Saudi To The Core

Image via WikipediaI get to be asked alot about Quran and few non muslim people who askes me seems to have an angery and dislikes openions towards Quran, which is OK as its just the way they feel also. NOW I do not claim to be expert about quran but i do my best to live by it. Anyhow my latest discussiob with a friend athiest reminded me of Dr.Miller story with the Quran.

Dr.Gary Miller was not an athiest though, he was a very known Christian missionary and logical thinker.Also he is very knowledgeable about the Bible.   One day, he decided to read the Qur'an to try to find any mistakes,after all, the Qur'an is an old book written over 14 centuries ago how accurate it could be?! he thought.

As he started reading this book he got confused . He found out  that the Quran is not about the hard events in Prophet Muhammad’s  (PBUH) personal life, such as the death of his beloved wife Lady Khadijah. Instead, he found a book that is consistent and logical: it was not a history of a specific period but rather a text that sets general rules for the relationship between God and worshippers.

One of verses that Dr Miller pondered on for a long time is the verse number 30 in Surat “Al-Anbiya” (The Prophets):



“ Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the  earth were joined  together (as one unit of Creation), before We clove  them asunder? We  made from water every living thing. Will they not then  believe?"

He said commenting on this verse ”This verse  is exactly the subject of  the scientific research that won the Noble  Prize in 1973 and was about  the theory of the “Great Explosion”.  According to this theory, the  universe was the result of a great  explosion that lead to the formation  of the universe with its skies and  planets.


He read further and found verses like this one   "a wave, over it a wave, over it clouds" (Surah Nur, 24:40) was written by someone who really knew what a storm on the sea was like and not by someone picturing a storm on a sea to would  be like. This is one example of how the Qur'an is not tied to certain place and time. Certainly, the scientific ideas expressed in it also do not seem to originate from  a man lived in the desert fourteen centuries ago.

He also was captured by this verse [Surah Saba', 34:3] which states: "He  [i. e., Allah] is aware of an atom's weight in the heavens and on the  earth and even anything smaller than that...". He thought a lot about it.
Now as you know  modern science has discovered that this smallest unit  of matter (i. e., the atom) can be split into its component parts. This   new idea was the development of the last century; yet; interestingly  enough, this information had already been documented in Quran fourteen  centuries ago.

He also found  this verse “Say, “Surely I admonish you  with one (thing)  only, that you rise up to Allah by twos and singly;  thereafter  meditate: in no way is there any madness in your Companion.  Decidedly  he is nothing except a constant warner to you, before  (Literally:  between the hands of) a strict torment.”  He indicated the  experiments  one researcher had carried out at Toronto University on  “Effectiveness  of Collective Discussion”. The researcher had gathered  different  numbers of interlocutors in discussions and compared results.  He  discovered that the maximum efficiency of the discussion was achieved   when the interlocutors were two while the more the number the less the   efficiency. 


He found a full (chapter) in the Qur'an named "Mary"   full of respect to Virgin Mary (peace be upon her) ,he never found anything like it even in the Christians books nor in their Bibles.. He also found that Jesus (Peace Be Upon Him) was talked about and praised in the Qur'an 25 times whilst the name of "Muhammad" (Peace Be Upon Him) was mentioned only 4 times, so he became more confused.


He started reading the Qur'an more methodically eager to locate a  mistake but he was most stunned when he read a great verse,it was number  82 in Surat Al-Nisa'a (The Women) that says:

“Do they  not consider the Qur'an (with care)? Had it been from other  than Allah,  they would surely have found therein much discrepancy”.

Dr  Miller says about this verse: “One of the well known scientific   principles is the principle of finding mistakes or looking for mistakes   in a theory until it’s proved to be right (Falsification Test). What’s   amazing is that the Holy Qur'an asks Muslims and non-muslims to try to   find mistakes in this book and it tells them that they will never find   any”. He also says about this verse: "No writer in the world has the   courage to write a book and say that it’s empty of mistakes, but the   Qur'an, on the contrary, tells you that it has no mistakes and asks you   to try to find one and you won’t find any."


Dr Miller  admired the Koran   unique style  as the Qur'an  gives you a specific information and tells you that you did not know  this before. For example:

"This is part of the tidings of the things unseen, which We reveal unto  thee (O Prophet!) by inspiration: thou was not with them when they cast  lots with arrows, as to which of them should be charged with the care of  Maryam: nor was thou with them when they disputed (the point)” The Holy  Qur'an, Chapter 3, Verse 44.

“Such are some of the stories of the Unseen, which We have revealed unto  thee: before this, neither thou nor thy People knew them. So persevere  patiently: for the End is for those who are righteous” The Holy Qur'an,  Chapter 11, Verse 49.

“Such is one of the stories of what happened unseen, which We reveal by  inspiration unto thee: nor was thou (present) with them when they  concerted their plans together in the process of weaving their plots”  The Holy Qur'an, Chapter 12, Verse 102.

All This is a proof that all  information in the Quran is of divine origin. Allah revealed the Qur'an from  Himself.  

Dr Miller says: “No other holy book uses this style, all the other  books consist of information that tells you where this information came  from. For example, when the Holy Bible talks about the stories of the  ancient nations, it tells you that a this King lived in a this place and  a that leader fought in that battle, and that a certain person had a  number of kids and their names are. But this book (Bible) always tells  you that if you want to know more, you can read a certain book since  that information came from that book”. Then  he continues
 “This is in contrary to the Qur'an which  gives you the information and tells you that it’s new!! And what’s  amazing is that the people of Mecca at that time (time of inspiration of  those verses) used to hear those verses and the challenge that the  information in those verses was new and was not known by Muhammad   nor by his people at that time, and despite that, they never said: We  know this and it is not new, and they did not say: We know where  Muhammad came from with those verses. This never happened, but what  happened is that nobody dared to say that he was lying to them because  those was really new information, not coming from the human mind but  from Allah who knows the unseen in the past, the present and the  future”.


Another verse he talked  about is in  Surat Yunus [10:57] which states:  "O mankind, there has come to you an admonition [i. e., the Qur'an] from  your Lord and a healing for what is in the hearts - and guidance and  mercy for the believers." he says about it "At first glance, this  statement appears vague, but the meaning of this verse is clear when one  views it in light of the aforementioned example. Basically, one is  healed of his delusions by reading the Qur'an. In essence, it is  therapy. It literally cures deluded people by confronting them with  facts. A prevalent attitude throughout the Qur'an is one which says, "O  mankind, you say such and such about this; but what about such and such?  How can you say this when you know that?" And so forth. It forces one  to consider what is relevant and what matters while simultaneously  healing one of the delusions that facts presented to mankind by Allah  can easily be explained away with flimsy theories and excuses." this is  very much the same way a psychologist treats his mythomania  patients....,He continues  "if 1400 years ago you had stood in the  desert and told   "All of this, you see (pointing to yourself), is made  up of mostly water," no one would have believed you. Proof of that was  not available until the invention of the microscope. They had to wait to  find out that cytoplasm, the basic substance of the cell, is made-up of  80% water. Nonetheless, the evidence did come, and once again the  Qur'an stood the test of time More on Falsification Test In reference to  the falsification tests mentioned earlier, it is interesting to note  that they, too, relate to both the past and the present."

Furthermore Dr.Miller says "One of The   type of falsification  tests contained in the Qur'an is the verse which mentions the  relationship between the Muslims and the Jews. The verse is careful not  to narrow its scope to the relationship between individual members of  each religion, but rather, it summarizes the relationship between the  two groups of people as a whole. In essence, the Qur'an states that the  Christians will always treat the Muslims better than the Jews will treat  the Muslims. Indeed, the full impact of such a statement can only be  felt after careful consideration of the real meaning of such a verse. It  is true that many Christians and many Jews have become Muslims, but as a  whole, the Jewish community is to be viewed as an avid enemy of Islam.  Additionally, very few people realize what such an open declaration in  the Qur'an invites. In essence, it is an easy chance for the Jews to  prove that the Qur'an is false - that it is not a divine revelation. All  they have to do is organize themselves, treat the Muslims nicely for a  few years and then say, "Now what does your holy book say about who are  your best friends in the world - the Jews or the Christians? Look what  we Jews have done for you!" That is all they have to do to disprove the  Qur'an's authenticity, yet they have not done it in 1400 years. But, as  always, the offer still stands open! A Mathematical Approach All of the  examples so far given concerning the various angles from which one can  approach the Qur'an have undoubtedly been subjective in nature; however,  there does exist another angle, among others, which is objective and  whose basis is mathematical. It is surprising how authentic the Qur'an  becomes when one assembles what might be referred to as a list of good  guesses. Mathematically, it can be explained using guessing and  prediction examples. For instance, if a person has two choices (i. e.,  one is right, and one is wrong), and he closes his eyes and makes a  choice, then half of the time (i. e., one time out of two) he will be  right. Basically, he has a one in two chance, for he could pick the  wrong choice, or he could pick the right choice. Now if the same person  has two situations like that (i. e., he could be right or wrong about  situation number one, and he could be right or wrong about situation  number two), and he closes his eyes and guesses, then he will only be  right one-fourth of the time (i. e., one time out of four). He now has a  one in four chance because now there are three ways for him to be wrong  and only one way for him to be right. In simple terms, he could make  the wrong choice in situation number one and then make the wrong choice  in situation number two; or he could make the wrong choice in situation  number one and then make the right choice in situation number two; or he  could make the right choice in situation number one and then make the  wrong choice in situation number two; or he could make the right choice  in situation number one and then make the right choice in situation  number two. Of course, the (only instance in which he could be totally  right is the last scenario where he could guess correctly in both  situations. The odds of his guessing completely correctly have become  greater because the number of situations for him to guess in have  increased; and the mathematical equation representing such a scenario is  ½ x ½

In his book Amazing Quran he says  "Scientific Approach to the Qur'an A  truly scientific approach to the Qur'an is possible because the Qur'an  offers something that is not offered by other religious scriptures, in  particular, and other religions, in general. It is what scientists  demand"

Allah, the Keeper of Wisdom, makes it a point to give as many proofs in  the Qur’an about His existence and creative abilities as possible so the  maximum number of humans can be guided. We need proof, and Allah gives  us that proof. 

Among the proofs given in the Qur’an for us to learn from is a very  detailed explanation of the different features of the universe, how it  was made and how the planets and stars were formed. Allah says that, "To  Him is due the origin of space and the Earth." (6:101)

These new scientific  discoveries have assisted greatly in the  understanding of what the ayat in the Qur’an mean. For example, there is  a section of verses where Allah mentions that during the process of  human development, there is a stage where we were an ‘Alaq in the womb.  (96:1-5) The word literally means, "a clinging thing." But no one knew  in past centuries how that could be part of the process of growth for a  fetus.

So translators, commentators and scholars have tried to explain it as  meaning we were clots of blood or other such strange things in the womb.  But new discoveries in the last few years have shown that in the early  stages of pregnancy, the fertilized egg actually attaches itself to the  uterine wall and clings there as it is growing. Thus, modern knowledge  unlocks another mystery that previous Muslims could only guess at.
”The which (embryo) We placed in a place of settlement, firmly fixed for  a period (of gestation), determined. For We do determine, for We are  the best to determine (things). (77: 21-23).

Big Bang explosion ?

When describing the creation of the "heavens and the earth," the Qur'an  does not discount the theory of a "Big Bang" explosion at the start of  it all. In fact, the Qur'an says that "the heavens and the earth were  joined together as one unit, before We clove them asunder" (21:30).  Following this big explosion, Allah "turned to the sky, and it had been  (as) smoke. He said to it and to the earth: 'Come together, willingly or  unwillingly.' They said: 'We come (together) in willing obedience'"  (41:11). Thus the elements and what was to become the planets and stars  began to cool, come together, and form into shape, following the natural  laws that Allah established in the universe.

The Qur'an further states that Allah created the sun, the moon, and the  planets, each with their own individual courses or orbits. "It is He Who  created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon; all (the  celestial bodies) swim along, each in its rounded course" (21:33).


The Qur'an also does not rule out the idea that the universe is  continuing to expand. "The heavens, We have built them with power. And  verily, We are expanding it" (51:47). There has been some historical  debate among Muslim scholars about the precise meaning of this verse,  since knowledge of the universe's expansion was only recently  discovered.

Quran is a true wonderful read, i invite everyone to read it and reflect on it, you will discover a universe that make more sense to you. 

Image by smiling_da_vinci via FlickrHello to all of you, and happy new year;


I was interviewed by a respected blogger Debra who publish an insightful blog called 'You, Me & Religion". It was all about how do i live with Islam being my religion.
Here is the interview, tell me what do you think.
http://youmereligion.blogspot.com/2011/01/ebtesam.html




Thanks.

In 2008, Isreal initiated "Operation Cast Lead" two days after Christmas. It was "Planned Humanitarian Disaster"in Gaza a densly populated urban area.

This vicious paln was first formulated by the Israel government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2001: 

"Sources in the defense establishment said Defense  Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for  the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to  negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas."(Barak Ravid, Operation "Cast Lead": Israeli Air Force strike followed months of planning, Haaretz, December 27, 2008)

"Israel used this distraction to break the ceasefire  between itself and Hamas by bombing the Gaza strip.  Israel claimed this  violation of the ceasefire was to prevent Hamas from digging tunnels  into Israeli territory.The very next day, Israel launched     a terrorizing siege of Gaza, cutting off food, fuel, medical supplies and     other necessities in an attempt to "subdue" the Palestinians     while at the same time engaging in armed incursions. In response, Hamas     and others in Gaza again resorted to firing crude, homemade, and mainly     inaccurate rockets into Israel. During the past seven years, these rockets     have been responsible for the deaths of 17 Israelis. Over the same time     span, Israeli Blitzkrieg assaults have killed thousands of Palestinians,     drawing worldwide protest but falling on deaf ears at the UN." (Shamus     Cooke, The Massacre in Palestine and the Threat of a Wider War, Global     Research, December 2008).

"On December 8, US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte was in Tel Aviv for discussions with his Israeli counterparts including the director of Mossad, Meir Dagan. Hamas' military targets are not the main objective. Operation "Cast Lead" is intended, quite deliberately, to trigger civilian casualities."Ur Shlonsky,  quoted by Ghali Hassan, Gaza: The World’s Largest Prison, Global Research, 2005)

The longer term objective of this plan, as formulated  by Israeli policy makers, is the expulsion of Palestinians from  Palestinian lands:

"Terrorize the civilian population, assuring maximal  destruction of property and cultural resources... The daily life of the  Palestinians must be rendered unbearable: They should be locked up in  cities and towns, prevented from exercising normal economic life, cut  off from workplaces, schools and hospitals, This will encourage  emigration and weaken the resistance to future expulsions" Ur Shlonsky,  quoted by Ghali Hassan, Gaza: The World’s Largest Prison, Global Research, 2005)"

If you used to follow the isreali brutal acts you know that the"Bloodshed Justification" is an essential  component of any israeli military-intelligence agenda , becuae they know that the rest of humans  are not like them , they will never like all the killing unless its really needed for existance. The killing of  Palestinian civilians was justified on "humanitarian grounds." Israeli military operations were carefully timed to coincide with the suicide attacks:


 "The assault would be launched, at the government's  discretion, after a big suicide bomb attack in Israel, causing  widespread deaths and injuries, citing the bloodshed as justification". (Tanya Reinhart, Evil Unleashed, Israel's move to destroy the Palestinian Authority is a calculated plan, long in the making, Global Research, December 2001, emphasis added)

    Israeli sources have pointed to a lengthy drawn out military operation. It "won't be easy and it won't be short," said Defense Minister Ehud Barak in a TV address. "Israel is not seeking to oblige Hamas "to cooperate". What we are dealing with is the implementation of the "Dagan Plan" as initially formulated in 2001, which called for:

   "an invasion of Palestinian-controlled territory by some 30,000 Israeli soldiers, with the clearly defined mission of destroying the infrastructure of the Palestinian leadership and collecting weaponry currently possessed by the various Palestinian forces, and expelling or killing its military leadership. (Ellis Shulman, op cit, emphasis added.)

The "Dagan Plan", named after General Meir Dagan, who currently heads Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency. The plan was DESIGNED before Sharon’s  election as Prime Minister in February 2001. "According to Alex Fishman  writing in Yediot Aharonot, the Dagan Plan consisted in destroying the  Palestinian authority and putting Yasser Arafat 'out of the game'."  (Ellis Shulman, "Operation Justified Vengeance": a Secret Plan to Destroy the Palestinian Authority, March 2001):
 

"As reported in the Foreign Report [Jane] and  disclosed locally by Maariv, Israel's invasion plan — reportedly dubbed  Justified Vengeance — would be launched immediately following the  next high-casualty suicide bombing, would last about a month and is  expected to result in the death of hundreds of Israelis and thousands of  Palestinians. (Ibid, emphasis added)

 "negotiate separately with Palestinian forces that  are dominant in each territory-Palestinian forces responsible for  security, intelligence, and even for the Tanzim (Fatah)." The plan thus  closely resembles the idea of "cantonization" of Palestinian  territories, put forth by a number of ministers." Sylvain Cypel, The infamous 'Dagan Plan' Sharon's plan for getting rid of Arafat, Le Monde, December 17, 2001)

On December 27, 2008 Israel opened the attack with a massive air strike against the Gaza Strip.The Gaza War was a three-week armed conflict that took place in the Gaza Strip and Southern Israel during the winter of 2008–2009.

 The Forgotten War
This "forgotten war " with young boys, girls and adults blown apart by Israeli shells and missiles, resulted  in vast destruction and mass population displacement, the killing of 313 children among the 1414 who died over a 23-day period. Of the 5300 injured  (many seriously), 1606 were children. In all cases, the vast majority  were noncombatants.

Scholarly mentorship  for residents not like the old days in the Saudi Arabia.  It is not only extremely difficult to get one but  there are very few scholarships unless you have a good financial  support from your family, then you can go outside the Kingdome for a scholarship.

During my residency, I honestly was rarely encouraged to write, engage in research, or to pursue any scholarly activities outside of our required coursework, and I just finished my residency!. To be fair, however, several of the senior physicians I work with  got their memberships ,higher degrees and consultants degrees through scholarships sponsored by the government. A few had published a paper or two. But is that really as far as it should go? Frankly, I expected much more of an academic environment than I am witnessing although , I am surrounded by very accomplished physicians and attendings. That’s why getting a scholarship is the best way to go especially  if you don’t have enriching academic environment in the fellowship or residency program in your hospital. Most of the times we end up very exhausted from doing the work but no much academic field teaching.

Medical residency training is required to practice as a physician. While it is possible to obtain a medical license to practice medicine in Saudi Arabia  without completing a Saudi Arabian medical residency, it is much more difficult, and in some cases impossible, to become board certified by the Saudi commission of health  Specialties without a very good residency training.

Because residents are physicians in training, a good residency program there must be a good  supervision of an attending physician, who should be available for them all the time and be the ultimately support to them
so they can obtains hands-on experience treating patients, while under close supervision of experienced physicians

Residents need a good academic environment that usually a effective residency programs can provide. Effective residency programs as I see it are those programs which can  produce future members of the medical staff serving effectively in the era of increasing competition, and improving  the quality of patient care. Those kind of residents will be a tremendous asset to the community we serve.

A mentorships of any kind either if it is  scholarship, fellowship or residency programs  are critically important to your development as an educated consumer of the medical literature. It is critically important for optimal patient care. It is important in your interactions with other medical specialties.

The major flaw in most of our residency programs is they do not give you the credibility you need as a young doctor. Remember, credibility is defined not just by what you can do, but also by what you know and how you speak. You need to learn the literature, at least develop an area of interest or expertise and master its literature. Become conversant with it, quote it, and refer to it when you are discussing such things with your colleagues. It takes a great deal of discipline and mental exercise to accomplish this, but it is all worth it in the end.  Challenge others (and most importantly, students) to do the same. You might just be surprised as to what it can do for your career!

 At the end I WOULD LIKE to hear from you regarding your residency, fellowship or scholarship, if you want to suggest a topic to discuss in the matter please do .

This was part I in part II WILL talk about the difficulties faced  in scholarships.

(HIV) continues to be a major health problem worldwide despite enormous efforts to control its spread.Available data point to increasing HIV infection rates in the Middle East and North Africa.


The Prevelance
In a surveillance for HIV has been underway in SA since 1984. A total of 6046 HIV infections were diagnosed, of which 1285 (21.3%) cases were Saudi citizens and 71% were expatriates.Over the 18-year surveillance period the number of HIV infections diagnosed annually among Saudi citizens gradually increased especially over the period 1997–2001. The infection was most common in the age group 20–40 years (74.6%) , and  predominantly affected men (71.6%). by 2001, 40% of HIV infected Saudis died.

That the latest statistics of the Ministry of Health (MOH) on the numbers of AIDS patients in Saudi Arabia revealed cumulative number of all AIDS cases detected since 1984 and until the end of 2009,15,213 cases including 4019 Saudis, and 11 194 non-Saudi (ie the proportion of non-Saudis represent almost three times the Saudis). Women to men ratio is 1:4.

  Transmission
The modes of transmission (among
Saudi citizens and expatriates) were as follows: heterosexual contact, (37.9%) blood transfusion, (25.0%)  and (3.9%) cases; perinatal transmission, (6.5%) and 19 (0.4%) cases; homosexual contact, 32 (2.5%) .

Non-marital sex is expected to remain the main risk factor  for acquiring HIV infection in Saudi Arabia as it is worldwide for several reasons.That is why HIV/AIDS patients prefere to never announce there illness as they afraid that people will automatically think they are cheaters and sinners.  But times have changed alot and people are less judgmental especially that God always encourraged people  to respect each other and never  be judgemental.

Even though blood transfusion caused one quarter of HIV cases among Saudi patients, all such infections occurred due to transfusion of blood or blood products before 1986.This risk factor was eliminated since the introduction of routine HIV screening of donated blood and blood products in 1986.

Approximately, one third of cases were identified because of clinical suspicion and the rest of cases were asymptomatic subjects identified following HIV screening for the indications .



Table 1 below shows the demographic data, risk factors, and mortality of the infected patients.

 Saudi HIV-infected women

The vast majority of Saudi HIV-infected women with identifiable risk factors acquired the infection through blood transfusion or marital sex with their infected husbands.


Table 2 shows the number of HIV cases per 100,000 population
by region.highest prevalence was observed in Jeddah and Makkah in the western province.


A possible explanation for this increased prevalence in Jeddah is that this city is the main air and sea port for expatriates who come to work in the western province of Saudi Arabia and for those who come to visit the holy places in Makkah and Madinah. Additionally, the population in Jeddah is multi-cultural and inhomogeneous from the religion point of view.

Treatment of  the patients
AIDS THERAPY IS AVAILABLE IN  Saudi Arabia, AND GIVEIN TO THE PATIENT FREE OF CHARGE   IN MOH AND PRIVATE SECTORS HOSPITALS ,WITHOUT NEED TO A HEALTH INSURANCE.

The treatment is carried  out at a high lever of privacy and confidentiality but we inform the sexual partener and we offer screening to them and their  children.


The National HIV and AIDS   programs
 There are several programs in Saudi Arabia.

• National  HIV PREVENTION  PROGRAM by MOH: provide prevention services and make them available to everyone through clinics and testing centers. Also provide counselingand information that will enhance the awarenessto the members of the community so that they can protect themselves and their families from exposure to the  infection . This program  try to provide facilities of laboratory testing and modern drugs that reduce the deterioration of the immune system .

• Mobile clinic Service in the streets for the detection of the infection,

• Saudi Charity association for AIDS patients or  SACA

The WORLD AIDS DAY 2010:
 Last tuesday the celebration of this day started in Jeddah. This year  Saudi logos  are "As I enjoy my rights as respect the rights of others", and universal access to HIV and AIDS treatment, prevention and care.

Celebration activities so far are under the umbrella of Social Affairs and will include many of the programs and training workshopsand lectures. These activity  also aim to eleminate the discrimination against HIV  and AIDS affected individuals.

Discriminations against Saudi arabians is shocking and very painful, actually it is unbelievable. 

Saudi arabians face discrimination even inside their own land. For example, some of the Western compounds. These compounds run as colonial state . Many of the Western compounds will not rent to Saudis as these compounds are meant for expatriates. Many compounds prohibit Saudi nationals from entrée.

The western compounds which do allow Saudi as  "guests" only, will allow entrée if the Saudi has been placed in advance on a visitor list –and- arrives in western look.The man may be prohibited from wearing a shumagh and Abayas are not allowed there.

If you insist on wearing the scarf or your shumag in the western compound they might ask you to take your stuff and just go...if you refused they can through you out

Foreign labor problems

Majority Saudis treat their domestic helper fairly and many consider them as one of the family. But the media find this undesirable news material but we really do not mind that. What we mind is the way we are being betrayed as barbarian monsters because individual cases, some of them are just lies.

Some of the foreign employees commit many crimes against this country like theft, fraud and counterfeiting of all kinds, killing and raping  children of their employers!!!.Those criminals usually run away and when caught they only receive a symbolic punishment then considered as illegal immigrants and sent back to their countries from where they return after less than a month with totally different identity!!!!.

There are two babies stories reached to the local media this year. One killed by rats poison and the other killed by strangulation on the hand of their foreign nannies. When Saudi Arabia tried to implement laws towards them, some of world leaders spoke to the king to prevent that..and being Saudi Arabian we did not try to use the media and ask them to mutilate the image of the nation who those tow killer maid came from.

I do not know what kind of information the  rest of the world being feed and told about us but we are human too. We are compassionate, humbled and generous. To see how the world think about us is really painful.... Why is it that anyone that accuses Saudi's of any wrongdoing he/she are automatically assumed to be true and/or correct? Even when the  story is bizarrely created against us. Saudi laws  take all kinds of assaults against other human beings very seriously,no one is above the law, otherwise  our  national security will suffer.

Outside Saudi Arabia
The discrimination against saudi Arabians is there since longtime. But the attack in the twin towers rose the  discrimination against Saudi Arabians  to a significant  level  in the U.S., as terrorists.


Saudi arabian treated like dogs in some circumstances, beaten, get yelled at and insulted for no apparent reason!!!  

The violation we face in the airports is also unexcusable.I don’t mind being inspected for as long as the person next to me gets inspected in the same way.I wonder how would YOU feel if you were subjected to things like that? Of course I know you’d yell “DISCRIMINATION”!!! 

 It isn’t an issue of security but rather human right. It is your right and my right to be both treated equal.

What hurts most is knowing that people sympathize and feel for racism victim unless if you are a Saudi because they think you deserve it, you are evil that must be fought .

Finally,I know that everyone face racism one way or another so here   I welcome  your  comments on the subject.

 If you are saudi have  you ever being discriminated against and how?. 

To the rest of the readers did you ever faced  discriminated in your own country or somewhere else?.

Sometime when people share their pain it get easier. 

Today is the third day of my Hajj mission. The long shifts that comes at different time periods and the fake disasters drill started to take its toll on everybody. 

Pilgrims also started  coming to Mina. We are sleep deprived and exhausted but we are well trained and prepared for Hajjis.

Yesterday,We got 2 cases positive H1N1. They were from the security forces positioned inside Mina.  

Also yesterday, we were given two lectures  about H1N1 situation and about the 2010 plan to face it .We learned that up to 65% of flu infection this year was H1N1 infection which is the highest in the world. There are no deaths because of it .Moreover all the H1N1 isolates all over the kingdom are still sensitive to Tamiflu which is a great news.

Today I was exited about learning  how to operate the sun Stroke unit .

 I feel tired already. It is hot , sunny and dry here in Mina but thanks God I can still cope.   I think being born and raised in Makkah. During hajj times we entertain pilgrims in our homes.You will learn to sleep when the light on and with many people around moving. In Hajj Makkah become all about Hajj. Everyone work for them. Streets get very crowded, do not you dream if going somewhere with your car, the traffic us beyond suffocating  .Many essential items like medicine foods drinks and pastry finish. So we have to live on what we got. We do not celebrate the Eid that comes in these holy days   because  the hajj situation require Makkah people  to be efficient and active.       

My colleges  from other countries with us in the mission are having hard time coping. The whole hajj mission duty totally weird for them. But then they realize it is only for few days and it is an act that God will reward immensely, then they find a away to adjust. 

My colleges in the cabinet I sleep,  seem to be very high maintenance. They complain about everything. Yet they do things like turn off the AC because they feel cold while somebody is sleeping . They slams the door very hard. One of them stay awake all the time and pitch as she claims she is a light sleeper and there is someone is snoring . The lights always on as there are always people getting ready for their shifts. But all this does not matter if we did our duty well, we we do this we feel happy and we forget about all the trouble.

 

This year I'm also fortunate to be one of the doctors in the medical hajj mission in Mina.

In this year Hajj many  pilgrims came. And The scare of the H1N1 flu still in the air. But we really have faith in God then in our ability and the experience we gained throughout the years. All of us are excited although we know that it will extremely exhausting.We are very prepared to the rush hours and we have great disaster plan if something happened God forbid.

Today,there was only one patient came. He was one of the security forces as no pilgrims yet arrived to Mina...

I just finished my 8 hours shift  at the field hospital I'm assigned at in Mina..Im going to sleep but the train station in Mina is very nearby and there are too many noises coming from there, beside some of my colleges in my cabinet are getting ready for their shift,so I need to get used to fall asleep while all these things going on, especially that in few days it will more noisy as the thousands of pilgrims will exists in small piece of land...

My next shift will start in seven hours...So good night world

Saudi women Broke the Guinness world  record  in  forming world largest  pink human ribbon the global symbol  against Breast Cancer.

Hundreds of pink-wearing Saudis Arabian women,  have gathered in Jeddah last night, Thursday (10/28/2010), in a stadium pitch to  create  the largest  human ribbon in the world . The previous record of 3,640 people was set in Germany in 2007.



This activity  is a part of  the feminist campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of cancer, was  sponsored by three  women charity and voluntary bodies;

1. The Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud Foundation, under the management and supervision of Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan.
2. The Bedayah( means the beginnings) Centre for the the Breastfeeding Awareness and benefits.
3. The Flower Association for breast cancer support 

Girls and women who attended the The event took a very festive atmosphere and they enjoyed it especially with Jeddah sweetheart presence Princess Haifa al-Faisal.



The event was recorded in the Guinness Book of worlds Records as makers of the most giant symbol of  fight against breast cancer (the way I see it :p)

Source: http://news-sa.com/snews/2433-2010-10-28-23-57-49.html

STUDY OLD EXAM QUESTIONS is very effetive and smart  method in preparing for your exams.It is the most effectve way to speed up your pace in studying ,and I KNOW THIS form experiene ;) . By going through old exams MCQ,you  understand the basic and detail processes of examination and you get to know what type of information and points you fcus on in your study for each topic.


In any exam questions get repeated several years . Many MCQS in ur medial board were verbatim repeat questions (i.e., same question, same answer choices, same order of answer choices) from previous years. Residents have reported as many as 15 that up to 15 questions were verbatim repeat questionsed.


So never forget to Studying old EXAM QUESTIONS MCQs, in your preperation for exams.

Below MCQS FROM PREVIOUS SAUD BOARD EXAMS FOR INTERNAL MEDICINE. I will add more Just keep tunes in by subscribing to the blog or on twitter


Promotion exam 2008 MCQS


PART 2 EXAM MCQS

Part 2 EXAMS MCQS (Scanned )

IF YOU FOLLOW MY TWEATS yesterday you would notice that some of  my tweats are hashtagged with #Samar. It was about Samar Badawi CASE, which had erupted sudddenly yesterday all over the internet. A trend  started from twitter by  Fouad Alfarhan   who is a social activist and a blogger.
The Samar story 
According to "The Free Samar" blog  , Samar Mohamed Badawi learned to fight for her freedom and dignity since the tender age of  14 years when her mother died of  cancer. Since then Samar suffers from injustice and violence of her drug addicted  father.
Even when she got married and gave birth to her son's , her father  was so intruding her life. When  her son was 7 years old  ,her father bullied her husband untill he was forced to  divorce her. Then she decided to live with her brother for protection from her father.
 Her father then started to file many complaints  against her and her brother. All of which made her to check into a shelter house by  orders from the Governor of Jeddah Prince Mishaal bin Majed.
She stayed in the house of protection for 18 months , during which her grandfather and her uncle were  summoned , and their testifimony confirmed her claims against her maniac  father. During this the father filed a complaint against his daughter for disobedience in the of the investigation and prosecution comision, and the latter acquitted  Samar from her father allegations. After one and a half year at  the shelter house, she sent a letter to the Governor of Jeddah Prince Mishaal bin Majed, to protect her and to let him know about her desire to live with her brother.The Prince agreed to this and sent his letter  to the Jeddah police to protect them from the violence of their father.

After that, she filed a new case at the General Court in Jeddah against her abusive father . Now it is not clear what happened her but the judge send the father  to be punished physically for all the violant acts he did to Samar. Now the desperate father went to the president of  District Court where  Judge Abdullah al-Othaim who is known for his  oppsition toward  the shelter house .. And he settled a disobedience lawsuit against his daughter again ..

During all this Samar felt its safer to return back to the women shelter .

In the first court hearing the judge ordered Othaim  to  go back her father's house, she refused and told him that she has a case at the same court, in which was ruled in her favor and her father was scentensed for physical punishment and how she conceded  that. Then she did not apear  for two sessions in one week. After that, the judge Othaim issued an arrest warrant on the basis of the disobedience ,violating the Resolution No. (1900).According to what published in the blog created to support her ,the judge Al-Othaim ruled in her abusive  father's favor despite the all incriminating evidence , and  family members testimonies against him.
 
Samar run away for her safty and disapeared. But she was caught at District Court when she was attending one of a new trial sesions she filed against her father after judge Al-Othaim ruled in for him . She was put in Breiman prison where she is staying  there for more than six months . The President of the District Court judge Abdullah al-Othaim, who ordered the jail term never summoned  her for a fair trial ,leaving her in prison for so long!!!! 
HOW SAD ,PAINFUL AND SCARY  IS ALL OF THIS?!!!. I CAN NOT even understand why she is in jail. How can a judge send someone to prison just because he wants to. The the procedure in which this trial was carried out did not adhere to Saudi laws.. and the judge's choices doesn't even relate to what Islamic law states in such situations.  SO WHAT IS HAPPENING  HER ?!!!!. EVEN letters addressing the issue from Royal Authorities and Saudi  human rights organizations against the judge vedict did not set her free.  "Who watches the Watchmen?" . 




What is in a hashtag?!
With it, we hope to  make an echo, that loud enough to bring  the such watchmen of our law system to the attention of the masses (including the authorities) ,and to show the high demand for a thorough revisit.


WHAT is GREAT about bringing this case to the spotlight is that it showed that we all support the brining   of Samar's cause to justice . Also it showed the faireness ,the kindness and respect  of Sauadi men toward Saudi women ,a thing we know as Saudi Arabian women. With few women activists, men here are the ones who are helpped Samar (and the like of her) all along, and then when nothing worked,they  made the issue more public.



The  hashtag Samar  really united all of us to to take a stand to support such  cases, not only Samar's, but for the future Samar's .  lets all send our prayer s and wished to all Samars out there .
At the end I just want to say that  is everyone is welcome to hashtag with us . 



UPDATE:
The judge ruled in Favor of Samar and she was set free on her own terms just after 10days of twitter campaign.

• From the first Drop-down menu choose "Saudi Commission for health specialties" .

• Select your region then click "Go" button.

• On the next page choose "Schedule, Reschdule " .

• If you chose to take the exam in SAUDI ARABIA in step 2, the site will tell you that "You must have registered for your examination(s) with SCFHS and have an "Eligibility ID".To get the Eligibility ID, you will need to bring several documents ( a valid passport, all your professional certificates ) to the SCFHS (center you must go there) yourself in your region inside the kindome along with $80.00 USD collected at time of scheduling.  Acceptable payment methods include American Express, MasterCard and Visa credit cards.  
• If you chose in STEP 2 to take the exam OUT SITE Saudi Arabia JUST FOLLOW  online steps.

• For further information contact the SCFHS at +966 1 4800800 or e-mail http://Eng.scfhs@scfhs.org. 

Apparently, just an hour ago STC has launched the preordering phase of iphone 4 campaign on  STC official website. 

I'm actually excited about this to see if STC will put compelling offers to  try to win over costumers,  especially that   mobily   telecom and its personals showed themselves as  having very low knowlladge about every aspect regarding iphone, also they showed very little enthusiasm and support when toward their iphone using customers. But the biggest of all pitfalls that mobily did is that its iphone 4 does not support the face time feature and mobily never mention that to their costumers who on their turn never thought that this most awaited feature in the new iphone will not be there.

There is no  announcement from   STC   about  about the prices or any special offers but as  leaked in the public STC pricing will be as follows:

 -iPhone 4 16 GB at 2599 SR plus  50 minutes free of charge within the network, 50 SMS, 500 MB internet free for 6month. 

-  The iphone 4 with capacity of 32 GB  will be sold at 2999 SR, the offer will include   75 minutes free of charge within the network, 75 a free 1 GB internet free 6 months.

I think these are Competitive prices. It will be a great relieve if face time function works in the STC sold iPhone 4. I  i just wish that STC do not disappoint us.

So if you want  pre order your iPhone 4 now

Recently in Saudi Arabia there is talk of establishing a Ministry of Women's Affairs in the . This new ministry is said to put the women in the position of decision-making,to give them a greater voice in solving their issues as proposed by Dr. Basmah Umayr, the executive director of Al-Sayyidah Khadijah Bint Khuwaylid Center at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce.

Although this new ministry will get the acknowledgment  the arrogant  conservative groups in Saudi Arabia but it is not the solution. This pure separated governmental department could lead to further marginalization and segregation of Saudi women. I imagine this ministry might not find much to do in the presence of  other ministries, that take care of almost everything. There is a high chance that This new Women Ministry will be just carrying out the decisions and regulations put by other ministries!!!

True progression requires the thriving of equally  integrated members society «men and women» hand in hand not in building ministries for men and other women.

The solution as I see is in empowering the female sections inside  the existing ministries to giving them an equal share as their male colleges. Also, women should be more active and passionate about  their causes. They should create more non-profitable and non-governmental associations, bodies, and unions, that run by these women who strongly believe in their cause. I think these kinds of associations and unions are the best for solving obstacles we face like unemployment & guardianship issues. And I can't presume that establishing a new ministry of a of Women's Affairs will solve any of these issues.

However, it seems that the Saudi government  is serious in giving women a powerful voice Women's ministry, especially that it might calm the fears of conservatives. This will give the new women ministry a little more freedom to  accomplish the goal of giving Saudi women the political influence they ,need to solve the many inequities in Saudi society.

 Women's ministry might be an embarrassment to the Saudi government if doesn't appoint a woman to run it. A Woman that possess the full privileges of decision-making and  all the authority that  enjoyed by all ministers . I guess  all these doubts and dissenting voices come up with every new regulations. I remember back in 2009 when   Nora Bint Abdullah Al-Fayez Appointed a deputy education minister  there was  many doubts about the kind of authority will be given  to her. But  nearly after two years on the job we know for certain and proud of her positive influence and leadership.

Finally, if  there will be a women's ministry is in our  future, I hope it will make a positive change in the  Saudi arabian woman life. 

Today  mobily  operator opened its door to many eager spectators standing outside its main branches waiting to buy the new  iPhone 4 at a relatively reasonable and even cheaper prices. Not surprisingly,  the iPhone 4 got sold out within 3 hours in many of the main branches   branches.

Many current iPhone 4 users In Saudi Arabia pre-order it from it retailer  store in the US ,  or they bought it from electronic stores here in the kindom but  this cost them 2000 SR more than the mobily prices. 

Mobily today sold the iPhones 4 at the same prices of the iPhone 3GS which is great. The iPhone 4 32GB + prepaid SIM card   sold at 3099 SR. The iPhone 4 16 GB + prepaid SIM card is at 2699 SR.

My friends and colleges who are using the iPhone 4 since about 2-3 month are very happy with it, and they never experience any call dropping with STC operator and the signal is OK . Since all of my close circle of friends and colleges I know using the iPhone 4 are like me hopeless and overly charged STC costumers ( we practically grew up with this tele-company), I am not sure how is mobily signal quality on the iPhone 4.

 STC will be also an official iPhone operator at the beginning of October/2010, which is great as this operator tend to kill the completion with its prices and launch a  high quality services but then it gets nasty !!! as STC falls down quickly there after when other operators bounce Back. STC  just can't keep  up with increased heat.

Personally I am quiet happy with my iPhone 3Gs and I just use it until I can't stand it any more or it gets broken :)   

The ministry of lies you are not the law Ministry of information denied that it will  censor the online publishing and  made its  Spokesman,  Mr.Alhazza  to retreat from his Thursday announcement.

The new announcement  gets weirder and more contradicting the more you try to understand. Mr.Alhazza instead of saying sorry and we will prevent the situation from happening, he said we miss understood him and he never mention to censor  bloggers and online forums and no one will be forced to register. Then he said "registering blogs were misunderstood, that this would only be voluntary" .What wrong with these people!!!! . 

Will Mr.Hazza we heard your previous announcement correct, you did say that you will censor blogs and forum and that we have to be register also to write online.  A voluntary registration!!! You couldn't find a better cover up. First of all you didn't bring this word in your announcement before. Actually you said "   blogs and forums, will need to be officially registered with the government." Besides,who would impose such a tie on her/him self. No one obligated to do so...

Finally ministry of information reality check here,  stop acting like you are the law..you are not the law...and don't try to be  intimidating us  that  the ministry of defense job against  the real out side threats .

And oh yeah news flash Ministry of information you can not throw on trials and imprison people physically, and mentally.

Last night the ministry of information  announced through their official Mr. Al-Hazza that all Saudi Arabian online publishers , including blogs and forums, will need  license to be officially registered with the ministry . Also they should register their sites officially.

I am appalled by this announcement soon to be a law!!!. Where do we go from here?!!!. The act of writing and expressing one self is an every day act by everyone, don't tell me that people will need licence to write letters  or send cards to Thiere loved one. How about kids may be they will have new excuse for not doing their homework...like "I'm  sorry teacher I still didn't get my license to write!!!"

This is a sign of weakness,ministry of information feel threatened and wants to suffocate instead of trying to reach out for us and earning our trust...

I think this is one of those issue that need an urgent intervention by  the KING to stop them. 

There is no need for this law as online media companies are legal business  shouldn't be censored by the  ministry of informations.

Blogs and online forums usually contains thoughts, expressing opinions and sharing knowledge just like sitting in a place like a friend house where several people talking about stuff like news and deputing, ministry of information not censoring that !!!! May be in the future our guests room need to be censored as it might be a source of rumors and conspiracies ...it is absurd, I can't believe this is happening. What kind of people ministry of information think the saudi arabians, mentally challenged!!!

Moreover, if you have issue with blogger for som issues just sue 

Will you can't prevent me from writing here I'm not a journalist nor an employee at the ministry of information so they have nothing to do with me. If you want me to get a license you better pay  be as I'll start believing I'm a reporter for you.And I will never bather my self of getting this stupid  license.  How laughable, for just saying that " blogging license" :) in your dreams BIG BROTHER. This is Sam not livened to blog reporting life...

  Ariyawathi, a 49-year-old Sri Lankan housemaid,caught the attention of the media worldwide after she accused her Saudi employers of torturing her by hammering   24 nails and needles into her  legs, arms, hands and forehead.   

 

First of all it is really hard to believe this story, medically it is very unlikely to survive such a condition without appropriate  and prompt treatment within less than 24 hours,she would be   at very least in septic shock.   

 

   What about the metal detectors at the Saudi or  from where she came and arrived ?  how did  she pass through them  without any problem?!!  

 

 If her nails piercing was self infliction then it most of taken place after her arrival in Colombo?!!!.. Then got infected and she was rushed  to the hospital where she needed life saving  surgical and antibiotic therapy.  

 

 Flesh Nails piercing is a common Sri Lankan Hindu ritual.  By self-hypnotic fashion,  Hindu worshiper  is able to feel no pain when pain is inflicted through the piercing of nails.   

 

Self inflected nails piercing explains why  there are no any nails on her back of chest or on any other inaccessible areas. Also explains why  Were there are  more nails on the left side than right side ?!!!!!  

 

The ongoing    investigations showed that Sri Lankan maid's allegations were not true. Al-Badah, the head of a Saudi government department responsible for foreign workers, told a Sri Lankan state television Tuesday night that Ariyawathi's allegations were baseless and amounted to blackmail.  

 The fact is the overwhelming majority of domestic servants in the Kingdom are well treated and well appreciated.  

 For some reasons  i can not understand,anything against Saudi Arabia  is very easily digestible but when the facts are the other way round some cannot digest it or even imagine it.God bless you all  

Burning the papers containing Koran will not affect Koran but it's provocative, unchristian and implies that Islam is guilty for 9/11.

Dr. Aisha Natto, CEO of the Eye-to-Eye optical company and a member of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) board.

An accomplished businesswoman, Dr.Natto learned how to overcome difficulties when she undertook many challenges — like a project to plan and construct a 20-floor building on land belonging to her family in Makkah.

Natto was raised in a business family in Makkah from which she inherited her love for trade. She was also aptly rewarded for constructing the building. “My father gave me SR100,000 in addition to a car that cost SR80,000 at that time,”

In 2005, Natto became the first woman to cast a vote in JCCI elections — she was subsequently appointed to the JCCI’s board in 2009. Read more at Arab news