A thought that I had a couple of days ago when I passed by a stand at the student union where a couple of students were celebrating Charles Darwins' 200th anniversary by giving out sweets and cake and what not.
I was thinking to myself that in 15 years time (if not less) this would become a ritual and people would start practicing it as if it was Christmas or Eid or yom kippur.
Anthropologist state that it is of human nature that humans always associated themselves with rituals and that throughout human history people from different cultures have ALWAYS practiced rituals in one way or another.
However, it is interesting that in most cases it is Atheists who take up the ideas of Darwin, especially those on evolution as proof of the randomness of the universe and the reason for denying the existence of a God. They also usually blame religion for everything that is wrong in this world. What is interesting to point out here is that those atheists have, consciously or otherwise, set up a system of beliefs and rituals that are meant to be "practiced" or observed by "followers" or "believers" of atheism. I have watched videos of Atheists arguing with people who follow a religion, it almost always seems that their arguments are set and that most of the time the responses and questions by the atheists are the same, which suggests a 'set system of beliefs'; it is only people with a strong belief in something that will go out and seek to "convert" or change peoples' opinions about something, In Canada atheist are campaigning for the right to place atheist advertisements on buses, you can even "donate" for that cause. As for the link with rituals there is a "proposal for a secular celebration of Winter Solstice meant to be used across society".
"People often mark the major life stage events in life - like being born, getting married and so on - with religious ceremonies like christenings, weddings and funerals. Atheist and Humanist organizations offer their own rituals for these events that give them meaning and significance without any religious content. Such a ceremony can have as much significance and be as dignified as a religious ceremony".
So are atheists trying to create a 'new religion'? If that is so doesn't that dismiss their claims of not believing in religion in the first place?
What annoys me the most however, is how atheist pretend to be smarter than everyone else, saying that they have science on their side forgetting that science is logical whereas their claims are not. Such is the example of the argument between an atheist and Imam Abu Hanifah (rahimahu allah) who was a Muslim jurist that lived in the 8th century.
The incident happens when an atheist approached a group of Muslims that were gathered at the Royal Palaces in Baghdad and says to them, "I don't believe in God, there cannot be a God, you cannot hear Him or see Him, you're wasting your time! Bring me your best debater and I will debate this issue with him."
A messenger from the gathered Muslim goes across the river Tigris to where Imam Abu Hanifah was and tells him "Oh Abu Hanifah, an atheist is waiting for you, to debate you, please come!" Imam Abu Hanifah tells him he's on his way. The Muslim messenger goes back and joins the crowd that was waiting for the arrival of Imam Abu Hanifah. It was sunset at the time and one hour had passed, but Abu Hanifah still hadn't arrived. Another hour had passed, but still there was no sign of him. The Muslims started to become tense and worried about his late arrival. They did not want the atheist to think that they were too scared to debate him, yet they did not want to take up the challenge themselves as Abu Hanifah was the best of Debaters from amongst the Muslims. Another hour passed, and suddenly the atheist started laughing and said, ' Your best debater is too scared! He knows he's wrong, he is too frightened to come and debate with me. I guarantee he will not turn up today.'
The Muslims increased in apprehension and eventually it had passed midnight, and the atheist had a smile on his face. The clock ticked on, and finally Abu Hanifah had arrived. The Muslims inquired about his lateness and remarked, 'Oh Abu Hanifah, a messenger sent for you hours ago, and you arrive now, explain your lateness to us.'
Abu Hanifah apologizes for his lateness and begins to explain, while the atheist listens to his story. 'Once the messenger delivered the message to me, I began to make my way to the River Tigris, and on reaching the river bank I realized there was no boat, in order to cross the river. It was getting dark, and I looked around, there was no boat anywhere nor was there a navigator or a sailor in order for me to cross the river to get to the Royal Palaces. I continued to look around for a boat, as I did not want the atheist to think I was running away and did not want to debate with him.
I was standing on the river bank looking for a navigator or a boat when something caught my attention in the middle of the river. I looked forward, and to my amazement I saw planks of wood rising to the surface from the sea bed. I was shocked, amazed, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Ready made planks of wood were rising up to the surface and joining together. They were all the same width and length, I was astounded at what I saw.
I continued to look into the middle of the river, and then I saw nails coming up from the sea floor. They positioned themselves onto the boat and held the planks together, without them being banged. I stood in amazement and thought to myself, 'Oh Allah, how can this happen, planks of wood rising to the surface by itself, and then nails positioning themselves onto the boat without being banged?' I could not understand what was happening before my eyes.'
The atheist meanwhile was listening with a smile on his face. Abu Hanifah continued, 'I was still standing on the river bank watching these planks of wood join together with nails. I could see water seeping through the gaps in the wood, and suddenly I saw a sealant appear from the river and it began sealing the gaps without someone having poured it. I looked closer and I could see a boat forming before my eyes, I stood in amazement and was filled with shock. All of a sudden a sail appeared and I thought to myself, 'How is this happening, a boat has appeared before my eyes by itself, planks of wood, nails, sealant and now a sail, but how can I use this boat in order to cross the river to the Royal Palaces?' I stood staring in wonderment and suddenly the boat began to move. It came towards me against the current. It stood floating beside me while I was on the river bank, as if telling me to embark onto it. I went on the boat and yet again it began to move. There was no navigator or sailor on the boat, and the boat began to travel towards the direction of the royal palaces, without anyone having programmed it as to where to go. I could not understand what was happening, and how this boat had formed and was taking me to my destination against the flow of water. The boat eventually reached the other side of the River Tigris and I disembarked. I turned around and the boat had disappeared, and that is why I am late.'
At this moment, the athiest burst out laughing and remarked, 'Oh Abu Hanifah, I heard that you were the best debater from amongst the Muslims, I heard that you were the wisest, the most knowledgeable from amongst your people. From seeing you today, I can say that you show none of these qualities. You speak of a boat appearing from nowhere, without someone having built it. Nails positioning themselves without someone having banged them, sealant being poured without someone having poured it, and the boat taking you to your destination without a navigator against the tide, your talking ridiculous, I swear I do not believe a word of it!'
Abu Hanifah turned to the atheist and replied, 'You don't believe a word of it? You dont believe that nails can appear by themselves? You don't believe sealant can be poured by itself? You don't believe that a boat can move without a navigator, hence you don't believe that a boat can appear without a boat maker?'
The atheist remarked defiantly, 'Yes I don't believe a word of it!'
Abu Hanifah replied, 'If you cannot believe that a boat came into being without a boat maker, than this is only a boat, how can you believe that the whole world, the universe, the stars, the oceans, and the planets came into being without a creator?
The atheist was astonished at his reply got up and fled.
Finally I would like to leave you with this article from The Independent on Darwin.
Thursday 19 February 2009
Dubai In Decline
The credit crunch effects Dubai greatly, when estate prices decline in Dubai you should know something is wrong, although many people are saying these are rumors and that everything is fine.
"...Instead of moving toward greater transparency, the emirates seem to be moving in the other direction. A new draft media law would make it a crime to damage the country's reputation or economy, punishable by fines of up to 1 million dirhams (about $272,000). Some say it is already having a chilling effect on reporting about the crisis".
"...Instead of moving toward greater transparency, the emirates seem to be moving in the other direction. A new draft media law would make it a crime to damage the country's reputation or economy, punishable by fines of up to 1 million dirhams (about $272,000). Some say it is already having a chilling effect on reporting about the crisis".
Monday 16 February 2009
Al-Zaytouna Nottingham Dabke Group
The group performed tonight, the following is a description of the play:
"A celebrated, maverick playwright gets an unexpected call in the middle of the night, from a very old friend with an unusual request…
Two cousins bump into each other after an eternity apart… in the strangest of circumstances and the most surreal of settings.
Four Palestinian students are about to meet in a London Café to discuss putting up a show about Palestine… They share a love for their ancestral land… and almost nothing else… with very interesting consequences.
A theatre producer has 8 weeks to stage a play about Palestine but is struggling to find someone brave and visionary enough to write the script…
Idealism, anger, love, hate, cynicism, despair, hope, loss, nostalgia and resilience… Palestine meets Palestine in this Play within a Play.
The results are unpredictable, powerful and life-changing for all concerned".
I'm not really a theatre critic or a person that regularly goes to theatres, in fact this is probably the third time I've been to a play, but the description above does sound better than the play itself. True all of the above was in the play but I didn't think they spent enough time developing the story. However the Dabke and the music were awesome!! Very entertaining, especially the checkpoint scene. But I guess its more of a music concert than a play, but it was really worth it, a must see for anyone who wants to see Palestinian folklore dance and music.
One comment about the content of the play. There is a part where one of the girls in the cafe was talking about the need to make the Palestinian cause a 'universal' cause. Two things I have to say about that, 1) The Palestinian cause is an Arab cause and not a universal cause. There are 300 million Arabs, if those are not able to act and liberate Palestine then there is something really really wrong with the Arab people, because we have already been given 60 years time to do so. The only time the Palestinian cause becomes a 'universal' one is when it becomes the muslims cause. 2) Nevertheless I understand the need to make the Palestinian cause a universal cause, simply because we have given up hope that the Arabs are capable of doing anything.
P.S: if your one of the guys who was performing in the play and fell while doing the dabke I just want to tell you tough luck man, it really was terrible. :D nah just kidding..
"A celebrated, maverick playwright gets an unexpected call in the middle of the night, from a very old friend with an unusual request…
Two cousins bump into each other after an eternity apart… in the strangest of circumstances and the most surreal of settings.
Four Palestinian students are about to meet in a London Café to discuss putting up a show about Palestine… They share a love for their ancestral land… and almost nothing else… with very interesting consequences.
A theatre producer has 8 weeks to stage a play about Palestine but is struggling to find someone brave and visionary enough to write the script…
Idealism, anger, love, hate, cynicism, despair, hope, loss, nostalgia and resilience… Palestine meets Palestine in this Play within a Play.
The results are unpredictable, powerful and life-changing for all concerned".
I'm not really a theatre critic or a person that regularly goes to theatres, in fact this is probably the third time I've been to a play, but the description above does sound better than the play itself. True all of the above was in the play but I didn't think they spent enough time developing the story. However the Dabke and the music were awesome!! Very entertaining, especially the checkpoint scene. But I guess its more of a music concert than a play, but it was really worth it, a must see for anyone who wants to see Palestinian folklore dance and music.
One comment about the content of the play. There is a part where one of the girls in the cafe was talking about the need to make the Palestinian cause a 'universal' cause. Two things I have to say about that, 1) The Palestinian cause is an Arab cause and not a universal cause. There are 300 million Arabs, if those are not able to act and liberate Palestine then there is something really really wrong with the Arab people, because we have already been given 60 years time to do so. The only time the Palestinian cause becomes a 'universal' one is when it becomes the muslims cause. 2) Nevertheless I understand the need to make the Palestinian cause a universal cause, simply because we have given up hope that the Arabs are capable of doing anything.
P.S: if your one of the guys who was performing in the play and fell while doing the dabke I just want to tell you tough luck man, it really was terrible. :D nah just kidding..
Wednesday 4 February 2009
Rambling of an Arab
As the massacres of Gaza become a thing of the past, Arab states have moved on to more 'important' things (at least for those Arabs that had no interest in the crisis in Gaza from the beginning). Having put Gaza behind them, Moderate Arab officials met in Abu Dhabi to discuss the issues that are hindering 'Arab unity' created by undesired, destructive interferences from entities that are not Arab. Of course you might think that if we are discussing 'Arab unity' then that would include all the Arab states, however it seems that in the eye of so called moderate Arab states countries like Syria, Qatar, Sudan, Libya and Algeria are not at the same level of Arab'ness compared to those of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain.
It seems that Moderate Arab states have now decided to completely lock on to their newly acquired target: Iran.
The real problem is there is NO reason for Arab states to be in conflict with the Iranians. If there is then I'm completely missing the reason why we should be focusing on fighting the Iranians. I know of a few reasons why some people say that we should be fighting the Iranians. They say the Iranians are trying to spread shiaism in Sunni countries, they say that they want to recreate the Persian Empire, and they say they want to conquer Mecca and Medina; these are the reasons why they say we have to be fighting them. In reality all of this is propaganda and even if there are people trying to 'convert' sunni muslims to Shia Islam as so many people have stated, people like Sheikh Al Qaradawi, this will never reach a point where 90% of the the muslim sunni population will start to believe in Shia Islam, especially if its done in a preaching manner.
But if these accusations are true, and eventually Iran does for example manage to establish the "Persian Empire" and conquer Mecca and Medina, whose fault is that really? Is it the Iranians fault that we (all Arab states) do not have the required resources to fight such an evil plan? and how come it is such a problem to have Iranians taking over, when right now there are American bases in nearly every Arab country? What type of Hypocrisy is this? Is it ok for the Americans to occupy our lands with their military bases, but not so 'ok' for the Iranians that are closer to us in the cultural, religious and historical sense than the Americans and Westerners will ever be?!
People that I talk to usually tell me that I am deluded about the hidden agendas of the Iranians and their plans to dominate the region. What about the American Western Colonial Imperial Zionist agenda? It seems that some Arabs forgot that when the Shah of Iran was in power and when Iran had strong relations with Israel, the Arabs didn't say one word about the Iranian influence in the region, they forgot that when Khumaini came to power he order that Arabic become the second language in educational institutions, they forgot that it was Saddam Hussein who started an 8 year long war that was order by the CIA, which by the end left Iraq in a devastated situation (and some nationalist Arabs have the nerve to call Saddam a Hero!). The Arabs seem to forget that those three Islands by the coast of the UAE were given to Iran in a deal agreed by King Faisal and the Shah of Iran; giving Iran those three islands in return the Iranians would give the island of Bahrain its independence.
Arab politicians are not really politicians, they complain about Irans increasing influence and then they allow it to gain that influence. It is Iran that supports Hizbullah and Hamas, and it is Iranian money that those organizations were giving out to people after the Zionist aggressions of 2006 on Lebanon and 2008 in Gaza. At the same time, Arab states have completely abandoned the thought of resistance, and leaders like Husni Mobarak of Egypt even supported the Zionist Aggression on Gaza by blocking the Rafah border crossing, stopping humanitarian aid from reaching civilians and not allowing refugees to escape from the war zone. It is Egypt as well that has allowed the Nato to patrol its waters to stop the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. True, Iran is not doing all of this because they love Arabs, but they are doing this for their own interest, and not their leaders narrow individual interests but the interests of Iran as a whole.
Talking about interests, Iran launched last week its own Satellite into space, using its own scientists and its very own technology, and plans to send three more satellites in the coming year, along with its nuclear program Iran has surpassed the technological abilities of ALL the Arab states combined. And all of that in 30 years; 30 years under economic sanctions. Now consider the Arabs. Saudi Arabia has not been involved in a single war since the day it was created, its number one export is Oil, followed by DATES! One might think that with all this oil, Saudi Arabia might have a strong petrochemical industry but no, they don't. Consider Egypt. Its been 30 years since it signed its peace treaty with Israel, therefore it is out of the conflict. Egypt's leaders at the time said that now that they have signed a peace treaty and are out of the conflict they can concentrate on the economy and improve the living standards of Egyptians. Egypt's main exports are Petroleum, Petroleum products and freakin cotton!! (Just to paint an uglier picture Egypt still is under Emergency laws, even though they are no longer at war with Israel).
My point is, not one Arab state has managed to become an exporter of knowledge and technology, not one state has managed to launch its own satellite into space so that their scientists can collect information that will help them with their research, not one state has educational institutions/universities that produce and assimilate knowledge in order to benefit their own people. All we know is how to get the American, British, French engineer, specialist, consultant, expert, etc, to do things for us, our leaders only know how to sip alcoholic beverages in New York, party in Monaco, and sail in 70 foot yachts in the Côte d'Azur.
Let me end this because trust me, I (and any Arab person) can sit and complain for days about the stupidity of the Arab leaders that are running our countries. To round this up and to conclude this is a part of the movie "V for Vendetta" explaining the reality of oppressive regimes and who really are the ones who are guilty for allowing those regimes to exist...
It seems that Moderate Arab states have now decided to completely lock on to their newly acquired target: Iran.
The real problem is there is NO reason for Arab states to be in conflict with the Iranians. If there is then I'm completely missing the reason why we should be focusing on fighting the Iranians. I know of a few reasons why some people say that we should be fighting the Iranians. They say the Iranians are trying to spread shiaism in Sunni countries, they say that they want to recreate the Persian Empire, and they say they want to conquer Mecca and Medina; these are the reasons why they say we have to be fighting them. In reality all of this is propaganda and even if there are people trying to 'convert' sunni muslims to Shia Islam as so many people have stated, people like Sheikh Al Qaradawi, this will never reach a point where 90% of the the muslim sunni population will start to believe in Shia Islam, especially if its done in a preaching manner.
But if these accusations are true, and eventually Iran does for example manage to establish the "Persian Empire" and conquer Mecca and Medina, whose fault is that really? Is it the Iranians fault that we (all Arab states) do not have the required resources to fight such an evil plan? and how come it is such a problem to have Iranians taking over, when right now there are American bases in nearly every Arab country? What type of Hypocrisy is this? Is it ok for the Americans to occupy our lands with their military bases, but not so 'ok' for the Iranians that are closer to us in the cultural, religious and historical sense than the Americans and Westerners will ever be?!
People that I talk to usually tell me that I am deluded about the hidden agendas of the Iranians and their plans to dominate the region. What about the American Western Colonial Imperial Zionist agenda? It seems that some Arabs forgot that when the Shah of Iran was in power and when Iran had strong relations with Israel, the Arabs didn't say one word about the Iranian influence in the region, they forgot that when Khumaini came to power he order that Arabic become the second language in educational institutions, they forgot that it was Saddam Hussein who started an 8 year long war that was order by the CIA, which by the end left Iraq in a devastated situation (and some nationalist Arabs have the nerve to call Saddam a Hero!). The Arabs seem to forget that those three Islands by the coast of the UAE were given to Iran in a deal agreed by King Faisal and the Shah of Iran; giving Iran those three islands in return the Iranians would give the island of Bahrain its independence.
Arab politicians are not really politicians, they complain about Irans increasing influence and then they allow it to gain that influence. It is Iran that supports Hizbullah and Hamas, and it is Iranian money that those organizations were giving out to people after the Zionist aggressions of 2006 on Lebanon and 2008 in Gaza. At the same time, Arab states have completely abandoned the thought of resistance, and leaders like Husni Mobarak of Egypt even supported the Zionist Aggression on Gaza by blocking the Rafah border crossing, stopping humanitarian aid from reaching civilians and not allowing refugees to escape from the war zone. It is Egypt as well that has allowed the Nato to patrol its waters to stop the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. True, Iran is not doing all of this because they love Arabs, but they are doing this for their own interest, and not their leaders narrow individual interests but the interests of Iran as a whole.
Talking about interests, Iran launched last week its own Satellite into space, using its own scientists and its very own technology, and plans to send three more satellites in the coming year, along with its nuclear program Iran has surpassed the technological abilities of ALL the Arab states combined. And all of that in 30 years; 30 years under economic sanctions. Now consider the Arabs. Saudi Arabia has not been involved in a single war since the day it was created, its number one export is Oil, followed by DATES! One might think that with all this oil, Saudi Arabia might have a strong petrochemical industry but no, they don't. Consider Egypt. Its been 30 years since it signed its peace treaty with Israel, therefore it is out of the conflict. Egypt's leaders at the time said that now that they have signed a peace treaty and are out of the conflict they can concentrate on the economy and improve the living standards of Egyptians. Egypt's main exports are Petroleum, Petroleum products and freakin cotton!! (Just to paint an uglier picture Egypt still is under Emergency laws, even though they are no longer at war with Israel).
My point is, not one Arab state has managed to become an exporter of knowledge and technology, not one state has managed to launch its own satellite into space so that their scientists can collect information that will help them with their research, not one state has educational institutions/universities that produce and assimilate knowledge in order to benefit their own people. All we know is how to get the American, British, French engineer, specialist, consultant, expert, etc, to do things for us, our leaders only know how to sip alcoholic beverages in New York, party in Monaco, and sail in 70 foot yachts in the Côte d'Azur.
Let me end this because trust me, I (and any Arab person) can sit and complain for days about the stupidity of the Arab leaders that are running our countries. To round this up and to conclude this is a part of the movie "V for Vendetta" explaining the reality of oppressive regimes and who really are the ones who are guilty for allowing those regimes to exist...
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