Beauties of Islam ~ A series of Lectures !
with Shaikh: Yusuf Estes
Download Videos
Faith & its proof
Rights & the balance that goes with them
Spread the message of Islam, its obligatory on every Muslim !
December 31, 2008
December 09, 2008
THE BOY AND THE APPLE TREE(Nice Story)
THE BOY AND THE APPLE TREE : Nice Story
A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it everyday.
He climbed to the treetop, ate the apples, and took a nap under the shadow.
He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him. Time went by, the little boy had grown up
and he no longer played around the tree every day.
One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad.
"Come and play with me", the tree asked the boy.
"I am no longer a kid, I do not play around trees any more" the boy replied.
"I want toys. I need money to buy them."
"Sorry, but I do not have money, but you can pick all my apples and sell them. So, you will have money."
The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came
back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad.
One day, the boy who now turned into a man returned and the tree was excited.
"Come and play with me" the tree said.
"I do not have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?"
"Sorry, but I do not have any house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house". So the man
cut all the branches of the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the man never
came back since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.
One hot summer day, the man returned and the tree was delighted.
"Come and play with me!" the tree said.
"I am getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?" said the man.
"Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy."
So the man cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a long time.
Finally, the man returned after many years. "Sorry, my boy. But I do not have anything for you anymore.
No more apples for you", the tree said.
"No problem, I do not have any teeth to bite" the man replied.
"No more trunk for you to climb on".
"I am too old for that now" the man said.
"I really cannot give you anything, the only thing left is my dying roots," the tree said with tears.
"I do not need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years," the man replied.
"Good! Old tree roots are the best place to lean on and rest, come sit down with me and rest."
The man sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears.
This is a story of everyone. The tree is like our parents. When we were young, we loved to play
with our Mum and Dad. When we grow up, we leave them; only come to them when we need
something or when we are in trouble.
No matter what, parents will always be there and give everything they could just to make you happy.
You may think the boy is cruel to the tree, but that is how all of us treat our parents. We take them
for granted; we don't appreciate all they do for us, until it's too late.
May Allah forgives us of our shortcomings and may He guide us.
* * * * * * * * *
December 01, 2008
7 REASONS WHY A SCIENTIST BELIEVES IN GOD*
(This article of Mr A. Cressy Morrison, former President of the New York Academy of Sciences, first appeared in the "Reader's Digesf' (January 1948); then on recommendation of Professor C. A. Coulson, F. R.S., Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University, was republished in the Reader's Digest November 1960) - It shows how science compels the scientists to admit to the essential need of a Supreme Creator.
We are still in the dawn of the scientific age and every increase of light reveals more brightly the handiwork of an intelligent Creator. In the 90 years since Darwin we have made stupendous discoveries; with a spirit of scientific humanity and of faith grounded in knowledge we are approaching even nearer to an awareness of God.
For myself I count seven reasons for my faith.
First:
By unwavering mathematical law we can prove that our universe was designed and executed by a great engineering Intelligence. Suppose you put ten coins, marked from one to ten, into your pocket and give them a good shuffle. Now try to take them out in sequence from one to ten, pulling back the coin each time and shaking them all again. Mathematically we know that your chance of first drawing number one is one in ten; of drawing one and two in succession, one in 100; of drawing one, two and three in succession, one in a thousand, and so on; your chance of drawing them all, from one to number ten in succession, would reach the unbelievable figure of one chance in ten thousand million.
By the same reasoning, so many exacting conditions are necessary for life on earth that they could not possibly exist in proper relationship by chance. The earth rotates on its axis at one thousand miles an hour; if it turned at one hundred miles an hour, our days and nights would be ten times as long as now, and the hot sun would then burn up our vegetation during each long day, while in the long night any surviving sprout would freeze.
Again, the sun, source of our life, has a surface temperature of 12,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and our earth is, just far enough away so that this 'eternal fire" warms us just enough and not too much! If the sun gave off only one-half its present radiation, we would freeze, and if it gave half as much more, we would roast.
The slant of the earth, tilted at an angle of 23 degrees, gives us our season; if it had not been so tilted, vapours from the ocean would move north and south, piling up for us continents of ice. If our moon was, say, only 50 thousand miles away instead of its actual distance. Our tides would be so enormous that twice a day all continents would be submerged; even the mountains would soon be eroded away. If the crust of the earth had been only ten feet thicker, there would be no oxygen without which animal life must die. Had the ocean been a few feet deeper, carbon dioxide and oxygen would have been absorbed and no vegetable life could exist. Or if our atmosphere had been thinner, some of the meteors, now burned in space by the million evey day; would be striking all parts of the earth, starting fires everywhere. Because of these, and host of other examples, there is not one chance in millions that life on our planet is an accident.
Second:
The resourcefulness of life to accomplish its purpose is a manifestation of all-pervading Intelligence. What life itself is no man has fathomed. It has neither weight nor dimensions, but it does have force; a growing root will crack a rock. Life has conquered water, land and air, mastering the element, compelling them to dissolve and reform their combinations.
Life, the sculptor, shapes all living things; an artist, it designs every leaf of every tree, and colours every flower. Life is a musician and has each bird to sing its love songs, the insects to call each other in the music of their multitudinous sounds. Life is a sublime chemist, giving taste to fruits and spices, and perfume to the rose changing water and carbonic acid into sugar and wood and, in so doing, releasing oxygen that animals may have the breath of life.
Behold an almost invisible drop of protoplasm, transparent and jelly-like, capable of motion, drawiug energy from the sun. This single cell, this transparent mistlike droplet, holds within itself the germ of life, and has the power to distribute this life to every living thing, great and small. The powers of this droplet are greater than our vegetation and animals and people, for all life came from it. Nature did not create life; fire-blistered rocks and a saltless sea could not meet the necessarv requirements. Who, then, has put it here ?
Third:
Animal wisdom speaks irresistibly of a good Creator who infused instinct into otherwise helpless little creatures. The young salmon spends years at sea, then comes back to his own river; and travels up the very side of the river into which flows The tributary where he was born. What brings him back so precisely? If you transfer him to another tributary he will know at once that he is off his course and he will fight his way down and back to the main stream and then turn up against the current to finish his destiny more accurately.
Even more difficult to solve is the mystery of eels. These amazing creatures migrate at maturity from all ponds and rivers everywhere - those from Europe across thousands of miles of oceans - all bound for the same abysmal deeps near Bermuda. There they breed and die. The little ones, with no apparent means of knowing anything except that they are in a wilderness of water; nevertheless find their way back not only to the very shore from which their parent came but thence to the rivers, lakes or little ponds - so that each body of water is always populated with eels. No American eel has ever been caught in Europe, no European eel in American waters. Nature has even delayed the maturity of the European eel by a year or more to make up for its longer journey. Where does the directing iruptilse originate?
A wasp will overpower a grasshopper, dig a hole in the earth, sting the grasshopper in exactly the right place so that he does not die but becomes unconscious and lives on as a form of preserved meat. Then the Wasp will lay her eggs handily so that her children when they hatch can nibble witliout killing' the insect on which they feed, to them dead meat would be fatal. The mother then flies way and dies; she never sees her young. Surely the wasp must have done all this right the first time and every time, or else there would be no wasp. Such mysterious techniques cannot be explained by adaption; they were bestowed.
Fourth:
Man has something more than animal instinct - the power of reason.
No other animal has ever left a record of its ability to count ten or even to understand the meaning of ten. Where instinct is like a single note of a flute, beautiful but limited, the human brain contains all the notes of all the instruments in the orchestra. No need to belabor this fourth point; thanks to the human, reason we can contemplate the possibility that we are what we are only because we have received a spark of Universal Intelligence.
Fifth:
Provision for all living is revealed in phenomena which we know today but which Darwin did not know - such as the wonders of genes. So unspeakably tiny are these genes that, if all of them responsible for all living people in the world could be put in one place, there would be less than a thimbleful. Yet these ultra-microscopic genes and their companions, the chromosomes, inhabit every living cell and are the absolute keys to all human, animal and vegetable characteristics. A thimble is a small place in which to put all the individual characteristics of two thousand million human beings. However; the facts are beyond question. Well then, how do genes lock up all the normal heredity of a multitude of ancestors and preserve the psychology of each in such an infinitely small space? Here evolution really begins - at the cell, the entity which holds and carries genes. How a few million atoms, locked up as an ultra-microscopic gene, can absolutely rule all on earth is an example of profound cunning and provision that could emanate only from a Creative Intelligence - no other hypothesis will serve.
Sixth:
By the economy of nature, we are forced to realize that only infinite wisdom could have foreseen and prepared with such astute husbandry.
Many years ago a species of cactus was planted in Australia as a protective fence. Having no insect enemies in Australia the cactus soon began a prodigious growth; the alarming abundance persisted until the plants covered an area as long and wide as England, crowding inhabitants out of the towns and villages, and destroying their farms. Seeking a defence, the entomologists scoured the world; finally they turned up an insect which exclusively feeds on cactus, and would eat nothing else. It would breed freely too; and it had no enemies in Australia. So animal soon conquered vegetable and today the cactus pest has retreated, and with it all but a small protective residue of the insects, enough to hold the cactus in check for ever.
Such checks and balances have been universally provided. Why have not fast-breeding insects dominated the earth? Because they have no lungs such as man possesses; they breathe through tubes. But when insects grow large, their tubes do not grow in ratio to the increasing size of the body. Hence there has never beetn an insect of great size; this limitation on growth has held them all in check.
If this physical check had not been provided, man could not exist. Imagine meeting a hornet as big as a lion!
Seven:
The fact that man can conceive the idea of God is in itself a unique proof.
The conception of god rises from a divine faculty of man, unshared with the rest of our world - the faculty we call imagination. By its power, man and man alone can fmd the evidence of things unseen. The vista that power opens up is unbounded; indeed, as man is perfected, imagination becomes a spiritual reality. He may discern in all the evidence of design and purpose the great truth that heaven is wherever and whatever is; that God is everywhere and in everything, but nowhere so close as in our hearts. It is scientifically as well as imaginatively true; in the words of the palmist; The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth His handiwork.
Source:
God -An Islamic Perspective
By: Allamah Sayyed Saeed Akhtar Rizvi
We are still in the dawn of the scientific age and every increase of light reveals more brightly the handiwork of an intelligent Creator. In the 90 years since Darwin we have made stupendous discoveries; with a spirit of scientific humanity and of faith grounded in knowledge we are approaching even nearer to an awareness of God.
For myself I count seven reasons for my faith.
First:
By unwavering mathematical law we can prove that our universe was designed and executed by a great engineering Intelligence. Suppose you put ten coins, marked from one to ten, into your pocket and give them a good shuffle. Now try to take them out in sequence from one to ten, pulling back the coin each time and shaking them all again. Mathematically we know that your chance of first drawing number one is one in ten; of drawing one and two in succession, one in 100; of drawing one, two and three in succession, one in a thousand, and so on; your chance of drawing them all, from one to number ten in succession, would reach the unbelievable figure of one chance in ten thousand million.
By the same reasoning, so many exacting conditions are necessary for life on earth that they could not possibly exist in proper relationship by chance. The earth rotates on its axis at one thousand miles an hour; if it turned at one hundred miles an hour, our days and nights would be ten times as long as now, and the hot sun would then burn up our vegetation during each long day, while in the long night any surviving sprout would freeze.
Again, the sun, source of our life, has a surface temperature of 12,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and our earth is, just far enough away so that this 'eternal fire" warms us just enough and not too much! If the sun gave off only one-half its present radiation, we would freeze, and if it gave half as much more, we would roast.
The slant of the earth, tilted at an angle of 23 degrees, gives us our season; if it had not been so tilted, vapours from the ocean would move north and south, piling up for us continents of ice. If our moon was, say, only 50 thousand miles away instead of its actual distance. Our tides would be so enormous that twice a day all continents would be submerged; even the mountains would soon be eroded away. If the crust of the earth had been only ten feet thicker, there would be no oxygen without which animal life must die. Had the ocean been a few feet deeper, carbon dioxide and oxygen would have been absorbed and no vegetable life could exist. Or if our atmosphere had been thinner, some of the meteors, now burned in space by the million evey day; would be striking all parts of the earth, starting fires everywhere. Because of these, and host of other examples, there is not one chance in millions that life on our planet is an accident.
Second:
The resourcefulness of life to accomplish its purpose is a manifestation of all-pervading Intelligence. What life itself is no man has fathomed. It has neither weight nor dimensions, but it does have force; a growing root will crack a rock. Life has conquered water, land and air, mastering the element, compelling them to dissolve and reform their combinations.
Life, the sculptor, shapes all living things; an artist, it designs every leaf of every tree, and colours every flower. Life is a musician and has each bird to sing its love songs, the insects to call each other in the music of their multitudinous sounds. Life is a sublime chemist, giving taste to fruits and spices, and perfume to the rose changing water and carbonic acid into sugar and wood and, in so doing, releasing oxygen that animals may have the breath of life.
Behold an almost invisible drop of protoplasm, transparent and jelly-like, capable of motion, drawiug energy from the sun. This single cell, this transparent mistlike droplet, holds within itself the germ of life, and has the power to distribute this life to every living thing, great and small. The powers of this droplet are greater than our vegetation and animals and people, for all life came from it. Nature did not create life; fire-blistered rocks and a saltless sea could not meet the necessarv requirements. Who, then, has put it here ?
Third:
Animal wisdom speaks irresistibly of a good Creator who infused instinct into otherwise helpless little creatures. The young salmon spends years at sea, then comes back to his own river; and travels up the very side of the river into which flows The tributary where he was born. What brings him back so precisely? If you transfer him to another tributary he will know at once that he is off his course and he will fight his way down and back to the main stream and then turn up against the current to finish his destiny more accurately.
Even more difficult to solve is the mystery of eels. These amazing creatures migrate at maturity from all ponds and rivers everywhere - those from Europe across thousands of miles of oceans - all bound for the same abysmal deeps near Bermuda. There they breed and die. The little ones, with no apparent means of knowing anything except that they are in a wilderness of water; nevertheless find their way back not only to the very shore from which their parent came but thence to the rivers, lakes or little ponds - so that each body of water is always populated with eels. No American eel has ever been caught in Europe, no European eel in American waters. Nature has even delayed the maturity of the European eel by a year or more to make up for its longer journey. Where does the directing iruptilse originate?
A wasp will overpower a grasshopper, dig a hole in the earth, sting the grasshopper in exactly the right place so that he does not die but becomes unconscious and lives on as a form of preserved meat. Then the Wasp will lay her eggs handily so that her children when they hatch can nibble witliout killing' the insect on which they feed, to them dead meat would be fatal. The mother then flies way and dies; she never sees her young. Surely the wasp must have done all this right the first time and every time, or else there would be no wasp. Such mysterious techniques cannot be explained by adaption; they were bestowed.
Fourth:
Man has something more than animal instinct - the power of reason.
No other animal has ever left a record of its ability to count ten or even to understand the meaning of ten. Where instinct is like a single note of a flute, beautiful but limited, the human brain contains all the notes of all the instruments in the orchestra. No need to belabor this fourth point; thanks to the human, reason we can contemplate the possibility that we are what we are only because we have received a spark of Universal Intelligence.
Fifth:
Provision for all living is revealed in phenomena which we know today but which Darwin did not know - such as the wonders of genes. So unspeakably tiny are these genes that, if all of them responsible for all living people in the world could be put in one place, there would be less than a thimbleful. Yet these ultra-microscopic genes and their companions, the chromosomes, inhabit every living cell and are the absolute keys to all human, animal and vegetable characteristics. A thimble is a small place in which to put all the individual characteristics of two thousand million human beings. However; the facts are beyond question. Well then, how do genes lock up all the normal heredity of a multitude of ancestors and preserve the psychology of each in such an infinitely small space? Here evolution really begins - at the cell, the entity which holds and carries genes. How a few million atoms, locked up as an ultra-microscopic gene, can absolutely rule all on earth is an example of profound cunning and provision that could emanate only from a Creative Intelligence - no other hypothesis will serve.
Sixth:
By the economy of nature, we are forced to realize that only infinite wisdom could have foreseen and prepared with such astute husbandry.
Many years ago a species of cactus was planted in Australia as a protective fence. Having no insect enemies in Australia the cactus soon began a prodigious growth; the alarming abundance persisted until the plants covered an area as long and wide as England, crowding inhabitants out of the towns and villages, and destroying their farms. Seeking a defence, the entomologists scoured the world; finally they turned up an insect which exclusively feeds on cactus, and would eat nothing else. It would breed freely too; and it had no enemies in Australia. So animal soon conquered vegetable and today the cactus pest has retreated, and with it all but a small protective residue of the insects, enough to hold the cactus in check for ever.
Such checks and balances have been universally provided. Why have not fast-breeding insects dominated the earth? Because they have no lungs such as man possesses; they breathe through tubes. But when insects grow large, their tubes do not grow in ratio to the increasing size of the body. Hence there has never beetn an insect of great size; this limitation on growth has held them all in check.
If this physical check had not been provided, man could not exist. Imagine meeting a hornet as big as a lion!
Seven:
The fact that man can conceive the idea of God is in itself a unique proof.
The conception of god rises from a divine faculty of man, unshared with the rest of our world - the faculty we call imagination. By its power, man and man alone can fmd the evidence of things unseen. The vista that power opens up is unbounded; indeed, as man is perfected, imagination becomes a spiritual reality. He may discern in all the evidence of design and purpose the great truth that heaven is wherever and whatever is; that God is everywhere and in everything, but nowhere so close as in our hearts. It is scientifically as well as imaginatively true; in the words of the palmist; The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth His handiwork.
Source:
God -An Islamic Perspective
By: Allamah Sayyed Saeed Akhtar Rizvi
November 17, 2008
SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT YOUR SLEEP....
SLEEP
Assalaamu Alaikkum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu!
(Peace be upon you with God's blessings and prosper)...
Do you know what happens when you sleep??
It is Allah that takes the souls (of men) at death; and those that die not
(He takes) during their sleep: those on whom He has passed the decree of
death, He keeps back (from returning to life), but the rest He sends (to their
bodies) for a term appointed. Verily in this are signs for those who reflect.
Quran, Chapter 39 verse 42
This means: every time you sleep, Allah takes your souls, amongst many
other souls he takes during sleeping. Then Allah decides who is going to be
given another chance. For those who are blessed with another chance, Allah
will permit their souls to go back to their bodies, the rest he keeps back from
returning to life i.e.they die.
This means: each time you go to bed you should never be sure you will get
up again, you ONLY have 50% chance for coming back to life. This means:
each time you go to bed you should be prepared for your hereafter.
This means: when you wake up the next day you should appreciate how
lucky (blessed) you are. And say 'Blessed be the One(Allah) who returned
my soul to my body, and granted me another chance'. This is what the
prophet PBUH used to say after waking up. This means: when you wake up
the next day you should make sure you utilize the new day as much as you
can before sleep time comes; the new day you are living could be the last
chance you are given!
This means: you should try to make sure you recite sura AL-MULK
(chapter 67) before sleeping, because the prophet PBUH promised that one
who reads this sura before sleeping is saved from the punishment of the
grave. May Allah forgive us all and bless us with a happy life in this dunya
and the hereafter. Aameen.
PASS THIS ON
MAY ALLAH REWARD & BLESS US AND our FAMILIES. Aameen.
PASS THIS ON
MAY ALLAH REWARD & BLESS US AND our FAMILIES. Aameen.
September 04, 2008
ARE these Foods safe to Eat?
There will always be those fattening foods that are easy to make, easy to get, and easy to crave. You think 'OK, I know this is bad but it can't be that bad!' Think again. Here are the top seven foods you should never ever feed your family or yourself!
1.Doughnuts
It's hard to resist the smell of a Krispy Kreme doughnut, which is why I never step foot in the store. Doughnuts are fried chock-full of sugar and white flour and loads of trans fat.
According to the Krispy Kreme website, an average 3.5 ounce sugar doughnut weighs in with about 400 calories and contains few other nutrients besides fat. These sugary treats may satisfy your craving but it won't satisfy your hunger as most of the calories come from fat.
'Eating a lot of refined sugar contributes to blood sugar 'swings' or extreme fluctuations,' eDiets Chief Nutritionist Susan Burke said.
2. Cheeseburger with fries
The age-old classic may be delicious but think twice before sinking your teeth into that Big Mac. The saturated fat found in cheese burgers has been linked to heart attacks, strokes and some types of cancer..
'In fact, fast-food portions are gargantuan, almost double the calories per meal compared to 20 years ago,' Susan says. 'Twenty years ago the average fast-food cheeseburger had about 300 calories. Today's BK Whopper with cheese has 720. To burn the excess 420 calories, you'd have to run for 40 minutes. For example, in 1985 a medium French fry had 240 calories, 2.4 ounces. Today's 'medium' is 6.9 ounces and 610 calories.
'This fast-food meal of cheeseburger and fries has way too many calories and fat grams, not to mention grams of saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol and sodium.'
Let's break down this meal. First, take the white-flour bun (refined carbohydrates) , then add some processed cheese (saturated fat and trans fat, plus lots of additives and preservatives) and then top off with fried red meat (cholesterol and saturated fats). And let's not forget about the condiments such as the always fattening mayonnaise.
Not sounding so appetizing anymore, huh? Oh, and let's not forget about the infamous side dish. You cheeseburger will most likely come with a side of French fries, which is sadly the most popular vegetable dish in the U.S. Don't kid yourself, French fries are not vegetables, they are extremely high in fat and contain a tiny amount of nutrients.
3. Fried Chicken and Chicken Nuggets
With the recent class-action lawsuit between The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and KFC, the health risks posed by fried foods are becoming more public. The CSPI is suing the food chain for their use of cooking oil containing unhealthy trans fats. The lawsuit seeks to order KFC to use other types of cooking oils and to inform customers how much trans fats KFC's food contains.
Foods cooked in highly heated oils (most notably partially hydrogenated oil) have been known to cause cancer, weight gain and other serious health risks if ingested regularly. A 10-piece chicken McNugget from McDonald's has 420 calories, 24 grams of fat and 1120 milligrams of sodium. One Extra Crispy Chicken Breast from KFC has around 420 calories and eight grams of saturated fat. So unless you want to super size yourself, it's best to make a clean break with fried foods.
4. Oscar Mayer's Lunchables
Sure they are convenient and easy, but boy are they unhealthy! These kid-marketed lunches are loaded with saturated fat and sodium. They usually contain highly processed meats and cheeses, white flour crackers and sugary treats. Lunchables get two-thirds of their calories from fat and sugar. And they provide lopsided nutrition since they contain no fruits or vegetables.
'They insidiously promote obesity by making kids think that lunch normally comes in a cellophane-wrapped box,' Susan says. 'Parents are promoting their children's obesity by buying these items. They're expensive, too. Pack a sandwich and save dollars and health.'
5. Sugary Cereal
Not all cereals are created equally. And while your kids might beg for the latest cookie or marshmallow chocolate surprise cereals, it is a safe bet they are about as healthy as a dessert. Keywords to look out for are puffed, dyed and sweetened.
Most kids' cereals are so highly processed they no longer look like the grains they were originally made from. A healthy alternative is oatmeal. Although, if you are buying pre-packaged oatmeal make sure to check the label and see how much sugar it contains, you might be surprised.
'A little sugar isn't a problem but when the first ingredient on the box is sugar, then watch out,' she said. 'There is no fruit in Froot Loops. But the unsweetened original Cheerios or Rice Krispies are fine, and you can sweeten them naturally with blueberries and strawberries.'
6. Processed Meats.
What falls under the category of processed meats? Hot dogs, sausage, jerky, bacon, certain lunch meats and meats used in canned soup products. Almost all processed meats have sodium nitrite added as a preservative.
A recent study conducted at the University of Hawaii found that sodium nitrite can act as 'a precursor to highly carcinogenic nitrosamines -- potent cancer-causing chem! icals th a t accelerate the formation and growth of cancer cells throughout the body.' So eliminate these meats from your diet before they eliminate you!
7. Canned soup.
Sometimes regarded as a healthy food, soups can be very deceiving. You must stay on your guard because many canned soups have high levels of trans fats, sodium and artificial preservatives such as MSG. Just one serving (which is roughly one cup) can have almost 1,000 milligrams of salt. Also, steer clear of soups that are cream-based, they can be high in calories and fat.
Susan says it is important to 'read labels from back to front. Ignore the health claims, and instead focus on the ingredients and serving size. Watch out for hydrogenated fat (trans fat) and sodium. If you're buying bread to go with you soup, the first ingredient should be whole grain -- either whole wheat, rye or other grain. If it just says 'wheat bread,' that doesn't mean whole wheat.'
We all want our family to be healthy and happy, so steer clear of these foods. Think it's difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle? Think again!
1.Doughnuts
It's hard to resist the smell of a Krispy Kreme doughnut, which is why I never step foot in the store. Doughnuts are fried chock-full of sugar and white flour and loads of trans fat.
According to the Krispy Kreme website, an average 3.5 ounce sugar doughnut weighs in with about 400 calories and contains few other nutrients besides fat. These sugary treats may satisfy your craving but it won't satisfy your hunger as most of the calories come from fat.
'Eating a lot of refined sugar contributes to blood sugar 'swings' or extreme fluctuations,' eDiets Chief Nutritionist Susan Burke said.
2. Cheeseburger with fries
The age-old classic may be delicious but think twice before sinking your teeth into that Big Mac. The saturated fat found in cheese burgers has been linked to heart attacks, strokes and some types of cancer..
'In fact, fast-food portions are gargantuan, almost double the calories per meal compared to 20 years ago,' Susan says. 'Twenty years ago the average fast-food cheeseburger had about 300 calories. Today's BK Whopper with cheese has 720. To burn the excess 420 calories, you'd have to run for 40 minutes. For example, in 1985 a medium French fry had 240 calories, 2.4 ounces. Today's 'medium' is 6.9 ounces and 610 calories.
'This fast-food meal of cheeseburger and fries has way too many calories and fat grams, not to mention grams of saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol and sodium.'
Let's break down this meal. First, take the white-flour bun (refined carbohydrates) , then add some processed cheese (saturated fat and trans fat, plus lots of additives and preservatives) and then top off with fried red meat (cholesterol and saturated fats). And let's not forget about the condiments such as the always fattening mayonnaise.
Not sounding so appetizing anymore, huh? Oh, and let's not forget about the infamous side dish. You cheeseburger will most likely come with a side of French fries, which is sadly the most popular vegetable dish in the U.S. Don't kid yourself, French fries are not vegetables, they are extremely high in fat and contain a tiny amount of nutrients.
3. Fried Chicken and Chicken Nuggets
With the recent class-action lawsuit between The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and KFC, the health risks posed by fried foods are becoming more public. The CSPI is suing the food chain for their use of cooking oil containing unhealthy trans fats. The lawsuit seeks to order KFC to use other types of cooking oils and to inform customers how much trans fats KFC's food contains.
Foods cooked in highly heated oils (most notably partially hydrogenated oil) have been known to cause cancer, weight gain and other serious health risks if ingested regularly. A 10-piece chicken McNugget from McDonald's has 420 calories, 24 grams of fat and 1120 milligrams of sodium. One Extra Crispy Chicken Breast from KFC has around 420 calories and eight grams of saturated fat. So unless you want to super size yourself, it's best to make a clean break with fried foods.
4. Oscar Mayer's Lunchables
Sure they are convenient and easy, but boy are they unhealthy! These kid-marketed lunches are loaded with saturated fat and sodium. They usually contain highly processed meats and cheeses, white flour crackers and sugary treats. Lunchables get two-thirds of their calories from fat and sugar. And they provide lopsided nutrition since they contain no fruits or vegetables.
'They insidiously promote obesity by making kids think that lunch normally comes in a cellophane-wrapped box,' Susan says. 'Parents are promoting their children's obesity by buying these items. They're expensive, too. Pack a sandwich and save dollars and health.'
5. Sugary Cereal
Not all cereals are created equally. And while your kids might beg for the latest cookie or marshmallow chocolate surprise cereals, it is a safe bet they are about as healthy as a dessert. Keywords to look out for are puffed, dyed and sweetened.
Most kids' cereals are so highly processed they no longer look like the grains they were originally made from. A healthy alternative is oatmeal. Although, if you are buying pre-packaged oatmeal make sure to check the label and see how much sugar it contains, you might be surprised.
'A little sugar isn't a problem but when the first ingredient on the box is sugar, then watch out,' she said. 'There is no fruit in Froot Loops. But the unsweetened original Cheerios or Rice Krispies are fine, and you can sweeten them naturally with blueberries and strawberries.'
6. Processed Meats.
What falls under the category of processed meats? Hot dogs, sausage, jerky, bacon, certain lunch meats and meats used in canned soup products. Almost all processed meats have sodium nitrite added as a preservative.
A recent study conducted at the University of Hawaii found that sodium nitrite can act as 'a precursor to highly carcinogenic nitrosamines -- potent cancer-causing chem! icals th a t accelerate the formation and growth of cancer cells throughout the body.' So eliminate these meats from your diet before they eliminate you!
7. Canned soup.
Sometimes regarded as a healthy food, soups can be very deceiving. You must stay on your guard because many canned soups have high levels of trans fats, sodium and artificial preservatives such as MSG. Just one serving (which is roughly one cup) can have almost 1,000 milligrams of salt. Also, steer clear of soups that are cream-based, they can be high in calories and fat.
Susan says it is important to 'read labels from back to front. Ignore the health claims, and instead focus on the ingredients and serving size. Watch out for hydrogenated fat (trans fat) and sodium. If you're buying bread to go with you soup, the first ingredient should be whole grain -- either whole wheat, rye or other grain. If it just says 'wheat bread,' that doesn't mean whole wheat.'
We all want our family to be healthy and happy, so steer clear of these foods. Think it's difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle? Think again!
August 18, 2008
Christian Zionist Messianic: How It Views Islam and Muslims
Christian Zionist Messianic: How It Views Islam and Muslims
By Yoginder Sikand (an Indian writer)
Represented by literally hundreds of small denominations and churches today, particularly in America, evangelical Christian Zionist messianic is today a formidable force and a major actor in global politics. It exercises an enormous clout in the current Bush administration in America. George Bush, too, himself can be characterized as an arch upholder of this ideology, and his policies in the Middle East and elsewhere clearly reflect or tally with the Christian Zionist messianic agenda. Firmly supportive of Zionism, Israel and Israeli expansionism, Christian Zionist messianism is today one of the principal fountainheads of Islamophobia on the global scene.
This paper provides a general overview of the ideology of Christian Zionist messianism, focusing, in particular, on the way Islam and Muslims are depicted as an integral part ”in the role of the antagonistic “Other” of this ideology. It shows how Christian Zionist messianic expectations generate enormously destructive imperialistic and militaristic tendencies that threaten to drown the world in an unprecedented global war, with Muslims being projected as the principal “enemy”. The implications of this dangerous ideology, a combination of centuries of white racism and Islamophobia, Zionist claims to supremacy and aims at global domination and the machinations of the present global capitalistic order, for Muslims, and for the world at large, are then sought to be outlined. This it does by looking specifically at the writings and activities of one of the leading American Christian Zionist ideologues of today, John Hagee, senior pastor of the Cornerstone Church in San Antonia in Texas, in America’s notorious “Bible-belt”, which is also the bastion of white racism and supremacy in America.
Introduction
Approximately a tenth of the American population are today devoted members of the cult of Christian Zionist messianism, writes the noted scholar-activist Dan Cohn-Sherbook, himself a Jew and Professor of Judaism at the University of Wales in a recently published book, The Politics of Apocalypse ”The History and Influence of Christian Zionism. 'It is the fastest growing religious movement in Christianity today', he writes. Many followers of the cult are from the middle and upper-middle classes, followers of televangelists who wield enormous political and economic clout.
Christian Zionist Messianic are impelled by an imperialistic vision, of Jesus' impending arrival on earth as the Messiah, when he shall, so they believe, wipe out all his enemies (all non-Christians, presumably) and establish his global dominion, with his capital at Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Christian Zionists believe that they, as allegedly God's chosen people, will be spared the horrors of the global war that shall precede Jesus' advent, and will be miraculously wafted up to heaven, where they shall watch the final destruction of the world.
Christian Zionists believe that Jesus can only return to the world once the Jews colonize Palestine. This belief is based on the contentious claim that God had granted this land to the progeny of Abraham, through Isaac, that is the Jews, for eternity. This land is not restricted to the present borders of the state of Israel. Instead, Zionists, both Jewish and Christian, believe that a vast swathe of land, stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates, today inhabited by millions of Arab Muslims and Christians, belongs rightfully to the Jews, and so must be ethnically 'cleansed' of non-Jewish presence. Hence the justification they offer for their genocidal project aimed at the Arabs. Hence, too, their consistent backing to Israel, their generous funding of Jewish settlements in Palestine, and their enormous pressure on successive American governments to adopt rigorously pro-Israel and anti Palestinian policies.
Cohn-Sherbook traces the origins of Christian Zionism to the changing attitude of Christian groups towards the Jews following the Protestant Revolution. The early Catholic Church justified the witch-hunt of the Jews, labeling them as alleged Christ-killers. However, numerous Protestant sects, while equally vehemently anti-Jewish, believed that the Jews needed to colonize Palestine before Jesus would re-appear in the world to save it. This was, and still is, by no means a generous acceptance of the Jews. Rather, they believed, as Christian Zionists today do, that only those Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah would be saved. The rest would ally themselves with the Anti-Christ and would be defeated by Jesus and his forces and, consequently, would be sent off to eternal damnation in the fires of hell.
From the seventeenth century onwards, Cohn-Sherbook shows, numerous European, and, later American, Protestant churches began evolving schemes to settle the Jews in Palestine. This was also seen as a convenient way of getting rid of the Jewish presence in Europe. They petitioned various European powers to back this scheme. By the early nineteenth century, numerous British administrators had been won round to this idea, impelled, no doubt, also by a motive to undermine the Ottoman Empire, which at that time controlled Palestine, and by a deep-rooted aversion to Islam.
Increasingly, Christian Zionists began to join hands with secular Jewish Zionists, whose plans to settling Jews in Israel had nothing to do with any messianic hopes, but, rather, arose as a response to the centuries-old persecution of Jews by European Christians. (In contrast, Cohn-Sherbook rightly notes, “In Arab lands, Jews had flourished for centuries [while] in European countries Jewry had been subject to oppression and persecution”.
Ties between secular Jewish Zionists and Christian Zionists to pursue the common project of Jewish colonization of Palestine were strengthened by the support given to Theodore Herzl (b.1860), the Hungarian Jew who is regarded as the father of modern-day Zionism. Cohn-Sherbook traces in considerable detail the course of this close collaboration down to the present-day, describing the strong political and financial links between Christian and Israeli/Jewish Zionists and also the enormous clout of the Zionist lobby in American political circles.
Christian Zionism, based on a virulently anti-Islamic agenda, is a major hurdle to peace not just in West Asia but globally, too. Indeed, some Christian Zionists even ardently wish (and work for) a final global war or Armageddon, in the belief that this would accelerate their hoped-for wafting up to heaven and the subsequent arrival of Jesus. Christian Zionist messianic is a call for global war. The belief that Christianity is the sole truth, that all other faiths are “Satanic” or “false”, that the Jews must all gather in Palestine to fulfill so-called Biblical prophecies, and that a grand global war will soon erupt leading to the massacre of hundreds of millions and heralding the “second coming” of Jesus, who will establish his Christian kingdom extending till the four corners of the world, clearly indicate the hate-driven, global expansionist project of Christian Zionism.
In his remarkable book, The Cross and the Crescent: The Rise of American Evangelism and the Future of Muslims, Muhammad Arif Zakaullah brings out in considerable detail how Christian Zionist messianic have specifically framed and targeted Muslims as allegedly being in league with the Anti-Christ and against whom Jesus and the Christians must fight in a bloody war of unprecedented dimensions in the last days. This explains, Zakaullah writes, their unstinting support to Israel and its brutal suppression of the Palestinians, and their fervent backing of America’s invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and its so-called “war on terror”. Zakaullah quotes several leading American Christian messianic evangelists as describing Islam and Muslims in lurid colours and branding it as irredeemably ‘anti-Christian’. Not surprisingly, he writes, they have been among the most fierce backers of America’s imperialist misadventures that many Muslims see as directed against them. American imperialism is thus sought to be given a suitable ‘Christian’ sanction, and is presented as working to usher in Jesus’ triumphant return to the world. War and bloodshed on an unimaginable scale, mainly against Muslims, and not peace and reconciliation, American Christian fundamentalists seem to believe, will herald the eventual establishment of the Kingdom of God, the rule of supposedly pious Christians all over the globe.
John Hagee: Ideologue of Christian Zionist Messianic Imperialism and Advocate Of Cosmic War Against Islam and Muslims John Hagee is today recognized the world over as one of the leading ideologues of contemporary Christian Zionist messianic. He is the founder and pastor of the Cornerstone Church, in Texas, USA, which claims some 18,000 active members.
As with numerous other similar American Christian fundamentalist preachers, his church is richly endowed and media savvy. Hagee is the president of the ”Global Evangelism” media company that broadcasts his daily programmes on television and radio throughout the USA and around the world. He is the author of numerous books on Christian Zionism, some of which have been reprinted by Christian fundamentalist publishers abroad as well.
Final Dawn over Jerusalem is one of Hagee’s major writings on Christian Zionism that well exemplifies the imperialist agenda that lies at its very core. The aim of the book is to defend the Israeli occupation of Palestine, to denounce those who seek to protest Israeli atrocities, and to advocate the cause of “Greater Israel”, all this in the name of Christianity and premised on the notion of the Jews as being allegedly God’s “Chosen People”.
Racism is integral to the Christian Zionist message, as Hagee makes amply clear. The Bible, Hagee, says, describes the Jews as “the apple of God’s eye” [Zech 2:8]. He quotes the Bible as addressing the Jews and declaring, “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” [Deut.14:2]. This means, so Hagee argues, that those who harm the Jews or the state of Israel or stand in the way of the design of “Greater Israel” will “experience the instant wrath of God”. To those who dare to challenge the oppressive Zionist state, Hagee announces, “The man or nation that lifts a voice or hand against Israel invites the wrath of God.” Such people will, Hagee insists, be “cursed” by God.
Hagee’s notion of God thus appears to be that of a tribal Jewish deity, who functions as a willing tool in the pursuit of Jewish expansionism. The Bible was written by Jewish hands, and given that, as many liberal Christians would themselves concede, much of it is a human product, numerous Biblical verses were written in order to legitimize the interests of the community from which its writers were drawn. This would seem obvious to any discerning layman, but Biblical literalists like Hagee vehemently disagree. For them every word of the Bible is sacrosanct and divine. Biblical literalism is pressed into the service of the Christian Zionist messianic imperialist and racist agenda. Drawing upon numerous verses of the Bible, Hagee argues, “God watches over Israel as a protective parent hovers over an only child”. “The nation of Israel”, he makes so bold as to declare, “was created by a sovereign act of God. All other nations were created by an act of war or a declaration of men, but Israel was intentionally created by God so that He would have a physical place of inheritance on the earth.” Accordingly, Hagee would have us believe that for this god, who is seen as in need of a “physical place” for himself, non-Jews or Gentiles, are second-rate human beings or less, and so can easily be dispensed with if they are seen as coming in the way of Jewish imperialism.
The tribal Jewish version of God that Hagee presents appears entirely unjust and arbitrary, far from being impartial in the way he deals with His creation. Given the fact that the God of the Biblical literalism imagination is a Jewish deity, and not the universal God who looks upon His entire creation impartially, he is seen as blessing Jewish conquests of territories of their enemies. Thus, quoting the Bible, Hagee writes that God gave the land of “Greater Israel”, a vast swathe of land stretching from Egypt all the way till Iraq, to the Jews, descendants of Isaac, forever. That being the case, Hagee suggests that people living in those territories, millions of Arabs, both Muslims and Christians, have no right to live there or else must accept to live under Jewish rule. Although Hagee does not say this explicitly, what this means is that those who refuse to accept Jewish rule must, therefore, be either killed or expelled.
The god of Hagee’s imagination appears as an entirely whimsical real estate agent. “God established Israel’s national geographic boundaries”, Hagee writes. “The exact borders of Israel are detailed in Scripture just as our heavenly Father dictated them”, he goes on, adding, “The divine Surveyor drove the original stakes into Judean soil and decreed that no one should ever change these property lines. The real estate contract and lands covenants were signed in blood and stand to this very hour”. Hence, he argues, “Jews have the absolute right as mandated by God to the land of Israel and, more specifically, to the city of Jerusalem”. Hence, he suggests, Palestinians have no claim to their own historical land, and must make way for Jewish occupiers.
Hagee’s defense of Zionist imperialism goes to ridiculous lengths. Laughable as this may sound, he argues, “Israel has a Spy in the sky” God Himself. God, he claims, provides Israel, the Jewish people and the state of Israel, with special protection. “No nation in the world can match the defensive force guarding the State of Israel. The archangel Michael has a special assignment to guard Israel”. And those who, for any reason oppose Israel, and this includes Palestinians fighting Israeli occupation and oppression, are said to incur God’s wrath. “The Lord stands watch in the darkest night with an eye trained on the nation of Israel and, more specifically, Jerusalem. Those who fight with Israel fight with Him”, Hagee asserts.
So central is Israel to Hagee’s tribalisms version of God that he goes to the extent of arguing that the fate of each and every person on the face of the planet depends essentially on his or her attitude to the Jews. “Prosperity or punishment depends on how we treat Israel”, he alleges, because, he claims, the Jews, as descendants of Abraham “enjoy heavenly favour”. To back his claim he quotes the Bible as saying that when God entered into a covenant with Abraham, He gave him an “awesome promise”, saying, “I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” [Gen. 12:3]. Hence, Hagee insists, the United States, and, indeed, anyone else who wishes to please God, must consistently engage in “compassionate support of the State of Israel”, adding that, ”The quickest and most effective way to be on God's side is to stand with the State of Israel and the Jewish people in their hour of need”. By doing this, he claims, one can win God’s favour, because, “God blesses the man or nation that blesses Israel or the Jewish people”.
At no time before, Hagee firmly believes, has support for Israel and Zionist imperialism, been more crucial than today. This is because, he claims, Jesus is returning to the world soon, and Israel must be protected in order to welcome the Messiah. Hagee’s image of Jesus in his “second coming” bears no resemblance to the familiar notion of the suffering, loving Christ. Rather, in his description Jesus appears as a fierce warrior, rallying Christians to arms and heralding the final, global war, ironically in the name of the “Prince of Peace”. In the doomsday scenario that Hagee outlines, what he calls ”fanatical attacks” by Arabs on Israel, particularly Jerusalem, would mount. In response, Christians the world over, he says, must rally behind Israel. At this hour, he insists, “we must let the world know that if a line has to be drawn, it will be drawn around Christians as well as Jews. We are united and indivisible”.
The city of Jerusalem, Hagee believes, is the crux of the final battle before Jesus’ “second coming”. This city, considered sacred by Jews, Muslims and Christians alike, has been ordained, so Hagee argues, by God to be “under the exclusive control of the Jewish people” until Jesus arrives again. The final battle of Armageddon will, he writes, be centred on this city, with Arabs or Muslims seeking to wrest control of it from the Jews. In this regard, Hagee says, Christians, for their part, must staunchly defend Israel and must refuse any peace offers, such as allowing for a shared Jerusalem or joint control of the town by Jews and Arabs. In particular, he appeals to the United States to do everything in its power to back Israel and to crush its opponents, claiming this is the only way to win God’s favour. If America fails to do this, so he warns, it would be crushed by God Himself!
Quoting various verses of the Bible, Hagee describes what he sees as the unfolding of events of cosmic proportions, ushering in a global war the like of which has never been witnessed hitherto and heralding the “second coming of Jesus”. In this global war, he says, Muslims, whom he regards as followers of a “false” religion, would ally with the Russians to fight against Israel. This would lead to a global nuclear war, with hundreds of millions being killed. At this point, the “Anti-Christ” will appear, attack Jerusalem and will take over the reigns of the world, falsely claiming to usher in peace. But, this grand deception will not last long, and, instead, will only lead to even more devastating wars. At this time, Hagee says, Christians must defend, by every means possible, the Jews and Israel, and wage war against the armies of those opposed to God’s “Chosen Race”, the Jews. Only then can they be saved, he insists.
After years of global war and terrible destruction, Hagee writes, Jesus will be sent by God to deliver the world. Mounted on a white horse, he will arrive at the battlefield at Armageddon. Defeating the “Anti-Christ” and his army, he will establish his global kingdom with his capital in Jerusalem, there to ”rule and reign forever”. Hagee’s description of Jesus’ future global kingdom offers little cause to cheer for non-Christians, including, ironically, even the Jews whom he so ardently defends. It would, as he himself makes clear, be nothing short of a global Christian empire, and an antiquated one at that, with kings and queens and presidents still in place! How they would continue to be around when Jesus rules the whole world is a mystery that Hagee leaves unsolved.
Ruled by Jesus, Hagee writes, “Jerusalem, the apple of God’s eye, will become the joy of the world. The city will become the international worship center, and people from all over the world will make pilgrimages to worship in the holy temple. Kings, queens, princes and presidents shall come to the Holy City to adore Jesus”. Presumably, these all will be Christians themselves, for Hagee quotes the Bible as predicting that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”.
In a more recent book on the same subject, titled Jerusalem Countdown: A Prelude to War, Hagee further elaborates on the theme of a global war against Islam and Muslims that he appeals to Christians and Jews to jointly launch, arguing that this is precisely what Jesus wants to happen before his Second Coming. Not surprisingly, and like other Christian Zionist messianic evangelists, Hagee is convinced that there can be absolutely no room for dialogue with Muslims, principally because, so he argues, Christians and Jews, on the one hand, and Muslims, on the other, do not worship the same God. In fact, he goes so far as to claim that the God of the Jews and the Christians is the diametrical opposite of the Muslim God. Accordingly, he presents Islam in the most lurid colours. He claims that Islam aims at nothing short of exterminating all non-Muslims and establishing a one-world Islamic government. Islam, he argues, is “a doctrine of death” which promotes “terrorism”. He approvingly quotes George Bush as having declared that America “is at war with Islamic fascists” and insists that “This is a religious war” and that “there is no room for compromise”.
Hagee writes that America, and “Christendom” more generally, along with the Jews, are now deeply involved in the final war that will supposedly herald the return of Jesus as messiah, a war in which Christians and Jews are pitted against Muslims. All Christians (and Jews), he asserts, must participate whole-heartedly in this cosmic war because, he says, if America loses the war, “[T]he Law of Shariah, the Islamic law, will rule America and the Western world. Christian churches and synagogues will be burned to the ground. Every Christian who refuses to denounce Jesus to accept Allah will be decapitated. Radical Islam does not want us to be quiet, they want us to be dead.”
Hagee, like many of his fellow Christian fundamentalists, fervently exhorts America to take the lead in bloody attacks against Muslim states that are opposed to Israeli brutalities, because he sees these as fundamentally ”anti-Christian”. In this regard, he singles out Iran, one of the most militarily powerful Muslim countries in the world and certainly the most vocally opposed to American imperialism, for particular attack. He claims that Iran is rapidly building up a nuclear stockpile, which it intends, so he says, to use to bomb and destroy Israel and perhaps America. Before that can happen, he insists, America must take the initiative and invade and destroy Iran, particularly targeting its nuclear facilities. This step, he argues, would actually be “part of God’s plan for the future of Israel and the entire world”, in that it would drive the world to the global disaster of Armageddon, “the countdown that will usher in the end of the world”. This will be, so he claims, followed by the rise of the Anti-Christ, and then, finally, the Second Coming of Jesus, when all non-Christians, including Muslims, will be slain. In short, a global war against Islam and
Muslims is precisely what Hagee, like many others of his ilk, want to see unleashed in the hope that their wild messianic expectations will thereby be fulfilled.
Conclusion
Based on a fundamental hatred for Islam and Muslims, a legacy of many centuries, Christian Zionist messianic has emerged as one of the most pressing and disastrous threats and challenges of our times. With the massive financial and political clout that it wields, particularly in America, it is the new face of Western imperialism, one that is inherently and fiercely opposed to people of other faiths and even to Christians who do not subscribe to its bloody doctrines.
Islam and Muslims have a special place in the ideology of Christian Zionist messianic fascism: as alleged “enemies” of God. Based on this bizarre belief, theological sanction is sought for bloody wars against Muslims the world over. This ideology has instigated and is being used to justify American (and Israeli) imperialist aggression in many Muslim countries today, and possibly against Iran in the near future. Clearly, Muslims need to be aware of this dangerous project and take appropriate measures. So, also, do other non-Christians, who, like Muslims, are seen as doomed to hell by Christian fundamentalists. And so, too, do other Christians, who relate to their religious traditions in different ways and who firmly believe that the Christian Zionist messianic project represents a fundamental betrayal of the message of Jesus Christ, ironically a betrayal being so aggressively perpetrated in his name.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
**Boycott Israel**Support Palestine**
**Boycott Israel**Support Palestine**
KURMA DARI ISRAEL...JAUHKAN DAN JANGAN BELI..
Product of Israel
Kurma berjenama "JORDAN RIVER" di atas bukanlah dari Jordan tetapi hasil Israel..
Bercetak jenama "Jordan River" itu sebenarnya bukan dari Jordan tetapi dihasilkan dari negara Israel ..dan diimport serta dikotakkan
di Singapura tapi di edarkan di Malaysia. Ia ditanam di satu kawasan luas di bahagian timur Isreal yang bersempadan dengan Palestin. Ia
dipunyai oleh seorang Yahudi yang kaya...dan ramai pekerja-pekerjanya berbangsa Yahudi dan hasil penjualan kurma itu digunakan untuk
tabung orang-orang Yahudi.
Pendedahan ini dibuat oleh akhbar Berita Harian Singapura. Para Muslimin sekalian diharap jangan membeli kurma jenis
ini..kasihanlah terhadap rakyat Palestin yang hari-hari ditindas dan dibunuh kejam oleh rejim Yahudi ini.
Perangi Yahudi dalam apa cara sekalipun, walaupun dari segi ekonomi.
Bercetak jenama "Jordan River" itu sebenarnya bukan dari Jordan tetapi dihasilkan dari negara Israel ..dan diimport serta dikotakkan
di Singapura tapi di edarkan di Malaysia. Ia ditanam di satu kawasan luas di bahagian timur Isreal yang bersempadan dengan Palestin. Ia
dipunyai oleh seorang Yahudi yang kaya...dan ramai pekerja-pekerjanya berbangsa Yahudi dan hasil penjualan kurma itu digunakan untuk
tabung orang-orang Yahudi.
Pendedahan ini dibuat oleh akhbar Berita Harian Singapura. Para Muslimin sekalian diharap jangan membeli kurma jenis
ini..kasihanlah terhadap rakyat Palestin yang hari-hari ditindas dan dibunuh kejam oleh rejim Yahudi ini.
Perangi Yahudi dalam apa cara sekalipun, walaupun dari segi ekonomi.
August 05, 2008
KESAN ZIKIR PADA OTAK DAN KESIHATAN KITA
Otak hanyalah aktiviti-aktiviti bio-elektrik yang melibatkan sekumpulan saraf yang dipertanggungjawabk an untuk melakukan tugas-tugas tertentu bagi membolehkan ia berfungsi dengan sempurna. Setiap hari 14 juta saraf yang membentuk otak ini berinteraksi dengan 16 juta saraf tubuh yang lain. Semua aktiviti yang kita lakukan dan kefahaman atau ilmu yang kita peroleh adalah natijah daripada aliran interaksi bio-elektrik yang tidak terbatas.
Oleh itu, apabila seorang itu berzikir dengan mengulangi kalimat-kalimat Allah, seperti Subhanallah, beberapa kawasan otak yang terlibat menjadi aktif. Ini menyebabkan berlakunya satu aliran bio-elektrik di kawasan-kawasan saraf otak tersebut. Apabila zikir disebut berulang-ulang kali, aktiviti saraf ini menjadi bertambah aktif dan turut menambah tenaga bio-elektrik. Lama-kelamaan kumpulan saraf yang sangat aktif ini mempengaruhi kumpulan saraf yang lain untuk turut sama aktif. Dengan itu, otak menjadi aktif secara keseluruhan. Otak mula memahami perkara baru, melihat dari sudut perspektif berbeza dan semakin kreatif dan kritis, sedang sebelum berzikir otak tidak begini. Otak yang segar dan cergas secara tidak langsung mempengaruhi hati untuk melakukan kebaikan dan menerima kebenaran.
Hasil kajian makmal yang dilakukan terhadap subjek ini dimuatkan dalam majalah Scientific American, keluaran Disember 1993. satu kajian yang dilakukan di Universiti Washington dan ujian ini dilakukan melalui ujian imbasan PET yang mengukur kadar aktiviti otak manusia secara tidak sedar. Dalam kajian ini, sukarelawan diberikan satu senarai perkataan benda. Mereka dikehendaki membaca setiap perkataan tersebut satu persatu dan mengaitkan perkataan-perkataan dengan kata kerja yang berkaitan. Apabila sukarelawan melakukan tugas mereka, beberapa bahagian berbeza otak mempamerkan peningkatan aktiviti saraf, termasuk di bahagian depan otak dan korteks.
Menariknya, apabila sukarelawan ini mengulangi senarai perkataan yang sama berulang-ulang kali, aktiviti saraf otak merebak pada kawasan lain dan mengaktifkan kawasan saraf lain. Apabila senarai perkataan baru diberikan kepada mereka, aktiviti saraf kembali meningkat di kawasan pertama. Ini sekali gus membuktikan secara saintifik bahawa perkataan yang diulang-ulang seperti perbuatan berzikir, terbukti meningkatkan kecergasan otak dan menambah kemampuannya.
Oleh itu, saudara-saudara ku seIslam, ketika saintis Barat baru menemui mukjizat ini, kita umat terpilih ini telah lama mengamalkannya dan menerima manfaatnya. Malang bagi mereka yang masih memandang enteng kepentingan berzikir dan mengabaikannya.
July 22, 2008
Water or Coke?
I could not believe this..... Very interesting
WATER
#1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.(Likely applies to half the world population)
#4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.
#5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
#6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
or Coke?
#7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a ! printed page.
#8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water you should drink every day?
COKE
#1. In many states the highway patrol carries
two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from
the highway after a car accident
#2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke
and it will be gone in two days.
#3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the
toilet bowl and let the 'real thing' sit for one hour,
then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes
stains from vitreous China .
#4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers:
Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds
Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
#5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour
a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble
away the corrosion.
#6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola
to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
#7. To bake a moist beef: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into
the baking pan, wrap the beef in aluminum foil, and bake.
Thirty minutes before beef is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix
with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.
#8... To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke
into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run
through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen
grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your
windshield.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION:
#1. the active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid.
It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric
acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major
contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis.
#2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup! (the concentrate) the
commercial trucks must use a hazardous Material place
cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.
#3. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean
engines of the trucks for about 20 years!
Now the question is, would you like a glass of
water?
COKE
#1. In many states the highway patrol carries
two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from
the highway after a car accident
#2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke
and it will be gone in two days.
#3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the
toilet bowl and let the 'real thing' sit for one hour,
then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes
stains from vitreous China .
#4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers:
Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds
Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
#5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour
a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble
away the corrosion.
#6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola
to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
#7. To bake a moist beef: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into
the baking pan, wrap the beef in aluminum foil, and bake.
Thirty minutes before beef is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix
with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.
#8... To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke
into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run
through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen
grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your
windshield.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION:
#1. the active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid.
It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric
acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major
contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis.
#2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup! (the concentrate) the
commercial trucks must use a hazardous Material place
cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.
#3. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean
engines of the trucks for about 20 years!
Now the question is, would you like a glass of
water?
or Coke?
July 13, 2008
Sue Watson, Professor, Pastor, Church Planter and Missionary, Now in Saudi Arabia
http://www.islamreligion.com/
"What happened to you?" This was usually the first reaction I encountered when my former classmates, friends and co-pastors saw me after having embraced Islam. I suppose I couldn't blame them, I was a highly unlikely the person to change religions. Formerly, I was a professor, pastor, church planter and missionary. If anyone was a radical fundamentalist it was I.
I had just graduated with my Master's Degree of Divinity from an elite seminary five months before. It was after that time I met a lady who had worked in Saudi Arabia and had embraced Islam. Of course, I asked her about the treatment of women in Islam. I was shocked at her answer, it wasn't what I expected, so I proceeded to ask other questions relating to God and Muhammad [may the blessing and mercy of God be upon him]. She informed me that she would take me to the Islamic Center where they would be better able to answer my questions.
Being prayed up, meaning-asking Jesus for protection against demon spirits, seeing that what we had been taught about Islam is that it is Demonic and Satanic religion. Having taught Evangelism, I was quite shocked at their approach, it was direct and straightforward. No intimidation, no harassment, no psychological manipulation, no subliminal influence! None of this, "Let's have a Quranic study in your house," like a counter part of the Bible study. I couldn’t believe it! They gave me some books and told me if I had some questions they were available to answer them in the office. That night I read all of the books they gave. It was the first time I had ever read a book about Islam written by a Muslim, we had studied and read books about Islam only written by Christians. The next day I spent three hours at the office asking questions. This went on everyday for a week, by which time I had read twelve books and knew why Muslims are the hardest people in the world to convert to Christianity. Why? Because there is nothing to offer them!! (In Islam) There is a relationship with God, forgiveness of sins, salvation and promise of Eternal Life.
Naturally, my first question centered on the deity of God. Who is this God that the Muslims worship? We had been taught as Christians that this is another god, a false god, when, in fact, He is the Omniscient-All Knowing, Omnipotent-All Powerful, and Omnipresent-All Present God - The One and Only without co-partners or co-equal. It is interesting to note that there were bishops during the first three hundred years of the Church that were teaching as the Muslim believes, that Jesus [may the blessing and mercy of God be upon him] was a prophet and teacher!! It was only after the conversion of Emperor Constantine that he was the one to call and introduce the doctrine of the Trinity. He, a convert to Christianity who knew nothing of this religion, introduced a paganistic concept that goes back to Babylonian times. Space, however, does not permit me to go into detail about the subject, but God willing, we will another time. Only, I must point out that the word TRINITY is not found in the Bible in any of its many translation nor is it found in the original Greek or Hebrew languages!
My other important question centered on Muhammad [may the blessing and mercy of God be upon him]. Who is this Muhammad? I found out that Muslims do not pray to him like the Christians pray to Jesus. He is not an intermediary and in fact it is forbidden to pray to him. We ask blessing upon him at the end of our prayer but likewise we ask blessings on Abraham. He is a Prophet and a Messenger, the final and last Prophet. In fact, until now, one thousand four hundred and eighteen years (1,418) later there has been no prophet after him. His message is for All Mankind, as opposed to the message of Jesus or Moses (peace be upon them both) which was sent to the Jews. "Hear O Israel" But the message is the same message of God. "The Lord Your God is One God and you shall have no other gods before Me." (Mark 12:29)
Because prayer was a very important part of my Christian life I was both interested and curious to know what the Muslims were praying. As Christians we were as ignorant on this aspect of Muslim belief as on the other aspects. We thought and were taught, that the Muslims were bowing down to the Kaaba (in Mecca), that that was there god and center point of this false deity. Again, I was shocked to learn that the manner of prayer is prescribed by God, Himself. The words of the prayer are one of praise and exaltation. The approach to prayer (ablution or washing) in cleanliness is under the direction of God. He is a Holy God and it is not for us to approach Him in an arbitrary manner, but only reasonable that He should tell us how we should approach Him.
At the end of that week after having spent eight (8) years of formal theological studies, I knew cognitively (head knowledge) that Islam was true. But I did not embrace Islam at that time because I did not believe it in my heart. I continued to pray, to read the Bible, to attend lectures at the Islamic Center. I was in earnest asking and seeking God's direction. It is not easy to change your religion. I did not want to loose my salvation if there was salvation to loose. I continued to be shocked and amazed at what I was learning because it was not what I was taught that Islam believed. In my Master's level, the professor I had was respected as an authority on Islam yet his teaching and that of Christianity in general is full of Misunderstanding. He and many Christians like him are sincere but they are sincerely wrong.
Two months later after having once again prayed seeking God's direction, I felt something drop into my being! I sat up, and it was the first time I was to use the name of God, and I said, "God, I believe you are the One and Only True God." There was peace that descended upon me and from that day four years ago until now I have never regretted embracing Islam. This decision did not come without trial. I was fired from my job as I was teaching in two Bible Colleges at that time, ostracized by my former classmates, professors and co-pastors, disowned by my husband's family, misunderstood by my adult children and made a suspicion by my own government. Without the faith that enables man to stand up to Satanic forces I would not have been able to withstand all of this. I am ever so grateful to God that I am a Muslim and may I live and die a Muslim.
"Truly, my prayer, my service of sacrifice, my life and my death are all for God the Cherisher of the Worlds. No partner has He, this I am commanded. And I am the first of those who bow to God in Islam." (Quran 6:162-163)
Sister Khadijah Watson is presently working as a teacher for women in one of the Da'wah (Invitation to Islam) Centers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
For more testimony: http://www.islamreligion.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
