Mustafa’s Weblog

The latest presentation at UCLA on May 28, 2009.The PowerPoint 

After Facebook banned pictures of women breastfeeding their babies, there has been a backlash against the internet company. Activists gathered in front of the Facebook building and sang: “our breasts aren’t porn.” The question arises then: whose breasts are? Read MoreLesson: Moral values differ with time and place. However, there must be an agreed upon standard for the good of the society. The definition of this standard, if left to irresponsible people, or to “the masses”, would result in moral anarchy, as has been seen in many historical societies.

Studies show that teenagers who take a pledge to delay sex until they get older end up breaking them. Read MoreLesson: When a male and female are alone together, “things” happen. 

A Swedish alcohol company produced a video about the harmful effects of alcohol. Since the other solutions to stopping alcohol consumption didn’t work, here’s a novel idea. Watch Here

A study by the National Cancer institute found that exercising can reduce the risk of cancer by as much as 20 percent. Researchers believe the link might lie in the fact that exercise affects hormone levels, immune function, and body weight. Also, not sleeping enough can cause memory problems, induce depression, and weaken the immune system. Full story

Lessons: Making small changes in our lifestyle can have amazing effects. 

A 19 year old male committed suicide in front of a live streaming webcam. Some people were urging him on by saying things like, “go ahead and do it, faggot.” His reason was posted on a website, “I have let everyone down and I feel as though I will never change or never improve. I am in love with a girl and I know that I am not good enough for her. I have come to believe that my life has all been meaningless. I keep trying and I keep failing.” After users watching the stream noticed that his body was not moving for a while, they notified the police, who traced his I.P. address, but it was too late. Full story 

Lessons: To have meaning in life is one of the essential conditions of being human. Without it, people have no other reason to live, and take their own lives. Also, it’s easier to say stupid things on the internet where you are virtually anonymous, but that shouldn’t be a reason to be irresponsible. 

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that obese people can have two seats on an airline for the price of one. Full Story 

Lessons: Defending the rights of certain groups of people does nothing to help them solve their problems. In fact, it might even help them to justify themselves.

A booklet titled “Gems of Wisdom From the Prophet of Islam” has been published and distributed freely. This was a small project where we collected enough money to print about 1500 copies of the pocket-book. We appreciate your feedback of what you think about the book and regarding other future projects that might be of use. Please email gemsofwisdom@mustafaumar.com or leave a comment on this post.Note: There is an error in the arabic text on page 22 where the first word should read لَيسَ and not يسَ (the ل is missing) and also on page 12 where أَخَشَى should read أَخْشَى

“Knowledge is power, but it is power for evil just as much as for good. It follows that unless man increases in wisdom as much as in knowledge, increase of knowledge will be increase of sorrow.”

Bertrand Russell (Impact of Science on Society, pg. 120)