Date: 13th September, 2015
Session # 39
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session we talked on various topics. Manzar Uncle, (Manzar Imam Sahab, a renown playwright of Pakistan) joined us and took half of the session. Many questions were discussed. We talked about languages, a girl asked a question about how languages were made. This led to a discussion about languages, in which we learnt lots of things, for example, there are over 7000 languages in the world, but a lot of them are not used anymore, and many languages are used in only certain parts of the world. There are also several code languages. We can make our own code languages by mixing words and symbols together to form words and phrases.
We also talked about the oldest institutions of Pakistan. This task had been given in a previous session, to do some research on the oldest institutions of Pakistan. Some people had done some research on it, and they shared it. We have to find out more on that topic and share it in the next session.
So that was mostly all that we did in this session.
Thank you.
Friday 18 September 2015
Wednesday 19 August 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 38
Date: 16th August, 2015
Session # 38
Attended by: 7 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we looked at and talked about the maps of Pakistan. There was an Atlas of Pakistan, from which we looked at different maps of Pakistan, like ones showing the places where wheat, rice, sugarcane and cotton is grown. There were maps which showed where cattle and livestock are kept, ones showing major roads and highways of the country, ones showing the roads leading out of Pakistan, ones showing where forests, deserts and rivers are.
There were many maps showing different things and it was fun to point out different places and stuff from them.
After thoroughly looking at many of the maps, we talked about what we had learnt, like which cities lead roads out of Pakistan, towards the neighbouring countries. We are given a home task to find out about the oldest institutions of Pakistan which are still functional today. We can ask our elders, and do some research on it.
Overall, it was an interesting session, in which everyone learnt something about Pakistan.
Note: Thinkers' Club's sessions will not be held for the next three Sundays.
Session # 38
Attended by: 7 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we looked at and talked about the maps of Pakistan. There was an Atlas of Pakistan, from which we looked at different maps of Pakistan, like ones showing the places where wheat, rice, sugarcane and cotton is grown. There were maps which showed where cattle and livestock are kept, ones showing major roads and highways of the country, ones showing the roads leading out of Pakistan, ones showing where forests, deserts and rivers are.
There were many maps showing different things and it was fun to point out different places and stuff from them.
After thoroughly looking at many of the maps, we talked about what we had learnt, like which cities lead roads out of Pakistan, towards the neighbouring countries. We are given a home task to find out about the oldest institutions of Pakistan which are still functional today. We can ask our elders, and do some research on it.
Overall, it was an interesting session, in which everyone learnt something about Pakistan.
Note: Thinkers' Club's sessions will not be held for the next three Sundays.
Thursday 16 July 2015
Advertisements, by Zainab Salman
Here are the answers by Zainab Salman, to the two questions which were shared in Session 37:
What do advertisements do to make you want what you do not need?
Advertisements have their own strategies to make us buy a lot of stuff that we don’t really need. To capture one type of people, they use things that will attract the attention of that particular kind of people. For example, an ad which shows a doctor telling that one type of soap will be more efficient will attract the attention of those who are health concerned. They further use researches and experiments to prove themselves right.
Many innocent people believe them and start using their products which leads to profit to the particular brand or company.
They have started making ads like long videos or movies that have a whole plot, dialogues and a script! They exploit human feelings and make touchy ads that make one cry.
In short, advertisements do almost everything they can to make us buy what we don’t need.
How do advertisements change the perception of reality?
Advertisers have a strategy for changing our perception of reality. Like the Pepsi ad we saw in an earlier session, it changes the perception of reality by showing people holding empty Pepsi bottles with some sort of affection. Though in reality, nobody likes empty Pepsi bottles- they are loved only when they are full.
Of course, they cannot change reality, but this is how they change the perception of reality.
Below is an article, already published on Zainab's blog, titled ‘The Problem with Advertising’.
The Problem with Advertising
In our society, advertising plays the key role for excessive buying. The ads that our media presents urge people to buy products of a particular brand. The companies that make the stuff we buy have a strategy: They advertise the things that are not our needs. There is no need to advertise for our needs! We have to get our needs, no matter what. They mainly advertise for our wants our secondary needs in the papers and T.V.
The companies do their best to make their ads flashy. They include people like film stars, cricketers, doctors, scientists, cartoon characters and statements, music and actions, anything that would appeal to their targeted customers.
Advertising is simply a trap. They get us in their cycle only to earn money. Often, we fall in to their trap of the ads and buy the unnecessary stuff. Their job is to get their stuff sold, while our job is to prevent ourselves from buying them. Though what we really do, is buy their stuff. Whenever we go to the supermarket, we fill our trolleys with all the food, drinks, clothes, shoes and accessories advertised on T.V.
We rarely think about it, but we do have to answer for the excessive buying that we do without thinking. And for that, we need to be courageous enough to see through the ads, and buy what we need.
Monday 13 July 2015
Advertisements, by Namra Asif
These are answers to the two questions shared in the last session, written by Namra Asif, a club member.
Q. What do
advertisements do make
you want what
you do not need?
Our Almighty ALLAH
gave us many many blessings which we have to make us realize that we should always thank our GOD (ALLAH). But some fake things destroy
our this concept and advertisements are one of those
Advertisements play a very important role to destroy our this
concept by playing from our perception, feelings, values, understandings, beliefs, dreams, wishes, and emotions. And from this solely and gradually our wants
becomes our needs which is the beginning of breakdown our string relations
between us and ALLAH.
In the end, the conclusion is:
Want should belong to ALLAH... Need should belong to us.
Want should belong to ALLAH... Need should belong to us.
Q. How do advertisements change the perception of reality?
Some things
and thoughts are able to change reality of life they are very dangerous and
advertisements are one of them . Because the companies of advertisements always
try to make heart touching advertises which approximately change the reality.
First of all, by advertisements, they make their product as our extra
needs, which do not play a vital role in
our daily life .
They vanish
the concept of difference between wants and needs .When our wants become our
needs, extra expenses are being up in our life and our ALMIGHTY ALLAH never
likes extra expenses, especially from Muslims.
Presentation on Advertisements
This is a presentation made by one of the club members, Raish, about Advertisements, which was discussed in the the last session.
Wednesday 8 July 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 37
Date: 5th June, 2015
Session # 37
Report written by: Fatima Salman
This session took place three weeks after the last one, since the sessions had been cancelled for some reason or the other. We were first asked to share any questions we had. One girl asked a question, which was about a Hadith (quote of the Holy Prophet P.B.U.H) she had read somewhere. It was that the Prophet had said, which means, that 'Throw dirt on the person's face who praises you in front of you.' She was confused, because praising a person seems like a good thing, so why is it so discouraged in Islam? We feel good when a person praises us.
This thing was discussed in the whole session.
What's wrong with praise
The hadith does not ask us to literally throw dirt on the person's face who praises us. It just means that we should not appreciate the praise, or do something good in order to be praised. When we do something good, people praise us because of it. Most of the times, the person who praises us is a person who is likes us and is sincere to us. That's why he/she is praising us. However, it can also be otherwise. The person could perhaps want to make us do something for him or her, so they're praising us, or maybe flattering us to make us ready to do something for them.
When a person gets praised often, he/she starts doing good things because they want to be praised for it. In fact, the reason for doing the work is to get praised. This is a very wrong reason. The good things we do should be solely to please Allah. But when we start doing good things to be praised, we start doing them for other people's pleasure, not God's pleasure. We become People Conscious instead of God Conscious.
People Consciousness and God Consciousness are complete opposites. Being people conscious means that you're doing what you're doing according to what people expect and want you to do. You are constantly thinking about what others are thinking of you. An example of this was shared, which was, you have to go somewhere for three consecutive Sundays. You wear a dress on the first Sunday, which is appreciated by everybody. After you come home, you wash the dress and put it back in your cupboard. Then, on the next Sunday, will you wear the same dress again? Of course not! I mean, that's the way, most of the people think. Even if you wear the same dress on the next Sunday, it's not like people will think that you own only one dress and you wear it all the time. But if you've become very people conscious, that's exactly what you will do. Then we were asked if we will wear that dress on the third Sunday. Everyone still said 'no'. But why? It's a good and clean dress, why don't we wear it again? That's because we are seeking other people's pleasure and our acts are based upon them.
This session was supposed to end at 11:30 am, and after that there would be a session for adults (parents and teachers). This plan was changed, and at 11 am, the adults were allowed to come in the session. They joined in the ongoing discussion. Since the kids were old enough, they were allowed to sit in the session for adults as well.
Praise vs Encouragement
Then someone asked that aren't we supposed to encourage and acknowledge children on their work, at school, for example. The answer was that we are supposed to encourage them, instead of praising them. There is a difference between Praise and Encouragement, which every parent and teacher should know. Praise is general, while encouragement is more specific.
This discussion ended well, with the question asked in the beginning being answered perfectly. Then, at 11:30 am, when many more people had joined, the next session began. It was about Advertisments.
Advertisements
In the beginning, two questions were shared, which were:
Session # 37
Report written by: Fatima Salman
This session took place three weeks after the last one, since the sessions had been cancelled for some reason or the other. We were first asked to share any questions we had. One girl asked a question, which was about a Hadith (quote of the Holy Prophet P.B.U.H) she had read somewhere. It was that the Prophet had said, which means, that 'Throw dirt on the person's face who praises you in front of you.' She was confused, because praising a person seems like a good thing, so why is it so discouraged in Islam? We feel good when a person praises us.
This thing was discussed in the whole session.
What's wrong with praise
The hadith does not ask us to literally throw dirt on the person's face who praises us. It just means that we should not appreciate the praise, or do something good in order to be praised. When we do something good, people praise us because of it. Most of the times, the person who praises us is a person who is likes us and is sincere to us. That's why he/she is praising us. However, it can also be otherwise. The person could perhaps want to make us do something for him or her, so they're praising us, or maybe flattering us to make us ready to do something for them.
When a person gets praised often, he/she starts doing good things because they want to be praised for it. In fact, the reason for doing the work is to get praised. This is a very wrong reason. The good things we do should be solely to please Allah. But when we start doing good things to be praised, we start doing them for other people's pleasure, not God's pleasure. We become People Conscious instead of God Conscious.
People Consciousness and God Consciousness are complete opposites. Being people conscious means that you're doing what you're doing according to what people expect and want you to do. You are constantly thinking about what others are thinking of you. An example of this was shared, which was, you have to go somewhere for three consecutive Sundays. You wear a dress on the first Sunday, which is appreciated by everybody. After you come home, you wash the dress and put it back in your cupboard. Then, on the next Sunday, will you wear the same dress again? Of course not! I mean, that's the way, most of the people think. Even if you wear the same dress on the next Sunday, it's not like people will think that you own only one dress and you wear it all the time. But if you've become very people conscious, that's exactly what you will do. Then we were asked if we will wear that dress on the third Sunday. Everyone still said 'no'. But why? It's a good and clean dress, why don't we wear it again? That's because we are seeking other people's pleasure and our acts are based upon them.
This session was supposed to end at 11:30 am, and after that there would be a session for adults (parents and teachers). This plan was changed, and at 11 am, the adults were allowed to come in the session. They joined in the ongoing discussion. Since the kids were old enough, they were allowed to sit in the session for adults as well.
Praise vs Encouragement
Then someone asked that aren't we supposed to encourage and acknowledge children on their work, at school, for example. The answer was that we are supposed to encourage them, instead of praising them. There is a difference between Praise and Encouragement, which every parent and teacher should know. Praise is general, while encouragement is more specific.
This discussion ended well, with the question asked in the beginning being answered perfectly. Then, at 11:30 am, when many more people had joined, the next session began. It was about Advertisments.
Advertisements
In the beginning, two questions were shared, which were:
- What do advertisements do to make you want what you do not need?
- How do advertisements change the perception of reality?
We have to think on these questions and anyone can write their views about them, which will be posted on the blog.
Advertisements these days are very catchy and attractive. Since they are designed only for selling their products, they place their product in a situation where it is badly needed. Some of the advertisements also stir up our emotions, and the really touchy ones can make a person cry.
We saw two advertisements in the session. Before seeing the adds, we were asked to recite this dua: "Allahumma arinal Haqqa haqqaun, war zuqnatiba'a. Wa arinal batila batillaun, war zuqnajtinaba" which means: "O Allah! Enable us to see the Truth as Truth and give us the ability to follow it. And show us the falsehood as false and give us the ability to restrain from it." We recited this dua to seek protection from the wrong in it, and so that we wouldn't be carried away by the glamour (if any) in it. The first add was of Shan (a Pakistani company which makes spices used for our traditional food). This add comes on TV, and is extremely touchy, enough to fill any person's eyes with tears.
Shan
In it, there are two brothers who are living abroad. One of them is sitting in the balcony of his apartment looking very sad and teary. His older brother comes and asks what's wrong. He says, that it would be Chand raat (the night before Eid) at home. Everyone would be decorating the house... Ammi (mother) would be cooking delicious food.' And suddenly he bursts out, 'What kind of Eid is this?!' The other brother had no reply to this and then suddenly he gets an idea and hurries out of the house. Then he gets on a bus and goes to the supermarket. While he is going, a song was playing which was Mola sub ki sunta hai, par kisi kisi ko chunta hai, (meaning, God listens to everybody, but chooses only certain people). When he comes to the superstore, he picks up boxes of Shan spices, and onions and other vegetables. Then he gets on a bus back home, where he offers his seat to an elderly passenger. After he gets home, he starts cooking. He talks to his mother on the phone, asking for the recipe while he does what she's saying. Then the scene changes, and I think it's the next morning (which is Eid), when the younger brother enters the room, sobbing. Suddenly, he hears his mother's voice, calling him. He looks around and spots her face on the screen of a laptop, connected on Skype. All around the laptop, were those foods which his brother had made, displayed beautifully. His mother calls him, greets him Eid Mubaruk, and he continues sobbing. Then his older brother comes and from a dish of biryani, picks up a spoonful and gives it to his brother, saying, 'Eat it. Ammi has made it'. And that's the end of the add.
I don't think I could've explained it the way it was presented in the add, with the music and all. However, that's basically what it was like. It was paused several times to emphasize certain points and notice the small but important details. The first thing discussed after the add was, why are the brothers abroad? To earn, obviously. Why didn't they stay in their homeland and get a job there? Why aren't they at home on Eid? Why does the add show the brothers living abroad? What is the reason for showing the brothers are abroad?
Then, the guy who's crying is crying because he isn't at home to enjoy his mom's delicious food on Eid. He is missing his mom because of the food she cooks, so is he even missing her, or her cooking skills? And, would he even miss his mother if she didn't cook good food? Or is good food the primary cause for their good relationship? Now, from the people watching the add, there must be mothers who aren't really good cooks. What would they be thinking? I think they'd be doubtful of their ability to be a good parent since they can't cook really good food. Think about it. Does being a good mother means being a good cook as well? I don't think so.
Pepsi
The next advertisement we saw was Pepsi's add, which was released specially for Ramazan. In it, a song plays which is something like Noor-e-Khuda, Noor-e-Azal. Noor means light, and Noor-e-khuda means God's light, or something which God really likes. Now they're saying Noor-e-khuda, and what exactly is Noor-e-khuda? Pepsi! How ridiculous! They're associating God's favourite thing with Pepsi.
There was one thing I noticed in the add, that they were showing empty Pepsi bottles more than bottles filled with the black liquid. Boys playing cricket have made a wicket using stacked up empty Pepsi bottles. A little boy hands his mother an empty Pepsi bottle to which she returns him a huge smile and pats his head affectionately (even though in real life, you will never find a person looking more happy to get an empty bottle of Pepsi). Girls are carrying empty Pepsi bottles tied together through a rope and are carrying the rope on their shoulders. Why was that? The answer is that Noor means light, and light cannot be black, while Pepsi is black. (Oops! Now what will they do?) Those clever people have, therefore, shown mostly empty bottles, some of which carry a small light inside them, and casually slipped in the actual Pepsi in only a couple of places. Clever, isn't it?
We were explained how they have captured the whole of Pakistan in just one small advertisement: Young boys playing cricket: captured the youth of our country. (Even though the cricket part was very small, only about three or four seconds long. Just long enough for the ball to hit the wicket (which was made from empty Pepsi bottles) and the bottles to come tumbling down). They've captured the old women of our country by showing an old woman carrying a lamp. They've captured young girls by showing girls happily drinking Pepsi. And so on. You'd learn a lot if you watch that advertisement to understand their tactics.
This session was really interesting and enjoyable, and we learnt a lot of things about advertisements. In fact, if we analyze each advertisement we watch like what we did in this session, we wouldn't be captured by them at all. Overall, this session was very interesting. It was fun to know facts about the advertisements we hadn't paid much attention to before. I would suggest anyone who was not able to join this session, to come in the next one to attend an amazing session.
Thank you.
Advertisements these days are very catchy and attractive. Since they are designed only for selling their products, they place their product in a situation where it is badly needed. Some of the advertisements also stir up our emotions, and the really touchy ones can make a person cry.
We saw two advertisements in the session. Before seeing the adds, we were asked to recite this dua: "Allahumma arinal Haqqa haqqaun, war zuqnatiba'a. Wa arinal batila batillaun, war zuqnajtinaba" which means: "O Allah! Enable us to see the Truth as Truth and give us the ability to follow it. And show us the falsehood as false and give us the ability to restrain from it." We recited this dua to seek protection from the wrong in it, and so that we wouldn't be carried away by the glamour (if any) in it. The first add was of Shan (a Pakistani company which makes spices used for our traditional food). This add comes on TV, and is extremely touchy, enough to fill any person's eyes with tears.
Shan
In it, there are two brothers who are living abroad. One of them is sitting in the balcony of his apartment looking very sad and teary. His older brother comes and asks what's wrong. He says, that it would be Chand raat (the night before Eid) at home. Everyone would be decorating the house... Ammi (mother) would be cooking delicious food.' And suddenly he bursts out, 'What kind of Eid is this?!' The other brother had no reply to this and then suddenly he gets an idea and hurries out of the house. Then he gets on a bus and goes to the supermarket. While he is going, a song was playing which was Mola sub ki sunta hai, par kisi kisi ko chunta hai, (meaning, God listens to everybody, but chooses only certain people). When he comes to the superstore, he picks up boxes of Shan spices, and onions and other vegetables. Then he gets on a bus back home, where he offers his seat to an elderly passenger. After he gets home, he starts cooking. He talks to his mother on the phone, asking for the recipe while he does what she's saying. Then the scene changes, and I think it's the next morning (which is Eid), when the younger brother enters the room, sobbing. Suddenly, he hears his mother's voice, calling him. He looks around and spots her face on the screen of a laptop, connected on Skype. All around the laptop, were those foods which his brother had made, displayed beautifully. His mother calls him, greets him Eid Mubaruk, and he continues sobbing. Then his older brother comes and from a dish of biryani, picks up a spoonful and gives it to his brother, saying, 'Eat it. Ammi has made it'. And that's the end of the add.
I don't think I could've explained it the way it was presented in the add, with the music and all. However, that's basically what it was like. It was paused several times to emphasize certain points and notice the small but important details. The first thing discussed after the add was, why are the brothers abroad? To earn, obviously. Why didn't they stay in their homeland and get a job there? Why aren't they at home on Eid? Why does the add show the brothers living abroad? What is the reason for showing the brothers are abroad?
Then, the guy who's crying is crying because he isn't at home to enjoy his mom's delicious food on Eid. He is missing his mom because of the food she cooks, so is he even missing her, or her cooking skills? And, would he even miss his mother if she didn't cook good food? Or is good food the primary cause for their good relationship? Now, from the people watching the add, there must be mothers who aren't really good cooks. What would they be thinking? I think they'd be doubtful of their ability to be a good parent since they can't cook really good food. Think about it. Does being a good mother means being a good cook as well? I don't think so.
Pepsi
The next advertisement we saw was Pepsi's add, which was released specially for Ramazan. In it, a song plays which is something like Noor-e-Khuda, Noor-e-Azal. Noor means light, and Noor-e-khuda means God's light, or something which God really likes. Now they're saying Noor-e-khuda, and what exactly is Noor-e-khuda? Pepsi! How ridiculous! They're associating God's favourite thing with Pepsi.
There was one thing I noticed in the add, that they were showing empty Pepsi bottles more than bottles filled with the black liquid. Boys playing cricket have made a wicket using stacked up empty Pepsi bottles. A little boy hands his mother an empty Pepsi bottle to which she returns him a huge smile and pats his head affectionately (even though in real life, you will never find a person looking more happy to get an empty bottle of Pepsi). Girls are carrying empty Pepsi bottles tied together through a rope and are carrying the rope on their shoulders. Why was that? The answer is that Noor means light, and light cannot be black, while Pepsi is black. (Oops! Now what will they do?) Those clever people have, therefore, shown mostly empty bottles, some of which carry a small light inside them, and casually slipped in the actual Pepsi in only a couple of places. Clever, isn't it?
We were explained how they have captured the whole of Pakistan in just one small advertisement: Young boys playing cricket: captured the youth of our country. (Even though the cricket part was very small, only about three or four seconds long. Just long enough for the ball to hit the wicket (which was made from empty Pepsi bottles) and the bottles to come tumbling down). They've captured the old women of our country by showing an old woman carrying a lamp. They've captured young girls by showing girls happily drinking Pepsi. And so on. You'd learn a lot if you watch that advertisement to understand their tactics.
This session was really interesting and enjoyable, and we learnt a lot of things about advertisements. In fact, if we analyze each advertisement we watch like what we did in this session, we wouldn't be captured by them at all. Overall, this session was very interesting. It was fun to know facts about the advertisements we hadn't paid much attention to before. I would suggest anyone who was not able to join this session, to come in the next one to attend an amazing session.
Thank you.
Journey of Life
This is an picture depicting what we discussed in Session 36, about what happens before we are born and after we die.
Before we are born, only our soul exists, and that is with God. Then we are born, and are given a body to go with a soul with in this world. Then we die, and our body is taken away from us, and our soul remains. Then, we are resurrected, and again our body and soul are reunited. According to what we did in this world, we will enter either Heaven or Hell, where we'll remain forever.
Before we are born, only our soul exists, and that is with God. Then we are born, and are given a body to go with a soul with in this world. Then we die, and our body is taken away from us, and our soul remains. Then, we are resurrected, and again our body and soul are reunited. According to what we did in this world, we will enter either Heaven or Hell, where we'll remain forever.
Click on the image to see it more clearly.
Thursday 18 June 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 36
Date: 14th June, 2015
Session # 36
Attended by: 8 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we first talked about sleep, which we had planned to do so in the last session. Sleep is an experience of death. When we sleep, we go through the same process as we do when we die. We are completely unconscious and do not have control of ourselves when we are asleep. The same thing happens when we die.
People who aren't Muslims, or those who do not understand life after death question about how is it possible to become alive after dying. Well, it's basically the same way we wake up after a night's sleep. God gives us the experience of death in our lives, so that we know how it happens when we die.
Before we are born, only our soul exists, and that is with God. Then we are born, and are given a body to go with a soul with in this world. Then we die, and our body is taken away from us, and our soul remains. Then, we are resurrected, and again our body and soul are reunited. According to what we did in this world, we will enter either Heaven or Hell, where we'll remain forever.
We discussed these things in detail. Then, we decided to start a Chess Tournament. Three boys, Ibraheem, Ayan, and Taimoor, are given the responsibility of organizing it. It is decided that every player will play two matches with every one else. The ones who wins the most matches, will be qualified for the Semi finals, and finals. Participating in the tournament isn't compulsory, you can participate if you want to. Everyone who attended this session was willing to participate in it.
The session officially ended at 11:30, but everyone stayed back and played Chess. There were a couple of people who weren't sure about it's rules, and the others told them about it. We played practice matches with each other just to warm up and see how good the others are. The matches we played then weren't included in the tournament. We will start playing those tournament matches in the next session.
If you would like to participate in the tournament, you can come in the next session. If you don't know how to play chess, don't worry, we'll teach you. It'll be lots of fun!
Thank you.
Session # 36
Attended by: 8 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session, we first talked about sleep, which we had planned to do so in the last session. Sleep is an experience of death. When we sleep, we go through the same process as we do when we die. We are completely unconscious and do not have control of ourselves when we are asleep. The same thing happens when we die.
People who aren't Muslims, or those who do not understand life after death question about how is it possible to become alive after dying. Well, it's basically the same way we wake up after a night's sleep. God gives us the experience of death in our lives, so that we know how it happens when we die.
Before we are born, only our soul exists, and that is with God. Then we are born, and are given a body to go with a soul with in this world. Then we die, and our body is taken away from us, and our soul remains. Then, we are resurrected, and again our body and soul are reunited. According to what we did in this world, we will enter either Heaven or Hell, where we'll remain forever.
We discussed these things in detail. Then, we decided to start a Chess Tournament. Three boys, Ibraheem, Ayan, and Taimoor, are given the responsibility of organizing it. It is decided that every player will play two matches with every one else. The ones who wins the most matches, will be qualified for the Semi finals, and finals. Participating in the tournament isn't compulsory, you can participate if you want to. Everyone who attended this session was willing to participate in it.
The session officially ended at 11:30, but everyone stayed back and played Chess. There were a couple of people who weren't sure about it's rules, and the others told them about it. We played practice matches with each other just to warm up and see how good the others are. The matches we played then weren't included in the tournament. We will start playing those tournament matches in the next session.
If you would like to participate in the tournament, you can come in the next session. If you don't know how to play chess, don't worry, we'll teach you. It'll be lots of fun!
Thank you.
Sleep and Dreams, Article by Kenza (online member)
Here is an article written by our online club member, Kenza, about sleep and dreams, which we discussed in Session 35.
Dreams come in three stages: light sleep, deep sleep and REM. During REM (Rapid Eye Movement), our eyes roll around rapidly under our eyelids. During deep sleep, we have almost no contact with the real world. And if we wake up naturally, we’ll be in light sleep until we actually awaken.
When we dream, we don’t know we’re dreaming. In our dreams, we often think the world around us is reality even if the things that appear in front of us are absolutely unreal. The reason for this is that our frontal lobes (the part of the brain at the front) aren’t acting much. However, they are when we’re awake, and at those times we’ll know for sure that we’re definitely not dreaming.
While dreaming, we have no sense of time. We don’t even know how long our dreams last - they might only last an hour. But still, according to a fact in What Makes Me Me? by Robert Winston, you’ll spend around five years of your life in dreams. And another that states, the average person dreams about 1,825 times a year.
Furthermore, you won’t copy the motions you make in your dreams; for instance, you won’t start running a marathon if that’s what you’re dreaming about! This acts as a barrier to stop you copying the movements you make whilst dreaming. This is because your brain signals to your muscles to move (to correspond with the motion you make in your dream) but your spinal cord ignores these signals.
According to some people, if you want to remember your dreams well, lie your pillow flat before you sleep. This helps keep a good recollection of your dream, because your blood circulates better this way.
To sum up, dreaming is an interesting topic that even scientists can’t completely understand. And maybe some of it will always remain a mystery.
By Kenza, Online Club Member
Dreams come in three stages: light sleep, deep sleep and REM. During REM (Rapid Eye Movement), our eyes roll around rapidly under our eyelids. During deep sleep, we have almost no contact with the real world. And if we wake up naturally, we’ll be in light sleep until we actually awaken.
When we dream, we don’t know we’re dreaming. In our dreams, we often think the world around us is reality even if the things that appear in front of us are absolutely unreal. The reason for this is that our frontal lobes (the part of the brain at the front) aren’t acting much. However, they are when we’re awake, and at those times we’ll know for sure that we’re definitely not dreaming.
While dreaming, we have no sense of time. We don’t even know how long our dreams last - they might only last an hour. But still, according to a fact in What Makes Me Me? by Robert Winston, you’ll spend around five years of your life in dreams. And another that states, the average person dreams about 1,825 times a year.
Furthermore, you won’t copy the motions you make in your dreams; for instance, you won’t start running a marathon if that’s what you’re dreaming about! This acts as a barrier to stop you copying the movements you make whilst dreaming. This is because your brain signals to your muscles to move (to correspond with the motion you make in your dream) but your spinal cord ignores these signals.
According to some people, if you want to remember your dreams well, lie your pillow flat before you sleep. This helps keep a good recollection of your dream, because your blood circulates better this way.
To sum up, dreaming is an interesting topic that even scientists can’t completely understand. And maybe some of it will always remain a mystery.
By Kenza, Online Club Member
 |
| I think my dream came true. |
Monday 25 May 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 35
Date: 24th May, 2015
Session # 35
Attended by: 10 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
This session started with a round of introduction as many of the members had come after a long time. Instead of the usual style of introduction, this time we had to introduce ourselves by telling about a mistake we made in our lives and we learnt something important from that mistake. Everyone had to think for a couple of minutes and then tell them. We all make many mistakes in our lives, and that is how we grow. We continuously make mistakes and then we realize our mistakes and improve them. For example, was our first attempt to say something perfect? Of course not! Each of us made mistakes in the beginning, and then learnt from the mistakes to eventually become perfect.
If we learn from our mistakes, then they are good for us, and if we don't, then they are a loss for us. We all make mistakes, and we should learn from them, otherwise, we will continue to make the same mistake again.
Then we were asked what we would like to talk about and if we have any questions. Some of the members wanted to talk about Dreams. We talked about dreams, and how they are often related to certain things in our life.
The dreams we see are often some visuals which were stuck to our mind, and then we see the same visual in our dream. Sometimes, we see something in our dream which we have actually experienced in life.
Dreams can also be our thoughts, or can be reflecting our thoughts. They can be of something we have been thinking a lot about, and we see or experience the same thing in our dream.
Dreams can also be of our imagination. What we see might not have happened, and might never even happen, but is something we are only imagining about. Dreams can also be fantasy.
Or, dreams may contain a message from God. Sometimes, Allah wants to tell us something prior to its happening, for some reason. We can see it in our dream. Usually, the people who see true dreams are very pious and good people.
We usually forget our dreams within a few minutes of waking up. The dreams we remember are usually our great fears, which we experience in our dreams, or great wishes which we experience in the dream. We also remember the dream we have talked about a lot, or narrated to many people.
We ended up talking about sleep. Sleep is an experience of death. We will talk on this topic in the next session. Meanwhile, if anyone wants to, they can do some research or make a presentation about Sleep and Dreams.
Thank you.
Session # 35
Attended by: 10 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
This session started with a round of introduction as many of the members had come after a long time. Instead of the usual style of introduction, this time we had to introduce ourselves by telling about a mistake we made in our lives and we learnt something important from that mistake. Everyone had to think for a couple of minutes and then tell them. We all make many mistakes in our lives, and that is how we grow. We continuously make mistakes and then we realize our mistakes and improve them. For example, was our first attempt to say something perfect? Of course not! Each of us made mistakes in the beginning, and then learnt from the mistakes to eventually become perfect.
If we learn from our mistakes, then they are good for us, and if we don't, then they are a loss for us. We all make mistakes, and we should learn from them, otherwise, we will continue to make the same mistake again.
Then we were asked what we would like to talk about and if we have any questions. Some of the members wanted to talk about Dreams. We talked about dreams, and how they are often related to certain things in our life.
The dreams we see are often some visuals which were stuck to our mind, and then we see the same visual in our dream. Sometimes, we see something in our dream which we have actually experienced in life.
Dreams can also be our thoughts, or can be reflecting our thoughts. They can be of something we have been thinking a lot about, and we see or experience the same thing in our dream.
Dreams can also be of our imagination. What we see might not have happened, and might never even happen, but is something we are only imagining about. Dreams can also be fantasy.
Or, dreams may contain a message from God. Sometimes, Allah wants to tell us something prior to its happening, for some reason. We can see it in our dream. Usually, the people who see true dreams are very pious and good people.
We usually forget our dreams within a few minutes of waking up. The dreams we remember are usually our great fears, which we experience in our dreams, or great wishes which we experience in the dream. We also remember the dream we have talked about a lot, or narrated to many people.
We ended up talking about sleep. Sleep is an experience of death. We will talk on this topic in the next session. Meanwhile, if anyone wants to, they can do some research or make a presentation about Sleep and Dreams.
Thank you.
Thursday 21 May 2015
Report: Thinkers' Club Session 34
Date: 17th May, 2015
Session # 34
Attended by: 8 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session we were joined by two new girls. First, we did a recap of the previous sessions, and then we told the new participants about what Thinkers' Club is.
Then we recalled and listed the topics we have worked on, which include How our mind works, How animals think, Migratory Birds, Finding our way through Stars, Poetry,Poets, and many more. Then we were asked what topics we could do in future. Someone said that we could discuss and work on the topic 'Time', so we will probably talk about 'Time' in the next session.
We talked about 'Salam' in this session. The words 'Assalam o alaikum' are a greeting and dua we give to others, which means 'Peace be upon you'. The complete salam which is 'Assalam o alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu', which means that we are asking from Allah for that person three things; Salam, Rehmat, and Barkat. Salam means peace, Rehmat means mercy, and Barkat means blessings. So we are praying for the person's peace, his mercy and blessings from Allah.
Normally, salam is taken as a greeting, and we don't even think about it that we are actually praying for that person we are saying salam to. We also get rewarded when we say salam, so we have our own benefit in it as well. And when the person replies with 'Walaikum assalam', he is praying for peace for us as well, so we have our own benefit in it.
However, most of the time we say salam just because it is expected from us. Or even worse, sometimes the reason for saying salam is that if we don't say salam, it would look rude, or people would think we are ill mannered or arrogant just because we aren't saying salam to them. So the actual reason, that salam is actually a blessing and prayer for the person, is totally forgotten.
This was our main discussion in this session.
One of the members, Muaviyah, has written some Facts about Salam which are on his blog. You can visit it to learn more facts about salam.
Thank you.
Session # 34
Attended by: 8 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman
In this session we were joined by two new girls. First, we did a recap of the previous sessions, and then we told the new participants about what Thinkers' Club is.
Then we recalled and listed the topics we have worked on, which include How our mind works, How animals think, Migratory Birds, Finding our way through Stars, Poetry,Poets, and many more. Then we were asked what topics we could do in future. Someone said that we could discuss and work on the topic 'Time', so we will probably talk about 'Time' in the next session.
We talked about 'Salam' in this session. The words 'Assalam o alaikum' are a greeting and dua we give to others, which means 'Peace be upon you'. The complete salam which is 'Assalam o alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu', which means that we are asking from Allah for that person three things; Salam, Rehmat, and Barkat. Salam means peace, Rehmat means mercy, and Barkat means blessings. So we are praying for the person's peace, his mercy and blessings from Allah.
Normally, salam is taken as a greeting, and we don't even think about it that we are actually praying for that person we are saying salam to. We also get rewarded when we say salam, so we have our own benefit in it as well. And when the person replies with 'Walaikum assalam', he is praying for peace for us as well, so we have our own benefit in it.
However, most of the time we say salam just because it is expected from us. Or even worse, sometimes the reason for saying salam is that if we don't say salam, it would look rude, or people would think we are ill mannered or arrogant just because we aren't saying salam to them. So the actual reason, that salam is actually a blessing and prayer for the person, is totally forgotten.
This was our main discussion in this session.
One of the members, Muaviyah, has written some Facts about Salam which are on his blog. You can visit it to learn more facts about salam.
Thank you.
Friday 15 May 2015
Needs and Wants, Article by Kenza (online member)
Our needs and our wants play important parts in our life. Our needs consist of things we need to live and our wants consist of things we want in life. Without our needs, we most likely wouldn’t live very long. Without our wants, some of us wouldn’t be very happy, or in another case, we might not even achieve the goal we want in life.
We need the substances we use every day to survive. These substances commonly include water, food, clothing, shelter, sanitation and more.
Our wants can be necessary or unimportant. Necessary wants may include equipment such as, stationery, books, bags and containers, phones/mobiles, computers, transportation, and so on. Unimportant wants, however (even though we still want/have some of these) may include jewellery, video games, music, magazines, and so on.
Anyhow, just because our wants are classified into necessary and unimportant, doesn’t mean we should or shouldn’t have them. It just means we can live without them (even if we struggle without our necessary ones).
The important thing is to appreciate what you have, be thankful, and not waste anything. Some people are so used to using their everyday equipment that they forget it all plays an important part in their life. Just imagine what it would be like if you didn’t have the cutlery in the kitchen anymore or that toothbrush you use to brush your teeth twice a day: any of those essential needs. Or even a glass of water! Life would be hard, wouldn’t it?
We need the substances we use every day to survive. These substances commonly include water, food, clothing, shelter, sanitation and more.
Our wants can be necessary or unimportant. Necessary wants may include equipment such as, stationery, books, bags and containers, phones/mobiles, computers, transportation, and so on. Unimportant wants, however (even though we still want/have some of these) may include jewellery, video games, music, magazines, and so on.
Anyhow, just because our wants are classified into necessary and unimportant, doesn’t mean we should or shouldn’t have them. It just means we can live without them (even if we struggle without our necessary ones).
The important thing is to appreciate what you have, be thankful, and not waste anything. Some people are so used to using their everyday equipment that they forget it all plays an important part in their life. Just imagine what it would be like if you didn’t have the cutlery in the kitchen anymore or that toothbrush you use to brush your teeth twice a day: any of those essential needs. Or even a glass of water! Life would be hard, wouldn’t it?
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