Immunity only for Allah Beautiful Artical from Javed Chudrey

Arfa passed away in Lahore CMH hospital Very Bad News

Arfa Karim, the world's youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP), lost the battle of life after remaining admitted here at Combined Military Hospital on Saturday night

Arifa Karim remained in intensive care at Combined Military Hospital (CMH) after suffering an epileptic seizure and cardiac arrest a few weeks ago. After battling for life for 26 days, one of Pakistan's brightest brains left this world for good.

Born in 1995, Arfa Karim got the honor of World’s Youngest Microsoft Certified Professional when she was only 9 years old in 2004. Bill Gates, the Chairman of Microsoft, invited Arfa to visit the Microsoft Headquarters in the USA in the age of 10 only.

Later, in August 2005, Arfa was also honored by the Pakistan Government for the Fatima Jinnah Gold Medal in the field of Science and Technology which she received from then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. She was also honored with Salaam Pakistan Youth Award in 2005 which has been set up by Pakistan’s only Nobel laureate Dr Abdul Salam. Moreover, Arfa has won the Presidential Award for Pride of Performance.


Her funeral prayers will be offered on Sunday at 10 AM in Cantt area.

Fun, creative,islamic style

“Kesmen then decided to print the slogan “I Love My Prophet” on a T-shirt. This first T-shirt is still the best selling item. Art and modern fashion, as a means to overcome religious and ethnic differences, is our brand’s mission,” explains Khojah.Before founding Styleislam, an online Islamic-themed clothing label, in Germany three years ago, Kesmen was the CEO of Manatwork, an advertising agency which he established in 1998. Kesmen wanted to challenge the stereotypes of Islam that were being circulated, so he designed hip street wear along with accessories adorned with Islamic messages. These slogans introduced people to the Muslim faith
“Our customers, who are wearing our clothes printed with our slogans, bring Islam onto the streets. The Islamic slogans trigger reactions and conversations, which is a form of dawah/public relations for Islam. Currently, Styleislam is planning an art exhibition revolving around contemporary street art in Europe,” says Khojah.An increasing number of women acknowledge that wearing a veil does not mean giving up fashion and style. Islamic dress is not about giving up elegance. Presently, Styleislam only has a small selection of Islamic fashion but one can only hope it will feature a larger variety in the near future.Amanda Rinaldi, a contributor to www.associatedcontent.com, acknowledges that she was “stunned and equally impressed” by the openness of the site, especially since she is neither from the Middle East nor Muslim. “In fact, I felt very welcomed and drawn into a fascinating culture with which I was not too familiar. Unlike the many online retail sites, Styleislam stands out, providing an eye-popping, grunge, vintage visual mixed with Middle Eastern artwork.”“We only select high-quality products. We like to offer multifunctional items such as Q-Bla Bag, a versatile bag made entirely of recycled material. Its decorative flap can be used as a prayer rug,” explains Khojah, who was previously an international goalkeeper for the Saudi Arabian national team.

Faceb00k and Twitter Islam?

I found pages titled “Tweeting during church services gets blessing of pastors” (an article in the Houston Chronicle two years ago) and “Does God Tweet?”, an online forum organized by the Washington Post two years ago, where 16 contributors presented their thoughts on whether a relationship with God can be established through Twitter. Can prayer be reduced to a 140-character statement? Can we no longer free our minds, quiet our inner selves, focus on our spiritual dimension, and establish a meaningful religious state of being?

Facebook poses another set of challenges and concerns for Muslims. First and foremost is the freedom of speech that either can be much greater than many Muslims are accustomed to (in their countries) or can be abused to the point of becoming hate speech. There have already been a number of instances where a page was set up to publicly and crudely “criticize” Islam, and last month an Egyptian was jailed for “insulting Islam” on Facebook.

In reaction to this, some Muslims have either waged Facebook-boycott campaigns or just went ahead and created Muslim social networks, e.g. Muslimsocial.com, Muxlim.com, or Naseeb.com.

Other concerns that many Muslims have with Facebook relate to the loss of “virtual modesty,” of “correct behavior” and of privacy. The concern over “modesty” refers to images that can be deemed indecent. “Correct behavior” decries the loss of inhibition that people exhibit online, often in stark contrast to their everyday personalities, and the hypocrisy of voicing views online that are quite different from one’s beliefs and practices in “real life”. And the issue of privacy online is well known.
Finally, there is the huge problem of time waste in social-networking activity. Two years ago, a study was conducted among evangelical Christian college students; these were found to spend an average of 18.6 hours a week on social media, half of that on Facebook. Interestingly, 54 percent of these religious students reported that “they were neglecting important areas in their life due to spending too much time [on that activity].” On the other hand, 43 percent of the students stated that this helped alleviate stress in their lives, and 35 percent reported that their social relationships were improved by that. The authors of the study warned against the negative impact that this time waste will have on the religious activities (prayer, Bible study, attending services, serving others, etc.) of the users of social media.
The most important effect that was highlighted is that the new media are allowing a larger exposure of ideas regarding Islam and giving people new freedoms to discover or express thoughts that have often been hidden from view. Muslims are becoming more aware of the diversity within their tradition and can now shape their opinions in a more informed way. This democratization of the Islamic opinions, however, has turned into a “fragmentation,” a plethora of views with no core or reference frame. Moreover, a “ghettoization of views” has occurred (as has been observed with other obscure views or groups): liked-minded people linking up and reinforcing each other’s views.
However, one must be careful not to give these new tools more credit or power than they actually have. After all, only a small fraction (10 to 15 percent) of Muslims worldwide has access to the internet, according to the 2011 Global Information Technology Report. Moreover, the internet and the new media, require a certain level of education and sophistication. Thus, the impact that the new media are having on Muslims’ views and understanding of their religion is — for now — largely confined to the well-educated segments of society.

Eid ul-Adha 2011/1432

From all corners of the globe, Muslims from different cultures and backgrounds will celebrate the joyous occasion of Eid ul-Adha 2011/1432 with family and friends in the coming days.AlMuslim.com.au would like you to help us create a photographic memory of the day by sending us photos of how you celebrated your Eid.Take pics at Eid prayers, celebrating with your family, cute kids..whatever! Whether your a professional photographer, hobbyist or just a happy snapper who uses their phone camera – it does not matter.

Obama steps up pressure on Iran over 'plot'

Barack Obama, the US president, has said there is no doubt members of the Iranian government knew of an alleged plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington and that they must be held accountable for the "reckless behaviour".Obama said on Thursday that one of the suspects was an individual of Iranian-American descent and had "direct links, was paid by, and was directed by individuals in the Iranian government"."Our first step is to make sure that we prosecute those individuals who have been named in the indictment," he said.

But the US Treasury said more action, if it had international support, could further isolate the institution.

The state department has said that the US has had "direct contact" with the Iranian government about the allegations.

"We have had direct contact with Iran on this issue," Victoria Nuland, the state department spokeswoman, told a news briefing on Thursday, declining to give further details.

"We are not prepared at the moment to go any further on the question of who spoke to whom, and where, but just to confirm that we have had direct contact with Iran."

'Spreading Iranophobia'

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, said on Thursday that the West was trying but failing to instill "Iranophobia", in remarks that appeared to be prompted by, but did not directly address, the US allegations.

Saudi Arabia said it was weighing its response to the alleged plot that has increased tensions between OPEC's two top oil producers.

"We hold them [Iran] accountable for any action they take against us," Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, said in Vienna.

"Any action they take against us will have a measured response from Saudi Arabia."

The White House maintains Iranian plotters hired a would-be assassin in Mexico.

Two men, including one who the US says was a member of Iran's Quds Force special foreign actions unit, were charged in a New York federal court on Wednesday with conspiring to kill the Saudi ambassador to the US, Abel al-Jubeir, at a Washington restaurant.

american economic recovery 'close to faltering'

The chairman of the US Federal Reserve has urged congress against implementing spending cuts that could cause more financial turmoil, saying the country's economic recovery is "close to faltering".Ben Bernanke made the appeal in testimony to US legislators in Washington on Tuesday, painting a bleak picture of the economic outlook for the US and the world.Speaking to members of a joint economic committee, Bernanke said recent indicators point to "the likelihood of more sluggish job growth in the period ahead".He called for a credible plan to cut long-term deficits, but said legislators should "avoid fiscal actions that could impede the ongoing economic recovery".

"There is evident need to improve the process for making long-term budget decisions, to create greater predictability and clarity, while avoiding disruptions to the financial markets and the economy," he said.

Poor job growth

Bernanke added that the economy was growing more slowly than the Federal Reserve, the US central bank, had expected, with poor job growth marking the biggest factor depressing consumer confidence.

"We need to make sure that the recovery continues and doesn't drop back and that the unemployment rate continues to fall downward."

But he made clear that the Federal Reserve stood ready to ease monetary conditions further following the launch of a new stimulus measure in September.

Trimming the deficit

A committee of US legislators is currently considering measures to trim the US federal deficit. But Republicans and Democrats appear far from an agreement, particularly on the need for higher taxes ahead of the upcoming 2012 presidential election.

Bernanke's testimony was the firmest indication yet that the Federal Reserve may take further steps to prevent a weakening US economy from stumbling back into recession. Financial analysts increasingly have warned that economic contraction is a considerable risk.

His comments also came amid heightened concern that Europe's debt crisis could spill over to the continent's banks and beyond.

"It is difficult to judge how much these financial strains have affected US economic activity thus far, but there seems little doubt that they have hurt household and business confidence, and that they pose ongoing risks to growth," Bernanke said.