Back to work – A new academic year begins

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Roomi

“First, thank you to whoever took this photograph. The black and white backdrop, the papers on the desk, the telephone. They all nicely depict how I would describe my desk, and my day! A lot of things to think about as the new academic year begins, new challenges, re-visiting ideas and looking through my increasingly longer ‘articles-to-write’ list. Of course in the new world of professional networking, it’s imperative to ‘link-up’ with people who share the same passions, wherever they are in our increasingly intertwined close-knit world. It’s going to be fun and I’m looking forward to the ride. Have a good year fellow educators. And for the rest, if you’re not an active student, why not think about learning something new?”

Eid greetings at the end of Ramadan 2011

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Roomi

End of Ramadan comment:

If every individual in the world was to fast for a period of 29/30 days in a year, and take out five, five-minute slots a day to genuinely reflect on what the purpose of life was, would the world become a better place? Could wars and social injustice be defeated? Would the waste that humanity produces be reduced? Would anything really negative transpire? Whilst we continue to create our new ‘imagined needs’ to forever become our focus of operandi and convince ourselves that we are the kings of our destiny and that destiny, time and world resources are in fact slaves to our desires, are we leading ourselves to a self-belief that we can conquer and overcome ‘mother-nature’? If we can defeat death, then indeed we may well profess that we are Gods, but until we can do so, then we are mortals. There is an end….but is this end potentially the beginning to an even better ‘life’? Now ask yourself this question. Are you genuinely open-minded and going to challenge your assumptions about life (meaning you need to put to one side all preconceived ideas) with the possibility of opening up a new positive paradigm, or are you going to be closed-minded and let things just take their course?

Ramadan Days 27-28-29 – Moonsighting on 29th ends Ramadan

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Roomi

Ramadan Day 26 – The 27th Night

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Roomi

“Whereas many of us are used to the Gregorian calendar, Muslims also follow the Hijri (Lunar) calendar to set dates. Interestingly, whereas many of us are used to night following day, in the Hijri calendar, night comes first. In other words, the next day begins after sunset (not 1 second after midnight), thus the title above. The photographs below relate to the worship that occurred during the 27th night. The last ten days of Ramadan result in a concerted focus on worship. The Qur’an was revealed within the last 10 days of Ramadan and it is a time for greater reflection and to seek (through prayer) what is within ones heart and mind.”