O Allah! Make me an intercessor on Yawmul Qiyamah for those who have aided me, whether I have liked it or not, for Your sake and make me an intercessor those whom none can or will intercede, ameen!

–

Something I composed a while back…

Bismillah, alhamdulillah, wa salat wa salam ala Rasulillah.

The effects of dhikr are immense and it is hard to fully understand them. Often, one can feel a effect but not be too sure as to what sort of change is taking place in himself/herself. Perhaps there is a wisdom in that, that it keeps one focused in the dhikr and not self-aware.

Some of the effects of the dhikrs mentioned explicitly in the Sunnah are mentioned below, taken from Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad’s “Keys to the Garden.” Its not easy to find literature on this but nonetheless, its fascinating to read and gives direction and motivation for increasing one’s adhkar.

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Tasbih- Subhana Allah (Transcendent is God) is an affirmation of the transcendence and holiness of the Real. it is to believe in His exaltation and His being totally beyond comparison as regards His essence, attributes, and actions, so that He is above anything which might suggest a flaw in His highness and perfection. Its result is to make one’s Tawhid clear and unblemished, and to fill the heart with the glory of God and the uniqueness of His perfection. To Him is the highest analogy in the heavens and on earth (Quran 30:27)

Tahlil -La ilaha illa’llah (There is no god but God) brings forth a renewal of the kind of Tawhid and faith proper to the elite. Ordinary Tawhid is an attribute of every believer.

Takbir- Allahu Akbar (God is Greater) inspires the reverence and magnification of Him who is the Possessor of Majesty (dhu’l jalal wa’l ikram).

Tahmid- al-hamdulillah (Praise be to God) and invoking the names which denote His benevolence and mercy, such as the Compassionate (ar-Rahim), the All-Merciful (ar-Rahman), the Generous (al-Karim), the Ever-Forgiving (al-Ghaffar), and other similar names lead to three stations, gratitude, firm hope, and love, for it is inevitable that one who does good will be loved.

Hawqala and hasbala- La hawla wa la quwatta illah billah (There is neither power nor ability save by God) and Hasbuna’Allahu wa ni’ma’l wail (God is our sufficiency and the Best of Guardians) result in reliance on God, surrendering the management of one’s affairs to Him, and placing one’s trust in Him.

Names carrying meanings of knowledge and awareness, such as the Omniscient, the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing, the Near, and the Witness, lead to vigilance (muraqaba).

As for the invocation of blessings on the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasalam), this yield a strengthening of one’s love and nearness to him and greater scrupulousness in following his sunna.

Istighfar- Astaghfirullah (I seek God’s forgiveness) results in steadfast piety, care about the conditions necessary for repentance, and extricating oneself from the snares of sin.

If you wish to obtain all of these benefits, and attain to the highest ranks then you should search for a litany which includes all these kinds of invocations and prayers. You are such to find them in the litanies of our master Imam Abdullah bin Alawi al-Haddad, such as al-Wird al-Latif, al-Wird al-Kabir, al-Ratib, Hizb al-Fath and his Hizb an-Nasr. Similarly, you should use the Ratib of Habib Umar bin And al-Rahman al-Attas, the litanies of Imam Abu’l Hassan al-Shadhili, Imam Nawawi (including the contents of his book al-Adhkar), the Hisn al-Hasin of Imam bin al-Jazari, Hizb al-Akbar of Mulla Ali Qari, and many other litanies of great benefit that may be found- praise to God- throughout the nation.

I shall now present to the reader of this treatise some words of wisdom that were given to me by one of the great saints regarding the invocation of Subhan’Allah wa bihamdih. He said:

To feel and perceive the meaning of wa bihamdih makes the invoker enter a vast space of gnosis, in which he comes to know the secret of the multiplication, growth and blessings of deeds. That is because the personal pronoun in wa bihamdih relates to God, the Majestic and High. When you say, Subhan’Allah wa bihamdih you mean, “I extol Him with His own praise of Himself, which is an ancient and everlasting as Himself and which is circumscribed by no limits or boundaries.” Thus, you are praising Him in a way with which He praises Himself. Similarly, in invoking blessings on the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasalam), you are asking God to bless His Prophet with His blessing, which is as eternal and everlasting as Himself and which has no limit short of the extent of His knowledge. Thus the reward for this is infinite and without limit.

Invocation and prayer are founded on being attentive, collected, and able vividly to sense their meanings. This will lead to the delight (in remembrance).

–”Keys to the Garden” by Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad’s, pg. 122-3

How to get students to find and read 94 articles before the next class

Bismillah, alhamdulillah wa salat wa salam ala Rasulullah

I remember reading this article (see below) and being totally blown away. Getting students to read 94 articles before the next class is probably a professor’s dream and I can only imagine the rich thought-provoking discussion that would soon follow afterwards.

I thought what if this could be used for a halaqa setting or an Islamic class? There are plenty of short treaties and short works on Islam out there, not to mention many different papers published and accessible via the Internet.

If anybody wants to carry out this halaqa experiment, then maybe it could be done online?

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Instead of the standard syllabus that requires everybody to read a few articles to discuss, we decided instead to organize ourselves into a Smart Mob that would try to read a good hunk of the literature on a single topic in one go.  We chose to explore the implications of anonymity online, which is the centerpiece of our project this year.Each student was required to find 5 articles, read them, and summarize them; uploading their summaries (or the author’s own abstract) into a ZohoCreator form.  ZohoCreator is a free service that allows you to create database input forms.

As the students entered their summaries, they were made instantly available to the other students as an online database.  One member of the research team, Kevin Champion, then created a page that took all of the data from the database and formatted it into this very slick and readable presentation:

All summaries were due 36 hours before the next class period, leaving those final 36 hours for all students to read all the summaries posted by their fellow team-members.

By the time of our next class, all 16 students had read 5 articles and been exposed to the main ideas of 94 articles.  This created an amazing foundation for deep conversation.  I think all of us were literally on the edge of our seats, finding connections and debates across the literature at a level I have *never* experienced in an undergraduate setting.  I count it as a huge success, and I would highly recommend it to any other faculty out there looking to spark an engaging conversation with your students.

SOURCE

Bismillah, alhamdulillah wa salat wa salam ala Rasulullah

When I began my memorization of the Quran I did extensive research into the techniques used for memorizing. In this post, I have compiled together all the techniques for memorizing Quran that I could find. It’s really amazing to see the diversity of strategies employed throughout the Muslim world.

Of course, it is crucial to memorize with a teacher. You can download it here: Manual of Quranic Memorization or read below. Feel free to share more techniques and strategies in the comments.

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Classical Mauritanian Method:

Day 1

Copy out the page of the Quran that you want to memorize.
Read it until you get a fluent at it and have it memorized a little.
Repeat what you memorized 500 times (yes you read that right). You will occasionally read it while looking at the text. But go easy on yourself and take breaks in between. Use a misbah (rosary beads) to keep track and take breaks between every 100. It will take about 4.5 hours to do this if it is one page of Quran that takes about one minute for once through.

Day 2

Do the exact same as Day 1 for the new material (copy out the text, memorize, repeat 500 times).
Return to Day 1’s material and repeat it 150 times.

Day 3

Do the exact same as Day 1 for the new material (copy out the text, memorize, repeat 500 times).
Return to Day 2’s material and repeat it 150 times.
Return to Day 1’s material and repeat it 50-75 times.

Day 4

Do the exact same as Day 1 for the new material (copy out the text, memorize, repeat 500 times).
Return to Day 3’s material and repeat it 150 times.
Return to Day 2’s material and repeat it 50-75 times.
Return to Day 1’s material and repeat it 10 times.

Day 1: 500 reps
Day 2: 500 reps+150
Day 3: 500 reps+150+75
Day 4: 500 reps+150+75+10
Day 5: Same as Day 4 but read everything together a few times to ensure proper connections are made.

Benefit of this method is that you do not have to review so much. But doing this method means you will hear the verses repeating themselves in your head and even dream of reciting them due to the intensity of it. The merit of this method is it is GUARANTEED in sha Allah!

Alternative Mauritanian Method

Same routine as above but the numbers are changed to reflect the following

Day 1: 50 reps
Day 2: 50 reps+25 reps
Day 3: 50 reps+25 reps+10 reps
Day 4: Same as Day 3 but review it all together for proper connections

This is meant for people who do not have so much time to spend on it. However it should be noted this will still take a great deal of time to do. The problem with this method is that it means one will have to review more often in order to have it stick.

One could make up for this deficiency by implementing the Strategies, that are in the the last section of this book.

Another Mauritanian Method
(via. Shaykh Tawfeeq Chaudry)

Day 1: 100 reps
Day 2: 50 reps
Day 3: 10 reps
Day 4: 5 reps
Day 5: 2 reps

This is all for one section that you are memorizing, you will have to adjust it using the same pattern mentioned in the Classical Mauritanian Method

Singapore Method:

Read until fluent which means at least 10 times
Then recite it 50 times alternating between 5 times looking at the Quran (open book) and not looking at the Quran (closed book)

The Singapore Method has a number of other helpful techniques that are mentioned in the Strategies section of this book.

Circle Method for Review
(African Sub’is)

Get a group of students who have already memorized the part of the Quran
Everyone recites one ayah each
When a person makes 3 mistakes (or however many) they are out of the circle
Repeat until the entire Juz is complete

Strategies

What has been mentioned above are methods that have been proven to be successful in places around the world. The prerequisites for these methods are sincerity, hard work and perseverance.

There are other strategies, tips and tricks that will also help a person in memorizing the Quran. They are important and in a sense, require an awareness of the Book of Allah and the practical points in the believer relating to it. Although you may heard some of these before we’ll go through these carefully to fully appreciate the value of them.

As mentioned earlier having a Quran teacher is important for a number of reasons:
They will correct your mistakes and help you with your weaknesses
They will keep you on track and not allow you to slack off
They will also help with the tajweed and qiraat of the Quran, so that you will not only memorize the ayahs, but how to also recite the ayahs beautifully

Pick a mushaf (Quran text) that you are already comfortable and familiar with. It should have the following:
Easy to read Arabic
Translation of the meaning
Differentiation marks for dividing Ruku, Rub, Nisf, Suls, Juz

Subhana kallhumma wa bihamdika ash-haduna la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, ameen.

A piece I wrote a while back…
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His Paragon of His Praise
Show Allah how you feel

Remember Me and I will remember you… (Quran 2:152)

Take a quick glance out the window. Hasn’t Allah made it beautiful today? If your eyes are dazzled, why are you indoors?!

So flee to Allah… (Quran 51:50)

Sprint out the door. Just keep running until you find yourself somewhere beautiful. Let the sun smile down on you, feel the clouds fly over your head and let the summer beauty saturate your eyes.

Let Allah’s creation tell you how you feel about Him.

Do you feel it? Do feel the beauty of Allah’s creation? How can you express the joy you feel? What words could possibly describe all this !

You shout out—declare to the audience of the Heavens and the Earth the magnitude of His Embrace!

Subhana Allahi adada ma khalqa fi’samai
Glory be to Allah as many times as the number of what He has created in the Heavens

This sky is expanding unrestrained to show His Glory

Wa Subhana Allahi adada ma khalaqa fi’l ardhi
Glory be to Allah as many times as the number of what He has created in the Earth

That grass is gentle in humility to His Majesty

Wa Subhana Allahi ma adada ma bayna dhaliq
Glory be to Allah as many times as the number of what is between them

Hear the leaves rustle in the wind enamored by His Closeness!

Wa Subhana Allah ma adada ma huwa khaliq
Glory be to Allah as many times as the number of what He will create

And let the beauty of this world announce His Beauty to come

Wa Allahu Akbar mithlu dhaliq
Allah is the Most Great, a similar number of times

All creation is amazed and inspired by His Affection

Walhamdulillah mithlu dhaliq
Praise be to Allah, a similar number of times

Eager, surprised and touched at His Unending Mercy

Wa la illaha illallahu mithlu dhaliq
And there is no God but Allah, a similar number of times

Permanently excited for the Eternally Besought

Wa la howla wa la quwatta illah billah mithlu dhaliq
There is no might and no power except in Allah, a similar number of times

Passionately charmed and comforted knowing the gentleness of The Creator and The Inheritor

(Dhikr taken from At-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud. At-Tirmidhi said, “This is a hasan hadith”)

Seest thou not that it is Allah Whose praises all beings in the heavens and on earth do celebrate…each knows its prayer and its glorification. God is full aware of everything they do. (Quran 24:41)

Bismillah, alhamdulillah, wa salat wa salam ala Rasulullah

After Imam al-Ghazali is robbed of his books, he comes to realize what knowledge means, in terms of what he knows and has with him at all times. This at one level means memorization, on another level it also means those things which are written onto the soul, or are easily written onto the heart- his very being, those thoughts that are only a few seconds away from his mind. From this point onwards, Imam al-Ghazali’s interaction with with ‘ilm that he learns and discovers, is what  Ebrahim Moosa calls “heart-writing.”

What is Heart-Writing?

The idea of heart-writing comes from the symbolism of the Quranic mention of the Pen. As a revelation, there is something of the Quran, being revealed to the hearts through the use of the pen in ways fisabilillah. The goal and end result of this type of writing is to transform oneself, purify oneself and others,  and finally to come closer to Allah. There is a blessing in the works of the scholars and the righteous to the extent miracles may occur from reading them, or writing about them.

Heart-writing is a form of writing, particularly peculiar to the scholar, alim and intellectual, that is different from what one is accustomed to: it becomes “part of a highly meta-physicalized self,” where the writing is doxological (praising God), but also a dialogue of thoughts, often building upon what he already knew, in a different form of repetition, but with an originality of meaning, so that it would pierce his heart. One may put a certain hadith into a different context and then discover a new aspect of it’s meaning, or re-phrase an oft-heard quotation into a different way.

Heart-writing seeks to grasp something of God, and by extension purify the self, by:

“de-center[ing] the diseased certainty of cognition, a cognition that constantly seeks ideological closure. It is only in ideological certainty is destabilized that writing as semiotics can effectively occur in the heart and soul—when it issues an aesthetic theory announcing openness and expansion.”

So while one suspends previous assumptions, habits, behaviors, and your tendency to conclude things instantly, you also let what you already know guide you or steer your thoughts into arenas you haven’t explored, or which are new to you. At the same time, a process of pendulation occurs where you take in something of what is being written, and put in something back, simultaneously as you write, whether you are copying out a quotation or negotiating through the situation that it was said in, how it applies to you now, and what it reflects about yourself, so “the self is suspended between the eventfulness of meaning or the meaningfulness of events.”

You can get a hold of this diary from Paperblanks. This makes an excellent heart-writing book.

How to Heart-Write

-You can merely copy out quotations, hadith and verses that inspire you, but in a very slow methodical manner. The more you pen down, the more time you take, the more you contemplate and take it in.

-Note down certain duas and adkhar that you plan on saying regularly, morning and evening.

-Keep note of those sayings, wisdoms, ahadith and verses that hit the pressure-points of your nafs. That is, those sayings which instantly soften your heart, push you away from a wrong-doing and gear you toward committing good deeds instantly.

then writing also de-centers the diseased certainty of cognition, a cognition that constantly seeks ideological closure. It is only ;n ideological certainty is destabilized that writing as semiotics can effectively occur in the heart and soul—when it issues an aesthetic theory announcing openness and expansion.

Bismillah, alhamdulillah, wa salat wa salam ala Rasulullah

I have started a little note-taking project online. Using Titanpad, anyone can contribute their notes and chat, simultaneously, and type out the notes, in real-time. Mashallah, I’ve noticed AlMaghrib students have a strong practice of note-taking, but I don’t know how strong the practice is among students of the other institutes. I am usually taking notes on a consistent basis nowadays, but may get busy here and there. I also take breaks from note-taking by using flashcards to memorize portions of my notes. May Allah make this a regular habit for me and you, ameen.

Alhamdulillah, it’s a big blessing we have so of technology at our disposal but I don’t think we have figured out how to use it for optimal communal learning. Many still treat khutbahs and bayaans as if they are a form of entertainment, when we could be using the Internet to expand the circle of the halaqa. One of the characteristics of the Golden Age of Islam was the sharing and “trade” of knowledge, exchanging texts and translations, talking about what they were learning, doing some follow-up and that can be easily done today via the Web. And indirectly, we would be putting more ilm out onto the web.

SunniNotes is very much a social spin-off of my ilmp3 blog with the main goal being to “liberate ilm” using technological pedagogy. Talks disappear from the Internet overnight, sometimes its hard to hear certain portions of these talks, and I’m sure many of our spiritual teachers feel sometimes they are speaking to a wall. We need to let go a little and ”allow” their words to penetrate our hearts and really immerse ourselves, on a daily level. We need to make sure we understand what is being taught and we need to make sure we preserve that knowledge in our hearts.

So here are the pads:

SacredLearning.org talks (Sh. AH Sattar): http://sunninotes.titanpad.com/1
Habib Umar (with Sh. Abdul Kareem Yahya) talks: http://sunninotes.titanpad.com/2
Imam Suhaib Webb notes: http://sunninotes.titanpad.com/3
Shaykh Hamza Yusuf notes: http://sunninotes.titanpad.com/4
Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad notes: http://sunninotes.titanpad.com/5
Seekers Guidance Notes (Sh. Faraz Rabbani, Sh. Yahya Rhodus): http://sunninotes.titanpad.com/6

Please take some time to pull up a lecture you find online from any of the above speakers and contribute your notes.

Man nafasa an akhihi qurbatun min qurba ad-dunya, nafasallahu anhu qurbatun min qurbal akhira
“Whoever relieves someone of a difficulty in this world, Allah will relieve him of a difficulty in the next world.” -Sahih Muslim

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See also mirror thread on Sunniforum

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, ameen.

An excellent opportunity coming up featuring songs, poetry, spoken word & inspirational talks.

WHAT? Online fundraiser to fight hunger locally and globally

WHY? To recall Prophetic concern for the needy, and to exemplify it by raising funds for them

WHEN? Wednesday, July 7, 2010 6pm EST

COST? F R E E ! !

Registration per session is limited – PLEASE REGISTER TODAY!

Bismillah, alhamdulillah, wa salat wa salam ala Rasulullah

“…and give them preference over themselves even though they were in need of that.” (Quran 59:9)

Personally, I think every masjid should have door-greeter like Wal-Mart has a greeter at the door, or people who are in charge of making the masjid a nice experience for new visitors. But maybe we should all be like that at the masjid?

There is no shortage of Muslims who visit the masjid, with an attitude that they are there to be served, or that they are entitled to something. There is a ‘dog-eat-dog attitude’ of getting a place to pray, of quickly finding ones shoes, and of leaving quickly, or of disturbing others that may be praying. There are countless Islamic horror stories that tell the tale of the masjid as a place of irritation, of Muslims praying strangely or dressing inappropriately or being harsh with clueless non-Muslims. When you are in the company of the Believers, take the attitude of the Ansar mentioned in the verse above, have ethar and prefer others to yourself. When you have ethar, and prefer others to yourself, then Allah prefers you over others, and shows you more ways to do good to others, and thereby earn more hasanat that few would have been granted.

Ethar is crucial because one needs to consider how masajid are changing in recent times. In some Muslim countries, nation-wide announcements on health checks, vaccinations and social services are given immediately after the khutbah. Nowadays, you may even see blind people in the masjid, either with a walking stick, or a guide-dog, or believers in wheelchairs. If Muslims consider that, then we may think twice about that bad parking job that upset the neighbors and other worshipers, or think twice before letting our cell phones ring away during Salah, because the focus is not on myself, but on others and Allah. Inshallah we will find a break from the masjid being a place for me, but rather for us.

Here is a list of some masjid etiquettes worth considering:

-try not to eat too much before you go to the masjid, lest you burp in salah and bother others
-while driving to the masjid be aware other drivers around you are also heading to the mosque, so drive carefully because you are being watched!
-offer brothers rides to the masjid if you can tell they are headed that way
-if you are early in attending the mosque, park as far away from it as you can, and walk there, so others have an easy time parking.*
-don’t slam your shoes on the ground after you take them off, set them down easily
-always try and give salam to the imam and whoever you pass by
-sit with your legs up to your chest, hands wrapped around them. This is a sunnah way of sitting, and is called the “Arab’s wall” because there are few walls in the desert, this is considered a comfortable position.
-just because you go to the masjid 5 times a day, don’t think you have any special right over other worshipers; and because of the frequency of your going to the masjid, don’t treat the masjid like it’s your backyard
-maintain the feeling of grandeur of Allah in your heart at the masjid, have humility, don’t let anything else compete in your heart for that, and being still in salah is part of khushu
-don’t raise your voices or talk about worldly concerns in the masjid, give others spiritually uplifting reminders; INSPIRE!
-give people hasanat in helping you ask for religious advice that is easy, even if you know it, ask them: “Where is the mosque?” What time is the prayer? Or ask them to help you search out a hadith, that may actually end up being a reminder they need. You need not be straight-forward and direct, but be gentle, use subtle ishara
-talk to people like the adhan speaks to the heart
-when you speak to people observe not their faces, or their words, but their hearts.
-sit in tight spots in the masjid and leave open areas for others–just make sure you aren’t inconveniencing others by siting in those tights spots, and they are also comfortable
-if someone takes your spot, then make dua they be granted reward for their eagerness
-Remember the Sahabi, Abu Dumdum, who would give people who said bad about him, their hasanat back. Such was his generosity and love of the Muslims.
-don’t look down on non-Muslim visitors to the masjid, be very friendly to them, show them generosity. Also if you didn’t know they were non-Muslim and then are told they are just learning, then don’t treat them strangely. Be patient with them and their questions! This may be the only impression of Islam in there life! And don’t attack their lifestyles, because in reality, if you took away the pubs and bars from this country, people would go insane, since this is the only solace they have.
-similarly be aware of the diversity inside the community- the different schools of fiqh and other groups
-the best attendees at the masjid just maybe, the undercover spies, so be very careful whom you judge to be the best or the worst and be careful of talking about political nonsense.
-consider the neighbors of the masjid- if you make a ruckus near the masjid, the property value of the houses around it will go down and your neighbors will resent Muslims, and possibly mistreat us.

Remember: The Prophet salalalahu alayhi wasalam would often describe certain believers, “Verily, I know nothing of him, except good,” and he was the most honest of men.

The masjid is where baraka meets the Earth! So make it a place where the baraka is reflected in your adab!

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*Remember that walking to the mosque for a prayer you are late for is like being in prayer, so walk slowly. And remember the hadith transmitted via Abu Hurairah: “Should I not point you to that which Allah wipes away errors through and by which He raises one numerous ranks. 1) Making wudhu completely when disliked, much walking to mosques, waiting from one prayer to the next. And that is your ribat (fortitude), that is your ribat (fortitude). (Sahih Muslim)

Related readings:

Fatwa allows guide dogs into mosques

Mosque plays role in raising awareness of Hepatitis C

A funny thing happened on the way to the mosque (a non-Muslim’s strange experience visiting British mosques)

I haven’t talked much about something very important, and that is community planning and community work in the Muslim community. In North America, the community work has taken a few trajectories, which I’ll run through quickly:

1- Masjid halaqas: small, often workable usually when it is a group that you usually socialize with; very successful if spear-headed by an Imam or if people are regular attendees; problematic when run by amateus who will endlessly return to “the basics” and not move further beyond, very important to search around and know of a consistenly excellent halaqa to attend regularly or even occasionally when you are feeling weak spiritually.

2- Conferences: usually all about high turnouts, famous speakers; false perception of community progress, more as a show and a coming together of various trends and strands in the community.

3- Seminars and classes: Almaghrib classes, some monthly or yearly special classes; very popular, and can go from simple to dawah to Muslims, to actual scholarly issues, to text studies; unfortunately it seems only the few really committed Muslims active in youth groups or volunteering at conferences benefit from this- it seems we are taking more and more out of fewer and fewer practicing Muslims, so we need to find ways to take more and more out of the full breadth of the community and to give the untapped segment a space to participate and contribute.

4- Youth groups: usually take the form of sports nights, crucial to guard youth from influences at this precarious time in their lives; idea is to keep them busy and this will solve everything; only successful if there are strong enduring bonds of brotherhood.

5- MSAs: infamous history, lots of great events come out of this period, lots of Islamic inculcation; the bad-sides are lots of politics, most Muslims who go through the MSA go through a radical phase, that makes Islam difficult and unworkable, seeing things as ‘black-and-white,’ as Islamic understanding grows this goes away, but for some it never goes away. MSAs, before one is in them and after, one should not let them ‘compete’ with masjid events, since in reality, masjid or community events are far more important because they are consistent. Many criticize MSAs as only being for marriage- and I think this is a silly argument, if brothers and sisters won’t find spouses at MSAs, then where do you want them to go? MSAs also need to play this role, and this is a good thing because it completes the blessings of the MSA by giving rise to families.

Running a Youth group

Most people are familiar with these. I remember working my local youth group and having a great deal of difficulty and frustration. The mentality was that a youth group is little more than entertainment, and I was there to entertain them. Looking back I realize the problem was an expectation to see some youth rise up, gather courage and take on bigger challenges. However, this rarely materialized. It was however very clear everyone had good intentions despite involvement, even now with drugs, alcohol and party life. The youth group doubled as a group for socializing with, so what is key in helping these brothers is to make sure they help each other. Peer pressure will often be used against each other, often one will try to make a clean break and the others will criticize them, but it can be used to help each other as a support group. If 2 or 3 take on the promise to quit or make a clean break, then it will be more successful because of mutual support. Working a youth group requires massive amounts of patience. Some things I remember running include: building brotherhood by having one brother fall backwards and have another catch him, wrestling, sports like soccer, football and basketball, itikaaf sleepovers, and the usual Quran readings. What will happen in making success out of these brothers is that to keep them attached to the masjid, so that when things get rocky the masjid remains a place of stability. Over the years, some brothers have gone from being the worst trouble-makers in the group to being Quran teachers, so it’s just a matter of time and requires a great deal of patience.

Dynamics of Sisters

Most events are powered by sisters- sisters are the renewable fuel of Islamic activism, and unfortunately they get neglected. I haven’t run any sisters programs but there are some key concerns. When sisters have their menstrual cycle, they are not allowed to enter the prayer hall- this is important to keep in mind, because although there are many opinions, some that say it is permissible, others say it is not, or simply are uncomfortable. So it is vital to have masjid events outside of the prayer hall so these sisters feel included and accommodated. Another important issue for sisters community work, is there are always petty rivalries or jealousies. The top question that comes up in asking people to come to events, “Who else is coming?” Then the names are listed and if they are few, this person, if he is a guy will decide not to come, because it won’t be as much a social event. But if the names are listed and this person, if she is a sister, will immediately assess if she gets along with them, if she doesn’t like them or not, as if a platter is being laid out for her. So xyz will not attend simply because they don’t want to be near this person, or because they had “beef” in the past, or because they just don’t hang out. With sisters it seems they must love each other in order to take each others company, and nothing short of that. It’s unfortunate, especially how can gossip play into Islamic activities, but it is important because some people simply do not get along and putting them together will sabotage everything.

Future of Community work

Most events in North American communities are more or less sporadic and random, being disconnected from each other. So naturally people don’t take it seriously and think of it as more a social function. But from the perspective of some Muslims, including myself, this is training. We do one event and develop skills in the process, and then use those skills to grow and organically explore newer possibilities. The hope is we will work up to have our own organizations and institutions similar to those found in other minority communities–advocate groups, watchdogs, think-tanks, social welfare groups, Muslim schools and universities, etc. A big overlooked issue is giving announcements that are outside the Muslim community, in the masjid- so for example an announcement about blood donations, or of prominent speakers like Norman Finkelstein visiting, or of Alcoholic Anonymous meetings, or of a new soup kitchen that is opening up and could use some help- this is key for integrating Muslims, to help us find our place. Keeping good relations with masjid neighbors is also, important because if there is a difficulty Muslims are creating for the neighborhood, it may result in the property value of these non-Muslim’s houses going down, and in that way we are doing harm when we should be doing good. In addition, we need to realize that even the small events we do can become huge- just consider how religious talks in small communities or even small gatherings 10 years ago have gone viral through the Internet for the entire ummah to watch. So it is important to understand Islamic work is never in isolation- it will have an effect, and we need to make sure we maximize the khayr of that effect. Keeping this in mind is absolutely crucial- I never understood it until someone much older than me explained the broader vision. If we keep this in mind, then you realize the compulsive attitudes of forcing people to attend events or functions, or forcing them to volunteer and help, then is actually to the detriment because you are pushing them away- the next time they see you, they will avoid you. So it is better to search out people who will help always- and just because I don’t help with one event does not mean I am not busy with other types of work, so one can’t assume- people have their strengths in different areas. Not only that, but it is also important sometimes to step down from a voluntary position, simply so that another brother or sisters gains the experience, learn from it and thereby strengthen their eman by it- if everything relied on you, then when you fail, the entire effort fails. Another concern is how multiple events happen at the same time- an Almaghrib class, an Islamic conference and an online program all on the same weekend. This is a problem, I can’t figure out, but it is going to cost us because it shows how we marginalize Islam to a few days a week.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, ameen.

This summer is turning out to be very frustrating. I have a number of projects I had planned, and was hoping to have posted on here by the end of the month of June. But because I am on my own, the motivation becomes difficult. On top of that, these are Islamic projects that have, to the best of my knowledge (I could be wrong) never been attempted or done before, so I keep coming up against a brick wall. Other concerns come up: will it be effective? is it worth it? could this potentially be violating a law or a norm that helps people’s belief? will people simply ridicule it and move on without benefiting?

There is always a subtle balance that keeps one on the tip of their toes, constantly working, so that even mundane activities help one think and come up with new ideas. Even with the slightest change, or the slightest absence will throw off  the delicate equilibrium of thoughts and productivity.

You never know where the baraka is hidden.

Bismillah, alhamdulilah, wa salat wa salam ala Rasulullah

I heard a beautiful hadith tonight after Ishaa salah- that I am so grateful I had the opportunity of hearing. Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah! I will paraphrase it below, with the reference so readers can look it up.

Nabi salallahu alayhi wasalam said to the Sahabas to listen carefully, “There will be men on Yawmul Qiyamah whose rank, even the Ambiya (Prophets) and Shuhada (martyrs) will not even have.” At this the Sahabas were quiet but a bedouin man, made an ishara with his hand and asked, “Ya Rasulullah, can you describe them to us so that we may know them?” At this Rasulullah (salallahu alayhi wasalam) got very happy and described them, “They are those Muslims who love each other for the sake of Allah, despite being from different cities, different tribes, different clans and different nations. And because of their love for one another, Allah will grant them pulpits of light, clothing of light and emanating light, and the Ambiya (Prophets) and Shuhada (martyrs) will envy them. They are the Awliya of Allah.” (Musnad of Imam Ahmad, Mustadrak of Hakim, Sahih)

This hadith shows the great rank of these ordinary Muslims and moreover shows the blessing of living in a multicultural context with many immigrants from many different backgrounds. It also shows the essential-ness of loving each other for the sake of Allah in Islam. This hadith has great resonance with many other hadith, because in this it includes: love of parents, love of family, love of scholars, the love the Ansar and the Muhajirun shared, love of Ahlul bayt, love of the Prophets, love of those who worship Allah and by extension the love of the worship of Allah past, present and future. It also resonates with the Hadith Qudsi that speak of visiting the sick Muslims, (‘Had you visited him, you would have found Me there’) and other hadith that speak of the love of the poor and down-trodden. And there is another hadith Shaykh Hamza Yusuf mentioned in a talk:

You will not enter Jannah until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another.

In fact, I can’t recall anything as beautiful as seeing Muslims express their love for one another for the sake of Allah. And it is this same mahaba towards the believers that will grant the righteous such a great and noble rank, inshallah. So let us work on this mahaba.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, ameen.

As an attempt to bridge the communication-gap between Danes and the local muslim community, a group of academic muslims have launched a novel form of home-service.

The service is called ‘Book en Muslim’ (Book a Muslim) and it enables people to book a meeting with a young Danish muslim. The meeting takes place either at people’s own homes or at their workplaces.

The objective is to create a platform for dialogue between Danes and Danish muslims who feel caught in between the religious and political fronts that emerged as a result of the Mohammed cartoon saga.

Bookings can be placed through the internet, free of charge.

The illustration is from a previous library-event called “borrow a prejudice”.

LINK

By chance I came across this artwork. Pretty amazing. You can watch the video of it’s creation here.

“The sculpture of the magnified rosary beads changes the scale and sector of the original. From the private meditation of an individual holding her rosary, the sculpture becomes a public one inviting communal contemplation. By moving it from the private to the public sector, the rosary becomes an object for discussion and debate. At the same time, however, the change in scale from hand-held to larger-than-life transforms the giant rosary into a subject commanding a presence within the same space of its viewers. Its uncanny resemblance to a chain recalls both the positive and negative connotations of the many types of chains in our world: from the chains that are used for prisoners to the chain that links memory itself. A chain that connects one religion to the next in the significance of prayer, could also be a chain that prevents connections to be made. Painted sky-blue and being a site-specific installation on the roof, the rosary beads seem to bring a piece of the sky down to sit on the rooftop for conversation. As both an object and subject of inquiry, the sculpture re-presents the locals relation to the global, inviting discussions of the ways in which we are linked together and implicated, and ways that we could forge better relations.” SOURCE

Also check out Riyadat an-Nafs’ post on how sibha (dhikr-beads) go all the way back to Hasan al-Basri (rahimullah) and the Sahabas–a hadith chain in itself.

Bismillah, alhamdulillah, wa salat wa salam ala Rasulullah.

And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: “Verily, I am going to place (mankind) generations after generations on earth.” They said: “Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood, – while we glorify You with praises and thanks (Exalted be You above all that they associate with You as partners) and sanctify You.” He (Allah) said: “I know that which you do not know.” (Quran 2:30)

Abu Huraira (رضی اللہ عنہ) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said, “Allah has angels who roam about on roads looking for the love-sick rememberers of Allah. When they find such people, they call out other angels: ‘Come here to your coveted aspiration.” (Sahih Bukhari)

For each (person), there are angels in succession, before and behind him.They guard him by the Command of Allah… [13:11]

There is no human being but has a protector over him (or her) (i.e. angels in charge of each human being guarding him, writing his good and bad deeds, etc. [86:4]

Say (O Muhammad Peace be upon him ): “Whoever is an enemy to Jibrael (Gabriel) (let him die in his fury), for indeed he has brought it (this Quran) down to your heart by Allah’s Permission, confirming what came before it [i.e. the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel)] and guidance and glad tidings for the believers. (Quran 2:97)

From Allah, the Lord of the ways of ascent. The angels and the Ruh [Jibrael (Gabriel)] ascend to Him in a Day the measure whereof is fifty thousand years. (Quran 70:3-4)

(Remember!) that the two receivers (recording angels) receive (each human being after he or she has attained the age of puberty), one sitting on the right and one on the left (to note his or her actions).Not a word does he (or she) utter, but there is a watcher by him ready (to record it). (Quran 50: 17-18)

Shah Waliullah ad-Dehlawi (rahimullah)’s Altaf al-Quds is number 3 on my list of Islamic books too difficult to read (Rasa’il of Imam Junayd, and Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam of Muhammad Iqbal are #1 and #2). The translation is decent and the book is very convoluted, with very unusual, rigid old writing style. Nonetheless, there are some amazing passages in here that anyone who has had even the slightest Islamic spiritual experience or devotion in worship can relate to. He gives a glimpse of the knowledge of the unseen realms that is given to the pious who are close to God. I don’t understand everything he gets at, and hope one day to study this book with a shaykh, but you can get a scent of the fragrance of the ghayb of it from the passages below.

This post may confuse some or some will prefer to ignore this post because its talking about very abstruse matters. I can understand and relate to that because it’s no simple matter– just make dhikr!

Note how angels are connected with the world of ideas (alam-e-mithal), the relation to symbolism/omens, the hierarchical structure, heavenly departments, the disciplined order of the unseen, how they are actively cognizant and creative in guiding mankind, and how that compares to the (dis)organization of Muslims as an ummah/community. Note also how real the angels are and how neglected they are in discussions of popular Islam today, in comparison to tales of jinns- what does that say about our ummah?

In Afghanistan: With tears in his eyes for the decline of the
Muslims, Iqbal asked Allah: “Why are you so kind to the British, they
have confined mankind to the house of bondage?” Unhesitatingly, the
poet answered this rhetorical question. “The Muslim has lost the zest
for life and his heart beats no more. He was the Israfil (the Angel of Resurrection), but his Sur (the Trumpet of Life) blows no more.”

(Taken from “Iqbal: Poet-Philosopher of Pakistan” by Hafiz Malik)

And above all, remember angels are attracted to dhikr.

——–

When these forces come into close proximity with one another, and the special characteristics of things become differentiated, then a decree is issued and universal nature becomes organized into particulars. This is analogous to the situation when water is poured onto uneven ground which is strewn with sticks and straws and stones and clods of earth: when the water collides with these various obstacles, it is in the nature of water to percolate through. The same thing occurs with the collision of forces: a decree pours down from universal nature, and hosts of angels adapted to that inspiration hasten to be present in the battlefield and control the situation by means of inspiration, transmission, contraction and expansion, until that decree is made manifest and the imagined form comes into existence.

The action of angels in this case is comparable to the action of nature working in a body when a disease reaches its crisis. Or it is like the metamorphosis of insects according to the requirements of their natures, or the way that moths mob round a lamp. It is according to such a pattern that impulses descend int the hearts of mankind.
Sometimes the angels contrive a strategem to save someone from destruction. Sometimes they make a person aware of the real situation by means of dreams or voices. At other times they may use someone else, or even an animal, as a means to convey some information to the individual or to do something for him.
Most of such thoughts percolate through via the energies of the world of ideas. The angels make no distinction between good and bad in their work of transmission and inspiration. In addition to the many angels of humanity, there is also a band of pure souls who do the work of angels and thus counted among their number.
The science of talisman, the science of letters, and the science of the names of God, all derive from a knowledge of this system or from a branch of it. And God knows best.
Be that as it may, the impulses and thoughts which are numbered among the stages of perfection come under one of three headings.
The first category is when a thought descends from the major selfhood into the minor selfhood. The reason for this descent is an inherent part of the system, in that the universal expediency required the establishment of some benefit or other in the world. Now the establishment of a benefit without the mediation of one particular human being would not be possible. To be more precise, when the form of the world changes and the condition of its basic components also changes, then it follows of necessity that the supreme manifestation should also move from one state to another. This is the meaning implied in the words, “Everyday He is in a new state.”
The exalted assembly takes on this same colouring. There can be no affinity with Pure Goodness except by immersion in this influence. Hence it is essential in this case that human souls should be tinged with the colouring of this holy presence, and that it should permeate them through and through.
This is analagous to the situation when water comes into contact with some earth: inevitably some of the water will soak through the soil, and by virtue of the porosity of the earth will seep through to the other side of the intervening mass. In this case, however, the ‘pores’ belong to the souls of the exalted assembly and those of perfected individuals. It is they alone who have pores and channels connecting them with the major selfhood and the supreme manifestation, which last is the heart, as it were, of the major selfhood. Thus it is that this impulse, passing via universal nature, reaches these perfected souls and from there connects up with all other souls.
The aspirations of the exalted assembly are like enclosed waters: as long as they are not stirred up, they will stir up by themselves. Or, again, they are like a spring: as long as no one scoops up a handful of water from it, it will not reach the thirsting mouth. The difference between the aspirations of the exalted assembly as a whole and those of a single individual from its midst is analogous to the difference which is to be seen between the prior knowledge that an astronomer possesses about eclipses in general and the knowledge which people gain about one particular eclipse when they see it taking place. So long as this general aspiration does not become a particular one, the universal expediency will not descend in the form of a particular expedient act, and the precipitation from that majestic presence will not be able to flow continuously, linking pore to pore.
Such an impulse then selects one of those perfected souls. First of all it produces to mingle and associate with the supreme manifestation. Then that impulse descends into his pure intellect, in the way that a signet ring stamps its impression in wax. Subsequently both the secret faculty and the spirit become amenable to its will. The pattern of that impulse is transferred from the exalted assembly, just like the imprint of the ring on the wax; from there it descends further to the intellect and the heart, thus colouring the premonitions of the mind and the states of the heart. This impulse becomes an authoritative pronouncement, and can appear in new forms according to the requirements of the circumstances. After that, the impulse descends further to the level of the physical body, and induces the people to act in accordance with that truth.
Thus a new religion, or doctrine, or line of succession is organized. God then pours down fresh enhancement into the knowledge of the perfect man, and inspires his religion and his doctrine, so that they may continue through the ages, uneffaced. Successive reformers them revive that religion, until eventually the complexion of the supreme manifestation changes, and this new aspect appears within the heart of another perfected ma. Most probably the supreme manifestation will appear to him to be tinged with the colour of that new impulse. Thus whatever news he gives of the supreme manifestation will contain a hint of that new colouring.
There is one point here which should be carefully noted: the best interpreter of the truth is the one whose intellect keeps silent concerning the premonitions and thoughts which arise spontaneously within his mind by virtue of its own innate disposition. Apart from the impulse which we have described above, nothing stirs his intellect or prompts him to any original utterance. The most perfected exemplification of this is to be found in Muhammad (salallahu alayhi wasalam) the Seal of the Prophets. Jesus Christ (alayhi salam) proclaimed the unification of the pure intellect with the supreme manifestation, thereby creating a mighty stir. The Holy Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasalam) however, did not speak of this matter either overtly or covertly. Whatever he said was said calmly and with complete sobriety of mind.

We now come to the second category of thoughts and impulses. The training of human souls has its equivalent in the world of ideas, and this is the concern of the universal impulse. However it is essential that a particular impulse should be joined with it. Thus this impulse percolates down into the hearts of upright people who are continuously devoted to the world of ideas and to the angels who are bearers of this secret. The desire to carry out this world arises in a great number of people, and through them it is brought to completion. Spiritual leaders, reformers of religion, even the guide who is the very axis of the earth, all drink their fill at this fountain. It may even be that perfected individuals likewise receive this secret from the presence of the world of ideas and exert themselves accordingly, but in such a case they would be working below their true capacity. Or it may be that some of those matters which we have already discussed pour down on the angels of humanity; in which case it is for them to make the appropriate effort.
Sometimes it happens that inspiration is directed towards a certain person, but that the import of that inspiration is conveyed via the speech of someone else, who may or may not know the underlying situation and intention behind what he says. In such a case the latter would appear to the former to be one of the angels. Or it might even be that he is brought to an understanding of that inspiration through the cooing of a dove, the chirping of a sparrow, or the sound made by some object or other.
The third and final category is this: the luminous angels appointed to watch over the exercises of praise and submission circle round whoever performs them and some of their splendour falls upon his intellect and his heart. If the heart is uppermost then the quality of the resultant state is one of intimacy and tranquility. But if the intellect is predominant, the blessing takes the form of premonitions, or else the resolve of his heart becomes linked with the intention to perform good actions; such an intention is consistent with the understanding of the angels, and is therefore known as ‘angelic thought.’
Sometimes this state or thought is represented to the perception of the seeker in sleep. In this first case that sleep becomes a dream of splendour and bliss and everything connected with intimacy and tranquility. In the second case it takes the form of an admonition, the substance of which is the command either to perform a certain act or desist from doing an evil one. This is in fact a revelation of the mind which has appeared in the individual’s intellect and created there the form of an impulse.
Here this treatise entitled The Sacred Knowldge of the Higher Functions of the Mind (Altaf al-Quds) comes to an end. It is to God that all praise is due, first and last, outwardly and inwardly. May God shower his blessings and benedictions upon our Lord Muhammad (salallahu alayhi wasalam) and his family and descendants.

(End of Chapter and Book)

–Shah Waliullah (Trans: David Pendlebury, Jalbani) Altaf al-Quds Sacred Knowledge of the Higher Functions of the Mind. Chapter 7- Thoughts and their Causes, pg. 98-103.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, ameen.

Some stuff I thought might help people out. This is mainly from a male perspective, since I feel we have too much femininity when it comes to this stuff. I hope this doesn’t lead to “orientalizing” ourselves, so I’ve tried to bring in some unique styles. Add to the tradition, with some creativity, don’t just consume it.

You’ll notice one thing about these fashions and practices when they pertain to Islam or Muslims: they won’t die out for a long time and some are still going strong for ages.

Accessories
-Rings are a sunnah (on the last finger) but they can distract in prayer. Don’t play around with them. Sufyan at-Thawri abandoned the rings because they distract him, others would turn the ring over so the bezel faces inside. One can also wear rings on the left hand as this is what Hasan and Husayn (radiallahu anhu) did as reported by Imam Muhammad Baqir.
-Being familiar with your cellphone, is better than showing it off. Use the alarm clock on their for half an hour before fajr, put the cell phone in the washroom, so you are forced to reach the washroom or under your prayer-mat.
-Honor thy pen and paper. Excellent for recording your favorite gems from khutbahs, raqaiq (heart-softeners), dhikr, duas and also those reminders which I called “pressure-point heart-softeners,” that really hit a nerve, and make you back off from doing something wrong very quick or push you to do a good deed very quick. Everybody has those spiritual soft-spots.

Clothes
-the Saudi thowb, shmegh/ghutra is much too stereotypical, as is the “male terrorist niqab,” besides you’ll never be as good as this cat in it.

-I recommend trying out Moroccan Jalabiyya or Gandoras as an alternative to Thowbs. Much more stylish.

-Lungis are regarded as a sunnah, but choose wisely. I recommend you search this  “authentic” brand out

-White under-shirt and turban is very cliche of Indians
-Imamah is sunnah and its awesome. But it looks bad with a big ego.
-Gangster-wear (Enyce, Phat Farm) for some reason is very attractive to sisters. Hey, i’m just saying!
-Choose a prayer cap that works with your hair and head-size, some simply do not work.
-Laundry and dry your prayer caps, prayer mats, and thowbs since if you are practicing, you use them a lot!
-Keffiyeh is overdone, but it’s always going to be stylish.
-Khushay shoes is not considered stylish, it’s considered Disney
-Shalwar and t-shirt is a bad way for east to meet west
-Sherwani is the result of how East-Indian elders negotiated East-West fashion. This is the middle ground between the two

-Check out JaanJ for pins with the design of the Sandal of the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, which is worn for baraka and also their halal non-silk ties

Car
-Burn Dhikr CDs in cars, recite them on the go if you are in a hurry for your morning/evening duas
-Keep bagged lunches/granola bars in your car for if you see homeless people
-Put this up on Eid
-Keep some extra clothes, winter-clothes in the car, bumper cables too
-Always park a block or so away from the mosque, so as to give other people ample parking space. Walk the remainder of the way, because every step you take to the mosque raises your rank.

Personal Care
-Fair and Lovely does not work! Enough said!
-Necklaces/Taw’iz can constitute male jewelry in Islam, since it depends on culture. But expect to get hassled for it by other Muslims.
-Watch your eyebrows, but don’t get obsessed and turn into a Persian guido.
-Gangster sideburns only look good for a few hours, because stubble will come in and offset it. Avoid.
-Hookahs/shisha is not healthy, considered haram and smelly
-Use miswak before you do dhikr
-Olive oil soaps from Nablus, Palestine. Great for skin.

-Don’t cut long white hairs, they are from the “Light of a believer.” Makes for interesting conversation too.
-Use a noise-hair trimmer, trim regularly
-Kohl is not just for women- especially if you want the Johnny Depp look. Use kohl (Collyrium) before sleeping. Avoid Hashmi Surma/Kohl/Kajol since it has a dangerous amount of lead. Try Guerlain’s Terracotta Kohl liner Apparently this isn’t even real kohl, my apologies!

-Conditioner helps your beard look less scraggly.
-Keep a mustache. it gives the face dignity. to retain the ma’al-wajh, “water of the face” alongside your beard. No matter how it looks keep it, it’s sunnah, and you’ll realize it looks better with it than without. Beards help you gain the trust of others. Observe the diagram below.

-Avoid stubble, it does not work well on dark, or brown skin. So keep it clean outside the beard or keep it there. The worst is stubble near your eyes from shaving too much, leave the baby hairs alone!
-Unibrows are a no-no, there is difference of fiqh opinion (‘altering the creation of Allah’) but it may be important to note the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam had no unibrow.
-Rosewater has cultural resonance with Muslims.
-Know your attar, pick a good one based on smell- not the fancy shape of the bottle. Avoid alcohol if only to be on the safe side. Put some on your hands so a g fter you shake people’s hands, the smell lingers with them, reminding them of you.
-Portable, lota/washroom buckets exist so you can buy one for yourself. See here
-Workout for fitness, not for showing off/pride. Your pride will always get hurt. because there is always someone who is bigger.

Socializing

-Making good impressions on others is a good way of helping your reputation.
-Make sure you treat your parents and family well, give your mum surprise gifts and fathers like to see initiative in their kids. Parents talk to other parents about their children, they like to compete, and really showing your love for your parents helps your rep among them.
-Muslims when compared to other groups generally come off as more bold. Retain that boldness.
-Make small-talk with non-Muslims rather than staying reserved- might not be easy but try to, for the image of Islam.
-Have couplets of poetry, verses of Quran, qissa (stories) to share. Juggle languages so you can relate to people of other cultures.
-Try and have something inspirational to say to people. re-visit old points from time to time but have new material
-Always have an Advil/Tylenol handy for others or yourself, Muslims have a reputation of always being woefully unprepared
-Keep gifts ready for people or always have something in preparation. Always give a gift with a card or note, with a thoughtful dua. Give them without any reason- this is a Prophetic secret.
-Talk to people facing them, side-glances are in the sunnah but eye contact is important
-Doing funny accent imitations is not funny anymore. Grow up!
-When discussing religion, don’t near controversial topics
-Learn a naat/nasheed/dhikr you can chant out-loud from time to time, inspire others, have them join in. Give them a spiritual boost.
-Stock up on candy, for distribution to children on Eid celebrations
-Facebook affects how people interact with you. the best male photos are those looking away from the camera slightly tilted.
-Having too many photos of yourself on facebook, and always having only the best photos makes you come off as vain and self-obsessed, and you will eventually become narcissistic in due time. Avoid too much photography, but be prepared for it at functions. Don’t dress up only to take photos at your friends house, it’s rude and makes you come off as self-absorbed. Dress up for people, not photos.
-Shake everyone’s hands, stand-up to greet people if you are sitting. Shake hands with two hands out of sincerity and humility, but only with one hand if they seem religious since one hand handshakes are considered sunnah. If you don’t know the person, introduce yourself then and there, rather than shying away and waiting it out.
-Never say anything to a woman about makeup, or modesty- you don’t know when she has makeup on or doesn’t. And always help out women if they are carrying something heavy, don’t hesitate just go and help them and offer more help after your done. God debases a community that does not honor its women.
-Take off your eye glasses to avoid gawking at women, if you meet eye contact with them, smile and move on.

Food
-Don’t use Hajmola, unless your on your own
-Eat some bread, and Zaatar from time to time, this is sunnah as well and what most people have eaten throughout history
-No onions at or before visiting the mosque, don’t eat half an hour before visiting the masjid,
-Eat less, fasting increases the ‘glow’ of the skin, mentioned in hadith with Eesa alayhi salam
-Eat according to your understanding of how gassy you can be. Drinking more than you eat helps if you are in this situation.
-Be aware of people’s taste in tea

Sources:
The Abridged Shamail at-Tirmidhi with notes from Shaykh al-Hadith Maulana Zakariya Sahib’s Khas’il-e-Nabavi by Maulana Mufti Ahmed E. Bemat

Tools for White Guys Who Are Working for Social Change

An awesome read that I think applies to a lot of Muslim communities and activist movements, especially in the West and in pluralistic societies. I learned a lot from this.

It really paves way to overcoming conflicts and politics and capitalizing on everybody’s talents and views.

—-

I first posted this thoughtful passage at Peoples Geography. It is humble, conscious and canny and aware of the power dynamics within social groups, recognizing that some purportedly progressive movements may only reproduce the sexism, domination, and marginalization of others that they expressly reject in their politics. Here’s what one enlightened white guy proposes people simply think about — and practice — in the service of becoming more aware of how we interact with others in less powerful and privileged positions. This means others’ voices are heard–and empowered, and that change starts with us, at the level of the everyday.

… and other people socialized in a society based on domination by Chris Cass

1. Practice noticing who is in the room at meetings–-how many men, how many women, how many people of color. Are the majority heterosexual … what are people’s backgrounds? Don’t assume to know people, but also work at being more aware.

2a. Count how many times you speak and keep track of how long you speak.
2b. Count how many times others speak and keep track of how long they speak.

3. Be conscious of how often you are actively listening to what other people are saying as opposed to just waiting your turn and/or thinking about what you’ll say next.

4. Practice going to meetings focused on listening and learning; go to some meetings and do not speak at all.

5a. Count how many times you put your ideas out to the group.

5b. Count how many times you support other’s ideas for the group.

6. Practice supporting people by asking them to expand on ideas and dig more deeply before you decide to support the idea or not.

7a. Think about whose work and contribution to the group gets recognized.
7b. Practice recognizing more people for the work they do and try to do it more often.

8. Practice asking more people what they think about meetings, ideas, actions, strategy and vision. White guys tend to talk amongst themselves and develop strong bonds that manifest in organizing. This creates an internal organizing culture that is alienating to most people.

Developing respect and solidarity across race, class, gender and sexuality is complex and difficult, but absolutely critical–and liberating.

9. Be aware of how often you ask people to do something as opposed to asking people “what needs to be done”.

10. Think about and struggle with the saying, “You will be needed in the movement when you realize that you are not needed in the movement.”

11. Struggle with and work with the model of group leadership that says that the responsibility of leaders is to help develop more leaders, and think about what this means to you.

12. Remember that social change is a process, and that our individual transformation and individual liberation is intimately connected with social transformation and social liberation. Life is profoundly complex and there are many contradictions. Remember that the path we travel is guided by love, dignity and respect–-even when it is bumpy and difficult to navigate.

13. This list is not limited to white guys, nor is it intended to reduce all white guys into one category. This list is intended to disrupt patterns of domination that hurt our movement and hurt each other. White guys have a lot of work to do, but it is the kind of work that makes life worth living.

14. Day-to-day patterns of domination are the glue that holds together systems of domination. The struggle against capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy, heterosexism, and the state, is also the struggle towards collective liberation.

15. No one is free until all of us are free.

Taken from: PULSE Media

Now, this might seem like an ironic post after the previous one, but there is some real benefit in these films, and I know most Muslims watch films or at least read up on them…

You can search out these films on your own. They are definitely worth watching and, if you aren’t into films too much, you can search around and read up on their analysis online. There is plenty written about these films and they will leave you mulling them over for quite some time.

1) Le Grande Illusion

This old film provides a great glimpse on a by-gone era. You get a real sense of chivalry, and camaraderie. In it you see the old class divides, and how upper-class aristocracy were put in the same boat as lower class in the war effort, and how the dynamics worked out. These were the last days of aristocracy in Europe, so you understand the refinement these people had- which echoes much with the hey-day of Muslim piety, honor and age-old nobility. Compare this film to how Muslims and the USA are fighting wars today- grizzly torture and the use of overseas drones.

Things to note: How these people don’t take things personally, the interplay between nature vs. convention, and how the film plays out very much like a social experiment, they are fighting an “impersonal” war,where the mentality is “just because we’re at war doesn’t mean we can’t be courteous.”  Even as prisoners of war, they behave as if they are on a camping trip or as tourists, and are treated cordially like dinner guests:

“Sorry, I can’t give you a private room.”

“I wouldn’t have accepted it anyways.”

2) Citizen Kane

About a man who is after the world. Because of the void in his childhood Kane fills his life up with worldly possessions. This film is said to be the greatest film ever made, so it is a delight to watch. But there is also a tragedy in his endless pursuit and the sadness that overwhelms his life. And precisely because he is so wealthy, everyone is upset with him because they are indebted to him, “everyone owes him everything,” as if he were some insatiable Pharaoh.

3) Decalogue (Dekalog)

10 episodes based on the Ten commandments. But there is a twist which becomes a commentary on the Commandments themselves: it is hard to tell which Commandment is being discussed. Is it theft? Or is this episode about adultery? Or perhaps about honoring parents? (Disclaimer: there is some adult content in this)

Things to note: How does the ambiguity of the Commandments encompass and connect sins together and good action together? How do these 10 Commandments apply in our time on a day to day level? The reality of the 1o Commandments is important because there are thousands of federal laws that try to perform the same rules of these 10 Commandments.

4) Equilibrium

A world has been created that is free of conflict, through the use of chemicals to eliminate all feeling. When the elite guards who are in charge of destroying the “emotional” contraband (novels, art, etc.) start indulging, things begin to change.

Things to note: Though the main appeal in this film was the gun-slinging pistol martial arts, I thought the storyline was an interesting commentary. In a futuristic world where people are purged of emotion and ruled by “clerics” there is something eerily familiar as to how Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia are structured. Art and literature are repressed and so is the characteristic emotion, and what makes us human is destroyed. They lead a dead life, empty and hollow, not worthy of empathizing with or even worth living. It echoes heavily with the tyranny of modern Muslim leaders and also the sort of “formalistic” life Muslims are encouraged to lead as supposedly “pious,” empty of imagination, creativity and emotion- a far cry from the exploratory minds of past Muslim civilisations.

camaraderie //

Bismillah, alhamdulillah, wa salat wa salam ala Rasulullah

“Oh God, make my wrong actions, the wrong actions of people whom You Love, and don’t make my good actions, the good actions of people whom You do not Love.”

Allahumma salli ala Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim.
Alhamdulillahi rabbil Alameen. Ameen.

-

This dua attributed to Ibn Ata’illah al-Iskandari

Bismillah, alhamdulillah, wa salat wa salam ala Rasulullah

Some quotations that are very explicit on music’s being prohibited. The only opinion that states music is OK is for spiritual purposes, but that’s a minority of musical works and a minority opinion, and does not mean rap music is halal- if it makes you want to dance it probably isn’t spiritually conducive!

I also find another strong argument in the painful feeling in my heart when music is played.

These quotations however are pretty conclusive!
—

“Songs make hypocrisy grow in the heart just as water makes crops grow.” (Bayhaqi, Shu’ab al-Iman)

Commentary: Listening to [instrumental] music is clearly prohibited in Islam. Allah says, “And of mankind is he who pays for mere pastime of discourse, that he may mislead from Allah’s way without knowledge, and makes it the butt of mockery. For such there is a humiliating punishment.” (Quran 31:6). Many of the great exegetes of the Quran, such as Abdullah ibn Masud, Ibn Abbas, Ibn Umar, Ikrima, Maymun ibn Mahran, and Makhul state that this verse directly refers to singing. Imam Tirmidhi has narrated on the authority of Ali (radiallahu anhu) that the Messenger of Allah (salallahu alayhi wasalam) said, “When my nation adopts fifteen traits, trials will descend upon them– among these traits are taking to songstresses and musical instruments (Qurtubi, al-Jami’li akham al-Quran 14: 51-53).

In another verse, Allah Most High says, “And excite from them whom you can with your voice; make assaults on them with your cavalry and your infantry; mutually share with them wealth and children; and make promises to them. But Satan promises them nothing but deceit.” (Quran 17:64) The great exegete Mujahid states that the reference to a satanic voice in this verse refers to singing, the flute and entertainment. Ibn Abbas radiallahu anhu states that this verse refers to all voices which invite toward disobedience (Al-Jami’li ahkam al-Quran).

-Taken from Zad-at-Talibin of al-Bulandshehri

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, ameen.

Bismillah, alhamdulillah, wa salat wa salam  ala Rasulullah

I have tried to get a few scholars to explain this to me but not had much luck, so I’m posting what I could find out so far. If others can try and ask some scholars and share it here, I would appreciate it. Allah knows best.

There was once a time when the only Muslim on the face of the entire Earth was Ibrahim alayhi salam- an entire ummah in that one man. Now you may wonder at the title of this article. The hadith mention the lifetime or how long Muslims and Islam will remain on the Earth and from this you can gauge the distance we have to reach Qiyamah. We are now in the year 1431 A.H.

Most don’t know this and most need not really care about it since mawt (death) is like Qiyamah. But there are a few opinions I have come across- however the only opinion I have from living scholar is the first view of Shaykh Hamza but the source for that is an old video and so his opinion may have changed. But again no one can say for sure. Here we are only going to deal with the how long the Muslims will remain on Earth, which includes the period of Imam Mahdi and Eesa alayhi salam- so one can infer with certainty they will arrive before the Muslims vanish from the Earth. It should be noted there are also hadiths that mention how long Imam Mahdi will reign and how long Eesa alayhi salam will remain and I will try to include them as well.

WARNING: This can get a bit confusing…so don’t get too caught up with it, just remember it is known best by Allah SWT.

First view- Shaykh Hamza Yusuf (1500 years, i.e. around 70 years left)

Sh. Hamza Yusuf discusses on this hadith at the 2 hour and 6 minutes mark (2:07:00) in this video (a great video by the way): http://www.halaltube.com/hamza-yusuf-the-antichrist-dajjal-and-the-new-world-order

“Question: Imam Mahdi will appear during Ramadan where a sun and moon eclipse will occur in the same month. It’s research indicates this is in the year 2004?”

Answer: There are some hadiths that indicate…that, nobody can say for sure. You can’t give any dates. Anybody gives you any dates we just can’t take them.  Imam as-Suyuti said the ajal of the ummah would end sometime in the 15th century. He based it on a hadith that indicates this ummah lasts half of the life of the Jewish ummah and they lasted 2,000 years and so the ummah would only last 1,000 years. Which is why we had our own millennial fever 400 years ago, because people really thought it was coming to an end. And Imam as-Suyuti was born in the 10th century and lived into the 11th century so he obviously passed the thousand year mark and wrote a fatwa called “Kishf an ummata”- insight into the fact the ummah will last more than 1,000 years because he actually said, “Look we’re all alive, and its been over a thousand years.” But he said it was only 1,000 years but there was a dua of the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasalam) in which he said, “Oh Allah, give my ummah an extra half-day.” And somebody asked him how long will that be? And he said, “500 years” because a day with Allah is a thousand years. And so he said it wouldn’t go past 1,500 years, which means we have about 70 years left. And Allah knows best. Thats not the sa’a, because the ummah is finished and the sa’a comes on the worst people.”

Second view -1,900 years, 469 years left

Taken from SeekingIlm.com

Written by Br. “Mu’awiya”

Imam Al-Bukhari narrates in his sahih from Abdullah Ibn Umar that he heard the Prophet of Allah sallahu 3laye wasalam say : ” verily your stay in compared to the nations before you is like the time period between the prayers of ‘Asr ( mid-afternoon ) till sunset, The people of the Torah were given the Torah and they worked until noon and they couldn’t continue further, so they were given one Qirat, then the people of the Gospel were given the Gospel and they worked until the time of ‘Asr or mid-afternoon then they couldnt continue further, and were given a single Qirat, then we were given the Quran and we worked until the time of the sunset and were given two Qirats. (Seeing this) The people of the Book said :” Oh Allah you had given them ( the ummah of Muhammad sallahu 3laye wasalam ) two Qirats whereas you have given us only one and we are the most in terms of deeds.” He said,” Allah said (to them):” Have I oppressed in anything in your rewards?” and they said : “No.” (then) Allah said: “It is my bounty to whomsoever I wish I bestow”

In another variation Bukhari reports in his Sahih from Abu Musa (ra) from the Prophet sallahu 3laye wasalam : ”

The example of the Muslims, Jews and Christians is like that of a person who hired a people who would work for him till evening, but worked till noon and said : “we have no need for your compensation”, then another people were hired and told : “Complete what has remained of the day’s work and you will have what has been promised”, and so they worked until when the time of Asr(mid-afternoon) prayers came and they said: “this is all what we could have worked”, and so another people were hired and they worked for the rest of the day until the sunset and thus they completed the reward of both (of the previous) groups.”

These two narrations compare the time span of the people of Musa alihyesalam and Esa ibn Maryam alihyemusalam, with that of the age of the nation of Allah’s Final Apostle Muhammad sallahu 3laye wasalam. The age of the people of Musa alihesalam has been described with that of half a day and it began with the descend of the Torah till the time of the coming of the Messiah Esa ibn Maryam (as). In contrast to this, the age of the people of Esa ibn Maryam alihyemusalam has been described in span as the period between noon and mid afternoon and this is from the descend of the Gospel on Esa (as) till the advent of Allah’s Final Apostle Muhammad sallahu 3laye wasalam. Followed is the time of stay of the nation of Prophet Muhammad sallahu 3laye wasalam which has been compared to that of the time between the ‘Asr/mid-afternoon till sunset, whose beginning is marked by the first Quranic revelations on Sayidna Muhammad sallahu 3laye wasalam at Hira in Makkah, and its end will be at a time after the rising of the sun from the west, when a cool breeze from Yemen will move on earth taking away the souls of all those who believed. The Prophet of Allah sallahu 3laye wasalam is reported to have said : ” In between the hands of the hour(Qiyamah), there will come out a breeze/wind and it will take away the spirit of every believer.” (reported by Ahmad, Muslim, Thirmidhi and Ibn Majah), and in another narration he(saws) said ,”Verily Allah(swt) will send a wind from Yemen that will be more softer than silk, and it will not leave a person with even a single seed of eman, but will take his soul away.”( reported by al-Hakim)
Hafiz Ibn al-Hajr al-Asqalani says in his Fat-hul Bari , (in vol.4 , book of hire/ijara, page 448-449 )commenting on these two narrations : “and it is evident ( from these stated narrations) that the lasting of this Islamic nation is somewhat a thousand years, this is because the age of the Jewish nation is equivalent to that of the time periods of the Christian and Muslim ages combined, and the people of transmission (ahl an naql) have agreed that the period of the Jews till the advent of Allah’s final Apostle Muhammad Sallahu 3laye wasalam was more than 2000 years, and the span of the age of the Christians was 600 years from them..and also this narration points the fact about how little of the age of this world has remained.”

So from this saying of Ibn Hajr it is derived :

1) The time period of the Jews is equivalent to the age of the Christians and Muslims combined, so in other words

Age of the Jews = Age of the Christians + Age of the Muslims

2) The time span of the Christian age was 600 years and this has been stated in an authentic report from Bukhari who transmitted from Salman Farsi radiallaho 3anh that : “The length of time between Esa (as) and Muhammad (saws) is 600 years.”

3) So the age of the Muslims = Age of the Jews – the Age of Christians

Since the age of the Jews from the time of Musa(as)/Torah till the advent of Sayidina Muhammad sallahu 3laye wasalam is somewhat of a 2000 years or more, so putting the numbers in the equation we get

Age of the Muslims = 2000 years (approx.) – 600 years

= 1400 years (approx.)

So from these calculations the estimated age of the muslims is derived a little more than 1400 years.

Imam as Suyuti mentions in his book “Risalah Al-Kashf ‘an mujawazt hadehel ommah al alf”, or “treastie on revealing of the proceeding of this nation beyond the thousand, ” page 206 about the advent of the Mahdi that, “from what the narrations reveal is that the age of this ummah extends beyond a thousand but it doesnt exceed in increase another 500 in actuality beyond this thousand.”

However it should be pointed out that the Prophet sallahu 3laye wasalam wished an increase in the age of his ummah, In this regards there is another narration collected by Imam Ahmad, al-Hakim and Abu Dawud in their respective works, and Abu Nai’m in his hilyaa who report from Sa’d ibn Abi Waqas from the Prophet 3layesalat wasalam that he(saws) said, “It is my hope that for my ummah Allah swt will delay them another half a day.” Sa’d was asked, ” how much is half a day?” he replied, “it is 500 years”.

So even if the age of the Jews is a little more than 2000, and the resultant assumed age of the Muslims is 1400 from the mentioned calcuation, but now with the extra half a day added to the age span of the Muslims, the real time period of this ummah would be close to 1900 years or more,

So the age of Muslims = ( Age of the Jews – Age of the Christians) + extra half a day requested by the Prophet(saws)
= 1400 + 500
= 1900 years approximately,

and Allah knows best.

It would be useful to note Ibn Hajar lived from 773-852 A.H. so from his perspective he estimated about another 600 years we left that is: 1,400 years in total. This would indicate, according to Ibn Hajar, we are over due or just about to experience the End. I’m not quite sure where Ibn Hajar gets his initial formula from. But combined with the 500 year accepted dua it comes to 1900 according to the author of the article above (Br. Muawiya).

This above estimate is a bit confusing and wobbly because of the lifetime of the Jewish ummah seems to be uncertain and this is the base number that everything is built off of. We know for certain their era would’ve ended with Eesa alayhi salam and the culmination of the Christians, but where would it have begun? Musa alayhi salam’s time or Ibrahim’s time? Ibrahim was not a Jew nor a Christian (but a Haneef) according to the Quran. So would it begin with Ishaq alayhi salam? Or considering the Jews are named after Yaqub alayhi salam (Israel) that is Bani Israel, the children of Israel, does the estimate begin with Yaqub alayhi salam? This is where things get fuzzy to me at least.

Summary:

-Imam as-Suyuti’s estimate (and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf): 1,500 years, i.e. around 70 years left

-Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani’s estimate: 1,400 years or a little more, but from this comes 2 possibilities: Br. Muawiya’s estimate below, or that we are near the very End and this coincides with Imam as-Suyuti (and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf’s estimate)

- Br. Muawiya’s estimate, from this we need to add 500 more to 1,400 (due to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam’s dua) and reach 1,900 years

In conclusion, it seems definitely likely we are nearing the end. One may wonder however, how it can be so much will take place in this short period of time? But we must remember how in some 27 years the foundations of Islam were built and how in 100 years Muslims spread from China to the Southern tip of France.  Allahu alaam.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, ameen.

A brother posted this correspondence on Facebook and gave me permission to quote it.
–

A couple of weeks back, I asked Chomsky on the issue of political activism within traditional Islam, where Muslims today are often blindsided by our ability to dissent in the forms of what is acceptable by power, state and the institutions.

Here is his response earlier this month:

It’s a profound question, and I do not know of any advice better than that of Polonius: “To thine own self be true.”

There is no need to be blindsided by received doctrine, though the temptation is strong and being honest is not without cost — and with gain that should more than compensate.

Noam Chomsky

Short but made me think. And inspired me a little.

Puts an inspirational spin on Foucault’s ‘power is everywhere’… no?

Epistemicide: a war on knowledge, destruction of existing knowledge, and thereby aborting the possibility of new knowledge coming about from the exercise of the intellect on existing knowledge.

A growing concern of mine has been the decline in religious knowledge. A while back, I recall Yasir Qadhi said there is a revival of Islam and at the time I agreed with him. There has been a resurgence in Islamic faith and religiosity. However, does this mean we are becoming more knowledgeable about our religion as much as we should?

With the recent parade of silly fatwas coming out of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, I find this troubling. Why do these fatwas get more coverage than the other hundreds of fatwas? The silly fatwas themselves are an epistemicide but when a spectacle is made out of Islamic knowledge, you can very easily see how this will lead to more derision of Islam and a decline in Islamic knowledge’s respectability and credibility.

Disrespect of the Traditional Scholar

One of the big factors is the decline of the credibility of the scholar, especially in secularity, which restrict religion considerably. Islamic knowledge is seen as something for the weak-minded, or for the lower class. I find this interesting because the priest-scholar/alim and the medical doctor/practitioner are very similar to each other, yet medicine has more credibility. If we look into the past, we can see doctors were treated with much suspicion, and seen as more or less, guessing- a credibility comparable to our ulema/shuyukh now. But as their body of knowledge expanded, most notably when they began to study patients at their homes, that is when their credibility increased. Foucault talked about how the gaze of the doctor now was radically different, able to see how lifestyle affect health, and I think perhaps one of the solutions for Muslim scholarship is to expand their gaze- for the scholars to look into the homes, the workplaces, the social interactions, to get more insight and uncover new knowledge into the life of Muslims, and to find the courage to do so and not just advise. At the same time, I am not calling for scholars forcing people- but like physiological health, a person’s spiritual health is the responsibility of every Muslim, and the scholar to help as much as he can.

We are not a Post-Islam Ummah- Empower Islam, don’t try to merely protect it

Living in the West, I often find talk about Islam through the lens of the West but never quite Islam for Islam (a whole, not a fragment). Islam is talked about attached to certain discourse, limited by the past or dictated or largely influenced by the news media- but little to no discussion of real change. There is a sadness in this discussion similar to what Walter Benjamin called, ‘left melancholy’ where it is the “analysis of the problematic” that is the great love of the Muslim and in this way there is a distancing from the living, changing, dynamic tradition of Islam- we are not in a post-Islam ummah. Nowadays, its always Islam being discussed in the language of feminism or sexuality or violence or the “Other”- generally on the terms of the West, even though, Islam can’t be neatly fitted into that discourse. I find this really insulting due to its a reductionism- no matter how noble the intentions are, it seems academia is only about looking down the microscope lens and has nothing to do with the effort of organic evolution of the Muslim soul. In other words, Islam is being turned into something similar to a museum- its assumed to be like a dead artifact. This is one end of things in regards to Muslim intellectuals or even non-Muslim scholars of Islam.

Simplicitious/Duplicitous Islamic Formalism

The other end is what I call the mindset of the simple Muslim pietists, whose simple understanding of Islam pushes them to make for themselves a priority to be a ‘religious vanguard’ for other’s religiosity, thereby presupposing they are in the best positions of knowledge to do this. This isn’t necessarily out of pride, but out of sincere concern for guidance of others, but in the process they forget to consider maybe others are more capable then they. All too often I find myself in this position, being led by newbies, and it makes me happy to see this because its a sign of spiritual progress but also worry it will turn into pride and be used to put down and silence those who are more knowledgeable, or make the knowledgeable silent out of humility.

Their is a hadith that the majority of the people of jannah are simple folk (not ulema, intellectuals or scholars and there is a place for simplicity and pure faith, free of detailed, pretentious cognition as those scholars who reach their deathbed will agree with. But this is not the be-all and end-all, this simple, illiterate faith then is selfish and therefore, cannot spread and carries with it seeds of its destruction. It is important for Islam to extend beyond the realm of fear and hope. The simple should not use fear tactics to prevent the intellectuals from thinking, because it is not really a fear of Allah, because Allah has all knowledge, but rather the fear of complexity, the great “unknown” secular knowledges, and the fear of Shaytan is what may fuel this. There is a need for approaching doubts with trust in Allah’s Awareness, that can allow for risk-taking, with the spirit of courage. In short, those who are afraid, should not prevent those who are able and ready to wage intellectual jihads. The story of Shabbir Akhtar, a Muslim philosopher and his experiences in teaching at Muslim universities is symptomatic of this, and highlights the lack of tawakul in the hearts of Muslims whose faith seems to collapse at the sight of a few questions and a little science. Did not the scholars of the past have intellectual courage and isn’t that what made them great?

Now, the problem is thus: Muslims will prevent other Muslims from learning about some non-religious knowledge, out of disdain or intimidation, but they themselves will willy-nilly read the works of non-Muslims speaking about all sorts of matters! The hand of the Muslim stops the Muslim from learning, because he feels he has the power and right (or duty) to do so, but not the courage, nor the right to put a prohibition on a non-Muslim. This leads to a scenario where it is as if you are living in another person’s house. What is the dunya where you, as a Muslim, can’t create and beautify because of prohibitions other Muslims place on you, and yet the same Muslims will remain silent to those who spread filth?

Man yuridullaha bihi khayran yufaquhud-din

He whom God wishes well, he grants him understanding of the religion.

-Hadith

And understanding, able to see through others eyes, and different perspectives is where knowledge is born- not everything is believed at first glance but contemplated and chewed over endlessly. The situation is difficult in which those who struggle with accepting Allah struggle in accepting those who only seek Allah to accept them- they, who can’t help but think! The hadith mention before Qiyamah a time will come when liars will be believed and the truthful will be rejected- I think we are nearing that time, where people believe propaganda, and discount facts, where a scholar is believed because his usage of certain hadith or certain ideological or jihadist verbal pyrotechnics, or his usage of “some spice” in his talks, somehow give him more credibility than the scholar who gives a real substantial explanation based on authentic bonafide Islamic tradition? It seems in a sense we favor and prefer, a mindless, feel good, ossified Islam of mullahs, not the everyday experience with God, where you learn something new about your relationship with Allah. This is what you call formalism which is a static, ossified, tradition, which you either are or are not inside this form- the strict adherence or observance of the deen, but in a way that ends up destroying the spirit of Islam. This is stereotypical difference, where if you are not a saint, you are somehow shaytan- there is little joy in this, but plenty of guilt. There is no need for improvement here because you are doomed. This formalism, differs starkly from the organic nature of the Sunnah, which is about always developing, always coming closer to Allah, always learning, always improving, and therefore, never seeing yourself as pious or knowledgeable because it is an infinite journey.

I’m going to briefly quote Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad’s discussion on the problems of Formalism, my impromptu commentary is in brackets where I felt it necessary:

Tradition: the signs of tawakkul are an authorisation. Formalism: the signs of anger are an authorisation.

Formalism is an excuse. (An excuse from thinking, questioning, delving into real ilm,

Formalism: to esteem his fingers over his soul. (Putting your fingers in your ears so as to ignore everything, as opposed to, simply listening to your soul)

Formalism is just another variety of materialism. (The immediate perfunctory rituals have more virtue because they are material, they can be seen as substantial, and easy to show, “This is what Islam looks like!” where as education and tazkiya are in solitude)

The formalist pulls the flowers upwards; the Sufi waters them.

Formalists prefer the political to the spiritual because their political failures are less extreme.

The formalist is the corpse of an angel.

Only those who dislike formalism can bear it. (The devout who do not let formalism limit them, understand the rationale of those who entrench themselves in it, as if to go away from the world. The other aspect is there is a gasping, drowning, desperate behavior to formalists in their Islam- they want more to Islam than mere formalism, but they don’t see how or are too afraid and hence stick with that formalist attitude)

The simple formalistic believers are those who seek categories, but if you have even some knowledge about your deen, you cannot bring yourself to categorize yourself or others, without feeling you are betraying Islam, or a part of it in the act of reductionism. Imam Ghazali concluded all the madhahib and schools of aqidah were valid, because Islam is too immense to be encompassed by one group alone.

Money limiting Religious Knowledge

Another growing concern is that as Islamic knowledge has become tied to money with seminars and programs, there is a trend that knowledge becomes limited to by that money. This is not to question money and Islam- since there are many opinions, but to explore, what then happens after wards? One rationalizes they have spent enough on this program and therefore no more knowledge is needed. When you measure knowledge in terms of dollars, this slackens the mind. Muslims will be contented with less and there is only so many programs that can be done through money, there has to be other areas of seeking knowledge. This is not to say charging money is a problem, or un-Islamic (there are many opinions on this) but to say, don’t let money set the goal.

Confidence in Islam

I’ve also noticed we feel almost obliged to “justify” scientific discoveries or insights made by non-Muslims, with Islamic sources, (i.e. let’s face it: mindless copy-pasting hadith), but that has the indirect side effect of people saying, “Oh see, Islam has this stuff already!” and then they go and ignore the more detail, nuanced discussions mentioned in both the Islamic sources and the non-religious sources. Instead of bettering us, it can “justify” what we are already doing, since we’ve heard those Islamic sources already, so we think we know it all and lose the benefit and the chance of possibly improving. I have found this pattern happening to me in the past, and saw it hampering my learning. Haqq justifies itself, we need not worry about legitimize Islam with that which is outside Islam, or in justifying science with Islam.

Knowledge based on Simplicity

The other cause of epistemicide is the flood of information we deal with in the West. Instead we are stuck asking silly fiqh questions about situations we can easily avoid- as if there is no escape. Very often, religious questions ‘indulge’ on getting answers to the luxuries we live in, but Islam asks us to sacrifice and live on little. Islam is designed for a simple lifestyle. And yet scholars answer questions, not noticing the context. It is similar to how society questions giving free health care to the morbidly obese, or to smokers who refuse to quit their smoking.

Az-Zuhri said: “I heard about Zaid ibn Tha’bit used to say, if asked about something, ‘Did it happen?’ If they say: ‘Yes;’ he would, then, answer according what he knew. But, if they say, ‘No, it did not happen;’ he would, then, say: ‘Leave it till it happens.’ (Adh-Dhahabi, Siyar a’laam an-Nubalaa, 2/438)

I don’t know is half of knowledge

“Respecting people is half of wisdom, knowing how to ask the question is half of knowledge, and spending sensibly relieves one from half of the livelihood.” – Maimoon ibn Mehran

False Teachers

One name that has been given to this phenomenon is the difference between a false teacher and a real teacher. A false teacher is one who wants people to depend on them and to rely on them alone perpetually. They don’t want people to think seriously or they prefer people adhere dogmatically to his ideas. I saw this in my MSA and that is why I left. But a real teacher wants their students to outgrow them, they want to see their students do better than themselves. A good example of this is Imam ash-Shafi’i (rahimullah) outgrowing his teacher Imam Malik (rahimullah)- he still gave great respect to Imam Malik, but he began his own school because Imam Malik had done his job in making him independent and teaching him to think critically.

Does the sociology of Muslim societies damage creative thought?

The following excerpts from M. Shahid Alam’s article reveals something intriguing about Pakistani society. I will admit I have thought long and hard on what he has said, and yet I cannot seem to find clear answers.

During my first few weeks at the University, and in meetings with friends and relatives, I was at first quite charmed by their eagerness to engage in what appeared to be serious discussions on politics and religion. All conversations eventually turned to the momentous issues of the day in Pakistan and around the world. To my relief, they evinced a curiosity about the world which I had missed during my years in the United States and Canada.

However, these impressions did not last very long. Soon the discussions I heard began to stale. They conveyed less and less in-formation and even fewer fresh ideas. There was little evidence that my interlocutors were reading anything beyond newspapers. After a while, it appeared that everyone was talking about the same things, saying more or less the same things. An irritating monotony crept into the questions asked and solutions proffered. More discouraging, the discussions never led up to anything. No plans on which work might begin here and now.

It was as if the problems of the world demanded endless vocalization. We had to talk about them obsessively. It was as if everyone had to describe his or her encounter with this or that problem, as a way of coming to terms with, making his or her accommodation with what could only be endured but not overcome. It was as if everyone was engaged in a collective ritual, participating in some cathartic act, exorcising their problems, making them vanish by talking about them. This train of thought led me to conclude that these endless conversations were the incantations of an oral society. The art of mending the world by talking about it.

I can think of a ‘literate’ society where oral discourse is used more sparingly, where problems are more commonly sorted out in written discourse. The important difference between oral and literate societies does not consist in the proportion of those who can read and write. It hangs the attitude of those who can read and write to the written word, and on the relationship of the written word to society. A literate society uses the written word to understand and change the world. Talk is ephemeral, and more often than not shallow. The written word gives it power and permanence. The ability to reach out to minds across space and time. The ability to change it across space and time.

Oral and literate societies are manifestations of nearly opposite states of mind. In one the word is cultivated as incantation, a few simple texts rehearsed endlessly to come to peace with a world one cannot change, the better to endure its ‘whips and scorn.’ It represents a social abnegation, a refusal to belong to the world, to take responsibility for it. It reflects a defeated will that feels no joy in engaging, acting upon or changing the world for the better.

It is the opposite in a literate society. Here the world challenges the will to action. Here the understanding engages the world in order to change it. Those who labor with the pen are exercising their will to change it. Scriptures, treatises, tracts, manifestoes, essays: in all its incarnations, the word is a declaration of intent to change the world. Here the will to change society first manifests itself in the will to write about it.

Oral societies have no use for books. They do not read, collect, lend, borrow, hand down, treasure books. Overwhelmingly, educated Pakistanis experience their final and definitive encounter with books when they appear for their last college examinations. The only books you are likely to find in their homes are what their children use at school. There are very few bookstores that sell anything other than textbooks and news or fashion magazines. There are even fewer libraries, whether maintained at public expense or operated for profit. Book clubs are unheard of.

There are fewer new books published in Pakistan today than in eighteenth century Japan. Most are collections of love poetry or short stories. There are few serious novels. Books on history, sociology, politics or economics are almost unknown. Even the political parties have little use for the written word. They communicate their programs through speeches, slogans and jingles. Political pamphleteering is rare. The official biography of Pakistan’s founding father was written by Hector Bolitho, an Englishman. More recently, Benazir Bhutto commissioned Stanley Wolpert, an American scholar, to write the biography of her father and Pakistan’s slain populist leader.

All this is oddly paradoxical for a society that was conceived more than any other around a book. More than Christianity, Judaism or Hinduism, Islam is a religion of the Book. The central miracles of Christianity are the death and resurrection of Christ. The essence of Judaism is the history of a ‘unique’ people, whose seminal events are recreated every year in a procession of rituals. Hinduism is defined by its social hierarchy, by the social order, rituals and etiquettes appropriate to its caste and sub-castes. In Islam alone God talks to mankind through the written word. And yet that Book and others are peripheral to Pakistan’s society. A curious reversal brought about during the past two hundred years of Western domination over Islamic lands – converting Islam’s long and rich tradition of literacy to the present-day fossil of an oral society.

SOURCE: PULSE MEDIA

And here, I think here we can for sure say there is a real problem in Muslim thought today. How do Muslims think? What is it exactly that is so unbearably difficult for us? I am surprised and wonder what is really at the heart of problem? I don’t think it is religion, but rather the baggage, or the cognitive dissonance, associated with religion- those notions get attached to the Islam of a Muslim, without any justification for them being there. This is something heavy to think about, and perhaps in the future I will come to more clearly and fully exactly what is going on here.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, ameen.

Bismillah, alhamdulillah, wa salat wa salam ala Rasulullah

Whomever you speak to they will mention the solution to the problems of the Muslims today is education. Not just secular education but also Islamic education.

Today, with Islamic education online, there is an excellent use of technology, however, this use of technology is one-sided. It is largely used by educators (shaykhs) to teach, however, the only way one can know if it has enhanced learning is by studying the student. Is the student comprehending better? I would contend although technology has helped with new methods of teaching it has not increased Islamic learning on part of the student, in fact, I think it has either stayed the same or gone downhill. Islamic knowledge has been trivialized by the Internet and seen as “edutainment,” and at the accidental click of a button one can become totally distracted. The Internet does create a beguiling sense of “know-it-all” when really, most Muslims online can rarely quote a hadith precisely and on the spot, which of course is what counts. We forget, all that information can be deleted instantly off the Internet, forever gone.

Therefore, I will suggest technological tools and practices here the student can use to enhance their learning experience. The teachers can only do so much, the onus is on you, oh seeker of knowledge!

The OLD

-MP3 players or CD players are still very crucial and not used as well as they should. You don’t really even need something big. Listening to a lecture in the car is helpful, but I suggest as you listen to it, keep a little note inside the CD set, and jot down times when certain key points or hadiths or explanations are mentioned. Revisit those points and jot down the exact wording so you can revisit those parts in text format and memorize them. Also I recommend avoiding iPhones or iTouch’s because compared to a cheap mp3 player or CD player, it’s very distracting with plenty of other applications to run.

-I also think an old-fashioned cassette player with a record option is excellent (or even a Yak-Bak toy?). It’s tactile and personable and you can just use it to record yourself reciting Quran or hadith and replay it for memorization. I used a digital voice recorder a few times but I found the audio quality poor, the upload on the computer took a great deal of time and the files were large and not easy to work with. Convenience is always key.

-Laptop vs. Pen and Paper? A classic question for note-taking. What I suggest is pen and paper for recorded audio classes where you can rewind but laptop for live or streaming events. You can type faster (and neater) than you can write most often. Also remember to write with the 1st person perspective, for yourself, not a 3rd person perspective for showing someone else. Also try writing very compact (vertically stacking) instead of writing spread out (longitudinally).

Example:

A)

Inna rahmati
taghlibu ghadabi
“My Mercy precedes
My Wrath”
-Hadith Qudsi

is easier to read, memorize, recall, and quicker to write out than

B)

“Inna rahmati taghlibu ghadabi” My Mercy precedes My Wrath. -Hadith Qudsi

And having a good reliable pen that you are comfortable with, the ink color or how messy or clean it makes your writing also helps. Small considerations- big consequences!

The NEW

Livescribe is another amazing piece of technology. I don’t want to explain it here because its features are very dynamic and multifaceted, but its definitely worth getting for a class where you are heavy on note-taking. You can get an idea as to how it changes the lecture experience by visiting here. From what I hear, AlMaghrib does not allow these into their courses which is unfortunate, but I think other places do.

C-Pen

is a tool I just started using. It is a scanner for books that will let you scan line by line, saving you time from typing everything out by hand. Now, you know how I can post huge excerpts on the blog. There are number of pen-scanners out on the market and the technology is far from perfect, but after doing a great deal of research I decided to purchase this one as it has the best record. But for extensive quotations, I simply use a scanner to keep records of tables or charts.

Google Documents is a life-saver. Most people already have Gmail account but don’t realize it means they also already have a Google docs account. You can write clearly, neatly and access your files from anywhere on the go. Also, if you remember something and forget it, you can just do a quick search of all your documents. Very helpful in finding the exact wording of a hadith you memorized or a concept that was explained. You can also upload all your documents there and even PDFs of papers or Powerpoint presentations to study. I use this heavily with Seekers Guidance and other online events (ilminar, Islam Cast, podcasts, etc).

Digital Cameras are also a nice little tool. I recommend the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3. Instead of typing my notes out, or scanning them with either a pen-scanner or regular scanner I just take a quick snap. It helps to have a good camera because not all images show up. Especially if I am in a hurry or am at the mosque and find an interesting hadith with a nice quote, I will take a snap or alternatively, if the image doesn’t show up, I will go to movie mode and record myself reading it out. Of course, you can also use movie mode on your cell phone to record lectures or halaqas at the mosque, which is either a hit or a miss depending on the environment and the volume of the speaker.

And of course, starting your own ilmp3 styled study space.

Last but not least, endless review!!

See also: Mediated Cultures

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, ameen.

I am graduating soon from Sociology and I am reflecting on the university education.

First off, the most common feeling I have is I cannot help but cry more and more. I sit through my class on addictions and see them speaking about all these drugs and addictions, how they loved to cut themselves, how really the drugs they are talking about as so bad aren’t so bad, what their doctors said. I recall watching the students in class, how many of them were concerned women and mothers, and realizing at the same time how at one time I would look down upon them. Now, I can’t help but almost weep, not for myself, even though I have my own tragedies, but for the non-Muslims. How long ago did I fear to go up to a person and invite them to Islam? I imagined they would argue or act violent. But now, when you really see how frail these people are, how they are trying to prop up these methods of curing themselves of these demons they refuse to abandon altogether but only to a degree, I realize how frail this creature named man is.That really, I thought to myself before: what reason do they have to accept Islam? Now I think, what reason do they not have? There is so little certainty in their lives, what do they have anything to base itself on? Their foundation are like waves. And I can’t help but pity them and yet also marvel at them for continuing on and moving forward though they have only the solace of fire water. Maybe this is what Allah sees in us humans. “Man is the eyes by which God studies His creation.” I can’t help but make dua that God protect this city from His punishment and that somehow guidance come to its people. Of course, I am weak and alone. I see everyone now as a child, with a great measure of prayer and curse in every action. How quickly everything could fail and how quickly their hearts could be broken. Everyone is walking across the edge of a cliff at any moment. One woman used to be paralyzed and now walks- I couldn’t help but pray for her. I see everyone now, with eyes wondering and gazing, at their hearts. What is their heart going through at this moment in time? Dear Lord, let me learn to control my sharp tongue, ameen.

I am weak myself, I marvel at how my seemingly arrogant pessimism is destroyed by a single khutbah. How shallow is the depth of our confidence and pride! Man thinks everything so absolute. The end of history or the clash of civilisation or the era of  globalisation. In reality, only when these occur partially does man love to declare with absolute truth, that it is fully accomplished. What do we know of authenticity? What can I say to my professors other than want to anger them for their self-righteousness? Educating students about all sorts of world problems but not ever having the courage to suggest maybe we actually take what we are learning seriously enough to do something. Maybe its a product of Sufi influence for me to take ikhlas, sincerity, so seriously. The issue became in one of my classes, at least for me, of actually picking a topic of interest veruss just doing something others have done before so we don’t have to stress. I knew our survey on smoking would fail, but it was “safe” and the group needn’t be real and authentic. I hate how insincere people are now- bickering about who is a true Marxist, when all of them are liars. I came to realize how difficult it is to find people who genuinely are passionate. It took a great deal of effort to cultivate interest of some Muslim brothers to value Islamic knowledge and any sort of knowledge, but I am pushing others. One brother is totally averse to learning of any sort outside his field of study. All I wish is to find someone passionate, about anything. That alone, is enough for me to say alhamdulillah, now let me see a world different from my own.

Another patent complaint I have is how most of my education could be pursued on my own time. I could spend the next few months in the library reading and skimming through social theory readers, analyzing, critiquing and blogging about it, and then get much of what I wanted out of it. I found the most peculiar aspect of social theory is I would learn about abc theory and then I would begin to carry it to certain conclusions, which my professor would say, and that is precisely what def theory does. At other times, I would explain certain thoughts and be told I just articulate another theory, which I have never heard of. It’s puzzling, there is something about the habitus of sociological imagination that leads to some of the same conclusions, with almost the same words and this is at the same time very constricting and frustrating, to create a theory and realize Habermas beat you to it. The predicament is now, I have reached up to the post-modern present, and I cannot seem to figure out other ways of seeing the world, except but through glimpses and glances here and there.

Lastly, the cross overs into religion are always stultifying. I rarely ever brought up religion in class, though I think my professors wish I had. I did on one occasion mentioning some work I did related to Islamophobia, a botched presentation because I keep Islam so personal, articulating it orally makes me super nervous. But otherwise, I didn’t mention Islam, I did some dawah here and there to some students, but I felt Islam is too massive a discussion that I would lose out in learning what my professors had to teach in other areas. In this sense, it was a bit of a sacrifice because in the past I would love to horde discussion with religion. One need be patient and humbled in order to learn. I also felt no need to prove Islam for anything, I know its merit, others do not- simple. But the reality is much of what we learn is built on ideologies and those ideologies covet abc over xyz, when they both form equally valid parts of the alphabet. I felt also that, formulating theories with an Islamic-tinge is something I would have to look into as well in the future, or ones that at least take Muslims into account. An “Islamisized Science” I think now is only to placate the weak faith of Muslims, but Islam can contribute moral consciousness to all sciences, an awareness and intellect about reality and ideals. What I think is if I were to come up with a theory, it would be one that all could accept, without any religion because I think there are fundamental rubrics in our existence that are undeniable. I am not sure however, how to spread my theory since I have opted out of graduate school…

There was some good- I learned a great deal about statistics and methods of analyzing data. If I so wanted now, I could carry out surveys of my own for Muslimology and study the results and make conclusions. I find this to be exciting but am not sure what to survey (thoughts?).

Was it worth it? If the madrassa taught Durkheim and Derrida, no.  I hope that will change one day.

Conclusion:

All in all, university was good and valuable, if only for the mental literacy. Ready to tear down the flimsy ideas around us, the flimsy notions Muslims have and the flimsiness of the powers that be. If only to inculcate a love of books, of new ideas and to explore new avenues, to gain the courage to think creatively and boldly, but thought is paralyzing almost. Everything is now in the language of theory and my mind is more analyzing than it was before. I also have memory problems, I forget very quickly, I only experience thoughts now as if they were a passing car so I rely heavily on Twitter or notepads. I find my social life suffering because how many Muslims are into literature or theories or creative thought? What to talk about? There are paranoid Muslims, and then there are non-Muslims and it is for this reason I wonder if maybe I will marry a non-Muslim. In any case, I don’t see myself as smarter than others, maybe just hungrier. I know there are Muslims out there who dwarf me in knowledge, in ilm, in akhlaaq and in everything else. I know this, what I don’t know is what I possess and therefore, what responsibility I carry to fulfill for the sake of God, for the sake of humanity. Islam remains an obstacle to a career, so much devoted to the deen that I don’t think I can separate my career from it, so I have to find a way. I shy away from doing something when I know others will do it and probably better. Often, when I judge others won’t do something and therefore, I should do something, someone else outdoes me and leaves me silent. Maybe I will simply remain silent. I don’t particularly like what Muslim academics are doing, but I have little of value to write, I doubt others would read my books and I think that is maybe too arrogant of me to head in that direction. I would be content with a small job and an empty apartment, but who knows. Most people I have looked up to have parted away, most friends distant, most prospects of marriage have drifted away, and therefore the future remains even more uncertain, even more quiet. Stuck between dreams and mundane cultural realities. I remain humbled even when there is no one to humble me, maybe that’s the most humbling of all. I remain under the presumption, that nothing will really happen until I break my desires and perfect my soul, but I doubt that will happen soon.

Things I wish to accomplish next:

-master Arabic, Farsi and Urdu, or at least learn their poetry in my spare time (study at Aligarh, Qarawiyyin and Azhar maybe)

-law school? maybe another bachelors at U of Alberta.

-produce a few films ( I have already made a Youtube channel)

-a few days with tablighi jamaat (I made an oath to them to fulfill 12 days in Alberta)

-travel overseas

-memorize the Quran, I do not feel worthy entering Madina empty handed

-expand Muslimology into a full educationist organization

-build a hospital “by Muslims” in Canada

-speak a lie only to discover it was actually the truth

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, ameen.