Answers

Answer 1

Answer 2

Answer 3

Answer 4

How Smart Are You?

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Now That Spring Is In The Air...

It's spring again in Irbid! These pictures were taken back then in 2004, during the semester break. Anyway, those pictures of Golan Heights were taken secretly -.-'' We were warned earlier against taking any pictures in the area, but it couldn't be helped =p The view was so spectacular...

Golan Heights - Syrian territories occupied by Israeli forces in 1969 and 1973

Golan Heights

Golan Heights and Yarmouk River

Ashshah

Waiting for the bus (coming once every 1 hour, no? o.O)

For larger pics, click here

Friends

Friends are very special people who accept each other with unconditional caring. They recognise each other's talents and faults, and acknowledge them without judgment.

They are incapable of turning away when times are tough and life's problems seem hard to bear. Instead, they encourage each other so they can enjoy the good times and find strength to endure the bad times.

They're never afraid to say what they feel and can be honest without causing hurt or pain. They can depend on each other, because they have the kind of trust that allows them to share the best and worst of their lives with laughter and without fear.

You are one of those special people, and I'm glad you are my friend.

Sand and Stone

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some
point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other
one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying
anything, wrote in the sand:

"TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE."

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a
bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started
drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near
drowning, he wrote on a stone:

"TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE."


The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him,

"After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone,why?"

The other friend replied:

"When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of
forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us,
we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."


LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND
TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE

The Girl Who Threw Her Heart Away

This is A story
of a little girl .
the girl
who threw
her heart away

She's odd
Dull and Awkward
Peculiar and extremely weird,
So strange,
She's Alienated!

pushing her future
backwards .
She isolates herself
Faraway from norms
And standard

all the way
she walks
Through the pave
of continuous boredom,
Despair, Pain and hurt
There is no enjoyment
Nor was there any satisfaction
Though there were loads of hope ..
That she might change one day,
And give life a better look .

She's lonely
And always alone
She's nobody important
Only a being on her own

What she wears
What she says
The way she is
She's that
Of strangeness
Arcane nature

And that was
All she is
The way
people say
The way
people view
The girl who threw her heart away

Coz she is ..

The girl who threw her heart away .
So far away from the world,
Claiming to purify her soul ..
Tearing her world into pieces,
Hoping to join them together
For the everlasting happiness .
Forgetting her feelings
for God's pleasure
Sacrificing her dreams,
To fulfil His order ..

Coz this girl
Who threw her heart away
Means well
And was never of despair
Never felt alone
Nor missed life's splendour
For not living life
The way people do so

Enslaving herself in humility,
of grace and great modesty,
nevertheless her life seems hard
in the eyes of those
who thinks she's odd

coz this girl who threw her heart away
is keeping it in the most decent way
not in the jars of the worldly waste
but in a beautiful garden
preparing to face
the great, crucial day
where all man and woman
be gathered
to witness
the utmost greatness
of the Supreme Lord
Allah the Most Greatest!
The day
where the world shall see
that this girl
who threw her heart away
is all fine, happy and ok! :)

Side by Side

They lie on the table side by side

The Holy Quran and the T.V. Guide.

One is well worn and cherished with pride.

Not the Quran, but the T.V. Guide.

One is used daily to help folks decide.

Not the Quran, but the T.V. Guide.

As the pages are turned, what shall they see?

Oh, what does it matter, turn on the T.V.

So they open the book in which they confide.

No, not the Quran, but the T.V. Guide.

The Word of Allah is seldom read.

Maybe a verse before they fall into bed.

Exhausted and sleepy and tired as can be.

Not from reading the Quran, from watching T.V.

So then back to the table side by side,

Lie the Holy Quran and the T.V. Guide.

No time for prayer, no time for the Word,

The plan of Istiqama is seldom heard.

But forgiveness of sin, so full and free,

Is found in the Quran, not on T.V.

My Promise...

I cannot promise you
I will not change.
I cannot promise you
I will not have many different moods.
I cannot promise you
I will not hurt your feelings sometimes.
I cannot promise you
I will not be erratic.
I cannot promise you
I will always be strong.
I cannot promise you
My faults will not show.

But...

I do promise you
I will always be supportive of you.
I do promise you
I will share all my thoughts and feelings with you.
I do promise you
I will give you freedom to be yourself.
I do promise you
I will understand everything that you do.
I do promise you
I will be completely honest with you.
I do promise you
I will laugh and cry with you.
I do promise you
I will help you achieve all of your goals.

But...

Most of all,
I do promise you
I will love you now, always and forever...

Big Star-Spangled Lies for War...

A lot of people want to believe that the current war on Iraq is some kind of aberration – a radical departure from the previous baseline of U.S. foreign policy. That's a comforting illusion.

Yes, the current administration in Washington is notable for the extreme mendacity and calculated idiocy of its claims. But – decade after decade – the propaganda fuel for one U.S. war after another has flowed from a standard set of lies.

Some of the boilerplate lies are implicit assumptions about Uncle Sam's benign and even noble intent. Other deceptions rely on more specific whoppers, endlessly whirling through the news media's spin cycle. From one war to the next, certain themes are played up more than others – but the process always involves building an agenda to start a war, trying to justify the war while it's underway, and then claiming that the war must continue as long as the man in the Oval Office says so.

Sometimes a war begins suddenly, filling the national horizon with a huge insistent flash. At other times, over a period of months or years, a low distant rumble gradually turns into a roar. But in any event, the democratic role of citizens is not simply to observe and obey. In the United States, what we think is supposed to matter. And for practical reasons, top officials in Washington don't want to seem too far out of step with voters.

The president leads a siege of public opinion on the home front – a battleground where media spin is the main weapon. A media campaign for hearts and minds at home means going all-out to persuade us that the latest war is as good as a war can be – necessary, justified, righteous and worth any sorrows to be left in its wake.

Along the way, media outlets routinely march to the drumbeat of key themes:

* America Is a Fair and Noble Superpower

* Our Leaders Will Do Everything They Can to Avoid War

* Our Leaders Would Never Tell Us Outright Lies

* This Guy Is a Modern-Day Hitler

* This Is About Human Rights

* This Is Not at All About Oil or Corporate Profits

* They Are the Aggressors, Not Us

* If This War Is Wrong, Congress Will Stop It

* If This War Is Wrong, the Media Will Tell Us

* Media Coverage Brings War Into Our Living Rooms

* Opposing the War Means Siding With the Enemy

* This Is a Necessary Battle in the War on Terrorism

* What the U.S. Government Needs Most Is Better PR

* The Pentagon Fights Wars as Humanely as Possible

* Our Soldiers Are Heroes, Theirs Are Inhuman

* America Needs the Resolve to Kick the "Vietnam Syndrome"

* Withdrawal Would Cripple U.S. Credibility

In a society with significant aspects of democracy, persistent spin is necessary to gain and retain public support for war. The war-makers rely on "perception management" techniques that effectively promote certain themes; the better we understand those ongoing themes, the more clearly we'll be able to see through them. Such understanding can blow away the fog of media war and enhance democratic participation in decisions that are truly matters of life and death.

This article is adapted from the prologue of Norman Solomon's new book War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death. For information, go to: www.WarMadeEasy.com

The Poem of Death...

This is the tale of an Average Man,
Who acts contrary to Allah's plan,
If U are reflected therein
Then repent and commit no sin.

It was early in the morning at four,
When death knocked upon a bedroom door,
Who is there? the sleeping one cried.
I'm Azrael, let me come inside.

At once, the man began to shiver,
As one sweating in deadly fever,
He shouted to his sleeping wife,
Don't let him take away my life.

Please go away, O Angel of Death!
Leave me alone, I'm not ready yet.
My family depends on me,
Give me a chance, O please mercy!

The angel knocked again and again,
Friend! I'll take your life without a pain,
Tis your soul Allah requires,
I come not with my own desire.

Bewildered, the man began to cry,
O Angel I'm so afraid to die,
I'll give you gold and be your slave,
Don't send me to the unlit grave.

Let me in, O Friend! The Angel said,
Open the door, get up from your bed,
If you do not allow me in,
I will walk through it, like a jinn.

The man held a gun in his right hand,
Ready to defy the Angel's stand.
I'll point my gun, towards your head,
You dare come in, I'll shoot you dead.

By now the Angel was in the room,
Saying, O Friend! prepare for you doom.
Foolish man, Angels never die,
Put down your gun and do not sigh.

Why are you afraid! Tell me O man,
To die according to Allah's plan?
Come smile at me, do not be grim,
Be Happy to return to Him.

O Angel! I bow my head in shame,
I had no time to take Allah's Name.
From morning till dusk, I made my wealth,
Not even caring for my health.

Allah's command I never obeyed,
Nor five times a day I ever prayed.
A Ramadan came and a Ramadan went,
But no time had I to repent.

The Hajj was already fard on me,
But I would not part with my money.
All charities I did ignore,
Taking usury more and more.

Sometimes, I sipped my favourite wine,
With flirting women I sat to dine.
O Angel! I appeal to you,
Spare my life for a year or two.

The Laws of Quraan I will obey,
I'll begin Salat this very day.
My Fast and Hajj, I will complete,
And keep away from self conceit.

I will refrain from usury,
And give all my wealth to charity,
Wine and wenches I will detest,
Allah's oneness I will attest.

We Angels do what Allah demands,
We cannot go against His commands.
Death is ordained for everyone,
Father, mother, daughter or son.

I'm afraid this moment is your last,
Now be reminded, of your past,
I do understand your fears,
But it is now too late for tears.

You lived in this world, two score and more,
Never did you, your people adore.
Your parents, you did not obey,
Hungry beggars, you turned away.

Your two ill-gotten, female offsprings,
In nightclubs, for livelihood they sing.
Instead of making more Muslims,
You made your children non-Muslims.

You ignored the Mua'dhin Adhaan,
Nor did you read the Holy Quran.
Breaking promises all your life,
Backbiting friends, and causing strife.

From hoarded goods, great profits you made,
And your poor workers, you underpaid.
Horses and cards were your leisure,
Money making was your pleasure.

You ate vitamins and grew more fat,
With the very sick, you never sat.
A pint of blood you never gave,
Which could a little baby save.

O Human, you have done enough wrong,
You bought good properties for a song.
When the farmers appealed to you,
You did not have mercy, this is true.

Paradise for you? I cannot tell,
Undoubtedly you will dwell in hell.
There is no time for you to repent,
I'll take your soul for which I am sent.

The ending however, is very sad,
Eventually the man became mad,
With a cry, he jumped out of bed!
And suddenly, he fell down dead

Friends...And Best Friends...

Friend: calls your parents by mr. and mrs.
Best friend: calls your parents dad and mom.

Friend: has never seen you cry.
Best friend: has always had the best shoulder to cry on.

Friend: never asks for anything to eat or drink.
Best friend: opens the fridge and makes herself at home.

Friend: asks you to write down your number.
Best friend: they ask you for their number (cuz! they can't remember it)

Friend: borrows your stuff for a few days then gives it back.
Best friend: has a closet full of your stuff.

Friend: only knows a few things about you.
Best friend: could write a biography on your life story.

Friend: will leave you behind if that is what the crowd is doing.
Best friend: will always go with you.

What Will Matter...

What will matter is not what you've bought, but what you've built.

What will matter is not what you've got, but what you've given.

What will matter is not your success, but your significance.

What will matter is not what you've learned, but what you've taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

Reflections...

Watch your thoughts, they become words.

Watch your words, they become actions.

Watch your actions, they become habits.

Watch your habits, they become character.

Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny...

"In the search for me, I discovered truth. In the search for truth, I discovered love. In the search for love, I discovered God. And in God, I have found everything."

Do You Believe God Exists?

This is a very interesting conversation between a Muslim student and his professor. The fantastic use of logics by the students amazes me so much. You can click on the headline to download the pps file (powerpoint presentation). I hope you will enjoy reading it and will share it with your friends.

3 Ekor Ikan...

Konon, di sebuah kolam tinggal 3 ekor ikan: Si Pandai, Si Agak Pandai, dan Si Bodoh. Kehidupan mereka berlangsung biasa saja seperti ikan-ikan yang lain, sampai pada suatu hari ketika kolam itu kedatangan seorang nelayan - seorang manusia.

Nelayan itu membawa jala; dan Si Pandai melihatnya dari dalam air. Berbekalkan pengalamannya, cerita-cerita yang pernah didengarnya, dan kecerdikannya, Si Pandai memutuskan untuk melakukan sesuatu.

"Hampir tiada tempat berlindung di kolam ini," fikirnya "Jadi saya akan pura-pura mati saja."
Lantas, Si Pandai mengumpulkan segenap tenaganya dan meloncat ke luar kolam, jatuh tepat di kaki nelayan itu. Tentu saja si Nelayan terkejut. Kerana ikan tersebut menahan nafas, nelayan itu mengiranya mati; ia pun melemparkan ikan itu kembali ke dalam kolam. Ikan itu kemudian meluncur tenang dan bersembunyi di sebuah ceruk kecil dekat pinggir kolam.

Ikan yang kedua, Si Agak-Pandai, tidak begitu memahami apa yang telah terjadi. Ia pun berenang mendekati Si Pandai dan menanyakan hal itu.

"Senang saja. Saya pura-pura mati, dan nelayan itu melemparkan aku kembali ke kolam," kata Si Pandai.

Si Agak-Pandai itu pun segera melompat ke darat, jatuh dekat kaki nelayan.

"Aneh," fikir nelayan itu, "Ikan-ikan ini berloncatan keluar dari air."

Namun, Si Agak Pandai ini ternyata lupa menahan nafas, dan iapun dimasukkan ke dalam raga.
Ia kembali mengamat-amati kolam, dan kerana agak hairan memikirkan ikan-ikan yang berloncatan ke darat, ia pun lupa menutup raganya. Menyedari hal ini, Si Agak Pandai berusaha melepaskan diri ke luar dari raga, membolak-balikkan badannya, dan masuk kembali ke dalam kolam. Ia mencari-cari ikan pertama yakni Si Pandai, lalu ikut bersembunyi di dekatnya - nafasnya terengah-engah.

Dan ikan ketiga, Si Bodoh, tidak mampu mengambil pelajaran dari segala yang dilihatnya itu, meskipun ia telah mengetahui pengalaman kedua-dua ikan sebelumnya. Si Pandai dan Si Agak-Pandai memberi penjelasan secara terperinci, menekankan pentingnya menahan nafas agar di....................

"Terima kasih! Saya sudah mengerti," kata Si Bodoh.

Sehabis mengucapkan katanya itu, Si Bodoh pun melemparkan dirinya ke darat, jatuh tepat dekat di kaki nelayan. Si nelayan langsung memasukkan ikan ketiga itu ke dalam raganya tanpa memperhatikan apakah ikan itu masih bernafas atau tidak. Dan raganya sekarang tertutup rapat. Berulangkali si nelayan melemparkan jalanya ke dalam kolam, namun kedua-dua ikan yang pertama tadi dengan aman bersembunyi di ceruk kolam.

Akhirnya nelayan itu menghentikan usahanya. Ia membuka raganya, dan menyedari bahawa ternyata ikan yang di dalamnya tidak bernafas. Ikan itupun dibawanya pulang untuk makanan kucing.

Catatan:

Sahabat; hidup ini benar-benar bukanlah sesuatu yang mudah. Melayari bahtera hidup perlu disesuaikan dengan kemampuan diri kita. Hanya orang-orang yang bijak akan mengatur hidupnya sebagai ladang menyemai bekalan ukhrawi. Orang bijak tidak akan tertipu oleh indahnya duniawi. Kerana seorang yang bijak tidak akan berfikir singkat.

Sahabat; syaitan tidak pernah jemu menjerat manusia. Itulah janjinya. Usah biarkan diri kalian menjadi mangsa jeratan syaitan. Didiklah hati dengan sebaik-baik didikan yakni didikan al-Quran dan as-Sunnah. Hati yang malang adalah hati yang silau oleh nafsu dalam mencari kebenaran.

Sahabat; kita ada pilihan, sama ada menjadi manusia yang bijak, yang agak bijak atau yang tidak bijak. Tuhan itu selayaknya Dia menentukan setiap sesuatu, tetapi kita tetap diberi pilihan. Kita sebagai manusia mempunyai pilihan untuk memilih jalan kebaikan mahupun jalan kejahatan. Dengan sebab itu, ilmu, keluarga, persekitaran yang baik dan kekuatan akhlak adalah faktor yang mempengaruhi kita memilih jalan kehidupan kita.

Rumusannya, untuk memahami sesuatu, perlu kepada ilmu, untuk menilai sesuatu juga perlu kepada ilmu. Dan untuk mendapatkan yang terbaik, perlu kepada ilmu. Maka, tuntutlah ilmu tanpa rasa jemu. Semoga bahagia sentiasa bertamu.

Crossing The River

Use your mind and try to solve this problem...

Rules:

1. The dad cant be left with the daughters.

2. The mom cant be left with the sons.

3. The prisoner cant be left with anyone alone.

4. The kids cant cross together.

Somehow you need to get a mom + 2 daughters a dad + 2 sons and a cop with his prisoner across a river....

Hidup Itu Imtihan...

Bila tiba musim peperiksaan,

Ragam manusia dapat kita perhatikan,

Ada yg tekun studi, ada yg tak lalu nak makan,

Rumus & fakta semua disumbat dalam ingatan,

'Previous years questions' & 'assignments', semuanya diberi perhatian.

Mengulangkaji sampai tak menang tangan,

Perasaan takut, cuak, tak berkeyakinan,

Semua datang tanpa diundang.

Tapi, dalam menghadapi kenyataan,

Adakah kita juga berperasaan sedemikian,

Seperti kita menghadapi peperiksaan?

Sedangkan kehidupan di dunia ini,

Dikurnia Allah sbg satu ujian,

"(Allah) Yang Menciptakan kematian & kehidupan untuk menguji siapa antara kamu yg paling baik amalannya (Al-Mulk:2)"

Mungkin, kadangkala manusia terlupa,

Tujuan hidup ini sebenarnya,

Lebih besar ertinya,

Berbanding ujian-ujian lain di dunia,

Tetapi, ujian yg paling besar inilah,

Yang sering dilupakan,

Yang sering diambil mudah,

Yang paling sedikit dibuat persediaan.

Justeru itu,

Persiapkanlah diri kita,

Akal, fizikal, dan ruhani sama sekata,

Agar hidup kita di sini tidak sia-sia,

Kejarlah yg hakiki, nescaya yg fana akan mengejar kita jua.

"Betapa byk jln keluar yg dtg stlh rasa putus asa,betapa byk kegembiraan dtg slps kesusahan,sesiapa yg berbaik sangka pd Pemilik 'Arasy, dia akan memetik manisnya buah di tengah-tengah pohon berduri." -Hukama-