Panjsher Land of Lions

TWEET EMAIL MORE What does it mean to be human? Or, putting the point a bit more precisely, what are we saying about others when we describe them as human? Answering this question is not as straightforward as it might appear. Minimally to be human is to be one of us, but this begs the question of the class of creatures to which “us” refers. Homo sapiens , others equate it with the whole genus  Homo , some restrict it to the subspecies  Homo sapiens sapiens , and a few take it to encompass the entire hominin lineage. These differences of opinion are not due to a scarcity of evidence. They are due to the complete absence of evidence − or, to put the point with greater clarity, the absence of any conception of what sort of evidence can settle the question of which group or groups of primates should be counted as human. Biologists aren’t equipped to tell us whether an organism is a human organism because “human” is a folk-category rather a scie...

THE sole survivor of  the assassination of Gen Ahmad Shah Massoud , the commander of the anti-Taliban alliance in Afghanistan, gave the first eye-witness account of the killing yesterday. Masood Khalili was sitting next to his leader when two men posing as journalists detonated their bombs two days before the terrorist attacks on America. The suicide bombers, believed to be Moroccans, had spent 15 days in northern Afghanistan waiting for an interview before they were called into a room at the headquarters in the Panjshir Valley where Gen Massoud and Mr Khalili sat on a couch. As one of the men set up a television camera on a tripod with the lens aimed at Gen Massoud's chest Mr Khalili, speaking in English, asked the "reporter" what questions he was going to ask. The man, believed to be Karim Touzani, 34, scribbled notes with a blue pen before answering: "Why are you against Osama bin Laden?", "Why do you call him a killer?" and "...

The beautiful Panjshir valley, tucked into Hindu Kush Mountains, is famous for its spectacular landscape, gurgling waters, mausoleum of a resistance leader and world’s best emerald mines The picturesque peaks kissing the clear azure sky; the icy-cold water surging down the glacial heights; the brackish lakes dotting the breathtaking landscape; the lush green meadows dancing in the breezy air and the rich heritage seeped in history. Meandering through the serpentine roads tucked into the rocky mountains; you land up in an exotic place, unarguably Afghanistan’s best-kept secret. The drive to Panjshir valley, 150 kilometers north of Kabul, in the lap of majestic Hindu Kush Mountains, is both adventurous and exhilarating. Panjshir valley, which translates into ‘valley of five lions’, gets the name from five brothers who quite astonishingly made a dam here for Sultan Mahmoud Ghazni, the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid empire, in 10th century. Their shrine greets visitors at the ent...

نویسنده : دکتر یوسف قرضاوی / مترجمان: محمد آزاد شافعی، سید رضا اسعدی مفهوم “شریعت ” طبق آنچه در “القاموس” و شرح آن آمده، شریعت عبارتست از آنچه خداوند متعال به عنوان امور دین برای بندگانش تشریع نموده است؛ یا سنتهای دینی را گویند که دستور عمل به آن را صادر فرموده است، از جمله: عبادات؛ مانند روزه، نماز، حج، زکات و سایر اعمال نیکو. و از جمله معاملاتی که زندگی روزمره‌ی مردم به آن وابسته است؛ مانند بیوع، نکاحها و غیره. چنانکه خداوند متعال فرموده است : « ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَاکَ عَلَى شَرِیعَهٍ مِّنَ الْأَمْرِ» جاثیه/ ۱۸ [ ۱ ] « سپس ما تو را (مبعوث کردیم) و بر آئین و راه و روشنی از دین(خدا که برنامه‌ی همه‌ی انبیای پیشین بوده است و اسلام نام دارد) قرار دادیم .» اشتقاق این لغت از “شَرَع الشئ” است یعنی آن چیز را بیان کرد و توضیح داد، یا از “الشّرعه” و “الشریعه” مشتق شده است که به معنی مکانی است که از آنجا می‌توان به آب چشمه‌ای رسید که هرگز قطع نمی‌شود و برای استفاده از آب آن نیاز به هیچ وسیله‌ای نیست . [ ۲ ] “ راغب” در “مفردات القرآن” می‌گوید: الشرع: یعنی راهی روشن و واضح. گفته می‌شود: شَر...