=To be your best self=

From the SOME: Wisdom blog:


" The good you find in others, is in you too.

The faults you find in others, are your faults as well.

After all, to recognize something you must know it.

The possibilities you see in others, are possible for you as well.

The beauty you see around you, is your beauty.

The world around you is a reflection, a mirror showing you the person you are.

To change your world, you must change yourself.

To blame and complain will only make matters worse.

Whatever you care about, is your responsibility.

What you see in others, shows you yourself.

See the best in others, and you will be your best.

Give to others, and you give to yourself.

Appreciate beauty, and you will be beautiful.

Admire creativity, and you will be creative.

Love, and you will be loved.

Seek to understand, and you will be understood.

Listen, and your voice will be heard.

Show your best face to the mirror, and you'll be happy with the face looking back at you. "

The Medium vs. The Message

Very Insightful article by Steve Pavlina:

"...........Chances are that you currently think of your career primarily in terms of the medium (i.e. your particular job) rather than the message (i.e. the unique value you bring to your work). I want to dive a little deeper into this distinction with you and show you some perhaps unexpected benefits that may arise when you shift your focus and begin thinking of your career primarily in terms of the message........."

Islam and the Cultural Imperative

A great paper by Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah

".....The Prophet Muhammad and his Companions were not at war with the world’s cultures and ethnicities but entertained an honest, accommodating, and generally positive view of the broad social endowments of other peoples and places. The Prophet and his Companions did not look upon human culture in terms of black and white, nor did they drastically divide human societies into spheres of absolute good and absolute evil. Islam did not impose itself—neither among Arabs or non-Arabs—as an alien, culturally predatory worldview. Rather, the Prophetic message was, from the outset, based on the distinction between what was good, beneficial, and authentically human in other cultures, while seeking to alter only what was clearly detrimental.

Prophetic law did not burn and obliterate what was distinctive about other peoples but sought instead to prune, nurture, and nourish, creating a positive Islamic synthesis. Much of what became the Prophet’s sunna (Prophetic
model) was made up of acceptable pre-Islamic Arab cultural norms, and the principle of tolerating and accommodating such practices—among Arabs and non-Arabs alike in all their diversity—may be termed a supreme, overriding Prophetic sunna......................."

Brakes on Ship Breaking?

Recently I happened to watch a document's on CBC about an industry known as " Ship Breaking" . Apparently the main hubs for this industry are India, China and a few other countries in that region.

Unfortunately the short term and long term impacts of breaking these ships are terrible-from bad working conditions & Child labor to Environmental Contamination . Greenpeace has been calling for a change in this industry at---the source i.e. ship manufacturers taking responsibility for what happens to their ships---And in the countries which host these ship breaking businesses yards. The governments seem to be in denial, the owners are unchanged and the unemployed people in these countries have no choice but to choose either between poverty or poor working conditions ( no surprise they end up working there).

In fact some countries like Pakistan want to welcome more ship breaking initiatives!

A few pictures and movies illustrate how bad the working conditions are, specially if you look at standards set in the industrialized nations....

Greenpeace has a few tips on what you can do, along with spreading awareness........

New Blog: Sidi Junaid

I have broadcast Sidi Junaid's views a couple of times on my blog.....

Well, Junaid has just started his own blog...

Junaid....."Welcome to Blogistan..."

Muslim Cultures Blog

If you like to see a glimpse of the wonderful diversity that has existed and still exists in various places where Muslims live check out the "Muslim Cultures Blog ".

Make sure you check the Archives for April, May, June, July and August pictures....

Enjoy!

Fill me up...

The gas prices are going sky high. Gas Stations in Waterloo don't have enough space on their sign Boards to display three digits. Experts say that high oil prices are here to stay...........

I have noticed that there is a considerable local variance in Gas Prices. So here is a website which gives you the cheapest gas prices in your area (if you are in Ontario). Might be useful to check it before you head out to fill up the gas tank.... a trip to Venezuela will get you cheap gas as well...

Meanwhile there is pressure on the Canadian Government to lower the high Fuel tax ( note that the taxes in Canada are still lower than Europe).

And it seems to some people this " Oil price surge" is not a surprise........

Sudan? Did it Matter?

A great post about Sudan on the " Minor Wisdom" Blog.

Dish Wash Dish....Wash Dish Wash

Phew...Just dishwashed a sink load of dishes that had been gathering in my beloved kitchen for the past few days! What amazed me is that it only took 10/15 minutes--yet it seemed such a daunting challenge initially when I saw all of 'em dishes piled up in the sink...

Furthermore I feel that a lot of times in my daily life I see tasks which look very difficult and I tend to be very reluctant to start them. Yet when I do start them they don't seem half as bad as they looked initially and with proper planning I finish them with ease.............

Back to dishwashing. Here are some tips to improve your dishwashing efficiency & quality....

Good luck with dishwashing and other challenges that life brings along!

Back off Bacteria!

Wow!!

Today a friend of mine brought to my attention the spread of disease through public washrooms . His remark reminded me of the following style of toilets we still use in Pakistan and a lot of other countries:

The fact there is no seat decreases the chances of spreading harmful diseases..

Furthermore I found the health benefits of squatting in the washroom!!!

I guess I should also say that to understand any issue in depth it is important to study it's history ............... I should also add that early Muslims had a huge contribution in the development of complex sewage systems as mentioned here...

Wow!!

Curry & Spice...

Curry and Spice

you can have it once

you can have it twice

you can have it thrice

you can have all you want

yet it still wont suffice

Finally, some research trying to prove that curry is not all unhealthy.....:-) . yipeeeeeeee....

" .......haldi is healthy..."

Sidi Junaid gives his $1

And so I was browsing around today and ended up reading old posts on Ali's blog .

One of them particularly caught my attention

Specially these comments by Mr. Junaid which I cannot help but agree with......

" ......... On the theme of why certain conflicts get more play in the Muslim imagination than others, which Ali touched on in his post as well, it may well be just subconscious racism, but my feeling is that there's something more to it.

Whenever you hear about the "ills of the Muslim world", the countries mentioned are always the usual suspects: Palestine, Iraq, now Afghanistan and occasionally Kashmir (though not often). What all of these conflicts have in common is that they are perceived by Muslims (whether rightly or wrongly) to be continuations of the European colonial experiment (the Indian thing in the Kashmir case is also thought to be a violation of state sovereignty -- though obviously not an European encroachment, hence the relatively weak response from the Muslim diaspora). And so there's a visceral response dictating that we should do everything in our power in defence of "our people" against "them" (read: Americans).

Unfortunately, and to our shame, the dynamics of African poverty don't seem to hold the same urgency for us -- although I think a good case can be made that Western nations owe a lot to Africa for the ravaging of their continent.

And so I think, as I often do, that the problem really returns to us. What is it about the modern Muslim psyche that elicits such a myopic vision of the world and the ummah? My tentative response is that we define what it means to be Muslim vis-a-vis "those terrible Americans/Westerners." Our identity seems to be a function of what we're not. And so we get riled up when we are thought to be under the hegemonic control of those dirty kafirs who we are so much better than. Meanwhile, African children (many, many of them Muslims) dying of AIDS, hunger, and civil war slip under the radar."

I'll post it...............right now!

I have been thinking of posting this for some time. However I don't know why I kept delaying it and delaying it . ...The word used for this " delaying "condition is Procrastination.

Unfortunately, I have found it to be far too common in people around me..

I decided to do some internet research on my apparent laziness and lo behold I came across this wonderful article in Psychology Today. Bussinesstown.com also gave 5 reasons to why we tend to put off tasks. And while I was at it I found some tips on how to stop procrastinating!

"...What are other signs of procrastination besides waiting until the last minute to do something? Try these on for size: being reluctant to take risks or try something new, staying at home or in the same old job, getting sick when faced with an unpleasant job, avoiding confrontations or decisions, blaming others or the situation ("it's boring") for your unhappiness or to avoid doing something, making big plans but never carrying them out, and/or having such a busy social-recreational calendar that it is hard to get important work done.

This list of symptoms suggests that procrastination, which at first sounds like a simple behavior, is, in fact, quite complex. It involves emotions, skills, thoughts or attitudes, and factors we are unaware of. Furthermore, the causes and dynamics of putting off an important but unpleasant task vary from person to person and from task to task for the same person. For instance, you may delay doing your math assignment but fill out an application for school immediately. Hopefully, understanding how and why we procrastinate will help us change it. We may even learn more about what is commonly called "will power." "

I think I am on my way to solving my problem...

hey look I just finally published this post!

Shazia Khalid

I was really sad to hear about the case of Shazia Khalid in Sui, Pakistan. She flew to England and is trying to get to Canada where she has many relatives. New York Times has some interesting articles on her . The English media in Pakistan seems to be giving the case some decent coverage . This is probably one of many abuse cases in Pakistan that happen every day. Most of them probably aren't reported. For example Mrs Shazia herself ( a very educated woman) took some time to disclose the horrible incident. As Human Rights Watch also testifies : the problem is very deep.

At this point I should also mention, that woman abuse is also a problem in the developed world in places such as the US ( source: US Department of Health and Human Services) and Canada (source: Statistics Canada) .

No matter where this terrible phenomena exists; in varying degrees and varying forms, I hope and pray that we deal with it effectively......

Muhammad Ali

Just recently I recalled a quote that really impacted me when I was a teenager ( a time when peer pressure is at it's peek). I had come across it while reading Muhammad Ali's Biography-which I would definitely recommend.

" I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want." Muhammad Ali quote

As I have grown older, I have learned the wisdom in freeing myself of what others are thinking of me though at the same time I have learnt that it is good to be sensitive to everyone's opinion.