Mantra for successful personal and professional life. 1) "Learn from the mistakes of others... you can't
Live long enough to make them all yourselves!! "

2)"A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are screwed first."
3)"Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous."
4)"The biggest guru-mantra is: Never share your secrets with anybody. It will destroy you."
5)"There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship without self-interests. This is a bitter truth."
6)" Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead."
7)"As soon as the fear approaches near, attack and destroy it."
8)"The world's biggest power is the youth and beauty of a woman."
9)"Once you start a working on something, don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it. People who work sincerely are the happiest."
10)"The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind. But the goodness of a person spreads in all direction."
11)"God is not present in idols. Your feelings are your god. The soul is your temple."
12) "A man is great by deeds, not by birth."
13) "Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such friendships will never give you any happiness."
14) "Treat your kids like a darling for the first five years. For the next five years, scold them. By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend. Your grown up children are your best friends."
15) "Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person."
16) "Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats the beauty and the youth."
************ ******** ****
Some Inspiring Quotes

1) Never expect things to happen...
Struggle and make them happen.
never expect yourself to be given a good value create a value of your own
2) If a drop of water falls in lake there is no identity. But if it falls on a leaf of lotus it shines like a pearl. So choose the best place where you would shine..
3) Falling down is not defeat...defeat is when your refuse to get up...
4) Ship is always safe at shore... but is not built for it
5) When your successful your well wishers know who you are when you are unsuccessful you know who your well wishers are
6) It is great confidence in a friend to tell him your faults; greater to tell him/her
7) To the world you might be one person, But to some one you just might be the world
8) "Even the word 'IMPOSSIBLE' says 'I M POSSIBLE' "
9) Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort in your life makes all the difference.
Never take some one for granted, Hold every person Close to your Heart because you might wake up one day and realize that you have lost a diamond while you were too busy collecting stones 

Riyaz Ahmad

Greatest Religious controversies

Prophet’s Cartoons

Denmark’s  newspaper Jyllands-Posten published an article entitled "Muhammed’s ansigt" ("The face of Muhammad") on 30 September 2005. The article consisted of twelve cartoons, some of them depicting Prophet Muhammad in most derogatory form. This sparked off a world wide protest, several newspapers in mainland Europe responded by republishing the cartoons. The republishing of cartoons further aggravated the situation; Muslim masses came out on streets seeking the head of Cartoonists, our own U.P minister Haji Yakoob promised a reward of 51 crores for anyone who killed the ‘cartoonist’. Danish embassies were attacked and Europeans beaten some 150 people were killed in the protests, mostly of police action.Those responsible for the controversy remained adamant throughout and refused to apologize. They had created the mischief completely knowing the fact that depiction of prophet in any image, painting or idol is completely prohibited under Islam and Muslims would not accept anything like that.

Dera-Sikh Controversy

Dera Sacha Sauda, a sikh cult in Sirsa Haryana claiming to have more than one crore followers, became the centre of a storm in Punjab and Haryana, which has refused to die out even today. Sant Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh the head of Dera on 16 may 2007, dressed himself similar to Guru Gobind Singh and distributed the Amrit to his supporters in the same way the Guru had done while founding the Khalsa Panth, this ignited a sharp reaction from Sikh leaders. Sikhs roused in protests mainly in Punjab and Haryana, Dera supporters responded too and there was head on collision between the two, causing loss of life and property. Sant first refused to bend but later on due to political pressure, issued a well crafted regret statement addressing the Guru himself. The Sikh leaders, however, denounced the statement as tricky. The controversy is still a serious cause of tension in the area and the recent clashes in Mumbai, Bhatinda and Dabwali have taken the lives of two more innocents. In this case also, it is unlikely that Sant didn’t know that it is not permitted to imitate the Guru.

Sinister Designs

Since, the people triggering the controversies were not ignorant of the consequences of their action; there is a great possibility that these were designed to meet a wider aim. While the exact motive can’t be established, in the first case it could be the part of agenda of those afraid of Islam’s ever increasing influence on the European Society and leaving no stone unturned to defame it. The later controversy could be the brain child of those trying to polarize the votes in the region.

Are the protests justified?

The protests are definitely required to create an awareness that the use of freedom of speech and action to hurt others sentiments is not acceptable, the extent of the protests should, however, be checked to take care that you are not implementing the designs of those against whom you are protesting.  The violence not only reduces the sympathy but creates an irritation among the others who tend to believe that you are intolerant; exactly what the adversaries have planned for you. Moreover, The Prophet and the Guru were the people of highest grace who laid stress on forgiveness and piety and would never have liked their people to be involved in something which would result in blood shed of the innocents. 

Yasser Iqbal Kidwai    

Whenever their is a bomb blast or a suicide bombing anywhere in the world the most likely perpetrators are Muslim youth. Photographs of young men in between their mid-twenties and thirties with small beard or a stubble carrying checked head scarf are a common sight on televisions and newspapers covering news of bombings. What does this indicate ? To any common observer this is a clear indication that the religion which is followed by some 1 billion people and which means peace and submission before the will of God, is the one responsible for all the acts of Terrorism in the world today.

The Terrorism is an act of using mass voilence to create an atmosphere of terror against a country or a select group of people so that they sucumb and the goals are met. If you judge the events taking place around the world according to this defination, impartially, your views are going to change a little. You will suddenly notice that those claimimg to be waging a war against terrorism are themselves involved in this gruesome act. Or you may say that their is war going on around the world between the two parties and none of them is ethical. In General, the ill treatment of Palestinians and Iraqis by the hands of Western Powers have made some of the muslims to believe that they are their enemies and so they have made groups to fight a kind of Gorilla war against them. However it is not sanctioned under Islam. 

Keeping in view the context of the discussion let us find out the relevent teachings of the Quran. Islam like any other religion calls on its followers to wage, a Jihad (see notes), a war against those causing injury, expelling muslims from their homes and not allowing them to practice peacefully but warns them to not to exceed limits (Quran al baqarah verse 190).  It never preaches to declare a war against people following other faiths in fact it tells them to respect them. " God doesn't forbid you from respecting those who have not raged a war against you on account of your religion..." (Quran 60: 8,9). Keeping good relations with ones neighbour is one of the most stressed teaching and that the neighbour can be a muslim or a non muslim. As far as Jihad is concerned Quran says "No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another"  ( Quran al qamar verse 38) means no one should be punished for the crime of his near one, leave alone targetting a whole community for those who have waged a war against the muslims. Furthermore, it is mentioned in holy Quran (al maidah verse 32) that Killing an innocent human being is like killing whole humanity and saving a human being is like saving the humanity. Quran and prophet Muhammed told the muslims that  retalliation is a sin and that God is pleased with those who forgive. Prophet at the time of wars would repeatedly remind the armies to not to harm the women, children and elderly. Islam tells the Non Muslims    " To you be your way and to me mine" " Let their be no compulsion in religion"  ( Quran Al baqarah verse 256)

Question also arises as to who will decide that it is correct time to wage a Jihad. It is an established and elected body representing the Muslims which can decide upon the matters like this, an example is the P.L.O or any other elected government and so any fringe group cannot issue a fatwa to start Jihad even in the times of crisis.

Thus from above mentioned teachings of Quran and Prophet it can be said that killing of masses is not permitted in Islam. Car Bombings, attack over buildings, torture, kidnapping and suicide bombings are not permissible in Islam even in the case of Jihad. Or you can say that a holy war or Jihad can't be waged for narrow political gains and it doesn't authorise killing in the way the terrorists are doing. People like Zawahiri and Bin Laden are not educated in Islam so they neither have the qualification nor the intent and so they easily misinterpret certain verses of Quran which told the muslims of that period to fight against the infidels who had made it difficult for muslims to practice their faith. 

Jihad is defensive and not a weapon to be used to propagate Islam, if that had been a case their would n't be a single non-muslim living in Spain where the muslims ruled for 800 years and rather muslims form just about 2% of the Spain's population. Indonesia the country with highest number of muslims in the world never saw muslim armies on their lands, all the converts were the result of Sufism.

Darul Uloom Deoband the largest Institution of Islamic Studies in India and the second largest in the world on 25th febuary 2008 issued a declaration, in the presence of Islamic Scholars of all the School of Thoughts, denouncing all the forms of terrorism and killing in the name of Islam and declared that people participating in such acts can't  call themselves muslims.  

(Note:Jihad- According to Interpretation of Official Quran, by Custodian of two Holy Mosques, any pain staking effort sacrificing ones greed, person, property or life for leading a virtuous life according to will of God is called Jihad. Mere brutal fighting is opposed to the whole sprit of Jihad, while the sincere scholar's pen or preachers voice or wealthy man's contribution may be the most valueable forms of Jihad.)  

Yasser Iqbal Kidwai                                                                                                     

Constantine I or Constantine the Great  is widely believed as the First Christian Emperor. Traditionally, Romans followed the policy of execution against the Christians. Constantine, coming to power 300 years after the birth of Jesus, announced the policy of tolerance towards Christianity in the Edict of Milan, shortly after becoming ruler, which stopped killing and harassment of the Christians and returned confiscated Church property. It is believed that Constantine anticipated that Christianity was spreading at a fast rate and the Roman Empire would fall into a deeper conflict if it didn’t recognize it. He was also not an undisputed ruler and was threatened continuously by other nobles so he required a group of people who remained dedicated and loyal to him in the most adverse situations; he identified the Christians for this role. Romans by this time must have also realized that Christians were not the traitors as blamed by the Jews and posed no direct threat to Empire. Christians at that time followed the policy of pacifism, not participating in warfare and seeking peaceful resolution of conflicts. Constantine immediately changed the negative approach of earlier Roman Kings who believed that Abstaining from joining the Roman armies, when directed, was a denial to the authority.

Soon, Christianity replaced Traditional Roman Practices, to become the official religion and thus clergy were given high status and there were large scale conversions.The Capital city was changed to Constantinople and it became an important seat of Christian learning. Pagan symbols were replaced but wherever pagans were powerful they were not exactly removed and rather were absorbed into Christianity.

However, Constantine was not so kind for all his subjects. He led an army to kill Donatists Christians, who believed that  who so ever bowed before Romans and compromised do not deserve to be taken into the fold again. He was against them for obvious reasons.

He also called the Council of Nicaea against Arians, the followers of Arius, who don’t believe in the concept of Trinity and thus do not believe that Jesus was divine enough to be called a part of God. He is said to have threatened the priests against voting in favour of Arius. However, later he repented and invited back the Arius and was baptized by an Arian priest, his son was also an Arian. His rule also affected Jews who were banned from keeping Christian slaves. Conversions of Christians to Judaism were also prohibited and thus the propagation of Judaism was effectively stopped. Jews’ religious freedoms were curtailed to a large extent.

It is an undeniable fact that Constantine was a very important factor in propagation of Christianity as a major religion. However he had a major impact on the Christian theology also; he transformed a religion of simple God fearing people into one which had a priestly class separate from common believers. Before this Christianity was growing inspite of Roman threats, Christians were fearless and there was no difference between a priest and a common man. However, now many influential Romans in pursuit of Power became Christians. Christians earlier used to follow the policy of non violence and sought peaceful resolution of problems but now  under Constantine they started to build up as an army and persecuted even their fellow Christians, the Donatists. Author of Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown, writes that Constantine while promoting Christianity brought into it many customs of the Roman Pagan religion. One of them was the theory that Jesus was the son of the God and not a common Prophet.

Constantine according to him told the priests to compile the Bible and used only those Gospels which suited him.

Yasser Iqbal Kidwai

Secularism- Difference between Indian and Western concepts.

Secularism is the policy of Non-Discrimination on the basis of faith and religious belief. The west’s idea of secularism is one in which there is no interference of religion in the secular matters like governance and similarly a person is either religious or secular. For a person or organization to be called secular, it must not have anything to do with the religion. In India, we have a slightly different meaning; we do not forbid our government to have any sort of contact with the religion. The government here can openly provide subsidies for pilgrimages like in case of Hajj and Kailash Mansarovar yatra and yet it maintains its status of a secular Government. There is a very thin line between discrimination and help/ Upliftment and we are capa our people and society. We, Indians are basically religious people and so it is present in every walk of oble of maintaining that. We can call people with large tilaks or turbans or beards to be secular.

 The difference in the concept lies in the nature ofur life. We never take a step without mentioning the name of God, any new venture, release of a movie, Purchase of a vehicle; nothing can materialize without the name of God mentioned in thanks and prayers thus it is practically not possible for us to carry a west like rigid stand on secularism. Secularism in India is a way of living; we need not be nonbelievers or non practicing to be secular minded. We also need not believe in divinity of others Gods, prophets, holy men to be able to respect them. A Hindu may not believe that the Jesus was the son of the God but still he will love and respect him similarly a Muslim may not believe that the God himself came down to earth in the form of human but still he will respect Lord Krishna. It is not uncommon to see Hindus securing the shoes of their Muslim brethren while the later are observing their Eid prayers and Muslims participating to make Durga Puja festivities in their locality a success.

We do not require to be taught or disciplined to be secular, it is in our blood and our great history is a testimony. Apart from a one or two rulers it is full of Kings like Ashoka, Sher Sher Shah, Akbar and Shivaji who were all religious to the core and yet liberal and tolerant. It was a common sight of soldiers belonging to one community fighting for the King of another and that too against the king of their own. Large number of Muslims faught for Guru Gobind Singh or Shivaji against the Mughals, who in turn had valiant Rajputs with them. Writers and philosophers are the mirror of a society, while Muslims like Ras khan, Rahim, Jaysi and Kabir praised Hindu Gods, Guru Granth Sahib is full of chants for Farid and others and Mahatma Gandhi and Vivekananda never shied to show their admiration for Prophet Muhammad and Jesus. We are spiritual and yet Secular, We therefore need not be restrained by law to be able to respect others feelings, it is part and parcel of our lives. Our Culture and civilization is thus the reason why we Indians can be followed throughout the world on this front.

Yasser Iqbal Kidwai