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The Hadith of Gabriel

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Myself . 

By T.V. Antony Raj

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In Arabic, the word ḥadīth (Arabic: حديث‎) means a “report, account, narrative”. To Muslims, the word Hadīth connotes “report on the words and actions of Prophet Muhammad”.

The Hadith of Gabriel (ḥadīth Jibrīl) in Sunnī Islām, is the single most important Hadīth. It is found in both the Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and the Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.

The five pillars of Islam

Though not mentioned in the Quran, but summarized in the famous hadith of Gabriel are the Five Pillars of Islam (arkān-al-Islām أركان الإسلام; also arkān ad-dīn أركان الدين “pillars of the religion”) which are the foundation of Muslim life – five basic acts in Islam, considered obligatory by believers. They are:

  1. Shahadah (belief, confession, or declaration of faith – Muslim life)
  2. Salat (obligatory worship in the form of prayer)
  3. Zakat (compulsory alms or charitable giving or concern for the needy)
  4. Sawm Ramadan (self-purification by fasting during the month of Ramadan)
  5. Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime)

The Arabic word Ṣawm (Arabic: صوم‎; plural: صيام ṣiyām), regulated by Islamic jurisprudence literally means fasting – to abstain from eating and drinking during daylight hours.

The Muslims of Iran, Central Asia, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh use the words roza/rozha/roja/oruç, derived from Persian.

The Muslim communities in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, Southern Thailand and Southern Philippines call it puasa, the word derived from Sanskrit, upauasa.

Annually, Muslims, worldwide, observe self-purification by fasting during the month of Ramadan which lasts 29–30 days based on the visual sightings of the crescent moon.

The word Ramadan derived from the Arabic root ramiḍa or ar-ramaḍ, means “scorching heat” or “dryness.” It is “obligatory” for adult Muslims to fast, except those who are ill, diabetic, traveling, pregnant, breastfeeding, or during menstrual bleeding.

The Quran states:

The month of Ramadan is that in which the Quran was revealed, a guidance to men and clear proofs of the guidance and the distinction; therefore whoever of you is present in the month, he shall fast therein, and whoever is sick or upon a journey, then (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days; Allah desires ease for you, and He does not desire for you difficulty, and (He desires) that you should complete the number and that you should exalt the greatness of Allah for His having guided you and that you may give thanks. [Quran 2:185]

Bowling Green is a small public park in Lower Manhattan at the foot of Broadway next to the site of the original Dutch fort of New Amsterdam. Built in 1733, originally including a bowling green, it is the oldest public park in New York City surrounded by its original 18th-century fence. At its northern end is the Charging Bull sculpture, which is sometimes called the Wall Street Bull or the Bowling Green Bull.

Dhuhr (Noon) prayer in Bowling Green - 1
Dhuhr (Noon) prayer in Bowling Green (Photo: T.V. Antony Raj)
Dhuhr (Noon) prayer in Bowling Green (Photo: T.V. Antony Raj)
Dhuhr (Noon) prayer in Bowling Green (Photo: T.V. Antony Raj)

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While my wife and I were in New York, we saw a faithful Muslim in the Bowling Green at 1:23 pm unmindful of the blaring noise surrounding him, perseveringly reciting the Dhuhr (Noon) prayer. We were spellbound by his faith in God and his steadfast adherence to his religious duties.

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And, They Call Themselves Muslims…

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Myself

By T.V. Antony Raj

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Kuwaiti Official, Fahad Al Shalami
Kuwaiti Official, Fahad Al Shalami

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Yes. They call themselves Muslims, adherents of Islam wherein religious concepts and practices that include the Five Pillars of Islam, the five basic concepts and acts of worship – the foundation of Muslim life – are obligatory!

The Five Pillars of Islam are:

Shahada: Faith
Salat: Prayer
Zakāt: Alms-giving
Sawm: Fasting
Hajj: Pilgrimage to Mecca

The third Pillar “Zakāt” or alms-giving is the practice of charitable giving based on accumulated wealth.

The word zakāt can be defined as purification and growth because it allows an individual to achieve balance and encourages new growth. The principle of knowing that all things belong to God is essential to purification and growth.

Zakāt is obligatory for all Muslims who are able to do so. It is the personal responsibility of each Muslim to ease the economic hardship of others and to strive towards eliminating inequality.

Zakāt consists of spending a portion of one’s wealth for the benefit of the poor or needy, like debtors or travelers.

A Muslim may also donate more as an act of voluntary charity (sadaqah), rather than to achieve additional divine reward.

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Building golden mosques but zero in humanity

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A Case for Divorce

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Myself . By T.V. Antony Raj

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Divorce decree

There are thousands of reasons for requesting a divorce.

There have been cases where either the husband or the wife was found ‘too shy’ to consummate their marriage.

A veiled Sudi woman

Though it may seem bizarre, in a village near the southwestern city of Khamis Mushayt, located east of Abha, in Saudi Arabia, a 50-year-old woman, shrouded forever after the native tradition, requested a divorce after 30 years of marriage.

Why?

Because her husband tried to get a sneak view of her face by lifting her veil as she slept.

We often come across instances like an 83-year-old woman divorcing her 81-year-old husband after 60 years of marriage for having sex with his 30-years-younger mistress at work.

Even a sloppy, slovenly wife “fed up” with a ‘spick-and-span’ husband, cleaning anything and everything all the time, can find a reason for divorcing her husband.

However, the following anecdote I read on the net fascinated me and I thin it is undoubtedly a case for divorce.

Last week was my birthday. When I woke up, my wife did not wish me nor did my children.

I expected my parents to call and wish me. But my phone did not ring.

I went to work and surprisingly not a single colleague wished me.

As I entered my cabin, muttering invectives and silently cursing all, I heard the sweet melodious voice of Jane, my secretary, say, “Happy Birthday Boss!”

Her greeting made me feel special. Elated, I asked her to join me for lunch.

After lunch, Jane coyly said she had a surprise gift for me and invited me to her apartment.

When we entered her apartment Jane made me sit on the comfortable sofa cum bed in the sitting room. She gave me a bewitching smile and winked at me and said, “Relax! Let me freshen up and change into something simple and more comfortable! Be ready for a shock!” She went to her bedroom.

After about ten minutes there was a high-pitched scream from the bedroom. It somewhat sounded like “SURPRISE!“

Jane came out wearing a simple nightie, holding a birthday cake in her hands, followed by my wife, my parents, my two children, a few of my friends and my colleagues.

Happy Birthday Cake

And I was sitting there on the sofa… NAKED!

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A Sri Lankan Muslim Woman Seeks Rupees 20-Lakh for Illegal Detention

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Myself . By T.V. Antony Raj

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A crying muslim woman
A division bench comprising Justice K N Basha and Justice P Devadass at the Madras high court summoned Kaja Mohideen was when the habeas corpus petition of K. Rizmiya came up for hearing. The bench referred the case to be settled through mediation scheduled for June 5, 2013.

K. Rizmiya, a Muslim woman hailing from Sri Lanka, claimed her husband KajaMohideen, living in Chennai, had illegally admitted her in a private asylum at Urappakkam, in the suburbs of Chennai, and kept her confined there for 20 months. She moved the Madras high court seeking a 20-lakh compensation.

According to P. Vijendran, counsel for Rizmiya, she had joined the Abha Hospital in Saudi Arabia as midwife in 2002. There she met container driver Kaja Mohideen. They fell in love and got married at Ampara in Sri Lanka.

Kaja Mohideen left for Chennai without informing, leaving her and their three and half years old daughter. It took Rizmiya two years to trace her husband’s address in Chennai, India. She then came to know that Kaja Mohideen was already married and had two children. When she rejoined her husband in Chennai, he compelled her to return to Saudi Arabia, saying that their family needed money to settle down in Chennai.

On returning to Chennai in 2008 she insisted that Kaja Mohideen should live with her.

One day, on the pretext of taking her to a hospital for some medical treatment, her husband admitted her in Oxford Mental Health Home at Urappakkam. He told the institution that she was insane. Rizmiya said she was illegally confined at the institution for 20 months where she was heavily sedated and fed cheap food. Later, the managers of the institution released her after she placed her signatures on some papers, the contents of which she did not know.

In her petition she said that she had worked in Saudi Arabia for nearly seven years and given her entire earnings to her husband.

Rizmiya said she had approached the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK), Tamilnadu Chief Minister’s special cell, and the Chennai city police seeking help to be reunited with her husband. However, no help came her way and so filed the present petition seeking a 20-lakh rupees compensation.

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Men Deemed ‘Too Handsome’ and ‘Irresistible to Women’ Deported from Saudi Arabia

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Myself . By T.V. Antony Raj

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First held in 1985, the Jenadriyah Heritage and Cultural Festival, organized each year by the National Guard is the most famous cultural event in Saudi Arabia. For a fortnight, the festival highlights the Kingdom’s commitment to keeping the traditional culture and crafts of Saudi Arabia alive and offers to over a million Saudis a glimpse into their past.

Camel Races in Saudi Arabia
Camel race – Al Jenadriyah Heritage and Cultural Festival in Saudi Arabia.

The festival opens with a traditional camel race. The festival includes almost every aspect of Saudi culture. Folklore troupes perform the Ardhah and other national dances, while singers from around the Kingdom perform traditional songs and music.

King Abdullah takes part in Ardah dance
On March 23, 2010, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday took part in the traditional Ardah dance, one of the main events of the National Heritage and Culture Festival in Jenadriyah

Poetry competitions are held among contemporary poets reciting historic verses. In small shops with typical palm-frond-roofed porches, potters, woodworkers, weavers, and other artisans show their traditional crafts. There is a permanent heritage village in Jenadriyah where visitors can stroll through Arabia’s past.

Handsome Arab men

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During this year’s Jenadriyah Heritage and Cultural Festival, three men from the United Arab Emirates were ejected as they were deemed “too handsome,” and women could become attracted to them, it has been reported.

According to Arabic language newspaper Elaph, on Sunday, April 14, 2013, the UAE nationals were taking part in a heritage event in the capital Riyadh, and they were thrown out by the mutaween, the government’s religious police.

“A festival official said the three Emiratis were taken out on the grounds they are too handsome and that the Commission members feared female visitors could fall for them,” the newspaper said and added that the festival’s management took urgent measures to deport the three to Abu Dhabi.

The UAE stand at the annual culture festival has issued a statement clarifying why a mutaween had stormed the stand before members of the Gulf Kingdom’s national guards forced him out. It said that an Emirati female artist at the stand attracted the mutaween. Saudi Arabia, a strictly conservative Sunni Muslim society, prohibits women from interacting with unrelated men. The statement by the UAE stand did not name the artist. “Her visit to the UAE stand was a coincidence as it was not included in the programme which we had already provided to the festival’s management,” Saeed Al Kaabi, head of the UAE delegation to the festival, said in a statement.

Aryam, Pop singer from UAE
Aryam, Pop singer from UAE.

Now, it has come to light that UAE female singer Aryam was at the heart of an incident involving storming of the country’s stand at the Saudi cultural festival by a member of the Gulf Kingdom’s feared religious police

The 33-year-old Dubai-based Aryam’ whose real name is Reem Shaaban Hassan is of Egyptian origin. Aryam said the Abu Dhabi Culture and Tourism Authority had invited her to visit the national pavilion where the incident took place. She confirmed she went to the UAE pavilion. “I went to the UAE stand as a delegate and congratulated them on their folklore…I stayed there for 20 seconds and had no intention to sing,” she said as quoted by Arabic language newspapers in the region. “I strongly respect the traditions of Saudi Arabia and all Gulf states, and I consider myself a Saudi woman.”

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Saudi Arabia Beheads a Yemeni and Crucifies His Body

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Myself . 

By T. V. Antony Raj

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King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia with sword
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia with sword

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In Saudi Arabia, authorities beheaded a Yemeni man convicted of murdering a Pakistani national. The execution took place on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in the southern city of Jazan, the Arab News reported.

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Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry spokesman listens to a question during a news conference in Riyadh Stringer
Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry spokesman listens to a question during a news conference in Riyadh Stringer

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On Wednesday, the state news agency SPA carried a statement of the Saudi Interior Ministry that said: “The Yemeni citizen Mohammed Rashad Khairi Hussein killed a Pakistani, Pashteh Sayed Khan after he committed sodomy with him.” 

The Yemeni was also charged and convicted of carrying out several robberies.

The execution took place in the southern city of Jizan followed by crucifixion of the dead body and the corpse put on public display for three days.

Under Saudi Arabia’s ultra-conservative Sunni Islam, murder, rape, apostasy, drug trafficking and armed robbery are all punishable by death. The grisly ritual of crucifixion is reserved for more serious crimes, including sexual offences.

Beheading with a sword remains the most common method of execution in Saudi Arabia. However, due to a growing shortage of swordsmen throughout the kingdom, the authorities were considering abandoning this traditional method of execution in favour of firing squads.

Sevag Kechichian at Amnesty International said:

“The execution is shocking, no matter how heinous his alleged crime. His beheading and posthumous ‘crucifixion’ were acts of sheer brutality. This comes at a time when the Saudi authorities are saying to the world that they are currently holding responsible discussions about capital punishment and the supposed mercifulness of various methods of execution.”

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Saudi Preacher Who Raped and Tortured Daughter to Death Spared After Paying “Blood Money”

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Myself . By T.V. Antony Raj

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According to Islāmic laws a father cannot be executed for murdering his children, nor can husbands be executed for murdering their wives.

A Saudi money exchanger counts Saudi riyals in Riyadh
Blood Money

Fayhan al-Ghamdii, raped his five-year-old daughter Lamia al-Ghamdi for a prolonged period and tortured her. The little girl admitted to a hospital on December 25, 2011 with multiple injuries, including a crushed skull, broken ribs and extensive bruises and burns eventually died after ten months on October 22, 2012.

The authorities imprisoned Fayhan al-Ghamdii, a Saudi Islāmic preacher and a regular guest on Muslim television networks. He confessed to this monstrosity of having used cables and a cane to inflict the injuries, the activists from the group “Women to Drive,” said in a statement.

However, he was in prison just for a few months. In a cruel twist of Islāmic justice, the judge ruled the prosecution could only seek “blood money (compensation for the next of kin under Islāmic law),” and the time the defendant had served in prison since the little girl’s death suffices as punishment. According to Islāmic laws a father cannot be executed for murdering his children, nor can husbands be executed for murdering their wives.

The authorities released Fayan after he paid about $48,000 as “blood money.”

A few years ago, some clerics in a mosque took this monster Fayhan al-Ghamdii, a drug addict, under their wing. They even helped pay for his marriage with Sayeda Hamadari. After a while, unable to cope with his cruelty and violence his wife asked for divorce. Sayeda agreed to allow her estranged husband to see their daughter could periodically.

During one of the daughter’s visits, Fayan requested the mother to allow him to keep their daughter for a fortnight because he wanted her to become used to his ‘presence in her life.’. The mother consented. During those two weeks, Fayan subjected the five-year-old girl to all types of cruelty and torture including beating and blows to her head that resulted in multiple fractures, mutilation, and even cauterized her. The little girl’s mother said that hospital staff told her that the “child’s rectum had been torn open, and the abuser had attempted to burn (cauterize) it closed.”

When asked why he had tortured his daughter to death, the sick minded father said he suspected the conduct of his daughter and doubted her virginity.

Sayeda Hamadari, the girl’s mother, now divorced from the cleric wanted her former husband’s death. “I want him killed. I want the full Islāmic punishment. This is God’s law,” she said.

Members of the Saudi Arabia’s Royal Family are now believed to have blocked Fayhan al-Ghamdii’s release after the case attracted international attention, and have promised to uphold a stronger sentence.

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Is the Real Doomsday Near?

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Myself . By T.V. Antony Raj

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MiddleEast-map-iran-iraq-israel

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Now that we have forgotten the uneventful December 21, 2012, can we be sure we are safe?

Today when we turn on the Television or radio, or read the newspapers, we see and hear only about Israel and Iran.

If Israel strikes Iranian nuclear sites, or Iran bombs, Israel, then what would happen? Would it not trigger the real doomsday for all of us living now on this Earth?

Iran sees Israel as its arch enemy, and it also considers Saudi Arabia as an enemy since it supplies its oil to the U.S. If Israel strikes Iran then the latter would retaliate by bombing Saudi oil fields.

I came across this video titled “The Day The World Ended” released by FutureMoneyTrends.com, a top trends research newsletter. This video simulates what could happen if Israel or Iran pulls the trigger.

In this simulation, the oil prices spike from $30 to $120 per barrel when the USA receives word that Israel has bombed Iran, and after an hour, the oil price soars up to $305, and by 9:30 AM, it rises to $450 per barrel forcing a systemic collapse of the world economy. Gold and silver become unavailable. Riots, civil unrest, force the governments to take drastic actions as a prelude to World War III.

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To watch Part 2 of this simulation video visit: http://FutureMoneyTrends.com/TheEnd

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Is King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia ‘Clinically Dead’?

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Myself . By T.V. Antony Raj

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King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia is clinically dead, reports the daily Al-Sharq il-Awsat. However, medical sources told the newspaper the monarch’s condition was “expected to change soon.”

Today, Saudi state television showed images of King Abdullah meeting with senior government officials after he underwent a complicated back surgery on 17th November at the National Guard’s King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh. A day after the operation the Royal court said, the surgery was “successful”.

The televised images showed the king with Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz the defense minister of Saudi Arabia and heir to the throne, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and other senior princes and officials.

King Abdul-Aziz bin Saud founded the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. After his death in 1953 the crown passed down through a line of sons. Since 2005, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz has been upon the throne. The king was born in Riyadh in 1924, the 13th son of Abdul Aziz.

Saudi Arabia is the largest Arab state in Western Asia and the second-largest in the Arab world, after Algeria.

Home to the two sacred places in Islam – Al-Masjidal-Haram in Mecca, and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina, the kingdom is sometimes also known as “The Land of the Two Holy Mosques“. The Saudi Arabian government has been Islamic and an absolute monarchy since its inception.

Saudi Arabia has the world’s second greatest and more than a fifth of world petroleum reserves, which account for 95% of exports and 70% of government revenue. It also has the world’s sixth largest natural-gas reserves.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the biggest U.S. ally in the Gulf region.

Yesterday the Saudi stock market index dropped to a 10-month low closing 1.3 points lower.

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Sri Lankan woman faces beheading on witchcraft charge

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The daily Okaz reported that a Saudi man had complained his daughter had ‘suddenly started acting in an abnormal way and that happened after she came close to the Sri Lankan woman’ in a large shopping mall in the port city of Jeddah.

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Accused of witchcraft: A Sri Lankan woman faces being beheaded after allegedly casting a spell on a 13-year-old girl during a shopping trip in Saudi Arabia (file picture)

 Mail Online, April 19-Accused of witchcraft: A Sri Lankan woman faces being beheaded after allegedly casting a spell on a 13-year-old girl during a shopping trip in Saudi Arabia

A Sri Lankan woman has been arrested on suspicion of casting a spell on a 13-year-old girl on a shopping trip in Saudi Arabia.

She may face the death penalty as the Middle Eastern country is known to behead convicted sorcerers.

Police spokesman Mesfir al-Juayed confirmed yesterday that details of the woman’s arrest published in local media were correct.

The daily Okaz reported that a Saudi man had complained his daughter had ‘suddenly started acting in an abnormal way and that happened after she came close to the Sri Lankan woman’ in a large shopping mall in the port city of Jeddah.

‘He reported her to the security forces, asking for her arrest and the specialised units dealt with the…

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