History of Bahrain

On May 11 in 1970, as per UN Security Council Resolution 278, Bahrain was declared an independent state, following a so-called 'opinion poll' conducted among tribal leaders and selective groups in the 33-island archipelago by Vittorio Winspeare-Giucciardi, Manager of the United Nations office in Geneva. This 'opinion poll' was orchestrated by Britain and Bahrain's ruler, in order to avoid Tehran's demand for a referendum to determine the Bahraini people's views for return to Iran's sovereignty.
Throughout history, dating from pre-Islamic times, Bahrain has been an integral part of Iran. After the advent of Islam and weakening of the Abbasid caliphate, Bahrain was part of the Baghdad-based Iranian Bouyid Empire, followed by the sovereignty over it of Seljuqid Iran, Ilkhanid Iran, Safavid Iran, Qajarid Iran, as well as the brief rules in between by Nader Shah Afshar and Karim Khan Zand.
It was in the early 1800s, during a period of weakening of Qajarid rule that Bahrain was seized by pirates of the tribe of Aal-e Khalifa who were driven from their area of operation in the Khor Abdullah waterway between Kuwait and Iraq by the Ottoman Turkish governor of Basra. The Aal-e Khalifa brutally subdued the Shi'ite Muslim majority of Bahrain, both Arabs and Iranians, and sought British protection to prevent Iran from retaking it.
Iran, however, continued to protest to Britain for its occupation of what Tehran considered a part of its soil. After World War 2 and in view of Britain's plan to withdraw from all its colonial possessions in the Persian Gulf, Iran pressed hard for a referendum that unnerved the Aal-e Khalifa minority regime and made it further repress the aspirations of the Bahraini people. Iran's parliament passed a bill in November 1957 declaring Bahrain to be the 14th province of Iran, with two empty seats allocated for its representatives.
At this time, Britain set out to change the demographics of Bahrain through its policy of “de-Iranisation” which included importing a large number of different Arabs and others from British colonies as labourers and giving them citizenship. Demonstrations in 1956 forced the Aal-e Khalifa rulers to temporarily leave Manama (the capital) for the village of Refae al-Gharbi where only the Sunni Arab minority resides.
Mass demonstrations against the detested rule of the Aal-e Khalifa regime have continued periodically in Bahrain, despite its sellout by the British-installed and American-supported Pahlavi Shah following the so-called opinion poll of 1970 by the UN. With the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Iran has followed a policy of peace and dialogue, but with firm insistence on the aspirations of the people of Bahrain, who like all other nations of the world want to determine their own destiny.
Today Bahrain is again the scene of mass rallies for independence, while the ruling minority regime, along with mercenaries hired from abroad, and with the help of the Saudi invasion troops, is shedding innocent blood and even desecrating mosques and burning copies of the holy Qur'an.

The renowned Muslim worldwide traveler, Ibn Battuta,

On 17th of the Islamic month of Rajab in 703 AH, the renowned Muslim worldwide traveler, Shams od-Din Mohammad bin Abdullah, popularly known as Ibn Battuta, was born in the northwest African city of Tangiers, which is now in Morocco. As a young man he started his initial journey to perform the Hajj, but after pilgrimage to Mecca, he kept on travelling, visiting over a period of thirty years, most of the Islamic world as well as many non-Muslim lands in the three continents of Africa, Asia and Europe.
His journeys including trips to North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe in the West, and to West Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China, cover a total of 75,000 miles (121,000 km), surpassing by threefold the travels of his near-contemporary Marco Polo of Venice. In Iraq, he visited the holy shrine in Najaf of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), and although a Sunni, he has admitted how people from far and near seek intercession with God through the First Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) and are cured of their ailments.
He then travelled all over Iran, and later, after visiting the Byzantine Empire, Europe and Russia, he arrived in India, where he was appointed the Qazi of Delhi by Sultan Mohammad bin Tughlaq. On his return to his homeland Morocco, again served as Qazi. He dictated to scribes the details of his travels in his book titled "ar-Rehla", and died at the age of 66 years.

To Mu'awiya (3)

 A letter to Mu'awiiya:

"Quraysh was our tribe, but they wanted to kill the Holy Prophet (s) and to exterminate our family. They conspired against us and made plots after plots to harm us. They tried their best to frighten and injure us. They forced us to leave our homes and to retire to the cave of Shi'b Abi Taalib. It was a very rough and hard place to live in, and we were forced to lead a very harsh life. Their instigated their tribe as well as other clans to fight against us. The Merciful Allah came to our help. He protected and defended us. From amongst us those who had faith in the Holy Prophet (s) and Islam stood up to defend him and his cause; their desire was to achieve the favour of the Lord; and those of Bani Hashim who had not embraced Islam as yet like Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib also came to our help because we belonged to them and they to us. From amongst the Quraysh, the condition of those who had embraced Islam, was not as bad as ours.
Either they had defensive alliance with the non-believers or some tribes decided to defend them despite their differences in religion. While it was the practice of the Holy Prophet (s) that whenever a battle was raged and his companions behaved cowardly or ran away from the battlefield (as in Badr, Uhud and Hunayn) which was usually the case or started making the Muslims nervous (as in Khandaq), he sent members of his family (Bani Hashim) to fight out the battle to protect his companions. These members of Bani Hashim often fought single handed and some even met martyrdom as for instance, Ubayda bin Haarith was killed in the Battle of Badr, Hamza bin Abdul Muttalib in Uhud and Ja'far bin Abu Taalib in the Battle of Mu'tah. Besides these three, there was another person (here Imam Ali (a) meant himself) who also tried his best to meet martyrdom. I could name him but the date of his death had not yet approached and he passed through these terrible ordeals alive.
O time! O world! How could I wonder at your vagaries? People have started considering such a person (Mu'awiya) equal to me! He in his whole lifetime never exerted himself in the service of Islam and Allah as I have done at every moment of my life. In Islam there is no rank, no honour, no position and no merit for him as there is for me. No one can pretend to claim any superiority and excellence over me but a pretender. I do not know of anyone who served Islam and the Holy Prophet (s) as sincerely and as constantly as I have. The Almighty Lord knows that I am not wrong in claiming what I have said and no one can be compared to me in this respect. All Glory, Praise and Greatness belongs to Him and to nobody else.
You have requested me to send to you all those people who were responsible for the murder of Uthman. I pondered over your request and found that it was not in my power to send them to you or to anybody else.
I swear by my life that if you do not leave your hypocrisy, avarice and your rebellious activities they will make themselves known to you. Instead of your demanding them they will demand for you. On the sea and land and in the plains and on the hills they will make their presence known to you and you will not find it easy or pleasant to face them and will curse the day when you demanded to see them. "

Harmony on Earth

Discover the 10-90 Rule or Attitude this Ramadhan

How much do you see of an Iceberg? Only 10% of any Iceberg is visible. The remaining 90% is below the sea level. The Iceberg phenomenon is also applicable to we human beings ... Do you know how? Only 10% is what happens around us and 90% is how we react or respond to what happens and that's our Attitude. Similarly, only 10% is our knowledge and skills. And remaining 90% is our Attitude. In other words, our Attitude (values, standards, judgments, motives, ethics and beliefs) impact our Behavior. Hence, our life is a reflection of our attitudes. Let each letter of the alphabetic has a value equals to it sequence of the alphabetical order:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

S K I L L S   Total 19 11 09 12 12 19 = 82%

K N O W L E D G E   Total 11 14 15 23 12 05 04 07 05 = 96%

H A R D   W O R K   Total 08 01 18 04   23 15 18 11 = 98%

But:

A T T I T U D E   Total 01 20 20 09 20 21 04 05 = 100%

Then, look how far the love of God will take you?

L O V E   O F   G O D   Total 12 15 22 05   15 06   07 15 O4 = 101%

Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that: While Skills, Knowledge and Hard Work will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, It's the Love of God that will put you over the top! Note: A positive attitude is like a magnet for positive results. Positive attitudes create a chain reaction of positive thoughts. It's your attitude and not your aptitude that determines your altitude. Holy month of Ramadhan is best to practice and follow the above laws, because the Holy month of Ramadhan is a month of becoming Abdullah [an obedient servant of Allah (SWT)]. It is a month of adopting the etiquette of Allah (SWT) in the language of tradition or adopting the divine color in the language of the Noble Qur'an: "(We take our) color from Allah, and who is better than Allah at coloring. We are His worshippers". (Noble Qur'an 2:138) And the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) is reported to have said: "Adopt the etiquette of Allah (SWT)."