Logging life

So my medical test results came back today, I kind of expected that it is going to be a bad news but still it is depressing looking at. I feel fine and I am not visibly unhealthy. But I can feel that I am unfit, I can walk for miles but can not run more than few minutes. I am not overweight and don’t have terrible eating habits. I avoid junk food and do not overeat. So, why did I expect this bad news? My life, unfortunately, revolves mostly around the computers. First work that pays money and second work that gives me job satisfaction, both requires that I am close to computers and staring at the computer screens. Between these two, I don’t have much time to do physical exercise and I would say that the physical and mental stress is taking its toll and it shows up in my medical test results. Modern communication tools have made it possible for us to stretch ourselves and do more than our physical limitations. So thanks to internet, I can do my job here and also supervise bunch of peopl...

In Quranic verses Jesus is always referred as son of Mariyam (Isa ibn Mariyam). This to make it clear that Jesus is a prophet and he is not to be considered son of God. In Surah Ikhlaas Allah makes it clear that “He neither begets nor is born.” Following verses of Surah Mariyam makes it clear that Allah is angry on this false charge that God has a son. Surah:19.Maryam. 88. And they say, "The Most Merciful has taken [for Himself] a son." 89. You have done an atrocious thing. 90. The heavens almost rupture therefrom and the earth splits open and the mountains collapse in devastation 91. That they attribute to the Most Merciful a son. 92. And it is not appropriate for the Most Merciful that He should take a son. The Meaning of the Quran by Saheeh International. V9.3

We have been working on this since the end of Ramadan. Three of us, who were part of the Election Committee of our local masjid spent lot of time and brain cells devising ways of conducting the election that will elect the people to run the masjid for 2009. There were some last minute scares with people questioning the process of absentee ballots and a woman being a candidate for the post of treasurer. We met all challenges head on by hearing the complaints and deliberating over it. Election went successful because we kept the process transparent from the beginning and listened carefully to all questions and concerns. Voting results followed no pattern that will suggest that it was voting on ethnic lines or there were some other grouping. It seems people voted for each position independently and looking at the merit of the candidate. So those who say democracy is not possible among Muslims look at this example and those Muslims who don’t like elections bring me a better system.

Surah Mariyam is the 19th surah of the Quran. After listing some of the major prophets in verses just prior to this, Allah contrasts the prophets by people who followed them who will pursue their desire and neglect the prayers. It is not clear if it happened in the past or will happen in the future. 59. But there came after them successors who neglected prayer and pursued desires; so they are going to meet evil - 60. Except those who repent, believe and do righteousness; for those will enter Paradise and will not be wronged at all. The Meaning of the Quran by Saheeh International. V9.3

There seems to be some confusion about the words "Rasul" and "Nabi" as used in Quran. According to Shafi Usmani in Ma'arful Quran (vol. 6, p. 42), Rasul is one who brings a new shariat to his nation. Nabi, on the other hand may or may not have a new shariat but they are "sahib-e-wahi" which means they get divine revelations. So Rasul can be translated as messenger and nabi as prophet. More discussions on these two terms here: http://wahiduddin.net/words/nabi_rasul.htm

Eid was celebrated on Monday Dec. 8th in the US and in India it was on Tuesday. Here are some picture of the Eid day.

Medieval India 1 : Researches in the History of INdia 1200-1750 Edited by Irfan Habib History should not be study of Kings and their battles for lands and wealth. History of Medieval India has been reduced to history of Sultans and Mughals and their battles. I am always interested in what ordinary people were doing at that time, what were their aspirations and how they lived during that time. While we appreciated Mughal administrative system that even British adopted more or less. Who were the people who came up with this system, and how it evolved? What about science and technology during those times that was required to support this system? This book provides some answers and looking at the references cites, it seems that some work has been done in this area but general public is unaware of it. Table of Contents: Formation of the Sultanate Ruling Class of the Thirteenth Centry: Irfan Habib Social Mobility in the Delhi Sultanate: Iqtidar Husain Siddiqui Irrigating Haryana: The Pre-Mod...

Hindi translation of an op-ed that I wrote for Mint on Taslima Nasrin issue in Nov. 2007. I found it online: तुष्टीकरण मुस्लिम अल्पमत का या बहुमत का? तसलीमा नसरीन का नंदीग्राम से कोई लेनादेना नहीं है, लेकिन कुछ बेतुकी वजहों से उन्हें कई महीनों से नंदीग्राम में चल रहे विरोध की काट के लिए कोलकाता से बाहर भेज दिया गया। आज़ादी के बाद से ही भारत में चल रही तुष्टीकरण की राजनीति का यह एक ताज़ा उदाहरण है। तसलीमा को बाहर भेजकर पश्चिम बंगाल की सरकार ने लगता है कि मुसलमानों की मांगों के आगे ‘घुटने टेक’ दिए, लेकिन उसने एक ऐसे मसले पर कार्रवाई करने का फैसला किया जिसकी कोई सामाजिक-आर्थिक प्रासंगिकता मुसलमानों के बहुमत के लिए नहीं है। उसका यह कदम औसत मुसलमान से कहीं ज्यादा मुस्लिम-विरोधी पार्टियों को खुश करता है। यह उन मुसलमान नेताओं और संगठनों को भी खुश कर सकता है, जो अपने निहित राजनीतिक मकसद के लिए तसलीमा के खिलाफ अभियान चला रहे हैं। ये मुस्लिम नेता अब अपनी जीत का दावा कर सकते हैं और हो सकता है कि वे अब इसी तरह के किसी और सांकेतिक मु्द्दे की तलाश में जुट गए हों। कोलकाता में जो हिंसा तसलीमा नसरीन को...

Since time immemorial Indians have traded with the known western civilization of its time. The trade in material was two ways but it seems India has given a lot to the world in what one may call intellectual property but has not taken much in return. Since the control of India by the British, the trend has reversed we not only lagged behind in our export of products we also imported heavily in the realm of ideas and philosophies. The modern India that we see today owes a lot to the western civilization. The import of Western products, entertainment, and ideas into India continues unabated. It is not that country should live in isolation and not learn from the practices of any country whether in the east of India or the west. But as a popular Urdu saying goes – ‘naql ke liye bhi aql chaahiye.’ Think Tanks as a concept emerged in the western world after the Second World War. It has grown really popular in recent years all over the world and India has also seen a boost in the number of...

In India whether triple talaq or word "talaq" said in one sitting results in a divorce or not has been a matter of debate for too long. To find out the truth about triple talaq and a statement by Taslima Nasrin that quran says that earth revolves around the sun encouraged me to read quran with translation. On and off, I have been doing that and I have consumed lot of translations and tafseer in Urdu and English. I have been reading Ma'ariful Quran for many years now. Ma'ariful Qur'an is an eight volume tafseer of Quran written by Late Mufti-e-Azam of Pakistan Mufti Muhammad Shafi. He is the father of Mufti Taqi Usmani. I like this tafseer because it is very comprehensive and brings opinions of other ulema as well. Today, I finally finished volume 5 and started the sixth volume which started with Surah Mariam. The translation of quran in this tafseer is the one done by Shaikhul Hind Maulana Mahmoodul Hasan.