“A heart-wrenching day for me and for my delegation. I will never forget the destruction and sufferings I have witnessed today… In the past I have visited scenes of many natural disasters around the world, but nothing like this.” - UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon

As we reap the benefits of this month, learning discipline, self-control, and gratitude for our daily comforts, several old habits threaten to topple our success. 

In reaction to the global uproar surrounding Facebook’s recent allowance of a “Prophet Muhammad Cartoon Day”, several Muslims have formed an offshoot of the popular social networking site aimed at providing Muslims and “Peaceful people from other religions” with a virtual “safe space” in which to network. MillatFacebook.com seeks to provide all the functions of Facebook - minus the massive inventory of apps/games, and of course, minus the religious insensitivity. As the founders put it: “The objective is to provide a platform for all Muslims and nice, decent and sophisticated people of all religions and faiths, to come together and make a network. They should interact in a way that is socially responsible by providing them all the freedom of expression, however respecting each others’ sentiments, sensitivities and beliefs.”

Throngs of fans crowded former boxing champion (and convert) Mike Tyson this week, as he took a spiritual tour of Mecca, while performing Umrah, that ended in tears: tears of awakening. Tyson toured the requisite sites, finally crying at the Prophet’s Mosque, saying: “I couldn’t resist shedding tears when I came to know that I was in one of the gardens of paradise.”

As Nobel-Prize Peace-Prize Winning economist, philanthropist, and inventor of microfinance, Muhammad Yunus, turned 70 yesterday, elan celebrates 10 Muslim seniors (over-60) who are still making waves. Though there is no guarantee any of these individuals will be asked to host Saturday Night Live anytime soon, a la Betty White, still, their life-long achievements have proved them worthy of our life-long attention and praise, time and time again.

In the latest turn of brilliant, socially-conscious filmmaking, production house Participant Media (An Inconvenient Truth, Food Inc., Good Night and Good Luck) engaged Jordan’s Queen Noor for her input on its most recent project Countdown to Zero, a film about the global threat of nuclear arms proliferation. The Queen’s insight was particularly useful in enhancing the movie’s global appeal, so that it spoke not just to Americans or Western audiences, but to Arab and Muslim audiences as well. 

Since the conquest of Spain, Muslim empires have enriched the global architectural landscape, notably with mosques, shrines, and tombs. Now, Abu Dhabi and Dubai have ramped up building efforts, sharpening the cutting edge of functional design, pushing the boundaries of man-made structures to new heights, and new angles. 

According to a poll by SingleMuslim.com (a UK-based online community with a half-million users), more Muslims are feeling the urge to complete their education before getting married.

Taqwa.com, a new search website, tries to provide a Muslim point of view on search items.The website, whose homepage is about the coolest image ever (take note: Google), otherwise functions much like Google and seems to return similar results, organized similarly by web/image/news/video.

Kuwaiti activists stepped up demands last week to dissolve the invisible barrier that holds women from joining its judiciary branch.