Why pigs are forbidden

The morning breeze was very cool... It was hitting every spot of my face. The street was so silent with very few people walking around. Sun was just about to rise. The time's so refreshing. I could have been walking very slowly in the street as I was also wondering what I might get from this short visit. When I reached the gate, I could see my classmates were already there, seated and waiting to hear words from master. I greeted them with Salam and I helped myself to reach a vacant spot to sit behind one of them. Soon, the master came out from the door, entered the sala, and sat comfortably in front of us.
"Do you know why we are not allowed to eat pigs?" He started with inquisitive eyes.
No-one dared to answer the question. Silence fell for a moment. As ordinary young muslims, we just knew that pigs were forbidden.
"Today I shall tell you one of the reasons why." said he. Then he paused, took a sip from his cup of tea.
"It was during the time of Prophet Noah (alayhissalam). The flood was already covering their land and destroyed their homes along with the disbelievers. Noah and his followers were safely boarded then in the Ark, the great ship. This ship was three storeys. The first level was for the land animals. The second accomodated the birds. And the third was for the human beings, Noah (alayhissalam) and his followers."
He paused for a while and took another sip of tea from his cup again.
"But there was no pig yet at that time... I should tell you." he said with a smile, glad at the growing curiosity in us. Some of us were surprised at that point. We were wondering then what was the connection of pig and the story of the flood.
"Days went by and the animals, satisfying their biological bodies, needed to eat their foods... And every intake of food would eventually require an extraction of dirt. And there were several kinds of animals present in that ship, all of them had to eat their foods and then defecate."
It was really a problem, I thought. With those animals, from every kind doing that, it'd be really a problem.
"Soon the bad smell in the ship became very awful." He continued with a smile. "Eventually, Noah (alayhissalam) prayed to God to help him in this predicament."
"And God answered his dutiful servant... 'Tap the belly of the elephant.' was the answer to Noah (alayhissalam). Then, by His command, he tapped the belly of the elephant. And the first pig came into being. And the pig started to eat all the impurities of the animals hence cleaning the ship and removed the awful smell from the ship.
"Islam advises all to eat clean and healthy foods. For if dirty foods are taken, diseases may arise or worse, wa naujubillah, the heart becomes dirty also (attitude of the one who eats becomes animalistic)."
May we always have a close watch at the foods we eat that we may always have a healthy body and a "humanly" attitude. Read More

Reasons why Islamic New Year is not celebrated with great happiness

Amun Jadeed (or Islamic calendar's new year) may fall on November 25, 2011 (this friday).
We all know that Islam follows the lunar calendar while Christianity follows the solar calendar. Also, as we know, the Islamic calendar starts from the time Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) migrated from Makkah to al-Medina. From here begins the first year of the Islamic calender known as 'Hijri' or Migration. The Islamic calendar was organized and began being prsented as a calendar by the second righteous Caliph of Islam, Umar bin al-Khattab. Thus, according to the Hijri calender (or the Islamic calendar), Muharram is the first month of the Islamic year.
Many of my non-Muslim friends have asked the question that why isn't the Muslim new year celebrated with happiness and in ways similar to the Christian new year or the Chinese new year etc.
There are a few very important reasons for this which as Muslims, we cannot ignore.
Firstly, Islam has a different concept of celebration where permissive-style dancing of men and women together is not acceptable. Neither is consumption of alcohol or any other intoxicant allowed. All celebrations in Islam start with the remembrance of Allah and offering thanks to Him. The style of celebrations must be in accordance with the values of the Qur'an. Therefore, we are prohibited from celebrating in a way that would make us pass into a state where we have little or no control over ourselves. Practices that take away our faculty of being aware of Allah and our duties & responsibilities are totally disallowed. For this reason, all Muslims celebrations differ greatly from various modern-day non-Muslim celebrations.
Another reason is that the second righteous Caliph of Islam, Umar bin Khattab was assasinated on the 1st of Muharram after almost 20 years as one of the greatest rulers of the world. He was also a close friend and a relative of the Prophet. Umar bin Khattab's death is one of the most unfortunate and sad incidents in the history of Islam.
And after that in chronological history, the first 10 days of the month of Muharram also consist of the suffering and finally the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet, along with his entire family of women and children in the battle of Karbala. This is another extremely tragic incident in Islamic history.
Thus, the first day and first month of Muharram bring very sad memories to all Muslims. It would be highly insensitive to celebrate this month with happiness simply because it is the first month of the year. Read More

Muslim Women attends national Physics conference

        This year’s Samahang Pisika ng Visayas at Mindanao (SPVM) was held at Andres Bonifacio College in Dipolog City. The annual event, now on its 13th, was a three-days activity that educate, update and allow interactions between physicists from all over the Philippines. This conference was held from October 20-22, 2011.

       Among the participants (more than 1600), there were three female Muslims. Their outfits were so distinct from the crowd. Just like any other “practicing Islam” women, they were beautifully covered from head to toe. They are the following.

1. Shalima Arriola, a Physicist from Basilan. She got her BS Physics degree from Western Mindanao State University, Zamboanga City and she is now working at Basilan State College, in Isabella City, Basilan.

2. Fareedah Matanog. A high school Physics teacher. She finished her BS Metallurgical Engineering in 1996 at Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT). She is presently working at Datu Calaca High School, in Marantao, Lanao Del Sur.

3. Ameera Jose. She is a BS Physics student at Western Mindanao State University, Zamboanga City. She is one of the authors of the scientific paper entitled “Aviation’s worst nightmare: microburst” published nationally by October 2011.

          History has it that, precisely in 8th to the end of the 13th century, Islam had patronized and fostered the Greek scientific heritage in the field of medicine, astronomy,mathematics, physics, chemistry and philosophy. Islam continued to add new scientific achievements which bear witness that Muslim were deeply and seriously interested in scientific research. It was on the cream of the Islamic scientific achievement of Andalusia that the European Renaissance and its modern scientific inventions were based.

       These three brave women are among the very few Muslims in the field of Physics here in Philippines, who serve as catalysts to motivate us and the future generation to lead the "revival" of scholastic attitude and scientific advancement in this modern age among muslims.

        To these sisters, More power to all of you!

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