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* Dr Qais Ghanem wrote an email saying, ''A few weeks ago I sent out a glowing review about my book by Prof Abdullah Daar, surgeon and author of 2 fascinating books, “Garment of Destiny” and “The  Grandest Challenge”. Here is another one by author, critic and journalist Tarek Fatah, from Toronto, author of “Chasing a Mirage”, and “The Jew is Not My Enemy”.
''Qais Ghanem’s ‘Four Arabs’ starts with four Arabs involved in a Cairo car crash involving a drunk Arab colonel killing an Arab woman from Britain, sending her Arab husband into a coma and leaving their Arab host traumatized by the tragedy, which otherwise would have been a wedding reception.
In this beautifully woven story, one can feel the tragedy of the Arab world and its self-inflicted wounds, which most believe are pre-ordained by Allah as the destiny of the Arabs, a never-ending curse that began in 1258 CE with the fall of Baghdad and continues today in the Arab vs. Arab schism best reflected in the crash of cars in Cairo that Dr. Ghanem chose to jolt the reader. The addition of a gay Arab man from Lebanon with a flair for flirting with women adds to the richness of the Arab identity, so sullied by those guided by a seventh century God living just beyond Pluto. Recovering from his coma, the widowed Egyptian returns to Britain where the reader will find him with the other three Arab characters -his niece Samia in London; Sam, the gay Christian Lebanese who is real estate agent; and Abdul-Raheem, an Islamic cleric uprooted from Yemen.
These are the ‘Four Arabs’ who fill Qais Ghanem’s more than 125 page book with their opinions and discussions on ‘Democracy, Deity and Death,’ which is the sub-title of his book, but in essence, page after page, these four Arabs primarily discuss Islam as well as Sharia the 8th century laws whose weight has become the burden a billion Muslims today.
Every Muslim home should have a copy of ‘Four Arabs’ and they will find in it a reflection of the discussions all of us have, in varying degrees. Dr. Ghanem has done us all a tremendous favour and a service in using fiction to lay bare the truth we are told never to utter in public lest the ‘kufaar’ find a chink in non-existent armour.
Aden used to be the intersection where the Arab met the Indian and where Hindi, Urdu and Arabic interlaced with English in a rare coming together of two great people.
Today a son of Aden has opened the window to a land that once was.
‘Four Arabs’ will titillate the Atheist as well as the Mullah. For we Muslims are sons and daughters of Hallaj who supposedly challenged Allah and Ghazali who justified the beheading of Hallaj.''
To order the book click here.
* AramcoWorld website published an article by Stephen P. Blake, 2016, New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys, 978-0-7486-4910-5, $125. The article  was entitled ''Astronomy And Astrology in The Islamic World.'' The article was reviewed by Robert W. Lebling on September 15, 2018.
Blake demonstrates that until the late 16th century major advances in science were driven by the astronomers and mathematicians of the Islamic world, explaining that astrology was closely linked to the science of astronomy from earliest times. In both the Islamic and early European periods, scientists frequently funded their research by casting horoscopes, and predicting and interpreting celestial events. Blake traces the advance of scientific knowledge from the Abbasid era (mid- eighth to mid-13th century) to the Renaissance. Astronomer/astrologer
Abu Ma’shar, for example, powerfully influenced European thinkers. Al-Khwarizmi’s treatise on the motion and positions of heavenly bodies was the first Arabic work of its kind to reach Europe intact in the 12th century. Contributions of Islamic astronomy included major inputs from Islamic Spain and Central Asia.
Blake details the role of Islamic astronomers in developing observatories, astrolabes, celestial globes and other instruments. He tracks the transfer of Islamic astronomical and astrological knowledge to scientists such as Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton.
Read the article here.
* The debate on cholesterol is still heating up. Recently Dr. Muhammad Ali Al Bar sent the website  an article about cholesterol. It says, ''Cholesterol is finally officially removed from Naughty List. The US government has finally accepted that cholesterol is not a nutrient of concern. Doing a U-turn on their warnings to us to stay away from high-cholesterol foods since the 1970s to avoid heart disease and clogged arteries.
This means eggs, butter, full-fat dairy products, nuts, coconut oil and meat have now been classified as safe and have been officially removed from the nutrients of concern list.
The US Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for updating the guidelines every five years, stated in its findings for 2015: "Previously, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommended that cholesterol intake be limited to no more than 300 mg/day.
The 2015 DGAC will not bring forward this recommendation because available evidence shows no appreciable relationship between consumption of dietary cholesterol and serum (blood) cholesterol, consistent with the AHA/ACC (American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology).
The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee will, in response, no longer warn people against eating high cholesterol foods and will instead focus on sugar as the main substance of dietary concern.
US cardiologist Dr. Steven Nissen said: ‘’It's the right decision. We got the dietary guidelines wrong. They've been wrong for decades."
When we eat more foods rich in this compound, our bodies make less. If we deprive ourselves of foods high in cholesterol - such as eggs, butter, and liver our body revs up.
The majority of the cholesterol in you is produced by your liver. Your brain is primarily made up from cholesterol. Cholesterol is the basis for the creation of all the steroid hormones, including estrogen, testosterone, and corticosteroids.
High cholesterol in the body is a clear indication which shows the liver of the individual is in good health.
Dr. George V. Mann M.D. associate director of the Framingham study for the incidence and prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors states: ’’Saturated fats and cholesterol in the diet are not the cause of coronary heart disease. That myth is the greatest deception of the century, perhaps of any century.’’
Cholesterol is the biggest medical scam of all time.
There is no such thing as bad Cholesterol.
So you can stop trying to change your Cholesterol level. Studies prove beyond a doubt, cholesterol doesn't cause heart disease and it won't stop a heart attack.
The majority of people that have heart attacks have normal cholesterol levels.
OUR BODY NEEDS 950 mg OF CHOLESTEROL FOR DAILY METABOLISM AND THE LIVER IS THE MAIN Producer. ONLY 15% OF CHOLESTEROL IS BEING DONATED BY THE FOOD WE EAT.
If the fat content is less in our food we eat, our liver got to work more to maintain the level at 950 mg. If the cholesterol level is high in our body, it shows the liver is working perfect.''
Read more here.
* Alumnus Farooq Murshed sent a colorful presentation in the form of lecture about ''Healthy  Eating for Life''. The lecture says that, ''Our genes depend on good nutrition. People can delay the ageing process, avoid cancers, remain healthy, stay active, look young, and remain mentally sharp even when they become old.''
watch the presentaion here.
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