Sunyi betul blog ini.

Sapu habuk sikit.

(^_^)

Kali ini nak cerita tentang orang baru.

Seorang yang telah hadir ke dunia.

Anak saya yang telah ditunggu-tunggu telah tiba!

Alhamdulillah

Saya tulis full story, siap gambar lagi.

(n_n)

Kehadiran Itu

31 Januari 2012

6:00am

Air ketuban pecah. Solat subuh dilaksanakan segera dan barangan dikemas seadanya. Hospital Seberang Jaya di Pulau Pinang menjadi tujuan. Pasangan tersebut berdebar menanti apa yang bakal dihadapi mereka. Di dalam hati doa tidak putus-putus dipanjatkan agar Allah mempermudah segala urusan.

9:30am

Si isteri dimasukkan ke dewan bersalin untuk pemeriksaan. Bukaan cuma 3cm, memerlukan masa untuk cukup 10cm bagi kelahiran normal. Si isteri kelihatan gelisah. Si suami membisikkan, "Jangan risau, yakinlah Allah ada percaturan-Nya. Semua yang diatur-Nya pasti punya hikmah." Si isteri cuma mengangguk.

11:00am

Si isteri dimasukkan ke wad pranatal, wad ibu-ibu menanti waktu melahirkan. Bukaannya tidak bertambah, menyebabkan dia perlu menanti di wad sehingga waktunya tiba. Waktu diberi selama 24 jam. Jika melebihi waktu, bayi perlu dilahirkan segera atau bayi akan lemas di dalam rahim. Kepada Allah jualah pengharapan diberikan. Nasihat-nasihat diberikan menguatkan semangat si isteri.

"Sayang, banyakkan baca Al-Quran ya. Biar anak kita mesra dengan Al-Quran. Kurangkan buat benda-benda lagho. Tak payah tengok drama TV tu." Pesan tetap diberi, walau dia tahu isterinya memang tidak minat menonton televisyen.

"Insya-Allah sayang."

1 Februari 2012

2:32am

Nombor telefon bimbit si isteri didail.

"Sayang, macam mana?"

"Dah mula rasa sakit." Suaranya sebak, lemah dan tersekat-sekat.

"Sabar ya sayang. Doa banyak-banyak. Saya pun doakan awak. Semoga Allah permudahkan urusan kita."

"Em, insya-Allah.." Suaranya masih lemah. Jiwa lelaki si suami sedikit terusik. Perlahan-lahan air mata lelakinya tumpah.

'Ya Allah, permudahkanlah urusan kami. Berikanlah yang terbaik buat kami. Selamatkanlah isteri dan bakal anakku Ya-Allah.'

Dan solat malam didirikan. Bacaan Al-Quran dialunkan buat kesekian kalinya.

6:00am

Si isteri dihantar ke wad bersalin. Bukaan cuma 4cm. Bayi perlu 'dipaksa' keluar. Si suami cuma boleh menghantar ke muka pintu. Peraturan hospital memisahkan mereka di sana.

"Tetap yakin pada Allah ya. Baca selawat dan berzikir banyak-banyak."

"Insya-Allah. Awak doakan saya ya. Saya masuk dulu. Saya minta maaf atas kesilapan saya selama ini. Minta halal makan minum." Matanya berkaca-kaca.

"Saya maafkan semuanya sayang. Saya halalkan semuanya. Kuatkan semangat ya."

Lalu tangan si suami dikucup si isteri. Dahi si isteri dikucup si suami. Kedua-duanya dilakukan dengan penuh penghayatan, seperti itulah kali terakhir mereka akan bertemu. Jururawat terus menolak si isteri masuk ke dalam dewan bersalin. Pintu lalu tertutup menghalang penglihatan. Pandangan menjadi samar, berkaca-kaca. Lalu takungan air mata tumpah entah untuk kali ke berapa.

11:00am

"Waris Atifah!"

Suara jururawat memanggil mengejutkan lamunannya. Dadanya berdebar-debar menanti khabar yang bakal didengari.

'Ya-Allah, selamatlah Ya-Allah, selamatlah!"

"Macam mana isteri saya?"

Dadanya semakin kencang degupannya.

"Dia sudah selamat melahirkan."

"Alhamdulillah, pukul berapa ya?"

"Sekejap saya tengok, 9:32am tadi encik."

"Lelaki ke perempuan?"

"Itu encik boleh tengok sendiri nanti."

"Boleh saya azankan dia?"

"Sudah tentu, tunggu di sini ya."

Hati si suami berbunga-bunga gembira. Syukur dan tahmid tidak henti-henti dipanjatkan kepada Ilahi. Kini cuma satu persoalan yang bermain di mindanya.

'Lelaki ke perempuan?'

"Encik, boleh masuk sekarang."

Perlahan-lahan kakinya melangkah. Melihat kepada satu susuk kecil yang berada di dalam bekas yang diperbuat daripada plastik lut cahaya. Berbalut dengan kain putih, hanya menampakkan bahagian kepala. Hatinya bagai disiram sesuatu yang sejuk melihat akan wajah itu. Wajah kecil yang telah lama ditungguinya.

Lalu kain balutan dibuka, lampin ditanggalkan.

'Lelaki!'

Lalu bayi itu digendong, azan dilantunkan di telinga kanan dan iqomah di telinga kiri. Azannya itu diusahakan supaya tidak menjadi ritual semata, tetapi dialunkan sepenuh hati dan penghayatan. Semoga kalimah tauhid dan seruan menegakkan solat itu mengakar umbi dalam sanubari serta minda bawah sedar si kecil itu. Perlahan-lahan kemudian anak itu diletakkan kembali di pembaringanya.

"Boleh saya jumpa isteri saya?"

"Maaf Encik Umair, Puan Atifah masih perlu rawatan dan berehat. Encik tidak boleh masuk ke dalam, jadi Encik Umair perlu tunggu sehingga dia keluar."

"Kalau begitu, baiklah. Terima kasih ya."

Sepanjang menanti di bangku di luar dewan bersalin, dia teringat akan sebuah kisah yang disampaikan oleh ibunya kepada dirinya.

23 tahun yang lalu (5 Februari 1989)

Suasana Hospital Toledo Ohio, Amerika Syarikat sibuk seperti biasa. Di satu sudut, seorang wanita sedang terbaring di atas katil. Tubuhnya dibaluti selimut hingga ke paras pinggang. Wajahnya kelihatan pucat namun tetap cuba tersenyum. Di sisinya seorang lelaki bermisai nipis dan berjambang yang berkaca mata. Di tangannya mengendong sesusuk tubuh kecil yang masih lagi merah. Anak sulung mereka yang ditunggu-tunggu.

"Apa nama anak kita ni ya?"

"Kita letak nama sahabat, macam mana?"

"Kalau begitu, kita beri nama Umair,"

"Umair?"

"Ingat nama sahabat nabi, Mus'ab bin Umair?"

"Dia mengorbankan kekayaan, harta dan kemahsyuran demi memeluk Islam."

"Bagus nama itu. Tapi itu Mus'ab, kenapa nama anak kita Umair?"

"Biar nanti anak dia diberi nama Mus'ab, barulah lahirnya Mus'ab bin Umair."

"Semoga zuriat kita menjadi pejuang-pejuang Islam yang akan membela agama Allah di akhir zaman ini."

"Em, semoga kembali kegemilangan para sahabat yang mulia itu, kan bang?"

"Insya-Allah."

Dan kedua pasangan itu tersenyum. Lalu pasangan Zulkefli bin Samat dan Nor Zailin binti Ismail menamakan anak sulung mereka dengan nama Umair bin Zulkefli.

'Doa Mama dan Abah dah terkabul nampaknya. Jadi nama anak aku ini...'

Sebuah SMS ditaip.

Alhamdulillah, seorang mujahid telah selamat dilahirkan.
Nama diberi Ahmad Mus'ab bin Ahmad Umair.
Doakan semoga Mus'ab bakal menjadi pejuang agama-Nya, sebagaimana Mus'ab bin Umair di zaman Rasulullah yang sanggup mengorbankan keindahan dunia demi cinta kepada Allah.

*****

Mus'ab, nanti sampai masanya kamu bacalah warkah ini ya.

Assalamu'alaikum WBT anakku, Ahmad Mus'ab bin Ahmad Umair. Semoga kamu akan menjadi pejuang Islam yang hebat. Pasti akan jadi. Akan Abi dan Ummi usahakan. Nama kamu seperti sahabat agung. Mus'ab bin Umair. Semoga dengan panggilan itu, menjadi sebuah doa agar kamu akan mencontohi kehebatan Mus'ab bin Umair.

Mus'ab bin Umair, asalnya tidak mengenal Allah. Hidupnya penuh kemewahan dan keindahan dunia. Minyak wanginya sahaja amat mahal, sehingga lalu sahaja beliau di pasar, semua orang tahu akan kehadirannya, kerana hanya dialah yang memakai wangian itu. Keadaan dirinya yang mewah dan rupanya yang kacak menyebabkan Mus’ab menjadi kegilaan gadis di Makkah. Mereka sentiasa berangan-angan untuk menjadi isterinya.

Namun apabila Islam mengetuk pintu hatinya, segala kesenangan dan kemewahan itu ditinggalkannya. Apabila keislamannya diketahui, ibu dan ayahnya telah mengurung dan menyeksa Mus’ab selama beberapa hari dengan harapan dia akan meninggalkan Islam. Bagaimanapun tindakan itu tidak sedikit pun melemahkan keyakinannya. Pujukan dan ancaman ibunya tidak berkesan. Mereka sudah habis ikhtiar lalu membebaskannya buat sementara.

Tindakan ibunya tidak sedikit pun menimbulkan rasa takut pada Mus’ab, sebaliknya dia tidak jemu-jemu memujuk ibunya memeluk Islam kerana kasih pada ibunya. Mus’ab membuat pelbagai ikhtiar tetapi semua tindakannya hanya menambahkan lagi kemarahan dan kebencian ibunya.

Pada suatu hari Mus’ab melihat ibunya dalam keadaan pucat lesi. Dia pun bertanyakan sebabnya. Kata ibunya, dia telah berniat di hadapan berhala bahawa dia tidak akan makan dan minum sehingga Mus’ab meninggalkan Islamnya.

Anakku, kau tahu apa jawapn Mus'ab atas sumpah ibunya itu? Dengarlah jawapan Mus’ab kepada ibunya:

“Andaikata ibu mempunyai seratus nyawa sekalipun, dan nyawa ibu keluar satu demi satu, nescaya saya tetap tidak akan meninggalkan Islam sama sekali.”

Mus'ab anakku, teguhkanlah pendirianmu sepertinya!

Mus'ab meninggalkan kemewahan, dan meneruskan kehidupan dengan menjual kayu api. Mus'ab tidak pernah terfikir untuk berganjak daripada keyakinannya. Sehingga adiknya, Ar-Rum yang sering diutus oleh ibunya untuk memujuknya kembali kepada agama nenek moyang mereka, turut mengikuti jejak langkah Mus'ab.

Sewaktu ancaman dan seksaan kaum Quraisy ke atas kaum Muslim menjadi-jadi, Rasulullah telah mengarahkan supaya sebahagian sahabat berhijrah ke Habysah. Mus’ab turut bersama-sama rombongan tersebut. Sekembalinya dari Habsyah, keadaan beliau semakin berubah. Kurus kering dan berpakaian compang-camping lantaran penyiksaan Quraisy ke atasnya. Keadaan itu menimbulkan rasa sedih di dalam hati Rasulullah. Kata-kata Rasulullah mengenai Mus’ab sering disebut-sebut oleh sahabat:,

“Segala puji bagi bagi Allah yang telah menukar dunia dengan penduduknya. Sesungguhnya dahulu saya melihat Mus’ab seorang pemuda yang hidup mewah ditengah-tengah ayah bondanya yang kaya raya. Kemudian dia meninggalkan itu semua kerana cinta kepada Allah dan Rasul-Nya”.

Dan anakku, Mus'ab telah syahid di medan Uhud. ketika peperangan Uhud, Mus’ab ditugaskan memegang panji Islam. Peringkat kedua peperangan telah menyebabkan kekalahan di pihak tentera Muslimin. Tetapi Mus’ab tetap tidak berganjak dari tempatnya dan menyeru: Muhammad adalah Rasul, dan sebelumnya telah banyak diutuskan Rasul.

Ketika itu, seorang tentera berkuda Quraisy, Ibn Qamiah menyerbu ke arah Mus’ab dan menetak tangan kanannya yang memegang bendera Islam. Mus’ab menyambut bendera itu dengan tangan kirinya sambil mengulang-ulang laungan tadi. Laungan itu menyebabkan Ibn Qamiah bertambah marah dan menetak tangan kirinya pula. Mus’ab terus menyambut dan memeluk bendera itu dengan kedua-dua lengannya yang kudung. Akhirnya Ibn Qamiah menikamnya dengan tombak. Maka gugurlah Mus’ab sebagai syuhada’ Uhud.

Ar-Rum, Amir ibn Rabiah dan Suwaibit ibn Sad telah berusaha mendapatkan bendera tersebut daripada jatuh ke bumi. Ar- Rum telah berjaya merebutnya dan menyaksikan sendiri syahidnya Mus’ab. Ar-Rum tidak dapat lagi menahan kesedihan melihat kesyahidan abangnya. Tangisannya memenuhi sekitar bukit Uhud. Ketika hendak dikafankan, tidak ada kain yang mencukupi untuk menutup jenazahnya. Keadaan itu menyebabkan Rasulullah tidak dapat menahan kesedihan hingga bercucuran air mata baginda. Keadaannya digambarkan dengan kata-kata yang sangat masyhur:

“Apabila ditarik kainnya ke atas, bahagian kakinya terbuka. Apabila ditarik kainnya ke bawah, kepalanya terbuka. Akhirnya, kain itu digunakan untuk menutup bahagian kepalanya dan kakinya ditutup dengan daun-daun kayu.”

Anakku, Mus'ab telah ada sejarahnya. Kini tiba masanya engkau mencoret sejarahmu. Semoga Allah mengizinkan kita mengembalikan kegemilangan Islam, bersama-sama dengan ikhwah-ikhwah seperjuangan yang sama-sama bertungkus-lumus mengusahakannya.

-Abu Mus'ab-

umairzulkefli

10:49am

07022012

Baiti Jannati

Sedikit gambar-gambar Ahmad Mus'ab bin Ahmad Umair untuk tatapan:

  

~End Of Post~

Read More »

Ugli Fruit, Unleavened, Udon
Read More »

This is a weekly post by Nidhal Guessoum (see his earlier posts here). Nidhal is an astrophysicist and Professor of Physics at American University of Sharjah and is the author of Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science. 

My latest column in Gulfnews was about funding of space exploration. In the article, I tried to show that not only is the worldwide budget insignificant compared to a variety of other really wasteful spending, but that we should indeed invest in space research, for this reflects our socio-cultural attitudes and objectives.

Here are excerpts from the piece:

The launch of a new space mission, and even more so the failure of a spacecraft (as we witnessed recently), invariably leads me to face the following question from students and acquaintances: why do we waste that kind of money in spacey pursuits when we have so much human poverty and suffering that we should be trying to alleviate here on earth?

…

The total space budget of all nations on Earth is less than 40 billion dollars. NASA’s budget for 2012 is $ 19.5 billion (that is 0.5 % of the entire US budget); ESA’s (the European Space Agency’s) budget was $ 5.65 billion in 2011; the Russian space budget amounted to about $ 2.5 billion; China’s is $ 2 billion; India’s is $1.6 billion; plus small amounts for smaller countries.

The whole human expenditure on space projects, including all satellites, rockets, spacecrafts and the hundreds of thousands of people who work on that, increases by less than 1 % each year!

Contrast this with the world’s spending in the military sector (armament and personnel): a whopping $ 1630 billion in 2010, the US part representing 42 % of that! That’s 40 times more than the worldwide space budget, and that amount increases by about 5 % each year.

Now, lest anyone think that they are not responsible for any of this (neither the space money “waste” nor the scary military budget), I would like to mention a few other kinds of expenses, these being more at the personal level. Each year in Europe (for which we have statistics), people spend about $ 50 billion a year on cigarettes; Europeans, who constitute only 10 % of humans, spend $ 150 billion a year on alcoholic drinks, $ 24 billion on pet food, $ 200 billion on cosmetics, and $ 1400 billion (yes, that’s $ 1.4 trillion) on entertainment and media (music, cinema, TV shows, electronics, newspapers and magazines)!

…

One [other approach] is to list the numerous and diverse spinoffs that have resulted from space research. Indeed, because space places different sets of constraints on any project, be it a new satellite or a trip to Mars, new tools often need to be developed, and these almost always find applications in our lives here on Earth. There are, without exaggeration, hundreds of spinoffs, ranging from bio-medical techniques to digital systems, from imaging technology to robotics, where important uses have been found in medicine, meteorology, environmental monitoring (of potential or unfolding disasters), information and communication technology, remote sensing, surveillance, and many other fields.

What must be stressed is that such applications do indeed lead to helping address and alleviate the poverty and human suffering, which the skeptics of space projects insist that we focus on.

…

Encouragement for students to take on this field and its applications must come in the form of strategic projects, where governments and companies invest for the future. Salaries and rewards must be substantial. But most importantly, society in general, and the vital education and media sectors in particular, must project a bright image of those fields and of the people who pursue them.

It is a shame that hardly anyone can name an Arab or Muslim astronaut (yes, a few have gone up to space), but many can name entire sports teams or movie casts. We need to change this, for our future and our children’s.

You can read the whole article here, if you wish.

Read More »

Most foodies know that Tiramisu is a decadent dessert featuring coffee soaked ladyfingers layered with a zabaione and mascarpone, but what many people don’t know is that the recipe’s name is one of the best culinary double entendres ever.

“Tiramisu” translates to "pick me up." Considering that this popular Italian dessert is spiked with proven mood-elevators such as coffee, cocoa, sugar, and alcohol, the name seems to fit perfectly. But wait, there’s more.

As legend has it, tiramisu was a popular snack with the “working girls” of northern Italy, where the dessert originated. So, not only does "pick me up" refer metaphorically to the obvious restorative effects of the dessert, but also more literally to the solicitation of another customer.

Which brings us to this upcoming Valentine’s Day. Not only would this make for a very happy ending for your V-Day meal, but think about the stimulating conversation that could follow when you recount this racy tale.

Anyway, even if you don’t end up talking about Italian prostitutes over dessert, if you’re a fan of chocolate mousse, and you enjoy a good "pick me up," you can’t go wrong with this deliciously decadent, yet still fairly light dessert. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

3.5 oz dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

2 tbsp espresso coffee, or strong regular coffee

1 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tbsp Marsala wine (may sub with rum, or omit)

2 egg yolks

4 tsp sugar

2 tbsp mascarpone cheese

3/4 cup heavy cream, whipped

Read More »

LESSON 114: IS A WARM WINTER GOOD FOR BEES?
Bees overwinter best when they are held at a temperature that keeps the cluster quiet and eating very little honey. That’s why sometimes we say we are putting the bees to bed for the winter. Though bees do not hibernate like bears, they cluster, produce heat, eat and wait for warmer days. There is an ideal temperature between 30-40 degrees F that keeps the bees quiet and eating the least amount of food. The warmer the weather the more the bees eat. AND oddly enough, the colder the weather (below 30 degrees F) the more the bees eat to generate heat. Does an unseasonably warm winter mean trouble for bees? Yes.
Don’t panic just yet. If a colony is healthy, meaning they are not suffering from viruses, mite overload or high nosema spores, they always stand a better chance of making it through the winter. But remember this: They need numbers!  A colony must be heavily populated to provide the needed heat during extreme cold snaps. A large colony can generate more heat with less consumption of honey. In a smaller colony each bee will have to work harder to generate enough heat, which requires the consumption of more food.
It is not unusual for smaller colonies to die in the winter even though they had plenty of honey. It is because they could not maintain a survivable temperature in the cluster. In this case, the winter did not kill the colony, but rather poor summer and fall management. The colony was just too small to overwinter.
In the winter, the colony’s cluster shrinks in size as temperatures fall. The colder the temperature, the tighter and smaller the cluster becomes. This can be another explanation as to why bees die in close proximity to frames full of honey. Let me explain. On day one, the outside temperature can be 30 degrees F resulting in the cluster compressing into a loose cluster. They will begin to consume honey in combs near them. The next day, the high temperature may drop  to 10 degrees F resulting in the bees compressing into a very tight cluster, shrinking in size even more. If the bees are held in this tight cluster for several days, they can quickly consume all honey near by. To complicate matters, winter can throw another punch and the temperature can continue to sink resulting in the bees being unable to break cluster to go to areas nearby containing honey. As the cluster tightens and shrinks the comb around them has been drained of honey. As a result, the bees can starve out with nearby honey in combs they cannot reach due to the cold temperatures.
Winter survival depends on these factors:
1) Low level of mites
2) Low level of diseases and viruses
3) Amount of bees that can generate heat
4) Volume of stored honey and pollen
TIPS FOR WINTER FEEDING
1) Lift the rear of the hive to check the weight. If the hive is very light the colony is lacking stored honey and needs fed.
2) Do not remove frames unless the temperature is 60 degrees F or higher.
3) Do not feed liquid sugar during the winter. It will freeze. Also the bees will be unable to fly out and defecate due to being tightly clustered. Instead feed solid sugar such as our Winter-Bee-Kind Candy Boards. We’ve started the Beekeeping Video Institute and we featured our Winter-Bee-Kind in our first video. See our 1st Beekeeping Video Institute below.


4) Bees die in February and March when the weather begins to warm up a little, but there is still no available nectar or pollen. This is more common in northern states such as mine, Illinois. The queen starts laying more and the added brood requires much more consumption of resources that cannot be replaced. Late winter is the time to start feeding a liquid sugar mixture, one part sugar to one part water. It is only advisable to feed sugar water when you know the bees will be able to fly out of the hive once or twice a week. Pollen substitute is always a valuable resource to keep in the hive. Bees with a variety of pollen are always healthier. Yes, bees need pollen even during the winter. Pollen is the bee’s protein. In late winter, here in Illinois, bees are starved for protein and will begin eating almost anything that resembles pollen such as dog and cat food, dust from tiny bird seeds, and even our saw dust piles. Every spring I spread out dry pollen powder and the bees go crazy hauling it back to the hive.
Thanks for joining us for another lesson from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms.

Read More »

Vinegar, Vanilla, Veal


Read More »

ولد الهدى فالكائنات ضياء **وفم الزمان تبسم وسناء ***

**الروح والملأ الملائك حوله **للدين والدنيا به بشراء ** 

والعرش يزهو والحظيرة تزدهي **والمنتهى والسدرة العصماء ** 

والوحي يقطر سلسلا من سلسل **واللوح والقلم البديع رواء **

يا خير من جاء الوجود تحية **من مرسلين إلى الهدى بك جاؤوا **

بك بشر الله السماء فزينت **وتوضعت مسكا بك الغبراء ** 

يوم يتيه على الزمان صباحه **ومساؤه بمحمد وضاء **

يوحي إليك الفوز في ظلمائه **متتابعا تجلى به الظلماء **

والآي تترى والخوارق جمة **جبريل رواح بها غداء **

دين يشيد آية في آية **لبنائه السورات والأضواء **

الحق فيه هو الأساس وكيف لا**والله جل جلاله البناء **

بك يا ابن عبدالله قامت سمحة **بالحق من ملل الهدى غراء **

بنيت على التوحيد وهو حقيقة**نادى بها سقراط والقدماء **

ومشى على وجه الزمان بنورها **كهان وادي النيل والعرفاء **

الله فوق الخلق فيها وحده **والناس تحت لوائها أكفاء**

والدين يسر والخلافة بيعة**والأمر شورى والحقوق قضاء **

الاشتراكيون أنت أمامهم **لولا دعاوي القوم والغلواء **

داويت متئدا وداووا طفرة **وأخف من بعض الدواء الداء **

الحرب في حق لديك شريعة **ومن السموم الناقعات دواء **

والبر عندك ذمة وفريضة **لا منة ممنوحة وجباء **

جاءت فوحدت الزكاة سبيله **حتى إلتقى الكرماء والبخلاء **

انصفت أهل الفقر من أهل الغنى **فالكل في حق الحياة سواء **

يا من له الأخلاق ما تهوى العلا**منها وما يتعشق الكبراء **

زانتك في الخلق العظيم شمائل **يغرى بهن ويولع الكرماء **

فإذا سخوت بلغت بالجود المدى **وفعلت ما لا تفعل الأنواء **

وإذا عفوت فقادرا ومقدرا **لا يستهين بعفوك الجهلاء **

وإذا رحمت فأنت أم أو أب **هذان في الدنيا هما الرحماء **

وإذا خطبت فللمنابر هزة **تعرو الندى وللقلوب بكاء **

وإذا أخذت العهد أو أعطيته** فجميع عهدك ذمة ووفاء **

يامن له عز الشفاعة وحده **وهو المنزه ماله شفعاء **

لي في مديحك يا رسول عرائس **تيمن فيك وشاقهن جلاء **

هن الحسان فإن قبلت تكرما **فمهورهن شفاعة حسناء **

ما جئت بابك مادحا بل داعيا** ومن المديح تضرع ودعاء **

أدعوك عن قومي الضعاف لأزمة **في مثلها يلقى عليك رجاء **

نشرها على موقع دنيا ودين 

محمد عبدالعال

Read More »

I wanted to wish you all a fun, festive, and very delicious Super Bowl Sunday! I’ll be watching the game with the in-laws, and if you’re wondering what we’re going to be eating, you may be surprised. There will be no Buffalo wings, no nacho cheese, and no baby back ribs.

I’m so tired of football food, having produced all these recent Super Bowl-inspired videos, that I made a batch of cabbage rolls using this very popular, previously posted recipe. Hey, they are football shaped after all. 

I didn’t re-shoot the recipe, but I did snap a couple cell shots that I posted to Instagram (don't worry, they're better the next day...the cabbage rolls, not the photos). Enjoy the game, and GO GIANTS!

Read More »

It's Baaaacccckkkk!!  Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays is making a reappearance for the month of February and if you couldn't guess, this month's theme is LOVE!!!  Please link up any recipes that you think is romantic, warm hearted or one you would make for Valentine's Day.   All recipes or fun food ideas are welcome.  The link will be up all month long so feel free to come by and add more recipes during the month.

Our Rules:
1. Please become a follower of our blog.
2. Please share a link back to your actual recipe post, not to your main blog page.
3. Please link back to our blog so others can join in the fun.
4. Leave us a comment about what recipe you are linking up.
5. Have fun!

Happy Valentines Day!

French Meringue Macarons with Raspberry Cream

Read More »

Whisk, Wine, Wasabi

• Whitney of What's Left On The Table

Read More »

by Salman Hameed

This 10 minute video from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly is set in Egypt and is from August 2009 (before the recent Arab Spring). I found it interesting as it brings up trends and questions that are relevant for much of the Muslim world. For example, who has the authority to interpret matter related to religion? There are more and more online fatwas out there and they can range from being reasonable to completely ridiculous (one example of the latter is given in the video). At the same time, we are seeing a growing number of educated Muslims learning the Qur'an and interpreting Islam for themselves. Such views are also being impacted by the interaction with literature and other ideas from across the world via the internet and because of the ease of global travel. In addition, new technology is bringing up new kinds of questions (for example, marriage or divorce via text?).

Interestingly, the video also brings up the trend of increasing public piety in Egypt. This is actually true in much of the Muslim world, and this is getting increasingly intertwined with the notions of individual rights and personal religious beliefs.

Here is the video.

Read More »

Who's ready for Game Day!!!  If you're tired of the traditional Spicy Buffalo wings here is a great alternative.  I love these because the wings are baked not fried and then they are tossed in this delicious sticky, sweet, tangy sauce right before serving so the wings stay crispy, hot and delicious.  If you are the more traditional type of wing eater here is a link to a super simple and delicious wing buffalo wing recipe........Baked Buffalo Wings

Ingredients:

1 lb of chicken wingettes and drumettes

1/2 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degree F.  Place chicken, skin on on a lined greased baking sheet.  Bake wings for 45 min - 1 hr until they are light brown and very crispy.  Meanwhile in a large bowl mix together ketchup, soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, honey, salt and pepper.  Once chicken is done, remove from baking sheet and add directly into the large bowl with sauce.  Toss until coated well and serve immediately.

Read More »

To read the content of this post, please click on the link below:
http://www.inspiremeasap.blogspot.com/2012/02/math-counts-mid-west-conference-for-k-3.html


Read More »

Here are just some of the activities we will be doing for our dental health unit!

Here is a fun poem!

This graph kicked off our unit!

 

I made these teeth anchor charts to discuss facts about dental health.

After going through the dental health anchor charts, the students will sort these True and False statements onto the correct toothbrush.

Click HERE to download

Read More »

Xantham... any ideas?
Read More »

Unlike nacho cheese sauce, the nutritional label on a jar of pickled jalapenos isn’t very scary at all, so you can’t use that as an excuse when your non-foodie friends start making fun of you for having too much time on your hands. Nope, you’ll just have to fess up to making these pickled jalapeno rings for the simple reason that you knew how.

While these are a no-brainer topping for your nachos, the fun doesn’t stop there. These make any sandwich more special, and any salad less snoozy. It would be faster to list things that this wouldn’t make more delicious.

As I mention in the video, these are intended to be used relatively soon after making, but they will last for a while in the fridge. You don’t have to be too worried about getting sick, as not much bad happens in a brine, but eventually they start to break down, especially if you slice them thin. Having said that, if you enjoy these as much as I do, they won’t be around very long anyway. Enjoy!

Please note: recipe below makes enough for two (8-oz) jars of peppers. I only pickled enough peppers for one jar, and saved the rest of the brine for something else.

Ingredients:

10 large jalapeno peppers, sliced

3 tbsp sugar (I like these kind of sweet, so use less or no sugar if you don’t)

3/4 cup white distilled vinegar

3/4 cup water

1 tbsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp oregano

1 clove garlic

Read More »

by Salman Hameed

I know some people are hesitant to go and see a black & white, silent film in the 21st century. But really you should go and see The Artist. It is not only an homage to early cinema, but it also has a wonderfully crafted story as well as a great soundtrack to go with it.

Here is our film autopsy (review) of The Artist:

And while we are on the subject of movies, here is our film autopsy of the spy thriller, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy:

Read More »

by Salman Hameed

So as of last month, Pakistan had roughly 6 million Facebook users (about 3% of population). Egypt - 9 million (11%). Malaysia - 12 million (42% of population!). Indonesia - 41 million (17% of population)!

This is just to give you a snapshot of the diversity of Facebook use in some of the more populated Muslim-majority countries. The correspondence of internet users and facebook users is almost 1 to 1 in Indonesia.

As for Pakistan, I found this graphic in today's Tribune. This pattern is most likely true at least for most of the developing world:

And here is a bit more info on users in Pakistan (I'm actually unsure as to how we lost a million people in the graphic below. I thought all stats were for 18 and above).

Indeed this is an elite educated group (3% of the population). I don't have similar stats for Indonesia or Malaysia, but it will be interesting to see if there are differences in gender fractions and/or education levels. In Malaysia, the distribution between different religious/ethnic groups will also be fascinating.

Read More »

Yellow Fin Tuna, Yarrow, Yogurt
Read More »

Unlike most of the videos I post, this nacho cheese sauce recipe is not cheaper and easier to make at home. In fact, you could probably get a gallon of that industrial strength lubricant that passes for cheese sauce at the grocery store for the same cost as a single batch of this, but what you lose in cost and quantity, you more than make up for in actual food content.

I’m not really that militant about insisting people read nutritional labels. I mean, who has the time? But just for fun, the next time you’re in the processed foods aisle (if those are still legal where you live) check out the back of a nacho cheese sauce. Pretty frightening.

However, while we’re going to use real, honest-to-goodness cheese in this, we still want to mimic some of the other more desirable characteristics of that day-glow yellow cheese syrup they pump on your chips at the movies.

We want the same thin, slightly runny viscosity, so that the sauce seeps down and around all the chips on your plate. It’s a total rookie mistake to make a nacho cheese sauce too thick, since as soon as it hits the chips it tightens up considerably, and you end up with a lump of cheese, and some serious sauce-to-chip ratio issues. Even at room temp, this sauce remains fairly fluid.

As you’ll see, I used Jack, Muenster, and white cheddar cheese for mine, which gave me a pale, yet pleasantly-colored sauce, but if you want something a little “brighter,” then go with the classic orange cheddar instead. Contrary to popular believe, orange cheese is not artificially colored, and uses annatto seed to produce that iconic hue.

Anyway, if you planning on having a nacho cheese sauce involved in your Super Bowl party plans, and you really should, I hope you give this a try. By the way, I’ll show you how to do some quick-pickled jalapeno rings in a video Friday, so stay tuned for that. Enjoy!

Ingredients (makes about 5 cups of sauce):

1/4 cup melted butter

3 tbsp plus 1 tsp all-purpose flour

3 cups cold milk

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 tsp chipotle pepper

1/4 tsp ancho chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 lb sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/4 lb Monterey Jack cheese, grated

1/4 lb Muenster cheese, grated

Read More »

I don't normally comment on the day's news, but I want to make an exception today to share something from Facebook's S-1 filing. Over the next few days, astronomical amounts of attention are going to be paid to Facebook's incredible business results: the 800+ million active users, the $3.7 billion (!) in revenue, and their growth rates, too. I hope at least some of that attention will be paid to the culture and process that made those results possible. To that end, I want to quote briefly from Mark Zuckerberg's letter to shareholders. He calls their internal approach to continuous improvement and iteration The Hacker Way. It is a 21st-century manifesto for a new way of doing business. Here's a brief excerpt:

Simply put: we don’t build services to make money; we make money to build better services.

And we think this is a good way to build something. These days I think more and more people want to use services from companies that believe in something beyond simply maximizing profits.

By focusing on our mission and building great services, we believe we will create the most value for our shareholders and partners over the long term — and this in turn will enable us to keep attracting the best people and building more great services. We don’t wake up in the morning with the primary goal of making money, but we understand that the best way to achieve our mission is to build a strong and valuable company.

This is how we think about our IPO as well. We’re going public for our employees and our investors. We made a commitment to them when we gave them equity that we’d work hard to make it worth a lot and make it liquid, and this IPO is fulfilling our commitment. As we become a public company, we’re making a similar commitment to our new investors and we will work just as hard to fulfill it.

The Hacker Way

As part of building a strong company, we work hard at making Facebook the best place for great people to have a big impact on the world and learn from other great people. We have cultivated a unique culture and management approach that we call the Hacker Way.

The word “hacker” has an unfairly negative connotation from being portrayed in the media as people who break into computers. In reality, hacking just means building something quickly or testing the boundaries of what can be done. Like most things, it can be used for good or bad, but the vast majority of hackers I’ve met tend to be idealistic people who want to have a positive impact on the world.

The Hacker Way is an approach to building that involves continuous improvement and iteration. Hackers believe that something can always be better, and that nothing is ever complete. They just have to go fix it — often in the face of people who say it’s impossible or are content with the status quo.

Hackers try to build the best services over the long term by quickly releasing and learning from smaller iterations rather than trying to get everything right all at once. To support this, we have built a testing framework that at any given time can try out thousands of versions of Facebook. We have the words “Done is better than perfect” painted on our walls to remind ourselves to always keep shipping.

Hacking is also an inherently hands-on and active discipline. Instead of debating for days whether a new idea is possible or what the best way to build something is, hackers would rather just prototype something and see what works. There’s a hacker mantra that you’ll hear a lot around Facebook offices: “Code wins arguments.”

Hacker culture is also extremely open and meritocratic. Hackers believe that the best idea and implementation should always win — not the person who is best at lobbying for an idea or the person who manages the most people.

To encourage this approach, every few months we have a hackathon, where everyone builds prototypes for new ideas they have. At the end, the whole team gets together and looks at everything that has been built. Many of our most successful products came out of hackathons, including Timeline, chat, video, our mobile development framework and some of our most important infrastructure like the HipHop compiler.

To make sure all our engineers share this approach, we require all new engineers — even managers whose primary job will not be to write code — to go through a program called Bootcamp where they learn our codebase, our tools and our approach. There are a lot of folks in the industry who manage engineers and don’t want to code themselves, but the type of hands-on people we’re looking for are willing and able to go through Bootcamp.

The examples above all relate to engineering, but we have distilled these principles into five core values for how we run Facebook:

Focus on Impact

If we want to have the biggest impact, the best way to do this is to make sure we always focus on solving the most important problems. It sounds simple, but we think most companies do this poorly and waste a lot of time. We expect everyone at Facebook to be good at finding the biggest problems to work on.

Move Fast

Moving fast enables us to build more things and learn faster. However, as most companies grow, they slow down too much because they’re more afraid of making mistakes than they are of losing opportunities by moving too slowly. We have a saying: “Move fast and break things.” The idea is that if you never break anything, you’re probably not moving fast enough.

Be Bold

Building great things means taking risks. This can be scary and prevents most companies from doing the bold things they should. However, in a world that’s changing so quickly, you’re guaranteed to fail if you don’t take any risks. We have another saying: “The riskiest thing is to take no risks.” We encourage everyone to make bold decisions, even if that means being wrong some of the time.

Be Open

We believe that a more open world is a better world because people with more information can make better decisions and have a greater impact. That goes for running our company as well. We work hard to make sure everyone at Facebook has access to as much information as possible about every part of the company so they can make the best decisions and have the greatest impact.

Build Social Value

Once again, Facebook exists to make the world more open and connected, and not just to build a company. We expect everyone at Facebook to focus every day on how to build real value for the world in everything they do.

Thanks for taking the time to read this letter. We believe that we have an opportunity to have an important impact on the world and build a lasting company in the process. I look forward to building something great together.

The true test of corporate pronouncements and mission statements is not whether they sound good, but rather whether they reflect a real commitment. So on its eight-year anniversary, I think it's appropriate to take a look at what Facebook looked like at the beginning. Here's a brief quote from Zuck's very first press interview, when Facebook had less than one-millionth the users it has today:

After about a week of coding, Zuckerberg launched thefacebook.com last Wednesday afternoon. The website combines elements of a standard House face book with extensive profile features that allow students to search for others in their courses, social organizations and Houses.

“Everyone’s been talking a lot about a universal face book within Harvard,” Zuckerberg said. “I think it’s kind of silly that it would take the University a couple of years to get around to it. I can do it better than they can, and I can do it in a week.”

As of yesterday afternoon, Zuckerberg said over 650 students had registered use thefacebook.com. He said that he anticipated that 900 students would have joined the site by this morning.

“I’m pretty happy with the amount of people that have been to it so far,” he said. “The nature of the site is that each user’s experience improves if they can get their friends to join it.”

Here's to the Zuck I admire, the one that had the courage to launch a simple, useful app in a week, celebrate his first 900 customers, and - for eight straight years - insist on iterating, executing, and building for the long-term. Kudos to the whole Facebook team. I hope your next eight years are just as impressive.

Read More »

Zest, Za'tar, Zucchini
Read More »

by Salman Hameed

Alan Lightman is a physicist (his thesis advisor was Kip Thorne) who is also an accomplished novelist. And vice versa. But now he is a full time writer. I read his earlier books, Einstein's Dreams (a set of fictional stories dreamed by Einstein around the theme of relativity) and Reunion (about a college professor reminiscing about his own college days). Both are good, but Einstein's Dreams is phenomenal. I should mention that his good writing extends to graduate textbooks also. He is the author of one of the best foundational textbooks in astronomy: Radiative Processes in Astrophysics. We used to joke about it that this was the only textbook that we could read in bed.

In any case, now he has a new novel out that again links his astronomy to fiction writing, Mr g: A Novel about the Creation. Here is an excerpt from the review in Nature:

In Mr g, Lightman has taken the core of what we know about the origins of the Universe from physics, chemistry and biology and wrapped a few characters around it. The protagonist is the narrator: god, dubbed Mr g. Mr g lives in a timeless Void with his Aunt Penelope and Uncle Deva, playing out skits that could have been lifted from a Woody Allen film — but with the humour on mute. One day, Mr g wakes up from a nap, decides to create a Universe called “Aalam-104729”, and from then on marvels at his creation as it evolves and becomes more complex — from the beginning of space and time, to the emergence of fundamental laws, particles, forces, stars, galaxies, planets and, ultimately, life itself. 

As sentient beings finally emerge out of the cosmic mess, Mr g is torn: should he intervene or let them go their own way? Throughout, he is taunted by the creepy Belhor, a devilish character (a fine role for Al Pacino if this were ever made into a film) and Belhor's annoying daemons, the Baphomet siblings. Belhor pushes Mr g to allow his creations to do their own thing, and watches with glee as evil and unhappiness begin to emerge — leaving Mr g to observe as, for instance, an impoverished young woman anguishes over stealing meat to feed her starving siblings. Lightman uses the exchanges between Mr g and Belhor to riff on good and evil, free will and relative morality.

Looks intriguing. Read the full review here (you may need subscription to access the full review). 

Read More »