Women-only gym hours stir debate at Harvard

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- Harvard University has banned men from one of its gyms for a few hours a week, a move to accommodate Muslim women who, for religious and cultural reasons, cannot exercise comfortably in their presence.

The policy is already unpopular with many on campus, however, including some women who consider it sexist.

"I think that it's incorrect in a college setting to institute a policy in which half of the campus gets wronged or denied a resource that's supposed to be for everyone," said student Lucy Caldwell, who also wrote a column in The Harvard Crimson newspaper critical of the new hours.

Student Ola Aljawhary, who is Muslim and works out elsewhere on campus but is not one of the women who requested the change, rejected that argument.

"The majority should be willing to compromise," she said. "I think that's just basic courtesy. We must show tolerance and respect for all others."

The trial policy went into effect February 4, about a month after a group of six Muslim women, with the support of the Harvard College Women's Center, asked the university for the special hours, spokesman Robert Mitchell said.

"We get special requests from religious groups all the time and we try to honor them whenever possible," he said, noting that the school has designated spaces for Muslim and Hindu students to pray.

No men are allowed in the gym between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Mondays, and between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Even the staff during those times is all women.

The special hours allow the Muslim women, who adhere to traditional dress codes by covering their hair and most of their skin while in public, to dress more appropriately for exercising, said Susan Marine, director of the women's center.

"It's a pretty big breach of their moral and religious code for a man to see them with their hair uncovered and it's just not possible for them to be in a mixed environment," she said.

When student Kareem Shuman showed up to work out at the gym on Monday morning, he was turned away but didn't mind.

"Knowing it was requested by women of my faith -- it's very understandable to me," said Shuman, 21, who figured he'd just come back later for his workout.

Other men find the new hours inconvenient. Nick Wells, a junior who wrote an opinion piece in the Crimson criticizing the policy, suggested setting aside one room for women.

"It's not that I am opposed to the idea of helping people in religious groups or women in general, but I just think Harvard is not being fair to people like me who live (near the gym)," Wells said in an interview.

The policy only applies to one gym, a facility mainly used for intramurals. Because of its location at the edge of campus, it is the university's least used gym, Mitchell said.

The women-only hours are of minimal inconvenience because they are just six out of the 70 hours a week the gym is open, Marine said.

"Harvard has a moral and ethical responsibility to make sure our students can stay healthy," she said.

An Associated Press reporter who went to the gym Monday did not see any Muslim women entering. Efforts to reach some of the women who requested the policy through the Women's Center were unsuccessful.

The policy will be reviewed at the end of the semester, Mitchell said.

Kent Blumenthal, executive director of the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association, which has 660 member colleges and universities nationwide, said he could not think of any other institution with a similar policy.

"It seems in some ways contrary to the purpose of campus recreational programs, which is all about access," he said.

Harvard's policy is no different from commercial gyms that cater partially or even exclusively to women, said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations.

"The Muslim bashers portray it as the world coming to end, but if women have a couple hours a week to work out in private, I don't see it as a major issue," he said.

Accounts Differ Sharply on U.S. Attack in Iraq

Accounts Differ Sharply on U.S. Attack in Iraq

By ALISSA J. RUBIN

BAGHDAD, Oct. 5 — American troops backed by aircraft attacked a Shiite town north of Baghdad at dawn on Friday, killing at least 25 Iraqis the military described as criminals who were involved in the transport of weapons. But Iraqis at the scene said the dead were civilians, though some were armed.

The military said it was searching for an insurgent leader believed to be associated with the elite Iranian Quds Force, which American intelligence sources believe is working in Iraq to foment violent activity by some Shiite militias. A military spokesman said the insurgent leader was not captured in the raid.

Iraqis at the scene gave an account that diverged sharply from that of the military.

They said that the Iraqis who were killed were trying to defend their town from Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the homegrown Sunni militant group that American intelligence believes has foreign leadership. Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia has been active in Diyala Province, where the town is located, but so have militias associated with the anti-American Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr.

“The residents were defending themselves and the town,” said Uday al-Khadran, the mayor of Khalis, the district in which the fighting occurred.

“They were not militias for killing people and they were recognized by the security forces in the district, and this issue is familiar in all the towns of Khalis because of Al Qaeda threats, especially to the Shiite,” he said.

An official in the provincial office in Baquba, the provincial capital, said that the city’s hospital had received eight children, four of whom died.

However, a statement released by the American military described a serious onslaught from Iraqis in the town. As American forces approached, the statement said, they came under heavy fire and called in airstrikes. A helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft carried out the bombing, destroying two buildings.

“Responding in self-defense, the ground force returned fire,” the statement said. “Enemy fire intensified and supporting aircraft were called in an attempt to suppress the threat. The armed group continued to engage and began to aggressively maneuver toward coalition forces, firing assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades,” the statement added.

“The ground force also observed one armed individual carrying what appeared to be an anti-aircraft weapon into a nearby building. Perceiving hostile intent, supporting aircraft engaged.”

The town, Gizani al-Imam, has a Shiite population and is well known as a stronghold of Shiite militias. Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia extremists have attacked the area repeatedly, and residents have responded by forming a guard force and keeping a night watch for possible militant incursions.

Interviews with several residents who were wounded suggest that the situation may have been extremely complex, with some townspeople members of hard-core militias fighting the Americans and others members of a local guard force that protected the town. Still other townspeople appear to have rushed out of their houses, thinking there was an attack on the town by Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.

At least 15 of the wounded were brought to the hospital complex at Medical City in Baghdad. One of those, Dhafir Habeeb, 35, a worker who lives in Gizani al-Imam with his family of 15, said that Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia had blown up the local cellphone tower on Thursday, cutting off the town’s communications.

When the attack started early Friday, he was asleep.

“Our town is surrounded by majority Sunni towns, which are the source of the attacks by Al Qaeda,” Mr. Habeeb said. “When the strike occurred I was sleeping, but when the gunfire became heavier the whole town went out to see what happened and to defend themselves at the same time. I ran out with my gun in my hand,” he said.

“I was running to help my fellows when I was hit in the arm and leg by shrapnel,” he said.

Diyala, a large province just north of Baghdad, is narrowly divided between Sunni Arabs and Shiites, and the two groups are fighting for dominance. Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia appears to be methodically cleansing Shiites from some areas of the province.

However, Shiite militias are also active, and while some of those linked to Mr. Sadr have laid down weapons for the time being on his orders, other splinter organizations have persisted in attacks on American troops and on Iraqis who are perceived as working with them.

“We continue to support the government of Iraq in welcoming the commitment by Moktada al-Sadr to stop attacks, and we will continue to show restraint in dealing with those who honor his pledge,” said Maj. Anton Alston, a military spokesman.

“We will not show the same restraint against those criminals who dishonor this pledge by attacking security forces and Iraqi citizens.”

Three American soldiers were killed in two separate attacks on Friday. Two died in Baghdad when a bomb exploded while they were on operations in the southeastern part of the capital. A third soldier died near Baiji in Salahuddin Province in central Iraq when a roadside bomb hit his vehicle.

American forces are investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths of three Iraqi civilians on Thursday in Babil Province near the troubled town of Musayyib. The civilians were shot by American forces when they were near a checkpoint set up by Iraqis who are working with the Americans to rid the area of militias.

Four bodies were found in Baghdad on Friday, according to an Interior Ministry official.

Khalid al-Ansary and Qais Mizher contributed reporting from Baghdad, and an Iraqi employee of The New York Times from Diyala Province.

Hangman 30

Salaam! Okay so it's time for another hangman cause I know everyone lowes it soo much.

_ _ _ _ _ _
Hint: it's related to Ramadhan

Man pummels 'vampire' peacock

NEW YORK (AP) -- A peacock that roamed into the parking lot of a Burger King in New York City was beaten by a man who insisted it was a vampire.

Animal control officials in Staten Island say the bird was beaten so fiercely that most of its tail feathers fell out and it had to be euthanized.

The seven-year-old male peacock wandered into the restaurant parking lot and perched on a car hood last week. Charmed employees had been feeding it bread when the man appeared.

A restaurant worker says the man grabbed the bird by the neck, hurled it to the ground and started stomping it. She says when he was asked what he was doing, he responded, "'I'm killing a vampire!"'

Employees called police, but the man ran when he saw them.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Better than a Doctorate Degree from Harvard

Better than a Doctorate Degree from Harvard

If you see anyone drinking tea, and you ask him what he is drinking, he will tell you "tea." There is sugar in the tea, but he will not mention the sugar, no one ever says he is drinking tea-and-sugar. No doubt the sweetness of the sugar fills the tea, but the person drinks and says nothing about it.

The long standing tradition of Qur'anic memorization is analogous to the sugar, doing its work in secret. In a child who embarks on the journey of memorizing Qur'an we see that the hands, nose, ears, eyes, and tongue are dynamic, but no one can see what the soul is accomplishing. Their ears come across as listening, and their tongues seems to be talking. But no matter what it may seem to be, it is not only the tongue that talks. And in spite of form, it is not only the ears that hear. That which speaks and hears is the invisible soul within. The effect of the long standing tradition of Qur'anic memorization on a child is similarly invisible.

And this is what happens to a child when he memorizes the words of Allah, the Exalted. We might think they are just memorizing words. But in actuality, every letter they say, every sound they make, makes an imprint in their hearts and minds which enables them to take the imitated step of converting his oral recognition of Qur'anic language into a physical act.

The best education we can give our children is the memorization of the Holy Qur'an. As Rasulullah said: "No group of people gathers in one of the houses of Allah to recite the Book of Allah and study it together, but tranquility descends upon them, the angels surround them, mercy comes down upon them, and Allah mentions them to those who are with Him." (Muslim).

The first group of students I ever taught was a group of 9 year-olds in a Hafidh Program in 1998. I was merely their English teacher. As each day passed by, I saw little beings change from being passive to being connected. I witnessed what seemed at the time insignificant moments of sharing between classmates evolve into brotherhood. I saw the honor of one being defended by all, and I saw the grief of a few being shared by many. They finished the school year with highest class percentage of 98% in all subjects, and to this day continue to excel academically. This is rare to find in America today. There was nothing magical in it. They were revolutionized because they entrusted their time with Allah, by the memorization of the Holy Qur'an, the words of Allah, the Exalted.

The vessels for preservation of Islam are in our children's hearts. Allah says:
"Nay, but they, the clear ayat, are preserved in the breasts of those who have been given knowledge…" [Qur'an 29:49]

It is our duty to plant these seeds in our children for we must equip them for what lay ahead of them. There is no better time to preserve our heritage than today, in these critical times.

As there are numerous full-time schools sprouting in the west, it is time that we as parents invest our children's time memorizing the Qur'an and join the ranks of thousands who seek to earn the pleasure of Allah (azza wajal) and preserve the very foundation of our Islamic identity. Yes! It's better than a doctorate degree from Harvard as we are reminded by the words of the Prophet about its reward:
Buraydah ® said: "I was sitting with the Prophet and I heard him say: ..The Qur'an will meet its companion on the Day of Resurrection when his grave is opened for him, looking like a pale man, and it will say to him, 'Do you know who I am?' He will say, I do not know you.' It will say to him, 'Do you know who I am?' He will say, I do not know you.' It will say, 'I am your companion the Qur'an, who made you thirsty on hot days and kept you awake at night. Every merchant will benefit from his trade, and today you will benefit too.' He will be given power in his right hand and immortality in his left, and on his head will be placed a crown of dignity. His parents will be given two garments the like of which could never be made by the people of this world and they will say, 'How did we earn these?' It will be said, 'Because your child learned the Qur'an.' Then it will be said to him, 'Read and go up through the levels and rooms of Paradise. He will keep on ascending as long as he reads or recites.'" (Ahmad).