NEWSLETTER

Tuesday, 03 Shawwal 1433 H / 21 August 2012

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ON a school trip one day, Amir left his friends and began to wander about amongst the trees. As he was leaning against a tree and resting, a voice came from a log on the ground.

"Hello Amir," said the voice, "Are you tired out?"
Amir couldn't believe his ears. When he looked carefully at the log, he noticed a creature that was so close to it in colour that he had difficulty in telling which was which.

"Who are you?" he asked. "I had real trouble spotting you - your colour and the colour of the log you're sitting on are exactly the same!"

"I'm a chameleon," said the creature, which rather resembled a lizard. "I change my colour according to my surroundings to protect myself from danger."

"How do you manage such a wonderful thing?" asked Amir, intrigued.
"Let me explain," said his new friend. "I have special colouring substance called 'chromatophore' in my skin. This allows me to change my colour to match my surroundings. This colour change comes about through the distribution and collection of various substances and pigments in my nervous system. So even though I move very slowly, I can live unnoticed and safely wherever I may be. Of course, this ability was given to me by our Almighty Lord, Who provides us with everything we need."

Amir was not sure he quite understood, "Could you please tell me a bit more about how you change colour?"

The chameleon took a deep breath and nodded: "When I'm sitting on a leafy branch in daylight I turn green with black and brown markings, like the shadows on the branches around me. When it's dark I'm completely black. I can carry out all these colour changes within 15 minutes. When I'm angry though, I develop dark orange spots and dark red markings as a warning to other animals."
"That is really unbelievable!" cried Amir. "I wonder what else is special about you?"

His friend smiled happily. "My eyes move independently of one another. I can look backwards and downwards. Of course, I wouldn't have had any of these characteristics if Allah had not wanted me to. Allah created me and gave me everything I need to survive."
Amir looked a bit closer. "It's quite hard to make your eyes out."

"So that my eyes don't attract the attention of enemies, Allah covered them completely with scales so they look like the rest of my head. As you can see, when Allah created me, He designed me in the best possible way to deal with whatever might happen to me."

"From now on," said Amir, "I'll look more carefully at things around me. I won't forget to pray to our great and powerful Lord when I see the clear proofs of His existence in nature. Thank you."
"Bye bye, Amir!" said the chameleon as it disappeared back into its surroundings once more.

That is Allah, your Lord. There is no god but Him, the Creator of everything. So worship Him. He is responsible for everything. Eyesight cannot perceive Him but He perceives eyesight. He is the All-Penetrating, the All-Aware. (Surat al-An‘am: 102-103)

Mankind! You are the poor in need of Allah whereas Allah is the Rich Beyond Need, the Praiseworthy. (Surah Fatir: 15)

Commentary: These things are mentioned because it is not a burden upon the one who gives these presents and by refusing, one may at times offend the giver. All these things are included in those which are simple and do not burden the one that presents it. By pillow, some Ulama say it means presenting a pillow, as it does not burden a person. Some Ulama say that it is just for one’s use while sitting, lying, sleeping, leaning, etc.

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  As at (20/08/2012)

* Close call for doctor during robbery - Three men were injured on Sunday at a Soweto doctor’s office in Protea Glen in what police said was an attempted robbery.

* Man chained to desk over electricty - A Bloemfontein businessman desperate for electricity chained himself to the desk of a secretary at the city’s power utility Centlec, Die Volksblad newspaper reported on Monday.

* Bank seeks clarity over debt ruling - The Supreme Court of Appeal has been approached to chart the way forward for banks dealing with defaulting homeowners after conflicting judgments caused confusion in legal circles.

* Suspended death sentence for Bo Xilai's wife - A Chinese court has confirmed handing down a suspended death sentence for Gu Kailai, the wife of fallen politician Bo Xilai, for murdering a British businessman.

* Eid in Syria marred by fighting - Dozens of people were reported killed across Syria on the first day on the Muslim Eid a;-Fitr holiday, as clashes between the army and rebels continued.

MUTTON KURMA
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1 kg mutton - 2 onions sliced - 5 Tbsp ghee or oil - Spices (tuj, lavang, elachi powder) - 3 Tbsp ginger/garlic masala - Pinch of arad - 1 tsp dry dhana - Salt to taste - 1 small plain yogurt - 1 tin coconut milk - 1 tin tomatoes - ½ cup cashew nuts or almonds (chopped).

Method
Make a vagaar with the ghee, onions and nuts until onions are oink in colour then remove from heat.
Marinate mutton with the yogurt for a while.
Liquidize the vagaar with the coconut milk and tomatoes until fine.
In a pot, braise the spices and when the aroma arises add the mutton and liquidized mixture and allow to boil till meat is well done and sauce is thick.
Garninsh with green dhannia.

AL-IMDAAD FOUNDATION

An Ulema guided NGO, The Al-Imdaad Foundation is a non-profit humanitarian aid agency registered in the Republic of South Africa. Working through five international branch offices, The Al-Imdaad Foundation has left it’s humanitarian footprint in over 40 countries in its brief 9 year history.

Visit www.alimdaad.com for more information.

"Good News! We have agreed on a new deal with the management. We will no longer work four days a week."

"Hooray!” goes the crowd.

"We will finish work at 4 PM, not 5 PM."

"Hooray!” goes the crowd, again.

"We will start work at 10 AM, not 9 AM."

"Hooray!"

"We have a 150% pay rise."

"Hooray!"

"We will only work on Wednesdays."

Silence... then a voice from the back asks, "Every Wednesday?"

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