CCTV evidence led to arrest of suspects.
Well done to the hotel management for being up to date.

Can other hotels, businesses and the Nigeria Police learn from this and move us into the 21st Century?

mykejones: A happy celebration to you all.

^^^
This is very beautiful coming from St. Peters Episcopal Church of....(location)? All the same, we appreciate it.
Thank you so much. May we witness much happier, more peaceful and much more prosperous times ahead. Ameen.

Once again, thank you.

Faraidi: eit fitri is not for the christians so don,t wish them anything

On the contrary.
I do not subscribe to your point of view.
In the spirit of Eid, I hereby wish my Christian friends peace, now and always. May we live in harmony with mutual tolerance and respect for each other's religion.

Ameen.

Maama!

honeric01: Is Germany a Christian nation?

I tire o! Germany is NOT running a Christian system. But see how some Christians here just dey form vex over wetin nor concern dem.

Why una dey take Panadol for German people headache?

Ile-Ife:


Are you kidding me? victory over what and who? This is a simple kind gesture that no muslim leader or society the world can ever emulate. What the city has done is good, But for muslims to start shouting or whispering victory just shows how.........my God.SMH

If you must know, it is victory for our 'deen' or way of life, i.e. what people like you might term as 'religion'.

And as for Muslim leader or society emulating this gesture, well, for us, our deen is not based on competition with other religions.
We worship our Creator and anything that helps us in this regard, is welcomed. Live with it. Besides, the city of Hamburg did not make this gesture on behalf of Christianity. So stop claiming (or getting upset over) rights that were not yours to give or deny in the first place. You think say na every oyibo be Christian?

You see the problem with some of you Christians is that day in, day out, you keep making the classical mistake of viewing Islam/Muslims from the kaleidoscopic lens of your own religion.

Ile-Ife:

for muslims to start shouting or whispering victory just shows how.........my God.SMH

Shows how..... what? Say it, if you truly believe what is in your heart.

You have a choice: you can either (a) respect us even if you wont accept us; or (b) you can kindly go and post your annoyance on other threads.

Thank you in arrears.

klax: Biggest Error of their live I repeat German will weep for tis mistake thogh it may take long surely it will come I can bet it. A Algeria friend I just call right now who lives in that area of Germany just told me straight and I quote "Victory No 1". that is what he just told right now. Germany goodluck to you.

See me, see wahala: Is granting Muslims an official holiday not a victory for any Muslim? So you expect your friend not to rejoice? Please send me your friend's mobile number let me 'advise him to cry' next time, so that you people like you can be happy.

I wonder what purpose your comment is meant to serve on this thread. Please, find another thread about Christianity, paganism or atheism or whatever it is you subscribe to.

Leave us alone. Thank you in advance.

afam4eva: Why is Peckam not on that list?

Why would peckham be on the list? Simply because of the plenty Naija people that have colonised the place?

The list is compiled based on the embarrassing meaning of the towns' names. If you read the list again (thoughtfully, this time around) then you'd realise that names like "Brokenwind" = Fart... Now THAT is embarrassingly funny!

Also "Happy Bottom" is quite a funny name for a town. Are people's backsides always in good spirits in that place, abi why dem give am dat kind name?

Dorset no dey carry last sha

Livescore.com is not a charity. No matter how strongly NPL is rated, it will need to be commercially viable for them to consider having correspondents who will post minute by minute scores unto the website. This is one thing.

The second thing is reliability and professionalism. The question now is, do we have reliable and professional people in Nigeria willing to visit each match and post updates of scores, cards, etc unto the livescore website? (hint: the answer does not start with letter 'Y').

Having said that, it is not a bad idea for someone to take this as a business 'opporcho' to approach livescore.com and offer his/her services. But it must be commercially viable for both parties. Livescore.com is not obliged to post live feeds of the NPL games simply because of any FIFA, IFFHS or NEPA ranking.

So whoever sees this as a viable business can (and should easily be able to) convince livescore.com that:

1). Nigeria has a large football following and having the local league scores on their website will be useful/profitable
2). Nigeria has the largest (and fastest growing) internet and mobile web market in Africa, so accessibility is not an issue
3). There'll be local companies who will be happy to advertise, if items 1 and 2 above can drive Nigerian traffic to livescore.com
4). The perpetually corrupt NPL and NFA bodies can be approached to subsidise the costs of having web 'correspondents' at each game
5). The proprietors of newspapers in Nigeria should be happy to use RSS to syndicate livescore.com results IF they pay a fee

Omo, if to say I get di time now, business don start be dat o!

Hope someone can take this up. I am a long time fan/user of livescore.com and it wont hurt once in a while to know the scores between Warri Warriors FC vs. Borno Bombers United

Efemena_xy: Or maybe, she wants a male house help 'cos she doesn't trust her husband to resist temptation?

My only concern here is that a 14 - 15 year old is a child and should be treated accordingly. It would have been better if they sponsored his schooling rather than paying him a wage.

That way, he gets a shot at obtaining a decent education and possibly, better prospects too.

I agree completely. I am against using people's children to do household chores WITHOUT educating them. Thats like killing their future today. For me, I will not only send them to school, I will still pay them. In terms of Age, I would advise one to get a boy/girl that is just a few years older than the kids so that he/she acts like (and is treated like) an elder brother/sister and not just a hired hand. Getting a hired hand (boy/girl) to do chores for you without investing in their future, is just child labour and child trafficking, IMHO.

@OP: Sometimes, the best compromise is to get a relative from the 'village' - that is for those who may cringe at the thought of paying school fees for a total stranger. At least sponsoring your own relative who helps daily in caring for your kids and doing household chores should be seen as a fair deal. A win-win situation.

Bereal247: Your argument on content and context does not in any away sit well with me. I have a soft copy of the Qu'ran and I study it each time I have the chance to do so. While i cannot say I have sufficient depth of knowledge in Islamic affairs to interpret the Qu'ran, I will not pretend that the content of Qu'ran Sura 9 Aya 29 is not explicit enough to compel a half baked Islamic scholar to resort to violence. The content is so explicit and compelling, more like a command to do evil...if i may say so, unlike what we have in Mathew 10:34 that is vague and doesn't necessary suggest violence.
Permit me to reproduce the favourite anthem of boko haram for an informed assessment:
Qu'ran 9v29 "Fight those people of the Book who do not believe in God and the last Day, who do not prohibit what God and His Apostle have forbidden, nor accept divine law, until all of them pay protective tax in submission".
The emphasise in the above chapter and verse is for moslems to fight those who do not share their believe while that of mathew 10;34 which you quoted above, is a passive comment by the speaker which in no way suggest physical harm to anybody.
I think the Islamic teachers should work hard at helping people like boko haram understand that such comments as found in Quran 9v29 can not be taken at it's face value in the 21st century. This way, they will help to ensure peace in the country and guard against the wanton destruction of lives and properties occasioned by the activities of boko haram.

First of all, I agree with you that Islamic scholars need to work towards enlightening the overzealous and the misguided ones amongst us as per Qur'an 9:29.

Secondly, I dont have the time to enlighten you on the reason/rationale for the revelation of Qur'an 9:29. In order to understand it, you need to read more of the chapter, understand it and appreciate the history of Islam during the time of the prophet (pbuh). Specifically, you should read the commentaries about the period of turmoil when this verse was revealed. Basically, it had to do with hypocrisy and betrayal by the people of the book (Jews and Christians of that time) in Madina with whom he (Muhammad, pbuh) had a pact. I will refer you to this link: http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/quran_929_commentary/

But I am not surprised by your reaction. All of a sudden Matthew 10:34 is now a passive statement? .... "I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword"? Did you say the statement did not refer to bodily harm - abeg, which gospel and which verse did Jesus make this clarification? Or did one ancient monk forget to translate that part? I beg, I want to see the proof. Do you have the Hebrew version? Maybe he meant toothpick, and not sword. The statement is as clear as water. Unless you are telling us that the sword referred to here by Jesus, is meant for peeling potato, abi? You cannot use the word "peace" and "sword" in the same breath and tell us you were referring to something other than what it clearly means. Translate Matthew 10:34 to Nupe, Kalabari, Twi, Ashante or Creole language: it means the same thing. Let me give you the Pidgin version of Matthew 10:34: Jizoz talk say: "I nor carry bodi come salute una for yonder, Make nobodi try me - see di cutlass wey I hold for hand!".

But you know what, we Muslims know the true message of Jesus. So we dont hold Matthew 10:34 against any of you. Unlike how majority of you hold us by the Jugular as if we were all members of Al-Qaida or Boko Haram.

But let us not digress too much from the main topic.

The crux of the matter is that a muslim leader has come out to condemn the demands of Boko Haram that GEJ (or anyone else) must convert to Islam. Within the first two pages of this thread, most of you here have actively insulted the Sheikh and his religion. Some of you went as far as Shia-nism him, as if that would make him more (or less) peaceful than if he was a Sunni Sheikh (see me, see wahala).

When we Muslims keep quiet, you complain that we are passively supporting Boko Haram. Now that we are talking, some of you are here spewing gutter lyrics and calling us names.

The truth is many of you are uncomfortable with us, because we defy your twisted logic and expectations. Many of you would have preferred that the Sheikh (and all Muslims) kept quiet and not condemn Boko Haram. That way, you can all live happily ever after in your blissfully ignorant, ehen-i-told-you-so bubble that all Muslims are violent people.

How many violent Muslims have you honestly met (one-on-one) in your lifetime?

joskid:
You are just hilarious. Christianity is the only reason the world is not in blazes now.

...Two world wars, Two Gulf wars, The Bosnian war, The current war in Afghanistan,...ah! The world is truly not in blazes. Oh, thank you Christian leaders of Western countries..... Thank you so much for such joyful and heavenly peace. In fact, the world is sooo peaceful, we are virtually in heaven.

joskid:
Do you think if Islam had their fingers on the nuclear trigger like America does...that this world will be any less peaceful today?

...And remind me what the Americans did with the nuclear trigger again in Hiroshima and Nagasaki?? Oh, but of course, it was a Muslim conspiracy to create the nuclear bomb and hand it to the Americans, the Britons, French, Russians and the Israelis.

joskid:
Take a view of the hell of the Middle East and have a foretaste of what if offers...no wonder Israel is the only real democracy there.

....Democracy. Yeah. You seek this world, whereas for us, this world is just a blink of an eye compared to eternity, our real abode. And no, we do not believe that democracy is the best thing that happened to this planet since the big-banng.

joskid:
And back in the 90s before 9-11 opened American eyes I read something so laughable and insanely funny--but it was true. Emerging from an Islamic Meeting in Saudi Arabia, the Emir of Illorin was talking about one of their stated agendas discussed at the meeting: that more Muslim Scholars should be sent to the United States so that in time, Islam SHOULD conquer the world!

...What can I say? Inshaa Allah

joskid:
And you wonder why only a few million Jews in the US and in Israel dominate more than a billion Muslims today? GOD IS WITH ISRAEL!

...You dominate a billion Muslims, yet most of you are scared sh1tless about Islam and Muslims, wherever you see us. You think weapons are power? Rubbish. Belief! - Now THAT is power!

Have a nice day!

@amosy007

Firstly, I am not changing topic. A valid question was asked: 'Why are there no mosques in Saudi Arabia' and I have tried to explain to you that just because the Pope was personally or religiously obliged to allow a mosque to be built in Rome, does not mean the Saudis/Muslims must follow suit in Saudi Arabia or Makkah.

Secondly,... (and with all due respect to my mature and reasonable Christian brothers/sisters in Nairaland)... why is it that most of you die-hard anti-Islam, anti-muslim posters cannot discuss with us without resorting to insults and name-calling?

Perhaps I know why.

Regardless of the crazy ones among us (aka Boko Haram) our way of life (Islam) asks us to respect you people (Christians) as people of the Book/Bible who (ideally) worship(ed) the same God that we do; and in fact, any Muslim who does not believe in Jesus and his true message is NOT a faithful Muslim. Fact. Our religion and its true followers will always protect Christians and other minorities in our midst inasmuch as they live peacefully with us and do not oppress us. This is regardless of what is happening in the Northern Nigeria today, which is shameful and condemnable.

Most of you on the other hand, are not bound by any creed, be it moral, ethical or theological. Except a minority amongst you.

It is not tit4tat. You are fortunate that I am a Muslim and I fear Allah and the last Day.... and that I believe in forgiveness, even though I have the right to avenge your insults. Otherwise, I would not hesitate to insult you and everything that you stand for, and you best believe it, I KNOW how to insult people in the English language. Yet, I have never done so (insult, name-calling) in Nairaland, and inshaa Allah I will never descend that low.

If your religion does not control your manner of speech, well, mine does. Alhamdulillah. My religion judges even my intention, talk less of my speech and my actions. I leave you yo your own conscience, if you have any.

waice6571: too much talking, too many lies

EFFRAKATA: Mr.man sharrap there!
Who told u Adolf Hitler was a christian? All ur points were baseless. U need to carry out more research on who christians are? Better get ur brain-washed islamic brain examined. Bloody terrorist. Mshhhhh!

Disprove them please. Show us evidence that these are all lies/baseless.

The truth is burning holes into your heart. I dare you to dissociate Christianity from items 1 to 5. Go ahead, try. We dey wait...

Pope John Paul apologised for the Church's role in Nazi atrocities. Fact. There are countless images on the internet of Hitler with Church leaders before and during WWII. (Hint: use Google..... wait, no need: the pictures are even here in Nairaland). But like I said, we do not associate Christianity with these vices committed by people on behalf of/in the name of Christianity. Not even the Crusades, not child molestation by Priests. If some of you (Nigerian) Christians in particular can extend the same kind of courtesy to us (Muslims) as per Boko Haram, this country stands a better chance at peace and unity.

ben4reel:
^I was hoping you where going to say boko haram are not learned in the things of Islam [/b]and sloppily say they quoted Quran 9v29 out of context.....the usual vague submission by some, but you disappointed me by admiting that it's okay to kill as indicated by your write-up in bold letters.
Food for thought for you: If it's okay to kill, even if done in obedience to the mosaic principle of [b]an-eye-for-an-eye, don't you think such action will leave the whole world blind, someday?

First of all, dont ever use Boko Haraam as the S.I. unit of Muslims. Study Islam, if you have the chance (and the guts to know the truth) and see for yourself. As for quoting out of context...why should the verse (Q 9:29) not be seen in its right context? Wont you agree that "I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword" (Gospel of Matthew 10:34)" can be used out of context to say Jesus (pbuh) is not the so-called prince of peace but a sword-wielding war-monger? (may God forgive me, for even thinking such thots).

Secondly, you are trying to use your biased logic, (laced with the words of Mahatma Gandhi) to rationalise or appraise Islam. And please dont twist my words: I clearly stated MURDER, not just any killing because there is 'lawful' killing (e.g. after conviction or during war). So, there is a huge difference. If someone came and killed my father, I would be inclined (and quite right) to ask for their trial and proportional punishment, but I would also consider Quran 42:40 whose meaning implies "The reward of evil is the evil thereof, but whosoever forgives and makes amends, his reward is upon Allah". So you see, Allah gave us the right to respond when we are wronged, but He (the Most Merciful, Most Generous) has promised us betterment if we forgive AND even make amends. Beautiful. Another verse says (Quran 24:22) "...Let them forgive and overlook. Do you not wish that Allah forgives you? Indeed Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful". Finally, as narrated in an authentic Hadith by Bukhari "When Allah completed the creation, He (Allah) wrote over His Throne: My Mercy overcomes My Anger".

It is in this same vein that I always forgive those who throw insults on me either virtually on Nairaland or physically in Naijaland. Not that I cannot respond. And not that by responding, I would have sinned. It is just better to forgive...and make amends.

Nevertheless, it is easier said than done when the issue or crime is say murder, as an example. That is why in Islam, the right to seek a just and equal compensation is extended to whomsoever wishes to exercise that right. Does Islam believe in capital punishment, yes it does. So do many states in the USA. But we are not here to compare Islam with the USA.

So when we say Islam is a religion of peace, you must understand that such peace is based on Justice. Without justice, any peace is artificial and unsustainable. In case of offence like murder, justice (and then peace) will come if the offended elect to forgive - and like the Qur'an said, follow it up by making amends (much better for them here and in the hereafter)...BUT justice can also be achieved by exacting retribution in equal measure.

I hope this creates better understanding and respect amongst us.

DANILSA: Guy they are not, But as far as Naija is concern they are the S.I. Unit because they claim to be more holy and closer to Allah than Others, and they represent the face of islam in Naija. I rest my case.

So if you (DAMILSA) claim that you are smarter than Albert Einstein, must I take it as the gospel truth? SMH.

You see, my brother, your problem is that you only want to believe what is convenient for you to believe. The Hausa's are a scapegoat for you to conveniently stereotype Islam in Nigeria. You remind of some oyibos who view all Nigerians with the lens of corruption or 419-scams. Is that a true representation of Nigerians?

For your information, Islam is more than just Hausas. Neither they nor the Arabs (or even Saudi Arabs in particular) must be taken as the yardstick for evaluating Islam. Did I shock you there? Let me repeat: Not even the Arabs are a yard stick for Islam. They (Arabs) were fortunate and blessed that the prophet (pbuh) came from within their ranks, and that their Saudi counterparts of today are fortunate to host the 2 holy mosques of Islam. That is as far as it goes.

A Muslim is ONLY better than another one in PIETY and in PIETY only. So a Hausa or an Arab muslim is not superior to a Yoruba or Igala Muslim or a new convert from the Island of Fernando Po ... except to the extent in which they love/fear/worship/obey and are otherwise close to Allah (SWT).

May Allah guide us all.

ben4reel:
^In every society, there are both bad and good people and religion is supposed to be an instrument with which to correct the wrong attitudes and disposition of the bad people in the society.
But when boko haram as an Islamic sect, goes to a christian church to kill as many people as they like and then come out to tell the whole world that their action is based on the instruction of their holy book (Quran chapter 9v29), Should we then blame the christians if they become wary of the Islamic religion?
Besides, the German and other incidence you sited were ocassioned largely by the delusional belief in racial superiority and not necessarily by religious belief. Perhaps, you may wish to tell me where Aldof Hitler is quoted as saying he was inspired by certain scriptural verse in the Bible to kill the Jews in Germany.

If we start this Adolf Hitler argument, e nor go end until 2013.

Next thing now, you will ask me to quote where the Popes who ruled between 1095 until 1272 AD told their Kings (of Europe), their Knights and foot soldiers that they should wage the Crusade for 300 years abi? Or that I should quote which verse of the Bible commanded them to do so, abi? What matters is that they committed all these atrocities and used the Church and Christianity actively in the process.

No vex, broda. I dey fast abeg. I nor get time for long tori. Google all the details yourself.

In summary: calling God, does not make someone Godly. Same argument applies to Boko Haram. There actions are unislamic and no true muslim will ever defend the killing of innocent people. Do you KNOW the Islamic consequence of murder? (Hint: it is NOT turn the other cheek).

spearman:

OK. Why no Church in Saudi Arabia. Mosque de for Rome o.

Just because there is a mosque in Rome does not mean there must be one in Saudi. Our perception of holiness is NOT the same. Respect that.

Even our perception of God is not the same. Our's is One, Unique, Almighty, Who begets not, nor was He begotten. And there is NONE comparable to HIM (Q: 114, vs. 1-4). Your's is a God usually sub-divided into three, depending on the denomination or type of Bible one subscribes to. One of them died and was resurrected....and so on. Can you see that we ARE different?

Besides, there are places of worship in Saudi Arabia for Christians. Admittedly, not buildings specifically designed and operated as churches, but places of Christian worship, nonetheless. Go to Saudi-Aramco website, (or any large Saudi organisation with Christians) find any Christian member of staff, send him email to verify whether they can worship or not.

Religion is not a tit4tat thing. At least, that is not how we Muslims view it.
Lakum deenakum, wa liyad deen. (you have your religion, we have ours).

xpensivethony: idiot what is there to read when the truth is ovious,even the self proclamed prophet mohammed(urine be upon him)died of food poison from some women he kidnapped from his last war...slowpoke ask those uselex things you call immans and you will know more....

Na so the truth dey pain you? So tey you cannot compose a decent sentence without insulting me, my prophet or my religion.

Carry on. I wont insult you or your religion, because that will be descending down to your level. And unlike you, I dread the DAY when I am summoned by the Almighty to give account of every thing I say or do. But you (whether you are aware or not) shall also give account of every word you say, (and all your actions) right from your grave and until the day of judgement (bi-iznillah). Oh, I forgot: you are 100% sure of going to heaven

DANILSA: Guy then it means u have not read my post in this forum. I was born in the north, schooled in the north and presently working in the north. But I did tell u that [b]hausa practice of islam is called extremism, they read the quran with 13th century understanding while the yorubas will read with the 21st century understanding. Mind u, I know much about islam. If a yoruba man tells me islam is peaceful then I have no doubt [/b]because his father might be a christian, mother a muslim, Bro a hindu, sis a
Buddist and him a pagan, they will still eat in one pot. If u are bold enough try it in ur family and see if ur mother or father will not stab u to death. I stand to be corrected.

Fine. In that case, you need to separate your argument. Make a distinction between 'Hausa muslims' and Muslims in general.
Since when did the Hausa's become the S.I. unit of Islam anyway?

Series22: adeybayor, i bin thnk say u sabi book o, they is a mosque in rome and milan. There is also a very big mosque in jerusalem. D legislators in isreal dont sit on fridays(4 muslims), saturdays(4 jews) and sundays (4 ndi christian) nxt time u research b4 u talk. Thnkgod 4 google, its free. Abi u nid cheats?

My friend, the Israeli weekend has NOTHING (I repeat: NOTHING) to do with their respect for Muslims or Islam. The Jewish weekend just happens to start on Friday, so that they can have their Sabbath on Saturday. The same way some Muslim countries start their weekend on Thursday, they pray Jum'mah on Fridays and resume work Saturday.

But I agree, there is a Mosque in Rome. But so what? Must every single thing be tit-for-tat in both religions? Our codes, ethics and guiding principles (aka: beliefs) are DIFFERENT. Let us not try to ignore them...but lets just respect them. Abi una go gree make all una church face Makkah or make una dey bow down five times every day, at specific times? No?

ebamma: maybe sheikh gumi doesn't know how islam entered this country,uthman dan fodio fought a war with the hausas who were pagans then,and when he won the war the people who were alive were forced to convert to islam .islam has always been a war mongering and blood thirsty religion

Is that so?

I suppose your social studies or history syllabus did not cover the spread of Christianity in the dark/middle ages? Ever heard of the Crusades? Oh, no, that was just a picnic excursion by some unruly boy's scouts to bully a few old men in the Middle East, right? For your information, there were NINE different crusades starting from 1095 until 1272 AD. That is 300 years of incessant Christian warfare, each of which had the blessings and financial support of the Church headed by the Popes of those days. Where blood-thirsty and gullible poor Europeans were led by their knights and Kings to wage war, plunder (and yes, rape) people in the name of Christ. No be me talk am! Na Fact! There is no excuse not to know your own history today. Google it!

What happened to turning the other cheek? Or was the Christianity of those days different from today's own? Let us not start swapping numbers on which religion killed the most historically, cos it is an argument you wont win.

Also Google this phrase: "history of christian violence" - without the quotation marks, and get some facts right.

And before you start quoting the Qur'an out of context, remember it was your bible which quoted Jesus (AS) as saying: "I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword" (Gospel of Matthew 10:34)" Google it too and see how your Church has struggled with this verse for centuries. Let me not even dwell into the old testament because some of the violence there is real 'hardcore stuff' rated (18+).

Now do all these bloody historical facts actually make Christianity a violent religion? Personally, I believe not... although there have always been LOADS of violent-prone Christians since the days of antiquity. Muslims dont tend to judge a religion by the action of its adherents. I wish I could say the same for Christians....

Meanwhile, the same explanation or logic you may bring to defend the Matthew 10:34 verse is the same type of explanation/logic a Muslim will use to defend similar verses you are likely to bring from the Qur'an.

DANILSA: I second ur question. They need to work harder to prove that islam is a religion of peace as they claim.

No. Muslims dont need to work hard to prove jack!

The difference between we Muslims and you Christians is that you take every bad action of any Muslim as being representative of Islam. We muslims do not generalise the bad actions of some Christians as representative of Christianity. Otherwise we Muslims would blame each and every Christian for:

1). The killing of 6 million Jews and 20 Million Russians by Adolf Hitler - with the connivance of German (and some say papal)Church
2). The massacre of millions of native North American Indians by land-hungry European Christians
3). The murdering of millions of native South Americans by the Spanish Conquistadors
4). The byatch-slapping of presumed witches by your pastors, especially those in Nigeria;
5). The molestation of kids by your 'holy' preachers, especially of the Catholic kind.
6)._________________________(Anyone can fill in the blanks here)....
7)....And list more here.
8].......... And even more here.

We Muslims do not generalise. We know that not all Christians are bad, just as we acknowledge that there are bad Muslims among us. So what is the difference between us? Well, you may not believe in what we believe; you may not like or tolerate us, but we judge each and every one of you according to his words and his deeds. The truth is that we KNOW about you because we were told (and warned) about you in the Glorious Quran. But for you, we on the other hand remain a mystery, an enigma, and unknown phenomenon which you love to hate. Simply because you refuse to even 'consider' making an attempt to know us.

Learn to separate a religion (yes, including Christianity) from its practitioners. The former may be ideal, the latter is definitely not, due to human tendency to err.

A little research about what Islam truly means and what a true Muslim is really like, cannot surely hurt you, will it? But no, most of you would rather believe CNN or what others tell you. For crying out loud: READ!

ps: The very first word revealed in the Glorious Qur'an happened to be 'READ'.

wiegraf:

Iirc afghanis aren't arabs, like iranians. So the name is not islamic but it could farsi or whatever her tribe is.

So what do you now classify as an Islamic name? Just because her name sounds Farsi-ish (Iranian) or Pashtoonish (Afghanistan) - that makes it 'unislamic' in your view?

The first criteria of a Muslim name is that it has a beautiful, sensible meaning.

An Arab name is NOT directly proportional to being a Muslim name. For example, Tariq Aziz (Saddam's right hand man) was a Christian. The name 'Tariq' and 'Aziz' are not exclusive rights of Muslims, unless for example, the prefix 'Abdul' is used with 'Aziz' to make Abdul-Aziz. Similarly Boutrous Ghali was a coptic Egyptian Christian, sharing his surname with Muslims like our (infamous) Ghali Na Abba.

This is not to say that there arent names which are exclusively Muslim within the Arab language. It just happens that majority of Arabs are Muslims. Similarly ...(hang on to your hat now) ...not every thing written in Arabic script is Islamic in content. (surprise, surprise!!!! eh?). Even though again, Arabic is the 'official' language of Islam.

It is amazing the amount of ignorance about Islam, Arabs and Arabic exists out there. But only because people elect to assume, when they could inquire or KNOW for sure. Stereotyping 101. I guess some people may have a heart attack if I inform them that there ARE Christian bibles written in the Arabic language and an Arabic bible has existed since the early days of Christianity. Google it.

By the way, it is only in places like Nigeria that Muslims usually seem to ALWAYS have an 'Arab' name. In other parts of the world, Muslims keep their traditional/tribal names. There is no law or requirement that a Muslim's name should be 'Arabic', even though there are some beautiful attributes and examples of recommended names found in the Arabic language.

You are welcome.

Lagos_Boi: The story of my late parent, it inspires me to stay focused and determined to achieve all they could not due to untimely death.

Touching. May you achieve that which they could not - and surpass it. May their souls rest in peace.

For me, I am inspired to stay focused because I constantly measure my success by appreciating the hole that I emerged from and not just the hill that I have climbed. In either case, (hole or hill) I give ceaseless praise and thanks to the Almighty for where I am.

ACM10:
I don't think that the poster is not attractive. I can't stay in a truly faithful relationship for one month without intimacy, let alone 3yrs. Except the guy is a gay or impotent. Pls poster, don't celebrate the fact that he has not shagged u since u started your affair with him. This calls for some serious questions. You should investigate to know whether he is sleeping-with other babes. A sexually active man cannot stay that long.

maxpro-xl:

As u said uv been friends with this man for 3yrs with no intimacy. The truth is no healthy man can do without sex for 3yrs so your "friend" is definately doing it with someone and respects u for not asking for it since.

ACM10:
I made the same comment and Drzed hounded me. I thought that I'm the odd one out.

@ACM10: I apologise if you felt hounded by my response. It was neither my intention nor my style (to hound people on NL).

My response was rather blunt and I disagreed with most/all of what you said, but only because it was all too focused on the guy's intimacy (or the lack of it) with the OP. Nothing personal.

I felt your comments were chauvinistic, or, for lack of a better term, stereotyping men as sex-maniacs. To say that all men cannot do without sex for three years and/or to equate it to their 'unhealthiness' is not only a blatant lie, but also a dangerous line of thinking. It is not clear to me what you or maxpro-xl's gender is, but regardless, there are many men who will dispute this statement - some vehemently. I for one, am inclined to take it as an insult on men, but hey, this is Nairaland. Thick skin.

Also, I dont know if either you (ACM10) or maxpro-xl are married or single. But it doesnt matter. Assuming either or both of you are female, then invariably, you are implying that your current/future husband will defintely be unfaithful to you IF, (for example, and God forbid), you were indisposed - or your career made you travel out - for an extended period. And just in case either you (ACM10) or maxpro-xl happen to be a man, then you are just assuring us in no uncertain terms, that your current/future wife should not expect you to be faithful for a period ranging from one month to three years, irrespective of the circumstances. WOW!..

In summary, and based on the OP's dilemma, your argument is that women like her should never expect their husbands to be faithful if they are separated or have not 'done it' for up to one month or longer. Really?

Anyhow and regardless of your gender (which is not clear from your userID)...do you sincerely fall into one of these categories of a sex-driven, hormone-dripping, libido-intoxicated and perpetually unfaithful partner? I think not, but correct me if I am wrong.

This is why I stated that such thoughts or beliefs lead to marriages been broken even before the nuptials are done. The seeds of mistrust are sown by such thoughts/beliefs. All that is needed is only an innocent wink/smile at someone else, a few late nights at work, or some private phone calls for such seeds to germinate. Next thing, the opposite partner will 'retaliate' by avenging the perceived unfaithfulness and GBAM! Marriage don scatter be dat!

Many people I know (men and women, inclusive) abstain from sex outside marriage for several reasons, of which religious belief is just one of them. Others will cite the preponderance of sexually-transmitted disease as a reason, while for some, the possibility of a child born out of wedlock is unfathomable. Besides, not every man has super-hyper-active sex hormones constantly flowing through their veins, and driving them nuts day-in, day-out. And for your info, libido not only varies from person to person, but actually wears off with age unless one is addicted to those purple tablets.

In your own case (ACM10) you stated that you could not do without sex for even one month and so you have decided to use that personal fact as proof that this fellow is gay or impotent. Thank God you did not even call him an impotent gay man (wink). But seriously, this is quite unfair and if he was here reading such post, he has every right to feel offended. You could never have known his sexua1 orientation or prowess merely from the OP's cry for help. You went as far as insinuating that he is sleeping with other women since he is not doing it with the OP. Haba!

Please stop measuring people's attitude in a relationship by using sex as the S.I. unit.

It is wrong.

cheers.

Cuddlemii:

This marriage thing sef!

May I ask what you have been doing since in terms of settling down? I mean why did you wait this long? 30 years is old! I see you as a woman who is very choosy, has high expectations in a man, not considerate & unrealistic.

I just have an advise for you though, make sure whatever you are getting into you have peace of mind & happiness. Forget attraction, finance or love for the man in question or do you have other options? Do you have men of your "taste" flocking around you or proposing to you? If u don't have a better option, then you have no choice! Bother about his love, xter/attitude, morals, way of life & commitment towards you.

Take it from me, 2 or 5 years from now, its a photographer that would be on your case. This thing is like a cycle, its keeps getting worse and not better. When you were in your peak period, I am sure you played the game of chess with a lot of men's emotions because you were choosy. Life is what it is, you have to make do with what you have. Remember beautiful ones are not yet born, take a field trip to unilag(land of plenty), Covenant Uni(land of innocent beauties), to the north(natural beauties)...You would be amazed at the attractive babes with good xter. Men would rather go for those ones before your age bracket. Even mid twenties babes can testify to that. The first thing that comes to mind is that, a 30 years old unmarried/single woman was probably promiscuous, lost her womb, committed several abortions and slept her way to success. Do you know how many people would have cautioned him to leave you for a younger woman? Or you think cos he is 35, he is in the same boat as you?

Better don't let these married women tell you to leave the man. The world only identify with success! When the hard time comes, no one would stand by you instead its insults you would get and these same people asking you to say NO would insult you for not grabbing the opportunity. You are meant to be having a matured conversation with the man, let him know how you feel about him not contributing his quota financially. Try and come to a compromise with him on a realistic level. Thank God you are rich, you no even happy sey na banker u go show off to family & friends at 30. If na office clerk wetin u for do? Just make the best out of whatever situation you get urself into, its your destiny! Even you can't re-write it, you can at least shape/mold it to your benefit. ABOVE ALL, PRAY PRAY PRAY FOR GOD'S WISDOM & GUIDANCE(He would make everything fine).

Well done for this brutally honest and very insightful post.

This is an extremely truthful and realistic assessment of the options left for the poster. I would recommend that the poster (bebe4u) make a printout of this response and study it day after day until the message sinks in.

ACM10:

@bolded
Spot on!
I don't think that the poster is not attractive. I can't stay in a truly faithful relationship for one month without intimacy, let alone 3yrs. Except the guy is a gay or impotent. Pls poster, don't celebrate the fact that he has not shagged u since u started your affair with him. This calls for some serious questions. You should investigate to know whether he is shagging other babes. A sexually active man cannot stay that long. OR you are simply unattractive to him, OR he wants to use u to climb the social ladder. Pls ponder on this.

I dont agree with your assumptions and theories. Let me explain.

First of all, because YOU cannot stay one month without shagging/shacking or whareva does not mean everyone is like that. Secondly, why must the guy be seen as gay or impotent? How about him just not interested/believing in pre-marital sex? Did you think about that? And thirdly, he may not necessarily be sleeping with other babes....he could just be quite faithful to this woman. Fourthly, I also dispute that a sexually active man cannot stay long without (what I would consider) fornication. Some men just dont do that sort of thing outside marriage, and it has nothing to do with how good looking a woman is.

I actually find your assumptions/theories rather unfair and biased against men.

Finally, as for using her to climb the social ladder, well, since when was that a crime or sin? Must a wealthy woman always marry a wealthy man? Yes, a man is the bread winner of the house. So can she not manage the bread he can afford if she really wants/needs to marry him? Why must the man now be a "cake winner" simply because the bride is wealthy? If she is worried about him milking her Oil and Gas money, let them have a pre-nuptial agreement. Simple.

If this is how women assess the men they want to marry, then it explains why so many marriages fail even before they start.

Give the guy a break.

ps:
And just like what @Sisi_Kill implies just above (^^^), this woman should even be happy that she has financial independence from this guy. Wanting your man to provide for you in EVERY single way is not always favourable to women o! It can lead to abuse and maltreatment.

bebe4u: My virtual friends, i am posting this because i ant to share the burden i have in my life right now and i seek for honest answer and advice in which ever way. please keep it polite anyone could be in a similar situation and we could all learn from it at the end of the day.

I am 30years of age female working in the oil & gas sector and very comfortable financially. How ever i have been in a platonic relationship with a guy who is currently working in a bank but i am better off financially. He never hid his intention that he loves me and would want to take things to the next level but i have always maintain my stand of us not rushing things while trying to sort out my real feelings for him. He asked me to marry him recently and i accepted. The burden i have in my heart now is 1- I am not in love with him and also not sexually attracted to him. By that i mean im not crazily in love but i like him as a friend. 2- I have concerns about our financial obligation in the sense that i fear he might not provide for me the way a husband should for is wife. i am a traditional person where i believe a man should always provide for his wife no matter how small, im willing to support him but through the three years we have been friends he hasnt provided in the least of money for my salon session. i feel he is just taking advantage of the fact that i can afford it, so i feel differently. He currently lives with his family and younger brother. i talked to him one day and said he should get a house of his own but till date he hasnt and havent made any real effort at that yet he talks about facilitating meeting my parents et al. Question is what are the pros and cons of going ahead to marry this young man or should i just call it off as i have been tempted to several times. BTW he is 35yrs of age, has been working in the bank for 6 yrs as an employee. As we all know the presure young ladies face in the society about being single by 30years. Please respond with your candid advice. i will appreciate while i keep praying as most of you will end up saying to me. Thank you.

I dont mean to be rude, but lets do some role reversal here. I get the feeling that you wouldnt be here complaining or asking for advice IF he was the one working in Oil and Gas and financially having the upper hand, while you were the one earning the average bank salary and living with your parents.

In any case, you have already stated the facts of the matter which in summary are:
1). You are in your thirties and need to marry
2). He loves you
3). You like him (at least as a friend)
4). He proposed and you accepted.

Sista, wetin you wan make we talk again?

The facts of the matter tilt towards you hooking up with this guy inasmuch as you at least like him. Life is all about risks. If you fashi this guy, how do you know the next guy to profess love for you will even have a job? ...or will even be your friend, like this guy is?

You cant eat your cake and have it. I always say that when it comes to marriage, if ever a woman has a choice between loving someone or being loved by someone, she should take the latter. If you give him time and get to know him, your friendship will naturally mature into love.

Most of our parents didnt have time for this love, courtship brouhaha and they are having happier and longer marriages than us. Fact.

Seize the moment. As long as all other factors (tribe, religion, etc) are okay with you and your family, and as long as you are humble enough to respect him as man of the house, then take your chance. Life is not only short, but you never know tomorrow.

All the best.

3kay945: if he has been taken the Christian fasting before then, he will see the Muslim own has child's play.

...As usual, some Christians MUST just compare. What do you mean by child's play? Is this now a hunger competition?

For your information, fasting in Islam is way beyond food matters. It is both a physical and spiritual experience or undertaking. Apart from the things a muslim MUST abstain from (...with food being just one of many), there are things that s/he MUST do for the fasting to be valid. And these things I speak of are of tangible and intangible kinds. You clearly have no clue.

There is no basis of comparison. Fasting is a pillar of Islam without which our belief is incomplete or invalid. To the best of my knowledge, there is no statutory, theological or pontifical edict that stipulates a Christian must fast. There is no standard/global list of do's and donts that guide Christian fasting as practised today. So why compare? We Muslims will be asked (on day of Judgement) about our fasting whereas for you Christians, it is a matter of 'who send'.

So please, stop comparing, criticising and complaining about Islam and and the world has a better chance of being a better place.

"Lakum deenakum, wa liyad deen" (you have your religion, and we have ours).