Here I am again, yak yak yak!

Just thought I'd update you all on my thoughts on my arabic class and other random things that I'll mention as I think of them, grinnn

The class is brilliant, made up of a similar aged Indian girl, an older English man (must defo be over 70) and a Irish lady (who's probably in her late 20s) and of course moi.. the class is incredibly small but it's awesome because you get a decent focus from the teacher, it's a school just getting started I think. But yup, it's called Arabian Oasis based near Covent Garden (London).. the website isn't much to shout about (sorry Abdul!) But if you're looking for somewhere to learn Arabic, I'm defo recommending!

To download the book, just click here

Introduction

The Christian and the questions

It is related that a Christian king sent a trustworthy person to Baghdad with a large amount of money. The king set him a task to ask the Muslims three questions and if they are able to answer them correctly then he could leave the money with them.

He arrived at Baghdad and informed the Khaliph of his quest. The Khaliph responded to the challenge by gathering the best Ulama (learned religious people). The Christian climbed the pulpit and addressed them, ‘ if you are able to answer my questions then the money is yours, if not I will return as I came.’ He then proceeded to ask the questions.

The Christian;
‘What came before Allah’
‘ Which direction is Allah’s face’
‘ What is He (Allah) doing now?’

Today, Tunisia - the country where the Arab revolt/Arab spring started at the start of the year - goes to the polls.

Much is being said about these elections, with many people having many opinions.

Some fear that Tunisia will fall back from the heights of "feminism" that it reached under the previous secularist govenments which had forced women to uncover.

Others say that if the Islamic minded parties win, then freedom will be eroded.

Ofcourse, the previous governments lacked both feminism and freedom (forcing people into a garbs they do not want to wear is not feminism or freedom - the only "free" people were the ones that benefitted from the misery of the rest).

The Tunisians can now take their destiny into their own hands and we will watch to see how high they can soar.

Established in 2008 "we are one", was created to engage in events and activities that encourage cohesion, not just in race but in religion age class and political persuasion.

We believe that Community cohesion is about ensuring different groups of people share a common vision and sense of belonging, where similar life opportunities are available to all. It is defined as working towards a society in which there is a common vision and sense of belonging by all communities; a society in which the diversity of people’s backgrounds and circumstances is appreciated and valued; a society in which similar life opportunities are available to all; and a society in which strong and positive relationships exist and continue to be developed in the workplace, in schools and in the wider community.

I don't think I've heard of him before :oops:

SubhanAllah, Masha'Allah

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Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured 5 years ago in 2006 when he was just 19 has now been released - being exchanged for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners - some of whom had been convicted of serious crimes, others who had not been charged at all.

He has spent a long time in captivity, and so have some of the people released.

One thing which I noted is that the 1000:1 ratio used here has been used previously too, when 1000 Palestinians (generally civillians) were killed for each Israeli (generally a soldier) in the assault in Gaza at the end of 2008/start of 2009.

I think that it is a good thing he was released - it needed to be done a long time ago.

I just hope that Palestinian lives are not considered to trade for so much less.