Salaama caleykum I never knew the Mongols that destroyed Baghdad converted to Islam to become its leaders and protectors!! From destroying the mosques to building mosques! What a transformation! This is the second part of Islam and Empire of faith documentaries broadcasted by the American Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Islam: Empire of faith The Awakening Part 3 is about the the magnificent Ottomans. The Ottomans

German Police Conduct Raids on Militant Anti-G8 Protestors German police launched raids in six northern states Wednesday amid fears that left-wing radical groups were plotting attacks to disrupt a G8 summit in June on the country's Baltic coast. Some 900 federal, state and local police officers Wednesday investigated 40 locations linked to leftist activists in Hamburg, Berlin, Bremen, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Brandenburg. "We suspect those targeted, who belong to the militant extreme-left scene, of founding a terrorist organisation or being members of such an organisation , that is planning arson attacks and other actions to severely disrupt or prevent the early-summer G8 summit in Heiligendamm from taking place," the prosecutor's office said. The summit which opens on June 6 on Germany's Baltic coast will see German Chancellor Angeal Merkel hosting the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. Climate change and poverty in Africa will dominate the agenda. German politicians and security experts have issued warnings of potential violence ahead of the summit. "We are particularly focused on dangers arising from violent globalization opponents," German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said. Police targeted members of militant groups Police suspect the left-wing militants they are targeting of being behind a string of attacks in and around Hamburg and Berlin. Last December, a car was set on fire in front of the home of deputy finance minister Thomas Mirow and the walls of his home were splattered with paint. The hotel where the summit is to take place has also been vandalized with paint. On Wednesday, the more than 40 raids across the country included one on the leftist "Rote Flora" cultural center in Hamburg amid concerns it was being used by a domestic left-wing radical group. The investigation also focused on members of the radical communist organization "Militante Gruppe" (mg), which has claimed 25 attacks since 2001. Most have involved setting fire to a building or vehicle belonging to the police or other public institution. In past letters claiming responsibility for crimes, mg has named disrupting the upcoming G8 conference as a motive. "We're not dealing here with some left-wing loonies who want to throw a bucket of paint," the online version of news magazine Der Spiegel quoted an investigator involved in the raids as saying. "We're talking here about groups who have terrorism potential." Protest from the far-left Anti-globalization groups like Gipfelsoli and Attac have condemned the raids as "a wave of repression" and "criminalization." "All attempts to criminalize us do not change the fact that we will sue the G8 (summit) to cast a spotlight on the injustices of this world," said Hanne Jobst from Gipfelsoli in a statement. Germany's Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, however, has said that he sees a clear security threat. He has announced has announced a tightening of border controls ahead of the summit. That will mean that the country's visa-free travel policy for Schengen zone members would be suspended during the event, as it was during the soccer World Cup last summer. Police are bracing for an expected 100,000 demonstrators to gather in the area near the summit venue, a luxury hotel in Heiligendamm on the Baltic Coast, on June 6-8. Tight security measures are in the works, including a 12 kilometer (7.5 mile) long fence designed to protect diplomats attending the event. Several G8 summits in recent years have been scarred by violence, most notably the meeting in the Italian city of Genoa in 2001 when an anti-capitalist protester was killed in riots. Demonstrations at recent G8 summits have been kept well away from the venue although violence has broken out in nearby towns. Source

German Police Collect Scent Samples of G8 Protesters German police have collected body scent samples of left-wing activists in the lead up to the G8 summit. Some politicians accuse the government of resorting to the dubious methods of the East German secret police. "It's unsavory that our intelligence officials are using methods that were also used by the Stasi," the deputy parliamentary leader of the opposition Greens, Hans-Christian Ströbele, told the Leipziger Volkszeitung newspaper. The feared secret police of former communist East Germany (GDR) notoriously tried to capture and store the body scents of political dissidents so that sniffer dogs could trace them. Wolfgang Thierse, the deputy speaker of the Bundestag lower house of parliament, accused the authorities of going overboard and warned them to refrain from a "hysteria that could lead to a police state similar to the GDR." Activists raided Federal prosecutors confirmed on Tuesday that police took scent samples earlier in the month when they raided sites in northern Germany linked to suspected anti-globalization activists. But they denied that they wanted to use the samples to sniff out G8 protestors. A spokesman said samples were taken from five or six suspects in order to compare these with physical evidence found at the scene of past arson attacks. According to police, taking scent samples is as legal as taking fingerprints, and talks of the Stasi were exaggerated. "'Stasi methods' clearly refers to … techniques such as denunciation, blackmail and torture, but not to what is a valid legal police practice," said Konrad Freiberg, the chairman of the Federal Police Union, in a statement on Wednesday. Police should be able to use all methods "to preferably avert violence acts before they happen," he said. Strange idea However, Wolfgang Bosbach, the deputy chairman of the Christian Democratic parliamentary faction, said he found the whole practice of smell tracking "rather strange." "You have a protester, the dog has a sniff and then he wags three times with his tail or barks -- what's supposed to happen then?" Bosbach said. Left-wing groups have warned the police that the recent raids angered their supporters and would only heighten their resolve to demonstrate at the G8 summit being held in the northern coastal town of Heiligendamm from June 6 - 8. Protesters are also upset over a ban on protests at the G8 venue and the nearby airport, and are taking legal action to attempt to overturn it. It is believed that left-wing groups could be behind the torching on Tuesday of the car belonging to the editor of Bild, Germany's biggest-selling newspaper, and those of two businessmen last week. German authorities are expecting up to 100,000 activists to target the G8 summit being hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The leaders of the United States, Russia, Britain, France, Italy, Canada, and Japan are to attend. Sources

Maasha ALLAAH indeed King Offa of Mercia (Middle England) issued a gold coin that bears the shahaadah 747 AD. http://www.islamic-awareness.org/History/Islam/offa.html http://www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/bmh/BMH-AQ-offa.htm

Impressive! I truly hope the university lecturers their ground.

Prime minister announces fresh elections · Secularists praise decision against former Islamist Nick Birch in Istanbul and agencies Wednesday May 2, 2007 On a day marred by clashes between police and protesters in Istanbul, Turkey's leading court annulled a presidential vote which secularists fear could open the way to the Islamification of Turkey. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, said that early elections would be held on either June 24 or July 1, to try to resolve the standoff between his government and the secularists, including the army, which has threatened to intervene. There will also be a vote in parliament today on the nomination of the foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, a former Islamist. Last Friday's parliamentary vote on his nomination was ruled invalid because fewer than two-thirds of deputies attended. The ruling was met with applause at the headquarters of the secular opposition party which brought the case. Deniz Baykal, leader of the Republican People's party, had warned on Monday that "Turkey could be dragged into open conflict" if the court failed to block the vote. A government spokesman insisted that his party would attend a second round of voting today in an effort to secure the attendance of the 367 deputies necessary to validate the vote. The ruling party was joined by only 10 other MPs for Friday's ballot, with opposition party leaders ordering a boycott. After a weekend in which nearly a million protesters gathered in Istanbul to call for the government's resignation, few analysts expected the opposition boycott to be any less total. "Practically, today's decision means that the likelihood of this parliament selecting a president is almost zero," said Murat Yetkin, Ankara bureau chief for the daily newspaper Radikal. But the court's decision is likely to be questioned, and not just by government backers. "From the moment the military made its opinion clear, it was clear what the result would be," said Cengiz Candar, a political columnist for the business daily Referans. Seven out of 11 of the constitutional court judges, he added, were appointed by the incumbent president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, a well-known secularist hardliner, whose seven-year term expires on May 16. Ergun Ozbudun, a constitutional expert, said that the decision was "not just unconstitutional" but, by giving a minority the power to invalidate ballots, had made it all but impossible for parliaments to elect a president. "It's a historical decision, in the negative sense," he said. Despite all the talk of an inevitable early general election, no one is sure when this will be; Turkish media said senior officials of the government party were considering June or July, four months earlier than the November deadline. A government spokesman, Cemil Cicek, said yesterday that a final decision would be made after the vote. Secularists, meanwhile, who had organised two massive demonstrations over the past fortnight, showed no signs of reducing pressure. Central Istanbul was turned into a war zone yesterday as police clashed with leftwing groups trying to protest, marking the 30th anniversary of one of Turkey's most notorious massacres, which involved the death of 34 people who were shot or trampled when gunmen attacked during a May Day demonstration in Istanbul's central Taksim Square. Yesterday police arrested 700 people as Istanbul's traffic ground to a halt, and 17,000 police ringed the entrances to the city and checked vehicles. Cars took four hours to cross the mile-long bridge connecting Istanbul's European and Asian sides. Dozens of motorists waiting for hours in a road tunnel had to be treated for carbon monoxide poisoning, according to Turkish media reports. In Taksim yesterday, police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds. Police were photographed beating protesters with truncheons and rifle butts. "We came with carnations," Suleyman Celebi, a trade union leader, said. "You can't expect democracy from those who don't even tolerate flowers." Facing widespread calls for his resignation, Istanbul's governor, Muammer Guler, blamed the chaos on organisers of the protest. Explainer Parliament chooses the president in up to four votes. In the first and second rounds, a candidate must get 367 votes, or two-thirds of all deputies; in the third, he needs only a simple majority of 276 votes. If a fourth produces no winner, a parliamentary election is called. The constitutional court cancelled last week's first round, upholding an appeal from the opposition party, which had boycotted the vote, that a quorum of 367 was needed. The government will repeat the round. However, it must complete all rounds within 30 days of the start of the process on April 16, meaning a president is due on May 16. Three days are needed between rounds, making the timetable very tight. A new schedule will be set out today. Abdullah Gul, a former Islamist and a member of the last government to be pushed from office by the army, remains the only candidate, as nominations have closed. The government is prepared to call an early election if the minimum age for deputies is 25 years; parliament has voted to reduce it from 30, but a constitutional amendment has yet to be made. The AK party said it had presented the draft amendment. Source

Source Here's why the Iranians hate us During the recent Iranian hostage crisis I read several articles by Middle East experts which stated that the Iranians have a distorted idea about the power of the UK and its ability to secretly manipulate their affairs. The average Iranian apparently sees the hand of the British empire behind even the most banal crisis such as their toaster getting glued up with cheese or their losing one glove. This is partly justified because at one time this country did cause tremendous upheaval in what was called Persia. We invaded it in 1941 to secure oil supplies and in 1953, with the CIA, we deposed the elected president, Muhammad Mossadegh, and replaced him with the weak-kneed Shah. The Shah created his brutal secret police, the Savak, whose torture and repression led to the civil unrest that in turn brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power. Mossadegh's crime was that he thought he might like the profits from the oil taken from his country to go back to his country. This didn't suit the Anglo Iranian Oil Company (now BP), and so he was got rid of. More than anything else, though, the reason the average Iranian thinks Britain has an infinite capacity for evil is that until recently the only car you could buy in Iran was a local version of that epitome of motoring excellence, the Hillman Hunter, known as the "Paykan". So grateful was he to us, that the Shah did an exclusive deal with what was then called the Rootes Group so that the only car sold in Iran was the poxy Hunter. I know if anybody forced me to drive a Hillman Hunter in 2007 it would make me want to overthrow the government and replace it with a Shia theocracy, but it might also convince me that they had powers of extraordinary evil. And it wasn't just clapped out old cars that we forced on the Persians. Have you ever wondered where all the Millets shops went? When I was in my late teens there were Millets in every town, then suddenly they all seemed to vanish. That's right, you've guessed it, under the Shah the only clothes shops that were allowed were Millets and that's why, until recently, every male Iranian dressed as if he'd just stepped off a miners' picket line in 1974, Bri-Nylon flared trousers, strange tartan bum-freezer jacket and platform boots. Indeed, President Ahmadinejad's trademark shortie anorak, (a huge fashion hit in Iran) is a classic Millets design from 1973 and was originally worn by racing driver James Hunt and the Bay City Rollers. Nowadays, Iran has started making cars of their own designs. Studying my World Cars catalogue I see that they make a fairly mad-looking saloon called the Iran Khodro Samand Sarir and a lumpy hatchback called the Saipa 141 Liftback. So, just as people have been apologising for slavery, we could make amends to the Iranians by buying their cars. I have myself put in an order for a nice blue Morattab Pazhan 3000 GLV from the Morattab Industrial Manufacturing Co, Jomhuri Avenue, Tehran, Iran. I suggest that when the Government renews its car fleet for, say, the Home Office, they buy Kish Khodro Sinad IIs. Then the ayatollahs will really know we are sorry for interfering. Hillman Hunter Samand Sarir

Ignore the baseless al qaida associations in the article as al qaida is the old Weapons of Mass Destruction invention used to justify Iraaq invasion. Fugitives are forced to pay to shelter in the shade Sam Kiley Sunday April 29, 2007 Source During a lull in fighting in Mogadishu yesterday, survivors picked their way through the post-apocalyptic landscape of Somalia's capital, quickly burying bodies. The floors and stairs of the filthy hospitals were crammed with injured civilians and slick with blood. Up to 350,000 refugees from fighting were camped in the bush - easy prey for armed thugs and warlords. Almost two weeks of heavy fighting and indiscriminate shelling between Islamic militia and clan fighters battling Ethiopian and Somali government troops has turned Mogadishu into the front line in what Washington and al-Qaeda both call the 'clash of civilisations'. Somalia's recent agonies are a direct consequence of the American-backed invasion by Ethiopia four months ago to topple Mogadishu's Islamic Courts Union and install the weak and largely secular transitional federal government. But experts say Washington and its allies have driven many to look back on the recent times of Sharia law as a 'golden age' amid signs that warlords are now looking to exploit refugees in a gigantic protection racket. In 1992, after the civil war that deposed the dictator Siad Barre, militia leaders orchestrated the looting of food aid, charged aid agencies for delivering humanitarian assistance and prolonged a famine that claimed 300,000 lives. There are already signs that the transitional federal government is using aid as a weapon - restricting food aid deliveries to hundreds of thousands of civilians, who are also being charged to shelter under trees on the road out of the capital to Afgoye, 30km away. According to the European Union's head of humanitarian aid, Louis Michel, Somalis fleeing the fighting have endured 'systematic looting, extortion and rape by uniformed troops' - only the Ethiopian and government forces have uniforms. And last week uniformed troops commandeered 12 trucks and helped themselves to tonnes of sugar and computers from the recently opened Coca-Cola factory in Mogadishu. Only after aggressive intervention from the Americans and EU did the government agree to allow enough food for 32,000, less than a tenth of the number in need, through its roadblocks heading west on Friday. 'There is a great deal of extortion and bribery of armed men on the way to delivery,' said a senior aid worker. 'If we can't get real deliveries through... we'll have a humanitarian catastrophe on our hands. We're hoping that the government doesn't see this as a chance to get rid of their clan enemies permanently.'

Turkey faces military crisis EU warns generals as army threatens to step in if Islamist minister wins presidential election Helena Smith and Ned Temko Sunday April 29, 2007 The Observer Turkey came under mounting pressure from the European Union last night to rein in the influence of its generals, after the country's powerful pro-secular military threatened to intervene in the Islamic-oriented government amid growing turmoil over the election of a new President. Olli Rehn, the European Union enlargement commissioner, who has been a keen supporter of Ankara's eventual accession to the bloc, warned the military to stay out of politics, saying the election was a 'test case' for the Turkish military's respect for democracy. Rehn issued the salvo after Turkey's general staff weighed in on the dispute, saying they would not flinch at intervention if it meant upholding the Muslim state's cherished secular values. The country's secular elite has voiced grave concerns over the government's choice of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as a presidential candidate, given the politician's Islamist beliefs - his wife and daughter wear the headscarf. 'The Chief of the General Staff is answerable to the Prime Minister,' declared Cemil Cicek, justice Minister in the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is a former Islamist but has pledged his commitment to Turkey's secular political system. Military intervention would be 'inconceivable in a democratic state,' Cicek said. Within hours of Gul's failure to win enough votes in a first round of balloting on Friday, the military, which has staged four coups in the past 50 years, posted a statement on its website invoking its role as defender of the country's secular traditions as laid out by Turkey's modern soldier-statesman founder, Mustafa Ataturk. 'In recent days, the problem during the presidential election has focused on secularism discussions,' the statement said. 'This situation has been anxiously followed by the Turkish armed forces. The Turkish armed forces maintains its firm determination to carry out its clearly specified duties to protect these principles and has absolute loyalty and belief in this determination.' The statement then went on to list the ruling AK party's perceived violations of secularism, including the fact that some headmasters had been allowed to order the celebration of the Prophet Muhammad's birthday. The military made the announcement after the secular opposition appealed to the state's constitutional court to cancel the election. Many fear that if elected, Gul would be in a position to do away with the checks and balances built into system by eroding the secular nature of the courts and other autonomous bodies and appointing Islamic-oriented candidates to powerful civil service positions. Recently, hundreds of thousands demonstrated against the prospect of the Prime Minister running in the election, whose second round takes place this week. According to Professor Ahmet Evin, who teaches political science at Istanbul's Sabanci University: 'People fear that if someone who is suspected of having Islamist leanings takes control of the post, it will allow the AK party to move ahead on its Islamist agenda.' A former firebrand, Erdogan has fiercely denied that he has a hidden agenda, but critics say his actions often speak louder than words. Since assuming office nearly five years ago, he has publicly endorsed the lifting of restrictions on women wearing Islamic-style headscarves in government offices and schools, attempted to outlaw adultery and approved of alcohol bans by AK party-run municipalities. In the first round of the election last week, Gul failed to reach the two-thirds vote he needed to win. A second vote is scheduled for Wednesday, when he will need a simple majority.

Paragon walaalkay qaaliga ah Aamiin aamiin. Waa ku mahadsantahay kelimadahaada naaxariista leh. Jb adna sidoo kale. Waan ku faraxsanahay inaad fiicaan tihiin dhamaan

Teer iyo saake sidaan u kalahay waan shaaqaynaaye maadama ay tahay jimce oo mushaarkii soo dhacaayo waaxaan is iri bal ciddi wax u d i r. Anigoo fakirsan oon garan la’ qofkaan intaan yar aan haysto ku tuuro yaan baskii soo racay. Ma abti oo duqowbay oo xaanuun san ayaan u diraa. Mase ilmihii agoontii oo aabahood lagu dilay inay isku qabiil ahaayeen nin dad dilay. Intay ka aarsan lahaayeen qofkii wax ka dilay ayay ka jeclaadeen inay qabiilka ninka wax dilay dadkoodi ugu fiicaan ka dilaan. Waayo ninkooda in nin qiima badan in loo dilo nin ka qiima badan kuu wax dilay ayaa laqumanaatay. Koox ina abtiyaashay oo salaadii subax tukadeen markaas qaarna tukanaayaan ayay xabad ku firdhiyeen. Mase abtiyaashii oo xoolaha ka dhamaadeen yaan u diraa! Mase ilmihii rajada ahaa? Anigoo daalan oo habeenkii ka horeeyey duruus ku soo jeeday ayaan wacay sooomaliya. Dad badan baa ka xumaaday markay maqleen hebel iyo hebel in aan u soo diray oo leh anagana miyaan isku dhiig ahayn? Miyaanan anaguna dhib nahaysan? Warkoodi siduu iigubay haddaan lacag heysto iyaga iyo wixii dhiban soo wax kama siiyeen? Sidaan intaan ku keenay RAXMAAN Baa Ogaa! “Habaryareey yaa ugu litaa intaan un baan haayaaye” baan ku iri. Dad tiro badan ayay ii sheegtay oo aan garanaynin. Dhib maleh habaryay waalidkay ayaa u sheegi oo kala yaqaan. “Ka doon xawaalada beri” ayaan ku iri. Waxay tiri “ Habaryar waan gargariiraynaa oo deriskeeni ayaa madfaco ku dhaacay! Xamar meel laga qaxo oo laga cararay oo cidlaa ayay noqotay. Ma ogi inaan beri ka dooni karo? Waxay sugaysay in uu madfac ku dhaco daqiiqad kaste! Iyada iyaa baadiyo inoo dhaxayso. Waagi maxkamadaha haysteen siday u kalsoonayd iyo hadda siday naftoodi ula cabsanayaan kala duwanaa! Hadda waxaan ka cabsanaa haddaan waco gurigeeda oo la iga qaban waayo! Inan iska ooyo wax yar ayaa iiga dhiman.

Ma tirinkaro nicmda RABBI Igu manaystay laakiin inta iigu qiimo badan waa kuwaan. Hadith Qudsi 1: On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: When Allah decreed the Creation He pledged Himself by writing in His book which is laid down with Him: My mercy prevails over my wrath. It was related by Muslim (also by al-Bukhari, an-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah). Narrated Anas: The Prophet said, "Whoever said "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah and has in his heart good (faith) equal to the weight of a barley grain will be taken out of Hell. And whoever said: "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah and has in his heart good (faith) equal to the weight of a wheat grain will be taken out of Hell. And whoever said, "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah and has in his heart good (faith) equal to the weight of an atom will be taken out of Hell." Saxiix Bukhaari Volume 1, Book 2, Number 42: Qur’aanka Kariimka iyo Sunnada Rasuulka (s.c.w). Anbiyada weliba Rasuulka (s.c.w)., saxaaba (r.c). Hooyaday Gacaliso Soomaaliya AlxamduLILLAAH

Vulkaano

Muqshabeel (aabe shabeel iyo hooyo libaax) Muqshabeel (hooyo shabeel iyo aabe libaax) Faras badeed (Ninkaa uurka la wareego oona dhalo ilmaha) Kuli uurbay leeyihiin!

Kulankii Natiijadii 10 milimitar (5 isbuuc) 12 milimitar

Masha ALLAAH! RABBI Ha ka aqbalo dadaalkiisa. Dad adag oo go’aan leh waaye chechenyaanka.

Unfortunately, I belong to those foolish people the parable below speaks of. Please send a prayer my way. ------------------------------------------------- The Fourth Word. The worth of the prescribed prayers. In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate The prescribed prayers are the pillars of Islaam. If you would really like to understand with certainty that two plus makes four how valuable and important prescribed prayers (salat) are, and with what slight effort is their reward gained, and how foolish and harmful is the one who does not pray, then listen attentively to this parable: Once upon a time an important ruler sends to of his servants to a beautiful farm, giving each twenty four gold coins. The farm is 2 months’ away. He gives them these orders: ‘Use this money for the ticket and other necessities for the journey and after arrival. There is a station one day away where trains, ships, cars and planes are available, any of which you may take according to your capital.’ The two leave after receiving these instructions. One is so fortunate that he spends only a little of his money before he arrives at the station. He makes such a profitable use of his capital that his lord likes him. So his property is increased a thousand fold. The other man, being unfortunate and ****** spends twenty three out of his twenty four coins in gambling and the like before he arrives at the station. He has only one coin left. His friend says to him: ‘Spend this coin on the ticket, if you don’t, you’ll have to go on foot and suffer hunger. Our lord is generous, maybe he will pity and forgive you. They may let you take the plane, so we can reach our plan, so we can reach our farm in a day. If not, you’ll have to go on foot and endure two months of hunger while crossing the desert.’ If that unfortunate one doesn’t listen to his friend and spend his last coin on the valuable ticket, if he chooses, instead, to spend it on a vice for passing pleasure, even the most unintelligent person will agree what great folly and loss the man stands in. Now, O man who does not pray, and O soul of mine which doesn’t incline to prayer, listen to the explanation! The important ruler is our Lord, our Creator. Of the two travellers, one is religious and performs his prayers with fervour. The other, unmindful, represents the people who don’t like praying. The twenty four coins stand for the twenty four hours of a day. The farm is the Paradise, while the station so near is the grave. The journey is from the grave to the eternal life. People cover that long journey at different times according to their deed according to their deeds and conduct. Some of the truly devout pass the span of a thousand years in a day like lightening, some fifty years in an hour with the speed of imagination: the Qur’an alludes to this truth in two of its verses (al-Hajj,22.47; al-Sajda,32.5) The ticket is the salat, the prescribed prayer. An hour is enough for the prayers of the day. If you spend twenty three hours of each day of your short life in this world on the affairs this world and don’t reserve the remaining hour for the important prayers necessary for the other world, it shows your foolishness, and stands you in a condition of a grave loss. You maybe tempted to pay over a half of your money on a lottery in which one thousand people are participating, although the possibility of wining one is one in a thousand. Whereas, if you pray, the possibility of winning is ninety nine percent, if, then, you do not use one of your twenty four coins to obtain this chance, to gain an inexhaustible treasure, would not anyone who considers himself to be sensible understand how contrary to reason and wisdom such conduct is, and how far from reason you have wondered? Moreover, in prayer, there is comfort for the soul and mind. Nor is it difficult for the body. Furthermore, with the right intention, all the deeds and conduct of one who prays become like worship. In this way, his little lifetime is spent for the sake of the eternal life in the other world. And his transient life gains a kind of permanence. Source: THE WORDS 1, pages 23-25 Author: Said Nursi About the author Said Nursi Quotes: “I can bear my own sorrows, but the sorrows arising from the calamities visiting Islam have crushed me. I feel each blow delivered at the world of Islam to be delivered first at my own heart. That is why I have been so shaken. But I see a light; it will make those sorrows be forgotten, God willing. "During my whole life-time of over eighty years, I have tasted nothing of the wordly pleasures. My life has either passed on either battlefields or in prisons or other places of suffering. There has been no persecution which I have not tasted or no oppression which I have not suffered. I care neither for Paradise nor Fear Hell. If I see the faith of all Muslim nation secured, I will not care even burning the flames of Hell. For while me body is burning, my heart will as if in a rose garden” Writing the Risale-i Nur THE EMERGENCE OF THE RISALE-I NUR In reality, the dissemination of the truths of faith was nothing to be alarmed about, nor was it a crime that would be the cause of plots against a man's life. However, it was an unforgiveable crime under the circumstances of the time! For those were the days when despotism had fallen down over the nation with all its darkness and awesomeness; a ban had been put over adhan; hundreds of mosques were being used for nonreligious purposes; the plans to cut off all that connects the nation with its past and its moral values were in process; and the mere mention of religion was a matter of great courrage. The head of the press department of the government could order the editors of newspapers to cut within ten days all the serials that directly or indirectly. mentioned religion, as "it was considered harmful to lead to the emergence of the concept of religion in the minds of youths." Such were the circumstances under which Bediuzzaman Said Nursi entered the second part of his life which he called the New Said and which was dedicated to the waiting and dissemination of the truths of faith. Taking as the aim the revival of faith, which is the first and most important truth of the cosmos, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, "I will demonstrate to the world that the Qur'an is a spiritual sun that shall never set and shall never be extinguished." And indeed so he did. Bediuzzaman did not die in Barla, where he had been sent to die alone, but a new Said emerged there, and with it emerged a sun over the world of science and culture, .one that has since been illuminating millions. In Barla too, an awesome oppression and surveillance were waiting for Bediuzzaman. It appeared that his enemies had not yet come to know him, who, in the World War had been the fear of the Russians, in Istanbul had spat at the face of the British who were in his pursuit, and had several times returned from the gallows. Nevertheless, they later had enough time to know him and in the end found themselves having to say, "Despite all we have done in the past twenty-five years, we have not been able to prevent Said Nursi from his activities." During the eight years and a half that he spent under absolute oppression in Barla, Bediuzzaman wrote three quarters of the Risale-i Nur collection: The treatises were being multiplied by handwriting, as neither the author nor his students could afford the printing costs. Even if they had been able to, then again they did not have the freedom. Handwriting was also a dangerous task, for the scribes were being tortured in prisons and police stations, and every attempt was being made to prevent people from contact with Bediuzzaman. 600.000 COPIES WRITTEN BY HAND Here it must be noted that at that time the writing or dissemination of even a single religious treatise was not anything that anybody dared try, let alone the firm, courageous and continuous struggle that Bediuzzaman Said Nursi and his students carried out. When these circumstances under which the Risale-i Nur was written and spread all over Anatolia are taken into consideration, one cannot find difficulty in realizing how right was Maryam Jameelah, the well-known American Muslim writer, when she said, "It is no exaggeration to claim that whatever Islamic faith remains in Turkey is due to the tireless efforts of Bediuzzaman Nursi." Indeed, those instructed by the Risale-i Nur in lessons of the faith of realization strengthened, in so doing, their beliefs and attained an impregnable Islamic courage and heroism. With Bediuzzaman, who represented in his person the spiritual personality of the Risale-i Nur, as their leader, those hundreds of thousands-now millions-of students of Nur set a pattern for other Muslims and constituted a support for them in those perilous days like brave commanders encouraging an army with their states. The strength of their beliefs and their continuous struggle against irreligion had wide effects on people, and they thus removed the fears and misgivings from the hearts, rallied the morale of the nation, brought about hope and relief and delivered the Muslims from desperation. Bediuzzaman was arrested in 1930 with 125 students of his and tried at the Eskiþehir Criminal Court. In Eskiþehir prison where they spent eleven months during the trial, they had to put up with unbearable torments. They were released the next spring but not Ieft in peace. This time, ,again escorted by gendarmes, Bediuzzaman was sent into exile in another city , Kastamonu. There he spent the first three months at a police station, then was transferred to a house opposite to the police station. Bediuzzaman lived in Kastamonu for seven years and countinued to write and disseminate the Risale-i Nur. Because he and his students were deprived of almost all kinds of freedom, they therefore formed their own postal organization called the "Nur postmen." Through the "Nur postmen," 600,000 copies of treatises were multiplied by handwriting. In 1943, he was arrested again and tried at the Denizli Criminal Court together with 126 students of his. The main reason for this was that Bediuzzaman had recently had a treatise concerning the existence of God printed secretly in Istanbul. In prison too he did not shrink from continuing his service, just as he never did when he was in exile. He was now reforming the criminals who were considered lost for society. He was also writing new treatises. Paper and pen were not allowed into the prison, so the treatises were written on small pieces of paper torn from paperbags and smuggled out in matchboxes: This way Fruits from the Tree of Light came out. The trial ended in a unanimous acaquittal. But that did not mean that Bediuzzaman would be given back his freedom-upon an order from Ankara, he was sent to another town, Emirdað. Sources: A Brief Biography of Bediüzzaman Said Nursi First full length biography

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Aawey soomaaliya? Horsehead dark nebula (IC 434) and the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) The Crab Nebula The Eagle nebulae The Eagle nebula M16