Tarek Hoteit Notebook

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Just received an email that was circulating around regarding a book, called "The True Furqan" posted on Amazon.com.. Editorial description at Amazon says about this book: "
Arabic and English side-by-side on every page. Prose and poetry of the highest caliber in classical Arabic with English interpretation. It contains 77 surahs (chapters) dealing with as many subjects which are beautifully written and easily understood. Love, Light, Peace, Truth, Repentance, Women, Marriage, Fasting, Prayer, Abrogation, The Sacrifice, Inspiration, Paradise, The Scale and The Excellent Names are some of the chapters written in the unique style of the Quran."

I have not read the book myself but it seems a lot of Moslem people did and many are saying that this book is blasphemous and is a Western attempt to rewrite the Moslem Holy Book in its own ways, insulting Islam and Moslems. One reviewer said:
"It is over 366 pages and is in both the Arabic and English languages...it is
being distributed to our children in Kuwait in the private English schools!
The book contains 77 Surats, which include Al-Fatiha, Al-Jana and Al-Injil.
Instead of Bismillah, each begins with a longer version of this
incorporating the Christian belief of the three spirits. And this so called
Quran opposes many Islamic beliefs. in one of its ayats it describes having
more than one wife as fornification, divorce being non-permissable and it
uses a new system for the sharing out of the will, opposing the current one.
It states that Jihad is HARAAM. This book even goes as far as attacking
Allah, Subhanahu wa Tahala! All this is poisoning our children at approx.
$3."

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 8:04 AM | Permalink | Comments

DailyStar/AFP reports that half a million people in Middle East and North Africa are infected with AIDS, as revealed by the UN: “
UN reveals half a million HIV patients throughout the region
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
HIV/AIDS infections are on the rise in North Africa and the Middle East, with Sudan the worst-affected country in the region, the United Nations warned Monday, calling for better strategies to tackle the disease. There were 510,000 people living with HIV in the region of which 67,000 were new infections reported this year.”

Regards,
Tarek Hoteit

Labels: middle east

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 6:44 PM | Permalink | Comments

Al-Jazeera has an article on Iraqi peope living in poverty:
“Iraq's poor struggle to survive
Prisoner abuse reports are dominating the news in Iraq, but poverty is
also producing shocking images - of families living on rotting garbage
dumps. "We are lost people. Nobody cares about us," said Moussa Jabr, as
flies swarmed around his young children's faces near rotting food, slimy
plastic bags and empty tin cans piled high.”
Full Story
<http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C4ECF37E-ADBE-4C13-BDA5-2CB166E5
F59D.htm>

Regards,
Tarek Hoteit

Labels: middle east

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments

Al-Jazeera reports on how a Moroccan woman losts her French residency because of her hijab, or Ismalim scarf: “Hijab costs woman French residency
A Moroccan woman living legally in France for eight years has been
refused a long-term residence card because she covers her hair with an
Islamic head scarf, says her lawyer. A regional government official
wrote in a rejection letter this month that the head scarf worn by
Chetouani El Khamsa was a sign of Islamic fundamentalism, her lawyer
Pascale Torgemen said on Thursday.”
Full Story

Regards,
Tarek Hoteit

Labels: middle east

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 4:39 AM | Permalink | Comments

Farewell to Mostapha Akkad, the Syrian-born director famously know for "The Message" (Al-Rissalah) and "The Lion of the Desert" (Omar Al-Mokhtar). Two movies that helped spread knowledge and moral values of Islam to the outside world.


Quoted from the "DailyStar" article, He once said "I did the movie ["The Message" - talks about the Prophet Mohammad"] because it is a personal thing for me. ... There was something personal, being a Muslim myself who lived in the West, I felt that it was my obligation [and] my duty to tell the truth about Islam." "It [Islam] is a religion that has a 700 million following, yet it's so little known about it which surprised me. I thought I should tell the story that will bring this bridge, this gap to the West," he added.
Mostapha Akkad and his daughter were killed after bombings of three weddings in Jordan, killing so many innocent people.

Labels: middle east

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 11:05 PM | Permalink | Comments

Daily Star reports in its email newsletter: 'The head of a 57-nation grouping of Islamic countries on Wednesday stressed that the rioting in poor city suburbs in France was not linked to religion, but called on Muslims there to keep out of the unrest.”I would like to appeal personally to everybody, and if there are any Muslims among these young people, to come to reason, to respect the law of the land," said.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/headlines.asp
Regards,
Tarek Hoteit

Labels: middle east

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 5:26 PM | Permalink | Comments

The DailyStar newspaper reports that the first islamic conference to discuss sufferings of more than a quarter of the world's children because of poverty, malnutrition and disease opened in Rabat today (Monday).
Organized by the several Islamic organizations and the UNICEF, the conference will focus its discussions on four major topics: 1-health and HIV/AIDS, 2- quality education and culture, 3-protection against abuse, exploitation and violence and 4- mobilizing resources.
The article quotes UNICEF saying: "In OIC (Organization of Islamic Conference) countries, up to 4.3 million children under five die each year from preventable disease and malnutrition - over 60 percent of them before reaching their first birthday... six million children under five suffer from malnutrition in the form of stunting, with low height for their age. At least 23 percent of the total population have no access to safe drinking water, and 45 percent lack adequate sanitation. Children in sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, are facing a deadly combination of armed conflict, HIV/AIDS and poverty"

Labels: middle east

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 12:53 AM | Permalink | Comments

Labels: middle east

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments

Mayssaloun and I are blessed with our new born baby girl, Lynn. She's born on November 2
-Tarek

 

Labels: personal

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 11:52 PM | Permalink | Comments

from MenaFn reports from UPI that Canada has wants to increase the number of new residents to 300,000 a year over the next five years. Canada's minister also said that Canada has a surplus of jobs.

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 6:52 AM | Permalink | Comments