We Preach by Spamming

Once upon a time, I stumbled upon an online Quran application, back then I was studying human-computer interaction as a part of my MSc. degree, so I commented on twitter that most of the online Quran readers need to reconsider their design from a usability point of view.

Since then, and I receive dozens of spam tweets each day. They come from different people, yet they all contain the exact same message.

My only interpretation for this is that Quran.ksu.edu.sa has an application that those pople trust and it uses their accounts to send those spammy messages to me.

I sent multiple spam reports to twitter, yet they don't even respond. Isn't it strange that some applications think that it is ok to abuse the trust of their users and spam someone in order to grab his attention to give them feedback about their application!? Isn't it disappointing that twitter don't give a shit to my daily spam reports!?

About Last Night's Twitter Hacking

This is old news now, you all know that Twitter has been hacked last night, and it's back to normal operation now.

Mashable reports that Twitter has been hacked by a group called the ‘Iranian Cyber Army’, which took over the microblogging site and added its own text; logos; and images to the site. via mediaupdate.co.za

In fact I wanted here to clarify some issues, as I've seen many twitter users so worried and some of them decided to change their passwords there. The point is, the so called 'Iranian Cyber Army' didn't crack twitter servers nor their database or anything, what they've done was just a DNS hijack. As you know each computer (server) on the internet is reachable via it's IP Address, and since we are too lazy to remember all those IP's, we reach servers via their Names, i.e. instead of typing http://168.143.162.36 we type http://twitter.com, and DNS servers are there to translate the twitter.com to 168.143.162.36 for us. Now what the hackers have done was that they hijacked the DNS servers and made it translate http://twitter.com to their own server's IP Address, and that's it. So, I believe no one was able to touch your password, and you are not supposed to be worried.



Now, let's do our non-Arabic speakers a favor and translate the banners for them.

What's written in blue there is as follows:
فإن حزب الله هم الغالبون
This is a phrase from the Holy Quraan, and it means "The party of God are the victorious ones", or "Those who belong to God are the victorious ones". By the way, the word "Party of God", is Hezbollah in Arabic, which gives the phrase another meaning, "Hezbollah are the victorious ones".
This phrase is part of an Ayah - i.e. verse - that calls people to obey God, Prophet Muhammad, and those who give money to the poor while praying - referring to Imam Ali. It then states that those who obeys them and belong to God will be victorious.
As you can see here, the whole Ayah has a special significance to the Shia, and may be that's why those Iranian Cyber Hackers decided to use it.

Now let's have a look at the phrase written in red on the green flag:
يا حسين
This is a phrase that means "Oh Hussain", or "Dear Hussain". Hussain is the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, and he is also the son of Ali. Now let's have a look at our calendars. Today is the first day of the Islamic Hijry year, and it is also the first day of the ten days of Ashura, where the Shia remember the martyrdom of Al Hussain, and most probably this is why the flag was included in the banner.

So in brief, it seems to me that the ones who hacked twitter belongs to the Iranian system, or at least sympathize with it. And they used the religious slogans mentioned above to deliver a message to the internet users worldwide via twitter that the Iranian regime are the party of God, and they shall be victorious sooner or later.

Update: Oh wait a moment, they wrote some text there, "Now Which Country is embargo list? Iran? Usa?". So my guessings were right :)

Tags: Twitter, DNS, Iran, Islam, Gr33n Data

Egyptian Blogoshpere Review - 8 October 2007

The Egyptian Blogger Amr Gharbeia, sent an Email on the Egyptian Bloggers Mailing List today asking us to participate in Global Voices Online, by translating some of the Egyptian Blog Posts written in Arabic during the last few days into English, in order to help the Egyptian Blogospher get more coverage there. So, I'll give it a try here and looking forward to hearing your feedback. I'll select some posts from the Egyptian Blogs I am subscribed to in Google Reader, and will write a brief about each post if needed and then translate parts of them.

One of the main events was on the 7th of October, when many newspapers, mainly independent ones, decided not to appear on that day in order to show their stand against the detention of the Egyptian Journalists who were detained for publishing news about the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak which came out not to be true. Many Egyptian Bloggers (may be hundreds of them) decided not to post anything on that day as well. Most of them put logos showing their solidarity with the Egyptian Journalists, while some Blogs such as Kareem El Beheiry of "Egyptian-Workers" decided to write a short paragraph about it.

"The Egyptian Workers Blog decided to be closed today in solidarity with the respected newspapers which are not going to appear on news-stands on Sunday, as Blogging is considered to be related to Journalism. We are also going to boycott the the National - Governmental - Newspapers because of their failure to publish what really matters the Egyptian citizens, and for not standing with those newspapers asking for freedom of speech, and for their continuous submission to the government. And we ask you to boycott them, and on top of those newspapers comes Al-Ahram and Al-Gumhureya", Egyptian Workers Blog.

Another main event was the Anniversary of The Sixth of October War which took place between Egypt - ehm Arabs - and Israel. Zeinobia decided to share with her readers a link for an Arabic Web-Site dedicated to the war.

You sure know that the Israelis have succeeded in converting the Egyptian victory in October war into a defeat using their non-stopping propaganda. And you know, many Arabs - We normally use the term Arabs to refer to the rest of the Arab Nations excluding Egypt, and some times we use it to refer to the Gulf Countries in specific - as well share the same view with the Israelis.

So it is our task as Egyptians to publish the truth and not to be bored from doing this even if nobody listens to us for hundred years. Because this is the least we can do for those great men who didn't hesitate to pay their own lives in order to liberate our land and re-gain our national dignity.
Zeinobia, Waqaee Masreyah

And here comes one of my favourites, a blog post about El Ahly football team, grrrrr. Beit El Reyadah, wrote about El Ahly qualification to the African Champions League final match.

"Not only congratulations to El Ahly fans, but also congratulations to all the Egyptian, as El Ahly football team was qualified to the final match of the African Champions League, and it will meet the Tunisian team Etoile Sahel there. And El Ahly will win Inshalla and will become the first team to be qualified for the third time to the FIFA Club World Cup championship", Beit El Reyadah.

Another controversial post by Malek - AKA MaLcoLM X - about federalism in Iraq.

"I know that this post is going to piss many of you off, and it will piss me off as well. But I can't stop myself from thinking.
What is the problem with dividing Iraq into federal states? Why are people everywhere complaining about it? And the most important question, if the majority of Iraqis are with federalism and they are going to vote for it in a democratic voting, what is our problem then?", MaLcoLM X.

Finally, an Egyptian Shiite activist was detained by the policy for nothing but for being Shiite. So Rasha - like many other bloggers - decided to write about this in her blog.

Reciting "Al Fateha" (a chapter from Quraan) in the third and fourth "Rakaas" (parts) of their prayers or not. "Tasbeeh" (calling the name of God) in the third and fourth "Rakaas" of their prayers or not. Calling Imam Ali an Iman in the first "Rakaa" of their prayer or not. Calling the names of the twelve Imams after their prayers or not. Praying on a carpet or on El Turbah El Husaineyah. Adding the phrase "Hayy Ala Khair El Ammal" in the "Azan" (call for prayer), like Sunnis adding the phrase "Al Salah Khayron Men Al Nawm" in their "Azan". Reciting "Duaa" after ending their prayers instead of "Tasleem".

I don't know how was the police detective able to accuse Muhammed El Durainy of saying "Tasbeeh" in his prayers?
He asked him about his prayers and beliefs, and then accused him of "Disrespecting Religions"!

Each time, and in each new case, the regime proves its fascism against those who are different from them.
Rasha, Ay Haga (Anything).

Tags: Egypt, Blogosphere, Gr33n Data

Jihad on Jihad

Jihad On You, it's yet another proof that social softwares can be totally pointless.

"Jihad on you! is a social website based on venting the frustrations we all feel on a daily basis by declaring a holy war against anything and everything that annoys us, no matter how petty or insignificant. Obviously the whole idea is a bit toungue-in-cheek", Jihad On You!

In this site you declare holy wars on stuff you hate in your life and people can see wars created by others, and use digg-style voting system in order to vote for the wars they like.

But wait a minute, why did they use the term "Jihad". Did the creators of this site choose an Islamic term in order to tease us? They even have a logo with a skull and bones in it like those used by pirates. Let's face it, those Scandinavians painters who drew Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), gained international fame by teasing us. And at the end of the day, people like me may find themselves forced to write about them in their blogs. May be others will arrange demonstrations and keep cursing them on TV and organize speeches to tell people the true meaning of Jihad. What a brilliant free marketing campaign for a silly web site!!?

"We’re not entirely sure how wise it is to borrow an Islamic religious term, and a somewhat twisted translation of its true meaning, in this post-9/11 world as your site’s title. It would strike us as a quick way to annoy a significant portion of the world’s population before you even get off the ground", Mashable.

"This is a great site, because the name is so random/offensive, that it will go viral in the blogosphere, bringing in tons of traffic. Kudos to the owner!", Mashable - Comment by Collin LaHay.

But don't you think that we are responsible for this!? We never tried to stop Bin Laden et al. from attacking civilians in the name of Jihad. We never tried to tell others that this is not Jihad, nor even Islam. We also continued to prove to everyone that we are as silly as children and all what they have to do is to tease us and will will start burning their countries' flags and demonstrate everywhere.

Finally, let me ask you, don't you have anything in your mind now that you want to declare a holy war on?! ;)

Tags: JihadOnYou, Islam, Web 2.0, Gr33n Data

Happy Ramadan

Tags: Ramadan, Devil, Gr33n Data

Hasheesh Detained

Dr. Essam Hasheesh, used to teach us Waves in college. He is one of those great doctors that we had there, and I used to like the exams he put, as he focused more on the concepts instead of the unimportant and exhausting details. Anyway, I knew today that he was arrested by the government, in a Muslim Brotherhood related crackdown.

The Brotherhood said that those arrested on Sunday included Mohamed Ali Bashar, a member of the Brotherhood's Guidance Office which acts as its executive, as well as Essam Hashish, an engineering professor at Cairo University.
Source: Reuters Alert Net

I know nothing about his political background, but definitely it is a sad news to me.

Tags: Egypt, Engineering, Gr33n Data

Sectarian Stupidity

During Saddam's execution there were some voices heard cheering with stuff like "Go to hell", and "Moktada! Moktada! Moktada!" in reference to the Shiite cleric, Moktada al-Sadr.

Muqtada El-Sadr has a great influence in Baghdad, especially in the poor areas there. He has inherited such popularity there from his father which was Executed by Saddam Hussein. On the other hand, the Sunni scholars issued fatwas earlier asking Sunni people not to join the Iraqi police nor Army, and the result was the presence of many Mugtada's supporters in the Iraqi police especially in Baghdad where the execution took place.

Also, as you all know, most of police soldiers everywhere are uneducated. You can see this video of an Egyptian soldier who wasn't able to answer questions such as, "When was the war of 6th of October 1973?", and "Who are the two countries that participated in the war that was between Egypt and Israel?". But wait a minute, I don't think those guards have to be super smart to know that it is inappropriate to cheer with such stuff during the execution. They don't have to have Phd's in order to know that, as a members of the Iraqi government, they are supposed to be loyal to Iraq and not to a specific movement or party there.

"I don't know but in all ways the execution of Saddam will enrich more the Sectarian division with the "Muqtada" cheer leaders ,I think that leaked video reached out to the Internet in order to make things worst in Iraq , create more cracks and holes in the unity of Iraq between the Sunni and Shiite", Zeinobia

ِAnd that's why the Iraqi government decided to open an investigations regarding this.

Sami al-Askari, a political adviser to Mr. Maliki who attended the hanging, said in a telephone interview that the committee would question everyone present at the execution. He said those who used their cellphones to record the event would be one focus of the inquiry. He said his own observation was that the worst sectarian taunts had come from a guard he described as a poorly educated Shiite man with a thick Arabic accent. "It was horrible, it was terrible, it was a mistake," he said. "We were supposed to sit there quietly, just looking at what’s going on."
Source, New York Times.

On the other hand, another stupid move, but this time from someone who is supposed to be educated. It was top Saudi cleric this time, Abdul Rahman al-Barak, who issued religious edict declaring Shiites to be infidels. By the way, Is Abdul Rahman al-Barak related to Ehud Barak, or it is just similarity in their names!?

"A top Saudi Arabian Sunni cleric on Friday declared Shiites around the world to be infidels who should be considered worse than Jews or Christians, the latest sign of increasing sectarianism in the Middle East", International Herald Tribune.

Mr. Barak was smart enough to kill two birds with one stone as you can see. First of all this edict, Fatwa, is considered as a green light for the Iraqi Terrorist group to kill Shiit people there.And guess what they will be defending their religion from its *enemies*, by killing innocent people everywhere. On the other hand, you sure can see the effect of a phrase such as "worse than Jews or Christians", especially on those countries inhibited by Muslims and Christians like Egypt for example. Hey you Egyptian people, you don't have much Shiits here to kill, but you can kill the Christians, because Islam is in real danger! So smart, huh!?

Tags: Iraq, Islam, Christians, Saudia, Sunnis, Shiits, Sectarian, Saddam, Gr33n Data

Happy Eid

Happy Eid El Adha to all of you, and wish you all the best.

By the way, Engy, AKA Donzella, has told me that the post I wrote last November under the name "Happy Eid", it was Eid El Fetr then, is number 6 out of 1,770,000 results when you search for the words "Happy" and "Eid" in Google.

It seems that the Iraqi government has decided to execute Saddam Hussein tonight, after one hour from now or so, on Eid Al Adha's Eve. You may call it the Iraqi government's present - Eideyah - to the Iraqi people. I know that it is sad news for some Arabs here, those who I prefer to call them "Saddam Widows". If you watch channels such as Al-Arabiya , and Al-Jazeera. And if you read those Arabist newspapers such as Al-Quds Al-Araby you will know exactly what I am talking about. They are trying to find excuses, and reasons why Saddam is not supposed to be executed. They accuse his trial , and call it a biased one. They are even saying silly stuff, such as, he is not supposed to be executed in a holiday! They also war the Iraqis that Saddam's execution my lead to more violence in Iraq. I really can't get their point. These people curse every single Arabic leader every single day, they wish to see them all hanged up. So why the hell do they hate to see one of the worst Arabic leaders being punished for his deeds!?

Tonight I went to the cinema to see the movie, Al-Raheena, it's an Egyptian "Action" movie. You know, there is a famous expression used here in Egypt, which is "Kessa Walla Manazer?", it literally means "Script or Scenes?". I think this movie is a scene one. It's director, Sandra Nashaat, is really talanted. I like her shots so much. And for sure the presence of the Lebanese actress Nour there makes you feel happy beacuse God gave you eyes to see with. But on the other hand, the script sucks, as well as the acting there.

Tomorrow there will be a very important football match here in the Egyptian league. It's El-Zamalk vs. El-Ahly, the Egyptian most famous derby. Best wishes for El-Zamalek, my favorite football team.

Update, Injis has a nice review for Al-Raheena movie on her blog. You can read it here.

Tags: Eid, Arabia, Islam, Iraq, Google, Gr33n Data

No for Xmas Greetings

My Salafy friend sent me an Email a couple of days ago warning me not to celebrate the Christmas, nor even send greetings to those who are going to celebrate it. And if I do so, I'll be "Kafer", and will be sent right to hell.

Those Salafy people have real problems with dealing with others. They cannot accept that people are just different. They also have a severe problem with religion, for them religion is really shallow, and many simple deeds are enough to stamp you as a non believer and "Kafer".

Update, 25/12/2006:
Merry Christmas to you all.

Tags: Religion, Xmas, Christmasmas, Gr33n Data

Sitcom, Being Muslim Over There

A new Canadian comedy series called "Little Mosque on the Prairie", is being aired. It tries to explore the funny side of being a Muslim and adapting to life in post 9/11 North America.

[A] young man of evidently Pakistani or Indian origin is standing in an airport line, gesticulating emphatically as he says into his cellphone, "If Dad thinks that’s suicide, so be it", adding after a pause, "This is Allah’s plan for me."
As might be expected, a cop materializes almost instantly and drags the man off, telling him that his appointment in paradise will have to wait, even though the suicide he is referring to is of the career kind; he’s giving up the law to pursue a more spiritual occupation.
The scene unrolls early in the pilot of a new Canadian comedy series called "Little Mosque on the Prairie".
Source: The New York Times.

In fact, I didn't see a single episode of this series, however I think it's healthy to have something like this in the western media, that may replace the Terrorist Moslems stereotype, especially that the writer is a Canadian Muslim of Pakistani origin.

Tags: Media, Canada, Islam, Gr33n Data

Happy Ramadan

Many thank to Bluelue, who sent me this image.
Related:
Gr33nData, Fanous Ramadan
Gr33nData, El Mesaharaty

Divine Justice

I've received the following comment on my post about "The pope Benedict XVI speech controversy", by an anonymous user. And here you are a part of it.

The second, very important issue was about God / Allah and His properties. B16 said, that Muslims believe in a completely transcedent God, free of all human determinations while Christians believe that God (the same one, btw) has ethics / morale conforming to the human one because in the Genesis (which is part of Muslim belief too, afaik) God creates human beings in His image, which doesn't mean, as Christians think, that God looked like a man but that He gave His ethics / morale to the human race. This, as Jews and Greek people understand, leads to the judgement of human deeds after death. How can a human being reach paradise if s/he doesn't know whats right or wrong in the eyes of the creator?

First of all I'd like to thank this anonymous user for pointing to such important issue, which is God's Justice according to the Islamic point of view. Actually what I've got from his comment is that the Islamic point of view for this subject differs than the other religions, where God is beyond Justice and Ethics, and His deeds are not always just according to our own morals and ethics. While Christians for example think that humans have inherited God's morals and that's why His deeds conform to our morals as humans.

The problem with non-muslims is that they don't know much about the Islamic Sects, especially those ones related to theology, or what we call here Elm El Kalam, علم الكلام , Science of Speech.

There were two major schools of Elm El Kalam, the Ash'ari school and the Mu'tazili one. And each of them have their own point of view regarding the subject of God's Justice. According to Murtaza Motahhari's book "Al Adl Al Elahi", العدل الإلهي , or Divine Justice, The Ash'aris belive that justice doesn't have a solid definition that can be used in order to evaluate God's deeds, as God is the creator of everything including morals and ethics and that's why He cannot be subject to a rule created by Himself. The Mu'tazilis on the other hand belive that Justice has its solid definition, and because God is just he makes His deeds and laws subject it. Which is by the way simillar some how to what Mr. Anonymous has called the Christians, Jews, and Greek people point of view.

The Mu'tazilis may not exsist today anymore, and there may be other Islamic Theological schools today other than those two, but they all share the same point of view whith either the Ash'aris or the Mu'tazilis. The Imami's (Shiits) for example share the same point of view with the Mu'tazilis in this subject. The Maturidis, Wahabis/Salafis [Fixme] on the other hand share the same point of view with the Ash'aris in it.

References:
Wikipedia, Divisions of Islam
Wikipedia, Modern Islamic philosophy
Morteza Motahhari's Al Adl Al Elahi

Tags: Islam, Religion, Theology, Christianity, Divine Justice Ash'ari, Mu'tazili, Gr33n Data

A Speech, An Apology, and What Else!?

Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy began when Pope Benedict XVI of the Roman Catholic Church gave a lecture on 12 September 2006 at his alma mater, the University of Regensburg in Germany. The lecture was entitled, "Faith, Reason and the University – Memories and Reflections".
The speech was about Holy War, and how true faith isn't supposed to be spread by force. As part of his explication of this distinction, Benedict referred to the specific aspect of Islam that Manuel II considered irrational, namely the practice of forced conversion. Specifically, the Pope quoted Manuel II Palaiologos as saying: "Show me just what Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him and His Family) brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
First of all, I belive that cursing, and attacking a couple of churches here and there is not an appropriate response at all. I think using *reason*, and documented response that proves our point of view is the best thing that we shall do now.
I don't think an apology from the Pope is needed because what he said has hurted our feelings, we all know that he has different beliefs than ours and he has the right to criticise ours. However an apology is needed here becuse of his ignorance of Islam. He quoted Manuel II Palaiologos saying that Islam didn't bring anything new but evil and inhuman values. If he is speaking about those general values such as honesty, truth, charity, care for others, etc. then he may be right. But no other religion on earth has invented such values too. Even those man-made religions have the same values, they are there since forever. On the other hand, we may find topics such as the Unity of God, Self Descipline, Relation between humans and God, etc. those topics were covered by Islam in more details than any other religion. We may also find rules concernign Marriage, Zakah (Giving mone to the poor), and many other rules that affect our everyday life, that many other religions don't have. Now, let me ask what are those evil values that he thinks that Islam has brought. I think he need to differentiate between Islam as a religion, and Muslims deeds. Even those deeds are differs from one location to another, and from one age to the previous one. I guess reading a book or two about Islam are not going to hurt, and even if he doesn't have enough money to buy them, there are public libraries out there as well as the Internet. Actually, I have the feeling that the Popes view for Islam, is formed from the TV Shows and the media.
One more thing, about the Islam being spread by the sword. I don't think those thousands who are converted to Islam from all over the world now a days took such decision because of a sword or even a nuclear bomb. After giving the speech, and seeing the Muslim world reaction towards it, especially the quoted part in it, he said that it's not his own words, but he was just using Manuel II Palaiologos ones. Come on, it's obvious from reading the speech that he used his words just beacuse he believe in them, he also used them in order to make a point. And I think he doesn't need me to tell him that there is a huge difference between saying something said by someone else is order to reply on it, and saying it because you just agree with it.
Now, with respect to the apology, as I said before, we don't want him to apologize just because what he said has hurted our feelings, we are not asking him to be a hypocrite, and say stuff he doesn't belive in just to please us. We just want him to read more about Islam, and to apologize for his ignorance of Islam, if he finds himslef really ignorant of it.
Finally, I am sick of that attitude, when people say something, and after seeing your reaction they apologize even when they are not convinced with it. And after a while they repeat the same thing again and again. What's the point of this Yo-yo attitude!?

Related Posts:
On Pope Benedicts' XVI speach
As a Christian, I also need Pope Benedict to Apologize and Explain
Oh Lord! Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Another Danish Cartoons-style crisis

Tags: Islam, Christianity, Pope, Vatican, Gr33n Data

History of Zionism, Israel and US Support

Dr Abdallah schleifer, Distinguished Lecturer in Mass Communication and Director of the Adham Center for Television Journalism at AUC, is a veteran journalist who has covered the Middle East for American and Arab media for more than 20 years. Schleifer, is also an American Jew who turned in his leftist political credentials decades ago to convert to Islam, has been promoting "Islamic Journalism" for years as an alternative to the "destabilizing" Western model of intrusiveness and exposure.

Sources:
Adham Center for Television Journalism, AUC
Covering Islam in Egypt by James J. Napoli

Tags: Zionism, USA, Israel, Middle East, Gr33n Data

The Evening of Ashura

The Evening of Ashura, by Mahmoud Farshchian

This is one of the most famous paintings representing the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (PBUH) at Karbalaa in the 10th of Muharram 61 AH (approx. 20 October 680 AD). The ladies with the now masterless horse - Zuljana - weeping after the martyrdom of the Imam.
The painting is called "The evening of Ashura" and is drawn by the Iranian artist Mahmoud Farshchian.

Tags: Religion, Islam, Ashura, Gr33nData

The Uncivilized Vikings

I like drawing, especially cartoons and anime. And I really think that a cartoonist can deliver a message with his brush, a 100 lines article can't deliver. But like any other writer he must know that there is a big difference between speaking freely, and being a real ass hole. The point is that you can say whatever you want, without insulting the others. And that's why "we were deeply shocked seeing a Danish newspaper (Jyllands Posten) offending almost 1 billion Muslims around the world by publishing a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed - PBUH&HF - seen as a terrorist carrying bombs on his head!

Tags: Denmark, Ethics, Gr33n Data

Happy Eid

It's been announced that Eid Ul Fetr - End of Ramadan Feast - will be next Thursday here in Egypt, and I think many other countries as well, so I'd like to wish you all the best and a happy Eid.

Tags: Eid, Ramadan, Gr33n Data