This week there was meant to be a peace conference to try and solve the syrian situation. There has been much wrangling over who will attend. First the rebels said they wouldn't attend. then they said they would.

Then it transpired that Iran wasnt invited. Then it was. Then it confirmed that it will attend. Then the rebels said that they won't attend. Then the invitation to Iran was withdrawn. Now Assad may decide to withdraw.

Unconnected countries like Mexico are allowed to attend but not Iran...

While this was going on, Qatar, a major backer of regime change in Syria had commissioned a UK agency to prepare a report on attrocities commited by the regime. It decided that today was the right day to release the report (pdf).

Assalamu'alaikum y'all

'Eden 2014' - have your Paradise on earth right in good ol' .... Birmingham this August! Courtesy of Islamic Network!

"At Eden our philosophy is simple. We aim to provide you a completely immersive experience, including inspiring seminars, sports activities, workshops, performing artists, night prayer and so much more. Eden InshaAllah is going to be a unique and unforgettable experience and we invite you to share that experience with us

We pray that you will enjoy Eden just as much as we have enjoyed putting it together.

We look forward to seeing you in August…"

i've been keeping a cursort interest in the "Australis" interface that is being developed as the new interface for firefox. It looks both interesting and different.

Recently I have not been too much a fan of different or change, so I was a little wary over this new interface.

The number 7 seems to appear numerous times in Islamic text. This recent realisation has made this association extremely fascinating.. 

1- 7 circumambulation (Ta’waf) around the Kaa’bah during Hajj

2- 7 walks (back and forth) between Al-Safa and Al-Marwah

3- 7 heavens

4- When the Prophet (peace be upon him) was taken to heaven during Miraj he reported to have seen an angel with 70 000 heads, each head having 70 000 mouths, each mouth having 70 000 tongues and each tongue speaking 70 000 languages; all involved in reciting the praises of Allah Almighty (can't remember the reference for this)

5- 7 pebbles to be used each time for stoning of the Jamarat’

6- 70 000 angels write good deeds for one who recites durood shareef

1- Try to identify the stressor

2- Take control

3- Have some 'me' time

4- Challenge yourself

5- Stay positive 

6- Connect with others

7- Avoid unhealthy habits (like tea and sleeping)

8- Work smarter, not harder

9- Accept the things you can't change

10- Manage your time effectively

Feel free to add to the list. Or not.

I am posting this a good few months late, but better late than never eh?

A few months ago there was a twitterstorm after Richard Dawkins made the following tweet:

All the world's Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though.

Naturally many people jumped up in outrage at this. Others jumped up agreeing with him.

Most debate was about how current political situation impacts on the nobel prizes being given out. Not much was on how they are given out.

Why are we so quick to throw our boys to the wolves? When we give them the freedom to come and go as they please, to have friends we don't know, to have their own laptops and iPhones, to spend hours on the Internet, unmonitored, to stay out until late with no questions asked, do we think they have some sort of gender-specific forcefield that will protect them when we fail to? A forcefield that will protect them from others, both online and on the street, and from themselves? This is not how boys become the kind of men the Ummah needs them to be. We have double standards when it comes to the acceptable behaviour of boys and girls, and our boys are suffering from our neglect as a result. - [Na'ima Robert]

I know this event has passed and I kept hearing about it on Facebook not really knowing what it's about untill I came across this video. Having watched it, I would've loved to have been there (or watched the online streaming)! Just the whole spirit of it all sparks inside me.  

">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BV96dcZlEA]

One of those days when your dad leaves the house and locks the door as he leaves. You begin to vacuum the house because a guest will be coming soon and also, to convince your mother that you have been productive whilst being at home alone.

Then you hear a knock at the door and presumably think that it's your dad whose forgotten something at home. You take a look through the eye piece and it's someone other than your father so you panic because the house keys aren't anywhere near.

You think it'll be okay to ignore the knock at the door, but realise that you were vacuuming the passage so anyone on the other side of the door would have heard it and you also realise that when you heard the knock at the door, you tried pushing the handle down just in case it wasn't locked.