well put

Westerners have singularly narrowed the history of the world in grouping the little that they knew about the expansion of the human race around the peoples of Israel, Greece and Rome. Thus they have ignored all those travellers and explorers who in their ships ploughed the China Sea and the Indian Ocean, or rode across the immensities of Central Asia to the Persian Gulf.  In truth the larger part of the globe, containing cultures different from those of the ancient Greeks and Romans but no less civilized, has remained unknown to those who wrote the history of their little world under the impression that they were writing world history.

~Henri Cordier

bbc thought of the day

The BBC thought of the day for September 1st 2008 featured Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad. It’s well worth a read/listen. After the Rihla, he has become one of my favourite thinkers ever ever.

The text can be found below, and the audio can be found here. If you search his name, his other appearances on this BBC programme come up as well. 🙂

Thought for the Day, 1 September 2008

Abdal Hakim Murad

Good morning.

Today is Day One of the annual Muslim Challenge known as the month of Ramadan. It’s always a tough endurance event: no food or drink from dawn till dusk, and since God is the referee, cheating is not possible. So simple, but so compelling is the idea, that even people relaxed about the other duties of the faith make an effort. The result is that should you take a walk across London, tomorrow morning at about half-past three, you are likely to see lights on in about a tenth of the capital’s households. Those within are eating a very early breakfast, fortifying themselves for the rigours of the day ahead.

This might seem like a private Muslim eccentricity. But the Koranic verse which brought this commandment indicates that in fact there is nothing original about it. ‘O you who believe!’ it tells the Muslims, ‘Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was for those who came before you.’ And even the slightest study of most major religions will confirm that just about every faith, in one form or another, recognises the advantages of fasting.

But what, exactly, are the advantages? The same verse goes on to explain: we are to learn self-restraint. And this is, generally-speaking, the key benefit of fasting, recognised by most of the sages and saints of every religion. We have a tendency to binge, to splurge, to splash out; while religion wants us to be focussed on much higher things. Perfect stillness in meditation is not easy if one is able to reach for a doughnut. Tell the beast within that it must wait, and there is some chance that the soul will find the calm which it needs.

Nowadays we would probably call this ‘impulse control’. True, our secular age is often more worried about the health and beauty consequences of a supersized diet, than it is about the wellbeing of the soul. But even the most devoutly secular person will recognise that self-restraint is precious.

Yesterday, I returned to my endless conflict with the weeds in my garden. I know that when tackling the mortal enemy that is ground elder, or convolvulus, I have two options. Either I slice it off at ground level, which is quick, and fun, but allows it to reappear all too soon. Or I reach for the roots, which takes time and effort.

Weak human beings, Muslim or not, know that long training is needed before we gain the patience to uproot our tendency to crave and yearn for what is unnecessary. Fasting, in Ramadan, is a rigorous discipline, an opportunity to gain in self-restraint. We are unlikely to abolish the weeds in our souls, but when properly trained by this annual endurance event, we can keep them under control, and hope that, with God’s help, we can start to enjoy the experience of detachment.

copyright 2008 BBC

great article..

An excellent read.

You can find it here.

Ramadan Mubarak!

It’s finally here! Ramadan has actually begun! (insert sparkly Ramadan happiness here) I’m excited and delighted and nervous all at the same time. I’ve resisted writing a get ready for Ramadan post because..well, there are just so many blogs that have done that far better than I could, and it makes sense for you to read them instead. 🙂

S0, instead, here are some random posts that subhanAllah, are fantastic, and are a nice way to begin Ramadan.

Post 1: I Close My Eyes and I’m in Madinah: I’m always in awe of articles and blog posts that describe doing Hajj, being in Makkah or being in Madinah. Whenever I try to describe the experience, the words I use sound flat and not really reflective of the experience… So instead I read the words of more talented writers and feel really uplifted. This is one of those posts that makes me feel warm and cosy.

Post 2: Pursuit of Knowledge: Putting it Into Perspective :This is a truly wonderful article. I’ve been thinking a lot about the acquisition of knowledge and how that does/should impact our lives, and also about the implications of taking more classes, and reading and listening to more lectures as you consolidate what you’ve already learnt. I like what sr Aysha has to say on the topic. (insha’Allah Ramadan will be a time of emptying my buckets)

Post 3: This isn’t actually a post, but the Hanafi Ramadan Fiqh lectures (both Part 1 and 2) by Imam Tahir Anwar in the Zaytuna Ramadan Section are excellent. I highly recommend a listen.

Post 4: This last resource is a video, and from the wonderful folks at MeccaOne. I’m still watching this one, but it’s excellent!

And that’s all. Not sure how much I’ll be blogging this month, but insha’Allah will check in from time to time. I’ve been cleaning my room over a couple of days, and have found a lot of random notes/quotes that I wanted to post. So there may be some random posts coming up soon. 🙂

Deen on..and hope each day of Ramadan is going well. 😀

thankfulness

We take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.~Cynthia Ozick

The Pen

Take a pen in your uncertain fingers.

Trust and be assured

That the whole world is a sky-blue butterfly

And words are the nets to capture it.

~Muhammed al-Ghuzzi

good reminders..

A while ago, I saw a sign in a doctor’s office with the following written on it. This is a bit paraphrased cos I was madly trying to copy it down before the doctor actually came in. 😛

Good Day:

wake up early
reflect
eat like a king
smile lots
encourage, compliment when due
be enthusiastic with everyone you meet

Bad Day:

wake up late
no shower
rush
no exercise
no spiritual reflection
rush rush-coffee muffin very fast
worry
sour expression
be mad at work

long walk to freedom

“A freedom fighter learns the hard way that it is the oppressor who defines the nature of the struggle and the oppressed is often left with no recourse but to use methods that mirror those of the oppressor. At a certain point, one can only fight fire with fire.”

~Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela.

A book that should be required reading before people graduate high school. I read about half of it before my trip, and now I think it is time to insha’Allah find the book again and finish the other half! 🙂 It contains so many wonderful points to reflect upon, and truly helps you begin to think deeply about the word apartheid, and the very specific point people like President Carter are making when they use the term. (That’s another book I’ve been meaning to read).

p.s-this post reminds me of a nutrition course I took during university and a lecture we had one day about food systems in Zimbabwe. Before the prof launched into her lecture though, she stopped and said, “now, since the vast majority of you haven’t learnt about Africa in your elementary, high school and university education, we are going to have to have a atrocious 40 minute history lesson about an entire continent, to gain a rudimentary understanding of events that shaped Zimbabwe’s development and that specifically have led to food problems.” It was an embarassing moment, because the majority of really didn’t know very much. What I remember of elementary and high school history lessons were mind numbing classes about the exact same European countries and not very much about the rest of the world..

warm and fuzzy

“What a surprise! This is the first time I see the guest is a muslim and prays! I’m proud of it! because I am muslim too and pray five times like U! May Allah bless U!”

~A note I found in our hotel room when travelling with my family last year. Our prayer mats were generally visible in the room: either folded on the bed or on one of the side tables, or folded on the floor in the direction of Makkah. On the last day of our stay our Muslim housekeeper left us that exciting note. I found the note today in an old book…and felt all warm and fuzzy all over again, even though the incident is long gone. Just shows you never know how your actions have an impact on those around you…

back to school..

In just a few days students all over the world (except places where the school calendar is structured differently of course) return to school. And for the first time in my life, I’m not one of them. I’m happy I graduated in May alhamidullah, but it is strange not to be thinking of school supplies right now, or agonising over lovely stationary and pens and notebook purchases. And it’s strange not to feel anticipation and excitement and nervousness about school–the feelings I usually have around this time of year.

Insha’Allah I will return to university soon for more schooling. 🙂

In the meantime though, this is a good opportunity to use the time I have to learn things I’ve wanted to learn for a while, and devote more time to things that haven’t received much attention in the past several months with the intensity of uni involvement and graduation.

For instance: Insha’Allah I finally have time to devote to SunniPath! Not all the courses for the fall term are up yet, but I’m having a really hard time choosing what I want to take from the current courses offered. A few courses I’m wrestling with..

1) Introductory Arabic 1: This is a class I’ve been wanting to take for a while now, but with uni classes, I always thought I didn’t have enough time. Also, in the past I’ve been a bit apprehensive about learning Arabic (can I really do it? But everyone says Arabic is sooo hard! What if the Arabic in the class doesn’t have diacritic marks and I can’t read it?) On the Rihla though we had a lovely Arabic class, I was surrounded by arabic during the trip, and generally, it finally dawned on me that if I don’t just start, I really won’t learn the language. I’ve got to stop making excuses and roll up my sleeves. So insha’Allah this semester will be my first foray into the structure of the Arabic language. Please make dua it goes well! 🙂

2) Introduction to Classical Logic: I can’t decide whether to take this class, but I really really want to. It’s taught by Shaykh Hamza Karamali who is an amazing teacher masha’Allah, and I’ve always left every class I’ve taken with him with lots to think and reflect upon. In his class “Finding the Straight Path” ( I don’t think it’s offered this semester) he spoke a great deal about the importance of thinking critically about issues and just generally using our brains, rather than being reactionary to whatever we read. I think a course devoted on sharpening my brain could be a wonderful learning opportunity, but it’s part of the SP transitional curriculum, which means technically I should be finishing the Foundations and Seekers curriculum before taking the course. But i really really want to take it now…

3) A Hanafi fiqh class: My confusion is over whether or not to take the Essentials class, or the Intermediate class. They seem pretty similar, but the Essentials class covers basic aqida, an intro to ihsan and prayer, whereas the intermediate class covers purification and prayer in detail. There is lots to learn from a beginner class, but I tried taking the intermediate class last year and didn’t get very far (too much going on!), so it would be a cheaper option..Aaah decisions!

Also the Ramadhan class on the spiritual aspects of Ramadan looks good too. Actually everything looks good..which is why it’s always agonising making SP decisions!

There is also a Saturday morning creative writing class at one of the local universities that looks lovely. I would looove to take it, but it’s an expensive course. Would it be better to get a book on creative writing?

so many debates.

To end off, things I love: ramadan excitement/shehzad’s roy new song laga reh/chaat papri surprises/mithai/sunshine/lipgloss/new SP course discoveries/meccaone lectures/comfy abayas/cosy lunches/solitude/yellow walls/newly vacuumed floors/reflection time/creamy moleskine pages