Pakistan Flooding: Help Needed!

Torrential monsoon rains in Pakistan have led to devastating flooding that began in northern Pakistan and is flowing south along the Indus River.  This is one of the worst natural disasters in Pakistan's history.

Map via BBC

Over 1500 people are confirmed dead, over 650,000 homes were destroyed, over 1 million acres of farmland submerged, ten thousand cattle have perished and millions and millions of people have been displaced. 

The logistical challenges will mount, as crowding and lack of fresh, clean water will add to the spread of disease and the death toll.

Please consider donating today to help relief efforts in this area. Islamic Relief USA is a well-known and respected American charity that has long been in Pakistan and is free of any political agenda.  You can view its Charity Navigator profile here.

There are many, many other ways to donate, as well. UNICEF is collecting money for Pakistani children, Oxfam, Canadian Red Cross, and Doctors without Borders also all have relief efforts underway. 


NPR's The Two-Way Blog has posted a press conference by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on ways the United States is helping the relief efforts and its enduring commitment to Pakistan.   


Clinton announced that you can donate $10 to the UNHCR by texting SWAT to 50555. You will get a confirmation text, reply with yes and your donation will be made. 


NPR's The Picture Show has an image gallery that captures scenes from the flooding. Truly gives you a sense of how much damage has been done.   


Lastly, a remarkable story of survival, aired on NPR's Morning Edition, about Siraj Begum, a Pashtun matriarch whose faith, wit and resourcefulness got her through tragedy.  


No donation is too small, please donate today!

Qur'an links for Ramadan

From Seeker's Digest, via Creative Muslims, a list of links to the Qur'an online that are worth perusing, especially as the holy month of Ramadan approaches.  I use Quran.com frequently and also enjoy Tanzil.info, which has a nice interface and loads quickly.

I am sure there are many iphone apps, but theonlyword.com is a nice site for ipods. They also give you permission to download an entire mp3 recording of the Qur'an.  I downloaded them a year or two ago, it was virus free at that time, though you always want to double check.

Al-Azhar: Fighting Terrorism through Education

Recent news stories highlighting the efforts of Al-Azhar University, the oldest university in the world, to combat terrorism through education.  Al-Azhar is participating in some innovative programs aimed at promoting mainstream, moderate Islam throughout the world.

The first, is a program that teaches Al-Azhar students English, via a British Council English language training center.  The first class of 68 students, just graduated from a three-year English curriculum that supplemented their Islamic studies.  The hope is that they will be better able to engage the international community by being able to articulate mainstream Islam in English.

Another program involved an exchange program at Georgetown University, when 14 students from Al-Azhar interacted with religious studies students of all faiths at Georgetown.  They studied American democracy and met Congressman Keith Ellison, the first Muslim American elected to Congress.

Defining Prosperity Down

Great Op-Ed piece in the NY Times by Krugman, called, Defining Prosperity Down, some quotes from the article:

The point is that a large part of Congress — large enough to block any action on jobs — cares a lot about taxes on the richest 1 percent of the population, but very little about the plight of Americans who can’t find work.

later on in the editorial: 

What lies down this path? Here’s what I consider all too likely: Two years from now unemployment will still be extremely high, quite possibly higher than it is now. But instead of taking responsibility for fixing the situation, politicians and Fed officials alike will declare that high unemployment is structural, beyond their control. And as I said, over time these excuses may turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the long-term unemployed lose their skills and their connections with the work force, and become unemployable.

I’d like to imagine that public outrage will prevent this outcome. But while Americans are indeed angry, their anger is unfocused. And so I worry that our governing elite, which just isn’t all that into the unemployed, will allow the jobs slump to go on and on and on.

Americans flock to Toronto to buy coveted Pakistani mango

From Seeker's Digest, a great article posted from Canada's Toronto Star about Americans fulfilling their love for Pakistani mangoes...ah chaunsa, how I miss you! Your fragrance, your sweet tenderness, the way you give of yourself...I last had some in London this past June, and have been savoring the memory since...

Americans flock to Toronto to buy coveted Pakistani mango