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Thursday, January 30, 2014

Former enemy of Islam to establish 1st Islamic political party in Europe   Arnoud van Doorn Majed Al-Sugairi Okaz/Saudi Gazette

MADINAH - A Dutchman who was involved in a derogatory film about Prophet Muhammad (saw) is aiming to establish the first Islamic political party in Europe.

"The party will focus on serving Islam & Muslims not only in the Netherlands but Europe as whole, said Arnoud van Doorn, who was involved in the production of the controversial "Fitna".

Van Doorn had reverted to Islam about a year ago & performed Hajj this year.
He also performed Umrah in February.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Nigeria: VIDEO- “I Am Not Fit To Return To Office” – Gov. Suntai

http://t.co/rRplewoWZ3

Nigeria: Police Arrest 320 Boko Haram Suspects in Rivers State - Thisday Live

Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu 

By Ernest Chinwo   

There was tension in security circles in Rivers State as the state police command Sunday arrested about 320 persons suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect.

THISDAY gathered that the suspects, men and women, were arrested in the early hours in a convoy of 17 buses at the border between Rivers and Imo States.

Nigeria: 2015 Elections, Pres Jonathan gives VP Sambo Conditions for Joint Ticket

2015: Jonathan gives
Sambo conditions for joint ticket
-Says he should support Balat for Kaduna guber or
lose position
-Plans to appoint Yero as CBN governor.
Strong indication emerged in Kaduna that President Goodluck Jonathan may have given condition to his Vice President, Namadi Sambo, to back Senator Isaiah Balat as Kaduna State governorship candidate under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 2015.

HSBC Bank on Verge of Collapse: Second Major Banking Crash Imminent By Kerry-anne

Concerns about an imminent bank crash were further fuelled today at news that HSBC are restricting the amount of cash that customers can withdraw from their own bank accounts. Customers were told that without proof of the intended use of their own money, HSBC would refuse to release it. This, and other worrying signs point to a possible financial crash in the near future.

HSBC is scrambling to manage a seemingly terminal liquidity crisis (a lack of hard cash) that could see the bank become the next Northern Rock – and trigger a bank crash.  The analyst's advice is for shareholders to sell HSBC investments, and customers to move their accounts elsewhere before the crash.

This from the Telegraph:

Forensic Asia on Tuesday began its coverage of Britain's largest banking group with a 'sell' recommendation, warning the lender had between $63.6bn (£38.7bn) and $92.3bn of "questionable assets" on its balance sheet, ranging from loan loss reserves and accrued interest to deferred tax assets, defined benefit pension schemes and opaque Level 3 assets.

According a report by the BBC's MoneyBox Programme, HSBC customers have gone to withdraw cash from their accounts, only to find HSBC would not release the funds.  Customers were told to make a bank transfer instead, unless they provided documentation proving the intended use of the money. Stephen Cotton attempted a withdrawal and told the programme:

"When we presented them with the withdrawal slip, they declined to give us the money because we could not provide them with a satisfactory explanation for what the money was for. They wanted a letter from the person involved."

Mr Cotton says the staff refused to tell him how much he could have: "So I wrote out a few slips. I said, 'Can I have £5,000?' They said no. I said, 'Can I have £4,000?' They said no. And then I wrote one out for £3,000 and they said, 'OK, we'll give you that.' "

He asked if he could return later that day to withdraw another £3,000, but he was told he could not do the same thing twice in one day.

As this was not a change to the Terms and Conditions of your bank account we had no need to pre-notify customers of the change"

He wrote to complain to HSBC about the new rules and also that he had not been informed of any change.

The bank said it did not have to tell him. "As this was not a change to the Terms and Conditions of your bank account, we had no need to pre-notify customers of the change," HSBC wrote.

Mr Cotton is not alone, with other customers seeking to withdraw cash amounts over £3,000 facing the same obstacles.  While HSBC argue there is comes customer security interest here, the story simply doesn't add up.  Customer identification is required for large withdrawals, not customer intentions – a person's cash is theirs to withdraw and place wherever they so wish.  Instead, HSBC has been found to have a capitalization black hole (gap between actual cash and obligations) of $80bn.  The message is simple, get your money out now.

The Gold Rush

The major banks and states appear to be preparing for impending crisis, while pretending to the public that the economic situation is improving.

There is a gold rush underway, with Banks and States frantically buying up as much gold reserve as they can, stoking fears that confidence in currency is at an all-time low.  In recent months and weeks, banks like HSBC and JP Morgan, and states such as the US, Germany and China have joined the gold rush, making vast purchases of stocks.

Investment analysts at Seeking Alpha have been monitoring the strange activity on the COMEX, stating:

"keeping track of COMEX inventories is something that is recommended for all serious investors who own physical gold and the gold ETFs (SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), PHYS, and CEF) because any abnormal inventory declines may signify extraordinary events behind the scenes."

Another Bank Crash? Why?

The crash is in come ways a replay of the last one.  The US dollar is a fiat currency (as is the pound sterling, the euro and most other major currencies).  This means, it is monopoly money.  There is no gold reserve that its values are pegged to.  It is simply made up.  So how does money get made? A private, for profit central bank prints it and lends it to the government (or other banks) at an interest rate.  So the Central Bank prints $100, and gives it to the government on the basis that it returns $101.  You may have already spotted the first flaw in this process.  The additional $1 can only ever come from the Central Bank.  There is never enough money. The second issue is that all money is debt.

This used to be the way pretty much all of the money in circulation came to be.  That is, until Investment and Retail Banks got tired of this monopoly on debt based currency, and kicked off the commercial money supply.  You might assume that when you take out a loan or other form of credit, a bank gives you that money from its reserves, and you then pay back that loan to the Bank at a given interest rate – the Bank making its profit on the interest rate.  You would be wrong. The Bank simply creates that loan on a computer screen.  Let's say you are granted a loan for $100,000.  The moment that loan is approved and $100k is entered on the computer – that promise from you to the bank creates $100k for the bank, in that instant.  This ledger entry alone creates the $100k, from nothing. Today, over 97% of all money that exists, is made this way.

This is what drove the dodgy lending practises that created the last crisis.  But since then, the failure to regulate the markets means that while bailouts hit public services and the real economy – banks were free to continue the same behaviour, bringing the next crash.

The world's second richest man, Warren Buffet warned us in 2003 that the derivatives market was 'devised by madmen' and a 'weapon of mass destruction' and we have only seen the first blast in this debt apocalypse.

The news that should have us all worried is: the derivatives market contains $700trn of these debts yet to implode.

Global GDP stands at $69.4trn a year.  This means that (primarily) Wall Street and the City of London have run up phantom paper debts of more than ten times of the annual earnings of the entire planet.

Not only can the Bankers not pay it back, the combined earning power of the earth could not pay it back in less than ten years if every last cent of our productive power went solely to pay off this debt.

This is why answering the issues with our currencies, our banking practices and economic system are not theoretical or academic – they are a matter of our very survival.

http://iacknowledge.net/hsbc-bank-on-verge-of-collapse-second-major-banking-crash-imminent/

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello Wanted In The U.S. For Child Kidnapping

After her very much talked about Letter to her father, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, the first daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, is wanted in the U.S. for child kidnapping as well as delinquency in court-mandated child support fees.

According to court documents obtained by Saharareporters, Senator Obasanjo-Bello was declared wanted by U.S. District Court Judge Charles T.L. Anderson for kidnapping and stowing away her son after another court had awarded custody to her estranged husband.

Court documents show that Iyabo Obasanjo and Mr. Akeem Bello were married in September 1999, a few months after her father was elected and sworn-in as Nigeria's president. Going by court records obtained by our correspondent, the marriage did not last beyond 2003.

 She lost the custody of her child to her husband. And as expected, this invariably did not go down well with the lanky ebony toned lady who lost her senatorial seat in the 2011 elections to Senator Gbenga Obadara.
Due to her stubbornness, Iyabo Obasanjo violated the court's ruling by taking custody of the child and bringing him to Nigeria.  In her bid to run away from the long arms of the American law, putting into cognisance the implications of her action, and the ensuing wrath the American court will visit on her; Iyabo has since then become a residence of Canada.

An inside source at the American Embassy said an arrest warrant has already being issued to bring Iyabo back to America to face fresh charges for contempt of court.

Nigeria: President Jonathan Finally Goes After CBN Gov Sanusi, Issues Him Query

For daring to expose corruption in President Jonathan's government, Sanusi now in trouble with the PDP led Govt - his employers.

Following its decision to "deal with" the CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido, The presidency has issued a query to him demanding an explanation for some of the donations the CBN has made under his watch to some universities and organisations. This is the first step to deal with the "stubborn man"!

Here's what a source close to Jonathan said about Sanusi:

"This man is simply playing a dangerous political game. He openly romances the opposition and attacks the integrity of his employers. Do an analysis of the CBN governor's speeches at a birthday colloquium of a notable opposition political leader in the South-west last year as well as what he said at the book launch of the spokesman of the main opposition party in Abuja, and that will show you the mindset of a man who is supposed to be the chief economic adviser of the federal government."

A top presidency official, who sought not to be named, confided in THISDAY that the federal government was forced to issue the query as a result of its concern over Sanusi's activities, which have portrayed him as a man working to undermine the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

According to him, Sanusi has engaged in what he described as unprecedented politicisation of his office as well as serial infractions of regulations governing the operations of the central bank.

He said the presidency was worried by the way and manner Sanusi had been donating money to communities and institutions in the name of the central bank without adherence to due process.

The source claims that Sanusi has been holding meetings with politicians, especially the opposition parties and making statements capable of undermining the integrity of the nation's financial institutions.

But all these allegations are coming after Sanusi rebuffed the president, saying only the Senate could remove him from office by a two-thirds vote as required by the constitution of Nigeria.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Nigeria: Nigeria's Presidential Election To Hold February 14 2015

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) tonight released the timetable for the 2015 general elections.

The commission also announced the timetable for the conduct of the governorship election in both Ekiti and Osun States. Both states have early elections.

READ MORE...
http://bit.ly/1fcxFys

SSS secures warrant of arrest for El-Rufai as APC, Fani-Kayode condemn harassment of former minister

SSS secures warrant of arrest for El-Rufai as APC, Fani-Kayode condemn harassment of former minister

Nigeria: SSS vs El-Rufai: This Government Is Weak, Nervous & Without A Moral Compass – Femi Fani- Kayode

It has been brought to my attention that
heavily armed operatives of the SSS have
stormed the home of my friend and
brother Mallam Nasir El Rufai. What was
his crime? He stated the obvious and told
the truth- namely that if the Presidential
elections are rigged in 2015 by the ruling
PDP the people would rise up and there
would be terrible violence and colossal
casualties.
As far as I am concerned he is simply
stating the obvious. It is only those that
are planning to rig that have a problem
with this bitter truth. Nasir was simply
counselling them about the natural
consequences of their intended criminal
actions yet the government appears to be
hell bent on charting the course of
oppression, intimidation and the
suppression of human rights, including
the right to the freedom of speech.
El Rufai has sent a strong warning and,
whether they like it or not, locking him up
will change nothing. Whilst no-one wants
violence and even though some of us
abhor it let it be clearly understood that if
anyone is hurt, maimed or loses their life
as a consequence of PDP-rigging in 2015
the blame and responsibility will lie
squarely on the shoulders of President
Goodluck Jonathan and his PDP who are
hell-bent on staying in power at all costs.
It is only a weak and nervous government
that has lost it's moral compass, that has
no respect for human rights and that is
devoid of any conscience that behaves in
this way.

Femi Fani-Kayode

On Death: Some verses from The Quran

''To Allah (swt) We belong & to Allah (swt) shall We return''
Sura Baqara Verse 156 



"Everyone shall taste death. And only on the day of resurrection shall You be paid Your wages in full. And whoever is removed away from the fire & admitted to Paradise, this Person is indeed successful. The life of this world is only the enjoyment of deception:"
Sura Al-Imran Verse 185



"Every soul shall have the taste of death...."
Sura Ankabut Verse 57



"Nor does anyone know what it is that He will earn tomorrow: Nor does anyone know in what land He is to die. Verily with Allah is full knowledge & Allah is acquainted with all things"
Sura Luqman Verse 34



"Say The Angel of Death put in charge of You will (duly) take Your souls, then You shall be brought back to Your Lord "
Sura Sujdah Verse 11



"Those who have said 'Our Lord is Allah & then have become upright, the Angels will descend upon Them saying ' Do not fear nor be sad, but receive good news of the Paradise which You have been promised.
We are Your Protectors in this life & in the hereafter: therein You shall have all that You desire; therein You shall have all that You ask for "
Sura ZuKhruf Verses 30-31



"When the Angels take the lives of the Righteous, the Angels say to them : ' Salam Alaykum, enter Paradise, because of the good deeds that You used to do (during Your life) "
Sura Nahl Verse 32 



"If only You could see when the Angels take the souls of those who disbelieved, striking their faces & their backs & saying : Taste the punishment of the fire. That is for what your own hands have put forth (Of evil deeds)"
Sura Anfil Verses 50-51



"If You only could see when the transgressors are going through the agonies of death & the Angels stretching forth their hands saying 'Deliver your souls; this day you shall be recompensed the torment of degradation because of what you use to utter against Allah other than the truth & you used to reject Allah's signs with disrespect "
Sura An'am, Verse 93

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

CONFIRMED: Man Interrogated By FBI For Wearing Prescription Google Glass At The Movies JIM EDWARDS

Google Glass wearers, neither of whom are the man who was detained in Ohio.
A man who went to the movies with his wife in Columbus, Ohio, was subjected to a terrifying hour-long interrogation by the FBI because employees at the AMC theater saw him wearing Google Glass.
They apparently thought he might be illegally taping the film and didn't believe him when he tried to explain that the glasses were prescription, and weren't even switched on.
The incident ought to make Glass wearers think twice about when and where they don their smart spectacles. (It also shows how feeble law enforcement's knowledge of the new device is, too — it took them an hour before they figured out how to download the device's content.)
AMC confirmed the incident in a statement to Business Insider:
Movie theft is something we take very seriously, and our theater managers contact the Motion Picture Association of America anytime it's suspected that someone may be illegally recording content on screen. While we're huge fans of technology and innovation, wearing a device that has the capability to record video is not appropriate at the movie theatre. At AMC Easton 30 last weekend, a guest was questioned for possible movie theft after he was identified wearing a recording device during a film. The presence of this recording device prompted an investigation by the MPAA, which was on site. The MPAA then contacted Homeland Security, which oversees movie theft. The investigation determined the guest was not recording content.
The incident began when the man, writing anonymously on The Gadgeteer, was watching "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" with his wife:
About an hour into the movie (Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit), a guy comes near my seat, shoves a badge that had some sort of a shield on it, yanks the Google Glass off my face and says "follow me outside immediately". It was quite embarrassing and outside of the theater there were about 5-10 cops and mall cops.
He was then detained and treated like a criminal for the next hour:
I was searched and more stuff was taken away from me (specifically my personal phone, my work phone – both of which were turned off, and my wallet). After an embarrassing 20-30 minutes outside the movie theater, me and my wife were conducted into two separate rooms in the "management" office of Easton Mall, where the guy with the badge introduced himself again and showed me a different ID.
... What followed was over an hour of the "feds" telling me I am not under arrest, and that this is a "voluntary interview", but if I choose not to cooperate bad things may happen to me (is it legal for authorities to threaten people like that?). I kept telling them that Glass has a USB port and not only did I allow them, I actually insist they connect to it and see that there was nothing but personal photos with my wife and my dog on it. I also insisted they look at my phone too and clear things out, but they wanted to talk first. They wanted to know who I am, where I live, where I work, how much I'm making, how many computers I have at home, why am I recording the movie, who am I going to give the recording to, why don't I just give up the guy up the chain, 'cause they are not interested in me. Over and over and over again.
The officers' questions could have been answered with a simple check of the device's content, and eventually the cops figured it out:
Eventually, after a long time somebody came with a laptop and an USB cable at which point he told me it was my last chance to come clean. I repeated for the hundredth time there is nothing to come clean about and this is a big misunderstanding so the FBI guy finally connected my Glass to the computer, downloaded all my personal photos and started going though them one by one (although they are dated and it was obvious there was nothing on my Glass that was from the time period they accused me of recording). Then they went through my phone, and 5 minutes later they concluded I had done nothing wrong.
The officer asking the questions identified himself as "Bob Hope" of the "movie association" — presumably the MPAA — and gave him four free passes to another movie at AMC. He didn't apologize: "All he said was AMC called him, and he called the FBI  ... I would have been fine with 'I'm sorry this happened, please accept our apologies.' Four free passes just infuriated me."

Hadith On The Children Of Israel and Prophet Moses (as)

Narrated: Abu Huraira
The Prophet said, 'The (people of) Bani Israel used to take bath naked (all together) looking at each other. The Prophet Moses used to take a bath alone. They said, 'By Allah! Nothing prevents Moses from taking a bath with us except that he has a scrotal hernia.' So once Moses went out to take a bath and put his clothes over a stone and then that stone ran away with his clothes. Moses followed that stone saying, "My clothes, O stone! My clothes, O stone! till the people of Bani Israel saw him and said, 'By Allah, Moses has got no defect in his body. Moses took his clothes and began to beat the stone." Abu Huraira added, "By Allah! There are still six or seven marks present on the stone from that excessive beating." Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "When the Prophet Job (Aiyub) was taking a bath naked, golden locusts began to fall on him. Job started collecting them in his clothes. His Lord addressed him, 'O Job! Haven't I given you enough so that you are not in need of them.' Job replied, 'Yes!' By Your Honor (power)! But I cannot dispense with Your Blessings.' "

Jonathan appoints Bamanga Tukur as Nigeria Railway Corporation Chairman

http://bit.ly/LAWzN8

Nigeria: Jonathan nominates Ex-NSA Gusau, Obanikoro, Boni Haruna, others as ministers

http://bit.ly/1mAaYra

Nigeria: Meeting to resolve ASUP strike turns rowdy as lecturers accuse Nigerian government of insincerity

http://bit.ly/1dQvtwd

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Worship God Alone!

WORSHIP GOD AND ASSOCIATE NOTHING WITH HIM AND DO GOOD TO YOUR PARENTS, RELATIVES, ORPHANS, THE NEEDY, THE NEAR NEIGHBOR, THE NEIGHBOR FARTHER AWAY, THE COMPANION AT YOUR SIDE, THE TRAVELER AND THOSE WHOM YOUR RIGHT HAND POSSESS. INDEED GOD DOES NOT LIKE THOSE WHO ARE SELF-DELUDING AND BOASTFUL. - Quran4:36

Obasanjo sends Jonathan, PDP, documents on Buruji Kashamu’s drug case

http://bit.ly/Lo9i5E

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

How does a Muslim condole his Bereaved Christian Neighbor Who lost his Father? | Questions on Islam

How does a Muslim condole his Bereaved Christian Neighbor Who lost his Father? | Questions on Islam

US slams Nigeria for same-sex marriage:

The United States on Monday criticized Nigeria for approving a law that punishes same-sex marriage with prison, saying the move would curtail basic human rights.Secretary of State John Kerry…

http://nigeriabreakingnews.info/?p=17042

70% of various communication network subscribers don’t know the meaning of "SIM" Card they use everyday in their gadgets!

It simply means: Subscriber Identity Module.
It's about your Identity!

We Can Handle the Truth The CIA's excuses about torture just don't hold water. By Rosa Brooks

"FP" - Remember Abu Ghraib? Remember waterboarding, CIA "black sites," and "enhanced interrogation techniques" such as depriving prisoners of sleep for over a week or requiring them to stay in agonizingly uncomfortable "stress positions" by chaining their arms to the ceiling?

I know, you don't really want to remember all that. The details are distressing: Only sadists enjoy contemplating the pain and humiliation of other human beings, even when those other human beings are alleged terrorists. And that whole dark episode is one most Americans would rather put behind them.

Unsurprisingly, the Central Intelligence Agency is a particularly strong institutional advocate of putting it all behind us. Several years back, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) began a massive effort to evaluate and report on the CIA's post-9/11 interrogation practices, seeking to make a definitive determination of whether CIA techniques were lawful and effective. SSCI staff undertook a $40 million investigation over a three-year period, reviewing millions of classified documents and interviewing hundreds of people, inside and outside the government. SSCI chair, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, calls it "by far the most important oversight activity ever conducted by this committee."

The CIA refused to permit SSCI investigators to interview its interrogators, however, and a full year after the SSCI adopted a 6,000-page report on the investigation in a bipartisan vote, the agency continues to resist efforts to make the report public.

Let's take a look at the most common arguments against releasing the SSCI report. None holds water.

"It might be embarrassing."

Well, yes: Those familiar with the report say it concludes unequivocally that the CIA used interrogation techniques that constitute torture and that it misled Congress and the White House about the nature and effectiveness of its interrogation program. (As Caroline Krass, the Obama administration's nominee for CIA general counsel, put it during her confirmation hearing on Dec. 17, "It seems that inaccurate information was supplied.") According to insiders, the report suggests that the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques garnered no valuable information that had not already been obtained through other more traditional (read: non-illegal) methods -- and that the CIA's interrogation was actually counterproductive.

But the role of the SSCI is to oversee the intelligence committee and ensure its accountability to law, not to protect individuals or institutions from embarrassment. If American taxpayers footed the bill for a program that was illegal, ineffective, and defended through the provision of misinformation to Congress and the White House, we need to know about it. The CIA serves the country, not the other way around.

"It might contain factual mistakes."

CIA officials keep charging -- usually anonymously, via unnamed sources -- that the SSCI report is riddled with factual errors. When the report was first completed, the CIA spent more than six months reviewing it and then submitted a 122-page response; after that, SSCI staff met repeatedly with CIA officials to discuss their concerns. At this point, however, CIA objections to the report appear to be objections to the report's interpretation of the facts, not to the facts themselves; SSCI members and staff have objected vehemently to CIA claims that the report contains errors. Regardless, this is no reason not to make the bulk of the report public. The report should be issued with a statement from any dissenting SSCI members, and if CIA officials can identify specific inaccuracies they can issue a CIA response. Why not let the public judge the facts for itself?

"The report might politicize the issues."

There are two versions of this objection, and neither is persuasive. The first version relates to a concern that the issue will split members of Congress along party lines. But for all the polarization in Congress, torture remains one thing that's not a partisan issue. One of the Senate's strongest anti-torture advocates -- and a strong proponent of making the SSCI report public -- is Sen. John McCain, the former Republican candidate for president, and numerous other Republicans have also condemned the Bush-era use of torture.

The second version of this objection relates to a concern that revelations about past CIA misconduct might put Langley under a political spotlight, possibly leading to greater legislative scrutiny of CIA activities. But that's a good thing, not a bad thing.

As recent National Security Agency revelations make clear, the intelligence community can't be left to more or less invent its own laws and procedures.


As recent National Security Agency revelations make clear, the intelligence community can't be left to more or less invent its own laws and procedures. It's an essential and valuable part of America's national security apparatus -- but just like the rest of the U.S. government, it's made up of human beings, and humans make mistakes. We permit the CIA to operate behind closed doors -- but precisely for that reason, we need an ongoing, serious, informed public debate about the nature of CIA activities.

 "The report might jeopardize the careers of CIA officers who acted in good faith."

Doubtful. Insofar as CIA officials acted in good-faith compliance with legal guidance provided by the Justice Department and the CIA general counsel, they can't be prosecuted -- even if they used or approved interrogation techniques that the law now considers to be torture.

As for their careers, the evidence so far suggests, sadly, that complicity in torture is as likely to be a career-enhancer as a career-ender; look at the Justice Department's John Yoo, Jay Bybee, and Steven Bradbury, who wrote the legal memoranda that paved the way for waterboarding and the like. Bybee became a federal judge; Bradbury is a partner at a major international law firm, and Yoo is a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Or consider Jose Rodriguez, former head of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, who got a lucrative private-sector job and was last seen promoting his book about the CIA on 60 Minutes. Or John Rizzo, former acting CIA general counsel, who's now at a big D.C. law firm and has his own just-published CIA memoir. These guys are doing just fine.

"We need to keep classified information classified."

Up to a point, sure. But the purpose of the classification system is to prevent the release of information that could harm the United States if made public, not to cover up waste, fraud, illegality, or abuse -- and certainly not to save officials from embarrassment. In any case, it's Congress that sets the rules concerning what should and should not be classified. To the extent that specific facts in the SSCI report would endanger U.S. security interests if made public, the SSCI can redact the report appropriately.

More to the point, there are some strange ironies here. Rodriguez has written an entire book and gone on national television defending the CIA's interrogation program and his role in it, and Rizzo is about to do the same. It would be mighty strange if former CIA officials can broadcast their version of events to the whole wide world, but the Senate committee charged with overseeing the CIA isn't allowed to share its own assessment with the American electorate.

"Releasing the report might endanger U.S. troops and spur anti-American sentiment."

The opposite is true. America's abuses endanger its troops and spur anti-American sentiment -- and the appearance of Washington's hypocrisy about those abuses does the same. If we want to reduce anti-American sentiment and protect our troops, the best way to do that is to show the world that we live up to our principles -- to demonstrate that we hold ourselves to the same standards we expect others to live up to and that when we mess up, we come clean about it.

After the Senate Armed Services Committee conducted a similar investigation of abuses committed by members of the military in the wake of Abu Ghraib, the report was released to the public in 2009, with no ill effects. Similarly, when he took office in 2009, President Barack Obama ordered the declassification and release of the infamous Justice Department "torture memos" authored by Yoo and company -- again with no negative effect on U.S. security.

Numerous former military leaders have gone on record arguing for a full accounting of U.S. abuses. To cite just a few, consider this statement on the SSCI report by 24 retired general and flag officers, or this recent op-ed by retired generals Paul Eaton and Antonio Taguba. As Eaton and Taguba put it, "The military opened itself up to oversight and is stronger as a result. If the U.S. military can handle it, so can the CIA."

Your hear that, CIA? Man up.

"But it was all so long ago, and anyway, we don't do that stuff anymore. We should focus on the future, not the past."

It wasn't that long ago, actually: less than a decade. And we "don't do that stuff anymore" only because Obama prohibited torture in one of his very first executive orders in 2009. But this could be changed by a future president with the stroke of a pen -- and a future Congress could also take a different view of torture than the current cast of characters on Capitol Hill.

If we want to make sure the United States will never again resort to torture, we need to set out the factual record: what was done and with what effects. Recent polls suggest that the number of Americans who believe torture is useful and acceptable has gone up in the last few years, in part as a result of books like Rodriguez's and films such as Zero Dark Thirty, which suggest that however unsavory it is, torture is an effective counterterrorism tool.

The SSCI report addresses this issue in detail and apparently concludes -- after an exhaustive examination of the evidence -- that this is just plain wrong. Torture didn't reveal anything we didn't already know, and in fact it caused substantial damage to U.S. counterterrorism efforts. Unless the report is made public, however, this debate will remain characterized by misinformation and unverifiable claims -- increasing the danger that in the future, we'll repeat past mistakes.

By all means, let's put the past behind us. But if we want to focus on the future, we first have to face the truth about the past.

Rosa Brooks is a law professor at Georgetown University and a Schwartz senior fellow at the New America Foundation. She served as a counselor to the U.S. defense undersecretary for policy from 2009 to 2011 and previously served as a senior advisor at the U.S. State Department.

The New York Times Pronounces On Destabilisation Of The Middle East By Chris Marsden

Syria's Western-backed sectarian war for regime-change spilling over into both Iraq and Lebanon between forces that root themselves in divisions between Sunni and Shia, the New York Times has come forward to attribute this nightmare scenario to Washington's insufficient engagement in the region.

"Power Vacuum in Middle East Lifts Militants," declares the voice of liberal imperialism in a January 4 article.

The US "newspaper of record" cites fighting in the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Ramadi involving "masked gunmen" whom "so many American soldiers died fighting."

It attributes all conflicts in the region to "the emergence of a post-American Middle East in which no broker has the power, or the will, to contain the region's sectarian hatreds."

It is this, we are told, which has allowed "fanatical Islamists" to flourish in both Iraq and Syria. The Times further attributes this situation to struggles between "two great oil powers, Iran and Saudi Arabia, whose rulers—claiming to represent Shiite and Sunni Islam, respectively—cynically deploy a sectarian agenda that makes almost any sort of accommodation a heresy."

"Linking all this mayhem is an increasingly naked appeal to the atavistic loyalties of clan and sect," the Times adds.

The newspaper makes a fleeting reference to the United States having "touched off" civil war in Iraq with an invasion that is then justified as an "American nation-building effort."

This explanation of the unfolding events in the Middle East amounts to a willful and self-serving falsification of history.

Blame for the escalating crisis lies at the door of the White House, not because of a failed policy, but because of its ongoing and historic efforts to dominate the region and its oil riches.

The first Gulf War in 1990, the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the 2011 war in Libya and the subsequent efforts to topple the Assad regime in Syria were all aimed at eliminating Iraq and Iran as regional powers and ensuring undisputed US hegemony. In every instance, the US has been at the forefront of encouraging and fostering "atavistic loyalties of clan and sect" through a policy of building fronts of regional powers as proxy forces to fashion the Middle East to its liking.

Citing the "Shia arc of extremism," the US responded to the overthrow of its client regimes in Tunisia and Egypt in 2011 by toppling the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, supporting the Muslim Brotherhood's rule in Egypt, and then assembling a coalition of Sunni powers led by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to move against the Baathist regime in Syria as a precursor to action against Iran. The opposition forces they built up in Syria were based on a core of Al Qaeda-linked Islamists.

The policy proved a terrible failure from which the US is now suffering blowback on a massive scale. This is what has generated the complaints voiced by the New York Times. Faced with overwhelming domestic opposition to war and the threat of a direct conflict with Russia, the US seized on the Russian-brokered deal for Syria's chemical disarmament and Iran's subsequent offer of a rapprochement as a an alternative means of asserting its interests.

This has both alienated and thrown into political crisis its former regional allies.

Turkey, for example, wanted to establish itself as regional powerhouse, with Prime Minister Recep Erdogan's Justice and Development Party advanced as an Islamist model for other pro-Western regimes. But the US abandoning support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and then its retreat on war against Syria has destabilised Erdogan, who accuses Washington of sponsoring a coup attempt against him led by Fethullah Gulen, a Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric.

Saudi Arabia has declared that it will now follow a path independent of Washington in Syria and internationally, refusing a seat on the United Nations Security Council in protest against the shift on Syria and the US opening nuclear talks with Iran. Saudi's London ambassador, Prince Mohammed bin Nawwaf, wrote in the New York Times December 17, "This means the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has no choice but to become more assertive in international affairs …We will act to fulfil these responsibilities, with or without the support of our Western partners."

The prince cited the Saudi monarchy's continued arming of the Syrian opposition as proof of its independence. He could have also raised its involvement in the fighting in Iraq. It is there that the shift in US policy is best exemplified, where Washington is now arming the Shia and pro-Iranian regime of Nour al-Maliki with 36 Lockheed Martin F-16IQ Block 52 fighters to combat the same Sunni Al Qaeda forces that were, until recently, employed as its proxies in neighbouring Syria.

In alliance with a new imperialist partner, Saudi Arabia has pledged a massive $3 billion to pay for weapons being supplied by the government of French President Francois Hollande to the Lebanese army in order to target Hezbollah, an ally of Iran and Syria

These sordid manoeuvres prove only that every imperialist power abides by Lord Palmerston's injunction, "We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow."

What is taking place in the Middle East is naked imperialist power politics, in which it is entirely possible that, at least for a time, yesterday's enemies can become today's allies and vice-versa.

However, whether or not the Middle Eastern regimes occasionally portray themselves as "anti-imperialist" is solely conditioned by tactical considerations, above all the need to pose as such before their own populations. To the extent that any of the region's bourgeois powers find themselves in conflict with the US, they desire nothing more than an accommodation that allows them to continue to preside over the exploitation of the working class and rural poor.

Sectarianism and clan rivalries are not atavistic survivals of a bygone era. They are utilised as an instrument for maintaining a grip over the workers and peasants and fostering support for contending bourgeois regimes. This has been given additional weight by the failure of secular nationalist movements and regimes—in Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Palestine—to provide a genuine and viable means of combating foreign domination and securing social progress.

The Middle East today stands first of all as proof of the malignant role of imperialism in forcing the mass of the world's people to suffer grinding poverty, brutal levels of exploitation and the ever growing danger of war. Secondly, it is stark confirmation of the inability of the national bourgeoisie to oppose imperialist oppression.

The only consistently anti-imperialist force in the world is the international working class. The fundamental task facing the workers of the Middle East is the construction of a new socialist movement that makes its appeal across all artificial national and religious distinctions. In turn, workers in the US and other imperialist countries must reject with contempt the cynical efforts by the New York Times et al. to legitimise or conceal their governments' predatory designs on the world's strategic markets and resources through the building of a powerful socialist anti-war movement.

Hermann Hesse, Demian was Quoted to have said:

"If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us."

Oscar Wilde Quote:

"A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it."

Al-Qaeda’s Real Origins Exposed By Finian Cunningham

US top diplomat John Kerry must have taken us for fools. Earlier this week, speaking in Saudi Arabia, he warned that al-Qaeda in Syria and Iraq are "the most dangerous players in the region."

The US secretary of state vowed Washington's support for the Iraqi government in its fight to regain control of towns in its western province taken over by militants belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

That's rich. The government of Syria is battling to root out these same al-Qaeda-linked militants. But in that country, Washington offers no such support. In fact, the priority there for Washington is to sack the government of President Bashar Al-Assad.

So, how does Kerry square that contradiction? In Iraq, al-Qaeda is a threat that needs to be defeated, whereas in Syria the very same organization is apparently not a threat, but the Syrian government is.

What's even richer is that Kerry was issuing his warnings about al-Qaeda in the region surrounded by senior members of the House of Saud, who are known to all the world as the bankers, recruiters and weapons suppliers of this network.

Only a few months ago, media reports disclosed American diplomatic cables - going back to 2009 - in which the former US ambassador to Iraq explicitly stated that Saudi Arabia was financing and arming al-Qaeda extremists in Iraq.

American Ambassador Christopher Hill said then that intelligence showed that Saudi Arabia was "inciting sectarian violence" in the country.

Hill added, "Intelligence sources reported that Saudi Arabia is based in the effort to destabilize the [Iraqi] government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki."

Al-Qaeda in Iraq has since re-branded itself as the ISIS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). It is closely aligned with other extremist groups, such as Jabhat al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Shams, Liwa al-Islam and the Islamic Front.

The alphabet-soup nature of these myriad groups does not alter the fact that they all share the same extremist Saudi Wahhabi ideology, they operate under the flag of al-Qaeda, they have conducted the most vile atrocities against civilians, including Sunni, Shia and Christians, and they are all sponsored by Saudi Arabia.

Officially, the House of Saud maintains the risible fiction that it only supports "moderates" belonging to the so-called Free Syrian Army. But the unavoidable fact is that the oil-rich kingdom is the banker for the al-Qaeda-linked networks, as the former US ambassador to Iraq attested.

Even the mainstream Western media cannot hide that fact. In October 2013, the New York Times reported US officials admitting that weapons supplied to Saudi Arabia supposedly for the FSA were ending up in the hands of the extremist militants in Syria.

Iraqi sources this week confirmed that Saudi weapons supplied to the likes of the ISIS in Syria are now being used in that group's resurgence in Iraq's Western Anbar Province.

So there you have it. American weapons supplied covertly to Saudi Arabia are being used by al-Qaeda to inflict sectarian mayhem in Iraq, as well as in Syria, destabilizing both countries.

And yet John Kerry sitting alongside the Saudi terror sponsors has the audacity to publicly warn that al-Qaeda has become "the most dangerous player" in the region.

Kerry said during his Saudi visit, "This is a fight that belongs to the Iraqis." Well actually, no. This is a fight in Iraq against terrorists sponsored by Saudi Arabia and the US.

Even more absurd was the American diplomat's offer of military support to the Iraqi government against militants who have been armed by the US and its Saudi client.

"We are not contemplating putting boots on the ground [in Iraq]. This is their fight, but we're going to help them in their fight."

Already, Washington has supplied the Iraqi government with Hellfire missiles and has promised to also send drones to the country, allegedly to combat al-Qaeda.

By boots on the ground, Kerry was referring to US troops, as opposed to al-Qaeda boots on the ground, which the US and the Saudis have already helped to mobilize, first in Syria, and now in Iraq.

That raises the seemingly bizarre scenario where the US is arming both sides in Iraq - the government and the al-Qaeda militants.

This should not, however, be seen as a contradiction, but rather as a cynical boon for the American weapons industry. First, create a terror problem, and secondly supply weapons to deal with that problem. That makes for a win-win outcome for American business.

None of this should be in the least bit surprising. The US has been working covertly with Saudi Arabia and British military intelligence for more than three decades to foster and fuel al-Qaeda extremists, beginning in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union from the late 1970s until 1990.

Since then, al-Qaeda has served as a protean ideological cover for imperialist predation in the Middle East and beyond. It has undergone many reinventions with mercurial name changes along the way. But the bottom line is that it is a Western/Saudi creation, which alternates between an enemy of convenience and a ruthless proxy for waging regime change.

The old Western ruse of "enemy" may have worked a few years back. But now the contradictions are playing simultaneously and in neighboring countries in such way that the ruse is exposed as a blatant lie.

Kerry and his Saudi terror cronies may like to fool themselves, but they are fooling no one else.

Finian Cunningham (born 1963) has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Master's graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in journalism.

Nigeria: An Open Letter To The President By Tolu Ogunlesi

Dear Mr. President,

I am constrained to write this open letter to you before this season of letters comes to a close.

I will go straight to the issues at stake. Let's start with the level of toxic-ness in the air, sustained to a large extent by the attitude of your array of spokespersons, who today do little more than insult and dismiss everyone deemed to be an "enemy" of the President. Just as you have a point when you said that the easiest way to be deemed "progressive" is to abuse Jonathan, it has also become that criticising the President quickly earns one all sorts of unprintable labels from the your camp.

Everyone in your camp seems obsessed with the fact that the world is against you. One adviser recently accused everyone criticising you of lacking home training. Another, who made his name writing brilliant articles that skewered the governments of the day, recently lamented — without any sense of irony — that all Nigerian media is in the hands of the opposition.

There's a siege mentality at work, us versus them. I can assure you that that is not at all a helpful attitude to adopt. Let's get one thing clear – if the Nigerian media seems to be against you, it is because it has always been that way; always tending to be deeply critical of the abuse and misuse of power. At the next Council of State meeting, you might want to ask your predecessors about their experiences with the media and the "opposition".

If the media was unusually "nice" to or tolerant of the self-styled Evil Genius, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, why did he spend so much time proscribing media houses? If it was nice to Gen. Sani Abacha, why was his government obsessed with hounding journalists? If it was nice to President Olusegun Obasanjo, why did he once boast that he never read newspapers? The late President Umaru Yar'Adua earned himself a reputation as "Baba Go-Slow". Remember the joke that circulated widely a few years ago, about going into a restaurant to order amala, shaki and 'Yar'Adua' (where Yar'Adua stood for 'snail').

My point is: I doubt that Nigerians and their news media are singling you out for ill-treatment. It's not about you being a Southern President, or a Christian, or an Ijaw man, it's far more likely to be about the action and inaction of your government.

Mr. President, step out of the trenches. Your battle is not against the media, or ordinary Nigerians wont to express their frustrations and disappointments. I suspect that your battle is instead with many of those characters who surround you, claiming to be friends and loyalists, but who imprison you within a dangerous Bubble and delight in misleading you for their own selfish ends.

I have slowly come to realise how the condition of power easily sets up the wielders of that power for incarceration within a Bubble. It's prison without the uniform and without the realisation that you're in prison.

In that Bubble, you're cut off from reality, and people come up to you and say all sorts of things. They give you lists of your "friends" and "enemies", they concoct allegations, they worship you, they call you their Alpha and Omega, the best thing to happen to Nigeria since 1914; they endlessly whisper rumours and rumours of rumours. They will tell you that everyone hates you because you're from a minority ethnic group. They will tell you to ignore what "all those yeye newspapers and critics" are saying.

It's time, perhaps, for you to fight to step out of that Bubble. Your own long walk to freedom ought to commence now, considering that it's almost too late.

We all know that governance is largely a series of perception games. Thus far, your government has, like many of the governments that preceded you, has played those games badly. When people perceive your government as corrupt, it is because they see no evidence otherwise. We all saw fuel subsidy payments rise four-fold during your first year in power. No one took responsibility, no one was punished.

When the Ikeja Police College incident happened, it was an angry you who said the revelations were the work of your enemies. It was, and is still, puzzling – did the opposition somehow corner all the funds allocated to the College(s), making it impossible for the police bosses to spend their funds responsibly? Then, there was the aviation industry scandal – and I've reliably heard that it is only a tip of the iceberg. The "Oga At The Top" is still sitting pretty, invoking the "Law of No-Shaking".

Meanwhile, that same government wastes no time pushing Prof. Bart Nnaji out for "conflict of interest'; and hounding the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Sanusi Lamido, on the unproven ground that he "leaked" a letter to the President. Perhaps, you will be able to explain to us how a Sanusi has managed to embarrass your government to a greater extent than a Stella Oduah.

With scenarios like this, you shouldn't be surprised that Nigerians are angry and confused.

If you stood where Nigerians stand, and gave the affairs of your government a proper consideration, you'd probably – hopefully – come to the same conclusion. That something is just not right somewhere.

The tragedy is that someday, maybe in 2015, or 2019, you will step down from the Bubble. Your eyes will "clear", and like Obasanjo, you will become an advocate of good governance. Perhaps, you will even write longwinded letters (or emails) to your successor complaining about corruption and about how the international community is deeply worried about Nigeria.

And we will be forced to remind you of your own time in office, and wonder aloud what it is about the water in Aso Rock that turns occupants into this strange species of Homo Sapiens.

Perhaps, you would like to backtrack a little, to the beginnings of your Presidency. To the circumstances in which you, an underdog of underdogs, came to power. When you were at the mercy of the "cabal" that ran Nigeria in the absence of a then ailing President Yar'Adua.

I, like millions of other Nigerians, was angered by the antics of that cabal, at how you, the sitting Vice-President, was treated. You were kept out of the loop, humiliated. I recall joining protest marches in Lagos and Abuja, calling for an end to the shameful state of affairs that kept you away from taking charge of Nigeria. We didn't do it because you were an Ijaw man, or because your loyalists "mobilised" us to march for you. We did it because it was the right, sensible and decent thing to do.

Recall the promise and potential with which you came to power. A Nigerian President who came from outside the hegemonic contraptions that have run Nigeria since independence. No one doubts that your victory in 2011 was legitimate; those elections, while not perfect, were the most credible we had seen in almost two decades. I recall describing your appearance on the social media in 2010 as a "breath of fresh air" – a mantra that eventually became one of your campaign themes.

The question to ask yourself is: What happened? How did we get here, where the name "Jonathan" has become a byword for goofs and gaffes, for complete helplessness in the face of oil theft and corruption?

In trying to answer that question (and maybe, there are some answers above), the least we expect is that you will try to make amends. Because that is all that will really matter, in the long run. You will probably need to sacrifice some of those Untouchables in your cabinet. There's news of an impending cabinet reshuffle. Go ahead and do it. Surprise us.

You will also need to do something about your communications set-up. Your achievements – and they do exist (these might form the basis of another letter) – deserve to do better than get lost amidst the din of mindless propaganda and abusive language flowing from your spokespersons and aides.

You would need to come and meet Nigerians where they are – sadly trapped beneath layers angry cynicism – to directly tell them what you've been doing, what you're currently doing, and what you plan to do in 2014. A handful of Presidential Media Chats per year will no longer cut it; not in these dire times.

You will have to face up to the difficult questions that Nigerians are asking, and answer them yourself. Go on TV, get on radio, get out there on the social media. You can no longer continue to depend solely on a battery of spokespersons speaking dangerously off-the-cuff, hyper-excited by the sounds of their own intemperate voices.

The siege mentality has to go. You're not the first, and will not be the last, Nigerian President to feel beleaguered. It is the nature of the task. And, considering what they receive in compensation and benefits for the job of ruling or misruling Nigeria, our politicians should generally learn to take all the heat, or leave the kitchen.

I have written this letter in genuine concern. I am not currently a member of any political party, and I do not have anything personal at stake in this brouhaha – no bids for a marginal field or NIPP power plant or import licence that might possibly be affected by the way things play out. I do not hate you.

I am simply an ordinary Nigerian, concerned about the direction in which our country is headed; concerned about seeing that Nigeria gets the highest quality of governance that is reasonably possible, considering our very complicated circumstances.

Thank You.

Tolu Ogunlesi

Nigeria: Tolu Ogunlesi writes an open letter to President GEJ

http://t.co/Zfp7vUodOn

Sunday, January 12, 2014

SAY NO TO IDEL MAULUD CELEBRATION!

Celebrating Maulud is an innovation that should be discarded by all true Muslims as neither the Prophet (SAW) nor his rightly guided Caliphs observed it.


Islam was revealed to Mankind through the Messengership of Muhammad Ibn Abdullahi (SAW) and Allah (SWT) says in the Qur'an that the Prophet has completed his mission and all that is left for us is to follow the Prophet's teachings.


None of such teachings include the celebration of Maulud! Maulud is not from Prophet Muhammad (SAW), it is rather an innovation, and all innovators are of the Hell-fire said the Prophet Muhammad (SAW).


Let's therefore desist from this devilish act of celebrating Birthday of our Beloved Prophet (SAW) especially when we know that the origin of Birthday was derived from the Pagan Rites.


May Allah (SWT) Guide us and have mercy upon us all, Amen.

Nigerian Politics: Between OBJ, GEJ and Nigerians

Obasanjo suspends his activities in PDP http://bit.ly/1dFjnCa

EXCLUSIVE: Jonathan phones Obasanjo, begs ex-President to reconsider decision on PDP http://bit.ly/1j0HvGD

Friday, January 10, 2014

Nigeria: Politics; Winners, Losers

I am not anti-North, Jonathan says http://bit.ly/1cJkZNy


Intrigues as presidency plots Lamido Sanusi's early exit as CBN governor http://bit.ly/JLXh9L


Don't judge me by past PDP governments, Jonathan tells Nigerians http://bit.ly/1d5wOyR


Newly unveiled Bayelsa APC secretariat burgled - http://bit.ly/1ksaFjR


Ministry of Aviation pulls down Stella Oduah's profile from own website - http://bit.ly/1lF4Z3O


Defections will not cause change in House of Reps leadership - Lawmaker - http://bit.ly/1aj4V5u


INEC will use electronic voting if electoral law permits - Official - http://bit.ly/1aj52y7


Nigeria Open University second only to UK's, says VC http://bit.ly/1iXkwML


2015 elections: Reps promise adequate funding for INEC http://bit.ly/KMuGSv


Cote d'Iviore government faults Gbagbo's party on Ouattara's eligibility for 2015 poll http://bit.ly/1hBHg4t


Nigeria dominates CAF Awards as Yaya Toure retains African crown http://bit.ly/1hBHw3m


Brazil 2014: Nigeria to play Mexico in friendly match http://bit.ly/JLYJZH

Thursday, January 02, 2014

Fuku Warning! US Gov’t Orders 14 Million Doses Of Potassium Iodide (Video)

http://t.co/2NZMCiQhmm

Nigeria: Exposed: How Jonathan Plans to Win 2015 Election (1), By Aminu Gamawa

http://bit.ly/1bBKoFg

The Quran Is A Cure:

Allaah Ta'ala says in the Quran that Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim). - peace be upon him said,

"And He feeds me and quenches my thirst and when I fall sick then He (Allaah) cures me." [Soorah Shu'araa: 80].

Some scholars of Tafseer explain that there is a relation between what we eat and drink and falling sick since most people fall ill because of their diet. This could be a reason why Allaah mentioned that Ibrahim (peace be upon him) recognized that Allaah is the One who provides sustenance for us but that sickness is due to our own self and this is why sickness is mentioned after food and drink in this verse.

"And We sent down of the Qur'an that which is a healing and a mercy to those who believe". [Soorah Israa: 82].

A healing to 'those who believe' showing the importance of rectifying our belief and actions such that we are true believers if we want the Qur'an to benefit us.

Ayub (peace be upon him) called upon his Lord,

And remember Ayub when he cried to his Lord: Verily, distress has seized me, and You are the Most Merciful of all those who show mercy. [Soorah al-Anbiyaa: 83].

This was when he was inflicted with harm. And the reply came from his Lord:

We answered him and removed the distress that was on him... [Soorah al-Anbiyaa: 84].

O mankind! There has come to you a good advice from your Lord (Qur'an) enjoining all that is good and forbidding all that is evil, and a healing for that which is in your breasts, a guidance and a mercy for the believers. [Soorah Yunus: 57].

This shows us that the Qur'an has four benefits:

A good advice.
Cure for our hearts from all diseases.
Guidance.
Mercy for mankind.

Say: it (the Qur'an) is a healing for those who believe, a guide and healing... [Soorah Fusilaat: 44].

The Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said, "There is no-one who is afflicted by distress and grief, and says: 'Allaahumma inni 'abduka ibn 'abdika ibn amatika naasiyati bi yadika, maada fi hukmika, 'adlun fiy qadaa'ika. As'aluka bi kulli ismin huwa laka sammayta bihi nafsaka aw anzaltahu fi kitaabika aw 'allamtahu ahadan min khalqika aw ista'tharta bihi fi 'ilm il-ghayb 'indaka an taj'al al-Qur'aana rabee' qalbi wa noor sadri wa jalaa' huzni wa dhihaab hammi (O Allaah, I am Your slave, son of Your male and female slaves, my forelock is in Your hand, Your command over me is forever executed and Your decree over me is just. I ask You by every name belonging to You which You have named Yourself with, or revealed in Your Book, or You taught to any of Your creation, or You have preserved in the knowledge of the Unseen with You, that You make the Qur'an the harvest of my heart and the light of my chest, and a departure for my sorrow and a release for my anxiety),' but Allaah will take away his distress and grief, and replace it with joy." He was asked: "O Messenger of Allaah, should we learn this?" He said: "Of course; everyone who hears it should learn it."

And Allaah said:

And if Allaah tests you with affliction, there is none who can remove it but He. [Soorah Yunus: 107].
And also:

And He will give you victory over them and heal the breasts of a believing people. [Soorah Tawbah: 14].
When You sleep Read Ayatul Kursi

Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) said, "When you are about to sleep recite Ayatul Kursi till the end of the Verse for there will remain for you a protection from Allaah and no devil will draw to you until morning." [Saheeh al-Bukhaaree].

The Last Two Verses Of Soorah Al-Baqara

The Messenger (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) also said, "whoever recites the last two Verses of Soorah al-Baqara at night, those two Verses shall be sufficient for him." [Saheeh al-Bukhaarree and Saheeh Muslim].

The Last Three Chapters Of The Qur'an

When retiring to his bed every night, the Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) would hold his palms together, blow into them, recite the last three chapters of the Qur'an and then wipe his entire body as much as possible with his hands, beginning with the head and face and then all parts of the body. He would do this three times. [Saheeh al-Bukhaaree and Muslim].

Soorah al-Falaq and Soorah An-Naas

Aisha (may Allaah be pleased with her) said, "When someone fell ill from the Prophet's family he did 'nafath' on them (to blow three times over them reciting the two chapters of seeking refuge -Soorah al-Falaq and Soorah An-Naas). When he himself fell ill, the illness which lead to his death& I would (similarly) do 'nafath' on him and would wipe him with his own hands for it was more blessed that my hands." [Saheeh Muslim].

We Turn To Allaah In Distress

Allaah said regarding Dhun Nun when called upon Allaah to remove his distress and Allaah replied,

We answered his call and delivered him from the distress. And thus We do deliver the believers. [Soorah anbiyaa: 87-88].
We Turn To Allaah When People Try To Harm Us

And you will remember what I am telling you, and I leave my affair with Allaah, verily Allaah is ever watchful over His slaves. [Soorah Ghaafir: 44].

Then Allaah said:

So Allaah saved him from the evils that they plotted (against him), while an evil torment encompassed Fir'aun's people. [Soorah Ghaafir: 45].
Soorah Faatihah Is A cure

It is also a cure when read over the sick. They are cured by the permission of Allaah because the Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said to Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri (may Allaah be pleased with him) after he (Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri) read it over a person who had been bitten by a scorpion and was cured, "How did you come to know that it is a cure?" [Agreed upon, Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (2276) with the additional wording, "You have done the right thing."].

Wednesday, January 01, 2014

What Snowden really revealed - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

What Snowden really revealed - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Question: Are The Shia Muslims? Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein 2011

In 2014, BDS movement will outflank Israel lobby - Beinart

Roger Cohen (who doesn't live there) explains the need for 'my Jewish state'

Iblees, Jinn And Black Magic ᴴᴰ

Don't Be Sad : Allah Knows ᴴᴰ

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Just Two Words From Apple On The NSA's iPhone Hacking Show How The Tech Community Now Hates The NSA

The Deen Show The Letter of the Prophet to the Emperor of Byzantium | The Deen Show with Eddie

The Deen Show The Letter of the Prophet to the Emperor of Byzantium | The Deen Show with Eddie

The Deen Show The Marriages of Prophet Muhammad | The Deen Show with Eddie

The Deen Show The Marriages of Prophet Muhammad | The Deen Show with Eddie

The Deen Show The Prophecies of Muhammad | The Deen Show with Eddie

The Deen Show The Prophecies of Muhammad | The Deen Show with Eddie

The Deen Show Prophecies of the Quran Addressed to Muhammad | The Deen Show with Eddie

The Deen Show Prophecies of the Quran Addressed to Muhammad | The Deen Show with Eddie

The Deen Show What non-Muslim scholars say about the Quran? | The Deen Show with Eddie

The Deen Show What non-Muslim scholars say about the Quran? | The Deen Show with Eddie

The Deen Show What non-Muslim scholars said about Prophet Muhammed Pbuh | The Deen Show with Eddie

The Deen Show What non-Muslim scholars said about Prophet Muhammed Pbuh | The Deen Show with Eddie

The Deen Show Prophet Muhammad Honored By the U.S. Supreme Court | The Deen Show with Eddie

The Deen Show Prophet Muhammad Honored By the U.S. Supreme Court | The Deen Show with Eddie

Putin Breaks With Tradition and Gives 2 New Year's Speeches | News | The Moscow Times

Putin Breaks With Tradition and Gives 2 New Year's Speeches | News | The Moscow Times

Christianity Gone Haywire

Spinal Tap - "These go to eleven...."

11 examples of Illuminati numerology

11 examples of Illuminati numerology

Reports: Health of Israel's Sharon worsens - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Reports: Health of Israel's Sharon worsens - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Steve Quayle: Collapse Is Imminent – Interview With Alex Jones

http://b4in.info/iRAx

US And China Position For War – China Prepares For WW3 (Video)

http://b4in.info/cPgP