Boudders’ Worlds Fastest Growing City slideshow on Flickr

In many areas, it is not easy to see Dubai’s sky without at least one crane in your view; Industry experts cautiously estimate that 15 to 25 per cent of the world’s cranes are in Dubai. Some US$ 90 BILLION are on-going in Dubai alone.

Makli Tombs (4×4 Offroaders Club Karachi)

This is one of the most visually stunning archaelogical sites in Pakistan. Covering 15-1/2 sqaure kilometers, and said to contain over one million tombs, it is considered to be the world’s largest necropolis. The tombs and mausoleums are seen as the most substantial remains of Sind’s greatness between the 14th and 18th centuries, with many belonging to kings, queens, saints, governors, military commanders, philophers and poets.

Makli Tombs (4×4 Offroaders Club Karachi)

BBC NEWS | Middle East | The word in contemporary Islamic art

A new exhibition at the British Museum in London looks at contemporary art of the Islamic World.

Word into Art - Artists of the Modern Middle East, focuses on the way artists are experimenting with different approaches to Arabic script.

BBC News | In pictures | Three Gorges Dam | Introduction

China’s controversial Three Gorges Dam project hits a significant milestone on Saturday, when it is expected to reach its final height of 185m (607 feet).

Akram’s Razor - Svend White’s blog on Islam, Muslims & America: Yoginder Sikand: ‘Progressive Islam’ in Pakistan

Some interesting observations about the tragic irrelevance of secularized Pakistani intellectuals and the tools available for socially progressive activism within Pakistan’s indigenous Sufi tradition.

copenhagen interpretation: Shame of the House of Saud: Shadows over Mecca

Previously unseen photographs reveal how religious zealots obsessed with idolatory have colluded with developers to destroy Islam’s diverse heritage.

Photo Gallery: Getting to Europe at all Costs - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

Visible Earth: The Blue Marble

This spectacular “blue marble” image is the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date. Using a collection of satellite-based observations, scientists and visualizers stitched together months of observations of the land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color mosaic of every square kilometer (.386 square mile) of our planet. These images are freely available to educators, scientists, museums, and the public. This record includes preview images and links to full resolution versions up to 21,600 pixels across.

copenhagen interpretation: pattern recognition

The abstract is made concrete by precise definition. This, the case with terms, is also true of art: form, rhythm and pattern.

The Other Side: The Mosque: An Inside Look

The new King Hussein Mosque is very beautiful indeed…

See more…

Amman: Trip to Wadi Rum and Aqaba I-X

Great pictures and interesting narrative… [read/see more]

• Trip to Wadi Rum and Aqaba II
• Trip to Wadi Rum and Aqaba III
• Trip to Wadi Rum and Aqaba IV
• Trip to Wadi Rum and Aqaba V
• Trip to Wadi Rum and Aqaba VI
• Trip to Wadi Rum and Aqaba VII
• Trip to Wadi Rum and Aqaba VIII
• Trip to Wadi Rum and Aqaba IX
• Trip to Wadi Rum and Aqaba X

Al-Tarf: Burial site of Nabi Harun

[more images]

Marginal Revolution: Monsters

TIME: Life in the Googleplex Photo Essay

BBC NEWS | Middle East | New Abu Ghraib images broadcast

An Australian TV channel has broadcast previously unpublished images showing apparent US abuse of prisoners in Iraq’s Abu Ghraib jail in 2003.

la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah

[I live on the ground floor of that house]
Source:
http://travel-light-travel-far.blogspot.com/2006/02/snow-with-pictures.html

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Worshippers die in Pakistan blast

At least 27 people have been killed in a suspected suicide bomb attack and in subsequent violence at a religious procession in north-west Pakistan.

The explosion tore through a crowd of Shia Muslims marking the Ashura festival in the town of Hangu, sparking rioting among pilgrims.

We have accepted for centuries the reality that we have deep and clear differences with our Shia brethren–differences that can’t be denied.

However, the sort of blind sectarianism, hatred, and aggression that has become increasingly common is completely against the way of the Sunna of the Beloved Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him, his family, companions, and all followers).

A simple test for whether something is acceptable in Islam: Would the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) have done this? Would he have accepted this kind of conduct?

With this, we can’t forget that the Shia are our Muslim brethren. They are people who have uttered the Shahada; people who believe in the Qur’an and in the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) made it clear that, “Everything of the believer is haram for another believer: their blood, their money; and their honor.”

Ya Allah.

Writing, Clear and Simple - Notebook - Proof-read everything!

You have to go back and re-read everything you write, or you run the risk of ending up with something like this:

India Uncut Namak Mandi - A Peshawar Market - India Uncut

When in Peshawar, have the charsi tikka at the Namak Mandi. Nyo, nyo, nyo, the charsi tikka doesn’t actually have any charas in it, but is called that because its pioneer here was a charsi. And no namak (salt) seems to be sold on its own in Namak Mandi, which was once called Mewa Mandi but got itself a name-change when namak began to outsell mewas. Today, however, the place is more famous for its meat…. [read more]

Tumba Ibn Mashish.jpg (JPEG Image, 700×487 pixels)

(Click to enlarge)

Ibn Mashish was the spiritual guide of Abu’l Hasan al-Shadhili.

Sidi Abu’l Hasan al-Shadhili said:

My beloved [namely, Ibn Mashish] counselled me,

Abu’l Hasan: Don’t take a single step except where you expect Allah’s reward. Don’t sit except where you’re safe from Allah’s disobedience. Don’t keep the company of other than one who assists you in obedience of Allah. Don’t choose as an intimate companion other than one who increases you in certainty (yaqain)–and how few they are!

First Pakistani Motorcycle/Scooter - Misc - 4×4 Offroaders Club Karachi

A view of the first motorcycle/scooter built in Pakistan. Built by Hamid Omar, inspired by plans from Popular Mechanics.

simplehuman | blog: 3-D Calendar

It’s mid-January - did you get a new calendar yet?  Well, look no further!  We’ve found a clever idea for a DIY calendar you can make with paper, glue and scissors: the dodecahedral calendar.  Cute and compact, the calendar features one month of the year on each of its 12 faces.  Follow the steps below for a geometric calendar of your own. [read on…]

Found via: Life Hacker

India Uncut - Karachi - Everyday and Exotic

… to soak in a city, I think one must eschew the exotic and revel in the everyday (though admittedly that means different things to different people, but you get what I mean). A travel writer who does not do that can mislead his readers about what a city is really like. For example, I could title the picture below “Karachi Streets” and you’d think Karachi was this quaint city full of charming vehicles like this one. But the city roads are strikingly modern, with the latest cars and SUVs and suchlike. A typical picture like that may not interest you, though. [more]

Yahoo! Entertainment Photo Gallery - Michael Jackon, in niqab and abaya, with fully-veiled small child

Michael Jackson, center, wearing a
traditional Arabic women’s veil and all-covering gown called an abaya,
holds the hand of one of his children, also veiled, as they walk toward
his car on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2006, behind a Manama, Bahrain, shopping
mall. Jackson is a reclusive resident of the Gulf island country since
being cleared of child molestation charges.

No, I don’t walk around like that.

The Tarim Documentation Project

The Hadhramaut Valley of eastern Yemen, where Tarim is located, has been linked to the Indian Ocean Basin for most of its history through dense social and economic networks.

[excellent site, with a lot of visual resources]

BBC NEWS | In pictures | Kabul winters | Dark nights

The Afghan capital was very badly hit by the civil war and its infrastructure damaged.
…
Much of the city is still without electricity.

‘Maimonides,’ by Sherwin B. Nuland - The New York Times Book Review - New York Times

MAIMONIDES lived from about 1135 to 1204, first in cities in Spain, then in Morocco and Palestine, and finally in Egypt, where he eventually became the leader of the Egyptian Jewish community and its principal teacher. As Jewry’s pre-eminent legal authority and philosopher, he was humane and tough-minded, a comfort to Jews and a chastiser of heresy.

Sherwin B. Nuland’s concise account of Maimonides endeavors to find
“the common ground on which Maimonides can walk together with a man or
woman of today.” …. [read more]

India Uncut - A Walk at Night in Lahore

Mario and I went for a walk through Lahore, aiming to end up at one of the Food Streets.

[more]

Amman - Climbing a Minaret - Part One

“One morning Ihsan, Rizwan and I [Amman blog author–not Faraz…..] got the idea of trying to climb the minaret in our neighborhood mosque to get a view of the sunrise over Amman. We found the muezzin after the morning prayer and asked him if he would let us go up. He gave us permission, unlocked the door, and told us to be very careful….”

Climbing a Minaret - Part Two - On top
Climbing a Minaret - Part Three - The view
Climbing a Minaret - Part Four - Sunrise

copenhagen interpretation: Klee, Islam and the Abstract

copenhagen interpretation: Early Soviet Art and Islam

[Faraz notes: they must have nutritious food in Copenhagen… these interpreters are smart folk]

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Saudi offer to fix Delhi mosque

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has offered to pay to repair India’s largest mosque, Delhi’s historic Jama Masjid (Grand Mosque).

Imam Busiri says in his beautiful Qasida Muhammadiyya:

He was accustomed to good works and worship and
Seclusion when still young–and such are the virtuous

And if guidance fills a heart
Limbs awaken and hasten to worship.

May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon His Messenger Muhammad, his folk, companions, and followers.

Muslim Cultures - Image - Egypt: Prayer on the Nile

A Rihla to the City of the Beloved: Wird of Imam Nawawi, recited by Shaykh Abdallah al-Kadi in Makkah during the Rihla

A beautiful recording of the Wird of Imam Nawawi by our esteemed Shaykh Abdallah al-Kadi was made in Makkah, during the Rihla in July 2005.

Please remember those who facilitated this effort in your duas.

Click here to download the recording (13 mb), which includes:

• Introduction
• Biography of Shaykh Abdallah al-Kadi
• Introduction in English by Shaykh Abdallah on the wird of Imam Nawawi
• Recitation of the wird of Imam Nawawi by Shaykh Abdallah
• Arabic commentary by Shaykh Abdallah

Very beautiful. The introduction is by Sidi Abdul-Rehman Malik. Someone from Chicago confused me for him at the mosque here in Kharabsheh (Amman) a few nights ago.

Mosque in the middle of the desert, in Taftan Plantak 2005, 4×4 Offroaders Club Karachi

Technorati Tags: images, pakistan, mosque, taftan

Unembedded An unflinching look at the human faces of war-ravaged Iraq Photo Essay byGhaith Abdul-Ahad, Kael Alford, Thorne Anderson, Rita Leistner Text By Phillip Robertson

Jabalí Fotolog :: Memoria Gráfica de Adriano Morán: al Este

The door to the East…. 

360×180° Fotoğraflar

 Very beautiful, indeed…

Sabri Hakim: Picture I took of a "Street Fight", Al-Natheef, Jordan

Into the Wind: Pigeons, and Jabal Amman

The Flat Earth Society — Home

 Serious stuff. (?)

!!! 

Bataranzi: New pics from Jordan

Indus River Expedition 1978 (4×4 Offroaders Club Karachi) This is the first succesfully completed boat journey down the River Indus from Amb to Karachi. The total trip covered 3000km, at an average of a 100km per day. The journey took 30 days, it was done in November/December of 1978. The team members were Hamid Omar, Naem Omar and KM Ali….

On the Menu: Food Blogs from Southeast Asia!

Take one former graphic designer, a retired corporate banking and management consultant, a civil servant, a teacher, an amateur photographer, an academic and a freelance journalist. Add generous dollops of blogging software, several digital cameras, a sprinkling of enthusiastic assistants/partners and a few web-hosting accounts. Stir them together and you get some of the best writing about Southeast Asian food this side of the printed page.