islamic center at Ground Zero is certainly not surprising, it reflects a dismal level of intolerance, bigotry and ignorance that continues to plague our country. To characterize the existence of a place of worship for God-loving, law-abiding Muslim citizens as a ’stab in the heart’ to Americans is to presume that 9/11 was a religious attack that exclusively targeted non-Muslims.
I’m sorry Sarah Palin, but 9/11 was an attack against all Americans - including Muslim Americans. Muslim firefighters, lawyers, restaurant waiters, and dozens of other Muslims who worked at the World Trade Center lost their lives on that day. Hundreds of Muslims lost loved ones and millions of Muslims across the country grieved with everyone else on that day and continue to grieve every day that lives are unjustly taken. Sept. 11 was not a religious attack that exclusively targeted one religion, race or ethnicity, but one that stabbed all of our hearts. The victims of 9/11 spanned countless ethnicities, races and religions. Read more
Prince of Brotherhood - Amir Abd el-Kader
July 22, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · Leave a Comment
Saudi Aramco World : Prince of Brotherhood
During his lifetime, Abd el-Kader, tribal leader and scholar of the Qur’an, became world-famous as both a freedom-fighter and an advocate for religious tolerance and cultural openness. President Abraham Lincoln thanked him for saving lives. French priests praised him from their pulpits. British readers admired him as they read his autobiography. And Algerians today regard him as a founder of modern Algeria and a symbol of its future. This May, the people of Elkader, Iowa (population less than 1400)—the only town in the United States named after an Arab—invoked his legacy when Algeria’s ambassador to the us helped school officials honor the teenage winner of the town’s high-school essay contest on the topic of religious understanding. )
The End of Liberalism – John Gray - Allahcentric
July 15, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · Leave a Comment
The End of Liberalism – John Gray « Allahcentric
“As th
e political theory of modernity, liberalism is ill-equipped to address the dilemmas of the postmodern period. Liberalism was the political theory of the modern age, partly because it was a response to circumstances of diversity in world-views that arose in the early modern period with the Reformation and the Wars of Religion, and partly because it was a version of the animating project of modernity, which was the Enlightenment project – ‘the project’ as Alasdair MacIntyre summarizes it ‘of an independent rational justification of morality’.
The diversity of world-views, which gave rise to the liberal project in early modern times, has not diminished and is with us now; but the Enlightenment project which informed and sustained liberalism is now a dead letter. It lingers on in academic debates about realism in ethics and in the philosophy of science but – except in the United States, where along with an equally atavistic Christianity it continues to pervade the public culture – the Enlightenment project is no longer a living force in contemporary culture.
Within philosophy, the project of rationally reconstructing morality – whether on utilitarian, contractarian or rights-based foundations – is virtually extinct; and, if there remain philosophers wedded to that Enlightenment project, they are few and unimportant in the larger scheme of things, since philosophy itself is not a culturally marginal activity. The intellectual foundations of the Enlightenment project have fallen away; but liberal theory, for the most part, proceeds as if nothing has happened.”
(p 85 of “Liberalism” by John Gray)
Excellent blog: Allahcentric
8 Theories on Why College Kids Are Studying Less | The Atlantic Wire
July 15, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · 2 Comments
8 Theories on Why College Kids Are Studying Less | The Atlantic Wire
Disappointment and hope after Cairo - Sheikh Ali Gomaa
July 13, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · 2 Comments
Guest Voices: Disappointment and hope after Cairo - On Faith at washingtonpost.com
Last month marked the first anniversary of President Barack Obama’s speech to the Muslim world in Cairo where he sought “a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect”
However, the hope that greeted President Obama’s speech has turned into disappointment as people realized that turning promises into reality is not easy to achieve. While he should be congratulated on his efforts to change the discourse of US policy towards the Muslim world, it is clear that people expect more than simply statements from him.
It is vital to rekindle the new spirit that accompanied President Obama’s speech and to discuss together how we can transform it into practical programs that bridge the concept of dialogue with real and affective partnership between East and West.
I believe there are several ways that can help forge a constructive partnership between the Muslim world and the US. The Islam we were taught in our youth is one that calls for peace and mercy. The Prophet Muhammad told us: “Those who show mercy are shown mercy by the All-Merciful. Show mercy to those who are on earth and the One in the heavens will show mercy to you.” Furthermore, the Qur’an teaches us: “O people we have created you from a single male and female and divided you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.” When God says “to know one another” He did not mean in order to kill one another. All religions have forbidden the killing of innocents. Rather we have been ordered to cooperate in a constructive manner.
SeekersGuidance Appalachian Retreat 2010 - Overview, Slideshow, and Testimonials - SeekersGuidance Blog
July 9, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · Leave a Comment
For those of you who were unable to attend the first ever SeekersGuidance Appalachian Retreat held in Coker Creek, TN from June 25 to June 30, we’ve uploaded the picture slideshow to youtube. You can view the slideshow: SeekersGuidance Appalachian Retreat 2010 - Overview, Slideshow, and Testimonials - SeekersGuidance Blog
Jon Stewart Blasts Fox News for Anti-Muslim Rhetoric
July 8, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani · Leave a Comment
Jon Stewart Blasts Fox News for Anti-Muslim Rhetoric
Tonight, Jon Stewart put America’s favorite insanity-ridden network in its place when he decried Fox News’ anti-Muslim biases regarding NASA’s recent foray into diplomacy, as well as the controversy over the construction of new mosques across the country. Video inside.
