Keep hard surfaces clean, advises visiting A(H1N1) researcher.
Claiming a total of seven victims to date, the death toll of swine flu in the Kingdom has reached an all-time high in comparison with the rest of the Middle East. Strategies to curb this pandemic are being introduced every day by the authorities. The “Infection Control Lecture on Swine Flu”, organized at the New Jeddah Clinic Hospital on Wednesday, was therefore timely and offered an insight into the world of medical professionals that are on the frontline of the anti-swine flu movement.
Dr. Mani Srinivasan is a prominent medical personality in the US, who has been working extensively with the swine flu research team. He delivered a simple yet effective presentation on the phenomenon of swine flu, focusing mainly on its vaccine and treatment.
Symptoms and contagion
The symptoms of swine flu, Dr. Srinivasan indicated, are similar to the regular flu or cold. These include a scratchy throat, runny nose, fever, body ache, and in rare cases, diarrhea, and these normally last from five to seven days, on average. He explained that the swine flu virus spreads in the same way as ordinary colds as the mode of transmission is droplets.
So if someone sneezes or coughs without covering, the virus can infect anyone within a three-foot radius. He also elaborated in certain trends as far as susceptibility to infection is concerned, with pregnant women, toddler and patients suffering from chronic illnesses of the lungs, heart, kidneys or liver being the most susceptible.
Prevention is better than cure
According to Dr. Srinivasan’s research, the swine flu virus can live on hard surfaces for up to 24 hours, whereas its life period on soft surfaces is as short as 20 minutes. Therefore, it is imperative to disinfect all hard surfaces regularly including floors, wood or metal furniture, and door handles.
He also stressed on personal hygiene to avoid contracting the infection. “Either hand-rubs with alcohol or soap and water should be used on a regular basis. Currently, there are no studies to show which method is better,” he explained.
Hand sanitizers are an alternate to soap and water where these facilities are unavailable, and he added that all dirty tissues must be disposed immediately after use. For more read here. 
Alhamdulillah I made it to my 100th post. I'm so delighted :)
I started blogging last year in May ( ok so this is a 2 in 1 celebration, because I'd forgotten the date ). Well I knew about blogger, blogs, and blogging. But I could never think of posting one myself. I always used to go like "What will I write about? ... Who will read it? ... Will people even bother to read mine???? " LOL. I'd always admire other peoples blogs and think "What great writers" . And I used to think that writing a blog post requires so much skill and creativity.
And so I'd never dare to start one though I knew it was free. And I'd always had the fear of neglecting it. Frankly, when I started this blog I'd never thought I'd make it to 100.
But something suddenly happened, I'd received an e-mail talking about blogging and how to write articles and how people got rich doing it LOL. Well of course I had no intention of making money, but it suddenly struck me why not start a blog for the sake of Allah, like I'd been receiving Islamic e-mails, so why not start a blog for that.
And so I registered on blogger and started blogging Islamic Q n A, yeah that was my first blog and I was very happy about it. And then I made the other blogs Common Misconceptions, Islamic Tidbits, Prophet's Medicine, and my private journal.
Now that I'd started blogging, the big question was "How do I get people to visit it? or How do I find readers?". I felt so lonely. So I sent out e-mails to my family and friends to let them know about my blogs so they could visit it and let their friends and colleagues know about it. Also the e-mail that I'd received mentioned that if I'd want more readers then I'd have to visit other peoples blogs and be an active commenter on them. I was like OMG how am I ever going to leave comments and be active on others blogs. Like I'm a person who is sincere I just can't leave an insincere comment on someones blog just because I want them to visit mine.
So I googled for other muslim or Islamic blogs on blogger and that's how I came across all the wonderful blogger pals ;). And so began my blog journey :). Then I started reading other sister blogs often and I got ideas from them about what else I could write and so I started this one.
This blog experience has been one of the best thing that happened in my life. I mean like it really makes the world so small, if it hadn't been for this I'd never had known so many nice sisters out there. And I can never forget those tags and awards :) that were given to me by my sweet sisters. And of course the 39 faithful followers on the side, yeah how can I forget them when I never thought anyone would want to follow me. There's only one wish I have "I WANT TO MEET ALL THE AWESOME BLOGGER PALS IN PERSON INSHA ALLAH" :)
And so this journey continues, hope I'm able to post many more things beneficial and otherwise ;) ... let's see where that goes ...
Oh! I'm really sorry I forgot to say please enjoy the treat, I hope there's one for each one of you ;)
PS: Those sisters who have access to my private blog, please visit it for a private party inside ;). If you don't I'm sorry I'll be forced to delete U :s
The following message is forwarded by Yusuf Estes .....
Assalamualikum Everyone ,
Note:- Forwarded Message from Shk. Yusuf Estes.
Bismillah Rahman Raheem
I need your help, inshallah. Please do something for me and for Islam right now, inshalllah. First, read this and then join me and those who believe in Allah - to stop a very horrible crime about to be committed by some very powerful and forceful people. Help me put this information all over the Internet and around the world - we can do it, inshallah.
Let me start at the beginning . . .
Can you imagine my shock when I opened up an email telling me our website domain name (YOUTUBE.COM) is being taken over by GOOGLE and their video site - YOUTUBE?
Here is more or less what we were told:
NOTICE: Effective August 5th, 2009 Google (owner of YouTube.com) will take over YOUTUBEISLAM.COM.
Although we have purchased the name "YOUTUBEISLAM.COM" and have renewed for several years through GODADDY.COM it seems GOOGLE has enough influence to just simply take our domain name from us - and by the way, we have even paid for it all the way through to next year.
First, their lawyers contacted us saying they were going to take our domain because we copied their logo. We didn't even come close to their logo.. (look for yourself www.YOUTUBEISLAM.com/images/logo.gif)
They next came up with saying our name was too similar to their name. We changed the name and the layout to read: Yo Utu Beis Lam.com and we even registered that as a trade name.
We changed the logo and the images to reflect the new name.
They said they went into "arbitration" (of course we were not invited to that meeting) and then our registrar (GODADDY.COM) notified us they are "transferring" our domain name over to GOOGLE.
We have always maintained the highest of standards on our site - We never allowed any videos with inappropriate material. We did not allow videos that insulted or put down other religions. No dating or suggestive materials. No bad language. Only topics fit for all the family.
We paid for the bandwidth from our own pockets to make sure everything was always as it should be without having people click and wind up on websites attacking beliefs or making fun of believers and certainly nothing to hurt people's feelings.
Above all, we did not put up any ads (especially not GOOGLE ADS) on our site. (Could this be why they want it so bad?)
Or is it just so they can advertise their thousands of customers who would be happy to introduce thousands of paying advertisers to ways of entering into the homes of trusting Muslims who will think the website still belongs to Yusuf Estes and his dawah team?
Maybe they just don't like Islam?
Or possibily they don't like seeing so many new people entering Islam from our work?
Why does GOOGLE - a company who bought YOUTUBE for billions of dollars - want to take away our little website?
Good question.
I think you know the answer.
But do we have to let them do this without at least telling others about the unjust way of dealing of these people?
Are we just going to sit there and do nothing, while they destroy our work, our efforts, our viewers trust and above all - destroy the chance for many people to know the truth about real Islam in simple English language.
We don't have to.
We can make a difference, maybe even stop these cowards. Let's join together, all around the world and make a difference.
Let's tell everyone what is going on and what they can do to help...
1. Get a good copy of this page and make sure it is easy to read
2. copy it
3. Make sure to mail it out to everyone and ask them to do the same
4. Send text messages - Like this: "Google trying to steal Yusuf Estes website - www.YoutubeIslam.com Help us stop them - www.GuideUS.TV for details"
5. Call people you know, or fax them, and tell them the same basic statement, asking them to share this message in every way possible.
6. Pray to Almighty Allah and beg Him to give victory for His deen and His message in English.
Thank you and may Allah Bless you and your family and make your efforts work for good for you and for all of us, ameen.
Make dua and ask Allah to keep this site and domain for His Sake, ameen.
Jazakallah khair was salam alaykum,
Yusuf Estes
Google has sent shockwaves in the online Muslim community by wrestling to take over the popular Islamic video sharing website YoutubeIslam.com. The website run for over three-and-a-half years by Sheikh Yusuf Estes, a popular da’ee in America, is 100 percent child safe and visited by thousands of net surfers for videos on a variety of subjects.
“Our little website became very popular with even non-Muslims. Everywhere we go people tell us how much they appreciate having something of this high moral value, excellent quality and professional approach to presenting Islam,” said Yusuf Estes.
The Sheikh says Google, the owner of YouTube.com, is trying to scare people into giving them their website domain names if they contain anything with the sound or appearance of the words like “tube”, “you”, “youtoo”, “youtube”, “tubeyou” or even words like “tub”, if connected in some way with anything like “U”.
Since earlier this year, Google’s law firm has been trying to take ownership of YoutubeIslam.com. For more read here.
Field trips have always been an essential part of the educational system. In this, new concepts have emerged, thus making the process of learning closely associated with travelling. Experts in the field believe that students develop life skills in a fun and challenging way through educational trips that provide them with an opportunity to broaden their horizons.
“Field trips aid in the development of skills in students as well as give students a chance to socialize with each other. They learn numerous things, such as, how to deal with different situations, plus they become more active,” said Dr. Sadik Dahlan, director general of Coral International School in Jeddah.
Students are taken to academic and non-academic trips. The academic trips offer students deeper subject learning and an increased level of self-confidence.
“Our education is usually based on textbooks. Students are taken on academic field trips that are planned in accordance with what is being taught in the classroom so that they can learn and easily relate their experiences. We hold discussions with the schoolteachers about what topic they are teaching so that we can organize a related field trip. For example, on the environment day, students were taken to a park,” said Dahlan, adding that students at his school have also visited colleges, universities, libraries, etc.
Seconding Dahlan, Huda, principal of the Learning Oasis School in Riyadh, gave another example of subject-related academic trips.
“Field trips related to science or social studies subjects are common. These include a trip to the zoo if the children are studying about animals,” she said.
Non-academic trips allow the students to escape for a while their accustomed studying routine. Students are taken to malls where there is usually a small play land, where they can indulge in some physical activity that otherwise is limited due to the lack of parks and playgrounds in Jeddah. Students visit sports centers as well as nearby cities as part of their school trips. “Children at our school have virtually visited every new mall in the city, and are updated with different aspects of the place they visit, such as, its management, etc.,” said Dahlan, adding that other activities, such as, swimming, barbeque, etc., are also included in the field trips. For more read here.
Talking in mosques
Q- Is it permissible to talk about worldly matters inside the masjid and at a time other than the salah?
A – All praise is due to Allah. It is not permissible to use the masajid as places of selling, trading, or other worldly affairs. The masajid were built for the remembrance of Allah, recitation of the Qur’an and offering prayers.
However, it is permissible to speak a little about worldly matters as long as it does not distract the reciters (of the Qur’an) or those praying.
– The Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Verdicts
Preaching without practicing
Q- If after repeated attempts, a person is not able to apply something that he exhorts others to do, is it still permissible for him to call others to do that action? What if he does so supposing that the person he is calling will be able to apply what he failed to apply himself?
A – When one is inviting others to do a good thing that he himself is not capable of doing, then yes, he should call others to do it. An example of this is if someone calls others to pray late at night while he himself is not able to do so or if someone calls others to give charity, but he himself has no sufficient resources to give charity, then we tell him to go ahead and invite others to give charity. But as for him calling to something that he is capable of doing but doesn’t, then this is foolish in intellect and going astray in religion.
– Sheikh Muhammad Bin Saleh Al-Uthaymeen; Fatawa Islamiyah, vol. 8, pg. 56
COMMENTING on Sheikh Bakr Abu Zayd’s advice, “...and do not indulge in luxury and comfort...”, Sheikh Muhammad Bin Uthaymeen said: “This is a piece of advice that should be given to both students of knowledge and (common people). This is because indulging in luxury and comfort contradicts the guidance of the Prophet (peace be upon him). He forbade excessive luxury. He would sometimes enjoin others to be barefoot. A person who becomes accustomed to comfort will find it difficult to face situations that may not come with the comfort he is used to.
Let’s take the hadith of occasionally being barefoot for example. Some people never leave their feet bare. They always have to wear socks, khuffs, or shoes. If you were to suggest such a person to walk 500 meters without wearing anything to protect his feet, it will be extremely hard for him. His feet might even start bleeding from the harshness of the ground! If one makes himself accustomed to harsh conditions by avoiding constant comfort, you will find such a person blessed with much good.
If the body is not accustomed to such conditions, it will not have immunity to pain. So, a person accustomed to comfort will be hurt at the slightest of things, while a (strong) person will be immune and he won’t feel pain at all. This is why the hands of laborers are much stronger and firmer than the hands of students of knowledge.
There is nothing deterring or preventing a laborer from doing any type of job, since his hands have already become accustomed to these conditions. If you touch their hands, it will feel as if you are touching a rock because of the roughness. There is no doubt that being accustomed to comfort and luxury will harm a person extensively.” – Sharh Hilyat Talib Al-’Ilm, pg. 43
