Aid Mubarak to all Muslims around the world. May this be the occasion for all people, regardless of their religions, to share and care about each other.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all Christians!!

I hope this is an opportunity for people coming from different religions to celibrate the values cheriched and preached by Jesus Christ.

As a muslim I must believe in Jesus as a messenger sent by God for the best of All humanity.

With due respect to him, and to all other messengers; and with due respect to all religions and to all people all over the world. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Personal experience in the London underground

A few months ago, I was boarding the London tube from Brixton to my daily destination: the British Library which is at a walkable distance from King's Cross. Everything was OK untill we got at Green Park station. What happened was that when the tube stopped, everybody around me started to run away. It took me a few seconds to understand what was going on because I was fully immersed in a book. The tube carriage was all smoke. We all thought that it was an attack, similar to that of July the 7th. I was not sure if any explanations were given on the causes of what happened but the thing I was sure of was that nothing was said on any of the TV channels I watched that night.

Immediately after that and for my whole stay in London, I could easily notice the tense faces at all the tube carriages I happened to get on board. The fear that something was about to happen, that a bomb would explode any second; and you start thinking about whether or not you are going to listen to the expolsion before you die. I was wondering what would happen in that fraction of a second between the bomb blowing and me being killed.

That horrendous experience was enough to fully understand the feelings of the British people in the aftermath of July the 7th. Now, it was not something I watched on TV or read in the papers; now it was me facing death. Now, It was me grabbing hold of my heavy bag and running away from the tube wagon which could blow up any second. Now, It was me being dogged by death and trying to jump the station rolling stairs in one step without being certain that all would be well there where I was going. Now, It was me, a muslim trying not to get killed in the London underground. Time to understand that, regardless of our differences, we all have to live together- in peace. Please enough with pointing fingers. One cannot blame relgions for what some might have done. Islam never preached violence but there are black sheep everywhere, in every religion. I hope those black sheep cease to exist, not with the gun and the bomb, but with the word. You cannot fight violence with more violence; we all know that violence begets violence. But with the word, understanding, tolerance, respect, and also with the ability and courage to see and acknowledge one's failings, for the best of all of us.

Questions for our beloved Arab and muslim immigrants and tourists

I have been to the UK and it has been a very rewarding experience in many ways. It was an opportunity for me the breathe some fresh air, speak the language, and do some research in some of the very reputed libraries and universities.

However, I have some questions for our Arab and muslim immigrants in the UK. When in London, I visited some museums and the thing which I could not understand was that I did not see, among the visitors to those museums, any person who looks like an Arab or a muslim. All those I could see there were either British or tourists coming from Europoe and North America.

Our dear Arab and muslim immigrants or tourists, however, can be seen in great number, in places like Regent Street and Oxford Street doing what seemed to be two important things: shopping and eating.

Another point: you walk down the street and you happen to see a group of our beloved Arabs and muslims. You feel like saying hello (Assalamu Alaykum) to those with them you share the language, the religion, etc. but they just ignore you. Some of them are old men, with beards, and they are good muslims. I hope you don't get me wrong on this point.

I am afraid I do not have statistics regarding the number of, say, Egyptians in London but the one thing I am sure of is part of their heritage is there. Do they know? The picture is not very much different than the one in Paris as my friend Walid said.

Is it fear that you may go on for more than this hello thing? Is it lack of confidence? Or is it the career rat race in their new-found world? Or is it one of those preventive measures and if you allow the term "pre-emptive strikes" in their war against the likelihood of you being a terrorist? Or is it a bit of all these?

Foreign teacher in Sudan

The BBC Radio was on when I heard the following: A British teacher in Sudan was jailed for "letting her pupils name a teddy bear Mohammed".

The inference I can make out of this is that the pupils did the naming, not her. So, how on earth could she be held responsible for this? Better blame the parents who seemed to fail to teach their kids choose appropriate names for anything that needs a name. Why respect and sensitiveness is not instilled in those kids so as to avoid being caught up in such misunderstandings.

The BBC Radio airing the news did not say, when I was listening, whether those kids where muslims or christians, whether the school is in a muslim or a christian neighborhood. I hope we are not in the middle of a new religious conflict. Please let us just bury the hatchet. There may be no ill-will behing the naming, may be just ignorance.

In the beginning was the word

This is the first post I put online, so I chose this title. I hope no one is offended. I also chose such a title given the importance of the word. My hope is that we all see and enjoy its constructive role for the benefit and the best of us all.