Month: November 2024

Categories
Food & Dining

Albi (*) Washington, DC (Thanksgiving take-out)

Came out to about $300 for what is advertised as a meal for two. We had three people and still a sigmificant amount of leftovers.

Albi is a very popular local DC restaurant by Palestinian chef Michael Rafidi. The cuisine is modern Levantine. It's his flagship restaurant that received its Michelin star a few years ago. It's usually booked for reservations a month or two in advance and is popular, with generous portion sizes and a reasonably priced menu.

This is Albi's take on Thanksgiving classics with an Arab flavor profile.

  1. Seven Spiced Amish Turkey Breast

The turkey was a tiny bit dry but that was remedied by the gravy. Very flavorful with a clean taste. The seven-spiced/za'atar on the skin wasn't very pronounced.

The idea of date molasses with turkey was absolutely brilliant. Not only did it add more moisture, the tanginess and warm sweetness of the date coupled perfectly with the flavor of turkey. It's definitely the replacement to cranberry sauce (although we had that as well).

  1. BBQ's Turkey Leg Pave

Although not the best presented dish, this dark meat was absolutely amazing. It's barbequed shredded and crushed turkey leg. Incredibly smoky, juicy, with a rich flavor.

  1. Mujadarra

The mujadarra served at Albi proper is definitely superior to what was given here. Additionally, the portion size was so small for this. While it makes sense for some of the other dishes to be tasting size, this one was too sparse.

  1. Hearth Grilled Brussels Sprouts with lemon and kibbeh spice

These were pretty good. I'm more of a fan of drier crispier brussel sprouts or spinach leaves than grilled like this, which still retained some softness and moisture.

  1. Smoked Root Vegetable Stuffing

This was mind-blowing. The stuffing must have been taken for a final pan frying before being served. It was crispy, light, and delicious. The best stuffing I've had by far.

  1. Sweet Yams with halva butter

Incredibly light and airy with a delicious sesame halva sauce on top. Sweet and fluffy.

  1. Potato Puree

Whatever they put in these potatoes made them unbelievable. The urfa pepper added a much needed spice and umami to what I ordinarily find a boring dish. However the puree itself was head and shoulders above any mashed potatoes I've had before.

  1. Cranberry jam with orange blossom

Zesty and strong but not overpowering. Fresh and strong cranberry taste, but with a reserved amount of sugar.

  1. Honey ras al hanout pecan pie with labne chantilly cream

It's wonderful to have a dessert with the exact amount of sweetness. Not overpowering, but just enough to bring out the flavors of what youre eating. Labne chantilly cream had a very light labne taste which went very well with the pecan pie. The honey, ras al hanout added a flavorful Arab depth to a Thanksgiving classic.

Originally posted by Ali Shukri Amin on Reddit. Read or join the discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/finedining/comments/1h1js8h/albi_washington_dc_thanksgiving_takeout/

Categories
Society & Culture

The Privileged Are Subsidized by the Suffering of the Disadvantaged

There's a lot of discussion as to why young men are frustrated or tapping out of society. It doesn't seem that the issue is as complex as it's made out to be.

The barrier to entry of basic life goals has been raised to astronomical levels in an unfair way. Whether it's in the economy or job market, modern Western society unfairly subsidizes the already entrenched interests through the suffering of the disadvantaged.

Thesis: in terms of marriage and dating, if there were equal augmentation of partnership – it would destroy society. Therefore, partnership shouldn't be augmented at all.

Most people can agree that the state has taken over some of the roles traditionally played by men for women that are unpartnered, through welfare, social security, equal employment, no fault divorce, and alimony laws. A heterosexual woman no longer needs a man to survive or even thrive, she can obtain a degree, a six-figure salary – and if she fails the social safety net will catch her.

If the government mandated an equivalent augmentation of women's functions it would destroy society. Without the male drive to pursue women, society would fall rapidly to a bare minimum level of functionality and reproduction would almost disappear.

The equivalent augmentation of government welfare and workplace empowerment for women is AI-robotic wives. Involuntarily celibate and unpartnered men (60+% of young men in the US) would go to a welfare office and apply for such a robot if they couldn't afford it. After processing their application, they would receive a new $30,000 model of a device that uses AI for voice and cognition (as a partner) and Boston Dynamics style robotics/doll materials for augmenting pleasure.

The reason the dating or marriage market is so lopsided is due to government subsidies to women, a free-market unregulated approach ro sex, and Marxist gender-warfare. If we remove subsidies to the rich in this marketplace (women) and regulate out extreme disparities – we remove the gender war.

However, continuing to subsidize the rich at the expense of the poor leads to an unfairly rigged marketplace. If society is going to do that, it follows that it should be done fairly. The problem is that this kind of equality would doom any society that does it.

This is why young men are frustrated – they aren't given a fair shot or a reasonable opportunity to accomplish things like getting a good job, purchasing a house, and finding a suitable spouse. Even if they exert enormous effort, if they aren't born with a commensurate amount of enormous privilege then it could still be out of reach. This is abnormal in organized society where most men had an opportunity to achieve these things.

Originally posted by Ali Shukri Amin on Reddit. Read or join the discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/1gysm8r/the_privileged_are_subsidized_by_the_suffering_of/

Categories
Systems & Technology

Looking for an Open Equivalent to the OpenAI Assistants API

A working note and open question about agent tooling.

OpenAI has a feature called Assistants where you can add system instructions and a dataset to an assistant that's accessible from the API. Each conversation is called a "thread" which you can access from the web portal and the API.

Does Anthropic have anything similar?

Originally posted by Ali Shukri Amin on Reddit. Read or join the discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/perplexity_ai/comments/1gy8z61/closest_equivalent_to_assistants_api/

Categories
Islamic Scholarship

Due Process in Islamic Law

يا أَيُّهَا الَّذينَ آمَنوا إِن جاءَكُم فاسِقٌ بِنَبَإٍ فَتَبَيَّنوا أَن تُصيبوا قَومًا بِجَهالَةٍ فَتُصبِحوا عَلىٰ ما فَعَلتُم نادِمينَ

O you who have faith! If a profligate [person] should bring you some news, verify it, lest you should visit [harm] on some people out of ignorance, and then become regretful for what you have done.
[Surah al-Hujurat]

Mu'adh bin Jabal (RAA) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:“If anyone disgraces his brother for a sin, he will not die before committing it himself.” Related At-Tirmidhi who graded it to be Hasan.وَعَنْ مُعَاذِ بْنِ جَبَلٍ ‏- رضى الله عنه ‏- قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اَللَّهِ ‏- صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏-{ مَنْ عَيَّرَ أَخَاهُ بِذَنْبٍ, لَمْ يَمُتْ حَتَّى يَعْمَلَهُ } أَخْرَجَهُ اَلتِّرْمِذِيُّ وَحَسَّنَهُ, وَسَنَدُهُ مُنْقَطِعٌ.‏ 1‏ .‏

Narrated AbuBarzah al-Aslami:

حَدَّثَنَا عُثْمَانُ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا الأَسْوَدُ بْنُ عَامِرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ عَيَّاشٍ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ جُرَيْجٍ، عَنْ أَبِي بَرْزَةَ الأَسْلَمِيِّ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ "‏ يَا مَعْشَرَ مَنْ آمَنَ بِلِسَانِهِ وَلَمْ يَدْخُلِ الإِيمَانُ قَلْبَهُ لاَ تَغْتَابُوا الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَلاَ تَتَّبِعُوا عَوْرَاتِهِمْ فَإِنَّهُ مَنِ اتَّبَعَ عَوْرَاتِهِمْ يَتَّبِعِ اللَّهُ عَوْرَتَهُ وَمَنْ يَتَّبِعِ اللَّهُ عَوْرَتَهُ يَفْضَحْهُ فِي بَيْتِهِ ‏"‏ ‏.‏

The Prophet (ï·º) said: O community of people, who believed by their tongue, and belief did not enter their hearts, do not back-bite Muslims, and do not search for their faults, for if anyone searches for their faults, Allah will search for his fault, and if Allah searches for the fault of anyone, He disgraces him in his house.

Hasan Sahih (Al-Albani) حسن صحيح (الألباني) حكم :

Sunan Abi Dawud 4880

"The first Li'an in Islam was when Hilal bin Umayyah accused Sharik bin As-Sahma' (of committing adultery) with his wife. He came to the Prophet and told him about that. The Prophet said: '(Bring) four witnesses, otherwise (you will feel) the Hadd punishment on your back.' And he repeated that several times. Hilal said to him: 'By Allah, O Messenger of Allah! Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, knows that I am telling the truth, and Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, will certainly reveal to you that which will spare my back from the whip.' While they were like that, the Verse of Li'an was revealed to him: 'As to those who accuse their wives.' He called Hilal and he bore witness four times by Allah that he was telling the truth, and the fifth time he invoked the curse of Allah upon him if he were lying. Then he called the woman and she bore witness four times by Allah that he was lying. When it came to the fourth or fifth time, the Messenger of Allah said: 'Stop her, for it will inevitably bring the punishment of Allah upon the liar.' She hesitated until we thought that she was going to confess, then she said: 'I will not dishonor my people today.' Then she went ahead with the oath. The Messenger of Allah said: 'Wait and see. If she produces a child who is white, with straight hair and Qadiy'a eyes, then he belongs to Hilal bin Umayyah, but if she produces a child who is dark with curly hair, of average size and with narrow calves, then he belongs to Sharik bin As-Sahma'.' She produced a child who was dark with curly hair, of average size and with narrow calves. The Messenger of Allah said: 'Had not the matter been settled by the Book of Allah, I would have punished her severely.'"

أَخْبَرَنَا عِمْرَانُ بْنُ يَزِيدَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا مَخْلَدُ بْنُ حُسَيْنٍ الأَزْدِيُّ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا هِشَامُ بْنُ حَسَّانَ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سِيرِينَ، عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، قَالَ إِنَّ أَوَّلَ لِعَانٍ كَانَ فِي الإِسْلاَمِ أَنَّ هِلاَلَ بْنَ أُمَيَّةَ قَذَفَ شَرِيكَ ابْنَ السَّحْمَاءِ بِامْرَأَتِهِ فَأَتَى النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَأَخْبَرَهُ بِذَلِكَ فَقَالَ لَهُ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏"‏ أَرْبَعَةَ شُهَدَاءَ وَإِلاَّ فَحَدٌّ فِي ظَهْرِكَ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ يُرَدِّدُ ذَلِكَ عَلَيْهِ مِرَارًا فَقَالَ لَهُ هِلاَلٌ وَاللَّهِ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَيَعْلَمُ أَنِّي صَادِقٌ وَلَيُنْزِلَنَّ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عَلَيْكَ مَا يُبَرِّئُ ظَهْرِي مِنَ الْجَلْدِ ‏.‏ فَبَيْنَمَا هُمْ كَذَلِكَ إِذْ نَزَلَتْ عَلَيْهِ آيَةُ اللِّعَانِ ‏{‏ وَالَّذِينَ يَرْمُونَ أَزْوَاجَهُمْ ‏}‏ إِلَى آخِرِ الآيَةِ فَدَعَا هِلاَلاً فَشَهِدَ أَرْبَعَ شَهَادَاتٍ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ وَالْخَامِسَةُ أَنَّ لَعْنَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ إِنْ كَانَ مِنَ الْكَاذِبِينَ ثُمَّ دُعِيَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ فَشَهِدَتْ أَرْبَعَ شَهَادَاتٍ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الْكَاذِبِينَ فَلَمَّا أَنْ كَانَ فِي الرَّابِعَةِ أَوِ الْخَامِسَةِ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏"‏ وَقِّفُوهَا فَإِنَّهَا مُوجِبَةٌ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ فَتَلَكَّأَتْ حَتَّى مَا شَكَكْنَا أَنَّهَا سَتَعْتَرِفُ ثُمَّ قَالَتْ لاَ أَفْضَحُ قَوْمِي سَائِرَ الْيَوْمِ ‏.‏ فَمَضَتْ عَلَى الْيَمِينِ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏"‏ انْظُرُوهَا فَإِنْ جَاءَتْ بِهِ أَبْيَضَ سَبِطًا قَضِيءَ الْعَيْنَيْنِ فَهُوَ لِهِلاَلِ بْنِ أُمَيَّةَ وَإِنْ جَاءَتْ بِهِ آدَمَ جَعْدًا رَبْعًا حَمْشَ السَّاقَيْنِ فَهُوَ لِشَرِيكِ ابْنِ السَّحْمَاءِ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ فَجَاءَتْ بِهِ آدَمَ جَعْدًا رَبْعًا حَمْشَ السَّاقَيْنِ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏"‏ لَوْلاَ مَا سَبَقَ فِيهَا مِنْ كِتَابِ اللَّهِ لَكَانَ لِي وَلَهَا شَأْنٌ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ الشَّيْخُ وَالْقَضِيءُ طَوِيلُ شَعْرِ الْعَيْنَيْنِ لَيْسَ بِمَفْتُوحِ الْعَيْنِ وَلاَ جَاحِظِهِمَا وَاللَّهُ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى أَعْلَمُ ‏.‏

Sahih (Darussalam)

Sunan an-Nasa'i 3469

Imran b. Husain reported that a woman from Juhaina came to Allah's Apostle (ï·º) and she had become pregnant because of adultery. She said:

Allah's Apostle, I have done something for which (prescribed punishment) must be imposed upon me, so impose that. Allah's Apostle (ï·º) called her master and said: Treat her well, and when she delivers bring her to me. He did accordingly. Then Allah's Apostle (ï·º) pronounced judgment about her and her clothes were tied around her and then he commanded and she was stoned to death. He then prayed over her (dead body). Thereupon Umar said to him: Allah's Apostle, you offer prayer for her, whereas she had committed adultery! Thereupon he said: She has made such a repentance that if it were to be divided among seventy men of Medina, it would be enough. Have you found any repentance better than this that she sacr ficed her life for Allah, the Majestic?

حَدَّثَنِي أَبُو غَسَّانَ، مَالِكُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْوَاحِدِ الْمِسْمَعِيُّ حَدَّثَنَا مُعَاذٌ، – يَعْنِي ابْنَ هِشَامٍ – حَدَّثَنِي أَبِي، عَنْ يَحْيَى بْنِ أَبِي كَثِيرٍ، حَدَّثَنِي أَبُو قِلاَبَةَ، أَنَّ أَبَا الْمُهَلَّبِ، حَدَّثَهُ عَنْ عِمْرَانَ، بْنِ حُصَيْنٍ أَنَّ امْرَأَةً، مِنْ جُهَيْنَةَ أَتَتْ نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَهِيَ حُبْلَى مِنَ الزِّنَى فَقَالَتْ يَا نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ أَصَبْتُ حَدًّا فَأَقِمْهُ عَلَىَّ فَدَعَا نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَلِيَّهَا فَقَالَ ‏"‏ أَحْسِنْ إِلَيْهَا فَإِذَا وَضَعَتْ فَائْتِنِي بِهَا ‏"‏ ‏.‏ فَفَعَلَ فَأَمَرَ بِهَا نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَشُكَّتْ عَلَيْهَا ثِيَابُهَا ثُمَّ أَمَرَ بِهَا فَرُجِمَتْ ثُمَّ صَلَّى عَلَيْهَا فَقَالَ لَهُ عُمَرُ تُصَلِّي عَلَيْهَا يَا نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ وَقَدْ زَنَتْ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ لَقَدْ تَابَتْ تَوْبَةً لَوْ قُسِمَتْ بَيْنَ سَبْعِينَ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْمَدِينَةِ لَوَسِعَتْهُمْ وَهَلْ وَجَدْتَ تَوْبَةً أَفْضَلَ مِنْ أَنْ جَادَتْ بِنَفْسِهَا لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى ‏"‏ ‏.‏

Sahih Muslim 1696a

This piece was originally written and shared by Ali Shukri Amin on Reddit. Read or discuss the original thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/MuslimCorner/comments/1gk82dd/due_process_in_islamic_law/