I came across this surprising article today - Gadhafi of Libya had contacted the US before the coalition bombing campaign which also armed various rebel groups that are still at war.

He offered a peaceful transfer of power where he woudl abdicate and go into exile - he even took "confidence building" measures of moving his armed forces away from the cities.

He recieved no response and eventually after the passing of a UN resolution to "protect civilians" the Western coalition of nations, mainly France and the UK went to war to oust him.

Libya has remained broken and in chaos ever since.

When I went to Umrah a few years ago, I took some pictures, which I have previously uploaded on here.

I had a basic cameraphone, a Samsung p300 - pictures of it can never do it justice as with the case it looked stylish and not the calculator it looks like in screen shots - that didn't take the best pictures, but they did the job.

When looking for images to use for some articles posted on here, I had a look at some of the old images I had posted. The one of the green Dome from the Prophet (saw)'s mosque is good and I used that.

Right next to it was the little nugget you can see above - it's a monkey!

It was taken with cave Hira immediately to my left.

Good memories.

Screw them.

David Cameron will participate in a rally against extremism, terrorism and murder of 17 people that occurred in Paris this past week.

He will condemn these actions standing beside Benjamin Netanyahu who has been responsible for the murder of over 2,500 people in the past year.

Where is the sense in that?

Yesterday, a group of gunmen burst into the French Satirical Magazine Charlie Hebdo and killed atleast a dozen people.

The families of all those killed will be suffering right now and their pain can be easily felt and shared as a human connection (especially with others who have shared similar pain, especially through the chaos in the Muslim world).

Indiscriminate murder is wrong and against Islam.

If that is not enough of a statement for some who will question past acts of Charlie Hebdo, other news outlets have confirmed that some of those killed were actually friends of Muslims and fought against discrimination in France against Muslims and even supported Turkey joining the EU.

I've got a quiet admiration for Germany - they seem to be a hard working, productive no nonsense type of nation that doesn't fall for the normal marketing tricks.

However recently there has been a phenomenon of large rallies taking place across Germany:

Germany PEGIDA protests: Rallies over 'Islamisation'

Supporters and opponents of a group campaigning against what it sees as the "Islamisation" of Europe have held rival rallies across Germany.

There have been weekly protests by the Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West (Pegida) since October.

A record 18,000 people turned out on Monday at one rally in Dresden.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewp1atkSD3o&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1CPzFV_CoI[/youtube]

I think it is 8th of Rabbi ul Awwal tonight, tomorrow being the 9th.

While it is popular that the Prophet was born on the morning of the 12th, this does not have to be the date to celebrate the greatest mercy bestowed upon us. The date isnt important and Mawlid celebrations can and do take place all year around.

For those that do not take part in formal celebrations and even those that do, the link to the time of the year can be used as a reminder and a chance to learn more about Islam, the life and ways of the Prophet and use this as an excuse to try and improve our connection with God, the Prophet and Islam.

I just came across this article in the Guardian comment is free section.

I enjoy the free time voer christmas as much as the next person, but its important to not forget our faith and that Christmas - as indicated by the name - is a Christian festival.

You don't see people of other faiths falling over themselves for the need to fit in, so why do Muslims have this inferiority complex?

Have some backbone!

(PS Santa was Turkish)