June 23, 2009 - http://bit.ly/2z4SVJ

The Palestinian village of Silwan clings to a steep hillside facing the southern walls of Jerusalem's Old City. In the valley below, Al Bustan neighbourhood stretches out in the shadow of Haram al-Sharif, also known as the Temple Mount. It is a setting rich in meaning for Muslims, Jews and Christians. But the Israeli authorities in Jerusalem have plans for the network of narrow alleyways and walled compounds that make up Al Bustan. They say the area has been ear-marked for parks and open spaces – and most of the homes here were built without permits. Which is bad news for Khaled Mohammad Rouwady, his children and grandchildren who live crammed together in a few small rooms. Their house is among 88 buildings which have received demolition orders from the Israeli-controlled Jerusalem municipality.

The family has to pay heavy fines every month for living in what the authorities describe as an "illegal structure". "They give building permits to the Jews," Rouwady complains. "They give them everything they need. But the Arabs living here in Jerusalem – they are finished, destroyed. They pay municipal taxes, they pay fines, but they have no rights."

If the municipality proceeds with its demolition plans, 1,500 people will become homeless. At one stage, local officials proposed moving the whole community to land in the Beit Hanina area on the outskirts of Jerusalem, far away from the holy sites. The people of Al Bustan said no. Instead, they submitted an alternate zoning plan for their neighbourhood, which was rejected by the district planning commission of the interior ministry.

Another person who risks losing his home is the local imam, Sheikh Mousa Mahmoud Odeh. He believes there is a systematic plan to remove Palestinians from areas close to the Old City and redevelop the area for Jewish residents and the tourism industry. And he accuses the municipality of working hand-in-hand with right-wing Jewish settler groups. "I see a black future," said Sheikh Mousa. "The Jews are trying to displace all the Palestinians – from Silwan and from Jerusalem itself – so they can build a so-called 'holy basin'. "They consider all places overlooking Al-Aqsa mosque to be part of that holy basin. I think that we have lost Jerusalem."

As the Palestinians are being squeezed out, the settlers are creeping in. There are now about 70 Jewish families living in the Silwan area. They either buy homes from Palestinians or simply grab them under Israel's Absentee Property Law, claiming that they have been abandoned. The Jerusalem municipality denies that it is involved.

"We don't have a plan as far as how many Jews or Arabs will live in East Jerusalem," says Yakir Segev, a member of the city council recently appointed by Mayor Nir Barkat to oversee the Arab eastern part of the city. "When the municipality defines a certain area as a residential area, it doesn't say whether it's going to be Arab houses or houses for Jews. This is up to the owner of the land to decide." The threat of this mass demolition has provoked a huge outcry. The Fourth Geneva Convention forbids an occupying power from destroying the property of people living in the territory it controls. However, the Palestinians are under no illusions about Israel's attitude to international law – and the people of Al Bustan remain vigilant.

The hope to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the Temple has been a dream of the Jewish people for the last two thousand years. Millions of evangelic Christians pray for it, as well as "Free Masons" and other people. The Temple Foundation has been soliciting donations to build the Temple since the 1970's. Later, at least two yeshivas (training schools for rabbi's) began indexing people who are descended from the priests and levites to train to conduct Temple services and rituals. Yeshiva Torat Haim and Yeshiva Aterit Cohanim both train students in Temple practices and have since the mid 1980's in Jerusalem. The Temple Institute has sponsored the creation of musical instruments, and the implements to be used in the Temple. Behind the scenes, these and many other organizations have laid the groundwork for a 3rd Temple to be constructed in very short order and be fully operational. Once construction of the 3rd Temple begins, all these opposition views will quickly melt away as Jews around the world realize that this is their opportunity to participate in an historic event, the rebuilding of the Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Temple Mount visit stirs anger - http://bit.ly/GwVl4
JERUSALEM, June 23 (UPI) -- Israel's internal security minister toured the Temple Mount Tuesday generating a harsh response from Muslim officials who called the visit provocative. Minister Yitzhak Aharonivitch's tour of Temple Mount and al-Aqsa mosque was to determine if police deployment in the area was adequate, Ynetnews.com reported Tuesday. The site is considered the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest place in the world for Jews. The minister was accompanied by Israel's police commissioner and senior police officers during the entire visit, which lasted two hours, the Web site said. Arab parliamentarian Taleb al-Saana accused Aharonovitch of trying to ignite the situation, the site said. "If the purpose of this visit is to provoke Muslims and try to show them who is in charge then he is trying to ignite a war and he will face the consequences," al-Saana said.

Netanyahu told the audience, “Some politicians are trying to blur the importance of the Temple Mount to the Jewish People by referring to it as the ‘Holy Basin.’ We, as Jews, know who built the Temple Mount.” The term “Holy Basin” refers to the area of the Temple Mount, the Mount of Olives, Mount Zion and a variety of Christian holy sites which the administration of former U.S. President Bill Clinton recommended be administered under a “special regime.” http://bit.ly/pF13

Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the Islamic Movement's northern branch, spoke Wednesday afternoon in front of Muslim students at Haifa University and warned them that Benjamin Netanyahu was intending on completing his plan to gain control of the Temple Mount, which he said the prime minister had tried to do during his first tenure. He noted that he had rejected the Shin Bet's offers to agree to concessions in Jerusalem. "We love life, our families, our homes and our children, but if they suggest that we give up our principles and holy sites, we would rather die and we will welcome death." Salah claimed that the government continued constantly to dig tunnels under the Temple Mount and the al-Aqsa Mosque, and that Netanyahu was planning to complete during his current term what he did not complete during his first one – "to dig additional tunnels under al-Aqsa and rebuild the Temple on the Temple Mount."

What are we to make of Obama’s speech at Cairo University in Egypt?

Cairo is the capital of Egypt, an American puppet state whose ruler suppresses the aspirations of Egyptian Muslims and cooperates with Israel in the blockade of Gaza.

In contrast to the Islamic University of Al-Azhar, Cairo University was founded as a civil university.  Obama’s Cairo university audience was secular.

Nevertheless, Obama said startling words that many Muslims found hopeful. He said that colonialism and the Cold War had denied rights and opportunities to Muslims and resulted in Muslim countries being treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations.  The resulting blowback from “violent extremists” bred fear and mistrust between the Western and Muslim worlds.

[...] Obama’s most explosive words pertained to Israel and Palestine:  “Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel’s right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine’s. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements.”

Obama declared that “the only resolution [to the conflict] is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security. That is in Israel’s interest, Palestine’s interest, America’s interest, and the world’s interest. That is why I intend to personally pursue this outcome with all the patience that the task requires.”

For Obama’s commitment to be fulfilled, Israel would have to give back the stolen West Bank lands, dismantle the wall, accept the right to return, and release 1.5 million Palestinians from the Gaza Ghetto.  As this seems an unlikely collection of events, the nature of the “two-state solution” endorsed by Obama remains to be seen.

[...] But were the extravagant words other than a premier act of schmoozing Muslims designed to quiet the Muslim Brotherhood in our Egyptian puppet state and to get Muslims to accept US aggression in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan?

Obama decries regime change, but continues to practice it, invoking women’s rights to gain support from secularized Arabs.  He admits that Iraq was a war of choice but claims that al Qaeda, the Taliban, and 9/11 make Afghanistan a war of necessity.

[...] America’s wars are all wars of choice.  The more than one million dead Iraqis are not al Qaeda.  Neither are Iraqi’s four million refugees.  Yet, Obama says Iraqis are better off now, with their country in ruins and a fifth of their population lost, because they are rid of Saddam Hussein, a secular ruler. No one has a good tally of the dead and refugees America has produced in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, declared Obama, “The situation in Afghanistan demonstrates America’s goals and our need to work together.”

In his first 100 days, Obama managed to create two million Pakistani refugees.  It took Israel 60 years to create 3.5 million Palestinian refugees.

What Obama has really done is his speech is to accept responsibility for the neoconservative agenda of extending Western hegemony by eliminating “Muslim extremists,” that is, Muslims who want to rule themselves in keeping with Islam, not in keeping with some secularized, Westernized faux Islam.

[...] Obama said that “human progress cannot be denied,” but “there need not be contradiction between development and tradition.”  However, the West defines development and education.  These terms mean what they mean in the West.  Muslim extremists understand that these terms mean the extermination of Islam.

In typical American fashion, Obama offered Muslims money,  “technological development,” and “centers of scientific excellence.” All the Muslims have to do is to cooperate with America and be peaceful, and America will “respect the dignity of all human beings.” http://bit.ly/ebk1e

Indeed, Allah creates children with pure innate nature, and whatever defects that happen later is the result of bad education. The Prophet(ppuh) is reported to have said: “Every child is born on Fitrah (man’s innate disposition to monotheism), his parents make him Jewish, Christian or a fire worshipper.” That is why Islam has ordered parents to take care of their children and to bring them up according to the Islamic manners.

The Prophet (ppuh) is reported to have said: “All of you are guardians and all of you are responsible for things under your guardianship; the ruler is a guardian (managing his state’s affairs) and he is responsible for things under his care, the man is a guardian over his family and responsible for them, the woman is a guardian of her husband's house and she is responsible for it. All of you are guardians and responsible for things under your control.” Men and women, fathers and mothers share the responsibility to raise up, educate, and build the new generation in the correct method and the right way. Man has in him the good and bad tendencies, so parents must encourage and grow the good tendencies in the child so he can become a useful person that helps himself and his people.

The protection of yourself and your family from Hell-Fire will be with good education, the practice of good morals and the guidance to nobility. Islam does not distinguish between male and female with regard to the education requirements. The Prophet (ppuh) is reported to have said: “Whoever has a daughter, tutors her on good morals, educates her well and feeds her properly; she will be a protection for him from Hell-Fire.” What do we mean by good education? The good education means the physical, mental and moral preparation of the child so he can become a good individual in the good society. Methods for Moral Upbringing:
1- Showing the values of good and bad deeds and their effects on the individuals and society.
2- Bien a good example in their behavior because children like to imitate their parents in their sayings and their deeds.
3- Teaching the child the religious principles and tutoring him in worship.
4- Treating children nicely and kindly. When thr Prophet (ppuh) was leading the pray, his grandson Al-Hasan rode his back while he was bowing. The Prophet (ppuh) lengthened his bow. When he finished his prayer, some Companions said, “You lengthened your bow?” Then the Prophet (ppuh) answered, “My grandson rode my back and I hate hastening him”
5- Teaching your children to choose the good company because children are always influenced by the company they keep. The Prophet (ppuh) warned us by saying, “Man is inclined to get influenced by his friend's manners, so one must be careful in choosing friends.”
6- Encouraging the child's sense of belonging to the Muslim Ummah, by teaching him of the brotherhood between Muslims, teaching him to care for Muslims, and that he is part of the Muslim body, to feel joy when Muslims are joyous, to feel sad for Muslims' sadness, and to do best to achieve the Muslim Ummah’s goals. This can be done through: A- Taking children to Mosques and introducing them to others regardless of race, language, or origin. B- Teaching them the history of the Prophet (ppuh) and his Companions and the history of Islam. D- Taking part in the celebrations and festivals with Muslims, and sharing picnics and creating ties with their Muslim friends.
7- Imbuing in children the feeling of love of Allah, His Prophet, Muslims, and all people. This love will lead to special behavior towards all those loved.

These are general guidelines to raise our children Islamically, so every Muslim must take care of his children and know the correct path that must be followed. This will help us do the job we are entrusted to do as Allah proscribed, as well as the responsibility the Prophet (ppuh) has clarified, with aim of protecting the future generations of Muslims.

Phone lines are tapped legally but without the owner's consent, e-mails and credit card numbers are read and stolen. Personal information is not personal anymore. Governments are quietly leeching our freedom away. Ranging from requirement to produce documents on demand, through to the extent to which states force ISP’s and phone companies to retain data, the blurring of boundaries between police and intelligence work and ultimately the breakdown of the principles of habeas corpus.

Dame Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5, has warned that the fear of terrorism is being exploited by the Government to erode civil liberties and risks creating a police state. “Since I have retired I feel more at liberty to be against certain decisions of the Government, especially the attempt to pass laws which interfere with people’s privacy,” Dame Stella said in an interview with a Spanish newspaper. http://bit.ly/yhIYP

Ottawa to seek biometric data on all visitors
The incoming head of Canada's spy agency says new rules requiring digital fingerprints and photos at foreign visa offices will be extended to every visitor from any country in the world – including close European allies such as France and Britain. Speaking in his current position as deputy minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Richard Fadden said the use of such biometric data will be phased in over time, starting with countries considered to pose higher security risks. http://bit.ly/Upufc

Indian state to implement biometrics in schools
The system they intend to implement soon would see the monitoring of daily attendance of both teachers and students via a biometrics check-in system. Though all schools enrolled in the program would be setup to be monitored via the web by a central location, it would require that each school upload their daily data to the municipal school authority Web site. http://bit.ly/Uwvm3

US Begins Collection of Biometric Information on Non-Citizens Departing Country
The Obama administration is launching a pilot program to collect biometric information from non-U.S. citizens when they leave the country. The federal government began testing the system at two big city airports this week. The initiative is the latest effort, following the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, to keep track of those who come to and depart from the United States. http://bit.ly/pPfDG

Middle East and Asia to take lion's share in biometrics market
In the Middle East, companies and governments are increasingly using biometric security systems to verify the identity of individuals at corporate and government sites, as well as at border points and airports. The regional biometrics market was estimated to be worth almost $500 million (Dh1.84 billion) in 2007, according to published reports. Only recently, the UAE government spent about $55 million on cutting-edge biometrics technology to implement the National ID system, which in turn will generate some revenues. http://bit.ly/BciBd

Phone Tapping in Turkey Raises Privacy Concerns
In Turkey the revelation last month by the ministry of justice that 70,000 telephones have been monitored by the state in the last three years, has provoked a major controversy.  Many of the telephone taps are related to an ongoing investigation and trial into an alleged conspiracy by a secular nationalist group known as Ergenekon to overthrow the Islamic rooted government now controlled by the AK Party. But there is an increasing feeling that the investigation could turn Turkey into a big brother state. http://bit.ly/140VcM

Few news outlets encourage the purposeful free distribution of opinions and facts. The Lehigh Acres Citizen and some independent papers and magazines are still following the policy that freedom of expression is the foundation of a government by the people and so do many news outlets online.

I have written this time about a menace that has virtually consumed politics in America and through this shakes the entire world monitory system. Few of us are privileged to have lived before the Federal Reserve Banks were given license to enter into the business of controlling the economy. Standardized history taught in public schools does not question the policy of granting private economists the means to create and control the money for our use.

There were however respected leaders in America who warned us not to let the world bankers have this license, principal among them Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and finally Woodrow Wilson, who lamented after presiding over the sanctioning of the Federal Reserve that it was the worst mistake of his presidency in 1913.

In our time a man who has always been involved in governing our nation but never elected made this statement," Who controls money can control the world." This man's name is Henry Kissinger and he is dead serious.

This very influential man taught men like Barak Obama at Harvard and advocates the New World Order; whose promoters are today seizing upon the economic crisis to gain absolute power over governments and populations. Through Washington's revolving doors walk the elite, most of whom believe that we have never been able to govern ourselves, thus a government outside the U.S. by which people of all nations are governed is required.

This government does not need the approval of voters or any advice from the working men and women who grind out its daily food and hardware. The entire plan has been worked out by people who deliberate in non public meetings then advise their students, (our elected officials in Washington.) See the Project For a New American Century and the Council on Foreign Relations.)

The electoral process at the federal level is so influenced by money that selection of a candidate for one of the federal offices has the characteristics of a theatrical show. Certain contacts and various pledges have to be made or one does not gain the ability to win. High above organizations like the NRA, AARP, Catholics and the Evangelicals are the real barons of politics, the industrialists and developers who work under the umbrella of capitalism to promote communism.

They hate middle class standards unless they are promoting the concept commercially to sell us things on credit.

They want us to owe them because their money comes cheap, most of it free. The Federal Reserve bankers threw out the gold standard 50 years ago because they realized they can control far more commerce with paper and ledger entries. A millionaire today counts for little but uncertainty while a billionaire uses credit to buy things cheap that cost the owners years of labor and stress. The Federal Reserve grants power to "elected" officials and gives them license to be the miracle workers of society on a short leash.

Our angels of government discovered the magic of money creation without limitation many years ago and financed unpopular wars then financed the popularity to back the war with the consent of the industrialists who contracted to make the weapons and now hold our major outlet news reporters under their thumbs. These are the fat cats who spend thousands of hours a year in luxurious airplanes with offices and living quarters, talking around the world and keeping tabs on corporate officers and advising political "leaders."

This is the way industrialized nations are governed and all they need is the U.N. with the G-20 to bring us into their New World Order.

John C. Miller; Lehigh Acres http://bit.ly/mPL4s

The editor of The Muslim News analyses the Cairo speech
Ahmed Versi, versi@muslimnews.co.uk

I must admit President Barack Obama’s speech at Cairo University was a landmark speech. The tone and the language were refreshing. He was respectful and impressive. However, there wasn’t anything new, as most of what he said has been previously mentioned in Turkey in addition to various interviews.

He covered most of the issues that are of concern to Muslims around the world. His rhetoric was measured and balanced but on the political aspect of issues, he failed to convince. Take the example of Palestine and Israel. Obama acknowledged the sufferings of the Palestinians and Israelis. “Around the world, the Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust… [Palestinians] endure the daily humiliations – large and small – that come with occupation,” he said.

But when it came to politics, he, like his predecessor, took the pro-Israeli line. Obama asks the Palestinians to abandon violence but says nothing about the Israeli violence. “It is a sign of neither courage nor power to shoot rockets at sleeping children, or to blow up old women on a bus,” he argues. There was not a word about the greater Israeli bombing of Gaza in December and January when hundreds of civilians, including old women and children were killed.

He says violence to resist occupation does not succeed, so why did America lead military action against Iraq when it occupied Kuwait? Why did they use and are still using violence in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan to achieve their aims? Israel has been occupying Palestinian land for decades and diplomacy has never worked. Palestinians argue the world doesn’t care and the only solution left for them is resistance.

The US President also spoke on nuclear weapons and chose to pick on Iran, which does not possess, nor is there any evidence that it is pursuing the development of nuclear weapons, just mere suspicions. He remains opposed to Iran being allowed to enrich its own uranium when Japan, Brazil and others are allowed to, as it is a right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. In contrast, not a single word was uttered about Israel’s existing stockpile of between 100 to 300 nuclear weapons, the only state in the Middle East to have any. It seems when Israel is concerned, Obama, just like his predecessor, has not changed.

For the speech to have its impact, Obama will have to take courage and be fair and balanced on the Palestinian-Israeli issue. On Iraq and Afghanistan, US troops will have to leave; the earlier the better for the region. On Pakistan, use of drones which has killed many civilians, will have to stop.

The goodwill that Obama had when he became the President of the United States of America is slowly eroding. He has to match his actions to his rhetoric to bring about the change that he promised.

Showing off in worship: Among the conditions for any good deed to be acceptable are that it should be free of any kind of showing off and within the framework of the Sunnah. The person who performs acts of worship, like praying, in order to be seen by other people is a mushrik and his deed is unacceptable. Allah says: “Verily, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but it is He Who deceives them. And when they stand up for prayer, they stand with laziness and to be seen of men, and they do not remember Allah but little.” [TMQ 4:142]

Similarly, the person who does a good deed so that news of it will reach other people has also fallen into the sin of shirk. The threat of punishment for the one who does this was reported in the hadith narrated by Ibn ‘Abbaas, in which the Prophet (ppuh) said: “Whoever does things to be seen and heard by others, Allah will cause him to be seen and heard as an example to others.” Whoever does any act of worship for the sake of Allah and other people, his deeds will be unacceptable, as is stated in the hadith qudsi: “I am so self-sufficient that I am in no need of having an associate. Thus he who does a deed for someone else’s sake as well as Mine will have that deed renounced by Me to him who he associated with Me.” It may happen that a person starts to do a deed for the sake of Allah, then the urge to show off comes over him. If he resists that impulse his deed will still be acceptable, but if he submits willingly to it, then in the opinion of most of the scholars his deed will be unacceptable.

Superstitious belief in omens: This is a form of pessimism, as Allah says: “But whenever good came to them, they said, ‘Ours is this.’ And if evil afflicted them, they ascribed it to evil omens connected with Musa and those with him.” [TMQ 7:131]

Before Islam, if one of the Arabs wanted to do something like travelling, he would take hold of a bird and release it: if it flew to the right, he would take this as a good omen and proceed with his plans, but if it flew to the left, he would take it as a bad omen and cancel his plans. The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) gave his verdict on this practice when he said: “Al-Tiyarah (observing birds for omens) is shirk.”

This kind of haraam belief that goes against Tawheed also includes the practice of regarding certain times, etc., as inauspicious, such as not holding a wedding in the month of Safar, or regarding the last Wednesday of every month as a day of evil omen and ongoing calamity, or believing that numbers such as 13, or certain names, are “unlucky.”

It is also haraam to believe that handicapped people are bad omens, such as going to open one’s store but turning back upon seeing a one-eyed man. All of this is haraam and is part of the shirk for which the Prophet (ppuh) disowned people. Imraan ibn Husayn reported that the Prophet (ppuh) said: “He is not one of us who observes birds for omens or has someone else do this for him, or who predicts the future or asks someone else to do it for him, (and I think he said) or who practises magic or asks someone else to do it for him.”

The expiation required from the person who commits any of these sins is reported in the hadith reported by Abdullaah ibn Amr: “The Messenger of Allah (ppuh) said: ‘Whoever was turned away from doing something because of a bad omen is guilty of shirk.’ The people asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, what expiation is there for doing that?’ He said, ‘That he should say: O Allah, there is no goodness except Your goodness and no omen except your omen and there is no god but You.’” Pessimism is a part of everyone’s nature, to a greater or lesser extent; the best cure for it is reliance upon Allah (tawakkul), as Ibn Masood said: “There is no one among us (who will not feel pessimistic sometimes), but when we rely on Allah, He makes that feeling go away.”

People often associate certain things, events, or signs with good or bad omens that tend to differ from one culture to another. In preIslamic Arabian culture, when people would go out on business, they would try to determine whether their tasks would be successful or not [by looking] for any birds they might see. If a bird flew to their right, they would consider this to be a good omen [however] if a bird flew to their left, they would see it as a bad omen. [..] Apparently, this superstition was not limited to Arabs. In other cultures, people also looked to birds for sensing what may come about. The English word "auspice" is defined as "an observation of birds for omens."

Superstition of this nature is forbidden in Islam. It is contrary to the very concept that knowledge of the future is the preserve of God alone. It is also against the principle of putting our trust in God. Therefore the Prophet (ppuh) denounced the very idea of a bad omen, describing it as a form of associating partners with God. He said, "(Believing in) bad omen is (a form of) idolatry." Ibn Masud added, "It may occur to anyone of us, but God clears it away when we rely totally on Him." [..]

Despite this, people often experience some thoughts of bad omens when they hear something or see an event or an action taking place. Should this happen, believers must not entertain such thoughts for long. They should be quick to place their trust in God and rely on Him in all situations. When believers do this, all thoughts of bad omens are dispelled because they know that whatever befalls them comes from God. When we place our trust in Him, Allah is sure to enable us to overcome difficulties and to reward us for our patience when we meet adversity. [..] So, we have to differentiate between a temporary thought which we try to dispel by placing our trust in God, and giving in to bad omens. In the latter case, people change their plans, restrict their movement, and do different things to avoid what they think bodes ill for them. This is the sort of things the Prophet warns against. The first type is often unavoidable.

A man called Muawiyah ibn Hakam said to the Prophet, "I have only recently abandoned ignorant beliefs, and now God has favored us with Islam. Some of our people visit fortune-tellers." The Prophet said, "Do not visit them. " The man added, "And some of us associate bad omens with certain things." The Prophet replied, "That is something which they find in their breasts. Let them not be deterred from their purpose".

This hadith clearly distinguishes temporary pessimistic thoughts from giving in to bad omens. The distinction is at its clearest when people go ahead with whatever they are planning or what they is about to do, disregarding all negative thoughts and relying totally on God, and, on the other hand, giving in to such thoughts, changing one's plans and purpose.

All this concerns bad omens, but what about good omens? There is a clear distinction between the two, as appears in the following hadith in which Abu Hurairah quoted the Prophet as saying, "Do not entertain bad omens. The best of it is the good one. " Asked which is the good one, the Prophet answered, "A good word any of you may hear. " In this hadith, the Prophet gave a clear order that finding bad omens in any sign is unacceptable in Islam. [..] The Prophet explained that people normally find good omens in a good word they hear. [..] A good word may affect a person because it expresses some favorable feeling, or describes a positive situation. It is in human nature that we like fine expressions, beautiful scenes, peaceful surroundings, even when nothing of it belongs to us. Similarly, words that speak of a good thing happening to us soon are bound to have a good effect on us.  Slight modification from: http://bit.ly/6krOj

Astrology: Zayd ibn Khalid al-Juhani reported: “The Messenger of Allah (ppuh) led us in the morning prayer at al-Hudaybiyah after rain had fallen during the night. When he had finished, he turned around to face the people and said: ‘Do you know what your Lord says?’ They said, ‘Allah and His Messenger know best.’ He said: ‘[Allah says]: This morning one of My slaves became a believer in Me and one became a disbeliever. As for the one who said, ‘We have been given rain by the grace and mercy of Allah,’ he is a believer in Me and a disbeliever in the stars; as for the one who said, ‘We have been given rain by such-and-such a star,’ he is a disbeliever in Me and a believer in the stars.’”

Similarly, the one who reads the horoscopes in newspapers and magazines and believes what they say about the influence of the stars and planets is a mushrik, and the one who reads them for entertainment is a sinner, because it is not permitted to entertain oneself by reading things that contain shirk, because Shaytaan will try to lead him to shirk through this.

Yet another form of shirk is: Believing that certain things can bring benefit when the Creator has not made them so. For example, some people believe in amulets and spells, or wearing certain types of pearls or seashells or metal earrings and so on, on the advice of fortune-tellers or magicians or in accordance with inherited customs. So they hang them around their own or their children’s necks to ward off the evil eye or so they claim; or they tie them onto their bodies or hang them in their cars and homes, or wear rings with special stones, thinking that these things can relieve or ward off distress.

This without a doubt is contrary to the idea of relying on Allah, and will only result in making a person even weaker, like seeking medicine in a haraam way. These amulets obviously contain much shirk, such as seeking the help of some jinns and devils, or vague drawings and illegible writing. Some of these liars even write aayaat from the Quran, or mix them with words of shirk, or write them with impure substances such as menstrual blood. Hanging up these amulets or tying them to one’s body is haraam because the Prophet (ppuh) said: “Whoever hangs up an amulet is guilty of shirk.”

If the one who does this believes that these things can cause benefit or harm instead of Allah, then he is a mushrik who is guilty of al-shirk al-akbar. If he believes that they are a means of causing benefit or harm, then he is a mushrik who is guilty of al-shirk al-asghar, which includes shirk that consists of attributing causes to things other than Allah.

Swearing by something other than Allah: Allah may swear by whatever of His creatures He wills, but His creatures are not permitted to swear by anything other than Allah. Many people swear all kinds of oaths by things other than Allah, but swearing by something is like glorifying it, and it is not right to glorify anything or anyone other than Allah. Ibn Umar reported that the Prophet (ppuh) said: “Allah has prohibited that you should swear by your fathers. If anyone swears, let him swear by Allah, or else remain silent.” Ibn Umar also reported that the Prophet (ppuh) said: “Whoever swears by something other than Allah is guilty of shirk.” The Prophet (ppuh) said: “Whoever swears by trustworthiness is not one of us.”

It is not permitted to swear by the Kaabah, by trustworthiness, by honour, by help, by the blessing of so-and-so, by the life of so-and-so, by the virtue of the Prophet, by the virtue of a wali, by one’s father and mother, by the heads of one’s children, etc. All of that is haraam, and the expiation for doing it is to say La ilaaha ill-Allah, as is stated in the saheeh hadith: “Whoever swears and says ‘By al-Laat’ or ‘By al-’Uzza,’ let him say ‘there is no god except Allah.’”