Are We Good Servants?

He who fits the following description is a bad servant (of the Lord)

1. He asks for forgiveness (maghfirah), while he is actively engaged in sinful disobedience (ma’siya).
2. He behaves in a humbly submissive manner, so that he may be credited with loyalty (amana), but he is only pretending, to hide his disloyalty (khiyanah).
3. He forbids what is wrong, but does not refrain from it himself.
4. He enjoins what is right, but does not act upon his own instructions.
5. If he gives, he does so very stingily, and if he withholds, he offers no apology.
6. If he is in the best of health, he feels secure, but if he falls sick, he becomes remorseful.
7. If he is impoverished, he feels sad, and if he gets rich, he is subject to temptation.
8. He hopes for salvation, but does not act accordingly.
9. He is afraid of punishment, but takes no precautions against it.
10. He wishes to receive more benefit, but he does not give thanks [for what he has received].
11. He likes the idea of spiritual reward, but he does not practice patience.
12. He expedites sleep and postpones fasting?

Kind-hearted Kid

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 year old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream sundae?” he asked. “Fifty cents,” replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.

“Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. “Thirty-five cents,” she brusquely replied.” The little boy again counted his coins. “I’ll have the plain ice cream,” he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies You see, he couldn’t have the sundae, because he wanted enough left to leave her a tip.

America Rules out Not-Attacking Pakistan

The White House on Thursday refused to rule out striking at suspected terrorist targets inside Pakistan and would not say whether US forces would first seek permission from Islamabad.

Asked whether US President George W Bush had ruled out US military action inside Pakistan, spokesman Tony Snow replied: “We never rule out any options, including striking actionable targets.”

Asked whether Bush would first seek authorisation from President Pervez Musharraf, Snow told reporters: “Those are matters that are best not discussed publicly.” Washington in recent days has sharply criticised Musharraf’s truce with leaders in tribal areas, where Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants were believed hiding, calling on him to take aggressive military action.

And Bush’s top counter-terrorism adviser at the White House recently suggested that the United States did not get all of the cooperation it hoped for from Pakistan in the global war on terrorism. At the same time, the White House has been praising Musharraf personally.

“President Musharraf has put his life on the line and has been a very important ally in the war on terror,” Snow said as Bush traveled here to make remarks on the federal budget. “It’s also clear that Taliban and al Qaeda, in the northwest territories and the federally administered tribal areas, have begun to put on operations that threaten the government of Pakistan itself,” he added.

“President Musharraf, having tried one approach, in terms of dealing with the tribal leaders, is now going to have to be more aggressive and is being more aggressive moving forces into the region to deal with the security problems there,” he said.

US President George W. Bush on Saturday linked the US global campaign against Al-Qaeda to Pakistan’s efforts to quell Islamist violence, including the storming of a pro-Taliban mosque (Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa where over 1000 minor students have been brutally murdered by Pakistan Army) last week.

In his weekly radio address, Bush expressed full US support for Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s efforts “to rid all of Pakistan of extremism” including an Al-Qaeda “safe haven” in tribal areas. (There is no Al-Qaeda in Pakistan)

Bush called the establishment of such harbors, detailed in a recent US national intelligence estimate, “one of the most troubling” setbacks to the US war on terrorism since the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The US president, weighed down by the unpopular Iraq war, said Musharraf recognized that a September 2006 deal with tribal chiefs to police their own region had failed and that he was “taking active steps to correct it.” (The deal was never respected by governments of Pakistan and America who kept on killing innocent people, including women and children, in the area whenever they wished)

“Pakistani forces are in the fight, and many have given their lives. The United States supports them in these efforts. And we will work with our partners to deny safe haven to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Pakistan — or anywhere else in the world,” Bush said.

US Wants Army Action in Tribal Areas of Pakistan

The United States on Tuesday prodded Pakistani President Gen Pervez Musharraf to launch a military offensive against militants hiding in a tribal border region with Afghanistan following the collapse of a 10-month peace accord.

“I think first and foremost we have to remember that some military action is necessary, and will probably have to be taken,” Assistant Secretary of State for South and central Asian affairs Richard Boucher said.

He also said that the United States was prepared to help upgrade the Pakistan military, particularly its “frontier corps” that forms the bulk of the estimated 85,000 military forces in the tribal and border regions.

Boucher spoke after a week of violence in North Waziristan, where militant leaders over the weekend renounced a September accord with Islamabad. Pakistani authorities have made intense efforts to shore up the peace accord since the Taliban pulled out on Saturday, knowing that without it, they risk fresh violence in a region thought to contain many militants. Boucher said Tuesday that Washington was less concerned about whether the agreement worked or not, pointing out that “it’s the facts of what happens.”

“There are elements in these areas that are extremely violent and are out to kill government people, out to kill government leaders, and will not settle for a peaceful way forward,” he said. “Whether it is through an agreement or through the imposition of government will or whatever, they remain the key: no Talibanization, no cross-border activity, no al-Qaeda plotting and planning from the tribal areas,” he said.

“And we’re going to help the government of Pakistan achieve that through whatever — all these different means that might be necessary,” he said citing also joint US-Pakistan plans to develop the isolated areas. The United States has promised 150 million dollars a year for the next five years to develop the tribal areas on top of a Pakistani funding of about 100 million dollars a year.

Meanwhile President George W Bush’s top counter-terrorism aide said on Tuesday Washington rarely gets all of the help it wants from allies like Pakistan in efforts to hunt down violent extremists.

The comments from Bush’s Homeland Security and Counter-Terrorism Adviser, Frances Townsend, came in reply to a question of whether the United States is getting all of the operational help it seeks from Islamabad.

“It’s really a tempting invitation. I’m not going to do it,” Townsend said with a laugh during a briefing at the White House on the latest National Intelligence Estimate of terrorist threats to the United States.

“When people ask me about our counter-terrorism cooperation, our allies around the world, the suggestion is: ‘Do they give you everything you want?’ That is almost never the case,” she added.

“And you know what? If I only cooperated with those who gave me 100 percent of what I thought I needed or wanted, I wouldn’t have a whole lot of allies around the world,” said Townsend.

“Every ally comes to the table in the fight against terrorism through the lens of their own national interest. What did they need to get in the fight? What’s the threat to their own internal stability or the security of their own people?” Townsend explained.

“And so we always work to strengthen those alliances. We always work to find more common ground so that we’re more closely aligned. But it doesn’t mean that we get everything we want. But we also can’t walk away from people just because we don’t get everything we want when we want it,” she said.

Vision ? ? ?

Vision without action is merely a dream

Action without vision just a pass-time

Action with vision can change the world

Red Mosque Cleric’s Escape Drama, and Reality

DRAMA

Several spokesmen of government of Pakistan announced that Maulana Abdul Aziz, Khateeb Lal Masjid (Chief Cleric of Red Mosque) tried to escape from the mosque clad in black Burqa (women’s veil that covers whole body) and was arrested by the armed forces undertaking military operation on the mosque.

Next day, Pakistan Official Television relayed a so-called interview with Maulana Abdul Aziz and presented him clad in black Burqa.

Video of this so-called interview can be seen at the following link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdktqJ5k_XI

THE FACT

The organizer of the show and other government officials did not seem to be in coordination because later a video clip was released by the government authorities which gave a glimpse of the moment when Maulana Abdul Aziz was arrested. This video bellied the claim of the government of Pakistan because at the time of arrest Maulana Abdul Aziz was wearing white long shirt )men’s dress) and not black Burqa. The video can be seen at the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdGt4i7zvts

It appears from the arrest video that Maulana Abdul Aziz was not aware that he was being arrested. This proves the claim made by his brother (who was later killed in the military operation) and another religious scholar, who was member of the negotiating team, that Maulana Abdul Aziz was asked to come out of the mosque for negotiations but was arrested in stead.

OPPOLOGY: I am sorry not to have been able to upload the movies here due to some technical fault.

Rating

Hypocrisy Defined

God has created mind of humans such that they have a natural tendency to keep their hypocrisy at zero which means, they have a desire to keep their beliefs equal to their actions, that is why it is believed that little children are innocent and they all will go to Paradise.

If Beliefs = Actions, then Hypocrisy = Zero

To elaborate, in hypocrisy,
(a) Stated beliefs contradict actions. Stated beliefs are NOT consistent with Internal actual beliefs.
(b) Internal actual beliefs contradict actions. Internal actual beliefs are NOT consistent with stated beliefs.

Further, hypocrisy is directly proportional to the difference between beliefs and actions.

Remedy:

One should do their best to objectively perceive:
(a) Reality for what it is.
(b) Truth for what it is.
(c) Morality for what it is.

Father on First Job of Son

Millions of ordinary people like me die daily. Similarly a man named Jim died in Fairfield on June 26, 2007 who was born on Jan. 7, 1947, in Lincoln, Neb., to Elton and Marie (Cooke) Wilkins. He joined the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War and served as a hospital corpsman. Elton worked as an accountant for Southern Pacific Railroad in San Francisco.

After he took up his first job, his father wrote to him.

Dear Son,

Since you are approaching a rather important cross-road in your life, I hope you are looking both ways with your eyes WIDE-OPEN. What I really mean is ARE YOU THINKING LOGICALLY or ARE YOU THINKING EMOTIONALLY? Do you know the difference? Things get mixed up and each can easily be mistaken for the other. There is one sure thing-You cannot keep running away from that which is unpleasant.

As someone said, we are each three persons; we are what we think we are, we are what other people think we are and we are who we really are. The most difficult thing in self-analysis is to combine the first with the last. For one’s self respect the middle one is not important. There is just one thing-You cannot keep running away from yourself. You have to earn self respect in order to live with yourself.

How does one earn self-respect?

Perhaps through accomplishment. Finish each job with the knowledge that you did it with the best of your ability. A job sloppily done is not accomplishment, it is just a postponement until someone else can do it right.

Perhaps through sacrifice for others. You can do little things for others or give them little remembrances. Others are usually grateful but was the gesture a true sacrifice? Or was it really a little boost for the ego of the person who we think we are?
Perhaps by thinking of others. Everyone has troubles. It’s not at all hard to find others with greater problems than ours. Self pity can build giant mountains and the sad thing about it is that they really are mountains unless we gain the stature to look over those tiny ant hills.
Perhaps by being realistic. Is one coming across bridges before there are bridges to cross? Is some job a CAN’T just because of an imaginable brick wall around it?
Perhaps through trial and error. It is not possible for some of us to learn from the experiences of others. When one does something for which one is not satisfied, then what one did was wrong, and a resolve should be made not to do it again.

These are things that each must find for himself. To a large extent, we are masters of our own destiny. But beyond a single doubt, there is an intelligence that guides all of our destinies. Tribulations confront all of us and courage to meet them is not just given us. Courage must be developed. Fear is nothing to be ashamed of, but the lack of a will to overcome it, is.

Son, would you like to know how I see you? I see good things of which I am very proud. And I see things which worry and depress me.

I see indulgence in personal comfort and luxury beyond the necessity. I see a flair for the good things in life which perhaps have not been fully earned. I see a great self pity and a tendency toward hypochondria. I see both a mental and physical laziness. The little things that indicate what I see are : the easy chair, the pillows, the blanket. T.V. late at night and a long morning sleep in. Beds not neatly made, a jumble of things that have no definite place. I see holes in the soles of my only two pairs of shoes and I see my son’s electric shoe polisher. I see your mother washing dishes, washing clothes, enumerable things and I see my son watching T.V. or getting ready to go out. I see lawns that could have been mowed. I remember the silent rebellion of homework. But these are little things.

I also see courtesy, a special politeness for older people, I see thoughtfulness for others. I see an aversion to unkind words or deeds. I see a great compassion for the hurt or unfortunate ones. I see a courage that could be developed and I see a determination that could be nurtured. Perhaps with some envy, I see a boy that girls look at more than once. I see a boy of whom his parents are proud and also a little worried.

Thirty four years ago there was a boy, very sick at heart for two long dreadful years. And that boy got a letter from his Dad, a short letter written with pencil. The letter is still alive but the father has passed on.

You have a job that I would hate to tackle but I believe your mother could. If you do get transferred to another job in the Navy, do your best and let the chips fall where they may. Some things have to be. Be strong and of good courage. Fear not nor be dismayed even though you may walk in the valley of the shadow of death. Fear no evil. God is with you.

Dad.

Mother

A lady narrates a personal incident.

“My servant was on leave and there was a new person to replace him for a few days. He was working so well and with such a keen sense of responsibility that I thanked him for that”.

He replied: “Please, I expect my reward from Allah and just make duas (pray) for my mother and I would be very grateful”.

I said, “Is your mother sick?”

He said “No, I have never even seen her. She died when I was a little child. But I love her very much and want the best for her in Aakhirat (Destiny)”.

We may have spent so many years in the loving company of our mothers. Mothers looked after us, cared for us in every little way and taught us every good thing. But look at this person. He knows the worth of his mother. Do we care for our mothers even a quarter of what this man cares for his mother while he has not even seen his mother? A mother who has done nothing for him except giving him birth? And he knows that only Allah can give the reward for his honesty and hard work.

This is a lesson that we must learn