We need experts in Torture to say if indeed the two torturers administration of torture are real, they are wearing special shoes that trigger a high voltage spike for a short time on a circuit that is around the Sheikh, ( Leexada as they say or swing ) they even seem to be avoiding contact with him by hitting the floor and immediately clearing the way, could it be a trigger device on the floor? From what I read, the Sheikh is talking with confidence, his answers dont seem rehearsed, he even smiles defiantly and supports his arguments with verse of Quraan, which makes one of the torturers angry threatening the Sheikh not to smile while trying to extract infromation teh Sheikh does not have, also accusing him to belong to the Ethiopian banned Ittihad group. Its buzzling Nur

Kashafa and Ummul Kheir This clip is all over the place, all Somaly sites, if its true, it would be shocking indeed, to me specially, as I cant reconcile between my impression and this picture, I visited Hargeisa last year and the mental picture I got was that of a very decent place, good people, and even the Friday Khutbah that I have heard was a shining example of freedom of speech that may not even be safe in Hyde Park. Unless the country detriorated that bad in a year, its unimaginable of all places. Does anyone know the Sheikh in person? is that person the Shiekh? if not where is he now? Did the Somaliland Govt. clarify the issue ? Nur

Ramadan kareem Nomads Ramadan is a month of TAZKIYAH ( LIFT OFF), a month of charity, benevolence, goodwill to others and patience, all of which make up the tools for the liftoff gear to the heavens. InshaAllah, I will discuss further the gears for the liftoff, the six spoke wheel or boosters that help us rise above our woes to touch heaven. 1. First Stage Fuel: Useful Knowledge 2. Second Stage Fuel: Good Deeds 3. Third Stage Fuel: Self Assessment 4. Fourth Stage Fuel: Self Struggle To Stay The Course 5. Fifth Stage Fuel: Realization Of Death and Drawing Lessons From It 6. Sixth Stage Fuel: The Company and Chatting With The Pious (i.e. @ Somaliaonline Islam Pages) Nur

http://www.somaliweyn.org/video/Hargeysa_Wadaad.ram

The UIC And The Taliban A Comparison and a Contrast The Media, if you read about events in Somalia these days , you can not escape being bombarded with biased news, full of reminders that the US and its allies are worried that the Union of islamic Courts may turn out another Taliban, the African version, and thus a dangerous entity. Is that assumption true? Well , let us examine similarities and differences of the two movements. -Both movements started out as students or scholars of Islamic Sharia -Both movements spread too fast to cover large territory. -Both movements found themselves in power miraculously, without a plan of their own. There ends the similarity. The Contrast: -The Taliban were the creation of the ISI ( Pakistani Inteligence) in coordination with the CIA during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Their joint objective was to secure the supply routes from Afghan warlords attacks, and ultimately to secure the planned Caspian Sea Oil pipeline that runs through Afghanistan. As late as July 2001, a Delegation of the Taliban was in Texas negotiating with US for the security fees for those routes, the Taliban were unreasonable, they asked for too much money, the deal broke, The Taliban went back home, 9/11 was concotted to pave the way for the largest mobilization in history to invade foreign lands and steal their resources in the name of fighting terror. ( See the movie Loose Change). -The UIC on the other hand, were inadvertently created by the CIA, but by accident, the CIA created and funded the coalition of the willing warlords dubbed anti terror alliance, which gave the Islamic courts the idea to unite and fight the criminal warlords. -The Taliban belong to a single majority tribe, the Pashtun. -The UIC belong to all Somali tribes ( each tribe has its own court, but together they form the Union of Islamic Courts, the UIC) -The Taliban were mostly illitrate about Western culture, politics and languages. -The UIC are represented by highly educated intellectuals whose credentials include higher degrees such as PhDs from the West in Political Science, and Educators, Doctors, Engineers fluent in Europpean languages and their culture. -The Taliban are of a single Islamic school of thought -The UIC is a plethora of Islamic streams. -The Taliban were proud to host an organinzation that is at war with the US. -The UIC categorically denies any relationship with that organization. -The Taliban rejected to share power with competing politicians -The UIC welcomes the TFG, with a very simple basic requirement, Islamic law ( Sharia) Should guide all aspects of Somalias public life (private lives is left for Allah and the individual) Nur 2006 eNuri Al Siyaasa Al Sharciyah The Art Of Survival Without Adapting

A Bright picture that should be painted all over the world, the picture brought tears to my eyes, JZK Kashafa, that was indeed a moving experience! Nur

Great Wishes mashaallah, I particularly liked Raheema's wish, how great it feels to be referred as Prophet Muhammads SISTERS/BRORHERS? Muhammad also made 3 wonderful wishes, the best of iur days to be the day we meet Allah, Subhaanallah! JZK brother. Winnie, yours was a timely wish, a selfless and a needed wish, JZK sis. Nur

Ramadan, Time to enjoy SUJUUD (Bowing Down in awe) Nur

For Nomads who are drifting away, This is red flag, assess your journey toward Allah while you have time in your hands. Nur

Refreshing the Hadeeth Science and topic for your viewing in this holy month, relax and read, let the wisdom of Hadeeth settle in your head. Nur

The One and Only Jihad is like Military service, to serve in the military you must have loyalty to a principle for which you live and are willing to die for if need be. Jihad begins with ones self ego, being busy finding faults with yourself ( NOT OTHERS) is the first step of Jihad, and from there on, striving to do what pleases Allah SWT most. Giving ones life to Allah is the ultimate form of sacrifice, its important to differentiate Jihad from violence, the first is a general term that literally stands for exerting an effort toward overcoming our human weakness confronting injustice, fear and love for wealth. Violence on the other hand stands for hate, racism, supremacy, and contempt for others. InshaAllah, your question and more will be answered in an upcoming article ( All you wanted to know about Jihad but where afraid to ask) Nur

Northener bro. I am still out on the research of Riba from the Maqasidul Sharia perspective, I am also trying to prepare another write-up on Jihad, which is the hot issue these days, but so far the more I read about the Riba issue, and compare it to the current banking practices, its scary, the moral of the law has been adultered, the purpose beaten, and for that reason we find ourself in misery of wars, hunger and epidemics, all of them pointing the finger toward the verse: "Fadhanuu bi xarbin minallahi wa rasuulihi" Nur

Nomads Xiin , Ngonge, me, Legend Good feedback from different points of view, as long as we share our feelings on issues we can never find a solution, this problem of Qabiil, is a national curse, it has no cure but ISLAM. The question, is how can we trust those raising the islamic banner? If the banner is a tool to reach power, its indeed sad, and I pray that is not the case, nothing is more disasterous than to use islam for a powe grab. On the other hand, its as bad if not worse to use our national enemies as allies to reach power as the TFG and warlords have done. I agree with Ngonge that trust betwen clans has eroded, but inshAllah, its not beyound repair, at least all of those who follow Islami trully in their daily life are not as effeced with the Tribalist mantra as those who do not practice islam, which explains that their ailment is not the tribal politcis, but in their heart, we pray that Allah cures them and guides them toward Islam. The UIC is not another political faction, and it has not started that way, it was the result of a tipping point ( Gladwell) of events that needed a foreign interference to make it happen, and Alhamdulillah, the warlords with the help of the CIA did the trick, inadvertently causing the domino effect that led to the rise of the UIC in a miraculous way. In the last Mogadishu battle between the UIC and the ruthless warlord Qaybdeed, a young Britton of Somaliland origin was killed as a martyr, the UIC are no more defined as a tribe, its sypathizers and volunteers are across the tribes, nation and the world, from Kismayo to Puntlnd and Somaliland, the UIC is winning hearts and minds, Allah sent this uprising of the courts when we reached rock bottom. The coming days are going to be interesting, let us all give the courts the benefit of the doubt, and lend them a hand it may be our last chance. Nur

Two new clans emerging in Somalia an eNuri online write-up, fresh from the oven. Somali kids at Quranic schools learn two main lessons, one at home, the other at the Quraan school, one lesson guides them through the maze of clan life, the other gives them a heavenly purpose, the first is known as the abtirsi, a rote memorization of the child's family tree, up to 30 fore fathers ( most Somalis inadvertently end up as Armenians or Azerbaijanis, depending on Prophet Abraham's lineage, whose son Ishmael and the Qureish tribe of Arabia many Somalis call their ancestors Now freeze! Now, before we go on further, lets define Paradigm Shift: Here is the definition: A paradigm is our perception of reality, our view of the world. It is our interpretation of events based on previous teaching we have received. A paradigm shift means to have a sudden change in perception, a sudden change in point of view, of how you see things. Hopefully this change will be in the right direction. Now, imagine all the tribal lineage that you have memorized as a child is suddenly radically turned up side down, your tribal lineage, your loyalties, friends and enemies are suddenly redefined. How can that be? Well, for purpose of illustration lets us assume that your abtirsi (literally meaning counting for FATHERS) ), is changed to ( HOOYO TIRSI, meaning counting ones fore MOTHERS ) What clan will you be? Nomad, sorry if I sent your head spinning out of control,and sorry if I offended you in case you have just turned member of a clan that you hate, I mean your Hooyo tirsi will go something like this. Nur son of Halima who is daughter of Hibaaq, daughter of Habboon, daughter of Hillaac, daughter of Muraayad, daughter of Maandeeq. Wait a minute, do you mean that I am a Reer Qansax clans man? Thats right, your present clan's family tree is a male lineage ( Boy's Club), some even say that Jews do not trust their male lineage to be considered as an authentic Jew (only a mother can tell for sure that you are her son ). Now, that would be a good example of a Paradigm Shift, and that is exactly what happened in Somalia. A Paradigm shift from the allegiance of the clan that was predominantly controlled by bloody warlords, to the allegiance of a spiritually guided new Islamist formation. Suddenly we have two new non-clan-based camps instead of the multiple clan based groups that were all vying for power in Somalia including perverts. As of today, you are either with Islam as Somalia's base of governance, or you are with the Warlords Version of Democracy, because a third option is not feasible, which is chillin at Addis Ababa's Cafe of Cabasho iyo Ciil. The two new camps are thus , the camp of 4.5 clans and the Camp of Islam. Tribalism is sponsored by Condoleeza Rice, Cofe Anan, IGAD and Ethiopia. Islam is sponsored by Allah. The New face of Somalia is changing, it has more hair in the case of men, and its modestly smiling behind a Hijab for dignified women. For the past 16 years, Islam was helping the weak and the down trodden, delivering food to the poor, while the clan based warlords where busy stealing aid funds ( UIC should request for an accounting audit to determine where all the aid funds destined to the poor in Somalia ended up, funds that were paid by aid agencies for the past 16 years , UN and USA are not known where they were spent or deposited ). Meanwhile, Islamists were running businesses as engines of the devastated Somali economy from Telecom to money transfers ( You know you can not trust anarchists to your hard earned money ) . The Islamists aka Wadaads in Somalia, have delivered services to the people for the past 16 years without the eye of an earthly government while securing good profits to investors faithfully, and today, the Islamists have taken control of the helm, which infuriated Anarchists and their supporters. The Tribe is shaken to its roots, in the old order, only the worst of the tribe could surface for his Tribes leadership, in the new formation, only the most respected are claiming their place, even if you were a Moriyaan in the old order, if you surrender to Islam, you get a new life, you become like Abu Sufyaan, not only are you safe, but all of your subordinates are safe, welcome the new Tribe, and enter the New crystallizing Somalia, a nation that will be defined along faith lines, not along blood lines anymore inshAllah. It has been reported that the Prophet SAWS said: Man yubti bihi camaluh, lam yusric bihi nasabuh "He whose (bad deeds) slow him down (from entering Paradise), is never speeded up by his tribal linneage (Prestige)" Nur 2006 eNuri Inspirationals Series We Captivate Your Attention, To Activate Your Imagination

JZK yaa Ummul Kheir, Allaha naga aqbalo soonka iyo istaagga habeenkii, Allaha noo wada damibi dhaafo, naguna dheeho naxariistiisa, nagana yeelo kuwii laga xoreeyay cadaabta naarta bishan barakeysan, Amin. Nur

The spirit of this great story is the importance of seeking knowledge. If at that distant time, with such a meager means and facilities, Sheikh Muhammad Al Somali was able to attain such a lofty degree of scholarship, then today with all the distance learning means and the information technologyu available to us, there is no excuse for us not to build on top of the realms these scholars have pioneered. The spirit of this story is thus, let us build ontop of their accomplishments . If I have seen further, its because I have stood on top of the shoulders of giants Isaac Newton Nur

Now that Clan evil is resurfacing after a lull, its about time we expose the real culprit. Satan Read on. Nur

Nomads Since I posted this piece, the planet circled the sun three times, no one knows of how many joyful turns around the sun remain for us all, it was in Rajab, some 6 weeks before Ramadan, now the Hejira year has caught up with the Gregorian, I pray that when the spirit collection schedule catches up with us, that we are on good standing with our maker. Amin

Bashi bro. I agree with you that "politics" is at least a necessity as it defines everything, food we eat, money in our pockets or what we can see. However, the politics that I was talking about does not apply to the ICU, they are anti-politics, they are trying to correct the mess politicians and warlords have left behind as they fled. A good example of politician that I was talking about is the following story. Hungary PM: we lied to win election Agencies Monday September 18, 2006 Guardian Unlimited The prime minister of Hungary has confirmed the legitimacy of a leaked tape recording in which he says his government lied to win April's election and "lied in the morning; lied in the evening" during office. The recording comes from a speech Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany gave to a closed party meeting shortly after his Socialist-Liberal coalition took office for a second term. In the leaked speech, parts of which have been played on Hungarian state radio, he argued that major economic reforms were needed. "There is not much choice. There is not, because we screwed up," he said. "Not a little: a lot. No European country has done something as bone-headed as we have," he continued. " Evidently, we lied throughout the last year and a half, two years. It was totally clear that what we are saying is not true. You cannot quote any significant government measure we can be proud of, other than at the end we managed to bring the government back from the brink. Nothing. If we have to give account to the country about what we did for four years, then what do we say " " We lied in the morning; we lied in the evening, " he said. On Sunday around 3,000 protesters called for the leader's resignation outside parliament in Budapest. But Mr Gyurcsany defended the leaked tape - which was littered with foul language - and said he would not resign. He claimed the statement "we lied" did not refer to the overall state of the economy but was about "general lies" told by politicians over several years. "Hungarians want to live like those in the west, but they are unwilling to adopt the western norms," he said. "For years ... we made people believe that they have nothing to do, that we will give them happiness as a gift." Hungary has suffered from budget deficits since 2000 and recently submitted a plan to the European Commission to reduce its deficit - the biggest in the EU - mainly through tax rises. Some observers say the leaked tape could have come from Mr Gyurcsany's office as a way to justify tough economic reforms. Just hours after the tape came out, a full transcript was posted on his weblog. The Socialist party won their second term in office in April, with a coalition government taking 210 of the 386 parliamentary seats. Evidently, we lied throughout the last year and a half, two years. It was totally clear that what we are saying is not true."

In my opinion, the Pope's statement was carefully prepared, it was a pressure gauge, to see the reaction of Muslims, it may have even been a disracting tactic, to make them forget the slaughter that has just happened in Lebanon for which the Pope never suggested that Moses was a war monger and an anti establishment and a rebel. The Pope was right when he quoted the Christian King who said that Mohammad never brought any thing new (Morals) because, the morals Mohammad preached were also preached by all Prophets before him, but neither the Christians nor the Jews abided by these morals, today, the Churches ordain Homosexuals as Priests who practice an abonimable lewd behaviour that was chasticed for the people of Soddom and Gommorah. Now Catholicism religion, a creation of the Roman conquerors of the holy lands, has taken the religion to make lawfull all sins that Allah made unlawful. But the Pope was wrong to say that Jihad was used to spread Islam, Jihad was an ordinance Allah ordained Muslims to liberate the world of Injustice, so Muslims liberated many nations in their Jihad, but they never forced anyone to become Muslim by the sword, the sword was only used to remove the powers that were not allowing the public to hear Allah's message. Christianity should learn from its bloody history and present complacency too.The Popes own Christians, In Germany, 6 million Jews were burned in furnances, the German war machine kille more than 20 Million in WW2. The Americans have annihilated Hirishima and Nagazaki, and later killed millions in Korea, Vietnam. Today, Christian America is responsible of the deaths in Iraq, Iraq was proven not to have weaopns of mass destruction, neither a connection with Al Qaida, so in effect, these deaths are triggered by USA with false pretext. America is in" unholy war", it is "liberating" the world, so this unholy war is an effort that a nation deems necessary to impose its vision on other nations, by virtue of its power advantage. NATO and America are thus fighting in Afghanistan an unholy Jihad to impose their vision on Afghans. eNuri is planning to write an in depth article on Jihad ( All you wanted to know about Jihad but were afraid to ask ), possibly to coincide with Badr Battle Commemoration date in Ramadan inshAllah. Nur

Ngonge wrote: I believe the best man for the job has finally been chosen! Give him a stick big enough and let him beat us all into total compliance The best man for the Job, The ICU! Nur

Bashi bro. The TFG is doing things backwards, when we had clan war, they were chillin in their Hotels, each warlord counting his Dollars ( Boqolkii badaheysay), now that the ICU brought a lightening speed peace, they are gathering Anarchist brothers from Ethiopia and Kenya to bring back Anarchy again, what is your take on this if it happens? Nur

Great topic Northerner, and timely too. Aslamah ( islamization ) is the new buzz word these days, as Islamic awareness sweeps the Muslim world, everything from marriages ( eNuri Halaal girl/boyfriend idea, taylored for troubled teens in the west ), to drinks ( alcohol-free beer ) to financial transactions, are being redefined to match islamic Sharia, islamization is on full swing, and it makes money too. As the world gets closer and closer, globalization of business, down sizing and out-sourcing is driving business to cross traditional barriers and into new trans-cultural/faith dimensions, not only does the global village convert currencies and languages to conduct instantaneous business transactions, but also entire banking instruments are being converted at will to suit any need ( albeit with some changes ) after scholars of the secular church and the Islamic sharia specialists ( short supply, a job guarnateed for any professional with an MBA in islamic finance, from Malaysia of course ) cross check their respective deffinitions and rules of what is acceptable to each vision. Before we embark on discussing this interesting fiqh -ul-mucaamalaat topic as applied to financial transactions, a treatment of the mother-of-all-fiqh is in order, the spirit and moral of the law, or as known in the academic spheres of Ummul Qura and Madina Universities and others in the Muslim world as Cilmul Maqaasid Al Shariica, and the other Branch Ussulul Fiqh ( the two are different yet share a lot ). Till, then, let us hear from other Nomads. Nur

Castro bro. I Think Xiin asnwered the question, here I may add. Just days after 9/11, An article that appeared in the Guardian suggested that Bin Laden has won the war with the west. The writer reasoned the following way: No matter what the west does about Bin Laden, Bin Laden will come out a winner. 1. If he is killed, he will be a role model for disadvantaged Muslim youth and a hero like Che Guevara fighting Emperialism and dying a Martyr, thus more Bin Ladens will be created by that option. 2. If he stays at large in the mountains of Afghanistan and is never caught, he will fuel more of the same daring attacks across Muslim world 3. If he is caught alive and brought to justice, he will make free advertisement for Islam and win more converts to his cause. Disclaimer: I do not condone what happened in 9/11, the human lives loss was catastrophically wrong, the aftermath of 9/11 has also seen ten times more civilian deaths visited upon innocent Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq by USA and allies, the culprits must be punished, in my opinion like the Movie Loose Change suggests, there are more questions than answers for what happened in 9/11, my guess is that zealots in the west may have pulled it to discredit Islam, fortunately, it backfired and today, more non-practicing Muslims are practicing again, and more converts are coming to the brotherhood of Islam. Christianity has beeen tamed long time ago by the Romans who took the Papacy they created from the holy lands to decadent Rome, its no longer a religion of God, its a collection of state modified rituals. This creates a gap in the west in which many intellectuals confused ny the illogical contradiction of Catholicism, seek a faith that naturally answers their questions, and more than ever Islam is providing them with ready answers to most of these westerners, now, the more Islam is on the nightly news, even negatively, the more people are exposed to it, with a little research, some find their answers in islam and hence the benefit of the underdog faith. Nur

And now the Pope is spreading Islam unwittingly, Churches are empty, priests caught molesting kids in churches on the daily news, gets into the Islam hate bandwagon of Bush/Blair and Company. The more islam and prophet Muhammad's person is attacked by prominent Christians like the pope, the more converts islam gets from Christendom. The future is interesting Nur