The Muslim Blog

We Have a New Home!

2007-01-26T13:35:00.000+02:00

Blog.Muxlim.com

My Mood:

Believe it or not, MuslimSpace.com ranked 4th social networking website in the world!

2006-09-04T13:32:00.000+03:00

Finnish youth magazine "V" ranked MuslimSpace in the 4th position in the top 5 social networking websites in the world. Their ranking criteria was not published, but MuslimSpace beat social networking giant Friendster.com which ranked 5th in the list. Here is the top 5 list:

1) myspace.com

2) orkut.com

3) openbc.com

4) muslimspace.com

5) friendster.com

You can see the rankings on the magazine's official website: http://www.vee.fi/lehti/ilmio/top_v_15/

Alhamdullilah, all the success is from Allah's SWT!

My Mood:

Digital Halal's Next Surprise!

2006-07-24T17:58:00.000+03:00

Assalamu Aleikom wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuh,

I know I haven't been blogging lately, but Alhamdullilah we are lucky to have our Brother Toronto who has been updating you with the latest news from the Digital Halal Team. As you might have read in his last blog, MuslimSpace.com has been under attack from a bunch of hooligans, but after a chaotic experience, our hero brother Toronto managed to repel them and protect our community while I was away on Holiday. MuslimSpace.com has therefore promoted him to Admin status which is the highest staff position that can be reached on our website.

So why am I writing this blog, well simply because I have some good news. Lately, the Digital Halal Network has been racing with time to complete our next surprise before the summer ends. I know there is around a month left, but we still need sometime to test the website and do the final tweaks. That's why we are in need of some beta testers who are willing to try out our new system, find all the bugs and report them. They will also have a chance to suggest some features they think would make the site better. Beta testing will be on invite-only basis, so if you would like to give it a shot please email admin @ digitalhalal.com. We will review all applications and decide who will recieve an invitation to the invite-only site. Also, If you are already working on some website(s), we would like to hear about your experience as it might affect our choice. If you are not a webmaster or don't have any previous experience with websites, don't worry we need you too. After all, the majority of our visitors will be non-webmasters so we need your feedback too on how easy it is to use the website etc...

So what's the next site going to be about? Is it the muslim Del.icio.us? Is it the muslim Blogger.com? Is it the muslim Youtube.com? or is it something totally new?

To know the answer you will have to wait for a while more, but hopefully you won't regret it.

My Mood:

Doing Alright So Far Alhamdulillah

2006-07-18T00:12:00.000+03:00

As Salamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu Brothers and Sisters!

Digital Halal is here to update you on some of the latest progress that we have been making alhamdulillah.

Over the past week, www.Muslimspace.com had about 20 people spamming our website with vulgar pictures (unhumane pornographic images), profanity, and disturbing behaviour. On that night, I spent about 8 hours trying to clean up after their mess. They were relentless and really dedicated to disrupt the serenity of this family website. Normally, a quick ban will do the trick however, they got around my banning procedures and kept on going. So I immidiately appealed to users of Muslimspace.com to inform me of any pictures that I may have happened to miss. Alhamdulillah, the cooperation by our community was very helpful, may Allah (SWT) reward them abundantly and accordingly. At about 12am that night, their disruption died down so I thought they were sick and tired of trying (everything they were posting was being deleted within seconds), so I went to sleep because work was waiting for me the next morning at 7am. The next morning I woke up, and the corruption had spread even more than the previous night. Subhan'Allah, my main worry was that these pictures would be seen by one of our younger members on the website and scar them for life.... So I went to work and did my best to delete everything once again.

This is the point where I decided to email the forum (they were all part of one forum) moderators that they were hailing from (www.Totse.com). Here is an account of the back and forth emailing:

Hello TOTSE 'I Found it on the Web' Staff,
I am Toronto, from www.Muslimspace.com, recently we have been under
attack from some of your forums members, they have been posting
pictures (goatse, tubgirl etc) onto our website, which we try to
maintain as a clean, family environment... there are kids that use our
website and I do not wish to have them scarred by such disgusting
pictures.

I would like to ask of you a favour, can you please delete the thread
(which can be found here -
http://www.totse.com/bbs/Forum13/HTML/019777.html ) concerning
Muslimspace on your forum, in order to prevent other immature people
from joining in on the current idiots' "fun".

Thank you kindly, and looking forward to your cooperation.

Toronto
Muslimspace.com Senior Staff.

I would like to highly apologize on behalf of the totse moderation staff.
These kids in no way reflect the views and opinions of totse, the staff, and
the moderation team.
I'll be sure to yell at them.

If they continue, please let me know and I'll bring this to the
administration team.

-XiP

Again, I apologize for this.

Totse doesnt stand for chaos, making bombs, blowing stuff up, anarchy,
vandilism, or any other form of stupidity. Totse stands for freedom of
information and freedom of expression.
Unfortunately, when one idiot is given attention by other idiots, things get
out of control.
I would like to again apologize on Totse's behalf for these kids.
Once the other moderators decide to come online, I'll yell at them and bring
them up to speed with whats been going on, and make sure that collectively,
we dont let something like this happen again.

-XiP

Hello.

First off, Thankyou for the polite notice - It is a nice thing to recieve a polite email after so many rude ones :)

The Totse staff, general posters, and myself personally, do not advocate in any way, shape, or form this behaviour and it is much frowned upon in our community.

My co-moderator, Xipilli, has dealt with the situation accordingly, and the thread explaining the severity of these actions, and his own personal anger, can be found here for your reference - http://www.totse.com/bbs/Forum13/HTML/019796.html

Thank you again for going about this the right way, and I wish you luck with your internet endeavours, and also wish to let you know that you and your users will be welcomed at totse.com

Many thanks

Ollie (TheAtomiser)

Alhamdulillah, the staff members then went onto posting a thread on their forum condeming their actions.... The problem was thus solved! You can read more about this on a thread I created that night on Muslimspace.com - http://muslimspace.com/forum/?action=view_topic&id=1042&fid=1

Onto some good news... :)

The Digital Halal Network has launched two new websites in the past few weeks.

The first one being www.MuslimShout.com - here is a quote that sums up Muslimshout.com quite nicely:

You can share your favorite stories/links with friends, vote the best ones to the frontpage, post comments and more...

Every registered member recieves a personal RSS feed so you can easily display your MuslimShout submissions on your blog/personal website.

Welcome to MuslimShout.com! We hope you enjoy the site.

The other website that has been launched is www.IslamicAudios.net! IslamicAudios.net is a collection of [currently] 1514 Islamic audio files that have been brought together and complied into one large source; Islamicaudios.net offers a very wide variety of speakers and has already had an audience of 6,815 audio hits alhamdulillah!

Furthermore, www.IslamicVideos.net now has it's own forum due to popular demand.

Last but not least, alhamdulillah, we have hit 3 large milestones last week. www.Muslimspace.com has reached 14,000 and www.Islamictorrents.net has reached 20,000 members as well as 250,000 downloads! Allahu Akbar :)

If we have been able to help you in any way insha'Allah, all we ask is that you take some time out to make du'a for us insha'Allah... it would be greatly appreciated!

Jazak'Allah khairun for remaining with us and being patient with us, and may Allah (SWT) grant you the best of rewards.

My Mood:

What's new!

2006-05-18T20:00:00.000+03:00

As Salamun Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu Brothers and Sisters in Islam!

Don't you hate it when you're writing, writing, writing... then all of a sudden, your computer freezes on you! Subhan'Allah I had written most of this blog entry yesterday but that is just what happened to me last night and after that my hopes went down so I just went to sleep.

Alhamdulillah though, today is a new day filled with new opportunities, hope, energy and a new blog!

Ok, so I bet you're dying to know what we've been upto in the past 2 weeks.

Digital Halal has launched a couple of new websites since last time Alhamdulillah. The first one can be located at www.DocuWorld.org - Docuworld is a website that streams informative documentaries and other informative videos. This is Digital Halal's first real attempt to leap into the "general" internet scene where the target audience is people from all ages, creeds, religions, races etc. Alhamdulillah, so far the feedback has been quite well recieved, and what's even better is that we (unlike many other websites who do the opposite) have a very rich library of Islamic material on the site. You may be wondering why? Well, many other websites do not usually promote Islam and almost always portray it in a twisted and negative manner. Insha'Allah we also thought this could be a good way to share the true face of our religion i.e. that it is a religion of peace and NOT terrorism. If Allah (SWT) wills, we would love it for non-Muslims to look more into Islam and really try to learn it and if possible embrace it insha'Allah!

As always, we have our signature picture for Docuworld.org, if you would like to add it to your blog, website or signature, please feel free to do so!

So, like I said, we have launched another website called www.Islamicvideos.net - this is a website very similar to Docuworld.org. One of the brothers who avidly uploads to Docuworld ask our team to create an Islamified version of Docuworld... lo and behold, we now have added www.Islamicvideos.net to our nice collection of websites :) It is always our pleasure at Digital Halal to give the people what they want to the best of our capabilities insha'Allah.

But what's really been a delightful surprise for us is that what started out as a secondary website has becoming one that is booming Alhamdulillah! We have had many loyal visitors and members to Islamicvideos.net and the numbers are increasing even more as everyday passes!

If you would like to sport our cool signature picture for Islamicvideos.net, please feel free to do so!

The Digital Halal Team is very proud to present these two projects to the public and as usual, we have made the services completely FREE of charge, all we ask is that if any of our websites have helped you at all; that you, if possible make dua for us insha'Allah.

Jazak'Allah Khairun for taking the time out to read this. Please let your friends know of our work so they can insha'Allah benefit from it as well!

From the Digital Halal Team,
Fatih Kurt

As Salamun Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu

My Mood:

Progress Report!

2006-04-29T15:34:00.000+03:00

As Salamun Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu ya Ummah!

As you may have noticed, TheMuslimBlog.com now has a new writer! My name is Fatih Kurt but I am also known as "Toronto" or "Akhi Toronto" to many of our wonderful friends on the internet. For those of you how are wondering who I am: Alhamdulillah, I have been involved in many aspects of the Digital Halal Network and its affiliate websites and currently serve as a staff member on most of them. You may find out more about me at Brother Toronto

Well, now that we've gotten to know each other.... let's get to business!
I am sure that many of you have been wondering "What's going on? Where are these brothers, it seems like they've fallen off the face of the earth!"

Alhamdulillah, we're still here and we're as busy as ever! Many of us have been extremely busy with university, work, travelling and upgrading or launching our websites. But fear not, for insha'Allah, we will no longer keep you in the dark!

Ok, so I know I've kept you waiting for long enough now let's update you about what's new!

On April 1st, Alhamdulillah, the Digital Halal Inc. Team launched a new website which can be located at Memorize-Quran.com

This website was the idea of one of the Moderators at www.Islamictorrents.net (Brother Yasawa), this brother had the idea to take the audio Quranic files from Qari Mishary Al-Efasi and split them into 1 to 1.5 minute files. This would enable the user to make it easier to memorize the Holy Quran; if a person were to memorize just one file a day, insha'Allah they would become a Hifz-Ul-Quran in only 4-5 years time! Alhamdulillah, the site has really caught on and we have had a large demand! Qari Al-Efasi is almost done with only 1 Juz remaining and we have moved on to split the files of Qari Saad Al Ghamidy - Insha'Allah we will continue to do many more qari's in the future.

Also since last time, we have launched www.Muslimspace.com - Muslimspace is the Premiere Muslim Portal to meet online Muslim friends. Albiet, aside from the reason to bring together Muslims in one place, we also wanted to draw Muslims away from those other social networking websites that are filled with filth and fitnah. The goal of Muslimspace is to bring together all Muslim internet users in a friendly, clean, fitnah-free and Islamic environment. Alhamdulillah, this project has also spread like wildfire and has recieved a LOT of attention. I'd also like to add that we are vehemently moderating Muslimspace as there are always a few bad apples that constantly break the rules (e.g. Those who try to use the site for marital purposes when the site clearly does not allow for such practices).
Alongside with www.Muslimspace.com we have also created the Muslimspace store and have launched two affiliate websites: www.Muslimquizzes.com and www.MuslimMob.com

Next in line is a website called www.MillionMuslimLinks.com whose purpose is to serve as a bringing together of people online. This site provides spaces where people can advertise anything including their personal webpages, other websites, their businesses, their blogs, and the possibilities are endless! There are different packages that can be purchased depending on the size of the link that you would like to make. The goal is to have a million Islamic links insha'Allah!

Also for our die hard users, you may include these nifty signature pictures in some of the forums you visit or your blogs to represent our sites!

Muslimspace Picture

Islamictorrents Picture

Memorize-Quran Picture

The codes may be retrieved from here respectively -

Muslimspace.com Code
Islamictorrents.net Code
Memorize-Quran.com Code

Insha'Allah this is all for now... I could say so much more, but just keep your eyes open for future updates and new projects this upcoming summer insha'Allah... we've got big plans :)

Please do not forget us in your duas.
As Salamun Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu

My Mood:

Sorry, I've been really busy!

2006-02-11T10:59:00.000+02:00

For the ones regularly visiting The Muslim Blog, I would like to tell you that I trully appreciate your interest and the time you spend on my blog. I know I haven't been blogging much since I came back from my trip but believe me it was out of my hands. For starters, I found this the moment I stepped into home after my 2 and a half weeks trip in UAE:

That's right this is the mail. In Finland, there are no mailboxes outside the home. Instead, there is a 30 cm opening in the door so the mail-(wo)man can drop your bills, cheques, newspapers, magazines, etc... through. The above is the sad result of leaving your home for a while.

The next thing that got me busy was the Helsinki Documentary Film Festival (http://www.docpoint.info):

I went to a couple of screenings and they were really nice. Especially that I found Mohamed El-Aboudi, a fellow muslim filmmaker from Morocco participating with a multi-cultural themed series of short-films, co-directed by Nga Thu Vu-Lilja from Vietnam. Here is the Synopsis:

Finland 2005
17 min
Beta SP, Color

The Mundo project, managed by the Finnish Broadcasting Company and funded by the European Social Fund’s EQUAL -programme, has put together a compilation of short documentaries by Mohamed El Aboud (Morocco) and Nga Thu Lena Vu-Lilja (Vietnam). This educational project, intended for immigrants and ethnic minorities living in Finland, has produced a series of short films about experiences of the Finnish society from the immigrant’s perspective.

Pasilan lapset (Children of Pasila) is a fun, multicultural cross section about children’s thoughts and dreams. The touching film Oletko siell?? (Are You There?) documents an Ethiopian man’s telephone conversation with his wife and daughter who have remained in their homeland. The ironic Monikulttuurinen Yleisradio (Multicultural Finnish Broadcasting Company) deals with the immigrants’ situation in Finland on a broader level, and in a symphonic manner. Said Bentayeb, a vivacious barber from Morocco, enjoys the limelight in Kallion tietotoimisto (Kallio News Agency).

Of course I also have the ongoing SysOp work at IslamicTorrents.net, customer service at iTori.NET, programming and development at MuslimShowBiz.com and Memorize-Quran.com (Your Dua plz that I complete them soon Ensha'Allah). All that besides two films I am currently working on: Pearls, about Finnish Glass Art which is currently in the post-production phase; and another film that I can't reveal the information about yet.

However, now that I am posting again to the blog I realized how exciting and fun it really is, I almost forgot SubhanAllah! I do have lots of things to write about, especially about my trip and lots of pictures to share too, but I still look forward to your patience and understanding for any more delay from my side. Welcome again to The Muslim Blog and May Allah always bless you and your family!

My Mood:

Official Apology Published on Jyllands-Posten

2006-01-30T23:09:00.000+02:00

Jyllands-Posten Editor-in-Chief has published a formal apology to muslims all over the world, following the outrage caused by the cartoons of the prophet Mohammad (PBUH) published by the same newspaper in September 2005.

A screenshot from Jyllands-Posten website showing the link to the apology page.

and here is the formal apology by Carsten Juste:

Offentliggjort 30. januar 2006 21:44

Honourable Citizens of The Muslim World

Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten is a strong proponent of democracy and freedom of religion. The newspaper respects the right of any human being to practise his or her religion. Serious misunderstandings in respect of some drawings of the Prophet Mohammed have led to much anger and, lately, also boycott of Danish goods in Muslim countries.

Please allow me to correct these misunderstandings.

On 30 September last year, Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten published 12 different cartoonists' idea of what the Prophet Mohammed might have looked like. The initiative was taken as part of an ongoing public debate on freedom of expression, a freedom much cherished in Denmark.

In our opinion, the 12 drawings were sober. They were not intended to be offensive, nor were they at variance with Danish law, but they have indisputably offended many Muslims for which we apologize.

Since then a number of offensive drawings have circulated in The Middle East which have never been published in Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten and which we would never have published, had they been offered to us. We would have refused to publish them on the grounds that they violated our ethical code.

Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten attaches importance to upholding the highest ethical standards based upon the respect of our fundamental values. It is so much more deplorable, therefore, that these drawings were presented as if they had anything to do with Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten.

Maybe because of culturally based misunderstandings, the initiative to publish the 12 drawings has been interpreted as a campaign against Muslims in Denmark and the rest of the world.

I must categorically dismiss such an interpretation. Because of the very fact that we are strong proponents of the freedom of religion and because we respect the right of any human being to practise his or her religion, offending anybody on the grounds of their religious beliefs is unthinkable to us.

That this happened was, consequently, unintentional.

As a result of the debate that has been going on about the drawings, we have met with representatives of Danish Muslims, and these meetings were held in a positive and constructive spirit. We have also sought in other ways to initiate a fruitful dialogue with Danish Muslims.

It is the wish of Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten that various ethnic groups should live in peace and harmony with each other and that the debates and disagreements which will always exist in a dynamic society should do so in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

For that reason, Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten has published many articles describing the positive aspects of integration, for example in a special supplement entitled The Contributors. It portrayed a number of Muslims who have had success in Denmark. The supplement was rewarded by the EU Commission.

Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten takes exception to symbolic acts suited to demonise specific nationalities, religions and ethnic groups.

Sincerely yours

Carsten Juste
Editor-in-Chief

UPDATE: The apology is also officially published in Arabic. You can read the Arabic version by clicking on the image below (pdf file).

My Mood:

Danish products boycott campaign in Saudi Arabia

2006-01-29T07:49:00.001+02:00

Following the outrage in the muslim world about the drawings published in a Danish newspaper that misrepresented our prophet Muhammad (PBUH), here are a couple of images from some of the major supermarket chains in Saudi Arabia:

The message reads: To our dear customers, Due to the offensive actions against our prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Al-Tamimi stores would like to announce boycotting Danish products of all types.

Another reads: We have stopped selling Danish products.

My Mood:

UAE, Here I Come Ensha'Allah

2005-12-22T22:02:00.000+02:00

Tomorrow morning Ensha'Allah I will be on my way to Dubai, U.A.E. Although the trip is mainly to visit my family, I also plan to have some relaxation time there. This might of course stop me from regularly posting to the blog, but rest assured as soon as I come back Ensha'Allah I will have many stories to share, and pictures to show.

Please make dua for me to have a safe trip, and wishing to see you again soon.

My Mood:

Mecca to Medina

2005-12-20T22:32:00.000+02:00

My friend and I have just bought ourselves copies of the most popular muslim game on the market "Mecca to Medina" produced by MuslimGames.com. We haven't recieved them yet, but as soon as we start rolling the dice, I will tell you how fun it is. This is how the game looks like:

and here is the official description of the game from MuslimGames.com:

"During the Golden Age of Islam, travelers could journey from city to city without border restrictions or passport requirements. Mecca to Medina is a riveting adventure game in which player success depends on the
strategic use of resources to complete routes between cities.

In this battle against the elements, players navigate treacherous Trading Routes to reach their destinations. Whether headed to Baghdad, Cairo, Medina, or another distant city, the road ahead is bound to be full of opposition and challenge. But if you keep your cool, use resources wisely, and shrewdly bargain at the Bazaar, you’ll safely arrive where you intended to go.

Heated competition among players creates challenges, as opposition arises with every roll of the dice. Players count on calculated moves to win the game. But watch out for unexpected events-- a player’s progress can be upset with a simple turn of an Event Card."

The price of the game is $25.00 and if you are in the U.S. you will get free shipping too.

For information on how to order visit: http://www.muslimgames.com

For the latest news about the game visit: http://muslimgames.blogspot.com

My Mood:

No Comment!

2005-12-19T19:25:00.000+02:00

No Comment!

My Mood:

Check Out "His" New Numbers

2005-12-18T23:59:00.000+02:00

Check Out My New Numbers

By PATRICIA MARX

After a cascade of opinion polls showed that George W. Bush's popularity had descended to an all-time low, the most recent numbers reflect a slight improvement for the President. Despite those gains, however, Bush's approval rating (40% last week) remains dismal. So why is President Bush happy? "Well, according to those expert fellows," the President might explain, "the margin of error on these things is really small, so that means we're making less errors, and that's a good sign. And here's something else that folks should keep in mind. There hasn't been a big hurricane in this country in a couple of days, so we're achieving victory status on that too. But the really good news is that in terms of the polls that my people in the White House have totally made up, I'm actually doing fantastic." A sample:

69% of heads of families who have saved $1 million or more due to the President's tax laws enthusiastically support the President's tax laws
56% of voters think Bush did not intentionally deceive the American public about the reasons he went into the Food Emporium
Experts tell us that according to a random sampling conducted at zoos around the country, most chimpanzees are disinclined to voice any objection to the way the President pronounces the word nuclear
100% of Americans 18 months or younger seem to give the impression that they are not disappointed by U.S. negotiations with North Korea over, oh, something or other
96% of the Wilmerding family in Akron, Ohio, think Bush is doing a really terrific job as President
51% of scientists believe the Big Bang led to greater upheaval in the world than the American invasion of Iraq
57% of senior citizens say the President leads "strongly and decisively" when it comes to the bunny hop
62% of educators are pretty sure that the President is smarter than SpongeBob but not smarter than Dan Quayle
only 2% of Americans who have at least four years of college education blame George W. Bush for the defeat of our country in Vietnam
87% of the ranchers in Montana say they are in favor of the way the President handles dry brush and scrub on the Crawford ranch
51% of those who watch the nightly news see nothing wrong with Bush's green windbreaker with light blue lining
23% who filled out the questionnaire on Whitehouse.gov believe the President was involved in the breakup of Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey
58% of the top brass in the U.S. military say hip-hip hooray to the President for his refusal to set an artificial timetable for withdrawing security guards from Home Depot
97% of stem cells zealously endorse the President's stem-cell policies
86% of the ExxonMobil management are of the opinion that we should stay the course in Iraq until the last drop of oil is pumped
99% of some people we know believe a certain person in the press who leaked the name of the Vice President of the U.S. to the American public should be prosecuted
49% of Jenna Bush's friends approve of the wet bar on her grandfather's boat in Kennebunkport
63% of the Bush clan think there are all too many Barbaras and Georges in the family, but they do not wish to get rid of any of them
An overwhelming majority of both Democrats and Republicans agree with Donald Rumsfeld's recent statement: "There is compelling evidence that al-Qaeda is linked to al-Qaeda"

Source: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1139839,00.html

My Mood:

Meet IslamicTorrents.net Moderators

2005-12-17T23:08:00.001+02:00

I noticed that many people don't know a lot about IslamicTorrents.net moderators, so I decided to write this post about them and their contribution to our blessed community.

Brother Semsemany04 is 24 years old. from Alexandria, Egypt and has been chosen for a moderator position for his hard work and commitment to IslamicTorrents.net. He is a graduate of the School of Business and Administration at Alexandria University. He currently works as an accountant and his hobbies include Internet surfing and Computer applications. "I like IslamicTorrents.net because it helps me increase my knowledge of Islamic and cultural issues, and I also love helping my brothers and sisters in Islam. I ask Allah SWT to reward me for my work at IslamicTorrents.net" says brother Semsemany04, and I say "Ameen!".

Yasawa is an instructional designer at a science academy and multimedia center in Egypt. Enough of me writing, I will let him tell you about his work at IslamicTorrents.net: "Assalamu Aleikom wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuh, When you have a problem concerning IslamicTorrents.net, you will be expecting one of us (my brothers m12345, Semsemany04 or myself) to assist you. We are all thrilled that our community is starting to help each other. Some of us have even become specialists:
m12345 ---> Tons of seeded torrents & #1 uploader
Semsemany04 ---> Amr Khaled Lectures
UncleSaddam ---> Documentaries
Moggi ---> Dr. Omar Abdel Kadi Lectures
Salahuddeen ---> The poet
and all other IslamicTorrents.net respected users. The main trouble we sometimes face is when we are forced to remove someone's comment or torrent. Believe me it bothers us more than it does to you, but our rules are set so our website can properly function. We wish that all users would try to avoid political, communal or any other debate that disperse us from the sole purpose of our website, which is sharing torrents for the sake of Allah and to spread the Islamic message to gain Allah's rewards. Another issue is when we have to warn a user with low ratio, which is also a policy set to protect the community and the hardworking members who always share. We are looking forward to your participation, support, sharing and contribution to the site and the forum. By the way, I'm not Japanese, yasawa is just the initials I love. Thank you all for your time, patience and concern to read a bit about us. Jazakum Allah Khair".

Special thanks to both of them for a great job!

My Mood:

A day in the life of Faisal

2005-12-16T22:20:00.000+02:00

A few days ago it was the first birthday of my friend Faisal's son. I felt lucky to be around that day seeing the sparkling eyes of father and son alike. My friend was happy and proud of his son who can already do some simple boxing techniques. Being a security guard who belongs to an ethnic minority himself, I asked him if he wants his son to become like him, a security guard. His answer was a speedy "NO".

I was personally surprised he felt that way, especially knowing how proud he is of his job. To him it resembles authority and responsibility. But it also has a great risk factor, which is further elevated for a person who looks foreign.

One day while Faisal was doing his job guarding a supermarket he noticed a group of several young men and women from another ethnic minority approaching his territory. They looked suspicious and he couldn’t help feeling weird about them. He rushed to his desk and had a quick peak at the CCTV monitor only to see his doubts turn to reality. The group was actually stealing from the shop. They were filling up their pockets and bags with whatever they thought valuable. They did not have a shopping basket and were moving around very quickly inside the supermarket.

He decided to go to the cashiers' point and wait for them just to make sure they were really stealing and not just hasty shoppers. He was right, they passed through the cashiers without a stop, heading straight to the door and trying to avoid him as if nothing happened. At that point he knew he had to do his job, defend his territory and make sure these trespassers do not run away. He grabbed the biggest of them to the floor, tightening his grip so that he can't run loose. They were already outside into the street by now, and each of the other men exposed a large bladed knife in his face.

He also took out his security stick, and after a minor struggle the Police was finally here. The gang were cuffed and taken into the Police cars, while Faisal was collecting the items they shoplifted from the floor. Soon after the Police cars left, a group of cars rushed to the place like a scene from a Hollywood movie. Young men belonging to the same ethnic minority started flooding out of the cars, each equipped with either a knife, baseball bat or a chain.

Faisal's territory extended till the doors of the supermarket, and anything beyond that is not part of his job. Which is why he headed back to the supermarket doors to enter for protection, only to find that the shopkeeper has locked him out after seeing the group of cars arrive. She was scared they would destroy her shop. A shocking and critical situation for Faisal, but luckily the gangsters knew the law very well. They yelled at each other not to attack him because the sentence for attacking a security guard on duty is no less than 2 years in jail.

Alhamdullilah the incident ended safely and Faisal was not seriously attacked. However, it is the mental attack that he still remembers. My full respect and appreciation goes out to Faisal, and all the other men who embark every single day, on a mission to secure our lives.

My Mood:

Real Food Not Junk Food, and Halal too!

2005-12-14T14:51:00.000+02:00

Stylish yet Casual burger outlets in the UK are challenging the fast-food market with better meat, fries and shakes. Artificial or processed ingridients normally found in fast-food are replaced with fresh fruits, grass-fed beef, and freshly baked bread. Sounds to me like some fast-food giant is suffering a bitter McLoss! Real burger world is a new burger chain in the UK, aiming at changing people's idea about Junk Food, and it did just that!

“We were sick and tired of the same tasteless, processed fast food options. So that’s why we only use FRESH, REAL ingredients to make our food. Every morning we get deliveries of fresh buns from the baker, fresh meat from the butcher, fresh potatoes from the farm, fresh salad, herbs, milk and cream from the grocer” says Muslim co-owner Naz Choudhury.

The seating is at dark-wood tables and booths, and the menu is displayed on a large chalkborad. Faithful eaters order the thick 160g juicy burger, laid on a preservative-free bun, and their personal choice of 12 different cheese or sauce toppings like mango & ginger or spicy satay. And best of all, the whole menu is Halal!

"Great burgers, real chips and fresh milkshakes! Slightly dearer but well worth it. Fills you up unlike other well known fast food outlets. Kids loved it and will definately return" says Louise from London.

If you happen to visit one of their outlets, make sure you try one of their shake flavours; Banana, Strawberry or Belgian Chocolate.

Take a look at their burger menu:

and if you are in the UK, here is how to find them:

No body enjoys a real burger more than me. I wonder when they're coming to Finland!

For more information visit: http://www.realburger.co.uk/

My Mood:

Snow in the deserts of Dubai

2005-12-13T14:09:00.000+02:00

I was born in the U.A.E and through the 18 years of my life that I have spent there, the yearly average temperature was around 32 C and climbing up to 42 C during the Summer. Snow was always an unachievable dream. Not anymore! After the launch of Ski-Dubai, a $272 million project offering tourists and locals alike an amazing 22,500 square metres covered with real snow all year round. A spectacular tourist attraction that even beats Scandinavia, where snow falls only in the Winter season..

Ski Dubai has 5 slopes with varying difficulties. The longest slope is 400 meters with a 60 meter fall. Beginners don't have to worry, they can use the beginner slopes till their skills develop. Families can also enjoy the Snow Park, covering 3000 square meters and considered the largest indoor snow park in the world.

If you are going to Dubai for tourism and wat to visit Ski Dubai, you don't have to take your Ski clothes with you. Ski Dubai offers it all from winter clothes, ski equipment and even a quad-chairlift to take you back up there for another dose of fun. An exclusive retail shop Snow Pro, has expert staff to help you with choosing your equipment if you decide to go pro, or just want a souvenir for a loved one. A world class team of instructors are also at your service, whether you are there just for fun, or want to practice for the World championships. Perhaps its about time to see someone from the UAE competing in the next Winter Olympics taking place in Turin, Italy.

Here are some facts I found on Ski Dubai's official website http://www.skidubai.ae/:

22,500m² covered with real snow all year round – (equivalent to 3 football fields)
Temperature maintained at a comfortable -1 C to -2 C
85 meters high (approximately 25 stories) and 80 meters wide
5 different slopes of varying difficulty and length, longest run of 400 meters
Full capacity of 1500 guests
Freestyle park
1/4 pipe snowboard area
3,000m² Snow Park with a snow cavern
Quad chairlift, tow lift and flying carpets
Mountain resort theme
Use of quality equipment and clothing included in the ticket price
Qualified professional instructors
State of the art ticketing system
Changing areas with locker rental
Private kids party rooms
Exclusive retail shop – Snow Pro
St Moritz Café and Avalanche Cafe

An artist's impression of Ski Dubai

Beginners and professionals alike enjoy Ski Dubai

Quad-chairlift takes you back up there for another go

Coming from snow-packed Finland, Nokia just had to be there

The general manager of Ski Dubai enjoys the snow too

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Iran's policewomen return to the beat

2005-12-12T14:17:00.000+02:00

By Miranda Eeles
BBC correspondent in Tehran

Policewomen in Iran will soon be joining their male counterparts and working on the beat in Tehran.

At their graduation ceremony on Saturday they trooped in front of President Khatami together with thousands of male police officers.

It is the first time since the 1979 revolution that women have graduated from the police training college to become fully trained officers.

Swearing allegiance to the Islamic Republic and to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, more than 200 policewomen gathered on the outskirts of the Iranian capital to attend their graduation ceremony.

They were dressed in smart black, green and gold chadors, the Islamic garment which covers women from head to toe. Some carried guns while others held ceremonial swords.

Twenty-four year-old Susan Jejod Nejad said it was one of the best days of her life:

"Today I'm so happy because after three years I'm graduating and now I know how to shoot... and all the things that a real policewoman is, I know it".

The new recruits have been training since 1999 at the Kotar complex in Tehran.

Aged between 17 and 25 they have taken intensive military courses, including judo, fencing, using firearms and laying mines.

It has been nearly 25 years since women have played such an active role.

After the revolution women in the police worked mostly in administration.

Now, with the easing of restrictions and with more and more crimes being committed by women, the government decided it was necessary to have policewoman back on the beat.

There has been much speculation about what they will wear.

Reports say rather than the all-encompassing chador, their uniform will consist of trousers and a long coat. The new recruits are expected to start their duties immediately.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3164946.stm

I have also found these interesting pictures:

and here is a video of their graduation ceremony:

Click here to watch the video

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Google Adsense: Discover your site's full revenue potential

2005-12-11T21:24:00.000+02:00

Google Adsense is by far the largest contextual ad network on the web, with millions of websites displaying their ads, and millions of advertisers paying for them. I have been wanting to write about Adsense for a while now, because I simply noticed that the majority of Muslim webmasters are unaware of the true potential of the system. The agreement I signed with Adsense does not allow me to give specific information about my earnings from the program, but I can say that this system works and it can cover your website running costs, and a tad more for most people. However, if you have the determination to get the most revenue out of your websites and blogs, it can well be your full time income.

"I’m a 32 year old Australian living in Melbourne. I am married to ‘V’ and live in a wonderful inner suburban part of the city. I am a full time blogger making a living from the medium now for almost a year now. I am looking at making over a six figure income this year in 2005 from blogging" says Darren Rowse of Problogger.net.

Problogger.net is one of the most popular internet blogs helping webmasters all over the world explore the revenue potential of their blogs and websites offering reviews, tips, tricks and much more. If you are interested in generating revenue from your website, be sure to read Problogger.net's posts about the program you are interested in.

So how can you make money with Google Adsense?

Once you are accepted to the Adsense program, and ads start showing on your site, you will begin to worry about the amount of ad impressions (views) and the CTR (click-through rate) of your ads. CTR is simply the percentage of paid clicks your site generates out of the total number of ad impressions. The higher the CTR the better as that means the ads displaying on your site are relevant to your site content which is catching the interest of your visitors.

So if you are new to the Adsense program, here are some useful tips you might wanna know before your start. They will save you some time trying different techniques to reach the maximum payout for your site, Ensha'Allah:

1. The “Large Rectangle” (336 x 280 pixels) ad block seems to have the highest CTR. It makes sense of course as it covers a very large area of your web page. I personally don't use it on any of my websites, simply because I feel it is too big to look good and I don't want to be too intrusive on my visitors, however if you are displaying the ads on a blog, you might be able to blend it very well that so that it won't ruin your layout. Here is an example blog post containing Adsense tips and utilizing Adsense's "Large Rectangle" ad block without compromising the blog design: http://labnol.blogspot.com/2005/09/z-adsense-tips-for-increasing-revenue.html .

2. Use AdSense’s “URL channels” to know which webpage or website is generating most revenue. You can also use custom channels to try different ad layouts and find out which one gives the highest CTR.

3. Blend your ads totally to your webpage. As Internet users see more and more ads all the time, they tend to avoid them as much as possible. Making your ads very flashy and noticeable is just like making them say: "I am an ad, DON'T click me!". Blending your ads will also maintain your website color scheme and will not ruin your layout.

4. Try to offer interesting ever-changing content as this will cause people to stick around and come back to your website for updates. Always remember that the number of ad impressions directly reflects on your revenue, so having users come back to your site is definitely a plus.

5. Have a good revenue plan. Instead of having 300 websites that earn you $1 a day, make a good website that earns you $300 a day. That way you will focus your efforts on that single site, and the content quality will be much higher (i.e. more visitors coming back, Ensha'Allah).

6. Remember that there is no secret formula to Adsense success. These tips are just guidelines to save you some time, but continuous testing and experimenting is invaluable for finding out what works best for YOUR website and rest assured that you hard work will always pay-off.

I have found a webmaster who was willing to share his monthly revenue from Adsense. As you can see he has made $222.77 that month alone. Hopefully your website can beat that soon Ensha'Allah. Finally, stay tuned for more Adsense tips and tricks on TheMuslimBlog.com as I will be continuously writing about Adsense and other revenue opportunities Ensha'Allah.

May Allah bless your revenues. Ameen!

My Mood:

Chicken soup or a lethal explosive?

2005-12-11T01:36:00.000+02:00

Unidentified substances have often caused havoc at Airports and Mail rooms till the Bomb-Squad arrives. Not anymore, with the new FirstDefender gadget invented by Daryoosh Vakhshoori from Ahura Corporation. The brilliant patented device can identify just about any substance according to TIME magazine.

The substances are identified by their optical signatures which means that light is shined on to them and the reflected light is collected and analyzed. The system is already so accurate that it has been used in the post-Katrina cleanup, and is used everyday in crime investigations.

The device currently weighs about 1.8 KG and costs $30,000, which means you cannot find it in every Police car yet, but with the corporations plan to slim the device down to a mobile phone size, that does not seem very far away.

According to Daryoosh, the company is trying to develop the device further to detect counterfeit pharmaceuticals."It's another eye you can use to see the material around you" remarks Vakhshoori, "like Superman looking right through the wall".

Sources: Ahuracorp.com, TIME magazine

My Mood:

How to prevent daily Windows' annoyances?

2005-12-11T00:27:00.000+02:00

Have you ever asked yourself any of the following questions:

How do I skip the Product Activation in Windows XP?
How do I turn off Windows XP's built-in support for ZIP files?
How do I turn Off the CD-ROM Autorun?
How do I turn Off the Low Disk Space Warning?
How do I disable the warning message when I view the Windows folder?
How do I stop a program from running whenever I start Windows?
Why do even the smallest files take up so much disk space?
Why don't folders remember their position, sort order, or icon size?

If you have then I think this website is for you: http://www.annoyances.org

The site answers the above questions and many more about how to prevent Windows operating system's daily annoyances. The answers are provided by advanced Windows users who know what they are doing. You can also find tips and tricks on how to tweak your Windows experience to achieve a much smoother operating system.

I personally found the site really useful, hope you do too.

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IslamicTorrents.net invitations, a HUGE success!

2005-12-10T13:20:00.000+02:00

IslamicTorrents.net has just launched a new invitation system where members get upload credit of 100 MB for every invitation email they send to their friends.

Alhamdullilah, the system proved to be a huge success on the first day it was launched (9th December). Please have a look at the new member registration statistics for the past week:

Welcome to all new members. We hope you enjoy your stay!

My Mood:

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, needs my help!

2005-12-10T07:24:00.000+02:00

I am sure most of us recieved emails from some rich former leader in Africa offering an 8 digit figure as an investment in a local business? or even worse offering 10% of the sum just for helping him transfer the money abroad?

I have just recieved a new type of email, from Kofi Annan the Secretary General of the United Nations. Have a look:

"Subject: CHRISTMAS CONFIDENTIALITY

I Dr. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, would like to ask for your partnership in reprofilling funds over $250m in excess, the funds would be coming via a string of selected banks in Europe and Asia.

The Funds in question were generated by me during the Oil For Food Programme in Iraq. I have been getting scandals/ controversy in this regards, you can read more on the links below-
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/apr2005/anna-a05.shtml
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2003/main042803.htm

You would be paid 10% as your management fee. Please do not write back directly to me via my official email address. All further correspondence should be sent to my private mail box (kofiannan4un@o2.pl ). As soon as you indicate your interest I will give further details.

Remember to treat this mail and transaction as strictly confidential. I will await your urgent correspondence via my private mail box-
Dr.Kofi Annan.
SECRETARY- GENERAL
kofiannan@un.org
www.un.org"

What do you think? Should I accept the offer? Here is a quick advice, If you ever recieve such an email, please make sure you are as quick as a bullet, to press the delete button.

My Mood:

The "Matrix" Ping Pong

2005-12-10T07:16:00.000+02:00

I came across a very interesting video on Google videos and thought i'd share it.

Click here to watch the video

My Mood:

Wikipedia, the encyclopedia with bugs?

2005-12-09T22:27:00.000+02:00

How many times have you seen Wikipedia pages popup on Google when you search for a word definition? Have you ever wondered how they got their funny name? Have you ever wondered how come they have so much information about so many things in so many languages?

Well i had the same questions in my head before i read an article about the founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales on TIME magazine. For starters "a Wiki is a web application that allows users to add content, as on an Internet forum, but also allows anyone to edit the content. Wiki also refers to the collaborative software used to create such a website", according to Wikipedia itself.

This is where all the confusion started for new users of the encyclopedia. They simply came across the website while searching for information, and were amazed to see a clickable "Edit" button. When some of them clicked it out ot curiosity, they found themselves able to change the contents of the page (definitions, links, practically everything), and their changes were shown immediately on the publicly accessible page.

Many concerned users spammed the founder's inbox with emails telling him about the "bug", but in reality this is just the whole idea behind the whole encyclopedia. The brilliant concept of Wikipedia is to let people themselves write about the topics they know best, and then all the information is shared on the web. You can also set email alerts to come to your email inbox once a certain page's content is changed. That way you can see if someone messed up your paragraph or if someone added interesting information to it.

According to a research by M.I.T. any page that is messed up by some bored individual, is restored in an average of 1.5 minutes. People who enjoy messing things up, do not stand a chance against the millions of people monitoring Wikipedia all the time.

Such a system sounds flawless, however problems still arise when it comes to controversial issues. Some pages are even protected and strictly moderated to prevent constant hostility. For example, doing a search on some islamic terms on Wikipedia will show you some of the protected pages. You might even see a note on the page saying that the last changes are awaiting review by a moderator. However, generally the encylopedia is very diverse and open for everybody. The reason why Google has chosen it as the main word definition encyclopedia.

So the next time you look for a word definition and you come across Wikipedia, keep in mind that it is some other person somewhere else in the world who knows about the topic very well has written this text. If you find some mistakes in the text you are reading, give it a shot and try modifying it yourself.

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