Islamic Revival

World Food Prices Rise to Record on Dairy, Grains, UN Says World food prices climbed to a record in February on surging dairy, grain and meat costs, the United Nations said. An index of 55 food commodities rose 2.2 percent to 236 points from 230.7 in January, the eighth straight gain, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization said on its website today.Rising food costs helped to fuel social unrest and riots in North Africa and the Middle East that toppled presidents in Tunisia and Egypt this year. Prices surged globally as a drought in Russia prompted the country to ban grain exports last year and adverse weather threatened crops in nations from wheat exporter Canada to soybean producer Brazil. “Unexpected oil-price spikes could further exacerbate an already precarious situation in food markets,” David Hallam, the Rome-based FAO’s director of trade and markets, said in a statement. “This adds even more uncertainty concerning the price outlook.” Global food prices probably will rise i

Allah (swt) says in the Qur’an: { يا أيها الذين آمَنوا قُوا أَنفُسَكم وأهْليكم ناراً } {O believers, save yourselves and your family from the Hellfire whose fuel is men and stones} * Whenever Allah (swt) begins anything with the phrase ‘o believers!’, it means He is alerting our attention to something important for us to do or to avoid. Ibn Mas`ud (ra) says: وقال ابن مسعود: إذا قال اللَّه يا أيها الذين آمنوا فارعها سمعك فإنه خير تؤمر به أو شر تنهى عنه  “Ibn Mas`ud said: whenever Allah says ‘o believers’ then raise your hearing because it is a good you are being commanded to or a bad you are being told to avoid…”.1 The meaning of {save yourselves and your family from the fire} means turn them away from it, prevent them from it. Sayyiduna `Ali (ra) in his commentary of this verse as well as Qatada and Mujahid state: “Save yourselves from the Fire through your actions and save your family from the Fire through giving them all correct advice and guidance (bi-wasiyyatik

Book review: Baghdad’s Spy – A personal memoir of espionage and intrigue from Iraq to London by Corinne Souza Baghdad’s Spy was first published by Mainstream Publishing Company (Edinburgh) Ltd in 2003. This article is based on the 2004 edition. Baghdad’s Spy is a portrait of espionage as told from the perspective of the daughter of a senior British spy. Starting in Iraq, where her father was recruited by Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) otherwise known as MI6, she recalls the nature of Baghdad’s elite in the 1960s; gives an insight into the social circles her father used to mix in as part of his work; how her father’s harmonious relationship with the SIS collapsed in the 1970s and 1980s and exposes problems within SIS prior to the 1991 Gulf War. This revealing memoir although at times is quite personal contains some interesting revelations. The father of the author was a confirmed MI6 agent as evidenced by the scanned copy of a letter to Miss de Souza from the British Pri