Al's reflective blog

New blog

2006-03-27T11:41:00.000+01:00

For all those people who amazingly still frequent my blog, I've decided to start a new blog.
But this new blog is just going to be a chill, nothing serious at all. Hopefully a bit of a laugh.

Check it out:

http://www.alschilled.blogspot.com/

Al's Articles

2005-10-18T13:20:00.000+01:00

For those who may be interested, Al's articles has been updated with the old articles I once wrote for a student newspaper.

I may post on this site as I'm currently working on an article.

The link is available on the right hand side "Al's Articles"

Al's reflective blog

2005-10-16T13:08:00.000+01:00

As-salâmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullâh

I'm sure everyone is aware of the current situation in Pakistan.

For those who want to know the current progress and the situation as it happens from a brother who has travelled to the region in order to help the aid effort, please follow http://islamiblog.blogspot.com/

There is an urgent need for donations, donation details are available on the site. Please donate generously in this blessed month and remember those who have been affected.

So far the site has collected £35,000, which has already been spent, now there is a desperate need for more money.

Please donate from your hearts fi sabi lillah.

I ask you all to forward this mail onto others, and collectively insha'Allah we can help our brothers and sisters in their time of need.

Jazâkumallâho Khayran

Was-salâmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullâh

Al Strikes Back!

2005-08-19T14:52:00.000+01:00

For those who have been wondering about the updates to my blog. Recent job changes etc have made it difficult for me to write anything. I will try however to update once a week minimum.

I’ve decided to take this blog in a new direction, after comments from close friends and my dearest wife (masha’Allah) I’ve decided to write things from my own perspective (as opposed to the majority of the blog being written in an informative way).

This is probably dangerous, my own cranium can barely handle the ramblings of my ever aging mind- never mind the three people and a chipmunk that will probably read this blog.

Now that I’m here, why not write a little? Get me back in the flow once again.

This Jean Charles de Menezes case totally sucks. From the beginning of the bombings this whole thing has been dodgy, and this being one of the most obvious cover-ups of all time has finally come out.

What was done by the police was nothing short of terrorism. What does make me wonder is, what if Jean Charles was let’s say Asian and Muslim- Would the truth have ever come out?

It would have been very easy to say he was a suicide bomber and case closed, it’s a little harder when the person is Brazilian and has no connection to Islam whatsoever.

What has disappointed me greatly has been the reaction of the British Public from the very beginning of this tragedy. Listening to phone ins on the radio constantly, the public were so firmly behind their police force.

I find a lot of what I heard insane, if a group of people walk up to you with guns, I would be surprised if every single person wouldn’t head for the busiest place possible. Yet this was criticised constantly all over the media, typically I’ve heard “if he had nothing to hide, he wouldn’t have run” this has seriously made me doubt the sanity of the average person out there.

And now (as was known a long time ago) it has come to light that this guy never ran anywhere, in fact he was sat calmly. Oh and he never wore a huge padded jacket or jumped any turnstiles. Looks like the cover up went badly wrong.

I wish the British public would wake up, if the government are willing to cover up relatively minor issues then what about the London bombings? the Iraq war and on and on?

I’ve seen a few programs recently trying to identify the roots and causes of extremism, I remember one program who implied a certain imam was extremist, simply because he demanded evidence that the London bombings were carried out by Muslims. What kind of democracy has this place become, when the reporter answered his question she said “They were present at the time of the bombings” . Ummm so were countless others! Either my head is going backwards or the IQ of the world is rapidly decaying.

This is just a minor rant, as I have a lot of work to do. But as I said before I’ll aim for one post a week God Willing.

Let’s just end with a bit of benefit:

Ibn Umar used to say,
"If you reach the evening then do not expect to reach the morning, and if you reach the morning then do not expect to reach the evening. Take from your health before your sickness, and from your life before your death." - [Reported by al-Bukhârî]

Doesn’t it just put life into perspective?

Steadfastness of the Sahaba under Persecution

2005-08-01T15:21:00.000+01:00

At the beginning of the fourth year of the Call, and for a period of some months, the polytheists confined their harassment tactics to the above-mentioned ones. But on realizing the futility of these procedures, they decided to organize a full-scale opposition campaign. They called for a general meeting and elected a committee of twenty-five men of Quraish notables with Abu Lahab, the Prophet’s uncle, as a chairman. Following some lengthy deliberations, they reached a decisive decision to take measures deemed to stop the tidal wave of Islam through different channels. They were determined to spare no effort, in combatting the new faith. They decided to malign the Messenger of Allâh and put the new converts to different sorts of torture using all available resources. It was easy to put the resolutions relating to the new converts who were deemed weak into effect. As for the Prophet , it was not easy to malign him because he had such gravity, magnanimity and matchless perfection of character that deterred even his enemies from committing any act of folly against him. He had, as well, Abu Talib, his uncle, who came from a noble descent and had an awe-inspiring clan to support him. This situation was a source of great worry to the infidels, but they felt that they could no longer exercise patience or show any tolerance before a formidable power marching steadily to annul their religious office and temporal authority.

Abu Lahab himself took the initiative in the new series of persecutions, and started to mete out countless aspects of harmful deeds, hatred and spite against Muhammad . Starting with flinging stones at him, forcing his two sons to divorce their wives Ruqaiya and Umm Kulthum, the Prophet’s daughters, gloating over him on his second son’s death calling him ‘the man cut off with offspring’, and then shadowing his step during the pilgrimage and forums seasons to belie him and entice the bedouins against him and his Call. His wife, Umm Jameel bint Harb, the sister of Abu Sufyan had also her share in this ruthless campaign. She proved that she was not less than her husband in the enmity and hatred she harboured for the Prophet . She used to tie bundles of thorns with ropes of twisted palm-leaf fibre and strew them about in the paths which the Prophet was expected to take, in order to cause him bodily injury. She was a real shrew, bad-tempered with abusive language, highly skilled in the art of hatching intrigues, and enkindling the fire of discord and sedition. She was deservedly stained as ‘the carrier of firewood’ in the Noble Qur’ân. On receiving this news, she directly proceeded to the Mosque with a handful of pebbles to hurl at the Prophet . Allâh, the Great, took away her sight and she saw only Abu Bakr who was sitting immediately next to the Prophet . She then addressed Abu Bakr most audaciously threatening to break his Companion’s mouth with her handful of pebbles, and recited a line of verse pregnant with impudent defiance: "We have disobeyed the dispraised one, rejected his Call, and alienated ourselves from his religion." When she had left, Abu Bakr turned to the Prophet and inquired about the matter. The Prophet assured him that she did not see him because Allâh had taken away her sight.

Abu Lahab and his household used to inflict those shameful examples of torture and harassment in spite of the blood relation that tied them for he was the Prophet’s uncle and both lived in two contiguous houses. Actually, few of the Prophet’s neighbours abstained from maligning him. They even threw the entrails of a goat on his back while he was performing his prayers. He always used to complain about that unbecoming neighbourliness but to no avail for they were deeply indulged in error.

Al-Bukhari, on the authority of Ibn Mas‘ud, narrated that once when the Prophet was prostrating himself while praying in Al-Ka‘bah, Abu Jahl asked his companions to bring the dirty foetus of a she-camel and place it on his back. ‘Uqbah bin Abi Mu‘ait was the unfortunate man who hastened to do this ignoble act. A peal of laughter rose amongst the infidels. In the meanwhile, Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet , happened to pass that way. She removed the filth from her father’s back. The Prophet invoked the wrath of Allâh upon them, especially upon Abu Jahl, ‘Utbah bin Rabi‘a, Shaibah bin Rabi‘a, Al-Waleed bin ‘Utbah, Omaiyah bin Khalaf and ‘Uqbah bin Mu‘ait. It is recorded that all of them were killed in the battle of Badr.

Scandal-mongering and backbiting were also amongst the means of oppression that the chiefs of Makkah, in general, and Omaiyah bin Khalaf, in particular, resorted to in their overall process of evil-doing. In this regard, Allâh says:

"Woe to every slanderer and backbiter." [104:1]

‘Uqbah bin Al-Mu‘ait once attended an audience of the Prophet and listened to him preaching Islam. A close friend of his, Ubai bin Khalaf, heard of this. He could not tolerate any act of this sort, so he reproached ‘Uqbah and ordered him to spit in the Prophet’s holy face, and he shamelessly did it. Ubai did not spare any thinkable way to malign the Prophet ; he even ground old decomposed bones and blew the powder on him. Al-Akhnas bin Shuraique Ath-Thaqafi used to detract from the character of the Prophet in season and out of season. The Noble Qur’ân, in direct reference to this man’s ignominious deeds, attached to him nine abominable traits:

"And obey not everyone who swears much, — and is considered worthless, a slanderer, going about with calumnies, hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, cruel — after all that base-born (of illegitimate birth)." [68:10-13]

Abu Jahl’s arrogance and haughtiness blocked all avenues that could produce the least light of belief in his heart:

"So he (the disbeliever) neither believed (in this Qur’ân, in the Message of Muhammad ) nor prayed!" [75:31]

He, moreover, wanted to debar the Prophet from the Noble Sanctuary. It happened once that the Prophet was praying within the precinct of the Sacred House, when Abu Jahl proceeded threateningly and uttering abusive language. The Prophet chided him severely to which Abu Jahl answered back defiantly claiming that he was the mightiest in Makkah; Allâh then revealed:

"Then, let him call upon his council (of helpers)." [96:17]

In another version of the same incident, the Prophet took Abu Jahl by his neck, rocked him severely saying:

"Woe to you [O man (disbeliever)]! And then (again) woe to you! Again, woe to you [O man (disbeliever)]! And then (again) woe to you!" [75:34, 35].

Notwithstanding this reproach, Abu Jahl would never wake up to himself nor did he realize his foolish practices. On the contrary, he was determined to go to extremes, and swore he would dust the Messenger’s face and tread on his neck. No sooner had he proceeded to fulfill his wicked intention than he was seen turning back shielding himself with his hands (as if something horrible in his pursuit). His companions asked him what the matter was. He said: "I perceived a ditch of burning fire and some wings flying." Later on, the Messenger commented saying, "If he had proceeded further, the angels would have plucked off his limbs one after another."

Such was the disgraceful treatment meted out to the Prophet , the great man, respected as he was by his compatriots, with an influential man, his uncle Abu Talib, at his back to support him. If the matters were so with the Prophet , what about those people deemed weak with no clan to support them? Let us consider their situation in some detail. Whenever Abu Jahl heard of the conversion of a man of high birth with powerful friends, he would degrade his prudence and intellect, undermine his judgement; and threaten him with dire consequences if he was a merchant. If the new convert was socially weak, he would beat him ruthlessly and put him to unspeakable tortures.

The uncle of ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan used to wrap ‘Uthman in a mat of palm leaves, and set fire under him. When Umm Mus‘ab bin ‘Umair heard of her son’s conversion, she put him to starvation and then expelled him from her house. He used to enjoy full luxurious easy life, but in the aftermath of the tortures he sustained, his skin got wizened, and he assumed a horrible physical appearance.

Bilal, the slave of Omaiyah bin Khalaf, was severely beaten by his master when the latter came to know of his conversion to Islam. Sometimes a rope was put around his neck and street boys were made to drag him through the streets and even across the hillocks of Makkah. At times he was subjected to prolonged deprivation of food and drink; at others he was bound up, made to lie down on the burning sand and under the crushing burden of heavy stones. Similar other measures were resorted to in order to force him to recant. All this proved in vain. He persisted in his belief in the Oneness of Allâh. On one such occasion, Abu Bakr was passing by; moved by pity, he purchased and emancipated him from slavery.
Another victim of the highhandedness of Quraish was ‘Ammar bin Yasir, a freed slave of Bani Makhzoum. He, along with his mother and father, embraced Islam in its early phase. They were repeatedly made to lie on the burning sand and were beaten severely. ‘Ammar was at times tossed up on embers. The Prophet was greatly moved by the atrocities which were being perpetrated upon ‘Ammar and his family. He always comforted them and raised his hand in prayer and said: "Be patient, you will verily find your abode in the Paradise." Yasir, the father, died because of repeated tortures. Sumaiyah, ‘Ammar’s mother was bayoneted to death by Abu Jahl himself, and thus merited the title of the first woman martyr in Islam. ‘Ammar himself was subjected to various modes of torture and was always threatened to sustain severe suffering unless he abused Muhammad and recanted to Al-Lat and ‘Uzza. In a weak moment, he uttered a word construed as recantation though his heart never wavered and he came back once to the Prophet , who consoled him for his pain and confirmed his faith. Immediately afterwards the following verse was revealed:

"Whoever disbelieved in Allâh after his belief, except him who is forced thereto and whose heart is at rest with Faith —." [16:106]

Abu Fakeeh, Aflah, a freed slave of Bani ‘Abd Ad-Dar was the third of those helpless victims. The oppressors used to fasten his feet with a rope and drag him in the streets of Makkah.

Khabbab bin Al-Aratt was also an easy victim to similar outrages on every possible occasion. He experienced exemplary torture and maltreatment. The Makkan polytheists used to pull his hair and twist his neck, and made him lie on burning coal with a big rock on his chest to prevent him from escaping. Some Muslims of rank and position were wrapped in the raw skins of camels and thrown away, and others were put in armours and cast on burning sand in the scorching sun of Arabia.

Even the women converts were not spared, and the list is too long to include all of them. Zanirah, An-Nahdiyah and her daughter, Umm ‘Ubais and many others had their full share of persecution at the hand of the oppressors — ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab included — of course before his conversion to Islam.

Abu Bakr, a wealthy believer, purchased and freed some of those she-slaves, just as he did with regard to Bilal and ‘Amir bin Fuheirah.

Taken from “Ar Raheeq al Makhtum” published by Dar as Salaam
www.islaam.net

May Allah grant us such patience in these trying times.

A tiny, honest reflection

2005-07-21T15:44:00.000+01:00

Perhaps it has been a good time to step away from the blog, a time for less to be said and more to reflect upon.

7/7 as it has become known, has come and gone. It has left an imprint upon British society which will probably never fade. Ultimately lives were lost, for some people the world changed on that very day.

Everyone has an agenda, for those who wanted to justify the actions of the perpetrators they have done so. Anybody who supported the “war on terror” can now aptly quote 7/7 as yet another example of why they engage in such a “bold” struggle for the good of humanity. For those who want to make life as difficult as possible for the Muslims- they are currently engaged in cementing their efforts.

Everyone has taken what they have wanted from the tragedy and used it to support their argument- little has been learnt, even less has been reflected upon.

The “War on terror” will continue- lives will be lost all over the world. Tony Blair refuses to admit the significance of the invasion of Iraq upon 7/7. He cannot possibly state that Iraq was a major factor in whoever was behind the attacks- if he did, it would be difficult to justify the next invasion. When, where or how is likely to be revealed over time.

Lives have been made difficult for the British people, terror alerts and evacuations all around the country. In particular the Muslims have suffered, abuse and violence has been directed towards the Muslim community. Muslims find themselves closely monitored, possibly even more so than before. The government has what they see as acceptable Islam, and they want to ensure that this is followed in this country. Everything that falls outside of these boundaries may find itself imprisoned, deported or even worse.

What has gone wrong? From the beginning of 7/7 the media propaganda has tried to stir up the public as much as possible. It does seem there was an aim from the onset, or perhaps it was merely sensationalism. Either way a lot of damage has been done to the name of Islam and the Muslims.

Whether the perpetrators were or were not Muslim, the reality of this may never be known, what is known is lives have been lost and they will continue to be lost.

If only divine guidance was the driving force before every action:

This (the Qur'ân) is a plain statement for mankind, a guidance and instruction to those who are Al-Muttaqûn (the pious)(Al-Imran 3:138)

Some Thoughts on the London Attacks

2005-07-12T13:05:00.000+01:00

by Abu Zubair

Mustawrid al-Qurashi reported: I heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) saying: The Last Hour would come (when) the Romans would form a majority amongst the people. 'Amr said to him (Mustawrid Qurashi): See what you are saying? He said: I say what I heard from Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him). Thereupon he said: If you say that, it is a fact for they have four qualities. They have (1) the patience to undergo a trial and (2) immediately restore themselves to sanity after trouble and (3) attack again after flight. (4) They (have the quality) of being good to the destitute and the orphans, to the weak and, fifthly, the good quality in them is that they resist the oppression of kings.
This tradition, as reported in Sahih Muslim, comes in affirmation of the virtue of the Romans, or as they are known today, the Europeans. All four praiseworthy qualities mentioned in the above tradition were witnessed on the 7th of July 2005. It is commendable to witness the emergency services very affectively responding to the crisis, and even more admirable was to see the British people caught up in the attack, their faces covered with black smoke mixed with their blood, yet with smiles on their faces. It comes in confirmation of the aforementioned tradition to see London back on its feet the next day. The zeal amongst the ordinary British population towards the eradication of poverty cannot be ignored, irrespective of the motives of the politicians behind the G8.

As a Muslim living in Britain during these trying times, how could I forget the fifth and a very special quality mentioned in the tradition: ‘they resist the oppression of kings’? Muslims the world over, and in particular the Muslims in Britain, show gratitude to the British Public that demonstrated against the terror on Afghanistan and Iraq, as they also protested against the draconian Anti-Terror laws and showed support for Babar Ahmad waiting to be extradited to the US without any evidence. The British public have commendably far surpassed, in their efforts for the control order detainees, the British Muslims who have succumbed to fear from day one.

The ordinary British public did not deserve the 7th of July. The Blair government lied and misled the British public over Iraq. Blair joined the Bush crusade against Afghanistan and Iraq to make the world a ‘safer place’, but that did not prevent a 7/7. The government brought in the controversial and draconian Anti-Terrorism legislation but that did not prevent a 7/7. The government locked up innocent foreign nationals indefinitely in Belmarsh without charge or trial. When the detentions were finally declared illegal by the Law Lords, the government placed the so-called terror suspects under control orders, but that did not prevent a 7/7. The government signed a one way extradition treaty with the US and decided to ship Babar Ahmad, after inflicting serious life threatening injuries on him, and to this day he sits in prison, but that did not prevent a 7/7. What more could be an embarrassment for the government, than for Charles Clarke to admit that no preventive measures – including the ID cards – can prevent an attack like 7/7? What is distressing, however, is that Charles Clarke still considers these draconian laws and preventive measures ‘helpful’. But this begs the question: In what way can more draconian Anti-Terror laws be ‘helpful’ if they cannot prevent mass destruction of life and property?

This has been a very important episode for the Blair government to take lessons from. If they were a responsible government, they would question the effectiveness of their Anti-Terror laws that are only affecting the law abiding Muslim community, while there remains not a clue about the real perpetrators of the attack. The fact that London was taken by surprise highlights the quality of intelligence on which the Blair government launched its terrorist attack on Iraq where the death toll continues to rise, as well as the seven hundred arrests based on such questionable intelligence, only half of whom are charged with only about 17 convictions. If the government truly wants security for its citizens, it is time they took themselves to account.

As for the perpetrators, then I pray and hope that they were not Muslims. It has been over 48 hours since the attacks, and the government bodies still haven’t a clue as to the motive. However, based on the assumption that the perpetrators were Muslims, the heart feels devastated. The heart feels devastated because the attacks come more as an assault on Islamic values of fairness, justice and moral values.

More than 1400 years ago when Europe was still in the Dark Ages, the Prophet (peace be upon him) laid down the rules of engagement in war and ordered his men to spare the lives of non-combatants, women, children, the aged and the tradesmen who have no part to play in war. Al-Bukhari reports that in one of the battles, the Prophet (peace be upon him) came across a slain woman. He then ordered his companions not to kill women and children. At another occasion, the Prophet (peace be upon him) heard about another slain woman, he said: She was not fighting! (Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah). The scholars deduced from this and other incidents, the absolute prohibition of intentionally targeting women and children. As a matter of fact, the Malikis went as far as prohibiting attacking the enemies if they use innocent women and children as human shields, thus for them killing women and children even collaterally with the enemy is prohibited. Even though in the Geneva Convention collateral damage is accepted to a degree when legitimate military targets are attacked, for the Malikis such collateral damage remains prohibited. I cite this example, not to approve of the Maliki position, but just to give an idea of the moral standards amongst some of the prominent jurists who have been a source of pride to the Muslims.

The Muslims have historically enjoyed a glorious record of fairness and justice towards their friends and foes, in times of war and peace. The great leader Salah al-Din, the one who subdued the first crusades is known not only by Muslims, but also by the Western world for his fairness and mercy towards the Christians residing in the Holy land, as well as the invading Christian settlers from Europe. Those amongst the captives who did not have the resources to free themselves, were freed and pardoned by Salah al-Din. This was the spirit of the classical successful Jihad movements who were nourished by the Quranic verse:

“O you who believe! Stand out firmly for God, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety: and fear God. For God is well-acquainted with all that you do” al-Quran 5:8

The great Spanish scholar al-Qurtubi says while explaining this verse: ‘The fact that someone disbelieves, does not prevent us from being just to him, and that our dealing with them (in a state of war) should only be restricted to fighting or capturing them if they deserve so. It is not permissible to mutilate their bodies, even if they kill our women and children to cause us grief, it is not for us to intentionally mutilate them to cause them grief and sorrow’.
Apart from fairness and justice, Muslims have historically been the guardians of oaths and treaties, whilst the violation of treaties has been the hallmark of their enemies. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) entered into a treaty with the polytheists of Makkah, one of the clauses stated that anyone who embraces Islam from the Makkans and seeks refuge in Madina must be returned. Once, a Makkan called Abu Jandal embraced Islam, fled Makkah and sought refuge with the Muslims in Madina. Upon hearing about the treaty, he said to the Muslims in shock: O Muslims! Am I going to be returned to the polytheists whilst I have come here as a Muslim?! Have you not noticed the torture I endured?! The Prophet (peace be upon him) said in response: O Abu Jandal! Have patience and hope for recompense for we do not violate pacts. Allah will show you a way out and relief.

It is time for the perpetrators and their sympathisers to step back and contemplate upon the actions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) who would hand over a Muslim to his torturers out of respect for the pact he signed with the polytheists. It is time for them to reflect on the Prophet’s statement:

‘Whoever kills a Mu’ahid (a disbeliever with pact of security with Muslims), will never smell the musk of Paradise, although its musk is smelt from the distance of forty years!’ (al-Bukhari) It is time for them to ponder over the Prophet’s words when he said: ‘There is no Iman (faith) for the one who gives no security, and there is no religion for the one who does not respect his treaties.’ (Ahmad)

These were the moral standards set by the Prophet (peace be upon him) and instilled in the hearts of true Islamic warriors. Due to these Prophetic injunctions, the great jurists of Islam differed with respect to a Muslim prisoner of war, if he is released by the enemies on the condition that he must return with a ransom, if he is not able to find the ransom, should he willingly return to captivity or not. The majority of the jurists said he should not, whilst the Malikis argued that he must return to captivity for he failed to fulfil the condition of his release! Our intention here is not to prefer one opinion over the other, rather the intention is to show the consideration for moral values amongst our jurists.
Muslims living in Britain, irrespective of which country of origin they are from, be they British nationals or residents in Britain legally or illegally, all have been allowed in the country with a mutual pact of security. Just as the British police have a legal and a moral responsibility towards all Muslims residing in Britain, the Muslims too have a legal, religious and a moral responsibility towards British lives and property, even if Britain is at war with Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. It becomes religiously incumbent upon the Muslims to be law abiding citizens of Britain in all matters that do not contradict their religion. Thus, the Muslims are religiously prohibited from stealing, cheating, not to mention mass destruction of lives and property. Muslim jurists have clearly stated that if a Muslim enters Dar al-Harb (any non-Muslim country irrespective of whether or not it is at war with Muslims) with ‘Aqd Aman – which is a mutual pact of security, it is not permissible for him then to steal or cause harm to anyone.

Some of the sympathisers of these attacks may not accept the theological argument due to their lack of knowledge and understanding. But at least we can agree that these attacks did not serve any cause. In fact, if there is anyone rejoicing at these attacks then it is the Blair regime, for this is exactly what they had been waiting for in order to rush through even more draconian legislation. Incitement to Religious hatred targeting Muslims will surely be passed without problems. No MP would dare to oppose the ID cards in case he is seen too soft on terror. These attacks have come much to the horror and disappointment for Babar Ahmad whose campaign recently gained a momentum, his family and friends who have been relentlessly campaigning for him since the day he was beaten up by the Anti-Terrorist thugs. The attacks were a great setback to the cause of foreign nationals detained without charge, under control orders or awaiting extradition to a strange land. Moreover, these attacks were a major setback to the Islamic human rights movement in Britain. The perpetrators gained nothing for any of the Islamic causes either at home or abroad, and if anything, they aided the Bush and Blair alliance and destroyed years of our work within an hour.
This is where the Muslim community must play its role in tackling those who are bent on destroying what we have been building for decades. I say this quite painfully that our Muslim community in Britain is often used and abused by career minded, self-centred personalities who use us as a platform to attain their aspirations. They are regarded to be the elite amongst us with city jobs, living in their ivory towers, completely detached from the vast majority of the Muslim population in this country that is either self-employed or jobless, and undereducated. Due to their detachment from the grass-root Muslim community, they often presume that Muslims hide terrorists amongst their ranks, which gives the government the fodder it needs to criminalise Muslim communities. Whenever there is any terrorist attack in the world, they are the first and the loudest to voice condemnation of such attacks. Although, they are not criticised for their condemnation, the question still comes to mind, that if it really was in their interests to prevent such attack from occurring in Britain, they would have tried their best in reaching out to the vulnerable young people who may fall victims to wrong ideas. This requires coming back down to earth, living with the younger generation, sharing their worries and concerns and showing them alternatives. There were press releases straight after 9/11, but that did not prevent a 7/7. The press releases following 7/7 will likewise do nothing to prevent further atrocities. What matters is not that we condemn and distance ourselves from these atrocities; rather, what matters is that we prevent them from ever happening again.

It is of paramount importance at this stage, that the Muslim community keeps faith in Allah and continues to live as normal, but with a lot more confidence than ever before. Times of crisis are always tests for believers. A Muslim community is only tested so that Allah knows the truthful amongst the believers and the hypocrites, those who remain steadfast on their faith and conviction, and those who succumb to fear and pressure. Read the life of our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions in their early struggles in Makkah. Whatever happens to us, is not a tenth of what happened to them. We should also be aware of falling into extremism or negligence, for often at times of crisis we notice the phenomena of Muslims going from one extreme to the other. Islam is a balanced religion, between extremism and negligence.

After the atrocities, there has been much condemnation from various Muslim bodies, and rightly so. We pray and hope that the perpetrators are not Muslims, and until we know, although there is nothing wrong with condemning an evil, let us not point our fingers at anyone. The least a Muslim is obliged to do is to condemn the evil of 7/7 in his heart, in accordance with the Hadeeth of the Prophet (peace be upon him): ‘If anyone of you sees in evil… let him condemn it in his heart, and that is the weakest level of faith’. However, let not our condemnation of 7/7 evil overshadow the evil and vile policies of Bush and Blair and their terror crusade against Afghanistan and Iraq where the death toll of innocent people continues to rise. The hell we experienced on the 7th of July is daily life for the innocent civilians in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine. British life is no more precious than an Afghani or an Iraqi life, for a human life is not measured by the strength of the currency. It is with much sadness I notice that the Muslims are too afraid to even partially blame the Blair government for the 7/7 menace, whilst other prominent members of British public have very courageously expressed their views, no matter how controversial they may sound to some ears. Many of our figureheads surely need some lessons in bravery and courage from these good British citizens, if they find it difficult to find passages of such courage in the pages our history.

The opportunistic Blair government has already begun to capitalise on this event by talking about rushing in emergency Anti-Terror powers. As usual, these laws will not affect those who carried out the bombings. It will only affect the law abiding Muslim and non-Muslim citizens of this country. We should expect more and more detentions without charge, and even less convictions. This Labour government is not willing to listen or understand, and Blair is not from the politicians who regularly change their minds. This means that the Muslims in this country now face an uphill struggle to protect their civil liberties. The burden of responsibility on our community leaders is now greater than ever to motivate the masses to defend our rights. In the event of any attempt to further curtail our freedoms, there must be mass protests, demonstrations, rallies, lobbying, petitioning and all forms of legitimate methods that will make the Muslims heard loud and clear. We cannot afford to continue singing the songs of condemnation and apologies and let the Blairites get away with eroding our civil liberties and making us slaves.

It is also a crucial moment for us to realise our shortcomings towards the wider society in which we live. Muslims have been residing in this country for decades, but the interaction with the wider community has always been insignificant. Muslims have undoubtedly contributed to the society, albeit slightly. Over a period of time we have ghettoised ourselves to our own disadvantage and remained disengaged from the mainstream British society. It comes as no surprise that after 9/11 we are looked at as the fifth column. The time is nigh that we reach out to the wider community, contribute and play a responsible role in the society. The methodology of the Prophets in Da’wah was more than simply calling people to Allah, for they were equally important contributors to the needs of the society as they were Prophets and Messengers.

Lastly, at this critical time, the Muslims are required more than ever to stick together and be there to support and encourage each other to remain steadfast and patient with what Allah is decreed. Allah only tests those whom He loves, and Allah’s Hand is over the Jama’ah – the main body of the Muslims. Our history tells us that in unity lies strength. Through our unity can we gain confidence to be who we are, speak the truth and preserve our beliefs, convictions and identity. Unity is the most effective way to deal with the fear factor overwhelming our community at present.

I pray that we pass these tests with our faith intact.

Advice on the London Bombings

2005-07-08T21:28:00.000+01:00

All praise is due to God and may His peace and blessings be upon His Messenger Muhammad, indeed a Rahmatun lil-‘Ālamīn.

What we feared most has happened.

The terrorists have hit our capital, intending nothing but the indiscriminate massacre of thousands of innocent men, women and children, regardless of colour, race or religion.

It is only by the grace and mercy of God that circumstances allowed us to minimise the loss of life for it could have been so much horribly worse.

Our sincerest condolences and prayers must be with those who have been affected by this tragedy. I doubt there is a single Muslim in the entire UK who doesn’t know someone caught up either directly or indirectly in the mayhem and chaos of London yesterday morning. The mixed emotions of intense relief upon receiving confirmation of safety from loved ones and friends coupled with the grief felt for those who have lost fathers, husbands, wives and other beloved ones can only have left the hearts heaving under the weight of feeling.

The Muslims find themselves in a state of confusion. What should they believe? What does the Sharī‘ah say? What should they tell other Muslims? What should they tell other non-Muslims?

The Sharī‘ah

Let all Muslims be in no doubt whatsoever. This attack in London against innocent civilians cannot be justified under Islamic Law.

The evidences are now well known to this fact and only the most stubborn and ignorant of the Sharī‘ah and its aims and objectives can refuse to believe this. For those who wish to still debate the legal ‘permissibility’ of such an atrocity, let them refer to the English version of “The Sanctity of Human Life”.

As Muslims, if we don’t feel an utter revulsion at such attacks, then we must seriously consider our level and quality of Imān (faith). It does not befit those who carry the divine message of peace and justice that is Islam to have such hatred and disregard against our fellow neighbours and human beings.

There are no ifs and buts about this, regardless of international events and foreign policies. The heart which rejoices in the massacre of innocent people is anything but a heart, whatever ‘justification’ it might find from the continuing massacres and injustices in foreign Muslim lands.

Whoever wants Islam to be promoted throughout the world only does so because they wish for justice and divine knowledge to prevail over the oppression we witness today. Is what we have seen yesterday the precursor of justice and knowledge or rather ignorance and oppression? Will we also, those who claim to bring the panacea to this utter chaos, descend to the same depths of the same depraved fanatics that are orchestrating the destruction of our Ummah?

This is not the Hady al-Nabawi – Prophetic Guidance. Rather we are as our guide and leader, the Prophet Muhammad, described himself (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) that, “Of a surety, I was not sent as a Bringer of curses; indeed I was sent as a Mercy.” (Muslim)

Advice to Muslims

One feels it is vital to consider the following points in response to the tragedy to have hit our capital city:

- Be normal. Be real. Be sincere. If you find that you are having to put a show on, that you have underlying feelings of doubt and confusion over these attacks then please consult the people of knowledge, for we fear for your heart and your Islam. If from your sincere real self you cannot bring about a basic level of compassion to fight against this terrorism and to help those affected in every way possible, then your heart needs urgent help and guidance.

- For all Muslims to now recoil back into their homes, their mosques, their ghettos etc as has been suggested by some Muslim leaders would be the biggest mistake possible. Indeed, the safety of Muslim women and children is of concern but to exhibit a siege mentality will only worsen things and allow the extremist fanatics of both ‘sides’ to gain a moral victory. Rather, we should come out more confident than ever, in all our varying walks of life to indeed show our fellow British citizens that we are as normal and human as ever. We were their friends, assistants, doctors, pharmacists, engineers, builders and neighbours before the terrorist attacks, and we will be the very same to them after these attacks. Our friendship, co-operation and mutual compassion has not suddenly dissolved into thin air despite the concerted attempts of fanatics from all quarters.

- We must afford our fellow non-Muslim citizens more honour and dignity than we currently do. To rather patronisingly assume that we are suddenly about to come under attack from our neighbours is both naïve and insulting. They have looked after us well in this country, as we have them, and we must not let the threats of the scaremongering right-wing groups destroy this relationship. The Muslims have always been under the threat of abuse and physical attack from such a fringe, before 9/11, after 9/11 and it will continue as long as ignorance remains – we should always have been alert to this fact as a very visible minority and that shouldn’t change any further now.

- Let those who believe that by letting our Islamic identity slip and amalgamate even further into kufr do so. They will not only disgrace themselves in the eyes of God but also in the eyes of the wider community as a people who live on their knees to terrorism. We are not such a people, rather we are people of God, a people who accept the tests and trials thrown at them whilst asking our Lord for steadfastness and a strong back to bear the burden – that is the way of the people of Imān. God says in His Final Testament, “Do not weaken and do not despair, for you shall be uppermost if you are indeed people of Imān.” (Āle-‘Imrān)

- Do not engage in pointless recriminations and ‘justification’ against the rhetoric being espoused by some at these sensitive times. All people with common sense and justice recognise the real roots of terrorism but we do not need to be reminded about it in our times of difficulty and pain. We know that this chaos and oppression of the innocent in our ‘Western’ world will continue as long as the said continues in the rest of the world. These are the unfortunate times we live in, but now is a time for help, solidarity, healing and unity. Do not let your misplaced emotions ruin this delicate equilibrium.

Advice to non-Muslims

- Above all, be reassured that we Muslims as fellow British citizens stand side by side with you in your times of pain, for it is our pain. We are as British as you are. Don’t think any different simply because we may not join in at the pub, celebrate the same religious festivals, dress differently, have beards and have Muslim women who maintain a modest covering of their bodies.

- Forgive us if you start to get fed up of all the ‘mercy’ and ‘compassion’ (rhetoric you may feel) you will hear from many Muslim public figures. They truly and honestly have no real other idea on how to explain their collective embarrassment and ‘guilt’ for that which has affected us all. In these times of suspicion and confusion, how exactly do a people condemn such an atrocity ‘properly’? How does one best exhibit their ‘solidarity’ to their fellow general public with whom we have always assumed that we were in solidarity with anyway! We simply can’t understand how we can be viewed any differently from before and we are struggling to represent ourselves in the best possible light. Please bear with us.

- Please also remember, if you still have any remaining doubts, that these were attacks aimed at not only innocent British citizens, but in particular one might add, British Muslim citizens. Not only are Aldgate and Edgware Rd well known Muslim areas in London, but there are a high percentage of Muslim employees of the London Underground who man the various London stations as is well known to London commuters. Hence your indignation is our indignation, your suffering our suffering and your desire for peace is our absolute desire for peace.

And God knows best.

Abu Eesa, July 8 2005

http://islamiblog.blogspot.com/

The Failure of our prison system

2005-07-05T14:32:00.000+01:00

Thousands of people are locked behind bars in this country, our taxes go towards sustaining inmates yet in general we know very little about the prison system.

Prison is no doubt a necessity, people must be deterred from committing crimes with the threat of being isolated from society until they change their ways. Whose who are deemed unfit to dwell amongst the masses must be removed in order to preserve the sanctity of society as a whole.

In principle, a length of time isolated within a confined space combined with little privileges should prove to be a deterrent from committing crime. The experience of disempowerment, being at the mercy of those in charge and losing dignity is sure to shape an individual into a person that will not want to end up in the same situation again. Thus, time spent in prison is for the better, people change and society improves.

Unfortunately, this rarely seems to occur:

“Out of every five prisoners who are released from our prisons, three are reconvicted and back behind bars within two years. Among prisoners in the 18-25 age group, four out of every five released are reconvicted and jailed again within two years.”

It seems that prison rarely works in the capacity that it was originally intended to. It could be argued that prison may have worked in the above scenarios simply because people who commit crime have been imprisoned and imprisoned again after re-offending.

The real question is whether prison is simply aimed at removing the criminal element from society or whether it is aimed at reforming them and changing them into law-abiding citizens.

Perhaps to a small extent prison has worked for re-offenders, simply keeping people off the streets who commit crime is an aim of the penal system. However, the greater aim has to be rehabilitation alongside retribution. A punishment for those who commit crime, yet a means for them to change and develop.

Recent statistics have shown England and Wales are continuing to jail offenders at a higher rate than any other major country in Western Europe . If the current trend continues, the vast majority of these prisoners will return to prison very soon after they are released.

Therefore the question remains why is prison not working? I would cite three main reasons as to the failure of the prison system in this country.

1. The system is too lenient
2. Prisoners are not given the chances to change and develop that they require
3. Failure to control prisons internally

Prison sentences are not stringent enough, there is nothing wrong with strict sentencing if it is followed by due process. A prison doctor in Birmingham wrote an interesting article on this subject:

“Leniency is cruel to victims because it indicates that the state does not take their suffering seriously. When a shop assistant is half strangled by a gang of youths, who then receive only a caution from the police, she naturally feels that the state does not value her safety or peace of mind very highly. Leniency also fosters an atmosphere of intimidation. "Remember," says the criminal who expects a light sentence, "I'll be walking the same streets as you in six weeks." It is therefore a brave witness who testifies. Indeed, the atmosphere on British housing estates is almost indistinguishable from that in British prisons. To testify against anyone is to grass him up, even if he has stolen from you, beaten or tortured you.”

A system, which does not effectively punish criminals is a major reason for the prison system essentially not working. People are rarely in prison long enough for them to reflect and change, often the only achievement of short sentencing is providing inmates with a whole new set of criminal alliances. Unsociable behaviour has now become fixture of our towns and cities, prison no longer carries the threat it once did.

“Most of the prisoners admit to me with perfect frankness that they have committed between five and 15 times as many car thefts, burglaries or assaults as they have ever been charged with.The intelligent ones have often committed even more: it is not uncommon to meet a burglar who has broken into 200 houses. And is 18 months' imprisonment so very harsh a sentence for having broken into between 15 and 45 houses (the average number broken into by the third strike that results in a mandatory sentence)”

This leniency can applied to sentence lengths, policing and sometimes the ease of life which prisoners receive. One can only think that this country is in a state of delusion if it does not realise it has a major problem on its hands. Being too lenient is a problem, it does not deter criminals, nor does it keep them away from their criminal activities long enough for any effective impacts upon society.

The second reason cited for the failure of our prison systems was that of a lack of opportunities for prisoners to develop. Most people who commit crimes come from poor backgrounds, they are therefore not unconscious about what they do, they simply know no better.

The statistics for this are staggering:

“One-third of all Britain's prisoners cannot read or write at all. The same must be partly true for the next one-third of all prisoners, whose literacy skills are below the level of 11-year-old schoolchildren.”

Schemes in the USA using the “InnerChange” scheme, an initiative which offers “the inmates who volunteer for it a concentrated regime of rehabilitation, change, retraining and post-release mentoring” have reduced reoffending rates from 67% (similar to the British figure) to 8%.

Giving these prisoners some worth is imperative to their state. Training, developing and supporting prisoners is the only way to make them feel a part of society.

Unfortunately, in Britain the initiative is not being taken to help prisoners.

”Only 10% of all prisoners ever get placed in prison workshops, factories or jobs which bear some resemblance to jobs in the outside world.”

Prisoners cannot simply be thrown into a cell without giving them the chance to change, very little is being learnt from this method, even less is changing.

The third main reason for the failure of the prison system is a lack of control within the prisons

“ A recent report by the House of Commons home affairs committee put the serious drug-use figure among prisoners at 80%.”

There is a real problem controlling the stem of drugs through Britains prisons, since the use of drugs has been pinpointed as a major reason for crime in this country it is imperative this is controlled within the prisons. A failure to control this will almost certainly result in drug using prisoners re-offending once released.

The prison system requires some major changes, it is clear that currently the system is inadequate. Leniency and incompetence will only increase the problems on our streets., this is doing nothing to deter or reform prisoners.

An overhaul of the system is required, stricter sentencing along with less luxuries in prison are imperative, this combined with education surely is the only way forward.

Currently, the problem is merely being recycled and buried, not solved.

George Bush

2005-06-30T14:53:00.000+01:00

After September the 11th George Bush was certainly on a mission, most of us remember scenes of him climbing the rubble and then speaking into his megaphone.

Ever since then there has been a relentless attack on those whom George Bush would like to remove. With support for him amongst the American public now at a low, yesterday George Bush aimed to redress the balance with a speech aimed at swaying the public back in his favour.

With a war against Iraq that began with the aim of removing confirmed weapons of mass destruction, swiftly changed into a war of liberation and democracy, and now a war against terrorism.

With not a single mention of weapons of mass destruction last night it is not difficult to see how attention is being diverted from what was supposed to be a war based upon the highest forms of intelligence.

September the 11th which previously has not been linked to Iraq was mentioned five times in Bush’s 30 minute address to the public. There seems to be no doubt that this has been chosen for a reason, with the strategy of the American government to repeat something over again until it is believed this seems to be the latest in a long line of deception.

September the 11th is probably Bush’s strongest hand, a particularly emotive topic for the American public. This probably shows the desperation of the situation he has now found himself in.

Before Bush spoke at Fort Bragg, 53% of those asked in a CNN/Gallup poll said it was a mistake to go into Iraq. Just 40% approved of how he has handled Iraq.

He said:

"Terrorists who kill innocents on the streets of Baghdad are followers of the same murderous ideology that took the lives of our citizens in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania," he said. "There is only one course of action against them: to defeat them abroad before they attack us at home. The only way our enemies can succeed is if we forget the lessons of September 11. For the sake of our nation's security, this will not happen on my watch."

The most depressing aspect of his speech was “this will not happen on my watch” it seems as long as George Bush is in power the situation is extremely unlikely to change. The troops look set to remain in Iraq for a long time, with increases in troop numbers looking unpopular this is unlikely to occur. Military bases are being built, no one is about to leave.

The crowds were unusually subdued, with one round of applause this was not like any Bush speech given before.

September the 11th is rarely mentioned without al-Qaeda , Bush spoke of a “totalitarian ideology” of the Iraqi Insurgents and Osama Bin Laden’s organisation. He spoke of “not waiting to be attacked" and how "the best way to tackle the enemy was to defeat them abroad before they attack us at home"

Bush argues that withdrawal from Iraq will just lead to more terrorist attacks. Most people however are aware that such a “hotbed of terrorism” was not prevalent before the Iraq war.

Ironic how the enemy created by the Americans themselves during the war is now being flogged as the very reason they attacked Iraq in the first place.

After no substantive links have been found between al Qaidah and Saddam Hussain, it seems as though Bush has very little choice but to cite 9/11 and the insurgency, as his reason for going to war.

Ironic how during this conflict America has created its own enemy, this is true globally. If one was to take a step back and asses the attacks that have been committed all over the world what would be more than apparent is a common theme.

“Terrorists” do not simply emerge, they usually have genuine grievances, an attempt to find the inner reasons is never sought- anger is merely replied to with anger, death with death, destruction with further destruction.

Despite having the imperial and technological might to be able to control the world in a just way, this has been abused by those who were unworthy of such power.

Countless deaths, oppression, starvation, disease have been caused by American policy. Let alone those killed by inhumane bombings which begun long before the Iraq war was declared.
Lessons are still not being learnt.

The question is which such a pursuit for greed and power are the lives of innocent people even relevant anymore?

If George Bush genuinely wants to end terrorism in the world, then perhaps he should stop the deaths around the world caused by his country. When people react, this tends to be rash.

George Bush is no less a dictator than those of yesteryear, to be able to hide behind political rhetoric does not change reality.

ID Cards

2005-06-28T12:54:00.000+01:00

The ID card debate continues, Tony Blair has faced criticism over the spiralling costs and personal and political impact of the plan from the information commissioner, academics and union leaders.

He insists the cards were an idea whose time had come, but promised they would not go ahead if costs threatened to spiral out of control.

Mr Blair said: "At a time of intense global insecurity, there is now an unstoppable political momentum across the developed world to use the new technology to make their borders more secure."

The ID cards have five stated purposes - "national security, prevention and detection of crime, enforcement of immigration controls, enforcement of prohibitions on illegal working, efficient and effective delivery of public services".

The card would contain basic identification information including a photograph of the card holder, along with their name, address, gender and date of birth. But a microchip would also hold biometric information - a person's fingerprints or iris or facial scans, which are unique to the individual. A national database will be created holding the personal information of all those issued with a card. The whole scheme will be overseen by a new independent watchdog.

“Details could also be given without consent to police, intelligence agencies, customs and tax authorities and certain government departments for preventing and detecting serious crime, ensuring national security, investigating benefits fraud and protecting Britain's "economic well-being".

"There would be regulations so those asking for information without consent would have to be of a certain rank and have to explain why.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke has warned those accessing information without permission would be punished with a two-year jail term”

In principle, I have no problems with ID cards. A means to identify yourself is important and appropriate for a modern society. Many other countries in Europe and globally have introduced such ID cards- seemingly with minimal problems.

For a while, I have remained relatively neutral on this issue. However, after learning more about the proposed implementation of such cards I am now firmly against them.

The problem is not the ID card; people seem to have adopted a mentality of “ if you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to worry about”. That would be the case with a standard card that contains basic information about individuals used purely to identify themselves.

However, it does seem that these ID cards will serve a dual purpose, it will not just be a means by which to reliably identify ourselves but more concerned with recording and pinpointing what we do with our lives.

For example, the cards will not only require a main residence, every single place of residence would have to be listed. This is beyond the means of identification. A second home does not help to identify a person, it simply gives you a broader picture about the person themselves.

The detailed data contained in the cards will help to provide a detailed trail of every activity of a person and how they live their lives. This scheme can be viewed in conjunction perhaps with the congestion charge system, every single journey of a person will be monitored- combined you have a perfect set of data.

Basic ID card legislation does not go this far, the card should be a simple case of proving who we are, it does seem that this scheme is a guise to implement something far greater.

The cost and details contained by these cards is far greater than that of other countries, with no additional benefits except the quality of data that will be obtained. This is merely feeding the thirst of the government to have detailed information on its citizens. This country is becoming nothing less than a police state as people can already be imprisoned without trial, defendants sometimes do not even know the evidence against them and now a detailed system of tracking individuals is being proposed.

For an ID system which helps me to prove my identity I have no problems, for a card which gives the government limitless information on people, accessed by unknown people for whatever they like is not something which I find palatable. There is a fundamental difference in the ID cards being proposed and those which are found in other countires- this one will go a lot further.

Surely for this amount of money many benefit fraud officers and counter terrorist specialists could be hired to genuinely tackle any problems. The difference with this method is, the government does not make the money back with essentially what will become a form of plastic poll tax.

The ID card scheme will not necessarily help with crime, police rarely have a problem identifying suspects- the problem lies in catching them and convicting them. Illegal immigrants may be forced to avoid doctors and hospitals simply because they will not have ID cards. Ethnic minorities may be subjected to even more disproportionate rates of police stop and searches.

For those who say what difference does it make when the information about us is already readily available for those who want it, simply put the information about us is fragmented across many mediums. The ID card will provide a central point to acess and manipulate data about any given person. This combined with the fact that we will actually be paying for this, makes me firmly among those whom oppose the ID cards.

The greatest threat to this country is not terrorism, but the gradual erosion of our every civil liberty by those entrusted to protect us.

The Rat Race

2005-06-24T13:57:00.000+01:00

First there was the congestion charge, now the proposed rail fare increases.

Of course the congestion charge still has to be trialled and approved, however it looks nothing short of a formality for many reasons. In short, because of the revenue that will be generated for the government through such a scheme.

Hence, it seemed the government was pushing us all towards public transport. A natural assumption would be that the revenue generated from the congestion charge would be ploughed firmly into public transport and bring this country up to the standards of its counterparts around the world.

Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case.

Therefore, it seemed that the majority of us would simply have to make do with the poor standards of public transport to avoid the congestion charge. At least there was an alternative, even though it is relatively expensive, dangerous, crowded and unhygienic.

However, even that seems too naïve a dream.

Train operators earlier this week predicted a 28% increase in passengers over the next decade. The only way to combat such rises in the number of passengers on already crowded trains is to price people out of the tickets at certain times.

Government figures show that for 11 operators in the south-east, their trains were already more than 100% full in rush hour. Extra passengers are expected to come in their hoards once the road traffic congestion charge is introduced, how can trains cope with any more passengers?

Some proposals have included scrapping smaller stations to limit stops of trains and reduce journey times, thus allowing for more trains. However, this does not seem to provide any form of a long-term solution.

The only long-term solution is major investment into public transport with a far-sighted approach.

If such a situation occurs where the congestion charge is forcing people off the roads, and train prices are doing equally the same then I would anticipate more problems in society than even at present.

Does this seem far-fetched?

Well, if people are priced out of travelling at peak times, then expect a new breed of flexi-working hours. This would mean either starting earlier or working till later.

This would result in families having less time together due to these new working hours. Also, expect more costs from the travelling that does occur. Essentially, all that will be achieved is the exploitation of those who already struggle to make ends meet and the continuous fragmentation of families due to increased and varying working hours.

With recently released figures showing the UK’s average working hours already above its European counterparts, expect this to rise further. More hours to make ends meet.

The question always remains, can we sustain a reasonable standard of living in this country without being a slave to the system?

In a country, which drains every last penny from its inhabitants with tax upon tax, this does not enable its people to live a comfortable life without working themselves into the ground.

But this is the whole point of the rat race, the harder you work the more you earn, the more you plough back into the system.

This is the essence of the rat race, if a family wants to increase its income- the best way to do this is by more working hours. This hard work is good for the economy as it results in more tax, and more money back into the system.

Once this income is achieved, if the family wants a nicer house, they usually mortgage to find the house of their dreams. New set of problems arise, mortgage repayments require more money, time for a new job or more working hours- more money back into the system. More hard work.

After this follows children, again more money required- the solution to work harder. And the cycle is essentially repeated until a person has worked until they are not able work any more.

This is the rat race.

In this country there doesn’t seem to be a way of breaking free from this vicious circle, one which is getting worse with every additional financial burden which this government is placing upon us.

This country is becoming an increasingly difficult place to live comfortably.

That is unless you live in Buckingham Palace.

Details of Buckingham Palaces’ finances were released yesterday, the Queen’s expenses as head of state went down from 36.8 million for the previous year to 36.7 million for this year.

“In the year to March 2005, £1.2m was spent on aeroplanes, £2.1m on helicopters and £700,000 on trains from the fund.

"Catering and garden parties were priced at £900,000, with the Queen's assets including £400,000 of wine held in stock to age “.

“The Queen's aides insisted the report showed the monarchy was value for money. Alan Reid, Keeper of the Privy Purse, said the royal family cost each person in the country 61p a year.”

In a country where every possible method of draining money of its people is used, ironically a Monarchy exists. One which lives off the ordinary taxpayer.

It could be argued that the Monarchy generates revenue for the country by its mere existence, however if the monarchy was to be ended surely the tourism would still remain.

While the ordinary people are being sucked dry of any wealth they earn, the aristocrats are living the high life due to a proud and arrogant lineage.

In a modern society it seems strange that people are willing to tolerate this, surely something is wrong.

The effects of TV

2005-06-16T11:33:00.000+01:00

The effects of TV upon society have long been a hot topic of discussion. Debates have transgressed all boundaries, theories have been proposed from psychologists to politicians.

Essentially the argument results in two general perspectives, either television does have a significant effect upon individuals and society as a whole, or the effects of television are minimal and a causal relationship to behaviour cannot be attributed.

I for one strongly believe that television has one of THE most significant impacts upon society and its effects are very much underestimated.

A report released yesterday presented some interesting findings:

“A survey of social changes in Britain in the last decade which ministers have been studying for the past six weeks states that the strong flood of violence among youngsters has swept in since commercial television began. In its references to the effects of television, the report states that it is a matter of opinion whether crimes of violence are instigated by the incessant programmes of violence on television, but it notes a most alarming development in crime among boys and young men.”

As a child and teenager, the effect of TV upon the behaviour of my peers was more than significant. People literally became clones of what they saw on television, whenever a new trend began on television, this was instantly acted out on the playground. Many children were injured over the years when more dominant children decided to become what they saw and respected. In fact, I believe the relationship between behaviour and television is so significant that many of this countries problems can be attributed to one form of programme in particular: the Soaps.

In the 1960’s Coronation Street set the trends for Soap Operas, this genre has grown, to this present day into the single most watched media in the UK. The viewing figures are far above any other programmes shown on TV; these can fluctuate between 10 and 20 million each for the major soaps.

If the theory of TV influencing people and behaviour was to be true, it is logical to deduce that the programmes which have been around for the longest period of time, with the largest following, are likely to have had the biggest impact upon society.

This is the basis for my theory.

I actually believe soaps to be far more dangerous than any other form of entertainment programme on the TV. The problem with soaps in particular is such a programme tries to portray itself to be everyday reality. Normal people, living their lives faced with the same problems we all are day in day out. A program and a people that are easy to relate to, a world where you can forget your own problems and watch others deal with theirs. A perfect form of escapism. Their lives are essentially a template to see how to and how not to do things. Soaps are a form of visual gossip. Imagine anything up to one hundred million people watching the same soaps, day in day out, this is bound to have an effect on a person and society.

Imagine instilling one constant idea across TV in the most watched programmes for forty years, before people are even aware such an idea will be interwoven within the fabric of our society.

All the major soap operas have one thing in common, drinking and promiscuity are a central point of the programme. The soaps always have people in the pubs “drowning their sorrows”, to celebrate or to have a general drink. When someone hits the legal age, the first thing they do is drink as they are welcomed into the pub. In between and usually after there is time for a quick fling, a sexual merry go round of the characters ensues.

Essentially, every able character will reinforce this ideal of drinking and promiscuity as much as possible.

In reality, soaps are nothing but one huge alcohol advertisement. The binge drinking culture in this country is spiralling out of control, costing the economy something in the region 20 billion a year. I honestly believe soaps have been a massive factor in the increased drinking in this country and the general lack of morals which are present in such programmes are prevalent in our society.

Combine this with the dismal state of children’s TV, what was once a medium to educate and cultivate children has descended into programmes which provide little benefit for today’s youth.

A study in early 2003 by the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) said ”the amount of drama shown on children's TV had fallen from 24 per cent to 9 per cent since the Nineties, and factual programmes are almost completely absent from most channels aimed at children.”

Programmes which can stimulate and help develop our children have virtually disappeared, even the quality of cartoons no longer remains: all that is produced now is violent trash.

For anyone who would like to argue the effects of television on society, the correlation between violence and television has been consistent since commercial television began. Probably the most conclusive proof that television affects not only individuals but a whole nation is the effects of television on the small country of Bhutan.

Bhutan is one of the smallest nations in the world, perched high in the snowlines of the Himalayas. A kingdom with a population of 700,000. This was a society deep into Himalayan Buddhism who had never known serious law breaking. A country so successful at secluding itself the first western visitors only arrived in 1974.

In June 1999 five satellite dishes were planted in nothing grander than a vegetable patch. The country had lifted its ban on television, for those who could afford the £4 a month subscription, they signed up in their thousands. TV was carefully introduced, beginning with simple Bhutanian education channels before gradually allowing foreign channels to transmit into the country.

Four years later those same subscribers blamed TV for ruining a unique culture where time stood still, for introducing a world which destroyed the very fabric of their society.

“On April 13 the Royal Bhutan police began searching the provincial town of Mongar for thieves who had vandalised and robbed three of the country's most ancient stupas. Three days later in Thimphu, Bhutan's sedate capital, where overindulgence in rice wine had been the only social vice, Dorje, a 37-year-old truck driver, bludgeoned his wife to death after she discovered he was addicted to heroin. In Bhutan, family welfare has always come first; then, on April 28, Sonam, a 42-year-old farmer, drove his terrified in-laws off a cliff in a drunken rage, killing his niece and injuring his sister”

An editorial warned: "We are seeing for the first time broken families, school dropouts and other negative youth crimes. We are beginning to see crime associated with drug users all over the world - shoplifting, burglary and violence."

Every week, the letters page carries columns of worried correspondence: "Dear Editor, TV is very bad for our country... it controls our minds... and makes [us] crazy. The enemy is right here with us in our own living room. People behave like the actors, and are now anxious, greedy and discontent."

The marijuana that flourishes like a weed in every Bhutanese hedgerow was only ever used to feed pigs before the advent of TV, but police have arrested hundreds for smoking it in recent years. Six employees of the Bank of Bhutan have been sentenced for siphoning off 2.4m ngultrums (£40,000). Six weeks before we arrived, 18 people were jailed after a gang of drunken boys broke into houses to steal foreign currency and a 21-inch television set. During the holy Bishwa Karma Puja celebrations, a man was stabbed in the stomach in a fight over alcohol. A middle-class Thimphu boy is serving a sentence after putting on a bandanna and shooting up the ceiling of a local bar with his dad's new gun. Police can barely control the fights at the new hip-hop night on Saturdays.

Dorji Penjore, one of the researchers involved in the study, says: "Even my children are changing. They are fighting in the playground, imitating techniques they see on World Wrestling Federation. Some have already been injured”

For the first time, children are confiding in their teachers of feeling manic, envious and stressed. Boys have been caught mugging for cash. A girl was discovered prostituting herself for pocket money in a hotel. Teachers were sent to Canada to be trained as Counsellors.

Surely this has to be the most clear-cut example of the effects of television upon a society. A people who had no media influence were suddenly driven to destruction because of the effects of watching television.

A country that would not previously kill an insect was now viciously steeped in murder and drugs. A society that was concerned in the happiness of its people suddenly became money hungry and materialistic.

The isolation of Bhutan and its effects have made the study of the impacts of television upon people all the more clearer:

“One third of girls now want to look more American (whiter skin, blond hair). A similar proportion have new approaches to relationships (boyfriends not husbands, sex not marriage). More than 35% of parents prefer to watch TV than talk to their children. Almost 50% of the children watch for up to 12 hours a day”

This is not the first time that such claims have been made, In 1956, researchers took to the laboratory to compare the behaviour of 24 children watching TV. Half watched a violent episode of the cartoon Woody Woodpecker, and the other 12 watched the non-violent cartoon The Little Red Hen. During play afterwards, the researchers observed that the children who watched the violent cartoon were much more likely to hit other children and break toys.
In 1982 the National Institute of mental health confirmed an earlier study stating that Children who saw violent television were less sensitive to pain and suffering and were found to be more aggressive and harmful towards others.

Zimbardo’s famous Stanford Prison Experiment in 1972, demonstrated how people are essentially sheep, people were willing to put their lives at risk in order to stay with a group.
People follow what they see and hear, as intelligent as the human race claims to be the majority are merely followers.

Hundreds of studies have shown the same findings, however the issue is far broader than violent behaviour.

Television has shaped society into what is around us in this present day, the problem is television is getting worse not better. People are watching it for longer periods and more channels are available whilst society continues to crumble.

Essentially our society has become a product of what we watch, television is a culture, it has replaced the ones we had with its own values, its own message, and it has done little to develop our minds.

It has made us preoccupied with materialism and ourselves, forgetting the true purposes of life and the pursuit of inner happiness.

It has shaped our characters and our morals, we are nothing except a product of what we have been watching.

More road congestion

2005-06-09T14:57:00.000+01:00

Alistair Darling’s proposals for road charging become less palatable the more they are studied.

There is no doubt that traffic congestion is a global problem, one that must be tackled.
Various countries have tried to resolve congestion problems, often with similar systems to the one being proposed for this country.

Some justifications are being given to the road charges citing countries around the world where similar charges have been introduced successfully.

However, the question is can parallels really be drawn from other countries?

1. Berlin: A similar system was integrated into the German transport system in January, however the charges were specific for Lorries. The Berlin example is one being used to try and support this initiative. However, the Berlin situation differs for two major reasons:

Firstly, the charges range from €0.09 to €0.14 per kilometre (10p to 15p per mile), this is far less than the extortionate amounts being proposed in this country. Only the major roads are covered in this scheme which equates to about 7,500 miles. This is different to charging for every road in the country

Secondly, as alleviated to in a previous post: a system, which has variable rates for different roads will never work. As evidence for this theory Germany proves to be a more than adequate example. The road charges were introduced for the busy roads, it was found that the quiet rural roads were then subjected to constant Lorry trips. As long as there is a cheaper alternative, traffic will only be shifted in order to make a more cost-effective journey. This is why the variable price scheme will never work, everyone will plan their journeys based on the cheapest route, once this happens rural roads will become congested and the prices will go up. Once this occurs across the country, the cost for driving along any road will generally be the same. Hence, this variable price scheme will not work, surely the transport secretary amongst others is well aware of this. However, this method does mean long term increased revenue for the government.

2. Singapore- has had anti-congestion policies since the 1970’s; this method did result in reducing the congestion in the country.

However, there is one major difference. Singapore has excellent standards of public transport. This is something that can hardly be said about the British transport system.

3. Norwegian city of Trondheim:

This city has been living with a similar system for nearly 10 years. Here lorries pay a double rate compared to cars.

This system is very different to the proposed system in London. When introduced it was made clear that this system was a method to help raise funds for building ring roads so the heaviest traffic does not have to pass through the city center. The Trondheim toll system is due to be removed by 2005, when the initial aim of building and improving the city's ring roads will have been completed and paid for.

If examples are to be used of other countries, then they should be used in relevant contexts,

One issue that has been severely neglected thus far is the price and maintenance of implementing such technology.

The type of technology required is not currently available, in fact what is required will need to be cutting edge. London refused to implement a similar system using GPS when it found that the technology was not always accurate and had a margin for error of about 30m in built up areas. The cost of implementing such systems into every car in the country would be huge, not to mention who will unscramble and collate all the data and charge the relevant customers? If the ID card cost is set to escalate well into the billions, it’s scary to think how much a system like this would cost.

The policing for such a system would also be very expensive, they would have to ensure every car is carrying a box which is active. Otherwise people would simply cheat the system. Would this result in thousands of police with a stop and check policy? All at a time when the number of police officers on the street is not adequate, such a scheme would reduce flailing numbers even further.

It would be extremely interesting to find whether the amounts generated by fuel duty and road tax are parallel to those being spent on improving the roads and public transport. This would provide a valuable insight into whether this really is a money making scheme.

I would support such a system if it was a temporary one to raise money to increase the motorways, enhance public transport and introduce a system of school buses to help congestion. The items which the British Public have been promised for years but have been caught up in bureaucratic red tape. Even for five years I would be willing to pay such charges if the government would use the money effectively.

Otherwise, I would use this system only once: On the way out of the country!

Aid

2005-06-08T15:22:00.000+01:00

It’s difficult not to have a strong feeling of repine within my heart after yesterdays meeting between George Bush and Tony Blair.

The $674 million proposed by George Bush has been conveniently glamorised, however this equates to the unallocated amounts that were already to be given as aid.

The US has by no means dug deep into its pockets. The proposal for the complete reduction in debt coupled with a reduction in aid still seems likely.

While negotiations are ongoing, lives will continue to be lost:

The UN will reveal tomorrow in its report that: “Three million children will die in the poorest countries of sub-Saharan Africa as a result of the failure of the global community to meet its promise of slashing the death rates of the under-fives by 2015”

If this kind of poverty was prevalent in the US or UK long term plans until 2015 would not be the aim. It seems richer lives are worth more than their poorer counterparts.

Bush cited some reasons as to his hesitation in providing Africa with more aid:

"We have got a fantastic opportunity presuming the countries in Africa make the right decisions. Nobody wants to give money to a country that's corrupt, where leaders take money and put it in their pocket. We expect there to be reciprocation."

Mr Bush, how many countries around the world have your puppet leaders in place? It is not outside of the capability of the US to instil people capable of overseeing the aid. Ensuring that the money reaches the appropriate people, that the aid is distributed fairly- to see that people survive.

It’s sad to see the effort, planning and money that can go into war contrasting with the lethargy when it comes to helping those most in need.

The US has refused to meet the proposals for 0.7% of its national income to be given in aid, this sadly seems to pave the way for other countries to follow suit. The US can be conveniently used as an example by other countries unwilling to give 0.7%.

In a world controlled by the strong yet dominated by the weak, the wealthy nations should lead by example.

“On current UNDP projections, there will be 5 million under-five deaths in Africa, compared with 2 million if the goals were achieved; 115 million children deprived of an education; and 219 million extra people living below the poverty line.”

That child could be yours or mine.

Those who have been blessed with so much in terms of wealth should acknowledge this by helping those in dire need.

133. And march forth in the way (which leads to) forgiveness from your Lord, and for Paradise as wide as are the heavens and the earth, prepared for Al-Muttaqûn (the pious).

134. Those who spend [in Allâh's Cause - deeds of charity, alms, etc.] in prosperity and in adversity, who repress anger, and who pardon men; verily, Allâh loves Al-Muhsinûn (the gooddoers).

Al-Imran

Road Congestion

2005-06-07T14:47:00.000+01:00

For anyone who has not seen or read the news within the last three days the government is planning to start charging motorists for driving within the next ten years

The scheme, proposed by the Government's independent transport advisers, would see drivers handed monthly bills charging them for every single journey.

The report will recommend scrapping vehicle excise duty - the annual road tax disc - and reducing fuel duty by between 2p and 12p a litre in return for the launch of road pricing.

The recommendations are based upon a report written by Professor David Begg, chairman of the Commission for Integrated Transport. His report will recommend existing Global Positioning System satellites to track vehicles via electronic 'black boxes' fixed to the dashboard of all vehicles.

Professor Begg said: 'We have the worst traffic jams in Europe. Without congestion charging we are not going to solve it - we can never road-build our way out of this or provide enough public transport.'

He also stated: “even doubling the capacity of Britain's train, tram and bus network - a near-impossible task - would only absorb five years' worth of traffic growth before the roads became gridlocked again.”

The information recording the movements of motorists would be beamed back to computers at the various highway authorities or to a private company contracted to the Government - but with strict controls to protect privacy.

Essentially, the information on a person’s movement via a car from one destination to another will readily be available to the government. However, the satellite technology needed to track cars is in its infancy, therefore other systems would be used until the technology is available.

Tomorrow the commission will propose universal road pricing and tell Ministers that such a scheme could cut traffic levels by 5 per cent and almost halve congestion within 10 years.

Prices would be set and adjusted periodically according to levels and would vary according to different roads, different times and different levels of congestion. Drivers could pay their road charges via pre-paid smart cards or receive a monthly bill

The report claims that road charging will make motoring taxes fairer by linking them to congestion rather than car ownership or flat-rate fuel duty, which penalises rural motorists.

Studies have suggested an estimated £10 billion saving in the economic costs of road congestion.

The highest fee, of about £1.30 a mile, would only affect 0.5 per cent of motorists, those driving during the rush hour on very congested routes.

For example, £7.40 seems to be the amount for a 90-mile journey from Birmingham to Manchester. Once extrapolated across the population we can see what a massive amount of money this scheme would generate.

The theory of charging those who use the busiest roads at peak times seems practical. This combined with charging those who use the roads the most also seems a logical solution. A great saving for the average motorist.

Or perhaps not.

I have some major problems with this scheme.

1. The writers of this report are well aware that certain roads are extremely busy and gridlocked at certain times during the day. Therefore, the theory is based upon charging those who insist on using these roads and make the others choose alternate routes. The result of which would inevitably be many drivers taking alternate routes. Motorists would aim to drive on roads with smaller charges, hence they would also become congested. The long term result of which is having to pay a higher or full price regardless of where you drive. Eventually this would lead to a situation where this is still gridlock but the government will receive money from most roads for higher rates. What was meant for only the busiest roads would become the norm on virtually every road. A major source of revenue would be achieved.

2. The average quiet street will be no more, every driver will be planning their route according to price and would like to travel through the lest congested places possible. This would only result in all of our homes being hounded by more constant traffic.

3. The prices suggested are far too much and would equate to much more than the total the average driver pays on fuel duty and road tax. This would simply be a case of removing one form of tax with the illusion of benefit and replacing it with a long term tax which would cost the average driver far more.

4. No details have been as of yet given as to how this money would be used. If such a scheme was to be implemented then the entire revenue generated should continuously be spent on public transport. A remedy to the poor and expensive state of public transport is the only long-term solution to curbing the traffic problems the country is facing.

5. All the companies that use lorries and trucks to transport their goods would be heavily penalised due to long journeys and regular usage. This would result in significant impacts on their operating profits resulting in an impact on the end consumer. Once this is applied across the country changes in the rate of inflation and consumer spending are very likely to occur.

In short if such a system was integrated into our transport system I can only see the government gaining from it, having said that- is that not the reason why most policies are implemented?

Perhaps I am a sceptic but I cannot see benefits in this system, agreed that the congestion issue requires addressing. I firmly believe the way forward is quality, cheap, safe and reliable public transport.

Idi Amin

2005-06-03T13:24:00.000+01:00

Upon beginning to type, so many topics and issues come to mind. Many thoughts that could be articulated to the outside world.

At this moment in time there is one issue upon my mind more than most.

Whilst stumbling through a store last week I encountered a book which I was compelled to buy- a text detailing the most famous dictators the world has ever seen.

The book details brief biographies of people such as Hitler, Stalin and Genghis Khan.

Having only read about a quarter the entire text, I feel both sickened and saddened. Perhaps naively, I always imagined human atrocities to be on the level of mass shootings, bombings or even concentration camps. This type of killing is nothing less than barbaric, words cannot begin to describe the type of people who would do something like this.

However, whilst reading this text I have personally discovered a level of evil that I thought was confined to the imaginations of scriptwriters and novelists. A type of killing which is bruital, slow, calculated and worst of all- enjoyed.

One person in particular thus far has left my insides churning: Idi Amin.

Idi Amin was born in Uganda and was brought up by his mother after she had separated from his father. He was a very large child and therefore he was often the leader of other children simply because his size commanded respect.

As he grew he became part of the military, six foot four and at his peak twenty stone- this led him to become the heavyweight boxing champion of Uganda. He was semi -literate and not known for his intelligence, rather he would follow commands.

Essentially over time this led to him becoming a favourite with the British, when they withdrew Amin was left in a fairly good position due to his nature and loyalty.

He became an ally of the then president Obote, essentially conducting “heavy” work for him when required.

When Obote left for the commonwealth Amin decided it was time to take over. A military coup ensued.

Within days the country was under lockdown, all rival party leaders were massacred- anyone who was perceived to be a threat was simply eliminated. He portrayed himself to the African people as a champion of the imperialistic west and a liberator of the African people.

This is when the real problems began. Members of the police who were affiliated with other tribes were invited for “special training” once arrived they were bayoneted to death.

Ordinary people were massacred when suspected of belonging to other tribes. People were slaughtered simply because of the letters their names began with, this often indicated a tribe.

Amin himself was known to be fond of genital mutilation, this is something he did with his own hands. He also had a collection of heads of various significant figures he had killed. He was extremely proud of his collection, this was so extensive it required an extra fridge.

To make things he even ate his victims flesh on occasions- this game him special pleasure.

People were put in prisons with sledgehammers, given a promise if they killed the other inmates they would be left to survive. However, if victorious they were sure to encounter the next batch of prisoners.

The above is only a brief summary of what I have read, needless to say he eventually died a coward hiding in Saudi Arabia when things took a turn for the worst.

Ironic how the most brutal people are the first to run as soon as genuine bravery is required.

When looking at world leaders the true wisdom of the Islamic Principles of power come to fruition. Leadership is only being given to those who do not try to obtain it, whoever chases the leadership is ultimately not fit for it.

It is difficult to imagine how an innocent child can become one of the most evil and sadistic people to have ever lived.

Scientists and psychologists have long tried to explain why certain people develop psychopathic tendencies.

Giving children the best possible upbringing is the only solution, giving them the best possible connection with the One Creator.

The only solace that can be taken from Idi Amin is like everyone one of us, he will be judged for his actions.

20. This (Qur'ân) is a clear insight and evidence for mankind, and a guidance and a mercy for people who have Faith with certainty .

21. Or do those who earn evil deeds think that We shall hold them equal with those who believe (in the Oneness of Allâh Islâmic Monotheism) and do righteous good deeds, in their present life and after their death? Worst is the judgement that they make.

22. And Allâh has created the heavens and the earth with truth, in order that each person may be recompensed what he has earned, and they will not be wronged .

Surah Al-Jathiyah

Africa

2005-06-02T13:15:00.000+01:00

Joke of the day, perhaps the century:

Vice President Dick Cheney.

"I think the fact of the matter is the United States has done more to advance the cause of freedom, has liberated more people from tyranny over the course of the 20th century and up to the present day than any other nation in the history of the world,"

Perhaps the sentence should have been:

"The fact of the matter is the United States has done more to destroy, sanction, bomb and decimate the cause of freedom, has screwed more people with tyranny over the course of the 20th century and up to the present day than any other nation in the history of the world,"

Amazing how refreshing the truth is.

The greed of the west has now led them to Equatorial Guinea: Surprisingly this county contains vast quantities of oil, and currently exports are about £2.5bn worth a year.

For countries such as Britain and America who are desperately searching for alternatives to the Middle East, the chance of exploiting a poorer nation is not one that will pass them by.

Under vast levels of corruption this oil is being bought up at bargain prices on long term contracts. The companies are well aware of what kind off rises oil prices are likely to undergo over time, therefore bumper profits are to be expected.

All while the corruption will ensure only a small percentage of the revenue will actually reach the people of Equatorial Guinea themselves.

The beauty of open trade and governing bodies.

All of this while the G8 aid for Africa plan currently being led by the British Government is having problems finding the same level of enthusiasm from their American counterparts. Perhaps this has been Blairs mistake, he may have put all his integrity on the line for Bush in the war in Iraq but he’s not found the same support forthcoming from the American President.

It seems a strategy to rely more on the European countries could have proved more fruitful, the US argue that they are the single largest donor to Africa. But in reality contributing 0.16% of GDP, the US aid represents one of the lowest proportions in the G8.

Ironically the Bush Administration supports wiping out $40bn of multilateral debt, but says it must be financed by subsequent cuts in aid programs. It seems like that is a case of a case of moving money from the proverbial left hand to the proverbial right, what exactly would this achieve?

Perhaps the biggest problem is the fact the in the US the African Aid is not seen as a huge issue, there are other priorities and countries “closer to home” which receive more media coverage. Essentially Africa is not a strategic priority.

Trying to raise awareness for Africa is Bob Geldof with his Live 8 campaign. The aim of is to get one million people to march and demonstrate the unity of the average people resulting in increased pressure on the G8 leaders to increase their aid for Africa.

The concept of trying to make the world more aware of Africa’s problems is more than admirable. However this project seems to have its aims confused and will probably achieve nothing: Four main reasons cite this:

1. A march followed by a large party is unlikely to influence the most “powerful” leaders in the world. This was shown by the demonstrations against the Iraq war. The fact that this is combined with a huge party makes the whole gathering turn into a farce.

2. The convergence of one million people is twice the population of Edinburgh. The city council has only just found about Bob Geldof’s plans. Such an event requires months of planning and organisation with local authorities and police- this has not been done. The project is likely to do as much harm as it will good.

3. The venue is far too small for such a large expected convergence of people. Geldof has asked people to open up their homes, mosques, churches, synagogues etc to allow people to have somewhere to stay. Needless to say, this is optimistic to say the least and chaos in the making.

4. Even if the preceding two reasons do not materialise I would still argue that the project is a failure. Live 8 is about raising political awareness and not money. The concert itself is free, therefore there are no charges incurred by people who would like to go. This is where the whole purpose of this event falls apart for myself. Potentially one million people will appear, even if small amounts were donated by each person imagine the millions that would be raised for Africa. The whole project is meant to benefit the people of Africa, so why not raise some money by charging those who attend in the name of a good cause. This is where this whole project descends into lunacy and has no more credibility than a street carnival.

Solving the black mystery

2005-06-01T11:02:00.000+01:00

Blogging on weekends and Bank Holidays is simply impossible.

Thinking about Bank Holidays led me to wonder where they originated from and why- however my poor attempt at some last minute “Google Research” proved unsuccessful.

If anybody knows the answer to this question please let me know.

Aside from the ramblings of my mind I read an article today which is relatively speaking- close to my heart.

Mr Phillips (chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality ) points to the stark evidence: three out of four African-Caribbean boys fail to reach the basic threshold of five or more good passes at GCSE, and there are twice as many black men in prison as there are at university. The problem has become generational, he warns, passed on from grandfathers to sons to their sons: "The critical mass of failure is threatening to turn this community into a permanent, irrevocable underclass."

I find this one of the strangest phenomena in modern society. Studies have demonstrated that such under-performance is not due to economic factors, even the children from wealthy Afro-Caribbean families are demonstrating the same levels of gross under-achievement. A level of performance which is uncharacteristic and unparalleled with the rest of society.

From personal experience I attended a secondary school which was at worst 50% black. I find it difficult to remember a single black person even passing their GCSE’s. This was regardless of how intelligent or nice some of them were. Undoubtedly on average they were as capable as any other ethnic group, yet their under-performance as a group was staggering.

It is now the norm to see people of Indian and Chinese origin excelling in secondary education. The Afro-Caribbean community however seems to be rapidly travelling in the opposite direction.

If something is not done to redress the balance they will quickly become second class citizens and perhaps some of the racism which characterised the apartheid era would again begin to flourish.

There is certainly enough people waiting for such opportunities.

Any person or group of people who are deemed to be unintelligent will be ridiculed, this is one of the sad facts of modern society. Stereotypes will begin to dominate such groups. If such degeneration is allowed to continue then progressing as a whole can only become more difficult.

Some argue that the Afro-Caribbean’s are discriminated against more than any other ethnic minorities. This could be true, however I do not feel it is correct. The BBC study recently demonstrated this by sending out applications to companies, which were identical, except the names were changed to those of stereotypical ethnic minorities. It was found that the most likely people to be discriminated against were those with Muslim names.

Therefore, the question remains- why is this one group of society vastly under-performing?

If the proverbial finger needs to be pointed in any direction then perhaps it should be pushed towards the hip-hop culture, which is dominating the afro-Caribbean society. It’s no longer “cool” to pursue careers along the academic road. Prestige lies with how many people you have shot or how many robberies you have committed- a true sign of manhood.

This culture has reduced the younger members to a people of possessions and vanity.

It is sad to see a society and a group of people fragment into such disillusion. A people who provided the world with inspirational figures such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King struggling to provide role models for the youth of today. Numerous multimillionaire sports stars do very little to inspire beyond giving rise to aspirations of similar fame and fortune.

This is yet another society crying out for a return to role models of good character in order to lead their youth.

Until such people appear, and help re-integrate the black youth into society they will continue to be the fledglings of the academic circles.

True role models are needed with codes of conduct that provide an end goal. All whilst cultivating the heart enabling it to realise its true potential.

It’s amazing how nearly all of societies problems can fixed with one simple solution.

190. Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding.

191. Those who remember Allâh (always, and in prayers) standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): "Our Lord! You have not created (all) this without purpose, glory to You!

Soorah al Imran

US Investigations

2005-05-27T11:12:00.000+01:00

The Pentagon confirmed last night that it has found five instances of “mishandling” of the Qur’aan at Guantanomo Bay. They investigated thirteen instances, of which five were confirmed to have been true.

Ironically, it was never explained what actually happened or whether the mishandling went against standard operating procedures.

What do they deem to be mishandling? Or minor mishandling as has also been suggested?

Interestingly, it was also said that one of the Muslim detainees himself mistreated the Qur’aan.

I think this is a very subtle but interesting point aiming to deflect some of the attention off the US.

I.e. this is something the inmates do themselves, therefore it is not so important.

Quite cunning, but as usual quite obvious.

Once again the US government has conducted an inadequate investigation and has done little to alleviate some of the concerns in the Muslim world.

This echoes the US “investigation” into Abu Ghraib, it seems like the US do not learn from their mistakes, and more worryingly they seem to think they can do whatever they like.

There has been at least ten official military investigations into Abu Ghraib in the last year- none of which have challenged the Bush administration.

Blame the troops who did it as individuals, deny that this form of abuse is approved from above and that’s it- case closed.

The 10 official inquiries into Abu Ghraib are asking the wrong questions, at least in terms of apportioning ultimate responsibility for the treatment of prisoners. The question that never gets adequately answered is this: what did the president do after being told about Abu Ghraib? It is here that chronology becomes very important.

The US-led coalition forces swept to seeming immediate success in the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, and by early April Baghdad had been taken. Over the next few months, however, the resistance grew in scope, persistence and skill. In August 2003 it became more aggressive. At this point there was a decision to get tough with the thousands of prisoners in Iraq, many of whom had been seized in random raids or at roadside checkpoints. Major General Geoffrey D Miller, an army artillery officer who, as commander at Guantánamo, had got tough with the prisoners there, visited Baghdad to tutor the troops - to "Gitmo-ise" the Iraqi system.

By the beginning of October 2003 the reservists on the night shift at Abu Ghraib had begun their abuse of prisoners. They were aware that some of America's elite special forces units were also at work at the prison. Those highly trained military men had been authorised by the Pentagon's senior leadership to act far outside the normal rules of engagement. There was no secret about the interrogation practices used throughout that autumn and early winter, and few objections. In fact representatives of one of the Pentagon's private contractors at Abu Ghraib, who were involved in prisoner interrogation, were told that Condoleezza Rice, then the president's national security adviser, had praised their efforts. It's not clear why she would do so - there is still no evidence that the American intelligence community has accumulated any significant information about the operations of the resistance, who continue to strike US soldiers and Iraqis. The night shift's activities at Abu Ghraib came to an end on January 13, 2004, when Specialist Joseph M Darby, one of the 372nd reservists, provided army police authorities with a disk full of explicit images. By then these horrors had been taking place for nearly four months.

Three days later the army began an investigation. But there is no evidence that President Bush, upon learning of the devastating conduct at Abu Ghraib, asked any hard questions of Rumsfeld and his own aides in the White House; no evidence that they took any significant steps, upon learning in mid-January of the abuses, to review and modify the military's policy toward prisoners. I was told by a high-level former intelligence official that within days of the first reports the judicial system was programmed to begin prosecuting the enlisted men and women in the photos and to go no further up the chain of command.

Despite Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo and the various roles they played in what went wrong, Rumsfeld kept his job; Rice was promoted to secretary of state; Alberto Gonzales, who commissioned the memos justifying torture, became attorney general; deputy secretary of defence Paul Wolfowitz was nominated to the presidency of the World Bank; and Stephen Cambone, undersecretary of defence for intelligence and one of those most directly involved in the policies on prisoners, was still one of Rumsfeld's closest confidants. President Bush, asked about accountability, told the Washington Post before his second inauguration that the American people had supplied all the accountability needed - by re-electing him.
Only seven enlisted men and women have been charged or pleaded guilty to offences relating to Abu Ghraib. No officer is facing criminal proceedings.

(Extracted from The Chain of Command, published in paperback by Penguin Press)

The above makes both a fascinating and worrying read. The abuses carried out by the American soldiers are both institutionalised and covered up by the government.

Where is the world of peace and democracy that Bush promised? Perhaps he meant tyranny, torture and oppression.

Liverpool Vs AC Milan- The Result

2005-05-26T13:26:00.000+01:00

Sometimes words cannot express emotions adequately. They roll off the tongue trying to explain and justify what is occurring inside. But that feeling in the heart remains untouched and unexplained: there’s surely a word somewhere, which explains this feeling: but it’s just impossible to find.

A combination of words search for that feeling, however it still renders the feeling untouched. How on earth do you explain this to someone? A paradox within a person.

Welcome to the jubilation within my heart from last night and present at this moment in time.

Life brings about its constant trials and sends us all through a roller coaster of emotions, these are rarely the same on any given day.

I find football a form of escapism, a way to be playing on the greatest stage and become a part of something only few are able to.

Last night demonstrated football in its purest form, If you were fortunate enough to witness one of the greatest finals in history, this will live long in your memory. A game that will be talked about for as long as football exists.

Half way through the game, Liverpool looked out of their depth and humiliation seemed imminent. Body language changed, shock took centre stage. The initial enthusiasm was slowly withering away.

After Liverpool’s first goal, something changed in the air, the concentration returned, the anticipation grew.

Liverpool then scored there second and third. Disbelief rapidly transformed into the adjuration of emotions that only football can bring.

The game ebbed and flowed, hearts were racing as the game culminated into the single most stressful aspect of modern football- the penalty shoot out.

The Liverpool players showed nerves of steel and skill to match. Unfazed they all stepped forward and won their individual battles. They were now European Champions.

The world was in jubilation, or that’s how it seemed

The tears of Steven Gerrard and the humility of Raphael Benitez spoke volumes.

This was truly a glorious achievement.

On that night, there was nowhere I would have rather been.

Liverpool FC European Champions 2005

How Labour won the election

2005-05-25T09:59:00.000+01:00

Did anyone see Dispatches on Monday night? They had an inside reporter who infiltrated the Labour party helping them with PR, Campaigning etc.

Labour secretly recruit such people as activists- people who will work themselves to the bone to ensure Labour are re-elected.

What really amazed me was the sophistication within which Labour operate- It was truly staggering.

They have profiles of every candidate for each party. They have people writing down every statement said by the main opposition, they then analyse their statements in intense detail looking for anything to attack them with. They then e-mail and distribute all contradicting statements anonymously to all the local and national press trying to discredit the other parties. The press loves a blunder, especially by a major candidate and Labour like to be major contributors in finding them- without being noticed.

This is done rigorously and with immense sophistication.

Not only this but they have standard templates of letters to be written to the local press praising what Labour have done since they have been in power- these are generally aimed at the letters column of all local newspapers. This is so well planned that the same template does not re-appear in one region, however when newspapers across the country were compared the same letters with different names were repeatedly found.

That’s amazing, one thing people will trust is the statements of ordinary local people like themselves. If everyone is praising Labour and their policies, this creates a pseudo form of security. “Everyone else is benefiting from them, surely we must be next, let’s vote Labour” is the sort of mentality that arises in people reading these columns with regularity. Labour also sends out standard templates of letters complaining about the policies of the other parties. Thus, discrediting them as much as possible and providing a massive contrast in the columns of such newspapers between Labour and the opposition. Studies have shown that the most trusted part of a newspaper is the letters column, what comes from ordinary people like you and me surely must be true?

What’s been puzzling me for a while is the support that Blair gets personally wherever he goes, I can’t for the life of me understand the mentality of ordinary members of the public who follow him around and support him everywhere.

This was also clarified in the program, whenever Blair gave a press conference he was surrounded by activists and Labour party members. In fact it’s impossible for members of the public to attend his speeches. His press conferences are not announced, except at the last minute to the national press who send down their reporters. Blair already has his people in place and no one else is allowed in. This ensured no awkward questions about Iraq and allowed him to shake hands with the “public” comfortably. If there’s not enough reporters some of the activists pose as reporters to make the speeches look important.

I’m lost for superlatives adequate enough to describe what I saw.

Not only are the Labour speeches controlled, they were monitoring the opposition. Regardless of where the opposition leaders went, Labour would have their activists their posing as ordinary people heckling the opposition leaders and holding banners. Not only is Blair protected, but he makes sure the other candidates are not.

From an outside perspective this makes fascinating psychological viewing, you switch on the news and see Blair surrounded by “ordinary” people supporting him and read nothing but positive things about him in the papers from “ordinary” people. You then see the other candidates; their policies and speeches constantly criticised in the media, the local columns full of people condemning them. You then switch on the news to see “ordinary” people protesting and demonstrating against them.

Most people are in reality of the same mentality as sheep, they will follow the majority and not think too much for themselves. It’s not difficult to see how Labour won this election. As low and dishonest as this is, this is essentially the nature of western politics.

Labour are admirably good at manipulating the system.

Scallies!

2005-05-23T19:13:00.000+01:00

As I’ve been catching up with the news it seems that the US are planning to build four giant new military bases in Iraq.

“US military commanders are planning to pull back their troops from Iraq's towns and cities and re-deploy them in four giant bases in a strategy they say is a prelude to eventual withdrawal.”

Perhaps I’m missing the point, however I don’t see how building four major bases is a prelude to withdrawal. If anything it’s the opposite. They seem to be cementing their foothold by building powerful bases in key areas. This seems to be a long-term strategy. Looks like the US will be in Iraq for a very long time.

Apart from that then there’s one thing doing my head in on the news at the moment. This whole issue of unsociable behaviour of youths. The government is trying to find ways to deal with the countless “scallies” on the streets. People with nothing better to do than to walk around all night and cause trouble. Generally speaking society is terrified of such people who often hang around in large groups, rendering many areas “no go”, especially at night.

The government is trying to identify why such large numbers of youths are increasingly isolated from society, and why they lack general morals. Essentially such people are an embarrassment for the government and country as a whole.

The worrying thing is they seem to think the solution to the problems lie in two areas:

1) School
2) Discipline of parents

The above two are big factors in the moulding of any child, teenagers and society as a whole. However I would argue there is a bigger reason which intrinsically binds the above two enabling them to work symbiotically. The absence of which renders both of them insufficient in moulding young people and society.

We are living in an increasingly secularist society, the role of Religion and God has been replaced by secular values. The church and any forms of religion have been separated from common law, making them two independent bodies which cannot co-exist together.

This is where the problem lies.

I would argue religion- regardless of which one tries to instil the same core values into people. All these values pertain to having a good moral character and countless other positive traits that society is crying out for.

This is regardless of the extent to which a religion was being implemented. The sheer acknowledgement of a creator and a final abode is enough to keep most of us within general boundaries of good conduct.

If someone was to say that good conduct is subjective and so are all the other aspects of character, then I would agree- but from a secular perspective. The standard to measure everything in life against is not the standard of finite created human beings- but from the standard of a God who knows all.

The limited intellect of people forces them to go round and round in circles, making laws, changing laws and usually bending them in-between.

The children of yesteryear had Jesus and Muhammad (on whom be peace) as role models and examples as to how to live their lives. The greatest of mankind that ever lived were taught as role models to the youth. They identified with their struggles and took heed from their immense sacrifices in order to present us with the best possible message.

What do the children of today have?

The role models of today are no often no different to the youth being targeted, they are often those who pride themselves on being of bad character.

With this decline of religion as a whole in the fabric of society the quality of our youth has diminished.

Until the balance is re-addressed, I wouldn’t be too optimistic in expecting sudden changes in the streets of our country.

In fact, I anticipate the opposite. Expect the street corner to become the playground of the few, and the nightmare of the many.

My simple message to the government is “you reap what you sow”

“Verily, this Qur’aan guides to that which is most just and right and gives glad tidings to the believers who work deeds of righteousness, that they shall have a great reward” (Al-Isra:9)

I've got a cold :-(

2005-05-20T13:39:00.000+01:00

I’m full of the cold today, Alhumdulillah. I felt really bad yesterday at work, a sudden cold that just seemed to get worse.

I tell you what though, Long live Vitamin C! A few tablets and I feel like I’m on my way to getting better. I’m almost back to normal now (if you can call me normal that is) hence I’ve summoned up the mental strength required to write one my blogs ;-)

First of all, I hate this new job, it’s really not for me. I’ve got myself stuck doing MI and updating spreadsheets. Yes the money is good, but this is now cutting into my blogging time- I will not have this!

But seriously, I hope the other job I applied for (Jupiter) rescues me soon otherwise my brain cells will just erode with every spreadsheet produced.

I can feel myself getting slowweeer and sloowwwweeeeeeer.

It’s my last day in Oldham today, I quite like this place although the people here seem to be a few penalties short of a shoot out! I’ve always had a theory about the people from Oldham and I have to say my brief visit here has only added to the case study I’ve been conducting. I’ve been very careful here not to drink the water as I don’t want to catch Oldham fever (similar to Cabin Fever). I’ve also avoided the chips as they may have been made in Oldham soil- hence contamination imminent from radioactive Oldham soil!

A new species of monkey was found today in the mountains of Tanzania, that’s nothing in the hills of Oldham………. I should stop there :-)

If anyone from Oldham is reading this blog, then just substitute the word Oldham for something else like hmmm hmm Man Utd?

I’m not really up to date with anything today, all I know is Karimov declned for independent inspections into Uzbekistan to see what is really going on: there’s a surprise.

I was reading something very interesting before about Nokia, all their new smart phones will be like an N-Gage i.e. you will be able to play N-Gage games on any of these phones. Sounds quite cool- It will be interesting when the first few are released. You can then play against anyone over blue-tooth.

Anyway, there’s been two topics I’ve been avoiding all week- the FA Cup final and Star Wars.

Let’s start with Star Wars, any of you guys out there seen the new movie? If you have jot me a quick review! I’m going to try and catch the movie sometime next week. The reviews seem to be quite mixed although everyone seems to agree they are better than last two George Lucas has made. Then again even the movie of grass growing I made with my mobile phone was better than the last two!

As always though, It’s definitely going to be worth a watch, the clips look absolutely amazing! What I can’t believe is how many people out there have not seen Star Wars. Surely this is a sign of a deprived childhood?

I can’t wait to see Darth Vader- I’ve missed that evil space maniac!

Actually talking of movies, everyone look out for Madagascar- an animated movie out next month. It looks so funny it’s untrue, remember you heard it here first ;-) I think this film will outdo Shrek!

As for footie, then I can’t wait until the cup final. I’ve been delaying talking about it on the blog as I thought we could talk about this the day before the game.

I expect it to be bruising, tight and very entertaining. It’s a pity Henry will miss the match, as it’s nice to see all the best players on the big occasion. I do think if Arsenal play to their full potential they will win easily. The problem is they seem to have some kind of mental block when it comes to United and they just loose the plot. United are very confident against Arsenal and these matches usually bring out the best in them.

I think the key to the game will be Arsenal’s defending- I expect United to defend reasonably well, but Arsenal often drop clangers at the worst moments.

Fergie will probably move Ronaldo to the right because Ashley Cole can have a meeting with Chelsea and mark him at the same time with ease! That shouldn’t be a problem as Ronaldo is totally useless anyway.

I think for once Arsenal will hold their nerve, they owe united one and I think they will final sparkle in the big game!

Aresenal to win 2-1- sorry all you scum bag Man utd fans! Let’s all hear it for the Gooners!

A Thursday mix!

2005-05-19T13:09:00.000+01:00

The arms race is very much alive; it’s just become more political and far more intelligent. The days of racing against each other trying to make bigger and more destructive weapons has been replaced with a subtler form of warfare.

Now it’s a case of using policies to keep all your potential enemies in check. Stop them from building powerful weapons by passing various treatises with the aim of “global peace”. This way your intentions look good and you can get the majority to agree with you.

As for those who have other ideas, show them you mean business by decimating a country or maybe a few when they “violate” such treaties. For this very reason you have a pretty firm grip on other countries producing arms. As part of this pact, you must be exempt to do as you wish, producing and making more advanced weapons. For the greater good of society of course.

Keep everyone weak, and make yourself as powerful as possible- classic signs of global domination.

If such powers were held by those with good intentions we could feel relatively safe, unfortunately time has proved that this is not the case.

Bush is expected to issue a directive in the next few weeks giving the US air force a green light for the development of space weapons.

And what amazing weapons these are:

“The new weapons being studied range from hunter-killer satellites to orbiting weapons using lasers, radio waves, or even dense metal tubes dropped from space by a weapon known as "Rods from God" on ground targets.

The "Rods from God" scheme would aim tungsten, titanium or uranium cylinders at targets on the ground from a position in low earth orbit. By the time they hit the earth they would be travelling at around 7,500mph , with the impact of a small nuclear warhead“

Oh boy, imagine such weapons being available, this would literally make an army invincible. Within seconds, anything could be targeted and obliterated. If this does go ahead this is bad news. A true global superpower could emerge,

Makes me shudder.

For the gamers out there I’ve been looking at the new console releases: I may even knock together reviews at some point. From what I can gather currently, the PS3 looks like superseding all the others. It is allegedly twice as fast as the new Xbox (which is amazingly fast 3 x 3.2ghz processors). In fact the new playstation is so fast that games are not even developed up to stretch the console to its full potential. The Nintendo release seems ok, but things like online game play are optional extras, I don’t envisage them competing with the Playstation in particular.

I’ve no idea how much they will be once released, I’ll probably get one myself as the graphics just look amazing, the console is backwards compatible to the PS1 and PS2- I can play all my old titles on it. It sounds the business. I’ll probably wait about six months after it’s released, I envisage it being about £100 cheaper at that point.

Apart from that I’ve been trying to do some research on kittens- my wife is a big cat lover. So we’re doing some research into what looking after a kitten entails. From our research we will basically decide whether it is viable for us or not.

One thing for sure is things have changed a lot since I was a kid, Back then you would get some scally cat off the street, feed it every now and again and job done lol Sounds crude I know but that’s how it happened!

Now I’m learning that nutrition needs to be controlled, stimulation of the cat, developing its personality and so on.

The more I’ve been reading about kittens the more I’ve realised that having a kitten is very big responsibility, much like having a baby. kittens often become ill within the first 10 days of arriving at a new home, simply through the shock of changing environments!!

Amazing, maybe I’ve been in a shelter all my life but one thing I did not know is cats are lactose intolerant- to me that’s just shocking!

The cost and regularity of check ups, vaccinations and things such as neutering have made me realise what a big responsibility owning a cat is and a reasonable expense.

So I think this issue requires a lot more research and a little thing called Istikhaarah :-) before any decisions are made.

Oh and funniest thing I’ve read in ages; A witch doctor in Nigeria was testing out a bullet proof potion on a friend……………………………now he’s up for Murder LOL

Back to the drawing board with that potion, perhaps he didn’t stir it for long enough?

And for all you guys reading the blog but too shy to leave comments- take the plunge and say something !

Galloway, Karimov and Kylie

2005-05-18T13:03:00.000+01:00

If I had a hat, I’d take it off to Mr George Galloway. Even if I had hair I would do something with it!

What a performance! He made the US senators look like idiots, eventually frustrating them to the point where they just gave up.

Galloway was never going to be pushed onto the back foot, he barracked the senators from the off. He said he’s met Saddam the same number of times as Rumsfeld, except He never sold him any weapons lol classic!

The claim that he received oil from Iraqi officials was all base upon a contributor to the Mariam fund- Mr Zureikat. The sentators said that Zureikat had been trading under Galloway’s name and that he was aware of this- something which Galloway denied.

Mr Galloway is an absolute comedian, when asked about contributors to his fund he turned the tables on Mr Coleman and asked him about the contributions the senator had received:

He said: "Well, there's a lot of contributors, I've just been checking your website..."
"Not many at that level, Mr Galloway," the senator interjected.
"No, let me assure you there are," Mr Galloway went on. "I've checked your website. There are lots of contributors to your political campaign funds, I don't suppose you ask any of them how they made the money they give you."

I like it, give it back to them!

Not only is he a comedian, but he’s not afraid to speak the truth- this is why I respect this man:

“He said that 100,000 people had paid with their lives for false assumptions on Iraq, "1,600 of them American soldiers sent to their deaths on a pack of lies; 15,000 of them wounded, many of them disabled forever on a pack of lies".

He eventually said if I did any such deals then where is the money?

I think I’m going to start the George Galloway for Prime Minister campaign!

Having said all of this, I don’t think Blair and Bush will rest until they get Galloway for something. He’s probably made life more difficult for himself. If he wasn’t so high profile I’m sure he would have disappeared by now, it probably won’t be long until he’s being charged with something.

Aside from George Galloway, anyone who wants to see the true evil that man can become look no further than Uzbekistan- reading and following this on the news is simply heartbreaking.

I don’t have words to express how I feel about this man; Islam Karimov. He is a real piece of work. He boiled alive two of his critics in 2002, there is no independent economic activity, religious practice is severely restricted, there is no free press and the internet is censored. This man is a dictator of the highest caliber, he won the recent election by banning all the other parties!

Innocent women and children are being slaughtered at gunpoint, nothing is being done by the US or the UK, why?

Well when you have good friends who are willing to help you out whenever there is a war there is a tendency to turn a blind eye. Shortly after 9/11 Karimov allowed the US to set up a base in Khanabad- a key base for the war against Afghanistan, he also protects the Asian gas and oil supplies for the US and allows the export of terror suspects.

His recent atrocities are bringing Karimov very much under the spotlight, it’s becoming harder and harder for the US and UK to turn a blind eye.

Bush and co harp on about spreading democracy, in truth they cannot afford for true democracy to be spread throughout the world. If countries such as Uzbekhistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia among many others conducted full scale genuinely democratic elections the US would loose out. Their worst fear of their puppets losing power would manifest, more Islamic governments in these countries would be set up and they would gradually begin to loose power.

IF they believe that this form of democracy is so superior then allow it to run its natural course, surely if this is the best way then giving it the means would naturally allow it to flourish. On the flipside, surely governments actually voted in by the people themselves will result in less tyranny and produce more stable countries and economies?

As long as there is so much to gain from repressing the people, this will always be the way. And I have no doubt it will become worse. What these people must realise is, repressing the people only leads to tyranny and true terrorism. I fear so many people will continuously die because of the arrogance and greed of a few.

Man, the news is depressing me as usual.

I don’t think I can finish this blog without speaking about dear old Kylie. Where do I start……well for a start on average one in every nine women develop breast cancer in their lifetime. There is no doubt that the sound of any person developing such a disease is tragic, but let’s not make Kylie’s tragedy into something more dramatic or more painful than all the other women who are diagnosed this week.

Let’s not degrade the pain of the others suffering from this same disease- simply because they are not famous.
Kylie is a celebrity in the limelight- agreed. But let’s keep this in context, because she is rich and famous blah blah blah does not exempt her from anything in this life. She is still subject to the same trials as the rest of us, she is vulnerable- she is human.

What I can’t stand about celebrity status is how people are elevated into something, which is above human. We have all been created the same with the same trials and the same end goal- with the same purpose.

"I did not create the jinn and mankind except for My worship" (Surah ad-Dhaariyaat 51:56)

The power of the media

2005-05-17T14:45:00.000+01:00

One thing that has been illustrated in the last few days is the power of the media. This method of communication transgresses all boundaries and will influence even the most isolated people. One story published in an American magazine, that’s all it took. Within ten days half the world has picked up on it resulting in deaths, injuries, riots, condemnations and threats for war fired across the globe.

Has there ever been such a powerful mass medium? The media was well known for being a huge propaganda tool during the first and second World War, it was used to make both sets of armies and people think they were winning amongst other things to continually keep their support.

If you can control the media, you can essentially control the people, their thoughts, their actions, their mentality and most importantly- their votes.

With the advent and advancement of the Internet, information can reach any corner of the Globe within minutes. This is not only amazing, this is dangerous.

I’m not casting aspersions as to the Qur’aan story and whether it was true or not. I’m speaking about the impact of a story regardless of its authenticity.

It can be argued that this story is a little different, as the matter being discussed is highly emotive therefore such a story is bound to spread rapidly. But this is just it, create a story, make it emotive- and what do you have? Mass interest and reaction.

As George Galloway said today “Tell a story often enough and people will begin to believe it’s the truth”. In modern terms this story does not even require evidence, all a government has to do is state the information is a matter of national security. They have the evidence, it’s categorical and that’s it.

All of the above could be achieved with a simple news story, the sensationalism that papers require in order to outsell each other leads them to search for bigger and bolder stories. The opportunity to be the first to report a major breaking coup is often too tantalising to turn down.

Rules and ethics are thrown out of the window, if it’s sensational enough it will make the media. And this is why is why the media has become so dangerous, it dictates all of our lives and shapes our minds.

As long as some free-thinking people remain who are willing to analyse and criticise, the remnants of the truth will always be somewhere.

The problem is: there’s not many of them left.

Elsewhere the US’s game with Galloway seems to be backfiring, especially since a senate report today illustrated that 52% of the Illegal oil actually went to them lol They chose their companies etc etc.

Apart from that then I don’t know if I’ll be blogging in the next three days, I’m being sent to Oldham (the land of no return) for some system testing for the rest of the week.

Could this be blogging time over? Stay tuned ;-)

Newsweek's Story

2005-05-16T14:48:00.000+01:00

So Newsweek claims that it got it’s Qur’aan story wrong- Whether this is true or not is something only the people involved and the inmates of Guantanamo would be able to verify.

In reality, this statement had to be retracted even if it was true. For those who are unaware of this story, on Friday (which was the first time I came across this story) Newsweek announced that Qur’aans were being desecrated in Guantanamo. This ranged from them being stamped upon to them being flushed down the toilet.

They now claim that the original source is now not sure whether he actually saw this happen, although an investigation will be launched.

Due to this story the Muslim world naturally reacted:

“In Afghanistan at least 17 people died and more than 100 were injured in the worst street violence the country has seen since US troops ousted the Taliban in 2001. Yesterday, a council of more than 300 mullahs in the north-eastern province of Badakhshan threatened to declare holy war on America if it failed to hand the interrogators to be punished. Protests appeared to have been sparked after the former Pakistan cricket star Imran Khan held up a copy of the article at a press conference last week and said: "This is what the US is doing, desecrating the Qur'an." (The Guardian)

There are many other reports of outrage throughout the Muslim world. If Qur’aans are being abused then this wouldn’t surprise me in the least. I think a person would have to be very naïve to think otherwise. After reading the transcripts of people like Mozamm Begg, it seems that a place like Guantanamo tries to have as much of a psychological effect upon the people as they do a physical one- although the former perspective is usually lost. Try and imagine a bigger psychological blow than the Qur’aan being abused in your face. This is enough to mess the minds up of even the strongest person. In fact, even the thought of it is unbearable- let alone witnessing it with your own eyes.

Whilst the Muslim countries tolerate invasion, murder and blatant disregard for Islam, they have their limits. No matter how Jaahil a Muslim becomes it is difficult to imagine them not becoming outraged by something being done to the Qur’aan. This is something which touches the inner most soul of every Muslim- something hardly palatable.

It’s not surprising that the US pulled out all the stops to quash this story. If not true then this is massively damaging especially in the Middle East. If true, then a strategy needs to be formed as to how this story should be released. I do feel that if this story was proved to be true then we would just end up with another Abu Gharaib situation. The actions would be put down the misconduct of individuals, thus condemned by the government as a whole. Most of it would be washed under the carpet and: story over. And I can’t blame the US for it, everyone tries to achieve their means, the US usually does this by telling transparent lies.

They do need to be very careful, one day they will push the Muslims too far and that’s the last thing they want. Reactions rarely tend to be thought-out or rational and that’s a disaster waiting to happen. They certainly have it coming, but let’s just hope that once again the blood of innocents isn’t added to bigotry of these people.

Talking of which, I’m tired of the debate on immigrants, Michael Howard disgraced himself and Tony Blair is not doing too much better. Let’s get something straight the west cannot afford to live the way it does unless it exploits the poorer nations. They pay these people pittance, and when they come in search of proper wages they are given red tape. If these countries would stop exploiting them in the first place, such countries would be able to sustain their own economies. As usual, it is the rich getting richer and exploiting those who are in need most.

Creating bigger walls does not make these people less likely to come, just more likely to go to prison or sent back.

If only people would live within their means, then there would be no need to make lives for others so difficult.

Subhan’Allah, as always the news is just so depressing.

Aside from that then I’m doing the “dreaded job” which no one wants to do today, it’s the second time I’m doing this and it will be my task every Monday. The problem is the woman training me left for home in an emergency a few hours ago, so I’m just muddling my way through it. Somehow I think the figures may not be accurate!

In fact I just got a phone call telling me it’s not accurate lol But I know what I’ve done wrong!

Is it me or are my posts becoming more serious? I think I need to lighten up!

Abuse

2005-05-13T14:16:00.000+01:00

For today’s blog, forget the news, forget politics- Let’s just talk about society.

Perhaps I’m naïve but in this day and age I would expect more tolerance, more understanding and more empathy towards people of different religions and diverse races.

To hear as I did yesterday of Muslim women in a predominantly Muslim area in Manchester being abused simply for wearing a hijab is both saddening and quite sickening.

What leads a person to openly abuse another based upon their appearance is beyond me, let’s face it as kids it’s something most of us have done. But that’s just it- as kids.

What gives someone the sheer gaul to openly abuse another person in public? What gives a person such levels or arrogance and ignorance?

I’m not really sure what’s worse, the fact that this occurs or the simple fact that this doesn’t surprise me.

In every sense the Muslims are currently and for the foreseeable future under the spotlight. Regardless of how well people are informed they seemed to have an opinion regarding the Muslims and Islam. However, any opinion must be based upon a sincere critical understanding and a desire for the truth.

This is the very foundation that Islam is built upon, throughout the Qur’aan people are challenged to think, to analyse, to reflect and to bring evidences if they are indeed truthful. This principle is not only neglected by the people who openly condemn Islam, but sadly by the Muslims themselves.

Perhaps here lies the key to the problem faced by the Muslims, they themselves neglect and abuse the religion, so why shouldn’t everyone else?

Muslims have this mentality of blaming everyone for their problems, especially the US, Jews and the governments. Admittedly, these groups have had influences upon the affairs and current state of the Muslim nation. But in reality who is to blame? The Muslims themselves. The single most culpable group when it comes to the ignorance of the non-Muslims.

If I go around this office and ask all the non-Muslims about their knowledge of Islaam, I could probably combine their knowledge and write it on the back of a stamp. If I do the same with the Muslims, I wouldn’t expect many more stamps to be filled in truth.

This is where the problem lies, the fundamental neglect of the various sciences of the religion have left the Muslims unaware of their religion. How can a person give medicine to another, when he doesn’t even realise he’s holding a cure and he himself is suffering from a similar disease? A disease of ignorance.

This neglect is not only occurring here but globally. I’ve met non-Muslims who thought Muslims worship a book.

Who will remedy this problem? It is not the job of the western secularist world to teach the masses about Islam- it goes against their fundamental ideologies and aims.

Until the Muslims wake up, they will continue to be abused, degraded and humiliated. The only cure to ignorance is knowledge.

“O Messenger (Muhammad)! Proclaim (the Message) which has been sent down to you from your Lord. And if you do not, then you have not conveyed His Message. Allah will protect you from mankind. Verily, Allah guides not the people who disbelieve”.(5:67)

The only cure to this problem is to return to articulating, researching and implementing this religion. The Muslims must wake up and start to educate the people around them. The manners, sincerity and character of the Muslims must challenge stereotypes. All with the knowledge that Allah is the source of all guidance.

“Wherewith Allah guides all those who seek His Good Pleasure to ways of peace, and He brings them out of darkness by His Will unto light and guides them to a Straight Way (Islamic Monotheism)”.5:16

The Power of Nightmares

2005-05-12T09:26:00.000+01:00

Anyone heard of the “Power of Nightmares”? This movie made by Adam Curtis is this years Farenheit 9/11. All the major US companies have declined to show the movie, it will be shown on al-Jazeera tonight.

From the bits I’ve managed to find out about this film, it seems to be a historical account of 9/11 and the events leading up to the tradegy. The film then shows the post 9/11 era with the American government essentially controlling people by raising fear levels constantly to induce a state of panic in the people.

In truth, this is a well-known ploy, make the people feel on edge like they are constantly under attack. Raise the terror levels, reduce them a little and then raise them again- keep the people on their toes. Long term, you can follow this up by perhaps bombing a few high profile buildings of your own, and there you have it! a perfect justification. Tell the people this is the reason you’ve had the terror levels constantly fluctuating. Now you have a perfect recipe to blame and invade whoever you like.

This tactic was documented during the Cuban missile crisis, where the US planned to launch an attack on themselves in order to blame and eventually destroy the enemy,

As interesting as Fahrenheit 9/11 was, I was never quite sure afterwards if Michael Moore was implying the truth or had just missed the point. He showed the links between how the insurers of the twin towers were set to gain, he showed how Bush and his administration would gain, he also showed how the post 9/11 documents were heavily edited by the government- why? Why edit the documents? Unless you were actually involved from the beginning.

All you then need is to pick a few random Arabs, blame a country for supporting them and then invade. It really is as simple as that, if you control the majority of the media you can dismiss any other sources as propaganda, biased or unreliable.

Perfect, now you can put your puppets in power, control the economy by giving all the long term contracts such as mobile networks to US companies, start an “Oil for food programme” and you’ve made your losses back in no time.

The Power of Nightmares should prove to be quite interesting, it’s a three and a half-hour movie. If anyone finds a copy online- let me know how it is. It’s times like this I need my broadband back!

Apparently Bush had a grenade thrown at him in Georgia on Tuesday, the Grenade was found about 30m from him. The reports are a little hazy on this, it seems from some reports the grenade was thrown and hit someone in the crowd on the back of the head lol and then fell on the ground, but it didn’t detonate. Which is why I’m not so sure about that version, if it’s true then what kind of baby throw was it?

As for the new job, then ‘m beginning to enjoy it , I have free reign to manage my own projects, my own time and I have plenty of creative license to design in the way I wish and learn whatever I would like. Alhumdulillah.

Aside from all of that, the Zapatista rebels have challenged Inter Milan to a football match! These Mexican rebels have even asked Inter to bring a ball because all of theirs are punctured. They said: "Given the affection we have for you, we're not planning to submerge you in goals" LOL I like it.

Anyone see the Chelsea v Man Utd match? After their crushing defeat the United players ran a lap of honour as it’s their last home game of the season. Whilst running they noticed something- no fans lol Scumchester fans were so upset by the teams dismal season that they would rather leave than watch them run a lap of honour.

p.s. I gain no satisfaction from this whatsoever ;-)

Iran

2005-05-11T09:54:00.001+01:00

I’m a little worried about Iran at the moment, they have just announced their intention to continue with nuclear activity. It seems that they are trying to justify this action on a technicality that conversion of uranium does not equate to enrichment, therefore it is not in breach of the Paris Agreement.

The US and Israel will argue in particular that the gas produced is a necessary pre-requisite of making a bomb- a nuclear one.

This is very worrying, we all know what happened in Iraq and I don’t think an overthrow of the Iran regime is far away. It’s a difficult balance for the Iranians, they want to produce weapons as does any country for their own reasons. Realistically, they can’t risk antagonising the US in particular.

At the moment the rhetoric speaks of taking Iran before the Security Council if they fail to comply. However , the powers of the UN Security Council were well demonstrated before the Iraq war- in the bigger picture they have no say if the US dictates otherwise.

“Ayatollah” Al Kameeni said Iran’s nuclear programme was not the business of the west, echoes of Saddams defiance before his well-known demise. My real worry is the Iranian people, Bush has no regard for human life. He will kill as many as it takes to achieve his means.

Life in genera has no value in modern society, only when a death or tragedy is related to one’s own does it hit home. Constant de-sensitisation to death in the media culminating over years has made us all numb when it comes to seeing death. The travesty of death and it’s imminence upon every one of us no longer shakes the soul like it once did.

Death in the sense of modern warfare however is far different. Modern missiles can kill people from great distances, this combined with science of controlling information and you have a perfect recipe to decimate whatever you like. People can only react when they know the truth; with “information dominance” the reality of casualties is often hidden from the masses.

The deaths of civilians which are reported are justified as being necessary, weak apologies are given and then…. everything is forgotten, people are buried and life goes on.

How many of us really batter an eyelid when we hear of people dying? How many of us picture ourselves in the place of their loved ones trying to cope with bereavement. This is far worse in which countries are bombarded until they are just literally ruins. How do you just pick up and carry on? How many of us contemplate the gravity and consequences of taking a life?

“If anyone killed a person not in retaliation of murder, or to spread mischief in the land - it would be as if he killed all mankind, and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind” (Al Ma’idah: 32)

People are being slaughtered constantly across the globe. There is no justice among people who worship their desires. Everyone is worshipping something, whether they realise it or not- the end goal and motivation that a person has is gained from that which is being worshipped. Regardless of whether it is a desire or a God. People who are primarily driven by their greed will not stop until they achieve their aims. We are powerless in a “democratic” society to do anything of any significance. We can however stand up for basic human rights.

“O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich or poor, Allah is a Better Protector to both (than you). So follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you may avoid justice, and if you distort your witness or refuse to give it, verily, Allah is Ever Well Acquainted with what you do”. An-Nisa 135.

No matter where the injustice is being done, we should stand firm and remember who created us all and to whom we shall all return. Even if the injustice is among ourselves or in our own families, the sincerity of faith necessitates honesty and standing for the rights of people wherever they may be.

Let’s not let another Iraq happen, if Iran must be “disarmed” or stopped from producing “nuclear weapons” then lessons need to be learnt from the past and this needs to be achieved by peaceful means. Let’s not let thousands die once again, tomorrow it could be one of our families or us. Then it will be too late.

The Ladder

2005-05-10T08:41:00.000+01:00

It’s 7.39 am, my eyes are slowly opening and the old brain is slowly warming up.

Alhumdulillah I had a nice peaceful drive into work this morning. Strangely enough I was terrified of motorway driving when I began, now I prefer it to normal roads. There’s too much stop-start on the normal roads and it takes way too long to get anywhere. Having said that, there’s some maniac wanna-be schumachers on the motorway, there’s at least one big accident everyday- So I guess it does have its pitfalls.

Today I thought I’d tell everyone about “The Ladder”, yes this is something me and the Mrs devised at home for the little one. Masha’Allah he’s five and generally a good kid, but he can turn into a rampaging tornado at times- hence we thought this kid needs a ladder!

The ladder goes from zero to plus five and downwards to minus five- he has five reviews in a day, this gives him the opportunity to reach the top if he wishes. All the positive numbers are things that he would like i.e. he reaches one and get stickers, two and gets snacks, three he gets football, four he gets an ice cream and five he gets to play computer games or a movie for about 10/15 minutes. Alternatively, the negatives range from a telling off to having to sit on the stairs (which he hates).

His home day is divided into five sections, me and the Mrs have a quick chat about whether he should go up or down, ask him to come in and explain to him why we think he should go up or down. He is then moved appropriately. Things like not saying his pleases/ thank you, his Jazaah Kallah Khayars, wa iyaakums and salaams if missed usually mean he will go down on the ladder. Just generally being good and polite, enable him to go up.

We’ve been doing this for exactly a week now and subhan’Allah it works amazingly well, this kid is reformed masha’Allah. He hits at least a four pretty much everyday- everyone with little terrors I recommend doing something similar. With anything the key is consistency, reinforcing the ladder constantly. Resulting in either moving him up or down on time with the appropriate rewards or punishments. Generally, any signs of negative behaviour means he will go down, this is to essentially try and eradicate this.

It’s nice because he gets directly rewarded for his behaviour, he is essentially in control of what he receives but at the same time the parents retain the authority and decide whether he goes up or down.

He loves the ladder, when moved up masha’Allah his face lights up, every day he talks about how he wants to get a five, it’s fun for everyone yet it’s important and it’s moulding him and giving him a good character insha’Allah.

I wonder if anyone out there has tried other methods with their children?

Elsewhere, news of the day comes from Australia

“A two-day prison siege in Australia has ended after inmates agreed to exchange their hostage for a delivery of pizzas”

lol People after my own heart, they exchanged their hostages for 15 pizzas :-)

As for footie, Alex Ferguson said ahead of tonight’s match with Chelsea that there is nothing between the sides. I think there might just be 17 points between the teams, oh a Carling Cup and a Champions League Semi Final. Alex old boy, just admit for once that a side may just be better than United!

A mixed bag

2005-05-09T11:34:00.000+01:00

A bright Monday morning, I seem to find it hard to update the blog over the weekends. I just don’t have the time, apologies to the world!

I’ll start this blog off with the statement of the century- this left me in hysterics: One of the Labour MPs who now wants Blair out- Frank field said:

"He [Mr Blair] is clearly the best we've ever had at winning elections. The trouble with that of course is what we do after we've won an election."

LOL doesn’t that just bring a smile to your face? :-)

Isn’t it interesting how the MPs waited until Blair regained power before trying to oust him, who would be in politics?

If anyone has read the comments lately then they will know that Chopper Harry seems to be obsessed with my sleeping patterns! Chopper, next time we go camping I think you should come and witness my abnormal sleeping in person!

Well, currently I seem to be doing three strange things whilst sleeping:

1) Trying to have conversations with the wall, the cupboard and the duvet while I sleep- oh and I do this very loudly!

2) I do some kind of crocodile roll with the duvet in the middle of the night, it wraps around my body, leaving the Mrs in the cold lol

3) I jump in the air in sudden jerks like Michael Jordan, slam-dunk and then fall asleep again!

I can’t believe I’m sharing this with the world…… all forms of advice and counselling are welcome!

As for work, at every work place there’s a task that no one wants to do. It gets passed around from person to person, wrecking lives and destroying homes, it’s a bit like the Ring in Lord of the Rings, anyone who gets It loses the plot until they pass the task on. Well this task is now mine! I’ve been given the work that no one wants to do. Strange thing is I don’t think it’s too bad, in-between queries I seem to have good blogging time- so how bad can it be? I’ve done about a half of the task, maybe by the end I will change my mind! I’ll let you guys know.

I’m still having crazy debates with one of the Christians here, in truth he causes a lot of fitnah, especially with the non-practising Muslims. Even though his views are shown to have countless flaws, he just ignores anything, which doesn’t agree with him, and continues- in reality this is the definition of arrogance. My aim is only to keep him under control, to try and stop him spreading his fitnah. Alhumdulillah we have a good relationship which is very important when giving the daa’wa.

125.Invite (mankind) to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided. (An Nahl)

Subhan’Allah- says it all.

As for football, Everton are in the Champions League next season, in fact I’m not going to say that. Everton are in the Champions League for Six games and then the UEFA cup!!! Let’s be realistic, they’re "long ball, no leg too big, no bone can’t be broken, psychopathic storm-trooper football” will only get them so far against the elite. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bitter, the scum of Merseyside have done well- But they won’t cut it against the big boys.

Surely Liverpool have to be given a place in next seasons competition if they win the tournament? If the winners can’t defend their title, that surely devalues the tournament as a whole? How can anyone else claim to have taken a trophy off a team that wasn’t even in the same tournament? This is ridiculous- UEFA get your act together!

As for all those Chelsea fans out there, who are complaining about Luis Garcia’s goal- still, in an interview the referee said that had the linesman not given the goal he would have given Liverpool a penalty AND sent Cech off! So quit complaining, you guys got off likely, with ten men we would have spanked you guys silly ;-)

And yes Arsenal beat us yesterday and I haven’t mentioned it, I have one word for it- fatigue!. Getting to the Champions League final is tiring, of course Man U, Arsenal and Chelsea fans wouldn’t know anything about that…….hehehehe ;-)

So much to say, so little time..

2005-05-06T08:38:00.000+01:00

So Labour has won, in reality it was never in doubt they were always going to win. I really think the absence of any strong leaders in the other parties proved crucial.

Let’s just hope people who can make a difference won some local seats.

I tell you what’s interesting at the moment, the International Court is now hearing the case for the war in Iraq being illegal. The case is being put forward by the families affected by the war and lawyers representing anti-war groups. The question is whether the war was conducted on the basis of Weapons of Mass destruction, or was Iraq invaded for regime change, which would be illegal. The latter was most definitely the case- proving it is another matter however.

There’s also concern about the types of weapons that were used, Cluster Munitions were used in highly civilian areas. Murder, torture and war crimes are also on the agenda- all in relation to contravening the Geneva Convention. It will be fascinating to see how this unfolds.

I haven’t given any updates with regards to my new job- well here it is.

In short, I don’t think I like it lol Alhumdulillah I’ve been blessed with a good grade and salary, but the first few days have not been terribly good. The people above me seem to be quite disorganised and they have no problems throwing me in the deep end. I’m going to put my head down today and work hard- let’s hope it pays off.

I see that Skum-sports have used their revolutionary technology to verify whether the ball had crossed the line for the Liverpool goal against Chelsea.

They have proved conclusively that the ball had not crossed the line using Israeli Missile Technology.

In fact, it was not even close.

I have three replies to this:

1) It was a penalty and a red-card- we may have had a bigger advantage if the goal was not given

2) Missiles often hit the wrong country!

3) It’s called a Miss-sile because it never hits anything your actually aim at! If anyone wants to test this theory please launch one at Man Utd FC to verify my claim ;-)

The Mother of all rants

2005-05-05T09:51:00.000+01:00

Reading the news just depresses me- I’m just lost for words.

Remember the pictures of the Iraqi people naked with a female US soldier standing over them pointing, laughing etc? Well her guilty plea has been rejected and sent back to the military authorities, but why?

Oh because “Graner said the pictures he took were meant to become a legitimate training aid!” ohhh I should have known, it’s so obvious, a traning aid!

Subhan’Allah. I think I should stop there.

AND, if that wasn’t bad enough remember the US Marine who was caught live on an American cable channel walking up to an injured Iraqi and shooting him in the head.

Well he’s been found not guilty too, why?

Because this injured man who could barely move was a risk and the safest thing to do was to shoot him in the head.

I must be thick, it’s just so obvious.

Don’t get me wrong this is not an anti-US rant before someone starts, this is basic humanity. I don’t care who does these things, be them British, American or Arab- It’s just sick. And to dismiss these things with such ease shows no respect to the people who have suffered and a great deal of arrogance.

“He declares the Truth and He is the best of Judges." 6:57

Innah Lillahi Wa innah Ilayhi Raaji’oon

Man, I feel like staying away from the news all-together sometimes because this is just too depressing.

Time to lighten up:

You know what, I was clicking on random blog sites last night and I found this blog which had at least 80 comments for each post, one post had nearly 200 comments! I don’t think I’m in any serious danger of that occurring, If I get to 10 I’ll probably faint. It was some kind of weird Star Wars blog siite, which probably explains why they get so many comments.

Also, I said yesterday that PSV would turn Milan over, how close where they? I didn’t see the game but over the two legs they were the better team in each match and deserved to reach the final.

Liverpool Vs AC Milan it is then:

We fear no-one ;-)

Let's go to Istanbul!!!

2005-05-04T09:09:00.001+01:00

Man, what a night! I couldn’t have imagined anything quite as magnificent. From the moment I heard the Anfield roar, my spine tingled, my heart was in my mouth, and my eyes were fixed on the screen.

I remember screaming penalty just before Luis Garcia clearly knocked the ball over the line (lol No idea if it was or not but it was definitely a penalty and possibly a red card otherwise), what a moment………….words cannot express the feeling I had.

I have to say I’ve dissed Luis Garcia silly since his arrival at Anfiled, but slowly he is starting to look the part, his control and vision is better, he’s less wasteful in possession and boy is he scoring some vital goals.

Carragher and Finan were colossus, Traore sure footed and Hamann excellent in clearing up in front of the back four.

Gerrard once again under-performed in the big game, it was his beautiful flick that set up the goal, but apart from that he was nowhere to be seen- I can’t help but think it’s a confidence thing with him, he surely has the talent.

The match was so unbelievably tense, and when Gudjohnsen hit that volley in injury time I thought it was all over. But Liverpool were heroic last night and they deserved it.

Bring on PSV or Milan, I have a very sneaky feeling PSV will turn Milan over tonight, they played very well in Italy and I think they could cause an upset. Whoever it is, bring them on!

Aside from footie, Labour are still miles ahead in all the polls- one more day to go (sighs)

The world’s oldest mother gave birth yesterday, guess how old? 67!!!! A Romanian woman, subhan’Allah.

I’m lost for words. The previous record was held by an Indian woman who was 65, so I’m assuming she will set the new record again next year;-)

I think this is just insanity, what kind of quality time can a parent give a child at such an age? What kind of role model can they become?

A parent must be everything to the child, they need to be the child’s hero, their best friend, their teacher and their playmate. The parent should see the child trying to emulate them in every sense.

What will a 72-year-old be able to when the child is a hyper-active five year old? We all know how demanding they are.

The role of the parent in the tarbiyyah of the child is so under-valued in this society and even among the Muslims. Whenever I have met people with issues in life, after getting to know them the root is always the same- the parents.

“Each of you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock”- Agreed upon.

Four days since last blog

2005-05-03T09:56:00.000+01:00

Four days since I last blogged, I can’t believe it?

I’ve had a nice four-day holiday with the family, Alhumdulillah the time felt very blessed.

I also smacked my head in the wall and had a Disney style bump, which is still partially visible. Hence, if this blog is slightly incoherent it is due to mild concussion.

I’m trying not to think of the football tonight as its making me too nervous, as far as I’m concerned today is Monday and there is no game tonight ;-) However, at 7.45 the match will suddenly appear!

Apart from that not much to say, that scum bag Blair still looks like winning the election, the United Scum of America are selling tonnes of missiles to Israel, there was a mini tornado in Lancashire and if I didn’t mention it I bumped my head! No more news today, I just can’t handle it.

We almost finished the tafsir of the amazing ayah from Soorah Al Imran on Saturday:

110. You are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind; you enjoin Al-Ma'rûf (i.e. Islâmic Monotheism and all that Islâm has ordained) and forbid Al-Munkar (polytheism, disbelief and all that Islâm has forbidden), and you believe in Allâh. And had the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) believed, it would have been better for them; among them are some who have faith, but most of them are Al-Fâsiqûn (disobedient to Allâh - and rebellious against Allâh's Command).

Subhan’Allah we could speak about this ayah for hours. Perhaps in the next blog, just something to chew on meantime…

I’m still surrounded by depressed people, I have a theory about depression which last night I learnt agrees with the Rogerian theory of person centred counselling! Depression is all about perception and within everyone’s mind, every person has the ability to resolve such conflicts. The counsellor’s role is to merely facilitate and help the person find the solutions, which were always within them.

This Roger guy stole my theory :-(

You can either view everything in life as positive or negative:

The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for all of it is good, and that applies to no one except the believer. If something good happens to him he gives thanks, and that is good for him, and if something bad befalls him he bears it with patience, and that is good for him." (Narrated by Muslim, 2999).

How refreshing is this deen?

Subhan’Allah :- )

I almost forgot to mention I start my new job today. I’m in the same company, the same department, in fact the same chair!

I’m not really sure what I’ll be doing, I just know it’s another Analyst job although I’m not expecting it to be as difficult or demanding as the last one. Just more money!

It’s weird, doesn’t feel like a new job- maybe it will when I start in a few minutes.

Will keep you all posted.

Work place comedy

2005-04-28T13:35:00.000+01:00

My last post was quite serious, at this very moment in time I’m laughing so much I’m crying, I can’t even type: Picture the scene, you have me, Mr D and Mr K in a conversation.

Mr K is helping me with a document when he sees Mr D’s phone and says

Mr K “Wow I like that, isn’t that nice and slim”

MR D turns around and says, “what is, what’s nice and slim?”

Al feels all mischievous and says “You are, he thinks your nice and slim”

MR D smiles, turns his hips, puts his hands on his waist and looks down “Do you think?”

MR K “no your bloody phone”

MR D “oh, I thought you was giving me a compliment”

I just sat back and watched, and now you know why I’m in hysterics,! I’m crying all over the keyboard.

Call it childish if you wish, I call it comedy ;-)

Rantathon

2005-04-28T08:35:00.000+01:00

Tony Blair lied??? No way….. all my dreams have been shattered.

Give me a break. Anyone who doesn’t already know this man is an explicit liar I would worry about.

A new document released, and what? Well it tells us four main things (which were well known anyway)

1. Blair was told that the UN Security Council should decide if Iraq was co-operating.

We know Hans Blix said co-operation was increasing, yet Blair ignored all of this.

2. He was told he needed “hard” evidence

I won’t even comment on this one.

3. He was told a veto would stop any efforts for war.

When France did this the government just took an alternate route.

4. Blair handled this document like all the others.

The depressing thing is, he’s going to win the election!

Enough, I need to cheer up. There was a small matter of a football match last night. Come on you reds!!!!!

A great result, I must confess that I didn’t see any of the match as I don’t have sky at the moment but by all accounts it was an excellent performance (I manage to follow most of it on the radio). Mourinhio is worried, he’s started the mind games already. All we have to do is win at home- any score-line will do.

The only negative was losing Alonso for the second leg, that’s a massive blow, but if Hamann makes it back we will hopefully be ok.

I have to make an appeal to Steven Gerrard though, I’m the first to say he’s the best central midfield player in the world, but he needs to stop bottling the big games. Another poor performance against one of the big teams, get it right for the second leg and take us to Istanbul!

Apart from that I was just checking out the new Nokia phone, I hate Nokias with a passion, they’re so over-rated and their features are so limited. This new one looks interesting however, although I probably still wouldn’t buy or upgrade to one.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4489485.stm

Wasp spotters!

2005-04-27T09:00:00.000+01:00

It’s early morning and for once I’m wide-awake, I had a decent nights sleep last night Alhumdulillah.

Man did anyone catch super nanny last night? It’s only the second time I’ve seen it, and probably the only thing I’ve seen on TV besides football in probably three months, but it’s kind of addictive.

More brats last night, smacking their parents, swearing at them etc. It’s weird, there’s some kind of role reversal in these homes where the kids have all the power and they dictate what goes and what doesn’t. Interestingly enough the parents are always dysfunctional, no communication between them, no confidence in each other, no set rules for reward or punishment and no routines!

Surely that is all that is required, ok I have no doubt that super nanny’s influence will wear off after a while. But essentially she is only putting an infrastructure in place to ensure consistency over a long period of time- all that is needed.

I think I’m on a rant today.

Just been checking out the policies of the BNP, they want to re-introduce compulsory military service. I can just see myself going into the British Army- coughs yeah right!

They also want to re-introduce the death penalty, even for drug dealers- Old Trafford beware!

Having said all of that, they want to chuck people like me out of the country so their policies are of no concern to me anyway!

In stark contrast, the election has turned into a cussing match, how long before one of them says “Your Mama!”?

The only other interesting thing I could find in the news was the phenomena of exploding toads in Germany, for some reason they just go BOOM! And splatter for about 2-3 meters. I’d love to get my hands on a few of them, I could give them out as cute gifts. People would be like “ Aww isn’t that nice” and then BOOM! I would just say that they squeezed it too hard or something and break down into tears:-)

They could become huge military weapons- “Release the exploding toads!!!!!!”

Life’s relatively quiet at the moment, I got stuck in some crazy Gorilla Monsoon last night, the rain was so heavy I had no idea where I was going. I somehow made it home, but no idea how.

The worst thing for me at the moment is that the Wasp season is upon us, I hate wasps! Ok fair enough I can see their invaluable contribution to the grand scheme of life, but I just don’t want them anywhere near me. As a kid I got stung loads, and apparently at one stage I had anaphylaxis. As far as I’m aware, wasp stings could be a disaster for such people. Even though that was a long time ago, I really wouldn’t want to take the risk.

So there I was wondering through the living room when all of a sudden a wasp was eyeballing me. Time stood still as we both knew the next move could prove fatal. I moved to the left, it did likewise, and then to the right, it followed me. Both of us scared to make the next move. It then went for the kill and started zooming towards me, luring it in I stood still and at the last moment matrix style I arched my back, grabbed my tennis racket and….yes you guessed it…..BOOM! I emerged victorious with a John Macenroe style smash! Man I hate wasps!

It’s a disaster really, because I don’t want to hurt any living thing, but with wasps I really can’t take the risk, if I can usher them out I will if not then it’s booming time!

Sleepy al

2005-04-26T08:35:00.000+01:00

I seem to have some form of problem with minor sleep talking, I mean I talk enough while I’m awake, I have no idea why my body has the need to talk while I’m asleep too! But it seems that I’ll suddenly shout out a few sentences and then carry on as normal!

For years my brother used to rush into my room as soon as he heard me talking, he’d have full blown conversations with me and would never tell me what I had said- freaky.

My wife is telling me the same thing, every so often I’ll decide to have a rant in the middle of the night, it makes me so curious. What on earth am I saying?

Any of my neighbours reading this blog? Perhaps they could tell me.

Apart from that not much is happening, apparently a friend of mine, his ISP was contacted by MGM because of the number of movies or something he has been downloading. He’s had two previous e-mail warnings, and I think he’s on his final one. I think if he carries on downloading, he’ll be eating porridge for the next 2 years whilst sharing a cell with bubba!

Makes me wonder about how long the whole p2p thing will survive? One by one they’re all being closed down. I think Kazaa was the last one I read was under investigation- but I’m sure the scammers out there will think or something.

Speaking of Internet, anyone know of any good broadband deals? The best one I could find is ukonline, 512kbps for £9.99 a month, unlimited downloads: But it’s not in my area :-( I need to find the next best alternative,

On the football front, nice goal by Reyes last night, also it’s PSV vs Milan tonight to decide who plays us in the final- come on PSV!

Another week, another blog

2005-04-25T10:50:00.000+01:00

Another week flown by…another begins.

Subhan’Allah how quickly time is passing. How closer we all are to meeting our creator:

"That day you will be brought to Judgement. Not a secret of yours will be hidden." Sûratul Hâqqah 69:18

A lot to think and reflect about….

Is it me or is the whole world caught up in trivial things? I hear people complaining constantly, I really think people do not appreciate what they have.

For anyone who needs a reminder of our countless blessings click here:

http://www.jeffooi.com/archives/2004/01/photogs_trauma.php

Enough to shake you to your soul. Now let me hear someone complain?

On a lighter note, I thought I blew my car engine yesterday trying to reverse up my father-in law’s driveway. I swear this guy lives in a little house on the top of Everest. The driveway starts on the road and finishes somewhere in the clouds! Here’s me reversing the car up the drive so I can give it a wash, redlining the car to get it up. I can feel it straining to get up the drive, man the smoke was just mad, and the smell lasted for hours.

I’ve learnt my lesson, give the car some momentum rather then revving it silly!

Just been told it was my clutch burning (thanks Kaush)- never again!

And yes the Pool lost on Saturday. That’s because we’re preparing to win the Champions League! Roll on Wednesday , we’ll show Europe we’re a side to be feared:-)

If all else fails, we’ll give the ball to Biscan the Croatian Zidane- and we all know what happens when he has the ball!

Oh and one thing about Rooney’s goal……it was an attempted cross ;-)

The secrets of good communication

2005-04-23T10:20:00.000+01:00

Man I had one of the weirdest conversations I have ever had this morning: Follow the transcript:

I come out of the bathroom after making Wudhu for fajr, walk into the bedroom, and I’m about to spray some deodorant:

Wife says: “Can you go outside the room and spray that”
Half asleep Al Hears: “Can you go outside”
(Al thinks, I wonder why she wants me to go outside, she’s changed and ready to pray, maybe she needs a moment alone)
Al says: “Is everything ok?”
Wife says: “Yes”

Al walks out of the room and stands outside the door without his deodorant. He hears his wife walking around, and thinks I wonder why she kicks me out and starts walking around

Wife thinks, where did he go?

Al gets bored standing outside the door, and decides to sit on the stairs.

Wife thinks I better check where he is

Wife walks out and sees Al sat on the stairs, she says “what you doing?”

Al thinks, you kick me out, make me stand in the cold, and then ask me what I’m doing?

Al: “Nothing just waiting for you to let me back in”

And then the misunderstanding was cleared up, nothing like good communication in a marriage ;-)

Debates

2005-04-22T14:04:00.000+01:00

Here I am, everyday same rigmarole same people.

If it’s not confused atheists debating with me, it’s even more confused Christians.

In fact one guy in particular, complete pseudo intellectual who ignores everything that proves him wrong and goes round and round in circles.

It would be a lot easier to prove him wrong if only I could understand what he was saying! Hence I’ve now resorted to e-mail.

This guy has a serious agenda though, speaks openly and tries to discredit Islaam (which he fails miserably at) gets proven wrong, ignores it and continues.

He’s like a bull charging towards something- what on earth can we do with such people?

I think my quote of the day has to be “There’s only one bible!”

Sure, there’s also only one car on the road, one bird in the sky, one person reading my blog ;-)

Parenthood!

2005-04-22T08:32:00.000+01:00

Al's reflective blog

Every morning I wake up I question why on earth do I do this shift? Head’s spinning, eyes are stinging and I have the worst giggles to top it all off!

However, as soon as it hits 3.30 and I’m off, I love this shift man!

At the moment I’m in stage one, but I’m slowly waking up…..

Just catching up with the news as I regain consciousness, looks like Labour are a dead cert for this election- man that’s a disaster.

Hey did anyone see super nanny? I think it was on Weds channel 4 about 9pm ish. Man I’ve never seen such a bunch of brats, some 4/5 year old girl telling her Mother she wanted her to die, her 7 year old brother chilling on ebay ordering stuff from his dads credit card.

What’s going on with these kids?

Surely rule number one of parenthood is :
1) I’m the parent and you’re the kid!

With rule number 2) I’m the parent and nothings changed so don’t try it.

Along with rule number 3) you may have grown a little but guess what? I’m the daddy! Who’s the daddy?

There you have it, my three simple steps to becoming a successful parent, the DVD will be out soon along with a world tour, not to forget the “Al’s the daddy” t shirts.

But seriously, this super nanny goes in, establishes a few rules, ensures the parents are consistent in reward, recognition and punishment (the naughty bench lol I love the naughty bench!) and wala! Some kids who have suddenly become kids (as opposed to 7-year-old Internet entrepreneurs). All it takes is some thought and some time.

Time to do some work peeps- see you guys in a bit.

The beginning

2005-04-21T09:14:00.000+01:00

Isn’t it just the biggest proverbial slap when you wait up to watch something late at night and then fall asleep just as it starts? Then to make it worse you wake up as soon as it finishes!

I stayed up to watch Match of the Day (stayed up because I work so early). All I really wanted to see was the Liverpool match (come on you reds!!!), I was drifting away trying desperately to keep myself awake, sitting up, lying down, cold water on my face, I even tried talking to myself at one stage.

Then finally: there they are the mighty Liverpool Fc, the moment I’d been waiting for…..and then…….the after match interviews….how sad is that??? I missed the entire game but managed to wake up and hear people talk about how good it was…ah man.

After that I just crawled into bed and tried to get some sleep.

This used to happen to me all the time with boxing, I’d stay up all night for the big fight, the bell would sound and then the next thing……everyone talking about how good the fight was in the studio!

I’m sure this must be some sort of condition- like Icanttaketheexcitementitus.

Apart from that I’ve got tonnes to say, probably because I’m a new blogger and I’ll run out of ideas soon, but anyone who knows me will vouch for my talking ability 

Hopefully I’ll update the blog a few times a day as I’m working at the same time!

I want to talk about, life, people, politics, religion and you name it!

See you guys in a bit 

First Post

2005-04-20T15:14:00.000+01:00

Hey Peeps,

Let's hope this is the beginning of something weird yet interesting.

I'm going to try and blog from work each day, this does not mean I do absolutely no work, I just work so hard I have all this free time on my hands ;-)

I'm going to keep this relatively simple in terms of its deen content as I'm sure many of the non-Muslims at work can participate as well:

Let the games begin!