A Man Named Rashed

A Man Named Rashed
This is a true story about a man named Rashed. He tells his story as follows…
I was not more than thirty years old when my wife gave birth to my first child. I still remember that night.
I had stayed out all night long with my friends, as was my habit. It was a night filled with useless talk, and worse, with backbiting, gossiping, and making fun of people. I was mostly the one who made people laugh; I would mock others and my friends would laugh and laugh. I remember on that night that I’d made them laugh a lot. I had an amazing ability to imitate others – I could change the sound of my voice until I sounded exactly like the person I was mocking. No one was safe from my biting mockery, even my friends; some people started avoiding me just to be safe from my tongue. I remember on that night, I had made fun of a blind man who I’d seen begging in the market. What was worse, I had put my foot out in front him – he tripped and fell, and started turning his head around, not knowing what to say.
I went back to my house, late as usual, and I found my wife waiting for me. She was in a terrible state, and said in a quivering voice, “Rashed… where were you?”
“Where would I be, on Mars?” I said sarcastically, “With my friends of course.”
She was visibly exhausted, and holding back tears, she said, “Rashed, I’m so tired. It seems the baby is going to come soon.” A silent tear fell on her cheek.
I felt that I had neglected my wife. I should have taken care of her and not stayed out so much all those nights… especially since she was in her ninth month. I quickly took her to the hospital; she went into the delivery room, and suffered through long hours of pain.
I waited patiently for her to give birth… but her delivery was difficult, and I waited a long time until I got tired. So I went home and left my phone number with the hospital so they could call with the good news. An hour later, they called me to congratulate me on the birth of Salem. I went to the hospital immediately. As soon as they saw me, they asked me to go see the doctor who had overlooked my wife’s delivery.
“What doctor?” I cried out, “I just want to see my son Salem!”
“First go see the doctor,” they said.
I went to the doctor, and she started talking to me about trials, and about being satisfied with Allah’s decree. Then she said, “Your son has a serious deformity in his eyes, and it seems that he has no vision.” I lowered my head while I fought back tears… I remembered that blind man begging in the market who I’d tripped and made others laugh at.
Subhan Allah, you get what you give! I stayed brooding quietly for a while… I didn’t know what to say. Then I remembered by wife and son. I thanked the doctor for her kindness, and went to go see my wife. My wife wasn’t sad. She believed in the decree of Allah… she was content… How often had she advised me to stop mocking people! “Don’t backbite people,” she always used to repeat… We left the hospital, and Salem came with us.
In reality, I didn’t pay much attention to him. I pretended that he wasn’t in the house with us. When he started crying loudly, I’d escape to the living room to sleep there. My wife took good care of him, and loved him a lot. As for myself, I didn’t hate him, but I couldn’t love him either.
Salem grew. He started to crawl, and had a strange way of crawling. When he was almost one year old, he started trying to walk, and we discovered that he was crippled. I felt like he was an even greater burden on me. After him, my wife gave birth to Umar and Khaled. The years passed, and Salem grew, and his brothers grew. I never liked to sit at home, I was always out with my friends… in reality, I was like a plaything at their disposal [entertaining them whenever they wanted].
My wife never gave up on my reform. She always made du’aa for my guidance. She never got angry with my reckless behavior, but she would get really sad if she saw me neglecting Salem and paying attention to the rest of his brothers. Salem grew, and my worries grew with him. I didn’t mind when my wife asked to enroll him in a special school for the handicapped.
I didn’t really feel the passing of the years. My days were all the same. Work and sleep and food and staying out with friends. One Friday, I woke up at 11 am. This was early for me. I was invited to a gathering, so I got dressed and perfumed, and was about to go out. I passed by our living room, and was startled by the sight of Salem – he was sobbing! This was the first time I had noticed Salem crying since he was a baby. Ten years had passed, and I hadn’t paid attention to him. I tried to ignore him now, but I couldn’t take it… I heard him calling out to his mother while I was in the room. I turned towards him, and went closer. “Salem! Why are you crying?” I asked.
When he heard my voice, he stopped crying. Then when he realized how close I was, he started feeling around him with his small hands. What was wrong with him? I discovered that he was trying to move away from me! It was as if he was saying, “Now, you’ve decided to notice me? Where have you been for the last ten years?” I followed him… he had gone into his room. At first, he refused to tell me why he’d been crying. I tried to be gentle with him… Salem started to tell me why he’d been crying, while I listened and trembled.
Do you know what the reason was?! His brother Umar, the one who used to take him to the masjid, was late. And because it was Jumu’ah prayer, Salem was afraid he wouldn’t find a place in the first row. He called out to Umar… and he called out to his mother… but nobody answered, so he cried. I sat there looking at the tears flowing from his blind eyes. I couldn’t bear the rest of his words. I put my hand over his mouth and said, “Is this why you were crying, Salem!”
“Yes,” he said.
I forgot about my friends, I forgot about the gathering, and I said, “Don’t be sad, Salem. Do you know who’s going to take you to the masjid today?”
“Umar, of course,” he said, “… but he’s always late.”
“No,” I said, “I’m going to take you.”
Salem was shocked… he couldn’t believe it. He thought I was mocking him. His tears came and he started crying. I wiped his tears with my hand and then took hold of his hand. I wanted to take him to the masjid by car. He refused and said, “The masjid is near… I want to walk there.” Yes, by Allah, he said this to me.
I couldn’t remember when the last time I had entered the masjid was, but it was the first time I felt fear and regret for what I’d neglected in the long years that had passed. The masjid was filled with worshippers, but I still found a place for Salem in the first row. We listened to the Jumu’ah khutbah together, and he prayed next to me. But really, I was the one praying next to him.
After the prayer, Salem asked me for a musHaf. I was surprised! How was he going to read when he was blind? I almost ignored his request, but I decided to humor him out of fear of hurting his feelings. I passed him a musHaf. He asked me to open the musHaf to Surat al-Kahf. I started flipping through the pages and looking through the index until I found it. He took the musHaf from me, put it in front of him, and started reading the Surah… with his eyes closed… ya Allah! He had the whole Surah memorized.
I was ashamed of myself. I picked up a musHaf… I felt my limbs tremble… I read and I read. I asked Allah to forgive me and to guide me. I couldn’t take it… I started crying like a child. There were still some people in the masjid praying sunnah… I was embarrassed by their presence, so I tried to hold my tears. My crying turned into whimpering and long, sobbing breaths. The only thing I felt was a small hand reaching out to my face, and then wiping the tears away. It was Salem! I pulled him to my chest… I looked at him. I said to myself… you’re not the blind one, but I am, for having drifted after immoral people who were pulling me to hellfire. We went back home. My wife was extremely worried about Salem, but her worry turned into tears [of joy] when she found out I had prayed Jumu’ah with Salem.
From that day on, I never missed the congregational prayer in the masjid. I left my bad friends… and I made righteous friends among people I met at the masjid. I tasted the sweetness of iman with them. I learned things from them that distracted me from this world. I never missed out on gatherings of remembrance [halaqas], or on the witr prayer. I recited the entire Qur’an, several times, in one month. I moistened my tongue with the remembrance of Allah, that He might forgive my backbiting and mocking of the people. I felt closer to my family. The looks of fear and pity that had occupied my wife’s eyes disappeared. A smile now never parted from the face of my son Salem. Anyone who saw him would have felt that he owned the world and everything in it. I praised and thanked Allah a lot for His blessings.
One day, my righteous friends decided to go to a far away location for da’wah. I hesitated about going. I prayed istikharah, and consulted with my wife. I thought she would refuse… but the opposite happened! She was extremely happy, and even encouraged me… because in the past, she had seen me traveling without consulting her, for the purpose of sin and evil. I went to Salem, and told him I would be traveling. With tears, he wrapped me up in his small arms…
I was away from home for three and a half months. In that period, whenever I got a chance, I called my wife and talked to my children. I missed them so much… and oh, how I missed Salem! I wanted to hear his voice… he was the only one who hadn’t talked to me since I’d traveled. He was either at school or at the masjid whenever I called them.
Whenever I would tell my wife how much I missed him, she would laugh happily, joyfully, except for the last time I called her. I didn’t hear her expected laugh. Her voice changed. I said to her, “Give my salam to Salem,” and she said, “Insha’Allah,” and was quiet.
At last, I went back home. I knocked on the door. I hoped that it was Salem who would open up for me, but was surprised to find my son Khaled, who was not more than four years old. I picked him up in my arms while he squealed, “Baba! Baba!” I don’t know why my heart tensed when I entered the house.
I sought refuge in Allah from the accursed shaytan… I approached my wife… her face was different. As if she was pretending to be happy. I inspected her closely then said, “What’s wrong with you?” “Nothing,” she said. Suddenly, I remembered Salem. “Where’s Salem?” I asked. She lowered her head. She didn’t answer. Hot tears fell on her cheeks. “Salem! Where’s Salem?” I cried out.
At that moment, I only heard the sound of my son Khaled talking in his own way, saying, “Baba… Thalem went to pawadise… with Allah…”
My wife couldn’t take it. She broke down crying. She almost fell to the floor, and left the room. Later, I found out that Salem had contracted a fever two weeks before I’d returned, so my wife took him to the hospital… the fever got more and more severe, and didn’t leave him… until his soul left his body…
And if this earth closes in on you in spite of its vastness, and your soul closes is on you because of what it’s carrying… call out, “Oh Allah!” If solutions run out, and paths are constricted, and ropes are cut off, and your hopes are no more… call out, “Oh Allah.” Allah wished to guide Salem’s father on the hands of Salem, before Salem’s death. How merciful is Allah!

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FDA and Mercury Fillings

NaturalNews.com printable article
Originally published December 15 2010
FDA reconsidering safety of mercury fillings, but panel may be rigged from the start
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

(NaturalNews) Mercury fillings are one of the greatest scams in the history of dentistry. They’re intentionally and misleadingly named “silver fillings” so that people don’t realize they’re made of mercury, and when installed in teeth, they release mercury vapor every time a person chews on them (see video link below). Mercury vapor is then inhaled and absorbed into the body where it can cause neurological disorders, headaches, fatigue, sickness and may even be related to autism in children.

Mercury fillings are also just bad dentistry. They’re an ancient technology used as far back as the U.S. Civil War. The metals in mercury fillings expand and contract with changes in temperature, causing micro-fractures in the teeth. They’re not even bonded to teeth — dentists simply cram the toxic mercury metal alloy into a cavity and hope it stays in place. It’s cheap, it’s crude, and it’s ugly. But it has also been the mainstay of western dentistry for literally hundreds of years.

Quacks, skeptics and poison pushers all insist mercury is somehow safe
All the usual suspects insist mercury fillings are completely safe: TIME Magazine, the quack-busting critics who are quacks themselves, the ever-corrupt American Medical Association, FDA bureaucrats and of course the top officials of the dental industry. They acknowledge that mercury is a highly-toxic heavy metal that causes neurological damage, but they insist it’s safe to put this metal in your mouth because somehow these metal fillings are impervious and won’t release mercury into your body.

These are all the same people and groups who, by the way, insist that chemotherapy is safe, too. Radiation therapy is safe. Fluoride in water is safe. The mercury in vaccines is safe. BPA is safe. Pesticides are safe. GMOs are safe. Gosh, there’s hardly a poison on the planet that has been declared safe by these nitwits. And they insist that mercury fillings are safe, too, because they insist it doesn’t release mercury vapor.

They’re claiming, in other words, that mercury fillings are actually made with adamantium. That’s the fictional metal found in X-Men comic books. Wolverine’s claws are made out of adamantium, too. It’s the only metal in the world that’s completely impervious to disintegration or damage, as any teenage boy will gleefully tell you.

And that would all be great if we lived in the world of comic books. Sadly for all those dental patients who have been harmed by mercury fillings, in the real world mercury fillings crack, fracture and come loose. And even when they stay in place, they still off-gas toxic mercury vapor.

See the video evidence yourself
You can watch a fascinating video of a mercury filling off-gassing vapor in real time on NaturalNews.TV:

http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=4…

This video was created by the IAOMT, the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (www.IAOMT.org). It shows massive amounts of mercury vapor off-gassing from an extracted tooth. This level is far above any “safe” level set by the FDA or the EPA.

People suffer under the toxic effects of mercury amalgam fillings
And that explains why people at Tuesday’s FDA hearing told the agency that mercury fillings destroyed the quality of their lives. One man suffered from fatigue and chronic sinus infections for 46 years before finally having the mercury removed. “I wouldn’t have believed it would have caused a difference,” he said. “It’s absolutely amazing.”

Another person testified, “I was vomiting every day for months.” A parent added this startling bit of testimony: “My child now has 59 seizures a day…” (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010…)

No one denies mercury is extremely toxic
Mercury is, of course, a toxic heavy metal. As Wikipedia reports:

Case control studies have shown effects [from mercury exposure] such as tremors, impaired cognitive skills, and sleep disturbance in workers with chronic exposure to mercury vapor even at low concentrations in the range 0.7–42 ug/m3. A study has shown that acute exposure (4 – 8 hours) to calculated elemental mercury levels of 1.1 to 44 mg/m3 resulted in chest pain, dyspnea, cough, hemoptysis, impairment of pulmonary function, and evidence of interstitial pneumonitis. Acute exposure to mercury vapor has been shown to result in profound central nervous system effects, including psychotic reactions characterized by delirium, hallucinations, and suicidal tendency. Occupational exposure has resulted in broad-ranging functional disturbance, including erethism, irritability, excitability, excessive shyness, and insomnia. With continuing exposure, a fine tremor develops and may escalate to violent muscular spasms. Tremor initially involves the hands and later spreads to the eyelids, lips, and tongue. Long-term, low-level exposure has been associated with more subtle symptoms of erethism, including fatigue, irritability, loss of memory, vivid dreams, and depression.

But somehow, magically, when mercury is installed in your mouth as a mercury filling, all the dentists, doctors and FDA bureaucrats essentially insist that mercury is transmuted into a completely safe substance that poses no risk of harm to you or your children.

It’s a ridiculous position, of course. It’s almost as if the defenders of mercury were suffering from mercury poisoning themselves. One of the first side effects of mercury poisoning, after all, is insanity. And insanity means you’re dissociated from reality, living in your own world of self-deception and often operating in a way that may harm yourself or others. That’s a perfect description of the mercury filling defenders, who are the same “skeptics” who defend useless seasonal flu vaccines, chemotherapy, aspartame, MSG, and dangerous pharmaceuticals. Heck, there’s not a deadly chemical on the planet these people don’t want to see human beings consume, it seems.

But this argument over mercury fillings defies common sense. There is no reputable scientist who would insist that mercury is safe when it’s outside your mouth. We’ve all been warned about the mercury in fluorescent lights (you have to dispose of them through special hazardous waste operations) and thermometers. We’re all warned not to touch mercury because it might get absorbed into our skin. The EPA reveals that just a few grams of mercury can turn an entire lake into a toxic waste site, making the fish unsafe to eat.

The FDA used to even warn people not to eat fish because of all the mercury found in certain types of fish, but they yanked that recommendation when it became obvious that such logic would eventually have to extend to mercury fillings, too. And the FDA has long sought to protect mercury fillings, despite the scientific evidence that they are harming people.

And yet, despite all these warnings about how toxic mercury really is OUTSIDE your body, it’s astonishing what happens once the mercury is installed INSIDE your body. Suddenly all the experts reverse their positions. Mercury is now magically safe! The fact that mercury has entered your mouth and now sits in your teeth is apparently a magical act that defies physics and chemistry. Suddenly, all the toxicity of mercury disappears, they claim, and it’s perfectly safe to chew on.

But they’re ignoring all the scientific evidence that mercury fillings cause neurological problems and may even promote Alzheimer’s. There’s a great page explaining all this on HolisticMed.com (http://www.holisticmed.com/dental/a…), which offers the following information:

1) Mercury Causes Damage to the Brains of Children

In February, 1998, a group of the world’s top mercury researchers announced that mercury from amalgam fillings can permanently damage the brain, kidneys, and immune system of children.

2) Mercury Amalgam Fillings are Linked to Neurological Problems, Gastrointestinal Problems

The first large-scale epidemiological study of mercury and adverse reactions was recently completed and showed that of the symptoms looked at, there was a link seen to gastrointestinal problems, sleep disturbances, concentration problems, memory disturbances, lack of initiative, restlessness, bleeding gums and other mouth disorders.

3) Mercury / Alzheimer’s Disease Connection Found

A study related to mercury and Alzheimer’s Disease was recently completed by a team of scientists led by well-respected researcher Dr. Boyd Haley. They exposed rats to levels of mercury vapor diluted to account for size differences between humans and rats. The rats developed tissue damage “indistinguishable” from that of Alzheimer’s Disease. Repeating the experiment showed the same results. Dr. Haley is quoted as saying “I’m getting the rest of my fillings taken out right now, and I’ve asked my wife to have hers replaced too.” Also see: http://www.holistic-dentistry.com/a…

4) Amalgam Fillings Release Highly Toxic Elemental Mercury

Mercury is one of the most toxic substances known. The mercury release from fillings is absorbed primarily as highly toxic elemental mercury vapor.

5) Mercury Build Up in Brain, Organs and Breast Milk of Fetuses of Mothers With Amalgam Fillings

Mercury from fillings in pregnant women has been shown to cause mercury accumulation in brain, kidneys and liver of human fetuses (all of the areas tested). Studies have shown that mercury can be passed to infants from breast milk.

… read more at http://www.holisticmed.com/dental/a…

Battle over mercury fillings mirrors tactics of Big Tobacco
Today, the evil proponents of toxic mercury fillings are relying on many of the very same deception tactics once used by Big Tobacco in its decades-long cover-up of the dangers of smoking.

According to documents on the IAOMT website, the FDA may have already made up its mind about mercury fillings (they’re safe, didn’t ya know?) and is holding these hearings merely as a bit of public theater in order to create an illusion that they’re actually concerned about the issue. Efforts have been made to minimize the testimony time of mercury filling opponents, and documents that opposed mercury fillings have been stripped off the FDA’s website (http://iaomt.org/news/archive.asp?i…).

It’s business as usual at the FDA, where the agency has been pushing toxic chemicals and deadly drugs onto the public for as long as anyone can remember. The science gets thrown out the window in all this because mercury fillings are a profit issue, and the FDA is very, very good at protecting the profits of large, powerful corporations and industries whose very existence depends on the continuation of the “great lies” of western medicine.

One of those great lies, of course, is the ridiculous idea that mercury is perfectly safe to place in the mouths of children, pregnant women and everyone else. In time, this lie will ultimately be exposed, and historians will refer to our present time as the “mercury age” of dentistry, where virtually the entire population was poisoned by dentists who were just too ignorant to know what they were doing.

But the truth of the matter is far different: They DO know mercury fillings are toxic. The scientific evidence is irrefutable. Modern dentists aren’t ignorant on this issue — they’ve just sold out the safety of their patients in order to make more money installing cheap, toxic and highly-profitable mercury fillings that they know are poisonous.

After all, in the world of modern medicine (and dentistry), safety never gets in the way of making a buck.

Where to learn more about the dangers of mercury fillings
Consumers for Dental Choice
http://www.ToxicTeeth.org

International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology
http://www.IAOMT.org

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