podcast my'ayad shayk

Facts about Islam

1) "Islam" means " submission to God".

2) Islam is a complete way of life that governs all facets of life: moral, spiritual, social, political, economical, intellectual, etc.

3) There are five pillars of practice in Islam. These practices must be undertaken with the best of effort in order to be considered a true Muslim:
A) Shahadah - declaration of faith in the oneness of God and that Muhammad is the last prophet of God.
B) Formal prayer five times a day.
C) Fasting during the daylight hours in the month of Ramadan.
D) Poor-due "tax" - 2.5% of one's savings given to the needy at the end of each year.
E) Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once, if physically and financially able.

4) There are six articles of faith in Islam. These are the basic beliefs that one must have in order to be considered a true Muslim. They are belief in: A) the One God. B) all the prophets of God. C) the original scriptures revealed to Prophets Moses, David, Jesus, and Muhammad. D) the angels. E) the Day of Judgment and the Hereafter. F) the divine decree (or destiny).


5) Muslims do not believe in the concept of "vicarious atonement" but rather believe in the law of personal responsibility. Islam teaches that each person is responsible for his or her own actions. On the Day of Judgment Muslims believe that every person will be resurrected and will have to answer to God for their every word, and deed. Consequently, a practicing Muslim is always striving to be righteous.


6) Muslims believe in and acknowledge all the prophets of old, from Adam to Jesus. Muslims believe that they brought the message of peace and submission (islam) to different peoples at different times. Muslims also believe that these prophets were "muslims" because they submitted their wills to God.

Why Hijab?

A couple of days ago i came across this video addressing the issue of Muslim Hijab, and i instantly related to it, because it displayed an inner struggle that many of us have when we know the right thing to do, yet fail to follow through with it for different reasons. I'm a man and i don't have to wear Hijab, but as a Muslim i have to do a lot of things that my parents, my friends and my society consider to be outdated, retarded and unimportant. I try really hard to do the right thing and win my inner struggle, knowing that this struggle is not going to waste, but will be considered by god when the time comes.

Project #5: Radio story

(Creswell room)



(Debbane Room)


(AUC Library, Archive in last floor)




Script:

Since the early 1970s, the University Archives of the American University in Cairo played a big role in collecting, preserving and providing access to materials with historical value created by various AUC units.

The services of the AUC archives are of aid to faculty and student researchers, but the materials were very difficult to reach and use because of the huge amount of files and documents stored.

Now 2 projects in progress were started by the AUC record management that will greatly facilitate accessing materials in the archives.


Steve Urgola, the university archivist, and director of records management is overseeing the creation of an online Index for materials stored as well as digitizing the materials and putting it online.

natsnd of Steve Urgola:

Steve: “We started a new system last year with the help of our digital archivist to take our word files of indexes and put them in the AUC catalogue, so you can search the name of an AUC president for example or a department, and if we have those records that include that name or topic, the system will retrieve the index to that collection.”

Digitizing will not only help preserve a lot of the highly valuable materials in the archive, but also will provide access to the materials through a website related to the AUC library.

Streve “we set up this Dspace system, named AUC Dar, it‘s a digital archive and repository and it’s gives us the chance to hold all kinds of electronic records, student thesis, faulty publications, student projects, scanned items or audio files from the rare books library.”

The collection of the AUC archive is enormous, and it might be years before the digitizing process is completed, plus not all types of collections are being digitized. Terra Kridler, the Digital Collections Archivist said that only a very small portion of the collections were scanned. She also mentioned that not all types of archival material are equally being digitized.

natsnd of Terra Kridler:

Terra Kridler: “we‘ve actually gotten steady collections of materials but not nearly all of the holdings, not even close.”

Members of the AUC administration are supporting the project but there are still not enough resources or staff members to help finalize the project on a set date.

A very small amount of the documentaries, the photographs and the audio records are actually online in digital form but that will change dramatically in the next two years as the AUC DAR project will save AUC a lot of money, space and energy as well as making the life of researchers much easier.

Listening Journal #4: Bombs, stamps and throat singers

(Tuva in red on the map)


Producer: BBC world service.
Narrator: Ilona Vinogradova
Length: 22:37
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/2009/08/090811_world_stories_bombs_stamps_throat_singers.shtml

The documentary was a story about Richard Feynman, an American physicist and a noble prize winner; it addressed his fascination with Tuva, a remote region in Russia near the Mongolian border which he knew through his hobby of stamp collecting. He had a dream of visiting this amazing land, but his visa was approved and sent it to him a week after he died.

Ilona Vinogradova a Russian journalist who was raised in Tuva, Took Feynman’s daughter to the place that her father dreamed of visiting. The journey included an introduction to Tuva, the people that live there, their culture, their music, the religion practiced as well as the family that was in contact with Richard Feymnan.

The documentary was extremely interesting, because the start was very strong and it instantly got me interested in the story. A point of strength was also the emotional side to the story presented through Michelle Feyman’s Voice as she misses her father deeply.

The quality of the narrator’s voice was great and the delivery was very good. The narrator Ilona Vinogradova was raised in Tuva which positively affected her choice of nat sound (Tuva throat singers) and the sequence of events chosen.

The 23 minute documentary wasn’t long because the story was very interesting and absorbing. The mix of a man’s dream and the continuation of that dream through his daughter’s visit with the story of this magnificent region made this piece amazing.

The documentary ended with Richard Feynman’s voice combined with Tuvan throat singing and that powerfully ended the story.

If i were Gamal...

A million words were said about Gamal mubarak's succession to his father, but Gamal is not making the right moves to ensure that the power ball would smoothly fall into his lap. Apart from attending football matches and establishing a pro-gamal front within the national democratic party, he is not hitting the major keys that would guarantee him full control of Egypt. To control Egypt, Gamal must be on the job of eliminating the old Mubarak Team and putting in power his own. The military and the Egyptian intelligence are the 2 major institutions absolutely mandatory to establish a stable rule over Egypt, or any country for that matter. It is crucially needed for Gamal, following that train of though to put two old dogs to sleep (guess who ?). It is a rule of history regarding the law of power and governments that rejection to change at its fiercest levels, is displayed by those who control institutions of might trying to protect themselves from that change. It is very hard to try and get an old dog out of his house especially after the owner is dead. Gamal shouldn't be trying to score points with the Egyptian public or appeal to the youth of Egypt (something he has been trying lately ), but he should be getting his cards in line to flash the right hand whenever the time comes. Filthy rich businessmen like Ahmad Ezz (considered by many political analysts to be part of Gamal's NPR team) can be helpful only when there is a gun protecting their route to the bank . After establishing control over Egypt by eliminating the old team, clearing any competition and putting in power his own team , Gamal would then be able to negotiate terms to his rule with the united states. So If i were Gamal Mobarak i wouldn't trust the old rottweilers so much, i would breed me some new ones.

Podcast: Mosque of Al Hussayn.

Script:

The mosque of al Hussein is an architectural wonder and one of the many sites worth checking out for those interested in Islamic architecture. Al Hussein was the son of Ali, Prophet Mohammed’s cousin and Fatima his daughter.

After his father was killed Al Hussein claimed the caliphate from yazid iibn maawyah and was killed in Karbala’ with 72 of his companions while fighting with Yazid’s enormous army.

The shrine was built in 1154 and it is claimed that the head of Hussein is in the shrine of that mosque but the claim is controversial since shii’is believe it is in the mosque of Imam Hussein in karbala’.

The mosque includes great architectural work but it is hard to relate the restorations to time periods because it was renovated so many times. The remaining part of the Fatimid structure is believed to be the lower part of the gateway at the south corner of the mosque called Bab Al akhdar.

The Ayyubids in 1237 added a minaret with carved panels of arabesque in stucco; it is above the fatimid gateway. Al Husayn’s wooden cenotaph, a magnificent example of
Twentieth century wood carving is at the Islamic museum of art. The mosque’s wood ceiling is supported by forty four white marble columns.

The mosque is a centre for congregational prayers in Cairo today. The Shrine is also a major visiting site for many Muslims. The great silver mashrabeyya screen surrounding the shrine was a gift from the Bohra ismai’li brotherhood in India. The mosque of husayn remains to this day one of the most important sites of Islamic architecture in Cairo-.