Land of Ideas

Spark people on my Birdthday

2012-01-26T00:35:00.000-08:00

Today is my birthday, and I received this card from spark people..

I Believe

2011-12-30T01:26:00.000-08:00

I Believe

featuring Maher Zain

IRFAN MAKKI

When you’re searching for the light
And you see no hope in sight
Be sure and have no doubt
He’s always close to you

He’s the one who knows you best
He knows what’s in your heart
You’ll find your peace at last
If you just have faith in Him

You’re always in our hearts and minds
Your name is mentioned every day
I’ll follow you no matter what
My biggest wish is to see you one day

Chorus:
I believe
I believe
Do you believe, oh do you believe?

MAHER ZAIN
Coz I believe
In a man who used to be
So full of love and harmony
He fought for peace and liberty
And never would he hurt anything
He was a mercy for mankind
A teacher till the end of time
No creature could be compared to him
So full of light and blessings

You’re always in our hearts and minds
Your name is mentioned every day
I’ll follow you no matter what
If God wills we’ll meet one day

Chorus

If you lose your way
Believe in a better day
Trials will come
But surely they will fade away
If you just believe
What is plain to see
Just open your heart
And let His love flow through

I believe I believe, I believe I believe
And now I feel my heart is at peace

Chorus

I believe I believe, I believe I believe

A Cup of Coffee

2011-12-16T13:21:00.000-08:00

Life Is Like a Cup of Coffee
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.
Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups – porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: “If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups have been taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.
Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups… And then you began eyeing each other’s cups.
Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live.
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. Savor the coffee, not the cups! The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.
–author unknown
http://www.spiritualshortstories.com

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution !

2011-11-05T01:36:00.000-07:00

Bridges' Workshops (Level 1 & 2 ) in Cairo .. October Sessions

2011-10-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

For more information, please visit:

http://www.bridges-foundation.org/index.php?option=com_jevents&task=icalrepeat.detail&evid=46&Itemid=68&year=2011&month=10&day=13&title=bridges-workshops-level-1-a-2--in-cairo&uid=cb1bcd00d99be34fdad0cfe74a9ab70d

Confront the Brutal Facts

2011-09-27T05:40:00.000-07:00

"You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end -which you never afford to lose- with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be"
Stockdale

A wish.. Journey to Makkah

2011-09-07T07:34:00.000-07:00

So sweet nasheed "Ya Taybah - By Sheikh Mashary Alafasy"..

May Allah bless us with Omra and Hajj in Makkah and a visit to Madinah.. the City of Rassul Allah (Prophet Muhammad - peace be upon him)

السلام عليك يا أحمد ياسين

2011-09-03T17:23:00.000-07:00

هذا جزء من قصيدة كتبها الدكتور عائض القرني .. رثاءا للشيخ أحمد ياسين بعدما .. اغتاله اليهود قرأت القصيدة في لحظة كنت أشعر فيها بالعجز تجاه ما يحدث لأخواننا فجائني مزيجا من الأحاسيس و الذكريات .. شعرت بالعزة و القوة و الغضب معاً .. تذكرت نظرة الثقة في عينيه و تذكرت صورته بعدما اغتيل.. وصور كثيرة لاخواننا يموتون و يأسرون و يجوعون .. تذكرت خيانة أقوام و لا أستثني نفسي .. تركوا أبناء جلدتهم يموتون و ما تحرك ساكنا و الكل في اللهو و الملذات متنعم، فياريت يوم نصر يأتي عن قريب .. يقر أعين قد مزقها ألم الفراق و العجز و يشف صدورا تأججت بنار أوقدها العدو المغتصب

ُو ما أحمد الياسين في الناس مقعد لقد كان سيف الله في حدِّه النصر

و لكننا نحن القواعد بعده وقد ملَّ منا الدهر اذ هَدًّنا الذعرُ

عليه ثياب العز بيضاَ حياته فما مات إلا و هي من سندسٍ خضرُ

و أيقظ بالحق الضمائر بعده كذا في المعالي يفعل الفارس الحرُ

قريبا ترانا قادمين كتائب يوجهنا وحيٌ و يعضدنا صبرُ

سنسجد في الأقصى - بوعد إلهنا - ترقب آذان الحق قد طلع الفجرُ

Being Attached ...

2011-08-13T06:48:00.000-07:00

Through my life, I've been always attached to things around me.. and I used to get my personal stability and some times my self esteem from things around me..

I remember those days, when I cried for leaving my school, cried when left my home and went to new one, when my friend traveled abroad, when my Grandma passed away, and even when my favorite mug was broken. Also I remember when I felt miserable for not having the Eid day prayer with my friends as I used to do for the past 10 years, .. it seems that it's not easy for me to let it go.

The worst thing about this, when I feared to leave my comfort zone and move to new one, let me miss a lot of other new opportunities and experiences that would have happened if I just let it go..adapting easy with change, and being courageous enough to turn on a page of my life, and start allover again with a new blank one.

My Mum once told me.. "Love whatever you want, and you will leave it or it will leaves you one day. And do whatever you want, but be sure you will have your deeds written and be faced with it in the day of judgment".. I didn't listen to her by that time, although it was true, but day after day, I started to see people around me disappearing, many things changed, those who traveled, married, my relative died very young while being pregnant, my very successful friend who ran a business died in a car crash, and more of this was happening very fast around me.. It was certainly a message from Allah.. just to wake up.

The point that I didn't realize that this life is a temporarily thing..a bridge.. this is not the end.. so being so attached to things, to people, to a lifestyle, to my family, to my work, didn't make my life any better.. it just made it worse and worse..

So, the truth is that, the only one worthy to be attached to is, Allah (Subhanh we Ta'alah), He is always there, this is the "true" attachment.Those many things around us, are just images that come and go, as a test from Allah, to see how are we going to act. So, if one forgot the main goal, which is to pass the test, and got busy with those images and illusions, life will end up to be so empty, with no purpose, and eventually we will fail in the exam Allah set for each one of us, the exam of life.

In surat Al Kahf (Chapter 18 - verse 45), Allah Subhanuh wa Ta'alah says:

(وَاضْرِبْ لَهُمْ مَثَلَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا كَمَاءٍ أَنْزَلْنَاهُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ فَاخْتَلَطَ بِهِ نَبَاتُ الْأَرْضِ فَأَصْبَحَ هَشِيمًا تَذْرُوهُ الرِّيَاحُ ۗ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُقْتَدِرًا)

(And set forth to them parable of the life of this world: like water which We send down from the cloud so the herbage of the earth becomes tangled on account of it, then it becomes dry broken into pieces which the winds scatter; and Allah is the holder of power over all things.)

When thinking that way, relationships to the physical things around us will begin to change. We need to be fully aware that they really didn't belong to us. They are a gift from Allah. And that how short a time we really have on this planet, and how lucky we are to have the bountiful blessings we are surrounded with, so that we enjoy it, but being aware that the Real life, is in Jannah "Heavens" (May Allah bless us with it)..

كنوز العمل التطوعي في مصر

2011-08-01T15:41:00.000-07:00

هذا النموذج الايجابي جعلني أزداد فخراً و عزة أنني أنتمي لهذه البلد

للتواصل مع جمعية رسالة

الخط الساخن : 19450

http://resala.org/
http://www.facebook.com/Resala.org

When the Word "Terrorist" is not Used

2011-07-26T02:40:00.000-07:00

When I heard about the heartbreaking event that happened last Friday in Norway, I was feeling very sorry for all the people killed and their families..

However, the media the reaction was shocking, it reveals their double standards and the biased way this story and similar ones are being narrated..

This blog post was written by: Jeb Koogler and some the comments on it:

I am struck — if not particularly surprised — by the skewed use of language surrounding the attacks yesterday in Norway. The Western press is largely avoiding the term “terrorist” when speaking of the blond, blue-eyed, Christian attacker, Anders Behring Breivik, who is now in custody after being picked up by the police. The term “terrorist attack” is also absent from the headlines of our country’s major media outlets. (See the lead articles on The Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.)* Does anyone have a shred of doubt that these attacks — politically-motivated acts of violence against unarmed civilians — would be trumpeted as an “act of terrorism,” and its perpetrator as a “terrorist,” if Breivik was a Muslim?

As Glenn Greenwald writes, the reason for this glaring inconsistency is apparent: in the American press and in mainstream political discourse, “terrorism” simply means “violence committed by Muslims whom the West dislikes, no matter the cause or the target.” That someone who “looks like us” and who “believes in our god” (sarcasm) could commit an act of terrorism is, of course, to misuse the term. Christians do not engage in terrorism. It is a term reserved exclusively for Muslims, or at least that is the conclusion that one is forced to draw if one pays even a whit of attention to what our political and media elites are saying these days. Christians who engage in these types of acts are generally labeled “extremists,” not terrorists. And, indeed, that is the term that is now being deployed.
The way that our media and our political elites selectively use the label of “terrorist” — to galvanize fear of Muslim radicalism and build reliable support for our endless war on terrorism — is deplorable. The term has become so politicized and manipulated these days that it is now virtually meaningless in its present usage. Is it fair, for instance, to label (as is often done) Muslim militants launching attacks on an occupying military force as “terrorists?” Conversely, does it make sense to eschew the term “terrorist” when a blue-eyed, white-skinned, non-Muslim attacker with clear political grievances uses wanton violence to gun down nearly a hundred civilians, many of them children? I’m not sure that question really needs to be answered.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTE: In its lead article, the NYT does refer to the incident as an act of “homegrown terrorism.” However, as of 7/23 (UPDATE, 7/24: the headline has since been edited slightly) its headline reads, “Right-Wing Extremist Charged in Norway,” and the three-page article fails to refer to Breivik as a “terrorist” at any point.

أسعد لحظة عشتها

2011-07-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

د / مصطفــــى محمــــود

سألت نفسي عن أسعد لحظة عشتها ..؟؟

ومر بخاطري شريط طويل من المشاهد ... لحظة رأيت أول قصة تنشر لي .. ولحظة تخرجت من كلية الطب ... ولحظة حصلت على جائزة الدولة في الأدب .. ونشوة الحب الأول والسفر الأول..والخروج إلى العالم الكبير متجولاً بين ربوع غابات

إفريقيا العذراء .. وطائراً غلى ألمانيا وسويسرا والنمسا وإيطاليا وإنجلترا وفرنسا وأمريكا .. ولحظت قبضة أول ألف جنيه .. ولحظة وضعت أول لبنة في المركز الإسلامي بالدقي..استعرضت كل تلك اللحظات وقلت في سري لا ... ليست هذه اللحظة

بل هي لحظة اخرى ذات مساء ... لحظة اختلط فيها الفرح بالدمع بالشكر بالبهجة بالحبور حينما سجدت لله فشعرت أن كل شيء في بدني يسجد ... قلبي يسجد ... عظامي تسجد ... أحشائي تسجد ...عقلي يسجد ...ضميري يسجد ... روحي تسجد...

حينما سكت داخلي القلق وكف الاحتجاج ورأيت الحكمة في العدل فارتضيته، ورأيت كل فعل الله خير، وكل تصريفه عدل، وكل قضائه رحمة، وكل بلائه حب ... لحظتها أحسست وأنا أسجد أني أعود إلى وطني الحقيقي الذي جئت منه وأدركت هويتي وانتسابي وعرفت من أنا ... وأنه لا أنا ... بل هو .... ولا غيره...

انتهى الكبر وتبخر العناد وسكن التمرد وانجابت غشاوات الظلمة وكأنما كنت أختنق تحت الماء ثم أخرجت رأسي فجأة من اللجة لأرى النور وأشاهد الدنيا وآخذ شهيقا عميقا وأتنفس بحرية وانطلاق ... وأي حرية .. وأي إنطلاق يا إلهي ... لكأنما كنت مبعدا منفيا مطرودا أو سجينا مكبلا معتقلا في الأصفاد ثم فك سجني ... وكأنما كنت أدور كالدابة على عينيها حجاب ثم رفع الحجاب ...

نعم ... لحظتها فقط تحررت.

نعم ... تلك كانت الحرية الحقة ... حينما بلغت غاية العبودية لله. وفككت عن يدي القيود التي تقيدني بالدنيا وآلهتها المزيفة ... المال والمجد والشهرة والجاه والسلطة واللذة والغلبة والقوة .

وشعرت أني لم اعد محتاجا لأحد ولا لشيء لأني أصبحت في كنف ملك الملوك الذي يملك كل شيء ...

كانت لحظة ولكن بطول الأبد ... نعم تأبدت في الشعور وفي الوجدان وألقت بظلها على ما بقي من عمر ولكنها لم تتكرر ... فما أكثر ما سجدت بعد ذلك دون أن أبلغ هذا التجرد والخلوص وما أكثر ما حاولت دون جدوى ... فما تأتي تلك اللحظات بجهد العبد ورغبته بل بفضل الرب ...

ولقد عرفت في تلك اللحظة أن تلك هي السعادة الحقة وتلك هي جنة الأرض التي لا يساويها أي كسب مادي أو معنوي

يقول الله سبحانه لنبيه عليه الصلاة والسلام (واسجد واقترب) 19 – العلق.

................................

دكتور مصطفى محمود

من كتاب السؤال الحائر

Setting Priorities Straight for Ramadan

2011-06-26T06:48:00.000-07:00

اللهم بلغنا رمضان و اجعلنا فيه من الفائزين

آمين يارب العالمين

May Allah make us from those who witness Ramadan, and bless us with all good deeds.

Amen

Ramadan is approaching, it's nearly a month, may Allah bless us by witnessing the month. ProductiveMuslim prepared a series for practical tips for preparing for Ramadan.
You may also have a look on Ramadan Taskinator

Islam in Brief

2011-06-24T16:05:00.000-07:00

My Fellow American .. Breaking the Barriers .. Refuting Misconceptions

2011-06-08T14:54:00.000-07:00

We all know what is the perception nowadays when mentioning some words such as : [Islam - Sharia'a - Hijab - Jihad - ..etc.] , some people build a perception about these words basically from what they hear about from Media, headlines, biased writers and random inaccurate words said here and there, but sadly very few people get to dig deeper and know more about Muslims and Islam from the Correct References.

This mistrust, discrimination, victimizing ourselves and wrongly stereotyping any group resulted in divided torn apart nations, where people failed to live peacefully with each other, each one is considering others as threat imposters and not giving ourselves a chance to listen, just listen, in a trial to spot commonalities and be one integrated nation and deliberately overcoming our diversity.

Yes we do have different numerators,however, we can find a common denominator that group us all.

UPF (Unity Productions Foundation ) started an initiative as a pursuit to truly listen to each other and try to know one another

This initiative is called: My Fellow American Project,

Most Americans have never met an American Muslim. Many only know Muslims through the way they are portrayed in the media. American Muslims are so often vilified as “the other” that it is possible not to recognize that most were born in the U.S. Or that those who immigrated here came seeking the same freedoms and opportunities that have always attracted people to America.
Muslims are our fellow Americans, who today face threats to their civil rights and even their personal safety because of the fearful and often hateful rhetoric that would not be tolerated were it uttered about any other minority group.

Bug Fixing..

2011-06-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

World Peace Game

2011-06-01T07:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/lang/eng//id/1127

What The Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast

2011-05-30T05:38:00.000-07:00

This article written by Laura Vanderkam touched me a lot, everyday I wake up early to find myself spending about 90 to 120 mins. doing a lot of random stuff, checking FB, replying to emails, reading headlines, talking with my brother, just starring to the ceiling :) and more..etc. , so I go late to work, and accordingly come back home late, so I enter this doom loop of not sleeping well, not going work on time, and missing the fun part of my day where I relax and enjoy quality time with myself and family.

I will leave you with the article, hope you like it..

Mornings are a mad-cap time in many households. Everyone’s so focused on getting out the door that you can easily lose track of just how much time is passing. I’ve had hundreds of people keep time logs for me over the past few years (you can see some of mine here and here), and I’m always amazed to see gaps of 90 minutes or more between when people wake up and when they start the commute or school car pool.

That would be fine if the time was used intentionally, but often it isn’t.

The most productive people, however, realize that 90 minutes, 120 minutes or more is a long time to lose track of on a busy weekday. If you feel like you don’t have time for personal priorities later in the day, why not try using your mornings? Streamline breakfast, personal care and kid routines.

Then you can use 30-60 minutes to try one of four things:

1. Play, read, or talk with your kids.
Mornings can be great quality time, especially if you have little kids who go to bed soon after you get home at night, but wake up at the crack of dawn. Set an alarm on your watch, put away the iPhone, and spend a relaxed half an hour reading stories or doing art projects. If you have older children, aim for a leisurely family breakfast. Everyone talks through their plans for the day and what’s going on in their lives. If family dinners aren’t a regular thing in your house, this is a great substitute.

2. Exercise.
You shower in the morning anyway, so why not get sweaty first? Trade off mornings with your partner on who goes out and runs and who stays home with the kids. Or, if your kids are older (or you don’t have any) work out together and make it a very healthy morning date.

3. Indulge your creative side.
Lots of people would like to resurrect a creative hobby like painting, photography, scrapbooking, writing, even practicing an instrument. What if you went to bed a little earlier three times a week? Skip that last TV show or those last emails and get up a little earlier the next morning to put in some time at your easel before the day gets away from you.

4. Think.
Strategic thinking time is incredibly important for seizing control of our lives. Spend 30 minutes in the morning pondering what you want to do with your time. You could also use this time to pray or read religious literature, to meditate or write in a journal. All of these will help you start the day in a much better place than if everyone’s running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

Article: http://www.bnet.com/blog/time-management/what-the-most-successful-people-do-before-breakfast/439

Osama Bin Laden is Dead - Prove It

2011-05-20T05:53:00.000-07:00

Since I heard about Bin Laden, and I was not believing, same was many people.. I thought about sending a message to the White House, asking for any REAL EVIDENCE that the story they are saying is true..

This Hollywood flavored Drama, disguised images, contradictory and inaccurate stories said were not satisfying, and pushes pople to think that this is only a propaganda and marketing campaign (yet not a common one) for Presidency Elections in 2012..

We didn't see him alive, shall we believe it when he is dead? He's kind of a ghost, that United States created and they want us to believe that their super unbelievable agencies of intelligence succeeded to capture this ghost, kill him, then through him in the sea ... Why in the world we need to believe this ?!!

However, this is the reply I received from the White House,

Dear Friend:

Thank you for writing. President Obama has heard from many Americans about our national security and the successful operation to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, and we want to make sure you are aware of some relevant information about this issue.

President Obama understands that his most important duty as Commander in Chief is to keep our Nation safe and secure. Over the years, the President has made it clear that we would take action if we knew where to find Osama bin Laden. As part of the Administration's focused efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qa'ida—the terrorist organization which carried out the September 11, 2001, attacks on our shores—the President directed the Central Intelligence Agency to make the killing or capture of Osama bin Laden, al-Qa'ida's leader, a top priority.

On April 29, 2011, President Obama ordered the operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden, bringing to justice the terrorist responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent people in the United States and around the world. This mission could not have been carried out without the extraordinary work of our military and intelligence community, and we are grateful for their courage and professionalism.

Here are some more resources on this situation you may find informative:
Watch the video or read the transcript of President Obama's address to our Nation on the death of Osama bin Laden: www.WhiteHouse.gov/blog/2011/05/02/osama-bin-laden-dead
Visit the Department of Defense's website on the death of Osama bin Laden: www.Defense.gov/home/features/2011/0511_bin-laden
Thank you, again, for writing. President Obama is grateful to hear from thousands of Americans each day, and we appreciate your taking the time to contact the White House.

Sincerely,

The White House

I Invite you to read this post :

Truth is like Oil, It always Flow on Top

Do Good Anyway

2011-05-11T02:47:00.000-07:00

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

" By Dr. Kent M. Keith "

ستون عاماُ ما بكم خجل

2011-04-23T12:54:00.000-07:00

إن سار أهلي فالدهرُ يتّبع**يشهدُ أحوالهم ويستمعُ

يأخذ عنهم فن البقاء فقد**زادوا عليه الكثير وابتدعوا

وكلما همّ أن يقول لهم** بأنهم مهزومون ما اقتنعوا

يسيرُ إن ساروا في مظاهرةٍ في الخلف فيه الفضول والجزعُ

يكتب في دفتر طريقتهم** لعله بالدروس ينتفعُ

لو صادف الجمعُ الجيشَ يقصده** فإنه نحو الجيش يندفعُ

فيرجع الجند خطوتين فقط**ولكن القصد أنهم رجعوا

أرضٌ أُعيدت ولو لثانيةٍ**والقوم عزلٌ والجيش مدّرع

ويصبح الغازُ فوقهم قطعاً**أو السما فوقه هي القطعُ

وتُطلب الريح وهي نادرةٌ**ليست بماءٍ لكنها جرعُ

ثم تراهم من تحتها انتشروا**كزئبقٍ في الدخان يلتمعُ

لكي يضلوا الرصاص بينهمو**تكاد منه السقوف تنخلعُ

حتى تجلّت عنهم وأوجههم**زهر ووجه الزمان منتقعُ

كأن شمساً أعطت لهم عِدَةً**أن يطلع الصبح حيثما طلعوا

تعرف أسمائهم بأعينهم**تنكروا باللثام أو خلعوا

ودار مقلاع الطفل في يده** دورة صوفي مسّه ولعُ

يعلمُ الدهر أن يدور على** من ظن أن القوي يمتنعُ

وكل طفل في كفه حجرٌ**ملخّص فيه السهل واليفعُ

جبالهم في الأيدي مفرقةٌ**وأمرهم في الجبال مجتمعُ

يأتون من كل قريةٍ زُمراً**إلى طريقٍ لله ترتفعُ

تضيق بالناس الطرق إن كثرواوهذه بالزحام تتسعُ

إذا رأوها أمامهم فرحوا **ولم يبالوا بأنها وجعُ

يبدون للموت أنه عبثٌ **حتى لقد كاد الموت ينخدعُ

يقول للقوم وهو معتذرٌ**مابيدي ماآتي وماأدعُ

يضل مستغفراً كذي ورعٍ**ولم يكن من صفاته الورعُ

لو كان للموت أمره لغدت**على سوانا طيوره تقعُ

أعدائنا خوفهم لهم مددٌ**لو لم يخافوا الأقوام لانقطعوا

فخوفهم دينهم وديدنهم **عليه من قبل يولدوا طُبعوا

قُل للعدا بعد كل معركةٍ**جنودكم بالسلاح ماصنعوا

لقد عرفنا الغزاة قبلكمو**ونُشهد الله فيكم البدعُ

ستون عاماً ومابكم خجــلٌ**الموت فينا وفيكم الفزعُ

أخزاكم الله في الغزاة فما **رأى الورى مثلكم ولاسمعوا

حين الشعوب انتقت أعاديها **لم نشهد القرعة التي اقترعوا

لستم بأكفائنا لنكرهكم **وفي عَداء الوضيع مايضعُ

لم نلقى من قبلكم وإن كثروا**قوماً غزاةً إذا غزوا هلعوا

ونحن من هاهنا قد اختلفت**قِدْماً علينا الأقوام والشيعُ

سيروا بها وانظروا مساجدها** أعمامها أو أخوالها البِيَعُ

قومي ترى الطير في منازلهم **تسير بالشرعة التي شرعوا

لم تُنبت الأرض القوم بل نبتت**منهم بما شيّدوا ومازرعوا

كأنهم من غيومها انهمروا**كأنهم من كهوفها نبعوا

والدهر لو سار القوم يتبع**يشهد أحوالهم ويستمعُ

يأخد عنهم فن البقاء فقد**زادوا عليه الكثير وابتدعوا

وكلما همّ أن يقول لهم** بأنهم مهزومون مااقتنعوا

للشاعر الفلسطيني : تميم البرغوثي

IBM...100 Years Old Company

2011-04-15T12:41:00.000-07:00

From 1911 to 2011, there a lot to be mentioned about this corporation, I used to be amazed by IBM's history, persistence and discipline. May be nowadays its presence may not be tangible in comparison to the new players , such as Facebook, Google, Twitter and others. But IBM are still following their Hedgehog principle, their have their special customers of governments, research labs and big organizations along with individuals.

For younger generations, who just know IBM as that company registering thousands of patents every year, it may not register that this technology giant created the precursor to the modern PC, was the computing power behind the Apollo shuttle missions, put in place the system that would become the universal barcode, invented the relational database, DRAM, fractal geometry, and that little nub on laptops you can use instead of a mouse.

More recently IBM has been involved with the Genographic project which uses DNA as a tool to track back humans to their beginnings. But the work being done, the data collected, and the systems being produced could one day lead to a very much more personalized health care solution tailored to the individual.

Have a look on IBM's "Icons of Progress", to know more about the achievements and breakthrough they have introduced to the computer world.

The amazement here is about the mentality of the management and organizational behavior that was behind these many successes (and failures for sure). Many software engineers know that IBM might not be the best company to work for, comparing to other young companies who exert a lot of efforts to be more people oriented and attract employees through their working environment and ecosystem.

However, it's a case worth of study, what makes a company stand for 100 years?!

http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/ibm-celebrates-100-years-of-invention-and-breakthroughs-20110124/

Teachers are the "Nation Builders"

2011-04-06T03:04:00.000-07:00

Being a Teacher assistant in my faculty, let me think a lot about education, and the quality of educational institutions in Egypt. One really gets amazed when comparing how education matters for others,versus the perception about education in my country. There is a huge gap between;from the people who see that education is the very important base and bottom line required for renaissance and building the nation, and those who see that education is just a Certificate that they hang on the wall and getting high GPA with no true education behind these fake grades.

You gotta watch this video to realize what am talking about..

Naom Chomsky - Preemptive War

2011-04-03T09:48:00.001-07:00

Noam Chomsky - preemptive war >

To know more about Preemptive war:

Read Chomsky's book :

http://www.amazon.com/Hegemony-Survival-Americas-Dominance-American/dp/0805074007

I have time.. I wish

2011-03-29T06:41:00.000-07:00

I have time

Simply in having time, I can be happy.
By pacing the opening words,
“It was a clear day. The man strolled slowly.”
my heart slow down as well.
Let me declare now: Show me a more content person.
I think I’ve find what cannot be taken away.
The search made me frantic once.
Nowadays I can say I do not despair easily.
I see people give up on these simple things I love
in search for else, and I say “Hats off to myself”.
It helps to die on all the grandeur and get it over with.
My stare, in facing this fantastic fake splendor people are dishing up,
can easily be taken for stupor.
In how small my pleasures are, it is not far off.
Each morning reading on the couch, black coffee within reach,
I tell myself this: I have time

Credits for :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vague_blur/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vague_blur/3045905688/sizes/z/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/light-shades/

My Name is Freedom

2011-03-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

"I was born in Tunisia, I grew up in Egypt, I’ve fought in Yemen, Now I’m sacrificing myself in Libya with hopes of victory my name is freedom"

Hypocrites & Liars

2011-02-24T23:15:00.000-08:00

As the whole world was looking closely and following the fast pace events in the Middle East in (Egypt, Lybia, Bahrain, Yemen, Sudan, Kuwait)..

The US, Israel and Bogus Palestinian leadership, were together lying on each other and to the world, and ending the long talks, as usual for the Israel side, and not only that, but also bombed and killed many of Palestinian people, which was barely mentioned in media..

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45471.html#ixzz1Ewvyq4nX

After prolonged talks between the three of them, months ago, they didn't achieve any real results, but all what they could have said, that political negotiations could be the way to solve the problem and declare the Palestinian state, although it was not fruitful through the previous decades.

However, these were just lies and false aspirations..

Last week, The United States voted against a United Nations Security Council draft resolution on Friday that would have condemned Israeli settlements as illegal. The veto by the U.S., a permanent council member, prevented the resolution from being adopted. Using the cynical policy to use the U.S. veto repeatedly to shield Israel from international criticism, censure and sanctions.

The other 14 Security Council members voted in favor of the draft resolution. But the U.S., as one of five permanent council members with the power to block any action by the Security Council, struck it down. Giving the more freedom and green light to Israel to continuing messing on Palestinian lands..

See here U.S. Vetoes for Israel

Couple of days ago, Israel Defense Forces fired at a group of militants on the Gaza border, wounding 11.

Two rockets were reportedly fired at Be'er Sheva on Wednesday evening, but so far only one missile is known to have landed in the city, which hit a building in a residential area of the city, causing damage, marking the first time Be'er Sheva was hit since the Gaza war in 2009.

So far there are no reports of casualties as a result of the strike, but several people suffered from anxiety and received medical treatment !

The Israel responded with, Israeli jets bombed sites across Gaza , Palestinian witnesses said the the fighting started on Wednesday after an Israeli tank entered northern Gaza. The Israeli army says it was trying to stop militants planting explosives along the fence.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza said three children were among those wounded by the shrapnel.Doctors in Gaza said that in a separate incident, two Palestinian workers collecting rubble were injured after being shot by Israeli soldiers close to the border fence.

What is happening is a disgrace to the American history, and history will expose those who have sold their conscience for their personal interests, while thousands are killed and wounded, children displaced, women widowed, and many more thousands are arrested..

And people are under Media blackout,which is marginalizing the news and spreading their lies to make a brain wash for viewers, and to conceal the truth from reaching them.

However, we still have hope, and we believe that our lands will come back to us sooner or later in shaa Allah, and then those who were selling destruction and spreading blood, will know which fate is waiting for them..

عندما تجد الوطن

2011-02-19T11:09:00.000-08:00

مررت اليوم بأكثر من شارع من شواع القاهرة و لقد شعرت بشعور جديد لا أعرف كيف أوصفه .. و لكني شعرت أني أستنشق هواءا مختلف

هؤلاء الأطفال و الشباب تجدهم في أكثر من شارع ينظفونه و يعيدون طلاء الأرصفة و يزيلون آي مخلفات أو علامات من المظاهرات

وجدت هذه المرأة التي رأت شخص يرمي بشيء على الأرض فالتقتته لترميه في سلة القمامة

وقفت بجانب اشارة المرور في انتظار الاشارة لعبور الشارع.. توقفت سيارة لسيدة كي تعبر الطريق فشاورت إلى الاشارة أنها لن تعبر إلا أن تكون الاشارة حمراء

وجدت طلبة في الكلية يستذكرون و يعملون قبل أن تبدأ الدراسة ... وجدت اجتماعات و لقاءات هنا و هناك تدور عن كيفية النهوض بوطننا

مشيت أكثر في شوارعها لأجد من يبتسمون لي و يسلمون علي كأني أعرفهم منذ فترة

حقاً إنه لشعورُ غريب.. فبعد سنوات كثيرة .. لأول مرة أشعر أني حقا في بلدي .. أشعر أن لي وطن .. لأول مرة أعتز و أفتخر به

فالحمد لله حمدا كثيرا ... أسأل الله تعالى أن يديم هذه النعمة علينا و يعيننا على آداء شكرها

ولو أن أهل القرى آمنوا واتقوا لفتحنا عليهم بركات من السماء والأرض)الأعراف 97

وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ )ابراهيم 7)

Productive Muslim..

2011-02-17T02:26:00.000-08:00

While searching .. I found this wonderful website.. it contains a lot of useful resources, that would assist in work and daily life..

Productive Muslim.. very nice name :)

TDD is About Design, Not Testing

2011-02-15T14:26:00.000-08:00

This article was the Editor's note for Dr. Dobb's Journals, I found it interesting, and thought of sharing it with you..

In a letter to me posted in our last newsletter, Mr. Ralph Kelsey from the Computer Science department of Ohio University objects in rather aggrieved terms to my comment that "TDD is corrupted by writing tests after code." Says he, "This is about as extreme as the Taliban. Testing is good. Write [tests] before, during, and after." Well, it's easy to agree that in most cases, more testing is good. But that has virtually nothing to do with TDD. TDD is not a way to more-thoroughly test code, although it might have that result. But if you're doing TDD so that you'll gain better test coverage, you have not only misunderstood TDD, you've misunderstood testing as well.

Test-Driven Development (TDD) is a practice designed to force developers to think about their code before writing it. This is done in small increments in which the developer must identify increasingly more-complex interfaces to other objects as well as build up the functionality of the object under development. Frequently, a developer must create a shim to represent other objects not yet coded so as to continue writing tests and code. These shims, known in the trade as stubs and mock objects, find their interfaces designed incrementally as other objects that rely on them build them up. By this means, developers are forced to think about interactions and interfaces before banging out their own code. As they do this, they design both their own objects as well as the objects they depend on. And design is wired into the coding and testing. This cycle, which depends entirely on writing tests before code, is pure TDD. It delivers thoughtfully designed code as well as the tests that prove its functionality (at a unit level). Not bad.

If we accept Mr. Kelsey's comment that it's not important whether the tests are written out before coding, we quickly see how TDD dissolves into nothing but an orientation towards unit tests. If the code is written first, then it's ipso facto not test-driven, nor does it have the benefit of the TDD design approach of incremental integration. The code might be designed using other valid techniques, but then what passes for after-the-fact TDD is simply validation of the code. This approach is certainly workable — even mainstream — but it's categorically not TDD.

On a personal level, I prefer this approach to TDD. I think TDD has some limitations; namely, the organic growth by tiny increments, the constant throwing away of tests when the code is refactored, and — most importantly — the very high premium TDD puts on code refactoring skills. Many courses on TDD fail to take this last aspect into account. I think they ultimately do a substantial disservice to neophytes because they give them a powerful technique that they cannot properly use. In my view, TDD instruction should invariably be preceded by a thorough course on refactoring. Until you can complete the excellent Refactoring Workbook, TDD should not be your aim.

Returning to my main point: I understand the source of the confusion. Dave Astel's otherwise very approachable work on TDD, Test-Driven Development — A Practical Guide, seems to imply that tests are the principal goal of TDD. And I'm sure other instructional sources do, too. However, Bob Martin gets it right and states it unambiguously in his master work Agile Software Development, Principles, Patterns, and Practices: "The act of writing a unit test is more an act of design than of verification." The importance he attaches to this view is signaled by it being the first sentence of his chapter on testing.

So, in response to Mr. Kelsey, when I say that writing tests after writing code is a corruption of TDD, this is not extremism, but a statement of first principles.

— Andrew Binstock, Dr. Dobb's Executive Editor

Egypt's Revolution: Coming to an Economy Near You

2011-02-05T06:36:00.000-08:00

What we're watching is a massive malfunctioning of the global economy. At the root of the problem: dumb growth. Dumb growth is, in many ways, bogus — rather than reflecting enduring wealth creation, it largely reflects the transfer of wealth: from the poor to the rich, the young to the old, tomorrow to today, and human beings to corporate "people." Dumb growth is growth without prosperity. And it's far from an Egyptian problem.

Today, the world's gaze is fixed on the pyroclastic flow: never-ending demonstrations, protests, people self-organizing in a state that has shut down the internet, mobile networks, and public transport. But the fault lines underneath this explosion were laid down decades ago — and they might just run across the globe.

The lesson: You can't steal the future forever — and, in a hyperconnected world, you probably can't steal as much of it for as long.

Read the full post

لن أكون سلبياُ بعد الآن

2011-02-04T10:49:00.000-08:00

عندما يحدث إنفجار.. يخلف وراءه ضباب كثيف .. يحجب الرؤية و يقيد الحركة

هذا بالضبط ما حدث لي عندما علمت بمبادرة يناير 25

و لكن رويداً رويداً .. حتى بدأت الرؤية تتضح و ينقشع الضباب و يميز الله لنا الحق و الباطل

فعلمت و أيقنت أن هذه الحركة هي حقاً شيءٌ رائع .. بل بودي أن أشكر كل من ساهم في هذه الوقفة السلمية الراقية و تحدى الظلم و قال بكل قوة ...لا للظـلـم و الفســـاد

لقد سئمنا حقاً من سنوات الظلم و غيابات الجهل و ذل الفقر

هنيئاً لأهل مصر .. أن قاموا من غفلتهم و صمتهم بعد سنواتٍ طوال

فلنجعل هذه الوقفة انطلاقتنا نحو مستقبلنا المشرق بإذن الله

فلن نرضى بعد الآن بالظلم

لن نقبل آي فلسفة تقمعنا و ترضينا بما هو دون الحياة الكريمة

لن نستمع إلى آي شخص يسرق من خيرات وطننا و يقول لنا "من أجلك أنت

فلنعلِنَها الآن... صريحة واضحة

فلن نكون سلبيين أبداً بعد الآن

لن نقبل أو نشارك في الظلم و الفساد

فلنقول لا

للرشاوي

للواسطة

للغش

للكذب

للإنحطاط الأخلاقي

للجهل

للسرقة و النهب

للتمييز بين الغني والفقير

للتفريط في عملنا و واجباتنا

لفقدان هويتنا المصرية العربية

لعدم مراعاة الآخرين و الأنانية

لنجعل هذا اليوم فجراً لغدٍ جديد

نريد أن نثبت لأنفسنا و للعالم أننا لسنا شعب عاطفي هوائي .. يثور فجأة و يتفاعل بشدة ثم ما يلبث حتى تفرغ الشحنة العاطفية و يعود كلٌ منا إلى ما كان عليه

لن أكون سلبيا بعد الآن وسأبدأ بنفسي

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ

ثم ندعوا من حولنا

قال الله تعالى: (وَلْتَكُنْ مِنْكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ) آل عمران

قال تعالى : ( لُعِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرائيلَ عَلَى لِسَانِ دَاوُدَ وَعِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ ذَلِكَ بِمَا عَصَوْا وَكَانُوا يَعْتَدُونَ . كَانُوا لا يَتَنَاهَوْنَ عَنْ مُنْكَرٍ فَعَلُوهُ لَبِئْسَ مَا كَانُوا يَفْعَلُونَ) (المائدة:78-79) .

و نتذكر قول رسولنا صلى الله عليه و سلم

روى الترمذي عن حذيفة قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : (( والذي نفسي بيده لتأمُرُنَّ بالمعروف ولتنهوُنَّ عن المنكر ، أو ليوشكنَّ الله أن يبعث عليكم عقاباً منه ثم تدعونه فلا يستجاب لكم ))

وقال عمر بن عبد العزيز رحمه الله : ((كان يقال : إن الله تبارك وتعالى لا يعذب العامة بذنب الخاصة ، ولكن إذا عمل المنكر جهاراً، استحقوا العقوبة كلهم ))

When words escape...

2011-02-02T12:24:00.000-08:00

أحقاُ نريد التغيير...؟ّ

2011-01-25T16:11:00.000-08:00

فرق ..... تسد

Divide and Conquer

تعلمنا هذا المبدأ بالكلية .. فعندما نواجه مشكلة صعبة علينا أن نقسمها و نفتتها إلى أجزاء صغيرة حتى يسهل علينا حلها

و هذا بالظبط ما يحدث الآن .. بل و منذ سنين في عالمنا العربي و الإسلامي

منذ احتلال فلسطين و انشاء الجدار العازل

الفتن الطائفية في لبنان

تقسيم السودان و زرع فتن طائفية بين الشمال و الجنوب

نزاعات بين سوريا ولبنان بعد اغتيال الحريري

انقسامات بداخل العراق و صراعات بين السنة الشيعة و الكرد

نزاعات حول مباريات تافهة بين مصر و الجزائر

انقلابات في تونس

مشاكل بـاليمن و زعم ارسال طرود متفجرة منها لمكتب أنجيلا ميركل

الحس على فتنة طائفية مبتدعة بين مسلمي و مسيحي مصر

و الآن مظاهرات ما أحد يعلم من ورائها ولا منظموها

في مصر

تلاعب بمشاعر الناس و تهيجها وراء سراب اسمه الحرية و الديموقراطية

حتى اذا ادركنها وجدنا عنده الذل و الهوان

ذهب صدام حسين .. فهل وجدت العراق الحل الشافي لمشاكلها

لست أقول أن ما يحدث بمصر هو العدل المطبق و كلنا يعلم ما هناك من فساد و زيف في بلادنا

و لكن هل كانت المظاهرات و خلع الرئيس هي الحل لمشاكل

التعليم

الرشوة

الأمن

الاقتصاد

الرعاية الصحية

العدل

البطالة
و غيرها
؟

و هل تثبت قوة الرجال و صبرهم و عزيمتهم و حبهم للبلاد و مثابرتهم بهتافات رنانة ثم تحطيم لسيارات الشرطة و الإخلال بالأمن و إصابة العشرات و تخريب الممتلكات الخاصة والعامة

فيا أهل مصر

أليس منكم رجلٌ رشيد ؟

و هل يكون التغيير إلا بعلمٍ و عملٍ و كفاح

إلا بصدقٍ و نزاهةٍ و تقوى و ورع

إلا بفكرٍ و أدب ٍ و لغةٍ و ثقافة

فكلنا يحفظ قول الله تعالى

(إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ))[الرعد:11]

فهلّا عملنا بها ...؟

إني حقاً أتألم مما يجري في بلادنا

و أدعو الله أن يرينا الحق حقاً و يرزقنا اتباعه و أن يرينا الباطل باطلاً و يرزقنا اجتنابه

و أن يبدي لنا العدو الحقيقي .. العدو الخفي الذي بتربص بنا الدوائر

WikiRebels - The Documentary

2010-12-31T15:11:00.000-08:00

Two years passed... but we will never forget..

2010-12-29T13:50:00.000-08:00

Gaza City - Two years after its three-week offensive in Gaza, the deadliest in 43 years of occupation, Israel has still not been held accountable for alleged war crimes committed in the campaign, a Palestinian rights group charged Monday.

'This offensive, the single most brutal event in the history of the occupation, was characterized by systematic violations of international law,' said the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) on the second anniversary of the start of the war.

Israel launched the campaign of massive shelling from the air, ground and sea upon Hamas targets in the strip on December 27, 2008, in response to a period of near daily rocket and mortar attacks by Palestinian militants at southern Israel.

The aerial bombardments and ground fighting in the densely populated coastal enclave caused massive destruction and, according to PCHR, 1,419 Palestinians were killed - the highest toll in Israeli-Palestinian violence since Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan and Gaza from Egypt in the 1967 Six-Day War.

The Palestinian group said that 83 per cent of the dead were civilians and non-combatant policemen. Another 5,300 were injured.

'In the two years since the offensive, there have been no concrete steps taken towards the fulfilment of victims' legitimate rights to' justice and compensation, charged the group.

It pointed out that numerous reports, including that of a UN fact- finding mission headed by South African judge Richard Goldstone, had found strong evidence that Israeli soldiers committed war crimes during the offensive, including the use of white phosphorous smoke screens in densely populated urban areas, as well as the use of civilians as 'human shields.'

Only three soldiers have been convicted since the Gaza war, said the group, one of whom was sentenced to seven months in jail for stealing a credit card, while two others received a three-month suspended sentence for using a nine-year-old boy as a human shield.

'This is an insult to victims and to the universal rule of law,' it said. It called on the international community to act to hold Israel accountable.

'Impunity serves only to encourage continued violations of international law. Without accountability, how can the civilians of the Gaza Strip feel safe again?' it said.

The Israeli military said it was formulating a reaction.

It has, in the past, defended its actions by saying it did all it could to avoid civilian casualties in the urban areas from where Palestinian militants were firing their rockets and mortar shells by, for example, giving advance warnings of airstrikes.

Israel has also insisted that it has been holding serious internal investigations of specific cases in which Israeli soldiers were accused of having committed crimes. So far, however, the Israeli government has rejected demands to set up an inquiry independent of the military.

From:

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1608087.php/Rights-group-two-years-after-Gaza-war-Israel-not-held-accountable

Common Testing Moments

2010-12-23T04:17:00.000-08:00

Cartoons by: Torsten Zelger

غريبٌ في وطنه

2010-11-24T16:32:00.000-08:00

أحرامٌ على بلابـله الدوح حلالٌ للطير من كل جنس؟

كل دارٍ أحق بالأهل إلا في خبيثٍ من المذاهب رجس

البيتان للشاعر أحمد شوقي ضمن قصيدته التي كتبها في المنفى، ما زالا بخاطري، كم يشعر المرء بالغربة ... أيكن الرجل غريبٌ و هو في داره؟ أيكون الضيف صاحباً للدار يعبث به كيف يشاء ..؟؟

هذا الشعور يجتاحني بشدة .... كلما خرجت من المنزل .. أمضي في شوارعه .. أختلط بأهله الذين يعيشون فيه و أشعر أحيانا أنهم بلا مشاعر و لا انتماء إلا أنهم ولدوا به فقط و قدرهم أن يعيشوا في هذا المكان

تشعر أنك تعيش في سجنٍ كبير .. تضيق فيه عليك نفسك و الأرض بما رحبت .. صوت الباطل صال و جال ... و صوت الحق ضعيف و خافت.. من الصعب أن تُعَبٍر عمّا بداخلك و إن فعلت ترى أعين الناس تنظر إليك استنكاراً .. من الصعب أن تحقق حلمك و تحدث تغيير للأفضل .. فستجد العشرات من القيود و أناس لسان حالهم يقول "هذا ما آلفنا عليه آباءنا" ..

ترى حُرمَة الوطن تنتهك .. وخيراته تنهب .. و عقيدته و ثقافته و تراثه يسلب و يمحى من العقول و الأذهان و يحل مكانه عقيدة فاسدة و ثقافة مزعزعة و تاريخ مشوه

لست ممن يحبون التشاؤم و لست أُحَبٍط من عزيمة الناس و لكنٍّ الأمر جاوز الطود و اعتلى .. فالقلب مشتت بين حلم جميل و واقعٌ أليم ... بين عزيمة و همة و إرادة متقضة تحيط بها السلبية و العجز و الوهن و الاحباط من كل جانب

هذه ليست دعوة لتشاؤم و القنوط .. فاليأس هو نعش الأمة .. فعن أبي هريرة - قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم: " إذا قال الرجل هلك الناس فهو أهلكهم" (و رويت كلمة أهلكهم بطريقتين ، فتحها كانت فعلا ماضيا ، ومعناه أن الذين يؤيسون الناس من رحمة الله يقولون : هلك الناس أي : استوجبوا النار بسوء أعمالهم ، فإذا قال الرجل ذلك فهو الذي أوجبه لهم لا الله تعالى أو هو الذي لما قال لهم وآيسهم حملهم على ترك الطاعة والانهماك في المعاصي فهو الذي أوقعهم في الهلاك ، وأما الضم فمعناه أنه إذا قال لهم ذلك فهو أهلكهم أي أكثرهم هلاكا ، وهو الرجل يولع بعيب الناس ويرى له عليهم فضلا

.. نريد أن نحيا في وطنٍ نشعر فيه بالإحتواء .. لوطن نشتاق إليه و لأهله و ليس وطناً نتمنى أول فرصة تخرجنا منه
نشتاق للشعور بالفخر و العزة

فقيمة كل إمريءٍ ما يطلب .. و إن قدر لنا أن نحيا دون أن نرى الثمرة .. فلنروي الجذور حتى تنبت لنا الأرض من كل نباتٍ شتّى فلنغير من أنفسنا و ممن حولنا .. لنغير هذا الواقع المرير الذي نتجرعه و لا نكاد نسيغه

فلنكون حجة على من سيأتوا من بعدنا .. لا نجعل الآخرين حجةً علينا ..فلنصدق مع الله، ثم مع أنفسنا على مواصلة العمل و السير حتى تنهض الأمة من كبوتها و عثرتها

فهذه ليست دعوة للتشاؤم و اليأس و لكنها دعوة للتفاؤل و العمل .. لكل شخص غيور على أمته و كرامتها

(إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ)

Knowledge is Light العلم نور

2010-10-15T00:29:00.000-07:00

من شعر الإمام الشافعي

شكوت إلى وكيع سوء حفظي فأرشدني عن ترك المعاصي

و أخبرني بأن العلم نور و نور الله لا يعط لعاصي

The Great Imam "Al Shafe'e" , He went to his teacher "Wake'e" complaining about the weakness of his memory, he told him abandon rebellion , for knowledge is light, and the Light of Allah is not bestowed upon a rebel

Wisdom in the Air

2010-10-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

“You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes well you
just might find
You get what you need”

(M. Jagger / K. Richards, 1969)

Quraan is Light

2010-10-09T00:18:00.000-07:00

(أَوَ مَن كَانَ مَيْتًا فَأَحْيَيْنَاهُ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُ نُورًا يَمْشِي بِهِ فِي النَّاسِ كَمَن مَّثَلُهُ فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ لَيْسَ بِخَارِجٍ مِّنْهَا )

الأنعام122

(Is he who was dead (without Faith by ignorance and disbelief) and We gave him life (by knowledge and Faith) and set for him a light (of Belief) whereby he can walk amongst men— like him who is in the darkness (of disbelief, polytheism and hypocrisy) from which he can never come out?) ِAl-Anaam:122

---------

شفاءٌ لروحي وحبلي المتين....ورحمة قلبي وحصني الحصين
وأمن حياتي وخير الدليل.....إذا تهت يوماً مع الحائرين

فقرآننا هدينا والحبور.....وبِشر يسلي الفؤاد الحزين
وفي الليل عند إحتلاك الظلام....سيبزغ منه الضياء المبين

فيارب نور به دربنا....وثبت به في فؤادي اليقين
فإني عليلٌ أقاسي الكروب....طريح بسجن الهموم رهين
فمنّ عليّ أيا راحمي....فما لي سواك إلهٌ معين

Propolis: Module Based Networking

2010-10-01T02:50:00.000-07:00

Ahmad Mostafa, a computer science graduate student at the University of Cincinnati, is creating what might possibly further revolutionize the world of social networking beyond Facebook users' imaginations.

His module-based networking site, Propolis, is a project that has been in the works for the past year. Mostafa's creation has two components that will be, "bringing who you are in one place and what matters to you in one network," Mostafa said.

So, how will Propolis rock your Internet world?

First, it pulls each user's individual networking accounts together. Literally. Forget switching back and forth in an attempt to manage multiple tabs. With Propolis, users can view their Facebook page, Myspace page, Twitter account and anything else on separate modules located on the same screen.

If a user wants to share a photo uploaded to their Twitter on Facebook, they simply click and drag the photo from the Twitter module to the Facebook module and it's done. No more repetitive downloading and uploading to share images.

The innovative layout creates a more manageable way to organize e-mail accounts and networks, which is reason enough to tempt the busy, overwhelmed college student into trying it out.

Propolis gets even better, however. The second component Mostafa has created is an "interest-driven network." Each Propolis user will list subjects, sports, causes and activities they are interested in, enabling users to search for others around the world that share their interests.

"Propolis," Mostafa explains, "is material bees take to build a hive. [With this site], you're building your beehive on the Internet."

The main post on: http://www.newsrecord.org/living/entertainment/uc-student-creates-new-social-website-1.2326556?ref=nf

How the Bible Led Me to Islam

2010-09-09T04:46:00.000-07:00

Image credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24416576@N02/3278128981/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Happy Eid :)

2010-09-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

أسأل الله أن يتقبل منا و منكم صالح الأعمال و أن يكون هذا العيد سعيداً على كل أمتنا

Happy Eid for you all, Asking Allah Almighty to accept from us our good deeds

لا تنسوا الدعاء لإخواننا في غزة و باكستان والعراق و في كل مكان
Do not forget to pray for our brothers and sisters in Gaza, Pakistan, Iraq and allover the world.. :)

A Dream Deferred

2010-08-28T14:29:00.000-07:00

What happens to a dream deferred?Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.Or does it explode?

(Langston Hughes)
----------

Answering the Poet with some words
Without giving more forewords

If the dream is deferred

And yourself was censured

Keep the dream alive in your heart
Try to achieve even just a part
Knowing it will happen one day
So don't give up or stray
And always give hope a way

Because in Allah we believe
We know it's juts a reprieve
Then our Dream, we will achieve
Better than what we ever thought or conceived

Image credits to Alephunky

Ramadan Daily Tips

2010-08-21T03:26:00.000-07:00

I found this website for Dr. Khaled AbuShady, mentioning a daily tip for Ramadan, hope it be helpful to us through the month in shaa Allah.

http://khaledaboshady.com/

Bugs have feelings too

2010-08-07T01:08:00.001-07:00

Click to Enlarge

Battling Software Defects One Developer At A Time

2010-08-05T02:22:00.000-07:00

Battling Software Defects One Developer At A Time | CIO - Blogs and Discussion

The majority of developers are well aware of the problems caused by their profession, so why do they continue to write faulty software? There have been many software tools created to detect and combat software defects. However, in my experience these tools are only used by developers when they think there is a problem and not on a regular basis. I would say that the key to increasing software quality is to penetrate the work flow of the developer.
The Developer Mindset
Developers are often under great pressure to produce new features very rapidly, and I would argue that most of them actually like it that way. To a real geek it can be exciting to create and deliver new features. I would argue that the best way to improve software quality is to make the developers want to test, and to perform the tests automatically as part of the development process.

Read More > >

Are you ready ?

2010-07-31T09:49:00.000-07:00

It's only 10 days and we will be seeing Ramadan's Moon isAllah ..
Need to get prepared for welcoming the most beloved guest..

Heard some people saying that we need to finish as much work as we can before Ramadan, because people can not concentrate while fasting..one feels sad while hearing that.

Ramadan was always month of success,a lot of Muslims' successes were made in Ramadan. It's the month of hard working, learning, and self improvement.

Though there are 10 days left,we must not let the month be a less than normal one, we need to get prepared for welcoming the holy month, train ourselves, so that our performance, producitivitiy and devotion to Allah become much better than any other time.

Still there is a chance to start preparing for Ramadan the Month of Qura'an , the Month of Mercy ..

Find these articles may be helpful :
Top 8 ways to boost your Ramadan spirit this year

Ramadan Information Center

Benefits of Ramadan

Ramadan Awareness Campaign

Blind Decisions..

2010-07-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we face many problems in our lives, being under stress for long time, have many obligations and responsibility, when the only thing comes to one's mind is : "When all that will end? I do no want to do anything more?"

Having this perception dominating, most decisions made are taken blindly, as the only desired outcome, is to let it go and slip away from any responsibility or task..

Found these words reflecting what I want to say :

روحوا القلوب ساعة بعد ساعة ، فإنها إن كلَّت عميت

"That one should take break and has joyful time (in a halal way), that when hearts (souls) get overloaded, it becomes blind"

However, when falling is such situation, short breaks could be v.good quick fix, go to a place you like, have a walk with someone you love, go for a short trip, do a hobby, or do something new.. and sometimes, one really need to take long break to recharge his/her batteries, reflect on things happening around and reorganize priorities.

It's similar to retrospective meetings "from an agile perspective", that one would review what he was doing in a time interval, start analyzing his performance and take actions to perform better in the next sprint..

Ramadan is the time when one really takes a spiritual break, get the energy to continue and strive for Allah's sake, Asking Allah (subhanh wa Taalaah) to make us from those who witness the month, and bless us with his forgiveness and mercy.

Allah give us patience to walk life's road, and give us faith and perseverance to do our best, even in our down times.

Traffic Lights..

2010-07-20T17:08:00.000-07:00

This post may seem strange, but I really wanted to post about something that I see everyday morning, and I'm happy to see this come true..

For those who didn't visit Egypt before, there is a phenomenon in Egypt's streets, that pedestrians and cars move in the streets without any constraints, car drivers know that they have to be ready to find any human beings moving front their cars suddenly without any alerts or constraints, this caused a lot of accidents to happen, it became a culture rather than a rule, people feel free to cross the street anytime they like and anyway they want.

Anyway, a new civilized initiative was made beside my home, where there is a main wide and speed road that people used to pass with the same manner without any cautions or attention to the big trucks passing.

A Traffic light was put for both [Cars and Pedestrians], a normal traffic light that you can find in other country, but I was extremely happy to see it.

Traffic men ask pedestrians to wait till they see the green lights, and they strictly punish the cars that break the rules, while pedestrians should pass while the traffic is green for pedestrians.

Surly there are still people who break the rules, either pedestrians or car drivers, but what I do is that however I was late , I promised myself that I'll only pass when pedestrians are allowed to pass.

I remembered the Broken Window theory, and I didn't want to share in widen the broken windows in our society. I've been trying to persist every day to wait till the traffic man allows me to cross the street.

It's very civilized and organized thing, even if small, and el hamd le Allah, more people started to follow the new rules and respect traffic lights..

The conclusion,we need to be more persistent, to be the change we want to see in the world, as Allah "Subhanahu wa Talalah" said in the Quraan :

(ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللّهَ لَمْ يَكُ مُغَيِّرًا نِّعْمَةً أَنْعَمَهَا عَلَى قَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُواْ مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ وَأَنَّ اللّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ) سورة الأنفال : آية 53

""Because Allah will never change the Grace which He hath bestowed on a people until they change what is in their (own) souls: and verily Allah is He Who heareth and knoweth (all things)." Al Anfal 8: 53

Cars are passing

Cars stops for pedestrains to cross the street , with the aid of Traffic men

Preparing for Ramadan - 30 Days Left

2010-07-10T23:10:00.000-07:00

It's only 30 days left and Ramadan will start in shaa Allah ... May Allah make us all from those who witness the month and Ask Allah to bestow his mercy upon all of us ..

These are some tips for how to prepare for Ramadan from a lecture said by Sheikh Mohamed Hassan ..

قصة بذرة أمل

2010-07-07T06:20:00.000-07:00

كانت ورقة شجر ضعيفة هزيلة

زرعها أخي الصغير مُنذُ ما يقرُب مِن 9 سنوات

و يومها أتى أخي الصغير و هو في قِمّة السعادة أنه قام بزرع ورقة شجر و التي ستصبح شجرة كبيرة

لم يُلِق أحداً لورقة الشجر بالاً

فكانت مُجَرَد ورقة

تركناها بٍجوار النافذة التي بالكاد تمر آشعة الشمس من خلالها

انتظاراًِ منّا أن تصفر الورقة و تموت

ظللت ورقة الشجر خضراء لمدة طويلة

و بعد قترة أنبتت ورقة شجر صغيرة أخرى

"!! بقوا ورقتين"

هكذا صاح أخي

فتعهدناها بالعناية

و أصبح الورقتين ثلاثة و أربعة فأكثر

و لكن بمرور الوقت نسيناها

و ذبلت الشجرة

و أصفر جميع الورق

لقد نسيها الجميع

تأثرت عندما رأيتها تموت بجانب نفس النافذة

قلت ربما يكون الجذر حياً

سوف أسقيها و نرى

ظللت أسقيها

و لا تتحسن حالتها

وكدت أيأس

إلا أن قد بدأ فرع أخضر رقيق و صغير في الظهور و النمو

و أصبحت (أمل ) خضراء من جديد

من أمل ..؟ آه ..لقد سميتها أمل

فهي تمثل لي معنى الأمل

فكلما مررت بصعوبة أو مشكلة في حياتي نظرت لها

و تذكرت كيف أن الله -سبحانه و تعالى - أحيا النبات بعد أن كاد يموت

و أن الله -سبحانه و تعالى - قادر أن يُحِيٍِِِيِ الأمل في نفوسنا من جديد

و أنه ربما تكون الحياة في ظاهرها مشاكل و صعوبات و يأس

و لكن في باطنها أمل و رحمة

ينقصنا فقط أن نصبر و نصابر و نرابط حتى تنمو الجذور

لكي تسطيع أن تحمل الأغصان الكثيفة في المستقبل

{وَلَا تَيْأَسُوا مِنْ رَوْحِ اللَّهِ ۖ إِنَّهُ لَا يَيْأَسُ مِنْ رَوْحِ اللَّهِ إِلَّا الْقَوْمُ الْكَافِرُونَ}

سورة يوسف : آية 87

{وَهُوَ الَّذِي يُنَزِّلُ الْغَيْثَ مِن بَعْدِ مَا قَنَطُوا وَيَنشُرُ رَحْمَتَهُ وَهُوَ الْوَلِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ}
سورة الشورى : آية 28

تركيا «تعاقب» إسرائيل بحظر طائراتها

2010-06-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

أكد مسؤول حكومي تركي أن قرار تركيا الأخير منع طائرة عسكرية إسرائيلية من استخدام أجوائها يأتي في إطار الاتجاه إلى «تقليص» التعاون مع القوات الجوية الإسرائيلية.

وأوضح المسؤول الذي طلب عدم ذكر أسمه أن «هناك تغيرا بلا شك». وكانت وسائل الإعلام الإسرائيلية قد ذكرت أمس أن تركيا رفضت السماح لطائرة تابعة لسلاح الجو الإسرائيلي تحمل عددا من الضباط من عبور الأجواء التركية في طريقها إلى بولندا، ما اضطرها إلى تغيير طريقها.

وأضاف المسؤول : «كل هذا يأتي في نفس الإطار، ولن يسمح للطائرات الإسرائيلية بالتدريب في الأجواء التركية، ولن يتم دعوته للمشاركة في أي مناورة من أي نوع». إلا أنه أكد في الوقت نفسه أن «هذا لا يعني نهاية التعاون أو العلاقات العسكرية مع إسرائيل، وإنما ينطبق فقط على الطائرات الإسرائيلية التي لا تتوقف عن قصف قطاع غزة وجنوب لبنان».

وعلى صعيد آخر، أعلن دبلوماسي تركي أن بلاده أغلقت مجالها الجوي أمام طائرة عسكرية إسرائيلية بسبب الهجوم الإسرائيلي على «أسطول الحرية» الذي كان متوجها إلى قطاع غزة وقتل خلاله 9 أتراك.

ومن جهته، طالب رئيس الوزراء التركي رجب طيب أردوغان إسرائيل مجددا بتقديم اعتذار إلى بلاده حول هجومها على «أسطول الحرية» مما أدى إلي مقتل 9 من ركابه هم 8 أتراك وأمريكي من أصل تركي.

وجدد أردوغان خلال لقاء صحافي في أعقاب قمة مجموعة العشرين مطالب تركيا الثلاثة، وهي: الاعتذار، وتشكيل لجنة تحقيق دولية، والتعويض عن الأضرار، ومن بينها مصادرة السفن التي ترفع العلم التركي، والتي كانت متوجهة إلى قطاع غزة، وأخيرا الرفع الكامل للحظر المفروض على القطاع.

وعلى الجانب الآخر، أكدت وزارة الخارجية الإسرائيلية وإدارة مطار بن جوريون الدولي أن الرحلات الجوية المتوجهة من إسرائيل إلى تركيا مستمرة كالمعتاد دون أي تغيير، ونفت علمها بوقف الرحلات.

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/ar/node/52551

Arabic Diacritic API from Google "Tashkeel"

2010-06-26T23:47:00.000-07:00

Google has just launched there new API for Arabic diacritics, it takes a plan Arabic text, and view another version with Arabic Diacritics (تشكيل - Tashkeel). They called it 'Tashkeel"
This tool along with the API would be very helpful to Arabic NLP researchers, there was great difficulty in determining the part of speech of Arabic words within sentences, due to the lake of Diacritics, which show whether the word is a noun, subject , pronoun, verb...etc.

I consider this a great breakthrough from Google Lab..

What motivates people?

2010-06-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

Skipping Centuries From the Islamic History ...

2010-06-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

Recently I was reading a book about modern Artificial Intelligence (AI), some chapters were required for my pre-masters study..

I have a tradition when starting to read any book , is to read the book's preface and introductory chapter ..

The author of the AI book, mentioned in the introduction, how AI evolved from (428 B.C. - till present), he mentioned Aristotle with his laws governing the rational part of mind, giving the whole chapter for stating the contributions that scientists had added to the advancement of AI science..

The author mentioned Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) , then suddenly shifted to Ramon Llull (d.1315) and Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) the mathematicians...

So what happened in the world, just after Aristotle died, till Ramon Llull et al. made sophisticated numerical computing systems ?? He only mentioned in a line and half, the Muslim and Arabic scientist Al-Khowarizmi the father of Algebra and Algorithms, who lived in the 9th Century, but he is just a star in the galaxy of Muslim and Arab scientists who lived through this time interval.

I will mention here some of them, but there is a legend of scientists whom without there legacy sciences and efforts, most of the new technologies we are using today would had never been ...

Thanks to the Muslim Scientists, whom their sciences were studied and translated by the Europeans who lived in eras of ignorance and darkness under the ruling of misleading religion men, during the 8th and 9th centuries.

I will start with Abū al-Hasan ibn Alī al-Qalasādī "أبو الحسن بن علي القلصادي" :

(1412 in Baza, Spain – 1486 in Béja, Tunisia) was an Arab Muslim mathematician and an Islamic scholar specializing in Islamic inheritance jurisprudence. He is known for being one of the most influential voices in algebraic notation since antiquity and for taking "the first steps toward the introduction of algebraic symbolism." He wrote numerous books on arithmetic and algebra, including al-Tabsira fi'lm al-hisab (Arabic: التبصير في علم الحساب‎ "Clarification of the science of arithmetic")

His works dealt with Algebra and contained the precise mathematical answers to problems in everyday life, such as the composition of medicaments, the calculation of the drop of irrigation canals and the explanation of frauds linked to instruments of measurement. The second part belongs to the already ancient tradition of judicial and cultural mathematics and joins a collection of little arithmetical problems presented in the form of poetical riddles.

In Islamic mathematics, al-Qalasadi made the first attempt at creating an algebraic notation since Ibn al-Banna two centuries earlier, who was himself the first to make such an attempt since Diophantus and Brahmagupta in ancient times. The notations of his predecessors, however, lacked symbols for mathematical operations. Al-Qalasadi's algebraic notation was the first to have symbols for these functions and was thus "the first steps toward the introduction of algebraic symbolism." He represented mathematical symbols using characters from the Arabic alphabet

Abū Yūsuf Yaʻqūb ibn Isḥāq al-Kindī " أبو يوسف يعقوب إبن إسحاق الكندي‎":

(c. 801–873 CE), also known to the West by the Latinized version of his name Alkindus, was an Arab Iraqi polymath:[1] an Islamic philosopher, scientist, astrologer, astronomer, cosmologist, chemist, logician, mathematician, physician, physicist, psychologist, and meteorologist.

Al-Kindi was a pioneer in cryptography, especially cryptanalysis. He gave the first known recorded explanation of cryptanalysis in A Manuscript on Deciphering Cryptographic Messages. In particular, he is credited with developing the frequency analysis method whereby variations in the frequency of the occurrence of letters could be analyzed and exploited to break ciphers (i.e. cryptanalysis by frequency analysis).[24] This was detailed in a text recently rediscovered in the Ottoman archives in Istanbul, A Manuscript on Deciphering Cryptographic Messages, which also covers methods of cryptanalysis, encipherments, cryptanalysis of certain encipherments, and statistical analysis of letters and letter combinations in Arabica

Al-Kindi made important contributions to the philosophy of science and the development of scientific methodology. Like his Arab predecessor Jābir ibn Hayyān, al-Kindi placed a strong emphasis on experimentation, and in addition, he introduced a new emphasis on quantification.

Three brother sons of Musa Ibn Shakir "بنو موسى بن شاكر":

Born and died in Baghdad, (Iraq), the 9th century,

The three brothers, the three sons of Musā ibn Shākir, generally known under the single name of the Banū Mūsā, were among the most important scientists of Baghdad in the 9th century; they played a prominent role as private patrons of scientific translations and research, and excelled in the fields of astronomy, mechanics, and mathematics.

It is quite impossible to write separate biographies of them. Their father, Mūsā ibn Shākir, is described as a reformed bandit who became a renowned astronomer or astrologer and a close friend of Maʾmūn (reigned: 813–833) before he was a caliph, while residing in Marw in Khurāsān. After Mūsā's death, the brothers became the wards of Maʾmūn, who cared for their education and sent them to the House of Wisdom (Bayt al‐ḥikma), which was the major scientific institution in his time.

The Banū Mūsā produced major work in the field of mechanics. Their efforts show important advances over those of their Greek predecessors: writers such as Philo of Byzantium (end of third century BCE) and Hero of Alexandria (middle of first century), whose works were extensively known by Muslim engineers. The Banū Mūsā also wrote many works in the field of mathematics, many devoted to geometrical problems. One of their most important works, Book on the Measurement of Plane and Spherical Figures.

Anyway, this was just a small part from the Muslim Scientists' biography and their enormous contributions in many of the major fields of sciences, upon which the European renaissance was built; so it was very misleading from the author of the AI book to easily skip this huge part of history, unless he just didn't have time or enough space in the book to mention the Real contributions of the Muslim Scientists..

Find here websites that include the biographies for some of the Muslim Scientists:

I'd recommend these books that narrate in details the Muslim contributions in different fields of life sciences:

"ماذا قدم المسلمون للعالم ؟ دكتور راغب السرجاني"

Lost History: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers, and Artists -- Michael H. Morgan (Author)

How Islam Created the Modern World -- Mark Graham (Author)

The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization -- Jonathan Lyons (Author)

لا تغضب

2010-06-13T21:27:00.000-07:00

عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه أن رجلاً قال للنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم : أوصني ، قال : " لا تغضب " ، فردَّد مراراً ، قال : " لا
تغضب " (البخاري

A man asked Prophet Mohamed (Salah Allah Alyh wassallam ) to advise him, he said : ( Don't get Angry ), the man asked him again, and he told him (Don't get Angry).

{ الذين ينفقون في السراء والضراء والكاظمين الغيظ والعافين عن الناس والله يحب المحسنين } ( آل عمران : 134 )

(Those who spend (benevolently) in ease as well as in straightness, and those who restrain (their) anger and pardon men; and Allah loves the doers of good (to others).) Surat Ael-e-Imran : 134

Posting this to remind myself , and others to control our nerves, it needs much strength to control our anger and be calm than just blow out.

From the Israeli Checkpoint..

2010-06-07T23:22:00.000-07:00

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3274280101915845339#

Who I am.. This is me

2010-06-06T08:35:00.000-07:00


Social Expectation drowns us all inside What you have should be what I want Cos what I have just aint alright The clothes I wear, the way I comb my hair How I live, oh I don’t care This is who I am, this is me Nothing, everything, can’t you see Who I am, just let me be Cos like it or not but God loves me Who I am He said, she said, they all did What’s expected of them all To get to the top don’t matter If somebody’s gotta fall You gotta brace the storm, the norms to conform Get what you wants’ gonna kill us all Beyond the body that you see There’s so much more to me And I feel best when my soul is free They tell me this is the way that I need to reform If I continue to stray, I’m gonna start up a storm Wear this, drive that, like this, not that Don’t dare lose track or you’ll fall way back But if my Lord loves me then I know that I’m free You can say what you want just let me be I know if I’m real and it’s not a disguise You’ll love who I am if you open up your eyes I insist that you see, I aint a mystery It’s who I wish to be, this is me It’s what’s true within, come and look again Looking through the skin Who I Am This is who I am, this is me Nothing, everything, can’t you see Who I am, just let me be Cos like it or not but God loves me

Featuring Abdul Malik Ahmad

Words by Zain Bhikha & Abdul Malik

Melody by Zain Bhikha

Israel signed the contract of her death..

2010-06-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

If all people forget you, We will not...

Our celebration day, is the day when the last Israeli person is plead out of our lands, and I'm sure this will come in shaa Allah.

Let the Israeli people laugh as much as they can, because they will not stop crying, when "be2zen Allah" , Generations of Real Muslims will come and clean what their bloody hands had done with our brothers and sisters..

Let us rise up for the revival of Islam Like we rise up for fajr at dawn .... Allah will always be with us

Yes we will experience challenges and difficulties but if we have faith in our Lord then He will never let us down.

Israel think they owned the Land and People ..

2010-05-31T03:05:00.000-07:00

They restricted the boarders between Egypt and Palestine, ordered Egypt to blow up the tunnels, prevented 'Viva Palestinia Convoy ' from entering Gaza and other humanterian aids, and now they are killing people on the flotilla of aid-carrying ships aiming to break the country's siege on Gaza.

Do Israel really think that they have owned the Palestinian lands and People ?!! What do they think they are doing ?

Israeli IDF soldiers stormed the Freedom Flotilla’s humanitarian aid convoy early at dawn today, subtle news about 18 killed and 50 injured.
The Freedom Flotilla had 750 international activist including Nobel laureate , European legislators, and a 88 years old holocaust survivor with 55 nationalities to break the siege over Gaza and deliver10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid.

Israel attacked the ships 20 miles away Gaza shores-international waters- packed with Naval vessels and air forces. The Communications with Freedom Flotilla stopped after the attack with no official statement from both of the Israel Foreign Affairs or Defense Ministry about the operation and the number of the casualties. The Radio of Israel talked about the Freedom Flotilla are being towed to Ashdod port.

The ships, several of them Turkish, were carrying medical equipment and other aid to highlight the three-year-old Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory. The attack took place 40 miles out to sea, in international waters.

The Israel Defence Forces confirmed that at least 10 protesters were killed and four naval officers wounded, one seriously. Israeli Arab groups say a prominent activist is among the wounded.

The two sides offered conflicting versions of events, with a reporter on one of the boats saying the Israelis fired at the vessel before boarding it.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists, including a Nobel laureate and several European legislators, are with the flotilla, aiming to reach Gaza in defiance of an Israeli embargo.

But Israel has said it will not allow the flotilla to reach the Gaza Strip and vowed to stop the six ships from reaching the coastal Palestinian territory.

The flotilla had set sail from a port in Cyprus on Sunday and aimed to reach Gaza by Monday morning.

Two other ships were damaged over the weekend, and remained in port in Cyprus.

The organisers of the fleet, dubbed the Freedom Flotilla, said they might launch a second smaller convoy of boats on Tuesday, which would include the two damaged ships, plus a third that had yet to arrive.

The flotilla was originally made up of nine ships - from Turkey, the UK, Ireland, Greece, Kuwait and Algeria - carrying around 10,000 tonnes of aid, including cement, water purification systems and wheelchairs.

Asking Allah (Subhabah wa Ta'alah) to protect our brothers and sisters, give them Thawab on their efforts to aid our besieged families in Gaza..

Telling them to be patient and to ask Allah for Thawab, as mentioned of the Hadith of our Prophet Mohamed (Sallah Allahu Alyh Wassallam)

**المسلم أخو المسلم لا يظلمه و لا يُسلمه و من كان في حاجة أخيه كان الله في حاجته و من فرج عن مسلم كربة فرج الله عنه بها كربة من كرب يوم القيامة و من ستر مسلما ستره الله يوم القيامة" .

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/2010530233136303508.html

http://worldnewsvine.com/2010/05/israel-dramatically-abort-the-freedom-flotilla-aid-convoy/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/31/israel-kills-activists-flotilla-gaza

Youth Tarbiyah Conference in Toronto - June 2010

2010-05-28T04:35:00.000-07:00

This wonderful annual event targets adult and young Muslims, where list of sessions and activities are made to "rejuvenate one's faith and Insha Allah will facilitate one and all to become aware of traits and values that lie within us but too often fail to exhibit such as sincerity, spirituality, intentions, honesty, piety, morals and integrity. This event will reinforce our faith and make us better people, excellent students, honest professionals, caring family members, exemplary citizens of our country, and committed Muslims striving for excellence."

I was so glade to know about this event, and wished that if we could have such events in our country, although it's an Islamic country. Wish all who attend it this year get the most benefit from it in shaa Allah..

Home Page: http://www.youthtarbiyah.com/index.html
Online Registration: http://www.youthtarbiyah.com/tquestregistration.html
Conducted by: http://www.islamicfoundation.ca/

Ramadan ..زين الشهور

2010-05-18T23:29:00.000-07:00

It's less than 90 days and we will be welcoming Ramadan in shaa Allah, time passes very fast, I can not imagine, it was just few months ago and we were celebrating Eid El Fitr, Subhan Allah.

Hence, it's important to start preparing for Ramadan before it as Prophet Mohamed and his companions did before. May Allah let us from those who witness the month this year and help us through it .

نسأل الله سبحانه و تعالى أن يبلغنا الشهر الكريم و يرزقنا فيه مغفرة و عتقا من النار

Get prepared:

Ramadan Zone

Ramadan UK

IslamCity

When Art Speaks...

2010-05-14T04:47:00.000-07:00

"Click to enlarge"

Some news :

Aid for Israel rocket defense system

Israel deliberately destroyed Gaza

Holy city children in dire poverty

TDD in a Nutshell

2010-05-07T01:51:00.000-07:00

I've only knew about TDD (Test Driven Development) from few months ago;using it in development and seeing my team using it, shows that TDD is really valuable and rewarding approach to follow while developing a piece of code, thanks to our project manager who insisted on adopting it and motivated us to start learning about it.

Although in its beginning it tends to be difficult, clumsy and waste of time, but patiently following the steps it will start to pay back with higher quality output and less debugging time.

This is just a brief introduction about TDD, while you get to know more about it from the references supported below.

Traditionally we write code and then devise a set of tests to make sure it worked.TDD is a technique whereby you write your test cases before you write any implementation code;TDD is about (Test First Coding + Refactoring).

As TDD evolves:

Your code will be more refactored
You’ll always be improving the quality of your design.
Thereby, less rework in the future.

You are controlling the code, Not the code controlling you !

TDD is a different mindset.. It’s the Test that Drives the Development

The first step is to quickly add a test, basically just enough code to fail. Next you run your tests, often the complete test suite although for sake of speed you may decide to run only a subset, to ensure that the new test does in fact fail. You then update your functional code to make it pass the new tests. The fourth step is to run your tests again. If they fail you need to update your functional code and retest. Once the tests pass the next step is to start over.

TDD is an advanced technique of using automated unit tests to drive the design of software and force decoupling of dependencies. The result of using this practice is a comprehensive suite of unit tests that can be run at any time to provide feedback that the software is still working. This technique is heavily emphasized by those using Agile development methodologies.

But you don't have to be using automated unit tests, you may just do manual unit testing for each change you make in your code and follow the process (Red- Green - Refactor), where red is a failing unit test (automated or manual), green (after updating your code the test passed and gave you the expected results), refactor (start clean up the mess and refactor your code to be more neat and clean), but surely using TDD along with any xUnit or similar automated testing suite will show the best of TDD.

Why TDD?

A significant advantage of TDD is that it enables you to take small steps when writing software. For example, assume you add some new functional code, compile, and test it. Chances are pretty good that your tests will be broken by defects that exist in the new code. It is much easier to find, and then fix, those defects if you've written two new lines of code than two thousand. The implication is that the faster your compiler and regression test suite, the more attractive it is to proceed in smaller and smaller steps.

This is a sample TDD C++ example, using QT "QTest" library, there are plenty of tools to use outside, the most popular are NUnit, Junit, CppUnit...etc.

This is a simple bank account class definition with some methods that are waiting to be implemented

then you have to write set of tests that you are willing to judge the correctness of implementation upon it

These methods were done incrementally, a method at a time, and you should run all the tests to make sure that the newly added methods didn't break another one, so you have to perform regression testing after major change you make in your code.

References:

http://www.methodsandtools.com/archive/archive.php?id=20
http://www.agiledata.org/essays/tdd.html
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/20160364/Test-Driven)-Software-Development
http://www.agiledeveloper.com/articles/TDDPartI.pdf
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa730844(VS.80).aspx