17 posts tagged “religion”
Originally from the Seattle Times
As we rode the bus from Alexandria to Cairo on the last day of our tour, Eman, the Egyptologist who had been with us for two weeks, asked us for highlights.
One by one the answers came — Abu Simbel, the Unfinished Obelisk, Alexandria's Catacombs, the Temple of Philae at night. None of us had been to Egypt before; each of us was satiated to the point of sensory overload. My husband simply said, "I can't choose just one thing; it was all wonderful."
When it was my turn, I was horrified to feel the emotion welling in my throat. "The call to prayer," I blurted out.
Eman looked at me. "Did you say 'the call to prayer'? No one has ever said that before." "Yes, I found it deeply moving ... " I answered, wondering myself why I had said that.
The trip to Egypt was our first visit to a Muslim country. I had worried about it before we left Seattle, wondering if — as an American — I would sense hostility toward Westerners. Would I feel like a voyeur who's come to peer at monuments and temples, then disappear after spending my tourist dollars? Would I leave a negative imprint?
I knew I could be just an observer, because my Arabic understanding was limited to reading numerals and speaking the pat phrases "Shukraan" (thank you), "As-salaam alaykum" (a greeting), and my favourite, because it was so melodic in Arabic, "Alhamdoolillah" (thanks be to God).
Once we arrived in Egypt, I felt comfortable travelling its length, despite (or maybe because of) its armed guards who accompanied us on our bus and the visible presence of the tourist police force — men on camels, foot, horseback — vigilantly watching for trouble.
Each day, Eman subtly reminded us of life's delicate balance with her "Insha'Allah" (God willing), uttered whenever she referred to planned activities. Every morning and always at noon (with three additional occasions — afternoon, sunset and night), no matter where we were, the call to prayer stopped me with its demand for conscious reflection, its appeal for perspective and gratefulness. At home, I don't pray on a schedule; I have stepped away from organized religion. But my psyche so yearns for life's spiritual dimension that I continue to seek the connection. Having mundane activities interrupted with the muezzin's audible cry to God was a showstopper for me.
Now, snuggled back into my Lake Forest Park home, I have had time to reflect on how deeply our American Judeo-Christian roots are enmeshed with the tenets of Islam. I cannot help thinking about Iraq, where the day also begins, is interrupted, and ends with the call to prayer. It is a reminder of life's holy rhythm, not a summons to brutality. What poor students of life we human beings must be, to have failed so utterly to pay attention to the meaning of our own rituals.
I found this through browsing the net , a lady from Seattle in the United States shares its memories about Egypt please read it in the end
First of all Happy Molud , today marks the Birthday of Prophet Mohammed PBUH
Second in this occasion I would like to share you with something related to Islam and the myths about it ,the most universal myth spread in the world that it forces people to embrace it.
My simple answer on that based on logic ,if Islam forces people to embrace it how come there are still Christians,Jews and Zoroastrians in the Muslim World till now , how come there are still temples and churches in the Muslim world.
Some wise people come and tell me your Quran says so and so , it is contradicting itself
This myth is based on misunderstanding for verses in the Quran , Non Muslims do not know that there are certain verses that were revealed in certain occasions like during the wars between Prophet Mohammed "PBUH" and the tribes of Mecca,also we should not forget that the Quran Arabic language is very sophisticated ,western do not usual understand it and thus any translation can give wrong meaning.
Anyhow I always wanted to tickle this subject ,it is my duty ,well this honour was taken from me by dear Friend Fadfadation who did a great and fantastic job in debunking this myth.
Please check his post he wrote under the title :
Please spread this link because it is so important.
Merry Christmas to all the Egyptian Orthodox Christians all over the world.
The 7th of January became a national day in Egypt both Christians and Muslims take it as day off according to one of Mubarak's fewest wisest decision he had ever taken
In the occasion I would like to share with you some shots I took from the Saint Constantine Church in Cairo , I was invited last month to attend the wedding ceremony of my neighbour and my childhood Friend.
It is an Orthodox church ,its style of building reminds with the Byzantine style, I wanted to take more photos but I could not because there was a wedding
We are all speaking about the Egyptian and Syrian losses in the six days war 40th anniversary and forgetting the most important loss of all in that war Jerusalem ,old Jerusalem , for this I decided not to speak about our failure to protect the holy city again but instead I decided to share with you something I found from quite a time and I think it is great
The Panoramic inside view of Al-Aqsa Mosque , the furthermost Mosque, the third holiest Place for the Muslims where they should Pilgrim to
Most people don't know how the mosque looks from inside , already they are confused the Mosque , the Dome of the rock , the famous trick move one of my Christian friend made me realize from several years that the Israelis intended to make us forget about the real Mosque ,concentrate on the Dome of the rock as if it were Al-Aqsa Mosque at least for the young generations
Anyhow here is a link from the Visual Dhikr graphics company please enjoy the virtual trip because it is so beautiful and great
Also don't forget not to share as many people as you can , this is not a Muslim thing , more a curious thing to know more about the reasons of the conflict , on what there is a big fight
well what do you know ??
After attacking the practice of Male Circumcision in Islam for centuries by the west ,now it is recognized by WHO itself that it is an effective way to combat HIV
You know I wish to know what Nawal El-Sadawy thinks about this because she kept attacking the Male circumcision practice in Islam as if it were the female Circumcision
By the way the female Circumcision is not an Islamic practice like many think and it is known in the west , in fact it is an eastern practice , it is an African practice ,Prophet Mohamed "PBUH" didn't have his daughters Circumcised
I always wanted to hint this point out
The female circumcision is an African habit, very bad one on the health of the woman on the contrary of the male circumcision , to prove that it is not an Islamic practice , you can notice that it is not practiced in the eastern part of the Islamic world , or what is known as the Eastern Arab world.
It is only practice again in Africa, it is more of a social custom that is practiced till now in the country side
I will take this quote from Islamonline and share it with you
There is nothing in the sources, either the Quran or the Sunnah, to suggest that it is a PRESCRIBED ritual of initiation for women in Islam.
It is common knowledge in Islam that if the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had wanted female circumcision to be an integral aspect of religious practice in Islam the same way that male circumcision is, he would have said so clearly. Since he did not do so, we can safely assume it is not a prescribed ritual of Islam."
It is not obligatory in Islam and the prophetic quotes regarding this can not be described as strong and even according to the quote which many are not sure about the precis words are "Reduce the size of the clitoris but do not exceed the limit" not the whole Clitoris like it is done now by the way in Egypt at least in family it was considered as a social custom not a religious one , my mother and sisters were not circumcised and it wasn't a big thing ,this didn't consider it as a religious practice
Again it is not obligatory like the male Circumcision , which is not only practiced in Islam but also in Judaism , I remember my grand mother told me that the one who had circumcised her elder brother was the grand rabbi in Cairo , and that same brother while working as diplomat in Brazil in 1960s where they were many Egyptian Jews , he noticed that many of their rabbis were also circumcising the Muslim boys ,well back it was much tolerant.
Anyhow when I read this ,I wonder whether the west would still consider it a barbaric act anymore of the East , I know that many interracial marriages between Muslim men and western women were ended because the refusal of those women to circumcise their boys !!
Strangely as I said Nawal El-Sadawy and several of her women supporters were taking a stand against the male circumcise saying that it increases the chances for HIV infection !! So what do they think about that ??
It is well known for along time in Egypt that the male circumcision can be a method of protection from the HIV as many doctors had stated
The male Circumcision is practiced now by the doctor , my best friend's baby was circumcised from couple of months ,I guess in last Ramdan because we had breakfast together and then she left with her husband to the doctor , of course the baby was too small for this operation but many are recommending it in early age ,I don't know why
Of course it hurt him but strangely it turned out that the Urine helps in closing the wound , now he is fine Mash Allah
In the common popular areas and in the past I know there was a profession of Male Circumciser and that in popular areas there are used to have celebrations when the boy is circumcised and this is well shown in Salah Jahin's puppets master piece "The Grand Eve" , the big celebration with music and belly dancers ,of course it is not celebrated like it is used but still in country side and upper Egypt is considered a big event and it should be celebrated
Dr. Mustafa Mahmoud is fine and he himself denies the false and ridiclous claims of Dr. Lotus Abd El-Karim
Dr. Mahmoud the famous islamic thinker and scientist made an appearance in hit show "Cairo Today on "El-Youm" Channel in the Orbit network
He is old of course and tired but not in the miserable terrible strange hocus pocus situation Abd El-Karim spoke about
Judge by yourselves
To tell you the truth I didn't pay much attention to the massacre that happened in the Virginia Tech ,yes it is horrible and I felt so sad to the families of the victims and angry that they lost their beloved ones because some crazy manic But I felt even more sadder and angrier when I knew that there was an Egyptian among the victims who were killed by crazy Cho.
It turned out among the victims according to Virginia Tech. institute the Egyptian researcher Walid Mohamed Shabaan from Zagagzig in Delta , a doctoral student in civil engineering , he was working in the national center for Water researches and had a personal scholarship for PHD there since August 2006.
An excellent and bright scientist and researcher as I knew today , a good son and father of a baby that he didn't see and won't see except in the other life , his baby boy Khaled is only 1 year and 5months
There is no much about him in the American media ,I don't know why they neglected him , I check the New York Times and I found nothing , in the American TV the same thing
Already I think his story is tragic even more tragic than many of the victims because this young man finished his study ,took his degree and was supposed to leave and return back home to Egypt on that day of the massacre , he should have returned home by today
Instead he will return home dead
The only thing I think that will bring peace to his family and beloved ones ,also to the victims families that this man and those victims are in heaven because they are science and knowledge seekers and in Islam the science and knowledge Seeker is like the fighter for rightness ,there is a prophetical quote for prophet Mohamed "PBUH" in what it means that the Angels protect the Knowledge seeker when he is away from home , if he dies he will go to heaven
May Allah bless his soul and the souls of the other victims and give patience to their families and those who will miss them
Please read the fataha on the soul of Dr. Walid Shalaan
Sources
MSNBC : Profiles of victims
Filbalad : An Egyptian researcher among the victims
Al-Ahram : Walid wanted to return to Egypt
This is an old post I made and forgot ,I think it is suitable for the Friday 13th
I read a strange news in the E-Newspaper"El-Masryon"" which is somehow can be considered an Islamist , in their tabloid section which is taken or in better word is copied from other cheap tabloid newspapers , there was this tiny news about veiled actress and singer who will be sharing in some yoga event in Sharm Sheikh that will be attended by one of the the Dalai Lama 's students !!
And this is just another suspicious event as from couple of years ,there was an announcement of some yoga event attended by some lady who turned to be coming in Egypt to spread Buddhism thankfully the security knew the trick and was so close to catch her but she just vanished
I remember this lady and I remember seeing the ads in the newspapers and the streets and there was no mention of yoga as far as I can recall
First of all I practice Yoga , well not that often but I tried to practice it last year regularly and thus I read about it extensively from different sources.
Yoga is not a practice from Buddhism , it is one of the six schools of the Hindu philosophy , you can check more about it in wikipedia's article which is full of information , yes there are some kinds of Yoga in Buddhism but if you read carefully you will find that it originated in India, the home land of Yoga , do not forget that both religions respect meditation , already Yoga is a combination between Meditation and exercise that gives you very healthy body
I don't see anything in Islam against Yoga and its practice , because the main thing in Yoga is meditation and Islam doesn't prohibit meditation on the contrary ,Prophets Ibrahim "Abraham" and Mohamed "PBUH" both of them reached to God through the meditation , yes of course the holy spirit angel "Gabriel" came down to earth to them , but they thought in the world around and them , thinking in God's creation and the Universe I think is some kind of an order in the holy Quran, it is mentioned several times. For Instance when I used to practice Yoga ,I used to close my eyes ,trying not to think in anything at first and just say "Sobhan Allah" and similar praises inside me , of course I could not stay more than 20 minutes in the same place on one position doing nothing . Yes Yoga is the product of the Hinduism but in the end of the day I worship Allah and I pray to the Mecca's direction not lighting up candles for Shiva with all my respects to the Hindus
In fact I believe that one of the deadliest problem in the Islamic world now that we don't practice meditation like before in our golden age
Anyhow all I want to say this may not be some evil Buddhism conspiracy to invade the Islamic Egypt like the "El-Masryon" and the original tabloid wanted to make it appear like ,I don't know about the event or the organizers but I hate giving people the wrong kind of information based upon ignorance and misconception.With all respect those journalists working in an e-newspaper that claims to defend the Islamic view in Egypt first they shouldn't publish tabloid news based upon it was said , they shouldn't defame people except when they have a hard evidence, second thing , they should mention the complete information
You know it is like when Rosa El-Youssef magazine from couple of years talked about the scientology church and considered it a Zionist attempt to defame Christianity !!
Link to Did the Red Sea Part? No Evidence, Archaeologists Say - New York Times
Ok but it is not only in the Bible or the Torah ,it is also in the Holy Quran and what is mentioned in the Holy Quran is not a myth , and as far as I know Dr.Hawas is a Muslim so I don't understand what he is saying
Already I know where the Bush they are speaking about it is the Saint Catherine Monastery
Dr. Zahi Hawas I think accidentally not only attacked the Jewish and Christian but also attacked and offended the Islamic faith and its believers when he said that he didn't care
I won't say anything except as some one who reads a lot in the old ancient Egyptian history that I agree with Dr. Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud, the head of the excavation who is wisely offered another theory for what happened in the Exodus that it could have took place in the modern state , the Pharaoh was drowned and the whole army was killed and that was a crisis and Egyptians never had documented crisis
“This is a crisis for Egypt, and Egyptians do not document their crises.”
Really we are since the beginning of history big fat hypocrites who only mention their rulers success but not their defeats never , we even change in the history to make them appear victorious !!
Something like this wouldn't be documented in a temple or what ever , for God Sake the Whole Aton religion belief was completely destroyed till they found the Amrana city , Tut Ank Amon was totally forgotten till Howard Carter found him
The ancient Egyptians were just like us people with big pride , come on we don't have as much power as they had yet we act as if we were the masters of the universe !!
It is not an excuse that Dr. Hawas didn't find anything that support the Story of the exodus ,that it didn't take place ,already in that way he is saying that the story which Prophet Mohamed "PBUH" said regarding the maid of the pharaoh's daughter didn't took place either !!
For those who don't know the maid of the Pharaoh's daughter was a believer of God from the Israelites who refused to convert to worship the pharaoh and thus she was tortured that the pharaoh's soldiers threw her children in boiled oil in order to force her to convert but she refused yet she began to fear on her baby between her arms , a little baby couple of months ,she looked at him and suddenly spoke telling her not to fear because "God" Allah is with them ,when that miracle happen she herself jumped to oil with the baby in her arm
I am sorry but I believe this story and I think our ancestors didn't document it because it showed that they were wrong and they paid for that
Foolishly Hawas doesn't only dismiss the The Exodus Testament but also the Holy Quran , for God Sake I can not number how many times this story is mentioned in the holy Quran since the first chapter !!
This is not an Arab - Israeli conflict thing , nor a history or science stuff , this is a matter of faith , why we are afraid to admit that we had once cruel ruler !!?? Come one we are having one already !!
You know sometimes I think in the exodus and I believe it is more political then religious, the dictatorship and how the dictators' lives end , and I think one of the disadvantages that our ancestors didn't document this miserable end for the cruel ruler of Egypt in order to give a lesson and wisdom to the future rulers of Egypt
don't why I have the feeling that the article or the review is more about Tariq Ramadan more than the book. Already Tariq is very controversial from a very controversial family and I know that his opinions are causing lots of debate in the west.
He is very interesting personality but what about the book itself !!?? I don't think that it is fair review I am sorry
I think that from the review the book seems interesting giving the western reader the real facts about Prophet Mohamed "PBUH"
anyhow here is the link of Amazon.com about the Book "In the footsteps of the Prophet"
and below there is the link from the New York Times
Link to In the Footsteps of the Prophet - Tariq Ramadan - Books - Review - New York Times
You know Ramadan is not the first one to try to prove that the Islam is not a danger on the western democracy , Amr Khaled is doing so too but of course Ramadan is always under the spot light due to his grand father and controversial opinions
