Superstition VS Stupidstition

Superstition VS Stupidstition

“Thou art suffer ten days bad luck if thou doest walk under a ladder.”
Superstition is a false belief that only some people believe in and which other people would brush off as an act of ignorance. It brings about the knowledge of the future. Some gullible people believe every word of it while others think its pure nonsense. All humans are equal so how can one human have more power than another human being? If we all knew what was going to happen in the future than so many incidents could have been prevented. So many wars could have been prevented, so many lives could have been saved, so many diseases could have been cured and the list goes on . . .

The Romans of the Shakespearian times were very superstitious. They based all their actions on superstitious beliefs. They believe that if a barren woman is touched by a muscular man, while he is racing, she will fall pregnant. This only happens once a year at the feast of Lupercal. They also believe in predicting the future. The soothsayer told Caesar that something will happen to him on the ides of March, which we call the15 March. Some of the Romans also believe that a storm will bring trouble. Political trouble, as there was a storm on the night of Lupercal.

In today’s times people still believe in superstitious beliefs. They don’t believe in all the Roman beliefs, but they do have their own beliefs. A lot of people believe in reading star signs. They believe that all people born in a certain time frame have the same destiny. They all read the same star sign to it’s obvious that they believe that it will happen to them. People who believe in these superstitious beliefs are very gullible. They believe everything that they are told, that they see and read. A lot of people believe that breaking a mirror causes seven years bad luck, walking under a ladder is bad luck and all those other crazy things. The older generation is somewhat very superstitious. They teach these stupid beliefs to their kids and grandkids. That is how the belief passes through generations. Each religion has there own beliefs. We might find their beliefs to be stupid superstitions, but in actual fact it is what their religion teaches them.

Some superstitious beliefs are listed below:

Ambulance: Seeing an ambulance is very unlucky unless you pinch your nose or hold your breath until you see a black or a brown dog.
Touch your toes
Touch your nose
Never go in one of those until you see a dog.

Apple: Think of five or six names of boys or girls you might marry, as you twist the stem of an apple, recite the names until the stem comes off. You will marry the person whose name you were saying when the stem fell off.
If you cut an apple in half and count how many seeds are inside, you will also know how many children you will have.
Baby: To predict the sex of a baby: Suspend a wedding band held by a piece of thread over the palm of the pregnant girl. If the ring swings in an oval or circular motion the baby will be a girl. If the ring swings in a straight line the baby will be a boy.
Bed: It's bad luck to put a hat on a bed.
If you make a bedspread, or a quilt, be sure to finish it or marriage will never come to you.
Placing a bed facing north and south brings misfortune.
You must get out of bed on the same side that you get in or you will have bad luck. When making the bed, don't interrupt your work, or you will spend a restless night in it.
Bird: A bird in the house is a sign of a death.
If a robin flies into a room through a window, death will shortly follow.
Birth: Monday's child is fair of face; Tuesday's child is full of grace; Wednesday's child is full of woe; Thursday's child has far to go; Friday's child is loving and giving; Saturday's child works hard for a living. But the child that is born on the Sabbath day is fair and wise, good and gay.
Cat: If a black cat walks towards you, it brings good fortune, but if it walks away, it takes the good luck with it.
Photograph: If 3 people are photographed together, the one in the middle will die first.
Sneeze: If you sneeze on a Monday, you sneeze for danger; Sneeze on a Tuesday, kiss a stranger; Sneeze on a Wednesday, sneeze for a letter; Sneeze on a Thursday, something better; Sneeze on a Friday, sneeze for sorrow; Sneeze on a Saturday, see your sweetheart tomorrow. Sneeze on a Sunday, and the devil will have domination over you all week.
Umbrella: It's bad luck to open an umbrella inside the house, especially if you put it over your head.

My personal belief is: I think that it is stupid and utter nonsense. It is just a waste of time, paper, money and energy. No living creature can predict the future. Only Allah can. If we all knew what was going to happen to us in ten years time, than what’s the point of living. There will never be any fun in anyone’s life because we all already know what’s going to happen. The whole point of enjoying life is waiting in suspense to know what is going to happen next. If someone has to predict an incident about to take place in your life and it actually happens, than it’s just pure coincidence. One or two things they say might come true, but not every word of theirs will turn out true. Everyone has bad days. It doesn’t mean your star sign said that today is going to be a bad day, so it must be a bad day. It could turn out to be one of the best days of your life. How can someone who doesn’t even know your name, know your whole life? Stuff you don’t even know of . . . How can a total stranger, someone you have NEVER met in your entire life, know your life better than you do? Its plain stupidity, gullible and ignorance.
If walking under the ladder is bad luck, than builders might never have any good luck. They work with ladders everyday. They are permanently walking under ladders. What about people who work with mirrors everyday? Accidents happen all the time. Thousands of mirrors break in their hands, yet they don’t have any bad luck. They might have bad days, but that does mean that it is happening because they broke a mirror. It’s just an off day. That’s all. Everyone goes through such days.
Some people believe that seeing an ambulance is unlucky. How in the world can an ambulance be unlucky? Firstly, an ambulance is just a car. If an ambulance is unlucky, how is it that so many lives get saved in an ambulance? Some people believe that if you make a bedspread or quilt and you don’t finish making it, you will never get married. How can anyone’s life be dependant on a bed sheet? Whether you get married or not is dependant on your fate, not a bed sheet.

In Islam, it is totally wrong to believe in such superstitious beliefs. Muslims believe that only Allah knows the future. No one else has the power to see the future. Believing in superstition takes one away from his Imaan. Disaster and misfortune takes place according to the will and power of Allah. No other force or power can direct your destiny or cause harm to you without the permission of Allah. Allah is the only one that can decide our fate. No actions of ours will determine what Allah has in store for us. No action is done without Allah’s knowledge. Allah knows everything and sees everything. Muslims do not believe in star signs, palmistry, horoscopes, fortunetellers, astrology or any of these things. These people are normal human beings so how can they have the power and knowledge to predict the future.
Some people have this belief that nikkah contracted in the month of Safar is bad luck. How can any Islamic month be unlucky? What people are trying to say is that for thirty days one will have bad luck. The pre-Islamic Arabs believed that Safar is a serpent that dwells in the stomach of man. It comes to life in this month and causes various types of illnesses and diseases. Thus people fall ill more in this month than any other month. Therefore this month is known as the month of Safar.
Practicing magic is tantamount to kufr in Islam. Just as it is haraam for Muslims to consult with diviners or fortunetellers, it is likewise haraam for them to seek the help of magicians, sangoma’s and witch doctors.
"No soul knows what it will earn tomorrow." [Luqman, 31:34]
"The person who goes to a soothsayer and believes in him has rejected that which was revealed to Muhammad (Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam)." [Musnad Ahmad]
"O Allah! If in Your knowledge, this matter is good for my religion, my livelihood and my affairs; immediate and in the distant future, then ordains it for me, make it easy for me and bless it for me. And if in your knowledge, this matter is bad for my religion, my livelihood, and my affairs; immediate and in the distant future, then turns it away from me, and turns me away from it. And ordain for me the good wherever it be and make me pleased with it."

The Holy Qur'ân states: "No misfortune can happen on earth nor (afflict) your souls, but is recorded in a Book (long) before we bring it into existence; that is truly easy for Allâh".

The Holy Qur'ân states: "If I had knowledge of the unseen I should have had abundance of good and no evil should have touched me. Truly I am a Warner and a Giver of glad tidings to those who have faith".

"Say - No one in the heavens and earth knows the unseen except Allah".

"Anyone who goes to a diviner, a practitioner of magic or a soothsayer, asking something and believing in it, denies what was revealed to Mohammed".



Superstition is such a thing that can ruin people’s lives. It can destroy innocent people’s lives. Some people go to magicians and all those freaky people and ask them to torture all the people who wish evil upon them or who they wish evil to fall upon. Someone’s peaceful life can be destroyed because of all these sick people and their black magic.
A person who does this is sick, but a person who goes to such people are mentally retard. Which person in their right mind would want to go to such a person who destroys other people’s lives for a living? No one has the right to destroy someone else’s life. Some people also kill themselves in the process. Others commit murder. All this “junk” just leads to blood shed and unnecessary trouble.

What is the point in knowing your future? How will you enjoy life if you already know everything that is going to happen to you? People look forward to finding out that they are going to marry, what’s going to happen in their lives and all those exciting things. What’s the point of life if you know everything already? How are you going to look forward to life if you already know what is going to happen next? How boring and dull would life be if we didn’t have anything to look forward to?
Life is a journey, enjoy the ride. Stop interfering with the laws of nature. Always remember: what goes around comes around even harder. The tables turn. You don’t want bad things to happen to you so why allow something bad to happen to someone else? Be a better person and make a good difference in someone else’s life.

Life Orientation

MISSION

I hope to bring myself across as a highly confident and successful woman who will pursue all her dreams under any circumstance in order to reach my initiative. One of my dreams being to graduate from university with high qualifications of being a well-known, determined and successful chartered accountant. I want to tour the world. I want to settle down in a foreign country. I will play a big role in charity work.



VISION

In 2 years time, I see myself graduating from school and entering into the real world. I will go to university and achieve my goals. I would like to tour the world and one day settle down in a foreign country. In 7 years time I plan on being one of the most successful and charitable woman in the world. I want to make a difference in this world. I want to help in freeing all the people in distress. I will play a big role in saving Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, Afghanistan, Rwanda and all the countries facing problems.



GOAL

Tour the world
Go to university and graduate in chartered accountant
Save all places facing problems
Do a lot of charity work
Be one of the richest and most successful woman in the world

WEAKNESS

I’m too lazy
My parents are holding me back from going overseas
I hate being ordered around (hate people to tell me what to do)
I’m very shy
Have extremely short temper

The Legacy

18 January 2008
Writing portfolio: Task 1
Max marks: 50
Draft due date: 25 January 2008
Length: 450-500 words
Narrative

Help Through Memory Lane

On a dark, rainy night, Humaira woke-up with a vision. An eagerness to create something to help the people. Something, which will be used for centuries to come. She suddenly had the urge to want to build a machine. Such machines that will help people who have lost their memories and people with amnesia recall their past. The “Memory Machine.”

Humaira went through sleepless days and nights trying to create her masterpiece. With coffee in one hand and the pen in the other, she wrote and wrote . . . ideas were flowing in her head. Her small apartment was filled with notes and scraps, what we would call “junk.” Little did we know that these scraps are now helping the world in many ways?

Finally! The notes were finally making sense. Her dream project will soon turn into reality. Now, all she needed was raw materials, metals, wire and other cheap building equipment. Humaira had to leave her job to finish up this project. That was a chance she had to take. Every morning, Humaira would get up early and go to junkyards and factories to collect scrap materials. Most of the time the factories would give her their scraps for free as they were going to throw it away anyways.

The time has come for Humaira to put her notes in use and build the machine. Months went by with one disaster after anther. It was practically impossible to build such a machine without the help of modern technology. Yet, Humaira did not give up. She tried and tried until the machine started working. A months of hard work, her machine was finally ready . . . . but it was not complete. It lacked something. Something that will apply such a pressure on the human brain that it will be forced to remember everything.

All she needed was a microchip, which she got after a lot of hard work. Now, all Humaira needed to do was rebuild it with the microchip. After a few weeks her memory machine was ready.

In a few months time Humaira was worldly recognized. Her legacy was inaugurated. Humaira Adam Omar has become a legend. People were able to remember their entire childhood. Their phases of growing up and every minor detail form the time they entered this world.

No one could believe that someone so young could build such an extraordinary machine with so little building materials. People her age are only starting to figure out their true qualities and starting a career. And here was Humaira, a teenager who created a world known legacy. She used all the scraps and raw materials she could find to build this machine. She built her extraordinary machine from nothing.

It was amazing how an ordinary 18-year-old teenager became such a legend overnight. Over eighty years down the line, she is still remembered and honored for her memory machine. Hospitals have been using it for years to help people with amnesia. Humaira has unselfishly helped the world in many ways. May she be blessed always.

BOOK REVIEW

Journey Through Life written by Humaira Adam and reviewed by Tasneem PocheeWe were not part of the apartheid era. For children that don’t know what apartheid is they should try Journey Through Life by Humaira Adam. This book explains apartheid clearly and is factual.The book explains the life of a young black girl, Lindiwe who lived during the apartheid times. The book details the suffering of what black people went through where there were no jobs, education was low and facilities were not available. Lindiwe experienced these struggles and lost her father in a massacre. Lindiwe is a good character because we can relate to her.The book is a good book and is written well, it fits the age group. Even though none of the young people experienced racial segregation the setting of the book gives them an idea and feeling of what racial segregation was and they can understand the issues.The book is set in the past and compared to today’s times the setting is total opposite. When reading the book you feel you are part of the setting and share the sorrows of the non-whites in that time.An interesting book which every young child should read!

Character analysis

James Jarvis
James Jarvis undergoes a journey same to that of Kumalo, although he is never reunited with his son, Arthur, physically. Jarvis is a white, English-speaking farmer who lives on a hill above Ndotsheni. When the novel begins, Jarvis is ignorant of or indifferent to the injustices of South Africa. He cares for his farm and his family, and he more or less takes for granted the political system in which he lives. Jarvis’s complacency is shattered when he learns that his son has been killed. He goes to stay with his son’s in-laws, the Harrisons, in Johannesburg, where he learns that Arthur had become a leader in the community, valued by people from all racial groups for his speeches on social justice. Jarvis here realizes that his son had become a stranger to him.
In an effort to understand his son better, Jarvis reads Arthur’s writings about the injustices he perceives in South Africa, and he is moved by his son’s language and ideas. Jarvis does not undergo a political conversion so much as a moral one—he is not interested, for example, by John Kumalo’s speech before the strike at the mines. Once he returns to Ndotsheni, however, he works hard to make things better for the people of the village. He donates milk to the young children and arranges to have a dam built to irrigate the soil better. Additionally, he hires an agricultural expert to teach the farmers to preserve the soil. When he suffers from a second tragedy—the death of his wife—he consoles himself by carrying out his wife’s wish that he build a new church for the community. Jarvis’s efforts require personal sacrifices, as it costs him both money and the respect of many of his peers. It is clear, however, that he has made a firm commitment to the villagers, and, though he is a man of few words, he expresses himself beautifully through his actions.


Stephen Kumalo
Stephen Kumalo is the protagonist and moral compass of Cry, the Beloved Country. He is a quiet, humble man, with a strong faith in God and a clear sense of right and wrong. An Anglican priest, Kumalo cares for his parishioners and presides over the modest church of the village he calls home. By village standards, Kumalo and his wife are middle-class, living in a house with several rooms. They struggle, however, to save money for their son’s schooling and for a new stove. Kumalo is not flawless, and he occasionally erupts in anger and tells lies. Praying to God, however, saves him from temptation, and he always repents when he speaks unfairly.
As the novel begins, Kumalo undertakes his first journey to the city of Johannesburg. He is intimidated and overwhelmed by the city, betraying his simple background. With the help of generous hosts, however, he is able to put his fear aside and search with determination for his son. As the search drags on, we become aware of Kumalo’s physical weaknesses—according to African tradition, he has reached the time in his life when his children should be caring for him. He is forced instead to search for his son. When it becomes clear that Absalom is in grave trouble, Kumalo’s body is further broken by his grief. His faith wavers, too, but he seeks the help of friends in the ministry, who support him and pray with him. By the time Kumalo leaves Johannesburg, he is deeply sad, but his faith is buoyed by the generosity of others. When he returns to his village, Kumalo works to improve the lives of his parishioners. In the end, he faces his son’s death with mourning, but also with a sense of peace.

Absalom Kumalo
Though Absalom is at the center of the plot of Cry, the Beloved Country, he is a somewhat mysterious figure. Having left home like most of the young people of Ndotsheni, Absalom finds work in Johannesburg. For reasons that are never made clear, however, he loses touch with his family and falls into a life of crime. Young and impressionable, Absalom carries a gun for protection, but when he fires the weapon in fear, he ends up killing Arthur Jarvis. Absalom’s basic innocence is affirmed when he confesses everything to the police, and even they seem to suspect his friend Johannes and not him for the murder. Nonetheless, the court holds Absalom solely responsible for the crime. He tries to communicate honestly with Kumalo, though no words can explain what he has done. Originally afraid to die, Absalom appears to reconcile himself to his impending execution and writes respectfully to his mother and father until the time of his death, demonstrating a newfound maturity that allows him to approach death gracefully.

John Kumalo
John Kumalo Stephen Kumalo’s brother. Formerly a humble carpenter and a practicing Christian, John Kumalo becomes a successful businessman and one of the three most powerful black politicians in Johannesburg. He has a beautiful and powerful voice, which he uses to speak out for the rights of black South Africans, but his fear of punishment prevents him from pushing for actual radical change, and he is considered by many to be without courage.

Arthur Jarvis
Arthur Jarvis is murdered before we even hear of him, but his writings provide him with the opportunity to speak for him. A staunch opponent of South Africa’s racial injustices, Arthur Jarvis spent his life at the center of the debates on racism and poverty, and his essays and articles provide answers to many of the novel’s questions. His motives are selfless; he works for change not because he seeks personal glory but because he is weary of the system’s contradictions and oppression. As much as Msimangu, Arthur Jarvis is the solution South Africa needs, and although he is murdered, some hope lives on in his young son.

Nigeria:3 Abandoned Babies found in Bauchi

Nigeria: 3 Abandoned Babies Found in Bauchi

Daily Trust (Abuja)
31 August 2007Posted to the web 31 August 2007
Ahmed MohammedBauchi
Three babies were found in Bauchi, two in hotel rooms while the other one was found inside the toilet of his mother's house.
Daily Trust investigations revealed that two babies were found dead and one was alive.
Speaking to Daily Trust over the incident the police public relations officer (PPRO), Bauchi state police command, ASP Alhassan Idris Gambo, said " one person, John Mathias of Igbo quarters ward in Bauchi, has reported to the Bauchi township police station that he suspected that the junior sister of his wife, Victoria Andrew, had delivered a baby and thrown it inside the toilet.”
ASP Alhassan added "police went to the house and found the baby which they removed from the toilet and took it to the Bauchi Specialist Hospital where the doctor confirmed the baby dead. The mother of the baby was admitted in the Hospital and maybe charged to court when she recovers from her illness".
The police PPRO said the other two babies; one found in one of the hotels in Yelwa had decomposed when he was found in the dustbin inside the room and the other one survived, adding that police are still investigating the two incidents.
He added, "The Bauchi state police command is worried about the increase in these criminal. Acts any person caught will face the wrath of the law and advised anybody with useful information to come and inform the police.

Dogs adopt baby in rural Kenye

By Rodrique Ngowi

Nairobi -A nursing dog foraging for food retrieved an abandoned baby girl in a forest in Kenya and carried the infant to its litter of puppies, witnesses said on Monday.The stray dog carried the infant across a busy road in a poor neighborhood near the Ngong Forests in the capital, Nairobi, Stephen Thoya told the independent Daily Nation newspaper.The dog apparently found the baby on Friday in the plastic bag in which the infant had been abandoned, said Aggrey Mwalimu, owner of the compound where the animal is now living. It was unclear how the baby survived in the bag without suffocating.

Doctors said the baby had been abandoned about two days before the dog discovered her. Medical workers later found maggots in the infant's umbilical cord, a product of days of neglect, Hannah Gakuo, the spokesperson of the Kenyatta National Hospital, where the girl was taken for treatment, said on Monday. No one has yet claimed the baby, she said.But the 3.3kg infant "is doing well, responding to treatment, she is stable... she is on antibiotics," Gakuo told The Associated Press. Workers at the hospital are calling the child Angel, she said.Unwanted infants are often abandoned in Kenya - sometimes they are even dumped into pit latrines. Poverty and mothers' failed relationships with fathers are often blamed for the problem, and Kenya's weak law enforcement and social security systems means that most people who abandon babies are never caught."Abandoned babies are normally taken to the Kenyatta National Hospital because it is a public hospital," Gakuo said. "People are now donating diapers and baby clothes for this one." - Sapa-AP