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Longest hiking trail in the nation connects Minnesota, Wisconsin trails: Path across North Dakota still being planned
Written By: John Myers / Forum News Service | Jun 16th 2019 - 6am.
Mike Cleven (left) and Philip Anderson take turns chopping out a tree stump and roots next to a recently built footbridge on a section of the North Country Trail under construction in Douglas County. Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com
ALONG THE NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL — In the woods of the Town Of Superior in Wisconsin, about five miles south of Duluth, a crew of 10 volunteers was busy building the longest hiking trail in the United States.
On a sweaty June afternoon, they were blazing and leveling a footpath, erecting signs, building bridges and boardwalks and working to prevent erosion on the new segment that, for the first time, links Minnesota and Wisconsin portions of the North Country National Scenic Trail.
Trilliums bloom near a footbridge recently built on an under-construction section of the North Country Trail. Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com
Yes, this new segment is only a 1.3-mile stretch out of a total 4,600 miles of trail. But when hundreds more stretches like this are completed it will be the longest contiguous hiking trail in the nation, stretching from Vermont to North Dakota. No one knows when that will happen — about 3,101 miles of completed foot trail are open now with 1,500 miles to go.
First proposed in 1968 and authorized by Congress in 1980, the North Country National Scenic Trail will cut across the heart of the Northland — through Michigan's Upper Peninsula, across northern Wisconsin and into Minnesota near Jay Cooke State Park. From there it meanders through Duluth, up the Superior Hiking Trail, then head back west on the Border Route Trail before ambling back south on the Kekekabic Trail through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
From there to North Dakota, the trail remains uncertain. But planning is underway and the route across northern Minnesota is slowly coming together.
Half-century in the works
On Oct. 2, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the National Trails System Act. This law set in motion a process to create a network of national scenic trails while also officially establishing the Appalachian and the Pacific Crest trails. The law ordered federal agencies to study up to 14 additional trails, including the North Country Trail route.
While the scenic trail system is administered under the National Park Service, the idea of a northern-tier hiking route across the U.S. appears to have sprouted from the U.S. Forest Service and a plan to connect northern national forests. (In the Northland the trail will indeed traverse and connect the Ottawa, Chequamegon-Nicolet, Superior and Chippewa national forests.)
This summer's newest section, from the Minnesota state line to about Douglas County Highway W in Wisconsin, was ready to go in 2016 but needed special approval from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to cross the St. Louis River Streambank Protection Area, a mostly inaccessible and wild area of forest set aside with little or no development to prevent erosion into the St. Louis River and Lake Superior.
That DNR approval finally came in February, and crews worked on the trail for a week in April and another week in June, with one more week of work coming in July.
John Pearson (left) and Pete Bock build a boardwalk through a wet area on an under-construction section of the North Country Trail. Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com
"It's frustrating sometimes when things slow down and we have to wait for so many different (government) agencies and landowners to say yes. But when it all comes together, like it has here, it's worth it,'' said Bill Menke, Wisconsin coordinator for the North Country National Scenic Trail Association, the private, nonprofit organization that oversees the trails' development.
Across the 4,600-mile trail, there are 160 government agencies involved in the trail route and thousands of private landowners.
Menke is overseeing this summer's newest construction. On the day we stopped by, volunteers were using hand tools, called a McLeod — a combination rake and hoe — to scrape away leaves and topsoil and flatten-out a 24-inch wide trail. They were taking care to keep the trail as flat as possible and avoid potential erosion hotspots while also keeping grades on hills to a minimum.
The goal is a "sustainable trail" which means more work to divert water where it will do the least damage. But the goal also is a scenic experience, so trail mappers look for scenic overlooks, streams and even unique trees to pass by.
"Someday I'm going to hike this whole trail and it's going to be great," said Tess Mulrooney, of Madison, one of the hard-working volunteers.
"This is my retirement job'' joked Mel Baughman, of Hayward, a trail volunteer and former University of Minnesota Extension educator who once taught classes about hiking trail design.
Richard Lutz, a trail volunteer from Ohio, stopped by for a day of work on the new Wisconsin segment on his way home from hiking the Superior Hiking Trail.
"It's amazing to me that so many people keep showing up to help, because it's really hard, grunt work,'' Lutz said.
The next big step across northern Wisconsin will be connecting the new Minnesota-border segment with about 180 miles of trail already completed across the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. The route across Douglas County has been mapped, but still hasn't been finalized, with some private landowners not yet on board. (It's possible to hike the entire 4,600 miles of the trail now, but more than 1,000 miles of that is on roads for now, Menke noted.)
"We're building what trail we can as (landowner permission) and money comes in, and we try to eliminate the road sections as we go along," Menke said.
Minnesota gaps narrowing
In Minnesota, North Country Trail advocates were excited earlier this year when Congress finally approved simple legislation that allowed them to redraw the official trail route across the state. The original plan approved by Congress aimed the trail straight west from Duluth to Remer, across bog-covered wetlands, requiring hundreds of new bridges in an area where no trails existed.
Instead, in 1992, organizers decided to move the route to follow the Superior Hiking Trail, already largely in place, then the Border Route Trail and eventually the Kekekabic Trail that pops-out of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness near Ely. After 27 years of almost happening, that simple route change finally passed Congress in March and was signed by President Trump, part of a massive public lands bill.
The delay highlights the fits-and-starts progress of the national trail.
Richard Lutz operates a field and brush mower on a section of North Country Trail being built in Douglas County. Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com
"It wasn't controversial. It wasn't partisan. It just never quite got done. Now it's done and the Superior Hiking Trail is officially part of the North Country Trail,'' said Matthew Davis, Minnesota/North Dakota coordinator for the North Country Trail Association.
In north-central Minnesota, a major segment of the North County Trail exists from about Detroit Lakes to Remer - 180 miles of boot-ready trail that connects scenic areas like Itasca State Park, Paul Bunyan State Park and the Chippewa National Forest.
But that leaves a 150-mile gap from Remer to Snowbank Lake northeast of Ely, and club volunteers and organizers are getting ready to scout a potential hiking route to close the gap. They eventually must convince both private and public land managers to allow the trail to cross their lands, then find money to actually build the trail. The association can accept easements or, if sellers are willing, can buy the land through the National Park Service, an option allowed by Congress only in recent years.
"We already are working with the Forest Service on some of the easier routes, like getting from the end of the Kekekabic into Ely… But getting across the Iron Range, and avoiding the whole mining thing, that's going to be more of a challenge. We have some work cut out for us,'' Davis said. "We've engaged the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission to help us in the planning on where we should go and, sometimes more importantly, where the trail shouldn't go."
In the short-term hikers may be routed onto the Mesabi Trail, a multi-use hard-surfaced trail that runs across the Iron Range. But the long-term goal is a "primitive footpath" for hiking only whenever possible, as the North Country Trail legislation demands.
Dirt-trail dollars
Davis is hoping small communities along the possible routes get excited about the energy — both recreational and financial — that a national hiking trail can bring.
"Small towns like Marcell and Soudan and Ely someday may be able to market this. People will stay in hotels and eat in restaurants and maybe do laundry in towns along the trail,'' Davis said. "Maybe in 80 years the North Country Trail will be as popular as the Appalachian Trail."
Farther west, parts of the trail already are built in North Dakota. But between Minnesota forests and the Missouri River Breaks, much remains undone. Getting a public hiking trail across the Red River Valley may be impossible, Davis said, because the area has so little public land and agriculture is so intensive.
"It may be that the trail will always run on roads in that area,'' Davis conceded.
A North Country Trail Association sticker on the car of a member of the crew that's building the trail in Douglas County. Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com
Which begs the question, why end the trail in North Dakota anyhow? Apparently the original North Country Trail planners thought it would be a good idea to connect what is mostly a forested route with the prairie vistas of the Lewis and Clark Trail, although that is a water route with no accompanying hiking trail. There's no westward hiking trail proposed yet beyond the Missouri River.
"That's still the plan that was proposed back (50 years ago) and we do have a small but active group of volunteers in North Dakota,'' Davis said. "But it's going to take time."
And that begs the question, when will the entire, 4,600-mile national scenic trail be finished? When will it all run on a "primitive path'' and not roads or multi-use pathways?
"Probably not in my lifetime," said Davis, 43. "It's just such a massive undertaking, with so many different landowners. But we keep plugging away."
Help build the trail in Wisconsin
Volunteers from the North Country Trail Association Brule-St Croix Chapter in Wisconsin will be back for their third week of work this summer on a new segment of trail in Douglas County at the Minnesota state line. They are looking for more volunteers to help during the week of July 8-12. Contact Bill Menke, Wisconsin coordinator for the trail, at bmenke@northcountrytrail.org or 608-935-0986. For more information on regular group hikes scheduled this summer, contact the Brule-St. Croix Chapter of the North Country Trail Association at bsc@northcountrytrail.org. Upcoming hikes are scheduled for June 22 and June 29.
Help plan the trail in Minnesota
In Minnesota, there's a 150-mile gap between Snowbank Lake, northeast of Ely, and Remer. North Country Trail Association volunteer chapters and Minnesota/North Dakota Coordinator Matthew Davis are working to plan, scout and map that route, working with the Superior National Forest, UPM-Blandin Paper Co. and other land managers. But much work remains. If you are interested contact Davis at 701-388 -1883 or davis@northcountrytrail.org.
Learn more about the trail
For more information on the North Country National Scenic Trail, go to the North Country Trail Association site at northcountrytrail.org or the National Park Service site at www.nps.gov/noco/.
Bill Menke, Wisconsin coordinator for the North Country Trail Association, moves a log along a section of trail under construction while Tess Mulrooney works in the background. Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com
Jon Hughlett, Tess Mulrooney and others smooth and grade a section of the North Country Trail under construction in Douglas County. Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com
The North Country Trail uses the Superior Hiking Trail as part of the longer trail's route through Minnesota. Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com
Bill Menke, Wisconsin coordinator for the North Country Trail Association.
Lifestyle Jun 6th 2019 - 7pm
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Education Jun 2nd 2019 - 7am
Launch of miniature canoes highlights River of Dreams watershed education program


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Archive for the 'Scientific Islam' Category
Lying and deception in Islam.
Lying is one of the greatest sins in Islam. Text and the corpus juris are quite explicit about this. Evils of lying are more dreadful than the evils of adultery. In one of the Ahadith lying is equated with committing adultery with one's own mother.
"Only they forge the lie who do not believe in Allah's communications, and these are the liars." (Q,16:105)
"Surely Allah does not guide him aright who is a liar, ungrateful." (Q, 39:3)
A liar also invokes the curse of Allah (SWT)
"… and pray for the curse of Allah on the liars." (Q, 3:61)
"… the curse of Allah be on him if he is one of the liars." (Q, 24:8)
Hadith: "When a believer speaks a lie, he becomes prone to committing every other sin; and when this happens, he commits kufr (disbelief) which then makes him liable to enter Hell."
Toriyyah (dissimulation)
It means to say something, which could be interpreted in more than one way. One of the meanings should be the truth while the other ambiguous.
Example: If a tyrant comes to one's place seeking him out but he wants to remain in the safety of his home; a person from his family may answer the door and say, 'He is not here'; with the intention that 'He' is not at the door'.
Toriyyah (dissimulation) It is a dissimulation which is permissible and legitimate; when spoken in defense of oneself from cruelty or persecution, would not fall within the definition of a lie. Same would justify the three dissimulations uttered by Prophet Abraham (PBUH).
1) Declaring that he is not feeling well/or is indisposed.
2) Not acknowledging the Amputation of the arm of the big idol in Ka'aba and pointing instead to the big idol.
3) Declaring his wife as his sister to protect against the evil intention of the king.
A statement in the nature of an assumption and a supposition which is contrary to facts is not a lie. It is a metaphoric attribution/assumption which does not belie an established fact. Example: [prophet saying] "If the Rahman (GOD) has a son I would be the first one to serve him" (Q, 43:81)
Hila (Hiyal) [pl] is the avoidance of observing the Islamic law in (extremely) difficult situations while still obeying the letter of the law.
Note: in Sunni schools it is still controversial while in Shia'a school by 15th century it was fully acceptable; by the force of fatawa issued by Ibn Hajar Al Asqalani, banning its criticism. Hanafites accepted it, Malikites still consider it illegal. There is however a growing debate about the purpose of Sharia'a; its increased interpretational flexibility; in view of the problems/issues faced, due to "Modernity" and "concrete-thinking", hence revival/increased-employment of Hila as a legitimate tool. Sharia'a based Islamic finance industry is making greater use of it in developing "Riba-(interest)-free" products.
Imam Bukhari (following the transmission-based juris) differed with Hanafites on the use of legal device "Hila" with vehemence. He condemned the use of "Hiyal" on the basis of hadith "All deeds are judged by their intentions" in tandem with Imam Hanbal and Iban Al Mubarak, who also vehemently rejected the use of Hiyal.
He also disagreed with Hanafite's well-known laxity in defining; by employing the device of "hila"—an intoxicant—wine, as grape juice.
Allah's planning: (use of Hila) "when we revealed to your mother what was to be revealed" (Q20:38) [ Pharaoh having been told that; someone born in Bani Israel would ruin/kill you, ordered the killing of all male children]. Allah told the mother of Moses to put Moses in a basket and cast him into the river and not to entertain any apprehension about his safety. He will be picked up by the one who is his and My enemy. Your sister working for pharaoh's family would guide him to you (Moses's mother) as a sulking nurse, whereby she (Moses's mother) will not be grieved. [Q, 20:38-39].
Tentative Conclusion of Hiyal Doctrine
Ḥiyal (sg. ḥīla) are "legal devices" or tools used in achieving certain objectives, lawful or not, through lawful means. Although it is generally agreed that "ḥiyal" are not a subterfuge for the "evasion of the law," their exact nature and place within Islamic jurisprudence, however, remains an open question. To date, there have been only a few studies devoted to this doctrine and these have focused almost exclusively upon the Ḥanafītes, who developed ḥiyal into a special branch of the law, called makhārij, i.e. "exits".
Examined here is the doctrine of the Ḥanafīte together with that of the Mālikīte/Medinaite jurists; who were early witnesses for and against ḥiyal, as conceived by the Ḥanafītes. On the basis of their understanding of the law in terms of utility, Ḥanafītes employed makhārij (exits) to provide remedies for those who sought them. As a particular transmission of Ḥanafīte doctrine, the genre of makhārij sought to confirm the standard doctrine by discovering "exits" suggested therein. Ḥanafīte's concern for the subject was shared by the Mālikītes, albeit from a different point of view. Mālikītes discussed ḥiyal as jurisprudential materials; that convey the validity of their doctrine, prescribing appropriate solutions. Thus, it is concluded that both the Ḥanafītes and Mālikītes regarded ḥiyal as solutions drawn from the materials of jurisprudence in accordance with the spirit of the law as interpreted by the jurists of their respective schools.
Taqiyyah. (dissembling) It is termed as an outright lie in the Sunni school of thought. In Shia'a School, however, it is considered (based on the word [ittiqa]) "prudence, precaution or fear". {A precautionary denial of the faith or its practices in the face of persecution. Kitman (covering)—by silence or omission}. Among the "Twelver-Shia'as" it is politically legitimized to maintain unity among the Muslims in general and fraternity among the shia'a clerics in particular.
Taqqiyah was developed by Imam Jafar Al Sadiq to protect against the oppression of Abbasid Caliph—Al Mansur—who was a Sunni Muslim. Also, that esoterically, the "Ilm–knowledge" given to Shia'a Imam has to be hidden from the uninitiated and adversaries until the descending of their "Twelfth-Imam". [Taqqiyah—This term is often used against Islam and Muslims indiscriminately by the Islamophobes and Anti-Islam polemicists].
Its authority is said to have been derived from the Qura'anic verse 3:28 although, there is not the slightest indication of permission for lying or deceiving—except for exoteric stop-gap accommodation of the nonbelievers–in the face of extreme adversity.
"Believers should not take disbelievers {where the interest of the deniers of the truth clashes with that of the believers} as guardians instead of the believers; and whosoever does so will have nothing to hope for from Allah (SWT), unless it is a precaution against their tyranny. {where there is a reason to fear from them something; which ought to be guarded against, for they are more powerful than the Muslims} And Allah warns you about Himself. And to Allah is the final return" (Q, 3:28)
Scientific dimension of Divine injunction with respect to Lying, deception, and planning,
Surah Al-Alaq # 96 verse, 15 & 16 exhibits; how scientifically structured are Islamic injunctions; as shown here, with respect to lying, deceiving and planning.
"No! If he does not desist, We will surely smite his forehead" – (96:15)
"A lying sinning forehead" (96:16)
"And shun the false speech" (Q, 22:30)
Lying and deception are generated in the frontal lobe/cortex of the forehead, also known as the "The voice of reason"
(we will certainly smite his forehead),  ناصيته NAASIYAH is the forehead.
Obvious questions would be. Why did the Quran describe the front of the head as being lying and sinful?  Why didn't the Quran say that the person was lying and sinful?  What is the relationship between the front of the head and lying and sinfulness?
If we look into the skull at the front of the head, we will find that the prefrontal area of the cerebrum (left side of the figure) is what does the physiology tells us about the function of this area?
A book entitled Essentials of Anatomy & Physiology explains about this area that; "the motivation and the foresight to plan and initiate movements" occur in the anterior portion of the frontal lobes, the prefrontal area. This is a region of association cortex…" The book also explains, "In relation to its involvement in motivation, the prefrontal area is also thought to be the functional center for aggression"
So, this area of the cerebrum is responsible for planning, motivating, and initiating good and sinful behavior and is responsible for the telling of lies and the speaking of truth.  Thus, it is befittingly described in the Holy Qura'an; that it is the front of the head lying and sinful when someone lies or commits a sin. "...A lying, sinful "naseyyah" (front of the head)!"
SAVE—-ROHINGYA, UGHER, PALESTINIAN AND KASHMIRI MUSLIM FROM STATE-SPONSORED GENOCIDE. RECLAIM—AFRICA— A MUSLIM CONTINENT.
(Use and share this slogan as often as possible)
Tags:3 dissimulations of Abraham, Allah's Planning-Hila, Associaion Cortex, Concrete thinking, curse of Allah, deception, dissimulation, Faith, Frontal lobe/forehead, greatest sin, Hanafites for Hiyal, Hila doctrine conclusion, Hiyal in finance industry, Hiyal-hila, Ibn Hajar Al Saqlani fatawa, Imam Bukhari against Hiyal, Ldying, liar liable for hell, metaphoric attribution, modernity, Obvious questions!, planning, religion, Scientific dimension in Islam, Shia'a school, Sunni school, Taqqiyyah, Toriyyah, Twelfth-Imam, Twelver-Shia'a, Voice or reason, Well known laxity
Posted in Behavior, Blogroll, Divine Religions, Ethics & Morality., Islam, Islamic perspective, ISLAMOPHOBIA, Muslim scholarship, Muslim World, POLITICS, Psychological dimension of Islam, Religion and Science, religion.logic, Science and Religion, Scientific Islam, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Proof of the Originator/God.
Al-Jahm bin Safwaan,(reportedly a deviant {mulhid} Muslim scholar of 7th Century). Kurt Godel (of 1906—1978)—A theist in the Christian traditions, believing in the afterlife, and God being personal, saying: "If the world is rationally constructed and has meaning, then there must be such a thing [as an afterlife]." He also said: "I like Islam: it is a consistent [or consequential] idea of religion and open-minded"
Worth Noticing is the conceptual proximity of two people; poles apart in times and ideological persuasions!
Stated that whatever we see around are, either bodies and their attributes or just the attributes. And their attributes (like colors, dimensions, tastes, smells and so on, whatever is perceived by the senses) cannot exist on their own, they have to exist in bodies. Because they need bodies to exist, then all these attributes must be originated. But, since bodies are never free of theses originated attributes (which can never exist on their own), then the bodies too must be originated. This now is a proof against those atheist Philosophers that the universe is originated and whatever is originated must have an originator, creator.
Source. The Terminology of the Jahmiyyah.
http://www.asharis.com/creed/articles/ynxqc-uncovering-the-innovated-terminology-of-the-jahmiyyah-and-their-relatives-from-a.cfm
Without mathematics we cannot penetrate deeply into philosophy, without philosophy we cannot penetrate deeply into the mathematics. Without both, we cannot penetrate deeply into anything. Math is the language God wrote the universe in. (Leibniz).
Holy Qura'an is predominantly woven around specific numbers such as 19, 7, 27, 114 and some others –Investigated by Dr. Rashad Khalifa and some others. (Number 19, being the mathematical key of the Qura'an and sign of building block of the universe).
Source. Kur Godel's Incompleteness theorem.
Science originally came from the idea that God made an orderly universe which obeys fixed, discoverable laws. Therefore, nearly all scientific laws are based on inductive reasoning based on fixed and discoverable laws. In order to construct a rational, scientific model of the universe, belief in God is not just logical but 100% necessary. For science can never fill its own gaps, [Anything, one can draw a circle around, cannot explain itself without referring to something outside the circle—something assumed but not provable] one has no choice but to look outside of science for answers. Most people do not know that outside the science circle is a philosophy circle. Science is based on philosophical assumptions which cannot be proven scientifically-but inferred.
https://shakir2.wordpress.com/2019/01/03/quraan-a-divine-manifestation-confirmed-by-19/
https://shakir2.wordpress.com/2018/02/03/scientific-elaboration-of-surah-at-tin-fig-95-verse-4/
Tags:7Th Century Vs. 19th Century, A Muslim Vs> A Theist, assumed but not provable, Atheist Philosophers, Conceptual Proximity, Connectivity, Devian Scholar in Islam, Mathematics--language of God, Outside the Circle, Proof of God, Scientific bu inferred, spirituality
Posted in Blogroll, Islamic perspective, Just saying, Muslim scholarship, Muslim World, Religion and Science, religion.logic, Scientific Islam, Theosophy, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Existential Amiss
Common sense, Reason, Logic, Causality, Imagination, Morality & Ethics!
I intended to write this piece in a secular fashion but the overwhelming relevance of the Divine wisdom kept piercing through my thought canvas, hence surrendered making it part of the discourse. Human discourse or argumentation, anyway, barely scratches the obvious externalities of the issues while the Divine wisdom put forth the internally woven realities in a succinct yet aptly simple manner. One may notice the examples of such Subtleties in the course of reading this treatise.
Had Common sense, reason and logic been potent enough to reach the absolute certainty of the conclusions drawn, there would have been no need for the Divine religions to barge in. All of these tools are perceptual or experiential outcomes of human endeavors which; given the deficient nature of human faculties; are incapable of coming even remotely close to the level of Divine Wisdom; Revelation, the only fait accompli. (A subtle hint/deduced from Q, 17; 37) Hence some of the precepts of the religion are above and beyond the realm of human commonsense, causality, reason and logic, exuding perfect certitude and submission. (A state of affairs enormously repugnant and conceptually unacceptable to the secularists, anti-religionists and non-believers)
Note:- similar debate has been going on for long. a brief excerpt is quoted here.
[The innovative Jahmiyyah and Their Relatives from Ahl al-Kalaam Asharis and Maturidis fought the greatest battle and contention between the followers of the revealed Books and the sent Messengers and between the followers of the Hellenized Jews, Christians and Sabeans. Those who contradict the revealed texts with their reason (aql), and think the reason is definitive over the revealed texts].
Common sense is really not as common as perceived. Variegated sense perceptions render it somewhat-common, partially-common, quasi-common or purely individualistic rather than really-common in the true sense of the word.
Reason and Logic are even more disparate; propitious-reason and logic; sometimes referred to as rationality; are used to justify a conclusion, one is at home with. (Rational bias) A slightest dissension or differentiation would entail disapproval or divergence. Therefore, all these tools may create some sort of near or quasi-convergence but not an absolute or conclusive one. Logic is derived from the Greek word "logos". In Muslim Philosophy another Grecian alternative "monads"*1 is used instead, to justify a position/stance by distinguishing a good reason from the bad one. It is only the Divine revelation (wisdom, word) which is flawless, absolute and ultimate-truth; authoritative in its perception, understanding and validity…worthy of even blind-Faith.
Kurt Gödel puts it succinctly as follow:-
The logical axioms that underlie everyday things like arithmetic depend on us accepting as reasonable the notion that infinity comes in several different sizes.
In Islamic parlance, however "pristine-reason" (Haq al Yaqeen); in the absence of a human messenger; is considered to be potent enough for a rational being to come; at least, to the cognition of the existence and oneness of God, hence obviating disbelief. "Pristine-reason" here, is "elevated to the status of a "non-human-messenger" of God, for reason gains an edge when the logic fails rational being. (Deduced from Q, 17: 15)
Contemplative tools; human faculties, given the amiss, may help us reach the level of most probable/likely certainty (in the temporal, ancillary and ritualistic matters) but not that of an absolute certitude (in the core matters of belief/faith); which is only possible by Divine consent/intervention through the heart (Q, 10:100), as in the above case of cognition of God's Oneness. Here the externality of this intervention cloaked in the garb of; "pristine-human-reason", is upgraded to the status of "non-human-messenger"
Non-believer's obstinate rejection of the Divine, religious injunctions and that of hereafter; though based on (tenuous and vitiated) reason, logic and common sense, amply explains their state of affairs. (Q, 10:100)
*1 Universal Spirit, the first cause, singularity, Divine, Intermediary agent etc.
Imam Ghazali;- "With regard to sense-perception says; it made him very hesitant to accept the infallibility of reason. He believed in the testimony of sense till it was contradicted by the verdict of reason. Well, perhaps there is above reason another judge who; if appeared, would convict reason of falsity and if such a third arbiter is not yet apparent it does not follow that he does not exist."
When Imam Ghazali could not reconcile the philosophical dispensations with the Divine wisdom, (Obviously there is no comparison between the two; one represents the mundaneness, while the other, word of the Divine) he turned to Sufism.
In quantum physics (Double-Slit) experiment, our act of observing something seems to change what's observed – we are ourselves part of the experiment. Is this the ultimate problem of self-reference, one that suggests a limit to how much we can ever reason about—our surroundings—the universe?
Role of the religion, therefore, becomes inevitable; for it presents us with flawless and absolute truth; which is perceptually-authoritative and practically valid, engendering "Taqwa". [Innate reverential-fear (Awe) of Allah (SWT). Distinct from the usual fear of other (agencies)]
An incisive consideration and pondering, on just two of the aspects of the divine religion: 1) Belief in the hereafter. 2) The contentment would vouch for and warrant religion's inevitability.
Belief in the hereafter is often considered a conceptual absurdity and theological fallacy hence rejected by the non-believers. Belief in the hereafter, however, is the source of immitigable hope and equity, which no atheistic belief/doctrine/philosophy may even, conceives to offer. Unbelief in the hereafter renders one scuttled of many realities. Such as; ultimate-reality; ultimate-hope; ultimate-triumph, and ultimate-Justice. One, without the belief in the hereafter, is like, latching onto the event-horizon of a black hole of hopelessness and despair. The statistics, available on depression/hopelessness resulting in suicide and homicide, is a vindication of this fact. Conversely, in the overwhelmingly religious affluent Middle East, there are hardly any such issues, hence NO mental hospitals needed.
https://shakir2.wordpress.com/2015/08/22/scuttling-the-mental-capacity/
Contentment is a huge blessing for a rational being. When someone (even a non-believer) is suffering; no relief in sight; distressed/desperate, resorts back to God, is blessed with His mercy. (Q, 27:62) Overwhelmed with gratitude, he takes a sigh of relief and the most joyous sense of contentment sets in. (One's resorting back to God while distressed, means un-recalcitrant-submission; invigorating the innate impulses; meeting the pre-requisites; of belief in Him, His injunctions, including the belief in the hereafter).
"Is He [not best] who responds to the distressed/desperate one when he calls upon Him and removes evil and makes you inheritors of the earth?" (Q, 27:62)
"Deprived is the one who has been deprived of the reward of enduring distress" (Khidr–a.s) Fasting in the month of Ramadan from dawn to dusk is a fine practical example of it; whereby one is patiently content (nafs-al-mutmai'nna) all day long, hoping the accrual of the temporal and divinely rewards at the end of the day.
Faculties of thinking and the exercise of Free-will (choice) are also signs of deficiency on the part of the creation. Allah does not think but intends; for He is omnipotent; causer of both, the cause and the effect. Nothing wrong/bad may emanate from His essence (Q, 48:23); but from His schematic creational activities, such as the creation of rational beings inseminated with good and bad. "Indeed, Our word to a thing when We intend it is but that We say to it, "Be," and it is" (Q, 16:40) On the other hand; when rational beings would exercise the option of intention; in the similar fashion; (without thinking and deliberations) it is bound to be fraught with pitfalls, for rational beings are created with an existential amiss.
Imagination is of non-local (metaphysical/spiritual) origin; for it traverses both, the local and non-local domain. Therefore, those who accuse believers of worshipping an "imaginary God" are, unwittingly, admitting this reality. God inculcated, in the constitution of the rational beings, two-pronged sense of imagination (topical and non-topical); a schematic molding, hence the relevance and necessity of Divine and Divine religion becomes inevitable. God does not think but "Wills" whereas man's will (choice) subsists in God's will whereby He equilibrates it with the elements of hope and fear, (existential amiss) rendering it rationally operative. (Q, 17:57)
People need religion because it is the blueprint for the functioning of the "Soul" in the temporal realm. Voltaire, an archpriest of rationalism, alludes to this inevitability in a mundanely best possible way: "Man would have to invent God, even if He does not exist"
https://shakir2.wordpress.com/?s=inevitable+God
Religious Truth is multifaceted. It is comprised of science, logic, philosophy, history, ethics, and experience all mixed together. It is, in a sense, a different kind of knowing, not ignorant of the other kinds of truths (known and yet to be known), asserting the inevitability of the religion.
(Hadith) Every child is born on Nature— (his natural disposition/course. Resorting back to/linking with the Creator)
"It is asserted here that fitrah is the essential condition and state of existence in which God fashioned mankind; with innate impulses/urges including the sense of good and bad; fear and safety; pain and relief; cognition of God; submission, transgression and arrogance etc. (existential amiss–Imperfection, tendency/choice to swerve). It is present in the very essence of the creation and is inextricably kneaded into the very substance of the "rational beings" (Q) which is acutely elicited in the following verse.
إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الاٌّمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ فَأبَيْنَ أَن يَحْمِلْنَهَا وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا وَحَمَلَهَا الإِنْسَـنُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ
نَظَلُوماً جَهُولاً –
"We did indeed offer the Trust to the Heavens and the Earth and the Mountains; but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof: but man undertook it;- He was indeed ignorant and foolish" (Q, 33:72)
Ordinary beings, given their basic knowledge of the religious fundamentals, are tested for their weaknesses (existential amiss). The window of forgiveness is wide open for them; even if they have a mountain of mistakes/sins on their back; as long as they keep seeking forgiveness with utmost sincerity and a commitment not to repeat the same. (There is no numerical or time limitation) This is an esoteric expression of the unbounded mercy of the Creator; for the people of knowledge and intellect who understand.
Men of knowledge (Aalim/Scholar), given the higher degree of knowledge, are tested for the equitable dissemination of the knowledge while acting upon it themselves as is due. Their test becomes harder and their failure attracts equally harsher punishment, for they are given the knowledge as the inheritors of the Prophet (PBUH).
Prophets; given the highest degree of knowledge and the duty of disseminating the message entrusted to them, often face the hardest of the tests for their perseverance, firmness, devotion and endurance instead. They are immunized of the mundanity (existential amiss) to a large extent due to their highest station/status. (Protected from major sins—Asmah/Masoom); which keeps them even from minor sins but some rare slips. (Q, 4:31)
"If you avoid the major sins which you are forbidden, We will remove from you your lesser sins and admit you to a noble entrance [into Paradise]" [Q, 4:31]
Hadith: when a companion asked the Prophet, despite being a Prophet of Allah why do you always keep asking for His forgiveness? He replied; "for any moment passed without His remembrance" This emphasizes the point that one, regardless of his station, should never be oblivious of the innate existential amiss and always keep asking for His forgiveness.
"Cause and effect" is a phenomenon of the sequential morphing of things/ideas in the space-time spectrum. It, however, can't continue ad-infinitum. It also cannot fully transcend back into the metaphysical/spiritual realm. Therefore, becomes unhitched, regressive, and even ineffective. 'Ex Nahilo' is an outright negation of temporal phenomenon of "causality". God (SWT); the very first (primal) cause, therefore, is the sole cause/causer of the Universe. (Creational activity in the space-time realm is known as "Khulq/Takhleeq" )
"When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, "Be," and it is" (Q, 2:117)
In the absence of space-time spectrum, there is but an intention/will (ordinance {Amar}), of the primal cause, for the matter/idea to come into being. In the metaphysical/spiritual realm, contrary to the physical realm, no material/tangible cause has to exist to produce a material/tangible effect. Divine causality, therefore, is inimitable by the rational beings in the space-time spectrum. (Creational activity in the absence of space-time spectrum is known as "Takween")
Takween is derived from the word "KUN" fayakun. It is beyond and above the physical laws of the universe and does not need the matter, time or space for a thing to come into existence. (Ex Nihilo=Out of Nothing). Bypassing the temporal physical laws or the temporal causality is also called Takween. {creation of Adam and Jesus Christ—PBUT}
Temporal causality vs. Divine causality
Here are vivid differences.
In temporal causality, a causer may activate the cause but may not have the capability to determine the effect. He would also not have the capability to alter the effect (outcome) of a cause. A rational being may be dealing with a clear cause or INUS (insufficient but non-redundant parts of conditions; which in itself unnecessary, but sufficient for the occurrence of the effects). This distinction would not exist in the Divine causality.
In Divine causality, The Causer of the cause and effect is the same. The Causer is omnipotent to alter/determine the effect(s) as He wills. The Causer is also competent to produce an effect without cause (Ex-Nahilo). The Causer may pre-determine effects or causes in multiple, and then afford the medium (sentient beings) the application of Free-will (Choice) to commensurate effect(s).
"And when We would intend to destroy a township We had sent a commandment (warning) to its people of authority leading easy lives; who yet disobeyed and transgressed; so as a result of our Judgment passed, We annihilated it with complete annihilation" (Q, 17:16)
Note:- (Ghazali's views on causality, read: http://www.ghazali.org/articles/gz-aylon2.pdf)
Morality, mortified by the psychology of innate fear, sprouts from the Divine religious injunctions. Although it lays the ground-rules for this word, the effects also transcend to the next.
Morality, based on reward and punishment, (retribution) works wonderfully due to the psychology of "innate-fear" of being monitored unimpeded and continuously by the "Invisible". Religion (Islam) "submission" was enacted simultaneous to the Creation (forbidding Adam and Eve from eating the fruit) and the punishment for its violation was established by the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Heavens. Satan (Lucifer) was also expelled for his disobedience due to his avarice and pride. They were not simply expelled but with specifically (and schematically) mandated rights, roles, and responsibilities; which, in specifically Islamic parlance could be called "Sharia'a" and in everyday parlance "Morality".
Ethicality is developed by the rational beings, in the light of their past collective experiences. It regulates the immediate, contemporary cultural, societal or communal behavior. It is limited to temporality in scope, optional in its practicality; often floutingly by-passed without compunction. Needless to say that, the resourcefulness of Morality is unsurpassable by the man-made ethicality.
Ethics (Laws) are devised by the people for a community, society or culture; monitoring whereof is also done by people (an agency) employed for the purpose. The compliance would simply depend on either one's call of the conscience or the fear of being caught by the monitoring agent. The physical absence of the monitoring agency would offer all kind of inducements to flout, as it cannot be established and no penalty would ensue. This is the weakest aspect of the man-made ethicality.
A distinct difference between Divine law and the man-made law is that Divine Law compassionately seeks avenues to forgive while the man-made law is hell-bent on seeking evidence to punish.
Those who envisage morality, without religion, in fact, misconstrue ethics as morality.
After all, man is created with an existential amiss.
Innate Fear, Psychology of fear is employed by the Divine to elicit the compliance of the religious injunctions without the presence of a physical watchdog.
An infant, when made to hold a bar, would continue clinging to it due to the innate fear of fall and hurt until made to feel safe to let it go.
In a situation of distress, "heightened state of fear/anxiety" (even in the case of a non-believer) all boundaries and impediments are dismantled; a connection between the Lord and the distressed-servant is immediately activated, and the call of the distressed is heard by the Almighty. (Q, 27:62)
Innate-fear, therefore, is not just a predicate of punishment, as often complained, but also that of an "SOS" signal, in the situation of distress.
Topics covered:- Logic, reason, pristine reason, common sense, causality, Temporal/Divine causality, revelation, Divine wisdom, Inevitability of religion, Non Human Messenger, Gazali's falsity of reason, imagination, Imaginary God, belief in the hereafter, Contentment, Voltaire's rationalism, Fitrah, khulq/takween, Ordinary,/ scholar/ prophet, Psychology of Innate fear, Morality, Ethics and The-Distressed.
Tags:Belief in the Hereafter, Causality, Common sense, Contentment, Depression, Distressed, Divine causality, Double slit experiment, existential amiss, Experiences, Faith, Fitrah, Haq Al Yaqeen, Imam Ghazali, Immagination origin, Internally woven realities, Islam, Kulq, Kun Fayakun, logic, Logos, Man is Ignorant and foolish, Monads, Nature, Non-Human Messenger, Obstinate rejection, Potency of contemplative tools, Presitne Reason, Psychology of fear, religion, Religious inevitablity, Scuttled mindedness, Self, sense perception, sos signal, Soul, suicides/homidices, Takween, Temporal causality, thought, Unbelief
Posted in Behavior, Blogroll, Current events., Divine Religions, Ethics & Morality., Ethnic Bias, Interpersonal Relationship, Islam, Islamic perspective, Psychological dimension of Islam, PSYCHOLOGY., reason theism vs atheism, Religion and Science, religion.logic, Scientific Islam, Sharia'a, spirituality, Sufism, Theosophy, Uncategorized, Virtuous vs Modern Morality | 2 Comments »
Why should you have Dates?
Dates often termed as the "fruit of paradise", are considered as one of the most nutritious and delicious fruit. Mentioned in the Holy Quran 20 times, this fruit is of great importance for Muslims. During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims around the world break their fasts with dates. Our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) used to break his fast with dates.
Muslims across the globe make sure that their kitchen cabinets are stocked with this wonderful fruit in Ramadan. Ever wondered why? Because, apart from being a powerhouse of various minerals and vitamins, dates have tremendous health benefits as well.
Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Prophet (PBUH) said:
"Indeed in dates, there is a cure." Muslim (14/3)
Here are some nutritional and health values that this fruit has.
Improves Digestive Health
Dates are an excellent remedy for digestive problems. They contain soluble fibers, amino acids, and enzymes which are a must for good digestive health and also have a rich source of potassium which is known to treat diarrhea. So, if you are having any digestive problems, soak some dates overnight and have them in the morning, this will strengthen good bacteria in your stomach and relieve you from the discomfort in no time.
Dates have an impressive amount of potassium and fiber that reduces the levels of LDL cholesterol in the body, preventing heart-related diseases. It's suggested to have dates twice a week for a strong and healthy heart.
Strengthens the Nervous System
Dates will give you nerves of steel. Literally! They are known to have 3 times the amount of potassium found in bananas. Potassium does wonders for our body by keeping all cardiac problems in check. The vitamin B found in dates is vital for mood balancing effects and proper nerve function.
Improves Bone Health
Osteoporosis is a disease we all have heard of since it's very common among women. This is due to the weakening of bones with age. Dates contain the perfect amount of magnesium, manganese, and selenium to strengthen our bones and make them healthy.
Treats and Prevents Anemia
Anemia is caused due to the lack of iron which reduces the red blood cells in a person's body, making them look all pale with additional dark circles. Dates not only boost up the iron level in your body but also increases strength and vitality.
Acts as a Natural Energy Booster
We all know how there comes a time of the day when we feel our sugar level drop and crave for something sweet. Dates are the natural and healthful energy boosters everyone needs to include in their daily diet as they contain just the right amount of glucose and fructose to get you going without providing the additional calories. Adios energy drinks!
Helps in Maintaining a Healthy Weight
Good things come in small packages. These tiny miracle workers can balance the sugar levels in your body and make you feel fuller than any junk food you'd cheat with on your diet. Dates are also a healthy supplement for someone who wants to gain weight or does not want to lose it too fast. For those folks who want to maintain a balanced weight, having cucumbers with dates would do wonders.
Relieves Allergies
Dates are the miracle food that can help reduce the awful symptoms of seasonal allergies. With high levels of organic sulfur present in it, they sure act as a tonic for allergic reactions.
Helps in Maintaining Healthy Skin and Hair
Consuming dates regularly gives a boost of Vitamin B5, C, and D which helps in repairing damaged skin cells and nourishes hair and its root. So, make sure to add dates to your diet for baby smooth skin and the shiny, strong hair you've always dreamed of.
Such a delicious food with tremendous nutritional values should not only be consumed during Ramadan but should also be included in the daily routine. This Ramadan, go easy on the sweets and reach for a date. In addition to satisfying your craving, you will get some health benefits as well! Have a healthy and happy Ramadan!
Sana Kamran (The author) For Islamicfinder.org
republished by…..shakir2.wordpress.com
Tags:Anit-Allergies, Anti-Anemia, CURE, Dates, Fruits of Paradize, Happy heart, Health and skin care, Healthy weight, Natural energy booster, Nerves of steel, Ramadan, Smiling gut, Strong bones, Sunnah
Posted in Behavior, Blogroll, Current events., Divine Religions, Islam, Islamic perspective, Middle East, Religion and Science, Scientific Islam, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
SMOKING IS HARAM (UNLAWFUL) IN ISLAM
By Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph. D. President, Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc. (published on this site with his approval)
(This article was first published in JIMA (Journal of Islamic Medical Association, Volume 15, and No.4, 1983. The author holds the unique distinction and honor to be the first Muslim Scholar in the world to declare Smoking is Haram. He did with full conviction and courage. Twenty years later the Ulama have realized the truth and every Muslim country in the world is following suit by declaring Smoking is Haram.)
Cigarette smoking is the most widespread example of drug dependence in the United States and in all the Islamic countries as well. The U.S. Surgeon General's Office considers cigarette smoking to America's worst drug addiction problem. Medical investigations show that cigarette smoking is a major factor in the development of many cases of cancer, heart trouble, chronic lung and respiratory disease and other ailments. Smoking causes more illness and death than all other drugs. Cigarette smoking in pregnant women results in deleterious health effects on their newborn children. These Findings and the revelations in the Holy Qur'an clearly prohibit smoking of tobacco by Muslims. Hence smoking is unlawful in Islam.
Smoking and Health Effects
It is very well known that cigarette smoking is the most widespread example of drug dependence in the United States. A pamphlet released by the U.S. Surgeon General's Office entitled "Why People Smoke Cigarettes" calls cigarette smoking America's worst drug addiction problem. It involves addiction to the drug nicotine in tobacco and possible other tobacco substances.
An authoritative British report (1) stated that tobacco smoking is a form of drug dependence different from but no less strong than that of other addictive drugs—the most stable and well-adjusted person will, if he smokes at all, almost inevitably become dependent on the habit.
An Australian government report of 1977 called Drug Problems in Australia – An Intoxicated Society(2), says, "It is important to recognize that smoking is a form of drug dependence, but one with especially insidious characteristics."
Like many other drugs, the chemicals in cigarette affect the chemistry of the brain and nervous system and create dependence and lead to compulsive use.
More than 56 million Americans and multiple scores of millions more in other nations, including Islamic nations (3) are hooked on cigarettes in the same way as caffeine addicts are hooked on caffeine. A major reason why sales continue at high levels despite widespread public knowledge about the health hazards is the addictive nature of cigarettes.
Most people start smoking just to conform to peer or social pressures. They get a feeling of "grown up." They find smoking (nicotine) at first acts as a stimulant. Later they find they need to smoke as a tranquilizer. These smokers develop a level of tolerance and bodily adjustment to nicotine. If this level of nicotine is not maintained in their blood, they will experience uncomfortable physical-psychological dependence problems. These uncomfortable feelings are classic drug withdrawal symptoms. Addictive drugs are psychoactive which create brain and nervous system dependence and lead to compulsive use. Abrupt discontinuation leads to physiological and psychological distress. The withdrawal symptoms are headache, stomach discomfort, nervousness, irritability, sweating, change in heart and blood pressure and lower excretion of some hormones affecting the nervous system (4).
The former U.S. Surgeon General, C. Everett Coop, says, "Cigarette smoking is clearly identified as the chief preventable cause of death (340,000 deaths per year in U.S.A.). In our society it is a major factor in the development of many cases of cancer, heart trouble, chronic lung and respiratory diseases and other ailments. Smoking causes more illnesses and death than all the other drugs."(5)
Smoking and Islam
In Islam cleanliness and hygiene are emphasized to the extent that it has been considered a part of Iman (faith). It is very well known that a smoker's mouth is unclean and foul smelling "like a cigarette ash-tray." Allah (SWT) says:
"And forbids them what is bad." The Qur'an, Surah Al-'Araf, 7: 157
"0 ye who believe! Intoxicants and gambling are an abomination of Satan's handiwork. Eschew such abominations that ye may prosper."
Al Ma'idah, 5: 93
The word intoxicant has three meanings (6):
(1) To induce, especially the effect of ingested alcohol.
(2) To stimulate or excite.
(3) To poison.
Except the first meaning the latter two are very well valid and both applicable to nicotine and caffeine.
Smoking is nothing but a form of slow suicide. The Qur'an says:
"And slay not the life which Allah hath forbidden…"
Surah, Al-Isra, 17: 33
"And make not your own hands contribute to your destruction." Surah, Al-Baqara, 2: 195
"Nor kill or destroy yourselves for verily Allah hath been to you most Merciful." Surah, An-Nisa, 4: 29
The Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) has said:
"Nor be hurt or injure others." It is scientifically proven that the exhaled smoke of the smoker is hazardous to non-smokers around him.
The amount of money a smoker spends on cigarette smoking in a period of 30 years is calculated to be Two Hundred Thousand Dollars or more. All this money is simply wasted (not including the money spent on smoker's health care).
Allah (SWT) says:
"But squander not your wealth in the manner of a spend thrift, verily spendthrifts are brothers of evils."
Surah, Al-Isra, 17: 26, 27
Body is polluted by smoking. Hence smokers cannot pray until they have cleansed themselves. According to the Qur'an:
"0 ye who believe! Draw not near unto prayer when you are drunken, till ye know that which ye utter, nor when you are polluted save when journeying upon the road, till you have bathed."
Surah, An-Nisa, 4: 43
The Christians consider the human body to be a sacred trust given to man by God because it contains the spirit breathed into it by God. Even the Qur'an says
"So,when I have made him and have breathed unto him of My spirit, do ye fall down, prostrating yourselves unto him " Surah, Al-Hijr, 15: 29.
Hence the physical body should not be polluted or injured or destroyed in any way by smoking or taking of alcohol or any type of habit-forming drugs.
The following is presented as evidence to prove the adverse effects on human body by tobacco smoke; figure 1 shows the chemical structure of Benzo (a) pyrene which is one of the most potent carcinogens known to man to be present in the tobacco smoke. Table I shows a list of tumor-initiating agents present in the particulate phase of tobacco smoke. Tables 2 to 5 present the mortality ratios for coronary artery disease, lung cancer, and other diseases. Table 6 shows the adverse effects of smoking by pregnant women on themselves, their fetuses, and their children.
C 0 N C L U S 1 0 N
For the foregoing reasons and for reasons considered elsewhere smoking is Haram or unlawful in Islam, hence smoking should be discouraged and finally banned in all Islamic countries.
All smoking Muslims should give up this unhealthy and un-Islamic activity. The best way to give it up is to stop all smoking completely. Tapering off on the amount one smokes does not work for most people. It is not easy to quit suddenly, but it is presently the most successful way. There are many ways and techniques available for a serious minded person to give up smoking, which cannot be discussed here. For the Muslims who sincerely practice Islam and who submit themselves to the Will of Allah, this should not be a difficult task.
The Royal College of Physicians, Smoking, or Health, Third Report
1977, p.98.
Drug Problems in Australia: An Intoxicated Society? A Report from the Senate Standing Committee on Social Welfare. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, Australia, 1977.
3.Taha A.: Smoking and Muslim Countries: The immediate and serious Threat. J I M A. 14: 50-52, 1982.
Jaffee JH, Drug Addiction and Drug Abuse (Ch.16), Clinical Characteristics: Nicotine. In: The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics. Goodman LS and Gilman A (Editors), Macmillan Pub. Co. Inc., New York, 1975. P. 305.
The Health Consequences of Smoking. The Changing Cigarette – a Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, P.H.S., Rockville, Maryland, 1981, DHSS (PBS) 81 – 50156.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1978, P. 686.
Yusuf Al Qaradawi, Al Halal Wal Haram. Cairo, 1960.
Smoking and health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service. P.H.S. Publication NO.1103 U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Washington, D.C. 1965.
Tags:Addiction, Brain damage, Diseease, Health, Hygene & Smoking, Ijtihad, Nervous system damage, Smoking, Withdrawal Symptoms
Posted in Blogroll, Current events., Islamic perspective, Muslim Naivete, Psychological dimension of Islam, Scientific Islam, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
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text:
Boulder affordable commercial space pilot…
Boulder Area news
Boulder affordable commercial space pilot likely to launch this year
Multiple Council advisory groups mention need
Dirt is being moved at the "30 Pearl" site at the corner of 30th and Pearl Street. Having more affordable commercial space pilots in Boulder is being pushed by advisory boards and commissions ahead of Council retreat this weekend. (Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer)
By Sam Lounsberry | slounsberry@prairiemountainmedia.com | Longmont Times-Call
Doing business in Boulder has grown increasingly costly in recent years, but a planned city program that might relieve some small startups or longtime local companies from having to relocate could receive more attention this year.
Multiple advisory boards and commissions to City Council, along with the Boulder Chamber, listed progress on a pilot that would provide below-market commercial spaces for business tenants throughout the city as a 2020 priority.
Emphasis has been placed on the need for more affordable housing in Boulder over the past decade. There are plans to continue overhauling the allowed land uses in separate zoning districts this year as a way to signal the city's desire for more residential and mixed-use buildings, where commercial and housing spaces colocate.
But the same problem with housing prices, which have kept people who work here from living within city limits and caused additional daytime commuting traffic, also exists with entrepreneurs looking to break into, or stay, in the coveted Boulder business environment.
Pete Averson, owner of the Boulder Commercial Real Estate firm, is hopeful the city makes progress on establishing a method to lure more below-market commercial space. He said one of his current clients is a retail tenant who has worked in the city for 35 years, but is leaving space near 33rd Street and Arapahoe Avenue and relocating to Superior to get out from under the more expensive Boulder rent.
After insurance and taxes are passed along to commercial tenants, Averson said annual rents in the area are running up to around $35 per square foot, and it's about to get more expensive to expand or build new commercial space with city non-residential development fee hikes taking place this year and next year.
"Boulder has always been in a bubble," Averson said. "If the city can get affordable commercial real estate, it's a blessing for so many people. If you're a retail shop, you have to get less space to stay in Boulder, or move out of Boulder to afford your current amount of space. … I sell very few things to local investors. It's international. Local mom and pop, that's not going to happen."
But giving the local small businesses a better chance of staying in Boulder or setting up shop here is being worked on this year. The University Hill Commercial Area Management Commissioners, Downtown Management Commission, Boulder Arts Commission and Boulder Junction Access District Commissions list further exploration of an affordable commercial space program as a priority they hope city officials will take up this year.
It is likely to be considered part of the community benefits program Council approved an initial plan for last year. That plan allows developers to build affordable housing units in order to gain exemptions to certain height limits within some zoning codes.
This year, city staff is set to analyze whether developers could agree to provide perks to the city beyond affordable housing — such as below-market commercial space, subject to caps on the cost of renting or otherwise using the space for business purposes — to gain exemptions to certain development regulations. Other types of trade-offs could also be examined as part of the project.
The advisory commissions emphasized the need for such a program ahead of Council's retreat this weekend, when the elected leaders will meet Friday and Saturday and set their work plan for 2020.
Some of the below-market commercial space experimentation will take place at the 30Pearl development at the northeast corner of 30th and Pearl Streets, where construction on new affordable housing structures broke ground last month, and where at least 9,300 square feet of ground-floor commercial space being built. Part of the project will be limited to 75% of market rents, and annual rent increases of no more than the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index. The affordable commercial space will take up at least half of the commercial space at the site.
That type of cost structure for space would be a lifeline for small businesses, Averson predicted. He said the demand for reduced-cost space will be high, and was curious about how the city will regulate which tenants will get to occupy it. City officials did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Rising rents have especially hurt the creative community, Boulder Arts Commission leaders wrote to Council.
"Achieving more affordable housing and commercial/nonprofit space remains a community-wide priority, particularly for the arts and culture community, which has been impacted by the high cost of living and working in Boulder," the commission wrote. "The Arts Commission, the Office of Arts & Culture and Boulder's arts and culture organizations would like to participate in city discussions about affordable housing and studio, maker, workshop, performance, retail and office space for artists and arts organizations that could be developed …"
In a letter to Council the Boulder Chamber noted the affordable commercial space pilot program could also overlap with the planning efforts to signal what kind of redevelopment and transportation opportunities there are in the East Boulder Subcommunity, an area generally encompassing Foothills Parkway to just east of 63rd Street, Boulder Municipal Airport and Arapahoe Avenue to Valmont Road. It is set to be analyzed more deeply by city officials in 2020.
"The East Boulder Subcommunity Plan process is a critical opportunity site for further housing and affordable commercial spaces with excellent alternative transportation connections," Boulder Chamber CEO John Tayer stated in the letter, while also advocating a harder look at a community benefits program that could include affordable commercial space provisions.
The idea of preserving commercial space costs to be obtainable for local businesses has been tested elsewhere, too. The nonprofit Institute for Local Self-Reliance in 2018 mentioned Boulder's effort at 30Pearl along with a New York proposal to give tax exemptions to landlords who offer small and independent businesses long-term leases with reasonable rent increases, and Cambrdige, Mass and Jersey City, N.J. policies that restrict "chain" or "formula" businesses.
"All of this new activity suggests that more cities are recognizing how important locally owned, independent businesses are to broader goals, like inclusiveness, prosperity, and sustainability," the nonprofit stated. "Now, they're taking steps to create an environment that supports them."
Pot and perception: Looking at what marijuana really does to you
Photos: Colorado Beats Stanford 16-13
Welcome Back – Spring 2020
Construction underway on new WOLF sanctuary in Livermore
Sam Lounsberry
Sam Lounsberry covers Longmont and the Carbon Valley.
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There is a boutique run by two beautiful and talented ladies Known as 'The Curvy Brides Boutique', Located on the South West Corner of 81st and Harvard in the Shoppes at Harvard Parke. Tulsa's Only Plus Sized Bridal Boutique. Address: 8136 b S Harvard Ave,Tulsa, Ok 74137.
At the Curvy Bride Boutique the designers provide you the best of the industry for the "curvy" brides. They charge no additional money for plus sizes to custom dresses. If you have been fearing of shopping for your wedding dress because you're worried there will be nothing as per your size or feeling uncomfortable in an open setting, then don't you worry CBB has got your back.
They promise to give you the amazing unique experience you deserve. CBB has all plus size dresses and they even make custom dresses.
Alison Law and Jo Cooke are the ladies behind the idea of 'The Curvy Brides' as they both have faced the same problem in their past. These ladies have dressed several curvy brides and have gave them their beautiful lifetime experience.
'What makes us different from the other regular run of the mill bridal shops is, we've been there. We can empathize with our brides,' added Alison.
So ladies cherish your curvy bodies because there is an apt option to your solution.


All the rain has pushed the Soras and Virginia Rails to the areas of exposed ground and shallow water. You are able to get good looks at birds you often only hear. I don't have time to complete a proper post, but I suspect that those of you who aren't comfortable wading thru the water are curious about what is happening out there.
Very near the kiosk on the Cross-Dike Trail, between the edge of the first puddle and where you exit the woods, you were often able to see Sora. Normally these are reclusive birds, more often heard than seen. However due to all the flooding they were scavenging along side the trail. They were enjoying the plentiful supply of worms. Somehow people didn't phase them. They walked so close that all the photographers "big lenses" were useless. Point & shoot cameras were the better instrument. I even took a photo with my cell phone & posted it to Facebook.
Maybe the reason the are so hard to see is that they really are hiding in the trees. This is quite unusual, but high ground was rare.
Not only could you see adult Virginia Rails, but you also could see juveniles. The youngest were very much black, while for older juveniles you could just start to see some of the adult coloration starting to peek through.
This adult bathed in front of us and then spent a good 10 minutes preening. I know it's only preening but looking at a couple of the poses you would swear it was practicing yoga.
Check back in a few days, I've got a whole bunch of nest photographs that I have been saving up and am hoping to post soon.


Anyone working inside a prison who tows the party line and pushes the agenda of the state.
The manner of a prison puppet and the cadence of their speech, along with their glibly canned words, usually outs them in an instant.
Get a prison puppet mug for your fish Trump.


text:
Q: How to add different functions for the buttons generated using a for loop in flutter In flutter, I need to generate some buttons. I generated buttons using for the loop, But in this case, I am not able to add different functions to each button generated using for loop. I need to give different functions to each button.

A: There is a way to perform a function corresponding to a condition given a condition.
 int _containerNumber = 0;

  ///Create Button
  _customTextButton(int num) {
    setState(() {
      switch (num) {
        case 0:
          _containerNumber = 0;
          break;
        case 1:
          _containerNumber = 1;
          break;
        case 2:
          _containerNumber = 2;
          break;
        case 3:
          _containerNumber = 3;
          break;
        default:
          _containerNumber = 0;
      }
    });
  }

  _changeColor() {
    switch (_containerNumber) {
      case 0:
        return Colors.grey;
      case 1:
        return Colors.red;
      case 2:
        return Colors.green;
      case 3:
        return Colors.blue;
      default:
        return Colors.grey;
    }
  }

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: Text('test'),
      ),
      body: Column(
        children: <Widget>[
          _containerNumber != 0
              ? Container(
                  width: 100,
                  height: 50,
                  alignment: Alignment.center,
                  color: _changeColor(),
                  child: Text('Clicked Button$_containerNumber'),
                )
              : SizedBox(),
          for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++)
            TextButton(
              child: Text('Button'),
              onPressed: () => _customTextButton(i),
            ),
        ],
      ),
    );
  }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Home opinion Saha saga more than distasteful
Saha saga more than distasteful
We live in unique times. And I am not talking about the pandemic alone. India wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha's revelation that he was threatened on WhatsApp by an unnamed journalist, smarter than him not to be interviewed, is straight out of Ripley's Believe It or Not. Or perhaps a master batsman intimidating a fast bowler.
Over the years the media has been at the mercy of the players and the board, but here a BCCI contracted player has been put in a position where he will be targeted for his decision not to interview a journalist.
The journalist in question thought he could avoid reprimanding Saha, who has been controversial before the latest incident. Maybe he didn't consider the fact that he was dealing with an angry 37 year old who was just told that he is not in the selectors/team management's plans for the future, however these There are two different issues.
Hopefully, the Saha saga will not lead to a situation where journalists will be kept further away from the players.
Gotta feel for Saha. On one hand, South Africa head coach Rahul Dravid told him that he should not be surprised if he is not picked for the Test series against Sri Lanka as the team management and selectors were looking to create a "new". Face." Upon his return from South Africa, chief selector Chetan Sharma wanted to know if he was playing Ranji Trophy. In the same conversation, Saha was told that he would not be considered for India from now on.
Sharma hinted at the virtual press conference after selecting the team for the Sri Lanka series, how important it is to play domestic cricket. He told the media, "I cannot tell you on what grounds he has been dropped. It is up to the selectors. All I can tell you is that he was asked earlier and asked to play Ranji Trophy. , which is the ladder of the Indian team. We can't tell you what we discussed. Why they didn't play Ranji, State Association CAB [Cricket Association of Bengal] can tell you this. This is not my jurisdiction. As selectors, we wanted them [referring to Saha and Ishant Sharma] to play. We are not looking at age."
Dravid did well to make Saha aware of where he stands on the road ahead. Usually selectors have such chats. Here, the head coach became active. The former India captain also displayed maturity and understanding when he told the media that he had no problem disclosing a private conversation with Saha.
Be that as it may, it would be fair for Saha to believe that he deserved better. In 11 years, he has made it to only 40 Tests. Only when MS Dhoni was injured or banned for slow over-rate (as he was for the 2011-12 Adelaide Test) could Saha make it to the playing XI.
Naman Ojha, Parthiv Patel and Rishabh Pant have kept wickets for India since then, and Saha is the first choice for the job of stumper, despite being the best for a role that has expanded to the batting in the last few decades. Not there. Who knows what the next trend will be? Maybe a fast bowler will be considered only if he is not a dummy with the bat.
If the recent Mumbai Test against New Zealand is Saha's last Test, then so be it. Whatever opportunities he got, he did his best – after the stellar Test stint of the all-time great Dhoni and before Pant became a game-changer. Saha will have to chin this potential international edge.
Meanwhile, cricket pundits around the world should stop taking themselves so seriously. Gone are the days when players could make or break.
No controversy is sweet, but it's just distasteful. The media game has changed. Nevertheless, the journalist fraternity and sportspersons have to coexist.
The media don't expect to be invited to the dressing room after a day's play, as was the case in the Second Era, but if both sides respect each other's needs, that area will be a better place. .
Visiting the dressing room…Ah, it reminds me of the great Australian cricket writer Ray Robinson. Australia's wicketkeeper Rod Marsh knew Robinson was suffering from ulcer and therefore he could not drink fresh beer. He liked the prospect of Robinson coming in for a chat after playing in the dressing room, so Marsh would open a few bottles a few hours before the stumps to make sure the flat brew didn't harm Robinson's health.
Such respect for a journalist is rare and almost impossible in this era. But this is a true story and, like the Saha saga, it involves a wicketkeeper. There is something to be said here about the difference between genuinely influential journalists and those who consider themselves to be so. But the less said on that subject, the better.
Mid-Day's Group Sports Editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweeted @ClaytonMurzello
Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
The views expressed in this column are those of the individual and do not represent the views of the paper
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Saw this pop through on Twitter and I knew it needed a little more than just a RT. MIT has created an interactive game that combines science, anthropology, and mystery to get middle school students engaged in scientific problem-solving and critical-analysis.
"Vanished" is a two-month-long game, which debuted the week of April 4 and stems from an initial scenario revealed in recent video messages on the site. The premise is that people living in the future have contacted us in the present, to answer a question: What event occurred between our time and theirs that led to the loss of civilization's historical records? Students must decode clues in hidden messages, and in response find and provide information about Earth's current condition, such as temperature and species data, to help people in the future deduce what wound up happening.
I kinda want to play this myself – I just hope this is the first of many such realtime games from MIT (how about something I can use in my LA classes, please).
Sesame Street video games are back!
MIT's "Vanished" Game Asks Middle Schoolers to Be Scientists is licensed by Ed Stuck in the Cloud under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.


For this project, the homeowners wanted a tranquil abode in which to unwind as well as entertain. Expertly designed and built by Giorgi, the home features striking open-plan living areas, which are perfect for socialising with family and friends.
An excellent combination of timber and natural materials provides the design with added warmth, while the expansive windows allow plenty of sunlight to stream through. The spacious living areas flow seamlessly through to undercover courtyard areas, which enhances the visual appeal and liveability of the entire home.
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Specialising in residential architecture and mixed-use apartment blocks, Giorgi is a multidisciplinary studio where architects and master builders work together to create exceptional residences that enrich the lives of the occupants.
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Since its establishment in 1994, the company has received several local and national industry awards, so you can rest assured that your project is in the best possible hands. To begin your building journey contact the friendly team at Giorgi today!


The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London recently published scans of two of the Leonardo da Vinci notebooks so website visitors can digitally zoom and flip through the drawings and musings of the Italian Renaissance painter, architect, inventor, and sculptor. Jumbled together in the delicate journals are thoughts on both science and art—detailed charts and speculations contained on the same pages as observational sketches of hats or horse hooves.
In true-crime books and tv shows, there's always the point where somebody calls the handwriting profiler to do a behavioral analysis on some unknown criminal's signature or a quick note left on a scrap of paper. Who is this person and what does their haphazard crossing of t's and slanted letter o's say about them? Artist Annie Vought is also fascinated by handwriting in connection to identity but in a more emotional and artistic sense.
In the penmanship, word choice, and spelling the author is revealed in spite of him/herself. A letter is physical confirmation of who we were at the moment it was written, or all we have left of a person or a period of time. I also think a lot about the relationship between the public and the private, or more specifically about how the private side of ourselves can be made public. I want to be respectful of people, but I recognize that I'm actively exposing them through their written communications. But in the exposure is a vulnerability we all share. I'm interested in human relationships, overall— the ones we have with ourselves and others.
Of particular note in Vought's work over the last few years is a mammoth piece titled "Gosh I've been here before," a 41″ x 53″ cut paper sculpture of words and patterns that spirals like the rings of a tree. You can explore it up close and inquire about it over on Artspace. You can see a bit more of her work on Instagram and through Jack Fischer Gallery.