ISLAMIC ARTICLE :- ~ Meditation

Relax your mind. There is nothing to think about right now, nothing to
worry about. Release the burdens that you carry in your mind.
As you breathe deeply, the warmth spreads to your face. Let your face
relax. Relax your eyes. Whatever your eyes have seen that isunhappy or
that causes you pain, let it go. Release it with your breath.
Relax your cheeks and yourmouth. Whatever you havespoken that you
regret, let it go, release it with your breath. It's in the past and
is gone now with your breath.
Relax your ears. There is nothing for you to listen toright now except
the peacefulness of your own breath. Whatever you haveheard that has
hurt you, at any time in your life, let it go now. You don't need it
anymore. Release it with your breath.
Relax your jaw. Any tension that you are holding in your jaw, let it
go, release it. Feel the warmth spread through your mind, your face,
your neck. Relax your neck.
Know that you are safe. You are protected. You are in a place of
shelter. You are in Allah's care. You are in a safe place, a good
place. You have nothing to fear, nothing to regret. The past is gone,
and the future has not arrived. All that existsis this peaceful
moment, this safe place where youare protected and warm.
Continue to breathe deeplyand softly. Your breath warms you. The
warmth spreads now into your shoulders and relaxes your shoulders.
Whatever burden you have been carrying on your shoulders,let it go.
Give to Allah, and He will hold it for you until you are ready to take
it back. For now, let it go with your breath. Relax your shoulders.
Let go of your fear and your worry. You are following Allah's guidance
and that is peaceful. You are at harmony with the entire universe and
that is peaceful.
Breathe deeply and softly. The breath spreads now into your back and
warms your back. Relax your shoulder blades, and the middle of your
back. Relax your lower back. As you breathe out, release the burdens
that you have borne on your back. All the troubles, all the weight on
your back, release them with your breath, and let them disappear. You
don't need them anymore.
Allah is on your side and He will always be with you. You have the
strength of Imaan. Know that whatever challengesyou face in life, you
are strong and capable.
As you breathe, warmth continues to spread through your body, now
moving into your chest andyour stomach. Relax your chest. Whatever
fears you have for the future, let them go. Release them with your
breath. Trust in Allah; He is with you right now, at this moment, and
He will protect you. Relax your stomach. Whatever tightness you have
in your stomach, whatever tensionyou carry there, release it, let it
go with your breath.
Know that Allah created you pure, with the purity of fitrah. That
purity is always inside you, like a light. Allow yourself to feel it,
to be in touch with it; let that purity come out, and with it comes
peace.
Your breath is warm and soothing. As it spreads through your body it
makes you warm. It brings peace and tranquility to your mind, to your
soul, and to your heart. Feel it now spreading into your arms. Relax
your upper arms, and your forearms. Relax your hands and your fingers.
Relax your thumbs.Your hands work hard for you every day, but right
now let them relax. Whatever burdens you carry in your hands,
releasethem. Whatever private pain or shame your hands have witnessed,
release it. You don't need it anymore.Let it escape with your breath,
let it go.
Know that Allah created you beautiful with the best of forms as He
said in the Quran. That beautyis inside you. Let yourself feel it and
believe it.
Breathe deeply now and let it flow into your legs. Relax your thighs.
Relax your knees. Relax your calves. Relax your feet. Relax your toes.
Your legs work hard for you every day, they have earned a rest. Relax
your legs and letthe tension flow out of them; release the tension
with your breath.
Now all of your body is relaxed and warm. Every cell in your body,
every part of you inside and out is soothed and peaceful. Allof your
body is pure and light and warm.
Allah is with you now, and He is As-Salam, the giver of peace. Allah
created you in peace. Inside you, at your center, is peace. That peace
is your birthright. Your breath is peace. Your center is peace.
Yoursoul is at peace, your mind is at peace, your heart is at peace,
your blood is at peace, your breath is at peace, your eyes are at
peace, your hearing is at peace, your tongue is at peace, your hands
are at peace, your feet are at peace, every part of you is at peace
with Allah. Every part of you is at peace with yourself. Every part of
youis at peace. Every part of you is peaceful.

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HEALTH - ~ The Nutrition Source High-Fructose Corn Syrup and Health

The Nutrition Source
Sugary Drinks or Diet Drinks: What's the Best Choice?
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Soft drinks are the beverage of choice for millions of Americans. Some
drink them morning, noon, night, and in between. They're tasty,
available everywhere, and inexpensive. They're also a prime source of
extra calories that can contributeto weight gain. Once thought of as
innocent refreshment, soft drinks are also coming under scrutiny for
their contributions to the development of type 2 diabetes, heart
disease, and other chronic conditions. Diet soft drinks,made with
artificial sweeteners, may not be the best alternatives to regular
soft drinks./

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2] The Nutrition Source
High-Fructose Corn Syrup and Health:
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How we satisfy our cravingfor sugar has changed dramatically over the
past fifty years. We once relied almost exclusively on sucrose—common
table sugar—made from sugar cane and sugar beets. Today, more than
half of our sugar comes from corn,most of it in the form of
high-fructose corn syrup. Itis found in everything fromsodas to baby
food. Sally Squires, a former nutrition columnist for the Washington
Post , has called it "the floozy of the sugar world: sweeter and
cheaper than sucrose, but viewed with distrust by some consumers." ( 1
)
Some researchers have fingered high-fructose cornsyrup as one of the
villains behind the obesity epidemic. ( 2 ) They note that the
dramatic increase in high-fructose corn syrup use closely parallels
the trajectory of obesity rates. They also point out that the body
metabolizes fructose differently from glucose, and that the
differences in the way the body metabolizes fructose may predispose
the body to turn fructose into fat.
But there's a catch to this argument. Table sugar is made of one
glucose molecule joined to one fructose molecule, so it contains
glucose and fructose in equal proportions. High-fructose corn syrup
also contains glucose mixed with fructose, with just slightly more
fructose than glucose(or, in some varieties, slightly more glucose
than fructose). Since table sugar and corn sweeteners are made up of
the same "raw materials"—glucose and fructose—and these raw materials
are used in roughly similar proportions, it is likely thattable sugar
and corn sweeteners have the same physiological impact on blood sugar,
insulin, and metabolism.
At least for now, high-fructose corn syrup doesn't seem to be any
better or any worse than any other kind of added sugar. What is
important islimiting your intake of all added sugars. That's why
sugary drinks and sweets are at the use-sparingly tipof the Healthy
Eating Pyramid . A good goal is keeping added sugars fromall sources
to under 10 percent of your daily calories. Learn how to spot added
sugars on the food label /

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Allah's infinite Greatness and Power

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Allah created the order of the universe in superb detail to allow man
to grasp His greatness. A verse referring to this order reads, "...so
that you might know that Allah has power over all things and that
Allah encompasses all things in His knowledge." (Suratat-Talaq: 12).
Faced with the sublimity of the detailsof this order, man becomes in
awe, recognizing that Allah's wisdom, knowledge and might is infinite.
So expansive is Allah's knowledge that what for us is "infinite" is in
His Sight already ended. Everyevent that has taken placesince the
creation of time, until deep into eternity, was predetermined and
ended in Allah's Sight. (See Timelessness and The Reality of Fate, by
Harun Yahya) This is related in the Qur'an as follows:
We have created all things in due measure. Our command is only one
word, like the blinking of an eye. We destroyed those of your kind in
the past. But is there any rememberer there? Everything they did is in
the Books. Everything is recorded, big or small. (Surat al-Qamar:
49-53)
Man must seek to appreciate the extent of Allah's knowledge, and
reflect to comprehend His greatness.
Billions of people have appeared on Earth since time immemorial.
Therefore, Allah created billions of pairs of eyes, billions of
different fingerprints, billions of different eye tissues, billions of
different types of humans... If He so willed, He could also create
billions more. As stated in the Qur'an, "...He adds to Creation in any
way He wills. Allah has power over all things." (Surah Fatir: 1)
Allah also possesses the power to create many other things beyond our
limited imagination. The entire extent of the treasures Allah has
bestowed in this world forHis servants is all within His Sight. He
sends down to us only that which He wills, all within a measure
predetermined:
There is nothing that does not have its stores with Us and We only
send it down in a knownmeasure. (Surat al-Hijr: 21)
This matter, manifested everywhere in Allah's superb Creation, holds
true for both that which we know as well as that which we do not.
Allah states this fact in the verse, "...and He creates other things
you do not know." (Surat an-Nahl: 8), He creates many other things of
which we are entirely unaware.
Allah has created many worlds and beings which we cannot see. To
better understand the possibility of the existence of other worlds, we
should consider the following: a picture is two dimensional-width and
length. The world in whichwe live, however, is 3 dimensional-width,
lengthand depth-(time can be considered as the 4th dimension). The
rest is beyond our comprehension. However, in the sight of Allah,
there are other dimensions. Angels, for instance, are beings that live
in anotherdimension. In the Qur'an itis stated that angels can see and
hear us from the dimension and space in which they exist. Furthermore,
the two angels, seated on our either shoulder, each, and at every
moment, is recording every word we speak and every deed we do. Yet, we
do not see them. Jinn are also beings of another dimension, as we are
informed by the Qur'an. They, like us human beings, are also tested,
all through their lives, and will ultimately be brought before
judgment by Allah. However, they are possessed of completely different
attributes than humans; their existence is dependent upon an entirely
different system of cause and effect.
These are all facts that deserve careful consideration in order to
attain a better grasp of Allah's splendid Creation. Itis within
Allah's power to create innumerable new worlds, beings and situations.
Furthermore, each is He able to create with a limitless degree of
differentiation. Indeed, in a nature unknown to us, Allah will create
Paradise and Hell. While systems left to their own in this world tend
to age, become corrupted, and eventually expire, in Paradise,
unaffected by the passage of time, nothing will deteriorate;"rivers of
milk whose tastewill never change" is an example which states this
feature of Paradise. The human body too will not degenerate; nor will
anything ever age. As is related in the Qur'an, everyone in Paradise
will be of like age, will live together for all eternity, inthe best
condition, and without growing older or losing their beauty. Allah
also informs us in the Qur'an that in it will be bursting springs for
us from which to drink. Hell, on the other hand, will be utterly
different; in it, Allah will create unimaginable torment. Noone will
be able to conceive the pain of such torment until he experiences it.
On everything in this world, Allah has placed a limit.

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''The thunder glorifies His praise''

3 billion thunders a year…
A source of energy that moves at a speed of 96.000 km per hour and
releases 30.000 degrees ofheat.
Have you ever thought how thunder, one of the most magnificent
atmospheric incidents thatAllah creates, is formed and how it is
capable of releasing such a high amount of energy?
During rainfall, thunder and lightning that are made up of bright
lights forming in the course of atmospheric discharge of electricity
are in fact energy resources producing more electricity than thousands
of power plants; besides being a climatic phenomenon. Theanswer to the
questions ofhow these natural energy sources are formed and how
powerful they give out light and heat is a wonder of creation
revealing the Ever-Lasting Might and Glory of Our Lord.
A magnificence forming in a split second: Miracle of Lightning
• The energy released bya single lightning bolt is greater than the
energy produced in all power plants across the entire America.
• One lightning can lighta 100 watt bulb for more than 3 months.
• At the contact point of a lightning to the ground, weather is
warmed up to 25.000oC. The speed of a lightning bolt is 150.000 km per
second and its average thickness is 2.5-5 cm.
• Lightning produces nitrogen molecules that are essential for the
vegetation covering our Earth to sustain its life.
• An average lightning possesses 20.000 ampere of electric power. A
welderuses only 250-400 ampereto weld steel.
• Lightning moves at a speed of 150.000 km per second, that is
almost at half of the speed of light and it is 100.000 times faster
than sound.
Light released by one lightning is greater than that of 10 million
100-watt light bulbs. That is to say; if every house in Istanbul had a
light a bulb on, illumination from a single lightning bolt would be
greater. Allah announces this glamorous flash of lightning as: "…The
brightness of His lightning almost blinds the sight.." (Surat An-Nur,
43)
How is lightning formed?
Air, warmed by the sunlight rises carrying along the water evaporating
inside it. When this risen air reaches2-3 km, it comes into contact
with the layers of cold air.
Ice crystals that are formed inside the clouds at the time of air
rising, release static electric energy formed due to friction. This
electrical energy is loaded positive (+) on top layers of the clouds
and negative (-) on low layers. When the cloud is loaded enough to
ionize the air; lightning is formed.
Why does it thunder?
Lightning heats the air nearby up to 30.000 degrees Celsius in one
millionth of a second. The air warmed up dilates. Andit propagates
sound waves much faster than the speed of sound; with apressure 100
times greater than the normal atmospheric pressure. Similar to the
airplanes crossing the speed of sound, this causes an explosion sound
in the air.And this is named as thunder.
Why does not the light and sound of thunder reach the earth simultaneously?
This is because the sound of thunder reaches us at the speed of sound
(340 m/seconds in air); whereasthe visual aspect of the lightning
reaches us at thespeed of light (299.793 km/seconds). This causes
atime difference between the two incidents and thusresults in the
bolt reaching the earth before the thunder.
What is the difference between lightning and thunderbolt?
When the difference in electric charge becomes greater between the
earthand the cloud, it becomes easier for air to be pierced and from
earth to the cloud; electrical discharge starts through the conductor
duct formed by the pierced air. The electrical discharge from the
clouds is called lightning and the electricaldischarge from the earth
back to the cloud is called thunderbolt or return stroke.
The fact of lightning declared in the Holy Quran
Surah Ar-Ra'd is one of thechapters in the Quran and it means "The Thunder".
Allah announces that the thunder formed by the lightening repeats His praises:
"The thunder glorifies His praise, as do the angels, out of fear of
Him. …" (Surah Ar-Ra'd, 13)
Strike of lightning reminds us of death
Experiences of those who survived a strike of lightning that causes
the death of hundreds of people every year, remind us of death as well
as revealing the helplessness of man in the Presence of Allah.
The possibility of getting struck by lightning is one in 700,000; yet
one shouldnot underestimate this possibility as well as the effects of
the lightning. According to the statements made by thosewho have been
struck by lightning, the electrical current can explode the buttons
and zippers on the clothes and people canfaint and fall down.

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