Guardian Unlimited Books | Review | Review: Preemption by Alan M Dershowitz

Louise Christian is horrified by US lawyer Alan M Dershowitz’s book on reshaping international law, Preemption

Guardian Unlimited Books | By genre | A kind of magic

Although Walter de la Mare’s gothic whimsy and goblin language was at odds with the realism of his contemporaries, Ezra Pound and TS Eliot, he became one of the nation’s best-loved poets and storytellers. James Campbell looks back at his life and work on the 50th anniversary of his death

MoorishGirl: Third Time’s The Charm for Zadie Smith: On Beauty wins Orange Prize

As has been widely reported, this year’s Orange Prize was awarded to Zadie Smith for her novel On Beauty. The chair of the judges praised the book for its “extraordinary characterisation” and “seemingly effortless plotting.”

John Updike’s ‘Terrorist’ Imagines a Homegrown Threat to Homeland Security - New York Times

John Updike writing about terrorism? The bard of the middle-class mundane, the chronicler of suburban adultery and angst, tackling Islamic radicalism and the call to jihad?

What Is the Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years? - New York Times

Early this year, the Book Review’s editor, Sam Tanenhaus, sent out a short letter to a couple of hundred prominent writers, critics, editors and other literary sages, asking them to please identify “the single best work of American fiction published in the last 25 years.”

Fair use strengthened in court decision

The Second Circuit Appeals Court has just handed down an interesting copyright ruling
that furthers cements certain fair uses of copyrighted images. The
case, Bill Graham Archives (BGA) v. Dorling Kindersley (DK), centers on
the use of seven Grateful Dead concert poster reproductions used in a
coffee table book on the band published by DK. The facts of the case
were clear: DK used the seven images without a license after it could
not come to terms with BGA, and BGA took the firm to court, demanding
an injunciton and the destruction of all unsold copies of the book.

Imam Busiri wrote in his Hamziyya, addressing the Best of Creation, our Beloved Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him):

Save me! Save me! For my heart has become

Bereft of understanding from its sinfulness

I am holding on to my love of you,

It is the rope those seeking intercession hold on to.

Allah surely won’t let harm befall me if

It is you that I indeed turn to.

Ya Rasul Allah!

(Allah bless him and give him peace)

Technorati : fiqh, islam, knowledge, shariah

al-Sayyid al-Shaykh Muhammad al-Ya’qoubi’s Words in Remembrance of His Deceased Wife

Reason: What Good Are the Arts?: A brilliant case for literature by Nick Gillespie

As the nation’s lit departments go begging for students, they would do well to consult John Carey’s brilliant, funny, and insightful What Good Are the Arts? (Oxford University Press), which makes a compelling and persuasive case that creative expression—especially the written word—is central to a rich and thoughtful life.

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.

copenhagen interpretation: a minor on tradition and modernity

The question of tradition and its place in this “modern world” is one that vexes a minor number of Muslims in a major way. Not only in the West. But it is here, in the West, that the battle seems to rage at its fiercest. Especially since each of us is taught to believe that all tradition is evil, backward, oppressive: that success lies in ditching the “dead weight” of tradition whether by means of Protestant reform, Marxist revision, or fundamentalist recreation. Merely coming to grips with tradition and applying it seems far too dull. It is as if staircases, built pretty much the same old way for ages, have become an object of undergraduate philosophical debate.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Stuff the kids

It bombards them with adverts, seduces them with merchandise - and then fills them with additives. In an exclusive extract from his explosive new book, Eric Schlosser reveals how the fast-food industry exploits its key audience - the very young

The Value of Knowledge

Introduction

We must value
‘ilm

An Incident

Advice of a Saint

The
Method of Appreciating Knowledge

From the Cradle
to the Grave

On the Death-Bed

A True Student

Convey the
Acquired ‘ilm to others

A Jurist

Solution

MALFOOZAT

Rumi on Heaven, Hell, and Allah

“Without You
even Heaven is Hell

If You are near
Then Hell becomes Heaven

O Beloved!”

BEDTIME-STORY CLASSICS-Alice In Wonderland BACKGROUND

The Background & History of Alice In Wonderland…

kucing kembar di kampung orang - Kissing the walls of Layla

I pass by these walls, the walls of Layla

And I kiss this wall and that wall

It’s not Love of the houses that has taken my heart

But of the One who dwells in those houses

(from Loss of Meaning, Faraz Rabbani, Islamica Magazine No. 15/2006)

MoorishGirl: Sexy Sheikhs

Over at the Guardian, Brian Whitaker wonders about the bizarre and continuing appeal of “desert sheikh” romance novels:

Reports - The Arabic Language, the Root of all Languages

There are a lot of theories that talk about language and linguistics and the chronicle and synchronic linguistics. The Arabic Language has its own peculiarity and it has its own origin. What really bothers a lot of people is that it is on decline nowadays. [read more]

smorgas22: We drank in memory of the Beloved (Ibn al-Farid)

We drank down in memory of the Beloved a wine
with which we were drunk before creation of the vine
the moon brim full, its cup the sun a crescent
circles, and myriad stars shimmer forth when wine’s mixed

Audio Renditions:
(1) Sharibna `ala Dhikr al-Habib - Syed Furqan Qadri with Syed Owais Qadri
(2) Sharibna `ala Dhikr al-Habib - La ilaha illa Allah - Fez Singers

The Beatnik Sufis » Hand-shaking 101. Sufi Solutions to the Modern World

We just got back from wonderful evening with the Beatnik Sufis. We hung out, prayed, and talked for four hours or so. We came up with more solutions to the problem of shaking hands with the opposite sex, and now have quite a list of possible Sufi strategies for avoiding shaking the hand of an interviewer, senior colleague, or the nice neighbour who lives two doors away. We will share these strategies with you over the coming weeks, and then you can beatnik your way to avoiding the dreaded hand. It all started one morning with sidi Hasan…. [read more - outrageously funny]

copenhagen interpretation: Labbayk

And so the day nears
thou wondrous
bring back all I thought lost

not one day without prayer

I want for naught nor miss
thy kindness
thy humble warmth, my Yemeni
[read more: copenhagen interpretation: Labbayk]

copenhagen interpretation: Bird Talk

Greetings hoopoe, be the guide
truly, herald of every valley
you, your flight to far Sheba a feat sung
your speech a joy to Solomon
you, master of his secret
boast a crown
a double row of pale orange plumes
tipped black, like dawn rising
behind the passing storm’s down
fetter the devil and cage him
be Solomon’s confidant
that done you might join him on the carpet

Bravo, dove of Moses, rise!
coo in realization of the Divine [read more]

Traditionalist - Islam, Law, & Spirituality

When half a thousand years and more
Had passed, and men allegiance swore
To the Arab Prophet, beneath the tree,
My willing hand was still not free
From bonds of time and space to be
Between his hands in fealty.
[read more]

Zaytuna Institute & Academy

As the crisis that has emerged in the aftermath of the publication of the infamous cartoons that claim to depict the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of God upon him, escalates, we would do well by stepping back and attempting to analyze the situation as dispassionately as possible. By doing so, as Muslims, we can hopefully formulate a more productive and meaningful response, and avoid being exploited by either side in the ongoing conflict.

Saying this, I do not mean to imply that Muslims are not justifiably angry over the caricatures. However, I would agree with those who argue that responses that involve wild outbreaks of frenzied violence are inappropriate, and they only affirm what the cartoonist is trying to imply. Namely, that Islam is a religion that encourages obscurantist violence and terrorism. [read more]

copenhagen interpretation: The Gift

You don’t know how hard it’s been,

to find you a gift.

Nothing fit.

[read more]

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,

You may notice a few changes to www.SeekersDigest.org :

(1) Rotating banner images
(2) Added some links (like Akram’s Razor, Contemplating Chishti, Copenhagen Interpretation….)
(3) Announcement about the SunniPath Academy.
(4) Changed the font… and a few other little things.

copenhagen interpretation: Muraqaba - von Goethe

Foolish that each does in his case
His own particular opinion praise!
If Islam means submission to God,
In Islam we all live and pass away.
 Islam we all live and pass away.

The Fiqh of Marriage - Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari
AL-QURTUBA PRODUCTIONS

This compilation of 19 CDs, based on a 6-session course delivered by Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari and facilitated by the VOICES organisation (www.urvoices.com) at Loughborough University UK, is a laudable endeavour to reinforce the value of marriage in an individual’s life and its hugely positive impact on society. It is a comprehensive work of reference for all marriage related issues such as selecting a suitable spouse, engagements, marriage ceremonies, marriage contracts, forced, arranged and secret marriages, etiquettes of intimate relations, rights and responsibilities of the spouses, polygamy, pregnancy, upbringing of children and much more. All matters, however personal, are dealt with in a sensitive yet refreshingly open and frank manner.

The Fiqh of Marriage - Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari

MoorishGirl: Translating Arabic Can Be An Offense

In an article for the Los Angeles Times, NYU professor Zachary Lochman speaks up on behalf of Mohammed Yousry, who, because he worked as a translator for a lawyer assigned to a terrorism case, is now charged with conspiracy to abet terrorism and faces up to 20 years in jail.

TheStar.com - Starting a new chapter

`We have the best library system in the world. We can say that and we should say that’ Toronto has 99 public branches, and it’s working on its 100th. Joseph Hall checks them out

Mere Islam: Book-of-the-Month for February 2006

I’ve selected Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television as our Book-of-the-Month.

When I first glanced at it on the bookstore shelf I thought it said Four Arguments for the Elimination of Wahhabism, obviously due to subconscious wishful thinking on my part after reading some of the articles ([1][2][3]) in the new issue of Islamica Magazine, thus my initial reaction was to think, “Why only four?!?” However, after a closer reading the actual title became apparent, thus I realized that this was the book that I’ve heard both Sidi Hamza Yusuf and Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller recommend in some of their lessons and lectures.

NPR : Amateur Audio Books Catch Fire on the Web

Literature fans looking for something beyond Oprah Winfrey’s book club are discovering a new kind of club on the Internet — Web sites that offer audio versions of books, voiced by fans instead of professional voice actors.

* LibriVox — Volunteer Voices, Classic Books

‘It Was Worth It’: Editor Reflects on Denmark’s Cartoon Jihad - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

In Aarhus, Denmark, an editor says the societal debate unleashed by his paper’s controversial decision to publish political cartoons of the prophet Muhammad has justified his move. In the town, many residents are standing behind Jyllands-Posten.

Wondering how the Prophet might have responded to the cartoons.. - 360east | design, media, technology

In the Islam religion class in school I, as all children in Muslim world, have learned about the life of Prophet Mohammad. I would like to briefly recount three of the ones I remember… [read more]

The need for inter-cultural communication, restraint, and understanding is painfully evident….

copenhagen interpretation: The House of Sayyida Khadija

The House of Sayyida Khadija was rediscovered during the Haram extensions in 1989, then hurriedly covered over so as to obliterate any trace. This was the house where the Prophet Muhammad received some of his first revelations and it is also where his children Umm Kulthum, Ruqqaya, Fatima, Zaynab, Qasim and ‘Abdullah were born.

ISLAMICA publishes here exclusive images of the house of Sayyida Khadija and how it was found, excavated, studied and then buried. The House of Sayyida Khadija was located just outside Safa and Marwa and which now falls under the paved area. Above it, the Wahhabi hardliners have built public toilets.

Islam Online- News Section

The
managing editor of the daily France Soir has been sacked for
republishing blasphemous cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

“We
express our regrets to the Muslim community and all people who were
shocked by the publication” of the cartoons,” Egyptian-born
Raymond Lakah, the paper’s owner, said in a statement to Agence
France-Presse (AFP).

He
decided to “remove Jacques Lefranc as managing director of the
publication as a powerful sign of respect for the intimate beliefs and
convictions of every individual.”

Traditionalist - Islam, Law, & Spirituality » Love for Allah - Translation of Maktubat Faqir - Written by Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmad

Love for Allah is the English edition of the Shaykh’s famous book, “Ishq Ilahi.” The book discusses basic principles of our love for Allah based on the Quran, Sunnah, and the noble tradition of our great scholars. Of note are the dozens of poems translated from Arabic and Urdu, which highlight the concepts discussed. [read more]

IslamicaMagazine - CURRENT ISSUE

Embracing the Infidel: A Muslim Migrant on the Journey West. Behzad
Yaghmaian recounts the journey of an Afghan, whose personal family
tragedy compels him to leave Afghanistan in search of a better life.

Clearly the best Islamic magazine in English. Subscribe.

Poems by Rumi - The True Sufi

What makes the Sufi? Purity of heart;

Not the patched mantle and the lust perverse

Of those vile earth-bound men who steal his name.

He in all dregs discerns the essence pure:

In hardship ease, in tribulation joy.

The phantom sentries, who with batons drawn

Guard Beauty’s place-gate and curtained bower,

Give way before him, unafraid he passes,

And showing the King’s arrow, enters in.

R. A. Nicholson

‘Persian
Poems‘, an Anthology of verse translations
edited by A.J.Arberry, Everyman’s Library, 1972

Media and Journalism: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Will great newspapers survive? Hard to say. But there will always be a place, indeed a need, for great journalism.

Cover story: ‘The great divide’ by Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad | Prospect Magazine February 2006 issue 119

Cinema, literature and other aspects of western culture are increasingly open to Asian influence. Not so western philosophy, which remains almost entirely sealed off from eastern traditions. Why? Institutionalised parochialism on the part of western philosophers and a loss of nerve among Asian thinkers

copenhagen interpretation: Burda I - An eloquent new translation of the Burda, by Yusuf Zanella.

Is it your memory of tents near Dhi Salam that
draws tears wed to blood from your eyes –
the squall from Kazima,
lightning out of Idam’s umber?And eyes, you say, enough yet they water?
Heart, you say, sense yet it soars?
The lover thinks love is hid?
What, by tears and smoking heart? [read more]

Two Shaykh Diya’ Renditions
At DeenPort, the Mawlid Hajji Imran contains a lively rendition (with duff) of the first two chapters of the Burda by Shaykh Diya’. Shaykh Diya’ also has a slow and very passionate rendition of these first two chapters of the Burda.

Tunisian and Maghribi and Yemeni Renditions
A Tunisian rendition of the Burda is also available at DeenPort (though curiously named “Borda”). There is also a full rendition of the Burda by a Maghribi group. This rendition is highly praised by Ustadh Tirmidhi. Another Maghribi rendition, by Moulay Touhami al-Harraq, is also available. The DeenPort News people are ga-ga over it. The Ahbab al-Mustafa group (from Hadhramawt, Yemen) have a full rendition of the Burda, too:

Burda (Ahbab al-Mustafa) - Parts: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Indian Renditions
The Altaf Brothers (Pakistan) have an Indian-style rendition of the Burda, with hadra-style background dhikr. Sayyid Furqan Qadri has lively Indo-Pak rendition of the Burda, also with hadra-style background. Qari Waheed Za