Aniga Faatima ayaa i cajabisay. Such a young kid with such a formidable memory! Some people are simply blessed! You just have to see her for yourself. <a href="http://"http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/view?&h=240&w=320&type=realmedia&rurl=somaliuk.com%2Flinks%2Fjump.cgi%3FID%3D604&vurl=www.bolbol.net%2Fislamics%2Fvideos%2Fquranic_girl.ram&back=p%3Dsomali%2BGIRL%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3DFP-tab-vid-t%26fl%3D0%26cv%3Dg%26x%3Dwrt&turl=re2.mm-so.yimg.com%2Fimage%2F1700465545&name=quranic_girl.ram&no=1&tt=2&p=somali+GIRL&dur=592"">Quranic_girl.ram

Originally posted by ngonge Ah, don't let my prayer seem too little to You, God. You sit up there, so white and old, with all the angels about You and the stars slipping by. And I come to You with a prayer about a telephone call. Ah, don't laugh, God. You see, You don't know how it feels. You're so safe, there on Your throne, with the blue swirling under You. Nothing can touch You; no one can twist Your heart in his hands. This is suffering, God, this is bad, bad suffering. Won't You help me? For Your Son's sake, help me. You said You would do whatever was asked of You in His name. Oh, God, in the name of Thine only beloved Son, Jesus Christ, The God references make no difference to the essence of the story, dear seef-la- boods. SUBXANAALAAH WATACAALA CAMMA YUSHRIKUUN Wax kale oo aad soo qortid miyaa wayday intaad qof jaahil ka ah EEBBE wuxu yiri noo keenaysid? Waxaa dhici karta inay Dorothy weligeed waxaas afkeeda ka soo bixi lahayn haday oogaan laheyd culeyskooda? Laakiin adigoo og maxaa sidaan u sameyneysa? Wax yaalaha qaarkood qosol iyo kajin ma galaan. Miyaanan ixtiraam kaa mudneyn?

I cannot believe there is no one in-line for this, what? is having a yellowish teeth a fashion statement or something nowadays? hmmmmmm....mise dadku waxay rabaan inaan labada xababa ka dhigo free Miskiin labadii xabo miyaa dadka damac ka gali waayey! What a funny salesman you are!

YAA ALLAH U NAXARIISO ADOONKAAGA BISHA RAMADAAN DHINTAY, SABIR IYO IIMANA KAASII EHEL KIISII. ADUUNBAANA WAX DILA WAXNA NOOLEEYA. ILAAHAYOW QABRIGA U WAASICI ADAA WAX WAASICIYEE YAA RABI YAA RAXMAAN. ANAGANA SIDOO KALE NOOGU NAXARIISO. DHIMASHADO WAA XAQ NOLOSHO WAA XAQ, DHIBTU WAA XAQ CAAFIMAADKU WAA XAQ CADAABTU WAA XAQ JANADU WAA XAQ. ILAAHAYOW KUWII MUSLINIMO KU DHINTA NAGA DHIG, DANBIGAYAGA DHAMAAN DHAAF IYO KUWA WAALIDIINTAYADA BA. AAMIN YA RABBI AMIN YARABI. Aamiin Aamiin Aamiin

Nur Runtii inaad digniin i saysay hayd caloosha iyo wadnahaa i rogman la haa. Ilaa maalintii si caadi ah waan u akhrin la ahay maxamilo karo culeyska kalmadahaas. I can only just about manage a brief glancing through the text. Raxmadda RAXMAAN Ma ahan waxaa qalbiga si sahlan u qaadii karo. Your sis

What an eventful life she has lived! I remembered a good friend, Kareem Al-Misawi, who died of cancer when he was still in his 20's. Shortly before he died, he told me that Allah was truly Merciful. This man was in unbelievable anguish and radiating with Allah's love. He said: "Allah intends that I should enter heaven with a clean book." His death experience gave me something to think about. He taught me of Allah's love and mercy. This was something no one else had ever really discussed. Allah's love! Truly inspiring! Such fortitude for a young man! In all this, the first light was my grandmother. She approved of my choice and joined me. What a surprise! I always knew she had alot of wisdom, but this! She died soon after that. When I stop to think about it, I almost get jealous. The day she pronounced Shahadah, all her misdeeds had been erased, while her good deeds were preserved. She died so soon after accepting Islam that I knew her 'BOOK' was bound to be heavy on the good side. It fills me with such joy! Some people are very fortunate indeed.

^ Waa runtaada. Waa gabay qurxoon oo xigmad leh. Kuwo kale haddaad heysidna wayba ka sii fiicnaan laheyd.

Allah wuxuu ogeysiiyey Nabi Daud: Daaudow, Haddey ogaan lahaayeen kuwa iga sii jeeda ( oo aan i xasuusan), hilowga aan u qabo iney ii soo laabtaan, iyo sidaan u jeclahay tawbadooda, wexey la dhalaali lahaayeen hilow ay ii qabaan dartii. Daaudow, taasi waa sidaan u raadinayo kuwa iga sii jeeda, hadaba ka warran jaceylka aan u qabo kuwa i doonaya oo isoo raadinaya? Allah SWT wuxuu leeyahay: Waan ka xishoodaa addoonkeyga oo gacmihiisa igu baryaya asgaoo leh " Rabbiyoow, Rabbiyow" oo aan celiyo ( anoon ka aqbalin ducadiisa), markaasey Malaa'igtu waxay leedhay, " addoonkani ma aha mid istaahila in loo dambi dhaafo" Markaa baa ku dhihi " Laakin anigaa ahal u ah Taqwada, iyo dambi dhaafka, waxaad markhaati ka noqotaan inaan u dambi dhafay addoonkeyga" Waxaa ku soo arooray Xadiithka: Hadduu addoonku gacmahiisa cirka u taago ( asagoo Allah baryaya) oo caasi ah, Malaa'igtu way ka xijaabta codkiisa Allah, markaasuu ku celceliyaa aaagoo leh " Rabbigeeyow" markaasey Mala'igtuna ka xijabta codkiisa Allah, markaasuu mar afraad ku celiyaa "baryada Allah " markaasuu Allah dhahaa, " Ilaa gormaad iga xijaabeysaan codka addoonkeyga?" Waa i kan adoonkeygow, waa i kan , waa ikan addoonkeygow waa i kan, waa ikan addoonkeygoow waa ikan" Allah wuxuu leeyahay: Bani Adamow, gacmahayga ayaan kugu uumay, waxaanan kugu rabbaayadeyey nicmaddeuda, adigana waad i khilaafeysa, waanad igi caasineysaa, haddaad ii soo llabato, waan ku cafiyaa, Hadaba, halkeed ka heli ilaah anigoo kale ah? Allah wuxuu leeyahay: Addoonkeeygoow, waxaan kaa abuuray jirid la'aan, waxaanan kuu yeelay maqal, aragti iyo caqli, Addoonkeygow, waan ku asturaa ( ceebahaaga) igamana cabsatid, waan ku xasuustaa, adiguna waad i illowdaa, waan kaa xishoodaa, adigana igama xishootid. Yaa iga weyn aniga oo jira? qofkee soo garaacay albaabkeyga oon ka furi waayey? qofkeena wax i warsaday oon wax siin waayey? ma bakhayl baan ahay ( wax siinta) , si uu addoonkeyga iiga bakhiilo (ducada)? Waxaa u yimid Rasuulka Allah SAWS nin reer baadiye ah: Markaasuu ku yidhi, " Rasuulkii Allow, yaa xisaabinaya khalqiga maalinka qiyaamaha? Markaasuu Rasuulka Allah SAWS ku yidhi: " Allah (ayaa xisaabinaya)" Markaasuu ninkii reer baadiyeha ahaa yidhi: " Ma ruuxiisa" ? Markaasuu Rasuulka Allah SAWS yidhi. " ( Allah ) Ruuxiisa (ayaa xisaabinaya uunka) markaasuu ninkii reer baadiyeha ahaa qoslay asagoo leh: "Allow adigaa mahad mudan" Markaasuu rasuulka Allah ku yidhi ninkii, maxaad la muusootay ( qososhay) nin yahow reer baadiye? Markaasuu yidhi : "Rasuulkii Allow, Deeqsigu markuu kaa gacan sarreeyo wax buu cafiyaa, markuu kula xisaabtamana , wax buu saamaxaa" Rasuulka Allah wuxuu yidhi: Ninka reer baadiye wax buu gartay." Waxaa ku soo arooray xadiithka , in markii nabi Aadam uu mu caasiyey Allah, uu Allah u yeedhay: " Adamoow, ha ka qalbi jabin eraygeyga ah " Ka bax ( jannada)" maxaa yeelay dartaada loo uumay ( jannada), laakin u deg adduunka, naftaadana u dulli yeel darteyda, isuna jajabi jaceylkeyga, ilaa uu gaadho hilowgaad u heyso, aniga iyo jannada meel weyn, kaaly an mar kale ku geliyee( jannada) Aadamow, sow maadan jecleyn inaan kaa ilaaliyo inaad khaldanto? Adam wuxuu yidhi , haa, ( Allah wuxuu yidhi : Haddaan kaa ilaaliyo inaadan dambi ku dhicin, adiga iyo dhashaada, hadaba, yaan ugu hagar baxaa naxariisteyda? ( oo u baahan doona?) kumaan u fidiyaa deeq, maxaanan dadka isku jecleysiiyaa? yaanse u dambi dhaafaa? Adamow, dambi dulli aad noogu noqoto ayaan ka jeclahay, daacad aad aad la imaato ood ku faanto Adamow, taaha dambiileyaasha ( ka calool xun wexey sameeyeen) ayaan ka jeclahay tasbiixsiga kuwa istustuska ah. Wallaahu Aclam Nur I am speechless breathless overwhelmed by tears and amazement. Brother Nur you can’t imagine how your article has stirred me up! Still trying to catch by breath (literally) Such compassion! Such compassion! Every time I finish a sentence I can’t stop the tears from flowing and emotions overtaking me . I will try very hard to finish reading the full article without choking with tears and guilt. Hadda ma awoodi karo.

Subxaan Allah! May Allah rest their souls in peace. Ilaahay ha u naxariisto intii dhimatay, intii noolna ha u roonaado Aamiin Aamiin

“Skip the myth and educate others. Its this kind of mentality which perpetuates FGM in our society as one of the reasons is that a female cant stay a virgin without being stitched, the moroons. And here you are perpetuating the idea that virginity equals hymen presence. One myth leads to another and the circle never ends. Hope somewhere on the way, you see the impact of this topic and line of thought.†That is true and ironically it is mostly women who perform or encourage these mutilations. Perhaps in their ignorance these women delude themselves into thinking that by physically blocking the entrance of the female genital she will remain chaste! How wrong of them! Women are indeed their own worst enemies. Our men do not interfere or even get involved in stopping FGM making it a woman’s business. The amount of unnecessary pain and discomfort caused by these practices previously practiced by fircawn to enslave the bani israaiil of ancient history is still be perpetuated against our girls. You can only remain chaste or refrain from a sin when you fear ALLAAH. This goes for men and women especially men. Let us not deceive our selves. With the Islaamic knowledge and the understanding of the biological make up of women we can stop this jaahilyya practices. No wonder Islaam tells us to reflect on our bodies and they functions! Islaam has worked very hard to abolish the many ignorant practices practiced on women. For example no one woman can be accused of illegal sexual intercourse unless 4 witnesses who saw with their own eyes the actual penetration take place can confirm the act. If the accuser can not bring forward the witnesses he or she will have to be whipped 80 lashes. In other a words a good deal of beating for trying to defame a woman’s honour. So hymen or not you still have to produce evidence! Wol and Rahima it was really professional of you ladies to have explained the concept of virginity vs. hymen in biological terms. If you want to educate our fellow sisters and brothers just stick objectively to the subject and ignore the irrelevant comments that are bound to follow. This myth had been previously heavily practiced in Europe and how many a woman has been subjected to cruel taunts and punishment due hymen absence!

^ People spend thousands of dollars on anger management classes and still can't control their anger. They could have saved a lot of money and be cured from their anger had they taken the Islamic advice on the issue. I was comparing the Islamic perspective and today’s psychologists techniques are becoming more Islamic. (2) Keep Quite: The Prophet (pbuh) said: "If any of you becomes angry, let him keep silent." (Ahmad). The angry person may lose self control and utter words of Kufr, curses, the word of divorce (talaaq),etc. So keeping quite would avoid all that. Is It Good To "Let it All Hang Out?" Psychologists now say that this is a dangerous myth. Some people use this theory as a license to hurt others. Research has found that "letting it rip" with anger actually escalates anger and aggression and does nothing to help you (or the person you're angry with) resolve the situation. It's best to find out what it is that triggers your anger, and then to develop strategies to keep those triggers from tipping you over the edge. Cognitive Restructuring Simply put, this means changing the way you think. Angry people tend to curse, swear, or speak in highly colorful terms that reflect their inner thoughts. When you're angry, your thinking can get very exaggerated and overly dramatic. Remind yourself that getting angry is not going to fix anything, that it won't make you feel better (and may actually make you feel worse). (4) Get out of the situation you are in: The Prophet(pbuh) said: "If any of you becomes angry and he is standing, let him sit down, so his anger will go away; if it does not go away, let him lie down."(Ahmad). Sitting down makes it less likely that he will become overexcited, and lying down makes it even less likely that he will do something crazy or harmful. Changing Your Environment Sometimes it's our immediate surroundings that give us cause for irritation and fury. Problems and responsibilities can weigh on you and make you feel angry at the "trap" you seem to have fallen into and all the people and things that form that trap. Give yourself a break. etc etc

There are so many Quran reciters with such beautiful voices they can melt even the hardest hearts! To listen to to the greatest tajwiid recitations please click on the link. There are many types of sheikhs to suit each taste. Top Quran Reciters

Man who run in front of car get tired. (run over more likely) Man who run behind car get exhausted. Man with hand in pocket feel cocky all day. Man who walk through airport turnstile sideways going to Bangkok Man who live in glass house should change clothes in basement. Rudy indha yarta waa khatar ma istiri?

Haa, waa runta waa in la isku diyaariyo ramadaan. Mahadsanid walaal Ramadaan Kariim

Islaam has a way of winning human hearts. Thank you for sharing this wonderful story. Have you read about the boston jew who fell in love with a somali woman and reverted to Islaam? If not you let me share: Odyssey to Islam Part 1 Odyssey to Islam part 2 Then I fell in love. She was Somali,intelligent, witty, charming, and a young widow with two handsome young sons. Her English was very limited then, and my somali was non-existent, but we could communicate quite easily in Swahili. We discussed marriage, but there were a few practical problems. I knew I could not stay much longer at the university of Nairobi; they were trying to Africanize it as quickly a possible, and to them I was just another white foreigner. Before I got much older I needed a new job, probably a new career, maybe with the State Department or a non-profit agency. From her point of view the obstacle was simply I was a not a Muslim. I had mistakenly though that any Muslim could marry one of the People of the Book; she set me straight on that very quickly; men yes, women, no. She was telling me about Islam, and I’d learned some things from my colleagues and others. I already believed in the One God. The Creator of the universe and all that is in it; I already believed in the Islamic concepts of tawhid and shirk and avoiding belief or trust in anything like astrology or palmistry; I’d long believed that Jesus was one of the prophets. I believed that Muhammad (pbuh) was a prophet and a messenger, and it had long ceased to be relevant to me that Muhammad (pbuh) was not a Jewish prophet. I’d stopped eating pork; I didn’t gamble, I rarely drank anything besides a glass of wine with an occasional gourmet dinner. I was, since my Peace Corps days, already more comfortable with African and Islamic notions of modesty, child rearing, etc. than with the "sexual revolution", and the me-ism and disintegrating families of the ‘70s and ‘80s America. There didn’t seem to be much to prevent me from becoming a Muslim. I was so close, so what, in 1983, was the problem? In fact there were two. First, there was the matter of my identity and my heritage. I imagine that it is not so traumatic for a Christian to change from one religion to another. If a German Catholic becomes a Lutheran, or even a Jew or Muslim, he remains a German. I certainly felt like an American first and a Jew second—I could never consider myself Russian. But in America, nation of immigrants, even the most acculturated attach some importance to their families’ national or ethnic origins. Even though I had no desire to deal with Jews as Jews or as a community, I was reluctant to lose that identity. The second obstacle was my family. Though not orthodox, most were strongly traditional, all pro-Israel, some were avid zionists; many considered Arabs as enemies, and I expected they would also consider Muslims as enemies. I feared they would disown me as crazy, even traitorous. Worst of all, because I still loved them, they would be hurt. First things first: I left that problem up in the air, and when my contract expired I did not renew it, but returned to the States hoping to find another job, preferably back in East Africa. It was terribly hard. I had no home, no income, not even an interview suit. I invested in a wool suit, three ties and a winter coat—it was my first winter in twenty years—got books on how to write a resume and a SF171, and stayed with a friend in Washington, trying all the government agencies, consulting firms and PVOs that had anything to do with Africa, until my many ran out. I had to return to Boston and stay with my sister, where I had food and shelter, but it was far from where the jobs might be. In addition, I was going through a severe case of culture shock. So there I was: broke in Reaganomic America, in the winter, in culture shock on top of a mid-life crisis, in love—and on anti-depressants. I can joke now, but the pain and fear were unbearable then. For the first time in my adult life I began to pray. I prayed often and hard. I vowed that, if I could get back to Africa and marry my beloved, I would declare my submission to Allah and become a Muslim. I got a really awful temporary job in a warehouse that at least paid for food, bus fares and dry cleaning, then a better, but embarrassing one as a receptionist in the counseling office at a local college. I could see that the four yuppie psychologists figured me for some 42-year-old loser, and I pretty much agreed with them. Out of embarrassment I didn’t tell anything about myself, but when the phone wasn’t ringing off the hook with students panicking over mid-terms, I was reading job notices and typing applications letters. I found that a government agency was hiring ESL teachers for Egypt—close enough—and I applied immediately. A week later another agency I’d applied to six months earlier invited me to D.C. for interviews. As soon as I got to Washington I called about the ESL jobs to see if I could get an interview, "as long as I’m in Town." The jobs were already filled! Can I meet you anyway, in case something comes up later? OK, four o’clock? Great. She apologized—my resume had been misplaced—and would definitely keep me in mind. Thank you , delighted to meet you. As I was leaving, she said hesitantly, "By the way, there is one position opening soon, but it’s in Somalia." "Somalia!" I nearly shouted, "That’s wonderful!" "Is it?" she asked incredulously. "Sure, I’d love to go there. I’m already familiar with the culture and the religion," I said aloud, but thinking to myself how it’s only an hour from Mogadishu to Nairobi, and how maybe I’d get to meet my future family in-laws. I told her my references, all of whom she knew personally. She would call them, and as far as she was concerned if I wanted the job I could probably have it. I finished up my interviews at the other agency. They even showed me the cubicle in windowless office where I would probably be working, and I returned to Boston, elated. I might even have a choice, praise God. But what a choice it was: a one year renewable contract at a hot, dusty—but African—hardship post on the Indian Ocean, or a career civil service job with a pension plan in a windowless office in northern Virginia. Two weeks later, she called to offer me the job of English program director in Mogadishu, would I take it, I had 48 hours to think it over. Everyone said it was a no-brainer; I should take the career job with pension in Washington, otherwise I’d be back to square one in a year or two. I argued that I was an Africanist, the experience would help me and I’d make good contacts. I accepted the job and starting getting my shots. A couple of weeks later the other agency sent me a brief note, no explanation, informing me I did not get the windowless job. Alhamdulillah, Allahu ‘alim. I could so easily have ended up with neither, but Allah had guided me to the right decision. I was employed. I was a person. I might even getting married. I gave my notice at the college, and on the last day I typed a letter to the psychologists informing them that I was leaving to take up a position as a project direct at the United States Embassy in Somalia, signed M. Mould, Ph.D. Of course I "had to" stop off in Nairobi for a few days on my way to Mogadishu. We had a tearful reunion and tried to make some future plans. I’d been hired as a single man, no chance of benefits or housing for a family, and I had no idea what Somalia or my job would be like or how long I would be there. For the time being, I’d remain a single man in Nairobi. Maybe I could visit often, and there was always the phone. Maybe she could come and visit her family, whom she hadn’t seen since childhood. The job was interesting, a little teaching, but mostly administration and management, and dealing with embassy officials. Most of my own students were senior government officials and a few of them became good friends. Outside of work was a whole different story. The culture and atmosphere in urban Somalia is more Middle Eastern than African. During my seven years in Uganda and Kenya I knew the languages, people were open and friendly, and I never had trouble adjusting or getting around; I’d always felt completely at home. Mogadishu gave me culture shock. I didn’t know the language, no one knew Swahili, educated Somalis knew Italian, not English. All the signs were in Somali. The worst thing was communications. Home phones were overcrowded, sweltering post office. Only telegraph service was usually efficient. The mail was totally unreliable except for the diplomatic pouch. It was impossible to contact Nairobi. Don’t get me wrong. I was quite happy there, enjoying the sights and smells, the Italian and Somali food, my views of the ocean, which was within walking distance of my house and my office, discovering a new culture. I was living downtown, in one of the older sections, behind the Italian embassy, and I was awakened early morning by a beautiful adhan from the loudspeaker of a nearby mosque. We worked a Muslim schedule: Sunday – Thursday, 7 – 3. On Fridays I would walk around and often found myself outside a little mosque behind the American Embassy, and while myrrh and frankincense drifted from the doorways in the alleys I would stop and listen to the sounds of Jumu’ah. The first thing I noticed was the murmuring of many voices as men read from the Qur’an while waiting for the imam to give the khutbah. I was instantly transported back in my mind to my old synagogue and the identical susurrus of old men reading from the Psalms (Zabur) at the start of morning prayers. It gave me a comfortable and comforting feeling of nostalgia. A little while later, walking back the other way, I would hear the imam reciting a surah. It sounded much like the Torah readings I’d enjoyed on Saturday mornings, again comforting and nostalgic. Not that it made me want to return to any synagogue; rather, it made Islam feel more comfortable and familiar to me. I’m a linguist, and had been a specialist in field research. I found a book on beginning Italian and, there being no grammar in English on Somali, I hired myself a tutor, who was a better friend than a teacher. I quickly learned the greetings, common nouns, and verbs, kinship terms, numbers and telling time. Some of the vocabulary, borrowed from Arabic, was just like Swahili and Hebrew. Somali is also very distantly related to Semitic languages. The grammar was something else, though, really hard to figure out, and as I got busier and more tired at work, our lessons turned more to conversations about culture, politics and religion. He was knowledgeable enough to distinguish between genuine Islam and some prevalent aspects of indigenous, pre-Islamic culture and superstition that had bothered me. Before long, he offered to bring a shaikh to my home so that I could make the shahada. Despite my vow I still felt hesitation, thinking of my family. But they were ten thousand miles away, my fiancee a few hundred, and I was living in, being touched by and feeling comfortable with this Muslim society. I had good friends and colleagues, and it was clear to me that much of their goodness was due to Islam. I asked him to bring the shaikh and he did. He questioned me about my beliefs, and I told him I’d been a Jew, not a Christian (no problems with the trinity), and that I’d long ago given up pork, alcohol, gambling and zina, and after he was convinced that I understood what I was about to say and knew the five pillars, I declared the shahadah. My fiancee had suggested the name Mustafa, which I liked very much. After all the hesitation and procrastination I felt enormous relief, and a restored sense of belonging that I’d missed more than I’d realized. All my Somali friends were of course delighted and very supportive. They began calling me seedi (‘brother-in-law’). As soon as I could get away I bought some gold jewellery and flew to Nairobi. To get married I had to go to the office of the chief qadi and declare the shahadah again, with witnesses, in order to get an official certificate of conversion, there being no such thing in Somalia. We went to the qadi and made our nikah[editor’s note: nikah means marriage]. A couple of days later I had to fly back to Mogadishu and my work. Less than a year later, at 43, I was overjoyed and blessed by Allah to become the father of a wonderful Muslim baby boy. I flew to Nairobi, and after a brief discussion we agreed on my wife’s suggestion for a name. Now I even had a kunya (nick name); I was Abu Khalid, and he was named after the great Companion, Khalid Ibn Al-Walid. You are probably wondering if I told my family about my converting to Islam, and the answer is, not for quite some time. Of course I told my family about my marriage and they were neither surprised or upset. I was a middle-aged man who ought to know what he was doing, and they were mainly happy for the sake of my happiness. When Khalid was born they were positively delighted and were most eager to meet him and his mother. When Khalid was a little over a year old, I went to Boston on my vacation and brought my wife and son with me. The two boys, Ali and Yusuf, were away at a Muslim boarding school in north-eastern Kenya. The reception was as warm and loving as anyone could wish for and we had a great visit. There’s no question that a baby, especially a grandson, has a most salutary and beneficial effect on people. My wife had brought little gifts for my mother, sister and aunts, and they all had little gifts for her. I suppose they all assumed, as I had once done, that Muslim can marry a Jew or Christian. They knew my wife and our sons were Muslims, that Khalid was being raised as a Muslim, and they had no problem with that. They knew I hadn’t been a practicing Jew for nearly thirty years, and I’d married a non-Jew before. I’d decided that if they asked I wouldn’t lie, and if they didn’t I’d just wait for a more opportune time—some other time. A few years ago they finally asked me and I told them. I cannot say they were pleased, but neither were they surprised, angry or cold to me, and we still have warm, loving relationships. Another year, another contract went by, and then I lost my job. Like the new Pharaoh "who knew not Joseph", a new director came, who saw no value in the English programs and decided to end them. I kind of saw it coming and had applied for a similar job in Yemen, so I didn’t fight it very hard, but in the end the job in San`a fell through, and, as my family had predicted, I was back to square one—well, not quite. In 1988, leaving my family in Nairobi, I returned to the States alone and jobless. It was again vary tough (winter, too), but this time I had some savings, new skills and a stronger resume, I knew better how to job-hunt; I knew my way around Washington and had a few contacts. I still had the suit. Best of all, I had my faith instead of anti-depressants. I quickly got a couple of part-time teaching jobs and a job in a men’s store. The teaching jobs dried up, so I sold suits full-time for over three years, always looking for a better job, but finally—it took two years—I managed to bring my family over and we did our best, trusting in Allah. Then, four years ago, a Muslim neighbor told us about a new Islamic institute that had recently opened, where they were looking for an English teacher. I immediately called, made an appointment and met the director. By the grace of Allah I was hired to teach some of the staff and do some editorial work. Ironically, I am now in a cubicle in a windowless office in northern Virginia, but what a difference! I am in an Islamic environment, surrounded and inspired by good Muslim brothers, many of them excellent scholars and all of whom I love and respect very much, and whom I learn from daily. And what is my job? To read books on Islam, to edit manuscripts on Islam, to write about what I read. In essence, I am being paid to study Qur’an, Hadith, `aqidah, Fiqh, Sirah, Islamic history and Arabic. I thank and praise Allah every day for leading me to Islam and for showering me with all these blessings. Alhamdulillah, ash-shukrulillahi Rabbil-‘alamin. By Dr. Moustafa Mould

Fidel Castro once said during an interview: "If surviving assassination were an Olympic attempt, I would win the gold medal," CIA plots to kill Fidel involved: Find a way to either poison his cigars with some strange toxin, or, God forbid, cunningly hide high explosives inside the cigars themselves. BLAM! Just like Elmer Fudd. Or maybe just inject the fruits of the recent *MK-ULTRA project into the cigar - specifically, LSD or BZ. Sneak thallium salts into his clothing, so all of his hair would fall out, depriving him of his virile, muy macho image. The Cubans would surely revolt then! Follow the Trojan Horse method - give Castro a scuba diving suit with tuberculosis-contaminated airtanks. The diplomat that was supposed to hand off the gift refused. Some people never play along. Or, better yet, hide explosives down at Fidel's favorite diving spots! He gets too close to a rigged conch shell, BLAMMO! Simplify, simplify, simplify. A CIA operative testified before the U.S. Congress that he was sent three times to assassinate Castro the old-fashioned way with a prayer to God and a really nice hunting rifle. And, finally, foment revolution by spreading propoganda that Fidel was actually the Antichrist. Giggle while the righteous and upstanding citizenry of Cuba rise up en masse and destroy the Beast. The scuba-diving idea and, of course, the guy with the gun are the only ones believed to have been tried; the rest were ideas that were bandied about seriously enough to leave a paper trail open to anyone with knowledge of the Freedom of Information Act and a few years to blow off to follow. It sounds hard to believe, but all of this is a matter of public record. In 1973, Gottlieb ordered all of the documents related to MK-ULTRA to be shredded. However, he missed a few, and there was still enough left over to cause a small scandal in 1977, when the Senate held a hearing on the project. *A CIA project that was authorized in 1953 to determine the effectiveness of certain psychoactives in mind control and interrogation. The director of the project was Dr. Sidney Gottlieb. Gottlieb was most interested in the drug LSD. He believed that it didn't have as much worth as an interrogation aid as it did in the strategic humiliation of an undesirable. In the first round of tests of the drug, CIA agents would secretly dose each other, then record the effects. Unsatisfied with an unscientific in-house test, MK-ULTRA took their drug to the street in Operation Midnight Climax. Working in co-operation with narcotics officers, they set up a wired bordello filled with drug-addicted prostitutes, and monitored the actions of unwitting Johns who were secretly dosed with Acid. source CIA plots to kill Castro

^ Hayeh heshiis baan nahay hadda.

^ Acquiring skills or become an expert in a field should never be seen as loss no matter how unemployed one becomes! It took me a long time to realise this simple truth. Your rizq is already ordained so keep learning my fellow Somalis.

Strange facts about our bodies: Every single day you, unless you are already bald, will lose as many as 100 strands of hair – that’s 36,500 in a year. This is rather worrying as the average human scalp has 100,000 hairs. A sneeze can blast out of your nose at a speed greater 100 mph The human body can survive longer without food than without sleep. While starvation takes a few weeks you would die after about 10 days without sleep. An average human drinks about 16, 000 gallons of water in a lifetime. Babies are born with 300 bones, but by adulthood we have only 206 in our bodies. Your heart beats some 37,000,000 times in a year. During your life it’s will beat some two-and-a-half billion times. Every square inch of your body is populated by an about 32 million bacteria. Your largest internal organ is the small intestine at an average length of 20 feet. If cut into pasta size pieces it would serve four. 85% of your brain is water. Three-hundred-million cells die in the human body every minute. The largest human organ is the skin, with a surface area of about 25 square feet. Humans shed about 600,000 particles of skin every hour - about 1.5 pounds a year. By 70 years of age, an average person will have lost 105 pounds of skin. Humans shed and regrow outer skin cells about every 27 days - almost 1,000 new skins in a lifetime. It takes 17 muscles to smile - 43 to frown. The average duration of sexual intercourse for humans is 2 minutes. – see pigs It is impossible to kill yourself by holding your breath. The human heart creates enough pressure to squirt blood 30 feet. You blink about 84 million times in a year. When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop even your heart! 40 people are sent to the hospital for dog bites every minute. Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until they are 2 -6 years old. In the course of a lifetime the average person will grow 2 Metres of nose hair. Ladies in nudist camps tend to use more makeup than ladies elsewhere. The human tooth has 55 miles of canal in it. Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 170 miles per hour. People have legs of slightly different lengths. The average cough comes out the mouth at 60 mph. Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin. Source

BTW, Allah has already given us the answers (can't use that as an excuse), I'm interested in hearing why we're not putting them into practise especially where the social welfare of women is concerned. Can u tell me why you think so? Yaab! You seem very selective of what you want to hear. Suppose what I think coincides with the answers you labelled as excuses will you still hear me out? It is not in the nature of things that rights are atomically given fairly to everybody being without any demands being made. You said you know the theory and the theory knows you well that is not the case for many Muslim women. I have seen many Muslim who didn’t know what their rights were however knew their obligations. Not many knew that: they couldn’t be divorced whilst pregnant or menstruating or they could demand sexual gratification instead suffering from frustration ( due to his incompetence in this field ) without being shy about hurting his feelings. The rights are many. My point is one has to be claiming their rights in order to receive them. Suppose you know all your rights you can demand them from those who will give you your due. What about those who are indifferent to your rights? Here is where Muslim women have failed they have abandoned the struggle and settled for a less demanding life. They will say maxaan sameeyaa hee, Waan jeclahaye, kama maarmee, sidiisa kale wuu iska fiicanyahay, when asked why they live in a home of injustice! You will find a woman marrying an unemployed man with 2 wives! If she knew that one of the man’s major role is financial maintenance how can she marry him and then complain? In poor countries poverty is one of the reasons why women will tolerate many things. But even in richer countries such as in the west women are still fighting for equal pay for doing the same job as the men! Her worthy has been ridiculed and only her body has been seen useful for her body sells a lot of money. Ignorance and men are the cause of the poor situation of the woman today!

Roob, No, I don’t. However, I’m not impressed with ur trailing of certain members and trying to character assassinate them in heated debates. People like you take the discussion to the rotten end. p.s. My contribution is telling you off… isn’t it clear? Waxaan ka faa’idaayo (character assassination) baa iska yar. Waxaan aad uga xumaada sidaa u ixtiraam la’aan uga hadlo diinta Islaamka. I was only critical of the posts? Ma fahamtay hadda? As for the telling off cid xiisaynaysa xagxagashaada raadso walaaley. Roob, I don't have issues with Ngonge. I disagree with him on some issues. I don't approve how he's handling the debates relating to Islam. Nevertheless, the man is clear on one thing. He is for Islam. He is for Muslims. He has chosen his camp time and again. He has some strategies in mind (that could put us on the right track) that he would like us too see discussing. He is mainly thinking along political lines, media utilization, and getting into the ring sort to speak with the very folks who malign us with intent to win the argument for our side. Concenterate in Diaspora first. This is how I understood him. Is this a winning strategy? That is debatable! Are there other strategies that can get us to the promise land? Here is where he needs to give other opinions a receptive ear. He is not doing his theisi a favor when he starts with topic sentence like "Islam is the problem". By and large, the man is talented. He can pen a very impressive, coherent, and rational argument. I don't want you to look for cilado. Let's root out the minor obstacles (tone, emotions, and what not) and have Nur, Ngonge, Viking, Mutakalim, Xiin and other knowledgeable fellas who are in the same camp pull the robe for us. Opinions, different takes and views, and dissent as long as they are reasonable and within the "camp", they are all welcomed. Opinions from other camps are aslo welcomed as long as their adherents do not hide (with intent to blurr the lines) the camp they really belong to. Walaal Being talented or not is irrelevant in this topic what is relevant is whether the truth being stated about Islaam or not. Islaam is a perfect religion revealed by the Most Perfect, The All knowing and The All Wise. As for the cilad raadis I was only being critical of the manner he responds to Islamic questions. This is Islaam we are talking about after all not some trivial matter! That is all. Understanding Islaam is something we all have to do it is neither dependent on being talented or articulate. ALLAAH Gives Knowledge.

Swearing,cursing & using profinities are a part of human nature Runtii cay iyo habaar midkoodna ma aqaan! My terminology in this area is non existent.

Ngonge writes: Roob,I will not accuse you of not being able to read in case it upsets you. I will not even bite that bait you’ve dangled in front of me and go into one of my usual rants. I’ll simply ask you to go back and read my exchanges with Nur (and Baashe) on this thread. If you still insist on your idea, I still would not say that you can’t read, but I will not waste my time and yours by having any discussions with you (the like minded people comment). I was generally referring to your Islamic posts not just this one in particular. Calaa ku xaal ha kuu macaanaato. Roob, you simply spend far too much time speculating about the motives of those who post instead of putting forth your reasons for disagreeing with them, ma istidhi? Believe me, this discussion would get far if you didn’t have the ‘bad habit’ of seeing a conspiracy or an ulterior motive with posts. Indulge and participate in topics one at a time…sticking to the points being discussed. Its not that hard if you have anything meaningful to say. You really don’t have the slightest clue on the amount of time I spend on anything walaal. So stop speculating yourself! Neither do I see any contribution you have made so far except the whining on how these nomads are arguing. As for the lecture you are in more need of it than I do. Markaan ra’yigaaga u baahdo anigaa ku warsan.

Baashi writes: Roob, Emotions are getting in the way but Ngonge has good thesis. In case you didn’t noticed he is of the opinion that our energy are spent on matters of lesser concern given the enormity of challenges faced the ummah and too often these challenges are coming from within the ummah rather than from outside. Baashi Whenever an ayah is quoted or someone praises Islaam there he comes rushing to declare his disapproval. Is that the good thesis I failed to notice? He seems to be stuck at how screen characters are reacting to his posts and other trivial stuff instead of penning some good recommendations as food for thought for discussion. Well, perhaps the name calling and accusing others of lacking the ability to understand and even read contributes to such reactions,wouldn’t you say? As for the discussions he did say that he only debates with like-minded people. What do you make of that?

I have no doubt that Ngonge means good in his critisim . I am afraid his posts state the contrary. With all due respect Baashi how did you come to that conclusion? Certainly not by reading his posts?!