im new

[humbert]

No, if I change/install the language from the control panel I don't have to download fonts externally[Thanks to Microsoft]. YES you are right that MS Office gets its fonts from the OS installed.
To tell you frankly that while we install XP or any other OS, we don't even change the language and location settings and leave them as it is, though English is 95% used in writing documents or any other work, and HINDI is used just 5% in typing any documents,just because it is very difficult to type in Hindi on the English keyboard & nobody bothers to change the settings in the control panel [excluding me] & not even tries.

You know, your answer reminds me of many years ago when I was working, I was visited by 2 Indian gentlemen trying to sell me their refrigerant gas. I asked them that I had read somewhere that the Indian government passed a law with the intent of slowly phasing out English, and that what finally happened? The guys explained that the government was forced to back off on that law because removing English was impossible. It was there that he explained the many languages spoken in India, and the fact that in the South few people even speak Hindi. However, in all parts of India anyone who had a reasonably good education spoke English, and that if you wanted to run a business or have a decent job in India, if you didn't know English you were dead. He also explained that Engish serves as the "link language", e.g. an educated northerner and southerner will almost for sure converse in English because there's a good chance they don't understand each other's language. I might note that I've seen English as a link language in many other places too, even where it's not even official.

Just to tell you not many people in India are computer literate,they even don't know how to format a pc or install heavy or small soft wares. They only just know to make a copy of the installed XP using Norton ghost and when anything happens or any errors they just reformat it using ghost no using of XP compact drive[I fell pity for them]. You will not find a genuine XP cd in anyones hand except for some big companies who purchase bulk licenses from Microsoft because it costs too much [approximately 6-7 k for one copy in Indian Rupees], all XPs are pirated and the automatic updates are turned off to prevent the microsoft counterfeit software message.
not many computer stores have a Hindi or any other language keyboard,almost all or 99% use English keyboard so no computer store owner bares to keep a Hindi keyboard. If you want one you have to place order with advance money.

This phenomenon you're describing not only exists in India but in many places around the world. The vast majority or computer users I've encountered can barely use a mouse, and if they have a legal copy of Windows it's only because it came preloaded with the computer they bought. I remember once a "technician" wanted to charge my sister-in-law $20 for simply reformatting her hard drive! I don't know how people who do that sort of thing even sleep at night! And of course they have no idea Windows has to be maintained in order to keep it running properly, so as I mentioned before this thing about "my computer runs too slow" is endemic. As for languages and keyboards, now I can see why people over there won't even bother with using Hindi. Fortunately here we don't really have that problem because the languages of Western Europe (brought to the Americas by European imperialists) almost all use the Latin alphabet, so it's just very few character changes to memorize and the fonts stay the same.

why you left, anything strange happened? i believe that christian religion is the most similar to the Muslim religion, just the way of thinking has been changed that Jesus [Peace be upon Him] is the son of GOD, which is wrong [I believe] just because GOD has no Wife,Son,Daughter or any other Relatives. Jesus [Peace be upon Him] was just a messenger from GOD just as Muhammad [Peace be upon Him] was to make people realize that GOD is one and exists, and there will be Day of Resurrection, & Heaven & Hell exists.
Christians have mass on Friday and same as we do, You wear a cap and same as we do, you bury dead bodies,we do bury dead bodies, you have a small meeting after someone dies we do have a meeting.you bathe dead bodies before burying same as we do.

I left because the upbring I had was based on the imposition of terror and what I later discovered to be outright lies that were tought has historical truths. As a much younger man I even got to a point where I hated anything having to do with religion. As I got older and wiser, I realized that hatred is a useless emotion which damages only the hater, and it turned to respect and even curiosity. You are correct in the fact that Jesus' message was one of love and forgiveness, and the Muslims believe this too. In fact, despite my being essentially secular, I consider Jesus to be one of my favorite historical figures, along with fine minds like Da Vinci, Geordano Bruno, Galileo and Einstein. I might add that I am also familiar with the differences between Muslim and Christian beliefs regarding Jesus -- Maher himself clarified for me some doubts I had on the subject.

As for masses, to my knowledge they are celebrated by the Catholics and a few of the many other branches of Protestant Christianity which, in belief, are very close to Catholicism. Others simply have a service where they study the Bible and their preacher makes a speech. While masses happen every day except Good Friday (the day Christians believe Jesus was crucified), the Christian equivalent of Friday is Sunday -- so much so that on that day, throughout almost the entire Western Hemisphere and most of Europe, everything closes down. By comparison, in largely Islamic countries and even is Israel, Sunday is a workday like any other. And yes, you are correct -- the correct Christian practice is to bury their dead, although the practice of cremation is coming along simply due to the fact that it's just plain cheaper.

You can ask any Muslim about anything any time, just make sure that he is not angry before you ask anything.Though nature of the people differ, if anyone you ask, gives out a negative feeling that he is angry,immediately stop and make sure to ask that question to any other Muslim scholar.
"the media gives the impression that all who belong to their belief system are the same"
Yes many or all movies have Muslims as terrorists and so the Muslims have to hear sayings that who belong to the Muslim religion are the same just because of some ill mental Muslims who terrorize,the whole religion has to suffer.

It is precisely for this reason that I was afraid to approach him. Rest assured it would have been a very different situation if I had known the man. And as you correctly say, extremists fueled by news media reports are enough to make anybody paranoid.

The Muslim women wear a black clothing covering the whole body just to prevent harm from getting them, today's society's have very corrupted and very narrow minded people, just from getting sexually assaulted or raped Muslim women wear a black clothing.By wearing this clothing the private parts are covered and are not visible.In today's date you wont find a clothing which covers the private parts properly,if they are covered, they reveal the curves.So just to prevent from getting sexually assaulted or raped Muslim women wear a black "Gurkha".

Here I have to disagree with you and let me explain why. First and as you'll recall, I also saw 3 Muslim women at the waiting room. They too were wearing veils but NOT the full Grukha and you could easily see their faces. They were having a peaceful conversation among themselves. Nobody bothered them and they didn't bother anyone, and, just like the lady in the Gurkha, they were treated with respect by both the non-Muslims in the waiting room and the nursing staff. But my opinion doesn't end there. For an actual rape to happen, the first thing that has to be done is to go inside the mind of a rapist. These are sick people who are usually not sexually interested in a woman who is willing and able to freely have sex with them. Their sexual high comes from the actual violence and the feeling of helplessness imposed on their victims. Further, there are all kinds of rapists -- those that like children, those who prefer middle aged women, and of course those who prefer men and women older than 70. Even in the tropics of Latin America where men are generally more disrespectful than here and women wear less clothing due to the hot climate, most of what you see is guys saying "what a beautiful babe you are" or some comment like that -- believe it or not actual rape is almost unheard of. The MOST disrepectful ones might try to touch one of her tits (or something like that), and are almost always put down by a violent verbal response from the woman (this is infrequent, but it happens). Given that, I simply refuse to believe that in a religion such as Islam that has close to 1 billion followers, that most of the male population is into this kinds of violence against women for the simple reason that they aren't covered from head to toe, especially when you add to that the punishment for it is much greater than here.

Incidentally, if there's something about everything I said where my you believe my facts are incorrect, kindly point this out immediately. I always like to have correct information in my head -- or at least as close to correct as possible 

[Ahmad]

Hello friends, 

I simply refuse to believe that in a religion such as Islam that has close to 1 billion followers, that most of the male population is into this kinds of violence against women for the simple reason that they aren't covered from head to toe, especially when you add to that the punishment for it is much greater than here.

Sorry for interrupting your chat, but I read that and I wanted to comment.
In Islam, Woman shouldn't show from her body except "Face and Hands", Some don't show anything but what is necessary is not to show more than Face and Hands by wearing veil or any wide clothes.
Allah has set that as a protection for her from any hurt by any means <Bad look or touch or harassment> . You know that a bad look at woman's body is the beginning of Adultery which is forbidden in Islam.
So, If a woman wears wide clothes showing only her face and hands <If she is beautiful, she should cover her face too>, who will look at her with bad intentions ?!

I also want to clarify that it's not necessary to be exposed to harassment if she doesn't wear that. But when it happens, it never happens with a woman wearing a veil for example.
That is the purpose; not to be hurt.

Sorry again and I like you guys. You're very respectable.
Be well and safe. 

[BLADESHARK]

Hello Ahmad
Thanks for assisting me in replying for Mr. Humbert.

[Ahmad]

Hello Ahmad
Thanks for assisting me in replying for Mr. Humbert.

My friend Humbert <as he like to be called> and myself had a long chat before in things like that just to exchange culture.
Really, he is a very good man. 

[BLADESHARK]

"he is a very good man"
Yeah I feel the same.Mr. Humbert is indeed a very good/golden hearted man.

[humbert]

"he is a very good man"
Yeah I feel the same.Mr. Humbert is indeed a very good/golden hearted man.

To both Bladeshark and Ahmad -- thanks for the compliment. As they say here in America, "flattery'll getcha everywhere"    Also, please delete the "Mr" when you refer to me. Chronologically I may be a little older than you, but mentally I am a young man. Besides, Mr Humbert was my father (peace be upon him).

Commenting on Ahmad's post concerning how women should dress. If it is written in the Holy Qu'ran that women should wear veils, then it's a part of the Islamic religion and I respect it. If indeed that's the case, then why are some women dressed in a simple veil that just covers their hair but shows their face, whereas others wear the full black Durkha (spelling may be wrong)? I would imagine it has something to do with the different branches of Islam, i.e., regular Sunnis might have one rule, Wahabis (as in Saudi Arabia) have another, and possibly radical Shiites (as in Iran) have their own.

As I explained before, if this something written in the Qu'ran, I respect it. But if not, then in my opinion their logic is flawed. I explained to Bladeshark what I knew concerning people who would commit rape. Furthermore, while many men may be fresh (but not rapists), they are still in the minority. There's another fact that has to be factored into the equation -- by far the vast majority of attacks against women are done by their husbands or live-in boyfriends and not by strangers. Go to any women's protection shelter in any part of the world and invariably almost all these poor victims will tell you the same thing, and will even tell you no stranger has ever attacked them. Let me say 2 things -- of the 3 Islamic women I saw at the doctor's office wearing their veils, 2 were downright beautiful! The other thing I wanted to say is that, if I were a rapist, my next potential target would be precisely the lady in the Durhka. Why? Simply because she would probably put up more resistance, which enhances my sexual desire, and because since she is convered from head to toe, there's always the element of surprise, which is sexually interesting.

To summarize -- it is my opinion that the wearing of veils for other than religious reasons is essentially useless and clearly offers no protection against a potential attacker -- and not even the slightest if her husband is the attacker.

[Ahmad]

Hello dear friend, 

To summarize -- it is my opinion that the wearing of veils for other than religious reasons is essentially useless and clearly offers no protection against a potential attacker -- and not even the slightest if her husband is the attacker.

First, Yes, It's written in The Holy Qur'an and also our prophet <Peace be upon him and all prophets> told women not to show more than face and hands.
But there is no problem if a woman wants to cover them too if she was beautiful to make others not to stare at her <Her choice>.

Second, Protection is not the only reason for covering her body with wide clothes. It's also so as not to be a sinner by making men staring at her body parts ...  i.e. Example:
If she doesn't cover her hair, she would be a sinner by every man looking at her hair.

Third, you got it. 
We can't actually count the purposes of an order from Allah. We only try to conclude the cause of that order.
But it's said here that Allah has been known that he exists by mind [Thinking]. However, it's not necessary to understand all the purposes of his orders. i.e.
First, we become sure that Allah exists by evidences in all the universe and in ourselves. Then, we become sure that our prophet Muhammad <Peace be upon him and all prophets> is his messenger to us also by evidences like The Holy Qur'an and his miracles. From that, we have to believe every word from him and not argue with his orders to us as we won't understand all of them as we can't compare our limited thinking to Allah who has created us with that limited thinking.

What I don't understand is this:

and not even the slightest if her husband is the attacker.

If I understand you right and if you don't know, I want to clarify that between a woman and her husband, there are NO barriers [in dressing]. Also, she can be free with who can't marry her like her father, brother, uncle ... Example; She can show her hair in front of her uncle.

Take care. 

[humbert]

Hello Ahmad! I read your post regarding the proper way to dress for women in the Islamic religion. If as you way we're talking about a matter that's in the Qu'ran, then clearly there's not much more to discuss. It's part of the religion -- end of the story.

You said there were NO restrictions between a man and his wife. If that's the case, then does this mean there is no prohibition against bad men beating and abusing their wives? As I explained, it is here where the vast majority of abuse against women comes from. I don't know how things are over there, but in the US a thing like that is very prohibited, and as I explained before there are many shelters where women and their children can hide from their abusers. Are things much the same over there?

Also, what's the reason some women just wear regular veils and others the full, black costume that only shows their eyes (I forgot the name)?

[Ahmad]

You said there were NO restrictions between a man and his wife. If that's the case, then does this mean there is no prohibition against bad men beating and abusing their wives? As I explained, it is here where the vast majority of abuse against women comes from. I don't know how things are over there, but in the US a thing like that is very prohibited, and as I explained before there are many shelters where women and their children can hide from their abusers. Are things much the same over there?

No no, You should understand what I mean.
What I meant is that there are no restrictions between a man and his wife in dressing <That's in case you don't know that>

Of course, it's forbidden to hurt wives by any means. Men have to treat them very well and NOT to beat or abuse them. Our prophet <Peace be upon him and all prophets> ordered men to take very good care of their wives.

Also, what's the reason some women just wear regular veils and others the full, black costume that only shows their eyes (I forgot the name)?

I told you in the last post that the most important thing in women dressing is not to show more than face and hands and wear wide clothes not tight. It's allowed to cover face and hands as it is not mentioned to be forbidden... i.e.
If she doesn't cover them, she is right.
If she covers them, she is right.
If she doesn't cover part of her leg <for example>, she is wrong.
If a woman is very beautiful and fears to be stared at, she covers her face.

Be safe. 

[humbert]

No no, You should understand what I mean.
What I meant is that there are no restrictions between a man and his wife in dressing <That's in case you don't know that>
Of course, it's forbidden to hurt wives by any means. Men have to treat them very well and NOT to beat or abuse them. Our prophet <Peace be upon him and all prophets> ordered men to take very good care of their wives.

I told you in the last post that the most important thing in women dressing is not to show more than face and hands and wear wide clothes not tight. It's allowed to cover face and hands as it is not mentioned to be forbidden... i.e.
If she doesn't cover them, she is right.
If she covers them, she is right.
If she doesn't cover part of her leg <for example>, she is wrong.
If a woman is very beautiful and fears to be stared at, she covers her face.

Pardon me, I realize you've probably explained this to me before, but I'm still confused. I've noticed there are women who use regular veils where you can see their face and hands. Others use the complete black outfit which shows only their eyes. Do I understand you correctly, or is her dress a matter of personal choice as opposed to something either written in law or part of the branch of Islam she practices? From what I've seen both here and on TV, most Islamic women use the regular veil which leaves their faces visible, yet only a small majority use the full black outfit (I forget the name). I've seen that in Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Jordan and others, their faces are unconvered - yet in Iran and Saudi Arabia almost all use the full black dress. I'm believing (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that the Shiite extremists of Iran and the Wahabi fanatics of Saudi Arabia force them to wear the full black dress, yet where these people are not in power (such as the countries I mentioned), most wear just the veil that shows their faces. Naturally if she is Egyptian (for example) and prefers to wear the full black dress, no problem there. Can you clarify this a little further for me, and explain why in Iran and Saudi almost none wear the regular veil?

As for being considered pretty, I understand customs are different all over the world, but here and in Europe I have yet to see a woman become upset if I've complimented her on her physical beauty. Let me give you and example: just the other day in Mexico my wife's niece recently hit puberty and is turning out to be a very nice looking young lady. When I saw her, I said to her in front of her parents "my god, you're becoming a very beautiful young lady; if I were 100 years younger I'd try to be your boyfriend". She smiled and thanked me, and so did her parents. Not only were they not offended, they were greatful! Do I understand you correctly, or is a thing like this, even with an adult woman, viewed as a sign of hostility in Islamic countries?

Pardon me for asking for clarification, but when we come from very different worlds, it's often not easy to understand the mindset of other cultures.

Take good care,
Humbert