Originally posted by Viking: I have a feeling it will be a five set thriller with a Nadal win. Northerner, It turned out to be a four set match with a Nadal win I shunned the Holland-Serbia game to watch this final of finals and found it slightly dissapointing. I've never seen Federer that bad, he made tons of unforced errors throughout the game and Nadal was there to put a further dent on his confiedence with marvelous shots. It will be interesting to the see these two players battle it our on hard-court and grass, Federer is more the more likely to come out on top.

There's no way England can go far if they keep on playing like they did today. Despite a brilliant first half, Lampard and Gerrard were nowhere to be seen in the second half. England goes on the defence but the coach fails to bring in the likes of Lennon and Walcott, the only players in the squad whose terrifying pace could get Paraguay on the counter. One of the best match in the tournament is still to come tonite, Argentina against the Ivorains...and Aruna Dindane is BACK, he missed the African Cup after one of his twin daughters died.

Final of finals! The king of clay against the king of hard court and grass, difficult one to call. I'm a huge Federer fan, he's afterall the best all-round player ever! I have a feeling it will be a five set thriller with a Nadal win.

That is much better urban. I would put Reyes ahead of van Persie because he runs more, and that is vital if you are playing one up top. Pirlo is able to play that position in the manner he does because he has someone doing the 'dirty-work' in midfield, GATTUSO! Seedorf and Kaka do a LOT of running in the game and help out defensively. AC Milan play 4-3-1-2. Seedorf, Pirlo, Gattuso - with Kaka playing behind Gilardino and Sheva. AC Milan have sold Sheva which I think is okay because he's been at AC Milan for six years or so and won everything there is to win at club level and has become the highest scorer in the history of the European Cup. He needs a new chellnge elsewhere to motivate him. Adriano Galliani has promised to replace him with a player who is of the same callibre. I wonder who it will be since there aren't many who are in the same league as Sheva. Henry and Eto'o are the only players who I think are almost as good as him but they are not available.

urban, That squad would be torn to pieces because the midfield is extremely lightweight and does not have a single defensive midfielder. Why did you neglect the best player in Arsenal this past season? The player who has been protecting the young Arsenal defence and midfield all season long. I'm of course referring to Gilberto Silva.

Originally posted by Nur: I pray Allah SWT protets us against our own egos, we have no enemy worse that our own perception of our own selves, the worse we think we are, at times the better in terms of struggling to be saved. Aamin. It is amazing to see the level some of our predecessors had reached in curbing their egos. Imam Shafi'i once said, "I had hoped that men would benefit by this science and that none of the benefits would be attributed to me." He was afraid of prestige and being praised by people so much and to think the level a human would normally go to take credit for various things is just amazing.

Originally posted by J B: Viking The verse " If the TRUTH had been in accord with their desires, truly the heavens and the earth, and all beings therein would have been in confusion and corruption! Nay, We have sent them their admonition, but they turn away from their admonition.(Al-Mu'minoon 23:65-71) " is sure an intresting verse for those who understand who the "their" in their desires, reffers to and i am in no position to verify the truth of the trueness claimed in that ' heavens and the earth, and all beings therein would have been in confusion and corruption! ' . Please help me out !! Sure JB, here is a commentary on the verses above... "The words and deeds of the disbelievers which they say and do in confused ignorance are described in these verses. They belie the signs of Allah and deny the Holy Prophet; and they hate the truth because it does not agree with their inclinations. If these selfish and ignorant creatures were to plan the working of the universe according to their desires, it would be a dreadful world, full of confusion and corruption. They know that the Holy Prophet is al amin and al sadiq (true and righteous) and he does not ask any worldly recompense from them, yet they do not listen to him when he shows them the right path and go astray into the wilderness of infidelity and wickedness where they abide for ever even if they are given respite. Their obstinate persistence in wandering and deviation is permanent." What I think it basically means (I stand to be corrected) is that some people deny The Truth (Al-Haqq) and but if they were to (theoretically) plan the workings of the universe and all its fine-tuned physical laws, they would fail misrably!

I found the following quite inspiring and reminded me of this topic... Often we hear people say, "I want to do some good in this world but the obligations of life and work are so exacting that I cannot score any success in this regard. I am sunk to my ears in the petty chores of life and there doesn't arise any opportunity for my life to become meaningful." This is a very common-and dangerous-mistake. Everyone finds opportunities at his doorstep to help others, so that his spirit may rise to the occasion and attain peace and joy. In order to attain this joy it is not at all necessary to neglect one's ordinary duties or to perform some dazzling feat. I call this spiritual work your 'second duty'. All that you must do is to make use of the many opportunities that arise and carry out this duty. You will get plenty of excellent opportunities in this path and acquire a perfect ability to make use of them. At this point all the energies stored up in your being will swing into action. That which the world needs today, and lacks, are people devoted to fulfilling others' needs. In this work, done for the sake of others, both the helper and the helped are blessed. ... We are gradually losing our personality under the strains of modern society. The urge for creativity and self-assertion is killed in us. Accordingly, the attainment of genuine civilisation is delayed. The big mistake of everyone of us is that we travel blindfolded through life and do not notice the good opportunities that arise. Once we open our eyes and look around we will observe many people who need our help, riot for big things but for very small things. In altruism and sacrifice we must invest the best part of ourselves. The coin that a widow gives, which is all that she owns, has greater worth than all the donations of the rich. We often hear people say, "Were I rich I would do many things for people". But one can be rich in respect of love and charity. If we discover the real needs of those who require help and take steps to meet them, we would have spent the best part of ourselves in this path, which is love and compassion for others and which all the money in the world cannot equal. You might think that my life in the equatorial forests of Africa is something wonderful. But you should know that you can live a more wonderful life by remaining where you are and, by impelling your soul to effort, engage in a thousand kinds of good and kindly actions. This task demands a spirit of sacrifice and courage and a strength of will, and the determination to love, which is the greatest test of a human being. But you must know that it is in this second and difficult duty that you can find true happiness. By Albert Schweitzer Peace!

JB, Aristotle waa laga fiican yahay, hadaad runta rabtid meeshan hoose akhri... (It will be said): "Groan not in supplication this day: for ye shall certainly not be helped by Us. "My Signs used to be rehearsed to you, but ye used to turn back on your heels- "In arrogance: talking nonsense about the (Qur'an), like one telling fables by night." Do they not ponder over the Word (of Allah., or has anything (new) come to them that did not come to their fathers of old? Or do they not recognise their Messenger, that they deny him? Or do they say, "He is possessed"? Nay, he has brought them the TRUTH, but most of them hate the TRUTH. If the TRUTH had been in accord with their desires, truly the heavens and the earth, and all beings therein would have been in confusion and corruption! Nay, We have sent them their admonition, but they turn away from their admonition. (Al-Mu'minoon 23:65-71)

Originally posted by Amelia: Viking, you seem like a seasoned chef Do you cook often for the wife? How often is often?

Originally posted by xiinfaniin: Vikingow , I disagree with your assessment saaxiib. And even though I have not heard Somalis selling captured Ethiopians before, enslaving enemy combatants is a lot different than calculatingly hunting your own brethren for profit gains. There is also a world of deference between Russian mafia groups and Somali warlords. Understandable is for an underground mafia group to form and secretly engage in criminal enterprise. But for a political entity to be founded exclusively for the function of selling fellow Muslims with different ideology is incomprehensible, I say! It’s that kind of platform that’s unprecedented in the long Somali political/cultural history. And although you may be right in the reasons you cited for Somalis to be spared from that eventful (with agony and pain, that is) history of slave trade, mine also bear some relevance to the issue at hand, and a source of nobility they indeed remain! I think I read about Ethiopians being sold as slaves during the time of the Imam especially when the Ethiopian highlands were under Somali rule. It is said that these slaves were sold off to the Middle East and some as far as India and Bangladesh. Whether true or false, Allah knows! The only difference between the Russian Maffia, the Italian Maffia and the Somali warlords is that the first two are under the constraints and the watchful eyes of govts with potency. Remove the govts from the equaltion and they will be just as barbaric if not worse than the Somali warlords. If in the near future a firm and stable govt is established in Somalia, it wouldn't be inconceivable that the spread remnants will continue to work underground in a similar fashion to other common maffia organisation. It is sad what the warlords have put the Somali people through, but selling them as slaves wouldn't (for the individual) be worse than rape, mutilation, murder and all the other dreadful sins they have committed towards their brethren. But it might have a more profound impact on the society and its psyche.

Cast your eyes over every nation of the world; persue every volume of its history; in the midst of all these strange and creul forms of worship, among this amazing variety of manners and customs, you will everywhere find the same ideas of right and justice; everywhere the same principles of morality, the same ideas of good and evil...There is therefore at the bottom of our hearts an innate principle of justice and virtue, by which, in spite of our maxims, we judge our own actions or those of others to be good or evil, and it is this principle that I call conscience.... Self-interest, so they say, induces each of us to agree for the common good. But how is it that the good man consents to this to his own hurt? Does a man go to death from self-interest? No doubt each man acts for his own good, but there is no such thing as moral good to be taken into consideration, self-interest will only enable you to account for the deeds of the wicked, possibly you will not attempt to do more. A philosophy which could find no place for good deeds would be too detestable... If such doctrines ever took root among us, the voice of nature, together with the voice of reason, would constantly protest against them, till no adherent of such teaching could plead an honest excuse for his partisanship... The decrees of conscience are not judgments but feelings. Although all our ideas come from without, the feelings by which they are weighed are within us, and it is by these feelings alone that we perceive fitness or unfitness of things in relation to ourselves, which leads us to seek or shun these things...To know good is not to love it; this knowledge is not innate in man, but as soon as bis reason leads him to perceive it, his conscience impels him to love it; it is this feeling which is innate... Conscience! Conscience! Divine instinct, immortal voice from heaven; sure guide for a creature ignorant and finite indeed, yet intelligent and free; infallible judge of good and evil, making man like to God! In thee consists the excellence of man's nature and the morality of his actions; apart from thee, I find nothing in myself to raise me above the beasts - nothing but the sad privilege of wandering from one error to another, by the help of an unbridled understanding and a reason which knows no principle. Thank heaven we have now got rid of all that alarming show of philosophy, we may be men without being scholars; now that we need not spend our life in the study of morality, we have found a less costly and surer guide through this vast labyrinth of human thought. But it is not enough to be aware that there is such a guide, we must know her and follow her. If he speaks to all hearts, how is it that so few give heed to her voice? She speaks to us in the language of nature, and everything leads us to forget that tongue. Conscience is timid, she loves peace and retirement; she is startled by noise and numbers; the prejudices from which she is said to arise are her worst enemies. She flees before them or she is silent, their noisy voices drown her words, so that she cannot get B hearing, fanaticism dares to counterfeit her voice and to inspire crimes in her name. She is discouraged by ill-treatment; she no longer speaks to us, no longer answers to our call; when she has been scorned so long, it is as hard to recall her as it was to banish her. Jean-Jacques Rousseau Conscience is that peculiar faculty of the soul which may be called the religious instinct. It first reveals itself when we become aware of the strife between a higher and a lower nature within us-of spirit warring against flesh-of good striving for the mastery over evil... To enjoy spiritual freedom of the highest kind, the mind must have been awakened by knowledge. As the mind has become enlightened, and conscience shows its power, the responsibility of man is increased... Conscience is permanent and universal. It is the very essence of individual character. It gives a man self-control- the power of resisting temptations and defying them.... The only comprehensive and sustained exercise of self-control is to be attained through the ascendancy of conscience-in the sense of duty performed. It is; conscience alone which sets a man on his feet, frees him from the dominions of his own passions an propensities. It places him in relation to the best interests of his kind. The truest source of enjoyment is found in the paths of duty alone. Enjoyment will come as the unbidden sweetener of labour, and crown every right work. At its fullest growth, conscience bids men to whatever makes them happy in the highest sense, and forbear whatever makes them unhappy.... Without conscience, a man can have no higher principle of action than pleasure.... A race so constituted, with intellect and 1passions such as man possesses, and without the paramount influence of conscience to govern their deeds, would soon be consigned to utter anarchy, and terminate in mutual destruction. The greatest intellectual power may exist without a particle of magnanimity. The later comes from the highest power in mans mind-conscience, and from the highest faculty, reason, and capacity for faith- that by which man is capable of apprehending more than the senses supply.... The great lesson to be learnt is, that man must strengthen himself to perform his duty and do what is right, seeking his happiness and inward peace in objects that cannot be taken away from his. Conscience is the conflict by which we get the mastery over our own failings. It is a silent working of the inner man, bat which he proves his peculiar power of the will and spirit of God. Samuel Smiles - Wa nafsin wa ma sawaaha, fa'alhamahaa fujuurahaa wa taqwaaha By the soul, and That which shaped it and inspired it to lewdness and godfearing! (Ash-Shams 91:7-8) - Alam najcal lahu caynaayni, wa lisaanan wa shafatayni, wa hadeeynahu najdayni Have We not appointed to him two eyes, and a tongue, and two lips, and guided him concerning the two highways (of goodness and virtue and of evil and vice)? (Al-Balad 90:8-10) Peace!

Zafir, Upload your photos on photobucket.com or other similar sites. I don't think you can link it from your hard-drive.

Originally posted by xiinfaniin: But none of it is even remotely equal or is as horrendous as hunting fellow Somalis for profit gains, I argue. xiinfaniin, Somalis sold Ethiopian slaves centuries ago and even though Somalis have forgotten it Ethiopians haven't. Perhaps this part of our history has something to do with the way the Ethiopians have conducted or aligned themselves with various Somali groups. I think a killer is a killer, whether he kills his brother, his neighbour or a stranger. Even though we see it differing degrees, the penalty is the same soomaha? Similiarly, a warlord who decides to capture and sell Somali slaves wouldn't be more malignant than a warlord that decides to deal with Oromo slaves. Especially in the new Somali culture of political worlordism, it has clearly become fashionable to engage in a criminal enterprise analogous to that of slave trade. Men like Mohamed Dheere, Qanyare, Bashir Rage and co, who, sadly, have been leading some communities in the south, publicly announced that they would capture and sell Islamist elements in Mogadishu to the interested parties in the west. Some of them have already made a fortune out of that immoral venture. These are as criminal as the Russian or Italian maffia, all they think about is money. They have been recieving money from the USA for the past four years or so and this was made possible because of the ignorance of the imperialist Americans who have been milked by these gluttonous warlords claiming to fight "terrorism". There could be many reasons for why the Somali race was spared from European/American slave trade in Africa but I always credited it to the nature of our nomadic culture and our Islamic faith. Save from few lost souls or groups, Somalis have been respectable and noble people. Nobility sounds good but I think it has more to do with the fact that Somalis are neither artisans nor agrarians. What would a slave owner do with a pastoralist? Not much!

Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi(1506-43) nicknamed Gran "the left-handed" embarked on a conquest which brought three-quarters of Abyssinia into the power of the Muslim (mostly Somali) Kingdom of Adal from 1529-43. Gran (known as Gurey to Somalis) is well known Somali hero and there are large body of literature available about him and the Kingdom of Adal. Gran was killed and his army defeated by the Abyssinians, supported by the Portuguese, at Wayna Daga near Lake Tana. Not only is he a Muslim hero, but he is hero that most of the Somalis believe stood up to nemesis of the Somalis--Ethiopians and their European fair-weather friends. "The Somali Conquest of Horn of Africa." by I.M Lewis states, Somali forces contributed much to the Imam’s victories. Shihab ad-Din, the Muslim chronicler of the period, writing between 1540 and 1560, mentions them frequently. (Fatuh al-Habasha, ed. And trs. R. Besset Paris, 1897.). The most prominent Somali groups in the campaigns were the Merahan, Geri and ***** all ***** clans. Shihab ad-Din is very vague as to their distribution and grazing areas, but describes the ***** as at the time in possession of the ancient eastern port of Mait. The Issaq did not seem to have been involved and their distribution is not recorded. Finally several *** clans also took part. The effective participation of these pastoral nomads, renowned “clutterers of roadsâ€, in the Muslim victories indicates something of the power of leadership, spiritual as well as temporal, of the Imam. Imam Ahmed was born near Zeila, a port city located in northwestern Somalia, and married Bati del Wambara, the daughter of governor Mahfuz of Zeila. When Mahfuz was killed returning from a campaign against the Ethiopian emperor Lebna Dengel in 1517, the Adal sultanate lapsed into anarchy for several years, until Imam Ahmad killed the last of the contenders for power and took control of Harar. In retaliation for an attack on Adal in 1527-8 by the Ethiopian general Degalhan, Imam Ahmad invaded Ethiopia in 1529. Although his troops were fearful of their opponents, and attempted to desert upon news that the Ethiopian army was approaching, Imam Ahmad relied on his elite company armed with matchlocks, and defeated emperor Lebna Dengel at Shimbra Kure that March.1 Imam Ahmad campaigned again in Ethiopia in 1531, breaking Emperor Lebna Dengel's ability to resist in the Battle of Amba Sel on October 28, then marched north to loot the island monastery of Lake Hayq and the stone churches of Lalibela. When the Imam entered the province of Tigray, he defeated an Ethiopian army that confronted him there, and on reaching Axum destroyed the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, in which the Ethiopian emperors had been coronated for centuries. The Ethiopians were forced to ask for help from the Portuguese, who landed at the port of Massawa on February 10, 1541 in the reign of the emperor Gelawdewos. This force was led by Christovão da Gama, and included 400 musketeers and a number of artisans and other non-combatants. Da Gama and Imam Ahmad met on April 1, 1542 at Jarte, which Trimingham has identified with Anasa, between Amba Alagi and Lake Ashenge.2 Here the Portuguese had their first glimpse of Ahmad, as recorded by Castanhoso: While his camp was being pitched, the king of Zeila [imam Ahmad] acended a hill with several horse and some foot to examine us: he halted on the top with three hundred horse and three large banners, two white with red moons, and one red with a white moon, which always accompanied him, and which he was recognized.3 After the two unfamiliar armies exchanged messages then stared at each other for a few days, on April 4 da Gama formed his troops into an infantry square, and marched against the Imam's lines, repelling successive waves of attacks with their muskets and cannons. This battle ended when Imam Ahmad was wounded in the leg by a chance shot, and seeing his banners signal retreat, the Portuguese and their Ethiopian allies fell upon the disorganized Muslims, who suffered losses but managed to reform next to the river on the distant side. Over the next several days, Imam Ahmad was reinforced by new arrivals of troops, and understanding the need to act swiftly on April 16 da Gama again formed a square which he led against Imam Ahmad's camp. Although the Muslims fought with more determination than two weeks before -- their horse almost broke the Portuguese square -- an opportune explosion of some gunpowder tramatized the horses on the Imam's side, and his army fled in disorder. Castanhoso laments that "the victory would have been complete this day had we only one hundred horses to finish it: for the King was carried on men's shoulders in a bed, accompanied by horsemen, and they fled in no order."4 Reinforced by the arrival of the Bahr Negash Yishaq, da Gama marched south after Imam Ahmad's force, reaching sight of him ten days later. However, the onset of the rainy season prevented da Gama from engaging Ahmad a third time, and on the advice of Queen Sabla Wengel made a winter camp at Wafla near Lake Ashenge, within sight of his opponent.5 Knowing that victory lay in the number of firearms an army had, the Imam sent to his fellow Muslims for help. According to Abbé Joachim le Grand, Imam Ahmad received 2000 musketeers from Arabia, and artillery and 900 picked men from the Ottomans to assist him. Meanwhile, due to casualties and other duties, da Gama's force was reduced to 300 musketeers. After the rains ended, Imam Ahmad attacked the Portuguese camp, and through weight of numbers killed all but 140 of da Gama's troops. Da Gama, badly wounded, was captured with ten of his men and, after refusing an offer of converting to Islam in return for his life, was executed.6 The survivors and Emperor Gelawdewos were afterwards able to join forces and, drawing on the Portuguese supplies, they attacked Ahmad on February 21, 1543 in the Battle of Wayna Daga, where their 9,000 troops managed to defeat the 15,000 soldiers under Imam Ahmad. The Imam was killed by a Portuguese musketteer, who was mortally wounded in avenging da Gama's death. His wife Bati del Wambara managed to escape the battlefield with a remnant of the Turkish soldiers to Harar, where she rallied his followers. She agreed to marry his nephew Nur ibn Mujahid on the condition that Nur would avenge Imam Ahmad's defeat. "In Ethiopia the damage which [Ahmad] Gragn did has never been forgotten," wrote Paul B. Henzeg. "Every Christian highlander still hears tales of Gragn in his childhood. Haile Selassie referred to him in his memoirs. I have often had villagers in northern Ethiopia point out sites of towns, forts, churches and monasteries destroyed by Gragn as if these catastrophes had occurred only yesterday."7 While acknowledging that many modern Somali nationalists consider Ahmad a national hero, Henze dismisses their claims, stating that the concept of a Somali nation did not exist during Ahmad's lifetime. Source!

"Almost 30 percent of Syrian men are taking part in Friday prayers in the 9,000 mosques of Syria," said Islamist MP Mohammed Habash who heads the Islamic Studies Centre in Damascus. This is quite low for a Muslim country. It's more difficult living in a non-Muslim country as Friday is a working day. 9. O ye who believe! When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (the Day of Assembly), hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah, and leave off business (and traffic): That is best for you if ye but knew! 10. And when the Prayer is finished, then may ye disperse through the land, and seek of the Bounty of Allah. and celebrate the Praises of Allah often (and without stint): that ye may prosper Surah Al-Jumu'ah 62:9-10

Here's a theory of Cyrus being Dhul-Qarnayn. Gog and Magog.

Northerner, I heard Zeylac has a massive reserve of underground water (wells of Takosha?), look into it.

Cons, How come we can't see Blane standing on anything? He's in the middle of a street. But what makes it fishy is that he tells people to stay where they are and not to move.

Worst job? For me it's more like worst part of a job...I had to at times take care of a corpse, clean it and get it ready for the morgue. One time a work-mate turned a corpse around and some of the residual air in the lungs hissed out, my heart almost stopped! Eerie feeling to be looking around hoping the angel of death has left the building!

I think the African team that will impress the most will be Ghana; people aren't talking about them much especially because they didn't do well in the African Cup of nations. This is because they were missing almost five key players. Quarter-Finals? Here is a wild guess... Brazil Ghana Argentina Portugal Italy England Mexico Spain These teams might not all feature in the quarters if they play each other in the second round but I think they are the strongest teams around. Czech Republic, Sweden and Holland are very good teams but don't usually do very well in big tournaments, They are usually the 'champions of qualifying' to the major tournaments but fail to impress once there. Ukraine is a good team too but not very threatenning as Sheva is fast approaching his 'sell-by' date.

Originally posted by Amelia: Do the nomads consider cooking a special meal personally satisfying? Quite satisfying. Most meals can be special, as long as you know how to get the best out of the ingredients you have. Originally posted by Amelia: And have you ever cooked for a special someone and what did you make? Depends on the mood, season and/or ingredients available at the time. - Grilled salmon, boiled potatoes, lobster sauce, veggies and a good sallad - Trade-mark lasagne with a fusion of ingredients - pancakes, using milk (instead of water) and a nice saucy side-dish - Nasi Goreng (a type of bariis isku daxkaris) with chicken and prawns ...etc etc.

Kulmiye, There is some truth in what you say. Remided me of a topic by J11 some time back called 'Quit Pasturalism, Embrace Agriculture for Development.'

Originally posted by WaTerLily: ^^ Very good and close Hecuba, anyone care to fill the rest in? 8) In ‘Things Fall Apart’ what is Okonowo’s great flaw that leads to his downfall? Okonkwo was a complex character with many flaws but I think his biggest flaw was his rage, was it?

Paragon, There's a demonstration tomorrow in London. People will be outside Embankment station at noon and will march to the American Embassy.