Assalam-u-alaikum

December is the month of mixed feelings and emotions with lot of pleasant and unpleasant memories, disappointments and regrets for lost opportunities but also the inspiration, determination, hope and resolves to do better for the next year.

This month is also significant for Pakistan as a country and all of us as its nationals being a month of inspiration, remembrance and thankfulness for the biggest gift being the month of the birth of our beloved Qaid-e-Azam Mr. Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

2009 had been a difficult year for Pakistan as country and to some extent for each and every Pakistani. It has been the year of natural calamities, internal disturbance and economic hardships. This year we have lost lot of valuable lives in the senseless carnage and inhuman terror in the name of religion, nationalism and patriotism.

Whenever someone looses his way the most logical and sensible solution is to go to the start and take a good look on the original course decided for that journey, re-examine the landmarks and milestones established to reach the destination. Right now we are standing at a place, where we as a country and nation seem to have lost the direction and seem to be going towards the wrong destination. Here also we have to have the same basic principle to go back to the direction established by our Qaid through his vision, teachings, and actions. Let us once more examine sincerely the dream that Qaid-e- Azam has seen for this country and this nation. Let us make an honest and sincere effort to follow the guidelines provided by him during his struggle to get this country for us and them providing the example of his leadership through his actions.

We at the start of every year make various resolutions for improvement in our personal, professional and social lives, let us make one simple resolution for 2010 to devote ourselves and all our energies, honestly, sincerely and selflessly for our country. If we do that irrespective of our status and situation, we will make a great nation in no time and the clouds of gloom and doom will disappear from the horizon of our great country.

COUNTRYMEN!!! LET US RESOLVE TO MAKE PAKISTAN THE GREATEST NATION ON EARTH.

Pakistan Paindabad

Hundreds of high profile Pakistanis attended reception Dinner for H.E. Amjad Ali Sher, hosted by PAD

In a well-organized reception dinner, Pakistan Association Dubai welcomed H.E. Amjad Ali Sher, the newly appointed Consul General of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Dubai. The function hall of Crown Plaza Hotel was full with hundreds of high profile Pakistanis who gathered to demonstrate their unity for the service of their community. Among the prominent guests were Mr. Sadrudin Hashwani, Mr. Amin Chappel, Mr. Ahmad Abubakar Shaikhani, Mr. Arif Perdesi, .and Mr. Abdul Sattar Perdesi.

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The program started with recitation from the Holy Qur’an by Mohammad Talhq Muslim and a beautiful Naat - praise of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him – by Atif Raheem.

Muhammad Khaleeq, Secretary General of the association welcomed the honorable Chief Guest, H.E. Amjad Ali Sher, Consul General,. H.E. Javed Malik, Ambassador-at-Large, H.E. Riaz Bukhari, Head of Chancery, and Their Excellencies Consul Generals of various other brotherly countries. He shared the future vision and objectives of the association with the audience. Stressing upon the strategic importance of Pakistan he enumerated several features about the country that make it unique – among those the fact that Pakistan is the only Muslim Atomic Power.

With the help of a well-knit and beautiful presentation he shared with the audience glimpses of several commendable activities taking place at PAD. Beside activities related to welfare, sport and recreation he made special mention of recent PAD initiatives in the fields of education and healthcare. The hall was full of applause.

H.E. Javed Malik Ambassador-at-Large both expressed their thanks to the rulers of UAE and Dubai for their patronage to the Pakistani Community and pronounced their full support for all the efforts of Pakistan Association that help our community to flourish and strengthen.

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Mr. Riaz Bukhari, Head of Chancery, on behalf of the H.E. The Ambassador, reiterated that the promise made by H.E. Yusuf Raza Gilani, The Honorable Prime Minister, to provide financial help for the construction of the community will be fulfilled very soon.

The Chief Guest of the ceremony, H.E. Amjad Ali Sher, the newly appointed Consul General of Pakistan, in his address, expressed his appreciation for the services of PAD and showed his deep concern and passion about the betterment of the community, particularly in the field of education. He assured the member of community that he will make sure that the construction of the Community Center at PAD premises is completed as soon as possible. He offered his all out support for this purpose.

In his concluding speech, Mr. Muhammad Riaz Farooq Sahi expressed his heartfelt gratitude for the Guest of Honor, Consul Generals from other countries, and all present dignitaries. He shared his conviction and passion with the audience about his and his team’s commitment for the completion of the Community Center construction project. He welcomed the community members to come forward and join hands in this noble effort.

Glowing faces of teachers, leaving the premises of Pakistan Association Dubai after attending a training workshop, were evidence of the fact that they were really charged up after attending the first-ever Teachers Training Workshop at PAD

On Friday, 12th December, the Education and Development Committee of Pakistan Association Dubai, headed by Mrs. Samina Nasir, organized an amazing Teachers Training Workshop that was attended by 55 teachers from Pakistani Schools in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Ajman and Sharjah. The session was conducted by Ms. Faiza Fiza, an excellent motivational speaker, professional trainer and a renowned poet from Al Ain.

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It was a highly interactive session, very different from traditional training programs which are normally crammed with lot of theory. The discussions were lively and touched upon real issues related to the obligations of teacher as a leader and role model, behaviors of students, class room techniques.

Faiza kept her audience glued to the topics. She, a teacher herself, brilliantly related each and every concept she presented to the everyday experiences of a teacher. Every participant felt as if the moderator was talking about her problems and issues. Among the attendees there was hardly anyone who did not actively participate. The 6-hour workshop was packed with activity and lively discussions. Several questions were raised and discussed in depth. In the feedback session, group leaders expressed their utter satisfaction and their desire that these programs should be turned into a continuous series of training programs.

“Our Ummah is created by Allah, the Almighty to lead the world. Our nation is full of talent. Our teacher is the one who can give direction and transform our coming generations into admirable professionals and men and women of high character”, said Muhammad, General Secretary of PAD in his brief speech after the session.

In his concluding address, Muhammad Riaz Farooq, the President of Pakistan Association thanked all the organizers and participants for their lively participation. He assured them that the association will leave no stone unturned in supporting the effort of enhancing standard of education in our institutions whereof teachers training is an important pillar.

PAD celebrates 133th Birthday of great scholar, National Poet and philosopher Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal

A fantastic and elegant literary ceremony was held on the 133rd anniversary of Poet of The East Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal under the auspicious of Pakistan Association Dubai (PAD). This event was presided by Mr. Riaz Farooq Sahi, president PAD while renowned intellectual Brig (r) Waheed uz Zaman chaired as Chief Guest of the event. A huge number of Pakistani citizens, residing in U.A.E, were present at the occasion. Children from Pakistani Schools situated in different emirates of UAE contested in a number of competitions as regards of the occasion. They presented stage shows, sing the everlasting poems of great Allama Iqbal, displayed their painting work and a lot more with great zeal & anthusiasim.

The first of all was a superb speech competition. The topic was
کبھی اے نوجوان مسلم تد بر بھی کیا تونے and participants were the young kids from Pakistani Schools. Audience was highly impressed and jubilant to listen the views of upcoming generation.

Their emotional attachment and love for a great man of previous century was flooding out through their words and expression. While expressing their views, young speakers were greatly cherished by the audience. Applauses were continued throughout the event which was a clear sign of involvement and interest of the spectators present at the occasion.

For this particular competition Senior & Junior groups were comprised on age basis. Both groups contested separately. Every contestant was well prepared and striving for the top spot but luck and judges were inspired by the speech of Arsalan Tariq Butt of Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zaid Pak Arab School Abu Dhabi. He was declared the winner among the senior competitors while Master Ahmad Tariq of Islamia Higher Secondary School Sharjah grabbed the second position. They were awarded with first and second prizes respectively. Juniors also have given impressive performance. Sunbal Niaz Afridi of Sheikh Rashid Pakistani School was awarded with first prize while Ridda Khalid of Pakistan Islamia Higher Secondary School Sharjah stood second.

Saad Masaood of English Medium School Dubai, Yasar Fahim, Aisha Muhammad, Abdullah Asif of Pakistan Islamia Higher Secondary School Sharjah, Haris Ahmad of Al Amal English High School Sharjah, Awais Anjum & Muhammad Farhan from Pakistan Islamia Higher Secondary School Ajman and Zain Ali from Sheikh Rashid School Dubai also participated in this competition. Renowned journalists Tahir Munir Tahir, and Sheik Pervez and famous poet Sarvat Zahra formed the judges panel.

Now it was the display of painting drawn by young painters of different schools expressing the teachings of Iqbal on the canvas.

نہیں تیرا نشیمن قصر سلطانی کے گنبد پر
تو شاہین ہے بسیرا کر پہاڑوں کی چٹانوں میں
was to the theme behind the paintings. This was great to see the wonderful use of colors for conveying the theme of above mentioned stanza of Iqbal’s poem. Spectators highly appreciated the nice work done by young artists. Everyone took keen interest in this display. While results were announced by respected judges, who were Mrs. Waheeda Zaman & Mrs. Humaira Umar, Abdul Maeed Mir of Pakistan Islamia Higher Secondary School Al-Ain was the victorious painter of the day. Arshia Komal of Pakistan Islamia Higher Secondary School Ajman grabbed the second position and both were awarded with first and second prizes respectively. Others contested in painting competition were Muhammad Faiq, Raja’a Hussain & Areej Qasim of Pakistan Islamia Higher Secondary School Al-Ain, Ma’aaz Athar of Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zaid Arab Pakistan School Humaira Sultan Hareem, Abdul Saboor, Syed Yasir, Rana Danial, Muhammad Ahab, Huzaifa of Pakistan Islamia Higher Secondary School

Tableau competition was based on some well known poems of Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal. Every group delivered wonderful performance in context with Iqbal’s poems. Two teams from English Medium School Dubai presented their amazing work. Teams after teams performed on different poems teams from English Medium School Dubai performed on
'لا پھر اک بار وہی بادہ و جام اے ساقی'
and
'خودی کا سر نہاں لا الٰہ الا اللہ'
Pakistan Islamia Higher Secondary School Al-Ain and Pakistan Islamia Higher Secondary School Ajman teams performed on
یا رب دل مسلم کو وہ زندہ تمنا دے
While the team from Al-Amal English High School Sharjah performed on 'مکھی اور مکڑا'. Every team gave wonderful performance, which was highly appreciated by the crowd.

Throughout the program, for keeping the audience intact, they were also given the chance of direct participation by answering questions about Iqbal and Iqbal’s life. They were awarded with on-the-spot prizes, gift hampers and a lot of applause from the jubilant crowd. This continued till the end of program.

Brig (r) Waheed uz Zaman was requested to address the young generation as well as their elders present. He delivered and heart touching speech, netted with glorious phrases from Iqbal’s poetry. He addressed the students in particular and insisted them to study the amazing life of our beloved poet of the East. He was very persistent to the new generation for adopting Dr. Iqbal as their role model. Pointing to them he said, “I am very much sure from the determination of this generation that they will color up the sketch of Muslim brotherhood, self-respect and truthfulness, drawn by the great scholar of previous century”.

In this presidential address, Mr. Riaz Farooq Sahi, President PAD, has said; Dr. Muhammad Iqbal was not a poet only, he dreamed the homeland for Indian Muslims, he sketched out the fundamentals of that particular homeland and lit the light of hope for disappointed Muslims of that part of the world which in now known as Pakistan. Mr. Sahi strongly recommended that for a respectful status among the global community we must turn our lives into the role model of Dr. Iqbal.

At this occasion he also expressed his commitment that on PAD’s platform, every mean will be used to bring the new generation close to the lives of our great leaders like Dr. Muhammad Iqbal. He also showed his keenness for constructing the proposed multipurpose ‘PAD Auditorium’ where such events can be celebrated with zeal and grace.

At the end of this glorious event, The Press Counselor Dr. Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, PAD’s President and Chief Guest distributed trophies & shields among the winners as well as organizers of the event. Mr. Talib Shah, the stage secretary, thanked specially Max-Care for sponsoring the gifts and trophies. Mr. Assad Ullah, Mr. Muhammad Talha, Mr Adnan, Mr. Anwar Ali and Asif were also thanked by the Association for putting their efforts for making the event a success.

The Government of Pakistan has announced National Internship Program funded by Asian Development Bank for the Unemployed student of Pakistan. So far very low number of applications have been received i.e. 527 with in Pakistan. The target is to have 10,000 application at least to utilize this fund OTHERWISE This FUND WILL BE LESS UTILIZED & WILL BE REVERSED BACK TO THE DONOR.

You are requested to inform your friends, colleagues, family members, neighbors who are eligible to the internship criteria. Below is the extract of the Advertisement Published in Dawn with extended on 13 November 2009 page # 13.

If you have done masters or completed 16 years education and you are 25 or less than 25 years of age Yet Unemployed. You have chance to join Prime Minister National Internship Program and get Rs.10,000 per month for 01 year.

Eligibility Criteria

1. Masters in any segment OR 16 years of education
2. Age Less then or upto 25 Years
3. Yet Unemployed

Submit your application along with your documents on the following addresses:

Islamabad

Ministry of Youth Affairs
Prime Minister secretariat
Islamabad.
www.nip.gov.pk

Balochistan

O&M/NIP cell,
Block 03, First Floor,
Room # 5
S&GAD at Civil Secretariat
Quetta - Balochistan
www.balochistan.gov.pk

Send to your respective district DCO,or drop your CV online: visit website www.nip.gov.pk

Today’s saving is tomorrows earning

It is worth reading,

Every Friday afternoon, after the Jumma prayers, the Imam and his eleven year old son would go out into their town and hand out "PATH TO PARADISE" and other Islamic literature.

This particular and fortunate Friday afternoon, as the time came for the Imam and his son to go to the streets with their booklets, it was very cold outside, as well as pouring rain.

The boy bundled up in his warmest and driest clothes and said, 'OK, dad, I'm ready!'

His dad asked, 'Ready for what' 'Dad, it's time we go out and distribute these Islamic books.'

Dad responds, 'Son, it's very cold outside and it's pouring rain.'

The boy gives his dad a surprised look, asking, 'But Dad, aren't people still going to hell, even though it's raining?'

Dad answers, 'Son, I am not going out in this weather.'

Despondently, the boy asks, 'Dad, can I go Please'

His father hesitated for a moment then said, 'Son, you can go. Here ar e the booklets. Be careful son.'

'Thanks, Dad!'

And with that, he was off and out into the rain. This eleven year old boy walked the streets of the town going door to door and handing everybody he met in the street a pamphlet or a booklet.

After two hours of walking in the rain, he was soaking, bone-chilled wet and down to his VERY LAST BOOKLET. He stopped on a corner and looked for someone to hand a booklet to, but the streets were totally deserted.

Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk to the front door and rang the door bell. He rang the bell, but nobody answered...

He rang it again and again, but still no one answered. He waited but still no answer.

Finally, he turned to leave, but something stopped him.

Again, he turned to the door and rang the bell and knocked loudly on the door with his fist. He waited, something holding him there on the front porch!

He ra ng again and this time the door slowly opened.

Standing in the doorway was a very sad-looking elderly lady. She softly asked, 'What can I do for you, son?' With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up her world, this little boy said, 'Ma'am, I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but I just want to tell you that ALLAH REALLY LOVES AND CARES FOR YOU and I came to give you my very last booklet which will tell you all about God, the real purpose of creation, and how to achieve His pleasure.'

With that, he handed her his last booklet and turned to leave.

She called to him as he departed. 'Thank you, son! And God Bless You!'

Next week on Friday afternoon after Jumma prayers, the Imam was giving some lectures. As he concludes the lectures, he asked, 'Does anybody have questions or want to say anything?'

Slowly, in the back row among the ladies, an elderly lady's voice was heard over the speaker.
'No one in this gathering knows me. I've never been here before. You see, before last Friday I was not a Muslim, and thought I could be. My husband died few years ago, leaving me totally alone in this world.. Last Friday, being a particularly cold and rainy day, i was contemplating suicide as i had no hope left.

So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic of my home.. I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof then stood on the chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my neck. Standing on that chair, so lonely and broken-hearted I was about to leap off, when suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs startled me. I thought, I'll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away.

I waited and waited, but the ringing doorbell seemed to get louder and more insistent, and then the person ringing also started knocking loudly....

I thought to myself again, 'Who on earth could this be? Nobody ever rings my bell or comes to see me.' I loosened the rope from my neck and started for the front door, all the while the bell rang louder and louder.

When I opened the door and looked I could hardly believe my eyes, for there on my front porch was the most radiant and angelic little boy I had ever seen in my life. His SMILE, oh, I could never describe it to you! The words that came from his mouth caused my heart that had long been dead TO LEAP TO LIFE as he exclaimed with a cherub-like voice, 'Ma'am, I just came to tell you that ALLAH REALLY LOVES AND CARES FOR YOU!'

Then he gave me this booklet, Path To Paradise that I now hold in my hand.

As the little angel disappeared back out into the cold and rain, I closed my door and read slowly every word of this book. Then I went up to my attic to get my rope and chair. I wouldn't be needing them any more.

You see? I am now a Happy Vicegerent of the One True God. Since the address of your congregation was stamped on the back of this booklet, I have come here to personally say THANK YOU to God's little angel who came just in the nick of time and by so doing, spared my soul from an eternity in hell.'

There was not a dry eye in the mosque. The shouts of TAKBIR..ALLAH AKBAR.. rented the air.

Imam-Dad descended from the pulpit to the front row where the little angel was seated....

He took his son in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably.

Probably no jama'at has had a more glorious moment, and probably this universe has never seen a father that was more filled with love and honor for his son... Except for One. This very one...

Blessed are your eyes for reading this message.

Don't let this message die, read it again and pass it to others. Heaven is for His people!
Remember, God's message CAN make the difference in the life of someone close to you.
Please share this wonderful message. Spread His Word, help Him and you'll see His hand in everything you do...

Q 5:3: This day I've perfected your religion for you, and completed my favor on you, and chose Islam for you as religion....