Our Collective Spirit

When the people around us are afflicted with unfortunate circumstances, it impacts us profoundly. At times, it knocks the wind out of us.

We cry uncontrollably for the death of someone we’ve never met. We burn with anger for a child that was neglected by their mother.  We mourn over her failure to accept the responsibility and recognize motherhood for the privilege it is. We are overwhelmed with sadness and pity for a wife whose husband walks out on her and their 8 kids. We worry about how she will feed them with no education or command of the local language. We are in awe when a husband waits for the test results of his HIV screening. We are disgusted by his wife’s dishonesty and devastated by her selfishness. We wonder with every ounce of our being what she was thinking. We hurt for all of them  and cannot imagine how and if they can ever heal from this.

As Muslims we wish the best and make dua for them, and ourselves, that things get better. We have hope in the Mercy of Allah SWT and faith that His plan is the best possible way. Regardless of whether or not we can recognize that as the case at the time. However, we are still confused and angry. Because we can’t wrap our head around what we’re feeling, or put our finger on what’s causing it.

Allah SWT tells us in Surat Al-Furqan to, “…put thy trust in Him Who lives and dies not; and celebrate his praise; and enough is He to be acquainted with the faults of His servants;- “ (25:58)

Hold that thought. We will come back to this verse in a bit.

These stories touch us on a very basic level.  They wear down our spirit and instill a primitive fear in us, that everything really isn’t okay. Hearing about these situations make us doubt the strength of our own relationships with those around us. What does the future hold for me? How long is it before, God forbid, I get a call from my siblings telling me that we’ve lost a family member?

Our human nature makes us susceptible to negative feelings that cloud our perception; fear and doubt in particular. The Messenger of Allah PBUH said in a hadith that, ‘faith increases and decreases.’  This is especially the case when things are happening around us and we don’t understand them.

There is no better advice, then that of the Exalted Creator of mankind and all of existence. “And verily thy Lord knoweth all that their hearts do hide. As well as all that they reveal”. (27:74) He knows when there is an uneasy feeling lurking in our chests, and when we put up a front. He sees when our spirit is shaken by the events that surround us.

He knows when fear and insecurity creep up on us.’…Does not Allah know best all that is in the hearts of all creation?’ (29:10) And he reminds us in Surat An-Nas to seek refuge in Him from doubt, and the whispers of the cursed Shaytan, the one “who whispers into the hearts of Mankind.”(114:6)

When we turn to Allah SWT and put our trust in Him, we are protected from the devil’s whispers. “As for My servants, no authority shalt thou have over them:” Enough is thy Lord for a Disposer of affairs. (17:65)

We love our husbands and wives, we want the best for our children and we adore our parents and hope they are proud of us. We miss our grandparents and wish we did more for them. When we hear these stories we can’t help but feel that something like that might happen to us. These evil actions hurt our collective spirit. We wear brave faces, but inside it cuts us down and tears away at our self-esteem.

The best way to handle these situations is to recognize them for exactly what they are.

These are reminders to us of the imperfection of mankind.

Our flawed nature is a testament to the Divinity of Allah SWT. People make mistakes, “If Allah were to punish men for their wrong-doing, He would not leave, on the (earth), a single living creature” (16:61). And they do it a lot. They betray, hurt, disappoint, neglect and break each other.

Now lets go back to Surat Al-Furqan’s verse 58, “…put thy trust in Him Who lives and dies not; and celebrate his praise; and enough is He to be acquainted with the faults of His servants.” The other point was that in this verse Allah SWT mentions his eternal existence. Unlike people, He is always there. We will eventually loose everyone we consider close to us, except Allah SWT. Ultimately making Him the best Companion.

Every negative thing that happens to us can either be a lesson or a bad experience, and in both cases is a test.

We should be patient through these tests, because patience is needed during the affliction, and not after the fact. What distinguishes punishment from lessons is how it affects us. If we are tested with a tough time, and have the opportunity to come out of it having learned something, and as a result change the way we see ourselves and lives as a whole, then it was a lesson. If we are afflicted and are only harmed by it but make no changes to our life then it was just a bad experience.

Whatever the problem, no matter how drastic it is, just remember that we belong to Allah SWT and to Him we return. We should put our trust in Allah SWT because He never fails us.

“And Allah is the best of Protectors and He is the Most Merciful.” – (12:64)

Unprofessionalism in the Muslim Community

It’s the end of the month, but there will be no paycheck for another week.

As though being late wasn’t bad enough, to top it off, you are made to feel as though the money you’ve worked for isn’t your right, and they are doing you a favor by paying you anything at all. This Islamic Organization is simply out of money at the time, and you have to wait until they get some. It coincidentally comes to your attention that some employees in higher positions had their checks issued on time and without any delay.

An Islamic school wanted you to teach 2 subjects and pay you as a quarter-time employee. Apparently if you don’t teach 4 subjects to the entire school then you will not be considered a full-time teacher (that isn’t a sarcastic remark). In addition, you were told that your pay was based on 1/4 of the full-time teacher’s pay. When you find out what that rate is, you know that it is much lower than what an actual 1/4 is. They are trying to take advantage of the fact that you are new there and don’t know anyone, or how much they make. Sadly, you do know another teacher, and you realize their dishonesty. As a result, you quit.

Another school refused to pay you your last paycheck after they were informed that the you wouldn’t be returning next year. They claimed that withholding the pay was their right since you breached your contract. When in fact you had signed no contract in the first place. Now you have to take legal action in order to get your money. Contracts are made on a yearly basis, so the option to leave at the end of the year is simply a choice not to renew a contract. There should be no conditions on getting the pay for work that was already done. That same school was telling you and all of  its employees to report lower income than they were actually getting, in order for the school to be eligible for a tax break.

A Muslim-owned business approaches you and requests a redesign for their website. When you gave them your price, they said it was too high. So you agreed to do it at a lower price, and explained your terms for design work (limiting the number of revisions to the design once you finalize it, requiring 50% pay upfront, and overtime will be charged at an hourly rate). In response you get a horrible attitude, and they requested your references, and more samples of your work and said they might consider hiring you. When they had approached you in the first place and offered you the work, based on a design you did, that they saw, and liked. Other Non-Muslim Businesses you work with have gladly paid you the 50% and agreed to abide by these same terms.

Subhan Allah. All of these are real stories.

You start to wonder if these organizations  had planned to abuse you from the get-go?

But, you haven’t done anything wrong to them, so why would they bother, then you remember Allah SWT’s Words from Surat Al-Hujuraat, “O ye who believe! Avoid suspicion as much (as possible): for suspicion in some cases is a sin.”

Is it because you are working with Muslim organizations, then your work is “Fe Sabeel Illah” – for the sake of Allah – that people pushing the boundaries shouldn’t bother you?

The short answer is, No. Because if it was, we would all be willing to sacrifice to help get things done, and more importantly to help each other. That executive would give up part of his salary to help you pay your rent on time.

Is it because this is my Muslim brother or sister I should let them fall behind on the payments?

It can’t be, because they are the ones that want you to be there on-time, every time, to work for them. They want flawless work, in a hurry, with an impossible deadline and an insane volume of work to be completed by then. This is a paid position, you were promised a paycheck in exchange for specific tasks and duties, and it is an agreement between you and your employer.

Allah SWT requires us to respect these agreements, as stated in Surat Al-Israa, “…and fulfill (every) engagement, for (every) engagement will be inquired into (on the Day of Reckoning).”

Are all employees doing right by their employers, and inherently the victims?

Of course not. Obviously both cases exist, but, unprofessionalism just breeds more unprofessionalism. The employee that slacks should be fired. The employer that mistreats their worker should loose that employee to a more deserving firm.

Woe to those that deal in fraud, – Those who, when they have to receive by measure from men, exact full measure, – But when they have to give by measure or weight to men, give less than due. – Do they not think that they will be called to account? - On a Mighty Day, A Day when (all) mankind will stand before the Lord of the Worlds?” Al Mutaffifeen (1 – 6)

Allah SWT warns us specifically about this type of behavior in the Holy Quran. Yet it seems as though Muslims are failing (repeatedly) to recognize this as the case, or abide by this obligation.

In Project Management there are three main areas that need to be in balance in order to successfully complete a project.

1. The Budget, or how much money is allocated to completing the project.
2. The Schedule, which breaks the project into smaller tasks and their respective deadlines.
3. The Scope of work, which are the things that need to be completed and delivered by the due date.

Whenever any of these three factors are changed, the entire project will be thrown off.

How is that?

Here’s the situation (Bear with my poor example):

You gave me a 20 and asked me to go to Giant and get some items on a list. The list costs exactly $20 including tax. So I have 45 minutes to go and bring the groceries home. The project here is getting the groceries. If you were to call me on the phone, and tell me you need some meat from the Halal shop as well, that would throw me off. Mainly because of the money, I am now over my budget, also it will increase the time I’ll need, and I won’t be able to deliver on schedule.

You see?

So changing any of the three factors in any project will change the other two. If you push these limits then either the project will fail or it will be completed with poor quality.

Bottom line: When the balance is lost, the project suffers.

I believe that to be the exact case with these Muslim businesses and institutions. They are attempting to ‘milk’ employees for work they aren’t willing (or able) to pay them for. They have expectations which exceed their ability or willingness to fairly compensate for. Employees come in with higher than usual expectations from a Muslim employer and expect über-ethical and fair treatment. Employees’ morale and trust in their employer drops, as a result the quality of their work suffers.

Expectations have to be made clear, and fulfilled by both sides. If we all know Allah SWT is watching us, then we should act like it. Muslim businesses and Islamic Organizations are the pillars of our community, when we build our Ummah on broken principles it can fall apart overnight.

Anyone reading this knows that sadly, this is the situation in general. I am sure there are exceptions to the rule, but I have traveled, searched and am yet to find a case where this doesn’t stand true in some way or another.

We have reached rock bottom when Muslims sincerely warn other Muslims against getting jobs with Muslim companies or Islamic Organizations, because of the suffering. Why should it be that in exchange for being in a so-called Islamic Environment you will face all sorts of head and eventually heartache?

I’m not writing this with the intention to bash other Muslims or talk smack about the Ummah. On the contrary, I want to point this out and have it addressed and remedied, so that it is no longer the case. I make dua’a that Allah SWT guides us all to the best of manners and etiquette, and that we are among those that take heed of good advice and follow the best of it.

Risk & Return

Whenever I considered doing anything major in my life, my Baba (Dad) would tell me that I needed to do a “Cost benefit analysis” first. I understood the gist of what he meant, and often thought a great deal about anything I considered doing; mostly resulting in me over-thinking it. During my study of finance in grad school, I came across the relationship between Risk and Return, and believe it or not, this is what really drove it home for me.

Clench your teeth through the technical part, it’ll stop hurting in a second.

Risk is defined as: A situation involving exposure to danger, and in finance it’s the possibility of financial loss.

Here’s the scenario: You have some money (Principal), you want to invest it in a security, there’s a chance it will grow, and a chance it will shrink. The chance the security will loose money is essentially the risk associated with it. Returns refer to the amount of interest that you can gain on the money you invest, or how much the money will grow.

In an attempt to keep my promise about reducing the pain, I’ll cut this short.

Investors (intelligent ones) are thought to be risk averse, meaning they avoid risk like the plague, as much as they can help it. Well, lo and behold there is a trick to reducing the risk on your investment!

It’s called diversification, which pretty much means what you thought it did: not to put all your eggs in one basket, or to invest the money in lots of different stocks or securities.

How that works, is that if one of the stocks you invested your money in goes bust, then it wont hurt so bad, because not all your money was invested there in the first place.

I think you got the idea now.

Back to my Baba, so he said make sure you analyze cost and benefit, pros and cons, risk and return. See the pattern? As Muslims we should constantly be making this analysis. I was in a situation where my Halaqah (Study circle) leader was sitting with me and telling me a story, when she just stopped. I asked her what was wrong, she said, “I was trying to see if benefit would come from telling you that detail or not.” Subhan Allah, such a small statement, but it had a profound affect on the way I see my actions. Every little action counts and should be treated accordingly. We have to look at our life in an objective manner to see the bigger picture.

May Allah SWT bless her, and anyone who has ever taught me anything.

We have to check our intentions constantly, and make sure that our Principal (our actions) isn’t invested in anything other than pleasing Allah SWT or bettering our hereafter. Investing in anything else would be the worst decision you could ever make right?

Allah SWT discusses this poor calculation in Surat Al-Baqarah verse 16:

“These are they who have bartered Guidance for error: But their transaction is profitless, and they have lost true direction.”

Muslims, like good investors should also be risk averse. We should avoid doing anything that, anger Allah SWT, and will as a consequence land us in the Hell fire (May Allah SWT protect us from it.) By ensuring our deeds are invested in Allah SWT’s pleasure we can’t go wrong. Allah SWT tells us just this in Surat Faatir verse 29:

“Those who recite the Book of Allah, establish regular Prayer, and spend (in Charity) out of what We have provided for them, secretly and openly, hope for a commerce that will never fail.”

We should also diversify our investments through doing as many different good actions as often as humanly possible. The bitter truth is that achieving sincerity in our actions towards Allah SWT is neither easy, nor is it guaranteed. There is no confirmation that Allah SWT accepts our deeds. If we could only be as fortunate as the sons of Adam when Allah SWT revealed that He accepted from one and not from the other as stated in Surat Al-Maidah verse 27:

“Recite to them the truth of the story of the two sons of Adam. Behold! They each presented a sacrifice (to Allah.: It was accepted from one, but not from the other.”

So we have to try our best to do as many sincere acts for Allah SWT, and hope for His Mercy and Pleasure in order to increase our chances to making it to Jannah Inshallah.

Here comes one last analogy from Baba, that like the other, makes a great deal of sense.

Your life is like a flight. It has a starting point, and a destination. You have a flight plan that draws out how to get where you are going, and for any Muslim that final destination should be Jannah inshallah. So, you go about following the plan. You finish high school, start college, go to university, and graduate.

Along the way you go slightly off course, you get so involved with your job that you start to slack off on praying sunnah, fasting Mondays and Wednesdays and praying on time. When that happens, you have to catch it, and immediately make a course correction. This will set you gladly back on your way to where you were supposed to be headed in the first place.

In the instance that you weren’t analyzing your actions, or plans for your immediate future in that light, would all of the little plans to finish college, get a job, get a promotion, etc. put you at the correct final destination?

The point is to highlight the importance of making conscious decisions about what you do with your life, if those decisions are all made based on what’s best for your hereafter, then with the help of Allah S.W.T you can’t go wrong.

When I got married, a dear friend and mentor told me to “make Allah SWT the center of your life, and everything else will fall into place.”

That advice stands true in any situation, for any person.

I will leave you with a verse from the Holy Quran (65:3):

“…And if any one puts his trust in Allah, sufficient is ((Allah)) for him.”

Ramadan Kareem

Gaza

STOP the cold blooded murder, torture, and isolation of innocent civilians.

Cry about justice and democracy.

Scream “Human rights violation!” America is disgraceful for letting this happen and supporting terrorism.

Blatant murder of innocent people.

War on terror? How can the US or better yet Muslim nations ever talk about fighting terrorism when they let something like this happen and turn their backs like nothings going on.

Even a hypocritical condemnation would look better than nothing at this point.

Stop bullying people with no defenses.

Stop killing innocent people after occupying their land.

You know damn well you have no business there in the first place.

VA Mosque Reaches Out, Joining Immigrant Fabric

By Pamela Constable
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 13, 2008; A01

 

For years, the Dar al Hijrah mosque was an isolated, slightly mysterious presence in Falls Church — a stark stone building hidden behind a row of trees, rarely visited by non-Muslims in the multi-ethnic Culmore neighborhood, and known mostly for traffic jams on Leesburg Pike as worshipers arrived for Friday prayers.

These days, the mosque bustles with visitors chattering in Spanish and Vietnamese as well as Persian and Urdu. Immigrants from a dozen countries gather there each Thursday, many with toddlers and baby strollers, to pick up donated chicken, bread, fruit and vegetables.

On weekends, the doors are thrown open for community blood drives or mental health fairs. At night, mosque officials often attend meetings at nearby churches, synagogues or social agencies, including a monthly brainstorming session called Culmore Partners.

“The average person here has had no interaction with Islam. They may even think we are the enemy, especially after September 11th,” said Abdulkareem Jama, a network engineer from Somalia who is president of the mosque’s board. “The more we open up and interact, the more we demystify things and seem normal to each other.”

Dar al Hijrah has evolved dramatically since 2001, when it came under official suspicion amid reports that a man linked to the terror attacks in New York and Washington had visited there. This year, its glossy 25th anniversary report includes congratulatory letters from a variety of private and public institutions.

The mosque’s coming out also reflects the growing cooperation between area Muslim institutions and the largely non-Muslim immigrant communities that surround them. In Culmore, the trend has brought many groups together to help immigrants who struggle with poverty, discrimination and legal problems.

Father Horace Grinnell is the pastor at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, a longtime anchor of Culmore. Until six months ago, he had never met the leaders of Dar al Hijrah. Now, they are collaborating on a health clinic and other projects.

“There has been a quantum leap in synergy and coordination,” Grinnell said. “They were painted pretty harshly after 9/11, but now they are reaching out on all fronts. We can both be a resource for people, whether they are Catholic or not.”

Beyond places of worship, the evolving mosaic of shops, restaurants and offices in Culmore and several other Northern Virginia areas reflects an increasingly comfortable meld of Middle Eastern cultures with the Latin American and Asian cultures that once dominated them.

On Leesburg Pike, a Pakistani dentist’s waiting room has Spanish-language and Muslim-oriented newspapers; an Arab-owned travel company books trips to Central America; and an Iranian grocery owner often chats with the Salvadoran discount furniture seller next door.

“There is harmony here,” said Luis Lazo, 55, as he stopped by to greet Lida Sadahjiani in her shop stuffed with Iranian delicacies. “We don’t speak the same language, but we have known each other a long time.”

Just across Leesburg Pike, Ali Altaf, 35, a bank employee, was eating lunch at a Middle Eastern restaurant with his wife and children. In the window were signs in Arabic, Persian and Spanish. His waitress was a Peruvian immigrant named Emiliana Navarrete, 21.

“People here seem more knowledgeable about each other’s cultures now; they are getting to know each other better,” Altaf said. Navarrete showed the notepad where she had written the names of Persian dishes phonetically so she could understand telephone orders.

“Baba kanush, korma sapsi,” she practiced with a laugh.

Such public familiarity has not crossed the line into many personal friendships, let alone religious conversions, local leaders said. There are only a handful of Hispanic Muslims in the area, including Farhanaz Ellis, an outreach worker at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society in Sterling.

Ellis, born to a Catholic family in Panama, said her mosque had held a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month and presentations for emergency workers. Yet she seemed to have few personal ties to area Latinos and said much of her work involved explaining Islam to outside groups.

“Many people here have the misperception that Islam oppresses women and that Muslims see non-Muslims as infidels,” she said. She does not try to change critics, she said, “just give them food for thought.”

One area Muslim who has plunged into Hispanic issues is Mukit Hossain, a Bangladeshi immigrant in Herndon who co-founded a day-laborer center there for Latino workers. The center provoked a public outcry and was shut down last year.

Hossain said area Muslims, most of whom came to the U.S. legally, traditionally had little interest in the problems of illegal or Latino immigrants. After the terror attacks of 2001, however, they began to face public hostility and find common cause with other immigrant groups.

“What happened on 9/11 was a wake-up call for all of us,” Hossain said. To those who question why he would help Hispanic laborers, he retorted, “Do they think I am a terrorist here to convert people?”

Immigration is a “human rights issue,” he said. “No one from any country should be treated like an animal.”

It was the threat of a crackdown on illegal immigrants that first brought Dar al Hijrah into close contact with advocacy groups. A meeting was called in Culmore to discuss how to help families in cases of raids or arrests, and mosque officials offered their premises.

“We were blown away by their hospitality. They even bought us all pizza,” said Cindy Brown of Hogar Hispano, a nonprofit aid agency for Latinos on Leesburg Pike.

Mosque officials say they have no desire to push their religion on other immigrants, only to inform them about it. At community events, they set up a booth with brochures in Spanish, including a booklet on the history of Islam, women’s rights and “common misinterpretations” about their faith.

“We are one community of many cultures and faiths, and we want to break down the barriers that divide us,” said Mohammed Abdelilah, a manager at Dar al Hijrah. “This is nothing magic. It’s not for political gain. It is for the sake of God.”

At a recent food distribution in the mosque, families from Morocco, Iran, El Salvador, Vietnam, Korea, Guatemala, Pakistan and Ethiopia waited their turn. Although clustered together by language groups, they greeted each other with smiles.

Carlos Moreno, 71, an immigrant from El Salvador, said that with food prices climbing, he and his wife were grateful for the assistance and felt comfortable visiting the mosque.

“The Bible says there should be no divisions between human beings, no racism and no prejudice,” Moreno said. “When we die, we all look the same. Rich or poor, black or white, we all go to the same place.”

MS Walk 07

By Muslim Link Staff

Muslims are getting more involved in civic activities to show their support for humanitarian causes. DC Area Muslim leaders, organizations, and youth believe their participation to improve the condition of their local community members is something that has been called upon them to do as Muslims.

Three dozen of the Washington-based Muslim American Society (MAS) Youth DC members recently took part in the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Walk at the Reston Town Center in Reston, Virginia on April 14th, 2007.

The annual MS Walk was sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) located in Mclean, Virginia.  BAH is a global strategy and consulting firm who has been recognized for its support of the walk for the last decade.

According to Dua’s Elbarasse, the project coordinator of MAS Youth Give, this is the first time MAS sponsored the walk. After participating in this walk, MAS Youth DC has decided they will commit their involvement to other charitable events in order to help raise awareness of some problems such as multiple sclerosis, cancer, and homelessness.

“MAS Youth DC participated in this walk to raise awareness about this devastating disease, and raise some money which will hopefully help to find a cure,” said Elbarasse director of MAS Youth Give Project.

The goal of this walk for Muslim youth was to mobilize American Muslim children and young adults to help create a better society by instilling in them the need for public service and encourage giving to those in less fortunate circumstances.

MAS officials believe their participation in the walk coincides with their motto which is to “aim to serve the Creator by serving his creations.”

According to National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS), there are an estimate of 400,000 Americans suffering from the malignant effects of the disease each year.

Although it is not certain what causes the disease, or at what age one can be diagnosed with it, NMSS encourages parents to get their children checked annually for symptoms.

Sources from NMSS said the MS Walk is not just a fundraising event, but a celebration for the entire American community.   The donations collected will fund countless national and local programs and services to treat individuals who are diagnosed with the disease and also for research purposes.

Although MAS Youth DC members have to be between the ages of 14-30, most participants brought their younger siblings, cousins, neighbors and friends with them to the walk.

On a cold, gloomy, rainy morning, these children got up out of their warm comfortable beds and carpooled to the Reston Town Center to take part in the half-day activities.

Sumayah Hassan, 20, was one of the brave, enthusiastic Muslims who took her three younger sisters to the walk.   As a biology student at George Mason University (GMU) in Fairfax, Virginia, Hassan finds interest in learning more about the consequences of infectious diseases and neurological disorders on the human body.   Her interest in the sciences of disease motivated her to influence her sisters to agree to tag along.

“The walk made me realize that we can make so much of a difference by just showing our support for someone who is suffering from an illness or have become victim of a social problem,” said Hassan.

The participants came with their umbrellas, with their toddlers, and elders on wheelchairs, and walked almost 4 miles in 1.5 hours.   The organizers collected the funds while the walkers received recognition for their good cause.  The event educated the public on the seriousness of the disease and distributed free educational brochures which provided key information regarding its effects.

The NMSS said MS is a disease that may appear one day and it could probably impair one for this rest of one’s life.   It is really one of those problems the public must be conscious of, said sources of NMSS.

Hassan wishes more Muslims would come out and support these types of causes.  Muslims were such low in numbers, but they were still noticeable and this is the best way to building human relations with people of other faiths.

She envisions Muslim families bringing their parents, and children to events like these.  “I believe this is our way of showing to the world when something affects our fellow human beings, we are feeling the pain as well and that we care,” said Hassan.

MAS Youth DC is the division of the Muslim American Society of Washington, DC that deals with young people.  MAS Youth Give program originated as a unique project of MAS Youth National and a crucial aspect of the Muhammad Awareness Campaign which started in the DC Area in October 2006.  MAS Youth Give is focused on encouraging the motivational efforts of Muslim youth to get involved in projects which help to improve the lives of the less fortunate in society.

Okazaki – 2

An Okazaki fragment is a piece of DNA that is made in the opposite direction of the normal strand. It is a part of the new DNA, but has to be glued to other fragments to make a complete strand. An enzyme called ligase sticks them (fragments) together and when it is part of the bigger strand it can be translated into a functional protein. But on its own, it doesn’t code for anything and is a nonsense piece of genetic information.

Like I would be, If i didn’t have my other fragments

So I guess were all O-frags and MAS is our glue and when we work together we make functional proteins.

Wild analogy.

I know.