Reem: it was wonderful to see you again last week in the youth center. I must say that I was very jealous of the MAC London people for this phenomenal place maa shaa Allah. As I told Wael and Jalal you folks have to lend us your interior decorator :). If you have pictures I’d love to be able to put them up here so please share. The pictures on the website are all of people not of the actual center. I don’t mind people in the picture - actually it’s better, but I’d like something that shows off the place as well.

Reem asked the question “if the heart can ever understand?”

I was faced with a fresh disappointment today so here’s my feedback. I thought this may add to the discussion.

Deep down I keep asking myself ‘why didn’t the thing go as I planned it’ I think the heart feels the pain but you need to ‘override’ that emotion with the mental intellect that has been given to you. One way to enhance this intellect is through reading the Qu’ran and realizing the finite nature of the majority of things in this world.

However, I do agree that at some point in life, one realizes why a certain disappointment had to have happened. One realizes the wisdom behind going through extreme stress in family relations to school to work. This realization of the wisdom behind the hardship may not come instantly but may come several months to years after the event has occured.

lol…i don’t know if I got my point across or not…Okay so like i’m basically saying that if you get hurt or if your heart says things should have gone this way or that way, you have to hold steadfast and just say Alhamdilla. Patience is for the brave! Suffer through your sufferings and eventually you’ll come out to be a strong person.

…do you guys get what i mean?

I enjoyed your article on ‘the cube’ and wanted to comment on the questions you asked at the end of your article:

Yes, I do think we can experience contentment with the decree that has come to pass (or will pass), but I think it will be a life-long struggle for some things, and an easier struggle for other things. It is very easy to lose passion and hope. However, instead of losing hope or giving up, I think we need to continue to remind ourselves constantly that Allah sw knows what’s best for us, and to thank Allah sw for the blessing that He sw has given us. Can the heart ever understand? I’m not sure, but the constant rememberance of ALlah sw and enough effort may help the heart begin to understand.

that’s amazing!! I remember how much i bugged my parents about the first playstation 1 and then the playstation 2 and now hopefully playstation 3. (haha..I wouldn’t wanna have me as my son…lol)

Actually playing videogames (i read somewhere) has many benefits (if properly balanced of course).

Some benefits include:
1. better hand to eye co-ordination
2. visual identification and memory tends to increase
3. knowledge

About # 3, i actually first learned about ‘mitochondria’ by playing an interactive video game. In fact, i ended up picking electrical engineering just cuz of playstations!! (i’m a huge fan…)

-abdul
ps. btw….you GOTTA tell what system it was that you wanted…..the oldest video game system I had was the one my grandmother brought back from hajj..haha. It was an Atari system.

Quoting from the article you cite, the etymology of the word comes from “foot ball” and is “widely believed” to refer to “the action of a foot kicking a ball”. While Wikipedia offers a “rival explanation” it is freely acknowledged that “there is no conclusive evidence for this explanation” other than the seeming desire to non-sensically accommodate the parochial tendencies of four countries.

There is also the force of history. The oldest games in the tradition of football are the Chinese cuju and the Japanese kemari (I will post the picture from wiki on the blog :) ).

Finally, what more imperialism is there than to tie the name of the game to the English Football Association? That’ exactly what you are doing when you insist on the name “soccer” which is an abbreviation of “association football” as your article mentions.

p.s. Some people are just a fitna waitin’ to happen!

Here’s a relevant quote: “The name ’soccer’ (or ’soccer football’) was originally a slang abbreviation of association football and is now the prevailing term in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand where other codes of football are dominant.”

In addition to being an anachronism, it seems that “football” (soccer) is a part of the imperialistic and colonialistic legacy of the UK and Europe which the US & Canada, Australia and New Zealand have shed. (Yes, Mr. Bush and his administration are a tragic regression in that evolutionary advancement of human history.)

Which intellectual tradition do you want to belong to? :-)

As for me, I prefer anachronistic to non-sensical :)