"God has given us the miracle of life with all its attributes: the extraordinary manifestations of sunrise and sunset, of sickness and recovery, of birth and death, but surely if He has given us the means with which to remove ourselves from this world so as to go to other parts of the Universe, we can but accept as further manifestations the creation and destructions of stars, the birth and death of atomic particles, the flighting new sound and light waves"(Aga Khan IV, 24th November 1963, Mindanao University, Phillipines)
"Islam is fundamentally in its very nature a natural religion. Throughout the Quran God’s signs (Ayats) are referred to as the natural phenomenon, the law and order of the universe, the exactitudes and consequences of the relations between natural phenomenon in cause and effect. Over and over, the stars, sun, moon, earthquakes, fruits of the earth and trees are mentioned as the signs of divine power, divine law and divine order"(Aga Khan III, 4th April 1952, Karachi, Pakistan)
Meteor shower puts on weekend spectacular
TENILLE BONOGUORE
From the Globe and Mail, Canada's National Newspaper
August 9, 2007 at 1:49 PM EDT
Canadian skies will be streaked with hundreds of meteors Sunday evening as the annual Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak.
The month-long natural light show began on July 17, but it is this weekend that sky watchers will be most eagerly scouring the heavens.
The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada is predicting 100 meteors an hour will burn trails across the atmosphere, starting about midnight Sunday night and lasting until the first light of dawn on Monday.
And the added bonus of having a new moon at the same time means there will not be any bright moonlight to spoil the spectacular, which can be easily seen with the naked eye.
North America will be perfectly placed to enjoy the Perseid meteors, named after the constellation Perseus where they appear to originate.
Sky and Telescope Magazine recommends people that find a dark place with a wide-open view of the sky, and sit back in a reclining lawn chair or lie on a blanket to avoid neck strain.
The later you stay up, the more meteors you are likely to see, the magazine's senior editor, Alan MacRobert, said.
Perseids can appear anywhere in the sky, so it is best to look at whatever section of the sky is darkest in your area.
Faint Perseid meteors appear as tiny, quick streaks, but brighter ones can sail across the sky for several seconds, leaving a glowing trail among the stars.
If cloud blocks the view, do not give up – some of the best showers of the Perseid show will be in the pre-dawn hours from Friday through Wednesday.
Each year, Earth passes through rubble left behind by the Swift-Tuttle Comet. According to Sky and Telescope Magazine, the debris slams into the upper atmosphere about 130 kilometres above Earth's surface, travelling about 60 kilometres a second, creating a quick, white-hot streak of superheated air.
The meteor shower is basically confined to the northern hemisphere: Few if any Perseids can ever be seen from countries like Australia, where the area of sky where the meteors appear is always near or below the horizon.
easynash
Idaho Falls, near the Craters of the Moon Monument, Idaho, U.S.A.
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation:Aga Khan 4(2006)
The God of the Quran is the One whose Ayats(Signs) are the Universe in which we live, move and have our being:Aga Khan 3(1952)
Our interpretation of Islam places enormous value on knowledge. Knowledge is the reflection of faith if it is used properly. Seek out that knowledge and use it properly:Aga Khan 4(2005)
All human beings, by their nature, desire to know(Aristotle, The Metaphysics, a few hundred years BC)
