''He who maintains the Saligrama shila, the Tulasi, and the conch in one place, becomes very dear to Lord Narayana." - Brahma Vaivaarta Purana.

WHAT IS A SALAGRAMA?

The Saligrama is an extremely sacred stone found in the holy Gandhaki river in the Himalayas.
They are considered the same as the Supreme Lord Himself and are worshiped throughout the temples in India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

As per Gautamiya Tantra, near the kali - Gandaki river, there is a big place called Salagram.
The stones which appear in that place are called Salagramas.

According to the Hindu tradition, this stone is the shelter for a small insect known as "Vajra-Keeta" that has a diamond tooth which cuts through the Saligram stone and stays inside it.

The Saligrama stones are hundreds of million years old when the Himalaya was an ocean floor.The Saligrams are specifically described as fossil-stones which have taken shape in the Gandaki-river, and as characterized by the presence of discus marks.

I just made a short write up on "INSURANCE IN ISLAM" for my WhatsApp group "HOUSE OF FIQH" and also posted it on Facebook.

My brother @TasiuAl saw it and urged me to share it here, i have to obey him 🤣

INSURANCE IN ISLAM

A SHORT THREAD:

1. Insurance is also known as takaful (in arabic), just that there are some few differences between the conventional insurance and Takaful.

2. How takaful works: All participants (policyholders) agree to guarantee each other and instead of paying premiums, they make contributions to a mutual fund, or pool. The pool of collected contributions creates the Takaful fund.

3. The amount of contribution that each participant makes is based on the type of cover they require, and on their personal circumstances. As in conventional insurance, the policy (Takaful Contract) specifies the nature of the risk and period of cover.

4. The Takaful fund is managed and administered on behalf of the participants by a Takaful Operator who charges an agreed fee to cover costs. These costs include the costs of sales and marketing, underwriting, and claims management.

3rd-4th century mosaic. The Sun God Sol. He is holding the sphere of the heavens in his hand. What makes this notable is that this is from a Jewish synagogue. I could have said this was Jesus, and people would definitely believe it.

You can see there that Sol is in the middle of a zodiac wheel, a common motif in the Roman empire. And above, there are two menorahs and a Torah shrine. The zodiac signs are labeled in Hebrew, but Greek is also present.

Here are two more examples of Sol with the Zodiac wheel, also from synagogues. Just to show it was not an isolated usage. It was common.

Here is an early Christian depiction of Jesus as the Sun God. In the 4th century, Christian art was retooled pagan art. Patronized by Constantine and his successors at first. Constantine himself worshiped Sol Invictus.

What I want to focus on here is this. The orb shows up all over the place. It represents the heavens or the whole cosmos. And the cross or X running through it is also important. I will show many examples of it to prove the point.

After seeing the role that civil religion Christianity played in Wednesday’s events, I am all the more convinced that religious liberty is absolutely urgent for us as Baptist and evangelicals to prioritize. Why?

Religious liberty is much broader than just about the freedom to believe or act. It is about the relationship between eternal authority and temporal authority. Thus, in discussing religious liberty, we have to get to questions of jurisdiction. Jurisdictions assign roles.

The role of government is not to act as an instrument of salvation. At best, it indirectly serves the mission of the church. The state is a temporal, prudential, and pluralistic arrangement that restrains human ferocity for obtaining whatever common good can be negotiated.

Religious liberty is thus foundational to public theology because it helps clarify the jurisdiction and role of eternal and temporal authority. This is why in every class I teach, I make religious liberty an essential component to our engagement. It’s our Baptist heritage.

If we get religious liberty right, we actually get the proper distinctions between church and state and church and world right—which counteracts the confused outworkings of civil religion vis-a-vis Christian Nationalism.

HOW THE AREWA HOUSE WAS BURNT DOWN IN 1966

“Hands up, turn around, and face the wall,” Nzeogwu ordered, raising his gun. One of them quickly complied but the three others were defiant. “Kpruuuuuu, kpruuuuuu, kpruuuuuu.”

#Thread

Nzeogwu opened fire on them and the three constables laid dead instantly in a pool of their own blood. Some of Nzeogwu’s men became terrified. The “revolution” had actually begun.

“Adebiyi, Manga, Oyegoke,” he called out to his sergeants who were of the NMTC.

“Load the Gustavs and set up the projectiles here.” Oyegoke and Manga quickly got down with the projectiles while Adebiyi was with the two 84mm Carl Gustav guns. Manga quickly loaded while Oyegoke crouched in fear as they set up the projectiles awaiting Nzeogwu’s orders.

“Fire,” Nzeogwu screamed.

But they fired timidly without hitting the main target nor giving the noise Nzeogwu wanted. Sensing danger, Adebiyi got down quickly to help Manga to reload while Oyegoke who didn’t shoot at all was twitching with his weapon.

“Fire, you bastards, fire,” he screamed again, this time approaching them with his SMG.

As Oyegoke sighted Nzeogwu coming towards them with his SMG, he made a quick dash for the dark.

SHORT THREAD CRITIQUE OF ST. THOMAS AQUINAS | SUMMA THEOLOGIAE | AGAINST LOVE & WILL IN GOD
--------
Article 1. Whether love exists in God?

I. To the contrary, I object:
1. God should not possess faculties. Faculties imply other, alike to how sight implies there is light for it to see. Any faculty possessed by God must be perfected, and so the perfect faculty must actualise its perfect end.

Therefore, by necessity of God possessing said faculty, he must actualise the perfect end of that faculty. The faculty of love necessitates either the reception or impartation of love, so he is made to either make beings which will love him and/or beings which he can love.

Being forced to make beings to achieve his perfection is a deficiency, but without doing so he cannot perfect his faculty, leaving him imperfect.

2. Suppose the faculty’s perfection is achieved internally: what cause can be given to justify the faculty? If God is simple, he must also be uniform. If he is uniform, then he is one.

Mother Mary~”The authentic maternal energy has been absent from Earth for a long time. There have been many mothers, but the way they exercised their motherhood was often permeated with fear, worry, and even aggression. The mothers of the past were wounded mothers, who exercised

their task from a lack of being at home within themselves. They acted from an anxious feeling of being rejected for their own true nature. The authentic energy of motherhood is very light and tender and extremely flexible. In the original mother energy there is selflessness,

but not in the sense of a complete sacrifice of the self. There is a generous giving of a mother’s own abundance from the mother within herself. A mother gives selflessly, life from her womb, wants to pass on life, and allows her children their own life, their own individuality,

their own unique energy. She does not want to predetermine or shape the new life; she only wants to pass on what is flowing through her.
The original energy, the love of motherhood, is incredibly missed on Earth: in women, in men, and in children. In the past, caring for children

became almost exclusively a task for women and this is an unnatural situation. Men were only allowed to assert themselves in the social domain. A woman cannot be just giving and serving. She then becomes frustrated because the male energy in her gets denied: the energy that says

I’d love to see everyone’s Star of Bethlehem pictures! Please attach to the thread.

Brahma muhurta is a period of two muhurtas , or about one and a half hours before dawn. Ayurveda and Yoga recommend waking every day before dawn, to align with oneself with earth’s cycles, achieve good health & for spiritual awakening.. ++

Ashtanga Hridayam- “brahma muhurtam uttishthet swastho rakshartham Ayusha:tatra sarvartha shantyartham smareccha madhusudanam”.
Translation: ‘One should wake up in the brahma muhurta for sustaining perfect health and for achieving a long life span, as desired. ++

•According to the International Journal of Yoga and Allied Sciences, during the pre-dawn period, there is the availability of nascent oxygen in the atmosphere. This nascent oxygen easily mixes with hemoglobin forming oxyhemoglobin, which has the following benefits: ++

~Boosts the immune system
~Increases energy level
~Helps maintain the balance of blood pH
~Relieves pain, soreness, and cramps
~Enhances the absorption of minerals and vitamins

•The pineal gland is secrets maximum melatonin during Brahma Muhurta, which is known to stabalize the mood. So one should wake up during this time and pratice meditation to make most use of it.

The Lingaraja temple, the largest temple in Bhubaneswar. It is regarded as one of the best archaeological monument of the east reflecting Kalinga type of architect. The temple was built by the kings of Somavamsi Dynasty in the 11th century.

The central deity of the temple, Lingaraja, is worshipped both as Shiva and Vishnu (hari hara). Lingaraja, means the king of Lingam, the iconic form of Shiva. Shiva is commonly referred to as Tribhuvaneshwara the master of three worlds:- heaven, earth, and hell.

The temple has been described as “One of the finest examples of purely Hindu Temple in India” by noted critic and historian James Fergusson.

According to tradition, Lord Shiva and Maa Parvati after their marriage came to Varanasi. But with the passage of time, Varanasi became over populated. So Lord Shiva chose this location in Ekamrakshetra(Bhubaneswar) for meditation in disguise.

Maa Parvati came to know about this place from Brahma and came to Ekamra-Kshetra to search for Lord Shiva. There she noticed cows going under a huge mango tree and automatically milking a place. She understood that Lord Shiva is there.

Here's the difference
Wishing & Imitating

For one it’s okay and for other is shirk however the line comes in between

Wishing is Makrooh-E-Tehreemi(MET)
Even if one Imitates without respecting and honouring their celebration, one will not become a Kafir. However this will be MET

What is Makrooh-e-Tahrimi ?
Makrooh-e-Tahrimi is an impermissible act in Deen. It's status is close to status of a haraam act. If one carries out a makrooh-e-tahrimi act, one will be sinful. The consequence of continuously carrying out a makrooh-e-tahrimi act could be disastrous

A non-muslim girl told me yesterday I wish you in Eid but you don't do in our Diwali, Xmas.
Wishing & Imitating is allowed in your religion but it is forbidden in mine

A non muslim comes to masjid by his choice because they don't have any rules but we couldn't go to mandir as

per our restriction

Islam comes with set of rules and boundries. To establish relation is okay but upto some extent.

At last,
"For you is your religion and for me is mine"
Qur'an 109:6

After everything what if a muslim does that sin. S/He wished or s/he participates does she becomes kafir?
See it completely depends on "Niyat"(intention) If one believes there religion is true then the individual is Kafir or the deed is shirk. If not then it is sin goes under MET

101 REASONS TO BE A HINDU

1. I am a Hindu because it tells me that the purpose of life is to realise God.
2. Hinduism teaches that I am the Soul and not the body.
3. Hinduism gives me absolute freedom to worship God in any name and form I like.

4. In Hinduism, God is not only outside but also within me.
5. Hinduism teaches that Truth alone triumphs.
6. The saints and sages are living proofs of God’s love and mercy.
7. Hinduism teaches that selfless service is the highest duty.

8. Hinduism helps me to discover my own true self.
9. Hinduism considers religion as the manifestation of the divinity already within us.
10. Hinduism helps me to see the impermanence of the body.
11. Hinduism gives me freedom to love God in any way that is suitable to me.
Man

12. Hinduism admits that no one way is the only way to reach God, the Omniscient.
13. Hinduism guides me to celebrate the different phases of life.
14. Reading the stories of Hindu Rishis and devotees help me to shape my personality.

15. Hinduism encourages thinking and rationalising.
16. Hindu festivals offer joyful activities for all.
17. Hinduism promotes healthy simple eating.
18. Hinduism teaches me to honour the learned and the wise.

Things Happen when you are in your place of Assignment

Exo 17v12
But Moses' hands were heavy;& they took a stone,& put it under him,& he sat thereon;& Aaron & Hur stayed up his hands,d one on d one side,& d other on d other side;& his hands were steady until d goin down of d sun

2.
They each located their places of assignments.
*Joshua* was at the valley fighting.
*Moses* on the mountain praying.
*Aaron* and *Hur* lifting Moses' hands. One on the left and the other, on the right.

3.
Judges 7:21 KJV*
And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled.

They were where God wanted and the enemy fled.

There is a right place to be.
There is a right place to cast your net.
There is a right place to invest.

4.
There is a right place to plant and be planted.

Life however, becomes miserable when we invest our speed in the wrong direction. It takes one further away from fulfilment.

Speed therefore, becomes meaningless doing the wrong thing.

5.
Some are persistent in things God has not commissioned.

Many persist in things God has not blessed

Brethren, It is fruitless to invest in what God has left.
In this New Year, pray,
I will locate my right place, my place of assignment.

That court, "from the evidence before them, are of opinion that the Sikhs and Mussulmans of the Thirty-fourth Regiment of Native Infantry are trustworthy soldiers of the State, but that the Hindoos generally of that corps are not trustworthy."

#1857_Mutiny

the report of a Court of Inquiry, which sat upon the disturbance at Barrackpore. #1857_Mutiny

(Cawnpore - The Station, The Outbreak, The Siege, The Treachery, The Massacre - by G.O. Trevelyan)

While at one end of Northern India stout Sir John was fighting his province in the interests of the general weal; denuding himself of British soldiers, and committing his existence and reputation to the faith of Sikh allies....

(Cawnpore - The Station, The Outbreak, The Siege..)

another gem:

Then came the Highlanders, and the bulk of the artillery; followed by the Sixty-fourth, the Eighty-fourth, and the Sikh battalion. For some time the mutineers seemed to be unconscious of what was going on...

#1857_Mutiny (Cawnpore - The Station, The Outbreak.....)

one more:

The rocks coated with frequent films of lead, and the wreck of a small temple, testify that this is the famous post, known in military history as the "Sammy-house picket," which Briton, and Sikh, and Ghoorka, fighting shoulder to shoulder.

#1857_Mutiny

Dogs are Haram’ - There were times when I was reprimanded by my friends for patting a dog’s forehead & they still do. ‘It’s just a pat! And They’re created by the same God who created you’ was my reply to their disapproving stares or atleast that’s what

I convinced my little self. It was not until recently I stumbled upon an article which spoke about Muslims hurling stones & killing dogs because they consider it ‘unhygienic’ & then there’s some Muslims who approach the veterinary doc just to have the dogs

killed with lethal injections! The sole reason for this is the half-baked knowledge they possess. If we’re to look at Quran, we’re bound to learn that Dogs were companions of Humans.

In chapter 18, the story of a group of youths is described, who hid inside a cave to escape a religious persecution. God made them fall in sleep and they had woken up some 300 years later. When the people of the cave were sleeping, their dog accompanied them.

There is disagreement about how many people were there, but there is no disagreement that Dog was there.