1. In the Middle East, the Arabs always attack first and Israel always defends itself. This defense is called ‘retaliation’.

2. Neither Arabs, Palestinians nor Lebanese have the right to kill civilians. This is ‘terrorism’.

3. Israel has the right to kill civilians. This is called ‘legitimate defense’.

4. When Israel massively kills civilians, the Western Powers ask to her do it with courtesy or politeness. This is called ‘reaction of the international community’.

5. Neither Palestinians nor Lebanese have the right to capture Israeli soldiers inside military installations with sentry and combat positions. This has to be called ‘kidnapping of defenceless civilians’.

6. Israel has the right to kidnap as many Palestinians or Lebanese as they wish and at any time or place. Their present figures are about 10,000 imprisoned, 300 of whom are children and one thousand women. They do not need any evidence about their culpability. Israel h as the right to detain such kidnapped prisoners indefinitely, even if they are people democratically elected by Palestinians. This is called ‘imprisonment of terrorists’.

7. Whenever the word ‘Hizbollah’ is mentioned, it is compulsory to add in the same phrase ‘supported and financed by Syria and Iran’.

8. When ‘Israel’ is mentioned it is absolutely forbidden to add ‘supported and financed by the United States’. This could give the impression that the conflict is uneven and that Israel’s existence of is not after all at risk.

9. In any statement about Israel, any mention of the following phrases is to be avoided: ‘occupied territories’, ‘UN resolutions’, ‘Human Rights violations’ or ‘Geneva Convention’.

10. Palestinians, as well as Lebanese, always are ‘cowards’ hiding behind a civil population that dislike them. If they sleep in military accommodation with their families, this has a name: ‘cowardice’. Israel is entitled to annihilate with bombs and missiles such barracks where they sleep. This is to be called a ‘surgical, high-precision action’.

11. Israelis speak English, French, Spanish or Portuguese better than the Arabs. That is why they deserve to be interviewed more frequently and have better opportunities to explain to the audience at large the above rules, from 1 to 10. This is called ‘media neutrality’.

12. Any person in disagreement with the above rules is to be branded a ‘highly dangerous anti-Semitic terrorist’

www.styleislam.com

Islam is a way of life, try it.
Islam is a gift, accept it.
Islam is a journey, complete it.
Islam is a struggle, fight for it.
Islam is a goal, achieve it.
Islam is an opportunity, take it.
Islam is not a mystery, behold it.
Islam is not for cowards, face it.
Islam is not for the dead, live it.
Islam is a promise, fulfill it.
Islam is a duty, perform it.
Islam is a treasure (the Prayer), pray it.
Islam is a beautiful way of life, see it.
Islam has a message for you, hear it.
Islam is love , love it.

http://msmwestmidlands.wordpress.com/2008/02/26/full-time-muslim/

• How many are the essential principles of faith?
• Six.
  • To believe in the existence of Allah,
    
  • The Angels,
    
  • The Divine Scriptures,
    
  • The Prophets, the Day of Judgement,
    
  • Destiny, (i.e. that all good and bad comes from Allah)

• How many basic pillars are there in Islam?
• Five.
  
  • Testimony of faith in the Oneness of Allah (Kelimah-i Tawhid),
    
  • Performing prayer (salah),
    
  • fasting (sawm),
    
  • Giving the poor-due (zakat),
    
  • Pilgrimage to Makkah (hajj)

• How many obligatory acts are there in minor ritual ablution (wudhu)?
• Four.
  • Washing the face from hair end and ear lobes to under the chin
  • Washing the arms up to and including the elbows.
  • Wiping one fourth of the head
  • Washing the feet including the ankles.

• How many obligatory are there in the major ablution (ghusl)?
• Three.
  • Washing the mouth with plenty of water
  • Washing inside the nose with plenty of water
  • Washing the hole body without leaving and dry point.

• How many obligatory acts are there in ablution with sand and earth (tayammum) if water can not be found?
• Two.
  • Intention for tayammum.
  • Hitting both hands twice on the sand; with the frst wiping the face, with the second wiping the arms.

• How many obligatory acts are there in salah?
• Six internal and six external, totally twelve.

• What are the externals?

Purification of environment
Purification from excrement
Covering private parts
Turning towards the Kaabah in Makkah (Qibla)
Time
Intention

• What are the internals?

Opening salah by uttering the words “Allahu Akbar”
Standing posture (Qiyam)
Recitng Qur’an
Bowling with the palms of the hands touching the knees (ruku)
Prostrating (sadjah)
Staying as long as to say “there is only one Allah and Muhammad (s.a.s.) is His Messenger” in the last sitting position of salah.

The photographer began his career in the mid-1960′s covering Londons’ seminal rock and roll scene, capturing now legendary music icons in a collection that is considered a classic by collectors.

Towards the end of the 1970′s, Sanders’ attention turned inward which set him on a spiritual search that took him to India and led him in the end to the Muslim world. All the while the photographer captured his surroundings on film, creating a striking and disparate record of the last vestiges of traditional Muslim societies in transition. Sanders’ own deep commitment to and love of traditional Islamic culture has brought him into intimate contact with people and places few photographers reach.

“My photography has always been an extension of my life,” he said. “Photography is a wonderful process – a gift from God – that has allowed me to learn so much about myself and the world around me. Its like chasing a moment, trying to capture a beautiful bird in flight.” “The photographs are extremely, extraordinarily beautiful,” claims Japanese Art Critic, Tsuyoshi Kawasoe.

“One should not under-estimate the importance of Peter Sanders’ work,” said American writer Michael Sugich. “He is the only photographer working today who has systematically and with great devotion to the task, covered vast areas of the Islamic world as an insider. Because of his deep understanding of the culture and his impeccable spiritual courtesy, he has been able to photograph places and people that virtually no western photographer would be able to access. He has left an indelible, poetic and ravishing record of an extraordinary time and a rich and fascinating culture.”

It has also been quoted, “he captures the spritiual beauty of creation itself.”

Sanders’ photographs have appeared in many international publications, including Time Magazine, Paris Match, The Observer, The Sunday Times Magazine, Aramco World and the London based pan-Arab news magazine Al Majalla who published his work as a cover story.

His intimate photographs of the sacred cities of Makkah and Madinah are in great demand.
Peter Sanders Photography Limited includes travel, location and studio photography, a photographic library of over 120,000 slides, as well as the production of fine art prints.

This year will see the publication of his first photographic book, ‘In The Shade of The Tree.’ Another three are in mid-production, including one about the muslims in China.

http://www.petersanders.co.uk/

Short, Easy, Pleasurable Philosophy
I Want to be A Writer
Soul-touching Thoughts by Albert Camus
Are Toys of God?
Do I Determine My Fate?
Whistles of Evil
Which Language Adam had Used to Speak?
Let me Know When Jesus Arrives
Cookies Gods
Men of Deccal
Are You an Exception?
Is it Any Good that I Exist!
Who would Resurrect Rotten Bones?
The Little Dictionary
The Special Dictionary
Pull Yourself Together, Deep Man!
Is Love Sacred?
Four Seasons Spring
My Servitude is My Sultanate

Metamorphosis

Will you always live as a worm and drag yourself on the ground? When are you going to have wings to fly?
Is that impossible or too late?
No it isn’t. You, too, can be a butterfly.
Don’t hinder yourself… Have you already made up your mind? Why wait then?
Go beyond your limits…Renew your personality… Make a new man out of yourself. Start from the beginning… Everyday is a door to a new world. So why shouldn’t you display a new character.
Try it once… If not, try it once more.
Why wait for tomorrow? Start right away. You can only possess this very day. Yesterday today was the tomorrow. And when tomorrow comes, today will be yesterday… And yet, you are waiting for tomorrow. You will keep on waiting for days and days and all your lifetime will be passing away. In the end, you will have no tomorrow to wait for.
Your questions are waiting for answers. Questions are like thorns plunged in soul. They offend you. Problems are pending which hurt you. Solve them and you are going to be relieved. A life without contemplation is no life at all.
You wish to be different… Then be yourself. For every human is original. But very few can venture to be him. Streets are full of people who have not been able to establish themselves.
They don’t recognize and understand you… Is that so? That means you can’t make yourself be understood. Don’t look for an excuse which is the easiest way. Come, choose the difficult.
He who makes it will be considered.
To be noticed by others… Why’s it so important? If you are not discredited by yourself, that is good enough.

By Ömer Sevinçgül

http://omersevincgulenglish.blogspot.com/
http://carpediembook.blogspot.com/

The earliest examples of Ebru are found in the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, and are dated 1539, but the detail and quality of the work suggests that Ebru was present long before this time in the Ottoman Empire. Ebru has traditionally been rarely signed, and therefore many great artists remain unnamed. Modern day students may study for more than 10 years before being considered master marblers, learning how to make the perfect dye, water bath, and design. Since each dye bath can only be transferred to paper once, every original piece of Ebru is unique.

The first step in Ebru is getting the perfect dye. Dyes are created from various organic substances. Soil from Istanbul, white lead, indigo from Pakistan, and red ochre are used to create the perfect color. 24-karat gold may be added to the dye in order to provide shimmer and shine. The dye is mixed with ox-gall, and water, an art form in itself, since each dye is unique depending on the time of year collected, its age, and its fineness. Ebru artists often spend years simply learning the art of mixing dye, before ever attempting their first marble.

The next step in Ebru is getting the perfect water bath in which to place the dye. White kitre, a gum like substance, must be place in the Ebru water in order to keep the dye design in place and in order to allow the design to stick to the paper. Fresh kitre is available in herbal shops during the fall, and every marbler buys enough kitre to last an entire year. The density of the kitre, along with the type of water being used, requires the marbler to make many attempts before getting the correct stickiness. Too little, and the design spreads before it can be finished and won�t adhere clearly to the paper. Too much, and the paper becomes difficult to remove, again smearing the design. Once the correct balance of kitre and water is achieved, the mixture is left overnight, with occasional stirring. After four days of settling, the water mixture is poured through a cloth bag, and is then finally ready to be used.

Next, the marbler gathers her homemade horsehair brushes for detail work, needles for dropping dye onto the water, and homemade combs for drawing the dye through the water. The water is placed in a tray, only slightly larger than the paper to be used.

Now, the creative portion of the work begins. Using only a mental idea of the finished product, the marbler drops dye onto the water surface with the needles, spreads the dye with the handmade combs, and uses the brushes to draw a design. Flowers, birds, geometric designs, and calligraphy are common choices for the Ebru artist.

Ebru is often used for bookmarks, inside the bindings of books, for wall hangings, and to surround both Arabic and Turkish calligraphy. The next time you visit the beautiful bazaars of Istanbul, make sure that you don�t consider leaving without picking up a beautiful piece of Turkish culture, a totally unique, handmade Ebru.