Faqr and Ghina (Poverty & Richness)

Poverty in the language of Sufism means that an initiate claims possession of nothing and is freed from all kinds of attachment toward worldly things, feeling utmost neediness and destitution before God in his relationship with Him, based on servanthood on his side and the Sole Object of Worship on God’s. It is not ‘poverty’ as understood by people, nor does it mean begging from people by displaying one’s privations.

Poverty consists in cutting relationship with all else other than the Eternally Besought-of-All and depending on Him in meeting all of one’s necessities. For this reason, the more in detachment one is from whatever is worldly and temporary and the more annihilated in dependence on Divine Attributes and Essence, the more one has attained Poverty and is right to repeat the saying of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, Poverty is my pride.

As it is stated in a blessed saying, when poverty becomes a dimension of faith and submission, a man no longer depends on the help, will and power of anyone else save God. Even if such a man had so much wealth as to fill the whole world, since it is subject to decay and exhaustion, he never thinks of depending on it and turns to God with all his strength and feelings, conscious of his essential poverty and helplessness. How beautiful is the following couplet of Nabi, a 17th century Ottoman poet:

Do not despise poverty, O Nabi!
Poverty is the mirror where independence of others is reflected.

http://www.crescentlife.com/spirituality/faqr_o_ghina.htm

Human & Nature Scenes from Ancient Silk Road.... Roman Anazarbus...Anavarza

The cow that wasn´t . I like to share this article with you and found it delightful

http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2007/02/1458-human-and-nature-scenes-from.html

Gustav strikes Cuban mainland

http://article.wn.com/view/2008/08/31/Gustav_strikes_Cuban_mainland/

http://article.wn.com/view/2008/09/01/Hurricane_Gustav_tops_levees_but_no_breaches_yet_8/?section=TopStoriesWorldwide&template=worldnews%2Findex.txt

The forbidden fruit:

http://article.wn.com/view/2008/08/23/Forbidden_fruit/

The Lure of Satan

Darwinism: A Face of Racism

http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1216208030411&pagename=Zone-English-Discover_Islam%2FDIELayout

Afghan child mortality linked to uneducated mothers

HONG KONG (Reuters) -- High child mortality rates in conservative Afghanistan are linked not just to war but to mothers being uneducated and having little or no say when their children need medical help, a study has found.

Child mortality rates in Afghanistan are among the highest in the world, and one out of every five Afghan children (or 191 out of every 1,000 live births) will not survive beyond age five.

The study of 2,474 children from 1,327 households in Kabul province found that diarrhea (32.5 percent), acute respiratory infection (41 percent), emaciation (12.4 percent) and stuntedness (39.9 percent) were among the most common health problems, said the article published in the latest issue of BioMed Central Public Health.

""As in other countries, the primary caregivers of small children in Afghanistan are their mothers; however, in this country, mothers are subject to a number of restrictions in the decision-making process regarding child healthcare,"" said the article published by a team of Afghan and Japanese researchers.

The researchers said they interviewed mothers of the children and found the problems correlated most closely with mothers not having any autonomy (79.1 percent) and education (71.7 percent).

Up to 18.3 percent of the mothers also delivered their first child before they were 16, which meant they were married when they were still children, the researchers wrote.

A shortage of basic material needs was also observed in 59.1 percent of the households.

The researchers defined a lack of maternal autonomy to mean mothers requiring permission from the head of the household to bring a child to the doctor, or if she required another person - usually a male relative - to accompany her to a clinic with the child.

Afghanistan is deeply conservative and women´s movements are still restricted in many parts of the country.

The researchers defined a lack of education as not having attended school for at least a year.

""The poor economic and educational status of these women, and their overall immaturity caused by a lack of learning opportunities may have resulted in difficulties in preventing illness in their children,"" they wrote.

They called for change in Afghan society. Families needed to be educated and the government must play its part, they said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSHKG9685520080830?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews

Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden was quoted Monday as telling senior Israeli officials behind closed doors that Israel will have to reconcile itself to a nuclear Iran.
In the unsourced report, Army Radio also quoted Biden as saying that he opposed “opening an additional military and diplomatic front.“
Biden, chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has long been considered strongly pro-Israel. His nomination as Barack Obama’s running mate had been expected to shore up the Democrats’ strength with US Jewish voters.
According to Israeli daily Haaretz, Army Radio said Israeli officials expressed “amazement“ over the remarks attributed to him.
“Israel will have to reconcile itself with the nuclearization of Iran,“ Army Radio quoted Biden as telling the unnamed officials.
“It’s doubtful if the economic sanctions will be effective, and I am against opening an additional military and diplomatic front.“
Last year, in a widely quoted interview with the Jewish American Shalom TV, Biden said, “I am a Zionist. You don’t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist,“ adding that “Israel is the single greatest strength that America has in the Middle East,“ and that its presence as a strategic ally meant that America need station far fewer troops and warships in the region.
Iran says its nuclear program is geared to producing electricity but the Israeli regime and the US accuse it of trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability.

Roswitha´s remark:  What they don´t say here is, that this remark was made several years ago.

http://www.blogrunner.com/snapshot/D/2/9/biden_quoted_as_saying_that_israel_will_have_to_reconcile_itself_to_a_nuclear_iran/

Iranian Award-winning film ’The Song of Sparrows’ will premiere in 13 countries worldwide.
France, US, Germany, Mexico, Belgium, Greece, Norway, South Korea, Mexico and Portugal are among the 13 countries to screen Majid Majidi’s movie in the upcoming months, Mehr News Agency said.
Fortissimo Films, the Netherlands-based film production and distribution company, has clinched global rights to the film.
’The Song of Sparrows’ earned Reza Naji the Silver Bear for best actor at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale).
Prior to its win at the Berlinale, the film also took the best director, editing, original score and makeup prizes at the 26th Fajr International Film Festival.
The film’s Tehran premier is scheduled for October 1 concurrent with Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
It also participated in numerous international film festivals, including at the 43rd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic.
’The Song of the Sparrows’ is the story of Karim, who enjoys his work as ostrich breeder at a ranch in Shahriyar, west of Tehran. He is a loving husband and father of three who is laid off from work because one of the birds runs away into the hills.
He commutes to the city and his efforts to help his family lead to succession of problems.

http://www.iran-daily.com/1387/3211/html/art.htm

Trudy makes interesting points that help to evaluate this startling account in this Dutch Newspaper. I would add to her comment, that the story has not been picked up by the major news media in the USA. Perhaps they share her opinion of De Teleegraf.