Friday, July 20, 2012
Women in Islam
Women in Islam
Western propaganda has been very successful in portraying the
misinterpreted image of women in Islam. They consider women as weak,
oppressed and second class citizen in the eye of Islam. But the reality
in not what is shown in the news, movies and stories. Muslim women got
fair amount of rights and respect in society, Islam is the most
revolutionary liberalization of women’s rights the civilized world has
ever seen.Think of the possibilities for liberalization based on purely Islamic sources, not taking anything from the modern West.
That would be truly Islamic value of women. The origin of Islam is far more liberal and feminist than what subsequent generations made of it. Women’s rights were established by the Qur’an and the Prophet (peace be upon him), who after all loved women; we need to filter out the spurious anti-woman hadiths that were added later. Although the term liberalism of women has developed a somewhat poisonous connotation in today’s sermon, it really just means the promotion of women’s God-given rights and liberties, which is to the
English Martial Arts
History of English Martial Arts – an article by Terry Brown, English Martial Artist.
England is not the first home of the English; their ancestral home
which was known as Angeln, was situated on the mainland of continental
Europe in an area that roughly corresponds to the southern half of
present day Denmark. The Engle, as the English were then known, were a
Germanic race so it is likely that their culture would have had
something in common with that of other Germanic races who settled the
region. It is therefore not unreasonable to suppose certain likenesses
in the military skills of the early English and the methods of other
early Germanic peoples of Western Europe. In this context it may then be
possible to deduce, or infer, some knowledge of the military practices
of the Engle (English) from classical sources such as Tacitus.It is human nature to improve knowledge and hone skills, attitudes epitomised by martial artists. Each generation of martial artists will avidly absorb instruction from their teachers and then just as avidly pass it on to the next generation. It is likely that the martial knowledge of the English was passed from generation to generation in this way for centuries (as it was/is for example in China). In addition to inherited knowledge there would also have been imported knowledge resulting from, for example, the Danish and Norman
‘The Iron Duke
The Iron Duke’ 1769 – 1852 (‘Old Hooky’)
Born in Ireland to aristocracy he famously said:
"Being born in a stable, does not make one a horse, so my fellow I’m an Englishman not Irish."
A true military commander, politician, and statesman. Affectionately
known as ‘Hooky’ by his soldiers because of the shape of his nose. He
returned the compliment once after an incident of looting by his
troops, by calling them,‘the scum of the earth, enlisted only for
drink.’ Yet an enemy would know that when they saw the Red coats of his
troops they knew they were in for a hard fight. Often a single
battalion would defeat a French division. He in turn commanded some very
hard battlefield commanders such as Beresford, Picton, and others.
Wellingtons army in the Napoleonic wars was one thing. Tough. He himself
never lost his personal qualities of discipline, loyalty to England,
and toughness. Ensign to Field Marshall
Commander at the battles of Assaye, Porto, Salamanca, Vitoria, Toulouse, Talavera de Reina, the storming of Badajoz. Victor over Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815.
Member of Parliament
British Prime Minister twice.
22 January 1828 – 16 November 1830
17 November 1834 – 9 December 1834
He is buried in St Paul’s Cathedral. His honours and legacies are too numerous to list. The crowds at his funeral were vast.
Alfred The Great c. 849 – 899
Great and Famous English People
Alfred The Great c. 849 – 899 (AElfred)
Alfred was the Anglo-Saxon King of Wessex. Famous for ‘burning the
cakes’ when seeking refuge from the Vikings in Somerset. By 878 England
was divided between the Danish Vikings and the Saxons who held the
South West of England. Wessex. But after a long struggle in 896 the
Danes submitted to the Saxons and Alfred effectively became the first
English King. He set about reorganising the army known as the Fyrd and
the Navy. Both the Royal Navy and the US Navy claim him as their
founder. He married the Grand Daughter of the King of Mercia (central
England,) and had as many as six children, one of whom was Princess
Ethelfleda, a true English warrior Princess, who herself became a Queen.
Her nephew and Alfreds grandson, King Athelstan of Wessex was another
great Anglo-Saxon warrior who finally defeated the last Romano British
at the bloody Battle of Brunanburgh giving all England to the
Anglo-Saxons in 937. Thus England was born from these two great
warriors. Defender of England over many battles with the Vikings. King of the West Saxons, and King of all the Anglo-Saxons, Alfred is the only English monarch to be called ‘the Great.’
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