Running Naked Joeseph Arokiaraj # 48

YOU SOW WHAT YOU REAP

Is it the other way around?

Regards

A New Role Mr. Azmat Tanauli:

Congratulations on the excellent article which is

desperately needed and is short and sweet.

First let me mention something I read in the newsletter of Pakistan News Service Vol. 11 No. 325 11/22/01:

Eight Pakistani Americans are being sent as ``goodwill ambassadors`` to their native land Pakistan in a bid to explain religious tolerance in the U.S in what is being seen as a unique public relations blitz.

I think that this action is very appropriate under

the circumstances. Only those who have information first hand are competent to tell

the stories they have heard from the ``victims`` or

possibly they themselves have experienced ``victimization`` as a result of the tragic events of Sept. 11.

From my experience during 40 years in North America (I am glad that I am out now), I find that

most people in that part of the world are either

ignorant of religions other than their own or they

just do not care. We have an obligation to our

religion ISLAM to tell non-believers about it.

Of course there is no compulsion in our religion.

Once I told my students that they are free to discuss anything whenever they get fed up with the

SUBJECT (I am not mentioning here). They took up

on my offer and started discussing ISLAM. They

claimed that the reason they consider JESUS as God

is that he was born without a father. When I asked

them why they do not consider ADAM as God as he

had neither father nor mother, I heard some of them say ``Prof has a point``.

There is no reason for us to be ashamed of our

religion. In fact we should be proud of it. We should try to explain to non-believers that what

happened on Sept. 11 is against our religion.

Our religion teaches us to respect other religions

and let me mention one HADIS here that strengthens

this teaching. Once some christians came to see

Prophet Mohammed (PBUH)and he welcomed them as

guests in his mosque MASJID-E-NABVI and allowed

them to pray there as per their religion.

I have learned so much from the articles and the

interacts on Chowk. Chowk can be a great place to

visit if only the editors or moderators edit or

moderate the interacts to make them free from personal dislikes.

Regards

A Letter Home Lajwant # 78

IMAM MEHDI HAS COME AND GONE

If IMAM MEHDI is same as THE PROMISED MEHDI, he

has come and gone. He was born in Juanpur,

Utter Pradesh, India on 14 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 847

hijri and died in AFGHANISTAN on 19 Ziquada 910

hijri.

India’s Communal Gamble Nice article.

A word on polygamy: Most muslims find it difficult

to hold on to one wife. Some can not afford even

one wife. Some relish more than one wife. The

religion is blamed for polygamy. This is unfair

criticism of Islam. Allah (s.w.t) allows muslims

to have more than one wife upto the maximum of

four, PROVIDED HE TREATS THEM EQUALLY. Is the

equal treatment possible? Of course not. This

is Allah`s way of asking muslims to be contented

with one wife, just as drinking alcohol was

prohibited by Allah (s.w.t). Muslims were asked

not to pray while they were intoxicated. This

led to the prohibition of drinking alcohol, since

muslims were losing prayers.

A Decision to Regret It is a perfect article, but it is too long.

Then again if it is shortened, the story would be

incomplete.

I am a relatively new to Chowk and enjoy

most of the articles and the interacts. Chowk

would be a great place to visit if only its

editors edit the articles and the interacts.

Some chowkies (if it is the right word) have

already expressed their displeasure at some of

the interacts containing insults and at making

chowk a personal battlefield. I wholeheartedly

agree with those comments and urge those sensitive

chowkies to be tolerant of the views of others

and not to shoot the messengers if they do not

like the messages.

Now a few words about the matter at hand. I

condemn the horrible attack of Sept. 11. Every

muslim knows or should know that suicide is a

crime in Islam and to kill innocent people is a

crime. Proof of the guilt of Osama has not been

produced in public and yet the only super power

is after him and his organization. The super

power should have gone to the United Nations or

to the world court with its complaint. Who gave

the super power the authority to kill innocent

people in Afghanistan? This criminal act is

equally deplorable.

President Musharraf is doing a great job in

Pakistan, although some pakistanis do not agree

with him. The alternative would have been a

nightmare for Pakistan. I pray for the safety of

President Musharraf and for Pakistan to become

the greatest country of the world in every way.

(Ameen)

A World Upside Down Mr.F.R.Khan

Almost perfect article

To make it perfect, may I suggest the following

changes.

Paragraph 1, Line 8: Change NINE to EIGHT

Paragraph 6, Line 8: Change 1992-2000 to

1993-2001

Regards

Declaration of Jehad IS JEHAD ONE OF THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM?

Please correct me if I am wrong. The five pillars

of Islam are:

1. Declaration of faith (Kalma)

2. Prayers

3. Fasting

4. Zakat

5. Hajj

Looking Without; Looking Within Reply # 32

THE PROMISED MEHDI has nothing to do with

QADIYANIS. Muslims who believe that THE PROMISED

MEHDI has come and gone, also believe that

prophet Mohammed (P.B.U.H) is the last prophet of

Allah (s.w.t), whereas Qadiyanis do not.

Looking Without; Looking Within Very nice article

Imam Mehdi is mentioned in this article. I

understand that reference is made to THE PROMISED

MEHDI. He has come and gone. He was born in

Juanpur, Utter Pradesh, India on 14 Jamadi-ul-

awwal 847 hijri and died in Afghanistan on

19 Ziqaida 910 hijri.

Shadows of Hate Re: Interact # 9 Urstruly

WHY THEY HATE US SO MUCH?

May I offer my sincere congratulations on this

meaningful interact. Please keep it up. Please

do not feel bad when some one abuses you simply

because they do not agree with you. I have read

your interacts on other boards. They are

commendable.

I do not understand why people abuse writers when

they do not agree with them. We must be civilized

and if it is not possible, we must pretend to be

civilized.

That is it for now.

Open Letter to O. B. Laden I pray to Allah (s.w.t) to bestow His

blessing and to direct the President of the United

States of America on Sirat-e-mustaqeem so that

His creation on planet Earth may live in peace.

(Ameen)

It is unfortunate that people in some western

countries are being harassed just because they

are arab, muslims, hindus, sikhs etc.

Before pointing finger (three fingers are pointig

towards the pointer) on Mr. Osama bin Laden, one

must obtain conclusive evidence of his guilt.

If action is taken on the basis of sentiments,

there is a real danger of ww3, which will wipe

out our civilization.

Pakistan is in an unusual situation. No matter

what decision it takes, the end result will be

almost similar. I think that Pakistan has taken

better of the two possible decisions. May Allah

(s.w.t) protect Pakistan (Ameen).

There are so many articles and interacts on chowk.

It is difficult to keep up with them. I noticed

one thing in all these, that is very frustrating.

People try to kill the messenger. This is not

civilized. We are free to agree or disagree with

the opinions of others, but we have no right to

abuse the writers.

That is it for now.

Shadows of Hate My wife tells me some interesting facts about the

horrible events that took place on September 11, 2001.

(1) Date: 11 (September 2001)

(2) American Airlines Flight Number: 11

(3) Twin Towers: 11

Chowk, Jay, a Ditch and I It is hard to keep up with the interacts. There

are so many of them and most of them are good.

I have a question. Is it possible for us to reveal our identity and to tell the visitors

about our backgound briefly? If so, can we also

reveal our e-mail addresses to enable some of us

to interact on individual basis instead of long

boring messages meant only for very few people?

Finally I would like to know if the moderators

reject some messages, since my message posted

a few days ago has not appeared.

Regards

Chowk, Jay, a Ditch and I Comments on InterAct # 924

I am trying to catch up on the interacts. May be

some one has commented on this interact. I wish

to make my own comments on this.

It is ironic to see the Casino net ad flashig

on the chowk. Visitors to Chowk may be tempted

to gamble. At the same time, Chowk is not only

for muslims. May be it is a good idea to do away

with this ad, respecting the faith of muslims. Money lost due to the cancellation

of the ad could be obtained by donations from the

visitors to Chowk.

Regards,

Mehdavi

A Pakistani School’s Visit to India I am a new chowkwala and this is my first message.

I have been reading and enjoying the crossfires

among fellow chowkwalas.

First I wish to congratulate the 16 year old

pakistani for writing such a splendid article.

I believe that in Islam, it is a crime to be

pessimistic. Even though Indians and Pakistanis

have failed to solve their problems for the past

54 years, I have faith in the current Prime

Minister of India and the current President of

Pakistan. I hope and pray for their success.

Secondly I have observed numerous spelling errors

in various messages. May be the moderators are

too busy to do anything about it. Something must

be done to alleviate this problem. After noting

the wrong spelling of some words, I am beginning

to doubt about the correctness of my own spelling.

Finally I wish to mention a few words about

alcohol and Islam. As a muslim, I understand that

Allah (s.w.t)did not make drinking alcohol haram in the

beginning. He asked muslims not to pray while

they are intoxicated. Muslims realized that since

they have been asked not to pray while drunk, they

gradually came to their senses. Later Allah(s.w.t), a

Great Diplomat made drinking alcoholic beverages

haram.

Here I am tempted to bring the issue of muslims

being permitted to have up to four wives on

condition that they must treat them equally.

This is another diplomacy of Allah (s.w.t).

Every one knows that it is impossible to treat

four wives equally. So this is another way of

saying that muslims should be contented with one

wife.

With best wishes and kind personal regards to

fellow chowkwalas,

Mehdavi

A Pakistani School’s Visit to India I am a new chowkwala and this is my first message.

I have been reading and enjoying the crossfires

among fellow chowkwalas.

First I wish to congratulate the 16 year old

pakistani for writing such a splendid article.

I believe that in Islam, it is a crime to be

pessimistic. Even though Indians and Pakistanis

have failed to solve their problems for the past

54 years, I have faith in the current Prime

Minister of India and the current President of

Pakistan. I hope and pray for their success.

Secondly I have observed numerous spelling errors

in various messages. May be the moderators are

too busy to do anything about it. Something must

be done to alleviate this problem. After noting

the wrong spelling of some words, I am beginning

to doubt about the correctness of my own spelling.

Finally I wish to mention a few words about

alcohol and Islam. As a muslim, I understand that

Allah (s.w.t)did not make drinking alcohol haram in the

beginning. He asked muslims not to pray while

they are intoxicated. Muslims realized that since

they have been asked not to pray while drunk, they

gradually came to their senses. Later Allah(s.w.t), a

Great Diplomat made drinking alcoholic beverages

haram.

Here I am tempted to bring the issue of muslims

being permitted to have up to four wives on

condition that they must treat them equally.

This is another diplomacy of Allah (s.w.t).

Every one knows that it is impossible to treat

four wives equally. So this is another way of

saying that muslims should be contented with one

wife.

With best wishes and kind personal regards to

fellow chowkwalas,

Mehdavi