Archive for February, 2006

Jihad al-Nafs

Thursday, February 16th, 2006

The master of traditions (ahadith), Abu Ja’far Muhammad b. Ya’qub b. Ishaq al-Kulaini al-Razi, may Allah shed infinite Mercy upon him, related in al-Kafi from Imam Ja’far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq (Allah’s peace be upon him), from his immaculate forefathers, that the Holy Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) dispatched his soldiers to battle [...]

Information Literacy, Podcasting, and The Final Frontier

Wednesday, February 15th, 2006

Today I demonstrated Celestia to three classes. The students loved it. For those of you out of the loop, Celestia is a 3D space simulation program. It is truly amazing! Celestia is licensed under the GPL, so you can download it, distribute it, and even sell it, if you so desire. [...]

New Muslims, Rosary Beads, and Innovation

Tuesday, February 14th, 2006

I remember, in the early days of my acceptance of Islam, that I was scolded (even if indirectly) on numerous occasions for various “offenses” that I committed while in the masjid. Often times, it was due to ignorance, but at other times, due to my own understanding, which would later prove to be correct.
I [...]

Black History Before 1492

Monday, February 13th, 2006

I knew that I’d have to say something about black history. The challenge was finding something that would not be old information to most, and yet would still be relevant. Most “American” history of black people, or Blackamericans, revolves around two major historical eras: 1. Slavery and 2. the Civil Rights Movement. [...]

Tempus Fugit

Monday, February 13th, 2006

There was once a time when the house would stay clean, seemingly on its own. Yes, there was the occasional vacuum, the rare spill, or even the infrequent dusting. But now, a force has occupied our home and taken extreme measures to ensure that our house walks the path of dirtiness. She’s [...]

Freedom Matters

Sunday, February 12th, 2006

Linus Torvalds, original creator of Linux (the kernel), has more than hinted that he would not adopt version 3 of the GPL, as it exists in its current draft state. Although it is likely to change, the clause to which he objects will most likely remain.
Some countries have adopted laws prohibiting software that enables [...]

Netflix or Noflix, Back to Bittorrent

Saturday, February 11th, 2006

Apparently, Netflix has been throttling shipments of DVDs to their frequent customers. They have some type of electronic system that automtaically detects when you send back your DVDs quickly and withholds your shipments to reduce the overall number that you can receive in a month. That way, they make more profit off of [...]

Turkish Delight

Saturday, February 11th, 2006

Last night the wife and I went to a Turkish Restaurant for our anniversary. It was excellent. Not only was the food good, but the ambiance was excellent. On the way there, we got lost, of course. I didn’t realize it was as far away as it was. Then, when [...]

Know Your Imam: Part 4

Friday, February 10th, 2006

I was having trouble posting things yesterday. Hopefully, this will work now, inshaAllah.
Here is a link to Sayyidah Zaynab’s (peace be upon her) speech, given in Yazid’s court after his troops had forcibly taken the women from Imam Husayn’s camp to Damascus, without their covering (hijab).
Al-Majlisi (in Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. XI) has written [...]

Web Security

Thursday, February 9th, 2006

I am again battling an attacker on the web server. I’ve now concluded that, in almost every case, the attacker has entered from OneUmmah.net So, for the time being, that site is completely offline and locked out, even from its own users. That means that Muslim Writers Society is also down for [...]