Which is better: Early marriage or Late marriage?

     "I think it is best to have late marriage." pronounced a friend suddenly few years ago.

     "Why is that so?," I asked. Then the conversation flooded with reasons. 

     

Don’t judge the book by its cover – so the saying goes. It means we must not draw out our conclusions so hastily over something based on its outer looks, but we should delve first into it for us to see what is there to see other than its deceptive covers.

          Both early and late marriages have their merits in their own right. To a person, the advantage of late marriage conquers all. To someone else, the opposite may be true. OK, so that we may be able to learn and decide which one is better for us, let’s draw some of facts on the table.

Late Marriage

          Late marriage gives freedom to a person and that includes getting control of finances. He doesn't have to worry about spending his hard-earned dosh on an unappreciative partner. Freedom on time, he may spend more time on good-for-all-guys occasions and can go for long week vacations without any worries of getting hit by flying plates thrown by the angry partner when he gets home. Others find it advantageous for being able to focus more on their careers and may be able to support their younger siblings.

          When the time of tying the knot comes, he may have the financial stability and will be fully matured to handle and shall be able manage his new family very well.

          But being single for too long in the society can also pose several risks.

        The age gap between the parents and the children may become very far. By the time the first son has fully grown, the father may no longer be able to play basketball with him!

        And single persons are prone to temptations especially towards the opposite sex. That means the longer one stay single, the longer he will have to struggle against that.

Early Marriage

          On the other side, people who are in early marriages may not possess the financial stability (that the people in late marriages have) and they may not be matured enough at the time when they start to build their new family.

          Nevertheless, there are insights or level of thinking that can only be attained upon marriage. So as time goes on they will learn on how to establish their finance and be able to deal with their situations. The age gap between the parents and their children will be less. When their son gets old enough, the father can still play basketball with him.

          From the Islamic point of view, being single is like making a fast. Just like in fasting, a person has the strong desire to satisfy his hunger yet it is forbidden for him to do so during the time of fast. So is being single, a person has the desire to be with someone from the opposite sex yet it is not allowed if they are not yet married. By tradition there are plenty of reward one can get from giving a person food to break his fast. How plenty would then be the reward of legally breaking the fast of staying single by giving one’s self through marriage!

          So looking at these, which one do you think is better?
        But before we finally decide for ourselves, let's not forget the following saying of the Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam)

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Narrated 'Alqama: While I was with `Abdullah, `Uthman met him at Mina and said, "O Abu `Abdur Rahman ! I have something to say to you." So both of them went aside and `Uthman said, "O Abu `Abdur−Rah. man! Shall we marry you to a virgin who will make you remember your past days?" When `Abdullah felt that he was not in need of that, he beckoned me (to join him) saying, "O 'Alqama!" Then I heard him saying (in reply to `Uthman), "As you have said that, (I tell you that) the Prophet once said to us, 'O young people! Whoever among you is able to marry, should marry, and whoever is not able to marry, is recommended to fast, as fasting diminishes his sexual power." (Bukhari)

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How a muslim scholar measured the radius of the Earth

          Ever wondered how was the size of the Earth measured? Well, here's a way how.
          I was quite amazed by the this documentary film entitled "Islam and Science" (part 2) released by BBC especially when Prof. Jim Al-khalili explained how a muslim scholar measured the radius of the Earth. Prof Al-khalili is a physics professor of University of Surrey. This film really suites him for he understands and can speak the Arabic language and it was advantageous for him because he had to delve into Muslim history and Arabic books.

          We, muslims, are required to face a direction towards Kaaba whenever we pray. And that leaves no excuse to anyone far from Kaaba. Wherever country a muslim resides, he should always find that direction. And this eventually led to the measuring of the Earth's radius.

Professor Al-khalili explained:

  "... A more reliable and sophisticated method for estimating the Earth's size was needed, and two centuries after Al-Ma'mun died, it came. What made it possible was a great leap of imagination. And the fact that, by 900 AD, much of the world's mathematical knowledge had been translated into Arabic, so scholars could scrutinize and improve on it. 

  Out of this obsession with scholarly learning came a true mathematical visionary - Abu Rayhan Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Al-Biruni. And like all Islamic scholars of the time, Al-Biruni was obsessed with the science and mathematics of the ancient Greeks, Babylonians and Indians. And because of the success of the Translation Movement, he had literally on his desk the great work on geometry by Euclid, Ptolemy's Almagest, the Indian text the Sindhind, and the famous work on algebra by Al-Khwarizmi."

Let me dissect this subject a little bit further. The way I see it, we need three things here:
1. astrolabe (this is just like a large protractor)
2. distance measuring device (in our present time, we can use the rolling Measuring wheel), and
3. knowledge on basic trigonometry.

So let’s try to follow what Birani did in measuring the radius of the Earth. Here we’ll use the most basic ideas in trigonometry. Okey, here we go. Find a fairly high mountain in which we can see the vast flat horizon, the sea. What I can never forget in this is that with few simple measurements around this mountain, you can measure the size of our whole world.

Here's the step made by Biruni.
Height of the mountain

1. Al Biruni’s first step was to work out the height of the mountain. He did this by going to two points at sea level and knowing the distance apart and them measuring the angles from these points to the mountain top. The two points and the mountain top must line in one straight line. In measuring the angle, he had to use an   Astrolabe.

Prof. Jim Al-khalili using the astrolabe in measuring the angle of inclination of the mountain top.

Angle of inclination from the two points are measured and the distance between them is denoted by d in this figure.

2. We may consider first the triangle on the right side (drawn by yellow lines). We may use the Sine Law to solve for the slanted side l.

3. Then, we consider the right triangle on the left. We can use the sine function to solve for the height h of the mountain. (Refer to the diagram above, the right triangle whose hypotenuse is the side l.)

Now, one more measurement is needed to get the size of the Earth.

Radius of the Earth

4. To get the last measurement, one must climb to the top of the mountain to measure the angle of the line of sight to the horizon as it dips below the horizontal.

As you can see from the diagram, the line connecting the mountain top and the point where the line of sight reaches the horizon is perpendicular to the line connecting center of the Earth and the the point where the line of sight reaches the horizon. And the distance between the center of the Earth and the mountain top is equal to the sum of the radius of the Earth and and the height of the mountain (h+R).

5. We now have a very huge right triangle where the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the radius of the Earth and and the height of the mountain. 

and by using the identity

would eventually lead to the expression:

The accuracy of this measurement is remarkable achievement for someone 1000 years ago!

EXERCISE

If you wanna try the steps described above, here's a list of values.

The distance (d) between two points is 100 m. The angle of inclination from one point near the seashore is 24.5 degrees while the angle of inclination from the point nearer to the mountain is 26.5 degrees. From these three given values, you can calculate the height of the mountain.

The angle of declination is 0.5 degrees as measured when one is on the mountain top.

(These values were measured by Prof. Al-khalili. And following the steps described above obtains a value of the radius of the Earth far greater than the known value. Big error isn't it? Well, Prof. Al-khalili did the measurements only once. But the measurement of Al-Biruni was more accurate than this because he did it again and again.

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Leleng

The following information is written and composed byForma L. Gonzales. Sung and rendered also by her during the Taboan 2012 celebration at MSU-Iligan in celebration of the National Arts Month February 20, 2012@ MSU-IIT Mini Theater. Ms Gonzales is a pure Sama Jama Mapun tribe who is concurrently finishing Ph.D Language Studies @ the College of Arts and Social Sciences, MSU-IIT. She is married to a Muslim convert by the name of Moh. Alsid (Marcelino) R. Gonzales.

Statement from Prof.Gonzales:

This song, Leleng, has no specific author. Not any Sama, Tausug or Jama Mapun and Sama Dilaut know who is its real composer and author. But it is believed  in the 70’s  when the Mindanao conflict was at its uprising of which   Sulu,  Tawi-Tawi, Basilan were in the forefront of the conflict, literary composition was one among the developments that sprung from the conflict.

 Among those who were recruited as members of the MNLF were the Sama, Tausug ,  Jama Mapun and Sama Dilaut. Along the course of departing for war in defense of BASULTA (BASILAN, SULU, TAWI-TAWI) and the 13 provinces in Mindanao THIS SONG LELENG EMERGED AS A GOODBYE/FAREWELL SONG DEDICATED TO THE LOVE ONES OF THE BANGSA MORO SOLDIERS WHO WERE LEFT IN THEIR STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM.

By the fact that the first stanza  mentions Sitangkay and Sibutu, LELENG SONG IS PERCEIVED TO HAVE BEEN COMPOSED BY A SAMA DILAUT OR A SAMA in Bahasa Sug for reason that Bahasa Sug in Tawi-Tawi is a lingua franca .Further, the title of the song is LELENG MEANS DARLING, SWEETHEART, LADY.

(This picture is from
http://travel.nuraina.com/sabah-sulusea/)

It is NOT BALELENG as sung by a Visayan composer which is popularized in all Philippine media which states as ORIGINAL. WRONG! IT IS NOT ORIGINALLY COMPOSED OR AUTHORED BY ANY VISAYAN SINGER. However, due to social integration and migration where many Visayans are working in Tawi-Taw and Sulu for socio-economic reason, they practically learned the context of the song and brought it to Visayan provinces. Hence, they patterned, imitated and CORRUPTED the song, Leleng into BALELENG which has a bad connotation that seemingly made as an ” expression of endless love”  by several or many non-muslims to any man especially the non-muslim men who are married to  ladies from Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Sulu. Again, it is Leleng and NOT Baleleng. We condemn this notion and misinterpretation! We hope beginning today the word Baleleng shall never be used to sing the original and sweet melodic tune of Leleng

The word ba next to the word Leleng is a NOUN MARKER to signify the  linguistic utterances of a Malayo-Polynesian language of which Bahasa Sug is among the languages that begins with a question word, PILA ( HOW). Again, the word ba is used as a device to sustain the rhythmic pattern to the tune of the song. It has to be noted also that the first stanza is a permanent stanza to begin the Leleng. The next stanzas can be sung and composed in any words/statements SUITED TO THE OCCASION.

 Hence, this is usually sung by a Sama , Tausug, Sama Dilaut and Jama Mapun during their search for livelihood especially going to the sea to entertain and comfort themselves from the excessive heat of the sun, strong blow of the wind , the violent waves and believed also as a technique to catch many fishes.

1.   Pila na  ba  Leleng layuh layuh Sitangkay ba Leleng iban Sibutuh Bang kaw ba Leleng bunnal matuyuh    Urul kaw ba Leleng pa malayuh	·         How far Leleng is the distance From Sitangkay, Leleng, to Sibutu For if you’re really  faithful Please follow me to this far
2.   Aku ini Leleng tumulak na Ikaw yan ba Leleng mabiin na Minsan ba Leleng biyah ini na Masi da kaw Leleng dih hilupa	·         I am now, Leleng, leaving So you’re now left Even if this is so I will never forget you
3.   Aku ba Leleng ha gitung laud Ikaw ba Leleng dih na ma atud Bang bakas kaw ba Leleng ma ilud Atas ku ba Leleng in mag guyud	·         I am now, Leleng in the middle of the ocean I may not see you anymore If only I could make you move I would really tow you
4.   Leleng, ikaw hadja ha laum simud Leleng, ikaw hadja ha laum atud Leleng, aku hapit na iyanud Leleng, masi na man kaw ha simud	·         Leleng, you’re always in my thoughts Leleng, you are always in my sight Leleng, as I  was about to be drifted Leleng, you were still in my thoughts
5.   In tuhan ba Leleng dih mag pasaad Bang in ummat ba leleng miyagad Ha aturan ba magbuhih jasad Samabahayang ba Leleng naagad	·         God, Leleng never forsake If a man follows His command To live and save  life      Prayer, Leleng was performed
6.   Magsukul ba Leleng ha  duwaa mu Amu yadtu Leleng in lutuh ku Bunnal da ba  Leleng in lasa mu Ikaw na ba Leleng in limbang ku	·         Thank you, Leleng for your prayer That was my provision Your love is true And now you shall always be my partner

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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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