Ma'al Hijrah 1433

tomorrow is the 1st of Muharram the first month in the year 1433Hijrah, in the Muslim calender; wishing all Muslims Happy New Year of 1433 Hijrah. The Prophet Muhammad SAW pbuh made a migration (hijrah) from Makkah al-Mukkaramah to Madinah al-Munawwarah, and the Muslim calender started from that date.

esok 1 Muharram 1433H ''SELAMAT MENYAMBUT MA'AL HIJRAH 1433''. Sama-samalah kita fahami serta hayati pengertian maksud Hijrah yang dilakukan oleh junjungan Besar kita Nabi Muhammad SAW. Hijrah Rasullullah SAW dari Makkah ke Madinah pada tahun ke 12Hijrah telah membawa maksud yg sebenar dlm perjuangan Nabi Muhammad SAW. Semoga tahun baru ini akan membawa lebih banyak perubahan dari yang baik kepada yang lebih baik buat diri dan ummah, insya'Allah.

Hijrah (emigration) to Allah the Almighty is a lofty notion of faith and one of the greatest sacrifices one can ever offer in order to gain Divine Satisfaction.

Allah promised to reward plentifully and raise high the degrees of those who migrated. Allah (may He be Glorified and Exalted) said, "Those who emigrated in the Cause of Allah and after that were killed or died, surely, Allah will provide a good provision for them. And verily, it is Allah Who indeed is the Best of those who make provision." [al-Hajj, 58].

He also said, "And as for those who emigrated for the Cause of Allah, after suffering oppression, We will certainly give them goodly residence in this world, but indeed the reward of the Hereafter will be greater, if they but knew!" [Al-Nahl, 41].

He, moreover, said, "… so those who emigrated and were driven out from their homes, and suffered harm in My Cause, and who fought, and were killed (in My Cause), verily, I will remit from them their evil deeds and admit them into Gardens under which rivers flow (in Paradise); a reward from Allah, and with Allah is the best of rewards." [Al 'Imran, 195].

November 11, 2011 Friday

Today is Friday 11th Nov 2011, or 11.11.11 or 11/11/11, a date which may or may not be significant to some people in a way that opportunes him/her with good luck, or prosperity or just being blessed in a unique way that can be remembered forever. Conversely there may be unfortunate incident(s) befalling someone or somebody tragic enough to cause misfortune or misery to the whole kinship. So what's in it today for some people, and for you...

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According to this website:

http://paradigmsearch.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Interpret-111111-Friday-November-11-2011-And-a-Metaphysics-Experiment-111111

Singularity

Most predictions and opinions concerning 11/11/11 are based on or rooted in its mathematical uniqueness as a number.11*11*11:

There are three possible scenarios:

1. Something good happens — There is absolutely no scientific basis for this belief. There are no known logical premises for this belief. The belief that something good will happen is based solely on spiritualism, faith, and/or innate optimism. This belief is not necessarily a bad thing; we don’t know everything; the probability is not zero.

2. Nothing happens — This is the most likely scenario. Just because an unusual date number sequence occurs doesn’t mean that something extraordinary will happen. Usually it’s a non-event.

3. Something bad happens — There is absolutely no scientific basis for this belief. There are no known logical premises for this belief. The belief that something bad will happen is based solely on pessimism of reality. This belief is not necessarily false; after all, things are generally/usually a mess. The probability is not zero.

Mathematics

The number eleven is the fifth prime number (contrary to popular belief, the number one ( 1 ) is not a prime number).

The base numeric number system lends itself to some interesting peculiarities as relates to the number eleven.

Base 10 for example:(2 digits) 11 x 11 = 121(6 digits) 111111 x 111111 = 12345654321(9 digits) 111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321

Base 16 (hexadecimal) for example:(2 digits) 11 x 11 = 121(6 digits) 111111 x 111111 = 12345654321(9 digits) 111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321

Gambling

Blackjack players love the number eleven. It usually means time to double down, but not always.Dice players love the number eleven. On the come-out roll, it’s as good as the number seven. Do not ask the crap dealers how to bet 11 the hardway…The number eleven is a popular lottery number. This results in the per-person payouts being a little below average when eleven is one of the winning numbers.The number eleven is a popular keno number. One wonders if the casinos and slot machine manufacturers make use of that fact…

Veteran's Day

(Source: United States Department of Veterans Affairs):

World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France.However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”It is very likely that Veterans Day will be remembered/observed/celebrated much more than usual on November 11th, 2011.

Historical

The Great Blue Norther of 11/11/11:

"One-hundred years ago, November 11th, 1911: The Great Blue Norther descended upon America. The day started fine; there were even record highs for that time of year. Then it all changed; temperatures began to drop. Within the space of ten minute: the temperature dropped 40 to 50 degrees; by midnight a 66 degree temperature drop was recorded. There were dust storms, thunderstorms, tornados, and blizzards. Over 300 deaths were reported."

In the interests of full disclosure: NOAA.gov reports that sudden 50 degree temperature drops, though unusual, are not that rare. The Great Blue Norther acquired its name not from the extreme temperature changes, but from the accompanying weather phenomena.

Even when taking into account the differences between the Gregorian and Julian calendars:

Nothing significant appears to have happened nine-hundred years ago during the year 1111.

Nothing significant appears to have happened a thousand years ago during the year 1011.

Nothing significant appears to have happened two thousand years ago during the year 11.

The Dark Ages spanned the 5th to 15th centuries (approximately 450 -1450).

Schedule of Solar and Lunar Eclipses for Year 2011

Partial Solar Eclipse: Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Partial Solar Eclipse: Wednesday, June 1, 2011Total Lunar Eclipse: Wednesday, June 15, 2011Partial Solar Eclipse: Friday, July 1, 2011

Partial Solar Eclipse: Friday, November 25, 2011

Depending on your location, your results may vary.

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According to this website:

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/247318/20111110/11-wedding-las-vegas.htm

This Friday is 11/11/11.

In case you somehow missed the significance of the date, someone onTwitter is sure to remind you.

The term "Tomorrow is 11/11/11" is currently trending worldwide.

For some, 11/11/11 has taken on a greater importance - and nowhere is that more apparent than inSin City. Las Vegas, the United States' marriage mecca, is preparing for its biggest day of the year.

"People have been talking about 11/11/11 for months now," said Judy Snider, owner of local bridal and fashion store Celebrations.

"People go for the doubles. It's been like this every year since 7/7/7. That was a big year for us.

"The day of three lucky 7s was when the triple-decker wedding craze really hit Las Vegas.Snider noted this year she's seen more international visitors, "particularly from South America."

Aimee Stephens, Marketing Director for the Chapel of the Flowers said people from all over the world are coming to Las Vegas to get married on 11/11/11.

"We have couples coming to marry with us from the UK, Canada, Hungary, Singapore, and even French Polynesia!"Weddings for 11/11/11 begin at 8 a.m. in all three of the chapels on the property and go until 11:11 p.m. at night."11:11 a.m. and 11:11 p.m. were the most coveted times," Stephens said.

In total, the Chapel of the Flowers is preparing for 78 weddings. They'll have five ministers on property to handle the influx of happy couples.

"We ran out of spots over a month ago," Stephens said, adding that other chapels in Las Vegas have even more weddings planned for tomorrow. The Chapel of the Flowers capped the number at 78 "to provide everyone with the experience they want."Over 100 chapels in Las Vegas began promoting 11/11/11 wedding packages months back and nearly all of them are sold out for Friday's festivities.The Clark County clerk's office, where newlyweds-to-be send their Vegas wedding applications, reportedly received 3,500 pre-applications for Nov. 11, 2011.

The office typically receives 1,000 applications per month.

So why are so many people getting married on 11/11/11?

Many believe that getting married on triple numbers is lucky and will bring a lifetime of fortune and happiness. For those with this belief, there's only one more opportunity in the near future: December 12, 2012.Stephens said the Chapel of the Flowers already has several bookings for 12/12/12. So far, one slot's filled up: 12:12 p.m.

Many couples young and old alike tie the nuptial knot, get married, to put it very simply, express their marriage vows, make promises to live together as man and wife for ever, beginning from this "sacred" date of Nov 11th, 2011, and commences together a journey into the unknown possibilities of implications resulting from their choice of this date for their marriage.

Others will celebrate their memorable birthday on this date, such as this 11-year-old Danielle Joy Tan Ai Ping, see link below

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/11/11/nation/9884316&sec=nation

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Nov 11, 2011 may be an auspicious date for many but not for eleven(11) women here. They were cheated of RM11,000 by two female con artists.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/11/11/nation/9884346&sec=nation

Having juggled hats as a career woman, mother and wife for more than a decade, 43-year-old Carynne Ooi is happy to celebrate her 11th wedding anniversary with her husband today

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/11/11/nation/9884348&sec=nation

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And of course politicians will also associate what is rife in the grapevine with anything and anything that may qualify whatever they predict or even conclude as the most likely events to happen or otherwise in the local political manouvres in order to gain advantage over their rivals or opponents. The talk in town is that a general election will be called this year some 17 months before this current government's term ends. We think not. And here are 11 reasons why we think the 13th general election will not be called this year:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/11/11/nation/9880632&sec=nation

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11.11am on 11.11.11 - a time to party or the opening of the gates of hell?

11.11am on 11.11.11. It makes one think.111111 equals 63 in binary.

But do the time and date have any other significance? Will today be different?The line-up of ones, which occurs on our calendar only once a century, has great meaning for astrologists, numerologists and psychics.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/1111am-on-111111--a-time-to-party-or-the-opening-of-the-gates-of-hell-20111111-1na1h.html

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What were you doing at 11.11am on 11.11.11?

11.11.11, a once-in-a-century date. We asked readers, via email, Twitter and Facebook what they were doing at 11.11am on this day. Many were at work, others were still sleeping, having breakfast or just dreaming about food.

Then, there were those just doing nothing or keeping very busy, plus the romantics and cynics. However, a handful made the moment very special for their loved ones

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/11/11/nation/20111111123614&sec=nation

Fight Tyranny With Truth

Checkpoint Charlie Museum : One Man's heroic Determination To Fight Tyranny With Truth

While there are hundreds of military museums around the world, Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, or the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, is one of few memorials that expressly document the tyrannical force of dictatorship — in this instance, the Communist cruelty that operated with an iron fist thanks to a methodically conceived Iron Curtain. The museum ranks with far wealthier museums that document the horrors of fascist tyranny, such as the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

The story of the Berlin Wall begins on Saturday, Aug. 12, 1961, a seemingly lackluster summer day in Berlin. Residents from the eastern and western parts of town traveled to their favorite summer spots, to luxuriate in the last summer rays of the sun. Little did they know that something strange was unfolding, and by the end of the night, casually traversing to the opposite end of the city would become impossible. It would be a day Berliners would never be able to forget, and a day Rainer Hildebrandt’s Checkpoint Charlie Museum will try to make sure the world too never forgets.

The same night, leading Politburo members of the German Democratic Republic (Soviet-controlled East Germany) were partaking in an awkward “get-together” at the government guesthouse in Döllnsee. While it was not uncommon for the Politburo to have conferences in Döllnsee, there was something different about this particular gathering. The housekeeping staff was ordered to spend the night, as were the guests. The uneasy small talk and forced socialization — as some noticed, under the supervision of military men — lasted for what seemed like hours, until around 10 p.m., when the decision to close the sector borders between East and West Berlin was presented as a fait accompli. Just a few days earlier, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev had given the Politburo permission to build a wall to stop East Berliners from moving to the western sector. The explanation? This migration was undermining the GDR’s credibility and workforce. By midnight, more than 30,000 East German troops had left their garrisons to surround the entire West Berlin border.

When news of the blockade spread throughout Berlin the next morning, people were unsure how to react. It had become increasingly difficult to cross Berlin without being harassed for identification and paperwork by the Soviet forces and their accomplices in the East Berlin security forces.

The “American Sector” (West Berlin) was a small island of Western freedom inside the GDR, and the exodus to this zone had begun well before the border was closed. In the twelve years since pro-Soviet Communists had taken over East Germany, more than 2.5 million people voluntarily moved to the West — of which 144,000 left in 1959, 199,000 in 1960 and 207,000 in the first seven months of 1961 alone. Germans yearned for freedom and were keen to get out of the Communist sector. But rather than address the root causes of the exodus (dictatorial oppression), the Soviets decided they had the right to keep what East German Stalinist Walter Ubricht called “their” labor force from leaving, so erecting a wall was seen as the most efficient social-engineering solution.

Overnight, barbed wire festooned the perimeter, and suddenly it was official: Millions of Germans were trapped in East Berlin — unable to leave the enormous prison that had become East Germany. No exit. It was not enough for the Politburo that most East Berliners were silent about this sudden change — they needed to be certain they had the citizenry’s full support. To do this, they rounded up people they considered dissenters, including not only those who overtly criticized the government but also people who had studied or worked in the West — the “border-crossers.” And they were sent to prisons run by the GDR state police, the infamous Stasi, and to “labor-exchange factories,” a euphemism for a term many historians continue to deny: slave-labor factories.

According to official numbers, 28 people managed to escape East Berlin on the first day, and 41 on the second day. That night, shots were fired at a couple swimming the Teltow Canal. Although there were no casualities, it was an ominous harbinger of what was to come. East Germans who lived on Bernauer Straße — the street that lined the Berlin Wall — were throwing themselves out the windows of their apartments to cross into the West. Even after all their windows were sealed with bricks, some attempted to jump off their roofs. West Berlin sympathizers and firefighters would stand on the Western side of the border with sheets to break the escapees’ falls, but, between the East German police that came after them and the sheer impossibility of surviving such a fall, many simply plummeted to their deaths — preferring death to life without freedom.

One year later, Peter Fechter, an 18-year-old bricklayer, was shot by a border guard and left to bleed to death while his chilling calls for help could be heard on both sides of the wall. Fechter became the first victim of the Berlin Wall guards. When the GDR realized that the border-control guards, many of them young boys around the same age as the West Berlin demonstrators on the other side of the wall, were not shooting to kill, some sections of the wall were lined with motion-detecting automatic machine guns. In the next 28 years, 191 more people lost their lives in attempts to cross to West Berlin.

While the Cold War may seem far removed from 2011, the 50th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall, it is important to reexamine the devastation caused by Communist regimes and the historical framework in which something so atrocious as the splitting of a city was allowed to happen. Further, it should serve as a powerful reminder that a country that does not allow you to leave is, by every conceivable standard, a totalitarian state (today this is best exemplified by Burma, Cuba, North Korea, and Vietnam, where having a passport is not a right of the common person, but rather a privilege the government reserves for a very small number of propaganda ambassadors and diplomats). German historian and anti-Communist activist Rainer Hildebrandt understood the necessity of this better than anyone else. On Oct. 19, 1962, a mere 13 months after the barrier was formed, Hildebrandt hosted his first exhibition in a modest two-room apartment on the infamous Bernauer Straße.

“We suggested that tourists be thankful to those border guards who do not shoot to kill: ‘See through the uniform!’ we would tell them. Some guards saw that we understood, and after their own escapes came to work with us,” wrote Hildebrandt. “The large number of visitors encouraged us to look for new premises.” A year later, Hildebrandt opened Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, also known as Mauermuseum, a collection of photos, stories, and miscellaneous items documenting the damage the wall had caused. In a stirring testimony to the irrepressible spirit of liberty, the museum today documents the daring successful escapes — most of them involving ordinary people with nothing at their disposal except courage and creativity. Home-made submarines, military disguises, secret compartments in cars, home-made airplanes, human catapults, identity theft — the museum contains information and objects detailing the most breathtaking of escapes.

Located next to the prominent border-crossing checkpoint from which it took its name, the museum also became a sort of safe haven for escapees and a place from which escape-helpers monitored movement at the borders. Hildebrandt’s dogged fervor for this cause culminated in the creation of an exhaustive repository of GDR memorabilia that to this day remains open every day of the year at its original location near Checkpoint Charlie. The museum also houses the Czechoslovakian Charter 77 typewriter, the death mask of Elena Bonner’s partner Andrei Sakharov, and Mahatma Gandhi’s diary and sandals, making it certainly one of the first museums of international nonviolent protest.

Hildebrandt’s project, marked by his indefatigable attention to detail, has served as a far more captivating reminder of Soviet cruelty than anything that can be found in the United States or Western Europe.

The best effort in the United States to document Communist history was the formation of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. This non-profit was established by an Act of Congress and is chaired by the American equivalent of Rainer Hildebrandt, Lee Edwards, who originally intended to raise $100 million for a memorial and museum with plans to create an exhibit that included statues of notable freedom fighters and a recreation of the gulag, in addition to artifacts of Communist regimes. Regrettably, owing to an unforgivable lack of interest by philanthropists and institutional donors in the United States, the museum project had to be put on hold.

Undefeated, Edwards soldiered on and on June 12, 2007, the 20th anniversary of Pres. Ronald Reagan’s “tear down this wall” speech in Berlin, a monument was unveiled on Capitol Hill to memorialize the victims of Communism. It is a sculpture of the “Goddess of Democracy,” a bronze replica of the statue constructed by Chinese students in Tiananmen Square in 1989 (prior to their being murdered by the government that continues to rule China). I was there with Lee Edwards that day in June, and what made it particularly moving was that it was the late Tom Lantos, a Holocaust survivor, and the only American congressman to have survived the horror of Nazi Germany, who drove the point home about Soviet Communism. Edwards has since focused his efforts on education, founding an online Global Museum of Communism, with an extensive trove of Communist-era remnants, interactive graphics and texts, as well as evidence of Communist atrocities. Arguably, an online museum can reach more people than an actual edifice. Edwards’s foundation is now preparing a curriculum on the history of Communism for use in American secondary education.

November 9, 1989, was the day that Politburo official Gunter Schabowski announced that travel “abroad” from East Germany would be allowed. Immediately, Berliners from the East and West stormed the Berlin Wall, ignoring the caveat that permission still had to be granted for travel. For a few hours, the confused border control attempted to hold the crowd back but was soon overwhelmed by the crowd’s euphoria and began allowing people to pass through freely for the first time in 28 years. This is when the history books tell us that the Berlin Wall “fell.” No, dear reader, it was torn down, mostly by young people with hammers, pickaxes, tractors, pulleys, and a strength of spirit that was made stronger over the years by the peaceful actions of those who stood against, documented, and bore witness to the cruelty and inhumanity of the Communist tyranny.

Recognition and attention should be paid to men like Hildebrandt whose life’s work has affected millions yet who seldom get the recognition they so richly deserve. Tonight in New York City, the Atlas Foundation, a global public-policy think tank focused on “advancing the cause of liberty,” will host a dinner to commemorate the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. Let’s hope someone raises a glass to Hildebrandt’s work. Meanwhile, at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, the current curator, Alexandra Hildebrandt, has wasted no time carrying forward her husband’s struggle beyond Berlin: On November 15, the museum will unveil the “Sergei Magnitsky Exhibition.” To be opened by the German justice minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, the exhibit will detail the life and ghastly death of 39-year-old Sergei Magnitsky, tortured to death by Vladimir Putin’s government for blowing the whistle on corruption in modern Russia. The Magnitsky case is a key element in any discussion of human rights in Russia and the exhibit is well worth a visit. The museum previously had an exhibit about the continued imprisonment of Russia’s most egregious political prisoner case in post-Soviet Russia: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, another Putin adversary.

Hildebrandt well understands that in places such as Russia, North Korea, Syria, China, Cuba, Burma, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and too many African countries to list here, entire peoples are still besieged within their nations by oppressive governments. Lucky for them, there still exists a piece of “the American Sector” in Berlin at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, where they will find allies in the struggle for liberty.

http://anwaribrahimblog.com/

GST Won't Help

Pakatan: GST won’t save Malaysia from bankruptcy

By Shannon Teoh

November 02, 2011

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala triggered alarm bells with his controversial bankruptcy forecast last year. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — The federal opposition said today that implementing a goods and services tax (GST), as suggested by Datuk Seri Idris Jala, will not stop Malaysia from going bankrupt as “it is like throwing money into a pocket with holes.”

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers told a press conference that it was government wastage, corruption and mismanagement that caused national debt to jump to 53 per cent of GDP.

“The operating expenditure has more than doubled from RM89 billion in 2005 to RM182 billion next year. Until you stitch the hole in the pocket, throwing more money will only make the hole bigger,” said DAP publicity chief Tony Pua.

Idris, who is the minister in charge of Putrajaya’s Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), repeated yesterday his warning that Malaysia could be bankrupt within a decade if it spends borrowed money on operational expenditure such as subsidies.

“If our economy grows less than four per cent ... and we don’t cut our operating expenditure, if we borrow at 12.5 per cent, if our annual debt rises to 12.5 per cent and our revenue does not grow, then it will happen,” the senator said.

He also accused the Opposition of forcing the government to delay GST as “every time the government wants to do it the Opposition makes life difficult for them, saying that they will lose votes.”

But Pua pointed out today that the government did not need more money as revenue has nearly doubled from RM99 billion in 2005 to RM187 billion projected in Budget 2012.

“The issue of GST does not arise. Bankruptcy will be due to wastage,” said PAS research chief Dzulkefly Ahmad.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Idris triggered alarm bells with his controversial bankruptcy forecast last year.

Malaysia’s national debt rose by 12.3 per cent to over RM407 billion last year, according to the Auditor-General’s latest report released last week.

The audit also outlined cases of mismanagement including payment of bonuses by loss-making GLCs and a RM73.6 million cattle-farming project linked to minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil that met only 40 per cent of breeding targets.

Although the economy grew by 7.2 per cent in 2010, last year’s fiscal deficit maintained public debt at over 50 per cent of GDP for the second year running.

PR called today for the formation of a Financial Accountability Commission (FAC) staffed by leading audit professionals with the power to take action against government excesses.

PKR’s Selayang MP William Leong said that the FAC should be able to recommend “surcharges” where government officers are made to pay out of their own pocket for any wastage of taxpayers’ money.

source : http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/

Zulhijjah Eiduladha and Qurban

On Sunday the 10th day of Zulhijjah in the year 1432Hijriah (ie 6th Nov 2011), Muslims worldwide will celebrate Eiduladha or Eid-al-Adha, or the "Greater Eid" or the "Festival of Sacrifice" to commemorate the willingness of Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim) AS in obeying the command of Allah SWT to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Isma'il) AS, before God intervened to provide him with a ram (or sheep) to be sacrificed instead. The basis of Eiduladha is spelt out in the Quran Surah al-Baqarah verse 196 in which Allah SWT commanded,

"And complete the Hajj and 'umrah for Allah . But if you are prevented, then [offer] what can be obtained with ease of sacrificial animals. And do not shave your heads until the sacrificial animal has reached its place of slaughter. And whoever among you is ill or has an ailment of the head [making shaving necessary must offer] a ransom of fasting [three days] or charity or sacrifice. And when you are secure, then whoever performs 'umrah [during the Hajj month] followed by Hajj [offers] what can be obtained with ease of sacrificial animals. And whoever cannot find [or afford such an animal] - then a fast of three days during Hajj and of seven when you have returned [home]. Those are ten complete [days]. This is for those whose family is not in the area of Masjid al-Haram. And fear Allah and know that Allah is severe in penalty."

Zulhijjah is the last month or the 12th month of the Islamic calendar. Literally, it means "hajj." Obviously, this name of the month indicates that the great annual worship of "hajj" is performed in this month, which gives it special significance.

The first ten days of Zulhijjah are among the most magnificent days in Islamic calendar. The Holy Prophet, Muhammad SAW has said, "One fast during these days is equal to the fasting of one complete year, and the worship of one night during this period is equal to the worship in the "Lailatul-Qadar".

Every Muslim should avail of this wonderful opportunity by performing during this period as much ibadah (acts of worship) to Allah SWT as he or she possibly can.

The 9th day of Zulhijjah or the 'Yaumul Arafah' (The Day of Arafah) is the date when the Hujjaj (Haji pilgrims, plural of Haajj) assemble on the plain of 'Arafat, six miles away from Makkah where they perform the most essential part of the prescribed duties of hajj, namely, the 'Wuquf of Arafat (the stay in Arafat).

For those not performing hajj, it is desirable to fast on this day according to their own calendar. It sometimes occurs that 9th Zuihijjah falls on different days in different countries according to the sighting of the moon. In such cases, Muslims of each country should observe 'Yaumul Arafah’ according to the lunar dates of their own country.

The fast of 'Yaumul Arafah' has been emphasized by Prophet Muhammad SAW as a desirable act. According to a hadith, the fast of this day becomes a cause or reason, hopefully so, of forgiveness for sins committed in one whole year.

Beginning from the Fajar of the 9th Zulhijjah up to the 'Asar prayer of the 13th, it is obligatory on each Muslim to recite the Takbir of Tashriq after every fardu prayer.

It is obligatory on each Muslim, to recite this takbir after every solat fardu (compulsory prayer of five times daily). For women, it is recommended though not obligatory. Whether you are performing solat collectively in a group or praying on your own (individually) makes no difference. You must recite the takbir. However, male Muslims should recite loudly while females should recite it in a low voice.

The Eid prayer has two raka'at performed in the normal way, with the only addition of twelve takbir, seven of them in the beginning of the first raka'at, and five in the beginning of the second raka'at.

In this Eid prayer, khutbah is sunnat and is delivered after the solat, unlike in the solat of Jumaat (Friday) where khutbah is fardu and is delivered before the solat. However, listening to the Eid khutbah is wajib or compulsory and must be listened to in perfect peace and silence.

The Arabic word Qurban means an act performed to seek Allah's pleasure. Originally, the word Qurban included all acts of charity because the purpose of charity is nothing else but to seek Allah's pleasure. But, in precise religious terminology, the word was later confined to the sacrifice of an animal slaughtered for the sake of Allah.

The sacrifice of an animal has been recognized as a form of worship only during three days of Zulhijjah, namely, the 10th, 1lth and 12th of the month. This is to commemorate the unparalleled sacrifice offered by the Prophet Ibrahim AS when he, in obedience to a command of Allah SWT conveyed to him in a dream, prepared himself to slaughter his beloved son, Prophet Isma'il AS, and he actually did so but, Allah SWT, after testing his submission, sent down a sheep and saved his son from the logical fate of slaughter. It is from that time onwards that the sacrifice of an animal became an obligatory duty to be performed by every Muslim who can afford.

The following animals can be slaughtered to offer a Qurban:

1. Goat, either male or female, of at least one year of age.

2. Sheep, either male or female, of at least six months of age.

3. Cow, ox buffalo of at least two years of age.

4. Camel, male or female, of at least five years of age.

One head of goat or sheep is enough only for one person's Qurban. But as for all other animals like cow, buffalo or camel, one head of each is equal to seven offerings thus allowing seven persons to offer Qurban jointly in one such animal.

If the seller of animal claims that the animal is of the recognized age and there is no apparent evidence to the contrary; one can trust his statement and the sacrifice of such an animal is lawful.

The following defective animals are not acceptable in Qurban:

1. Blind, one eyed or lame animal.

2. An animal so emaciated that it cannot walk to its slaughtering place.

3. An animal with one-third part of the ear or the nose or the tail missing.

4. An animal that has no teeth at all, or the major number of its teeth are missing.

5. An animal born without ears.

The following animals are acceptable in Qurban:

1. A castrated he - goat. (Rather, its Qurban is more preferable).

2. An animal that has no horns, or its horns are broken. However, if the horns of an animal are uprooted totally so as to create a defect in the brain, its Qurban is not lawful.

3. An animal the missing part of whose ear, nose or tail is less than one third.

4. A sick or injured animal, unless it has some above mentioned defects rendering its Qurban unlawful.

In Malaysia the sacrificial animal is usually a cow or buffalo or a goat (or sheep) and the slaughter done on the Eiduladha day just before noon.

If an animal is sacrificed by more than one person, like a cow or a camel, its meat should be distributed equally among its owners by weighing the meat strictly and not at random or by mere guess. Even if all the partners agree on its distribution without weighing, it is still not permissible according to syari'ah.

However, if the actual weighing is not practicable due to some reason, and all the partners agree to distribute the meat without weighing, distribution by approximate can be done with the condition that each share necessarily contains either a leg of the animal or some quantity of its liver.

Although the person offering a Qurban can keep all its meat for his own use, it is preferable to distribute one-third among the poor, another one-third among his relatives and then, keep the rest for his personal consumption.

All parts of the sacrificed animal can be used for personal benefit, but none can be sold, nor can be given to the butcher as a part of his wages. If somebody has sold the meat of the Qurban or its skin, he must give the accrued price as sadaqah to a poor man who can receive zakat.

SCADA as defined by WEBOPEDIA

Acronym for supervisory control and data acquisition, a computer system for gathering and analyzing real time data. SCADA systems are used to monitor and control a plant or equipment in industries such as telecommunications, water and waste control, energy, oil and gas refining and transportation. A SCADA system gathers information, such as where a leak on a pipeline has occurred, transfers the information back to a central site, alerting the home station that the leak has occurred, carrying out necessary analysis and control, such as determining if the leak is critical, and displaying the information in a logical and organized fashion. SCADA systems can be relatively simple, such as one that monitors environmental conditions of a small office building, or incredibly complex, such as a system that monitors all the activity in a nuclear power plant or the activity of a municipal water system.