₦airaland Forum

I also want federer to win this year. He is my favrit

Ramadan: It's Not Just a Food Fast


Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, is special to millions of Muslims worldwide as a holy period dedicated to fasting, self-purification, and spiritual attainment. Every year the world’s Muslims redesign their life to focus on the goals of Ramadan: A whole-body awareness of God and a humble thankfulness for whatever blessings He has granted.

But Ramadan in non-Muslim countries can be more challenging, as Muslims try to navigate the requirements and recommendations of Ramadan--fasting from sunrise to sunset, fitting in the five daily prayers at their appointed times, attending special evening tarawih prayers at the mosque, and reading the Qur’an each day for an entire month--while juggling the demands of work, school, and family.

Here are five practices I’ve found helpful in simplifying and spiritualizing my Ramadan experience. And if you’re not a Muslim, these tips can be adapted to make your daily life a little more spiritual and uncomplicated. .
Take the remembrance of God inward.
Do dhikr (reciting short du’as, or supplications) silently while you’re driving, waiting in line somewhere, or doing endless household tasks. Keep a thasbi (the equivalent of a Muslim rosary) in your purse or pocket and use it to count off du’as.

Not Muslim? Spending whatever downtime you have to remember God or peacefully meditate is a great idea for everyone. Thousands of hours go by every year in our work commutes, in chauffeuring our kids around, in keeping the house going. Why not try to use that time to quiet our minds, remind ourselves of a higher being, and appreciate what we’ve been given?

2.[color=Black] Appreciate technology, and then tune it out. [/color] In past Ramadans I always went on a sort of technology crash diet--television, music, inane web surfing, and movies were all self-banned for 30 days. All the extra time was designated for reading Qur’an, praying, and reconnecting with my family. Well, crash diets never work in the long term, and technology does keep the world connected.

So the better thing to do is to use technology wisely: Use your email to stay in contact with friends and family and see how their month is going, get the news from television and the Internet, watch one favorite TV show to wind down, and use your ipod to listen to Muslim books or Qur’anic prayers. And then, when basic needs have been met, turn the technology off and take the extra time to pray and reconnect.

[color=Black]Not Muslim? [/color] The same rule can apply. Use the technology to do what you need to do for work and family. But then, instead of spending hours surfing the web or TV channels, fight the urge and tune out. Discover your family, and discover meditation and prayer. You can start slow--cut out an hour of web surfing (or one TV program) every week and build up.

3. [color=Black]Have iftar [/color] (the fast-breaking meal) together as a family a couple of times a week.
Having iftar as a family more often should be easier this Ramadan. Muslims follow a lunar calendar, which moves Ramadan back 10 days earlier each year. This year nearly half of the month will progress with iftar time being around 7 p.m.--late enough for the family to be home together. Breaking fast with the family is a great opportunity to appreciate one another’s holy efforts and discuss spiritual topics.

[color=Black]Not Muslim?[/color] The family dinner is a concept hammered home by family and social organizations. Even some television stations, like Nickelodeon, show promos advising us to “Make time for the family table.” A weekly or bi-weekly family dinner is a great time to reconnect, to learn about each other, and to discuss a designated list of topics that are of interest to your family.

4. [color=Black]Do new types of sadaqa [/color] (acts of goodness and charity), and take comfort that what you already do for family and friends is sadaqa as well.
I used to get discouraged each Ramadan (especially once I was a parent), that I couldn’t properly do those things recommended to Muslims during Ramadan: Go for tarawih prayers in the evening, or read the entire Qur’an. But my mom and mother-in-law gave me sound insight: Everything you do for the comfort of your family is sadaqa and a way of worshipping God.

That being said, Ramadan is still a great time to try new acts of charity and goodness: Put aside a can of food a day and donate it all when the month is up; Cook a few dishes and take them to your mosque for those come there to have iftar; Volunteer at your child’s school for the month and offer to do a Ramadan presentation to explain why your child is fasting.

[color=Black]Not Muslim?[/color] Recognizing the things you do for family and friends as acts of goodness that are acknowledged by God is a great step toward achieving inner spirituality. But take a step out of your comfort zone to tackle one small charitable project each month, whether it’s donating a little money each day to your favorite charity or taking charge of your office’s annual volunteer project.

5. [color=Black]Get to the mosque and reconnect with your community. [/color] For many Muslim, about the only time they can find to go to the mosque is for Friday prayers, or on Sunday when scores of kids take part in Muslim Sunday school. During Ramadan, why not make the mosque an integral part of worship? Go there for as many tarawih prayers as you can, especially the end ones when the Qur’an is being completed. Pick one day a week and go to your mosque for iftar. It’s amazing how good we feel to see others fasting and striving as much as we are, and it can renew our strength to face the next week of fasting with vigor and joy.

[color=Black]Not Muslim[/color]? If you are religious, try visiting your church, synagogue, or temple outside of worship services. You may meet different people and partake in different experiences that can replenish your spiritual well. If you don’t favor any particular house of worship, designate some spot--a park or your backyard at sunset--where you feel some calm and visit it with family or friends, free of mental distractions, and with a focus on each other.

RAMADAN KAREEM

source:

BELIEFNET

People are very funny about the way they read and interprete what picture an ad is painting, most of the posts i have read show that people do not understand the message behind the commercials. Imagine people critisizing MY FRIEND UDEME and some other ads.

As much as i agree that not all ads are done proffessionally, we must not forget that both the ad agencies and clients must have seperately critisized the ads before airing them. what is also important is the correllation of comercials with the products being advertised.

hi all



you can play chess @ www.chesspark.com/play

hAppY raMaDaN to all.



Hope i will fast this year with less pressure and harrasment from girls that come to my office for modelling job.


Cant close my eyes

up naijiria

when you can donate a million to help others

If i am one of those recruiting for first bank, i would not shortlist all those that have posted their IDs on this site. I dont know why people who want to be executives in a bank would reveal their personal information to strangers without properly affirming the rational behind it.

This kind of people would give customer's details to strangers and expose themselves and the bank to risks.


ADVISE
If you eventually get the job, please be xtra careful about information, it can ruin your career and put you in to trouble

NCC is not doing enough at all, i think depite the huge amount we are paying for calls, we are not getting quality for our money

this will complicate the whole issue. Imagine every one moving to MTN

blue for life

stay blue forever

@ajayi1

i agree with you but you will find out that even with the little amount people have, they still cant create anything out of it.

I think one can learn from those that can share ideas on how you can manage 12 digits, it is nothing but figure.

The guys that sold YOU YUBE to google are less than 25 years, the money paid to them was more than what celtel paid to V-mobile.

Guy you can think beyond your pocket.

Seun:
Why would anyone give you 5 billion naira? You're better of thinking about what you'd do with what you have!

i was thought how to appraise investments in school and i did not have money then, but now i cant really apply some of those things i learnt.I dont think your thinking should be limited to what you have

why not people open your mind

I have found out that many people are just running after money but only few have ideas of what they can do with a huge amount of money. I don't know if it is because of the part of the world we find ourselves or because of the theoretical nature of our education system.

How would you manage =N=5B if you come accross it i think i can learn from you.


Thankx

@seun

Your argument is always leaving me wondering about the way you reason.


if $1 = =N=127, $1,000 would amount to =N=127,000 (NOW)

same $1,000 would amount to =N=1,250 only (POST RE

From the above you would have saved the cost of going around with (127,000 - 1,250) =N=125,750

Thank GOD you are not the governor of CBN, we would have had a =N=200,000 notes just like MUGABE

babaflaky:
@ gettolove

That is a nice post, i think i have picked up some useful information from it

It became neccesary to find out from a ghanian blog because they just concluded theirs, Although it was just a mere theoretical analysis but with some useful basic information about the plan.

@ post
i believe by asking specific questions, we will all have a good knowledge of how the new policy will impact our economy.

akins4:
it will change our economy in the sense that things will be a little bit cheap; and so many inferior goods will be instincted; like cheap buscuits and so many other cheap things will be upgraded.

I dont think it has anything to do with a particular product because the plan is designed to actually have multiple effect.

@ post
I dont think it will have any adverse effect on our capital market,instead it will make it look attractive to foreigners as more direct investment would come into our economy.

what most Nigerians are not seeing is the international reaction to the idea. Everyone is just talking about my salary and house rent which i beleive is no issue in this matter.

I am not surprised that this new idea is being misinterpreted and criticised by those i expect to first understand the concept before prophesising its failure. I am disappointed in seun and some other people who have not found out the economic implication of the plan.

My own opinion on the issue is to wait and hear from analysts that understand the economic benefits viz a viz its implication via the dollar.


I will hold my comments

1) What's the main benefit of Redenomination?

Ans: Redenomination reduces the burden of carrying large bags of paper-money around (we could say it reduces transaction costs).

2) Does redenomination have any real Economic effects, ie Can redenomination help Ghana's GDP to grow?

Ans: No. Because redenomination doesn't affect neither aggregate supply nor aggregate demand of an Economy. In Economics, any growth in the economy is as a result of an increase in demand or supply. For instance, if corporate tax-rates are set right, that stimulates innovation and consequently boost production or supply. If consumption taxes (ie VAT) are set right, people would buy more and demand would increase (I will add to this in subsequent answers).
If still not convinced that Redenomination has no positive ECONOMIC effects, think a second about this: "If re-denomination had any positive economic benefits, wouldn't we see countries re-calibrating their currencies rampantly just to increase the national pie?"

3)Why doesn't redenomination affect the production activities (aggregate supply) of an economy?

Ans: A country's ability to produce is determined by 3 main factors: Resources, Technology and Institutions. It's very easy why technology is a determinant of production. Institution includes political stability, and the provision of the right incentives to produce. For instance, tax-rates must not be too high to inhibit innovation and should not be too low to prevent government activity (like welfare programs, construction of roads, etc). In Africa, government activity unfortunately includes filling pockets of politicians.
It's easy to note that more resources imply more production. Also, the availability of a resource is correlated with its price. Thus instead of talking about availability we could safely talk about how prices of resources (labor and kapital) affect supply.
Producers respond to changes in relative prices but redenomination does not change the relative prices in the economy: The ratio of factor (inputs) prices as well as the ratio of input prices to the prices of final goods remains unchanged after redenomination.
Think about a farmer that uses workers and tractors to produce oranges. The farmers' production pattern would only change if, for instance, it becomes relatively cheaper to rent tractors than to hire workers after redenomination. In this particular example, the farmer would be able to substitute workers with more tractors (ie capitally intensify) and thus increase production of oranges.
It's very easy to note that, redenomination cause ALL prices in the economy to decrease by the same rate. Thus, price ratios are unchanged and thus producer behavior are also unchanged.

4) Why doesn't aggregate demand change?

Ans: Aggregate demand is the sum of consumption, investment, government spending, and Net Exports. Let's see why redenomination has no effect on each of these demand contributions. We start with the trivial to the most tricky:

Government spending is determined by the spending behaviour (often erratic) of politicians: Kuffour wakes up and decides to celebrate Ghana's 50th anniversary.

Investment is determined mostly by real interest rates. Other non-market factors that could affect investment are stability of the government, and other instititutional factors like tax-rates. It's really hard to argue how redenomination could affect investment in any significant manner.

Consumption would remain unchanged. It's easy to falsely reason that prices would seem lower (ie prices of cars would be in the tens of thousands) and thus people might buy more. However, wages and thus earnings also suffers this illusion. As a result, redenomination would not change the purchasing power of money and hence does not stimulate consumption in any significant manner. Simply put, people would not feel any wealthier after redenomination.

Net exports (Exports - Imports) would not change since redenomination does not affect the strength of a currency. Notice that, the strength of a currency a country determines the relative prices of goods produced in that country to goods produced in other countries and hence can affect the terms of trade (ie imports and exports). However, after redenomination, US would still pay the same amount of dollars for a bag of cocoa as she did before redenomination. Thus exports to US would not change. With a similar reason, we should see why import should not change neither.

5) Really, Redenomination doesn't make the Ghanaian currency stronger?

Ans: NOPE! The strength of a currency is determined by the market factors, ie demand and supply for the currency. Since the purchasing power of the currency remains unchanged after redenomination, we should not expect demand for GHC to change. Similarly, redenomination doesn't give the monetary authorities any justification to change the supply of money.

Redenomination of currency is nothing but a recalibration and a change of name of the currency. This by no means imply the appreciation or depreciation of the currency.
It's important that we don't mistake redenomination with appreciation of a currency. We would have an appreciation if we instead have 1 Cedi (AND NOT 1 GHC) = 1 dollar. The cedi and GHC, like identical twins, are separate currencies!!!

6) What is the optimal number of zeros to chop off? (this question was motivated by the forum "New Ghana Cedi"?

Ans: From an economic point of view, this is a normative question and hence would differ from individual to individual. (don't believe me? See the heated discussion in the above named forum). Personally, I think it doesn't matter. I expect people to adapt rapidly and expect no significant mistakes in their nominal calculations. People are really careful with money and this trait would reduce the incidence of mistakes. (I still find it a mystery that my grandma, who has never been to school, is able to quote the total price of 16 and 3/4 crates of coca-cola). However, chopping off 4 zeros could be motivated by accounting convenience.

7)So, if redenomination reduces transaction costs, would it increase the rate of transaction and hence increase GDP?

Ans: Possibly, but in no significant way. I don't think the burden of carrying large Ghana-Must-Go bags of paper money prevented people from partaking in transactions. There were fortunately other ways to carry money (wiring through banks, travellers checks, etc.). Hey, in the olden days, when people used gold for trade and there existed no wire transfer mechanisms, the market survived despite the ridiculous weightsof gold, right?

Why is it that i still don't understand?

Ans: I strongly recommend ECON 202 (principles of economics). If you haven't taken that class, consider it because economics ROCKS (Dont believe, ask Comrade r and Steve B (lol))!!!

Question 8 is to signify that i have no more questions to answer. This is in no way, however, a comprehensive set of questions about redenomination. If there is any question on this topic troubling you.

 SORCE:
   www.ghanaconscious.ghanathink.org

@denex

do you know that yar adua is a right candidate in the wrong party? It seems many people would want to vote for yar adua because of who he HIS and not because he is a member of PDP.

@IREAYO

I am also 8th of october. can we hook up and have fun.




                                               0808 5000 566

If na true she talk so, her papa

@militant

I think most people in other parties are not quite different from those in PDP, most of them find themselves in new parties because they were not allowed to 'chop' money or not given appointments.A good example is ADEMOLA ADENIJI ADELE, the commisional of sports in lagos who joined AC for no other reason but selfish.

It is only in Nigeria that you have to beg and plea before people would come out and vote.


wHy
LaCk oF tRusT

denex:
@Gettolove

NO! I WOULD NOT AGREE WITH YOU!!!

If you dont agree no problem, but out president has openly said that the election that brought him to ASO rock was neither free nor fair. I am not saying he actually rigged but the effect of the rig paid off.

O-B-J:
at least people have started to see the light. AC rigged in lagos, PPA rigged in Abia, ANPP rigged in borno etc who is decieving who? y'aradua was the best canditate other things being equal. so there's no disputing the fact that OBJ used his wisdom in nigeria's favour. imagine if Atiku is president today.
ungrateful people
nonsense

lagos election was the most peaceful in the last elections, i dont know about other states cos i was not there.



@ all

I have a big question, SHOULD WE VOTE FOR A PARTY OR AN INDIVIDUAL, my question may be unneccessary but i needed to ask in a case like naija where every policians seem to be a looter irrespective of the party he/she belongs.

why the hulabalo and buruhaha about what happened on the stage. The western media are just out there to make money by making noise about little things.

The girl in that picture is too beautiful to let go, honestly speaking, if i was akon, i go do album for the girl. she too cute i dey miss ooooooooooooo

Take first bank and give me celtel.

Is he going to school for heaven sake or what ?

@all

I would like to know if the governor actually gave the order or the police C.P. is the one doing this stuff? If he did, then i think he has pressed the wrong button.

denex:
@angel101

There were irregularities. A lot of touts perpetuate these stealing ballot boxes, stuffing ballot boxes, na Yar'Adua send them?
If Yar'Adua wanted to cheat, he would not steal ballot boxes he knows where to go and he didn't.

Yar'Adua admitted that there were irregularities during the elections, he did not say he cheated. Because he did not cheat.

Would you agree with me that the cheating and irregularities were all in his favour?