VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH
Volume 179, April 17, 2011
St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful




(www.xeniagreekmuslimah.wordpress.com)

The Noble Qur'an - Al-Ma'idah 5:91

Shaitân (Satan) wants only to excite enmity and hatred between you with intoxicants (alcoholic drinks) and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allâh and from As-Salât (the prayer). So, will you not then abstain?

Hadith

Abu Dawood; Sahih Bukhari Abu ad-Darda reported that the Prophet said: "Allah has sent down both the malady and its remedy. For every disease He has created a cure. So seek medical treatment, but never with something the use of which Allah has prohibited.''

EDITORIAL:

As we had indicated in the previous issues, when Muslims are a minority in a country, they are not immune from the problems faced by the general community in their country of residence / settlement. This includes problems with addictions (alcohol, drugs, pathological gambling, sexual addiction), domestic violence, homelessness, mental health issues et.c. Even in Muslim majority countries, Muslims continue to face challenges in dealing with above problems that take a relentless toll on not only their personal lives but on the lives of their immediate families.

It is easy to say that WE ARE ONE UMMAH. In general, besides practicing such a beautiful concept of ONE UMMAH in Friday prayers, weekend gatherings at Islamic Centers and during the month of Ramadan et.c. in what other non-religious gathering have the Muslims demonstrated by applying the concept of ONE UMMAH ?

To what extent have the Muslims applied the universal spirit of ONE UMMAH in other non-spiritual aspects of life to help one another at the local, state, national and international level ?

In this issue our spotlight is on alcohol and drug addiction. In our personal interaction with other Muslims on this issue, we found a great degree of discomfort on their part to discuss such problems. Instead of pretending that such problems don't exist or that it exists only minimally in the Muslim community, it is high time that we recognize that such problems are much more in frequency then we suspect and let us join together to bring out such problems on the surface and work together as ONE UMMAH to help our brothers and sisters who are in distress due to such addictions. Please remember "THERE CAN BE NO SOLUTION TO AN UNIDENTIFIED PROBLEM".

PART I-A

DRUG ADDICTION IN AFGHANISTAN:
(rawa.org)
condensed version

Over 90 percent of the world's supply of opium used to make heroin are provided by the Afghan producers, and Afghanistan is also the largest supplier of hashish, a potent cannabis resin.

There are around one million Afghans suffering from drug addiction, of whom 13 percent are children and 20 percent are women, but only five percent of the drug users can get medical treatment, spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Health Kargar Noorughli told Xinhua. Aziza feeds a lump of pure opium to her 4-year-old son Omidullah. She has no education, no idea of the health risks involved in opium use, or that it is addictive.

According to him, about 50,000 of them use heroin, 150,000 use narcotics, more than 500,000 of them take hashish and around 180, 000 of them are taking relief drugs.

PART I-B

Afghan Infants Fed Pure Opium

(Arwa Damon)
condensed version
www.rawa.org

"We give the children opium whenever they get sick as well"

PHOTO:Aziza feeds a lump of pure opium to her 4-year-old son Omidullah. Aziza comes from a poor family of carpet weavers in Balkh province. She has no education, no idea of the health risks involved in opium use, or that it is addictive. "We give the children opium whenever they get sick, as well," she said. (Photo: CNN)

In a far flung corner of northern Afghanistan, Aziza reaches into the dark wooden cupboard, rummages around, and pulls out a small lump of something wrapped in plastic.

She unwraps it, breaking off a small chunk as if it were chocolate, and feeds it to four-year-old son, Omaidullah. It's his breakfast -- a lump of pure opium.

"If I don't give him opium he doesn't sleep," she says. "And he doesn't let me work."

Aziza comes from a poor family of carpet weavers in Balkh province. She has no education, no idea of the health risks involved or that opium is addictive.

"We give the children opium whenever they get sick as well," she says, crouching over her loom.

With no real medical care in these parts and the high cost of medicine, all the families out here know is opium.

It's a cycle of addiction passed on through generations. The adults take opium to work longer hours and ease their pain.

Aziza's elderly mother-in-law, Rozigul, rolls a small ball in her fingers and pops it into her mouth with a small smile before passing a piece over to her sister.

"I had to work and raise the children, so I started using drugs," she says. "We are very poor people, so I used opium. We don't have anything to eat. That is why we have to work and use drugs to keep our kids quiet."

The entire extended family is addicted.

The closest government-run drug rehabilitation center is a four-hour drive away. But it has just 20 beds and a handful of staff to deal with the epidemic.

"People use opium as drugs or medicine. If a child cries, they give him opium, if they can't sleep, they use opium, if an infant coughs, they give them opium."

The center is running an outreach program to the areas that are most afflicted.

Most Afghans aren't aware of the health risks of opium and only a few are beginning to understand the hazards of addiction.

"I was a child when I started using drugs" 35-year-old Nagibe says.

She says her sister-in-law first gave her some when she was a young teenage bride, just 14 years old. Her children grew up addicts as well.

When her husband died, she remarried.

She said: "My new husband doesn't use drugs, nor does his family. Because of that I was able to come here and get treatment. Now as an adult I understand and I want to leave this all behind."

She has been clean for four months, but every day is a struggle.

Carpet weaver Rozigul, 30, is in the detox program with her three-year-old son Babagildi, his pudgy face covered in blemishes. She started using six years ago.

"When I was pregnant with this baby I was using drugs. So he was born addicted and was always crying. I would try to keep him quiet and make him sleep, so I just kept feeding him opium," she says.

Her addicted mother-in-law shares the bed next to her, curled up in a ball and mumbling to herself.

Three generations from one family, all struggling with a curse that afflicts well over one million Afghans.

PART I - C

Mothers – the Hidden Addicts of Afghanistan

(www.rawa.org)
condensed version

By Aunohita Mojumdar in Kabul

Mariana lies on her bed in the Sanga Amaj clinic in Kabul. She shares a small ward with 12 women enrolled in the clinic's 45-day residential drug rehabilitation programme. At 22, she is five months pregnant with her fourth child. Her one-year-old son lies in a separate room of the clinic. He is also addicted to opium.

Women addicts in Kabul center A doctor at the Sanga Amaj Centre in Kabul treats women addicts.

Mariana is one of an estimated one million Afghan adults addicted to illegal drugs, according to the latest survey from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

At 8 per cent of the adult population, this is twice the global average.

Mariana's opium dependence was not a result of recreational experimentation.

She is one of the estimated thousands of Afghan women dependent on the outlawed and highly addictive painkiller because they cannot access medicines or medical help.

In Mariana's case, it started four years ago after she gave birth. "During the birth of my first child I lost a lot of blood. There was no doctor. After that I had a lot of pain in my legs and my back, but we couldn't afford medicines," she says.

PART I-D

Alarming Rate of Addiction Among Afghan Women
(www.rawa.org)
condensed version

She said social predicaments, domestic violence, unemployment and the war were some of the main factors contributing to the addiction among women.

Unprecedented levels of drug addiction among Afghan women have raised concerns as the lucrative narcotic industry hurtles onwards.

The Governor of Helmand Gulab Mangal says women comprise of 30 percent of the 70,000 drug addicts in the southern Afghan province, the website for the British state broadcaster BBC reported in its Farsi edition. The percentage amounts to 13,000-14,000 women, he added.

PART I-E

Herat Addicts Rise to Over 70,000
(rawa.org)
condensed version

Some of the main causes of addiction in Afghanistan are unawareness, poverty, unemployment and family problems.

The number of drug addicts in the western Herat city has risen to over 70,000, provincial officials say. Herat addicts mainly include jobless youths most of whom have returned from Iran



TOLO news.com, Apr. 13, 2011: A UN report in June 2010 described Afghanistan as a major consumer of opium and its derivatives. It said the number of regular opium users had increased by 53% while the number of heroin users had risen by 140% in comparison to 2005. Afghanistan is considered the source of about 90% of the world's opium. (Photo: TOLO news.com)

(rawa.org)

(www.rawa.org)

PART I-F

DRUG ADDICTION IN THE MUSLIM MAJORITY COUNTRY OF KIRGHIZIA (KYRGYSTAN)

(All photos below from www.englishrussia.com)

PART I -G

The Prohibition
http://muttaqun.com

Hadith - Abu Dawood, Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab

When the prohibition of wine (was yet to be) declared, Umar said: O Allah, give us a satisfactory explanation about wine. So the following verse of Surat al-Baqarah revealed; "They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: In them is great sin...." Umar was then called and it was recited to him. He said: O Allah, give us a satisfactory explanation about wine. Then the following verse of Surat an-Nisa' was revealed: "O ye who believe! approach not prayers with a mind befogged...." Thereafter the herald of the Apostle of Allah would call when the (congregational) prayer was performed: Beware, one who is drunk should not come to prayer. Umar was again called and it was recited to him. He said: O Allah, give us a satisfactory explanation about wine. This verse was revealed: "Will ye not then abstain?" Umar said: We abstained.

DYING WHEN ADDICTED:
http://muttaqun.com

Hadith - Muslim #4963, Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar Allah's Messenger said: Every intoxicant is Khamr and every intoxicant is forbidden. He who drinks wine in this world and dies while he is addicted to it, not having repented, will not be given a drink in the Hereafter.

PRAYER NOT ACCEPTED:
http://muttaqun.com

Hadith - Al-Tirmidhi #3643, narrated Abdullah ibn Umar ; Abdullah ibn Amr Allah's Messenger said, "If anyone drinks wine Allah will not accept prayer from him for forty days, but if he repents Allah will forgive him. If he repeats the offence Allah will not accept prayer from him for forty days, but if he repents Allah will forgive him. If he again repeats the offence Allah will not accept prayer from him for forty days, but if he repents Allah will forgive him. If he repeats it a fourth time Allah will not accept prayer from him for forty days, and if he repents Allah will not forgive him, but will give him to drink of the river of the fluid flowing from the inhabitants of Hell." [Tirmidhi transmitted it, and Nasa'i, Ibn Majah and Darimi transmitted it on the authority of Abdullah ibn Amr.]

PART I - H

PART I -i

Islam: the Real 12 Steps

Karima Omar
2/17/2007

(theamericanmuslim.org)

I spent years doing it all wrong. Da’wah - I mean specifically - the “Islam as a solution to drugs, crime, gangs, alcoholism, and all things unwholesome and messy” approach to propagating Islam—pyro-da’wah. I spouted statistics; talked history’ talked about -well, frankly, about an approach to social ills more sentimental than practical, more judgmental than judicious. More concerned with being right than helping to right. And boring my listeners stiff. Now—I’ve always tried to practice one particular precept in my da’wah work. I tried to “invite to the Way ... with wisdom and beautiful preaching ... ” (16: 125), starting by studying the faiths of the natives.

Eventually, I came to Los Angeles. And oh—how great was my ignorance. See, I thought it was like other cities. OK, other cities on steroids. But hey—how different could its problems be? Maybe more so, but—surely their misconceptions about Islam were comparable to the delusions of the rest of the country. Surely I was covered: I had studied comparative religion most of my life, so that ought to cover most of the faiths in the land of fruits and nuts, save for a couple of cults that had sprung up in the time it had taken me to unpack my Islamic pamphlets. Thus armed, I was prepared to do battle with the fame thing. The rampant materialism thing. The silicone and success and cocaine thing. I would get the casualties of life in the fast lane; Islam would be a sorely needed sanctuary for those burned out on Hollywood, on casting couches and crack houses.

My life at the time was relatively sheltered: though I fancied myself a da’iah, I associated with precious few non-Muslims. My Muslim friends and I spent a great deal of time talking to one another about Islam; we discussed how we should invite others to Islam but—we didn’t get out much. So, it took several years for me to understand that LA, a sprawling metropolis of a hundred languages and cultures has an official religion: The Municipal Faith of Greater (and Lesser) Los Angeles. Yup: Recovery. As in Twelve Step programs -AA (Alcoholics Anonymous), NA for narcotics, GA for gambling, CODA for pushovers, ACOA for those raised by alcoholics, OA for overeaters—a whole host of “anonymous” programs.

In these day of excruciating, gut-spilling openness, the “anonymous” part is sort of a misnomer. Rather than being a liability, it has evolved into a social and professional asset.

Yesterday’s stigma becomes today’s status symbol;

it is said that one cannot make it in Hollywood unless one attends meetings. I made this discovery when I found myself knee deep in non-Muslims. Future Muslims. Latent Muslims. A whole host of wonderful, sometime exasperating, curious souls whom I would have barely given the time of day to years before.

But, see, Allah ( ) had done a strange thing to me: He plucked me out of my comfortable, cozy, spiritual ghetto and stuck me in retail. Best not to think about it; it’s not a pretty picture. As I said, He has quite a sense of humor. It all started with a lazy afternoon and a long chat with a customer. “So, where do you go the meeting? she asked. “Uh—meeting? Well, sometimes they have them at the Islamic Center and have some here, too.” “Really? I’m looking for a women’s stag high bottom non-smoking meeting. Where’s that Islamic Center?” “Uh—I don’t think we’re talking about the same kinds of meeting,” Allah (SWT) gave me the presence of mind to reply. She smiled knowingly. “Oh, I understand,” she said. “I respect your anonymity. I mean—that is how the Program got its name, though I think the only people who want to be anonymous are those who aren’t in one, everybody who’s anybody is in a program, it’s where all the hot directors are and—”

She began to catalogue the celebrities she had rubbed styrofoam coffee cups with at AA meetings until curiosity got the better of me. “No—I’m really not an alcoholic.”

She raised a well-plucked eyebrow. “Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.” I shook my head still more vigorously “No—I mean I don’t drink. And I don’t go to meetings.”
“Oh, come on! I can tell. All that stuff you were saying about surrender to God. Where did you get that from if you’re not in AA? Or at least AL ANON.” “Uh—Qur’an?” I shrugged, gesturing to a copy on the shelf. “And the sayings of Prophet Muhammad.”

Pause. Or—beat, as they say in The Business. The poor girl fairly dislocated her cerebral cortex trying to figure out what in the world “Qur’an” could be an acronym for. She looked at me, blinked and decreed, “Oh, yeah. The basketball player. So he’s in Program, too?” Yes, I’m serious: the girl was—well, an actress ... “Uh—well, kind of. He got a bunch of wild drunkards sober. Or—God used him to do it. But I don’t think he was in AA. See, he lived about 1400 years ago.” “Oh. That must have been at least a decade before Bill W came on the scene.”

This was not to be the last time I would be mistaken for a 12 Stepper. In keeping with my Da’wah principles, I began studying the 12 Steps of AA—the Big Book, testimonials and accounts of techniques of recovery. After all, if the 12 Steps, which have such an impressive success record that U.S. courts prescribe them as official treatment programs, resemble the revealed Word of God, they must contain a crucial element which other programs can adopt, which people can apply to a host of circumstances.

Well: they do, and it was a lot simpler to find than I’d expected. OK—simpler than I’d hoped. When I began my research, I was interested in the essence—the core of this program which had such an impressive success record. What element, after all, had caused so much transformation- and eradicated such a variety of problems—from such ostensibly disparate issues as compulsive over-eating, alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling, shopping, illicit sex, credit card abuse, destructive relationships—even anger?!

I approached it with an air of self-importance; I was a great researcher delving into a new way of delivering the unwashed masses, a way which must be terribly complex, obscured beneath volumes and volumes of text and—I found it, all the way in the introduction. It was—Islam. Not Islam the din, the way of life, mind you. Not the particulars of worship and faith which I and most of my fellow Muslims had erroneously focused on—as if we could baffle our listeners in Islam by overloading them with details. Or impress them (and ourselves) with our high wire acrobatic feats of turbo charged piety and austerity. Rather- the literal definition. Surrender.

The more I read about the program started by a self-proclaimed “bunch of drunks” in the 1930’s, my shop began to attract an increasing number of “Program People” - and I gained fluency that dialect of Psycho Babble, Therapy Speak. Not that that was difficult, not in my San Fernando Valley province. People in recovery are as common as Yuppies, actor and itinerant directors in baseball caps. I found myself looking forward to visits from these people; most were either bright—or aspiring to a sort of wisdom which seemed alien to the world of Hollywood. Almost without exception, they had a spiritual leaning. Many of them tried to avoid adultery and, of course, they didn’t drink.

They respected my privacy when it came time for prayer; they asked questions about my Higher Power and, during Ramadan, were often able to refrain from slurping afternoon cappuccinos from one of the half dozen coffee shops located in a two block radius.

They were bright and fun and friendly. And best of all: many of them were intrigued with Islam. That was a shocker. After so many years of less-than scintillating da’wah, I couldn’t spot an interested soul when it appeared before me. And here they were—actively reading Qur’an, asking questions, bringing up points and parallels in which my rather literal mind, stiff from a dozen years of “zeal of the convert” rigidity, was still a bit too bidah-phobic to uncover.

12 Step literature contains more than a few direct parallels to Islam. The distinction between faith and belief, which Qur’an describes in 49: 14, is underscored in several ways. I first noticed it (on the recommendation of a lovely, 30-year sober soul) in a chapter in the Big Book entitled “We Agnostics”.

It refers to that simple, curious phenomenon in which action precedes belief—the proverbial “leap of faith” of souls who simply—gave up. Although they did not believe that they “believed” in God, they were sufficiently desperate for a cure from their addiction that they took the ultimate risk, handing the reins to the Unknown.

Many cite this as the moment of “awakening,” of a spiritual experience which nudged them into an unshakable conviction in a Higher Power. The chapter concludes which a sentence which neatly paraphrases that well-loved hadith Qudsi –

“When we drew near to Him, He disclosed Himself to us!”

I can’t help but smile at this, recalling my first fledgling months in Islam, and the protests of concerned friends and family. “How can you do all those prayers when you don’t even know what you’re saying?!”

I did know, alhamdulillah. that I had to do it; it was this God given conviction which forced me into the routinc of salat in spite of myself, beyond the strength of my own virtues. Although my intellect didn’t understand it, a small secret bit of instinct knew that this small offering of trust would help to lay a foundation upon which faith could, insha’Allah, eventually stand.

Perhaps it’s best that I didn’t know any of this -that AA meetings were simply support groups for closet Muslims—a decade ago, at the height of my pyro-da’wah phase. I would have no doubt been quite a traffic hazard, a hot rod in hijab, chasing down all vehicles bearing those triangle-within-a-circle decals or “Turn it Over” bumper stickers.

And so—in honor of all of these wonderful latent Muslims (and those professed Muslims who might like to get “Recovery Credit” the next time they’re stopped at Checkpoint Charlie, I propose the real 12 Steps:

1) Submission.

Within Islam—radical surrender - lies the Five Pillars of Faith. If indeed we intend to turn our lives and wills over to Allah ( ), it stands to reason that we would naturally and willingly fall into a natural pattern of worship, of weaving faith in an effortless tweed into our lives—through a public declaration of faith, a regular pattern of prayer (contact with the Divine), charity (fulfilling our duty to our fellow humans) making amends (in AA-ese), fasting (care and house training of the physical body) and pilgrimage—taking this message out into the world, traveling for the sake of Allah ( ).

“Enter into Islam wholeheartedly.” 2:208

2) After submission comes trust thrusting intention into action—often/usually before the intellect grants its seal of approval.

“Whatever Allah provides for you, no matter how small, is far better for you, if you are really believers ... “11:86

Here we are reminded that what is expected of us is unflinching trust (especially when we flinch!), even when the shaitan (satan) of our intellect would have us do otherwise.

“Those who spend (freely), whether in prosperity or adversity ... “3:134—“He who forsakes his home in the cause of Allah finds in the earth many a refuge ... ” 4:100-aka the famous “trusting in the Universe” in New Age-ese.—‘‘It may be that Allah will afterwards bring some new thing to pass. ” 65: 1 “Trust” is no mere passive state: applied properly, it is as dynamic and life-altering as can be.

3) Gratitude.

In most of its references to gratitude, Qur’an reminds us of the importance of showing appreciation (3:123, 144, 6:63, 16:121). It is cyclical, like the rain of 25:48-50, which, parenthetically, contrasts the blessings of rain to revive the parched soil with a reference to the ingratitude of the average human. So, a request, a need, a sheer whim—is brought from the limitless ether within the human mind—into form on the element of breath; Allah ( ) receives it and actualizes it into form. Gratitude completes the cycle; thanks expressed once again nudges it into the physical realm, thus symbolizing the Divine manifesting in form through the fulfillment of the servant’s request.

I’ve been unwittingly in step with the times for years, according to numerous self-improvement systems. They suggest keeping a “gratitude diary”, a log of God’s blessings and minor miracles.

“Your Lord has decreed: “The more you thank Me, the more I give you.” 14:7

Beyond shukr, gratitude, is rida, supreme pleasure in all states, unconditional, unquestioning, which Dhu Nun Misri call “The joy of the heart in the bitterness of the divine decree.” Hujwiri defined it as a result of love, a state in which the lover is content with anything done by the beloved. Gratitude is like an overflow valve; it empties out the proverbial cup so that it is smashed, but that’s another story altogether…

4) Love…

What is there to say about that?! Except that the 12 Step consensus is that the underlying problem behind every addict or alcoholic is a deficiency of love.

A state which is cured, of course, by giving love -not getting. (see 2:165,3:31,5:54,19:96 ... ) And it’s not only an impersonal love; in spite of His transcendence, Allah ( ) snuggles up with His creation with perfect intimacy—” ... But I cast (the garment of) love over thee from Me ... ” 20:39

Qur’an describes sicknesses of the heart (244:50, 33:32, 60) amongst its 132 references to the heart.

Qalb comes from qalaba, “to turn”—yet another reminder that self-improvement, psychology and the like are integral to Islam (and, curiously, condemned only by those who no doubt fear a diagnosis ...)


Hadhrat Ali ( ) said, “Your cure is in you but you do not recognize it. And your ailment is from you but you do not see it.” and “You allege that you are a small world, but in you the whole cosmos is contained.”

5) “Reframing”

Reframing is the $395-a-weekend-seminar term for it; in Qur’an it is simply the art of finding the silver lining in the gloomiest storm cloud.

Optimism is a choice; - “Say to My servants that they should (only say those things that are best ... ”

6) Fear NOT (10:62).

I think the words “fear not” should be coined as a single word—a verb—or perhaps an adjective or noun, describing the state which Islam/surrender engenders.—“Verily on the friends of Allah, there is no fear, nor shall they grieve ... “6:48

In short, only those who “cover up”, (kufr) have cause for alarm. Those who are open and surrendered, have nothing to worry about. It’s no accident that we recite the Fatiha at least 17 times daily; after all, pain is caused only by resistance and constriction.

7) Community.

Such an easy word to kick about, yet so stuffed with the psychological nutrients so lacking in most modern social diets. (3: 103, 8:63, 49: 10) Its foundation is the concept of loving without liking—unconditional love—“If ye take a dislike to them it may be that ye dislike a thing, and Allah brings about through it a great deal of good.” 4:19

8) Rhythm.

Qabid and basit; contraction and expansion, the peaks and valleys of the heart, the emotions - of sheer living—may not necessarily be caused by bipolar conditions. Even the Divine Himself contains these qualities; Union fashions a fine yet unshakable bridge over the chasm of this duality.

“With hardship there is ease” (contraction and expansion), we are reminded in Sura Insharah (94:5-6).

Islam creates a steady rhythm in our daily life through worship, through harmony with nature, with the seasons, the elements. With this established, we can safely allow the God-centered heart to lay down the cadence for the inner life.

9) Personal responsibility.

Islam’s concept of this trendy term (see 61:2-, 2:134, 139, 53:39) is light years removed from the “blame the victim” mentality so prevalent in certain latter day systems.

After all—Qur’an doesn’t advise Muslims to tell the miskin that they are indigent because of their bad karma which hissed at our dogma in a past incarnation in Atlantis ... In fact, it would reply to one who tries to play such games that perhaps it is his/her karma to have encountered the poor, the orphan or widow, to have been exposed to his/her plight and to have the means with which to give charity ...

10) Dhikr.

57: 16 Remembrance—of the Divine; of our own Divine pedigree. Dhikr has powerful effects on the body, mind, heart and soul—of course. The chanting of Allah’s ( ) Attributes—even without faith—offers a tremendous cardiovascular workout. It stimulates the production of endorphins, imparting a “natural high”, strengthening lungs and vocal ranges. But—when used with faith/love/sheer wandering about in Divine Corridors—oh, the heart stuff! When utilized as a means of polishing the heart, of cuddling up to the Creator, it transforms, transmutes, illuminates. It takes us into that sweet stillness between cells, between breaths. And—for those who worry about words, waxing psychosemantic over labels, Qur’an refers to meditation/contemplation in the following ayat—3:17,41; 9:112; 17:79; 19:11; 25:64; 26:218; 37:143; 39:9; 50:40; 73:2-4,6,20.

11) Freedom from ethnocentricity and prejudice.

Geographical superiority can be so exhausting; revealed faiths are never content to graze within the geographical boundaries set forth by humans. (2:142:143; 30:22) Yet of all faiths in today’s world, Islam is probably most misidentified with a certain minority language/ culture/ nationality ...

Islam is like—like cultural tofu; it mixes with any spices and absorbs the flavor as its own—a dazzling, dizzying arrangement of flavors.

12) Inviting.

Yeah, good ol’ da’wah. (12:108, 16: 125, et al) Islam doesn’t give up on people simply because of their history; it offers freedom from skeletons in our closets and toads in our imaginary gardens. And—it never gives us a day off from inviting people to its party (sigh).

PART I - J

PREPARING FOR ISLAM REHAB

www.thegooddrugsguide.com

(condensed version)

Before heading off to Islamic rehab, you may have a bit of trepidation about what to expect, what you will miss while you are gone and whether or not you will be able to complete the program successfully. To best get a handle on these feelings, take a moment to prepare yourself to go to an Islamic drug and alcohol rehab mentally, physically and emotionally. If you would like assistance in finding an Islamic rehab near you, contact The Good Drugs Guide. We can match you with a drug rehab program that is based on the principles of Islam located near you.

PREPARE FOR MUSLIM REHAB MENTALLY:

Quieting your mind so that your fears don’t drown out your understanding that your body needs medical treatment at an Islamic rehab is essential to both your physical and psychological health. Try to do things that relax you that are not harmful: take walks, spend time reading or in meditation, watch your favorite movies. If you have a therapist, see him or her or go to a 12 step meeting. Get lots of rest, if you can, and drink lots of water. Avoid binging on your drug of choice before you go or staying out all night the night before.

PHYSICAL PREPARATION FOR AN ISLAMIC REHAB PROGRAM:

Getting lots of rest and drinking lots of water don’t just help you prepare mentally for Islamic rehab; it helps you prepare physically as well. Many view a pending enrollment in drug and alcohol treatment as a license to use anything and everything they can get their hands on. Many overdose or make themselves extremely sick as a result. Instead, try to start cutting back on your drug of choice or eliminating supplemental drugs or alcohol that you use in addition to your primary drug of addiction. The sooner you start cutting back in preparation for your stay, the easier your detox will be.

EMOTIONALLY PREPARE FOR ISLAM ADDICTION RECOVERY:

How you prepare emotionally is somewhat more individual than how you prepare physically or mentally for your stay in an Islamic drug and alcohol rehab. If you have a therapist, you may consider scheduling an appointment before you go. Talk to your close friends and trusted family members who do support you in your decision to enroll in an Islamic drug and alcohol rehab. Let them know how they can contact you. Though you may be unable to call them for the first part of your treatment if you choose an inpatient Islamic drug and alcohol rehab, you will be able to see them on visiting days and they may be included in drug rehab group therapy or family therapy sessions.

Islam Rehabs: Find One Near You

View Treatment Centers.

Find Local Treatment Centers

If you would like help finding an Islamic drug and alcohol treatment facility near you, the Good Drugs Guide can help you.

PART I-K

NEWLY BORN AND WITHDRAWING FROM PAINKILLERS

(ED NOTE:

We found an interesting article in the New York Times (dated April 10, 2011) which we wanted to share with you that underscores the devastation caused by drug addiction which includes addiction to both legal (prescribed) and illegal drugs by pregnant women. In below article, due to the mother continuing her addiction during pregnancy, the innocent new born had to go through severe withdrawal symptoms, not a way to start one's life in this world)

EXCERPTS FROM THE ARTICLE:

"The mother got the call in the middle of the night: her 3-day-old baby was going through opiate withdrawal in a hospital here and had to start taking methadone, a drug best known for treating heroin addiction, to ease his suffering".

"The mother had abused prescription painkillers like OxyContin for the first 12 weeks of her pregnancy, buying them on the street in rural northern Maine, and then tried to quit cold turkey — a dangerous course, doctors say, that could have ended in miscarriage. The baby had seizures in utero as a result, and his mother, Tonya, turned to methadone treatment, with daily doses to keep her cravings and withdrawal symptoms at bay".

"Infants like him may cry excessively and have stiff limbs, tremors, diarrhea and other problems that make their first days of life excruciating. Many have to stay in the hospital for weeks while they are weaned off the drugs, taxing neonatal units and driving the cost of their medical care into the tens of thousands of dollars".

"There are no national figures that document the extent of the problem, but interviews with doctors, researchers, social workers and women who abused painkillers while pregnant suggest that it has grown rapidly, especially in rural regions, where officials say such abuse is most common".

"A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that babies exposed to opiates in utero, in this case legally prescribed painkillers, had slightly higher rates of birth defects, including congenital heart defects, glaucoma and spina bifida".

“I’m proud that I changed my life,” Tonya said. “But at the same time, when you see your child in pain and you know your child is in pain because of a life decision you made, it’s the hardest thing in the world.”

For the complete article, feel free to check it out by clicking on below title:

"Newly Born, and Withdrawing From Painkillers"

PART II

FEW UNUSUAL GLIMPSES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

IRAN

A member of Iran's women's national soccer team kicks the ball during a practice in Tehran. The team, which hopes to qualify for the 2012 Olympics, was founded in 2005 and plays their matches at the women's only Azadiye Stadium.

Caren Firouz/Reuters

Iranian women perform their Friday prayer at the Imam mosque in the city of Isfahan, Iran. Vahid Salemi/A www.csmonitor.com

AFGHANISTAN

A Pashtun girl looks out from the doorway to her family dwelling in Peshawar. Fayaz Aziz/Reuters. www.csmonitor.com

A PEEK OUTSIDE THE (ISLAMIC) BOX

A girl attends a prayer ceremony inside a temple during celebrations to mark the "Navratri" festival in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh, Sunday. The festival, which is held in honour of the Hindu goddess Durga, is celebrated over a period of nine days where thousands of youths dance the night away in traditional costumes. Ajay Verma (Reuters) www.csmonitor.com

PART III

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

Beyond Belief
Religion and Belief in Professional Practice

Wednesday 7 - Thursday 8 September 2011

University of Bradford, England

www.brad.ac.uk/study/cpd/belief/

This international conference aims to stimulate discussion among academics, practitioners, policy makers, carers, service providers and users and contribute to the evidence base relating to religion and belief. Religion and belief often play a very significant role in determining the ways in which people interpret events, resolve dilemmas, make decisions and view themselves, their own actions and the actions of others.

Contemporary health and social care is practised in a richly diverse, multi-ethnic and multi-faith society; a society in which religious and other beliefs are of crucial importance to many and play some role in shaping the worldview of most.

Service providers and policy makers need to ensure that their services are accessible, appropriate and meet the needs of those identifying with different religions as well as those who do not. Practitioners (whether they have specific religious or spiritual beliefs or none) need to recognise the potential impact of their reactions to people who espouse beliefs and values which differ from their own.

CONTACTS:

For further details of the conference, please contact either:

Sheila Furness or Philip Gilligan
Department of Social Sciences and Humanities
University of Bradford Bradford BD7 1DP UK
Tel: +44 (0)1274 234782 (Sheila) or +44 (0)1274 233073 (Philip)
E-mail: s.furness@bradford.ac.uk, p.a.gilligan@bradford.ac.uk

For enquiries about booking and practical arrangements, please contact:

Events Bradford
Norcroft Centre
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP UK Tel: +44 (0) 1274 233217
E-mail: events@bradford.ac.uk

PART IV

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE:
(You cannot afford to be serious all the time)

Now, they are NOT saying that:

Veiled women are backward
Veiled women are subjugated
Veiled women are oppressed
Veiled women are fanatics.

What they are saying is that
VEILED WOMEN ARE SEXY.

What would be your best response ?

THE VEIL IS SEXY
(All photos below are from www.weirdexistence.com)

THE END