One thing you should know as we head to 2015!

A bus full of passengers was traveling while suddenly the weather changed and there was a huge downpour and lightening all around.
They could see that the lightening would appear to come towards the bus and then go elsewhere.
After 2 or 3 horrible instances of being saved from lightening, the driver stopped the bus about fifty feet away from a tree and said -

"We have somebody in the bus whose death is a certainty today."
Because of that person everybody else will also get killed today.
Now listen carefully what I am saying ...
I want each person to come out of bus one by one and touch the tree trunk and come back.
Whom so ever death is certain will get caught up by the lightening and will die & everybody else will be saved".
They had to force the 1st person to go and touch the tree and come back.
He reluctantly got down from the bus and went and touched the tree.
His heart leaped with joy when nothing happened and he was still alive.
This continued for rest of the passengers who were all relieved when they touched the tree and nothing happened.
When the last passenger's turn came, everybody looked at him with accusing eyes.
That passenger was very afraid and reluctant since he was the only one left.
Everybody forced him to get down and go and touch the tree.
With a 100% fear of death in mind, the last passenger walked to the tree and touched it.
There was a huge sound of thunder and the lightening came down and hit the bus - yes the lightening hit the bus, and killed each and every passenger inside the bus.
It was because of the presence of this last passenger that,earlier,the entire bus was safe and the lightening could not strike the bus.
LIFE LEARNING from this...
At times, we try to take credit for our present achievements, but this could also be because of a person right next to us.
Look around you - Probably someone is around you, in the form of Your Parents, Your Spouse,
Your Children, Your Siblings, Your friends, etc, who are saving you from harm!
Think About it as you start 2015!
                Let us disown clanism.
Clan disobedience, as I put it to the audience, was not the problem, despite the warnings of some that it threatened social stability, that it led to anarchy. The greatest danger, I argued, was and is clan obedience, the submission of individual conscience to clan authority. Such obedience led to the horrors we saw in Northern Kenya, and it led to the public's acceptance of war whenever the so-called clan Elders decided on it...
Therefore, to begin the process of change, to stop a war, to establish justice, it may be necessary to break the law, to commit acts of Clan disobedience, disown your clan

The story of the doctor, the kind woman and the glass of milk

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry.

He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he losthis nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door.

Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it so slowly,and then asked, "How much do I owe you?"

"You don't owe me anything," she replied. "Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness."

He said ... "Then I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically,but his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit..

Many year's later that same young woman became critically ill. The localdoctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease.

Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes.

Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room.

Dressed in his doctor's gown he went in to see her. He recognized herat once.

He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to saveher life. From that day he gave special attention to her case.

After a long struggle, the battle was won.

Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to himfor approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and thebill was sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally she looked,and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She readthese words .. "Paid in full with one glass of milk"

(Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly.

Tears of joy flooded her eyes as her happy heart prayed: "Thank You God,that Your love has spread broad through human hearts and hands."

There's a saying which goes something like this: Bread cast on the waterscomes back to you. The good deed you do today may benefit you or someone you love at the least expected time. If you never see the deed again at least you will have made the world a better place - And, after all, isn'tthat what life is all about?!

Can Muslims wish Christians Merry Christmas

To wish the non-Muslims with Merry Christmas or any of their religious festivals is haraam (forbidden), by consensus of the
ulama (ijma’), as Ibn al-Qayyim, may God have mercy on him, said:
{Congratulating the kuffaar on the rituals that belong only to them is haraam by consensus, as is congratulating them on
their festivals and fasts by saying “A happy festival to you” or “May you enjoy your festival”, and so on. If the one who says
this has been saved from kufr, it is still forbidden. It is like congratulating someone for prostrating to the cross, or even
worse than that. It is as great a sin as congratulating someone for drinking wine, or murdering someone, or having illicit
sexual relations, and so on.}
Many of those who have no respect for their religion fall into this error; they do not realize the offensiveness of their actions.
Whoever congratulates a person for his disobedience or bid’ah or kufr exposes himself to the wrath and anger of God. If they
greet us on the occasion of their festivals, we should not respond, because these are not our festivals, and because they are
not festivals which are acceptable to God. These festivals are innovations in their religions, and even those which may have
been prescribed formerly have been abrogated by the religion of Islam, with which God sent Muhammad (pbuh) to the whole
of mankind.
Also, the sayings of the Prophet (pbuh) shows that we should not imitate non-Muslims:
{Whoever imitates a nation is one of them.} [Sunan Abu Dawood: Hadith-3512]
{The final hour will not come until my followers copy the deeds of the previous nations and follow them very closely, span by
span, and cubit by cubit.} [Sahih Al Bukhari]

No single verse in the Bible that indicates Jesus was god

There is not a single verse in the bible that says Jesus (peace be upon him) was born on the 25th of December. There is not a single verse in the bible that says anything regarding “Christmas” or “Santa” itself. There is not a single verse in the bible that Jesus declares to be God.

God does not need eat, Jesus did. God does not sleep, Jesus slept. God does not pray, Jesus prayed. God is independent, Jesus is dependent as he prayed. God is All Knowing, Jesus has limited knowledge and is not all knowing.

Jesus prayed, Muslims pray. Jesus fasted, Muslims fast. Jesus kept a beard and so do Muslim men. We love Jesus (peace be upon him) he is our role model. Even his mother Mary who we Muslims call her as Maryam she wore a scarf, full loose veil which Muslim women wear because both were Muslims.

Jesus (peace be upon him) came with a simple message, to tell his nation to worship One God without any partners. Bible has been edited several times, there are so many versions and contradictions. God sent down another Prophet who was called Muhammad (peace be upon him) he came to mankind not just one nation. This is the last prophet with the last revelation as God said he will protect this book from being altered and changed. This book is the Qur’an till this day it has never been changed or altered.

We invite you to look further and investigate Islam. Islam is not just another religion. It is the same message preached by Moses, Jesus and Abraham. Islam literally means ‘˜submission to God’ and it teaches us to have a direct relationship with God. It reminds us that since God created us, no one should be worshipped except God alone. It also teaches that God is nothing like a human being or like anything that we can imagine.

The concept of God is summarised in the Qur’an as: Say, He is God, the One. God, the Absolute. He does not give birth, nor was He born, and there is nothing like Him*. [112:1-4]

Becoming a Muslim is not changing or losing your Christian identity. But it’s going back to the original teachings of Jesus. Guidance ultimately comes from God. We ask God to guide us and you. God says:

And [mention] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, “O children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allah to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Ahmad.” But when he came to them with clear evidences, they said, “This is obvious magic.” (Al Qur’an 61 : 6)

  I am writing to protest against an opinion article that appeared Thursday on WAJIR TIMES that was headlined " Somali and Muslim Community will never forgive Duale if Security bill is passed". The piece was penned by Mohamed Hillow who argued, extensively, that the bill was crafted to target the Somalis in the country. Brainwashing has ended a longtime ago.  We now know what is good for us and what is not. To those politicising the security (amendment) Act 2014 by giving out lame excuses that the law targets Somali and Muslims is not a well placed argument. If the government sees it appropriate approach to combat
insecurity in the country, then it’s compelled to do all at its discretion to secure the nation. The Media must be controlled, sermons and utterance of churches and mosques must be void of hate and radicalisation, ID cards must be screened and process of issuance must be revised. Border patrol and screening should be well fixed.
I would also recommend the government to review the remuneration of our security personnel to motivate them to bring the worsening situation back to normalcy. Where are we heading to when we are not ready to cooperate with the government? How I wish I was part of the opposition movement in Kenya. Instead of bickering about every other move by the government to arrest the security situation I would have laid down structures to curb the insecurity in the country. Calling for mass protest will never change anything. If anything, why are we not seeing proposed security measures from CORD? Why are they not contributing ideas to the insecurity menace in the country?
Let us dialogue and desist from not name-calling which will not reduce level of terrorism act in Kenya.                        

                            Quote of Wisdom

Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise, many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool but to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.

                               The story of the orphaned boy
An 8-year-old boy lost his mum. He was so sad and depressed. A year after his mother’s demise, his father decided to re-marry. One day the boy's father called him and asked: “Is there any differences between your mother and your step-mother?"
The boy answered “yes" His dad then asked what their difference was.
“My mother used to lie to me by my step-mother doesn’t," the boy innocently replied
“What do you mean”? Surprised, the old asked,
The boy then replied, "When I go to my friend’s house, I usually play rough, and my mum would tell me not to play rough, or else she won’t give me food. When my mum sees that I wasn’t at home at the expected time, she would leave whatever she was doing and come to meet me wherever I was. She would then take me home and give me food. But my step-mother always keeps her word. I have been hungry for the past two days.”
Moral story: No one can take the place of a mother. 
                         Education in 21^st century
I have met very few fellows formally educated in English system schools who made significant contribution to their community in Northern Kenya.
Who builds Mosques, orphanages, integrated schools, boreholes and water earthpans in the North? Those who were educated in the Islamic and Arabic schools and those who had little benefit of formal education. Who pays for orphans and finances community projects? Uneducated businesspeople.
What purpose does our education actually serve? It feeds us alright, it provides handouts to our clans alright, it taught us corruption and pilfering alright but it killed both our creativity and our empathy alright. Without those two, one has little vision beyond a suit and a tie.
So we need to dust ourselves and start doing something significant.

My identity, hijab and America

BY: Zamazam

Assalamu Alaikum, I was born and raised as a Muslim. I have been wearing hijab since I was 3 or 4 years old, Alhamdulillah. Hijab is my dignity and my beauty---without it I wouldn't feel comfortable. When I came to America couple of years ago, I was questioned by non-Muslim Americans why I was wearing ‘‘this heavy cloth? Am I not feeling hot with this hot weather?’’ Sometimes they ask me if I am married when I reply to the affirmative they would ask me if my husband forced me to wear it. The weirdest question was if I still wear the hijab while at home. I try my best to explain why I am wearing the hijab, but as much as they ask curious questions, they never taunt me based on my religious attire. They were scared of me because they think am strict and highly religious. I encourage all Muslim sisters to wear hijab because hijab will keep you safe and earn you respect you

The photo that haunts me

BY: Hamza Mohamed

This one haunts me more than any photo I have ever taken.
I met this grandmother outside the town of Jowhar in the Middle Shabelle province.
Displaced by recent clan clashes in the area, she sought refuge in one of the IDP camps in the town.
Penniless and with no family members around, every morning she walks the short distance to the African soldier’s base outside the town and waits for them to have their meals.
She waits for them to throw her, over the barbed wires and blast barriers, their leftovers. For almost a year that is how she has survived.
When I met her it was blazing 35 degrees and clouds of unbearable dust engulfed where she was sitting every few minutes.
I hope somewhere in her big heart she finds the means to forgive us - Somali men. For us Somali men have turned her world into a living misery.
She should be spending the last few years of her long life resting surrounded by her grandchildren and all the love family brings not begging for leftovers from foreign troops.
Walee hadaanu nahay ragii Soomaaliyeed akhiro waxba noogama horeeyo aduunyo-na gumeysi iyo habaar ayan ku joogna.

There is no justification for the killing of non-Muslims, no justification whatsoever

By Yassir Qahi

So, the leader of the Pakistan Taliban, the 'masterminds' of the gruesome, deadly, inhumane and barbaric attack on over a hundred schoolchildren has released a video explaining why he wanted to kill the innocent and pure souls.

WATCH the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo2X1dqRctk

Allah is my witness, I swear I feel disgusted even looking at him much less publicising his voice. But I have a higher motive. I want you to listen carefully to his arguments and justifications, and realize that these are EXACTLY the same arguments that Da’esh (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant), al-Qaeda and other groups use to justify their gruesome killings of innocents people.
As I have said before, when you open the door to extremism, it will only get worse, and those whom you considered extremists (e.g., al-Qaeda) will become innocent pacifists when you compare them to the next splinter group (eg., Daesh), and just when you thought it couldn't get worse, you realize you were wrong all along, and that it is possible to get fanatics who are simply beyond the scale of human understanding (eg., Pakistan Taliban).
For the hundred thousandth time, we are all in agreement that American foreign policy in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, etc., is inhumane, barbaric, and murderous. No one is justifying or supporting them. (Still, in the comments, we will get internet-jihadists who claim that I support American invasions...talk about being deaf, dumb and blind!).
But our religion teaches us that we cannot just randomly kill innocents in retaliation for the wrong done to us.
I reiterate: opening this door WILL lead to acts like those of the Pakistan Taliban.
"Fight for the sake of Allah those who have fought you, but do not go beyond the bounds, for Allah does not love those who go beyond the bounds." (Al-Quran 2:190).
An innocent soul, such as (as per explicit hadith) a woman, a child, a worshipper, and (based on qiyas) in our times a civilian, is simply off-limits. No “ifs”, “ands”, or “buts” about it.

May Allah guide us to act with wisdom and maturity, and save us from ever using His beautiful religion to spread evil and bloodshed in this world, even if people are unjustly killing us (Muslims).

~Yassir Qadhi is is an American Muslim scholar and writer of Pakistani descent and he is Dean of Academic Affairs at the Al-Maghrib Institute, an Islamic educational institution. He has written books and has lectured on Islam and contemporary Muslim issues. A 2011 New York Times Magazine essay described Qadhi as "one of the most influential conservative clerics in American Islam".

TO ETHNIC SOMALI MP’S WHO VOTED FOR THE SECURITY BILL, PAKISTAN HISTORY HAS A LESSON FOR YOU.

By Abdiqafar

Zulfikhar Ali Bhutto was the President of Pakistan from 1971-73. Bhutto was what we can describe as a benevolent dictator who used every means to muzzle the media and silence the opposition parties. Bhutto manipulated local lawyers who shied away from defending opposition politicians in the courts. When the opposition politicians turned to foreign lawyers for help, Bhutto used the numerical strength of representatives from his Pakistan People's Party (PPP) to pass a bill that banned foreign lawyers to practice in Pakistani courts and therefore effectively render the opposition politicians hopeless in the courts. However, in 1974, Zulfikhar Ali Bhutto was overthrown by the Pakistani army led by General Muhammad Zia-Ul Haq. Bhutto was arrested & arraigned in court for various charges among them murder of some of his opponents. No Pakistani lawyers defended him. His family tried to solicit for legal help from British lawyers and General Muhammad Zia-Ul Haq reminded them:  “The law does not allow foreign lawyers to practice in Pakistani courts."
Remember this law was passed by Bhutto's allies when he was the president. Anyway, with no good legal defense, he was found guilty, sentenced and executed on April 4th 1979. Zulfikhar Ali Bhutto died due to the law that he engineered & signed himself.
Back home, I will not be surprised tomorrow when an ethnic Somali Mp in Kenya are arrested on charges of terrorism and held incommunicado for up to 360 days for being suspects only. That’s the law he/she supported.