A 7th Century Prophecy About the Future Collapse of Islam, from Imam Ali, the First Successor to the Prophet Muhammad

Islam's 4th Caliph and 1st Imam, Hazrat 'Ali Ibn Abi Talib

In his prophecy about the future of Islam, as recorded in the "Awalimu al-Ulum Wa Al-Maarif", or "Awalim," - an authoritative hadith accepted as authentic by both Sunni and Shi'ah Muslims - Ali Ibn Abi-Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, and the first Imam to succeed him, said,

"Islam would be capsized as a pot is capsized with all its contents."

The Awalim was compiled by Sheikh Abu Allah al-Bahrani in the 12th Century.  It consists of 100 volumes.

If you have any doubt about the Awalim's authority and authenticity, check entry number 181 at:

http://www.islamic-laws.com/hadith.htm

"Mitakuye Oyasin" - The Universal Lakota Sioux Prayer for Mankind

by Neva Howell

There is a simple but profound Lakota prayer: Mitakuye Oyasin.

These two words mean All My Relations or We are All Related.

To pray this prayer is to petition God on behalf of everyone and everything on Earth.

Mitakuye Oyasin honors the sacredness of each person's individual spiritual path, acknowledges the sacredness of all life (human, animal, plant, etc.) and creates an energy of awareness which strengthens not only the person who prays but the entire planet.

Soon after I first learned this prayer, I saw that it represented all that needed to be said. It was a prayer of respect, honor and love for all of mankind, and for the Earth. It was a prayer that said "I wish goodness and peace for all. I would leave no one out. I pray for all." It was a prayer that crossed the barriers of religion and could be prayed by one of any faith. It was a prayer that united, instead of dividing. It was an amazing prayer.

There has been a growing awareness, among those of every major faith, of the common elements within religions. Over the next few years, we will see increasing overlaps of creed and ritual as people of every faith sense a need to embrace new ways of relating, outside the structure of their own faith to embrace the Godness in others, regardless of the differences in dogma or religious law. There will be less and less need to convert or convince and more willingness to learn from one another. A combining of traditions, and a reaching out beyond the boundaries of divided faith, will result in a focus on common truth, tolerance, acceptance, and Oneness.

I'm not sure how long I have known that we are all connected (and that what we do affects those around us as well as people we never meet) but I do recall, very vividly, the moment this awareness made it's way to my conscious mind in a clear statement of purpose. I was watching a music video on MTV. God moves in mysterious ways. The scenes were accompanying a song titled Everybody Hurts, by REM. The camera moves slowly past rows and rows of cars, bumper to bumper, in Los Angeles rush-hour traffic. We (the viewers) are shown the thoughts of the passengers in each car, by way of captioned statements on the screen.

It is painful to watch not just because everyone seems lost in pain, struggle or hopelessness, but because they all seem alone and unaware of the people in other cars. Then, a solitary man steps from his car, closes the door, and begins to walk away. One by one, passenger after passenger follows suit until all the thousands of cars are left vacant. A way of life is abandoned. One by one, we are stepping on the path to a new reality.

Critical Mass has been reached. The hundredth monkey has rinsed his food, and a new core knowledge of Oneness is being born. Aho. Mitakuye Oyasin.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Neva Howell can be contacted through her page at PowerfulIntentions.org

She also has a website called Ask A Healer

Report finds that most young Iranians are sexually active, and many are gay

The research department of the Iranian Parliament has found that four out of five young adults in the Islamic republic are sexually active and 17% with people of the same sex - See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/report-finds-most-young-iranians-are-sexually-active-and-many-are-gay110814#sthash.6wqXl7qM.dpuf

search department of the Iranian Parliament has found that four out of five young adults in the Islamic republic are sexually active and 17% with people of the same sex - See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/report-finds-most-young-iranians-are-sexually-active-and-many-are-gay110814#sthash.6wqXl7qM.dpuf

The research department of the Iranian Parliament has found that four out of five young adults in the Islamic republic are sexually active and 17% with people of the same sex - See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/report-finds-most-young-iranians-are-sexually-active-and-many-are-gay110814#sthash.6wqXl7qM.dpuf

The research department of the Iranian Parliament has found that four out of five young adults in the Islamic republic are sexually active and 17% with people of the same sex

The research department of the Iranian Parliament has found that four out of five young adults in the Islamic republic are sexually active and 17% with people of the same sex - See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/report-finds-most-young-iranians-are-sexually-active-and-many-are-gay110814#sthash.6wqXl7qM.dpuf

Gay Iranians Celebrate LGBT Day  Photo:  Iranwire.com

by Andrew Potts

An Iranian Government report has found that sex before marriage is widespread among young Iranians despite the country’s hardline approach to public displays of affection and Islamic code.

The Iranian Parliament surveyed 142,000 young adults and found that 80% of the women reported having had boyfriends.

They also found 17% of the young adults had had a same-sex relationship despite the country imposing the death penalty for homosexual acts.

The report, released earlier this month, recommended allowing couples to register temporary marriages – a tradition among Shiite Muslims called ‘sigheh’ – with the state to deal with the problem of heterosexual promiscuity.

Story Source:  http://www.gaystarnews.com/

Related:  Yes, There Are Gays in Iran

An Iranian Government report has found that sex before marriage is widespread among young Iranians despite the country’s hardline approach to public displays of affection and Islamic code.
The Iranian Parliament surveyed 142,000 young adults and found that 80% of the women reported having had boyfriends.
They also found 17% of the young adults had had a same-sex relationship despite the country imposing the death penalty for homosexual acts.
The report, released earlier this month, recommended allowing couples to register temporary marriages – a tradition among Shiite Muslims called ‘sigheh’ – with the state to deal with the problem of heterosexual promiscuity.
However the researchers proposed no solutions for young Iranians in same-sex relationships.
Iran’s former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad famously declared that there were no homosexuals in his country in 2007 when confronted on his country’s record on LGBTI rights.
- See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/report-finds-most-young-iranians-are-sexually-active-and-many-are-gay110814#sthash.6wqXl7qM.dpuf

Report finds most young Iranians are sexually active and many are gay - See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/report-finds-most-young-iranians-are-sexually-active-and-many-are-gay110814#sthash.6wqXl7qM.dpuf

Report finds most young Iranians are sexually active and many are gay - See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/report-finds-most-young-iranians-are-sexually-active-and-many-are-gay110814#sthash.6wqXl7qM.dpuf

Report finds most young Iranians are sexually active and many are gay - See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/report-finds-most-young-iranians-are-sexually-active-and-many-are-gay110814#sthash.6wqXl7qM.dpuf

Are many of the world's so-called religions, just magnets for sociopaths and psychopaths?

A gay Iranian man hung because of his sexual orientation.

WAKE UP!  The human race needs to RETHINK and REDEFINE the phenomena we're excusing every day, and labeling as part and parcel of "RELIGION," when they are in fact not part of true religion in the least, but activities by people who are mentally and spiritually ill.

Many of our religions and religious denominations are nothing more than deranged organizations that are powerful magnets for sociopaths and psychopaths. 

Their poison passes into our governments, corporations, media, schools and families. 

Psychopathy mislabeled as divine religion, is causing most of our world's problems.  There's nothing sacred about it, and it needs to be stopped.

~Madison Reed

Indonesia Preparing to Recognize the Baha'i Faith As An Official State Relgion

Lukman Saifuddin, the new Religious Affairs Minister of Indonesia, has called for the Baha’i Faith to become the next state-recognized religion.

Lukman Hakim Saifuddin

In a response to a query from the Home Affairs Ministry regarding the status of the religion, Lukman asserted that Baha’i is protected under the Indonesian Constitution, and added that adherents should thus be given official recognition by the state. This would allow Baha’i followers to list their religion on all official documents such as identity cards, licenses, certificates, and property deeds, which can be difficult to obtain for Indonesia’s religious minorities. Many believe that this move, along with the election of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, proves that Indonesia is becoming a more tolerant and open society.

In 2000, Baha’i was legalized in Indonesia, a country with a high degree of religious diversity. The Indonesian state officially recognizes six different religions: Islam, Catholicism, Buddhism, Protestantism, Hinduism, and Confucianism. With the recent call from Lukman Saifuddin for Baha’i to be granted official status, it may be set to become Indonesia’s seventh official faith. Due to its diversity and the close proximity of mutually opposed religious faiths, Indonesia has struggled with religious violence between certain sects. Despite this, however, Baha’i enjoys more freedoms there than in nations such as Iran and Egypt where it is still heavily restricted.

Lukman’s desire to officially recognize Baha’i was met with mixed reactions in the country, with some opposing the proposal, and others stating that the Indonesian government should recognize all faiths. Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of Setara Institute and advocate of religious freedom, asserted, “The Constitution never mentioned official religions — it only said that people are free to hold a religion or belief and worship according to their religion and belief. The problem is with the Religious Affairs Ministry, which in this case being exclusive and discriminative.”

Many local officials throughout the country are loath to grant official documents such as licenses and permits to groups and individuals who do not adhere to one of the state-recognized faiths, making life difficult for religious minorities. Lukman, posting from his Twitter account, stated that the Religious Affairs Ministry is reviewing the issue. If Baha’i is granted official status as Indonesia’s seventh state-recognized religion, this may indicate that Indonesia is becoming more open to religious minorities, giving hope to adherents of smaller faiths throughout the nation. Ismail Hasani of the Setara Institute declared that Lukman’s openness gives minorities “hope for the strengthening of religious tolerance.”

Baha’i is a monotheistic religion native to Persia. Founded in the 19th century, its leader was exiled from Persia to the Ottoman Empire, where he died a captive. The faith then later spread to Iran, where it is still heavily persecuted. It is estimated that there are currently over 5 million adherents to the faith scattered in almost every country in the world. The Baha’i teachings stress the oneness of God, asserting that all creation comes from Him, and that God speaks through chosen prophets. Baha’i adherents believe that these divine messengers exist in Abrahamic religions such as Islam and Christianity as well as Dharmic faiths such as Buddhism and Hinduism. Baha’i stresses the unity of mankind and the unity of all religions, stating that like all creation, all major religions come from the same God.

News Source:  World Religions News

Reference:  Bahai'is of Indonesia

Related:  Apakah Agama Baru Baha’i Akan Diakui di Indonesia?

The consequences of not challenging the Islamic State

The Islamic State's violence against minority groups and non-Sunni sects goes against the teachings of Islam.

  

"Those who have been attacked are permitted to take up arms because they have been wronged - God has the power to help them - those who have been driven unjustly from their homes only for saying, 'Our Lord is God.' If God did not repel some people by means of others, many monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, where God's name is much invoked, would have been destroyed." [Qur'an 22:39-40]

by Mohamed Ghilan

Extremism is dangerous, but it is more dangerous to let it flourish and manifest itself the way the terrorist organisation known as the Islamic State group has been allowed to. The problem with allowing extremism to grow unchallenged is that it will eventually drive rational parties into extreme reactions in order to combat it. Thus, more innocent civilians will inevitably suffer in the process, as the problem becomes too big to contain.

Targeting minorities

Recently, Islamic State seized Mar Behnam, an ancient monastery near the predominantly Christian town of Qarqosh, to the southeast of Mosul. The militants expelled the monks, allowing them to take only the clothes they were wearing and preventing them from saving any of the monastery's relics. A few days earlier, Christians in Mosul were given an ultimatum to convert, pay a religious levy, or face death. Their response has been a mass exodus that left the northern Iraqi city empty of Christians for the first time in its history.

The Islamic State has been engaged in a vicious campaign of abductions, murders, and expulsions of minorities in all the areas they sweep through. In practice, they exemplify the very reason why fighting, i.e. armed jihad, was permitted in Islam, which was to combat the oppression of aggressors like the Islamic State:

"Those who have been attacked are permitted to take up arms because they have been wronged - God has the power to help them - those who have been driven unjustly from their homes only for saying, 'Our Lord is God.' If God did not repel some people by means of others, many monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, where God's name is much invoked, would have been destroyed." [22:39-40]

This verse in the Quran is recognised by Muslim scholarly authorities to contain the primary reason for armed jihad in Islam, which is the repelling of unjustified aggression against oneself or others due to difference in belief. Moreover, a corollary that is implicitly understood from it is that non-Muslims living in Muslim lands must be protected and it is impermissible to unjustly expel them or destroy their houses of worship. In their treatment of Iraqi Christians, Islamic State fighters flagrantly commit the very acts abhorred in Islamic teachings.

Religious violence is quickly metastasising. After seizing Mosul and Tikrit, the Islamic State are stepping up their attacks in Baghdad. The recent wave of Baghdad bombings exercised by the Islamic State targeted mostly Shia Muslim areas, the victims of which have been overwhelmingly civilians. If this is an indication, we can expect that should Islamic State take over Baghdad, we will witness a genocide of an unfathomable scale if the militant group continues to be unchallenged.

 

In June, the Islamic State militants staged mass executions, advertising afterwards that they had killed in one report 1,700 Shia soldiers in Tikrit. It is not for nothing that in every case the executed have been men. According to the Islamic State's bastardised conceptualisation of Islam, Shia are not even Muslims, and therefore once they are conquered, they can kill the men and enslave the women and children. Thus, it is not far-fetched that we may soon hear of slaves sold in public markets of northern Iraq and Syria where this group operates.

In response to the eminent threat from the Islamic State on the Iraqi capital, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq's highest-ranking Shia Muslim cleric, issued a fatwa summoning the country's Iraqi Muslims, regardless of sect, to take up arms and defend the country, its people, and its holy sites. However, Sunnis, who remain divided on where they should pledge their allegiance, do not consider Ayatollah Sistani's call authoritative. The impetus for them to join the army, remain neutral, or even fight among the ranks of the Islamic State is largely determined by prospective political gains that depend on their specific tribal or geographical context, and how they feel about Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his government.

One the other hand, a number of different Shia militias have sprung up, and Baghdad is increasingly on edge as it prepares for war with the Islamic State. However, it seems that among these militia groups are fringe Shia militants exercising their own brand of terrorism, killing 25 women in Baghdad who were accused of prostitution. The region is thus falling deeper into lawlessness.

The extreme anti-Shia sentiment harboured by the Islamic State militants did not develop in a vacuum. BBC World Service recently released a documentary titled "Freedom to Broadcast Hate" in which they investigated the proliferation of TV channels in the Arab world, spreading sectarian religious and political messages that deepen the schism between Sunni and Shia Muslims. In some cases, TV evangelists sensationally invoked God in prayer to destroy their counterparts, whom they view as an existential threat to Islam as a whole, and entice their viewers to do the same. Most of the recruited fighters for the Islamic State are products of a TV-raised generation, having their religious and political opinions formed through watching such sectarian programmes.

The Islamic State's policies of persecution are not limited to minorities of Shia Muslims and Christians. Recently, the militants carried out a public execution, stoning to death a woman in the northern Syrian province of Raqqa after she was handed this sentence for allegedly committing adultery. Hadi Salameh, one of the activists in the province, said that residents are "terrified" of the Islamic State, but fear the consequences of speaking up.

In addition, Amnesty International has documented several abuses by the Islamic State against local civilian populations, including children in areas under their control. These include flogging with rubber generator belts or cables, torture with electric shock, or being forced to adopt painful stress positions. This is not to mention an enforcement of a religious law that sees as many as five executions per week.

Prophet Muhammad's warnings

In all their abuses and atrocities, the Islamic State claims to be merely implementing Sharia under their alleged caliphate. However, a reading of history and an understanding of Islamic law would quickly reveal that the Islamic State group is either grossly misinformed, or knowingly engaging in abuses they deem necessary to gain firm control over the population.

The leader of Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is alleged in a published biography to be a descendant of Prophet Muhammad and his tribe, Quraysh. While this may be an attractive quality to his supporters pursuing their delusional caliphate, the Prophet Muhammad would definitely differ as his transmitted statements indicate. Prophet Muhammad said, "The destruction of my people will be at hands of young men from Quraysh." In another Hadith narration he said, "There will be a widespread tribulation that will include everyone, the stirring of which will be by a man from my household, claiming he is of my lineage but in reality he is not, for my people are God fearing." In fact, Prophet Muhammad implores people to fight such an individual and his group when possible in order to stop his mischief in the land.

Although Baghdadi's group has been widely condemned by numerous Muslim scholars, the danger lurks in the fact that average young Muslims in the area may be swayed by his rhetoric. In his released sermon after taking control over Mosul, Baghdadi carefully reiterated statements made by the first caliph after the passing of Prophet Muhammad as he urged Muslims to join in what he called a jihad. Combined with what seemed like a sweeping victorious takeovers of major cities, such a presentation can be very attractive to enthusiastic Muslim youth.

We are no longer dealing with al-Qaeda militants in caves in the mountains of Afghanistan. As the Islamic State has been allowed to claim more land and power and become more organised, we have witnessed more suffering and death. It is disconcerting that we might reach a point of no return, and have more suffering and casualties. 

Mohamed Ghilan is a neuroscience PhD candidate at the University of Victoria, Canada, and a student of Islamic jurisprudence.

Follow him on Twitter: @mohamedghilan 

Article source: Al Jazeera

Related:
Global Protests Against ISIS Attack on Christians 
Takfiri terrorists in Syria crucified several people in the city of Raqqa / Pics  (WARNING:  Extremely article contains disturbing, extremely violent photos of humans crucified)

Significant Discovery: Human Teeth Produce a Continual Supply of Stem Cells

Pasieka/Science Photo Library/Corbis

"This unexpected source of stem cells potentially offers scientists a new starting point from which to grow human tissues for therapeutic or research purposes without using embryos."

by Sarah C. P. Williams

Development is typically thought to be a one-way street. Stem cells produce cells that mature into specific types, such as the neurons and glia that compose nervous systems, but the reverse isn’t supposed to happen. Yet researchers have now discovered nervous system cells transforming back into stem cells in a very surprising place: inside teeth. This unexpected source of stem cells potentially offers scientists a new starting point from which to grow human tissues for therapeutic or research purposes without using embryos.

“More than just applications within dentistry, this finding can have very broad implications,” says developmental biologist Igor Adameyko of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, who led the new work. “These stem cells could be used for regenerating cartilage and bone as well.”

Researchers knew that the soft “tooth pulp” in the center of teeth contained a small population of mesenchymal stem cells, the type of stem cell that can mature into teeth, bones, and cartilage. But no one had conclusively determined where these stem cells came from. Adameyko figured that if he could trace their development, he might be able to recreate the process in the lab, thereby offering a new way of growing stem cells for tissue regeneration.

He and his and colleagues were already studying glial cells, which support and surround neurons that wind through the mouth and gums and help transmit signals of pain from the teeth to the brain. When they added fluorescent labels to a set of glial cells in mice, they saw that over time, some of them migrated away from neurons in the gums toward the inside of teeth, where they transformed into mesenchymal stem cells. Eventually, the same cells matured into tooth cells, the team reported this week in Nature.

Sarah's story continues here.

Scientists Closing in on Theory of Consciousness

by Tanya Lewis

Probably for as long as humans have been able to grasp the concept of consciousness, they have sought to understand the phenomenon.

Studying the mind was once the province of philosophers, some of whom still believe the subject is inherently unknowable. But neuroscientists are making strides in developing a true science of the self.

Here are some of the best contenders for a theory of consciousness.

 

Cogito ergo sum

Not an easy concept to define, consciousness has been described as the state of being awake and aware of what is happening around you, and of having a sense of self. [Top 10 Mysteries of the Mind]

The 17th century French philosopher René Descartes proposed the notion of "cogito ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am"), the idea that the mere act of thinking about one's existence proves there is someone there to do the thinking.

Descartes also believed the mind was separate from the material body — a concept known as mind-body duality — and that these realms interact in the brain's pineal gland. Scientists now reject the latter idea, but some thinkers still support the notion that the mind is somehow removed from the physical world.

But while philosophical approaches can be useful, they do not constitute testable theories of consciousness, scientists say.

"The only thing you know is, 'I am conscious.' Any theory has to start with that," said Christof Koch, a neuroscientist and the chief scientific officer at the Allen Institute for Neuroscience in Seattle.

Correlates of consciousness

In the last few decades, neuroscientists have begun to attack the problem of understanding consciousness from an evidence-based perspective. Many researchers have sought to discover specific neurons or behaviors that are linked to conscious experiences.

Recently, researchers discovered a brain area that acts as a kind of on-off switch for the brain. When they electrically stimulated this region, called the claustrum, the patient became unconscious instantly. In fact, Koch and Francis Crick, the molecular biologist who famously helped discover the double-helix structure of DNA, had previously hypothesized that this region might integrate information across different parts of the brain, like the conductor of a symphony.

But looking for neural or behavioral connections to consciousness isn't enough, Koch said. For example, such connections don't explain why the cerebellum, the part of the brain at the back of the skull that coordinates muscle activity, doesn't give rise to consciousness, while the cerebral cortex (the brain's outermost layer) does. This is the case even though the cerebellum contains more neurons than the cerebral cortex.

Nor do these studies explain how to tell whether consciousness is present, such as in brain-damaged patients, other animals or even computers.  [Super-Intelligent Machines: 7 Robotic Futures]

Neuroscience needs a theory of consciousness that explains what the phenomenon is and what kinds of entities possess it, Koch said. And currently, only two theories exist that the neuroscience community takes seriously, he said.

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