I'm Darren Marlar and this is a Weird Darkness bonus bite. From the New York Post, Houston woman charged with killing landlord, hiding body, collecting rent from other tenants. A Texas woman who claimed that her missing Houston landlord faked his death and ran away to Africa two years ago has been arrested on murder and theft charges. Pamela Ann Merritt allegedly killed Colin Kordaki, confessed to friends, hid the body under stairs for months and told police when they showed up that the remains belonged to a dead dog, according to court documents. People reported Kordaki missing in February 2021 after a winter storm and deep freeze gripped the city and caused widespread power outages. The arrest comes after the discovery of the missing man's body led a detective to review the case and stitch together a series of suspicious events. On February 23, 2021, Joe Guy, a tenant of Kordaki's, told police that he came home from a long trip and found Kordaki gone and Merritt inside and refusing to leave. He told me that he asked her where Mr. Colin the landlord was and the defendant replied that he was dead and that she killed him. A Houston detective wrote in the criminal complaint after reviewing body cam footage from the 2021 missing person report and re-interviewing the witnesses. At the time, police took Merritt to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, according to court filings. But by October 2021, Merritt was back in the building and Kordaki had still not been found. Another tenant, Tabitha Pope, called police to report a suspicious discovery. Large pools and drops of blood in the building's upper floors, a knife in the mailbox and a bin with blood in it in a crawl space. Pope had recently moved into the building and told police she was paying rent to Merritt and her boyfriend Michael Brown who has been charged with evidence tampering. According to Pope, Merritt and Brown told her conflicting stories about the building's owner. One was that he was missing, the other was that he died in the hospital. Suspicious of their claims, Pope in December apparently tricked them into revealing the location of Kordaki's body by saying the discovery of his remains would keep the house out of foreclosure, according to court documents. Two days later, on the afternoon of December 5th, 2021, Michael Brown and the defendant started talking loudly about a dead dog under the back stairs, the criminal complaint alleges. Pope called police, who arrived to find Kordaki's decomposing remains and Merritt and Brown allegedly painting over a bloodstained wall on the second floor. Police interviewed Merritt and Brown and Merritt said the remains belonged to a dead dog. She also allegedly told detectives that she thought Kordaki faked his death and went to Africa. Furthermore, she allegedly claimed the blood around the house was from rotten meat that she cleaned out of a refrigerator. According to the complaint, Brown told detectives that he last saw Kordaki in February 2021 with a stab wound to his stomach but thought that he just left and probably went to the hospital. An autopsy determined that Kordaki had been stabbed multiple times. Based on phone records and other witness statements, police believe he was likely murdered February 15, 2021. Police arrested Brown in March and filed charges against Merritt on May 30, but she remained on the run until last Friday when authorities captured her without incident. She's currently being held at the Harris County Jail on $500,000 bond. Find the link to the original story in the show notes and find more news in the Weird News and Blog at WeirdDarkness.com.


We're seeing as Omar Jimenez is in Dearborn, Michigan. We're actually in Dearborn proper. Uncommitted got more votes than President Biden. That's right. I mean, look, here in Dearborn, Dearborn's home to one of the largest Arab-American communities in the country. And the vote uncommitted movement was led by Arab-American activists over their disagreement with how President Biden is handling the Israel Hamas war. And as you mentioned, yes, when you look at unofficial results coming from the city of Dearborn, uncommitted beat Joe Biden 56% to 40%. Now, that's within a total of 11,000 votes. But when you expand that data countywide here, that number is over 25,000. And when you look statewide, over 100,000 people voted uncommitted. Now, President Biden still did win this primary by a large margin. But when you look at the margin that he won Michigan by in 2020, that was around 150,000. So obviously a sizable margin there. And the goal of those leading this uncommitted movement was to send a message that President Biden needs to be doing more to push towards a permanent ceasefire. The results from Michigan's Democratic Party primary last night were genuinely stunning. And I think they sent a very clear message to President Biden. Stop supporting Israel or you risk losing the election to Trump in November. Now, the reason why this outcome was so shocking is because the goal from the Listen to Michigan campaign, who organized this, was to get at least 10,000 uncommitted votes, since Trump only won Michigan in 2016 by about 10,000 votes. Uncommitted Michigan Democrats opposed to Biden's policy in Gaza can demonstrate that we hold this margin of victory for reelection. But they didn't just get what they wanted to get in 10,000, they got more than 100,000 votes. So the campaign was far more successful than they or anyone really expected. And regardless if Biden likes their message, he can no longer pretend like he doesn't hear them. Now the pundit class is having a surprisingly sober reaction to this news, case in point. It will be hard to win them back come November for President Biden's team. That's a real challenge. I wouldn't, I would expect that the President himself will travel to Michigan before long and attempt to repair those wounds. Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by around 150,000. In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump by around 10,000. So 10,000 votes could sway the difference. And if these uncommitted voters keep this passion going through to November, it could be a huge warning sign and a big problem for Joe Biden. I'm not certain they're going to do so, but we heard also from Debbie Dingle, Congresswoman from Michigan earlier. She has been sounding the alarm to this administration for quite some time. We have to address the situation. The Arab Muslim community in Michigan is crying out for this. And the younger community in Michigan is doing so as well. And if he is going to really address this situation, he needs to do something much more serious than throwing out a possible of a ceasefire in an ice cream shop. It must be much more organized and it has to include a ceasefire and releasing the hostages. For the uncommitted people, this is about flexing their muscles and showing the Biden campaign. Look how many of us there are. This is Michigan. You will either win Michigan or lose Michigan based on how you act towards us. That's the message they are trying to send. And that message has been sent and received. Now the question is whether or not Biden is actually going to be receptive. And at a minimum, it does at least appear as if he's trying to respond to Michigan voters in a limited sense. And we'll get to his response in a moment, but I first want to give you some additional context in the lead up to this vote. So MSNBC spoke with several 2020 Biden voters in Michigan and some of them who are voting uncommitted were pretty clear about the fact that there was nothing Biden could do to win them back. But others said there's still a possibility that they will vote for him in November. Here's what they said.  We'll forget. How can you, how can, like this is an insult to me as a voter. For you, Biden has a pathway forward. Biden has a pathway forward. And what does that look like? That is him calling for a permanent and immediate ceasefire. The straightforward, simple answer for the Biden administration is push for a ceasefire, stop aiding Israel in their war crimes. And I guarantee you, there are enough people who would be willing to deal with it and vote for the man. It is in so many words insane to me to have the Democratic Party and the Biden administration sit here and essentially say if Trump happens, it's your fault. If you don't want a Trump presidency then, are you not worried about what he could do domestically to this country?  I'm willing to take short-term pain for a long-term gain. I'm willing to let go of Joe Biden and oppose Joe Biden, make him a one-term president, punish Joe Biden by making him a one-term president and pairing his loss with the genocide in Gaza. Why does our democracy, why is having a Trump presidency more important than those people's lives? Why is our democracy more important than thousands of men, women, and children being killed? Now, to be clear, none of these people are voting affirmatively for Donald Trump and many of them realize that Trump is going to be worse than Biden in a number of ways, including on the issue of Gaza, if that's even possible at this point. But what they wanna do is set a precedent as they explained. They want future leaders of the Democratic Party to know that they can't win an election while supporting a genocide. And by continuing to support this genocide, Biden isn't justifying those voters right there, he's defying his base. He's defying all Americans because a new data for progress poll finds that 67% of likely voters support a permanent ceasefire, including majorities in the Republican Party and independence. And quite frankly, I really don't care what public opinion polls say because even if a majority of Americans didn't support a ceasefire and they supported Israel's genocide, that doesn't automatically make it more moral, right? I don't base my morality on public opinion, but if you're a politician who wants to be reelected, which is key, these polls should absolutely sway you. Now, there was evidence that the Biden administration was scared shitless in the lead up to the Michigan primary. Politico reports Biden is outwardly playing it cool. He hasn't been to Michigan since February 1st, but his allies in the state say that behind the scenes, there was panic at the White House and inside the Biden re-election campaign. Quote, they are freaking out about the uncommitted vote, said a Democrat close to Biden. And it turns out they were right to freak out about the uncommitted vote because as worried as they were, I don't think that they thought the vote would be this high. 100,000 uncommitted votes in a battleground state for your own party, that's a really big deal. I don't think anyone expected it to be this successful of a campaign. So the question is, what is Biden actually doing to address their serious concerns? And the answer is nothing actually meaningful, in my opinion at least, but he was absolutely trying to at least placate Michigan voters. And he said the following in an ice cream shop. Can you give us a sense of when you think that each fight will start, sir? Well, I hope by the beginning of the weekend, I mean the end of the weekend. At least my national security advisor tells me that we're close, we're close, it's not done yet. And my hope is by next Monday, we'll have a ceasefire. Now, we don't have much details about the potential agreement that he's referring to there, but Gazans are worried that it won't permanently end the war for the fact that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already said that any ceasefire is only going to delay a ground invasion of Rafa. But having said that though, any pause to the violence is important, but I'll believe it when I see it for the fact that we're also learning the following from Axios reporter Barak Ravine. Quote, the Biden administration gave Israel until mid-March to sign a letter that provides assurances that it will abide by international law while using U.S. weapons and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. Now, this and a potential ceasefire aren't mutually exclusive and this isn't a letter that's specific to Israel. They're making anyone who they give weapons to sign that letter. But the question is what happens if they sign the letter and then just continue to do war crimes? What are you going to do then? Well, the article makes absolutely no mention of an accountability mechanism and really just feels like Democrats are trying to make us feel better about their desire to give more weapons to Israel. So when Israel inevitably commits more war crimes with the weapons that they gave them, they can say, well, you know, what are we going to do? We got them to sign our letters saying they wouldn't do war crimes, but they did anyway. So I guess our hands are tied. We did what we could. Well, I've got a better idea.  See, this is why I find all of this so insulting because they know that we're mad, but they're not actually doing anything meaningful to change the situation. But with that being said, it is evident that the uncommitted campaign did have a significant influence on the Biden administration because the fact that he's even pretending to care, that is a pretty significant change. Now, Representative Ro Khanna has confirmed that Biden has been talking about his plans to broker another ceasefire specifically because of the listen to Michigan vote uncommitted campaign.  Representative Ro Khanna told us about the election Eve timing of Biden's statements. This is happening because the president is hearing that a large part of his coalition wants this war to end. It took Biden a long time to engage in personal outreach to Muslim and Arab leaders in the state, and that occurred only after lobbying by elected officials, one of whom said Biden's aides were keeping him in a bubble. Oh, that's nice. Khanna, who often serves as a liaison between the White House and Progressives, visited Michigan and was struck by the intensity of the anti-Biden sentiment. Quote, there is a deep sense of hurt and loss, pain, grief among the Muslim and Arab American community, and the progressive community, Khanna said. While campaigning with Biden before the South Carolina primary, he pulled the president aside and made it clear he had issues in Michigan. Quote, I said, you're losing progressives. You need to change, Khanna said. He said, Roe, I hear you, I understand. I understand that people are upset and I am pushing Bibi, pathetic. Now that comment is obviously disingenuous because again, he's pretending as if he is powerless in this situation when he is literally giving Israel weapons that they are using on innocent civilians. And on top of that, he is shielding them from accountability on the UN Security Council by repeatedly vetoing ceasefire resolutions. So he is lying.  Former prime ministers listened when former presidents demanded them to stop. One prominent example being Ronald Reagan of all people. So the fact that Biden hasn't made the same exact demands and hasn't taken the same course of action as his predecessors tells us that he is choosing to let the genocide continue. It's a choice. And he can continue to do that, but he shouldn't expect people to believe him when he says he's serious about wanting Bibi to stop so long as he continues to do what he's doing, supplying them weapons and shielding them on the UN. Now, unfortunately for him, the anti-genocide portion of his base is very politically savvy.  But while he's at least trying to make it seem like he cares about the concerns of Michigan voters, there was a simultaneous counter-effort underway by Democratic elites to try to dissuade them who were prepared to vote uncommitted with very deceitful scare tactics. So last week, John Federman went on MSNBC and claimed that anyone who is daring to criticize Biden is effectively a Trump supporter. And on Sunday, Michigan governor, Gresham Whitmer, echoed basically the same sentiment about listen to Michigan's vote uncommitted campaign. And here's what she said. Any vote that's not cast for Joe Biden supports a second Trump term. Wrong. Voting uncommitted doesn't help Trump. It helps Biden. Because if he doesn't wake up and stop supporting a genocide, he could very well lose Michigan as well as other states. So this was a test and he failed that test. 100,000 uncommitted voters in a swing state is a very big deal. And if they don't take this seriously, they're going to lose. But I mean, that was a strategy for some Democrats before the vote, a vote shame. Make people think that they're complicit with Trump's reelection and not Biden if they don't support him. And we're still seeing the same exact strategy after the campaign as well. So for example, Dash Dubrovsky, editor of the Gen Z perspective newsletter and a liberal Biden bro responded by calling everyone who voted uncommitted a Trump supporting terrorist. I'm sure that's going to win them over. Now some liberal pundits in mainstream media didn't go that far, but they made it seem like the results didn't actually matter. This was cope, but nonetheless, here's some of that. Let's look at the Ann Arbor numbers. Joe Biden didn't win Ann Arbor. Bernie Sanders won Ann Arbor. Yeah, right. So some of these areas have never been Biden country. They have been really many more people that were further left and didn't like the idea of a moderate carrying the flag of our party. What would have been more concerning is if these voters voted for Dean Phillips. Now, if these voters have voted for Dean Phillips, there would be a fire alarm inside the White House right now and everybody would be out of that building and they'd be out in the campaign making this thing happen. Listen, people concerned about the genocide in Gaza didn't vote for Dean Phillips because he is also a supporter of genocide in Gaza. And if these people stay home in November, Biden could lose. I can't stress that enough. So if there's not already a fire alarm after 100,000 Democratic Party voters voted uncommitted in a battleground state, there should be.  Now, it would be unwise for Democrats to listen to anything that this loser says, although I do find it a bit concerning that Biden has also now shifted to the right when it comes to the border and is embracing Trump's xenophobic racist policies as well. So I mean, do with that information, what you will liberals, but I mean, pretty much any time a pundit tells you not to worry about the backlash from your own base, you should completely disregard their opinion because they're telling you what you want to hear and not what you need to hear.  They're in a bubble in the same way that Trump cultists are in a bubble. Now, they may not want to hear that, but it's true. They might not care that the president that they're supporting is doing a genocide, but a significant portion of voters that Biden needs do care. They might not care, but there's a lot of people that he needs to win that do care. And they can pretend like criticism of Joe Biden is a threat to democracy, but in actuality, criticism of Joe Biden is needed right now to save democracy. And this was the message from surrogates of the Listen to Michigan campaign. Take Rashida Tlaib, for example. I was proud today to walk in and pull a democratic ballot and vote uncommitted. We must protect our democracy. We must make sure that our government is about us, about the people. When 74% of Democrats in Michigan support a ceasefire, yet President Biden is not hearing us, this is the way we can use our democracy to say, listen, listen to Michigan, listen to the families right now that have been directly impacted, but also listen to the majority of Americans who are saying enough, no more wars, no more using our dollars to fund a genocide. That's the bottom line right there. The reason why she's saying democracy is at stake is because multiple polls show Biden is losing to Trump in Michigan, largely because Biden has lost the support of young people and Arab Americans due to his complicity with Israel's genocide in Gaza. Now this vote uncommitted campaign confirmed that the polls were not lying. So Biden has two options. Either immediately stop supporting Israel's genocide in Gaza or risk losing the election to Trump in November. The choice is his. And if he doesn't take their concern seriously and ends up losing, if it's not already too late, it's gonna be his fault and his fault alone, despite what Democratic Party loyalists try to say, you can't scapegoat voters here when he had months to change course, but refused to do so.  You're getting nervous, man.


قُل مؤمنين والمؤمنين الثواب الفاتحة عُلُمِ اللَّهِ مِنَ الشيطانِ الرُجِيمِ بِسمِ اللَّهِ الْوَعْمَانِ الرَّحِيمِ أَلْحَمْدُرِ اللَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَلَمِينِ أَلْحَمْدُرِ اللَّهِ الَّذِي هَدَانَا لِي هَذَا هَوَ مَا كُنَّا لِي نَهْتَلِيَ لَوْلَاءَنْ هَدَانَا اللَّهِ والسلات والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء والمرسلين خاتم النبيين سيدٍ الممجد بشرٍ المصدق المستفى الأمجد محمود الأحمد أبي القاسم محمد وعلى أهل بيته طيبين طاهرين المعسومين ولعنى الله ألى الظالمين من الأولين والآخرين أما بعد فكى قال الله سبحانه وتعالى في كتابه المجيد وفرقانه الحميد بِسمِ اللَّهِ الْرَّحْمَانِ الرَّحِيمِ والفجلي وليالٍ عشر والشفع والوتر والليل إذا يسر هل في ذلك قسمٌ لذي حجر ألم تر كيف فعر ربك بعاد إرمضات العماد التي لم يخلق مثلها في البلاد وثمود الذين جابوا الصخر بالواد وفلعونذ الأوتاد الذين طغوا في البلاد فاكثروا فيها الفساد وصب عليهم ربك صوت عذاب إن ربك رب يرصاد فأما الإنسان إذا مبتله ربه فأكرمه ونعمه فيقول ربي أكرما وأما إذا مبتله فقدر عليه رسقه فيقول ربي أهانا كلا بلا تكرمون اليتين ولا تحاضون على طعام المسكين وتأكلون التراث أكلا لما وتحبون المال حبا جما كلا إذا دكت الأرض لكا دكا وجاء ربك والملك صفا صفا وجيئ يومئذ مجهنم يومئذ يتذكر الإنسان وأن له الذكراء يقول يا ليتني قدمتوا لحياتي فيومئذ لا يعذب عذابه أحد ولا يثق وثاقه أحد يا أيتها النفس المطمئن إرجعي إلى ربك راضية مرضية فدخلي في عبادي ودخلي جنتي سلوات سلام عليكم جميعا ورحمة الله وبركاته ألامي أن أخذ هذه الأفضل لأستطيع أن أقوم with my own condolences and your condolences to the awaited saviour of our time إمام الحج عجل الله تعالى فرج الشريف for tonight is certainly one of the most grievous of nights for us in our entire calendar and the martyrdom of this great human being this master of an individual this warrior of all warriors is someone whom we can turn to tonight for all of our needs and for whatever the situation we have whatever need we are in tonight we ask by the wasila of our father Abbas ابن أميل المؤمنين سلوات الله و سلام عليكم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم Our discussions so far have led us to the point in which we have seen the various tyrannical groups and ideologies that are presented within سورة الفجر we found that the first group is the group of A'ad and that particularly their group were people who were willing to consider that they were more powerful than any other and therefore this was the problem of their own attitude towards everything else and the second was the group of Thamud and the fact that they were not only inheriting this poor attitude but were willing to actually go a step further in their actions and actually kill a sign of الله سبحانه وتعالى and then yesterday we looked at فرعون and we mentioned that فرعون was someone who not only was willing to perform such actions of denial and actions of killing but he was someone who went a step further and denied the existence of الله سبحانه وتعالى and by virtue of this level of audacity by this level of rejection he had taken his own system to another level where he had created his own فرعونic system and thereby any Pharaoh today wherever they may be in whichever country that they may be residing in their فرعونic system is akin to the very فرعونic system mentioned within the Holy Quran and ultimately all three of those individual groups and their leaders their ideologies their actions can be seen manifested in يزيد بن معاوية the greatest فرعون to have ever stepped foot within this earth and therefore now having concluded that we find that الله سبحانه وتعالى now tells us that there is a particular punishment for these particular groups الله سبحانه وتعالى says in the following verses صبع عليهم ربك صوت عذاب now this verse in itself is very interesting by virtue of a grammatical understanding we won't dwell too long on it we want to move to a subsequent verse but Allah سبحانه وتعالى says صبع عليهم that this is a punishment that is poured down upon them and it's interesting that this word صبع is used and being poured down when someone begins to try to visualize the idea of pouring something down we see that it might be akin to you taking a glass and pouring and you will see that this is a heavy flow that even though the water itself may start and leave the cup there is still more water to follow from the first drop and therefore Allah سبحانه وتعالى says that his punishment was this that it was poured down upon these three particular groups and then at the end of this verse he says صوت عذاب صوت has an interesting root word which is صوت some of the translators have given us the word صوت to mean the tip of a whip the tip of a whip now you know when a whip is struck that of course a large proportion of the whip may strike it might be for example a lash across the back but at the same time it may just be the tip of the whip that is struck against that which it is hitting the word صوت is the name of the tip of the whip and therefore the translation say that when this عذاب is poured down it was صوت عذاب that it was the tip of that عذاب that was sent down upon them it was almost as if this punishment that we have observed with عاد and ثمود and فرعود those punishments were the tip of the iceberg it was the tip of the whip that struck down upon these three tyrannical groups it wasn't even the entire punishment of Allah سبحانه وتعالى because the entire punishment of Allah سبحانه وتعالى may just be waiting in the next world when they have to face Allah سبحانه وتعالى on the day of judgment and therefore that verse is a very authoritative verse not only in regards to the punishment that may be seen but also in regards to our knowledge and certainty that whatever has been dealt to يزيد بن معاوية in this world is only a very small proportion of what he will get in the next life إن شاء الله and thus we conclude that verse and we now move to a sequence of verses in which Allah سبحانه وتعالى changes the issue slightly so firstly if we go back to the first series of verses we mention that there are various قسم various oaths taken by Allah سبحانه وتعالى and these oaths are akin to the movement of the master of the martyrs and then we moved into the three tyrannical regimes that are presented and then we get to an interesting series of verses in which Allah سبحانه وتعالى speaks on an issue in regards to how mankind react to either blessings or the trials and tribulations that are sent down upon them now here we can start off by saying that these verses have very much an issue in regards to the psychological outlook of a human being we mentioned in a previous night that Quran has to have every discussion for it to be a universal book for it to speak to all ages genders realities ways of mind any person at any time in any point in history it needs to be able to speak to you and I at all levels similarly it also must have every single discussion a principle of every single discussion within it now one may ask about what kind of discussions are entered within the Quran these sets of verses are part and parcel of how Allah سبحانه وتعالى speaks on issues in regards to psychology many of us take psychology at university many of us study psychology when we want to understand how the mind works and also how to react to certain situations as well these verses within are part of that issue in regards to the psychological outlook of a human being it says فأم الإنسان إذا مبتله ربه فأكرمه ونعمه فيقول ربي أكرما and then the verse is almost identical it's almost identical but changes slightly it says he states two verses as to how mankind is treated and how mankind reacts towards these situations as for man when his Lord tries him then treats him with honour and makes him lead an easy life he says my Lord has honoured me but when he tries him and straightens him to means of subsistence and difficulty he says my Lord has disgraced me here we have two potentials and we have two outlooks we have that Allah سبحانه وتعالى may give blessings to someone and the outlook based upon that might be a human being will say my Lord has honoured me by virtue of giving me these blessings and a second is where he will test him he will straighten his subsistence his رسق فقدر عليه he will become squeezed within that risk and the response may be that my Lord specifically ربي أهانا that he has disgraced me now here we find that these verses are very interesting because all of us have a constant cycle of gaining and losing worldly blessings there isn't anyone here at any age that is not accustomed to going through trials and tribulations we have those trials and tribulations in many facets of our life we go through them in terms of our health we go through them in terms of our wealth we go through them in terms of the structure within our family and the ease and the difficulties many times things are coming and in fact many of this doesn't even take place in front of the eyes of other people you and I will only know the levels of trials and tribulations that we go in within our own family members that are closed behind doors the outside world doesn't have a clue as to the trials that you and I go through and maybe they will never know as to the difficulties that you and I go through in our own private lives and therefore straight away at all levels these verses are very much inclined to you and I we see that we go through these trials and tribulations and therefore straight away we can already see how you and I react to those situations am I the kind of person who responds by saying my lord has honored me am I the kind of person who says my lord has disgraced me am I the kind of person who says I'm a good person I come to the mosque I pray five times a day I give charity why me why did I have to go through these trials and tribulations there are some that react like this and then there are others who react in different ways the most beautiful example of a human being reacting in a positive manner when trials and tribulations bestowed all around them when she was asked how did you find the tenth of Muharram how did you find the head of your brother being placed upon a spear she responds by saying I saw nothing but beauty within this straight away we know that we have heard this statement hundreds of times in our life am I capable of digging deep within myself that when I come across a trial and tribulation which in the grand scheme of things is probably minor compared to what other people have to go through in the world am I capable of saying I saw the beauty of Allah in that incident in my life reality strikes home when you compare your own situation to others am I one who is living in Somalia who is unable to know where my next meal is going to come from nay, at the same time that there are countries bombing that very same country you don't know if you're going to get food but at the same time when you go to the market you don't know if there a bomb is going to go up or a country is going to drop a bomb upon you is my situation like that no, Alhamdulillah رب العالم what great bounties I still have and then you compare yourself to others in Pakistan that they don't have the ability to step outside of their own door for fear of a reprisal based upon their faith and based upon their love for أبو فضى عباس عليه السلام and then I say what situation am I in compared to another within the human race in the human species am I like the one in Mexico in the city of Guatemala where the city is so overrun by drug lords that there isn't one single police officer in that entire city one single police officer male female no one no one at all what level of security do they have within that city and again then I raise my hand and I say thank you my lord even though I am trialed even though there is difficulty in my life Alhamdulillah رب العالم I see nothing in it but beauty and that point comes when you understand the sacrifice of Sayyida Zaynab on the 10th of Muharram now when we come into these particular verses there are two verses as we stated and they show us opposing ideologies but in fact they show us a number of important levels of depth in regards to our own psychological understanding of trials and tribulations as for man when his lord tries him then treats him with honor and makes him lead an easy life he says my lord has honored me but when he tries him differently then straightens to him his means of subsistence he says my lord has disgraced me the first thing we see here is that both being blessed with great نعمات and kirama and being blessed with any trial and tribulation and any squeezing of risk is both a test الله سبحانه وتعالى says that even to be given in great bounty is still a test and to be taken away from is also a test one isn't a greater test over the other one doesn't mean that Allah loves you more or loves you less both of them are a test that when you are given great risk and when you are given when risk is taken away from you both of them are a test in the same way now here risk is blessing it is anything that is given to you by Allah سبحانه وتعالى it is not just wealth risk is your health as well risk is everything that your family is still with you risk is any blessing by Allah سبحانه وتعالى and therefore when I am given those risk it is still a test from Allah سبحانه وتعالى when that risk is taken away from me it is still a test by Allah سبحانه وتعالى and at that point we see that when man has been given risk his statement is my lord has honored me but when it is taken away from him he says my lord has disgraced me here the dichotomy is in my measurement of Allah سبحانه وتعالى I now place my own perspective on Allah instead of allowing him to rule my way of thinking I have the audacity to say that when he has given to me he has blessed me but when he has taken away he has stopped blessing me as opposed to thinking both of these are blessings by Allah سبحانه وتعالى to take away in some cases may be a bigger blessing than to give me because when I have I may be doing wrong by it but when I don't have in the first place I cannot do wrong by that risk that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has given to me so here these are very fundamental thinkings and processes of thought that Allah سبحانه وتعالى wants to give to us there is a wonderful tradition that comes to us from the time the night of معراد that Allah سبحانه وتعالى wants to give to us it's in regards to our outlook and our gratitude for everything that we have and everything that we don't have as well when we are given and when it is taken away from us the Holy Prophet of Islam as we know many incidents take place on the night of معراد wonderful traditions and you can imagine all these prophets and angels getting together in heaven and you can imagine all these prophets and angels getting together in heaven and they are now showing us prime examples of how the system works behind the veils so now the Holy Prophet of Islam is ascending he's ascending through the various heavens and he gets to what we can only describe is a room he gets into a room and as he enters into this room جبرا إيلة أمين is beside him and he sees this room is split into two on one side of the room there are angels and they are working very very busily and they don't have a moments break I'm paraphrasing to make us understand all these angels they're working very busy and they don't have a moments break there's no stop for them on the other side of the room there is another group of angels the same number the same volume of angels but they are working at a slower pace they're not working so hard every few minutes they get up and they do something and they sit back down again and a few minutes later they stand up and they do something else رسول الله turned towards جبرا إيلة أمين and said جبرا إيل can you tell us what is this scenario what is this room that I see in front of me what is taking place جبرا إيلة أمين says that this is the room which coordinates the دعاء that is given from the mu'mineen towards الله سبحانه وتعالى it is specifically the room that deals with how the mu'mineen ask and how they react when they get blessings so this room is split into two this side of the room is the angels that when the دعاء rises from the mu'mineen it reaches these angels and they are given the responsibility by Allah سبحانه وتعالى for dealing with the دعاء that is made as you can see so many دعاء come from human beings that constantly they are working there is not a moment's respite from them and at every moment you see that they are working on behalf of the human beings oh جبرا إيلة what is that side of the room that side of the room is that portion of the room that they receive a thank you from Allah سبحانه وتعالى for the دعاء that has been accepted at that point so therefore that room that side of the room is working less slowly that side of the room only every few minutes may receive an الحمد لله رب العالمين from Allah سبحانه وتعالى we see two portions of the room and therefore the idea is that even during all times I must be grateful to Allah for whatever I have and have not been given is an incident that takes place in regards to جابل إبن عبدالله أنصاري and our fifth imam إمام محمدن البقر صلوات الله وسلام وعلي we have that famous tradition whereby the holy prophet of Islam says to جابل you will see my grandson محمد بقر when you see him pass him my salams and this story starts at that point so جابل is blind at his age he is sitting on that pavement and now the fifth imam walks by him جابل says who are you I tell by the movement of your footsteps that there are humility in the way in which you walk tell me who are you I am محمدن البقر the son of Ali the son of Hussein the son of Ali ابن عبدالله at this point he says to him oh my master you are محمد بقر I have a message for you from your grandfather the holy prophet of Islam he passes his greetings and salutations and you can imagine if you and I received salutations from رسول الله how overjoyed we would be it's no different from the fifth imam he is still overjoyed at receiving these salutations حليث says he says oh جابل my companions are waiting for me at my house come with me let us walk together so that you may tell them that the prophet has passed me salams so now they are walking they are walking side by side جابل is blind he poses a question to him he says يا جابل how is your patience you see he is very elderly blind going through trials and tribulations يا جابل how is your patience at this moment in time جابل responds by saying oh imam oh my master يبن رسول الله during times of goodness I say الحمد لله رب العالمي during times of difficulty I complain to my lord and ask for an improvement in my situation is that not a fair statement from جابل during times of ease I say الحمد لله رب العالمي but during times of difficulty I say my lord improve my situation do we not do that do we not proclaim that same da'a that same statement my lord improve my situation the response from the fifth imam oh جابل that answer does not befit a man like you سبحان الله جابل is such a huge companion a grand possibly one of the greatest companions of all times he has lived from the time of رسول الله 14-16 battles with him he is there is the first زائر of Aba'ab he is the man who is given to us حليت الكساء what knowledge and station جابل has yet the fifth imam says oh جابل this response does not befit a man in your station my master what should I say what answer would have been befitting of me he says at this point oh جابل when you are in times of ease say الحمد لله رب العالمين and when you are in times of difficulty also say الحمد لله رب العالمين look at the outlook from the imam look at his perspective on how trials and tribulations should not affect my psychological output I should not be defeated I should not be the one who is broken I should be the one during all trials and tribulations to stand in the same way that I bow in سجده and ask Allah to improve my situation during times of difficulty should be the same tier of gratitude I cry in سجده when I am given blessings at that point I have reached to the station of where أحل البيت were in their own station there is a wonderfully intriguing verse that speaks volumes about this issue it comes to us from سوط الحديد in fact سوط الحديد for those of us who have heard this مصائب and this مصيب on the last moments of the lady of light as her chest is giving way as the internal bleeding may have been overcoming her at this point she gives a وصية to her husband the commander of the faithful she says يا علي I give to you a final set of statements from me amongst those final statements from the lady of light she says after my death read سوط الحديد for within سوط الحديد there are remedies in there for you what a psychological surah this surah must be for you and I and that whatever trial and tribulation we are going through we may turn to سوط الحديد to gain strength from this if سيئة الزحراء peace be upon her can recommend this to the commander of the faithful imagine what you and I can do when we turn towards our Lord in our own trials and tribulations سوط الحديد has a wonderful verse it has a series of verses which we may not have time to go into and these verses starts from around verse 21 and lasted around verse 27 for your own reading in this sequence of verse it has one which says بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم لكي لا تقصو على ما فاتكم ولا تحفره بما آتاكم لكي لا تقصو على ما فاتكم ولا تحفره بما آتاكم you should not be لكي لا تقصو على ما فاتكم you should not become despondent at that which has escaped you and you should not become overjoyed at that which He has given to you now let us just look at this translation the first thing you should not be despondent at that which escapes you and that you should not become overjoyed at that which He gives to you do you see the difference when He says about that which escapes you He does not الله سبحانه وتعالى necessarily equate your and my loss to Himself but when it comes to blessings being given He equates it to Himself do not become despondent at that which escapes you and do not become overjoyed at that which He has given to you He separates the issue meaning when I lose blessings before I complain to my Lord before I turn to Him and ask Him to improve my situation maybe just maybe I must introspect look at myself to see whether I am the cause of losing those blessings before saying He is the one who has put me into this trial and tribulation it's two different things it's not a problem to turn to Him it's the right and absolute needy thing to do but as a psychological outlet as a means to improve myself before stating it is a test before suggesting I blame my Lord and say He is the one to maybe squeeze my risk maybe I look to myself and see whether I am the human being that is at fault for that particular loss how many verses of Quran do we see that says indeed by the hand of your own actions is the result of what takes place how many nights on a Thursday each week do I read the verses that state that I seek forgiveness from those particular actions that bring about this blocking of the دعاء towards you اللهم اغفر لي الضنوب التي تحبس الدعاء اللهم اغفر لي الضنوب التي تنزل maybe I am the one by my own action who has caused بلا to fall down upon me maybe I am the one that needs to introspect to see what issues I were given and then I am the one who rejected maybe I was given wealth in abundance I was not grateful and therefore it has left me maybe I was the one who has given health did not respect my health and that's why tomorrow it has been taken away from me you see sometimes we need to look to the sunnah and this is a very very fine and delicate point I ask for definite attention especially to my younger brothers and sisters who are in the audience tonight I understand the sunnah of the Holy Prophet of Islam we have become to the point that sometimes we see certain narrations about a sunnah and we overlook those small small sunnah just as an example we get the sunnah that on certain nights of the week we should cut our nails just mentioning small small sunnah that we should begin our meal with a pinch of salt and so on and so forth there are certain sunnah that speak about the body and small things that we can do in regards to our own body that sometimes we need to understand in a medical perspective as well and if we leave these small small sunnah we run the risk of falling into bad health later on in our lives I'll give you an example small small sunnah that sometimes we forget we have the tradition that says do not bite your nails otherwise you will lose your memory true? we have heard this now understand it from the Bedouin's perspective but understand it from the 21st perspective 21st century perspective with things like Alzheimer's disease now if you told a Bedouin 1400 years ago about Alzheimer's disease would he understand it? no when you tell someone today of the mental diseases and the loss of understanding in a place at later ages do we understand it? we do we see our own friends and family members going through these debilitating diseases but if I was told that I am the one who creates this I would look differently at how these are tests if I am the one who understands this hadith in a slightly different manner maybe just maybe I will understand the outcome differently the hadith says does it not to take a pinch of salt before your meal it will remove 70 diseases from the stomach does it not? how often we hear this tradition but yet I do not equate the potential of those 70 diseases to the cancers of the bowel that are available at later ages and then we fall ill and we say why my lord when my lord points and says did my prophet not give to you the divine sunnah of how to look after your body the hadith excuse me there is an incident that takes place this is one of my favorite traditions about the upkeep of these small small sunnahs small small sunnahs grand scholars got together for a meal two of them include say it may Allah bless his soul say it does not need an introduction for my elders but for my youth and the ones who only know his name I will humbly say that we have not had or may we ever have a scholar who is as a giant as Aitullah said Insha'Allah that suffices there has not been nor will there be a scholar who is close to Aitullah said this dinner was taking place at the residence of Aitullah said a group of scholars were invited to partake within this meal and then one scholar who was sitting in front of him when they both extended their arms in order to begin the meal this one scholar Aitullah Tadaqani refused to begin eating you can imagine scholars of that level eating and one sitting on that mat and one of them refuses to extend his hand to begin eating said can you explain to me please why are you not eating he says there is no salt in the table the hadith of the prophet says you must begin with a pinch of salt and therefore I cannot begin my meal unless there is salt within the table he calls one of the servants and says please go into the kitchen and get some salt for us servant goes comes back say Yidi there is no salt within the house Aitullah Tadaqani is refusing to eat because if he is on the cross I am not eating I am sorry I am not eating what do you do imagine you are in that gathering none of you are going to extend your hand are you none of you are going to start the meal because you cannot at that point he says to him if you were this attached to the sunnah maybe you should bring some salt with you to the meals Aitullah Tadaqani responds he opens his jubba he takes out a packet of salt he puts it on the mat and says I always carry with me a packet of salt I just wanted to teach you the importance of following the sunnah of the prophet I just wanted to teach you the importance of following the sunnah of the prophet wonderful wonderful example how even the most minute sunnahs are kept and therefore I have to understand that I am also the cause of the loss of these blessings whether it be health whatever the blessing may be I must introspect it all time and be grateful for that and follow that which is proscribed to you and I then we come further into this verse the verse says that you should not become despondent at that which has escaped you and you should not become overjoyed at that which has been given to you by him just an in depth analysis of the grammar here in some of the lexical sides of the word Allah says لكيلة تأسو تأسو comes from the word yaas yaas means despondency you see the verse didn't say don't grieve some translations say don't grieve at that which has escaped you that's a poor translation it doesn't mean don't grieve indeed grieve grieving is part of the psychological process it says when she lost her family members she grieved therefore it is not don't grieve yaas means despondency what does despondency mean it means to lose hope it means to shrink within the self rather than standing up and saying I am that human being which is cradle by the hand of Allah and therefore I put my entire situation in his stead I close myself and I become quiet I become the one who is no longer confident in the blessings of Allah lifting me back up towards that point Allah SWT in the opening verses of سورة الأحزاب chapter number 3 of Quran Allah SWT says in trust your affair to Allah for He is He is sufficient as a protector for you and I so therefore if I understand this I will not become despondent I will not become the one who loses hope my wealth is gone my health is gone there is no way for me to come out of this situation the trial is too big for me rather you will do the opposite of despondency you will stand before your Lord and say to Him my Lord I entrust you with my situation to get me out of whatever problem I am facing do not become overjoyed at that which He has given to you now تفرحو comes from the root word of إفراح إفراح has a number of beautiful meanings it means joy it means happiness but the context of this one is joy for dunya joy for dunya now as a muffasser which we are all becoming insha'Allah at the end of these discussions the muffasser will of course firstly look to Quran to explain another verse remember we said صالح تحراني مرهومي الله بلستهم بوث their style of tafsir was to first explain a verse by another verse or explain a word by another word based within Quran so this word of إفراح or تفرح where does it come within the Holy Quran where does it show us that this is based within dunya joy and not joy for akhira in the incident in Surat An-Naml الله سبحانه وتعالى shows us the incident of بالقيس and بالقيس she now receives that letter from Suleiman and that letter says بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم as a response what does she do she says to her advisors or chiefs tell me what I should do they suggest that maybe you should send something to him and when she sends these beauties and these treasures to him the response from the great prophet is it's exactly the same word that is used do you think that I will become overjoyed by this gift of dunya what Allah has given to me is greater than whatever you can give to me and therefore this إفراح is only based within the joys of this world so therefore do not become overjoyed become happy become happy at what he has been given to what he has given to you but do not become so overjoyed that you lose your understanding of that which he has given to you you say here people confuse dunya we say world we translate dunya as world dunya does not mean world dunya is a loose translation dunya does not mean world dunya the root word of dunya is at dani dani is translated as that which is low or lower meaning it is that world that you choose is lower as opposed to the higher world when you choose the lower world over the higher world that is dunya الله سبحانه وتعالى says very beautifully in شوط الأعلى that وآخرة خيره وآبقى that surely that آخرة is that place that we want to be it is the better place for you and I so therefore when someone says dunya when someone says you're going towards dunya it doesn't mean that you have a nice car and it's a problem I'm not saying it is a problem I'm saying that someone says it doesn't mean that because you have a nice house that's a problem no it doesn't mean that it means when you consider that nice car to be a means of arrogance that's dunya for that car that's dunya so that car or that house or that job or that holiday when that becomes a means of pride and arrogance that's dunya so dunya is that low choosing of the world once Jabir was sitting with our 50 Imam we love our Jabir stories Jabir was sitting with our 50 Imam Jabir lets out a huge sigh have you ever done that have you ever come home after a long day maybe you throw in the breeze maybe you throw in the breeze come home after a long day maybe you throw in the briefcase down and just said put the chai on put the kettle on I need three sugars tonight this is that deep sigh that Jabir let out the 50 Imam turned to him and remember we qualified how high a scholar Jabir was a minute ago he turns towards Jabir and says oh Jabir why are you giving this huge sigh in that manner 50 Imam gets the reply he says to him you know this world I was sighing over dunya I was sighing over this world that I am placed within the 50 Imam responds and says oh Jabir this world is based the dunya the low world is based within seven things shall I tell you what those seven things are he says yes my master tell me what those seven things are the world the low ebb of this world the people who are concerned for the low side of this world they are qualified within seven things those seven things are that which you eat that which you drink that which you smell that which you wear that which you ride that which you hear and that which you marry 50 Imam's hadith not mine I'll get in trouble tonight I can tell those seven things those are the things that make up this low world and I'll contextualize marriage in a minute believe me he says those seven things are the things which are based within the low side of the world shall I explain to you why they are deemed in the low side of the world and it's the things like eating and drinking the necessities of life shall I explain to you why he says yes go ahead tell me my Imam he said the reason for this world the greatest thing that you can eat in this world the sweetest thing that you can eat in this world is honey and honey comes from an insect why then do you value it so highly Ojaber and he says Ojaber that thing which is sweetest for you to drink is cold water and where you reside there is an abundance of water why are you so concerned with that which you drink he says Ojaber the best clothes that you can wear is silk and that comes from the behind of a worm why are you so concerned with those things that you wear he says Ojaber the very best thing that you can ride is a great steed and even that steed will end up dying why are you so concerned with that steed that you are going to ride upon he says Ojaber the very best thing that you can listen to is music it is that sweetness that will cause you to fall why are you so concerned with being drawn towards Haram music he says the very best thing that you can marry is your wife and even that person will give you trials and you will give her trials why are you so concerned rise above yes now you contextualize it rise above rise above just the petty trials in regards to this life those are the low sides of the world rise above these small small things go towards the highest side of life والآخر تخيروا وأبقى you see here when you begin to see these sorts of traditions you begin to contextualize Ojaber responds by saying from that point on in my life I was never concerned with an iota of dunya I was concerned with what I ate I was concerned with what I married but I wasn't concerned for the low side of things I looked at all those things in the eyes of Allah that was the difference that was the difference and that's how I understood the trials of this life whether I became hungry or thirsty or whether I lost wealth or whether I lost my health or my partner all of it was contextualized by the blessings of Allah when we lose and when we are given our standing should be the same the intensity of that such day shukr in which when I am given something should be the same when something is taken that cry that I make to Allah in da'a on the night of qadr whether I'm in a state of ease or whether I'm in a state of difficulty should be exactly the same that da'a for my friends and my family should be exactly the same whether they are going through difficulty or whether they are going through ease I should want those blessings to stay and increase and therefore my tear that I shed for them should be the same as when I see them going through trials and tribulations when I understand that when I contextualize how I approach my Lord the Creator and sustainer of all of this at that point at that point when I understand how my outlook my perspective on everything should be that my sajda should be the same my salah should be the same in difficulty and in ease Allah says in those great verses that at that point you see man he will become the one who blames Allah may Allah protect us from becoming the individual that looks upon Allah as the one who has taken away my blessings as opposed to the one that says Allah is the one who gave them to me in the first place when we are in need and indeed we are always in need and at this point on a 10 second side note when we seek wasila please brothers and sisters do not just consider wasila an intercession based upon the worldly needs as hard as you knock at the door of Abu Fathal Abbas to gain worldly blessings knock at his door to improve your spirituality is he not the one who is Abu Fathal is he not the one who is the father of all the graces of Allah therefore when I say to him oh grand human being who is given that station of Allah has been باب الهوائج tonight I cry to you and I say intercede on my behalf I am the one who is in need to improve my health but at the same time I am the one who cannot stand in the morning for Fajr Salah improve me Abu Fathal Abbas I am the one who cannot stop looking at this individual at school or I am the one who cannot stop looking at this individual at work grant me that opportunity by your blessings to turn my face away whatever spiritual weakness I have knock at the door of Abu Fathal Abbas while tonight you will see that he is the hand that cradles us before Allah when you go and you go to Abu Fathal Abbas there is often a narration an incident that is told for you and I to understand this human being this grand man that we are going to shed an abundance of tears over in a few minutes you have all in sha Allah been to Karbala and may Allah take us this year and every year and all of our children children's children when you get to Karbala you get to that point where you see the grand dome of Abu Fathal Abbas there is a narration in the story that says one day a husband and wife a mother and father came with their very young child this child was at the point of death this young child innocent babe was at the point of death the illness was overcoming him and they had taken an intention that they would present that child to Bab al-Hawaij and say that we are not leaving the precinct or your haram until you grant intercession on behalf of Allah to this child and so day after day night after night they sat that child was in front of the grave and they would not leave the alim who would lead the Salah in the haram of the master Abu Fathal Abbas one night went to sleep and he saw in his dream three personalities all sitting on thrones of Noor one of them was Rasul Allah another of them was Amirul Mu'mineen and the third of them was Abu Fathal Abbas the alim says I saw these three grand personalities in conversation with each other and when they were conversing with each other I heard what they were saying that at this point Abu Fathal Abbas had turned to Amirul Mu'mineen and Amirul Mu'mineen had turned to Rasul Allah Rasul Allah had turned towards Jibrail Ameen and asked for the intercession of this young babe Jibrail Ameen ascended to Allah Allah gave the response Jibrail returned gave the response to Rasul Allah and Rasul Allah said I am sorry that this child's life has been decreed the ending of this child's life is upon him he shall not be given intercession Abu Fathal Abbas became disappointed he said please oh my father Amirul Mu'mineen ask again ask again they have come to me Babel Hawaich I ask you to ask again so again up that ladder up that chain that request went to Amirul Mu'mineen went to Rasul Allah went to Jibrail Ameen went to Allah Allah responded again back down the chain the response came I am sorry I have decreed that this child life is over there is no more time for him when Abu Fathal Abbas in the dream heard this response from Allah he responds he says if that is the case then I want Allah to rid me of this title of being Babel Hawaich if I do not have the authority and the power to grant response to the hajaat of the Mu'mineen I do not want this title anymore take it away from me Allah سبحانه وتعالى having heard this response from Abu Fathal Abbas in this dream immediately responds and says Abu Fathal I am the one who has given you that title based upon your sacrifice of Hussain ibn Ali none shall take that title away from you that title is decreed from you I will grant a full life towards that child and therefore that child will stand up and leave with him that child will stand up and leave with his parents the Alim woke up and he went towards the Hadam and he looks for that young babe and that young babe is no longer there fearing that this babe has been now his life has been taken he asks where are the parents he is told did you not know the parents have left with the child the child has been granted a miraculous medical outcome there is no problem with that child and indeed the parents and the child have now left at that point the Alim realized باب الهوائج أبو فضل عباس has been granted that title by Allah and therefore he will always remain as باب الهوائج we knock at his door tonight with these tears that we shall shed we knock at your door أبو فضل عباس salutations be upon you السلام عليك peace be upon you السلام عليك يا وارثة أميل المؤمنين we send salutations upon you tonight peace and blessings be upon you the one who tried so valiantly to bring that mush of water to بيبي سكينة peace and blessings be upon you oh great man who brought that mush in the hope to give some water تعالين الأزغر we say to you أبو فضل عباس that whatever we are going through tonight with these tears grant us that intercession أبو فضل عباس he comes towards his master حسين and says oh hussain allow me to enter into the battlefield he is not given that permission the thirst is overcoming it is killing them سكينة walks into that tent in which all the flasks are kept she picks up that one flask she opens it up and she turns it upside down towards her blessed tongue and lips not a single drop of water drops into that young girl's mouth she brings that mush coping for some coolness and puts it towards her cheek and still there is no water to be able to cool her down she cries out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out وكيف تتكلمتك بجانبك في المجموعة؟ هناك مجموعة بشكل جيد في حديث حسين ابنعلي يبدو أخيه بخيره في العل وخبرت يا أب باص كيف يمكنني أن أتكلمتك في المجموعة؟ لأنه إذا كنت تكلمت في المجموعة وكيف تتكلمتك؟ وكيف سيكون أمي؟ في حال هذا الوقت هبارس رسومت باك أمي مرسة حسين أمي أمي أمي أمي أمي أمي أمي أمي أمي أمي لا يوجد أحد ولكن أمي أمي مرسة حسين أكبار has been slaughtered قاسم has been slaughtered أون محمد has been slaughtered it is just you and I allow me to enter in towards that battlefield حسين ابن علي allows him to enter into that battlefield at this point in time and like that brave warrior he enters what does he have with him a barse has with him he has with him a spear he has with him the alum and he has with him that mushk he enters into the battlefield one narration tells us that he dispatches 850 of the enemies he is the man other than Abab Abdullah to strike the most of the enemies towards the hellfire oh Abbas what warrior you must have been we know the story very well that Abbas is such a grand tall individual that when he rode upon that steed his legs and his feet dragged upon the ground we find a narration that says that when Sayyid Mahdi Bahlul Ulum when he went towards that haram when that man went towards the haram in order to fix the haram he came to his master and said oh master can you please tell me why is the grave of Abbas so small I hear in the narrations that he was such a tall individual why is his grave so small he begins to weep upon the grave he says the reason being is because when they cut Abbas when he fell towards the floor it was not Abbas that fell towards the floor it was the pieces of Abbas that was cut it was the pieces of Abbas that descended towards the plains of Kalbala Hussein sees his brother enter into the battlefield there is a story I want you to understand all those of you who are brothers all of you who are brothers I want you to take this story and understand this story there is a narration that says that in Qum there was an alem that decided to tell his students of an A'mal that could be performed in order to see the event of Kalbala to see the event of Kalbala this student went and took this A'mal and recited this A'mal and by virtue of this he began to see the event of Kalbala one day passed the second day passed the third day passed the student did not return back towards the meeting he did not return back towards the lesson of the teacher the other students were very concerned that the student had not returned back so they looked for him they could not find him eventually they broke into the apartment the house of this student and they found this student he was lying on the floor shaking shaking and shaking and shaking they came towards him and they revived him they said tell us oh student so tell us what did you see that has put you into the state did you see the beheading of Abab Dillah did you see when Zaina was struck by the whip did you see when Sukaina's earrings was snatched from her what did you see to put you into this state where you are shaking for three days the student responds back by Allah I was granted one vision of the day of Ashura all I saw was the final embrace between these two brothers all I saw was the final embrace when Hussein said to Abbas entering towards the battlefield at this point Hussein sees Abbas enter into the battlefield he rides like that warrior that he is and he strikes down the enemies he comes towards the river Furat he descends and he picks up that cold water and then he raises it towards himself but he remembers the statement of his father he remembers the statement of his father oh Abbas when you reach the bank of the river Euphrates do not have that water for that water is for Hussein and his children at that point he throws the water back within the river he brings the mushk and he puts the water into that mushk and he rides back towards the camp I ask you brothers and sisters tell me what Sukina must have been seeing at that moment in time was she not standing outside the tents watching Abbas go was she not looking at the Alam head towards the river Furat imagine when the Alam returns from the river Furat how much joy this young girl must have had she must have thought to herself my uncle Abbas is coming with the water I can't say that the Hadith has said this but I imagine that her as the leader of the children she must have gone to Muhammad Baqir she must have gone towards Fathim at Sughra and said oh children of Ahl al Bayt my uncle Abbas promised us water I see his Alam returning he is coming back with that mushk of water come out come and greet Abu Fathil Abbas for he is about to return but Abbas would never return Abbas would not return back towards the camp at this point the enemies begin to shower him with everything that they have one man hides behind the tree as this man hides behind the tree he raises his sword he sees Abu Fathil Al Abbas riding towards the camp they are shouting do not let that water reach the camp of Abba Abdullah Al Hussain this man he rises his sword he strikes it down upon the right arm of Abu Fathil Al Abbas Abbas he loses his arm from the right elbow it falls towards the ground Abbas he passes the mushk towards his left hand as a warrior would do his only concern is the thirst of little Sakina at this point another man comes from the left hand side he strikes the arm of Abu Fathil Al Abbas the arm falls towards the floor he puts the mushk in his mouth at this point the enemies call out strike him with everything that you have strike him with your swords strike him with your spears shower him with a row of arrows whatever has to be done to stop that mushk from reaching the children of Hussain at this point Abu Fathil Al Abbas he is riding back towards the camp they begin to strike him with arrows one arrow embeds itself into the chest of Abu Fathil Al Abbas one arrow strikes the eye of Abu Fathil Al Abbas at this point he still does not waver the great warrior is reaching and going towards Hussain's tent but then one enemy of Allah he swings a mace I ask you oh brothers and sisters how many spikes does a mace have oh brothers and sisters how can a mace be embedded into the head of Abu Fathil Al Abbas even with those arrows he still runs and won his horse towards them at that point a man lifts the mace he swings that mace and he thrusts it into the forehead of Abu Fathil Al Abbas only at that point does Abu Fathil Al Abbas fall towards the floor but the torture of Abu Fathil Al Abbas does not stop there they strike him with his sword they begin to cut him into pieces he calls out for his brother Assalamu alaikum Oh Abu Abdullah Oh Abu Abdullah come to the aid of your brother come to me at this point Hussain cries out oh my back has been broken oh boss how can I go on now that you are going to be taken from me Hussain falls towards the floor he gets back up and he rises towards Zuljanar he says Zuljanar take me towards Abu Fathil Al Abbas Zuljanar rides out in towards the battlefield at that point Zuljanar stops oh Zuljanar have you taken me to the body of Abu Fathil Al Abbas Zuljanar looks down what does Hussain see he sees one of the arms of Abu Fathil Al Abbas on the floor he continues to go Zuljanar stops again oh Zuljanar have you brought me to the body of Abu Fathil Al Abbas Zuljanar looks down again what does he see he sees the mashk he sees that flask which was supposed to be quenching the thirst of Sakina on the floor Hussain continues to go forward eventually eventually he comes to the broken body of Abu Fathil Al Abbas this is the saddest narration one can imagine he comes and he steps towards Abbas Abbas is blinded by the blood in his eye and the other eye is pierced by an arrow Hussain sits down by his blessed brother he picks up the head of Abbas and puts it into his lap do you know what Abbas does Abbas moves his head away from the lap of Hussain he picks the head up again and he puts it into the lap again he moves the head again Hussain lifts the head and puts it into his lap at this point Abbas cries out oh man please do not cut my head off just yet give me a few minutes respite I am awaiting my brother I want to perform this yard art of my brother for one final time do not strike my head off yet Hussain responds oh Abbas it is your brother Hussain my master I am sorry I could not see you I cannot see you with this arrow embedded into my eye I cannot see you with this blood Hussain wipes the blood from the eye of Abu Fathil Al Abbas he wipes it and he says peace be upon you my dear brother peace be upon you my dear master for I finally get to see you at this point in time at this point they begin to discuss they begin to engage with each other at this point he says to him let me take your body back towards the tent let me take your body back towards the tent Abbas says oh my dear master Hussain I cannot bear to be taken back towards the tent I feel shy I feel shy who do you feel shy in front of my dear brother I feel shy in front of Sakina because I could not fulfill her request of bringing water and I feel shy in front of Zayna because I know that if she sees my body in these pieces she will not be able to take what has happened to me she will not be able to stand what has happened to me leave my body at this point please leave at this point Hussain makes his own request he says oh my dear brother Abbas all your life you have called me master I ask you to call me brother for one final time he responds بايا oh my dear brother oh my dear brother and with those final breaths إِنَّا لِلَّا وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَجْرُونَ the final breaths of Abbas are taken there is a narration that says that when this was being described when this tragedy was being described عالم صور in a dream the dream of Zahra coming towards her calling towards him Zahra comes towards this alem and says you have recited the tragedy of my son Abbas you recited but you did not recite the greatest tragedy to fall upon Abbas oh my dear lady of light I recited that he went to go and get water that is not the greatest tragedy oh lady of light I recited the tradition that his arms were cut off that is not the greatest tragedy of my son Abbas what is the greatest tragedy of Abbas that when he fell from the horse there were no arms to protect his fall those arrows that were embedded into his stomach those arrows that were embedded into his chest that arrow that embedded it into his eye what means that he have to protect his fall and that's point when Abbas passes away from this world for saying let's out a huge cry وَا أَبَسَا وَا أَبَسَا oh Abbas you have left me Abbas you have left me a tradition says that this was such such a difficult moment such a cry from Hussain that even the enemy tyrant began to cry they begin to cry and cry and cry Hussain stood up and said oh enemies of Allah now do you cry for me why do you cry when you have already slaughtered all of my friends and family why do you cry when you have cut off the arms of Abbas at this point شمر بن ديل جوشن begins to smile he begins to laugh he begins to smile he says now that Abbas has been killed there is no escape for Hussain بن علي in these final moments in these final moments what was said between Abbas and Hussain Hussain begins to cry Abbas begins to cry he asks why are you crying so much he says oh my master Hussain I am crying because right now in my my head is in your lap but in a few minutes your head will be in the lap of شمر بن ديل جوشن in a few minutes after that your head will be placed upon a spear how can I not cry when I am in this situation the body of Abbas Abbas is left where it is he does not bring the body back towards the tent Hussain stands up and slowly walks back towards the tent سكينا سكينا runs out to greet Abab ديلا oh my father where is Abbas what news of my uncle Abbas where is the water that he has promised oh sweet child oh my dear daughter Abbas has been slaughtered on the plains of كربلا his arms lie by the river Euphrates he is now in heaven with wings being granted to him oh سكينا bear patiently bear patiently until the other children to bear patiently at this point when زين العبدين comes to bury comes to bury all of the family members and بن أسد come towards زين العبدين and they say we have helped you to bury all the family members but there is one person who refuses to get up there is one body that refuses to come to the others every time we pick up his chest his feet stick to the ground every time we lift him from his feet his chest stick to the ground زين العبدين says this is my uncle Abbas his last wish will always be kept he cannot be buried with the others he does not go to them oh زين العبدين will go and bury the body of Abbas


Hi, this is Dr. Don. I have a problem out of the Module 2 assignment in Business 431. This is the Part 3A that I want to show you. And in this Part 3, you're given data on four models of SSDs, and you're asked to find the percent fail for each of those models and also to find the percent fail for each of the samples for each of the models. And the data here may look a little bit different than yours. I've hidden some columns and rows to make it easier. There are 30 samples, one through 30, for each model, and then there's 100 observations for each sample for each model. So you just do the math real quick. That means there's a total of 3,000 observations for Model X and another 3,000 for Model Y and so on. Now the first thing you need to do is to find the percent fails for each of the 30 samples. And the way I'm going to do that is just to click down here below. I'm going to add in four rows, a little bit of space, and insert those. So now I've got room. I'm going to put some labels here. Counts. Now I've got those rows labeled. I'm going to put my cursor there and hit equal. And start counting, start typing count. And there are a number of count functions. We want to count the cells that have text in it. So we look for the count A. And it just says sales that are not empty. So I'm going to double click that to select it. And then I'm going to go to my first sample and highlight all 100 and hit enter. And that gives me the count, which is going to be the same for all of these. And then the fails, I'm going to go equal count. This time I want count if and the range will be the same range, comma. And I want to count every time it sees fail. Whoops, it's got to be spelled exactly. So let me get rid of the S there and hit enter. And it shows I've got five fails on that first sample of Model X. And of course, that gives me a percent of that divided by that 0.05. And I'm going to change that to percent and add a couple of decimal places. So that's 5% fails for the first sample of Model X. Now I'm just going to drag that across to get the same information for all 30 samples for Model X. And we've got the fails for each of those. And now I'm going to add a column over here for totals for Model X. And I'm just going to use the sum function to drag across and sum those up, which of course shows 3,000 as we should. And then I drag it down to get the total fails for Model X. And then I'm going to go here and drag that formula this way to get the percentage fails for Model X. So that is the first part. And of course, you should go ahead and format this to make it more readable and do the same thing for Model Y, Model Z, and Model W, or whatever your models are labeled. And that would be one way you can satisfy that first part. The next part would be to take these totals and put them into a summary table. I want to show you one way of constructing your summary table. And I put it up here. I've added on to the right of my data. And I've created a little table for my four models. And then the overall, I want the count, the count of the fails, and the percent of fails for each of those. I'm just going to show you the first one. I'm going to click in that cell, hit equal. Then I'm going to go down to my Model X there, click on that cell and hit enter. And that gives me that information. My fails, I'm going to click in that cell, enter, and click there to get my fails. And then my percent fail, I'm going to click that cell and click down here. And then I've got these linked. And the reason I want to link this information is so that it's always up to date. If I got new information over here, let's say we had one more failure, update that information there. It updates here and it updates there. And of course, you do the same thing for the other three models to, and then use just sum and divide down here. Okay, I've completed the table using the same process. Now I'm going to show you very briefly how to construct a chart from this. I'm going to select my Model column there, hold down the control key. Then I'm going to select the last two columns, the fail count and the percent fail. And let go of the control key and go to insert, recommended charts, and Excel will think about it and recommend a chart. You may get something slightly different. Mine came up with a cluster column chart and I'm going to say I'm going to accept that, click OK. And so I've got the basic chart there. And of course, you will need to format the chart, put the axis titles on there, put appropriate chart title. You may want to change some things here. If you're a purist, these, the percent fails are not really a continuous distribution. But for communicating, I kind of like this. One thing I would do would be to click on first the columns there, right click and add my data labels there. So I've got my counts on top. And then I'm going to click on the orange line, right click again, add data labels. And that way I've got my percentages. And what you can do is click on each one of those and drag it to move it and then format it. So it's a little more legible. But that's a quick way of creating a chart. And again, you've got to format it properly to make it communicate. But it's that simple. Hope this helps.


You can't function as a state without laws, and human rights is part of that, but laws are about protecting people. It's designed to protect people from being exploited. That's a whole function of what the state should do. The state's job is to make society more fair, more open, more meritocratic. States that make that work have been prosperous. The January M.D in China for example, in cualquier Act of 400, he said, The best gift my father gave me was 40 years when nothing happened. Peace and stability are massively underrated. As Hegel says, the pages of peace in history books are the ones with no words on it. Because we love war, we love revolution, we love change, we love apocalyptic views, we love drama and we love crisis. And actually most normal people would say, in my home environment, I don't want any crisis at all. I will settle for boredom at a quiet Friday night any day of the week. I'll be quiet now. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you're not allowed to be quiet. Ysgyn, dwi'n gwyllwch, Admiral Mullen? Empyricly, it's hard to say that we don't. I mean, you know, as I was listening to the conversation in terms of certainly what the U.S. has done, and I personally think that Iraq, the decision on Iraq was a disaster. And you may recall that we were going to light the flame of democracy. I think, and definitions of terms are really important. And one of my learnings in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and in other places, the flame of democracy gets lit initially if you have some semblance of a rule of law. If you made me prioritize impacting a country, it would be first and foremost to put in a rule of law. From which an awful lot of other things would grow, which was the exact opposite of what we did both in Iraq and Afghanistan. That's where, I may be biased, but that's where I think Europe is so important. I think a world, a Trump she-world, it will be a problem. We all respect, because for the United States or China, two countries that I know relatively well, that I visit. Because Europe, we are really committed, probably because of our experience of the terrible wars, two world wars, in fact, start this civil European wars. We should not forget that the most awful events of mankind history were here in Europe, and the more developed part of Europe, namely Germany, so that's where it started. The most, probably the most tragic event of mankind Shoah happened here in Europe. So the issue of Europe is the issue of wars, except the last 60 years after the European community was created, where he had no war in European community territory. Philosophical, the question is what we consider the real important value. Is it the state? Is it the party? Is it an ideology? Is it a class? Or is it a human being? That's fine. Some people call it individualism, but I prefer to call it humanism or personalism. So the question is, if you think that our country, we love our country, I think most of us, I mean, I love my country, we are patriotic, my country has almost 900 years of existence, Portugal, so I love my country, but I think it is not in contradiction to be citizen of Europe, and also why not to say citizens of the world, by the way, that's right. I remember Prime Minister of Britain recently that against the tradition of cosmopolitanism, said that citizens of the world are citizens of nowhere. I think we can be patriotics and be citizens of the world and care about human rights. And to love mankind, but I think it was Dostoevsky, there is a personage there that says, my father loved mankind in general, but he hated every individual in particular. That's not it. The question is, mankind is not an abstract concept, like the party, the class, the nation, the state. Mankind means every man, every woman, every child. And this is why the focus philosophically has to be on the person, the human being. That's why freedom is so important. And I believe that with all its imperfections, the free world is more able than other parts of the world to respond to human needs. I'm not European, but we are impacted by everybody, by China, by America, by Europe, and by their policies in Afghanistan. As I said that we are in 41 years of war, everybody is involved, but no one, including us, as an Afghan, we are not learning from history. That is one of the problem. What has happened, of course, in 1979 and 78, when the Kodatai and then the Russian invasion, the European and the American in the Arab countries, they choose the most conservative group of people and they train them as a fundamentalist Islamist to defeat USSR on that time. When USSR has collapsed, then they left Afghanistan. They left us on our own with poverty, with really a destroyed country. And then what's happened, we had Taliban and then the Mujahidin government, and now we have everybody. So I think what is really important, and I insist, that our policies everywhere, that democracy, liberalism and everything should be based on human rights and respect for human dignity. We do not do that. One story you might tell here is that the, if you want freedom, if you want democracy, you have to build it yourself. I think there's a pathos to these stories about Afghanistan, to Syria, but also to the Balkans where I was very much involved. The external interventions have been almost uniformly negative, with some exceptions. I don't want to get, I mean it's clear that Dayton helped to keep the Balkan war from going on, but I come out of this thinking that the stories you actually, in the post-89 world, you want to look at are a place like Ghana. It's a country that goes down, has a very bad period of authoritarian rule, very corrupt, kleptocratic rule, and has now had three or four successive free and fair elections. Ghana's doing it itself. I do take that lesson being anoptimistic. If you want freedom, if you want democracy, you've got to do it. You've got to do it yourself. Outsiders can help. We can help a little bit at the margins, but unless there's a constituency at home that is willing to go all the way, it can't happen. I fully agree. Let me say a few sentences. The main force in any country is the people of that country, but the international community can facilitate and empower that people to promote democracy. That cannot be done through bombs. It should be done through education and other basic social services and training and building empowerment, empowering the people of that country.