http://www.law.upenn.edu/blogs/dskeel/archives/2008/09/the_war_on_executive_compensat.html

All nations go through ups and downs.

“and us non-Wall-Street-employed people start to feel the direct pinch,”

That’s why I wrote ‘Patience’. See blog above.

If a Christian earns a great deal of money and then uses the vast majority in keeping with God’s will, I don’t think anyone can fault that.

The problem, of course, is that such things are easier said than done. As Christ said, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom.

David writes on the following verse: “Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more strength than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient (to Allah) and guard in (the husband’s) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (next) refuse to share their beds, and last DZARABA (”waidriboohunna”), but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means (of annoyance): For Allah is Most High, Great above you all.” (Yusuf Ali Translation)

He says:
Arabic is a profoundly complex language. It would be pretentious to assume that some of its most complicated words can be accurately translated by one or two English ones. ‘Dzaraba” is a good example; it means ‘Beat’, ‘Strike’, ‘Smite’, ‘Heal’, ‘Take a new path’ and ‘Explore a new Direction’. Beyond the confining, conventional translation of ’strike’, “Dzaraba” is a complex verb that is used to describe purposeful action. Therefore, actions impelled by the verb ‘Dzaraba’ must fulfill the condition, “Do what you do for the sake of a greater purpose than the action itself.”

When you “Dzaraba” a piece of metal, you might make a coin. When you “Dzaraba” the land, you may cut a new path across it. When a Muslim man chooses to “Dzaraba” his wife for the sake of his marriage, it’s an eternal reminder that Allah expects him to do it in the service of Allah and his marriage, not to alleviate his own anger and pain, or to validate his ego. ‘Dzaraba’ in this context may mean to beat, or it may mean to find another path. It may mean strike a faithless wife out of your life, or it may mean heal the relationship in some other way. There are some early scholars who have likened interpretation of ’striking’ to that with a Miswak (an early toothbrush) which in essence would be painless and probably more humiliating for the husband than the wife, thereby encouraging him to find acceptable resolution elsewhere. The Sunnah (Prophetic tradition) however is clear: Muhammad (Peace be upon him) never beat his wives.

Whatever ‘Dzaraba’ means, Muslim men and women know that God is watching and He is All-Knowing and All-Seeing.

There’s no proselytizing going on here - simply an attempt to lay out the basics of Islam in order to REDUCE misunderstandings & stereotypes.

Nicholas Kristof’s 9/21/08 Sunday Opinion piece about “The Push To ‘Otherize’ Obama” was a chilling assertion that religious prejudice could be an excuse for racial prejudice - so perhaps the gut prejudice card is being played while ignoring the economic mess that this country is in - only the results of Nov. 4 will reveal which topic was of more importance to the average voter. V. sad state of affairs to admit that anti-Muslim sentiments/rumours may rule the day!