Thursday, April 30, 2009

داليا أول مسلمة بالبيت الأبيض


أدخل الرئيس الأمريكي باراك أوباما الباحثة المسلمة الأمريكية من أصل مصري "داليا مجاهد" إلى مجلسه الاستشاري الخاص بالأديان المكون من ممثلي 25 طائفة وشخصيات علمانية، لتكون بذلك أول مسلمة محجبة تشغل منصبًا من هذا النوع في البيت الأبيض.


ووفق التقرير الذي أعدته نادية البلبيسي لنشرة mbc يوم الإثنين الـ20 من إبريل/نيسان 2009، فإن الباحثة "داليا مجاهد" تلقت مكالمة هاتفية من مسؤول من إدارة الرئيس أوباما لكي تنضم إلى مجموعة حوار الأديان لتكون بذلك أول مسلمة محجبة تلعب دورا استشاريا في إدارة الرئيس.


وتقول داليا مجاهد إن مهمتها هي اطلاع الرئيس أوباما عن كيف يفكر المسلمون.. وماذا يريدون من الولايات المتحدة؟ والإجابة عن الأسئلة التي تدور حول المسلمين في الولايات المتحدة، في محاولة لتقديم صورة حيادية وصحيحة عنهم.


وترأس مجاهد مركز جالوب للدراسات الإسلامية، الذي يعد أبحاثا وإحصاءات تتعلق بالمسلمين في جميع أنحاء العالم، وتظهر دراساتها في صحف ودوريات بارزة مثل "وول ستريت جورنال" و" هارفارد انترناشونال ريفيو"، وسبق لها أن درست أيضا إدارة الأعمال والهندسة الكيميائية.


ويؤكد الرئيس أوباما دوما أن في عائلته تضم أفرادا مسلمين، وأن الولايات المتحدة ليست ولن تكون في حرب مع الإسلام، إلا أنه لم يعين حتى الآن مسلمين أمريكيين في مناصب مهمة، ولذلك يعد دخول داليا مجاهد لتأكيد تلك الأفكار.


وتتولى الباحثة "داليا مجاهد" كمستشارة مسلمة للرئيس، مهمة عمل دراسات حول المسلمين ورأيهم وطريقة تفكيرهم في العالم، وتساعد في تقديم صورة صحيحة للرئيس حول قضايا المسلمين وماذا يريدون، خاصة أن الناس ينظرون إليهم في السنوات الأخيرة كمصدر للمشاكل.


وتقول الباحثة المسلمة داليا مجاهد: إن الإحصائيات تشير إلى أن 35% فقط من الأمريكيين يقولون إنهم ليس لديهم عنصرية ضد المسلمين، أما بقية الأمريكان فلديهم نسبة من العنصرية، وهناك واحد من خمسة، ما يمثل نحو 19% يقولون إنهم عندهم عنصرية شديدة ضد المسلمين وهذه هي المشكلة".


وتؤكد داليا أن الرئيس أوباما بدأ في تصحيح الصورة النمطية السلبية عن المسلمين، وكانت دراسة لمعهد جالوب قد أظهرت أن مسلمين أمريكا هم أكثر الشرائح تعليما، وستكون مهمتها هي إعطاء الرئيس صورة حيادية، ليست ملونة بأيدولوجية.


جدير بالذكر أن الباحثة داليا مجاهد قد أصدرت كتابا تحت عنوان "من يتكلم نيابة عن الإسلام"، تعرضت خلاله إلى مجموعة من الأبحاث، وأكثر 50 ألف مقابلة، تمثل أكثر من مليار مسلم في أكثر من 35 دولة، تسكنها غالبية مسلمة أو عدد لا بأس به من المسلمين، ويعتبر هذا الاستطلاع، الذي يمثل أكثر من 90% من المجتمع الإسلامي في العالم، الدراسة الأكبر والأكثر شمولية من نوعها.

Friday, February 20, 2009

A Quote From Salahuddin Ayyubi

Abu Shamma, Kitab arRawadatain

"We hope in Allah Most High, to whom be Praise. Who leads the hearts
of Muslims to calm what torments them and ruins their prosperity. Where is
the sense of honor of the Muslims? The pride of the Believers? The zeal of
the Faithful? We shall never cease to be amazed at how the disbelievers
for their part have shown trusts, and it is the Muslims who have been lacking in
zeal. Not one of them has responded to the call. Not one intervenes to
straighten what is distorted; but observe how far the Franks have gone. What
unity they have achieved. What aims they pursue. What help they have given. What
sums of money they have borrowed and spent. What wealth they have collected and
distributed and divided amongst them. There is not a king left in their
lands or islands, not a lord or a rich man who has not competed with his
neighbors to produce more support and rival his peers in strenuous military
efforts. In defense of their religion they consider it a small thing to spend
life and soul; and they have kept their infidel brothers supplied with arms and
champions of war; and all they have done and all their generosity has been done
purely out of zeal for him they worship in jealous defense of their faith.
The Muslims on the other hand are weakened and demoralized; they have become
negligent and lazy, the victims of unproductive stupefaction and completely
lacking in enthusiasm. If, Allah forbid, Islam should draw reign, obscure
her splendor, blunt her sword there would be no one, east or west, far or near
who would blaze the zeal for Allah's religion, or choose to come to the aid of
Truth against Falsehood. This is the moment to cast off laziness, to summon from
far and near all those men who have blood in their veins; but we are confident
[He speaks about himself and the small party of believers who began with him and
then became a large party]; but we are confident thanks to Allah- alhamdulillah-
in the help that will come from him and entrust ourselves to him in sincerity of
purpose and deepest devotion. InshaAllah, InshaAllah the disbelievers shall
perish and the Faithful have a sure deliverance.

Salahuddin Ayyubi12th century

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Amr Khaled Interview: Muslim Green Guide

An interview with the Egyptian speaker, Amr Khaled (عمرو خالد صناع الحياة), about the launch of a new booklet titled: "Muslim Green Guide to Reducing Climate Change". Download the guide here


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9vAAjsCkYU

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Doing everything with "ihsan"

We are often reminded by khateebs and imams to do things to the best of our ability. And, we often respond by nodding our heads and thinking, “when is he going to stop talking?”

But, the real issue at hand is not whether we know doing our best is important, but rather “how do we know we are doing, or did, our best?”

Before I answer that question, why is this important to know?

Imagine yourself standing on the Day of Judgment. For as far as you can see, there is an ocean of people, packed close together. There’s hardly any room to move. You stand on your toes, trying to figure out where you are and what is going on, hoping to get a glimpse of something to give you comfort. The most shocking of all in this intense scene is that, in this immense crowd of people, there is a deathly silence, filled with fear, as you see the angels in the distance carrying the thrown of Allah.

Ask yourself, what side are you standing on?

Allah (SWT) illustrates in surah Waqiah (56), the frightful scene on the Day of Judgment, and what will become of the Earth. After which, He (SWT) says that the people will be separated in to three groups. There will be those on the right, who will eventually being entering Paradise, and only Allah knows best as to how long they will be spending in Hellfire. With regard to those on the left, what will be their state? It will be as if their skin is hung from their bones like coats are hung on hooks, as they stare up at the awesome throne of Allah and dread what is about to become of them.

Then, there is that one group separated from the rest. Allah describes them as the sabiqoon, the foremost. They will be those who strove to be the foremost in this life, to be the foremost in the Hereafter, honored by being placed in the same ranks as the Prophets of Allah.

So, ask yourself, “which side are you on?”

The scholars define ihsan as the concept of performing an act in the best way possible, achieving peak performance.

We know we did our best when we know we’ve fulfilled each one of the characteristics of peak performance.

In the upcoming posts, I’ll be discussing each characteristic, individually.

Something to act upon: For you, what does it feel like to achieve peak performance? (Please, post your responses below so that others may benefit.)

Peak Performance- Intro.

I begin in the name of Allah.

(Note: I will be interchangeably using “peak performance”, excellence, and ihsan.)

There are many ayaat of the Quran and ahadeeth of the Prophet (SAW) that refer to ihsan. I chose the following hadeeth, because it is the most explicit.

As narrated by Abu Ya’la Shaddad bin Aws (RA): He narrates the Messenger of Allah (SAW) as saying “Verily, Allah prescribed excellence in all things.

Usually when excellence, or ihsan, is referred to, we assume that it is in regards to how we stand in salah, or some other religious act. However, the excellence that is required of us goes beyond the typical devotional acts that we do on a daily basis. In fact, excellence goes beyond any physical act, because an act that is considered to be excellent for one person may be a simple, or even lazy, effort for someone else. Rather, excellence is a mindset to be achieved as often as possible.

“Peak performances are those magic moments [when] it all [comes] together- both physically and mentally. The performance is exceptional, seemingly transcending ordinary levels… They are the ultimate high, the thrilling moment that [people] work for in their pursuit of excellence.” - Viki Crane and Jean Williams, sports psychologists


“Trying to articulate the zone is not easy because it’s such an indescribable feeling. That moment doesn’t happen often, and when it does happen, you feel like you’re playing out of your head! You aren’t feeling any tension or any pressure and physically your strokes are just flowing, every ball you hit is going in. Emotionally you’re really calm. There’s no strain involved. It’s a euphoric feeling. The feeling that whatever you touch turns to gold. Whatever you do, whatever decision you make on the court, whatever stroke or shot you try, you know it’s going to work.“- Chris Evert, Tennis Champion


In no way am I saying that these non-Muslims realized what ihsan is or achieved it. What I want you to recognize, however, is that they understood what it means to perform at the highest level.


In this series, I will be discussing the psychological aspects of building and retaining an attitude of excellence, by discussing the following topics:

  • the importance of doing everything with ihsan
  • high self-confidence
  • total commitment
  • strong performance focus
  • coping well with stress
  • coping well with distractions
  • optimistic, positive attitude
  • high personal standards
  • well developed competitive plans
  • control emotions and remaining appropriately activated
  • viewing anxiety as beneficial
  • setting performance goals

Something to act upon: Describe in detail one instance where you achieved peak performance. (Please, post your responses below so that others may benefit.)

Source: http://www.buildingmuslimleaders.com/

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Microsoft summer Internship 2009

Today when i was checking any avilable internships in egypt to post it on my INTERNSHIP FACEBOOK GROUP and Internship temp BLOG. i saw that microsoft egypt receive resumes before end of february so it's a big opportunity to join such intern.

i remmber someone called rowaa and its post about MS internship i read its post again. i have some questions come to my mind
the answer were as follows:

> the technical assessment is based on ur CV mostly, while the assessment exam is based more on your personal skills

> which means don't expect to go to be asked wt's OOP

> instead, you will be put in a group & asked to make a presentation as a team work about bla bla bla

> they evaluate you as a person who has high communication & presentation skills..

> upon their measurments of how good you are in team work, communication skills, presentation skills , you get chosen

> upon your CV & technical skills, you go to the assesment exam..

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Thank you Roaa and Jazakom allahu khairan