Amazing Story: This Flame is Nothing

Qari Muhammad Qayyam (may the mercy of Allah be upon him) related that a great deal of fighting and bloodshed had started prior to the Indo-Pakistan partition of 1947. He said that a very beautiful daughter of a very rich man in a certain community stepped out of her house to visit her aunt, who lived no more than a few streets away. Suddenly a riot erupted as she had gone halfway and she found herself trapped with apparently nowhere to go. She saw a mosque nearby and quickly went inside, sitting in the women’s section. The rioting continued late into the night and this girl did not know what to do.

The custodian of the masjid was a very young student there and late at night when he walked through the masjid before locking up he noticed this beautiful young lady. He was a respectful young man who feared Allah and so politely asked her to leave, saying that if she was found there then both would be dishonored and thrown out. She pleaded with him because of the extreme danger outside and so he agreed that she could spend the night, and sat down to study at the opposite end of the masjid.

The girl was unable to sleep with the events of the day in her mind and so watched the young man sitting studying by candle light at the opposite end of the masjid. She kept watching him and was very surprised at something she saw. From time to time this young man would extend his hand and keep it over the open flame, only withdrawing it when the flame obviously became unbearable. He then would resume his studies and continued this throughout the night until the dawn broke.

The young man called the adhan and asked the girl to leave before the congregation started coming to pray since now everything was calm outside. She agreed on the condition that he tell her why he was placing his hand on the candle flame throughout the night. The young man said that that was his own business and so the girl refused to leave until he told her what she wanted to know. The young man gave in and said, “I am at the age of youth and strong desire. We were alone and my desire was increasing, and although I was studying the shaytan would occasionally put temptation in my heart. Hence whenever I would feel any temptation I would put my hand on the flame and my fingers would burn. I would say to myself that this flame is nothing compared to the fire of Hell.”

The girl left the masjid and reached home, calming her parents’ fears as to what had happened to her. She also confided in her mother that she wanted to marry the custodian of the mosque near their house. She related the night’s events to her parents and said that only such a man with true fear of Allah in his heart can be true to his wife. Only such a man who truly fears Allah can fulfill a wife’s rights properly.

Hence the poor custodian of the mosque earned the daughter of a rich household in marriage. He received this honor not because of his looks but because of his character. Everything disintegrates and turns to dust but character remains strong. Honor is not bestowed because of handsome clothes or beautiful jewelry but because of what is in the heart. Knowledge is only beneficial when it is captured within the heart, and not merely written in books.


credits : http://blog.iloveallaah.com

New Satellite Pictures: "Magnificent" Views of Earth

"Van Gogh" Algae




In the style of Van Gogh's "Starry Night," massive congregations of greenish phytoplankton swirl in dark water around Sweden's Gotland (see map) island in a satellite picture released this week by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

The image of the Baltic Sea island is 1 of 40 in the new Earth as Art 3 collection, the latest compilation of Landsat pictures chosen for their artistic quality.

"The collected images are authentic and original in the truest sense," Matt Larsen, the USGS's associate director for Climate and Land Use Change, said in a statement. "These magnificently engaging portraits of Earth encourage us all to learn more about our complex world."

Population explosions, or blooms, of phytoplankton, like the one shown here, occur when deep currents bring nutrients up to sunlit surface waters, fueling the growth and reproduction of these tiny plants, according to the USGS.

(Related: "The Best Pictures of Earth: Reader Picks of NASA Shots.")

Published November 19, 2010

Oldest Embryo

Photograph courtesy Diane Scott, University of Toronto

The sharpest look yet at the oldest known dinosaur embryos (pictured, one of the eggs and its inhabitant) has revealed some "big surprises," a scientist says.

For one thing, the 190-million-year-old babies of Massospondylus—a two-legged dinosaur that preceded the well-known sauropods, such as Diplodocus—do not resemble their parents, according to study co-author Hans-Dieter Sues, a paleontologist at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. (See more dinosaur-embryo pictures.)

The 8-inch-long (20-centimeter-long) youngster, for example, had long front legs for walking on all fours, and its overall body proportion—such as a short snout—made it "look like a dwarf version of a sauropod dinosaur," the largest animals to walk Earth. (See a sauropod picture.) The babies would have lost these traits as they matured.

The discovery suggests Massospondylus had characteristics that "foreshadowed" the later look of the sauropods, he said. (See "New Strong-Handed Dinosaur May Shatter Assumptions.")

—Christine Dell'Amore

The oldest-dinosaur-embryo research appears in the November issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Alvin and The Chipmunks...

Alvin and the Chipmunks (film)

Alvin and the Chipmunks adalah film yang dirillis tahun 2007. Film ini berdasarkan kehidupan nyata Ross Bagardsrian Sr. yang telah wafat. Film ini dibintangi Jason Lee, David Cross, dan Cameron Richardson.

Pemain Utama

• Jason Lee sebagai Dave Seville
• David Cross sebagai Ian Hawke
• Cameron Richardson sebagai Claire Wilson
• Jane Lynch sebagai Gail
• Justin Long sebagai Alvin Chipmunks Seville
• Matthew Gray Gubbler sebagai Simon Chipmunks Seville
• Jesse McCartney sebagai Theodore Chipmunks Seville

Sinopsis

Alvin, Simon, dan Theodore adalah 3 ekor bajing tanah yang bisa menyanyi, berbicara dan pintar. Mereka tinggal di sebuah pohon di Danau Siera sampai pohon itu ditebang dan dibawa ke kota besar Los Angeles, California. Dave Seville (Jason Lee) penulis lagu yang terkenal di seluruh Los Angeles bertemu dengan tupai-tupai ini dan membuat kekacauan di rumah Dave. Akhirnya setelah mereka membuat perjanjian dengan Dave akhirnya Dave mencoba mengorbitkan mereka karena keahlian mereka dalam bernyanyi, akan tetapi karena tupai-tupai ini demam panggung akhirnya mereka kehilangan kemampuan menyanyinya dan membuat Dave tampak konyol di depan bos-nya dan akhirnya Dave dipecat oleh bosnya, Ian Hawke (David Cross). Selain itu Dave juga kehilangan Claire (Cameron Richardson), mantan pacarnya, karena ketika ia menemui Dave di rumahnya untuk makan malam, Dave mencertitakan tentang tupai-tupainya yang bisa berbicara dan bernyanyi, sehingga Claire merasa Dave mengolok-oloknya. Akhirnya Alvin, Simon dan Theodore berusaha memperbaiki itu semua dengan mendatangi rumah Ian, sehingga Ian kembali percaya kepada Dave. Akibat kemampuan bernyanyi mereka Alvin and The Chipmunks terkenal di seluruh Amerika Serikat lewat lagu Christmas Don't Be Late. Namun, kesuksesan itu membuat Ian menyingkirkan Dave yang dinilainya tak mampu bekerja lagi yang sebenarnya itu hanya taktiknya saja karena Ian ingin para bajing tanah itu lebih hebat lagi dengan demikian uang akan deras masuk ke kantongnya. Tentu saja Dave tak mau terima begitu saja. Dave berusaha menyelamatkan Alvin, Simon, dan Theodore dari niat jahat Ian sebab Dave tak ingin ketiganya yang disayangi dan sudah dianggap sebagai keluarganya djadikan mesin pencetak uang oleh Ian.