Doesn't this lady deserve the benefit of doubt?

Traumatized, shot-at, illegally detained and worst of all, in danger of being declared guilty without ever being brought to trial, doesn't Aafia Siddiqui deserve to be heard out?

background information and what you can do to help, from Cageprisoners.com:

Dr Aafia Siddiqui, the American educated Pakistani scientist and mother of three was detained for years by the US in Bagram. She has been the victim of the US programme of secret detention for five years since having been kidnapped in Karachi by Pakistan security services in 2003 along with her three children.

On Monday 4th August 2008, federal prosecutors in the US confirmed that Aafia Siddiqui was extradited to the US from Afghanistan where they allege she had been detained since mid-July 2008. The US administration claims that she was arrested by Afghani forces outside Ghazni governor’s compound with manuals on explosives and ‘dangerous substances in sealed jars’ on her person. They further allege that whilst in custody she shot at US officers and was injured in the process.

According to her lawyer, Elaine Whitfield Sharp, “We do know she was at Bagram for a long time. It was a long time. According to my client she was there for years and she was held in American custody; her treatment was horrendous.” Aafia’s claim is contrary to the heavily contested position of the US administration that she was detained in July by Afghan forces while attempting to bomb the compound of the governor of Ghazni. The US has previously denied the presence of female detainees in Bagram and that Aafia was ever held there, bar for medical treatment in July 2008.

Aafia Siddiqui now faces trial in the US in circumstances that can only be described as strange at best. Questions remain as to her own whereabouts over the last five years and still that of her children; the US government have recently acknowledged that her eldest son Ahmed, an 11 year old US national, is in Afghan custody. The whereabouts of her youngest two children remain unknown. Aafia's health has deteriorated since her transfer to the US on August 4th. She suffered multiple bullet wounds whilst in custody, loss of part of her intestine, and extensive surgical incisions resulting in multiple layers of external and internal stitching prior to her extradition. There are a number of other healths concerns and subsequently her medical condition condition needs to be fully investigated by several different specialists.

Physical injuries aside, Aafia’s psychological injuries obviously leave deeper scars. Her ordeal is heightened by the degrading and humilating strip and cavity searches she is forced to endure before every legal visit.

BACKGROUND Aafia Siddiqui was born in Karachi, Pakistan on 2nd March 1972. She was one of three children of Mohammed Siddiqui, a doctor trained in England, and Ismet. She is a mother of three. Having been based in Boston for a part of her life, Aafia and her family became the victims of harassment at the hands of the US authorities in a post 11th September 2001 environment when all foreign Muslims were considered suspected terrorists. During this period in the US, Aafia was the victim of domestic violence at the hands of an abusive husband. Not being able to take the profiling tactics being employed by the US authorities, Aafia’s husband moved the family back to Pakistan in 2002. Soon after their return to Pakistan, the couple became estranged and separated from one another.

In December 2002, Aafia decided to take the step of leaving her children with her family in order to work in the US. She moved to the Baltimore area where her sister was working. In March 2003 while on a short trip back to Pakistan, Aafia Siddiqui was on her way to Karachi airport with her three children in order to catch a flight to Rawalpindi. While at the airport the family were abducted by the Pakistani authorities and taken into custody.

Leaked reports to the media claimed that she was in FBI custody soon after that. Very soon after the Pakistani government denied any knowledge or involvement in her disappearance. After a year the FBI placed Aafia Siddiqui’s name on the list of seven Al Qaeda suspects. The FBI claimed that Aafia was in Liberia in 2001 buying conflict diamonds in order to help facilitate Al Qaeda operations. This was immediately picked up by her lawyer Elaine Whitfield Sharp who claimed that Aafia was in Boston the entire week that the FBI claimed she was in Liberia. Also – it was during this period that she suffered much of her domestic violence placing her nowhere near the African continent.

Aafia became one of the War on Terror’s disappeared for five years as she was held in secret detention away from any legal access or access to family. On 7th July 2008, a press conference led by Cageprisoners patron, Yvonne Ridley, and Director, Saghir Hussain, in Pakistan resulted in mass international coverage of Aafia’s case as her disappearance was questioned by the media and political figures in Pakistan. It was on 3rd August 2008 that an agent from the FBI visited the home of her brother and told him that she was being detained in Afghanistan.

Cageprisoners believes that Aafia Siddiqui was not arrested in Afghanistan as suggested by the US, but rather was already being detained there after her abduction in 2003. This has been confirmed Aafia herself who states she was held in Afghanistan for years and abused during her period of detention.

For more information about Aafia Siddiqui, please visit: http://www.aafiasiddiqui.org

TAKE ACTION FOR AAFIA SIDDIQUI

1. Write to Aafia:
AAFIA SIDDIQUI 90279-054 36 MDC BROOKLYN METROPOLITAN DETENTION CENTER P.O. BOX 329BROOKLYN, NY 11232
Aafia's lawyers advise that when writing you do not discuss or solicit information regarding her case or the charges against her, her whereabouts or those of her children for the past five years. You can send photographs along with your letters but no packages. You can send books, newspapers and magazines directly from the publishers (such as www.barnesandnoble.com or www.amazon.com). Aafia has requested a daily newspaper and books on nature. If you want to ensure that she has not already received a copy of the item you wish to send then please email Sarah Kunstler at sarah@fkolaw.com If you would prefer for Cageprisoners to forward messages to Aafia, please email us at contact@cageprisoners.com

2. Send a message of support to Aafia's family. Please email your letters to contact@cageprisoners.com

3. Sign the Online Petition http://www.petitiononline.com/aafia/petition.html 4. Download and print copies of the petition here. Please return all signed petitions to: Cageprisoners, 27 Old Gloucester Street, London, United Kingdom, WC1N 3XX 5. Attend protest actions and events for Aafia Siddiqui and her children. Organise an event in your community. Click here for details of the NYC Protest - 3rd September Click here for details of the London Protest - 12th September

6. Donate
Aafia can receive money for the purchase of snacks, toiletries, phone calls, etc whilst in prison. Please send funds to Aafia to the following address and in accordance with the directions provided below:
Federal Bureau of Prisons AAFIA SIDDIQUI 90279-054 36 Post Office Box 474701 Des Moines, Iowa 50947-0001
The deposit must be in the form of a money order made out to the inmate's full committed name and complete eight digit register number. Effective December 1, 2007, all non-postal money orders and non-government checks processed through the National Lockbox will be placed on a 15 day hold. The Bureau of Prisons will return funds that do not have valid inmate information to the sender provided the envelope has an adequate return address. Personal cheques and cash cannot be accepted for deposit.
The sender's name and return address must appear on the upper left hand corner of the envelope to ensure that the funds can be returned to the sender in the event that they cannot be posted to the inmate's account. The deposit envelope must not contain any items intended for delivery to the inmate. The Bureau of Prisons shall dispose of all items included with the funds.
In the event funds have been mailed but have not been received in the inmate's account and adequate time has passed for mail service to Des Moines, Iowa, the sender must initiate a tracer with the entity who sold them the money order to resolve any issues.
Western Union Quick Collect Program
You may also send funds through Western Union's Quick Collect Program. All funds sent via Western Union's Quick Collect will be posted to her account within two to four hours, when those funds are sent between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. EST (seven days per week, including holidays). Funds received after 9:00 pm EST will be posted by 7:00 am EST the following morning. Funds sent to an inmate through the Quick Collect Program may be sent via one of the following ways:
1) At an agent location with cash: The inmate's family or friends must complete a Quick Collect Form. Click here to view a sample Quick Collect Form. To find the nearest agent, they may call 1-800-325-6000 or go to www.westernunion.com.
2) By phone using a credit/debit card: The inmate's family or friends may simply call 1-800-634-3422 and press option 2.
3) ONLINE using a credit/debit card: The inmate's family and friends may go to www.westernunion.com and select "Quick Collect".
For each Western Union Quick Collect transaction, the following information must be provided:
1) Valid Inmate Eight Digit Register Number (9027905436SIDDIQUI entered with no spaces or dashes and immediately followed by Inmate's Last Name) 2) Committed Inmate Full Name entered on optional line (Aafia Siddiqui) 3) Code City: FBOP 4) State code: DC
Please note that the inmate's committed name and eight digit register number must be entered correctly. If the sender does not provide the correct information, the transaction cannot be completed. The Code City is always FBOP and the State Code is always DC.
Each transaction is accepted or rejected at the point of sale. The sender has the sole responsibility of sending the funds to the correct inmate. If an incorrect register number and/or name are used and accepted and posted to that inmate, funds may not be returned.
Any questions or concerns regarding Western Union transfers should be directed to Western Union by the sender (general public). Questions or concerns should not be directed to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
For additional information concerning inmate Commissary account deposit procedures, please see the Bureau of Prisons Trust Fund/Warehouse/Laundry Manual (PS 4500.04) or 28 CFR Parts 506 and 540. For information concerning a specific deposit, please contact Federal Bureau of Prisons' staff at 202-307-2712 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET. Further information about a fund to enable Aafia's family in Pakistan to visit her and to assist her legal defence will be provided shortly.

7. Write to the US authorities:
Demand that the state department fulfils their consular duties and provide assistance to Ahmed, the son of Aafia Siddiqui, and also locate her other children; all of whom are US citizens.
Demand that Aafia Siddiqui’s children, including her eldest son Ahmad who is Afghan custody, must be immediately placed in the custody of her relatives.
Demand that Aafia Siddiqui be given full and complete access to her lawyer without any impediments.
That she be given medical treatment and aid during her detention to not put any further pressure on her injuries and to help her recovery.
That she be transferred from prison to Bellevue Hospital.
That the unnecessary cavity and strip searches should be stopped by her US jailers due to her current medical condition.
Call for human rights laws and standards to be strictly adhered to in cooperation between US security forces and those of other countries, ensuring that torture and ill-treatment, incommunicado detentions and "disappearance" play no part in such cooperation. The Honorable Condoleezza Rice Secretary of State U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street, N.W. Washington DC 20520 Tel: + 1 202 647 4000 Fax: + 1 202 261 8577 Email: http://contact-us.state.gov/ask_form_cat/ask_form_secretary.html A sample letter is provided below. Download our Justice for Aafia Siddiqui Postcard to send to the US authorities. 8. Write to the Pakistani authorities:
Demand the immediate repatriation of Aafia Siddiqui back to Pakistani from where she was kidnapped.
Demand that her children be immediately placed in the custody of her relatives.
Demand that the best medical treatment be afforded her.
Demand a full investigation into her disappearance. His Excellency Ambassador Husain Haqqani Pakistani Ambassador to the US 3517 International Court NW Washington DC 20008 Tel: + 1 202 243 6500 Email: info@embassyofpakistanusa.org Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi Ministry of Foreign Affairs Islamabad Pakistan Tel: + 92 51 921 0335 Fax: + 92 51 920 7600 Email: spokesman@yahoo.com A sample letter is below. Download our Justice for Aafia Siddiqui Postcard to send to the Pakistan authorities. 9. Download and distribute the following campaign materials to raise awareness for the plight of Aafia Siddiqui and her children. Justice for Aafia Siddiqui Postcard Aafia Siddiqui Campaign Leaflet Justice for Aafia Siddiqui Banner Justice for Aafia Siddiqui Petition Sheet Poster 1 Poster 2 Postcard 1 front Postcard 1 back Postcard 2 front Postcard 2 back To get involved in the campaign for justice for Aafia Siddiqui please email freeaafia@cageprisoners.com
Template letter to Condoleezza Rice: Dear Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, I write to you in urgency regarding the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani national extradited from Afghanistan to the USA in August 2008 and currently in US custody. Dr Siddiqui was educated in the US and is mother to three young American citizens. Two of her children's whereabouts remain unknown; the eldest (11 years old) is in custody in Afghanistan despite being a US national. At the very least, their status as citizens of your country, and your position of authority, necessitates that you do whatever is within your power to locate her children, and return them to the custody of their family members residing in the US. Dr Siddiqui is currently in a poor physical state- as a victim of years of domestic abuse, she is certainly no stranger to violence and fear. She has suffered multiple bullet wounds, which may be infected, lost part of her intestine and endured extensive surgical incisions resulting in multiple layers of external and internal stitching. Dr Siddiqui's medical condition needs to be fully investigated by several different specialists. Physical injuries aside, her psychological injuries obviously leave deeper scars. Dr. Siddiqui's ill health is exacerbated considerably by the humiliating and degrading strip and cavity searches that she is forced to endure before every visit in prison and trip to court. So degrading is such treatment that she has subsequently refused visits. I ask you, as a human being who considers herself to work for the cause of justice; can the repercussions of such inhuman conduct towards an uncharged, weak-bodied woman be anything other than negative? It is hoped that human decency would secure for Dr Siddiqui the basic medical care and humane treatment that should be afforded to all detainees, much less those who have not been convicted of any crime. Dr Siddiqui’s legal team, who should theoretically be guaranteed complete access to their client (as is necessary to mount a credible defence), still face a number of obstacles in this regard. The aim of any trial is to reach the most objective outcome, and if current restrictions remain the case, then this investigation will neither ensure that integrity is maintained or that any battle of ‘hearts and minds’ will be won. Furthermore, any involvement and collaboration of US security forces in such illegal activities as torture, incommunicado detentions and “extraordinary rendition” fulfil the interests of no party in the long run. There is a great weight of responsibility on your shoulders, so consider deeply what has been mentioned, and ponder over what subsequent actions need to be taken for even-handedness to prevail. I look forward to hearing from you in due course. Regards, (Your name)
Template letter to Pakistani embassy in US/Pakistani governmental departments: To whom it may concern, I write to you in urgency regarding the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqui. Dr Siddiqui was born in Pakistan and educated in the US. She is mother to three young children. Yet despite this, she was kidnapped by authorities from your government and held incommunicado for five years- away from family, friends and legal access. Subsequently, she ‘conveniently’ re-appeared in Afghanistan, accused (without charge) of committing acts of terrorism, which expediently left the involved governments with no need to explain her whereabouts previous to that point. Furthermore, two of her childrens whereabouts remain unknown, whilst her eleven year-old son, a US national, remains in custody in Afghanistan. Dr Siddiqui is currently in a poor physical state- as a victim of years of domestic abuse, she is certainly no stranger to violence and fear. She has suffered multiple bullet wounds, which may be infected, lost part of her intestine and endured extensive surgical incisions resulting in multiple layers of external and internal stitching. Dr Siddiqui's medical condition needs to be fully investigated by several different specialists. Physical injuries aside, her psychological injuries obviously leave deeper scars. Dr. Siddiqui's ill health is exacerbated considerably by the humiliating and degrading strip and cavity searches that she is forced to endure before every visit in prison and trip to court. So degrading is such treatment that she has subsequently refused visits. Complicity of Pakistani or other national security forces in such illegal activities as torture, incommunicado detentions and “extraordinary rendition”, as have been evidenced by Dr Siddiqui’s case, not only violates International Law, but common human decency. As a daughter of the nationa, Aafia Siddiqui should be repatriated to Pakistan urgently, in light of her kidnapping from Pakistan in March 2003. Her children should also be placed in the custody of her family immediately until a time that they can be reunited with their mother. I look forward to hearing from you in due course. Regards, (Your name)

How the CELTA course motivated me to be a better Muslim

For those blissfully out of the loop, the CELTA is a month-long course touted as ''an internationally recognised teaching qualification, highly regarded throughout the world'' by the University of Cambridge.

It's also notoriously ''intense''.

Consider, for example, the 'Nature of CELTA', according to the Uni. of Technology, Sydney, that ends with the ominous ''although this course is very rewarding, it must be emphasised that the full time course is an intensive course and most people find that it demands 100% of their time, effort and psychological reserves. The part-time course appeals to people who work but it also requires a considerable commitment. You need to be in a good state of health and be able to manage the demands and stress produced by the course. ''

Consider also, a typical day in the life of a CELTA trainee:''The morning is devoted to learning about teaching - how to manage groups, how to analyse language for teaching purposes, different approaches to pronunciation and so on. The course programme is designed to reflect the syllabus as set out by UCLES. Each course will also take into account the needs of the individuals within the group, as reflected by negotiable sessions and regular revision of techniques. The afternoon is devoted to putting it all into practice. Trainees are divided into 2 or 3 groups and these teaching practice groups work with their trainer to advance the learning of practice students. Each trainee spends 2 weeks teaching each student group, guided each day by the trainer who is supervising them. The trainers endeavour to create a real-life teaching situation by having trainees work with contemporary published materials, keep attendance records and so on. After teaching there is group or individual feedback, the opportunity to comment on what has been more or less successful and why. As well as learn from the experience of teaching and watching their peers, trainees also observe 8 live lessons taught by an experienced teacher on the staff. ''

By virtue of having lived life in the 'intense' lane for the past decade and more, having got through days of maximum aggravation on minimum sleep and producing written work on laughably short notice, I had thought the course would be a cinch.

How wrong I was!

(to be continued, iA)

Meanwhile, check out this absolutely hilarious ELT glossary from a brilliant site...
Disclaimer: Makes complete sense only to CELTA trainees/trainers, though.

''A glossary of ELT
The word aerobics came about when the gym instructors got together and said: If we’re going to charge $10 an hour, we can’t call it Jumping Up and Down. (Rita Rudner)

This is a simple glossary. I have not included terms like inductive learning or procedural syllabus, as it would be far too boring and also I have no idea what they mean.


accuracy
Terribly old-fashioned concept, in which students worry their pretty little heads about boring grammar, etc. Not nearly as important as fluency.
authentic materials
An article or poem that the teacher raves on about and the students cannot understand.
Celta
Basic four-week ELT qualification. Impossible to fail unless you are really thick.
communicative approach
Prevailing ELT orthodoxy, in which students chat, play games, have fun and produce lamentable English.
contract
Satirical composition that the school owner rewrites whenever the fancy takes him.
Cuisenaire rods
Little ludicrous bits of wood which your more demented colleagues may use for a range of pointless demonstrations in class. Worth borrowing if your lesson is being observed.
Delta
Advanced qualification for misguided sad gits who want to make a “career” out of teaching English.
DOS
Director Of Studies. Pronounced “doss”, an informal British word that means “an easy task giving the opportunity for idling”. drilling
Useful tool for humiliating uppity students.
eliciting
Asking the students for information that they will not have, then dropping increasingly unsubtle hints until the nerdiest student finally gets the answer.
errors
As anyone with a Delta can tell you, not the same as mistakes (which see).
explaining
Utterly forbidden technique shunned by all good teachers, who practise only eliciting. (See also translation.)
feedback
By the teacher: telling the students that their mangling of the English language was brilliant, excellent, a great improvement, etc, but there are one or two teensy-weensy little areas that might need extra practice.By students: reporting back from a Find Someone Who with enthralling revelations such as “We found that Ari and Ria have never been waterskiing, Wawan, Dani and Sri think Titanic is a good film, and all the class want to go home.”
filler
Something meant to fill an unavoidable gap in a lesson. Typically lasts 90 minutes.
fluency
The ability to produce gibberish at speed. Far more important than accuracy.
FSW
Find Someone Who. Students stand up clutching bits of paper and gossip while the teacher sits down and wonders what to get them to do next.
Things like agreeing, suggesting, offering and insulting. For example, “Do you like hospital food?” is either asking someone their opinion or warning them to shut their gob.
Grammar
The G word. Once taught only by unimaginative fascists, but now possibly coming back into vogue.
hot correction
Pointing out a mistake immediately, instead of meaning to do so later and forgetting all about it.
jigsaw activities
Activities where students have differing and incomplete information, which they need to pool. For example, one has a map that shows only a garage, a hospital and a post office, while the other has a map that shows only a library, a school and a restaurant. This information gap is meant to reflect a real-life reason for communication. As in real life, students efficiently bridge the gap by showing each other their maps.
L1 interference
First language interference. The reason you give for your students speaking such dreadful English.
language aims
Something you need to write out at length on a lesson plan.
lesson plan
An over-ambitious document that you give your DOS before an observed lesson.
materials development
Photocopying pages from books and laminating them.
mingling
Pointless activity that uses up loads of time and gives you a chance to sit down.
mistakes
Quite distinct from errors (q.v.).
needs analysis
Pointless ritual you are meant to do when starting a new class, especially a company class. The students do not have a clue what they need—and will usually answer, “Grammar. And speaking. Oh, and writing.” But it looks good and keeps your DOS happy.
NLP
Neuro-Linguistic Programming™. Barmy and rather sinister methodology that teaches you how to “program your brain”.
noticing
Vogue word in ELT theory. In ELT practice, what teachers cannot help doing when (say) Irma comes into class wearing an extremely tight school uniform.
overteaching
Dangerous thing to do. Point this out to your DOS when he asks why you did not cover some crucial point in an observed lesson.
pairwork
Activities where students gossip animatedly in their native language and the teacher cannot work out what anyone is saying.
peer correction
Getting students to “correct” the errors (or mistakes) of their classmates, giving you a chance to nip out for a cigarette.
phonemic symbols
Those squiggles on the wall chart that neither students nor teachers understand.
PPP
Presentation, Practice, Production. Old-fashioned methodology, where you teach the students something like “be going to” for future plans, then they practise simple sentences (controlled practice), then they start using it all the time (free practice). The only problem with PPP is that it does not work.
prep
Lesson preparation. Fresh off the Celta this takes about 2 hours, after six months of teaching, 10 minutes, after 2 years of teaching, 0 minutes.
pron
Pronunciation, “that part of a student which is the same at the end of a language course as at the beginning.” (Tom McArthur)
realia
Things you can lug into the classroom to impress your DOS. For instance, if you are teaching the names of parts of a bicycle, you wheel in your old bike. Only done by teachers fresh off the Celta.
recent research suggests
Key phrase used in English teaching journals to justify the writer’s latest barmy idea. (The research is never cited.)
role play
Good time-consuming skive.
senior teacher
The lance-corporal of the ELT platoon. Earns fractionally more money in return for numerous thankless tasks like doing placement interviews, relabelling cassettes, laminating games, attending extra meetings and nodding sympathetically while teachers whinge about the timetable.
Silent Way
Barmy methodology, where the teacher rarely opens his mouth. Potentially useful ploy if you do not know what to say.
student-centred learning
Good phrase to use when you are trying to explain why you were out of your classroom having a fag, chatting up the front desk staff, etc.
study centre
Ill-lit cupboard with a few ancient books that nobody borrows, some dog-eared magazines with the pictures missing, and possibly a computer used by the school caretakers to look at pornography.
Suggestopaedia
Barmy methodology, where students lounge about listening to baroque music. Possibly worth trying, if you happen to like baroque music.
task-based learning
Brilliant skive. You and the students just sit about, writing a brochure or drawing pictures or building a website, and you never have to teach them grammar or anything. They just magically absorb English. Highly recommended, if you can get away with it.
teacher-induced error
This is when, in ignorance or drunkenness, you tell the class something like, “Use will for plans and be going to for spontaneous decisions.” It instantly becomes the one grammatical commandment they will never ever forget.
TOEFL
Bizarre American exam, in which candidates listen to robots intoning things such as, “Wow, I sure hope my meticulously assembled entomology collection has not gotten misplaced by the faculty janitors.” A deep-voiced robot then asks, “What does the woman mean?”
TPR
Total Physical Response. Barmy methodology, in which the students act out instructions from the teacher. Still in vogue, so worth droning on about if you want to look keen.
translation
Despicable practice abhorred by keen teachers and craved by all students.
TTT
Teacher Talking Time. What the students think they have paid for, but DOSes do not like.
Vulcan mind meld
As practised by Mr Spock on Star Trek. Not actually part of current ELT methodology, but probably the only way you will ever get your students to learn English.
workshops
Ordeals arranged by sadistic DOSes to sabotage the teachers’ mornings off.
zero conditional
A structure taught for no very good reason at a low level. Useful if you want to say conversation-stopping things like, “If you heat water to 100°, it boils.”
New terms
language bandit
Annoying student who arrives 10 minutes early or sticks around at the end of a lesson and engages you in meaningless banter just to get a few more minutes of “free” English. This species can also be found in their droves at Language Fairs. (Thank you, Fergus Crossen, who attributes this coinage to his uncle, Ernie Crossen.)
PEQ
Preparation/Execution Quotient: the time spent planning an activity divided by the time spent doing it in class. For example, the hour you spend searching the Internet for a ten-minute filler would have a quotient of 6. A fifty-minute role play that took you five minutes to dream up would be 0.1. Any activity that has a PEQ greater than 0.5 should definitely be avoided.

Why do Muslims stick their feet in the sink in public restrooms?

It's called 'wudhu'/ablution and it's about cleaning up/purifying one's body before standing for prayer, not the other way around as bystanders might think!
I thought of putting up this post when I recently heard people denouncing the ritual (especially when performed in a public restroom) as ''gross'' and ''unhygienic''.

The method of performing ablution comes from directly from the Qur'an:

''O you who believe! When you prepare for prayer, wash your faces, and your hands (and arms) to the elbows; Rub your heads (with water); and (wash) your feet to the ankles. If you are in a state of ceremonial impurity, bathe your whole body.

But if you are ill, or on a journey, or one of you comes from offices of nature, or you have been in contact with women, and you find no water, then take for yourselves clean sand or earth, and rub therewith your faces and hands, Allah does not wish to place you in a difficulty, but to make you clean, and to complete his favor to you, that ye may be grateful.” (Chapter 5, Verse 6)

Before a Muslim performs his prayers, he carries out the ablution movements mentioned in the above verse as well as others, which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has added.
Thus, the ablution comprises of washing the hands, arms right up to the elbow, face, mouth, nostrils, and feet up the ankle, all three times each. The inside and behind the ears, as well as the part of the head above the forehead is wiped once.

Done five times a day, it not only cleanses these vital parts of the body from dust and dirt but also "softens" and refreshes them.1
Interestingly enough, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also encouraged doing ablution before going to bed. This same ritual is also encouraged by Yoga experts who say that washing important motor and sensory organs such as the hands, arms, eyes, legs, mouth and genitals before sleep using cool water relaxes the body preparing it for a deep sleep.2

Read the complete article here

So what happens when it's time for prayer and a Muslim's in a public place -- should they simply stick their feet in the sink and ignore all the horrified/disgusted looks they get?

This is being touted as an option:

I'm not sure how feasible / acceptable this would be, but speaking for myself, I'd rather perform my ablution in peace, somewhere private (since it is an act of worship as well) rather than show complete unconcern for other restroom users and perform it in full public view, knowing fully well that it might seem off-putting (to put it mildly) to some people.

Heard of the new 'Islamic' car?

New Islamic car to have compass to find Makkah
Agencies

Published: November 11, 2007, 10:16
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Iran, Turkey and Malaysia are planning to build an "Islamic car" that will have a compass to find the direction of Makkah, Malaysia's state news agency reported.
The proposed car will also have a compartment for the Quran and prayer scarves, the Bernama agency quoted an official of Malaysian automaker Proton as saying.
"The car will have all the Islamic features and should be meant for export purposes," said Proton's managing director, Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir.
"We will identify a car that we can develop to be produced in Malaysia, Iran or Turkey," he said during a visit to Tehran.
Syed Zainal said the vehicle was an Iranian initiative. "What they (Iran) want to do is to call that an Islamic car," he said.