We have been in this for a while now. Since birth to be exact. The country of Pakistan was built on the notion of an Islamic state; this very notion is now debated at some far-fetched fronts with the air of arrogance assocaited with self-satisfying false prophets.

Islam has always been considered as the religion of peace; that notion is now been debated with great aplomb, citing numerous texts from the exegis of texts that translate yet another explanation of a certain phrase from the holy book of Muslims.

There were times when Eid was celebrated by spotting the most noticable feature of any night sky, a feature that when absent would entice poets to write sweet songs of separation. Now that very moon has become so hard to spot. So hard. But we don’t understand the complexities that are inherent in using our faculties of vision. Poor friggin’ us.

There was a time, somewhat long ago, when Muslims were free thinkers. Dare I say, they were creative. There was thought, there was action, there were mistakes, there were adjustments, carried out by mortal humans with biases and preconcieved notions. Still there was massive progress in all spheres of human endeavor. This was a time when the nation had a brain. And as a consequence of that, had a heart as well.

The premium importance was on finding God, not accepting Him; on discovering one’s own and not following someone else’s potential. It was this type of nation that produced people like Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Shafi.

Now people follow the people of those times. There was a time when power lay in the hands of every soul alive. Now power is cuddled amongst the few haves. Power does corrupt. Absolute power does corrupt absolutely.

Where is that power now? Who will take it back? From whom? These questions, no one will answer for me. Because no one can’t. Only I. I am the one. Are you?

I have an Intel motherboard (a.k.a. desktop board). A few days ago, while formatting and installing my PC, I installed the motherboard drivers (including sound and ethernet drivers) through an Intel Express Installer CD. All worked fine. Then, thanks to a faulty HDD, I had to reinstall everything. 

And this time around as well, EVERYTHING worked smoothly, by God’ Grace. Except one cute little yellow exclamation mark on the High Definition Audio driver on the Windows Device Manage list.  It is this friggin’ audio driver that is giving me hell. 

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An inspiration for sure. A not-so-regular guy, still a teenager, is making more than you - you being anyone working for someone else. All of it through writing about what he likes. Welcome to blogging, friends. 

Check out the exceptionally simple, hence successful blog at http://sizlopedia.com/ 

If you are even remotely interested in the world of tech and the Internet, you will find the blog very useful.

This river does not want your boat. But there you are.

You need the river. Because you have a boat.

Paddle all you want, my friend, but you are anchored in to the wrong dogmas.

The life as you know it, may be the oldest trick in the book.

Read the right book, live the right life.

Don’t rock your own boat. The only thing that can drown in you.

What are you afraid of? The sea is much calmer that this river.

It is only deeper.

You can’t swim forever, my friend. Better learn to float first. Ha!

Hamid Mir has only recently begun to inspire me, thanks to his coverage of Bajaur refugee camps that was a direct result of me and my friends creating The Helpers Foundation (http://blog.momekh.com/helpers/) and raising an odd PKR 150,000 so far. But this post is not about helping people. It is about something else. It is about political weakness - nay - about moral cowardice of our leaders perhaps. Perhaps. It is now too complicated to call. Has been for quite some time, regardless of what your newspapers’ op-eds have us believe.

Hamid Mir in this interview has said more than I would expect any journalist of any cadre to say on air; ‘we have lost the area of Pakistan’. ‘I challenge the president to try to visit the Bajaur areas by road, any minister can not visit these areas, the area is not in Pakistan anymore’. ‘The Pakistani army is not even touching the taliban, it seems that they are just killing the innocent farmers and civilians to get more grants from America.’ ‘Wherever there are talibans - and there are talibans over there - the army is not attacking those areas.’

An open challenge by Hamid Mir. ‘All of them [govt officials, Americans + army] are fooling us. The biggest fraud there ever was, bigger than Eastern Pakistan. I challenge them to show me a single taliban killed by these operations’.

This video is a must, must watch:

hat-tip to Teeth Maestro for this excellent piece of heart-felt commentary.

ImageSource: M.S.M under CC License

A remarkable website that I rediscovered today.

Anyone interested in listening to some beautiful recitations of the mighty Book, head over to The Quran Explorer.
It also has translations from different famous commentators in a total of seven languages, including English, Urdu and French.

A definite bookmarkable website for all net savvy Muslims for sure

Tim Ferris (the best selling author of The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich )in his blog has gone to great lengths in explaining his unorthodox methods of hacking sleep. The commentators on his blog (ranging from the testers to the doctors to everyone in between) have only

condoned his ideas, especially the one which tell you to

have coffee just before your siesta.

Now this should sound odd to you. Coffee? To sleep? You have your caffeine fix  to stay awake, not to fall asleep. Nat Geo told us that Sufis of Islam invented coffee to stay awake. That is the purpose of coffee. To open them eyes now. So how is coffee helping people fall asleep?

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Javed Ghamidi PhotoSource: Wikipedia

The interview with Mr. Ghamidi has been postponed till sometime this week. So keep those questions coming.

The interview is, God willing, expected to take place this coming Sunday (Sept 14, ‘08), early evening. If any of you have any questions that you want to ask him directly, please either use the comments section to ask, or email me. You could expect to get the answers here God willing, by Monday evening. I will also be asking him about getting the most out of life - hacking life, so to speak - from an Islamic point of view.

The beautiful religion of Islam has left the field quite open in terms of creatively living one’s life (Tim Ferris, take note ), as I always try to be living proof of that. Sometimes, I actually succeed. God’s Grace, all of it. (this God’s Grace is what most of us call ‘luck’; I do not find luck or coincidence or chance in any of God’s scheme of things, but that’s just me)

A bit about Javed A. Ghamidi & the interview

Known to be controversial in his intrepretation of Islam, he has presented a truly unique, modern yet fundamentalist view of the religion of Islam. I am a Muslim (thankfully  ) and have found his methods of inquiry, deduction and importantly, his presentation quite unique, and many a times, on the mark.

This coming Sunday, I and a few of my friends will be visiting Mr. Ghamidi (most probably at his home) with a small list of questions, for a pre-arranged meet up. This is not an interview per se, and I am hoping that it turns out to be a fruitful discussion where we learn the most. The questions we will be asking (althoug not in a written format as of yet) are a result of our (friends) discussions amongst ourselves and our readings into the Holy Qur’an, Hadith literature and the writings of acclaimed Quranic commentators like Moudidi, M Asad and Dr. Israr.

Those who are aware of today’s political Islam will know that Mr. Ghamidi and Dr. Israr are not on the same frequency when it comes to Islam. This inshAllah, should be a learning and an interesting experience. I await your questions as well (quickly now, there is not much time left ).

I will probably be updating on twitter as well, so you can also follow me on twitter.

Universe is big.
Now, as I take my foot out of my mouth, I will let you know that Stephen Hawkins is the king when it comes to talking about space and the universe.

The modern day scientist genius, Stephen Hawking is almost completely paralyzed  (due to a long and growing illness that I can’t pronounce even upon trying - acronym is ALS). I first read one of his books The Brief History of Time as the book was gifted to me by my brother. This was eons ago it seems, but I have read the book many a times since, and have found the information extremely well laid out and easy to understand.

The awe inspiring world we inhabit is by all means nothing compared to the universe that our world inhabits.  A must read for anyone who claims to be alive.

Get the book now if you already do not own one. It is only one of the best selling books ever!

And to top it all off, CNN is now letting people ask a question to Mr. Stephen Hawkins. Head over to the CNN post and leave your questions in the comments section.

Slacker Uprising. I think it is a brilliant name for a movie from one brilliant guy.
Michael Moore’s new movie, slated to be released on Sept 23, is about young people of America, coming out to vote. And from the looks of it, Moore will get them out alright. The slackers will rise! Hence the appropriate name, ’slacker uprising’.

And the video will be free to download when it gets released. How cool is that! You go Moore (pun intended) (Reread the friggin’ fine print: it is free to download for US and Canadians only. Akkh!)

The trailer of the video is a must see in itself. Available at Slacker Uprising’s website

If anyone, it has always been Michael Moore who has inspired me to shoot. With a camera. I might as well will, God willing.