Halal Food Guide for Muslims living in Korea

Assalaam-u-Alaikum all Brothers and Sisters,

This document has been prepared for your acknowledgement and guidance about the food available in Korea specifically and in other countries

in general.

Since pork is the biggest source of meat in Korea, and Koreans eat pork almost daily, so the chances become relatively high for the animal

byproducts to be from pork (animal byproducts in general and fats in particular are included in biscuits, chocolates, snacks and breads etc.).

1- 

Aworth mentioning issue here is that the ratio of usage of fat from pork is not equal to the %age of pork consumed as compared to the other animals. This

is because, other animals do not contain very high amount of fat, so they are very less likely to be used as animal fat source.

For example: Lets Assume that a product ‘A’ contains animal fat (shortening) in a country, and %age of pork consumption in that country is 70%, then it is

around 90% possible for the product ‘A’ to have fat from pork as compared to other animals.

(The numbers used in the previous example are just for elaboration and not a statistical survey)

Please note

:

1- Fat is usually called “Shortening”, either from animals or plants.

But, it is not all about “Shortening”, there are other words for animal fat also.

For example, the other word for shortening is

동물성유지, which means “Animal Fat” (Most probably pork fat if major source of meat is pork)

2- There is one exception for the fat (shortening) to be permissible, that is, if it is from vegetable/beans source. That exception is mentioned in the table

below.

3- The products such as biscuits and chocolates etc which are mentioned as Halal in this document are not guaranteed to be Halal, but in fact we

consider them Halal according to our

limited findings. Again, please note that this document is not a Fatwa on foods but is to give general

guideline.

2-

Please Keep in Mind that if you consider a foreign brand product to be “Halal” but if it contains the ingredients written in Korean language as well, then it

is not necessary for that product to be Halal. This is because; the ingredients policy of a company depends upon the type of local rules or population of a

country. In a less “halal aware” countries like Korea, the foreign companies will use those ingredients which they find easily available, so they wont bother

about Halal or Haram in that non-Muslim country.

The detailed description can be found through the source document, link is given below.
Source Document: Link

New Halal Items List in South Korea File-Link

Note: If you find anyother useful material then do share it.

Jazak-Allah

Ten Bad Habits

AVOID THE TOP 10 BIGGEST BRAIN DAMAGING HABITS

According to world health organization following are such habits that will damage your brain severely:

1. No Breakfast – People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level. This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.
...
2. Overreacting – It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental power.

3. Smoking – It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.

4. High Sugar consumption – Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.

5. Air Pollution – The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency.

6. Sleep Deprivation – Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells.

7. Head covered while sleeping – Sleeping with the head covered increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to brain damaging effects.

8. Working your brain during illness – Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the brain.

9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts – Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.

10. Talking Rarely – Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain.

Please pay caution and try to avoid such situations!!

Source: Link

Scholarships and Jobs in Europe

Biggest Scholarships and Jobs search portal in Europe.

Do look at it and search for your required positions of Scholarships of MS and PhD and jobs also 

http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/index.cfm/jobs/index

Courtesy: PSA (https://www.facebook.com/groups/psapk/)

Elixir Technologies Pakistan

Unforgetable moments: Elixir Technologies Pakistan

Scientific Paper Trail

Here's a cool infographic from our end of year round up (http://www.nature.com/news/366-days-2012-in-review-1.12042). The number of research papers published in 2012 by leading science nations, and the proportion of each country's research this year that is in the top 1% of most cited papers.

Source:Link

Common Mistake by Muslim Brothers During Prayer

Image Reference: http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/showthread.php?89491-Awrah-during-salat 

(Last Accessed on 12-12-2012)

Why we should wear enough clothes during prayer?

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly: 

‘Awrah in Arabic means a weak point along a border and the like. 

In Misbaah al-Muneer it says: Everything that a person covers out of dignity or modesty is ‘awrah. 

According to the fuqaha’, everything that it is haraam for a man or woman to uncover is ‘awrah. 

Covering the ‘awrah, in the terminology of the fuqaha’, means covering that of which exposure is shameful and causes shame, whether the individual is male or female or hermaphrodite. 

See: al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah, 24/173 

Secondly: 

Covering the ‘awrah is one of the conditions of prayer being valid because Allah, may He be exalted, says: (interpretation of the meaning):

“Take your adornment (by wearing your clean clothes) while praying”

[al-A‘raaf 7:31]. 

Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: What is meant by adornment in this verse is wearing clothes whilst praying. This was narrated by al-Tabari in his Tafseer, 12/391 

And the Prophet (sa) said: “Allah does not accept the prayer of a woman of childbearing age (lit. a woman who menstruates) except with a head covering.”

Narrated by Abu Dawood, 641; narrated and classed as saheeh by al-Tirmidhi, 377; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani. 

It says in al-Mughni (1/336):

Concealing the ‘awrah from view with something that does not show the skin is obligatory and is a condition of prayer being valid. This is the view of al-Shaafa‘i and ashaab al-ra’y. End quote. 

Ibn Hajar said: 

The majority are of the view that covering the ‘awrah is one of the conditions of prayer.

End quote. Fath al-Baari, 1/466 

Thirdly: 

What is required of the worshipper is to cover his ‘awrah whilst praying, according to the consensus of the Muslims. The ‘awrah of a man is the area between the navel and the knees, according to the majority of scholars. 

See: al-Mughni, 3/7; al-Istidhkaar, 2/197; Fataawa Islamiyyah, 1/427 

With regard to women, the hair and the entire body are ‘awrah and she has to cover them, apart from the face and hands. If she does that, then her prayer is proper, according to scholarly consensus. 

See: al-Iqnaa‘ fi Masaa’il al-Ijmaa‘, by Ibn Qattaan, 1/121-123; al-Sharh al-Mumti‘, 2/160 ff.

 Fourthly: 

If a person starts to pray with his ‘awrah covered, then during the prayer he is not sure whether some of it has become uncovered, then he should ignore that doubt and complete his prayer, because the basic principle is that the ‘awrah is still covered, and developing doubt about what you were certain about should not be given any attention. 

Al-Bukhaari (137) and Muslim (361) narrated from ‘Abbaas ibn Tameem that his paternal uncle said: A complaint was made to the Prophet (S) about when one thinks that something has happened whilst he praying. He said: “Do not stop until you hear a sound or notice a smell.” 

Al-Nawawi said: 

This hadeeth is one of the basic principles of Islam and an important foundation of fiqh, namely that things are deemed to still be as they originally were unless there is certain proof of the contrary, and passing doubts do not affect that. End quote. 

What the worshipper has to do is to prepare for his prayer before he starts to pray. So he should put on clothes that he is certain will cover his ‘awrah and leave clothes that he is afraid will let something of his ‘awrah show whilst he is praying, such as short T-shirts and other kinds of clothing which may rise up and show the lower back, lest some part of his ‘awrah be uncovered when he bows or prostrates. 

Source: http://islamqa.info/en/ref/126265/awrah 

Other Links: 

http://en.islamtoday.net/node/1424

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intimate_parts_(Islam)

http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/showthread.php?229-ANSWERED-The-fiqh-of-a-man-s-awrah

http://islamqa.info/en/ref/150

http://www.onislam.net/english/ask-the-scholar/acts-of-worship/prayer/conditions-of-prayer/175178-what-is-awrah-for-men-and-women-in-salah-prayer.html

Winning MS and PhD Scholarships In S. Korea

Reference: http://www.alertmagazine.org/images/scholarship.jpg

Dear All,

Let me explain to you that in Korea the easiest way to get admission and scholarship (both fee and living expenses) is first of all, you should search relevant professors of your choice and research interest. Then you should make a tailored made CV according to the interest of those relevant professors and send him/her that CV along with a short email stating your introduction and show your interest that you want to do master/Ph.D under his/her supervision. If a professor shows interest it means almost you have 99% chances that your admission is confirmed. In most of the cases, university provides tuition fee scholarship while professor provide monthly living expenses scholarship. It also means you have to struggle to get these two scholarships. If you get one then the other you have to pay by yourself and it is very expensive for individual. So, first of all, you should try to find “Faculty” => Professors profiles on the university website. Then what you have to do is:

1.Read all your major professors profiles, research interests and projects.

2. Make your CV research oriented.

3. Write an email.

4. Send your email and CV to as many professors as you can (keep in mind only interested professors may reply you, so don’t be disappointed) 

Note: If you are interested in any specific professor and he/she does not reply you then you must contact him/her by" telephone". Please keep in mind that many professors do not reply, so in that case, you must contact him/her by telephone. 

Important: 

1. Maybe if you face some trouble while opening website then please install “Korean” language tools.

2.Deadlines and time is very important.

3.Try to get any English proficiency certificate. Sometime it increases chances of scholarships.

If any updates, I will let you know. Regards, Murad

 4. Once the ball starts rolling (getting in contact with professor) Come up with a project plan or SOP (Statment of purpose, Research plan) that what you are going to research about. Indulge yourself in writing new project proposals if required.

PSA community, please if any information is missing then add it with regards.

Written by : Member (Murad Ali)

Reference: https://www.facebook.com/groups/psapk/doc/260386180646646/