Gaza Holocaust - An online Museum

A group was made on facebook as an attempt of voicing the Truth about what is taking place in Gaza. If we cannot go and fight, let us show the world the reality that is being biased by the media and the political spokesmen:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=58342007574The idea of this group is to post all the photos that we can gather about the crimes that are being committed in Gaza that defy the simplest human rights. Posting a photo is very simple, just add the photo with a short comment describing when the photo was taken and what is shows, and name the source for credibility whenever possible. Please join the group, spread the word, and invite your friends to visit the museum, especially the ones who may not know the truth. Your participation is the key to the success of this attempt.

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{Quick Reflections 43} Corrupted Islam 2

· Gaza and Corrupted Islam:

It is very sad and disheartening to watch the news and see our brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers and children being killed in cold blood. Why is this happening? Not only because the Israeli occupier wants to crush the resistance, just like throughout history, but because Hamas is not just a resistance movement to occupation but even worse; it is an Islamic one. The situation is aggravated even further by the fact that the Palestinians dared to democratically vote for that resistance movement as their legal representation. Accordingly, they all had to be punished and slaughtered by the Israeli occupation in one of many holocausts against different Muslim populations across the world that the media chooses to twist and underreport.
Now the Gaza situation is not a unique one. Thousands of Muslims are being persecuted, jailed and killed around the world, in China, Burma, Philippines, Chechnya, Bosnia and elsewhere in an organized and steady fashion, but we don’t have enough media coverage to hear about the details. Gaza is not an exception or a transient situation. It is but part of a more global process.
Why is this happening to Muslims globally? It is because they are living, as a whole, a corrupted version of Islam that renders them weak and vulnerable. The Muslim response to daily events across the world has generally always (for almost 10 centuries now) been a short-lived reactionary one that barely does anything to fix the problem. Moreover, it, of course, has nothing to do with analyzing its cause and working on preventing its recurrence. Accordingly we live in a vicious circle of temporary reactionary responses that weakens Muslims more and more and deepens the corruption of Islam further.

Accordingly the ultimate solution for the current crisis in Gaza, and elsewhere in the world, is a root cause analysis and a strategic view of how to reform the Corrupted Islam and come back to life with a proactive rather than a reactionary Islam. This is how this series relates to the current events in Gaza.

· Concepts:

Before proceeding with the analysis we need to recognize 5 basic concepts the middle 3 of which all human beings accept as facts.


Sources:

Most Muslims will agree that the only 2 uncorrupted sources of Islam that are 100% pure are the Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). All other presentations of Islam have some degree of corruption or inaccuracy. The accuracy could range from 99% to 0% but never 100%. This is based on the fact that none of the presenters of Islam has 100% knowledge or 100% comprehensive view. No human being is perfect and hence all Muslims share in the corrupted presentation of Islam, albeit some more than others. Some do that out of ignorance, others out of arrogance and the majority out of narrow-mindedness. Some do that deliberately and others by virtue of their personal attitude in life in general. Accordingly besides the Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) one can learn Islam through facts rather than through people. In other words, whatever is said or done in the name of Islam, be it by a scholar or an average Muslim, needs to be filtered and analyzed before reaching a sound conclusion. Human error and bias are always factors that should be on one’s mind when reading anything about Islam, or any other topic open for discussion that actually includes everything in life!

Starting Angle and Projection Line:

This will sound very childish and irrelevant in the beginning but please bear with me! Get a pen and draw a small bullet (point A). Extend a straight line from it to the end of the paper (point C). Now start another line 1cm from the original starting point but from the same line albeit with a very small deviation. In the beginning the distance between both lines is very small but as you get further from the starting point the distance widens. If you start at a bigger angle the distance between the new line and the original one increases faster with further projections of both lines. See below.



Now let us consider the original line the pure form of Islam along a time line starting from A and C being our current time. The distance from point A to B would be the life of Prophet Muhammad and a little less than 3 decades after that. At point B (and many other points along the road from the original line) different Islamic schools of thought came into existence with deviations that vary from minor to major. If one picks one school of thought and chooses to stick to it, with time and through centuries one will deviate further and further away from the original. However if you relate back to the A-B interval you will be sure to stay on the original line. If the A-B interval is not clear then the best thing to do is pick from contradicting schools (lines that deviated at opposite angles) and average them in order to come as close as possible to the original line (the summation of the top most and bottom most lines in the above demonstration will result in a line that is much closer to the original than any of the deviations.

Of course the above example is very simplistic and the issue of change and corruption (and hence reform) is much more complicated than that but it is based on the same principle.


On Going Process:

Complicating the above diagram further and further we can draw multiple lines deviating from the already deviated lines starting at different points along the time line from point B to our current time at C. Depending on which line you choose to look at you sill see a different version of corrupted Islam. Amongst the thousands of lines the vision will be very murky and it will become a struggle to see the original line. Corruption is an ongoing process until the end of time. Hence reform is an ongoing process of meticulous research and hard work.


Point of View: A shocking experience!

We are all familiar with the term “different point of view” but how deep do we realize and appreciate that meaning and apply it in any argument or discussion?
I was 10 years old when I was exposed to a very simple and not noteworthy event that to me was brain shattering. From my bedroom window in our apartment I used to talk with my neighbor in the building right next to us while he was standing in his balcony. This was almost a daily process for years and from my vintage point the view is engraved in my mind. After years I went up to his balcony and looked across to my bedroom window. I was shocked that in spite of sharing the same surroundings the view from his balcony was like seeing totally different surroundings! I had a hard time, for days, accepting that we were actually looking at the same objects albeit from different angles. From that day I understood that the simple change of “point of view” towards the same object could show you a completely different picture that you never thought existed.

The only comprehensive view that sees Islam from all angles at the same time was that of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). All other views are just part of the picture that need to be combined in order to see a more holistic and authentic picture. Sticking with one point of view is never comprehensive.


Who:

There are 4 main groups of people responsible for the corruption that I will elaborate upon later namely Islamic scholars, average Muslims, extremists and hypocrites.

{Quick Reflections 42} Corrupted Islam 1

Introduction

Audience:
The audience targeted by this series includes people from all walks of life who are interested in their own well-being as well as that of humanity as a whole. Arrogant people, who take themselves, rather than ideas, too seriously are discouraged from reading further. Looking at the big picture, life in this universe is not about mortal individuals’ egos but about eternal concepts that outlive any single individual’s very short and temporary success. Readers are invited to think, contemplate and share with positive constructive criticism rather than act on well established and taken-for-granted-paradigms. You are encouraged to think outside the box and put on-hold all sacred and firm frames of thought, whatever they are. Give it a shot at another way of thinking and another angle of focus that steps back and tries to put events in their true perspective.

Islam:
Contrary to common belief by non-Muslims and many Muslims, Islam is not a blind set of rituals and do’s and don’ts. The rituals are a constant reminder of the facts of life and ethics that Islam is all about amongst the daily materialistic distractions. Islam is a comprehensive way of life that starts with one while one is still an embryo and accompanies you all the way through to the other life.

It is the way of life chosen by God for His human creatures that suite them most. It is fit for all cultures and all time. Through its correct application one achieves happiness, serenity and success in both the current temporary worldly life and the next permanent one. It focuses equally on the individual and the community. This is not an advertisement for true Islam but I firmly claim it is a fact clear to some people in this age, just like the fact that Earth is not the center of the Universe was clear to Galileo and opposed by all others in his age.

A manufacturer of a complicated electronic device provides you with a manual that guides you to operate the device and make the best out of it. You can still operate the device without the manual but your non-guided operation will be sub-optimal. Moreover in addition to the manual and way of operation called "Islam" provided by the manufacturer "God" for optimal operation of the most sophisticated creature, human beings, He also provides you with an insurance policy for the next and permanent life, or "function after expiration", or “replacement with an eternal substitute”.

Me:
I am a 31 year-old surgeon born in Egypt and raised in different parts of the world amongst tens of different cultures and ideologies. I am proud to have been raised by a wise enough Muslim father who when I was 7 years-old asked me to chose my own religion and belief after researching all other systems of belief. He also advised me to base my decision on logic and sense only and never let any religious or political authority, present or past, influence my decision. He did not believe that being born to a Muslim family makes you a Muslim, or born to a Christian family makes you a Christian and so forth as that defeats the purpose of being provided with a mind that thinks and a will that chooses. He believed that before one can claim s/he belonged to one system of belief or another and start lobbying for it or defending it blindly one has to research different systems first and then reach his/her own conclusion. Also he did not believe in different cults and sects of different religions. He was wise enough to advise me in my search for the truth to trace everything back to its origin and that any addition to the very first original system, whatever system it is, is but mere human corruption that only leads to tinting the picture and dividing people further. Accordingly I was raised to question all dogmas, stereotypes and traditions. After years of observing, reading and researching I came to his same conclusion.

Why:
I am writing this small series now after I reached that conclusion because I believe in neither temporary fixes nor burying my head in the sand. Islam is in deep trouble and so are Muslims, and actually so are non-Muslims, because Islam has been hijacked and continuously corrupted within around 3 decades after Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) death. Corruption is now so deep seated in the belief system, sparing only a few basic facts, that only very few will see what I mean. I do not claim to be a savior or a visionary but rather a humble soul struggling everyday to see the pure original light behind the ground glass that was placed in a false attempt to protect the light.

{Quick Reflections 41} Menz!

In the following link you will find an example of how parents in this era in history are the cause of destruction of the Ummah through the way they raise their children.
All most of them care about is the professional career and financial welfare of their children (even after they have grown up and are no more children). No attention is paid at all to the development and raising of a well integrated and responsible personality that is independant and has an identity and principle-based-goal in life.
In order to raise true men and women who are capable of being of any true use to themselves, community and the whole Ummah a very important concept has to be adopted by the parents.
Once their "child" reaches puberty (9-13 years) he/she is responsible for all his/her acts in front of the Al-Mighty Allaah (SWT). They can not protect their children from Allaah's Judgment whatever they do because they cannot do that themselves in the first place. If they really care about them they have to prepare them since day one in their lives to be able to answer to Allaah (TWT) about all their thoughts and actions when the time comes and they reach puberty (9-13 years). One who is truly prepared to defend his/her cause when asked by Allaah (TWT) once he/she is 9-13 years old is one who can live and die in dignity, one who can live in endurance and die in patience. That is the only way to have a generation of true men and women who are truly responsible and have a principle-based-mission in life. That is the only way to replicate Abu-Bakr, Omar, Ali, Mus"ab, Abu-Zarr, Salmaan, Kutz, Khadeejah, Fatimah and whole generation of true "ahbab rasool Allaah (SAWS)".

Personally i have seen hundreds of the provided repulsive example in real life amongst colleagues in college. Plz do not repeat that mistake with YOUR children.
http://www.amrkhaled.net/multimedia/multimedia906.html

May Allaah use us and our children and not replace us.

Inheritance ‎

The definition of the word “Inheritance“, according to Merriam Webster’s ‎Dictionary, under the main entry “quantitative inheritance, noun” is: ‎
Genetic inheritance of a character (as human skin color) controlled by polygenes ‎with each allelic pair of genes at a given locus having a specific quantitative effect ‎‎– ‎
and under the main entry “blending inheritance, noun” is:‎
The expression in offspring of phenotypic characters (as pink flower color from ‎red and white parental plants) intermediate between those of the parents.‎
Also means: the act of having or taking into control, or occupancy of property ‎without regard to ownership -- something owned or possessed; specifically : a ‎piece of real estate b: the exclusive right to possess, enjoy, and dispose of a thing. ‎
Once, there was a man in his fifties who had four children, two boys and two girls. ‎He was a self-made billionaire who had to struggle all his life to build a huge ‎empire only for strangers to inherit. His eldest son had a baby boy but died ‎shortly after in an accident. The man had to mourn his second son too because he ‎was not able to have children of his own, who would carry his NAME! The man’s ‎two daughters would have children but would carry their fathers’ names. ‎
Why do people put such great efforts in their lives striving to build empires that ‎would eventually vanish no matter how long their heirs even live? ‎What would their wealth, children, family and friends do for them after they die ‎and become replaced by other generations who would in the best of scenarios ‎follow their ancestors’ footsteps only to meet the same destiny!‎
Have such people ever paused to think about what “Inheritance” really means ‎and how to make it eternal?‎
Let us look at a different version of inheritance and try to understand what it ‎really means; an inheritance that never vanishes, an inheritance that our children ‎and we could reap even after we die.‎
‎“Who inherits what” is one important question; other questions are what do we ‎inherit? Who has the most to give? Does it ever decrease? Is it exclusive? Can one ‎control its amount or quantity? Etc...‎
If we would rephrase those questions into only one, we would ask, where are our ‎priorities? ‎
Everyone likes to have a small fortune because it makes life much easier, ensures ‎good education and a nice life for our children and makes us look good in our ‎community; it makes us feel superior too. Can we guarantee a good fortune in ‎life? What kinds of fortunes are there to endeavour? Can we obtain an assurance ‎and from whom?‎
Ultimately, God inherits heavens and earth and the believers inherit the fruits of ‎their deeds. (“... when unto Allah belongeth the inheritance of the heavens and ‎the earth?...”, Al-Hadid (The Iron): 10) ‎

Who are the losers of wealth? They are those who lost their true goal in life and ‎those who forgot why they were there in the first place. They are those who ‎concentrated only on themselves and lived only to realize a selfish dream of ‎building an empire that would remain eternal – in their own limited mind's eye – ‎forgetting the needy and neglecting their role and duty toward humanity, they ‎forgot why God created them in the first place! (“Blessed is He in Whose hand is ‎the kingdom, and He has power over all things; Who created death and life ‎that He may try you-- which of you is best in deeds; and He is the Mighty, the ‎Forgiving”, al-Mulk (The Sovereignty): 1-2)‎
How can a businessperson be shortsighted and successful at the same time? ‎Would he not be shortsighted if he did not include the future of his fortune? ‎
This is precisely what he would be doing, if he only thinks of himself, his family ‎and heirs. The truth is that: (“And unto Allah belongeth the Sovereignty of the ‎heavens and the earth; and on the day when the Hour riseth, on that day those ‎who follow falsehood will be lost; And thou will see each nation crouching, ‎each nation summoned to its record. (And it will be said unto them): This day ‎ye are requited what ye used to do.”, al-Jaatheyah (Crouching): 27-28)‎

What happens to such losers, like Moses’ Pharaoh for instance? The Pharaoh and ‎his followers were ruined and “other” people inherited their homes and land ‎‎(“How many were the gardens and the water springs that they left behind; ‎And the cornfields and the noble places; And pleasant things wherein they ‎took delight!; Even so (it was), and We made it an inheritance for other folk”, ‎ad-Dukhan (The Smoke)25-28)‎

On the other hand, what happens when one has the balanced mind of working in ‎the path of God as well as to ensure his future? (“We are your protecting friends ‎in the life of the world and in the Hereafter. There ye will have (all) that your ‎souls desire, and there ye will have (all) for which ye pray; A gift of welcome ‎from the Forgiving, the Merciful; And who is better in speech than him who ‎prayeth unto his Lord and doeth right, and saith: Lo! I am of those who ‎surrender (unto Him).”, Fussial 31-33)‎

Some of the concepts that ruin a good fortune are the desire for possessions, ‎frivolous greed, one’s id ‎, eternal existence, strengthening one’s ego ... etc. ‎If we could understand the bad concepts in the culture of businessmen that ‎deprive them and their families from enjoying life along with the fortunes they ‎build, we would do them and us a great favour by protecting them from going ‎astray when they forget the best part of their life, their true religion. We could ‎achieve that gradually by making of ourselves a role model for them. Consider ‎these verses, (“And when Allah alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who ‎believe not in the Hereafter are repelled, and when those (whom they ‎worship) beside Him are mentioned, behold! they are glad (45); ... Now when ‎hurt touches a man he cries unto Us, and afterward when We have granted ‎him a boon from Us, he saith: Only by force of knowledge I obtained it. Nay, ‎but it is a test. But most of them know not (49) Those before them said it, yet ‎‎(all) that they had earned availed them not (50); But the evils that they earned ‎smote them; and such of these as do wrong, the evils that they earn will smite ‎them; they cannot escape. (51); ... Say: My slaves who have been prodigal to ‎their own hurt! Despair not of the mercy of Allah, Who forgiveth all sins. Lo! ‎He is the Forgiving, the Merciful (53); Turn unto Him repentant, and surrender ‎unto Him, before there come unto you the doom, when ye cannot be helped ‎‎(54); And follow the better (guidance) of that which is revealed unto you from ‎your Lord, before the doom cometh on you suddenly when ye know not (55); ‎Lest any soul should say Alas, my grief that I was unmindful of Allah, and I was ‎indeed among the scoffers! (56); Or should say: if Allah had but guided me I ‎should have been among the dutiful! (57) Or should say, when it seeth the ‎doom: Oh, that I had but a second chance that I might be among the righteous! ‎‎(58), al-Zomar (The Groups): 45, 49-51, 53-58). ‎

The main problem is that great percentage turn into fortune worshippers; they ‎should rather elect a balanced mind of worshipping God and follow His rules in ‎building an “uncontaminated” fortune. (“Who so doeth right it is for his soul, ‎and who so doeth wrong it is against it. And thy Lord is not at all a tyrant to His
slaves.”, Fussilat (Explained in Detail): 46)‎
‎ ‎
The renowned Mr. Amr khaled, said about having God’s bounty at a later phase in ‎life: if a father was a righteous person then he should not worry about the future ‎of his offspring because God will guarantee it. He further added that behind such ‎lateness there is a mercy but a human being is so in a hurry. In explaining this, he ‎narrated the story of Moses (pbuh ‎): ‎
Prophet Moses (pbuh) once met a wise man and asked to learn some of his ‎wisdom. The wise man asked the prophet to follow him and observe without ‎asking questions or interrupting him. At one time, the wise man and the prophet ‎passed through a small village where their people refused to welcome them. The ‎wise man found a building that was about to collapse so he fixed it. Prophet ‎Moses (pbuh) found this puzzling! When the time came for the wise man to clarify ‎what did seem insensible, he explained that the building had a treasure buried ‎underneath that belonged to a fine man who died and left two orphans. God ‎Almighty did not want them to suffer; therefore, He ordered the wise man to ‎preserve the building so that when the boys become old enough they would find ‎the treasure, which would then well sustain them.‎
Thus, the important matter is to believe in God’s judgement and His destiny. He ‎who accepts God and depends on Him would never be let down. Why would we ‎worry when God promised us his bounty! (“... We give them sustenance and ‎yourselves (too)...”, al-Israa’ (The Night Journey): 31). There is no repelling of ‎the bounty if God is the Giver and there is no bestowal if He did not provide it. ‎Therefore, all what we have to do is to work toward our goals in a manner that ‎pleases Him, we should not worry and dedicate all our lives searching or stacking ‎treasures ruining our chance to enjoy life along with our duty of worshipping ‎God, thus losing both our life and the hereafter too. ‎
If we looked at businessmen we would see constant anxiety and worry about ‎losing their fortune. God said, (“... and My mercy encompasses all things; ...” al-‎A’raaf (The Heights): 156) and he wrote under His Throne “My mercy preceded ‎my wrath”. This should be our true goal, let’s confront ourselves for the true ‎contentment is God’s superior door, the shelter of worshippers and life’s ‎paradise; God’s destiny is above everything and “...and whomsoever Allah ‎makes err, there is no guide for him (36); and whomsoever Allah makes err, ‎there is no guide for him”, al-Zumar:36-37)‎
Therefore, God the Omnipotent is the One and Only Who will inherit heavens an ‎earth, not any of us. That said I would like to clarify that that does not mean in ‎any way that we should not work to build a fortune for our families and ‎ourselves. That means, however, that it should not become our first priority. In ‎addition, we should not be thinking of this money as “our own” fortune and no ‎one else has the right to it. “Believe in Allah and His Messenger, and spend out ‎of what He has made you to be successors of; for those of you who believe and ‎spend shall have a great reward” (al-Hadid: 7); it is God’s money because He is ‎the One Who created it. ‎
We need to be thinking how to use some of this fortune in projects that would ‎help others and use it in social interdependence and solidarity, which in the end ‎would please God and serve Him, not to mention the many rewards in life as well ‎as in the hereafter. This would be our first priority.‎
Hence, why do we not spend our money in God’s path when we are certain that ‎we will die and leave our fortunes anyway to God? ‎‎“Who is there that will offer to Allah a good gift so He will double it for him, ‎and he shall have an excellent reward (11); On that day you will see the ‎faithful men and the faithful women-- their light running before them and on ‎their right hand-- good news for you today: gardens beneath which rivers flow, ‎to abide therein, that is the grand achievement. (12)” and “Know that this ‎world's life is only sport and play and gaiety and boasting among yourselves, ‎and a vying in the multiplication of wealth and children, like the rain, whose ‎causing the vegetation to grow, pleases the husbandmen, then it withers away ‎so that you will see it become yellow, then it becomes dried up and broken ‎down; and in the hereafter is a severe chastisement and (also) forgiveness ‎from Allah and (His) pleasure; and this world's life is naught but means of ‎deception.”, (al-Hadid: 11-12, 20). ‎
Wouldn’t that be the greatest success of all?‎

Ressources:‎
The Holy Qur’an
Psychology- definitions.‎
From Mr. Amr khaled’s lectures

Footnotes:‎
‎1- Id = in Psychoanalytical theory, the part of the personality which contains our primitive impulses ‎such as sex, anger, and hunger. (http://allpsych.com/dictionary/i.html)‎
‎2- Pbuh = peace be upon him