http://news.ibn.net/newsframe.asp?url=http...en.asp?url=mwfo


BY NIRAJ WARIKOO


FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER


Dearborn residents Ammerah Saidi, 23, right, and Arrwa Mogalli, 28, were drawn to the Fitness USA chain because of its women-only days. (DAVID P. GILKEY/Detroit Free Press)


Related articles:


• SEPARATION OF THE SEXES: Modesty is at core of the issue


When Arrwa Mogalli agreed to plunk down $1,465 for a lifetime membership with the Fitness USA chain of gyms, she did so after being promised that its Lincoln Park facility would be open only to women on certain days.


As a devout Muslim, Mogalli firmly believes her religion frowns on her working out where she could see men -- and men could see her -- moving and dressed in a manner that might seem immodest.


So when the Lincoln Park gym decided this month to open up part of the center to both sexes every day, the 28-year-old Dearborn resident and other area Muslims felt cheated. So far, about 200 Muslim women with Fitness USA memberships have signed a petition asking the chain to return to gender-specific days for the entire gym or to put up a divider so men and women can't see each other while working out.


Fitness USA officials met with one of the women and a Muslim advocate this week at their corporate office in West Bloomfield and said they are working on a response to the women's concerns. But they also noted that their written contracts say nothing about gender.


The women's concerns reflect the ways many Muslims in metro Detroit are trying to blend their American lifestyles with Islamic traditions. In recent years, for example, Dearborn Public Schools has offered gender-segregated gym and swimming classes. The move came after a growing number of Muslim parents expressed concerns about their children attending physical education classes with the opposite sex, school officials said.


In the case of Fitness USA and other private gyms, some Muslim women say it's cumbersome to exercise wearing Islamic headscarves and clothes covering their bodies, as required under some interpretations of Islam. That's why they want the option of separate workout spaces.


"In Islam, there are codes of modesty for both genders," Ammerah Saidi, 23, of Dearborn, a lifetime member of Fitness USA who is upset over its recent change, said this week. "When you're working out, you're not dressed modestly, and you're bending in provocative ways, so you can't be working out with the opposite gender."


Though Islam is guiding their concerns, Saidi and other Muslims stress that people of other faiths, including Christians and Orthodox Jews, share similar concerns. Moreover, with the Islamic population growing, Muslims argue it makes good business sense for local companies to accommodate their faith.


Like other local Muslim women, Saidi said she joined Fitness USA last year because managers repeatedly made verbal promises that there would be gender-specific workout days at some of the facilities.


At the Dearborn location, it's women-only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. In Lincoln Park, the days for women are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. There also are women-only days on alternate Sundays at the Westland location, thus allowing members to exercise apart from men almost every day.


That's what drew both Saidi and Mogalli to Fitness USA.


"It really caught my attention," Mogalli said of the gender separation. "That was my No. 1 motivating factor to join." She also bought a membership for her mother.


But this month, Fitness USA opened a new cardio section in Lincoln Park with plasma televisions, the latest workout equipment and tanning salons, and offered it to both genders on all days. Since that part of the gym can easily be seen from existing workout areas, the gender-specific days are meaningless, the women said. A similar problem arose in the Westland location, said Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.


Now, the women can't get out of their contracts because they are lifetime agreements, meaning that Fitness USA deducts a certain amount from their credit cards until they reach the total amount of the contract -- $1,465 in Mogalli's case.


"I felt like all the money I just spent ... has gone to waste," she said.


Mogalli has been collecting signatures from members on a petition to try to get the center to change the policy. She first contacted the manager of the Lincoln Park center and then spoke with Jodi Berry, administrative director for Fitness USA. Mogalli said they urged her to go to the Dearborn gym, but that facility is overcrowded, which is why an increasing number of women were going to Lincoln Park.


On Tuesday, Saidi and Walid met with Berry and company Vice President James Hoppin.


Berry said this week that they are reviewing the concerns.


Walid and the women hope to reach an amicable resolution. They would like to have the entire gym only for women on certain days, as before. Or, the gym could put up a divider, blocking the cardio section from the old section. If that can't happen, the women say they want refunds.


"We don't want to punish them," Walid said of Fitness USA. "We just want to make matters right."


Contact NIRAJ WARIKOO at 248-351-2998 or nwarikoo@freepress.com.

Bismillah Irrahmaan Irraheem


Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakaatuhu


Vinegar:

A food Prophet Muhammad (Sal Allaho Alaiyhe Wa Sallam) used to eat with olive oil. [That's now a fashion in expensive Italian Restaurants]


Milk:

The Prophet (Sal Allaho Alaiyhe Wa Sallam) said that milk wipes away heat from the heart just as the finger wipes away sweat from the brow. It strengthens the back, improved the brain, renews vision and drives away forgetfulness.


Honey:

Considered to be the best remedy for diarrhoea when mixed in hot water. It is the food of foods, drink of drinks and drug of drugs. It is used for creating appetite, strengthening the stomach, eliminating phlegm; as a meat preservative, hair conditioner, eye salve and mouthwash. It is extremely beneficial in the morning in warm water and is also a Sunnah.


Olive oil:

Excellent treatment for skin and hair, delays old age, and treats inflammation of the stomach.


Mushroom:

The Prophet (Sal Allaho Alaiyhe Wa Sallam) said that mushroom is a good cure for the eyes, it also serves as a form of birth control and arrests paralysis.


Grapes:

The Prophet (Sal Allaho Alaiyhe Wa Sallam) was very fond of grapes - it purifies the blood, provides vigour and health, strengthens the kidneys and clears the bowels.


Dates:

The Prophet (Sal Allaho Alaiyhe Wa Sallam) said that a house without dates has no food and also to be eaten at the time of childbirth.


Figs:

It is a fruit from paradise and a cure for piles.


Barley:

Good for fever in a soup form.


Melon:

The Prophet (Sal Allaho Alaiyhe Wa Sallam) said: "None of your women who are pregnant and eat of water melon will fail to produce off spring who are good in countenance and good in character."


Pomegranate:

The Prophet (Sal Allaho Alaiyhe Wa Sallam) said it cleanses you of Satan and evil aspirations for 40 days.


Water:

The Prophet (Sal Allaho Alaiyhe Wa Sallam) said the best drink in this world and the next is water, when you are thirsty drink it by sips and not gulps, gulping produces sickness of the liver.


So praise be to our beloved Nabi (Sal Allaho Alaiyhe Wa Sallam) who related us with marvelous knowledge which dazzles the wisest minds. May this information be beneficial to all of us Insha'Allah.

:asalam:


can I ask sister from where most of the immigrants come from? Ok anyone from Pakistan or Afghanistan such coutries? or r they from other Arab countries? smile.gif


I Lovvvveeee Egypt(lol..never been there but has this fascination for it tongue.gif )


So sister what do u mean by 'speaking arabic with accents' like pretending to be a foreigner?


Also can I ask If english is taught in Egyptian school?

Assalamualaikum


I am looking for muslim male and female volunteers in the uk between the ages of 18 and 25 to help run an anonymous islamic advice hotline - the advice will range from exams , college life , drugs , realationships , sex , western life , islamic issues and other relevent advice in compliance with shariah


To qualify in assisting in giving advice to young muslims you need :


1. A reliable PC


2. Broadband connection atleast 512k and above


3. A microphone or internet phone


4. Minimum of 10 hours a week to answer phone calls from home (schedule will be arranged)


5. You will not be paid


A skype account will be created with a landline number and relevet username and passwords will be sent


All you need to do is send your c.v and pass a quick test on your islamic knowledge and attitudes to qualify


After you have qualified all you need to do is log on to the skype landline and answer the calls


No money is required at all


Please note all relevant background checks will be made before you are accepted


please send you cv to ukmuslimadvice@googlemail.com


please note we desperately require female volunteers to talk to females not males obviously

<b>THE REAL WMD'S IN IRAQ</b> - Amerika's


Douglas Westerman


April 17, 2006


Weapons of mass destruction are all over Iraq. Iraqi children are playing among them every day. According to Iraqi doctors, many are developing cancer as a result. The WMD in question is depleted uranium (DU). Left over after natural uranium has been processed, DU is 1.7 times denser than lead - effective in penetrating armored vehicles such as tanks. After a DU shell strikes, it penetrates before exploding into a burning vapor that turns to dust.





"Depleted uranium has a half life of 4.7 billion years - that means thousands upon thousands of Iraqi children will suffer for tens of thousands of years to come. This is what I call terrorism," says Dr Ahmad Hardan.


As a special scientific adviser to the World Health Organization, the United Nations and the Iraqi Ministry of Health, Dr Hardan is the man who documented the effects of depleted uranium in Iraq between 1991 and 2002. U.S. forces admit to using at least 300 tons of D.U. ordinance in Gulf War I, with up to six times that amount in Operation Iraqi Freedom.





When a loved one is diagnosed with cancer, it can dramatically alter the entire fabric of family life. The emotional impact can be huge. Imagine having nine members of your family with malignancies at the same time. Welcome to Basra, Iraq.


Dr. Jawad Al-Ali, educated in England, is head oncologist at the Saddam teaching hospital in Basra. There are nine people with cancer in his wife's family. They are not alone. At a conference in Japan in 2004 he stated:





"Two strange phenomena have come about in Basra which I have never seen before. The first is double and triple cancers in one patient. For example, leukemia and cancer of the stomach. We had one patient with 2 cancers - one in his stomach and kidney. Months later, primary cancer was developing in his other kidney--he had three different cancer types. The second is the clustering of cancer in families. We have 58 families here with more than one person affected by cancer. Dr Yasin, a general Surgeon here has two uncles, a sister and cousin affected with cancer. Dr Mazen, another specialist, has six family members suffering from cancer. My wife has nine members of her family with cancer".


"Children in particular are susceptible to depleted uranium( DU) poisoning. They have a much higher absorption rate as their blood is being used to build and nourish their bones and they have a lot of soft tissues. Bone cancer and leukemia used to be diseases affecting them the most, however, cancer of the lymph system, which can develop anywhere on the body, and has rarely been seen before the age of 12 is now also common."





At one point after the war, a Basra hospital reported treating upwards of 600 children per day with symptoms of radiation sickness. 600 children per day?


The widespread use of DU weapons was not limited to Iraq. The Uranium Medical Research Center (UMRC), founded by Dr. Asaf Durakovic, a former U.S. Army Colonel, did extensive field studies in Afghanistan just after the invasion. Excerpts from their field reports read:


"We took both soil and biological samples, and found considerable presence in urine samples of radioactivity; the heavy concentration astonished us. They were beyond our wildest imagination."......."The UMRC field team was shocked by the breadth of public health impacts coincident with the bombing. Without exception, at every bombsite investigated, people are ill. A significant portion of the civilian population presents symptoms consistent with internal contamination by uranium."





In Afghanistan, unlike Iraq, UMRC lab results indicated high concentrations of NON-DEPLETED URANIUM, with the concentrations being much higher than in DU victims from Iraq. Afghanistan was evidently used as a testing ground for a new generation of "bunker buster" bombs containing high concentrations of other uranium alloys


Dr. Durakovic stated, "The [u.S.] Veteran's Administration asked me to lie about the risks of incorporating depleted uranium in the human body ...uranium does cause cancer, uranium does cause mutation, and uranium does kill. If we continue with the irresponsible contamination of the biosphere, the denial of the fact that human life is endangered by the deadly uranium isotope, then we are doing disservice to ourselves, disservice to the truth, disservice to God and to all the generations who follow."


Living in Iraq under Saddam Hussein was pretty bad much of the time, and being ruled by the Taliban in Afghanistan was no picnic either, but DU is worse. It's not safe even to breathe. It's the ultimate tyranny.


NOTE: Mr. Westerman blogs at: vitaltruths.blogsource.com, which contains a much longer and more comprehensive report on the horrors of Depleted Uranium. He can be reached via e-mail at: aspendougy@yahoo.com


"Ya Allah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Remove this filth from the face of the earth."


"Ya Allah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Destroy America like you destroyed the people of Noah."


"Ya Allah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Obliterate these animals and turn their faces backwards."


"Ya Allah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Double their punishment on The Day of Judgement."

Bismillah


As salam alykom brothers and sisters,


I received this excellent reminder on an email and felt to share it with all of you here.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Once a man found a cocoon of a butterfly and on one day a small hole appeared on the cocoon. For hours, he just sat there to watch the small butterfly struggling and pushing her body outside of the small hole. To him, he felt that she became unable to make any progress after exerting her utmost effort. He thought she was incapable of making any further steps. At this point, the man decided to help her. He got a pair of scissors and cut the remaining part of the cocoon that is when the butterfly was able to go out easily. However, he observed something very unusual. The butterfly’s body was swollen and her wings were withered. Yet, the man continued to observe the butterfly expecting that at any moment, her wings and body will regain normal shape so that to be capable of flying. Nevertheless, nothing of such has happened instead the butterfly spent the rest of her life crawling with a swollen body and deformed wings. She was never capable of flying. Due to his enthusiasm, the man couldn’t realize that the cocoon must be that tight for the butterfly to struggle and strive till she makes her way out through this small hole. Allah Created her in a way that through this fight, fluids which are retained in her body would instead be sourced into her wings with the assistance of such pushing. Only then, the minute she is released outside of the cocoon, she would be ready to fly.


Sometimes, struggling is exactly what we need in our life. If Allah The Creator allowed us to pursue our lives without facing any obstacles, the expected result is our weakness and disability. Not only this, but we will never be able to fly.

<b>If Americans Knew?</b>



<b>Statistics</b>


The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the world’s major sources of instability. Americans are directly connected to this conflict, and increasingly imperiled by its devastation.


It is the goal of If Americans Knew to provide full and accurate information on this critical issue, and on our power – and duty – to bring a resolution.<b>Below are charts of nine little-known statistics.</b>


Please click on any statistic for the source and more information.


Last Updated: April 17, 2006


<b>Israeli and Palestinian Children Killed Since September 29, 2000</b>


124 Israeli children have been killed by Palestinians and 720 Palestinian children have been killed by Israelis since September 29, 2000.


<b>Israelis and Palestinians Killed Since September 29, 2000</b>


1,084 Israelis and 3,863 Palestinians have been killed since September 29, 2000.


<b>Israelis and Palestinians Injured Since September 29, 2000</b>


7,633 Israelis and 29,731 Palestinians have been injured since September 29, 2000.


<b>Daily U.S. Assistance to Israel and the Palestinians</b>


The U.S. gives $15,139,178 <i>per day</i> to the Israeli government and military and $232,290 <i>per day</i> to Palestinian NGO’s.


<b>UN Resolutions Targeting Israel and the Palestinians</b>


Israel has been targeted by at least 65 UN resolutions and the Palestinians have been targeted by none.


<b>Political Prisoners and Detainees</b>


No Israelis are being held prisoner by Palestinians, while 9,184 Palestinians are currently imprisoned by Israel.


<b>Demolitions of Israeli and Palestinian Homes</b>


0 Israeli homes have been demolished by Palestinians and 4,170 Palestinian homes have been demolished by Israel since September 29, 2000.


<b>Israeli and Palestinian Unemployment Rates</b>


The Israeli unemployment rate is 8.9%, while the Palestinian unemployment is estimated at 25-31%.


<b>New Settlements Built </b> (March 2001 - July 2003)


60+ new Jewish-only settlements have been built on confiscated Palestinian land between March 2001 and July 11, 2003. There have been 0 cases of Palestinians confiscating Israeli land and building settlements.


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:) hi


im a 16 year old boy and recieved an email talking about AAYATUL QURSI and its benifits and i am wondering if anyone can explain the benifits.. when to say it..how to say it....

:) hi


im a 16 year old boy and recieved an email talking about AAYATUL QURSI and its benifits and i am wondering if anyone can explain the benifits.. when to say it..how to say it....

<b>SURA: 70: THE WAYS OF ASCENT</b>

<b>A questioner questioned concerning the doom about to fall

Upon the disbelievers, which none can repel,

From Allah, Lord of the Ascending Stairways

Whereby the angels and the Spirit ascend unto Him

in a Day whereof the span is fifty thousand years.</b> 70:1-4



<b><i>How many light years does it take for the angels and the Spirit to reach Allah?</i> </b>
By Adnan Ahmad - LONDON UK



According to <b>Holy Qur’an Surah Al Ma’arij - The Ways of Ascent</b> Chapter 70 verse 4:

<b>“The angels and the spirit ascend unto him in a day the measure is 50,000
years”</b>


According to science light travels <b>186,000</b> miles per second, and 1 light year is equivalent to <b>5,865,696,000,000</b> miles.


References:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/question94.htm

http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae502.cfm

http://www.evgschool.org/learning_about%20_stars.htm



How many seconds are there in 1 year?

<b>A: 60 x 60 x 24 x 365 = 31,536,000 seconds.</b>


How many seconds in 50000 years?


A<b>: 31,536,000 x 50000 = 1,576,800,000,000 seconds.</b>



If there are <b>1,576,800,000,000</b> seconds in <b>50000</b> years, and if we multiply this by <b>186,000</b> (speed of light in miles/sec)


<b>A: 1,576,800,000,000 x 186,000 = 293,284,800,000,000,000</b>



This means angels and the spirit will cover a total <b>293,284,800,000,000,000 </b> miles if travelling at the speed of light for <b>1,576,800,000,000</b> seconds



If we now divide <b>293,284,800,000,000,000</b> miles by the distance light travels in <b>1 light year</b>, i.e. <b>5,865,696,000,000</b> miles

<b>A: 293,284,800,000,000,000 divided by 5,865,696,000,000 = <span>50,000 </span> </b>


<b>Therefore it is a fact that it takes <span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%;">50000</span> light years for the angels and the spirit to ascend to Allah.</b>

<b>Alhamdulillah: All praise and thanks are due to Allah.</b>


Adnan Ahmad.

LONDON UK