Could the Ottomans be any more practically poetic…

From
Other Matters http://othermatters.wordpress.com/2007/12/17/poached-ottoman-recycling/

Looking at the domed ceiling of the Suleimaniya mosque I marvel at the ingenuity of Ottoman architecture: In the past the interior of the mosque was lit by huge braziers and wicker lamps. The damp, oily black smoke would rise to the ceiling, to be collected as it cooled into hidden ducts that were built within the dome itself. Slowly the liquid smoke would filter down and was collected in tiny pots, to be sifted, mixed with oil and gum, to be made into ink. That ink would then be used to write the Qur’ans that were read by the Ottomans themselves. An economy of resources at work: light to smoke, smoke to ink, ink to books, books that were read in the same light that would produce the ink. Truly, the hermetically sealed world of the Ottomans was a riddle that kept its answer to itself.

Farish Noor, Wonders of Islamic Civilization

Mr. Espy writes about the Islamic Republic of Utopia

Must read! Click here

slayed, slayed, and slayed again

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btw that is a horrible post-fajr ungroomed picture of me

Marifah.Net shares letter 50 from Imam Ahmad Sirhindi, available here:

http://www.marifah.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=111&Itemid=53

Sacred Law Has Both a Form and a Reality

Praise be to Allāh Most High and peace be upon His chosen servants.

Know that the Sacred Law has both a form and a reality. The form of the Sacred Law entails the fulfillment of the rulings encompassed by it after having belief in Allāh Most High and His Messenger and in all that has come from Allāh Most High (i.e. as revelation and all that it requires). Faith (imān) co-existing with the nafs al-`amāra and its admixed disputation (munāzaha), licentiousness (ibāha), transgression (tughyān) and denial (inkār) is simply a form of faith. Likewise ritual prayer (salāh) and ritual fasting (sawm) with their prerequisites and integrals are similarly simply forms of ritual prayer and ritual fasting. In this vein follow the other rulings encompassed by the Sacred Law.

This was an interesting article in light of the understanding of maturity within Islam, which conflicts with the notion of modern day adolescence.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=pto-4311.html

The whole culture collaborates in artificially extending childhood, primarily through the school system and restrictions on labor. The two systems evolved together in the late 19th-century; the advocates of compulsory-education laws also pushed for child-labor laws, restricting the ways young people could work, in part to protect them from the abuses of the new factories. The juvenile justice system came into being at the same time. All of these systems isolate teens from adults, often in problematic ways.

Our current education system was created in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and was modeled after the new factories of the industrial revolution. Public schools, set up to supply the factories with a skilled labor force, crammed education into a relatively small number of years. We have tried to pack more and more in while extending schooling up to age 24 or 25, for some segments of the population. In general, such an approach still reflects factory thinking�get your education now and get it efficiently, in classrooms in lockstep fashion. Unfortunately, most people learn in those classrooms to hate education for the rest of their lives.

Study: Religion is Good for Kids
source: LiveScience

Kids with religious parents are better behaved and adjusted than other children, according to a new study that is the first to look at the effects of religion on young child development.

..

Bartkowski thinks religion can be good for kids for three reasons. First, religious networks provide social support to parents, he said, and this can improve their parenting skills. Children who are brought into such networks and hear parental messages reinforced by other adults may also �take more to heart the messages that they get in the home,� he said.

Secondly, the types of values and norms that circulate in religious congregations tend to be self-sacrificing and pro-family, Bartkowski told LiveScience. These �could be very, very important in shaping how parents relate to their kids, and then how children develop in response,� he said.

Finally, religious organizations imbue parenting with sacred meaning and significance, he said.

University of Virginia sociologist W. Bradford Wilcox, who was not involved in the study, agrees. At least for the most religious parents, �getting their kids into heaven is more important than getting their kids into Harvard,� Wilcox said.

But as for why religious organizations might provide more of a boost to family life than secular organizations designed to do the same thing, that�s still somewhat of a mystery, said Annette Mahoney, a psychologist at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, also not involved in the research. Mahoney wondered: �Is there anything about religion and spirituality that sets it apart?�

Vanishing honeybees mystify scientists

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Go to work, come home. Go to work, come home. Go to work — and vanish without a trace.

Billions of bees have done just that, leaving the crop fields they are supposed to pollinate, and scientists are mystified about why.

…

The problem has prompted a congressional hearing, a report by the National Research Council and a National Pollinator Week set for June 24-30 in Washington, but so far no clear idea of what is causing it.

==

From an article about Honey in Islam:

Amazing Facts…About The Work of the Honeybee

1. The honeybee is not born knowing how to make honey; the younger bees are taught by the more experienced ones.

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More than 1,400 years ago Allah and His messenger sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam (peace be upon him), told us that honey can heal a variety of medicinal problems.

Allah says in the Qur’an, “And the lord inspired the bee, saying: Take your habitations in the mountains and in the trees and in what they erect. Then, eat of all fruits and follow the ways of your Lord made easy (for you)’. There comes forth from their bellies a drink of varying colour wherein is healing for men. Verily in this is indeed a sign for people who think.” [Qur’an 16:68-69]

The Prophet, sallallahu aleyhe wa sallam (peace be upon him), has also told us of the healing found within honey for a variety of medical problems, including stomach ailments. One hadeeth, reported by Bukhari, states that a man came to the Prophet , sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam (peace be upon him), because his brother had a stomach disorder. The Prophet sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam said “Let him drink honey.” The man returned a second time and again the Prophet , sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam (peace be upon him), responded again, “Let him drink honey.” The man returned again, and said “I have done that.” The Prophet sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam then responded, “Allah has said the truth, but your brother’s stomach has told a lie. Let him drink honey.” He drank it and was cured.

Tirmizi, Ibn Majah and Baihaqi also reported that the Prophet, sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam (peace be upon him), said, “Make use of the two remedies: honey and the Qur’an.”