Noon Laam

  بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم YOU HAD IT COMING, PAL. .الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): إنّ البلاءَ للظّالمِ أدبٌ “Misfortune is a form of discipline for the wrongdoer.” Imam Ali (a) (Bihar Al Anwar V. 81) We all must have heard this frequently used word in conversation with our peers. Karma is a spiritual principle of cause and effect where the intent and actions of an individual (cause) influence the future of that individual (effect). Good intent and good deeds contribute to a good future and, while bad intent and bad deeds contribute to a bad future. The theory of karma can be thought to be an extension to Newton's third law of action and reaction where every action of any kind including words, thoughts, feelings, the totality of our existence, will eventually have a reaction, the same type of energy coming back to the one that caused it. In terms of spiritual development, Karma is not about punishment or reward. It makes a person responsible for their own life, and how they treat...

  بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم SMART ENOUGH? .الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): الأدبُ في الإنسانِ كشَجَرةٍ أصلُها العقلُ “Good manners in man resemble a tree whose root is the mind.” Imam Ali (a) (Ibn Abi Al Hadid) Ethics have always been linked with intellect. Possessing good moral values is an indication of having a great mind. History is littered with examples of brilliant scientists, mathematicians, artists, and musicians who inflicted deep misery on those whose chauvinist or racist beliefs would shock us today. In the Hebrew Bible, for example, “the fool” is a moral category more than an intellectual one.  Imam Ali (a) said, ‘Everything needs the mind, and the mind needs good manners.’[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 6911] Good moral virtues are water to the tree of wisdom, which means they’re directly proportional to each other. One surely has more capacity to absorb knowledge if he s/he is a person of character.  Imam Ali (a) said, ‘O Believer! This knowledge and good manners are...

بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم WHO IS THE CULPRIT? .الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): مِن الفَسادِ (المَفسَدَةِ) إضاعَةُ الزادِ، ومَفسَدَةُ المَعادِ “Verily, from corruption comes the loss of sustenance and hereafter.” Imam Ali (a) (Al Kafi) Today, millions of people are starving to death. They’re denied their most basic right to food. Around the world, 821 million people do not have enough of the food they need to live an active, healthy life. Around 9 million people die every year of hunger and hunger-related diseases. This is more than from AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined... One in every nine people goes to bed hungry each night, including 20 million people currently at risk of famine in South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, and Nigeria. People suffering from chronic hunger are plagued with recurring illnesses, developmental disabilities, and low productivity. They are often forced to use all their limited physical and financial resources just to put food on the table....

بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم HIS ME-TIME The sun sets and the night covers you with a thousand stars and an inexplicable warmth of its cool soothing breeze. And you suddenly know that the best part of your day has begun, your 'me-time'. When the birds fly back to their nests, people return to their homes, taking a deep breath of relief. When the families come together safe and sound where love can be felt in the atmosphere. When a reader grabs a literary masterpiece with a cup of coffee, and a cinephile plays an exciting hit with a bowl full of popcorns. When the spiritual meditate with relaxing shamanic music and the religious worship their Lord, reciting the holy scriptures. When two lovers experience each other's presence beneath the veil of deep silence, when a baby sleeps calmly on his mother's chest, when a child gives her father a tight hug after a long day of waiting, and when a loner immerses into solitude, there's someone out there whose 'my time...