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Tuesday, February 27, 2007

{Quick Reflections 16} Computer Games

Posted by Badeea at 10:44 AM
The following reflection was illustrated and written so vivedly by a close friend.
Enjoy. Smile


Most of us have tried computer games at one point of our lives, or at least know how these things work. Each game is divided into levels, each level having its tools, playing strategy, and challenge. Once you succeed in meeting the challenge and reaching your target, you are moved up to the next level, which is naturally harder than the one preceding it. In each level, you will have a different kind of obstacles or an enemy trying to defeat you. You may take some time to learn about the new tools and the strategy needed, you may lose and try again, until you make it and climb up one more level, and so on. With every level, you gain more skills, and know more tricks that would help you in the coming one. Until you finish all the levels, one by one, and climb up to the end of the game, only then you are announced victorious.


Our lives in this world of ours are so similar to this gaming zone. "Does mankind reckon that they will be left to say, "We believe" and will not be tempted?, And indeed We already tempted the ones that were even before them, so indeed Allah definitely knows the ones who (act) sincerely, and indeed Allah definitely knows the liars. (TMQ: Al-"Ankaboot: 29: 2-3) Believers are constantly being tested; each test having its tools and its strategy. You can find yourself bewildered not knowing where to go, until ALLAAH (AWJ) directs you to your tools. Each trial has a goal at the end; to take you one level higher, to bring you one step closer to Allah's contentment. Your trials, no matter how different they may seem, no matter how long or short, no matter how frequent, no matter how strange their tools are, were chosen to you by your LORD ( SWT) to see whether you will be thankful, patient, and worthy, or not.


Once you pass a trial successfully, do not expect that your test is over. You were being prepared to a more solemn one; the next level is yet to start. Your chance to climb up one more step towards your LORD ( TWT) is being given to you. Be ready for your next level, aim high, and keep your eyes focused on your ultimate goal. Do not allow your enemy to distract you or defeat you. Try and err, until you succeed in your current level, until you master it and be ready for the coming one with more skills and more tricks. Your life will go on, from one trial to the other, climbing up and up again, until you reach the ultimate top, Jannah, only then you are announced victorious.


"Or (even) did you reckon that you would enter the Garden and Allah does not as yet know (i.e., has not yet proved, tested) who of you have striven, and that He may know the patient?" (TMQ: Aal "Imraan: 3: 142)


Now it is really strange how we very eagerly try our best at computer games and ask for more challenges and yearn for higher levels after being so content at our achievment at one level. We are that enthusiastic when the challenge is virtual and success, achievement and ascent are false. On the other hand in real life when the challenge is realistic and the success, achievement and ascent are true and eternal while failure is very deterimental and jeopordizes our true life indefinitely, we give up easily and sometimes even don't care to take the challenge!

May ALLAAH (SWT) help us all with our struggles and our trials. May our journey be one of successful level, and may we all reach our ultimate goal.

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2009 THEME: Islam in the West and Our Children (Discussion & Resources regularly updated)

There is increasing concern that second and third generation Muslims in the West are mostly no longer Muslims so they actually end up adding to the Christian or Atheist population of the West, albeit racially from a non-Western origin. Accordingly, the ratios mentioned in the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU) would be correct in regards to race or ethnicity but not necessarily to religion.

It is a grave danger facing our children and grand children from a real life stand point as statistically only 1/5 of the second generation stay really Muslims when they grow up and are independent and almost non from the third generation are Muslims. And that is why the Western authorities are still permitting the immigration of Muslims inspite of the figures provided in the above video. They know that on the long term the descendants of Muslims in the West leave Islam because their parents raised them up with an Eastern mentality in a Western society instead of an Islamic mentality that encompasses all cultures.

You can see more about that by Jeffrey Lang; an ex-atheist American Mathematics University Professor who reverted to Islam in 1982. He has also written 3 books that I highly recommend; "Struggling to Surrender", "Even Angels Ask" and "Losing my Religion; A Call for Help".
Now I will leave you to enjoy 2 short excerpts from one of his lectures followed by links to his most important full presentation regarding our children.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmqN75NI0xg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT1KGyxBXC0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMANKaX8khw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgivQJKtQME
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga2rIUWcPPs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYb2v3Yx1LY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhMN_TZavW0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHeM0H0EMAw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD-YefJH9x0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2eVOKjOqHE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBQp7aZjxjc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4_xxQVGU44

Here is a solution that is yet to be implemented.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geRM4AlFBOU&NR=1

Raising children here is not an easy task ofcourse but if we do it the right way they will be true Muslims in shaa Allaah who are "Informed Muslims" rather than "Muslims by inheritance" like their counterparts in the East. Hopefully they will then be a much better generation than ours.

Quickly, I do believe that the best 4 authors (for example, there are many others but these are my favorite) who could guide us through this difficult process are Yahiya Emerick, Jeffrey Lang, Jamal Badawi and Dalia Mogahed.

Here are some links for future reference and for an ongoing learning process that I have started collecting slowly.
Please spread the below information to all your Muslim contacts in the West.

Jeffrey Lang:
http://meccacentric.com/jeffrey_lang.html I highly recommend the lecture titled "The Purpose of Life". It has true meanings that I have not come across in any Arabic literature.

Yahiya Emerick:
Articles:
http://www.islamicedfoundation.com/articles/articles.htm
http://www.islamfortoday.com/yahiyaemerick.htm I highly recommend reading and spreading the last article in this link by the name of "The Confusion of the Scholars"
Books:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_adv_b/?search-alias=stripbooks&unfiltered=1&field-keywords=&field-author=Yahiya+Emerick&field-title=&field-isbn=&field-publisher=&node=&url=&field-feature_browse-bin=&field-binding_browse-bin=&field-subject=&field-language=&field-dateop=&field-datemod=&field-dateyear=&sort=relevancerank&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=29&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=8 There are only 14 books, about half for adults and the other half for kids. The extra are just repetitions.

Jamal Badawi:
Many products including books, articles and lectures mostly for adults. You can find them by searching his name online. My favorite is;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMfWURGcvBI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HXGRYaUy6g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyMD_tE6U68
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AixgiXpAFTY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WUgbgLgMXM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3VLRoQ3qUw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5UvvkCDrm4

Dalia Mogahed: (Obama's adviser)
Has one book so far but has a great potential. "Who Speaks for Islam".
You can watch her debate with Irshad Manji (an openly Lesbian Canadian Muslim who is distorting the picture of Islam in the name of "Progressive Islam")http://fora.tv/2008/07/01/Irshad_Manji_and_Dalia_Mogahed_-_Who_Speaks_for_Islam

Finally here is a website for a store that sells lots of Islamic products including Islamic cartoon DVDs in English and Arabic for kids.
http://www.astrolabe.com/category/17/Cartoons_and_KidVid.html?sid=ceb7c5cf8de15b8f1cb92ad29e183a44
 

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