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Surah: 8 Verse: 48 -- AL-ANFAL (THE SPOILS OF WAR) Saturday, January 7, 2017

Surah: 8 Verse: 48 -- AL-ANFAL (THE SPOILS OF WAR)

And [remember] when Satan made their deeds pleasing to them and said, "No one can overcome you today from among the people, and indeed, I am your protector." But when the two armies sighted each other, he turned on his heels and said, "Indeed, I am disassociated from you. Indeed, I see what you do not see; indeed I fear Allah . And Allah is severe in penalty."

https://quran.com

When Satan made their deeds seem decorous to them, and said, ‘No one shall overcome you today from among all mankind, and I will stand by you.’ But when the two hosts sighted each other, he took to his heels, saying, ‘Indeed I am quit of you. I see what you do not see. Indeed I fear Allah, and Allah is severe in retribution.’

http://al-quran.info/

Satan made their deeds appear good to them, and said, “You cannot be defeated by any people today, and I am at your side.” But when the two armies came in sight of one another, he turned on his heels, and said, “I am innocent of you; I see what you do not see; I fear God; God is severe in punishment.”

http://www.clearquran.com/

“And (remember) when Shaitan (Satan) made their (evil) deeds seem fair to them and said, ‘No one of mankind can overcome you this Day (of the battle of Badr) and verily, I am your neighbour (for each and every help).’ But when the two forces came in sight of each other, he ran away and said ‘Verily, I have nothing to do with you. Verily! I see what you see not. Verily! I fear Allah for Allah is Severe in punishment’”

Surah: 8 Verse: 48 -- AL-ANFAL (THE SPOILS OF WAR) Saturday, January 7, 2017 Surah: 8 Verse: 48 -- AL-ANFAL (THE SPOILS OF WAR) And [remember] when Satan made their deeds pleasing to them and said, "No one can overcome you today from among the people, and indeed, I am your protector." But when the two armies sighted each other, he turned on his heels and said, "Indeed, I am disassociated from you. Indeed, I see what you do not see; indeed I fear Allah . And Allah is severe in penalty." https://quran.com When Satan made their deeds seem decorous to them, and said, ‘No one shall overcome you today from among all mankind, and I will stand by you.’ But when the two hosts sighted each other, he took to his heels, saying, ‘Indeed I am quit of you. I see what you do not see. Indeed I fear Allah, and Allah is severe in retribution.’ http://al-quran.info/ Satan made their deeds appear good to them, and said, “You cannot be defeated by any people today, and I am at your side.” But when the two armies came in sight of one another, he turned on his heels, and said, “I am innocent of you; I see what you do not see; I fear God; God is severe in punishment.” http://www.clearquran.com/ “And (remember) when Shaitan (Satan) made their (evil) deeds seem fair to them and said, ‘No one of mankind can overcome you this Day (of the battle of Badr) and verily, I am your neighbour (for each and every help).’ But when the two forces came in sight of each other, he ran away and said ‘Verily, I have nothing to do with you. Verily! I see what you see not. Verily! I fear Allah for Allah is Severe in punishment’”

Reprint: Wednesday, July 12, 2023 Folks you know I just Wiki-ed Priyanka Chopra -- She's from Bihar duh I didn't know that -- Her profile on Wiki is like I dunno -- superlatives? Is that the right word? I've this right word syndrome -- anyways -- she's into so many things -- Personally I think she'd be a brand ambassador whatever of Grand Prix too -- Do they have an ambassador program like that eh? Drat! I don't know -- I've to keep myself posted -- Haven't been reading -- It's been ages -- It's my Schizo Meds -- makes me groggy and all that -- Don't feel like reading at all -- but lately I'm writing with unbelievable frenzy -- Anyways, Priyanka Ji -- Still living in bunkers -- barricaded? LOL ROFL -- Wiki says so -- you're so mobbed by paparazzi and deviant fans with stalking syndrome! LOL ROFL Now I fully understand the moral dilemma of Vishvamitra LOL -- What else? Come to Hyderabad sometimes: The IT Capital of India! -- How about a film on Princess Niloufer eh? Seriously. Yep. :-) So what else? I'm so incorrigibly nosy! LOL ROFL That's all for now. BTW, Priyanka I watched your interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. :-) Ages ago. Of course. I Blogged about you. I'm so dreadfully sorry I forgot to introduce myself: I'm a Hunchbacked Whirling Dervish from the City of Pearls! I Blog and in my spare time rescue damsels in distress! LOL ROFL I bestow thou to be the empress of the world! LOL hehehehehehe Just goofing around with you. One more thing: Do you read Richard Bach? Have you read: The Bridge Across Forever by him? He says something like: If you've ever felt alone in a world of strangers, missing someone you've never met, you'll find a message from your love in The Bridge Across Forever / Richard Bach. I wanna be like him. A barnstormer. So what else? LOL ROFL I love to bug and pester you. LOL ROFL Do write to me and tell me about your pet peeves / bugbears! Just kidding! I gotta go now. I'm rehearsing to be a Shock Jock i.e. Radio Disc Jockeys! :-) LOL ROFL hehehehehehe

Reprint: An open letter to My Ideological Soulmate! :-) Tuesday, July 11, 2023 My niece Zwinky aka Fulla (doll) wrote about me once that I'm a daydreamer! And, she urged me to Blog. I didn't know about Blogging at that time. She persuaded me to write short stories like Jhumpa Lahiri -- I did try reluctantly but that's a literary blunder and disaster -- I'd barely write a monologue -- then time flew -- as you folks know I've schizophrenia since early 2K -- so I was hearing voices and all that -- I was going bonkers -- my family put me in a rehab -- there I met a girl -- a young psychologist and a Blogger -- she's the most prettiest, sveltest, brightest, brainiest and swankiest girl -- I've ever met. -- I was obviously bewitched -- I started writing to her -- literally spamming her inbox -- she did write to me a few times then she stopped -- I unashamedly lurked on FB for her -- but no miracles happened -- I unfailingly read her Insta everyday -- I learnt the craft of writing from her -- Of course, I'm still a rookie -- She's like I dunno -- I think she writes better than Franz Kafka or whatever -- Her Insta posts have this very subtle Kafkaesque slant -- Anyways, she never writes to me -- totally and absolutely incommunicado -- nothing absolutely -- no smoke signals -- no homing piegons -- It's been I think about -- over seven years or so -- I still write to her everyday -- Sugar: If you're reading this by any chance please write to me. I love you so much, my Ducky Duck, my Duckling, my Sugar, my Mermaid, my OMG Girl, Skeptic Hyderabadi ladki -- :-) my Alligator! -- :-) My Miss Smarty-pants! -- :-) My Ideological Soulmate! :-)

Aima :-)


 

Aima Baig: I didn't know that there's an earthling named Aima on this planet -- but you folks know right that I'm a serendipitist -- So I found her eventually -- serendipitously -- Aima's full name is Noor-ul-Ain something -- First: I thought that she lives in Al Ain! LOL ROFL That's for a goof -- Seriously speaking: Wiki tells me it's a pink diamond or something -- Tiara something -- ancient Iran blah blah blah -- The light of the eye in Persian -- No, no not Evil Eye! LOL ROFL hehehhehehehe  -- Anyways, she's a Miracle that doesn't happen so often -- She's our jolly good neighbor you know -- but she seems so light-years away -- BTW, you know folks: I Alexa-ed her "Funkari" song a zillion times -- It makes me so melancholic! -- Makes me recall (woefully) all my ex-girlfriends who dumped me for other definitely male extraterrestrial creatures or otherwise! LOL ROFL -- I dunno -- she might not read this -- maybe she'd -- I dunno -- Aima Ji if you're reading this, please Aramex me a Zippo lighter and some Marlboro Ciggies! Seriously. And--er--ahem--buy me a cup of Chai! :-) You're so rich -- people must already be extorting zillions of your hard-earned bucks? Ain't they eh? Who am I? I'm a self-styled and self-proclaimed Hunchbacked Whirling Dervish -- I literally zap Sorcerers and Black magicians anywhere in the Universe......I'm a Shaman...Please let me know if anyone is bothering you....I swear I'll send.... By Him in Whose Hands my soul is -- kamikaze brigades of very evil daemons -- they'd nuke the bad guys messing with you ! LOL ROFL Just goofing around with you Aima Ji -- Come to India particularly to Hyderabad. I love you so much, Aima ma'am. I never say goodbye because there's no such word for it in Navajo! :-)  

Aima Baig: Listen to her folks. :-) She's super-cool! :-)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsRaNokBRcQ

Can sihr (witchcraft, magic) kill? Answer Praise be to Allah. Yes, there is sihr that can kill. When discussing different forms of murder the scholars have mentioned that the person who kills another by means of a kind of sihr that usually kills should be executed (qisaas – retaliation), because he has killed by means of something that usually kills. Ibn Qudaamah said in al-Mughni (9/330): “The sixth kind: if he killed him by means of a kind of sihr that usually kills, then he has to be executed, because he has killed by means of something that usually kills, like killing by use of a knife. If he killed by means of something that does not usually kill or something that sometimes kills and sometimes does not, then he has to pay diyah (blood-money), but qisaas is not required, because he intended to do harm, and it is akin to beating someone with a stick (which may or may not kill).” The ruling concerning the saahir (practitioner of sihr) in al-Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah (24/267) says that in the case where he killed a person by means of his sihr… the majority say that killing by means of sihr may be done deliberately, in which case qisaas is required. According to the Maalikis, evidence or a confession is required. According to the Shaafi’is, if the person whom the practitioner of sihr killed was his equal , then qisaas is required if the killing was deliberate, which may be proven by a confession on the part of the saahir, such as his saying “I killed him by means of my sihr”, or “I killed him with this type of thing”, supported by the testimony of two reliable witnesses who have practised sihr in the past but have now repented, who can confirm that this kind of sihr usually kills. If it is a type that does not usually kill, then the matter is more akin to manslaughter. And Allah knows best.

Is your marriage predestined? Marriage is one of the things that Allah has decreed. The person whom you will marry is known to Allah: He knows who he is, when he was born, where and when he will die, how he will be towards you, and other details. All of that is known to Allah and He has written it in al-Lawh al-Mahfuz (the Book of Decrees), and it will inevitably come to pass as Allah has decreed. If Allah has decreed that you will marry one person, but you choose someone else, then no matter how long it takes, you will marry that person. But your marriage to someone else is also decreed, because there is nothing that is not decreed by Allah. It may be decreed for a woman to marry So and So the son of So and So, and he comes to propose marriage but she refuses him, and marries someone else, then he (the second man) dies or divorces her, then she accepts the first one. All of that is decreed, and it is decreed for her to marry So and So the son of So and So after initially refusing him and after some experience or trials etc. It may be decreed for a woman that a righteous man will propose marriage to her, but she will refuse him and he will never come back to her, and she will marry and live with someone else who is more or less righteous, according to what Allah has decreed. Because man does not know what is decreed for him, what he must do is to adhere to Shari`ah and abide by its commands and prohibitions, and to seek the help of Allah and pray to Him for guidance (istikharah ) concerning all his affairs, whilst implementing the means, one of the most important of which is consulting sincere people who have relevant experience. If a righteous man proposes marriage to a woman, she should pray to Allah for guidance (istikharah) and agree to marry him. If things then go smoothly, this is an indication that what is good for her is to marry him. In conclusion, man should study the Shari`ah of Allah and follow the commands of Allah even if he feels reluctant, and avoid what Allah has forbidden even if he is attached to it. All goodness is to be found in obeying Shari`ah. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Jihad(fighting in Allah’s Cause) is ordained for you (Muslims) though you dislike it, and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not know” [al-Baqarah 2:216] He should not look at al-qadar as an excuse to ignore commands and do forbidden things, rather he should look at it in a way that will make him content with whatever painful experiences happen to him. And Allah knows best.

Hadiths about Yajuj and Majuj What indicates that these nations exist at present, and indeed are attempting on a daily basis to get out and attack people, is the hadith reported by Ibn Majah with a sahih isnad from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said that Yajuj and Majuj are digging every day until they can almost see sunlight, then the one who is in charge of them says, “Go back, we will dig again tomorrow.” Then Allah restores (the barrier) and makes it stronger than it was. (This will continue) until the appointed time. When Allah wishes to send them against the people, they will dig until they can almost see sunlight, then the one who is in charge of them will say, “Go back, we will dig again tomorrow, in sha Allah.” This time he will say “in sha Allah”, so when they come back (the next day), they will find it as they left it, so they will dig their way out and emerge to attack the people. They will dry up water (by drinking it, because of their great numbers), and the people will seek to protect themselves from them in their fortresses. They will fire their arrows into the sky, and the arrows will come back down covered in blood (as a test for them), and they will say, “We have defeated the people of the earth and have gained the upper hand over the people of heaven.” Then Allah will send worms on the napes of their necks, which will kill them. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “By the One in Whose hand is my soul, the beasts of the earth will grow fat from their flesh.” (Sahih Ibn Majah, 3298) Umm Habibah bint Abi Sufyan reported from Zaynab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with them) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) entered upon her in an agitated state and said, “La ilaha ill-Allah, woe to the Arabs from an evil that has approached! Today a hole like this has been opened in the barrier of Yajuj and Majuj ,” and he made a circle with his thumb and forefinger. Zaynab bint Jahsh said: “I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, will we be destroyed even though there are righteous people among us?’ He said, ‘Yes, if evil becomes overwhelming.’” (Reported by al-Bukhari, 3097). And Allah knows best.

Description of the Prophet’s Prayer (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

 https://islamqa.info/en/answers/13340/description-of-the-prophets-prayer

Reprint: Vital Stats :-) Saturday, August 11, 2007 Vital statistics -- version # 2 What's your name? Maqsood Qureshi a.k.a. Charles Sobhraj...the Lady-killer and Alpha Geek Where do you live? Oh--quite nearby--you know . . . South-eastern tip of the Arabian peninsula between 22º 50 and 26º north latitude and between 51º and 56º 25 east longitude. :-) Define yourself in a few words. Idealistic. Misfit. Lounge Lizard. Eccentric. Pervert. Scarecrow. Egghead. Skirt Chaser. A pet peeve? Profanity. Shock Jocks (Radio Disc Jockeys). What do you love doing? Reading. Ethical Hacking. Sleeping. Cyber-er-ahem-Security! ;-) What do you love about Hyderabad? Its heritage. What do you hate about Hyderabad? People: their mind-set. Dream date. Florence Vanida Faivre Your dream? I want to be a pilot. Favorite movies? Parallel Cinema or anything starring Dilip Kumar + Anthony Hopkins + Robert Redford. Favorite bedroom line? #1 (Clonk!) It's a cinch! He'd have bought you biometric Chastity Belt! ;-) #2 Baby show me how you can go from Zero to Bitch in 6.8 Seconds! #3 Open sesame, Marjaneh! ;-) The wildest thing you have done. (Whiz-bang!) Hahahaha! So you thought RAPEX could save you eh? ;-) People who have inspired me: Osho. Charles Sobhraj. Hobbies. Polo. Muay Thai. Flying. Horse Riding. Reading et cetera. Your anthem. I'll tell you later. What's your favorite poison? I believe in assisted suicide. Think you have the style, spunk and attitude to be a Rocking Rookie? Postscript: Don't be put off . . . This is just for a goof. :-)

Myth(s) Buster, Folks: Do Lemmings Really Commit Mass Suicide? Lemmings are small creatures with wild reputations. In the 17th century, naturalists perplexed by the habit of Norway lemmings to suddenly appear in large numbers, seemingly out of nowhere, came to the conclusion that the animals were being spontaneously generated in the sky and then falling to earth like rain. (The prosaic truth is that they migrate in herds.) Some people also thought that lemmings explode if they become sufficiently angry. This is also a myth, of course—lemmings are indeed one of the more irascible rodents, but they mostly channel their rage into fights with other lemmings. People probably came up with the notion of exploding lemmings after seeing the picked-over lemming carcasses that were left behind following a migration. But there is one myth that has held on tenaciously: Every few years, herds of lemmings commit mass suicide by jumping off seaside cliffs. Instinct, it is said, drives them to kill themselves whenever their population becomes unsustainably large. Lemmings do not commit suicide. However, this particular myth is based on some actual lemming behaviors. Lemmings have large population booms every three or four years. When the concentration of lemmings becomes too high in one area, a large group will set out in search of a new home. Lemmings can swim, so if they reach a water obstacle, such as a river or lake, they may try to cross it. Inevitably, a few individuals drown. But it’s hardly suicide. So why is the myth of mass lemming suicide so widely believed? For one, it provides an irresistible metaphor for human behavior. Someone who blindly follows a crowd—maybe even toward catastrophe—is called a lemming. Over the past century, the myth has been invoked to express modern anxieties about how individuality could be submerged and destroyed by mass phenomena, such as political movements or consumer culture. But the biggest reason the myth endures? Deliberate fraud. For the 1958 Disney nature film White Wilderness, filmmakers eager for dramatic footage staged a lemming death plunge, pushing dozens of lemmings off a cliff while cameras were rolling. The images—shocking at the time for what they seemed to show about the cruelty of nature and shocking now for what they actually show about the cruelty of humans—convinced several generations of moviegoers that these little rodents do, in fact, possess a bizarre instinct to destroy themselves.

The verses from Surat al-A’araf, which are as follows (interpretation of the meaning): “[Pharaoh] said: ‘If you have come with a sign, show it forth, if you are one of those who tell the truth.’ Then [Musa] threw his stick and behold! it was a serpent, manifest! And he drew out his hand, and behold! It was white (with radiance) for the beholders. The chiefs of the people of Pharaoh said: ‘This is indeed a well-versed sorcerer; He wants to get you out of your land, so what do you advise?’ They said: ‘Put him and his brother off (for a time), and send callers to the cities to collect — That they bring to you all well-versed sorcerers.’ And so the sorcerers came to Pharaoh. They said: ‘Indeed there will be a (good) reward for us if we are the victors.’ He said: ‘Yes, and moreover you will (in that case) be of the nearest (to me).’ They said: ‘O Musa! Either you throw (first), or shall we have the (first) throw?’ He [Musa] said: ‘Throw you (first).’ So when they threw, they bewitched the eyes of the people, and struck terror into them, and they displayed a great magic. And We revealed to Musa (saying): ‘Throw your stick,’ and behold! It swallowed up straight away all the falsehood which they showed. Thus truth was confirmed, and all that they did was made of no effect. So they were defeated there and returned disgraced. And the sorcerers fell down prostrate. They said: ‘We believe in the Lord of the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinn and all that exists). The Lord of Musa and Harun.’” [Al-A`raf 7:106-122]

Reprint: Vital Stats :-)

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Vital statistics -- version # 2

What's your name?

Maqsood Qureshi a.k.a. Charles Sobhraj...the Lady-killer and Alpha Geek


Where do you live?

Oh--quite nearby--you know . . . South-eastern tip of the Arabian peninsula between 22º 50 and 26º north latitude and between 51º and 56º 25 east longitude. :-)


Define yourself in a few words.

Idealistic. Misfit. Lounge Lizard. Eccentric. Pervert. Scarecrow. Egghead. Skirt Chaser.


A pet peeve?

Profanity. Shock Jocks (Radio Disc Jockeys).


What do you love doing?

Reading. Ethical Hacking. Sleeping. Cyber-er-ahem-Security! ;-)


What do you love about Hyderabad?

Its heritage.


What do you hate about Hyderabad?

People: their mind-set.


Dream date.

Florence Vanida Faivre


Your dream?

I want to be a pilot.


Favorite movies?

Parallel Cinema or anything starring Dilip Kumar + Anthony Hopkins + Robert Redford.


Favorite bedroom line?

#1 (Clonk!) It's a cinch! He'd have bought you biometric Chastity Belt! ;-)

#2 Baby show me how you can go from Zero to Bitch in 6.8 Seconds!

#3 Open sesame, Marjaneh! ;-)


The wildest thing you have done.

(Whiz-bang!) Hahahaha! So you thought RAPEX could save you eh? ;-)


People who have inspired me:

Osho. Charles Sobhraj.


Hobbies.

Polo. Muay Thai. Flying. Horse Riding. Reading et cetera.


Your anthem.

I'll tell you later.


What's your favorite poison?

I believe in assisted suicide.


Think you have the style, spunk and attitude to be a Rocking Rookie?


Postscript: Don't be put off . . . This is just for a goof. :-)

Posted by Maqsood Qureshi at 5:44 PM 

The adventures of an Ex-NRI....In a nutshell: I took a ride from Place A to Place B early morning..yeah again!...Our System is cool...We need money.....for that we need resources like Oil....you know folks...UAE...changed overnight...why Oil...Saudi Arabia..Oil again.. Qatar..Gas.....We're fighting the symptoms..NOT the ailments or disease...Kuwait...Ditto...there're many examples....We don't have Oil....You know folks Bill Gates...simply put...what did he do....he wrote a piece of Software MS DOS...that's all.....Windows...so my point is..let's CODE...write software....we're very good at it...The world NEEDS a New OS (Operating System)...Linux..Unix....Mac....etc....are fine...but did Bill Gates quit...stop after MS DOS? It SPAWNED....zillions of productivity software...like MS OFFICE.....Games....Zillions of software..for DOS and Windows...OS..Operating System..... Bill Gates changed the world....so could we.....we've got the BESTEST programmers / software developers....Let the World Run on our pieces of software....we'll be minting Zillions of dollars...USD mind you....Please Think about it...Don't Blame The System....It's alright..totally and absolutely.......Bus frequency isn't good...because..we've fewer number of Buses...and our population is huge...we need money to buy Buses...Ditto for everything...we need money...that's all....Like Abu Dhabi...Dubai....Camels..and Desert...See now? What happened? What changed everything? Petrol. That's all. We don't have Petrol. Software is the new FUEL.....We've it....plenty of it....Let's CODE..Let's write SOFTWARE.........Our own Word Processors...Spread Sheets....Games...AI stuff....eventually get into HARDWARE stuff.......Processors....UTMs........

Knowledge of the Unseen These matters are matters of the unseen which the Muslim must accept, and not question how they are, for no one knows how the life of al-barzakh [the period between death and the Resurrection] is except Allah. Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: The death of a person signals the departure of the soul from the body; when he is buried in his grave, is the soul returned to his body, or where does it go? If the soul is returned to the body in the grave, how does that happen? He replied: “It is proven from the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) that when a person dies, his soul is returned to him in his grave, and he is questioned about his Lord, his religion and his Prophet. Allah will keep firm those who believe, with the word that stands firm in this world and in the Hereafter (cf. Ibrahim 14:27), so the believer will say: My Lord is Allah, my religion is Islam and my Prophet is Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). As for the disbeliever or the hypocrite, when he is questioned he will say: Oh, oh, I do not know; I heard the people saying something, so I said it too. This return of the soul to the body in the grave will not be like when a person’s soul is in his body in this world, because that is the life of al-barzakh and we do not know how it is, because we have not been told about the nature of that life. With regard to all matters of the Hereafter of which we have not been told, what we are required to do with regard to such matters is to accept them and not enquire any further, because Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “And follow not (O man i.e., say not, or do not or witness not, etc.) that of which you have no knowledge (e.g. one’s saying: ‘I have seen,’ while in fact he has not seen, or ‘I have heard,’ while he has not heard). Verily! The hearing, and the sight, and the heart, of each of those you will be questioned (by Allah).” [Al-Isra 17:36]” (Fatawa Nur ‘ala ad-Darb by al-‘Uthaymin, 4/2) And Allah knows best.

These two hadiths describe what happens to the soul after death and before burial: if the person was a believer, then the angels give him glad tidings, before taking his soul, of the forgiveness and good pleasure of Allah, then they perfume it, then they take it up, in a blessed state, to its Lord, may He be glorified. Then Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says: “‘Record the book of My slave in ‘Illiyyun (the highest heaven) and take him back to the earth.” So the soul is returned to the body in which it was, then the individual is questioned in the grave; Allah makes him steadfast at the time of questioning, and makes his grave spacious for him, as far as his eyes can see. But if it is the soul of a disbeliever , then the angels give him the tidings of Hell and divine wrath, then they take his soul up, cursed, humiliated and afraid, and the gates of heaven are not opened for it, then it is thrown back down to earth, then it is returned to its body, then the individual is tormented in his grave and it is compressed on him, and there comes to him the heat and smoke of Hell. With regard to the period between the departure of the soul and burial and questioning in the grave, for the believer it is the first stage of eternal happiness, as he is given the glad tidings of Paradise and eternal bliss, and his book is recorded in ‘Illiyyun (the highest heaven); then his soul will rejoice and be happy, and will never feel misery again. But for the disbeliever, it is the first stage of eternal torment, as Allah is angry with him and does not give permission for the gates of heaven or the gates of mercy to be opened to him, and his book is recorded in Sijjin (the lowest Hell); then his soul will be wretched and he will never feel happy again. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “All the sahih, mutawatir hadiths indicate that the soul will return to the body; the idea that the questioning will involve the body without the soul was suggested by some scholars, but the majority disagreed with that. Similarly, the idea that the questioning will involve the soul without the body was suggested by Ibn Maysarah and Ibn Hazm, but if that were the case, the grave would have nothing to do with the soul.” (Majmu‘ al-Fatawa, 5/446) (See also: Fatawa Nur ‘ala ad-Darb by Shaykh al-‘Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy on him) (4/310-311)

What Happens after Death? What happens to the soul when someone dies? Imam Ahmad (17803) narrated that al-Bara ibn ‘Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Verily, when the believing slave is about to depart this world and enter the Hereafter, there come down to him angels from heaven with white faces, as if their faces are the sun. They bring with them one of the shrouds of Paradise and some of the perfume of Paradise. They sit with him as far as the eye can see. Then the Angel of Death (peace be upon him) comes to him and sits by his head and says, ‘O pure soul, come out to the forgiveness and pleasure of Allah.’ Then his soul comes flowing out like a drop of water flowing from a cup. Then he takes the soul, and no sooner does he seize it but they take it and place it in that shroud and perfume. Then out of it comes the most excellent fragrance of musk to be found on the face of the earth. Then they ascend with it and they do not pass by any group of angels but the angels ask, ‘Who is this pure soul?’ and they reply, ‘It is So and So the son of So and So’ – using the best names by which he was known on earth. Then they bring it to the lowest heaven, and ask for it to be opened, and it is opened for him. Those who are of high rank in each heaven accompany it until they approach the next heaven, and so it goes until it reaches the seventh heaven. Then Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says: ‘Record the book of My slave in ‘Illiyyun (the highest heaven) and take him back to the earth, for I created them from it, and I shall return them to it, then I shall take them out from it again.’ Then his soul is returned to his body and two angels come and make him sit up”

Fingernails on a Chalkboard: Why This Sound Gives You the Shivers If you're like most people, you probably can't stand the sound of fingernails scraping across a blackboard. You're probably cringing just thinking about it. This ear-piercing noise is so universally disliked, perhaps it's no surprise that dozens of scientists have researched why it evokes such a visceral reaction. Overall, research shows that this ear-splitting noise has the same frequency as that of a crying baby and a human scream, indicating that these sounds are tied to survival. For instance, people attuned to these frequencies may rescue a crying infant sooner, improving the baby's longevity. One study has suggested that the shape of our ear canals, as well as our own perceptions, are to blame for our distaste of shrill sounds. [Breaking the Code: Why Yuor Barin Can Raed Tihs] The study's participants rated their discomfort to various unpleasant noises, such as a fork scraping against a plate or Styrofoam squeaking. The two sounds rated as the most unpleasant, they said, were fingernails scratching on a chalkboard and a piece of chalk running against slate. The researchers then created variations of these two sounds by modifying certain frequency ranges, removing the harmonic portions (or other concordant tones). They told half of the listeners the true source of the sounds, and the other half that the sounds came from pieces of contemporary music. Finally, they played back the new sounds for the participants, while monitoring certain indicators of stress, such as heart rate, blood pressure and the electrical conductivity of skin. They found that the offensive sounds changed the listeners' skin conductivity significantly, showing that they really do cause a measureable, physical stress reaction. The most painful frequencies were not the highest or lowest, but instead those that were between 2,000 and 4,000 Hertz. The human ear is most sensitive to sounds that fall in this frequency range, said study researcher Michael Oehler, a professor of media and music management at Macromedia University of Applied Sciences in Germany. Oehler pointed out that the shape of the human ear canal may have evolved to amplify frequencies that are important for communication and survival. Thus, a painfully amplified chalkboard screech is just an unfortunate side effect of this (mostly) beneficial development. "But this is really just speculation," Oehler told Live Science in 2011, when the research was presented at a meeting for the Acoustical Society of America. "The only thing we can definitively say is where we found the unpleasant frequencies." Listeners in the study, Oehler said, rated a sound as more pleasant if they thought it was pulled from a musical composition. (Though this didn't fool their bodies, as participants in both study groups expressed the same changes in skin conductivity.) The implication, then, is that chalkboard screeches may not irk people so much if they didn't already think the sound was incredibly annoying. [Why Do Seashells Sound Like the Ocean?] Brain pickings Another study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience in 2012, reveals what's happening in the brain when people hear screechy sounds. The findings suggest that the fingernail-chalkboard sound triggers an uptick in communication between a region of the brain involved in hearing and another region of the brain involved in emotions. In the study, 13 participants listened to 74 sounds, including nails on a chalkboard and the whine of power tools, and rated them according to their pleasantness. Researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how the participants' brains responded to the sounds. When the participants heard an unpleasant sound, there was an interaction between the auditory cortex, which processes sound, and the amygdala, which processes negative emotions. "It appears there is something very primitive kicking in," study researcher Sukhbinder Kumar, a research fellow at Newcastle University, told Live Science in 2012. "It's a possible distress signal from the amygdala to the auditory cortex." Moreover, the more averse the sound, the greater the activity between these two brain regions, the researchers said. Some of the most unpleasant sounds, according to the participants' ratings, included a knife on a bottle, a fork on a glass and chalk on a blackboard. The nicest sounds included flowing water, thunder and a laughing baby, they found. [Why Does the Sound of Water Help You Sleep?] Frequencies between 2,000 and 5,000 Hertz were found to be unpleasant — roughly the same frequencies found by the 2011 research. "This is the frequency range where our ears are most sensitive," Kumar said. The reason for such sensitivity is not exactly understood, but this range includes the sounds of screams, which people find intrinsically unpleasant, he said. Ig Noble Prize A study investigating shrill sounds won a 2006 Ig Nobel Prize, awarded by the Society for Improbable Research. For the study, published in 1986 in the journal Perception & Psychophysics, scientists recorded the sound of a garden tool scraping over a chalkboard. Then the researchers fiddled with the recording, removing the high, middle and low frequencies from different recordings. After playing the modified sounds to volunteers, the researchers found that removing the high frequencies didn't make the sounds more pleasant. Rather, eliminating the low and middle frequencies of the sound made the sounds more appealing, they learned, according to Medical Press. In addition, the warning cry of a chimpanzee is similar to the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard, they found. Perhaps people have an unconscious reflex to this sound because of its uncanny resemblance to a warning call, the researchers told Medical Press.

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