Fake Degree (29-04-2009)

Now a days there are so many con men who deal in fake degrees and it is easy to get a response from the un-recognized universities but bit difficult to get the same response from the recognized universities.  Many people while pursuing their goal of obtaining a suitable degree get trapped by these fake degree marketers.  These degrees are great to look at and are only cosmetic and may cause real trouble when an opportunity to it utility arises.  Gullible people should be beware of these individuals and institutions, which are there only to make a quick buck.

Mohammed Sadullah Khan

Professionalism (28-04-2009)

The core values of Islamic system like justice, peace, trustworthiness and detesting of fraud, dishonesty, cheating and theft are important and need of the hour.  The recognition of the equality of human beings is one of the important aspects of any human endeavour.  These qualities may not have entered into the real definition of professionalism.   However if these values are added to the definition of professionalism, it will give value addition to the professionalism and enhance the trustworthiness of a real professional.   Even if small elements of Islamic morals are added to all educational and professional developments, this will definitely create a right sort of professional useful for the society. 

Mohammed Sadullah Khan

Cultural Shock (28-04-2009)

In the current scenario the world has become a global village.  People go around world for education, employment, leisure and other reasons.  Inspite of being a global village each country or city has its own cultural uniqueness and character, hence a newcomer need to be trained to live in the new environment.  If the person is not aware of the consequences of  behaving in the new culture or is not strong willed enough to avoid the temptations, he will end up becoming a wreck.  I have seen quite few newcomers who have gone insane as they were not able to adjust to the cultural shock of the new city.  Proper Training will definitely help them.

Mohammed Sadullah Khan

Islamic Banking (27-04-2009)

The current financial crisis coupled with global recession has caused many flutters. Islamic Banking, if it follows the real principles of Shariah, it can go a long way in addressing the global issues like poverty, inflation, fraud, unemployment, recession and will fuel growth of economy in real terms. The failure of capitalistic principles in addressing the core issues of society will create a big vaccum, which can be very well filled by the Islamic Economic and Banking system which takes care of societal needs and benefits the society at large.   Labelling any product and system as Islamic may the address the real issue.

Mohammed Sadullah Khan

Corporate Governance (26-04-2009)

The current failure of multinational companies in-spite of their capability to hire the best talent, train them and provide them with the unbelievable pay packages should make us open our eyes.  The corporate governance lacking moral values is going to be defeated. Today we find dishonest acts of the management as the practices of management principles.  This will lead to the decaying of the organizations. It is very much important that moral values are inculcated among the staff as well as the top management.  The pay scales should be reasonable and based on performance, all management courses and trainings should have an element of moral sciences in-order to make sure that the people working for the organization make it really useful to the entire stakeholders.

Mohammed Sadullah Khan

Umra and the Ugly Virus H1N1 - Swine Flu

Umra and the Ugly Virus H1N1

Swine Flu

By MOHAMMED SADULLAH KHAN

For over a year my family had been pestering me for taking them to Makkah for Umra. But due to various circumstances I had been unable to take them for Umra. Finally a decision was taken in late April to visit Makkah and perform Umra (or Lesser Pilgrimage) in the last week of July.

Since early June the Swine flu hype was escalating and it actually started spreading throughout the world with each and every case being reported and monitored by the World Health Organisation. This caused a flutter and nightmare in me. The swine flu had already reached Saudi Arabia. I was more concerned about the impact it may have at the holy places. With fear in heart and faith in God, I did not want to disappoint the members of my family. I went to the local transporter for booking the seats and hotel for Umra, the rates were comparatively cheap. On enquiring about the swine flu and restrictions, I was informed that there is no problem so far. Money was paid to the transporter and the seats were booked.

On the day we were supposed to leave, it was reported in the newspapers that a woman who had gone to perform Umra, died of swine flu. The news made me jittery. Some of my colleagues requested me to carry masks. I explained to them that the virus can enter our body from any source even by handling a door knob, touching the office desk or trolley at a super market. Finally I told them that Allah is Kareem.

Later on I contacted my brother, who is a medical practitioner, about my visit to Makkah for Umra and the case of the Egyptian woman. He encouraged me to proceed without worry as we have come to an advanced stage of travel and explained about the types of flu and their precautions. With initial confidence, I was hoping for the last minute rescue by imagining that the government will cancel all the buses to Makkah or advise the pilgrims not to travel to Makkah, but nothing of the sort happened. When we saw the bus, it was bustling with pilgrims. Two Indian families, two Sudani families, two Pakistani families and rest of them were bachelors. Among bachelors almost 80 per cent were Pakistanis, the rest were Bangladeshis and Indians.

As the bus started moving ahead my fear galloped as I was mindful of any kind of sneeze or cough. But fortunately in the entire journey no one sneezed or coughed. Finally we reached Makkah. Still my mind was acting like a surveillance camera, installed at the airports, scanning for persons with red eyes, temperature, cough or sneezing. Fortunately this time I did not see anyone coughing or sneezing nor suffering from fever. The moment we stood in front of Ka’aba, we were overjoyed, filled with excitement, felt fully blessed and forgot about everything related to the journey.

It was a real breathtaking experience after a long time. The feeling was liberating and pulsating. For two days we were engrossed in prayers with attendance to minimum daily needs. During our visit to Ka’aba, it was being washed and the door was open; we had a rare opportunity to have a glimpse of inside the Ka’aba. Our successful mission was over.

I used to get flu after coming from Umra. Unlike in the past, this time I did not have any symptoms of flu. After our return, we read the reports of havoc caused by the virus. Day after day the virus was becoming more virulent. The spread of swine flu really got out of control. The WHO had decided not to count the number of affected persons. Restrictions were being imposed by certain scholars and countries in respect of Haj and Umra. The swine flu pandemic was going ahead unabated with more infections and deaths being reported on daily basis.

[The writer is a Freelance writer based in Saudi Arabia and can be contacted at mosakhan40@gmail.com.]

Burqa Controversy - Bubbling Controversy

Coverage on "Burqa" seems to have overshadowed the demise of "King of Pop" in Media.  It is heartening to see the huge response in the media to the remarks made by the French President, who in his usual ignorance and unbaked curiosity has opened the Pandora's Box.  He might have never imagined the reaction to his ignorant remarks from all over the world.  For some ignorance is bliss.

The word Burqa is usually used to describe the black outer garment worn by the Muslim women.  Burqa, is preferred by many women because it is easy to wear and easy to take-out.  It is designed to adhere to the Quranic guideline of coverage for women. However it is preferable to use the word Hijab instead of Burqa. Burqa is one of the Hijaab.

Like most of the controversies and misconceptions related to Islam, which time and again erupt and give a chance to the gullible ignorant to balloon it up further.  Islamic dress code is being followed for over 1430 years and it has been prescribed in Quran when it was revealed.  Dr. Zakir Nair, one of the famous Indian Islamic Scholar, who is also famous for his verbatim quotations of various World religions,  has identified 20 of the most common mis-conceptions among non-Muslims. His presentations on the same and articles has helped many people to over-come their misunderstanding of Islam and appreciate the beauty of Islam. Few years ago he had listed the Burqa related misconception under his list at No.3. He dispels this as follows, 

"Misconception # 3: Islam subjugates women in a veil. 

Reply: If you look at history, to ancient civilizations, you will find that women were the oppressed people. They had no individual merit. The Babylonians used to punish the woman for her husband's mistakes. The ancient Egyptians did the same. Ancient Arabs buried their newly born daughters. 

It was Islam that uplifted the status of women. It gave women rights they never had before. Surah Nissah exhorts believing men to lower their gaze if a lady is passing by. Similarly, there are exhortations for women to lower their gaze if strange men are around. The Quran also speaks about the hijab for men and women to protect the modesty. The hijab for men is to cover their bodies minimally from their navel to the knees. The hijab for women is to cover their whole bodies except for their faces and hands below their wrists. There are descriptions for a female hijab, that it should cover the endowments including head, not be tight, not be transparent, not be like the clothes of non-believers, and not be like the clothes of the other gender, etc. Women got the right to own, inherit property, and to dispose it of at will. 

Let me ask you a question: Suppose two identical twin sisters are walking down a street, and one of them is dressed in revealing clothing, while the other one is wearing a hijab. Who will be boys in the street whistle at or tease: the one who is scantily dressed in a mini-skirt, or the one who is modestly attired? The answer is obvious. The hijab is designed to prevent women from being molested. It brings peace to society and prevents mischief. "

All non-Muslims should be given an opportunity to go through these fully listed misconceptions; there will be lesser number of controversies.  Media should also take care to highlight these, whenever a similar controversy erupts.

Islam as a religion gave undeniable rights to women. Burqa is not a symbol of imprisonment but it is a symbol of freedom.  Burqa, has proven to give women freedom from exploitation, harassment, subjugation and eve teasing. It elevates the women.  A vast majority of reverts are women and they have voluntarily adapted to Burqa.  The reverts Yvonne Ridley, a former Christian and Kamala Surayya, a former Hindu, both well educated women and have been fully aware of the rights and freedom of women.  These women have accepted Islam on a free will and adapted to burqa (veil) voluntarily.  No one coerced them to do so.  Islam as a religion prescribes dress code to its followers both men and women. The western societies should not imprison women with their views of freedom. The Muslim women should be given a choice of what she wants to wear in a free society. 

Mohammed Sadullah Khan