Saturday, June 29, 2013

Barack Obama - No you can't

Protest against Obama visit

So for all those South Africans out there who are up in arms about the anti Obama protests, its pretty clear that you have no idea on what's happening in the world globally from a political perspective. The protests are not against American people but rather against the US foreign policies.. America has a bullying attitude and this needs to change. They love sticking their noses into other countries internal affairs. The South African government has also succumbed to their bullying with regards to oil and petrol. South Africa was buying oil from Iran at discounted prices but due to pressure from the USA we were asked to now buy petrol and oil from Saudi Arabia ad hence the increase in petrol prices. Obama has done nothing when it comes to the Israel Palestine conflict. In fact he has funded Israel with billions of dollars in money as well as arms and ammunition. With regards to rolling out antiretrovirals in Africa, the American pharmaceutical companies are cashing in billions. Let us not forget that there is strong evidence showing that the HIV virus was produced in a USA laboratory at a time when pharmaceutical companies in the USA were in huge financial problems. Obama has surpassed Bush when it comes to drone attacks on innocent civilians and many USA soldiers have now spoken up against the atrocities that the USA government has committed against innocent people. The USA is only looking out for its own interests not the interests of the world on a global scale. It is ironical that America wishes to churn out genetically modified foods into poor African countries and yet first world countries have rejected the option of using genetically modified food. It is alarming at what this food when consumed can do to human beings. It triggers cancers and causes infertility in women especially. But then again I guess this is what big brother America wants.. After all Bill Gates mentioned that it is imperative that the worlds population be halved to safeguard resources..America needs to get one thing straight.. Their enemies are not our enemies and this is exactly what Nelson Mandela asked when he was questioned about his relationship with the maverick Gaddafi.. Go home Obama.. We have no oil to give you!!!

Friday, June 28, 2013

Naan Khatai recipe


Naan Khatai is an Indian shortbread biscuit made with flour, semolina and usually spiced with nutmeg and cardamon

                                1. In a mixing bowl add 2 cups of oil

                                 2. Add 11/2 cups of ghee (clarified butter)

                                3. Add 1 1/2 cups of castor sugar

                                4. Blend all the above ingredients in a mixing machine like the
                                    one depicted above

                                5. Separate the yolk from 4 eggs

                                6. Add the 4 egg yolks to the mixture

                                7. Add 41/2 to 5 cups of flour to make a smooth soft dough

                                8. Add a pinch of salt
                                   1 tsp cardamon (elachi)
                                   1/2 tsp nutmeg
                                   2 tblsp semolina
                                   
                                9. Add 3 tsp full baking powder

                                10. Add 3/4 cup ground almonds

                                11. Mix all the above ingredients together to form a soft, smooth
                                      dough

                                12. Divide the dough into several small portions and shape into
                                       even sized balls.


                                13. Decorate with cherries and coloured almonds as depicted above

                                14. Bake in the oven at 150 degrees until brown
                                   
                               15. Enjoy the biscuits with a steaming hot cup of tea!!!

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Congratulations to Professor Avinash Govindjee

To Mr. Dev Govindjee ( International cricket match referee), you must be so proud of your son. My heartiest congratulations to you and your family. Please convey my regards to Avinash....Can I be the first to take Avinash for lunch :)))))

Congratulations to the Law Faculty’s Prof Avinash Govindjee on being chosen as one of the Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans – the publication’s feature of young South Africans you should take to lunch. These are young people who will shape our country in the decades to come, in the sporting arena, in public life and in business.

The two hundred young South Africans who make the final list each year, are divided into a variety of categories: Arts and culture; Business and law; Civil society; Education; Environment; Film and Media; Health; Politics and Government; Science and technology; and Sport. Prof Govindjee was included in the Business and Law category.

In 2011 and 2012, he was the recipient of Researcher of the Year for his faculty. He is an attorney of the High Court and a senior commissioner of the CCMA. He was included in the second Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber’s Top 40 under 40, a list of young business achievers published towards the end of last year.


Photo: To Mr. Dev Govindjee, you must be so proud of your son. My heartiest congratulations to you and your family. Please convey my regards to Avinash....Can I be the first to take Avinash for lunch :)))))

Congratulations to the Law Faculty’s Prof Avinash Govindjee on being chosen as one of the Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans – the publication’s feature of young South Africans you should take to lunch. These are young people who will shape our country in the decades to come, in the sporting arena, in public life and in business.
 
The two hundred young South Africans who make the final list each year, are divided into a variety of categories: Arts and culture; Business and law; Civil society; Education; Environment; Film and Media; Health; Politics and Government; Science and technology; and Sport. Prof Govindjee was included in the Business and Law category.
 
In 2011 and 2012, he was the recipient of Researcher of the Year for his faculty. He is an attorney of the High Court and a senior commissioner of the CCMA. He was included in the second Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber’s Top 40 under 40, a list of young business achievers published towards the end of last year.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Iirosa Interfaith dialogue and conference held in Umhlanga, South Africa

The International Islamic Relief Organization from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia held an interfaith dialogue and conference in Umhlanga, South Africa a few weeks ago. My good friend Mr. Gopaul Angappan was present at the event. This is what he wrote to me:

"The solution to problems worldwide can only be solved by a united effort of religious organizations.
On the first day of the conference there were about twenty of us at Iirosa to meet and welcome the guests from the Kingdom. I requested Dr Al-Noah to talk on the Al Mahdi and to my astonishment he stated that was his mission. Dr Al -Noah who is a descendant of the Prophet (pbuh) stated he had a dream of the Al Mahdi and the time is near for him and Jesus to come down to earth. On the second day he gave a detailed account on the life of the Holy Prophet (pbuh).On numerous occasions we exchanged greetings and shook hands with his delegation from Saudi Arabia .I also attended lunch time prayers conducted by him. To me it was a divine journey in my spiritual life."




                               Fatima Princess of Morocco who was registering and assisting guests .
                               Most elegant full of love and confidence. I was blessed to receive the
                               Holy Quraan from her

                                                            Lunch at Casablanca Durban


Dr.Mohammed Mukthar Tilib Al-Noah with Mr. Saud  the Ambassador addressing interfaith gathering at Coastlands Gateway Durban.

           Azaan Call for Prayer at the Conference of Iirosa held at Coastlands Gateway. 


Dr Suleman from Egypt.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Corruption and poor service delivery seems to be the order of the day !!

Photo: Enjoyed the countryside over the weekend in Newcastle.....

So whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend in the small sleepy town of Newcastle with family and friends, I left the town quite disturbed after the residents related a few unfortunate incidents to me. For a start, the crime in the Newcastle region has escalated with almost 30 burglaries recorded over a two month period. Many of the residents firmly believe that the police are directly involved in many of these crimes. With regards to medical care, it was brought to my attention that the Newcastle provincial hospital has been turned into a mother infant care facility only thereby providing no other medical facilities. In a recent incident that occurred in the town, a young man was stabbed during an altercation with a few men.He was found bleeding profusely. He made it to the provincial hospital only to be turned away by medical staff and security present at the hospital. He had to drive a further 20 km to Madadeni hospital and on arriving at the hospital he died due to the excessive loss of blood. No one is prepared to take the blame. The residents have signed partitions and handed it to the local government officials but thus far nothing has been done about the current situation. The mayor of Newcastle has not acknowledged the grievances of the local residents. He is the same mayor that has laid a charge against a traffic official who mistook him for being a member of the Gupta family. Many residents believe that this was merely a publicity stunt on his part and questioned the fact that why hasn't serious issues like the lack of proper government medical facilities and high crime rates within the area not been addressed with such vigour and priority. Perhaps the mayor is simply on the graveytrain like the rest of this country's government officials. The situation proves yet again that the ruling ANC government has failed the citizens of this country when it comes to service delivery. This is bound to happen when lawlessness and corruption seems to be the order of the day....

Friday, June 14, 2013

An encounter with a God-fearing Christian

Saudi Gazette
Tariq A. Al-Maeena

I spent a pleasant afternoon on a warm sunny day in southern California in the company of a God-fearing Christian who was concerned about what he perceived to be the evils of Islamic ideology. It was evident that he considered the religious movement as one that would threaten his world and existence.

That is hardly unusual as there are perhaps many with similar sentiments. In the aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001 with the bombings of the World Trade Center towers in New York, many could have been forgiven for considering that such a threat was indeed credible.

Such sentiments were cemented when the President of the United States, at the time, George W. Bush declared a crusade against the perpetrators, invoking a disturbing scenario of an impending clash of civilizations. In creating the "good versus evil" and "you’re with us or against us" doctrine, Mr. Bush further solidified his stance when he used the term "Islamic fascists".

My companion that afternoon had done his research. He had read many books on the Hadith and Fiqh, and translations of the Holy Qur'an. His argument was that Islam is inherently violent and on a collision course with other religions. He quoted examples of verses or incidents in religious scripture to back his suspicions.

Eight years of Mr. Bush spouting in the same vein and a highly unpopular war in Iraq did not help foster closer understanding. Just the opposite was true. Muslims were quickly portrayed to be the bad guys in the Western media, who had sinister intentions against a peace-loving Western world. Every act of terrorism committed by some nut calling himself a soldier of Allah or a jihadist was considered a well-planned and deeply covert operation sanctioned by the more than 1.3 billion Muslims on the planet.

I tried to explain to him that the West faces no threat from Islam. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world, and not by force but by acceptance of its values and message, and it really is a religion of peace. Islam forbids forced conversions. More significantly, it is a religion that focuses on the individual and his salvation.

It is also a universal religion that ignores nationality, race, rank and color. To become a Muslim, one must believe in one God, acknowledge Muhammad as his Prophet, recognize the Holy Qur'an as the word of God, pray five times a day, provide for the poor through the payment of zakat and, if possible, make a journey once in a lifetime to Makkah to perform the grand pilgrimage or Haj. The God Muslims worship is the same God Christians and Jews worship.

Islam’s tolerance toward other faiths has been well documented. The oldest Christian communities in the world are all in Muslim countries. There have always been Christian and Jewish communities in the Muslim world. The disputes the West considers as clashes of ideologies in today’s Middle East are not religious; they are actually about secular matters, with the principle element being the unresolved Israeli occupation of Arab lands.

Why then were there not voices of opposition to the acts of terrorism, no public condemnation or outrage, my companion demanded? If the truth be told, there have been countless such acts of censure by various religious or government figures across the Muslim world. Media personnel across the Middle East have been relentlessly attacking such cowardly acts as well. Unfortunately, such words of condemnation do not grab the headlines. The demonization of Muslims is good for business. It sells a lot of print. There has to be a bad guy, with a multitude of other evil plotters lurking in the shadowy background.

I would not deny that terrorism exists. But it exists among Muslims, Christians and Jews. For the guilty Muslims, it is their 15-minute moment of fame as they hold their heads high proclaiming themselves to be jihadists and the Western media loves it. Their twisted and immoral acts dominate prime time TV or print space. But they do not and will not be representative of the billion plus peace-loving Muslims living in many countries of the world.

I suggested to my companion that the way to better understand Muslims and Islam is to reach out to them and not necessarily just in the United States. Go visit some of the Islamic countries, I said. The way to combat the fanaticism and improve inter-faith understanding is to extend the hand of friendship to ordinary Muslims. He would find that their primary concern is with their existence and making a living just as anyone else in other parts of the world. They are not spending their free moments engrossed in grand designs to destroy the West or other cultures and faiths. To slander and libel Muslims and Islam as such is grave injustice. It smacks of bigotry.

And to make up one’s mind on the basis of information garnered through translated versions of religious transcripts leaves one often at the mercy of the interpretation which can be deceptive.

It is best for one to witness with his eyes and mind what the other part of the world sees in him. Over a cup of coffee, that is what I recommended to my companion as a first step toward better understanding.

Five men arrested for gay marriage party in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s religious police raided a gay marriage party in Mecca, arresting five men
BY DAN LITTAUER

Members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (religious police) raided a gay marriage party with over 80 participants in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, arresting five men.

The religious police backed by policemen and detectives, stormed a house in Mecca that was said to have held a gay marriage ceremony, yesterday (12 June), reported Al-Saudeh daily.

Five men were detained while the rest managed to flee to nearby mountains.

According to the report, party participants were said to be aged between 18 and 20 year-old men ‘wearing women’s dresses and make up on their faces.

‘They were dancing to disco music at a noisy party held to mark the wedding of two men to each other…police are hunting down those who escaped.’

Generally speaking punishment range from imprisonment and/or flogging to the death penalty.

Conviction and severity of punishments depends on the social class, religion and citizenship of the accused, whereby non-western migrant workers receive usually harsher treatment than upper class Saudi citizens.

The religious police encourage reporting of any ‘deviant’ behavior and deliberately entrap people for being gay via the Internet and other technologies.

Last year the religious police arrested five gay men during a raid on a health club in the Kingdom's capital, Riyadh following a tip-off.

Entrapment by the religious police does not necessarily lead to prosecution, but often results in life-long financial and/or sexual blackmail.

Ali, a 31 year-old gay law student in Jeddah told Gay Star News: ‘I really hope the other men have managed to escape safely and will not be caught.

‘As for the five men who are detained, even if the would be released without facing court action their suffering will not end.

‘Once the Hay’ah [religious police] have your identity on record for being gay, you are very likely to face financial and even sexual blackmail.

‘If families hear that a member is gay it is not unheard of that they would attempt to kill the person in order to avoid being "shamed".

‘If word spreads to employer or the wider community, then not only the person is likely to loose his job but become a social pariah.’

Gay Star News has not yet been able to verify the case independently.

- See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/five-men-arrested-gay-marriage-party-saudi-arabia130613#sthash.3UVfTSRG.dpuf

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Have you been given a second chance to live? I certainly have...


Indeed, God Almighty works in mysterious ways and when I sometimes sit and ponder over my life events, I can't comprehend how everything fits together like a jigsaw puzzle...One event leading to another for the betterment of my own life. Sometimes we experience grief and sorrow and we wonder why certain things do not occur in our favour and yet when we ponder over the same situation years down the line we realize that what God Almighty had ordained for us was in actual fact a blessing in disguise.My life has been pretty interesting in a sense that I was granted a second chance to live. When I was a kid, whilst mom was in the bathroom I opened up the medication cupboard and drank a full bottle of camphorated oil. When Mom came out of the shower, she found me on the floor with my eyes rolling and she could smell the oil on my breath and of course she noticed the empty bottle.Mom could not drive at the time. However, our neighbour came home for lunch and so he rushed me to the nearest hospital..Naturally it was a trying time for the family but through the Grace of God Almighty I was discharged from the hospital after a few days. The irony here is that years down the line I landed up working in the very same hospital as an intern and assisted in saving the lives of many infants and kids who came to the hospital with accidental poisoning.

I guess I was always meant to be a pharmacist considering my early experimentation with medicinal products..LOL..When the realization set in that I was granted a second chance to live, I decided from that day onward that I should lead my life to the best of my abilities in terms of positive outlook and positive attitude..I try my best to live each day to the fullest and I strive to go through each day doing some kind of good or spreading good to those around me.

Life is very short and I wish to leave this world with a legacy behind. I wish for people to remember me not for the clothes that I wore or the car that I drove but rather for the person that I am in terms of character. For as the saying goes, be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.As a human being we are all riddled with flaws and weaknesses, but trying to achieve an exemplary character is better than not striving to achieve at all. My advice to all my friends out there is this...Live each day as though it is your final moment.
Try doing one good deed for the day. A simple smile can make someone else's day. Open the door for a colleague, help someone carry their packets...By helping someone else you would find inner peace, happiness and contentment within yourself. And last but not least, "Life is n’t a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, latte in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming Woohoo WHAT A RIDE!"

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Black Magic, Sorcery and Peer Babas


Have you ever come across this type of advertisement whilst browsing through television channels?" Are you having marital problems, are you divorced, do you want your lover back, did the doctor say you can't have children. Do not despair. Peer Baba Haji saheb blah blah blah will resolve all your issues within twenty four hours. Contact so and so on so and so telephone number." Whilst I do not believe in such hocus pocus nonsense I know for a fact that there are many people including members of my own society that firmly believe in these peer babas who they pay large sums of money to in order to supposedly extract information they require or carry out a wish that they desire. In Islam, fortune telling, sorcery and black magic goes against the principles of religion and hence very often within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia you would come across news of women being sentenced to a number of years in prison for practicing black magic.
Moroccan maids are beautiful but they are also noted for sorcery and black magic according to Saudi women.Hence, some time back , Saudi women were up in arms about the Ministry of the Interior allowing Moroccan maids into the Kingdom. There could be some truth in the tale as a close Saudi friend of mine told me that her mom found talismans, nails and strands of hair in their Moroccan maids bedroom. When questioned about these items, she revealed that the hair and nails belonged to the eldest son of the house who is still a bachelor. She was hoping to entice him and make him her husband. Whilst the family decided not to lay any charge against her, she was of course asked to leave.Many people in the western world do not believe in 'sihar' or black magic and hence when the Saudi newspapers print a story of people punished for practicing these dirty activities, the news is of course mocked and laughed at. Personally, I have seen the effects of sihar and black magic and its not a pleasant thing at all. It is absolutely shocking to see a healthy individual suddenly become so ill and yet medical reports will conclude that the person is well and healthy. I believe that people who engage in such activities are evil and hence they deserve the sentences and punishments meted out to them. Away from Saudi Arabia and moving closer to home, I heard the story of a woman whose husband decided to marry another lady that he worked with. The first wife could not handle the situation and hence she resorted to am Egyptian soothsayer residing within the Johannesburg region. After paying the man a large sum of money at his house and carrying out a few rituals,the lady was asked to cut two chickens in a certain way immediately when she arrived at her home. According to the soothsayer, the husband will leave the second woman within a day after the chicken sacrifice was done. Needless to say, the spell backfired and the husband became closer to his second wife, even giving her a child by the following year. This was bound to happen as it is not mankind who is in control of this universe. It is God Almighty. If you turn away from Him and seek assistance from a human being that He created, He will not assist you, but if you have full faith and full conviction in your heart that My Lord is with me and He will assist me and that whatever He has written out for me is the best for me, you will find that your life becomes filled with happiness and contentment. The reason I am writing about this is because I am disturbed over an inbox message and conversation I had with a facebook friend. I also happen to know this person from way back in my past during my schooling years. We never chatted or interacted before. So the facebook message was pretty much the first time we conversed.I can not believe that anyone would choose to explore the path of fortune telling considering that this person is from a good practicing Muslim home. What surprised me about out conversation was the fact, that this individual started mentioning things to me that was really personal. Small details that no one else other than my immediate family would know of. As the conversation ensued further, I was told that he would collect every post from my blog and store it on his computer. He became addicted to my stories and would log on every single day to read what I had to say. He enjoyed reading my posts. He then decided to tell his Peer or Sheikh about me and also asked his Sheikh to tell him more about me on a personal level. They apparently met at a cemetery at midnight where the spirits apparently told the Sheikh all about my activities whilst in the Kingdom. He gave me bits and pieces of information and when I asked to know more I was told to transfer money into baba's banking account and then all will be revealed. Over my dead body am I going to pay anyone to reveal my own life story to me. I was then told that a tokoloshe will be sent to me and that " remember, I know what you did last summer." Total rubbish. I am not afraid of anyone except my Lord, Master of the universe and the King of Kings. The fact that this person is so obsessed with his Sheikh is actually very scary. He supposedly trusts his sheikh with his own life. To me this is moving away from the fold of Islam. We all commit mistakes, we do wrong.. we are human... But we still pray and we still look for guidance from our Creator. But believing in some Sheikh who communicates with the jinn is just ridiculous. As Muslims we should be believing in the concept of the Jinn and also we should believe that sorcery and black magic does exist as explained in the Quraan, but chatting to spirits to find out about someone else's life is just downright absurd. To this person I just want to say that I hope God Almighty guides you towards the straight path. If you wanted to know things about my life, you could have just asked, but snooping into my life in this manner makes me feel violated. You have meddled into my private affairs without me even knowing. If you wish to remain in the fold of Islam, I urge you to stay away from such Sheikhs and Peers. They work with deception. They will tell you a few truths and the rest of it is lies. They do this to create rifts and to break up relationships. This is all mentioned in the Quraan. Rather direct your energy towards having firm faith and conviction in God Almighty alone. To Him do we belong and to Him do we return.On a lighter note, may be he did send the tokoloshe to me as I had two hard falls last week causing bruising to both my legs. Were they giving me a warning? Perhaps they were or perhaps I am in store for even weirder activities..So if I start behaving weirdly or start writing absolute crap, you now know the reason why...Don't blame me, blame the Peer baba.....

Monday, June 3, 2013

A blogging milestone

Picture courtesy: www.solar-aid.org

YIPPY.....HIP HIP HOORAY...ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON, I FINALLY HIT 50000 HITS TO MY BLOG. WHAT STARTED OFF AS A JOKE IN DUBAI HAS ACTUALLY MATERIALIZED INTO SOMETHING BIGGER. THE BLOG IS NOW BEING READ BY PEOPLE FROM ALL ACROSS THE GLOBE ESPECIALLY INDIVIDUALS FROM AMERICA, RUSSIA, CANADA, SAUDI ARABIA, INDIA, PAKISTAN, SOUTH AFRICA, SLOVENIA, FRANCE AND THE UK. I WANT TO THANK ALL THE BLOG READERS SINCERELY FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR THEIR CONTINUED LOVE AND SUPPORT. MAY GOD ALMIGHTY BLESS ALL OF YOU IN ABUNDANCE AS ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE BLOG GOES TO CHARITY. IT IS MY WAY OF GIVING BACK TO THE WORLD. THE BLOG IS A PLATFORM FOR CROSS CULTURAL DIALOGUE AND THROUGH IT I HAVE MADE SO MANY WONDERFUL FRIENDS. PLEASE DO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE ME WITH FEEDBACK. BOTH POSITIVE AS WELL AS NEGATIVE CRITICISM WILL BE WELCOMED. PLEASE DO CONTINUE INBOXING ME AND SHARING YOUR STORIES WITH ME.LOTS OF LOVE AND BEST WISHES ALWAYS..DESERT MOON...:)))))))