Super Best Friends Forever

I was chatting to my friend today and telling him how much I enjoyed listening to "Jesus Christ Superstar" this morning and how much I would like to have "Muhammad Superstar." He looked at me and said: "We would ALL die!"
After this not a very much promising phrase, he showed me something that reminded me once again why "Muhammad Superstar" will not be happening in my lifetime.
Apparently, the Super Best Friends Episode of South Park which was aired in 2001 in which Muhammad is shown many times went unnoticed and noone really did make a big deal out of it.

Muhammad standing next to Jesus and having Jesus's arm around him, wearing colourful clothes etc had caused no controversy and was totally cool with everyone?! 

No. not really.

In 2005, during the Muhammad cartoon controversy, this episode gets noticed and as the South Park people get threatened by some Muslim groups, the episode is taken down completely. 

Now, it is clear that "Muhammad Superstar" is not happening in the near future. What is not clear is: Are we moving backwards in time? 

"Learn the rules and then play better." Albert Einstein

Good news today -- a new Minister of Education was appointed in Azerbaijan. The reason I think this is good news is because I know him personally and believe in him. I used to work with him when I was very young and unexperienced and he was one of those very few people who could give good advice. Now, there is always a problem with good advice -- usually, young people with a bit of insanity (like me) are quite dangerous to give good advice to -- if you take away their insanity, you break their dreams...

In short, this piece is not about praising the new Minister. This piece is about asking the new Minister for more insanity! Mr. Minister, please, Baku needs crazy professors, mad teachers and insane instructors in order to help Baku to re-learn to dream. 

So, Mr. Minister, once you learn all the new rules at this new job, please play better: let us dream!

Eternal Sunshine of spotless mind

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!


The world forgetting, by the world forgot.


Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!


Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;

I recently came back from Baku and had a feeling that this poem applies to many people I know there. People with dreams, woke up one day to find out that their dreams are broken and they look around and see that what they believe in does not exist any more...

New things are happening in Baku, some good, some bad. There is a new beginning... Can we relearn to dream in Baku?

AzerDream1

Yesterday, Azerbaijan launched its first satellite in space. I enjoyed watching it online as I think that there is something magical about satellite launches -- taking off with an enormous speed and destroying everything on its way just to reach its dream, to reach the stars!
Although this is Azerbaijan's first satellite in space, it is not Azerbaijan's first encounter with space. Karim Karimov, a Soviet Azerbaijani scientist was one of the men behind the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin. Karim Karimov was the chairman of Soviet Aeronautics Committee who name was kept secret for a number of years due to his work with nuclear missiles.
After his retirement in 1990, he wrote a book - The Way To Space: The Notes of the Chairman of the State Committee. The book describes his work with famous Russian scientist Korolyov, their competition with the United States, the failures with the spaceships and the loss of astronauts.

Karimov was one of the many scientists who worked to make Gagarin possible. I like the fact that he was Azerbaijani, it makes me feel proud and it gives me faith that one day, there will be new Azerbaijani scientists who will send an Azerbaijani astronaut into space in a spaceship called AzerDream1.  

Adding faith to faith

How did the Muslim rulers see themselves after Prophet Muhammad? I was trying to find this out last week and came across something I was not expecting. They considered themselves as deputy's of God on Earth -- no more nor less. 

In their mind, God continued to keep the Muslim community under his protection by having his deputies implement his laws on earth.

This approach however changes as we see the scholars stepping into the scene and depriving the Caliphs of their spiritual role by nominating themselves as the spiritual leaders.

What does all this tell us about the positioning of the early rulers vis-à-vis Prophet Muhammad?

From the sources that we have, it is clear that the early Caliphs were positioning themselves on the same level and possibly higher than Prophet Muhammad and considered themselves to be as important for the Muslim community as Prophet Muhammad, whose task was to bring the message of God to the Muslims and empower them to continue the implementation of the divine law on earth.

Snow is beautiful.

"Snow is the precipitation in the form of flakes of crystalline water that fall from the clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless subjected to external pressures."
The abovementioned is the definition of  what snow is -- scientifically.
This is a very useful definition and I am sure many people have and are working for the purposes of studying snow.  But I hope they do not forget one important thing -- that snow is also beautiful!
The beauty, the magic seems to get lost in the endless efforts of understanding things. It is the same in everything, and of course I mean my studies.
You ride on your passion to get to where you want and once you get there, everyone tries to keep telling you that you must question everything, the passion you rode on, the path that took you there, and everything that is a part of your journey. I do not mind doing that, in fact, I enjoy that, but please can we also remember that is is beautiful?
It is almost midnight, and as I watch the snowflakes fall under the dim light of my kitchen balcony -- I think to myself of the snowy days in Baku, when I would spend hours playing with friends. Wherever it falls -- snow is beautiful!

Baku -- the city of dreams.

I have just come back from Baku. It was a fun trip -- my daughter's first birthday, the New Year celebrations and many other new meetings, etc.
The city is growing, changing very fast. It is only the Caspian Sea  -- calm, relaxed, romantic.. and the strong winds -- severe, cold but predictable that have remained the same.
I walked along the Caspian and thought a lot about Baku. I thought how beautiful Baku is and how everything that is changing, both good and bad, create many new ways and opportunities to love Baku.
The flame towers that rise from the centre of the city seemed to me as a decision that Baku has made -- the city is burning with desire to grow, to let the world know about it and to let the world love it! There are still many things to change, improve, develop in Azerbaijan. But Baku, the capital city,  has made its decision. Baku wants to tell its story to the world.
What can I do for Baku? I also want to tell the world about this amazing city where so much has happened and so little is known about. The city where my friends, family and I have learned to dream. Baku -- the city of dreams!