Muslims nowadays are easily threatened and enraged when others try to disgrace Islam. Crazy things have happened, from burning stuff, causing chaos and riots, death threats, to yet another bombs. These are the sort of reactions that we have in response to (among other things) the burning of the Qur’an and/or the Danish cartoon. But is that how we suppose to react? It is important to mention that these tactics of insulting our Prophet SAW and the Qur’an are notRead more
You may have heard about the floods that devastated 75% of Queensland, which is about an area the size of France and Germany combined. It’s heartbreaking to say that Brisbane was badly affected by the floods. I lived there for 4 years until 2007, so the city had put a mark in my heart, somehow. There were a lot of beautiful memories that I remember fondly. It’s a beautiful city and some of my good friends live there. That’s whyRead more
Who have never heard of a Saudi royal by the name of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal? If you're not familiar with his name, let me give you a brief introduction about him. Prince Alwaleed is the nephew of the current King of Saudi Arabia and the grandson of the founding King of Saudi Arabia. He was born to Prince Talal bin Abdul-Aziz and his Lebanese wife. Although the father has been trying to push for reform in his country (andRead more
I have always been very ignorant about the Palestinian and Israeli conflicts. I've kept my ears and eyes shut when it came to these issues. The problems that the two nations face are too complex involving years of pain, revenge, and anger, and a number of political parties, foreign countries, and the civilians. Every time I saw the Palestinians killed by the Israelis, my heart ached. Every time I saw the reports of expansion of settlements by the Israelis, myRead more
So, the decision is final. The Swiss people don't want the minarets anymore. It was shocking, concerning that there are only a total of 4 minarets in the country. I wonder why do they even care about such thing? Why and how did this issue come out and be voted in the first place? I mean, it's only a minaret, for God sake! I saw the interview on Al Jazeera about this and the reasons that the government provided onRead more
An Enduring Love: My Life with the Shah – A Memoir is a personal account of the life of Shahbanou Farah Pahlavi, wife of the last emperor of Iran. Born in 1938 to a middle class Iranian family, queen-to-be Farah met Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Shah of Iran for the first time in Iranian Embassy in 1959 on his official visit to France. At that time, she was a student at Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture in Paris. The king, 40, wasRead more
Sheikha Lubna Al-Qasimi In November 2004, Sheikha Lubna Khalid Sultan al Qasimi became the first woman in the history of United Arab Emirates (UAE) to be appointed in a cabinet position as Minister of Economy and Planning. Sheikha Lubna graduated from the California State University with a BS degree in Computer Science and received an Executive MBA from the American University of Sharjah. I admire her not only because of her successful careers but also because she is one ofRead more
