Aliens, Stephen Hawking and Islam..!

 Stephen Hawking Image courtesy : The Hindu 

Do aliens exist? They do, but humans should try to avoid any contact with them — at least, that's what one of the world's leading physicists, Stephen Hawking, claims.

The suggestions, that the extraterrestrials are almost certain to exist, come in a new documentary series for the Discovery channel, in which Dr. Hawking will set out his latest thinking on some of the universe's greatest mysteries.

Alien life, he will suggest, is almost certain to exist in many other parts of the universe — not just in planets, but perhaps in the centre of stars or even floating in interplanetary space, T he Sunday Times reported.

His logic on aliens is unusually simple. The universe, he points out, has 100 billion galaxies, each containing hundreds of millions of stars. In such a big place, Earth is unlikely to be the only planet where life has evolved.
“To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational. The real challenge is to work out what aliens might actually be like,” the 68-year-old was quoted as saying.
The answer, Dr. Hawking suggests, is that most of it will be the equivalent of microbes or simple animals — the sort of life that has dominated Earth for most of its history.

From a news report in The Hindu. To read the full news click here.

What does Quran say about aliens?

Quran says: ''Among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the living things, which He has scattered in both:"(42 : 29)

Moulana Moududi has this to say on the verse:  "In both": In both the earth and the heavens. This is a clear pointer to the fact that life does not only exist on the earth but on other planets as well.
 

and  veteran scholar Leopold Muhammad Asad says, "The word dabbah denotes any sentient, corporeal being capable of spontaneous movement; it is contrasted here with the non-corporeal, spiritual beings designated as angels (Asad, Muhammad. The Message of the Qur'an. England: Book Foundation, 2003, 449).
 

and Abdullah Yusuf Ali comments, "It is reasonable to suppose that Life in some form or another is scattered through some of the millions of heavenly bodies scattered through space." (Ali, Abdullah Yusuf, The Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary, Ad-Dar Al-`Arabiah, Beirut, 1938, 1314).
 

Allah o akber!

Allah knows the best.

Thank God!

Dr Israr Ahmed is no more!

Veteran Islamic scholar, world renowned orator Dr Israr Ahmed is no more! Inna lillahi....

He had a huge following throughout the world and he is known for his mesmerising, captivating and soul stirring discourses on Quran.

Listen to his discourse on a Hadhis here  the duration is just two minutes!

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind to take legal action against Praveen Swami!

Praveen Swami

It is heartening to note that the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind is contemplating legal action against Praveen Swami and India's national newspaper The Hindu.  

In a letter written to the Editor of The Hindu English daily, Jamaat’s media coordinator Dr. S Q R Ilyas has said, “If this policy of maligning Muslim Organisations especially Jamaat e Islami Hind is continued, we will be left with no other alternative but to seek legal remedy”.

Read more
Read  Compelled to confess that I hate Praveen Swami

Periyar Dasan's conversion to Islam: Why India's national newspaper is silent?

Dr Abdullah reading அண்ணல் நபிகளார் வாழ்வினிலே.. a book published by IFT
Photo courtesy : The New Indian Express

Periyar Dasan's conversion to Islam is the defining moment of the decade as far as the Muslim community of Tamil Nadu is concerned. The homecoming of Dr Periyar Abdullah has evoked widespread interest among the Tamil speaking world. This blog has witnessed more than Twelve thousand hits after it published news of his conversion to Islam. And a major chunk of them have landed here by searching for ''Periyar Dasan", 'Professor Periyar Dasan', "Periyar Dasan's conversion to Islam", "Is Periyar Dasan a Muslim?". They came from every corner of the world. It shows the enormous number of following that Dr Abdullah Sahib enjoys.

The New Indian Express is the first English newspaper of Tamil Nadu to cover the news. Kumudam published an interview which was very short, crisp and informative. Makkal Urimai,  Samarasam and others too published detailed interviews. Curiously, the national newspaper of Tamil Nadu ie The Hindu is silent.

M Rafi Ahmed of Coimbatore writes in The New Indian Express:

He is to Tamil Nadu what noted author Kamala Das was to India. 
Both were towering personalities in their respective areas — he an atheist and scholar, she a popular author and poet. While Kamal Das became Kamala Suraiya after adopting Islam, atheist Periyar Dasan got converted to Islam and became Abdulla. 

So how did Dasan turn a believer?

“It all started in the new millennium when my teacher Janardhan of the Rao Bahadur Calavala Cunnan Chetty (RBCC) school at Perambur in Chennai expressed a desire to meet four of his old students — Narayanan (Kalki Bhagavan), Deivasigamani (Tamilaruvi Manian), Periyar Dasan and Sirajudeen — who were classmates right from Class I to XI. All of us, except Sirajudeen whose whereabouts weren’t known, met up with our teacher. On quizzing a couple of religious heads at a mosque, we found out that Sirajudeen was neck deep into spiritual work at Abu Dhabi.”

The friends were delighted that they had traced their classmate and soon Sirajudeen managed to converse with his teacher and his old classmates through tele-conferencing. It was indeed a joyous moment, the meeting opening up a cache of school memories.
Subsequently, Sirajudeen kept in touch with Periyar Dasan.

In 2004, Periyar Dasan got an opportunity to visit Dubai and that’s when the he met his old classmate Sirajudeen, face-to-face this time! The two bonded very well and met every day till it was time for Periyar Dasan to return to India. 
During one such meeting, Sirajudeen hugged him and said that his friend shouldn’t die a non-believer. 
Mere words but to Periyar Dasan, those were like veritable gems of wisdom. 

After all, hadn’t a few words spoken by the Buddha transformed Angulimala or the wise counsel given by Narada changed Valmiki?After that Dasan, persevered to read the Holy Quran and the history of Prophet Mohammed. 
It dawned on him then that life without religion was incomplete. He then realised that God is one and his vocabulary expanded to include words like Qayamat (Judgement Day) and Marumai (life after death).It was only a matter of time before Periyar Dasan became Dr Abdulla.

The well-known atheist went to Mecca to perform Umra and after that embraced Islam through a Dawa center in Saudi Arabia. 

Dr Abdulla said that he had pacified his wife and prayed that she should be his wife in the next life as well. “My wife has fallen in line with my religious belief. I have decided to name her Fathima and we would be performing our Umra soon. As for my two sons, they are under no compulsion to convert,” he said.

To read the full article, Buddy’s words turned Periyar Dasan into Dr Abdullah
Read Periyar Dasan turns Abdullah 
Read நாத்திகத்திலிருந்து இஸ்லாத்திருக்கு... Dr Abdullah's interview to Samarasam which is the best.
Read  Seshachalam to Periyar Dasan to Abdullah a fascinating story of transformation of a slave of Periyar to slave of Periyar!

Moulana Mujahidul Islam Qasimi..!

மௌலானா முஜாஹிதுல் இஸ்லாம் காசிமி

  
அவர்கள் காத்திருந்தார்கள்..! 

ரயில் நிலையம் நிரம்பி வழிந்தது.
அந்த நடைமேடையில் பெரும் எண்ணிக்கையில் மக்கள் திரண்டிருந்தனர். அவர்களில் முஸ்லிம்கள் கணிசமாக இருந்தனர். திரும்பும் திசையெல்லாம் வெள்ளை தொப்பிகளும், கருந்தாடிகளுமாக சூழலே வித்தியாசமாக இருந்தது.
ரயில் நிலையமே விழாக் கோலம் பூண்டிருந்தது போல தோன்றியது.
....  ....
Your attention please.... பயணிகளின் அன்பான கவனத்திற்கு.... என அறிவிப்பாளரின் குரல் ஒலித்ததும் ரயில் நிலையமே சிலிர்த்தெழுந்தது..!
போர்ட்டர்கள் முண்டாசு கட்டிக் கொண்டு, துண்டு பீடியை தூர எறிந்தவாறு ரயிலை எதிர்கொள்ள ஆயத்தமாகினர்.
ரயில் வந்தது.
முஸ்லிம்கள் அனைவரும் ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட பெட்டியை நோக்கி படையெடுத்தனர்.
அந்தப் பெட்டியிலிருந்து இறங்கினார், மௌலானா முஜாஹிதுல் இஸ்லாம் காசிமி.
....  .... ....
மௌலானா ஏதாவது சொல்லுங்கள்..அறிவுரை கூறுங்கள்..!மௌலானாவுக்கு பொன்னாடை போர்த்தப்பட்டது. சிரித்த முகத்துடன் மௌலானா கை குலுக்கினார். நலம் விசாரித்தார்.

பச்சை விளக்கு எரிந்து விட மீண்டும் வண்டியில் ஏறி விட்டார்.

நடை மேடையில் நின்ற மக்கள் அன்போடு கேட்டார்கள் : Moulana kuch nasihat keejiye..! மௌலானா ஏதாவது சொல்லுங்கள்..அறிவுரை கூறுங்கள்..!

வண்டி மெல்ல நகரத் தொடங்கியது..!

மௌலானா சொன்னார்: Muthahid rahiye..! muththahrik rahiye..! முத்தஹித் ரஹியே..! முத்தஹ்ரிக் ரஹியே..! ஒன்றுபட்டு இருங்கள்..! சுறுசுறுப்பாக இயங்கிக் கொண்டே இருங்கள்..!
....  .... ....
இன்றும் நமக்குத் தேவைப் படுகிறார்கள்..!
அவர் தான் மௌலானா முஜாஹிதுல் இஸ்லாம் காசிமி. கடுகு சிறுத்தாலும் காரம் சிருக்கது என்பதைப் போல எத்துணை அழகாக இரண்டே வார்த்தைகளில் சொல்லி விட்டார்!
மௌலானா மிகப் பெரும் பேச்சாளர். மணிக்கணக்கில் சலிப்புத் தட்டாமல் பேசுவதில் வல்லவர்.

2002 இல் இதே ஏப்ரல் மாதத்தில் 4 ஆம் நாள் அன்று காலமானார். (இன்னா லில்லாஹி..)

ICU இல் மரணப் படுக்கையில் இருந்த நேரத்திலும் நினைவு திரும்பும் போதெல்லாம் குஜராத் நிலவரம் குறித்து தான் விசாரித்துக் கொண்டிருந்தார்.

அவரைப் போன்ற ஆலிம்கள் தான் இன்றும் நமக்குத் தேவைப் படுகிறார்கள்..!
அல்லாஹ் கிருபை செய்வானாக..!

Saare jahan se acha Hindustan hamara..!

Rakesh Sharma

The Day
 It was 3rd April, 1984. I could not remember whether it was Monday or Thursday. But, the date and day would be written in golden letters in the annals of Modern India.

The Event 
It was on that day Rakesh Sharma of Indian Air Force became the first Indian and 138th person to travel in space. Rakesh Sharma spent eight days in space.
It is more than two decades now.
But, still I could recall and reconnect the drama, pleasure and ecstasy of that day.  I had been giving final touches to the sketch in biology record book when my father handed over the copy of தினமணி (Dinamani - the Tamil edition of the Indian Express) to me. It carried the photograph of Rakesh Sharma and I could not remember the exact wordings of the news. But I could relish the delight  I felt then, even now.

The conversation
I could not remember the details. Even now I am ignorant of the details. What do we have achieved by that space mission? What did Rakesh Sharma do for more than a week up over there?
He is one of the forgotten heroes now. But, one thing I will never forget.

It was his answer given to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi then.
Indira Gandhi, sitting in her office in New Delhi talked with Rakesh Sharma who was hovering around the globe over the sky.
Indira Gandhi in her own voice full of confidence and with a palpable sense of joy asked Rakesh, ''Sharmaji, ooper se bharat kaisa laga?"
Rakesh Sharma said, Saare jahan se acha Hindustan hamara..! Those are the immortal lines of Allama Iqbal.
You could listen the conversation by clicking here.

The question
The big, big, big question here is whether we could say Saare jahan se acha Hindustan Hamara..! now?
In what aspects and fields do we excel than other countries?

Yes. There is one important field where nobody on this earth could beat us.

We have Narendra Modi with us.
Yes, the same Modi who has been described as "mass murderer" by fellow Gujarati and veteran journalist Vir Sanghvi.
Yes the same Modi who is seen worshiping deadly weapons in these photographs.
Yes the same Modi who has been branded as the "Ugly Indian" by seasoned journalist Seema Mustafa.
Yes the same Modi who was famously depicted by the Supreme court of this land as modern day Nero. Remember we do not have a single politician who has got such a distinction in this entire world today. Yet he is still roaming free. This could happen only in India ie Saare Jahan se acha Hindustan Hamara..!

One day he stands as a accused criminal in front of some lowly officer answering questions.

Next day he shares the dais with the Chief Justice of the nation.

Yes. We could say that we are the best.
God bless this nation.

Yet, there is hope...!
Yes. There is hope..!
We may have failed in delivering justice to all.
It took seventeen long years for Liberhan Commision to submit its report. The UPA government is yet to take action against the culprits.

Those who stoked the communal fire in Bombay are still at large. They have won elections and they continue to form governments. And the findings and report of the Sri Krishna Commision is gathering dust in some unknown cup board of a central government office.

The nation has witnessed countless number of riots, arson, murders etc. Yet not a single culprit has been punished so far. No one has been hanged. The murderers, looters, vandals, miscreants are roaming free.
It may take ages to punish the mass murderers of Gujarat.

Still, there is hope.

  

Teesta Setalvad                                    Harsh Mander

We have Teesta Setalvads. We have Harsh Manders. We have Sandeep Pandeys. We have Zakia Ehsan Jafferis. And the list goes on. These noble souls have not lost hope. They are relentless in their struggle. They work indefatiguably for the establishment of Justice.

Let their tribe increase.

Besides Aam Aadmi of this great nation do not prefer bigotry. Aam Aadmi may be powerless in the times of crisis. But, he has the right to vote. And he has the habit of using it wisely.

So, Allama Iqbal and Rakesh Sharma are right.  

Saare Jahan se acha Hindustan Hamara..!