THE DAY OF JUMMA

Facts about the day of Jumma   
 حقائق عن يوم جمعة

Jumme Ki Raat:
“Jumme Ki Raat” is a well-known phrase and occasion. It actually means the night before Jummah, or - in effect - Thursday night. But the whole fuss in Islam is about Jummah, which is Friday. Indeed, Jummah is culmination day of the Islamic week (like Sunday in the Christian week) and just as important being the day of prayers. It is the day Muslims offer prayers at mosques.
جمعة كي رات:
"جمعة كي رات" هو عبارة معروفة ومناسبة. وهو ما يعني في الواقع في الليلة التي سبقت يوم، أو - في الواقع - ليلة الخميس. ولكن هذه الضجة كلها في الإسلام حوالي يوم، وهو يوم الجمعة. في الواقع، هو يوم اليوم تتويجا لاسبوع الإسلامي (مثل الأحد في الأسبوع المسيحي) وبنفس القدر من الأهمية كونه يوم صلاة. إنه اليوم المسلمين صلاة في المساجد.
A blessing:
The faithful in Islam believe that while it’s impossible to count the infinite blessings of Allah, an obvious blessing is the day of jumu’ah (congregational prayer for Muslims), the day also known as Jummah. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has said: “The best day the sun rises is Friday. On this day, Allah created Adam. On this day, he entered paradise, on this day, he was expelled from it, and the Last Hour will take place on no other day than Friday.”
نعمة:
المؤمنين في الإسلام ويعتقد أنه في حين أنه من المستحيل أن نحصي النعم لا حصر له من الله، ونعمة وضوحا هو يوم الجمعة (صلاة للمسلمين)، وهو اليوم المعروف أيضا باسم يوم. وقد قال رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وسلم الله عليه وسلم): "إن أفضل يوم طلعت عليه الشمس يوم الجمعة. في هذا اليوم، خلق الله آدم. في هذا اليوم، دخل الجنة، في هذا اليوم، تم طرده منه، وسوف آخر ساعة يومي لا غير يوم جمعة ".
A gathering:
It was named Jumu’ah because it is derived from the Arabic word “Al-Jam” - which means - to gather, as Muslims gather on this day every week, and Allah has commanded the believers to gather for his worship, as he says that which means: “Oh you who believe! When the call is proclaimed for Jumu`ah (Friday prayer), come fast to the remembrance of Allah.”
جدير بالذكر أن الاجتماع:
سميت الجمعة لأنه مشتق من الكلمة العربية "آل جام" - وهو ما يعني - لجمع، وجمع المسلمين في هذا اليوم من كل اسبوع، وأمر الله المؤمنين لجمع لعبادته، كما قال تعالى ما يعني: "يا أيها الذين آمنوا! عندما يتم الإعلان عن الدعوة لJumu`ah (صلاة الجمعة)، وتأتي بسرعة إلى ذكر الله ".
Welcomed by angels:
The congregational prayer (Jumu’ah prayer) is one of the obligatory acts in Islam and one of the great gatherings of Muslims. The angels sit in wait for the arrival of people. Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “On the day of Jummah, the angels stand at the entrance of that masjid in which Jumuah salat is to be offered.
رحبت به الملائكة:
صلاة الجماعة (صلاة الجمعة) هي واحدة من الأفعال واجبة في الإسلام واحدة من التجمعات الكبيرة من المسلمين. الملائكة يجلس في انتظار وصول الناس. قال النبي محمد (عليه الصلاة والسلام صلى الله عليه وسلم): "في يوم من يوم، والملائكة تقف عند مدخل المسجد الذي فيه صلاة جمعة هو أن تكون المقدمة.
When prayers are answered:
The day of Jumu’ah includes an hour during which all supplications are accepted. Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), said: “On (the day of) Jumu’ah, is an hour during which Allah gives to a Muslim servant standing in prayer whatever he asks for.”
عندما يتم الرد على الصلوات:
يوم الجمعة يتضمن ساعة يتم خلالها قبول جميع الأدعية. روى أبو هريرة رضي الله عنه أن رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وسلم الله عليه وسلم)، وقال: "في (يوم) الجمعة، على بعد ساعة خلالها الله يعطي العبد المسلم واقفا في الصلاة ما يسأل عنه."
Spirit of charity:
Giving your charity on Jummah carries more virtue than on other days. Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Charity given during the day of Jumu’ah is greater (in reward) than any other day.”
روح المحبة:
الصدقة الخاصة بك على يوم يحمل أكثر فضيلة من الأيام الأخرى. قال النبي محمد (عليه الصلاة والسلام صلى الله عليه وسلم)، "الصدقة خلال يوم الجمعة أكبر (في الثواب) من أي يوم آخر.
A glimpse of Allah:
A true believer of Islam also believes that the faithful will be granted a vision of Allah on Jummah.
لمحة عن الله:
يعتقد المؤمن الحقيقي للإسلام أيضا أن المؤمنين سيتم منح رؤية الله في يوم.
Akin to Eid:
The day of Jummah is like Eid for the Muslim community. Ibn Abbas has narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Jumu’ah is a day of celebration, so whoever attends It should perform ghusl beforehand.”
أقرب إلى عيد:
يوم يوم مثل عيد للمجتمع الإسلامي. وقد روى ابن عباس أن رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وسلم الله عليه وسلم) قال: "الجمعة هو يوم احتفال، لذلك كل من يحضر ينبغي أن الغسل مسبقا."
Forgiveness of sins:
It is a day on which sins are forgiven. “Any man who performs ghusl on Friday, perfumes himself if he has perfume, wears the best of his clothes, then goes to the mosque and offers as many prayers as he wishes while not harming anybody, then listens quietly while the Imam speaks until he offers the prayer, will have all his sins between that Friday and the next forgiven.”
مغفرة الذنوب:
وهو اليوم الذي مغفورة الخطايا. "أي رجل الذي يؤدي الغسل يوم الجمعة والعطور نفسه إذا كان لديه العطور، ويلبس أحسن ثيابه، ثم يذهب إلى المسجد، ويقدم العديد من الصلوات كما يشاء بينما لا تضر أحدا، ثم يستمع بهدوء بينما يتحدث الإمام حتى تقدم صلاة، وسوف يكون كل خطاياه بين أن يوم الجمعة المقبل ويغفر ".
Full reward:
When walking to attend the Friday sermon, a Muslim gets the reward of both praying qiyam (the night prayer) and fasting for a full year. Allah will give him the full reward of fasting on all the days in a year and observing night-vigil on each of its nights for every step that he takes towards the mosque.”
مكافأة كاملة:
عند المشي لحضور خطبة الجمعة، وهو مسلم يحصل على مكافأة كل من qiyam الصلاة (صلاة الليل) والصوم لمدة عام كامل. الله سوف يعطيه المكافأة الكاملة للصيام كل أيام في السنة ومراقبة ليلية وقفة احتجاجية في كل من ليال من أجل كل خطوة أن يأخذ باتجاه المسجد ".
In death, as in life:
Dying on Friday, during the day or night, is a sign of a good end in Islam. Allah the Almighty will enable the person to be steadfast at the end. Prophet Muhammad has said, “Any Muslim who dies during the day or night of Friday, will be protected by Allah from the trial of the grave.”
في الموت، كما في الحياة:
الموت يوم الجمعة، خلال النهار أو الليل، هو علامة على حسن الخاتمة في الإسلام. الله سبحانه وتعالى سوف تمكن الشخص أن يكون صامدا في نهاية المطاف. وقال النبي محمد، "أي مسلم يموت أثناء النهار أو الليل من الجمعة، وسوف تكون محمية من قبل بالله من فتنة القبر".

The Man who created Another World

BE AWARE

WAR - WIN OR OWN ?

April 30, 1975

Ho Chi Minh City born on the pyres of Saigon

As the sun came out, the remaining Marines realized they had been forgotten. The pilots mistakenly believed that the call meant everyone had been evacuated. The Marines had no way to contact U.S. airmen ferrying Vietnamese allies and Americans to aircraft carriers offshore because their radio signals didn't carry that far.The last U.S. servicemen in Vietnam were stuck alone atop the embassy, hoping someone would realize they were there before the city fell to rapidly advancing communist forces.On the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon on Thursday, a group of Marines who were there that day returned to what is now Ho Chi Minh City for a memorial ceremony at the site of the old embassy, which is now the U.S. Consulate. They had been in charge of guarding the embassy and the defense attache office beside Tan Son Nhut airport, and were tasked with helping to get the last Americans out."When I saw that that the country had moved forward, it gave me a little peace in my mind and let me move forward mentally knowing that it wasn't frozen in time anymore," he said. "Things do progress. Things do move forward, and I could put the past away and have better memories instead of just bad memories about this country."The days leading up to the end of the Vietnam War were chaotic and exhausting. Northern enemy forces had been sweeping southward for weeks, capturing major South Vietnamese strongholds as they went. Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before the capital, Saigon, also fell. Rumors of a looming bloodbath gripped the city, and Americans along with their South Vietnamese allies were being evacuated on cargo planes from the airport. Lance Cpl. John Stewart, now 58, of Nacogdoches, Texas, was assigned to take a bus through Saigon to pick up those eligible to leave. He was just 18 and had only been in the country a couple weeks, but he saw anger growing among those on the streets as people realized the end was near and the U.S. was pulling out its last remaining citizens. At one point a rocket hit near the bus and it was shaken by shrapnel, but no one was injured and the evacuation continued. "We were having to pull people off or physically keep them from getting onto the buses," he said. "You couldn't blame them for wanting to get out, but it had gotten to the point where we could only take those that we absolutely had to. We couldn't take everybody. That's when your brain tells you this is really happening and we've reached the end, and hopefully we'll get out before the end gets here." Stewart and the others were already shaken after a rocket attack killed two Marines - Cpl. Charles McMahon and Lance Cpl. Darwin Judge - early April 29 while they stood guard at the defense attache compound. They would be the last U.S. servicemen to die in a war that killed some 58,000 Americans, up to 250,000 South Vietnamese allies and an estimated 3 million North Vietnamese and civilians. Thirteen of the original Marines on Thursday placed red roses in front of a plaque and saluted it on the old embassy grounds as taps played. The bodies of McMahon and Judge were found by Sgt. Kevin Maloney, now 62 of Hollywood, Florida. But there was no time to mourn. Like Stewart, he had to help load buses.While in the city, he locked eyes with a little boy with light brown hair. He was only supposed to pick up Americans, but he shoved the kid and his mother into one of the front seats anyway, knowing that the child was most likely the son of a GI. He has no idea whether they made it onto a plane and on to America, as many Vietnamese did after being evacuated.Once the airport became too bombed out to continue operations there, helicopters were ordered to land at the embassy for the final flights. Maloney was later moved there to help. He spent hours going over the wall to help pull Americans and allies from other countries out of the mob and into the compound so they could be airlifted. He grabbed their hands to pull them up, while beating back the Vietnamese. He left his pistol inside the compound, fearing someone might grab it from his holster and fire shots into the thousands of people. The scene became so insane that Sgt. Don Nicholas, now 62, of Green, Ohio, was sent to the attache office to guard millions of U.S. dollars before the cash was burned and the compound blown up by the Americans to keep the enemy from raiding it and obtaining classified documents. He later stood watch at the embassy and was shocked when a Vietnamese man, desperate to get into the compound, ran a spike from the gate into his foot as he climbed over the wall. Others began offering "anything and everything" to get inside."Women were like, 'Take us in, we'll have sex with you. Here's gold. I have this money, here's jewels. Please just let me in!'" he said. "Within 48 hours, that's all I heard. People begging." Once the Marines got word that they were to abandon their posts and prepare to evacuate, they moved up to the roof, where they could see parts of the city burning. Many had not slept in two or three days and were running only on adrenaline. No one knew what would happen when the Americans finally left and the city was overtaken by the enemy. There were about 80 men crowded on the rooftop. One stood guard next to a small window where Vietnamese, who had forced their way inside and through all of the locked gates in the stairwell, were pressed - hoping and waiting more helicopters were coming for them to board.A couple of hours passed. No choppers."They literally forgot about us," said Master Sgt. Juan Valdez, now 77, of Oceanside, California, who was the detachment commander. "Everybody was in their own thoughts. I was on one side thinking, 'What was going to happen next?' My worst thought was if they were able to direct artillery fire to (the air base), what was to keep them from directing artillery fire on the roof?"The men passed around a bottle of whiskey and waited. Finally, they heard the whirring of helicopter blades. They stripped off their flak jackets, helmets and packs to save weight and stuffed as many people as possible into the last birds that landed. After one last glace to make sure all of his men were gone, Valdez was the last man to board the last helicopter. On the chopper out ahead of him, Sgt. Douglas Potratz, now 60, from Fullerton, California, watched Saigon burn."I felt sad because I felt like we had lost the war and so many lives had been spent on the war here," he said. "I felt like we were entrusted to keep the traditions going and to not let the country go to communism and we had failed, and I felt very low at that time. I felt like it was the end of the world." The scenes of the women with wailing babies frantically begging to be saved outside the embassy walls haunted his dreams for years, but he said coming back four decades later to what is now called Ho Chi Minh City with the same men he left with so long ago has helped him heal. 

   FALL OF SAIGON 

PAUL SMITH : MIND OVER MATTER

                                                I Was Blown Away When I 
                                      Realized What This Image Really Was

When I first saw this particular image, I thought it was a drawing made using a pencil. But when I realized what it really was and how it was made, I was completely blown away by it ! But there’s a little story behind it. 

              

                   Paul Smith was born in the 1920s with cerebral palsy – a serious condition that affects the brain. It limited his ability to speak and move. Back then, people with this condition did not have much of a life expectancy, and as a result, he was illiterate. When he turned 16, he learned to speak, and at 32 he learned to walk. But there’s one thing very particular about this man. At the age of 11 he started to create paintings using 10 symbols of an old typewriter. You will be amazed at what you are about to see in this video.

                   Watch the Video :-

                  

                                          Reproduced here by- Bev H.

                                  

RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY

Ratan Tata

– the Indian business baron 

– one of the richest persons on earth 

   and most importantly, a finest ‘human being’

                         – has this first hand story to tell this                        ‘Small-World’   

Germany is a highly industrialized country.

In such a country, many will think its people lead a luxurious life.

Once when we arrived at Hamburg , my colleagues walked into the restaurant, we noticed that a lot of tables were empty.

There was a table where a young couple was having their meal. There were only two dishes and two cans of beer on the table. I wondered if such simple meal could be romantic, and whether the girl will leave this stingy guy.

There were a few old ladies on another table. When a dish is served, the waiter would distribute the food for them, and they would finish every bit of the food on their plates.

As we were hungry, our local colleague ordered more food for us. When we left, there was still about one third of un-consumed food on the table.When we were leaving the restaurant, the old ladies spoke to us in English, we understood that they were unhappy about us wasting so much food.

"We paid for our food, it is none of your business how much food we left behind," my colleague told the old ladies. The old ladies were furious. One of them immediately took her hand phone out and made a call to someone. After a while, a man in uniform from Social Security organisation arrived. Upon knowing what the dispute was, he issued us a 50 Euro fine. We all kept quiet.

The officer told us in a stern voice, "ORDER WHAT YOU CAN CONSUME, MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS IN THE WORLD WHO ARE FACING SHORTAGE OF RESOURCES. YOU HAVE NO REASON TO WASTE RESOURCES." 

The mindset of people of this rich country put all of us to shame. WE REALLY NEED TO REFLECT ON THIS. We are from country which is not very rich in resources. To save face, we order large quantity and also waste food when we give others a treat.

THE LESSON IS - THINK SERIOUSLY ABOUT CHANGING    OUR BAD HABITS. VERY TRUE - "MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY."

SOMETIMES