Tabsir illustrates an interesting anecdote of history from the Ottoman Empire, the birth of a railway link between Damascus and Makkah for pilgrims.
But besides these the general direction has been under Marshal Kiazim Pasha, to whom the greatest credit is due in bringing the line successfully into Medina, and to Hajj Mukhtar Bey, a brilliant Turkish engineer, who has absorbed all modern methods of construction, and compelted the last section into Medina without European assistance.
American Muslima Writer writes about her encounter with and subsequent adoption of a curious Lebanese custom:
At sister-in-law M’s house I would try to help her to clean up the breakfast dishes as it’s expected to show closeness and warmth by helping to clean up with fellow sisters or family that you want them to think you’re close to (and I am close to my in-laws I’m not just SHOWING help). But she would try to push me aside and take my sponge saying “A’yb go rest.” Meaning: you are shaming me as my guest by working in my house. Now normally an American would back off and go rest feeling that you tried and you backed off gracefully and the host is happy to be hosting you. But as an Arab this is WRONG! You are to grab that sponge back, forcefully if need be, and force your hostess to get out of your way, while you clean her dishes. She will hover and try to fight back for the sponge but if you’re determined enough she will feel a close bondness towards you because you are doing something good for her and helping her out. But be prepared for the consequences that if you do this once you are expected to do this every time. At M’s house the first four times I let her beat me and I went and sat and then i didn’t see her for a long time while she took all morning to clean the kitchen by herself. I was bored and regretted giving in. I talked to my husband about this and he told me what was expected of me to fight them back. So I tried it first at my husband’s sister’s house.
Khairun Nisa of the Wisdom of the Muslim World blog relates the story of the Jewish Haredim, a very orthodox group within the Jewish faith. An interesting look at a community that is really not that different from our own.
Mrs Greenwald, 34, lives in Har Nof, an ultra-orthodox neighbourhood of Jerusalem where absolutely everything is closed on Saturday – the Sabbath – and only kosher food is sold in shops
Like all Haredi women, she dresses very modestly, covers her hair with a wig or scarf and will not allow physical contact of any kind with any man other than her husband.
Shahrzaad discusses the stellar quality of undergraduate Iranian engineering schools and laments the resultant brain drain to the West and Gulf:
Yes, SUT (Sharif University of Technology) is good, however It does not mean it has good services or good chances for the future or ready jobs for graduated students.
SUT is good, bcs it has good students. Those genius and brainy students who really endure difficulties and try their best in whole their life, bcs of their love for learning and for the love of their country, Iran. At last, there is a day that they realise, their homeland does not really need their brain..
Aafia Siddiqui, a young scientist and mother to three children, went missing several years ago, and was suspected to be among the prisoners residing in the Bagram Prison base in Afghanistan under American oppression. Much has been written about her story, the details of which are beginning to unravel.
Via Pakistaniat: A Missing Person with a Name
Reflections of a Muslimah laments on the condition of the Muslim world today, which has been deaf to the cries of the “Grey Lady of Bagram”.
In the Shade of the Veil shares more details on sister Aafia and her plight, including links to relevant news sources.
And the Chowrangi blog has launched a campaign for her release from captivity.
Who thought a Turkish soap opera could spark domestic family issues in a whole region. Even divorces ?
More from Saudiwoman.
Yursil shares photographs from the Cave of Hira, littered with graffiti and garbage. While the site may not be considered a “holy site” of any sort, it is certainly an extremely historic site, as the location of the first revelations of the Quran. Forgetting Hira is to forget an important part of our history.
However, few places are mentioned as often in childrens tales as the Cave of Hira at Jabl al-Nur (Mountain of Light). Even these people with confused ideologies find their hearts drawn to the stories of the cave. What would it be like to see that cave, pray where the Prophet (S) first received Quran?
Recently family members have come back from Umrah and took some pictures of the situation of the cave.
During my own climb up the Mountain of Light to the Cave of Hira, nearly 10 years ago, I recall a man in the cave who would dress you up in traditional Arab garb and take a picture of you pretending to make du’a – just five riyyals! It offended me that such a historical site would be exploited for business, with the act of prayer also being mocked. I’m not sure what is more offensive; that we are selling our history for money, or that we are selling it for so cheap.
Abdur-Raheem Green writes a gripping narrative about a daughter lost to war, the pangs of separation, and the return from Allah.
And I think about the suffering, my dead daughter. She is my daughter. We are connected, the people of iman, connected in a way that is beyond even the ties of blood. They claim this is a fantasy, some sort of fake kinship. Say what you like. Prattle away in your ignorance! Those who live it and taste it know the truth of it, and your words make no difference.