Ramadan is Still Alive

Eid days have flied by us as we were celebrating, and I hope we don’t forget about all the good deeds we’ve done forour societies and our families, and that we should be proud of what we have accomplished during Ramadan. This month was a chance to really look at ourselves and clear up as many bad habits as we can. Ramadan is a month in which we renew our commitment and strengthen it to Allah and His religion.

We fast, give to charity, read Qur’an and pray Qiyam; we avoid telling lies and gossip; we pretty much do our very best to avoid sin. But as now that Ramadan has ended, the majority of us will revert to what we were before Ramadan had started, and the Qur’an will return to its wrong place, the shelves, fasting will be postponed until next year and Qiyam prayer will be completely forgotten. These acts help you to be a better person, award you, so why should they be limited to Ramadan?

It’s sad that most people read Qur’an only duringRamadan, and by not reading them we are missing the blessing, and the good deeds we are rewarded by reading said words. Allah says, “There is no doubt in this Book.” (Qur’an 2:2). The Messenger of Allah peace be upon him said, "Whoever reads a harf (letter) of the book of Allah shall have a good deed (recorded for him or her) and every good deed is increased a ten-fold (reward). I do not say that alif lam meem is a harf, but that alif is a harf, lam is a harf and meem is a harf," (Tirmithi) And he also said, peace be upon him: “read the Qur’an, it comes the Day of Resurrectioninterceding for its companions” (Muslim). One of the best ways to draw close to Allah is by reciting his words. AbuSa'eed may Allah be pleased with him narrates that prophet Mohammed peace be upon him said "Almighty Allah says; ‘If anybody finds no time for My remembrance and for begging favors of Me, because of his remaining busy with the Qur’an, I shall give him more than what I give to all those who beg favors of Me. The superiority of the Word of Allah over all other words is like the superiority of Allah over the entire creation’" (Tirmidhi, Bayhaqi)

Qiyam, the night prayer, isn’t restricted to Ramadan only;Allah is watching over you all year, and He will look over you in the middle of the night while praying no matter what month you were praying in. Aisha report, May Allah be pleased with her ”When the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would miss his prayers in the night due to pain or some other reason, he would pray twelve cycles (raka’ah) during the day.” This shows how important The Night Prayer is that even when the Prophet (PBUH) was sick, he replaced it with twelve raka’ah during the day.

As we all know, fasting is one of main actions during Ramadan, but there are also optional days to fast which areMondays and Thursdays, or the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth days of the hijri month. Fasting during Ramadan is an act of moral training and self-disciplining, Abu Hurayrahreported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,said “Fasting is a shield; so when one of you is fasting he should neither indulge in obscene language nor should he raise his voice in anger. If someone attacks him or insults him, let him say: ‘I am fasting’”(Muslim) Also, fasting in Ramadan serves as a protection for the Muslim from the Hell Fire, Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said “Anyone who fasts for one day for Allah's sake, Allah will keep his face away from the Hellfire for a distance covered by a journey of seventy years.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

​Thankfully, many of us live a life of relative comfort, but not all of us live under the same circumstances, others can’t even provide basic life needs, such as food or shelter. During Ramadan, most of us give to charity, but we forget about charitiesduring the rest of the year. If we give what we love for the pleasure of helping mankind with the faithfulness to Allah, He will reward us back, replace it with more, and therefore increase it. Giving and helping those in need is established in Islam and for that, we must always remind ourselves to provide help for those less fortunate. They need help, not only in Ramadan, but also during the course of the year. Remember,the Almighty promises us that if we teach ourselves to give in times of ease and hardship, our sustenance will increase. By giving, we remain thankful to what Allah provided for us and share it with our brothers and sisters who are in need.

Faris Alothimin

Twitter: @AlothiminFaris

Street Art Acceptance in Saudi Arabia

By Faris Alothimin

(1)Shows how underground sewage system 

 remains a glaring infrastructural defect  

in Jeddah.
(2) “ This is God’s sea,” a clear  
protest against buying public open spaces.

      Today, there are many ways to express one’s self; expressions like these can be statements, drawings, or reflections that portray specific lifestyles. Street art is a form of art that became popular all over the world with urban areas as their main setting.  Street art is a form of art that developed in public spaces. The term street art is used more frequently to distinguish it from vandalism, territorial graffiti, and corporate art. The main difference between street art and graffiti is that the former is constructive and the latter is destructive. Street art is described by some people as nuisance, but is considered by others as a tool to communicate, share thoughts and views. Street art is also considered as a way to beautify and rejuvenate urban areas. Whether street art is regarded as vandalism or public art, street art caught the eyes of art lovers in the whole world.

(3)The west side of Berlin Wall had artwork  

covering the entire wall. The result is the colorful 

 expressions on the West side of the wall; in  

contrast, to the East’s dull side. These artworks  

came to symbolize the differences of the two societies.

     Along with YouTube, over the past two years, street art has become popular form of expression in Saudi Arabia. They are both mostly targeted by the youth and show some hidden issues in the society and reveal said issues in an artistic, comical way. In Jeddah, for example, murals, stencils, and installations are used to paste up and post art—street art has helped shape the cultural personality of the city. Socially, it changes areas to provide some personality, color, and texture. Unfortunately, businesses, architects, and developers don’t see the beauty of this art. Architects are innovative, and street art falls directly into that category. There are two contrasting views of street art in Saudi Arabia. The first view is that street art is a form of expression such as any other form of art. Street art, if done right can be used in many positive ways such as beautifying dull public areas and advertising in an exciting way. Street art gives its artists ways to express themselves, their ideas, and their feelings through the medium of art. They want to transfer art to a blank space and want to turn walls in to canvases.

(4) “The life cycle of a woman,” which  

shows the restrictions on Saudi Women  

when it comes to her life. The restrictions 

for her protection. 

     The second view is more dominant over the first. Many people in our community view street art as a form of vandalism and a criminal behavior that should be punished by the law. They believe that it’s one of the reasons that make public spaces undesirable and because of this, they choose not to see the artistic quality and creativity in some of these artworks. In Saudi Arabia, like in most countries, damaging a property with graffiti is considered an act of vandalism, and it’s punishable by the law. These artists can face large fines and possible imprisonment. This way is the most common way used by governments so they can deal with street artist. Due of this negative approach, there are no efforts that promote the positive impacts that this art has on a community. Neither the media, nor art galleries are promoting this kind of art. A positive impact that street art can offer is promoting public spaces and making it more desirable for people to come and enjoy their pieces of work, which in return can help local businesses.

 (5)Sarah Attar, the first Saudi Arabian

 track and field athlete at the Olympic

 Games.  This piece by @Shaweesh_ 

shows the utmost support for Attar who

 is an inspiration to other Saudi women

 interested in sports.

     The main challenge facing artists is getting their work noticed by others. Whether they do this by addressing controversial issues or by painting pictures in 3D. The main goal will always be to get people’s attention and touch their hearts through their art.

     Programs and galleries are needed to promote and educate people about the positive outcomes of street art. Although, the negative views of the society on street art are common, there are still many benefits that have been disregarded. Street art is an expression of one’s self. If society is not willing to accept this art, things will only get worse. Those artists only want a chance to be recognized as respectable artist, and sadly, their only canvas is the street.

مقتطفات من الجولة الثانية في كأس القارات ٢٠١٣

البرازيل 2-0 المكسيك *** إسبانيا 10-0 تاهيتي

           

  إيطاليا 4-3 اليابان  ***  الأوروغواي 2-1 نيجيريا

 مجددًا نيمار يستعرض بمهاراته و يقود البرازيل إلى نصف النهائي مبكرًا

ميسي اليابان (كاغاوا) يقدم مستوى رائع أمام إيطاليا و يسجل واحد من أجمل الأهداف في البطولة

سباستيان جوفينكو يسجل أول أهدافه مع المنتخب الإيطالي، و الأكثر أهمية أنه هذا الهدف قاد إيطاليا لمرافقة البرازيل إلى النصف النهائي

إسبانيا حطمت رقم البرازيل (٨ أهداف) لعدد الأهداف المسجلة في مباراة واحدة في كأس القارات و سجلوا عشر أهداف نظيفة أمام تاهيتي

سجل فرناندو توريس رباعية سهلة في مرمى تاهيتي، ليصبح هداف البطولة

سجل النجم دييغو فورلان هدفًا في مباراته الـ ١٠٠ مع منتخب بلاده وأهدى الأوروغواي فوزًا مهما على المنتخب النيجيري

رسميًا غادر كلًا  من تاهيتي و اليابان و المكسيك البطولة بعد تلقيهم هزيمتين في أولى لقاءاتهم في البطولة

بقلم: ماجد عطار

يمكنكم متابعة الكاتب عبر تويتر: @Majidola

FIFA Confederation Cup 2013 (2nd Round)

BRAZIL 2-0 MEXICO *** SPAIN 10-0 TAHITI

           

  ITALY 4-3 JAPAN  ***  URUGUAY 2-1 NIGERIA

Neymar once again shows his magic against Mexico
 and led Brazil to the semi-final!

Messi of Japan (Kagawa) had a great game
against Italy and scored an amazing goal. 

Sabastian Giovinco scored his first goal 
ever with his national team and that goal 
led Italy to reach the semi-final.

Spain break Brazil's record (8 goals) for most goals in a game by scoring 10 goals against Tahiti during the Confederation Cup tournament.

Fernando Torres scored an easy super hat rick against Tahiti and become the top scorer  of the tournament 

Diego Forlan scored in his 100th appearance with the
 national team and gave Uruguay an important win against Nigeria.   

By loosing for the second time Tahiti, Japan, and Mexico are officially out of the tournament  .

By: Majid Attar

You can follow the writer on Twitter: @Majidola

The Evolution of Soccer

Nowadays, soccer is the world wide’s most popular sport. Many people all over the world are crazy about this sport. In the last 20 years soccer has changed totally. It changed financially and popularly. Now, I am going to write about how soccer is becoming more popular in the world wide and the growth of the financial side of it.

   

First of all, soccer started in England in 1863. But, at that time Rugby (An English sport similar to American football) had  more popularity. At the beginning soccer was in the same association with rugby. Later, soccer split from rugby and became independent. In 1872, there was the first international soccer match. It was between England vs. Scotland and the match was watched by 4,000 spectators. This means that the popularity is still small. Years passed, soccer reach to different countries, so FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) decided to make an International soccer competition every 4 years. The wisdom is that they wanted to attract people from different countries, so they can increase the popularity of soccer. Soccer faced a large increasing in its popularity when soccer matches started presenting in TV.

Rungnado May Day Stadium, North Korea

In the last 20 years soccer has reached to all over the world. Millions of people watch soccer matches every week. World Cup 2006 in Germany recorded the largest number of attendance. 3,359,439 (52,491 per match) this is the number of the people who attended the matches at stadium in 2006 world cup. There is a larger number of people who watched the games from TV. Soccer popularity isn’t only increasing in males’ side; it’s increasing in females’ side. The number of people who attended Women’s world cup 1999 matches at stadiums was 1,194,215 (37,319 per match) people, which is a very large number. At this moment, there are more than ten soccer stadiums all over the world that can host more than 85,000 Spectators [Rungnado May Day Stadium, North Korea 150,000 spectators], [Salt Lake Stadium, India 120,000 spectators], [Estadio Azteca, Mexico 105,000 spectators], [Azadi Stadium, Iran 100,000 spectators], etc.

My second point is the growth of financial side of soccer. As everyone knows economy is growing in the whole world. It’s one of the most important things in people’s life if not the most important. Sports’ business is becoming one of the most important parts in economy. Soccer teams are spending hundreds of millions every year. Big companies spend a lot of money in soccer ads. Sports channels are spending so much money to get the right to present soccer competitions. This year, Sky Sports Channel (England) bought EPL’s (English Premier League) rights by almost £1.5 billion ($2.3 billion). Also, summer transfers market (Players transferring from teams to other teams) become more interesting than soccer matches. People want to see players transferring to new teams and how much do they cost. It’s really interesting for me. Every summer, I follow all soccer news accounts on twitter to be in touch with the latest news.

 Cristiano Ronaldo being presented at Santiago Bernabeu for the first time 

In summer 2009, the Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo moved from Manchester United (English team) to Real Madrid (Spanish team) with the cost of $130 million, which is the highest transfer fee in soccer history. A week after Real Madrid signed with Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid made the same amount of money that they spent on Ronaldo’s transfer from Real Madrid Shop Stores and stadium tickets. At the same year, Real Madrid bought the second most expensive soccer player “the Brazilian Ricardo Kaka”. Kaka cost Real Madrid $82.5 million. The total of Real Madrid’s costs in summer 2009 was $328 million, which is the most in soccer history.

In conclusion, I would like to say that soccer is becoming more popular and its financial side is becoming bigger. The number of people who watch soccer is increasing in the worldwide year by year. Soccer also becomes a very big business for businessmen. Soccer players are making a lot of money every year. In my opinion, soccer will be a major source of income for many countries in the future, and soccer popularity will be unimaginable.

By: Majid Attar
You can follow the writer on Twitter: @Majidola

مقتطفات من الجولة الأولى في كأس القارات ٢٠١٣

الجولة الـ ١:

البرازيل ٣-٠ اليابان *** أسبانيا ٢-١ الأروجواي

إيطاليا ٢-١ المكسيك *** نيجيريا ٦-١ تاهيتي

 بعد أن وضعوا عشاق السيليساو آمالهم فيه  رغم صغر سنه ، كان الموهوب نيمار جونيور عند حسن الظن، و تمكن من افتتاح التسجيل في بداية  المباراة ضد اليابان، ومن ثم الفوز في إفتتاحية البطولة بثلاثية نظيفة.

سجل النجم الإيطالي أندريا بيرلو هدف جميل من ركلة حرة في مباراته المئوية مع المنتخب الإيطالي ضد المكسيك ، وجعل جمهور ملعب المركانا بأكمله تردد بيرلو .. بيرلو

أستمر المنتخب المكسيكي في تقديم العروض المميزة كما عودنا في السنين الأخيرة و خاصة في أولمبياد لندن ٢٠١٢، و كانوا على بعد خطوة من اقتناص نقطة من الطليان في أولى لقاءاتهم في البطولة.

فاجأ الأسمراني ماريو بالوتيلي الجميع بقصة شعر عادية على غير العادة ... واستمر في تقديم مسلسلاته المضحكة بخلعه القميص بعد تسجيل الهدف مما يؤدي إلى تلقيه إنذار مجاني  ... وأكد كالعادة أن فائدته كبيرة على أي مدرب يلعب له لكن على المدرب أن يتحمل تصرفاته الساذجة أثناء المباراة.

أخيرًا غير المدرب الأسباني ديلبوسكي طريقة لعبه ليشرك روبيرتو سولدادو كمهاجم صريح بعدما كان يعتمد على ديفيد فيا كجناح و مهاجم في كأس العالم ٢٠١٠ ، و شيسك فابريجاس كصانع ألعاب ومهاجم في يورو ٢٠١٢

لفت الأورجواياني مارتن كاسيريس أنظار المتابعين بارتدائه شورت يصل إلى أسفل الركبة على طريقة لاعبين كرة السلة على غير المعتاد في المستطيل الأخضر.

 سجل المنتخب النيجيري إنتصار كبير بسداسية مقابل هدف يتيم لمنتخب تاهيتي الحلقة الأضعف في البطولة، ومن الممكن أن تكون هذه الأهداف الست مفيدة في حالة تعادلت نيجيريا و الأورجواي و خسارة نيجيريا من أسبانيا.

بقلم: ماجد عطار

يمكنكم متابعة الكاتب عبر تويتر: @Majidola