Universal Children's Day

On November 20, 1954, the UN General Assembly came up with the idea of celebration of an annual event from 1956 known as Universal Children’s Day. This day is celebrated in different parts of the world on the rights , protection , wellbeing and welfare of the children, it also helps to aware us with world’s cruelty towards children and emphasizes on the need to fix the challenges by finding best solutions. Details can be checked here. The Convention on the Rights of the Child has been signed or endorsed by highest number of countries.

Throughout the world many organizations are trying to protect the rights of children. Islam i-e; a religion of peace has spoken on the topic years ago. During the time of ignorance people use to kill their kids because of different reasons. Islam has highlighted this issue and Allah commanded not to follow such footsteps.

Say, "Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited to you. [He commands] that you not associate anything with Him, and to parents, good treatment, and do not kill your children out of poverty; We will provide for you and them. And do not approach immoralities - what is apparent of them and what is concealed. And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed] except by [legal] right. This has He instructed you that you may use reason." (Quran 6:151)

Above verse from Quran shows that Islam has given rights to children centuries ago.

The celebration has become more important this year as we have all seen that the Nobel Peace Prize

has been awarded to a young Pakistani Girl Malala Yousafzai; fighting for girls’ right to education in rural areas of Pakistan along with Kailash Satyarthi who is fighting for Indian children rights. Unfortunately, many children are deprived of basic rights in these two developing countries of the world. Malala and Kailash are fighting with courage and are standing against all odds for basic human rights of children.

"The one thing all children have in common is their rights. Every child has the right to survive and thrive, to be educated, to be free from violence and abuse, to participate and to be heard. "- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

While on this topic I am confused from where I should start as there is a lot of misery for children in my world. Many children die during birth as of lack or no facility in hospitals. According to a report 618 newborn babies die in Pakistan daily. Many are dying of malnutrition every day. They die before reaching age of 5 as of lack of health facilities. Some get affected by many deadly and life threatening diseases and some become victim of polio. Some who grow older are privileged if can go to school but many children are denied of schooling because of majority living below poverty line. 

When we think about children first thing that comes to our mind is their care free nature, their desire to have fun but many children in Pakistan are deprived of their innocence and even childhood  when they are forced into child labor for survival. Many child workers have to live under armed guard.

 I feel very sad when I come across children; covered with black grease who come out of vehicles and other workshops, when I see them begging on roads. Many beggar families even bend or break hands or legs of their children to make them (sadly) an object of their income. As when people see such children in misery all they can do is, help them with money. Condition of children is deteriorating in my country due to increased rate of poverty, corruption etc.  

These are many conflicts going on in different parts of the world like Syria, Palestine, Kashmir and unfortunately many children are affected directly by these conflicts. This war seems to have no end and the misery of children is increasing with every passing day. Children are included in armed conflicts in different parts of the World. While reading about this topic I came across UN campaign “Children, Not Soldiers”. This campaign is trying to end the recruitment and the exploitation of children by different armed forces.

Nelson Mandela once said about children, “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”

I feel that many children have very difficult childhood. Violation of their rights starts from home and continue into schools where they are threatened, abused and beaten by parents and teachers respectively. Violence against children is harsh reality . Many children run from homes and schools due to this constant abuse. They have no protection from government or society. Ultimately reach to drugs or such gangs who use them for crimes like robberies, many become pocket picker, some smuggle drugs, some reach workshops, hotels and restaurants, others reach to extremes of violation and humiliation of their rights as are trained by militant groups for suicide bombing. Many end up in jails because of different crimes and with company of professional criminals in jail finally come out as a trained criminal and also get new contacts with different mafia groups in jails.

Children are like flowers who need to blossom, they are our future we have to protect them , guide them and tomorrow they are the ones who will take the responsibility to complete all those tasks that we left incomplete.

On this day we must strive in our daily lives to not only protect our children but also all children around us. We must stand for the well being of children. We come across many children who are working everywhere. We can join hands to combat the child labor in many developing countries of the world. We can help them to educate them, give them gift of books and spare some moments of your life and help them to learn. We must ensure access of children to justice. Many organizations with UN and UNICEF are promoting  children's rights worldwide.

Almost 25 years ago, the world promised the children: to protect them and their rights, to let them

grow, learn, play , have fun, educate and to hear them and reach them and let them get to their potential.  Apart from many efforts, still many children have fallen even further behind. Many new serious issues like; child labor,  abuse, trafficking, prostitution and child pornography have actually deprived many children of their rights and pushed them away from development. It is need of time that youth and adults come together to find new ways of thinking, helping & doing.

On this day we must also celebrate; decrease in the rate of infant mortality, increase in the rate of

 enrollment in schools. This historic day also serve as an critical reminder that much is left to be done as many children still do not enjoy their rights. United Nation is striving to aware  children around the globe about the challenges that they are facing so young child does not suffer anymore.

Ban Ki-moon UN Secretary General stood for the education of every child in 2012. UN is trying with the help of many of it's bodies and organizations that every child attends school by 2015. Pakistan is also in alliance with the aim of UN and is trying that every Pakistani child also attend school. Pakistani establishment is also trying to provide free education to children by providing them with books and uniforms etc.

Check here how are innovators creating a better world?

Media must come forward to; educated people worldwide about rights of children and spread the need of immunizations and breastfeeding. I feel we must also join hands to promote international togetherness and spread the awareness about child rights and protect children from any abuse and harm. Child of today can be a hero of tomorrow, its or utmost responsibility to protect them.

On this day many organizations and schools arrange different programs involving children and parents to aware them about cause and different seminars,  walks are arranged to aware people about the plight of those children who are deprived of basic rights.

We must observe this day worldwide to stand for; protecting children and  promoting the objectives of the UN Charter for the welfare of the children.

Children make an important part of this world. We must stand and fight for equality and respect of our children. We must give them right to proper look after, food, shelter, security, education , love, they must have voice and be heard and also the right to play.  They must not be harassed in any way. Give them right to laughter, help them to learn, and give them freedom of expression and choice. We must make sure that our kids are safe as they are our future. They are fun loving give them right to play and laugh that says it all. We must stand to give them a better future so the peace and happiness continue to accompany their lives in future.

No matter if their voices are small but they have big dreams.

You can enjoy another youtube video about rights of children here.  We must help them grow and hope for a better future. Value your children. Celebrate each day to promote love, friendship and understanding amongst children. 

Now it’s your Turn; What do you think how this day can be celebrated to educate more people and children about the rights?

Images used from

 UNICEF page  

Google and twitter. 

I hope you will not forget to Share. Sharing is Caring!

#Math: All Around Us.

From last ten years during my teaching experience I am coming across few same questions from my students over and over again . The questions are;

“ Why we study Math, when in my life I will use this, is it really related to us in anyway? Where can I see it helpful in my life??” and so on....

First of all let’s enjoy this video of Mathemagic.

You must have been inspired by this person. No doubt, he is simply amazing. 

Now back to the topic, today I thought to give you some examples from real life, where we use math.

The thing that we need to understand here is; we all use math in our everyday life no matter we know about it’s use or not. It is all around us. One important feature that makes math different from rest of all the subject is; the mathematical language, which is universal. Everyone is not master of all the languages that are spoken in the world but Math has one language that is used by all. This is called numeracy the language of the numbers.

I believe that people around the world are connected by mathematical language.

No matter which language you speak one is one and two will always remain two, two plus two will be four. This is real beauty of mathematics. No one have created mathematics, its in universe different scientists are trying to discover it. Many early civilizations like Pythagoreans of 5^th century took mathematical figures or numbers as living entities.

Numbers are some of very active agents in our nature.

Plato argued that mathematical concepts as real and concrete with us having any or no knowledge about them. I am confused where to start. I also want to mention that there is the utilization of mathematics in almost every field of life, so for sure I cannot mention every field where it is used but to give you some examples, let me take this chance to begin.

Math is everywhere around you even if you are unaware. To see where is math in your life open your eyes and observe properly. You will surly find it, it is that obvious, trust me!

In Medicine physicians need to have mathematical skills to calculate the dose of drugs and medicine. There are many concepts in medical literature that can be understood with math. For the preparation of medicine in industry carefully ratios and concentration of products is checked to prepare medicine. In medicine, to know and calculate, if the dose or medicine will work one needs to have mathematical skills.
Understanding of the basic concepts of math is very important to have a profitable Business. You need it to have some price of your product or if you want to keep things in budget.

Time has a great importance in our lives and we can not deny this reality. One who do not care about time is mostly on losing side. Our day starts with  time and ends with it. we calculate it with our watches, calendars etc. we have to be precise if we want to reach airport or train station on time. We have to wake up early to get to our educational institute or office on time.  If we will not keep a check on time we can not fulfill any assignment in our life whether it is related to education or job etc.

The favorite hobby of females is Shopping. No matter if we are going for the shopping of cloth or decided to do some grocery it involves the calculations. We have to know our size for dress or the quantity of fruits that we need to buy. So in every supermarket, no matter if one is  doing grocery or buying a perfect suit measurement counts. All this involves some calculation. If we are related to Engineering then the measurement and proper calculation of ratios of steel, cement, water to make buildings, bridges and keep them strong for a long time is needed the most. If proper calculation is not done before hand then buildings cannot be durable and strong. Most of the time we check temperature, speedometers in our vehicles, petrol filling stations, we come across measurement everywhere. If you do not know your size or do not check it, surly your dress can be loose or tight etc. Measurements are also used to estimate the air in tires of vehicles from a small car to plane or water level in your swimming pools each need proper measurement.

Every day you come across many Patterns in your life. They are spread all around us from wild life to man mad objects. See the lines on the body of zebra there is a pattern. There is pattern in your cloth and your bed room. When you open your eyes in morning, see, the cloth you are wearing has beautiful pattern of colors, see in window panels of your room, on your roof , stairs and also there can be different patterns of tiles on your floor. Brick walls all the walk ways show different types of the mathematical patters.

If you have ever seen wind blowing in desert , moving the sand here and there, the wind blows to make different patterns of the sand.

You can also find Balance in nature. Flowers, trees, leaves have mathematical symmetry.
If we see the animals around us, no matter big or small some symmetrical patters become very obvious. Let’s see a butterfly you must have always admired the symmetry of colors and patterns on its wings. Symmetry is also in our bodies, shapes, structures and even in our face. Our eyes, ears , nostrils, ribs , arms , legs are equally spaced and have equal length. Case is also same with animals and birds etc.

You can see many buildings outside on road that can be excellent piece of architecture, even your own house building defines many different mathematical shapes and symmetry. If there is no symmetry in buildings they can not stand rather will fall.

Symmetry is not only limited to nature, you can see symmetry in Aero planes, kites, birds flying in sky. Look around yourself many art works can show you some symmetry. It can also be seen in medical, engineering instruments like scissors, stapler, etc.

You come across many different Mathematical Shapes  like circles, triangles, squares, rectangles, cylinders, hexagons, polygons  in nature and on different architecture works. Check the pattern of spider web and honey combs what shapes they have. Our earth is oval check the shape of moon it is example of a sphere.See the tetrahedral shape of mathematics in pyramids or your milk cottons. On buildings you can see doors, roof, windows etc. you can notice that they are made with some geometrical shapes. These shapes of circles, semicircles, cylinders, cones etc. can also be seen in nature like flowers, leaves, vegetables etc.

When we see news of events then we are told that this much number of people have attended any event like; Haj, prayers, cricket match etc. Nobody is actually counting the number of each attendant but they just make an Estimate about the presence. Here you have it again! MATH! :) If you want to carry something, you try to pick it and estimate the weight to have an idea if you can carry or not. You are not calculating the actual weight but just making an estimate. If someone calls you and ask you when you will arrive, you just estimate the time and tell them as if you are going on same road everyday you keep in mind the rush hours and delay and tell the estimated time.

I think there is not even a single person in world who do not need Money. Where ever you go, travel, shopping you need money. All the time you have to know exact amount that you have to pay for your bills, tickets, buying cloth for you or even a gift for friend. While ordering a birthday cake you have to tell the weight of the cake and have to pay for it when it is ready. Whenever you have to pay money you need to do some calculation.

We use Fractions in our recipes , pizzas and sale price etc. Most of us love different games and we try to know about the chances of success by Probability in different sporting events and challenges.

You are continuously Solving Problem when you are looking out for easiest and shortest way to get out of some place while on road in your vehicle or in a shopping mall. When you are thinking about scoring highest score in any game or make points or even if you are looking for the ways while trying to defeat someone in game. You are into calculation when you are finding book from library or you are finding through catalog or you are finding any file. Even if you are trying to find some data from laptop or online you are in some kind of calculation or problem solving. 

I always hear,” Math is useless, it is so boring.” But, I believe;

Math is everywhere, try to feel it you will Love it!

Math is always around us in different shapes and ways from objects to calculations. In Golden shapes, sphere of Earth, bee hexagons, truncated Icosahedron can be seen in a football. Math is in music, video games, fashion, games, restaurants, medicine, architecture, designing, almost everywhere.

It is around us to protect us, comfort us and facilitate us. Math is for all of us.

In my next post I will try to write about the applications of mathematics in different fields of life. Till that time stay tuned.

You can find excellent math resources on following sites;

Curious math
Math forum
Math Academy
and
http://www.ams.org/
http://www.math.com/
http://www.c3.lanl.gov/mega-math/

You can find more detailed information of topic on this site.

All the pictures are used from a project of my students, in which I have asked them to find math in real life. I got the picture of the leaf  from one of my best friend, Jennifer Lydia Moss. I would like to say Thanks to my friend and the students. 

Now it’s your turn; what do you think where else you have seen math in your Life?

Sharing is caring.

Harassment and Hijab

During last couple of weeks I am coming across many videos on Facebook shared by friends in which females walk through streets to show the way they are harassed. Firstly, the video(1st below) was filmed and many saw and shared it around the world.  It was about the harassment that female face during daily life. So today the topic is; Harassment and Hijab!

After watching these video(2nd) many have recorded their responses and mostly said,” If after wearing hijab girl should have walked in same area, where she came across some remarks before. This could have given us a better insight into the matter.”But I think that each type of people are present everywhere and even if she walked in same place, for sure those people were not there, waiting for her to return.

I am observing Hijab from 2007 and then for the first time I experienced in my life; when a woman wear Abaya she mostly remains unnoticed as no one see any attraction in her. It really feels great. 

As per my personal experience I can say this for sure, women in Hijab are not targeted much, sometimes they face problems as if someone feel pressure or fear to see them around. Otherwise it is great protection. Wearing Hijab or Niqab is according to law of Islam and in many countries of Muslim world it has become tradition. You can find the post about dress code of Islam here.  

When a small girl becomes few years old she tries on her mother’s niqab as she always see her mother in niqab or hijab. I have a 3.5 years old daughter and she always see me when I am going out I am in hijab and now when I ask her to get ready she runs and brings my abaya and sometimes ask me to help her and teach her how to wear it and normally asks me to buy her an abaya. The point, why I have mentioned this personal experience here is; it is all about how we do and how we teach our kids. If we teach our daughters to wear hijab we can also teach our sons to lower their gaze.

Many complain that if there are so much restrictions for female Islamic dress then why there is no problem for men to wear any kind of western dress. According to Law of Islam men are also advised to lower gaze and dress modestly. It is not just women who are told a lot to follow, about every aspect of Life. BTW women are allowed to wear whatever they want inside their homes and asked to dress herself properly and nicely for her husband. 

Where there is emphasis on modest dressing for both of Muslim women and men a need for eye Hijab is also expressed. It is necessary for men to wear eye Hijab and are asked not to stare at women.

Lot of Muslim women around the world, including Muslim countries  aren't wearing hijab. They claim that we're free women. But I feel freedom is not the name of running, getting rid of or breaking the codes or rules of religion. Like if, we are staying in any country we have to follow its rules, if we will not abide by any law we will be punished  for it. Same is the case of Islam, if we are in this religion, we must believe that all the rules are made to benefit us and for our safety. As the supreme power who has created us knows best about us; our needs or demands, likes or dislikes, problems and their solutions.  Anyone who do not follow rules cannot be an open minded person.Religion teach us to follow Hijab/ niqab, what someone choose to wear can be different. I am from Pakistan and no one from my close relatives wear Hijab including my mother but we wear a long piece of cloth( Dupatta) according to our tradition and we are not pushed by anyone to wear that. God has given us free will to chose and follow. He has mentioned both paths; Right and Wrong. Now, it is up to us , what we chose and how we benefit from it. At the end we will be responsible for our acts and face the consequences. It is not men for whom, women wear Hijab/ abaya, God wants a believer women to wear it as He has mentioned many times in Quran and its interpretation can be read in the Hadith. Hijab/Abaya is not something new but came with the beginning of Islam.

But wearing Hijab makes a big difference as I have mentioned before that I have started Hijab from 2007 and I met same people before and after wearing Hijab, I personally felt, great difference in behaviour of people towards me.  I can say that you will certainly see a change in men’s DISGUSTING behaviour!  

If we see the history then we will come to know, how this Hijab/Abaya started after Islam, “It was asked from Muslim women to wear it when they leave the home so , they can be identified.” Islam also teach us to be nice to other religions and its believers. So if a non-Muslim women is not wearing Hijab, no matter what dress she choose for her she do not deserve to be harassed. This is also a fact, even many women who are wearing Hijab still sick of men shaming her. If there is not problem in women outfit, if it is according to Islam, we cannot over look the problem with the men who do not follow Islam. So  to remove problems of the society is it also necessary for men to lower their gaze.

To all the interested people; It might seem foreign because in our world the focus has become more about how Muslim women should dress and the discussion of how Muslim men should dress got dropped or how they must act while seeing a women.

On another note, It’s not that over the years even a Hijabi has never experienced being followed or so many cat calls or wolf whistles. All women have to deal with Disgusting behavior and cat calls of men all around the world. We must teach our children how a woman walking alone would be treated. In many cases women are being followed by educated men and in some cases men try to give their phone number. Sadly, I can only write up to the bunch of ignorant and disrespectful people being idiots, and cannot point anything to the race or religion or the country, such type of men belong.

So the message that comes from these videos, cover yourself while going out of homes, if you don't want to be bothered. But I also believe that it is needed for the parents to educate boys to respect  women, do not take women as objects of pleasure. Women is accepted to be the most respectful in all her relations like; Mother, Wife, Daughter, Sister etc. in all religions of the world. She is not supposed to be abused .

Again, I feel that these videos are pointing out the calling for Islamic dress. I believe if Islam teaches women to wear Hijab there is some logic in that. If someone who do not like women to see in Hijab tries to find faults in Islam and prove it by some actions of few who do not actually bother about religion but have a tag on them and damage the image of certain religion. Today, when many Muslim women are facing problems while practising their religion there are many western women who have come forward to stand with them and accept their right to live freely, you can check a post here. In this (3rd) video you can check the views of people about women wearing hijab. This picture from Facebook tells what is the duty of man in real. 

If you have decided to wear Hijab, that is your choice and no one can force you to do so. I hope that you can make best choice for yourself. We must not waste our energy to find inconsistency of any message but try to act wisely and be safe. We must let God judge, and think with your mind to be on safe side. 

Came across a post about street harassment in Arab News.

What do you believe about such videos, do they really give insight about the matter or just edited accordingly, to do some business? Can they help modify the image related to any issue and help in awareness about cause??


Images: I have prepared these images by using Canva. 

Happy New Islamic Year , 1436 AH.

I  got an email from a friend, wishing me New Year, couple of days before.  I was surprised, if my friend is mad as it’s October, then I opened the image and got to know that it was start of Islamic year. I hurried to my Facebook and updated a status, wishing all, a Happy New Islamic Lunar Year, a storm of wishes started coming towards me and then I came across some messages from Pakistan where friends made me to realize that new year has not started yet.

I checked in Google and saw that it will start on the evening of 24^th October 2014 . So Hijri new year has started in Middle East but seems Pakistan is behind and surprisingly this time the gap is of two days. 

So now we are in new Islamic year 1436 AH.  

Islamic lunar calendar starts with crescent moon sighting. Crescent moon may appear one or two days later the new moon, poor weather can delay the sighting. The AH  – "Anno Hegirae" which is Latin  or  you can simply say "After Hijrah" The meaning of  hijrah–emigration. The word Hijri is taken from Arabic language.

Hijri Calendar first started with the emigration of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) from (Mecca to Medina ) Makkah towards north, 270 miles to Madinah in 622 AD. Prophet Muhammad migrated towards Medina to establish a place where he, with his companions can practice the laws of Islam without any problem.

First month of Islamic calendar is Muharram, and Islamic year has 354 days in 12 months.The month of Muharram has special importance for Muslims but the 10^th day has it’s own significance. Many Muslims fast on 9^th, 10^th or 10^th, 11^th of Mahram to mark Ashura, this day marks the death anniversary of Hussain Ibn-e-Ali, grandson of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) who was beheaded during the battle in Karbala that is now in Iraq. The fasting on these days is not obligatory. With the start of Muharam you can listen about the importance of days in Islamic history from the surrounding Masjids if you are living in any Muslim country. In their speeches, scholars and clerics emphasize the importance of first 10 days of Muharam. These days are considered as the days of mourning and peace. Islam forbade Muslims to fight in four months throughout the year and this is first month in which fight is forbidden. This is a month of non-violence.  

Sunni and Shia sects in Islam mark these days in different ways. Shia’s celebrate whole month of Muharram as a month of mourning and flagellate themselves with knifes, rods , chains, strike their chest and backs and cry. Sunni Muslims celebrate it to mark victory of Prophet Mosses over Pharaohs of Egypt.

Many Islamic organizations organize conferences and seminars to highlight the importance of historical event in this particular month, many television channels broad cast special transmission and lectures are delivered by scholars marking the martyrdom of Harzrat Hussain on 10th of Muharram. In few countries of the Muslim world there is holiday on 10th of Muharram. 
 

Astronomical calculations are used to find future dates in many countries of the world and some get them by the glimpse of the crescent moon. The calendar that is used in Saudi Arabia is called Umm al Qura, it is also followed by few other Middle East countries. Muslims from around the world follow same festivals on different dates in Muslim countries. But many countries just follow Saudi Arabia to follow Ramadan and Eid festivals.  In Pakistan the people of province , Khyber Pakhtoon Kawa (KPK) start fasting with Saudi Arabia and also celebrate Eid with it but rest of country start Ramadan and celebrate Eid by actual sighting of moon. That normally appears with the difference of one or two days. For the first time, in my life, Eid –al-Adha, 2014  was celebrated in Pakistan  with the gap of two days, from Saudi Arabia. Muslims have only two Islamic holidays throughout the year and they are on festivals of Eid-al-Fitar and Eid-al-Adha.

Expected first day of new Islamic year in 2015 is Thursday, October 15.

 

You can check a post of Washington times for 1436 and importance.  Celebration of Muslim new year is a cultural tradition , not the religious one. This celebration is much different from the Georgian New year celebration, it is actually so quiet. People mostly pray during the day and repent for their sins of last year and ask for forgiveness from God. This year 1436 started on Friday that is marked as an important day of the week.    

Islamic calendar is mostly followed to check the dates for Islamic festivals and holidays. So I would like to say a Happy New Year to all Muslims around the world and my friends who follow Georgian calendar, I wish you in advance.  I wish this year will bring prosperity and success for whole world and we will rise up, forget about differences and start living peacefully. May this year bring abundance of  blessings and may God shower us with Taqwa ( fear of God).

Thank you Ahsan Rafique for a beautiful picture of Masjid-e-Nabwi Madinah Manawara , Saudi Arabia. 

Sharing is caring!