Mohamed Siruhan

One of two young South African cyclists who rode all the way from Cape Town to Makkah has spoken of his happiness at finally being able to perform Haj. Nathim Cairncross, 28, and Imtiyaz Haron, 25, arrived in the holy city on Nov. 2, understandably exhausted after covering an estimated 11,000 kilometers in the space of nine months. They had told Arab News previously that they cycled to Makkah to physically prepare for the rigors associated with performing their first pilgrimage. "However, [Haj] was not as difficult as we thought it would be," Cairncross told Arab News from his base in Aziziyah on Tuesday. "Alhamdullillah it's gone very well. I think it was important not to get caught up in the crowds of people." He added that while they undertook the journey for many personal reasons, they also wanted to improve their spiritual wellbeing. "It was a very tough journey, and you definitely have to be open-minded and flexible," he said. Their trek took t...

A giant clock on a skyscraper in Islam’s holiest city Makkah began ticking at the start of last Ramadan, amid hopes it will become the Muslim world’s official timekeeper. The Makkah Clock, which is considered the world’s largest, has four faces measuring 43 meters in diameter. It sits 400 meters up what will be the world’s second-tallest skyscraper and largest hotel, overlooking the city’s Grand Mosque, which Muslims around the world turn to five times a day for prayer. “The Makkah Clock started with the order of King Abdullah ... one minute after midnight on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan 1431H,” the Saudi Press Agency said. Over 90 million pieces of colored glass mosaic embellish the sides of the clock, which has four faces each bearing a large inscription of the name “Allah”. It is visible from all corners of the city, the state news agency said. The clock tower is the landmark feature of the seven-tower King Abdulaziz Endowment hotel complex, being built by the Saudi Bi...

One of the best ways to win people’s hearts to righteousness is to highlight the path of repentance: the path of asking Allah’s forgiveness, making atonement, and compensating for sins by performing good deeds for the benefit of other people. When calling people to return to Islam, it is wise to emphasize Allah’s forgiveness. No one should ever despair, even those who have returned to the same sin and repented for it a hundred times. Instead, they should repent and never weary of seeking forgiveness. Satan would inspire us to despair and give up on forgiveness. We should be even more resolute in asking Allah to forgive us, praying to Him with humility. When reminding people of their sins, it is good to mention positive action as well, by emphasizing the value of performing good deeds. Allah says: “Surely, good deeds wipe away evil deeds.” [Sūrah Hūd: 114] Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has informed us of various kinds of good deeds that can atone for our sins. For instance, Abū ...

Translated by His Majesty King Chris Abdul-Wahhab ( Maldives Royal Family ) “Let me tell you! In the Religion there are two types of extremism. One type comes from the observance of the Religion; and the other type involves failing to observe the Religion. We never hear about extremism that involves failure to observe the Religion. We always hear of extremism that involves the observance of the Religion. “Recently a Maldive woman representing herself as a Maldive Muslim has been uttering shameful words of the latter type and has publicised that in the media. She is a woman ambassador. While this shameless woman goes about licking the soles of European infidels, trying to please them , she does not so much as cover-up her nudity as Muslim women are ordered to do by the honourable Allah. As she runs around naked in front of all the humans in the world, auctioning her nudity, this shameless woman said that the biggest threat facing the Maldives today is the issue of ‘extremists’.” “Liste...

Five months ago, the Swedish royal family was the toast of Europe. All eyes were trained on Stockholm as the glamorous Crown Princess Victoria wed her long-time boyfriend in a fairy-tale ceremony, and the world's press clamoured for a glimpse of the elegant Swedish royals and their regal guests. Now the international media is again camped outside the gates of Stockholm's Drottningholm Palace – but this time for far less congratulatory reason. Revelations last week that the King of Sweden once enjoyed romps in seedy nightclubs owned by shadowy underworld figures have eclipsed the sparkle of July's wedding. King Carl XVI Gustaf, the stern-looking, bespectacled monarch who is honorary chairman of the World Scout Foundation, has found himself thrust uncomfortably in the spotlight following the publication of an unflinching book, Carl XVI Gustaf – Den motvillige monarken (Carl XVI Gustaf – The reluctant monarch) which catalogues his past predilection for wild, alcohol-fuelled or...

Chinese surgeons saved a man's life after he accidentally swallowed a pair of nail scissors he was using to clean his teeth. These are the astonishing X-rays that show how surgeons saved a man's life after he cut his throat with a pair of scissors - from the inside. Lin Kong had borrowed a four-inch-long pair of nail scissors to use instead of a toothpick to clean his teeth after a meal. READ MORE

އާދެ، އިސްލާމީ ގައުމެއް ހަލާކުކޮށްލުމަށްޓަކައި ގައިރުމުސްލިމުން ކުރަމުންދާ އެންމެހާ ކަންތައްތައް މިއަދު މިގައުމުންދަނީ ކުރަމުންނެވެ. ފުރަތަމައަށް މިބައިމީހުން ކުރާ ކަމަކީ ގައުމުގައި އަލްމާނީ (ސެކިއުލަރ) ފިކުރު އާންމު ކުރުމެވެ. މިގޮތުން މިކަން ފުރަތަމަ ކުރަނީ ގައުމުގެ ތައުލީމީ ނިޡާމުގެ ތެރެއިން އިސްލާމްދީނާ އެބައެއްގެ ބަސް ނައްތާލުމެވެ. އިތުރަށް

ސަރުކާރުގެ ތައުލީމީ ސިޔާސަތާއި މެދު ހިތްހަމަ ނުޖެހިގެން ބީއޭ ނަސީމު އެމްޑީޕީއިން ކެނޑިއްޖެއެވެ. އިލެކްޝަން ކޮމިޝަނަށް ޝެއިހް ބީއޭ ނަސީމު މިއަދު ފޮނުއްވާފައިވާ ސިޓީގައިވަނީ “އެމްޑީޕީގެ ސަރުކާރުން ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ތަޢުލީމީ ނިޒާމަށް ގެންނަމުންދާ ބަދަލުތަކަކީ އެކަމުގެ ސަބަބުން އިސްލާމްދީނަށާއި، ދިވެހި ޤައުމަށް ވަރަށް ނުރައްކާތެރި ޙާލަތަކަށްވެއްޓި ދާނެކަންތައްތަކެއްކަމަށް އަޅުގަނޑަށް ފެންނާތީ އެމްޑީޕީގެ މެމްބަރުކަމުން މިއަދުން ފެށިގެން އަޅުގަނޑު ވަކިކޮށްދެއްވުން އެދި ދެންނެވީމެވެ.” މިފަދައިންނެވެ. އިތުރަށ ް

The gay rights group Queer Kissing Flashmob is organizing a kissing protest against Pope Benedict XVI when he tours Spain next month. The group says it will protest the pope's stance against gay relations and marriage equality by staging a giant kissing demonstration in front of the Holy Father. “When Benedict XVI passed before us, we'll kiss, man with man or woman with woman,” Carole Marylene, an organizer of the event, told Spanish news agency EFE. “It is curious to note how an act so noble as a kiss can be considered revolutionary, even in the 21st century.” Gay couples and sympathizing straight couples will lock lips as the pontiff begins his procession from Barcelona's Plaza de la Catedral to the Sagrada Familia on Sunday, November 7 at 9A.M. READ MORE

A concentration of unity is the description given of the over 10,000 people gathered today at the Plaza de Sant Jaume. A party with religious reminiscences (it's called Habemus Party), it's being held in the neighborhood of the Guineueta, but there's little that Catholics would approve of. One is a group of women who call themselves "sinful bitches" who plan to make their voices heard at the same time as the Pope arrives at the Sagrada Familia. A symbolic orgy of gays kissing in front of the Cathedral. And even a conference with the suggestive title of "The Sainted Mafia: the economic empire of the Church". READ MORE

Thousands of activists rallied Thursday in Barcelona against a weekend visit by Pope Benedict XVI to Spain, attacking the Church on multiple fronts including child sexual abuse by priests. "Jo no t'espero" ("I'm not waiting for you" in Catalan) declared banners carried by a crowd of more than 2,000 people in the Sant-Jaume Square in the historic part of this Mediterranean port city. "Children welcome, priests flee," said one placard carried by a child, referring to the child sexual abuse scandals that have rocked the Roman Catholic Church worldwide but largely spared Spain. "I am here because this is a secular state and I want to defend it," said one activist, Nuria Barrachina, a 34-year-old office worker who was there with her husband. "I don't like priests," added 62-year-old Sebastian Carbajal. READ MORE

The Pontiff will be in Santiago de Compostela on Saturday and Barcelona on Sunday There have been protests in Barcelona and Santiago de Compostela ahead of the Pope’s visit to the cities this weekend. In Santiago de Compostela there were some violent incidents between 50 or so protestors and the police who intervened as the protest did not have official permission. In Barcelona the protest which attracted 2,500 according to the Guardia Urbana, or 10,000 according to the organisers, demonstrated peacefully ‘in defence of atheism’, in the Plaza Sant Jaume, using the slogan ‘I’m not waiting to see you’. Some of the banners read ‘Children come, the priests have fled’. READ MORE

The atheist bus will move around Barcelona to protest the Pope's visit on November 7. Campaign Slogans: (With my own involuntarily sloppy translations) "Jo no t'espero" = "I am not waiting for you" "Mes de la meitat dels joves catalans no som creients. I tu?" = "More than half of all young Catalans are not believers. And you?" READ MORE

A central Pennsylvania man faces shoplifting charges after police said he tried to steal a pair of women's high-heel shoes by wearing them out of a department store. Lancaster police said 22-year-old Kyle James Eckman went into a store dressing room and put on a pair of size-10 heels then walked out without paying. He was stopped outside the store with his own shoes inside the shoebox in a shopping bag. Police said Eckman faces felony charges because of two prior retail theft convictions. He is being held on $50,000 bail. It was not immediately clear if Eckman had an attorney. ARABNEWS

A 10-year-old girl from Romania has given birth in southern Spain, officials in the region have said. The girl gave birth to a daughter last week in the city of Jerez de la Frontera, said Andalucia's social affairs minister Micaela Navarro. Officials are deciding whether the mother and her family can keep custody, Ms Navarro said. The father of the baby is also believed to be a minor, aged 13, who is still in Romania, Spanish media have said. "What we have to ensure is that both the mother, who in this case is a minor as well, and the baby are absolutely taken care of," said Ms Navarro. "If they can be well cared for, they can stay with the family," she said. The baby's grandmother, who is a Roma gypsy, was photographed in Spanish newspapers smiling outside the family's modest block of flats in the town of Lebrija, AFP reports. Her 10-year-old daughter is reported to have moved to Spain from Romania just three weeks ago. The woman, identified only as Oli...

A woman teacher shared a shower with some of her girl pupils and sent one of them more than 1,100 texts, a disciplinary tribunal has heard. Debbie Lloyd-Jones, head of music at Oakdale comprehensive in Caerphilly county, denies having inappropriate relationships with girls aged 13 to 16. Huw Roberts, presenting the case against her, said there was "no suggestion of sexual connotations". The General Teaching Council for Wales hearing in Cardiff continues. The hearing was told Mrs Lloyd-Jones bought teddy bears, perfume and jewellery for girl pupils at her school. She is accused of sending the two teenage girls messages by text and online saying that she loved them. The disciplinary panel was told she shared a shower with some of her pupils after school musical show. Huw Roberts, presenting the case against her, said: "Mrs Lloyd-Jones showered and involved in inappropriate behaviour while pupils used the showers. "There may have been some horseplay and they splashed e...

Officials in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) have taken extraordinary measures to protect US President Barack Obama ahead of his visit. In their effort to provide maximum security in the run-up to his visit on Friday, they have removed coconuts which may fall on his head from trees. All coconuts around the city's Gandhi museum have now been cut down, an official told the BBC. Every year in India people are injured or even killed by falling coconuts. 'Why take a chance?' READ MORE

A man has admitted beating his mother to death and trying to remove her brain during an attack at their home on the Isle of Bute. David McNeil, 40, who has mental health problems, claimed voices had told him to attack 73-year-old Mary-Rose McNeil at the house in Rothesay in June. McNeil pleaded guilty at the High Court in Glasgow to culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility. READ MORE The case was adjourned and he was told he would be held at the State Hospital. The court heard that on the morning of the attack McNeil had phoned 999 asking for the police to come to the home he shared with his mother. During the call, Mrs McNeil came on the line and told the operator that her son was schizophrenic and had not taken his medication, but that everything was fine. The court heard Mrs McNeil's daughter, Shona McLachlan, collected library books from the house later that morning and said everything seemed fine.

As Haj pilgrims flock to the Kingdom from across the world, the Ministry of Health has intensified its campaign to make Makkah and Madinah completely tobacco-free. “We require the cooperation of pilgrims to make the two holy cities among those with the lowest tobacco consumption in the world,” said Dr. Sameer Al-Sabban, executive director of the Anti-Smoking Campaign in Makkah, adding that the program has been intensified this year. The sale of tobacco is strictly banned in the five-km radiuses of the Grand Mosque and Holy Mosque in Makkah and Madinah. Billboards and posters with anti-smoking messages, information regarding anti-smoking clinics and fatwas on the subject are on display in the two cities. Buses carrying pilgrims have anti-smoking posters on them, and folders containing pamphlets, flyers, postcards and stickers will also be handed to pilgrims at the Jamrat during Haj. “A team of scouts and health officials have taken positions at the Grand Mosque in Makkah to raise awaren...

ބާވެފައިވާ ދެބްލޮކްގައި ގްރޭޑް 1 ގެ ކުދިންނަށް ކިޔަވައިދޭން އެޑިއުކޭޝަނުން ނިންމުމާއިގުޅިގެން ބޯޑުގެ މެމްބަރުން އިސްތިޢުފާދެނީ ސްކޫލް ބޯޑަކީ އެޑިއުކޭޝަން ނިސްޓްރީގެ ނިންމެވުންތައް ތަންފީޒުކުރަން އޮންނަ ރަބަރު ތައްގަޑެއްކަމުގައި ނުހެދުމަށް ދަންނަވައި، އަމީނިއްޔާ ސްކޫލްގެ ބޯޑު މެމްބަރުންގެ ޤަރާރަކުން މިނިސްޓްރީ އޮފް އެޑިއުކޭޝަނަށް ޤަރާރަކުން މިހަފްތާގެ އާދީއްތަދުވަހު ހުށަހަޅާފައިވާކަމަށް މަޢުލޫމާތު ލިބިއްޖެއެވެ. އިތުރަށް

In the three years since her son Diego was given a diagnosis of autism at age 2, Carmen Aguilar has made countless contributions to research on this perplexing disorder. She has donated all manner of biological samples and agreed to keep journals of everything she’s eaten, inhaled or rubbed on her skin. Researchers attended the birth of her second son, Emilio, looking on as she pushed, leaving with Tupperware containers full of tissue samples, the placenta and the baby’s first stool. Now the family is in yet another study, part of an effort by a network of scientists across North America to look for signs of autism as early as 6 months. (Now, the condition cannot be diagnosed reliably before age 2.) And here at the MIND Institute at the University of California Davis Medical Center, researchers are watching babies like Emilio in a pioneering effort to determine whether they can benefit from specific treatments. So when Emilio did show signs of autism risk at his 6-month evaluation — no...

Testing people's intelligence has a chequered and controversial history. Roger Highfield takes a look at the latest methods.You might think that the biggest ideas in science come from asking the biggest questions. Not always. If the big question is the wrong one, it can pave the way for an even bigger controversy. Perhaps the best example comes from an apparently innocent question: why are some people more intelligent than others? Nothing wrong with that, surely? We all know a few clever-clogs types who play Scrabble backwards and seem to know all the answers when watching University Challenge, after all. The difficulty is that "intelligence" is not a very smart word. Unlike weight, there is no absolute measure of intelligence, just as there is no true gauge of honesty. When you combine such a slippery word with an equally slippery one – namely "race" – you end up with the notorious claim that intelligence tests prove that some racial groups are genetically infe...

A man with an inherited form of blindness has been able to identify letters and a clock face using a pioneering implant, researchers say. Miikka Terho, 46, from Finland, was fitted with an experimental chip behind his retina in Germany. Success was also reported in other patients. The chip allows a patient to detect objects with their eyes, unlike a rival approach that uses an external camera. Details of the work are in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Professor Eberhart Zrenner, of Germany's University of Tuebingen, and colleagues at private company Retina Implant AG initially tested their sub-retinal chip on 11 people. Some noticed no improvement as their condition was too advanced to benefit from the implant, but a majority were able to pick out bright objects, Prof Zrenner told the BBC. However, it was only when the chip was placed further behind the retina, in the central macular area in three people, that they achieved the best results. Two of these had lost th...

In a dramatic breakthrough that re-writes the medical textbooks, scientists have discovered a new immune defence that could cure the common cold.Researchers in Cambridge found that viruses can be destroyed by the immune system even after they have invaded human cells. Previously it had been thought that antibodies could only kill viruses outside the cell. The discovery raises the possibility of highly effective drugs against the common cold, the winter vomiting virus and rotavirus, which causes severe diarrhoea. Scientists funded by the Medical Research Council found that antibodies are able to cling on to viruses as they invade human cells. A virus would then normally take over the cell's machinery to make more copies of itself. But the presence of the antibody inside the cell triggers a mechanism that kills the virus within two hours - long before the virus is able to do any damage. The scientists now hope to find drugs that could enhance the virus-destroying mechanism inside the...

A new type of dolphin with a short, spoon-shaped nose and high, bulbous forehead has been identified from a fossil found in the North Sea. The Platalearostrum hoekmani was named after Albert Hoekman, the Dutch fisherman who in 2008 trawled up a bone from the creature's skull. Up to six metres in length, the dolphin lived two to three million years ago. The so-called rostrum bone and a model of the dolphin are on display at the Natural History Museum Rotterdam. As museum researchers Klaas Post and Erwin Kompanje write in the museum's journal Deinsea, the North Sea has been a rich source of fossils in recent decades as bottom-trawling has become more prevalent. The practice has yielded tens of thousands of pieces of the fossil record - many of which defy classification. What is clear from the singular bone found by Mr Hoekman is that the animal from which it came fits neatly in the family of marine mammals known as Delphinids - the ocean-going dolphins that actually includes both...

( CNN ) -- Worried about when you might get dumped? Facebook knows. That's according to a graphic making the rounds online that uses Facebook status updates to chart what time of year people are splitting up. British journalist and graphic designer David McCandless, who specializes in showcasing data in visual ways, compiled the chart. He showed off the graphic at a TED conference last July in Oxford, England. In the talk, McCandless said he and a colleague scraped 10,000 Facebook status updates for the phrases "breakup" and "broken up." They found two big spikes on the calendar for breakups. The first was after Valentine's Day -- that holiday has a way of defining relationships, for better or worse -- and in the weeks leading up to spring break. Maybe spring fever makes people restless, or maybe college students just don't want to be tied down when they're partying in Cancun. And let's hear it for cheapskates. The other big romantically treacher...

Dr. Philip S. Chua Smoking kills. It's plain and simple. There is no more doubt today that tobacco (cigarette smoking) is the predominant cause of lung cancer, besides other malignancies and cardiovascular diseases that maim, kill men and women and hurt our society, especially our children. In the United States alone, almost half a million die each year from smoking-related illnesses. These are preventable deaths! Demographic studies have shown that smokers are about 10 times more prone to die premature deaths than non-smokers. This unnecessary loss of lives is at an immense direct cost for non-smokers in terms of increased health risks from passive smoking, in higher health insurance premiums and taxes, not to mention personal and family tragedies in all shapes and forms. As we have alluded to in a previous column, secondhand smoke is even more dangerous. Innocent bystanders are forced to inhale cigarette smoke at their workplaces or in public places, thus increasing their health...

Alcohol is more harmful than heroin or crack, according to a study published in medical journal the Lancet. The report is co-authored by Professor David Nutt, the former UK chief drugs adviser who was sacked by the government in October 2009. It ranks 20 drugs on 16 measures of harm to users and to wider society. Tobacco and cocaine are judged to be equally harmful, while ecstasy and LSD are among the least damaging. Harm score Prof Nutt refused to leave the drugs debate when he was sacked from his official post by the former Labour Home Secretary, Alan Johnson. He went on to form the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs, a body which aims to investigate the drug issue without any political interference. One of its other members is Dr Les King, another former government adviser who quit over Prof Nutt's treatment. Members of the group, joined by two other experts, scored each drug for harms including mental and physical damage, addiction, crime and costs to the economy and com...