On Thursdays, my mom stops by my house after work and we walk around Watson's track. Yesterday we had to wait for a track meet to end, so we watched the tail end of it and then did our walking. Track was my favorite sport in school; I have very happy memories of being in track. So, I liked to watch the kids.
As you may recall, I am working on my master's degree in curriculum and instruction. I just started in February. My brother worked for a good decade as an electrician and last spring he got his bachelor's degree and switched careers. He is now a teacher, too - he teaches shop at the junior we went to when we were kids. Really, though, he's a coach - that is his passion, and he'd done that for a few years prior to getting his degree. At Christmas time, I wrote cards for all my family members. In my brothers, I joked with him that it was nice that he was following me into something for once instead of the other way around. As kids, whatever my brother liked or did, I liked it and wanted to do it, too. I had my own interests as well, but I think it is natural for younger siblings to do some following of the older ones.
This is my fifth year teaching. In my first few years, it never occurred to me to start a master's degree program as I had just finished my bachelors and I didn't see how it could financially or temporally be arranged. But now I am surrounded by older teachers who all have their degrees and I've learned there never is a good time for it. In fact, now is probably as good a time for it as is ever going to come my way. I found an online program because I have trouble committing to regular meeting times due to my union meeting commitments and family stuff, etc. I am enjoying it, but it is time consuming work. Lots of papers to write. I had wanted to find a master's program in math or statistics but didn't find one that worked for my schedule, but I have been pleasantly surprised that my program is interesting to me. And it is fairly scientific; I have taken courses on how to design research and I will actually be carrying out a research project. I mentioned this in passing on my IMP (Integrated Mathematics Program) and Brian, who had trained me to teach Year 1 of the curriculum got very excited about my ideas for research and said he wanted to help me publish and present when it is finished. So now I feel like I need to do a really good job!
Anyway, as soon as I told my brother I had started my master's program, he started looking in earnest for a program of his own to do. He believes he has found a faster and cheaper program and I think he is pleased with that. However, I am happy with my own. Last night, as mom and I were walking around the track, I told her about my upcoming course schedule. She told me that my brother was trying to beat me and finish his degree first! I guess he didn't like following me in something! :)
My brother is very competitive and so I am quietly taking up the secret challenge to finish first. I'm not going to tell him anything about my changes in schedule. Due to financial aid and sanity, I cannot double up on a lot of courses, but I did double up on one six week course for summer and removed the week breaks between courses starting in October. So now I'll finish in early August next year instead of October, insha'allah. My financial aid advisor said I can double up again next spring/summer, and so if I can manage the work load I will try that if the race is looking close!
There's another good reason to finish in summer - I can be moved up to the master's pay scale starting in fall instead of waiting until January '06 - assuming the school board doesn't mess up our pay scale too much.
Actually, I thought it would be nice to finish almost at the same time and then have a nice celebration for the Beatty kids getting their master's degrees. We are just about the only kids in our family who even went to college out of our many cousins. But, since Jeff is interested in a little race, I'll just keep that idea in the back of my mind for now. :)
Friday, April 30, 2004
Thursday, April 29, 2004
How to Decompose
Easily though it into floor have fun
Lets decompose and enjoy assembling
http://engrish.com/detail.php?imagename=puzzle-ball1.jpg&category=Instructions&date=2002-10-16
Lets decompose and enjoy assembling
http://engrish.com/detail.php?imagename=puzzle-ball1.jpg&category=Instructions&date=2002-10-16
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Enterprise
Well, we're getting down to probably the permanent end of the Enterprise series. These last episodes have been quite good. The Xindi story line is coming to an interesting conclusion and lots of threads are being brought together. Of course, if you don't watch the show you have no idea what I'm talking about and don't care, but Trek-types know what's up. :) Scott Bakula of Quantum Leap fame is Captain Archer, on one of the very first warp-capable ships. Pre-Federation by a long shot - no Prime Directive. The freedom from Prime Directive and other rules opened up possibilties on the show quite a bit. A few really good characters come out of this series - Reed and Tucker in particular. Archer has had some tough decisions to make. I've always like Star Trek for its future possibilties for making you think about moral and scientific issues. It has always been alegorical.
In other entertainment news, Tony Hillerman novels are my latest reading obsession. They are mysteries with two Navajo Tribal Police officers as the main characters. I like mysteries and I like southwest stuff - the two go together very well. PBS recently turned a few of his novels into movies on Mystery Theater. They star one of my favorite actors, Adam Beach (Windtalkers, Smoke Signals). So if you're interested at all, Netflix one and check it out. Skinwalkers or Coyote Moon. They are making a third one now, Thief of Time.
On to school news: I teach a student from Poland. He's a very odd duck - very unique - he drives other students crazy but he is very comfortable in his skin and can be very entertaining from a teacher's perspective. After school, he goes and works twelve hours at a Polish-owned motel in Manitou Springs. He missed prom last weekend because he had to work. He came in to my room for lunch on Monday to tell me why it was all worthwhile to miss it. He said around 1 a.m. a prom couple from another school came in wanting a room. The rate is $39.99 during winter season with a possible discount of ten dollars for late arrivals when they would only have the room half the night. However, he saw the boy squirming around, obviously anxious to get a room quickly, so he told him the price was the summer rate, $59.99 plus tax. He was so happy in his story-telling as he went on to tell me how the boy asked if some other place around was cheaper and of course my student told him "No, no other place has rooms left by this time of night," an obvious lie. Then the boy discovered he didn't have enough cash but his girl was standing there looking at him, so he plunked down a credit card. I wonder who gets that bill and if Boy is going to intercept it somehow? Apparently the next morning, my student's boss got a big kick out of his employee's initiative to bilk more money out of a prom couple in lieu of enjoying prom for himself. By the way, this is the same student who brings a pair of totally mangled skis into my classroom and explains his new sport like waterskiing but done on gravel behind a truck! Teaching can be very very interesting.
Finally, in grad school news: we are assigned teams and have team assignments. I am currently irked as one of our team members on a tiny 3 person team went AWOL and skipped out on her part of the assignment. So now we have to scramble to do her part and end up turning it late. Oh well, that's part of a sound educational experience! So now, I'm off to work on that - I just had to wait until Enterprise was over.
Enjoy the return of rain/snow tomorrow, I hear. It's all good.
P.S. I walked14,492 steps so far today according to my pedometer - or 6.685 miles, or 10.781 km, or burned 496 kcal (Calories). Like I said yesterday, gadgets are cool.
In other entertainment news, Tony Hillerman novels are my latest reading obsession. They are mysteries with two Navajo Tribal Police officers as the main characters. I like mysteries and I like southwest stuff - the two go together very well. PBS recently turned a few of his novels into movies on Mystery Theater. They star one of my favorite actors, Adam Beach (Windtalkers, Smoke Signals). So if you're interested at all, Netflix one and check it out. Skinwalkers or Coyote Moon. They are making a third one now, Thief of Time.
On to school news: I teach a student from Poland. He's a very odd duck - very unique - he drives other students crazy but he is very comfortable in his skin and can be very entertaining from a teacher's perspective. After school, he goes and works twelve hours at a Polish-owned motel in Manitou Springs. He missed prom last weekend because he had to work. He came in to my room for lunch on Monday to tell me why it was all worthwhile to miss it. He said around 1 a.m. a prom couple from another school came in wanting a room. The rate is $39.99 during winter season with a possible discount of ten dollars for late arrivals when they would only have the room half the night. However, he saw the boy squirming around, obviously anxious to get a room quickly, so he told him the price was the summer rate, $59.99 plus tax. He was so happy in his story-telling as he went on to tell me how the boy asked if some other place around was cheaper and of course my student told him "No, no other place has rooms left by this time of night," an obvious lie. Then the boy discovered he didn't have enough cash but his girl was standing there looking at him, so he plunked down a credit card. I wonder who gets that bill and if Boy is going to intercept it somehow? Apparently the next morning, my student's boss got a big kick out of his employee's initiative to bilk more money out of a prom couple in lieu of enjoying prom for himself. By the way, this is the same student who brings a pair of totally mangled skis into my classroom and explains his new sport like waterskiing but done on gravel behind a truck! Teaching can be very very interesting.
Finally, in grad school news: we are assigned teams and have team assignments. I am currently irked as one of our team members on a tiny 3 person team went AWOL and skipped out on her part of the assignment. So now we have to scramble to do her part and end up turning it late. Oh well, that's part of a sound educational experience! So now, I'm off to work on that - I just had to wait until Enterprise was over.
Enjoy the return of rain/snow tomorrow, I hear. It's all good.
P.S. I walked14,492 steps so far today according to my pedometer - or 6.685 miles, or 10.781 km, or burned 496 kcal (Calories). Like I said yesterday, gadgets are cool.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
The Schedule
This week we have a strange schedule. Yesterday and today are normal, tomorrow we have to administer the state mandated ACT test. Juniors are required to take it, but NCAA doesn't accept it so if they plan to play sports in college, they have to re-take it anyway. I think that stinks. Tomorrow afternoon, we'll have 3 classes. Thursday and Friday are staff days/ILP days. ILP - individualized learning plan, also legislatively mandated, reports and plans for any student reading below grade level that record interventions attempted, logs of the interventions, and logs of progress. Friday, instead of being here for the staff day, several in the math department will be going to Tesla for a statistics training. But I just found out they're rescheduling the usual monthly staff meeting to be on Friday - and the last one is usually a good one- with goodies given out, etc., so I am disappointed to miss it.
I'm supposed to speak at some thing for the Prophet (saw) on May 8, so I need to prepare for that this coming weekend. But no more SAT class, yay!
Another thing I want to do this weekend (Yes, I know it is a Tuesday and I'm already thinking about the weekend....) is find a geocache with my new/used gps - I need to figure out how to use it. User manuals are good for that kind of stuff.
I got another gadget yesterday, a pedometer. I'm playing with it today, wearing it at work. It records steps, miles, kilometers, and calories. Not bad for 6 bucks. I like little gadgets.
I'm supposed to speak at some thing for the Prophet (saw) on May 8, so I need to prepare for that this coming weekend. But no more SAT class, yay!
Another thing I want to do this weekend (Yes, I know it is a Tuesday and I'm already thinking about the weekend....) is find a geocache with my new/used gps - I need to figure out how to use it. User manuals are good for that kind of stuff.
I got another gadget yesterday, a pedometer. I'm playing with it today, wearing it at work. It records steps, miles, kilometers, and calories. Not bad for 6 bucks. I like little gadgets.
Monday, April 26, 2004
Delegation Summary
Here is my "official" summary of the meeting I went to this weekend.
Happy Monday everyone,
I thought you might like to know what happened at the CEA Delegate Assembly this weekend.
A new secretary-treasurer, Nancy Popenhagen, was elected, as well as a new At-Large Representative for the Ethnic Minority seat on the board - Ann Franco. Two people were voted by acclimation to the NEA Resolutions Committee. Our representative to the state board, Brian Kachel, was re-elected, and Diane Cicarelli was named as the alternate.
The public relations special dues assessment of $12.00/yr was renewed, as was the Every Member Option of $24.00/yr.
The only proposed resolution passed, in opposition to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
CEA was directed to hold, when possible, unit meetings between our lobbyists and CEA local members. It was also directed to implement a public relations campaign modeled after Utah's "Why I Teach" program. A new business item to investigate legislation for accountability for private schools if vouchers pass was referred to the appropriate committee - Colorado Fund for Children and Public Education. CEA was also directed to use the Journal to educate members about the anti-public education and anti-union practices of Walmart and to recommend a boycott of Walmart and submit the boycott to the NEA Executive Committee. The delegation also directed the board and staff to cease the pilot project of organizing parochial and private schools.
An amendment to the bylaws to change the way retired members are representated on the board was withdrawn, an amendment that clarified how delegates in cluster regions are assigned passed, as did an amendment that establishes a date for determining official unit membership count.
PERA reported on changes and legislation that could effect it. In particular, the matchmaker program should soon be suspended and Governor Owens is pushing a defined contribution plan option and PERA is working to minimize its effects. We currently have a defined benefit plan which is much better for us. We are also looking at rises in employer contributions and a few other possible changes. PERA is currently about 85% funded, compared to 105% in 2000, but still in very good shape. PERA is pursuing changes such as the suspension of matchmaker for the health of the fund. DPS will probably be on PERA in 2005.
There was a report on the status of ESEA/NCLB and on membership. A particularly important issue discussed was the ongoing struggle to fight the loss of social security benefits that people who are vested in PERA or whose spouse is vested face. Tancredo considers receiving both "double-dipping". If you are not aware of this loss of benefits that hurts people who come into teaching as second careers or who have spouses who pay into PERA but pay into social security themselves, please see the NEA website for more information. It must be addressed at the national level, local legislation can't fix the problem.
We had legislative reports from our two lobbyists (whom The Gazette called "legion" - two makes a legion?) and awards. Our own Dave DiCocco received the highest award called the CEA Award. Please congratulate him if you see him. He works very hard for us and you've probably heard him speak to you about the work of the insurance cadre and the status of our health insurance.
The Denver Mayor, John Hickenlooper came and spoke - he was pretty entertaining. Through your call/e-mail/letter efforts, we found out on Friday that we defeated HB 1442. Two Colorado Springs reps who voted against it came to the delegation - Mike Merrifield (former Coronado teacher), and Mark Cloer. Rookie Mark Cloer (Republican, D17) was really roughed up by Gov. Owens for not following party lines. It would be great if you could take a minute to call and thank him. The latest CEA Capitol Connection tells more about HB1442's demise and as appended below.
The delegates were very sorry to miss the snow day, but we had a great meeting! :)
The Colorado Springs delegation once again continued its tradition of 100% support for the recommendation donation to the Colorado Fund for Children and Public Education. Your representatives to the national meeting in July, the NEA Representative Assembly in Los Angeles, will be called upon to make an even larger donation and could use your support in raising the funds.
take care
diana beatty
CSEA High School Grade Director
CEA Capitol Connection #15
Monday, April 26
HB 1442 MEETS ITS DEMISE
The House of Representatives killed HB 1442 on Friday afternoon on a second reading vote.
It takes 33 votes to kill a bill in the 65-member House. There are currently 28 Democrats and 37 Republicans in the House.
On Friday there were 33 Pro-Public Education Legislators ~ five of whom crossed party lines ~ who defeated the latest voucher bill. The five braved the intensive verbal battering of Governor Owens, Rep. Nancy Spence, and the House Republican leadership. And these five House Members did what the public education community asked them to, knowing it was the right thing to do for the future of public education.
Please take the time to thank these members of the Colorado House. Thank them all, but especially thank Reps. Mark Cloer, (Ms.) Ramey Johnson, Mark Larson, Gayle Berry, and Richard Decker.
Alice Borodkin
Alice Madden
Andrew Romanoff
Angie Paccione
Ann McGihon
Ann Ragsdale
Betty Boyd
Carl Miller
Cheri Jahn
Dorothy Butcher
Fran Coleman
Frank Weddig
Gayle Berry, HD 55, Grand Junction
Jack Pommer
Joel Judd
John Salazar
Jerry Frangas
Lois Tochtrop
Mark Larson, HD 59, Cortez
Mary Hodge
Mike Cerbo
Michael Garcia
Buffy McFadyen
Michael Merrifield
Paul Weissmann
Ramey Johnson (Ms.), HD 23, Jefferson County
Richard Decker, HD 19, Colorado Springs
Rosemary Marshall
Suzanne Williams
Terrance Carroll
Tom Plant
Val Vigil
No e-mail:
Mark Cloer HD 17, Colorado Springs ~ 301 Colorado State Capitol, Denver, CO 80203
An easy way to thank one or more of these legislators is to go to CEA's Web site at http://capwiz.com/nea/co/dbq/officials/directory/legislist.dbq?state=CO&dir=nea%2Fco&command=statedir&keycontacts=H&submit.x=7&submit.y=11/
You will see a section for House Republicans and one for House Democrats. Scroll to select a legislator, click View Member, and you will get a page for that person. Simply hit the legislator's e-mail address and type in your thanks. Looking for a way for your entire faculty to do this? Type everyone's name along with yours or send a greeting card. Each legislator's Capitol (U.S.) mail address is on his/her page.
THANK YOU FOR THE WORK YOU DID TO CONVINCE STATE HOUSE MEMBERS TO VOTE NO ON HB 1442!
Happy Monday everyone,
I thought you might like to know what happened at the CEA Delegate Assembly this weekend.
A new secretary-treasurer, Nancy Popenhagen, was elected, as well as a new At-Large Representative for the Ethnic Minority seat on the board - Ann Franco. Two people were voted by acclimation to the NEA Resolutions Committee. Our representative to the state board, Brian Kachel, was re-elected, and Diane Cicarelli was named as the alternate.
The public relations special dues assessment of $12.00/yr was renewed, as was the Every Member Option of $24.00/yr.
The only proposed resolution passed, in opposition to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
CEA was directed to hold, when possible, unit meetings between our lobbyists and CEA local members. It was also directed to implement a public relations campaign modeled after Utah's "Why I Teach" program. A new business item to investigate legislation for accountability for private schools if vouchers pass was referred to the appropriate committee - Colorado Fund for Children and Public Education. CEA was also directed to use the Journal to educate members about the anti-public education and anti-union practices of Walmart and to recommend a boycott of Walmart and submit the boycott to the NEA Executive Committee. The delegation also directed the board and staff to cease the pilot project of organizing parochial and private schools.
An amendment to the bylaws to change the way retired members are representated on the board was withdrawn, an amendment that clarified how delegates in cluster regions are assigned passed, as did an amendment that establishes a date for determining official unit membership count.
PERA reported on changes and legislation that could effect it. In particular, the matchmaker program should soon be suspended and Governor Owens is pushing a defined contribution plan option and PERA is working to minimize its effects. We currently have a defined benefit plan which is much better for us. We are also looking at rises in employer contributions and a few other possible changes. PERA is currently about 85% funded, compared to 105% in 2000, but still in very good shape. PERA is pursuing changes such as the suspension of matchmaker for the health of the fund. DPS will probably be on PERA in 2005.
There was a report on the status of ESEA/NCLB and on membership. A particularly important issue discussed was the ongoing struggle to fight the loss of social security benefits that people who are vested in PERA or whose spouse is vested face. Tancredo considers receiving both "double-dipping". If you are not aware of this loss of benefits that hurts people who come into teaching as second careers or who have spouses who pay into PERA but pay into social security themselves, please see the NEA website for more information. It must be addressed at the national level, local legislation can't fix the problem.
We had legislative reports from our two lobbyists (whom The Gazette called "legion" - two makes a legion?) and awards. Our own Dave DiCocco received the highest award called the CEA Award. Please congratulate him if you see him. He works very hard for us and you've probably heard him speak to you about the work of the insurance cadre and the status of our health insurance.
The Denver Mayor, John Hickenlooper came and spoke - he was pretty entertaining. Through your call/e-mail/letter efforts, we found out on Friday that we defeated HB 1442. Two Colorado Springs reps who voted against it came to the delegation - Mike Merrifield (former Coronado teacher), and Mark Cloer. Rookie Mark Cloer (Republican, D17) was really roughed up by Gov. Owens for not following party lines. It would be great if you could take a minute to call and thank him. The latest CEA Capitol Connection tells more about HB1442's demise and as appended below.
The delegates were very sorry to miss the snow day, but we had a great meeting! :)
The Colorado Springs delegation once again continued its tradition of 100% support for the recommendation donation to the Colorado Fund for Children and Public Education. Your representatives to the national meeting in July, the NEA Representative Assembly in Los Angeles, will be called upon to make an even larger donation and could use your support in raising the funds.
take care
diana beatty
CSEA High School Grade Director
CEA Capitol Connection #15
Monday, April 26
HB 1442 MEETS ITS DEMISE
The House of Representatives killed HB 1442 on Friday afternoon on a second reading vote.
It takes 33 votes to kill a bill in the 65-member House. There are currently 28 Democrats and 37 Republicans in the House.
On Friday there were 33 Pro-Public Education Legislators ~ five of whom crossed party lines ~ who defeated the latest voucher bill. The five braved the intensive verbal battering of Governor Owens, Rep. Nancy Spence, and the House Republican leadership. And these five House Members did what the public education community asked them to, knowing it was the right thing to do for the future of public education.
Please take the time to thank these members of the Colorado House. Thank them all, but especially thank Reps. Mark Cloer, (Ms.) Ramey Johnson, Mark Larson, Gayle Berry, and Richard Decker.
Alice Borodkin
Alice Madden
Andrew Romanoff
Angie Paccione
Ann McGihon
Ann Ragsdale
Betty Boyd
Carl Miller
Cheri Jahn
Dorothy Butcher
Fran Coleman
Frank Weddig
Gayle Berry, HD 55, Grand Junction
Jack Pommer
Joel Judd
John Salazar
Jerry Frangas
Lois Tochtrop
Mark Larson, HD 59, Cortez
Mary Hodge
Mike Cerbo
Michael Garcia
Buffy McFadyen
Michael Merrifield
Paul Weissmann
Ramey Johnson (Ms.), HD 23, Jefferson County
Richard Decker, HD 19, Colorado Springs
Rosemary Marshall
Suzanne Williams
Terrance Carroll
Tom Plant
Val Vigil
No e-mail:
Mark Cloer HD 17, Colorado Springs ~ 301 Colorado State Capitol, Denver, CO 80203
An easy way to thank one or more of these legislators is to go to CEA's Web site at http://capwiz.com/nea/co/dbq/officials/directory/legislist.dbq?state=CO&dir=nea%2Fco&command=statedir&keycontacts=H&submit.x=7&submit.y=11/
You will see a section for House Republicans and one for House Democrats. Scroll to select a legislator, click View Member, and you will get a page for that person. Simply hit the legislator's e-mail address and type in your thanks. Looking for a way for your entire faculty to do this? Type everyone's name along with yours or send a greeting card. Each legislator's Capitol (U.S.) mail address is on his/her page.
THANK YOU FOR THE WORK YOU DID TO CONVINCE STATE HOUSE MEMBERS TO VOTE NO ON HB 1442!
Sunday, April 25, 2004
I'm Back
I'm back from my trip to Denver.
I was terribly disappointed Friday morning to find out my students were enjoying a snow day while I was at a conference - and an unnecessary snow day at that! It did snow, but not enough to close schools. Darn it, if they get to stay home I want to, too! :)
But the Delegate Assembly was very good. Not as much debate on the new business items this year, or maybe there simply weren't as many of them. The most controversial one was about a boycott of Walmart because of its anti-worker and anti-public-education behaviors - particularly how they won't allow members to organize, and don't pay competitive wages and benefits. At the same time, they drive out locally-owned businesses so that in many small towns it ends up being the only place to work for many of its citizens and it is virtually impossible to make a living at it. The boycott was essentially approved by the delegation - it ordered the executive committees to pursue a recommendation to NEA at the national level as well.
Walmart is definitely cheaper to shop at and many times I have shopped there precisely for that reason, but at what cost to community and working families?
The most exciting thing that happened at the assembly was that we played a key role on Friday in defeating House Bill 1442 - another voucher bill. CEA is against vouchers because they do not help schools or children - there is no evidence at all to suggest that students in voucher programs receive better education - in fact, they end up in schools where there is no accountability. Public schools are required to meet standards, but private and parochial schools are not - they don't have to have trained teachers, they do not have to take or pass the state assessments, etc. Also, it is against our state constitution for tax dollars to be used in private schools or private entities of any sort. A previous voucher bill was voted unconstitutional. This one was voted down in the House, in part as a result of an intense phone call /e-mail/ letter-writing campaign. We had 5 republicans defect to "our" side and vote against it and all democrats voted against it and we won by one vote, 33 to 32. Governor Owens screamed and hollered and harassed rookie Rep Mark Cloer (D-17 Rep.) for 22 minutes on the floor to try to get him to change his vote. I believe Rep. Mark Cloer believed he was ruining his career by going against party lines to vote against the bill. He was visibly very shaken. He and Mike Merrifield (Dem) came to our assembly and we thanked them. I am not a republican, nor a democrat, but if I had to choose between just those two I'd choose dem. The republicans in our state are extremists. With a few exceptions like Cloer, and we need to support moderate republicans just to try to keep a balanced few in our legislature rather than one side totally domineering the other.
One of our local members, Dave DiCocco, received an award at the assembly and so we went to dinner at Trail Dust to celebrate. Interesting place. It is a big red barn steak house with loud country music and a slide for kids to play on and a dance floor. I think it was overpriced and the service wasn't great. Not much for someone like me or a vegetarian to eat, but those steak and Atkins folks had a nice selection.
Saturday after getting home from Denver I went back up there for my friend's 26th birthday dinner. She wanted to eat at The Cheesecake Factory in the mall and I caught a ride with her husband. She was already up there visiting some friends. A very diverse menu but also very expensive, in my opinion.
So I am restauranted out for now.
I teach the last SAT prep course this afternoon. I'll be glad to be finished; it is hard to give up an entire afternoon every weekend when I've got graduate school stuff to do. In a moment here I'm going to try to find out if I can do some re-arranging of my course schedule over the summer to speed it up a bit and also to get certain dates off so I can hopefully attend a CEA leadership training in late July. Alternatively, I could buy a laptop and a dial-up internet for travel purposes, but that seems pretty expensive for what I want to do.
Come on, summer break - I'm ready for you! Truthfully, this time of the school year is very busy and so it is kind of exciting. I enjoy when something is finished - I also like starting things new in the fall. That is one of the nice things about teaching - there is a beginning and an end.
I was terribly disappointed Friday morning to find out my students were enjoying a snow day while I was at a conference - and an unnecessary snow day at that! It did snow, but not enough to close schools. Darn it, if they get to stay home I want to, too! :)
But the Delegate Assembly was very good. Not as much debate on the new business items this year, or maybe there simply weren't as many of them. The most controversial one was about a boycott of Walmart because of its anti-worker and anti-public-education behaviors - particularly how they won't allow members to organize, and don't pay competitive wages and benefits. At the same time, they drive out locally-owned businesses so that in many small towns it ends up being the only place to work for many of its citizens and it is virtually impossible to make a living at it. The boycott was essentially approved by the delegation - it ordered the executive committees to pursue a recommendation to NEA at the national level as well.
Walmart is definitely cheaper to shop at and many times I have shopped there precisely for that reason, but at what cost to community and working families?
The most exciting thing that happened at the assembly was that we played a key role on Friday in defeating House Bill 1442 - another voucher bill. CEA is against vouchers because they do not help schools or children - there is no evidence at all to suggest that students in voucher programs receive better education - in fact, they end up in schools where there is no accountability. Public schools are required to meet standards, but private and parochial schools are not - they don't have to have trained teachers, they do not have to take or pass the state assessments, etc. Also, it is against our state constitution for tax dollars to be used in private schools or private entities of any sort. A previous voucher bill was voted unconstitutional. This one was voted down in the House, in part as a result of an intense phone call /e-mail/ letter-writing campaign. We had 5 republicans defect to "our" side and vote against it and all democrats voted against it and we won by one vote, 33 to 32. Governor Owens screamed and hollered and harassed rookie Rep Mark Cloer (D-17 Rep.) for 22 minutes on the floor to try to get him to change his vote. I believe Rep. Mark Cloer believed he was ruining his career by going against party lines to vote against the bill. He was visibly very shaken. He and Mike Merrifield (Dem) came to our assembly and we thanked them. I am not a republican, nor a democrat, but if I had to choose between just those two I'd choose dem. The republicans in our state are extremists. With a few exceptions like Cloer, and we need to support moderate republicans just to try to keep a balanced few in our legislature rather than one side totally domineering the other.
One of our local members, Dave DiCocco, received an award at the assembly and so we went to dinner at Trail Dust to celebrate. Interesting place. It is a big red barn steak house with loud country music and a slide for kids to play on and a dance floor. I think it was overpriced and the service wasn't great. Not much for someone like me or a vegetarian to eat, but those steak and Atkins folks had a nice selection.
Saturday after getting home from Denver I went back up there for my friend's 26th birthday dinner. She wanted to eat at The Cheesecake Factory in the mall and I caught a ride with her husband. She was already up there visiting some friends. A very diverse menu but also very expensive, in my opinion.
So I am restauranted out for now.
I teach the last SAT prep course this afternoon. I'll be glad to be finished; it is hard to give up an entire afternoon every weekend when I've got graduate school stuff to do. In a moment here I'm going to try to find out if I can do some re-arranging of my course schedule over the summer to speed it up a bit and also to get certain dates off so I can hopefully attend a CEA leadership training in late July. Alternatively, I could buy a laptop and a dial-up internet for travel purposes, but that seems pretty expensive for what I want to do.
Come on, summer break - I'm ready for you! Truthfully, this time of the school year is very busy and so it is kind of exciting. I enjoy when something is finished - I also like starting things new in the fall. That is one of the nice things about teaching - there is a beginning and an end.
Thursday, April 22, 2004
Robert's Rules
I'm pretty excited to be taking off tonight to engage in the wonderful world of Robert's Rules of Order. The teacher's unions' assemblies make up the largest democratic bodies in the world. The National Representative Assembly of the teacher's union is a voting body like a legislature but number 10 to 15 thousand in size. Our Colorado one numbers a about 600, I believe.
The neat thing about Robert's Rules is that anyone of the delegates or representatives can have his/her say - no matter how low on the totem pole he/she is. It can be exciting to follow all the motions, amendments, and so forth. The most exciting thing that happens is when someone calls division. When we vote, we simply say aye, we're in favor, or nay, we're opposed or hold up cards. If someone calls division, it means they think the audible vote was too close to call. Then we hold up cards to vote if we didn't already, or we might stand to vote. If the visual look at the cards is too close, division can be called again, and then we lock down the house. Since some of the votes can be important to people, people sometimes try to cheat - so we lock the doors so no people who didn't vote before can enter and no people who did vote can leave. Then they do a manual count of each person to determine actual numbers on the vote. Last year in New Orleans, we had a division call like this in that room of 10,000 folks. It took about half an hour to do the count. Teachers who were regulars at the meeting pulled out beach balls and we tossed them around waiting for the count to be finished. Like I said, pretty interesting and fun.
At the assembly, we vote on new officers, bylaws, resolutions and new business items. Bylaws are the official documents of the organization - like a constitution. Resolutions are belief statements - like, we oppose stores that don't allow their workers to unionize, or something like that. New business items are things that the members want the organization to do in the coming year.
If you want to speak, you use a green card to indicate you will speak in favor of the motion or you will make a new major motion. A red card is to speak against a motion or to amend a major motion. You can use either color to try to close the debate, table the motion, refer it to a committee, or otherwise delay it. You use a white card to interrupt a speaker with a point of order (they are somehow not following Robert's Rules), to ask a parliamentary inquiry (to ask something about Robert's Rules related to the situation), to appeal a decision from the chair, to call for division, or to object to consideration (that means you think the motion is so terrible it should not even be discussed - the floor can vote on that and decide not to discuss it). A yellow card takes precedence over red or green but doesn't interrupt, and is used for a point of information (to ask a question of the motion makers to understand it better), a point of personal privilege (to just ask to speak on whatever - like maybe to congratulate someone who is retiring, etc., and have it on the record), to suspend the rules (for example, to alter the agenda so that you spend more time on new business than originally scheduled), to limit debate (like to say only 3 more cards of each color red and green), and a few others.
One thing that I find funny is that at the end of a session or day, someone often makes a motion that you close reconsideration - that is basically done so that the next day someone cannot call for something that was voted on and decided to be re-opened to debate because they didn't think it went their way and want to try a new strategy, etc.
So you can see the process is logical but very detailed and it can get heated and interesting. Our national legislature is pretty tame compared to some others. Britain's often gets into really nasty name-calling and insulting, Japan's has been known to get into fist-fights.
Anyway, if anything great happens with Robert's Rules at the meeting, I'll probably tell you about it next week.
I'm taking off right after school, so see you probably Sunday or Monday, same bat time, same bat channel!
The neat thing about Robert's Rules is that anyone of the delegates or representatives can have his/her say - no matter how low on the totem pole he/she is. It can be exciting to follow all the motions, amendments, and so forth. The most exciting thing that happens is when someone calls division. When we vote, we simply say aye, we're in favor, or nay, we're opposed or hold up cards. If someone calls division, it means they think the audible vote was too close to call. Then we hold up cards to vote if we didn't already, or we might stand to vote. If the visual look at the cards is too close, division can be called again, and then we lock down the house. Since some of the votes can be important to people, people sometimes try to cheat - so we lock the doors so no people who didn't vote before can enter and no people who did vote can leave. Then they do a manual count of each person to determine actual numbers on the vote. Last year in New Orleans, we had a division call like this in that room of 10,000 folks. It took about half an hour to do the count. Teachers who were regulars at the meeting pulled out beach balls and we tossed them around waiting for the count to be finished. Like I said, pretty interesting and fun.
At the assembly, we vote on new officers, bylaws, resolutions and new business items. Bylaws are the official documents of the organization - like a constitution. Resolutions are belief statements - like, we oppose stores that don't allow their workers to unionize, or something like that. New business items are things that the members want the organization to do in the coming year.
If you want to speak, you use a green card to indicate you will speak in favor of the motion or you will make a new major motion. A red card is to speak against a motion or to amend a major motion. You can use either color to try to close the debate, table the motion, refer it to a committee, or otherwise delay it. You use a white card to interrupt a speaker with a point of order (they are somehow not following Robert's Rules), to ask a parliamentary inquiry (to ask something about Robert's Rules related to the situation), to appeal a decision from the chair, to call for division, or to object to consideration (that means you think the motion is so terrible it should not even be discussed - the floor can vote on that and decide not to discuss it). A yellow card takes precedence over red or green but doesn't interrupt, and is used for a point of information (to ask a question of the motion makers to understand it better), a point of personal privilege (to just ask to speak on whatever - like maybe to congratulate someone who is retiring, etc., and have it on the record), to suspend the rules (for example, to alter the agenda so that you spend more time on new business than originally scheduled), to limit debate (like to say only 3 more cards of each color red and green), and a few others.
One thing that I find funny is that at the end of a session or day, someone often makes a motion that you close reconsideration - that is basically done so that the next day someone cannot call for something that was voted on and decided to be re-opened to debate because they didn't think it went their way and want to try a new strategy, etc.
So you can see the process is logical but very detailed and it can get heated and interesting. Our national legislature is pretty tame compared to some others. Britain's often gets into really nasty name-calling and insulting, Japan's has been known to get into fist-fights.
Anyway, if anything great happens with Robert's Rules at the meeting, I'll probably tell you about it next week.
I'm taking off right after school, so see you probably Sunday or Monday, same bat time, same bat channel!
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
For Fun?
Okay,
after being disappointed about not being able to confirm my blood type as a result of the failed donation last week, I went online and ordered a do-it-yourself kit, and one for cholesterol, too. They came in the mail today and I immediately sat down as soon as I got in the door, opened the package, read the directions, pricked my fingers with their easy lancets (not painful at all - surprising and happy!) and did the tests.
I am now happy to announce that I got the same blood type result as when I did it in high school - I am O-positive. And my cholesterol is below 130mg/Dl, maybe as low as 120 mg/Dl.
That was fun!
after being disappointed about not being able to confirm my blood type as a result of the failed donation last week, I went online and ordered a do-it-yourself kit, and one for cholesterol, too. They came in the mail today and I immediately sat down as soon as I got in the door, opened the package, read the directions, pricked my fingers with their easy lancets (not painful at all - surprising and happy!) and did the tests.
I am now happy to announce that I got the same blood type result as when I did it in high school - I am O-positive. And my cholesterol is below 130mg/Dl, maybe as low as 120 mg/Dl.
That was fun!
CEA Delegate Assembly
Well, tomorrow after school I'm off to Denver until Saturday. So I may or may not get a chance to post again before then. I am off to the Colorado Education Association's Delegate Assembly. In English, that means the state teacher's union's annual meeting where the representatives vote on candidates for office in the union at the state or regional level, vote on new business, etc. I am just now thinking about what I have to pack and writing sub plans, and making sure my birds get fed and all that stuff.
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Leet
See if you can decipher this: This is a style that is fairly easy to read.
tHI5 I$ A H4x0r LaN9u49E c@lL3D L33+. It 4ctU4LlY h4$ M4Ny V@rIe+13S, 4S e4CH h4X0R hA5 hI5 0WNZ0R s+YLE - JU$+ 4$ @ G@nG M3MbER h4S HiS 0WNZoR $TyL3 iN H1$ +agGING (9r4f1++1). bE1N9 @ h1GH Sch0ol TeAcher, 1 h4Ve H4d OCCa$10N TO Enc0Unt3R L33+. i+ I$ aC+U4LLY PR3++y cooL. H0P3 J00 3nJoy3D +ry1N9 +O RE4D i+!
If you give up, try the URL above. or here: http://ryanross.net/leet/
Here is a more sophisticated version if you're ready for a challenge!
T|-|i5 i5 133+ 5p34k, +00. I5 +|-|i5 0|\|3 |-|4rd3r +0 r34d +|-|4|\| +|-|3 fir5+?
If you give up on that one, maybe this page will help:
http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/l/leetspea.htm
I'll give you a hint: |\| = the letter "n"
|-|4\/3 4 |\|i<3 d4Y
tHI5 I$ A H4x0r LaN9u49E c@lL3D L33+. It 4ctU4LlY h4$ M4Ny V@rIe+13S, 4S e4CH h4X0R hA5 hI5 0WNZ0R s+YLE - JU$+ 4$ @ G@nG M3MbER h4S HiS 0WNZoR $TyL3 iN H1$ +agGING (9r4f1++1). bE1N9 @ h1GH Sch0ol TeAcher, 1 h4Ve H4d OCCa$10N TO Enc0Unt3R L33+. i+ I$ aC+U4LLY PR3++y cooL. H0P3 J00 3nJoy3D +ry1N9 +O RE4D i+!
If you give up, try the URL above. or here: http://ryanross.net/leet/
Here is a more sophisticated version if you're ready for a challenge!
T|-|i5 i5 133+ 5p34k, +00. I5 +|-|i5 0|\|3 |-|4rd3r +0 r34d +|-|4|\| +|-|3 fir5+?
If you give up on that one, maybe this page will help:
http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/l/leetspea.htm
I'll give you a hint: |\| = the letter "n"
|-|4\/3 4 |\|i<3 d4Y
Sunday, April 18, 2004
Big Purchases?
I have the urge to splurge. Every piece of furniture in my house is hand-me-down. They suit me just fine. But there are a few pieces that you look at them and say eventually that needs to be replaced, it is falling apart. My big 3 would be to get a newer sofa, a new fridge, and replace the waterbed mattress with a regular mattress. So this weekend I was doing my thing and saw a sofa I liked, and saw a mattress I liked, too. The mattress would be a lot cheaper, about $350. I don't have any savings - I don't make enough money each month to put any way - at least I haven't managed to do that so far. So I probably won't buy anything. Or if I do I'll feel guilty about it. I'm not good at big purchases. The only "big" purchase I've ever made would be a computer (well, and my house, but that doesn't count!). But I can blow money on little things - I can buy clothes, food, books and all of a sudden have spent $200. If I didn't do that, maybe I would already have the fridge or mattress or whatever.
Hmmm, to spend or not? Once you have it, it is not that different than not having it. I do get a thrill out of something new for awhile, though, don't you? The mattress makes the most immediate sense because it is cheaper and would be better to sleep on. The fridge could be important eventually because this one could die at any time... Sofa would just be more comfortable and better looking. :) Maybe it would be best to just get rid of it all and be without any of it. I miss the old dorm room days sometimes. Simplicity has its advantages. But really in a dorm you're still paying for it all, you just don't own it. Like renting. Or maybe I'd like to go live in a hogan in Four Corners and teach at the Navajo Res. school. Just get away from it all the material stuff a bit.
Hmmm, to spend or not? Once you have it, it is not that different than not having it. I do get a thrill out of something new for awhile, though, don't you? The mattress makes the most immediate sense because it is cheaper and would be better to sleep on. The fridge could be important eventually because this one could die at any time... Sofa would just be more comfortable and better looking. :) Maybe it would be best to just get rid of it all and be without any of it. I miss the old dorm room days sometimes. Simplicity has its advantages. But really in a dorm you're still paying for it all, you just don't own it. Like renting. Or maybe I'd like to go live in a hogan in Four Corners and teach at the Navajo Res. school. Just get away from it all the material stuff a bit.
Friday, April 16, 2004
Math Humor
One evening Rene Descartes went to relax at a local tavern. The tender approached and said, "Ah, good evening Monsieur Descartes! Shall I serve you the usual drink?". Descartes replied, "I think not.", and promptly vanished.
---
"The problems for the exam will be similar to the ones discussed in the class. Of course, the numbers will be different. But not all of them. Pi will still be 3.14159... "
---
Salary Theorem
The less you know, the more you make.
Proof:
Postulate 1: Knowledge is Power.
Postulate 2: Time is Money.
As every engineer knows: Power = Work / Time
And since Knowledge = Power and Time = Money
It is therefore true that Knowledge = Work / Money .
Solving for Money, we get:
Money = Work / Knowledge
Thus, as Knowledge approaches zero, Money approaches infinity, regardless of the amount of Work done.
---
Pi goes on and on and on ...
And e is just as cursed.
I wonder: Which is larger
When their digits are reversed?
---
Abbott and Costello made arithmetic shenanigans the basis
of a number of their comic dialogs.
Here is a dialog from their movie titled Buck Privates:
Abbott: You're 40 years old, and you're in love with a little girl,
say 10 years old. You're four times as old as that girl.
You couldn't marry that girl, could you?
Costello: No. ?
Abbott: So you wait 5 years. Now the little girl is 15, and you're 45.
You're only three times as old as that girl.
So you wait 15 years more.
Now the little girl is 30, and you're 60.
You're only twice as old as that little girl. ?
Costello: She's catching up. ?
Abbott: Here's the question. How long do you have to wait before you
and that little girl are the same age?
Costello: What kind of question is that? That's ridiculous.
If I keep waiting for that girl, she'll pass me up.
She'll wind up older than I am.
Then she'll have to wait for me!
Here's another encounter from Buck Privates, one echoed in
several later movies.
Abbott: Do me a favor. Loan me $50.
Costello: I can't lend you $50. All I've got is $40.
Abbott: That's okay. Give me the $40, and you'll owe me $10.
Costello: How come I owe you $10?
Abbott: What did I ask you for?
Costello: $50.
Abbott: What did you give me?
Costello; $40.
Abbott: So you owe me $10.
Costello: That's right. But you owe me $40. Give me my $40 back.
Abbott: There's your $40. Now give me the $10 you owe me.
That's the last time I'll ever ask you for the loan of $50.
Costello: How can I loan you $50 now? All I have is $30.
Abbott: Give me the $30, and you’ll owe me $20.
Costello: This is getting worse all the time.
First I owe you $10, and now I owe you $20!
Abbott: So you owe me $20. Twenty and 30 is 50.
Costello; Nope! Twenty-five and 25 is 50.
Abbott: Here's your $30. Give me back my $20.
Costello: All I've got now is $10!
Abbott then entices Costello into a silly, double-or-nothing
number game.
Abbott: Take a number, any number at all from 1 to 10, and don't tell me.
Costello: I got it.
Abbott: Is the number odd or even?
Costello: Even.
Abbott: Is the number between 1 and 3?
Costello: No.
Abbott: Between 3 and 5?
Costello: No. I think I got him.
Abbott: Between 5 and 7?
Costello: Yes.
Abbott: Number six?
Costello: Right. . . . How did he do that?
Toward the end of the movie, during a boxing match, Costello is
knocked to the canvas, and the biased referee gives a quick
count: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10.
Costello: What's this? 2, 4, 6, 8, 10? What happened
to 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9?
Ref: I don't like them numbers. They're odd.
X equals just about everything I learned of math in school
By DAVE BARRY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
President Bush says our schools need to do a better job of teaching mathematics, and I agree with him 150 percent. Many high-school students today can't even calculate a square root! Granted, I can't calculate a square root, either, but I USED to be able to, for a period of approximately 15 minutes back in 1962. At least I think that was a square root. It might have been a ``logarithm.''
But whatever it was, if I had to learn how to do it, these kids today should have to learn it, too. As President Bush so eloquently put it in his address to Congress: ``Mathematics are one of the fundamentaries of educationalizing our youths.''
I could not have said it better with a 10-foot pole. We all need mathematics in order to solve problems that come up constantly in the ``real world.'' For example, suppose four co-workers go to a restaurant, and at the end of the meal, the waiter brings a bill totaling $34.57. How much, including tip, does each person owe? If the co-workers do not know mathematics, they will just guess at the answer and put in random amounts of money ranging from $9 to $11, unless one of them is a guy I used to work with named Art, in which case he will make a big show of studying the bill, then put in exactly $4.25.
But if the co-workers know their mathematics, they can easily come up with EXACTLY the correct answer. They can do this using ``algebra,'' which was invented by the ancient Persians. (They also invented the SATs, although they got very low scores because in those days there were no pencils.) The way algebra works is, if you don't know exactly what a number is, you just call it ``X.''
The Persians found that this was a BIG mathematical help in solving problems:
PERSIAN WIFE (suspiciously): How much have you had to drink?
PERSIAN HUSBAND: I had ``X'' beers.
PERSIAN WIFE: Well, how much is THAT?
PERSIAN HUSBAND: It's a (burp) variable.
PERSIAN WIFE (not wanting to look stupid): Well, OK then.
Historical Footnote: Several years later, when the ancient Romans invented Roman numerals, and it turned out that ``X'' was actually equal to 10, there was BIG TROUBLE in Persia.
But getting back to the four co-workers at the restaurant: To figure out how much each person owes, they would simply use the algebraic equation AEPO=1/4$34.57+T(((-SA?)@
(+NSOB!)(-SITE)(H), where ``AEPO'' is the amount each person owes, ``T'' is the tip, ``SA'' is whether the waiter has a snotty attitude, ``NSOB'' is whether the waiter has a nice set of buns, ``SITE'' is a variable used if you think somebody in the kitchen is spitting in the entrees, and H is hydrogen. Using this equation, our four co-workers can easily calculate that each one owes exactly, let's see... carry the 7... OK, it would probably be somewhere between $9 and $11.
So we see that algebra is a vital tool for our young people to learn. The traditional method for teaching it, of course, is to require students to solve problems developed in 1928 by the American Association of Mathematics Teachers Obsessed With Fruit. For example:
``If Billy has twice as many apples as Bobby, and Sally has seven more apples than Chester, who has one apple in each hand plus one concealed in his knickers, then how many apples does Ned have, assuming that his train leaves Chicago at noon?''
The problem is that these traditional algebra problems are out of date. Today's young people are dealing with issues such as violence, drugs, sex, eating disorders, stress, low self-esteem, acne, global warming and the demise of Napster. They don't have time to figure out how many apples Ned has. If they need to know, they will simply ASK Ned, and if he doesn't want to tell them, they will hold him upside down over the toilet until he does. And then Ned will sue them, plus the school, plus his parents for naming him ``Ned'' in the first place. Ultimately the ACLU will get the Supreme Court to declare that the number of apples a student has is protected by his constitutional right to privacy.
So what is the solution? How do we balance our children's need to learn math against the many other demands placed on them by modern life? I believe there IS a solution, one that is both simple and practical. I call it: ``X.''
---
"The problems for the exam will be similar to the ones discussed in the class. Of course, the numbers will be different. But not all of them. Pi will still be 3.14159... "
---
Salary Theorem
The less you know, the more you make.
Proof:
Postulate 1: Knowledge is Power.
Postulate 2: Time is Money.
As every engineer knows: Power = Work / Time
And since Knowledge = Power and Time = Money
It is therefore true that Knowledge = Work / Money .
Solving for Money, we get:
Money = Work / Knowledge
Thus, as Knowledge approaches zero, Money approaches infinity, regardless of the amount of Work done.
---
Pi goes on and on and on ...
And e is just as cursed.
I wonder: Which is larger
When their digits are reversed?
---
Abbott and Costello made arithmetic shenanigans the basis
of a number of their comic dialogs.
Here is a dialog from their movie titled Buck Privates:
Abbott: You're 40 years old, and you're in love with a little girl,
say 10 years old. You're four times as old as that girl.
You couldn't marry that girl, could you?
Costello: No. ?
Abbott: So you wait 5 years. Now the little girl is 15, and you're 45.
You're only three times as old as that girl.
So you wait 15 years more.
Now the little girl is 30, and you're 60.
You're only twice as old as that little girl. ?
Costello: She's catching up. ?
Abbott: Here's the question. How long do you have to wait before you
and that little girl are the same age?
Costello: What kind of question is that? That's ridiculous.
If I keep waiting for that girl, she'll pass me up.
She'll wind up older than I am.
Then she'll have to wait for me!
Here's another encounter from Buck Privates, one echoed in
several later movies.
Abbott: Do me a favor. Loan me $50.
Costello: I can't lend you $50. All I've got is $40.
Abbott: That's okay. Give me the $40, and you'll owe me $10.
Costello: How come I owe you $10?
Abbott: What did I ask you for?
Costello: $50.
Abbott: What did you give me?
Costello; $40.
Abbott: So you owe me $10.
Costello: That's right. But you owe me $40. Give me my $40 back.
Abbott: There's your $40. Now give me the $10 you owe me.
That's the last time I'll ever ask you for the loan of $50.
Costello: How can I loan you $50 now? All I have is $30.
Abbott: Give me the $30, and you’ll owe me $20.
Costello: This is getting worse all the time.
First I owe you $10, and now I owe you $20!
Abbott: So you owe me $20. Twenty and 30 is 50.
Costello; Nope! Twenty-five and 25 is 50.
Abbott: Here's your $30. Give me back my $20.
Costello: All I've got now is $10!
Abbott then entices Costello into a silly, double-or-nothing
number game.
Abbott: Take a number, any number at all from 1 to 10, and don't tell me.
Costello: I got it.
Abbott: Is the number odd or even?
Costello: Even.
Abbott: Is the number between 1 and 3?
Costello: No.
Abbott: Between 3 and 5?
Costello: No. I think I got him.
Abbott: Between 5 and 7?
Costello: Yes.
Abbott: Number six?
Costello: Right. . . . How did he do that?
Toward the end of the movie, during a boxing match, Costello is
knocked to the canvas, and the biased referee gives a quick
count: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10.
Costello: What's this? 2, 4, 6, 8, 10? What happened
to 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9?
Ref: I don't like them numbers. They're odd.
X equals just about everything I learned of math in school
By DAVE BARRY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
President Bush says our schools need to do a better job of teaching mathematics, and I agree with him 150 percent. Many high-school students today can't even calculate a square root! Granted, I can't calculate a square root, either, but I USED to be able to, for a period of approximately 15 minutes back in 1962. At least I think that was a square root. It might have been a ``logarithm.''
But whatever it was, if I had to learn how to do it, these kids today should have to learn it, too. As President Bush so eloquently put it in his address to Congress: ``Mathematics are one of the fundamentaries of educationalizing our youths.''
I could not have said it better with a 10-foot pole. We all need mathematics in order to solve problems that come up constantly in the ``real world.'' For example, suppose four co-workers go to a restaurant, and at the end of the meal, the waiter brings a bill totaling $34.57. How much, including tip, does each person owe? If the co-workers do not know mathematics, they will just guess at the answer and put in random amounts of money ranging from $9 to $11, unless one of them is a guy I used to work with named Art, in which case he will make a big show of studying the bill, then put in exactly $4.25.
But if the co-workers know their mathematics, they can easily come up with EXACTLY the correct answer. They can do this using ``algebra,'' which was invented by the ancient Persians. (They also invented the SATs, although they got very low scores because in those days there were no pencils.) The way algebra works is, if you don't know exactly what a number is, you just call it ``X.''
The Persians found that this was a BIG mathematical help in solving problems:
PERSIAN WIFE (suspiciously): How much have you had to drink?
PERSIAN HUSBAND: I had ``X'' beers.
PERSIAN WIFE: Well, how much is THAT?
PERSIAN HUSBAND: It's a (burp) variable.
PERSIAN WIFE (not wanting to look stupid): Well, OK then.
Historical Footnote: Several years later, when the ancient Romans invented Roman numerals, and it turned out that ``X'' was actually equal to 10, there was BIG TROUBLE in Persia.
But getting back to the four co-workers at the restaurant: To figure out how much each person owes, they would simply use the algebraic equation AEPO=1/4$34.57+T(((-SA?)@
(+NSOB!)(-SITE)(H), where ``AEPO'' is the amount each person owes, ``T'' is the tip, ``SA'' is whether the waiter has a snotty attitude, ``NSOB'' is whether the waiter has a nice set of buns, ``SITE'' is a variable used if you think somebody in the kitchen is spitting in the entrees, and H is hydrogen. Using this equation, our four co-workers can easily calculate that each one owes exactly, let's see... carry the 7... OK, it would probably be somewhere between $9 and $11.
So we see that algebra is a vital tool for our young people to learn. The traditional method for teaching it, of course, is to require students to solve problems developed in 1928 by the American Association of Mathematics Teachers Obsessed With Fruit. For example:
``If Billy has twice as many apples as Bobby, and Sally has seven more apples than Chester, who has one apple in each hand plus one concealed in his knickers, then how many apples does Ned have, assuming that his train leaves Chicago at noon?''
The problem is that these traditional algebra problems are out of date. Today's young people are dealing with issues such as violence, drugs, sex, eating disorders, stress, low self-esteem, acne, global warming and the demise of Napster. They don't have time to figure out how many apples Ned has. If they need to know, they will simply ASK Ned, and if he doesn't want to tell them, they will hold him upside down over the toilet until he does. And then Ned will sue them, plus the school, plus his parents for naming him ``Ned'' in the first place. Ultimately the ACLU will get the Supreme Court to declare that the number of apples a student has is protected by his constitutional right to privacy.
So what is the solution? How do we balance our children's need to learn math against the many other demands placed on them by modern life? I believe there IS a solution, one that is both simple and practical. I call it: ``X.''
Thursday, April 15, 2004
Did you know Compulsory School attendance is Anti-Family?
http://www.parentinfocenter.com/article.aspx?ID=878
This is yet another example of the anti-public education folks working against my union and teachers in my district - the Independence Institute.
This is yet another example of the anti-public education folks working against my union and teachers in my district - the Independence Institute.
Giving Blood, or at least Trying to!
Yesterday, Coronado High School had a blood drive. I decided to give it a try and went over to the auxiliary gym where it was taking place during my lunch time. I remember thinking about donating blood in college because they paid cash, but I never did it. Anyway, this time I stood around a bit and watched and then filled out the paperwork telling them that I don't have HIV, haven't gotten a tattoo in the last 12 months and haven't had sex with a man who has slept with other men since 1977, etc.
I started to get excited because they would test my blood for all those obligatory diseases like HIV and West Nile and would also send me a card with my cholesterol level and blood type. When I took Human Anatomy and Physiology in high school we did a blood type test and mine came out O-positive - a blood type much needed for donations, but my parents didn't think I was O. I've never had my cholesterol checked, so I thought that would be cool, too. They took my pulse rate - in the 80's, and my blood pressure - 117/79 or something like that and pricked my finger and did a little test on it to make sure I had enough iron in my blood to donate. If it sinks in this little vial of liquid you have enough, and I did. If you don't, you're anemic. I did have anemia when I was little, in 2nd grade. Apparently my cell count was really low and the doctors were concerned, but they figured it was caused by a string of illnesses I had that year. Generally, I've been very healthy and fortunate, alhumdooleluh. They also checked my veins to see if they were big enough to draw blood from.
I passed all the tests and was sent over to the chair. The lady there checked the veins on both my arms and thought they were a little small but finally decided my right arm was best. She pushed around on it to find where she would draw blood from and drew its path on my arm, then she stabbed into me with her fingernail to make a dent where the needle was supposed to go. She swabbed me down and got my arm into position and in a few minutes she put the needle in. It really didn't hurt as much as I expected.
The last time I remember having blood drawn for anything was when I was working in Aurora. It was the first time on my own insurance and I had chosen the only available lady doctor I could find on the list. She was an old Indian lady who was tough as nails and proceeded to tell me I needed to start having kids soon because it would be bad if I didn't have any before 30 unless I planned not to have any at all. She had to draw blood to renew my bc pill prescription; apparently my insurance required it. She asked me if I was one of those weak people who got queasy around blood or needles and went on about how it was all in people's heads. So of course I had to tell her "No." She wasn't gentle at all and pinched me good tying that rubber tube thing around my arm. In went the needle and out went the blood and it was just gushing out! I felt like I was bleeding to death! I ended up getting dizzy but I sure didn't tell her.
Prior to that, my latest experience with needles had been getting innoculations to go on hajj. I had to get a shot for meningococcus and cholera. The cholera one got me and I ended up getting dizzy from that, too.
I was surprised because although I hadn't had any punctures recently, I didn't use to be a needle/blood person.
After those two experiences I was concerned I had somehow turned into a blood/needle person. However, I wasn't bothered at all when I went to donate, beyond the pre-decision jitters. It wasn't painful. But after the needle had been in just a little bit, my arm was a little sore and the nurse was saying that not enough blood was coming out. So she started moving the needle around. That still didn't hurt that much, but all of her fanangling wasn't working. Then she noticed I was bruising at the needle site and bleeding there, too, and she said she had to stop the donation because it would only get worse.
So she pulled everything out and they had to biohazard dispose of my precious blood. She wrapped up my arm and gave me an ice pack and then I got to drink cranberry juice and go back to work. My is still bruised and sore today but it's all for a good cause, right? And really it's not that bad. I was disappointed they had to throw my blood away, but what can you do. The nurse was telling me I could try again in eight weeks down at Memorial Hospital. At that moment, I was thinking, "Yeah, right." But who knows, maybe I will.
I started to get excited because they would test my blood for all those obligatory diseases like HIV and West Nile and would also send me a card with my cholesterol level and blood type. When I took Human Anatomy and Physiology in high school we did a blood type test and mine came out O-positive - a blood type much needed for donations, but my parents didn't think I was O. I've never had my cholesterol checked, so I thought that would be cool, too. They took my pulse rate - in the 80's, and my blood pressure - 117/79 or something like that and pricked my finger and did a little test on it to make sure I had enough iron in my blood to donate. If it sinks in this little vial of liquid you have enough, and I did. If you don't, you're anemic. I did have anemia when I was little, in 2nd grade. Apparently my cell count was really low and the doctors were concerned, but they figured it was caused by a string of illnesses I had that year. Generally, I've been very healthy and fortunate, alhumdooleluh. They also checked my veins to see if they were big enough to draw blood from.
I passed all the tests and was sent over to the chair. The lady there checked the veins on both my arms and thought they were a little small but finally decided my right arm was best. She pushed around on it to find where she would draw blood from and drew its path on my arm, then she stabbed into me with her fingernail to make a dent where the needle was supposed to go. She swabbed me down and got my arm into position and in a few minutes she put the needle in. It really didn't hurt as much as I expected.
The last time I remember having blood drawn for anything was when I was working in Aurora. It was the first time on my own insurance and I had chosen the only available lady doctor I could find on the list. She was an old Indian lady who was tough as nails and proceeded to tell me I needed to start having kids soon because it would be bad if I didn't have any before 30 unless I planned not to have any at all. She had to draw blood to renew my bc pill prescription; apparently my insurance required it. She asked me if I was one of those weak people who got queasy around blood or needles and went on about how it was all in people's heads. So of course I had to tell her "No." She wasn't gentle at all and pinched me good tying that rubber tube thing around my arm. In went the needle and out went the blood and it was just gushing out! I felt like I was bleeding to death! I ended up getting dizzy but I sure didn't tell her.
Prior to that, my latest experience with needles had been getting innoculations to go on hajj. I had to get a shot for meningococcus and cholera. The cholera one got me and I ended up getting dizzy from that, too.
I was surprised because although I hadn't had any punctures recently, I didn't use to be a needle/blood person.
After those two experiences I was concerned I had somehow turned into a blood/needle person. However, I wasn't bothered at all when I went to donate, beyond the pre-decision jitters. It wasn't painful. But after the needle had been in just a little bit, my arm was a little sore and the nurse was saying that not enough blood was coming out. So she started moving the needle around. That still didn't hurt that much, but all of her fanangling wasn't working. Then she noticed I was bruising at the needle site and bleeding there, too, and she said she had to stop the donation because it would only get worse.
So she pulled everything out and they had to biohazard dispose of my precious blood. She wrapped up my arm and gave me an ice pack and then I got to drink cranberry juice and go back to work. My is still bruised and sore today but it's all for a good cause, right? And really it's not that bad. I was disappointed they had to throw my blood away, but what can you do. The nurse was telling me I could try again in eight weeks down at Memorial Hospital. At that moment, I was thinking, "Yeah, right." But who knows, maybe I will.
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Hijacking of my District
http://csindy.com/csindy/2004-02-19/index.html
http://csindy.com/csindy/2004-02-26/index.html
Read these to learn about the nasty political stuff going on in our public schools, particularly in my district.
http://csindy.com/csindy/2004-02-26/index.html
Read these to learn about the nasty political stuff going on in our public schools, particularly in my district.
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
AP Stats
Had a sub yesterday; I was at a meeting for planning the AP Statistics curriculum for next year. We've met a few times this year and I always find the meetings useful and productive. I am looking forward to teaching the class. But having a sub is always a bit stressful because you have to do more work to prepare for it and cleaning up afterward then if you had just been there yourself. Hopefully things went well and I won't have any extra chaos when I get back. I am really looking forward to teaching AP Stats next year.
We got lots of useful goodies at the meeting today; we finally found out there is a teacher's guide, for example. It doesn't have much in it, but we also got a test booklet we can draw from for tests and quizzes to give our kids next year. We also got some software and material to go with it, called Fathom. It is statistics software, but primarily we'll be using the statistics calculators like the TI -83 and TI-84. The 84's come out next month and I am hoping to buy one. Not cheap, they're like $120.
We got lots of useful goodies at the meeting today; we finally found out there is a teacher's guide, for example. It doesn't have much in it, but we also got a test booklet we can draw from for tests and quizzes to give our kids next year. We also got some software and material to go with it, called Fathom. It is statistics software, but primarily we'll be using the statistics calculators like the TI -83 and TI-84. The 84's come out next month and I am hoping to buy one. Not cheap, they're like $120.
Sunday, April 11, 2004
Easter
Easter. Why is it called Easter? Related to the direction east?
It felt like a pretty hypocritical day; seeing who was out and about and who was in church and how long since they'd been - like Ashura for Shias. I worked today; taught my Sylvan SAT prep class. My mom was shocked we had work today. The kids didn't mind; the day had no religious significance to them from what I could tell. Even for me growing up it was about egg hunting and candy in a basket with fake green grass. Why a bunny and not a chicken - the eggs would make more sense, then, right? Who invented the easter bunny - a card company? I imagine it is due to the pagan association with spring. Had an "easter" dinner at my parents' house. These dates are just excuses for the family to do its obligatory occasional gathering together.
Incidentally, my dad gave me a book to read called The Rape of Nanking. Very holocaustic awful stuff the Japanese did to the Chinese in 1939. Interestingly, the Schindler for the Chinese was a Nazi, he saved 300,000 of them. Another 300,000 were tortured and killed in less than two months. Terrible stuff. I wonder how many things like this have happened that are no longer remembered in history, or that no one survived to tell? How long has man been doing such evil things? I suspect it has been since the beginning, and that is why there is a Hell and its fires are not cool....
It felt like a pretty hypocritical day; seeing who was out and about and who was in church and how long since they'd been - like Ashura for Shias. I worked today; taught my Sylvan SAT prep class. My mom was shocked we had work today. The kids didn't mind; the day had no religious significance to them from what I could tell. Even for me growing up it was about egg hunting and candy in a basket with fake green grass. Why a bunny and not a chicken - the eggs would make more sense, then, right? Who invented the easter bunny - a card company? I imagine it is due to the pagan association with spring. Had an "easter" dinner at my parents' house. These dates are just excuses for the family to do its obligatory occasional gathering together.
Incidentally, my dad gave me a book to read called The Rape of Nanking. Very holocaustic awful stuff the Japanese did to the Chinese in 1939. Interestingly, the Schindler for the Chinese was a Nazi, he saved 300,000 of them. Another 300,000 were tortured and killed in less than two months. Terrible stuff. I wonder how many things like this have happened that are no longer remembered in history, or that no one survived to tell? How long has man been doing such evil things? I suspect it has been since the beginning, and that is why there is a Hell and its fires are not cool....
Saturday, April 10, 2004
Snow, Meat and Markets
Last night the rain turned to snow and it is still snowing. I guess I am just in giddy shock at three days of real precipitation. Now I really do need to mow, though, once the grass dries out and temperatures get above freezing. Ah, maybe next weekend. :)
So I went to Whole Foods yesterday, one opened way up on the north end of town recently and I wanted to see what it was. It was just like Wild Oats, I could hardly tell I wasn't in the same store. Expensive, but I do like all the vegetarian and organic and "healthy" stuff. I eat vegetarian most of the time. We have one Lebanese-Christian owned seven-eleven type store that sells some halal meat, also way up north. But some of the meat is too circumspect for me to touch, like it is not labeled halal, and others of it are okay to me like Midamar brand, but in bad shape. Vast majority of stuff they have is freezer burned. So when I go I dig through to find some packages of bologna or hot dogs not freezer burned too badly. Their chicken I have to stay away from because it comes out with texture like cardboard, literally. They didn't have any ground beef. They did have some goat necks but, um, I'd have no idea what to do with that and neck just isn't my main thing, you know? They didn't have any bologna-type things this time so I just got some hot dogs. It is nice they have anything at all otherwise I'd have to go all the way to Denver and some of you know how much I like to do that. Well, going to the north end of town is one-fourth the way to Denver anyway.... I measured it out once.
But the whole Whole Foods/ Wild Oats thing - I think really it is a big gimmick. Sure, they have some things you can't get anywhere else and that I like to eat. But when you come down to it it is just a way to make more money - like the latest diet fad or exercise equipment or whatever. I really don't think that most of that stuff will change your quality of life or health, it is just a way to get you to pay $5.00 for a juice drink instead of $1.00 because they chopped up some seaweed and threw it in and put lots of fancy ingredients on the label. I think it is kind of cool they have more local stuff - like cheeses or pops or chips made in Colorado - which you do pay more for as well if you want to support the locals.
Wal-mart is big on the teacher's union boycott list and many other boycott lists as well. But, sorry, sometimes I shop there because it is either buy there or go without food or underwear or what have you - they really are cheaper - probably all that third world child labor. :(
So I went to Whole Foods yesterday, one opened way up on the north end of town recently and I wanted to see what it was. It was just like Wild Oats, I could hardly tell I wasn't in the same store. Expensive, but I do like all the vegetarian and organic and "healthy" stuff. I eat vegetarian most of the time. We have one Lebanese-Christian owned seven-eleven type store that sells some halal meat, also way up north. But some of the meat is too circumspect for me to touch, like it is not labeled halal, and others of it are okay to me like Midamar brand, but in bad shape. Vast majority of stuff they have is freezer burned. So when I go I dig through to find some packages of bologna or hot dogs not freezer burned too badly. Their chicken I have to stay away from because it comes out with texture like cardboard, literally. They didn't have any ground beef. They did have some goat necks but, um, I'd have no idea what to do with that and neck just isn't my main thing, you know? They didn't have any bologna-type things this time so I just got some hot dogs. It is nice they have anything at all otherwise I'd have to go all the way to Denver and some of you know how much I like to do that. Well, going to the north end of town is one-fourth the way to Denver anyway.... I measured it out once.
But the whole Whole Foods/ Wild Oats thing - I think really it is a big gimmick. Sure, they have some things you can't get anywhere else and that I like to eat. But when you come down to it it is just a way to make more money - like the latest diet fad or exercise equipment or whatever. I really don't think that most of that stuff will change your quality of life or health, it is just a way to get you to pay $5.00 for a juice drink instead of $1.00 because they chopped up some seaweed and threw it in and put lots of fancy ingredients on the label. I think it is kind of cool they have more local stuff - like cheeses or pops or chips made in Colorado - which you do pay more for as well if you want to support the locals.
Wal-mart is big on the teacher's union boycott list and many other boycott lists as well. But, sorry, sometimes I shop there because it is either buy there or go without food or underwear or what have you - they really are cheaper - probably all that third world child labor. :(
Thursday, April 08, 2004
Rain!
Hey, rain today - like Seattle rain - not just here one minute gone the next.
I was so surprised last night when I laid down to sleep to hear rain outside, and then shocked when I got up that it was STILL raining! That almost never happens here. Alhumdooleluh, we need it as we have an ongoing drought. But it also means I'll need to mow soon. :)
Beautiful day.
I was so surprised last night when I laid down to sleep to hear rain outside, and then shocked when I got up that it was STILL raining! That almost never happens here. Alhumdooleluh, we need it as we have an ongoing drought. But it also means I'll need to mow soon. :)
Beautiful day.
From The History of the Ka'ba and its People
Ka’aba The House Of Allah
In the province of Hejaz in the western part of Arabia, not far from the Red Sea, there lies the town of Makka. In the centre of this town there is a small square building made of stones, about 60 feet long, 60 feet wide and 60 feet high. Since time immemorial this town and this stone built house has been known to world travellers.
Tradition goes that the Kaaba was ordained by Allah to be built in the shape of the House in Heaven called Baitul Ma’amoor. Allah in his infinite Mercy ordained a similar place on earth and Prophet Adam was the first to build this place. The Bible, in the Chapter of Genesis describes its building when God ordained Abraham to erect a Shrine for worship when Abraham was ordered to go to the Southern desert with his wife Hagera and infant son Ismael. The Old Testament describes this building as the Shrine of God at several places, but the one built at Ma’amoor is very much similar to the one at Makka. There is no doubt that it was referring to the stone built house at Makka.
Qora’an brought this story into the full light of history. In Sura 3 Verse 90 Qora’an says “Allah has spoken the Truth, therefore follow the creed of Ibrahim, a man of pure faith and no idolater”. The first house established for the people was at Makka, a Holy place and a guidance to all beings. Qora’an firmly establishes the fact that Ibrahim was the real founder of the Holy Shrine.
When Prophet Ibrahim built the Holy Shrine in Makka, his prayers were that this place should remain a centre of worship for all good and pious people; that Allah should keep his family the custodians of the Holy place. Ever since, Ismael the son of Ibrahim who helped his father to build this place and his descendants remained the custodians of the Holy Shrine. History tells us that centuries passed and the guardianship of the Kaaba remained in the family of Ismael until the name of Abde Manaf came into the limelight. He inherited this service and made it much more prominent. His son Hashim took this leadership and extended it to many other towns of Hejaz so much so that many pilgrims flocked annually to this place and enjoyed Hashims’s hospitality. A feast was given in honour of the pilgrims, food and water was served to all guests by the family of Hashim. This prominence created jealousies and his brother Abdushams’ adopted son Ummayya tried to create trouble. There was a dispute in which Umayya failed and left Makka to settle down in the Northern provinces of Suria(Sham) currently known as Syria. After Hashim his brother Muttalib and after him Hashim’s son Shyba who became known as Abdul Muttalib assumed the leadership of the family. He organised feasts and supplies of water to the pilgrims during the annual festival of Pilgrimage to the Holy Shrine.
Prophet Ibrahim built this House for devout worship to one God. But within his lifetime people disobeyed his orders and began to put idols inside the Kaaba. Ibrahim had to clean the House of these idols and of Idle worshippers. He told the people that this was a symbolic house of God. God does not live there for He is everywhere. People did not understand this logic and no sooner had Ibrahim died the people, out of reverence, filled the place with idols again. They thronged to this place annually and worshipped their personal gods, It was over Four Thousand years later that the last of the line of prophet (SA), Muhammad Ibne Abdullah entered Makka triumphantly, went inside the Ka’aba and, with the help of his cousin and son in law Ali Ibne Abi Talib, (AS) destroyed all the idols of Ka’aba with their own hands. At one stage of this destruction of idols, the tallest of the idol Hubbol was brought down after Ali had to stand on the shoulders of the Prophet to carry out God’s orders. The Prophet of Islam was reciting the Verse from the Qur’an
“Truth hath come and falsehood hath vanished.”
This was done in the 8th year of Hijra, January 630 AD after the bloodless victory at Makka by the Prophet of Islam.
Historically when Ibrahim was ordered by Allah to build the Shrine for worship over a small he uncovered the original foundations of the Kaaba built by Adam. Ibrahim with the help of his son Ismael erected the new shrine on the same foundations. Originally it contained only four walls without a roof . Centuries later during the timeof Kusayi who was the leader of the Tribe of Quraish in Makka a taller building was completed with a roof and a quadrangle wall around it to give it the shape of a sanctuary and doors all around the sanctuary walls. People entered through these doors to come to the Ka’aba for worship. It is now about 60 feet high, 60 feet wide from east to west and 60 feet from north to south. A door is fixed about 7 feet above ground level facing North East. A Black stone (Hajar al Aswad) was fixed into its eastern corner. In front of the building was Maqame Ibrahim, the arch shape gate known as that of Banu Shayba and the Zamzam Well. Just outside are the Hills called Safa and Merwa and the distance between the hills is about 500 yards. These days both of the hills are enclosed into the sanctuary walls with a roof over it.
The whole building is built of the layers of grey blue stone from the hills surrounding Makka. The four corners roughly face the four points of the compass. At the East is the Black stone (Rukn el Aswad), at the North is el Ruken el Iraqi, at the west al Rukne el Shami and at the south al Rukne el Yamani. The four walls are covered with a curtain (Kiswa). The kiswa is usually of black brocade with the Shahada outlined in the weave of the fabric. About 2/3rd’s of the way up runs a gold embroidered band covered with Qur'anic text.
In the Eastern corner about 5 feet above ground the Hajar el Aswad (the blackstone) is fixed into the wall. Its real nature is difficult to determine, its visible shape is worn smooth by hand touching and kissing. Its diameter is around 12 inches. Opposite the North west wall but not connected with it, is a semi circular wall of white marble. It is 3 feet high and about 5 feet thick. This semi circular space enjoys an especial consideration and pilgrims wait in queue to find a place to pray there. The graves of Ismael and his mother Hajera are within this semi circular wall. Between the archway and the facade (N.E.) is a little building with a small dome, the Maqame Ibrahim. Inside it is kept a stone bearing the prints of two human feet. Prophet Ibrahim is said to have stood on this stone when building the Ka’aba and marks of his feet are miraculously preserved.
On the outskirts of the building to the North East is the ‘Zamzam Well’ (this is now put under ground).
History of the building of the Ka’aba.
Qur’an in Sura Baqra Verses 121 to 127 described it clearly that Allah had ordained his servant Ibrahim to build the Shrine there for worship of One God. During Kusayi’s time it was rebuilt and fortified. During the early years of Prophet Muhammad (SA) before he announced his ministry, the Ka’aba was damaged by floods and it was rebuilt again. When the Black stone was to be put in its place the Makkans quarrelled among themselves as to who should have the honour to place it there. They had just decided that the first comer to the quadrangle should be given the task of deciding as to who should have the honour. Muhammad (SA) came in and was assigned this task. He advised them to place the stone in a cloak and ordered the heads of each Tribe each to take an end and bring the cloak nearer the corner on the eastern side. He himself then took out the stone and placed it in its position. It has been fixed there ever since.
After the martyrdom of the family of the Prophet at Kerbala in 61 Hijri (681 AD), the Ummayad Caliph Yazid Ibne Moawiya did not stop there in the pursuit of his destruction. He sent a large contingent under the command of Haseen Ibne Namir to Madina which destroyed the Mosque of the Prophet. They did not stop there but proceeded to Makka and demolished the four walls of the Ka’aba and killed thousands of muslims who protested. Yazid died and Ibne Namir returned to Damascus, Ka’aba was rebuilt by Abdullah Ibne Zubayr and his associates. Umawi forces came back to Makka and killed Abdullah Ibne Zubayr, hung his body on the gates of the Ka’aba for three months for all to see the Umawi power. But eventually this arrogance of power brought its own consequences and Mukhtar became the ruler in Iraq. Under his guidance the Ka’aba was refurbished and pilgrims began to arrive in safety to perform Hajj.
The Ka’aba successfully withstood the Karamatian invasion of 317/929, only the Blackstone was carried away which was returned some twenty years later. In the year 1981 the Wahabis brought tanks inside the Ka’aba to crush the kahtani revolution against the Saudi regime and almost demolished the South Eastern Wall. This was later restored with the help of the Makkan people.
Every man living in Makka in the 6th and 7th century must out of necessity have had some relationship with the Ka’aba. On the Muhammad (SA), the Prophet of Islam, the Qur’an is silent during the Makkans period in this respect. All that is known is that the muslim community of the period turned towards Jerusalem in prayers. Subsequently about a year and a half after the Hijra the Muslims were ordered during prayers which were lead by the Prophet of Islam himself to turn towards Makka. The particular mosque in Madina where this happened is called Masjide Qiblatain, meaning the mosque with two Qiblas.The Qur’an tells the muslims, “ turn then thy face towards the sacred mosque and wherever ye be turn your faces towards that part ”Qur’an II,139/144.
At this same period the Qur’an began to lay stress on the religion of Ibrahim, presenting Islam as a return to the purity of the religion of Ibrahim which, obscured by Judaism and Christianity, shone forth in its original brightness in the Qur’an. The pilgrimage’s to the Ka’aba and ritual progressions around the building were continued, but were now for the glorification of One God. The Abrahimic vision of the Ka’aba created a means of discerning an orthodox origin buried in the midst of pagan malpractices to which the first muslims pointed the way.
Every year after the Hajj ceremony the place is closed for one month and on the Day of Ashura the Ka’aba is washed from inside by the Water from the well of Zamzam and a new Kiswa is brought to cover the Ka’aba for the next year.
This is the story of the Ka’aba and the persons who protected it and remained its custodians and protectors from the satanic and evil forces throughout history. Muhammad (SA) and the people of his household (Ahlulbayt) were the protectors of the Ka’aba, and currently the 12th Imam from the direct descent of the Prophet of Islam is the real protector, its custodian and guardian and shall remain as such while in concealment.
In the province of Hejaz in the western part of Arabia, not far from the Red Sea, there lies the town of Makka. In the centre of this town there is a small square building made of stones, about 60 feet long, 60 feet wide and 60 feet high. Since time immemorial this town and this stone built house has been known to world travellers.
Tradition goes that the Kaaba was ordained by Allah to be built in the shape of the House in Heaven called Baitul Ma’amoor. Allah in his infinite Mercy ordained a similar place on earth and Prophet Adam was the first to build this place. The Bible, in the Chapter of Genesis describes its building when God ordained Abraham to erect a Shrine for worship when Abraham was ordered to go to the Southern desert with his wife Hagera and infant son Ismael. The Old Testament describes this building as the Shrine of God at several places, but the one built at Ma’amoor is very much similar to the one at Makka. There is no doubt that it was referring to the stone built house at Makka.
Qora’an brought this story into the full light of history. In Sura 3 Verse 90 Qora’an says “Allah has spoken the Truth, therefore follow the creed of Ibrahim, a man of pure faith and no idolater”. The first house established for the people was at Makka, a Holy place and a guidance to all beings. Qora’an firmly establishes the fact that Ibrahim was the real founder of the Holy Shrine.
When Prophet Ibrahim built the Holy Shrine in Makka, his prayers were that this place should remain a centre of worship for all good and pious people; that Allah should keep his family the custodians of the Holy place. Ever since, Ismael the son of Ibrahim who helped his father to build this place and his descendants remained the custodians of the Holy Shrine. History tells us that centuries passed and the guardianship of the Kaaba remained in the family of Ismael until the name of Abde Manaf came into the limelight. He inherited this service and made it much more prominent. His son Hashim took this leadership and extended it to many other towns of Hejaz so much so that many pilgrims flocked annually to this place and enjoyed Hashims’s hospitality. A feast was given in honour of the pilgrims, food and water was served to all guests by the family of Hashim. This prominence created jealousies and his brother Abdushams’ adopted son Ummayya tried to create trouble. There was a dispute in which Umayya failed and left Makka to settle down in the Northern provinces of Suria(Sham) currently known as Syria. After Hashim his brother Muttalib and after him Hashim’s son Shyba who became known as Abdul Muttalib assumed the leadership of the family. He organised feasts and supplies of water to the pilgrims during the annual festival of Pilgrimage to the Holy Shrine.
Prophet Ibrahim built this House for devout worship to one God. But within his lifetime people disobeyed his orders and began to put idols inside the Kaaba. Ibrahim had to clean the House of these idols and of Idle worshippers. He told the people that this was a symbolic house of God. God does not live there for He is everywhere. People did not understand this logic and no sooner had Ibrahim died the people, out of reverence, filled the place with idols again. They thronged to this place annually and worshipped their personal gods, It was over Four Thousand years later that the last of the line of prophet (SA), Muhammad Ibne Abdullah entered Makka triumphantly, went inside the Ka’aba and, with the help of his cousin and son in law Ali Ibne Abi Talib, (AS) destroyed all the idols of Ka’aba with their own hands. At one stage of this destruction of idols, the tallest of the idol Hubbol was brought down after Ali had to stand on the shoulders of the Prophet to carry out God’s orders. The Prophet of Islam was reciting the Verse from the Qur’an
“Truth hath come and falsehood hath vanished.”
This was done in the 8th year of Hijra, January 630 AD after the bloodless victory at Makka by the Prophet of Islam.
Historically when Ibrahim was ordered by Allah to build the Shrine for worship over a small he uncovered the original foundations of the Kaaba built by Adam. Ibrahim with the help of his son Ismael erected the new shrine on the same foundations. Originally it contained only four walls without a roof . Centuries later during the timeof Kusayi who was the leader of the Tribe of Quraish in Makka a taller building was completed with a roof and a quadrangle wall around it to give it the shape of a sanctuary and doors all around the sanctuary walls. People entered through these doors to come to the Ka’aba for worship. It is now about 60 feet high, 60 feet wide from east to west and 60 feet from north to south. A door is fixed about 7 feet above ground level facing North East. A Black stone (Hajar al Aswad) was fixed into its eastern corner. In front of the building was Maqame Ibrahim, the arch shape gate known as that of Banu Shayba and the Zamzam Well. Just outside are the Hills called Safa and Merwa and the distance between the hills is about 500 yards. These days both of the hills are enclosed into the sanctuary walls with a roof over it.
The whole building is built of the layers of grey blue stone from the hills surrounding Makka. The four corners roughly face the four points of the compass. At the East is the Black stone (Rukn el Aswad), at the North is el Ruken el Iraqi, at the west al Rukne el Shami and at the south al Rukne el Yamani. The four walls are covered with a curtain (Kiswa). The kiswa is usually of black brocade with the Shahada outlined in the weave of the fabric. About 2/3rd’s of the way up runs a gold embroidered band covered with Qur'anic text.
In the Eastern corner about 5 feet above ground the Hajar el Aswad (the blackstone) is fixed into the wall. Its real nature is difficult to determine, its visible shape is worn smooth by hand touching and kissing. Its diameter is around 12 inches. Opposite the North west wall but not connected with it, is a semi circular wall of white marble. It is 3 feet high and about 5 feet thick. This semi circular space enjoys an especial consideration and pilgrims wait in queue to find a place to pray there. The graves of Ismael and his mother Hajera are within this semi circular wall. Between the archway and the facade (N.E.) is a little building with a small dome, the Maqame Ibrahim. Inside it is kept a stone bearing the prints of two human feet. Prophet Ibrahim is said to have stood on this stone when building the Ka’aba and marks of his feet are miraculously preserved.
On the outskirts of the building to the North East is the ‘Zamzam Well’ (this is now put under ground).
History of the building of the Ka’aba.
Qur’an in Sura Baqra Verses 121 to 127 described it clearly that Allah had ordained his servant Ibrahim to build the Shrine there for worship of One God. During Kusayi’s time it was rebuilt and fortified. During the early years of Prophet Muhammad (SA) before he announced his ministry, the Ka’aba was damaged by floods and it was rebuilt again. When the Black stone was to be put in its place the Makkans quarrelled among themselves as to who should have the honour to place it there. They had just decided that the first comer to the quadrangle should be given the task of deciding as to who should have the honour. Muhammad (SA) came in and was assigned this task. He advised them to place the stone in a cloak and ordered the heads of each Tribe each to take an end and bring the cloak nearer the corner on the eastern side. He himself then took out the stone and placed it in its position. It has been fixed there ever since.
After the martyrdom of the family of the Prophet at Kerbala in 61 Hijri (681 AD), the Ummayad Caliph Yazid Ibne Moawiya did not stop there in the pursuit of his destruction. He sent a large contingent under the command of Haseen Ibne Namir to Madina which destroyed the Mosque of the Prophet. They did not stop there but proceeded to Makka and demolished the four walls of the Ka’aba and killed thousands of muslims who protested. Yazid died and Ibne Namir returned to Damascus, Ka’aba was rebuilt by Abdullah Ibne Zubayr and his associates. Umawi forces came back to Makka and killed Abdullah Ibne Zubayr, hung his body on the gates of the Ka’aba for three months for all to see the Umawi power. But eventually this arrogance of power brought its own consequences and Mukhtar became the ruler in Iraq. Under his guidance the Ka’aba was refurbished and pilgrims began to arrive in safety to perform Hajj.
The Ka’aba successfully withstood the Karamatian invasion of 317/929, only the Blackstone was carried away which was returned some twenty years later. In the year 1981 the Wahabis brought tanks inside the Ka’aba to crush the kahtani revolution against the Saudi regime and almost demolished the South Eastern Wall. This was later restored with the help of the Makkan people.
Every man living in Makka in the 6th and 7th century must out of necessity have had some relationship with the Ka’aba. On the Muhammad (SA), the Prophet of Islam, the Qur’an is silent during the Makkans period in this respect. All that is known is that the muslim community of the period turned towards Jerusalem in prayers. Subsequently about a year and a half after the Hijra the Muslims were ordered during prayers which were lead by the Prophet of Islam himself to turn towards Makka. The particular mosque in Madina where this happened is called Masjide Qiblatain, meaning the mosque with two Qiblas.The Qur’an tells the muslims, “ turn then thy face towards the sacred mosque and wherever ye be turn your faces towards that part ”Qur’an II,139/144.
At this same period the Qur’an began to lay stress on the religion of Ibrahim, presenting Islam as a return to the purity of the religion of Ibrahim which, obscured by Judaism and Christianity, shone forth in its original brightness in the Qur’an. The pilgrimage’s to the Ka’aba and ritual progressions around the building were continued, but were now for the glorification of One God. The Abrahimic vision of the Ka’aba created a means of discerning an orthodox origin buried in the midst of pagan malpractices to which the first muslims pointed the way.
Every year after the Hajj ceremony the place is closed for one month and on the Day of Ashura the Ka’aba is washed from inside by the Water from the well of Zamzam and a new Kiswa is brought to cover the Ka’aba for the next year.
This is the story of the Ka’aba and the persons who protected it and remained its custodians and protectors from the satanic and evil forces throughout history. Muhammad (SA) and the people of his household (Ahlulbayt) were the protectors of the Ka’aba, and currently the 12th Imam from the direct descent of the Prophet of Islam is the real protector, its custodian and guardian and shall remain as such while in concealment.
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
bin Laden the Sufi
I got this letter yesterday and thought it was pretty amusing; the author said I could share it.
As-salaamo Wa-alaikum
Our poor brothers the "Salafi/Wahabi" clan have been copping a pasting for eveyone for the misdeeds of their favourite son, Osama.
The real truth is finally revealed out of their own mouths/pens. Osama bin Laden is really a Sufi at least thats what they think he is. After all you would have to be pretty deviant to commit international murder and mayhem and he does come from Yemen. Of course as they point out Yemen is the homeland of the "deviant Sufi sect".
Not wanting to place all their eggs in the one basket, (well it is nearly Easter), they also hedge their bets, (sorry for the falsehood here, I would never attribute a sin like gambling to my purist brethren). In the second article the truth is revealed. Osama is really a Qutbist. No this is not some wierd Islamic perversion of the decadent Western art form Cubism. It is another of those unique made up noun, (like Wahabi) for those who follow Sayyid Qutb.
Of coures both Wahabi and Qutbist are offensive terms to Muslims. These terms imply that the followers of ibn Wahab and Qutb worship them. Another deviant practice that no right minded Muslim on the straight path would follow.
Of course the accusations they make are all guilt by association so forgive me if I indulge in a little of my own. The key to this is not Osamas religious affiliation whatever it may be. If we look at the murder and mayhem Osamas deeds have produced and apply the old adage, "By their deeds shall ye know them", the answer is obvious. Just look at who else has inspired murder and mayhem on an international scale and consider the close connections of the Bush and bin Laden clans. It is very clear that Osama is a Bushist or at least a White House Neo-Con.
Anyway enough of my personal spin, Read on:
Wasalaam
Gazza
Is Osama Bin Laden Really a 'Wahhabi'?
The term "Wahhabi" is often misused for less than honest purposes...
On September 30, 2001, Roger Hardy, the BBC's Middle East analyst wrote an article entitled "Inside Wahhabi Islam." Hardy himself notes that the term "Wahhabi" is often misused for less than honest purposes, "The term 'Wahhabi' is often used very freely. The Russian media, for example, use it as a term of abuse for Muslim activists in Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as in Russia itself - rather as the Western media use the vague and derogatory term 'Islamic fundamentalism'."
Regrettably, Hardy falls into the same trap of misappropriating this term when he states that Osama Bin Laden is a "Wahhabi": "Osama Bin Laden, named by US officials as the main suspect in the 11 September attacks against America, is Saudi-born and a Wahhabi."
The mistake that Hardy has fallen into here is that he has assumed that since Bin Laden was born and raised in Saudi Arabia, that this in turn necessitates him being a "Wahhabi". In fact, this is a superficial conclusion which has been repeatedly mentioned in the media and is worthy of refutation.
Osama bin Laden comes from a Yemeni family which is based in Hadramout, a coastal section of Yemen that is well known for being a base of a particular sect of Islam called Sufism. Sufism could be briefly summarized as being the antithesis of "Wahhabism". Bin Laden himself is not concerned with differentiating between matters of creed, and some of his statements indicate that he still acknowledges certain Sufi practices. He also embraced the Taliban as his close friends and protectors, and it is well known that the great majority of this group belong to Deobandism, a Sufi movement.
However, a differentiation is made between demonstrating that Bin Laadin acknowledges certain Sufi practices, and claiming that he is an outright
Sufi. Rather, Bin Laadin has shown that he is not concerned with the same matters of belief and worship that a Salafi would concern himself with, because the sect he belongs to (Qutbism) does not distinguish between matters of belief, so long as people adhere to their “movement.”
Another misnomer which has been oft repeated in the mainstream media is the notion that the Taliban were “Wahhabis.” On December 10, 2001, The Washington Post’s Ron Kampeas wrote that “Wahhabism” is “a puritanical faith that rejects change. A brand of Islam that drives the Taliban…”
This in fact is another great inaccuracy which indicates that those who have repeated these claims have approached these intricate matters in a simplistic fashion.
Although Roger Hardy’s BBC article made the error of stating that Osama bin Laden was a “Wahhabi,” he, unlike Kampeas, stayed clear of repeating this error when addressing the Sufi Taliban movement:
“But the Taleban are not Wahhabis. They belong to what is known as the Deobandi movement, named after the small town of Deoband in the Indian Himalayas. It was here that the movement was founded, in the 1860s,
during the period of British rule in India.”
On November 9, 2001, Hamid Mir of the Pakistani daily, The Dawn, interviewed Osama Bin Laden just prior to the fall of Kabul:
Hamid Mir: "After (the) American bombing on Afghanistan on Oct 7, you told Al-Jazeera TV that the September 11 attacks had been carried out by some Muslims. How did you know they were Muslims?"
Osama bin Laden: "The Americans themselves released a list of the suspects of the September 11 attacks, saying that the persons named were involved in the attacks. They were all Muslims, of whom 15 belonged to Saudi Arabia, two were from the UAE and one from Egypt. According to the information I have, they were all passengers. Fateha was held for them in their homes. But America said they were hijackers."
Bin Laden’s statement “Fateha was held for them in their homes” is referring to the reading of the opening chapter of the Quran (al-Fatihah) for the
souls of the deceased, a common practice of the Sufis. This act of worship has no basis in Islam, either from the Quran, the Sunnah, or the practice
of the earliest generations. More precisely, this is an innovated practice which later generations of Sufi Muslims fabricated. This statement indicates
that Osama bin Laden is neither knowlegeable in Islam, nor is he attached to the principles and practices of Salafism.
- abridged from the book: The 'Wahhabi' Myth
What Sect Does Osama Bin Laden Really Belong to?
"…But if one man deserves the title of intellectual grandfather to Osama bin Laden and his fellow terrorists, it is probably the Egyptian writer and activist Sayyid Qutb."
- Robert Worth, The New York Times
As a result of the wealth which the Bin Laden Corporation generated, Osama Bin Laden used his family's money to live a carefree and luxurious lifestyle. Because of this, he never managed to exert himself to sit with any of the Muslim scholars, really seek knowledge, or ground himself in the fundamentals of Islamic beliefs. This state of ignorance continued even after he became religious and went to Afghanistan to fight against the Soviets. The fact that he failed to take advantage of studying under the guardianship of the elder scholars of Saudi Arabia led him to mix instead with the Qutbists, a newly arisen sect.
Eventually, he completely dismissed the methodology of the "Wahhabis" and expelled many of its people from the fold of Islam. Therefore, how could it be considered correct to say that Osama Bin Laden is a "Wahhabi"? In actuality, Osama Bin Laden and his al-Qaeda movement are not "Wahhabis", but rather, Qutbists.
Confirming this important link, the New York Times' Robert Worth said, "…But if one man deserves the title of intellectual grandfather to Osama bin Laden and his fellow terrorists, it is probably the Egyptian writer and activist Sayyid Qutb."
The Existence of Qutbism as an Ideology
In an article titled "Terror, Islam and Democracy," Ladan and Roya Boroumand correctly state that "Most young Islamist cadres today are the direct intellectual and spiritual heirs of the Qutbist wing of the Muslim Brotherhood."
They state that: "When the authoritarian regime of President Gamel Abdel Nasser suppressed the Muslim Brothers in 1954 (it would eventually get around to hanging Qutb in 1966), many went into exile in Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria and Morocco. From there, they spread their revolutionary Islamist ideas - including the organizational and ideological tools borrowed from European totalitarianism."
Expanding upon the link between European revolutionary ideologies and the dogma of Qutbism, The Independent's John Gray argues in an article entitled "How Marx turned Muslim" that Qutbism is not rooted in the Islamic tradition, but rather, is very much a Western based ideology.
He explains that Sayyid Qutb "incorporated many elements derived from European ideology into his thinking," and as such, Qutbism should be seen as an "exotic hybrid, bred from the encounter of sections of the Islamic intelligentsia with radical western ideologies."
Gray explains that Qutbism is a modern revolutionary movement and unrepresentative of the orthodoxy of true Islam:
"The inspiration for Qutb's thought is not so much the Quran, but the current of western philosophy embodied in thinkers such as Nietzsche, Kierkegaard and Heidegger. Qutb's thought -- the blueprint for all subsequent radical Islamist political theology -- is as much a response to 20th-century Europe's experience of 'the death of God' as to anything in the Islamic tradition. Qutbism is in no way traditional. Like all fundamentalist ideology, it is unmistakably modern."
Speaking about the incontestable link that exists between Bin Laden and Qutbism, the Arab News' Amir Taheri said: "In time, Maudoodo-Qutbism provided the ideological topos in which Bin Ladenism could grow."
Shaykh Rabee' ibn Hadi al-Madkhali, the renowned Salafi scholar who has written several books refuting the mistakes of Sayyid Qutb, concludes the following about Qutbism: "The Qutbists are the followers of Sayyid Qutb… everything you see of the tribulations, the shedding of blood and the problems in the Islamic world today arise from the methodology (of this man)."
- abridged from the book: The 'Wahhabi' Myth
As-salaamo Wa-alaikum
Our poor brothers the "Salafi/Wahabi" clan have been copping a pasting for eveyone for the misdeeds of their favourite son, Osama.
The real truth is finally revealed out of their own mouths/pens. Osama bin Laden is really a Sufi at least thats what they think he is. After all you would have to be pretty deviant to commit international murder and mayhem and he does come from Yemen. Of course as they point out Yemen is the homeland of the "deviant Sufi sect".
Not wanting to place all their eggs in the one basket, (well it is nearly Easter), they also hedge their bets, (sorry for the falsehood here, I would never attribute a sin like gambling to my purist brethren). In the second article the truth is revealed. Osama is really a Qutbist. No this is not some wierd Islamic perversion of the decadent Western art form Cubism. It is another of those unique made up noun, (like Wahabi) for those who follow Sayyid Qutb.
Of coures both Wahabi and Qutbist are offensive terms to Muslims. These terms imply that the followers of ibn Wahab and Qutb worship them. Another deviant practice that no right minded Muslim on the straight path would follow.
Of course the accusations they make are all guilt by association so forgive me if I indulge in a little of my own. The key to this is not Osamas religious affiliation whatever it may be. If we look at the murder and mayhem Osamas deeds have produced and apply the old adage, "By their deeds shall ye know them", the answer is obvious. Just look at who else has inspired murder and mayhem on an international scale and consider the close connections of the Bush and bin Laden clans. It is very clear that Osama is a Bushist or at least a White House Neo-Con.
Anyway enough of my personal spin, Read on:
Wasalaam
Gazza
Is Osama Bin Laden Really a 'Wahhabi'?
The term "Wahhabi" is often misused for less than honest purposes...
On September 30, 2001, Roger Hardy, the BBC's Middle East analyst wrote an article entitled "Inside Wahhabi Islam." Hardy himself notes that the term "Wahhabi" is often misused for less than honest purposes, "The term 'Wahhabi' is often used very freely. The Russian media, for example, use it as a term of abuse for Muslim activists in Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as in Russia itself - rather as the Western media use the vague and derogatory term 'Islamic fundamentalism'."
Regrettably, Hardy falls into the same trap of misappropriating this term when he states that Osama Bin Laden is a "Wahhabi": "Osama Bin Laden, named by US officials as the main suspect in the 11 September attacks against America, is Saudi-born and a Wahhabi."
The mistake that Hardy has fallen into here is that he has assumed that since Bin Laden was born and raised in Saudi Arabia, that this in turn necessitates him being a "Wahhabi". In fact, this is a superficial conclusion which has been repeatedly mentioned in the media and is worthy of refutation.
Osama bin Laden comes from a Yemeni family which is based in Hadramout, a coastal section of Yemen that is well known for being a base of a particular sect of Islam called Sufism. Sufism could be briefly summarized as being the antithesis of "Wahhabism". Bin Laden himself is not concerned with differentiating between matters of creed, and some of his statements indicate that he still acknowledges certain Sufi practices. He also embraced the Taliban as his close friends and protectors, and it is well known that the great majority of this group belong to Deobandism, a Sufi movement.
However, a differentiation is made between demonstrating that Bin Laadin acknowledges certain Sufi practices, and claiming that he is an outright
Sufi. Rather, Bin Laadin has shown that he is not concerned with the same matters of belief and worship that a Salafi would concern himself with, because the sect he belongs to (Qutbism) does not distinguish between matters of belief, so long as people adhere to their “movement.”
Another misnomer which has been oft repeated in the mainstream media is the notion that the Taliban were “Wahhabis.” On December 10, 2001, The Washington Post’s Ron Kampeas wrote that “Wahhabism” is “a puritanical faith that rejects change. A brand of Islam that drives the Taliban…”
This in fact is another great inaccuracy which indicates that those who have repeated these claims have approached these intricate matters in a simplistic fashion.
Although Roger Hardy’s BBC article made the error of stating that Osama bin Laden was a “Wahhabi,” he, unlike Kampeas, stayed clear of repeating this error when addressing the Sufi Taliban movement:
“But the Taleban are not Wahhabis. They belong to what is known as the Deobandi movement, named after the small town of Deoband in the Indian Himalayas. It was here that the movement was founded, in the 1860s,
during the period of British rule in India.”
On November 9, 2001, Hamid Mir of the Pakistani daily, The Dawn, interviewed Osama Bin Laden just prior to the fall of Kabul:
Hamid Mir: "After (the) American bombing on Afghanistan on Oct 7, you told Al-Jazeera TV that the September 11 attacks had been carried out by some Muslims. How did you know they were Muslims?"
Osama bin Laden: "The Americans themselves released a list of the suspects of the September 11 attacks, saying that the persons named were involved in the attacks. They were all Muslims, of whom 15 belonged to Saudi Arabia, two were from the UAE and one from Egypt. According to the information I have, they were all passengers. Fateha was held for them in their homes. But America said they were hijackers."
Bin Laden’s statement “Fateha was held for them in their homes” is referring to the reading of the opening chapter of the Quran (al-Fatihah) for the
souls of the deceased, a common practice of the Sufis. This act of worship has no basis in Islam, either from the Quran, the Sunnah, or the practice
of the earliest generations. More precisely, this is an innovated practice which later generations of Sufi Muslims fabricated. This statement indicates
that Osama bin Laden is neither knowlegeable in Islam, nor is he attached to the principles and practices of Salafism.
- abridged from the book: The 'Wahhabi' Myth
What Sect Does Osama Bin Laden Really Belong to?
"…But if one man deserves the title of intellectual grandfather to Osama bin Laden and his fellow terrorists, it is probably the Egyptian writer and activist Sayyid Qutb."
- Robert Worth, The New York Times
As a result of the wealth which the Bin Laden Corporation generated, Osama Bin Laden used his family's money to live a carefree and luxurious lifestyle. Because of this, he never managed to exert himself to sit with any of the Muslim scholars, really seek knowledge, or ground himself in the fundamentals of Islamic beliefs. This state of ignorance continued even after he became religious and went to Afghanistan to fight against the Soviets. The fact that he failed to take advantage of studying under the guardianship of the elder scholars of Saudi Arabia led him to mix instead with the Qutbists, a newly arisen sect.
Eventually, he completely dismissed the methodology of the "Wahhabis" and expelled many of its people from the fold of Islam. Therefore, how could it be considered correct to say that Osama Bin Laden is a "Wahhabi"? In actuality, Osama Bin Laden and his al-Qaeda movement are not "Wahhabis", but rather, Qutbists.
Confirming this important link, the New York Times' Robert Worth said, "…But if one man deserves the title of intellectual grandfather to Osama bin Laden and his fellow terrorists, it is probably the Egyptian writer and activist Sayyid Qutb."
The Existence of Qutbism as an Ideology
In an article titled "Terror, Islam and Democracy," Ladan and Roya Boroumand correctly state that "Most young Islamist cadres today are the direct intellectual and spiritual heirs of the Qutbist wing of the Muslim Brotherhood."
They state that: "When the authoritarian regime of President Gamel Abdel Nasser suppressed the Muslim Brothers in 1954 (it would eventually get around to hanging Qutb in 1966), many went into exile in Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria and Morocco. From there, they spread their revolutionary Islamist ideas - including the organizational and ideological tools borrowed from European totalitarianism."
Expanding upon the link between European revolutionary ideologies and the dogma of Qutbism, The Independent's John Gray argues in an article entitled "How Marx turned Muslim" that Qutbism is not rooted in the Islamic tradition, but rather, is very much a Western based ideology.
He explains that Sayyid Qutb "incorporated many elements derived from European ideology into his thinking," and as such, Qutbism should be seen as an "exotic hybrid, bred from the encounter of sections of the Islamic intelligentsia with radical western ideologies."
Gray explains that Qutbism is a modern revolutionary movement and unrepresentative of the orthodoxy of true Islam:
"The inspiration for Qutb's thought is not so much the Quran, but the current of western philosophy embodied in thinkers such as Nietzsche, Kierkegaard and Heidegger. Qutb's thought -- the blueprint for all subsequent radical Islamist political theology -- is as much a response to 20th-century Europe's experience of 'the death of God' as to anything in the Islamic tradition. Qutbism is in no way traditional. Like all fundamentalist ideology, it is unmistakably modern."
Speaking about the incontestable link that exists between Bin Laden and Qutbism, the Arab News' Amir Taheri said: "In time, Maudoodo-Qutbism provided the ideological topos in which Bin Ladenism could grow."
Shaykh Rabee' ibn Hadi al-Madkhali, the renowned Salafi scholar who has written several books refuting the mistakes of Sayyid Qutb, concludes the following about Qutbism: "The Qutbists are the followers of Sayyid Qutb… everything you see of the tribulations, the shedding of blood and the problems in the Islamic world today arise from the methodology (of this man)."
- abridged from the book: The 'Wahhabi' Myth
Urns!
Okay, enough with the cremation urns already! I must not be posting new stuff they have ads for!
Literature Review Paper
If you were ever curious what a student in a master's curriculum and instruction program does, here is part of a paper I'm writing right now...
Since I did not find literature to convince me of the irrelevance of homework, I continued my review of literature related to my problem statement in the area of possible causes for lack of homework completion. Killoran wrote a fresh and interesting article about the relationship between the theories of development and homework completion. Using a behaviorist model, she explains, an educator must find a way to reinforce homework completion by presenting or removing something so that homework completion rates increase. (p. 310) Piaget’s constructivist model suggests that if a child is not completing homework this indicates that the assignment is “not at a level in which the child can construct knowledge.” To remedy this, the teacher would need to give the student work at an appropriate level and set up the learning environment so that the student’s development rises to the needed level(s). (p. 310-311) The maturationist model suggests that a student may not complete homework because he is not biologically mature enough to handle it. A teacher cannot change the biology of the student to hurry along his maturation, so the teacher will need to individualize homework to the levels of each student. (p. 312) Finally, the ecological systems model suggest that homework completion rates have external causes such as peers, distractions, or home environment and that the teacher would need to find the external causes for a student not completing his homework and remedy those before the student would do his homework (p. 313).
I found this article very useful in thinking about my problem statement because each model or paradigm suggests different methods I could take in attempting to tackle the problem, based on what I considered to be the developmental causes of the problem. In general, this literature suggests three types of approach to me for my action research – reinforcement, differentiated instruction, and manipulating the learning environment. My IMP training and experience has taught me that the homework is already differentiated because much of it is open-ended and amenable to a wide range of breadth and depth in answering. Therefore, I think my research focus should lie in the other two realms.
Since I did not find literature to convince me of the irrelevance of homework, I continued my review of literature related to my problem statement in the area of possible causes for lack of homework completion. Killoran wrote a fresh and interesting article about the relationship between the theories of development and homework completion. Using a behaviorist model, she explains, an educator must find a way to reinforce homework completion by presenting or removing something so that homework completion rates increase. (p. 310) Piaget’s constructivist model suggests that if a child is not completing homework this indicates that the assignment is “not at a level in which the child can construct knowledge.” To remedy this, the teacher would need to give the student work at an appropriate level and set up the learning environment so that the student’s development rises to the needed level(s). (p. 310-311) The maturationist model suggests that a student may not complete homework because he is not biologically mature enough to handle it. A teacher cannot change the biology of the student to hurry along his maturation, so the teacher will need to individualize homework to the levels of each student. (p. 312) Finally, the ecological systems model suggest that homework completion rates have external causes such as peers, distractions, or home environment and that the teacher would need to find the external causes for a student not completing his homework and remedy those before the student would do his homework (p. 313).
I found this article very useful in thinking about my problem statement because each model or paradigm suggests different methods I could take in attempting to tackle the problem, based on what I considered to be the developmental causes of the problem. In general, this literature suggests three types of approach to me for my action research – reinforcement, differentiated instruction, and manipulating the learning environment. My IMP training and experience has taught me that the homework is already differentiated because much of it is open-ended and amenable to a wide range of breadth and depth in answering. Therefore, I think my research focus should lie in the other two realms.
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
Fun and Procrastination
I have a 2000 word paper due tomorrow that I haven't really started yet. At least I've looked up some sources for it. Hopefully I'll put a big dent in it tonight after getting back from my union meeting, insha'allah.
Sister Soljah took me geocaching last night and I thought it was really fun. I think I'd like to do it again and I'd also like to leave a cache somewhere. http://www.geocaching.com . We used a gps to go to a set of coordinates near my home where a cache was hidden. We took a prize from the cache and replaced it with something else. We also left a travel bug and took a travel bug. Those are little prizes that are tagged so that you can track where they've been and how far they've traveled.
Well that's all I really have time to write for now.
Sister Soljah took me geocaching last night and I thought it was really fun. I think I'd like to do it again and I'd also like to leave a cache somewhere. http://www.geocaching.com . We used a gps to go to a set of coordinates near my home where a cache was hidden. We took a prize from the cache and replaced it with something else. We also left a travel bug and took a travel bug. Those are little prizes that are tagged so that you can track where they've been and how far they've traveled.
Well that's all I really have time to write for now.
Monday, April 05, 2004
The Order of Things
I was thinking about what order someone should study Islam, because the experience of converts is such that getting things in an improper order can be really stressful and confusing. I would like your ideas on what that order should be and what is missing, etc.
I think first and foremost is always God/Tawheed. This should not be presented just as an idea, but should include studying the evidence and logic related to God and His nature.
I think next is scripture. A logical study of texts in comparison with what one knows about God from the first step. Anything that contradicts what you know about God or is irrational must be rejected, and anything that confirms it and conforms with other logic should be accepted.
Next is the messengers. Once you have found acceptable scripture, I think one should study the messengers mentioned in them - their purpose, their behaviors, and other relevant details, including the need and logic of messengership itself and the necessary characteristics of messengers.
Next, I think, is salat and other communication like dua with God as taught by the messengers. We should use the methods they taught us and learn from them how to improve our communication and relationship with God.
Next, I think, is distinguishing true hadith and guides from the false, because at this point details start to matter more and thus being able to distinguish among the huge variety of stuff out there becomes more important. So, I think at this time someone should begin to read gradually on a) imamat
b) hadith sciences and c)fiqh/marajah, in that order.
After that, I think the field of studies open according to individual need an interest.
What books would you recommend or what acts would you recommend at each stage, or how would you do it differently?
I think first and foremost is always God/Tawheed. This should not be presented just as an idea, but should include studying the evidence and logic related to God and His nature.
I think next is scripture. A logical study of texts in comparison with what one knows about God from the first step. Anything that contradicts what you know about God or is irrational must be rejected, and anything that confirms it and conforms with other logic should be accepted.
Next is the messengers. Once you have found acceptable scripture, I think one should study the messengers mentioned in them - their purpose, their behaviors, and other relevant details, including the need and logic of messengership itself and the necessary characteristics of messengers.
Next, I think, is salat and other communication like dua with God as taught by the messengers. We should use the methods they taught us and learn from them how to improve our communication and relationship with God.
Next, I think, is distinguishing true hadith and guides from the false, because at this point details start to matter more and thus being able to distinguish among the huge variety of stuff out there becomes more important. So, I think at this time someone should begin to read gradually on a) imamat
b) hadith sciences and c)fiqh/marajah, in that order.
After that, I think the field of studies open according to individual need an interest.
What books would you recommend or what acts would you recommend at each stage, or how would you do it differently?
Saturday, April 03, 2004
Teacher's Etiquette
Here is a nice, brief article I came across on teacher's etiquette. It is specifically designed at Islamic teaching, like madressah, etc., but even though I teach math to non-Muslim students much of it still applies. I have also added at the end something from Imam Ja'far Sadiq (as) I found on the same subject.
Shahîd ath-thânî, Shaykh Zaynud-dîn b. `Ali b. Ahmad al-‘Âmilî (d. 965 AH) has complied a book on the significance and etiquettes of learning and teaching in Islam. The work Muniyatul Murîd is higly beneficial for teachers and students of an Islamic school. Shahîd ath-thânî has listed thirty etiquettes that a teacher needs to follow while s/he is in a classroom with students.
Following are some of points for we need to consider implementing. We pray to the Almighty Allah ifor success and acceptance. 1. The teacher should be dressed neatly and respectfully with complete awe and reverance. White dress is recommended for it is the best dress.
2. When going to the class read the du`â taught by the Holy Prophet . I begin in the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family. O Allah, I take refuge with You from misleading or getting misled, making mistakes or being made to make mistakes, doing wrong or being made to act wrongly, and (from) acting ignorantly or being made to act with ignorance. [O Allah] Mighty is Your protection, Holy are Your names, Sublime are Your praises, and there is no god besides You. In the name of Allah, sufficient for me is Allah. I rely O Allah, and there is no power and strength except with Allah. O Allah, strengthen my heart and let truth appear on my tongue. O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family.
3. At the beginning of the class or whilst heading to the class have the intention (niyyah) of teaching and spreading the knowledge in order to disseminate Islamic sharî‘ah, conveying the rules of religion and increasing of knowledge through remembrance.
4. Greet, i.e. say salâmun ‘alaykum to all those present.
5. Begin the class with a brief recitation from the Holy Qur’ân. Then pray for those present, for all Muslims and for your self. Also, say a short khutbah (sermon) that includes taking refuge from Shaytân, praising Allah, salawât on the Prophet and his family, and praying for scholars.
6. When teaching, sit with tranquility, dignity, humility and modesty. Facing the Qiblah is recommended. The Prophet fhas said: the best gatherings are those in which people sit facing Qiblah.
7. Avoid excessive jokes and laughing for that reduces ones self-respect.
--
Imam Sadiq (as) said,
"Your teacher has the right over you that you should honor him and pay him respect in different assemblies. You should be very attentive to his words. you should not raise your voice above his. if anybody asks him a question, you should not give its reply. You should not converse with others in his presence and you should allow the people to benefit from his knowledge. You should not speak ill of anyone before him. If anybody speaks ill of him in your presence, you should defend him. You should conceal his shortcomings and bring his virtues to light. You should not associate with his enemies and should not dispute with his friends. If you act on these lines the angels of Allah will testify that you have paid attention to him and have acquired knowledge for the sake of Allah and not to attract the attention of the people.
And the right of your pupils on you is that you should realize that in granting you knowledge and opening its path to you, Allah has appointed you to be their guardian. In case, therefore, you teach them properly and do not frighten them and are not furious with them, Allah will, through His kindness, increase your knowledge. But if you drive the people away from knowledge and, as and when they approach you for it, you frighten them and get annoyed with them, it will only be appropriate that the Almighty Allah may take away the light of knowledge from you and may degrade you in the eyes of the people."
Shahîd ath-thânî, Shaykh Zaynud-dîn b. `Ali b. Ahmad al-‘Âmilî (d. 965 AH) has complied a book on the significance and etiquettes of learning and teaching in Islam. The work Muniyatul Murîd is higly beneficial for teachers and students of an Islamic school. Shahîd ath-thânî has listed thirty etiquettes that a teacher needs to follow while s/he is in a classroom with students.
Following are some of points for we need to consider implementing. We pray to the Almighty Allah ifor success and acceptance. 1. The teacher should be dressed neatly and respectfully with complete awe and reverance. White dress is recommended for it is the best dress.
2. When going to the class read the du`â taught by the Holy Prophet . I begin in the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family. O Allah, I take refuge with You from misleading or getting misled, making mistakes or being made to make mistakes, doing wrong or being made to act wrongly, and (from) acting ignorantly or being made to act with ignorance. [O Allah] Mighty is Your protection, Holy are Your names, Sublime are Your praises, and there is no god besides You. In the name of Allah, sufficient for me is Allah. I rely O Allah, and there is no power and strength except with Allah. O Allah, strengthen my heart and let truth appear on my tongue. O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family.
3. At the beginning of the class or whilst heading to the class have the intention (niyyah) of teaching and spreading the knowledge in order to disseminate Islamic sharî‘ah, conveying the rules of religion and increasing of knowledge through remembrance.
4. Greet, i.e. say salâmun ‘alaykum to all those present.
5. Begin the class with a brief recitation from the Holy Qur’ân. Then pray for those present, for all Muslims and for your self. Also, say a short khutbah (sermon) that includes taking refuge from Shaytân, praising Allah, salawât on the Prophet and his family, and praying for scholars.
6. When teaching, sit with tranquility, dignity, humility and modesty. Facing the Qiblah is recommended. The Prophet fhas said: the best gatherings are those in which people sit facing Qiblah.
7. Avoid excessive jokes and laughing for that reduces ones self-respect.
--
Imam Sadiq (as) said,
"Your teacher has the right over you that you should honor him and pay him respect in different assemblies. You should be very attentive to his words. you should not raise your voice above his. if anybody asks him a question, you should not give its reply. You should not converse with others in his presence and you should allow the people to benefit from his knowledge. You should not speak ill of anyone before him. If anybody speaks ill of him in your presence, you should defend him. You should conceal his shortcomings and bring his virtues to light. You should not associate with his enemies and should not dispute with his friends. If you act on these lines the angels of Allah will testify that you have paid attention to him and have acquired knowledge for the sake of Allah and not to attract the attention of the people.
And the right of your pupils on you is that you should realize that in granting you knowledge and opening its path to you, Allah has appointed you to be their guardian. In case, therefore, you teach them properly and do not frighten them and are not furious with them, Allah will, through His kindness, increase your knowledge. But if you drive the people away from knowledge and, as and when they approach you for it, you frighten them and get annoyed with them, it will only be appropriate that the Almighty Allah may take away the light of knowledge from you and may degrade you in the eyes of the people."
Friday, April 02, 2004
A Moment in the Sun
Wow today is turning out to be a busy blog day, but I didn't want to pass this up.
This evening I had a really nice, guilty pleasure. My mom and I go to the movies on Friday and tonight we didn't go to our usual theater. At this different theater, we ran into one of the board members of the charter school I used to teach at.
They sort of didn't renew my contract for the third year because they didn't like that I was looking elsewhere. There were some nice things about teaching at a small school like that, but the politics were just unbearable - incredible - a major eye-opener for me.
Anyway, this board member tells me that I was really missed at that school. Then she says, "We didn't know how very much we'd miss you - and I mean that as a compliment." She asked where I was teaching and we chatted a little and when I told her I would be teaching AP Statistics next year (insha'allah) she got big impressed eyes and said she was happy for me.
So I enjoyed my little moment of having one of them tell me essentially that they realized they made a mistake about me and didn't realize what they had until I was gone. :) I have heard so much about the troubles they've had with teachers since I've left and I have been so happy to be elsewhere. Okay, I need to get un-full of myself, but it made me feel vindicated and respected, it was nice of her to say it.
This evening I had a really nice, guilty pleasure. My mom and I go to the movies on Friday and tonight we didn't go to our usual theater. At this different theater, we ran into one of the board members of the charter school I used to teach at.
They sort of didn't renew my contract for the third year because they didn't like that I was looking elsewhere. There were some nice things about teaching at a small school like that, but the politics were just unbearable - incredible - a major eye-opener for me.
Anyway, this board member tells me that I was really missed at that school. Then she says, "We didn't know how very much we'd miss you - and I mean that as a compliment." She asked where I was teaching and we chatted a little and when I told her I would be teaching AP Statistics next year (insha'allah) she got big impressed eyes and said she was happy for me.
So I enjoyed my little moment of having one of them tell me essentially that they realized they made a mistake about me and didn't realize what they had until I was gone. :) I have heard so much about the troubles they've had with teachers since I've left and I have been so happy to be elsewhere. Okay, I need to get un-full of myself, but it made me feel vindicated and respected, it was nice of her to say it.
The Banner - Apples
Okay,
I am finding it really amusing how the banner at the top of the page changes based on what I've been posting. Earlier there were ads about Islam and Steven Covey stuff. Now, there's a bunch of death stuff. So for fun, I think I'll type some silly words and see if any of them come up in ads. I'll put one in the title, too.
Pink Panther
Real Audio Sucks
So does CNN
Frodo Baggins
Let me know if you see any banner ads related to these at the top of the page if you'd like to participate in my experiment. :)
I am finding it really amusing how the banner at the top of the page changes based on what I've been posting. Earlier there were ads about Islam and Steven Covey stuff. Now, there's a bunch of death stuff. So for fun, I think I'll type some silly words and see if any of them come up in ads. I'll put one in the title, too.
Pink Panther
Real Audio Sucks
So does CNN
Frodo Baggins
Let me know if you see any banner ads related to these at the top of the page if you'd like to participate in my experiment. :)
Responses to Death Questions
As you may recall, I've been asking around about what happens to the body and soul after death. Here are some of the responses chosen because they were the most informative:
Salaamun Alaikum,
Truly - we are ALL from Allah and back to Him is our return - whatever faith we belong to we all came from Him and we have to return back to Him to account for our deeds.
You are right sister, cremation is not permissible in Islam - we are told in many ahaadith that even after death, there is an attraction of the soul to its body - especially in the immediate aftermath of the death. I do not know if any books in English cover this topic in detail however I know of many works in Farsi which speak about the relationship between the soul and body. Unfortunately, time constraints do not permit me to go into much detail in this email but you may check out some books on this topic which are on the al-islam.org site.
Some Ahaadith speak about the "pain" the soul feels when the body is mishandled during the period after death such as at the time of the Ghusl, burial, etc... and explain the reasons why this occurs. Some things, like the 'squeezing of the grave' are Haqq (truth) but the actual way it takes place is not known to us - some people used to believe and preach on the pulpit that it was actually a phsyical squeeze of the grave however most if not all of the true scholars and Ulamaa who have written on this topic completely do not accept this.
It is a punishment for the body and at the same time a form of purification - at least for the true believers - the Mo'minoon - the Shi'a of the Prophet and his Ahlu Bayt. For others, the punishments in the grave are the beginning of their perpetual punishments if they are destined for Hell.
As for the burial process, a Muslim has to strive to ensure that he or she is buried as a Muslim - the Ghusl, Kafan, method of burial etc.. are all legislations in Islam which must be carried out just as we have other obligatory acts which we make sure we fulfill in our life on this Earth.
As for comparing Imam Husain (as) and him not getting a "Muslim burial" - there is a stark difference between his situation and dying in an American or Canadian city (or any other city) in which no one is available to give you the last rites and bury you according to your faith. His circumstance was different as he was not permitted a proper burial however even if he was, being a Shaheed, there was no need for the Ghusl or Kafan - he would have been buried in his clothes with no ghusl facing Makkah as this is the ruling for all who are killed in the way of Allah on the battlefield.
The Qur'an tells us that Prophet Ibrahim was prohibited for praying for his Uncle who was an open enemy to Islam however for those who did not know about Islam (the Mustadhafeen or downtrodden) - they are not technically classified as Kuffar or disbelievers.
was Salaam,
Saleem Bhimji
www.iph.ca
www.al-mubin.org
Salam,
as for cremation, it falls under mutilation of a dead body- a thing not permitted even for insects. The basic idea here is the preservation of the sanctity of Allah's (swt) creation.
The relation between the soul and the physical world (including the soul's human body) after death differs by the level of "taQwa" and faith attained by the human being. Some time ago (I can vaguely remember) there was an 'alim speaking about the after-death, Allah knows best, but I learned that certain people are given privileges after their demise. In the Hadeeth, when the prophet (S) was in his assention (me'raaj), he passed by prophets praying inside their graves..
The "squeeze of the grave" was explained as an expression of the tremendous suffering most souls go through in the transition between this world and the "barzakh" (purgatory?). That new level of existence, by its nature, creates a level of pressure on the soul and mind, so intense that it is not a simple journey. Hence the term "squeeze of the grave".
He drew a similarity to the transition from pre-birth into the seen world: It is by Allah's mercy that new-borns do not know anything about the new level of their existence, because otherwise the transition would carry a huge pressure that they would not be able to stand.
As for receiving proper burial, one must in this case try to make it at least possible (such as writing their will, letting key people (such as some involved in an islamic center for example) whom they know might put some effort to fulfill the obligation should it happen... May Allah proglong our lives in His satisfaction.
wassalaam
Hussein
Salam,
Please accept my deepest sympathy and condolences on the passing away of your aunt.
Burial is important. There are hadeeth r eports that say that every person would be raised on the Day of Judgement as he/she was buried.
By the way, Imam Husayn did get a Muslim burial. There are two versions of this. First one is this. When Husayn arrived at Karbala, he bought the land of the Banu Asad for 60,000 Dirhams and then made a gift of it back to them with three promises: (1) After the battle, when the enemy soldiers have left, come and bury our dead, (2) Do not reuse the land for farming, and (3) When the Mausoleums are built, welcome the Zai'r (visitors) and host them for three days without charging them.
The second version is that by miracle, the fourth Imam came back to Karbala on the 12th of Muharram and buried his father and all the other martyrs, because only an Imam can perform the funeral of another Imam.
Thank you for reading.
Sincerely,
Syed-Mohsin Naquvi
Later several people said only Imams (sa) bury Imams (sa), so the second seems more likely. I had then asked about Imam Mahdi (as) and was told about the concept of raj'a that some or all of the Imams (sa) may return and one of these would bury 12th Imam (as).
As for burial, it seems perhaps the pain felt cannot be what we call a physical pain since the body no longer feels at death. Someone compared the pain as to what a mother feels at the suffering of her child. The squeezing of the grave - apparently this happens to the soul, and can be a purification from sins or a beginning of the taste of upcoming punishment in Hell.
At times some of this information was pretty scary, and then someone would say it differently and their wording was more calming. There are many hadith about the importance of thinking about death and remembering death always. I don't think this means to be gloomy all the time, but it is a warning that we should constantly be aware of and preparing for our Hereafter and that all of our deeds (or lack thereof) need to weighed against that.
This reminds me of my students. Many of them do not do homework and thus they don't pass. They theoretically realize the importance of homework and of getting good grades, but the immediate distractions and entertainments lead them away from doing what they should and they forget or they simply defer to instant gratification. Teachers and parents are constantly frustrated as to how to fix this problem. But our state in this life is the same; we theoretically know what is best for us but we constantly defer to instant gratification and distractions and forget what is important.
Salaamun Alaikum,
Truly - we are ALL from Allah and back to Him is our return - whatever faith we belong to we all came from Him and we have to return back to Him to account for our deeds.
You are right sister, cremation is not permissible in Islam - we are told in many ahaadith that even after death, there is an attraction of the soul to its body - especially in the immediate aftermath of the death. I do not know if any books in English cover this topic in detail however I know of many works in Farsi which speak about the relationship between the soul and body. Unfortunately, time constraints do not permit me to go into much detail in this email but you may check out some books on this topic which are on the al-islam.org site.
Some Ahaadith speak about the "pain" the soul feels when the body is mishandled during the period after death such as at the time of the Ghusl, burial, etc... and explain the reasons why this occurs. Some things, like the 'squeezing of the grave' are Haqq (truth) but the actual way it takes place is not known to us - some people used to believe and preach on the pulpit that it was actually a phsyical squeeze of the grave however most if not all of the true scholars and Ulamaa who have written on this topic completely do not accept this.
It is a punishment for the body and at the same time a form of purification - at least for the true believers - the Mo'minoon - the Shi'a of the Prophet and his Ahlu Bayt. For others, the punishments in the grave are the beginning of their perpetual punishments if they are destined for Hell.
As for the burial process, a Muslim has to strive to ensure that he or she is buried as a Muslim - the Ghusl, Kafan, method of burial etc.. are all legislations in Islam which must be carried out just as we have other obligatory acts which we make sure we fulfill in our life on this Earth.
As for comparing Imam Husain (as) and him not getting a "Muslim burial" - there is a stark difference between his situation and dying in an American or Canadian city (or any other city) in which no one is available to give you the last rites and bury you according to your faith. His circumstance was different as he was not permitted a proper burial however even if he was, being a Shaheed, there was no need for the Ghusl or Kafan - he would have been buried in his clothes with no ghusl facing Makkah as this is the ruling for all who are killed in the way of Allah on the battlefield.
The Qur'an tells us that Prophet Ibrahim was prohibited for praying for his Uncle who was an open enemy to Islam however for those who did not know about Islam (the Mustadhafeen or downtrodden) - they are not technically classified as Kuffar or disbelievers.
was Salaam,
Saleem Bhimji
www.iph.ca
www.al-mubin.org
Salam,
as for cremation, it falls under mutilation of a dead body- a thing not permitted even for insects. The basic idea here is the preservation of the sanctity of Allah's (swt) creation.
The relation between the soul and the physical world (including the soul's human body) after death differs by the level of "taQwa" and faith attained by the human being. Some time ago (I can vaguely remember) there was an 'alim speaking about the after-death, Allah knows best, but I learned that certain people are given privileges after their demise. In the Hadeeth, when the prophet (S) was in his assention (me'raaj), he passed by prophets praying inside their graves..
The "squeeze of the grave" was explained as an expression of the tremendous suffering most souls go through in the transition between this world and the "barzakh" (purgatory?). That new level of existence, by its nature, creates a level of pressure on the soul and mind, so intense that it is not a simple journey. Hence the term "squeeze of the grave".
He drew a similarity to the transition from pre-birth into the seen world: It is by Allah's mercy that new-borns do not know anything about the new level of their existence, because otherwise the transition would carry a huge pressure that they would not be able to stand.
As for receiving proper burial, one must in this case try to make it at least possible (such as writing their will, letting key people (such as some involved in an islamic center for example) whom they know might put some effort to fulfill the obligation should it happen... May Allah proglong our lives in His satisfaction.
wassalaam
Hussein
Salam,
Please accept my deepest sympathy and condolences on the passing away of your aunt.
Burial is important. There are hadeeth r eports that say that every person would be raised on the Day of Judgement as he/she was buried.
By the way, Imam Husayn did get a Muslim burial. There are two versions of this. First one is this. When Husayn arrived at Karbala, he bought the land of the Banu Asad for 60,000 Dirhams and then made a gift of it back to them with three promises: (1) After the battle, when the enemy soldiers have left, come and bury our dead, (2) Do not reuse the land for farming, and (3) When the Mausoleums are built, welcome the Zai'r (visitors) and host them for three days without charging them.
The second version is that by miracle, the fourth Imam came back to Karbala on the 12th of Muharram and buried his father and all the other martyrs, because only an Imam can perform the funeral of another Imam.
Thank you for reading.
Sincerely,
Syed-Mohsin Naquvi
Later several people said only Imams (sa) bury Imams (sa), so the second seems more likely. I had then asked about Imam Mahdi (as) and was told about the concept of raj'a that some or all of the Imams (sa) may return and one of these would bury 12th Imam (as).
As for burial, it seems perhaps the pain felt cannot be what we call a physical pain since the body no longer feels at death. Someone compared the pain as to what a mother feels at the suffering of her child. The squeezing of the grave - apparently this happens to the soul, and can be a purification from sins or a beginning of the taste of upcoming punishment in Hell.
At times some of this information was pretty scary, and then someone would say it differently and their wording was more calming. There are many hadith about the importance of thinking about death and remembering death always. I don't think this means to be gloomy all the time, but it is a warning that we should constantly be aware of and preparing for our Hereafter and that all of our deeds (or lack thereof) need to weighed against that.
This reminds me of my students. Many of them do not do homework and thus they don't pass. They theoretically realize the importance of homework and of getting good grades, but the immediate distractions and entertainments lead them away from doing what they should and they forget or they simply defer to instant gratification. Teachers and parents are constantly frustrated as to how to fix this problem. But our state in this life is the same; we theoretically know what is best for us but we constantly defer to instant gratification and distractions and forget what is important.
Thursday, April 01, 2004
A little levity
http://www.startrek.com
If you like Trek, the website is funny today - they have a whole April Fool's Day setup.
Today is my husband's birthday - no one ever believes him.
Frodo CNN Pink Panther
Frodo CNN Pink Panther
Real Audio Sucks
If you like Trek, the website is funny today - they have a whole April Fool's Day setup.
Today is my husband's birthday - no one ever believes him.
Frodo CNN Pink Panther
Frodo CNN Pink Panther
Real Audio Sucks
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