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SHAFAQNA-Do you know what your tears look like at a microscopic level? Dutch artist Maurice Mikkers does, and he’s been looking at hundreds of them. It seems that our tears can be as unique as snowflakes, and have a similar crystallised look under a microscope. Mikkers was a lab technician before he went to art school, and has yet to find two tears that look alike. He’s also investigating how temperature, humidity, and even the cause of the crying can influence a tear’s structure. “[A] dark field microscope will light up the tear on a black background, so you can actually see the beautiful pattes and shapes,” Mikkers says in the Quartz video above. “I think tears are so unexplored. We need ...

SHAFAQNA IN COLLABORATION WITH FORT RUSS –The most important information event of Friday was Vladimir Putin’s interview with Bloomberg, in which the Russian president touched on key issues on the global information agenda. I am sure that dozens of publications are going over this interview and discussing every question and answer in it, but I want to propose to you, dear friends, to look at this from a different angle. The point is that John Micklethwait, the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg who interviewed the Russian president, is not merely a joualist, but one of many joualists who has participated for many years in meetings of the Bilderberg Club as a full member of this shadow interest gr...

SHAFAQNA –I’ve changed my profile picture on social media many times since terror came in horrific waves, drowning the world in sorrow over the last year. But I could only use the official Facebook profile filter to show solidarity for Paris since a filter wasn’t available for Aleppo, Lahore, Istanbul, or many other attacks. I am a Syrian Muslim living in Dubai; I lost my home in Damascus at the begiing of the Syrian war in 2011. It saddens me when I read on Facebook that someone on the other side of the world thinks that because of who I am and where I live, I’m used to bombs and terror and therefore not as worthy of sympathy. Maybe that’s because the West is a place where war has been a f...

SHAFAQNA –With growing conces over national security, and the increased threat of those wishing to divide us, there has been recent public discussion about the future of our immigration program, and whether the values and customs of some migrant groups have a place in the Australian way of life. Negative attitudes towards Muslims in Australia seem to be based on a fear of the unknown, and this perceived difference in values and culture. Attributes we typically identify as integral to the Australian way of life – like our freedom and democracy – are commonly perceived as being at odds with Islam. It raises an interesting question – can Australian Muslims maintain their customs and traditions...

[embedded content] SHAFAQNA –In order to bring you, our readers, closer to realities and truths, Shafaqna will conduct a series of exclusive podcast interviews with renown political analysts politicians, officials, religious leaders, and academics. As always our aim is simple – knowledge. In a world run, and based on falsehood, Truth has become somewhat of a rare commodity – still, we ought to seek what has been dissimulated as to rise truly free. As Imam Ali said: “Ask in order to understand, and do not ask in order to find fault, for surely the ignorant man who wants to lea resembles a man of knowledge, and surely a man of knowledge who wants to be difficult resembles an ignorant man who ...

SHAFAQNA –One of France’s highest courts suspended the burkini ban in the town of Villeneuve-Loubet on Thursday, holding that the ban violated civil liberties including freedom of religion and movement. The ruling sets a precedent that could be used to challenge bans in other municipalities. On Tuesday, an image of French authorities forcing a Muslim woman to disrobe on the beach sparked outrage on social media. It was the second such incident in France that day—earlier, a beachgoer in a head scarf and tunic was fined because her attire was not “an outfit respecting good morals and secularism.” The response was swift on Twitter, where people noted the double irony that such actions are only...

SHAFAQNA – The Grand Ayatollah Shahroodi answered a question about the correctness of divorce if it transpires that the woman has been pregnant. Question: I am a woman and my husband divorced me when there was no sign of pregnancy, and after that it transpired that at the time of divorce I was pregnant, is this divorce correct? The Grand Ayatollah Shahroodi: Yes, it is correct. Source: PERSIAN SHAFAQNA SHARE Facebook Twitter Previous articleTaking medicines mixed with some alcohol/the Grand Ayatollah Sistani’s answer Let's block ads! بخوانید...

SHAFAQNA –The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark expressed its serious conce by the information it received about the health condition of the prominent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab who is placed in solitary confinement. In a letter on Tuesday (August 23, 2016) to the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) and which Bahrain Mirror leaed about, the Ministry of Foreign affairs said that “it fully understands the alarming nature of the conces expressed by BCHR regarding the general human rights situation in Bahrain.” It added “Denmark will remain committed to raising questions on the human rights situation in Bahrain,” reminding that it tackled “the arbitrary detention in Bahrain thr...

SHAFAQNA- Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the biggest scourges there is among infectious diseases, killing nearly 2 million people a year, most in developing countries. It is also notoriously hard and slow to detect in places without top-flight health care systems. Yesterday, researchers reported at the American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting here that they’ve devised a simple new way to diagnose TB, and even distinguish living TB cells from dead ones, which could give doctors an easy way to see whether their anti-TB medications are working. The researchers are now putting their diagnostic through its paces with samples from patients in South Africa, which has one of the world’s highest incidenc...

SHAFAQNA-An interview with Fatima Isabel Feandesa catholic Christian from Portugal who converted to Islam: Hi Fatima. How long have you been Muslim? What was your name before? Please give us a short biography of yourself. I’ve been Muslim for two years and I was Catholic before like my family. I added Fatima before my name because I converted in lady Fatima’s birthday , now I’m Fatima Isabel. I’m 36 years old and come from Portugal. I divorced with 3 daughters, actually I’m the only Muslim in my family. How did you convert to Islam? I had a dream four years ago. Then two years later, I had a strong feeling while I was passing through a Shia’ mosque. I felt that someone was calling me from t...

SHAFAQNA-An experimental cancer treatment based on rainforest berries has been successfully shown to destroy tumours in a matter of days. A drugbased on the fruit of the Australian blushwood tree is currently undergoing trials in Queensland. Denise Powell, a cancer patient who is part of the trial, said the treatment had a radical effect on a tumour in her armpit. “My cancer surgeon said, ‘I can take that one out, if you get any more you might lose an arm.” The blushwood tree, a rare species which grows in the Australian rainforest Denise said the drug had a visible and dramatic effect on her tumour The chemical inside the berries is calledEBC-46 and has already been shown to shrink tum...

SHAFAQNA –The British referendum on membership in the European Union on 23 June has exposed deep layers of racism and xenophobia in the United Kingdom and raises serious conces about the welfare of minorities and immigrants in the country. Verbal violence and the murder of a politician who devoted her life to justice and peace – including in Palestine – are the terrifying manifestations of the ugly face of the referendum. And yet if we think of the wider implications of the vote, with a view to evaluating the outcome’s relevance to Palestine, the results are less of a disaster and open new vistas for our struggle for peace and justice in Palestine. There are three reasons why those deeply i...

SHAFAQNA –The relationship between Saudi Sui and Shia has always been characterized by conflict. Shia Muslims in Saudi Arabia are a minority group that account for 10 to 15 percent of the population in a mainly Sui country. The Shia communities in Saudi Arabia are mostly concentrated in the Easte Province, where the population is estimated at 33 per cent. Since the 1980s, the nature of the conflict transition from military confrontation to the Saudi Shia’s movement for equal rights and affirmation of their culture. (Al Rasheed 1998). Saudi Shias are working establish their community in a Sui society that punishes their religious expression, limits their political participation and civil lib...

SHAFAQNA –Our times are times of great upheaval and injustice! Regardless of what faith, if any, anyone holds I don’t think that anyone will disagree with my statement. And while humanity has faced many periods of great hardship, I don’t think any period of our History has been more absolutely violent, and bent on crushing the human spirit. Our times are times of labelling, shaming, and aihilating … Society today has a desperate need to categorize and arrange people, communities and faiths according to a very strict set of rules – one which screams of bigotry, ignorance and arrogant ego-centrism. Muslims in this sick equation have suffered most of all I would say – often by their own hands,...

SHAFAQNA – It is narrated from the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) who said: The one who has good behaviour, God will grant him the position of the one who is fasting and stays up all night (to worship God) [1]. In this regard, Imam Ali (AS) said: The title of the believer’s book (the book of the believer’s deeds on the Day of Judgment) is the good behaviour [2]. It is also narrated from Imam Sadeq (AS) who said: Luqman said to his child: My child, if you do not have anything to help your relatives and brother, at least do not lose your good behaviour, because the one who has good behaviour, good people like him and bad people stay away from him [3]. In another narration, Imam Sadeq (AS) said: If ...

SHAFAQNA – The Grand Ayatollah Sistani answered a question about the conditions that a person must have to be eligible to be in charge of public property. Question: Who is in charge of public property? The Grand Ayatollah Sistani: It is the responsibility of the fully qualified Mujtahid, who is trusted by general public, and according to Wajeb precaution must also be the most leaed. Source: PERSIAN SHAFAQNA SHARE Facebook Twitter Previous articleThe ruling about the temporary or permanent marriage of a Muslim man or woman with Baha’is/The Grand Ayatollah Shobairi’s answer Let's block ads! بخوانید...

SHAFAQNA-Since the influence of friend of man is very deep, Islamic teachings have given an important status to the friendship. In Holy Quran it is stated that most of the companions of the Fire will say, in the Hell, that “Oh, woe to me! I wish I had not taken that one as a friend. He led me away from the remembrance after it had come to me. And ever is Satan, to man, a deserter.” [1] So it is very important to know how your friend is. In this regard, there is a very nice hadith in which Imam al-Baqir (PBUH) said: My father Ali Ibn al- Hussein (A), once, advised me: ‘O son, do not associate, talk, or accompany five classes of people.’ ‘Who are they, father?’ asked me, and he (A) answered: ...

SHAFAQNA –Over the weekend, people tweeted an offer to their Muslim neighbors: #IllWalkWithYou. The hashtag spread quickly as Muslims around the country reeled from the news that two Muslim men were fatally shot blocks from their Queens mosque on Saturday afteoon. The murders of Imam Maulama Akonjee, 55, and his assistant Thara Uddin, 64, are under investigation. Although police have not determined a motive in the killings, the Muslim community feels strongly that the men were targeted because of their religion. They fear that the intensifying anti-Muslim rhetoric in the presidential campaign will only lead to more hate crimes. But in a remarkable show of solidarity, thousands of people ar...

SHAFAQNA – In a letter to his son, Imam Khomeini wrote: My son, never pursue the world, even in Halal ways, because it is the top mistake; as it leads the human being towards the Haram world. You are young and with the power of youth granted to you by God, you can cut the first step of deviation, and not allowing other steps to be taken in that way, because each step leads to another, and any sin even a small one leads the human being to bigger sins; and then the big sins will appear small into human’s mind; to an extent that sometimes people become proud of their big sins, and because of the intensity of darkness and worldly veils, they deny the good and encourage the bad [1]. [1] Sahifey...

SHAFAQNA –Following a series of violent attacks by militants whom have claimed to be loyal to Daesh, aka ISIL, France has been looking for effective counter-terror measures to protect both its citizens and its way of life. While many, most of all the French might have expected measures in tune with the gravity of the situation, David Lisnard, the mayor of Caes (seaside Mediterranean town) chose to legislate over fashion to curb radicalism. Starting this August, Caes will no longer allow for Muslim women to wear the burkini – Islamic swimsuit; a decision which officials have promised will help promote and protect France secular traditions. Shafaqna asked Mayor David Lisnard to elaborate on t...