Watch this funny clip from a serious(not really) talk show. Thanks to the person who posted this video clip on facebook.

The Festival of Love was one of the festivals of the pagan Romans, when paganism was the prevalent religion of the Romans more than seventeen centuries ago. In the pagan Roman concept, it was an expression of “spiritual love”.

There were myths associated with this pagan festival of the Romans, which persisted with their Christian heirs. Among the most famous of these myths was the Roman belief that Romulus, the founder of Rome, was suckled one day by a she-wolf, which gave him strength and wisdom.

The Romans used to celebrate this event in mid-February each year with a big festival.

One of the rituals of this festival was the sacrifice of a dog and a goat. Two strong and muscular youths would daub the blood of the dog and goat onto their bodies, then they would wash the blood away with milk. After that there would be a great parade, with these two youths at its head, which would go about the streets. The two youths would have pieces of leather with which they would hit everyone who crossed their path. The Roman women would welcome these blows, because they believed that they could prevent or cure infertility.

The connection between Saint Valentine and this festival:

Saint Valentine is a name which is given to two of the ancient “martyrs” of the Christian Church. It was said that there were two of them, or that there was only one, who died in Rome as the result of the persecution of the Gothic leader Claudius, c. 296 CE. In 350 CE, a church was built in Rome on the site of the place where he died, to perpetuate his memory.

When the Romans embraced Christianity, they continued to celebrate the Feast of Love mentioned above, but they changed it from the pagan concept of “spiritual love” to another concept known as the “martyrs of love”, represented by Saint Valentine who had advocated love and peace, for which cause he was martyred, according to their claims. It was also called the Feast of Lovers, and Saint Valentine was considered to be the patron saint of lovers.

One of their false beliefs connected with this festival was that the names of girls who had reached marriageable age would be written on small rolls of paper and placed in a dish on a table. Then the young men who wanted to get married would be called, and each of them would pick a piece of paper. He would put himself at the service of the girl whose name he had drawn for one year, so that they could find out about one another. Then they would get married, or they would repeat the same process again on the day of the festival in the following year.

The Christian clergy reacted against this tradition, which they considered to have a corrupting influence on the morals of young men and women. It was abolished in Italy, where it had been well-known, then it was revived in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when in some western countries there appeared shops which sold small books called “Valentine’s books”, which contained love poems, from which the one who wanted to send a greeting to his sweetheart could choose. They also contained suggestions for writing love letters.

The above quotation is excerpted, with slight modifications, from http://www.Islam-qa.com

As regards the Islamic stance on this festival, Dr. Su`ad Ibrahim Salih, professor of Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh) at Al-Azhar University, states the following:

Indeed, Islam is the religion of altruism, true love, and cooperation on that which is good and righteous. We implore Allah Almighty to gather us together under the umbrella of His All-encompassing Mercy, and to unite us together as one man. Allah Almighty says: (The believers are naught else than brothers. Therefore make peace between your brethren and observe your duty to Allah that haply ye may obtain mercy.) (Al-Hujurat 49: 10)

Focusing more on the question in point, I can say that there are forms of expressing love that are religiously acceptable, while there are others that are not religiously acceptable. Among the forms of love that are religiously acceptable are those that include the love for Prophets and Messengers. It stands to reason that the love for Allah, and His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) should have the top priority over all other forms of love.

Islam does recognize happy occasions that bring people closer to one another, and add spice to their lives. However, Islam goes against blindly imitating the West regarding a special occasion such as Valentine’s Day. Hence, commemorating that special day known as the Valentine’s Day is an innovation or bid`ah that has no religious backing. Every innovation of that kind is rejected, as far as Islam is concerned. Islam requires all Muslims to love one another all over the whole year, and reducing the whole year to a single day is totally rejected.

Hence, we Muslims ought not to follow in the footsteps of such innovations and superstitions that are common in what is known as the Valentine’s Day. No doubt that there are many irreligious practices that occur on that day, and those practices are capable of dissuading people from the true meanings of love and altruism to the extent that the celebration is reduced to a moral decline.

The suspect was arrested in the parking lot of the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn on Monday, while hundreds were inside the mosque that sits along Ford Road, police said. He came to the city because of its large Arab-American and Muslim population, police said.

Roger Stockham, 63, was arraigned Wednesday on one count on a threat of terrorism or false report and one count of explosive-possession of bombs with unlawful intent for possession of Class C fireworks, Dearborn Police said.

“He’s very dangerous,” Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad told the Free Press. “We took his threat to be very serious.”

Haddad said the man was previously known to law enforcement officials in other parts of the country.

“He’s had a long history of being angry with the United States government,” Haddad said.

Stockham, in jail on a $500,000 bond, drove from California to Dearborn and was caught with a car packed with high-end fireworks. The FBI has been notified about the incident, Haddad said.

“He picked Dearborn as a stop because of the huge Arab and Muslim population,” Haddad said.

Dearborn has the highest concentration of Arab-Americans in the U.S. and has garnered increased attention in recent years as a center of Islam.

Haddad said that a witness said that Stockham was planning to blow up the mosque. The suspect “appeared to be acting alone,” Haddad said. “His threat has been mitigated.”

An employee at a local bar called police after overhearing violent threats allegedly made by the man, Islamic Center of America Executive Administrator Kassem Allie said. The employee was afraid that Stockham was going to target Muslims or Arabs in the area, he said.

Allie said he wants to thank the person who called police and said if it wasn’t for the call the incident could have ended differently.

“We owe a debt of gratitude to him,” he said. “I think that he did a great service for not just us, but for our community.”

A preliminary examination is set for Friday before Judge Mark Somers in 19th District Court in Dearborn, police said.

The Islamic Center was holding a funeral at the time the suspect was found in the parking lot, with up to 700 people inside. But the suspect doesn’t appear to have known about the funeral, Haddad said.

Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly said the suspect “had a lot of high-end fireworks.”

“It was the max you could buy legally.”

They were not “conventional explosives,” O’Reilly said. “But at that level, those things misused are terrific weapons.”

Dawud Walid, director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said “we thank law enforcement authorities for their quick and professional actions in this troubling incident.”

Check out the video of Pakistani VIP rikshaw and dont forget to share it with others, specially your foreign friends.

Check out the video and the answered of Obama to the girl who claim that Pakistan is a terrorist state. President Obama give the answer of the girl question very smartly. Pakistan is not a terrorist country but the country who is attacked by terrorists.

Lauren Booth has given up alcohol and pork, prays five times a day and has not ruled out wearing a burqa in the future, she told The Mail on Sunday.

The 43-year-old journalist and reality television contestant underwent the religious conversion following a visit to the holy Iranian city of Qom six weeks ago.

She said that when she was in Iran, “I sat down and felt this shot of spiritual morphine, just absolute bliss and joy.”

Speaking to the newspaper after a multi-faith Global Peace and Unity Event in London on Saturday, Booth said: “What I wanted to share with you today is that I am Lauren Booth and I am a Muslim.

“I always felt that the Ummah (Muslim community) is a very loving, peaceful place and I am proud to be a member of it.”

Booth, who works for the English language Iranian news channel Press TV, has frequently criticised her brother-in-law, accusing the former leader of being biased towards Israel and the United States in his role as Middle East peace envoy.

She wrote a scathing open letter in last month’s far-left newspaper Morning Star.

“Personally I’ve never understood this fear of ‘political Islam’,” she wrote.

“It seems to me that religious people should always be educated on world events rather than kept in ignorance. Like, say, Midwest Christian Zionists in the US.”

After attending a rally in Iran to mourn Palestinian deaths in cities including Rafah and Nablus, Booth wrote: “Do you recognise these place names, Tony?

“As Middle East envoy, you really should. Israel has massacred children in all of these cities. Didn’t you know?”
She was refused entry to Israel and Egypt after travelling from Cyprus to Gaza on an activist ship which was protesting the blockade of Palestinian territory.

Religious enlightenment is not unknown in the family with brother-in-law Tony converting to Catholicism in December 2007.

Booth is the half-sister of Blair’s wife Cherie, a human rights lawyer.

source: yahoo

Please share this video to aware Muslims and non-Muslims about the reality of Muslims in Religion and Science as well.

According to details, the child has red stripes all over the body and his hands are different than normal human babies. Eyelids of the baby are also severely averted, which leaves the eyes and the area around them very susceptible to trauma whereasthe lips are pulled by the dry skin.

Dr Iftikhar, a Pediatrician while talking to a Private TV Channel said that the child is suffering from a rare skin disease Harlequin-type ichthyosis due to which the body looks like a tiger. He said that continuous cousin marriages may result in such cases.

In Pakistan, four such cases have been reported so far and all four died soon after the birth.

In the past, the disorder was invariably fatal, whether due to dehydration, infection (sepsis), restricted breathing due to the plating, or other related causes. The most common cause of death was systemic infection and sufferers rarely survived for more than a few days. However, there have been improvements in care due to modern medical practices. The oldest known survivor is 24-year old Nusrit Nelly Shaheen. Most sufferers die when they are babies.

May Allah Subhanatala bless this child and keep all humanity away from such illnesses and disorders Ameen

Check out the video for more detail. But be-careful before buying the imported stuff because this all is non Muslims conspiracy