A Muslim's Thoughts

Women

2009-08-16T00:19:00.002-04:00

By Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, a renowned Muslim scholar:

[In a poem by Rumi:]

"Made attractive to men is love of desires…
God has made [woman] attractive, so how can men escape from her?
Even if a man is Rustam and greater than Hamzah,
still he is captive to his old woman’s command.

The Prophet, to whose speech the whole world
Was enslaved, used to say, “Speak to me, oh ‘Aishah!...”
The Prophet said that women totally dominate men of intellect and possessors of heart,
But ignorant men dominate women, for they are shackled by the ferocity of animals.
They have no kindness, gentleness, or love,
Since animality dominates their nature.
Love and kindness are human attributes, anger and sensuality belong to the animals.
She is the radiance of God, she is not your beloved.
She is the Creator – you could say she is not created.”

It is from women then, that men learn chastity and purity, which in turn protect the sacred nature of women, alluded to in the Arabic word for woman, hurmah, which means “what is sacred.” Now, the failure of men in imitating women in their natural virtue has resulted in women rejecting the double standard and imitating men in their natural vice. The spiritual power of women is great, but so too is the power of their physical attraction to men. It is this power that causes vile men to want to dominate women, and virtuous men to honor and protect them. But that physical power of the female form over men is a sensory power that veils men from her metaphysical meaning. Her sensual form prevents the man lost in carnality from knowing her spiritual reality, that she is the source of mercy in the world.

The Arabic and Hebrew word for womb (rahm) is derived from the word for mercy (rahma) and an expression of the creative power of God in man. In degrading woman, we degrade the highest qualities of our human nature; in elevating her, we elevate our highest nature. When her natural virtues—compassion, kindness, caring, selflessness, and love—predominate in men, men are able to overcome their natural vices and realize their full humanity. When, however, those virtues are absent, men descend to the lowest of the low and are worse than beasts. In unveiling the outward beauty of a woman, we become veiled from her inward beauty.

As a poet from the distant past wrote:

I said to my rose-cheeked lovely, “O you with bud-like mouth,
Why keep hiding your face, like flirting girls?”
She laughed and said,
“Unlike the beauties of your world,
In the veil I’m seen, but without it I’m hidden.

Addictions/Abhorrence

2008-11-14T00:24:00.004-05:00

This mocha doesn't have as nice a taste as the one from Starbucks.

I just don't know how to use the rest of my four dollar meal ticket, I guess I'll by some fruit.

Now which fruit to buy?

What do I feel like having today?

Laugh with me, laugh with me.

I don't like the ambiance there.

So many ties.

So many shoes.

So many candies in the candy isle.

I only use that pen.

I only like soft lighting.

Look at my white coat.

Look at me walk into the room.

Listen to me talk.

Watch me, watch me.

Give an air of good.

In reality, I know the plight of the alcoholic. The predicament of the cocaine addict.

Blame it on the genes.

I like those jeans, but not those jeans.

The hell with the genes.

I impress myself.

How was the mocha?
It was fine.
How was your water?
I needed it to survive.
I don't like the taste of my water.
~silence~
And that mocha is just not as good as Starbucks.

FITTER. HAPPIER.
Fitter, happier, more productive,
comfortable,
not drinking too much,

regular exercise at the gym
(3 days a week),

getting on better with your associate employee contemporaries ,
at ease,
eating well
(no more microwave dinners and saturated fats),
a patient better driver,
a safer car
(baby smiling in back seat),
sleeping well
(no bad dreams),

no paranoia,
careful to all animals
(never washing spiders down the plughole),
keep in contact with old friends
(enjoy a drink now and then),
will frequently check credit at
(moral) bank (hole in the wall),
favors for favors,
fond but not in love,

charity standing orders,
on Sundays ring road supermarket
(no killing moths or putting boiling water on the ants),
car wash
(also on Sundays),
no longer afraid of the dark or midday shadows
nothing so ridiculously teenage and desperate,
nothing so childish - at a better pace,
slower and more calculated,
no chance of escape,
now self-employed,
concerned (but powerless),
an empowered and informed member of society
(pragmatism not idealism),
will not cry in public,

less chance of illness,
tires that grip in the wet
(shot of baby strapped in back seat),
a good memory,
still cries at a good film,
still kisses with saliva,
no longer empty and frantic
like a cat
tied to a stick,

that's driven into
frozen winter sh*t
(the ability to laugh at weakness),
calm,
fitter,
healthier and more productive
a pig
in a cage
on antibiotics.

Their Tragedy/Our Tragedy

2008-07-13T11:32:00.012-04:00

Cars moving back and forth, buzzing by
Quickly, fast,
People this way and that,
Gazes transfixed, the next meeting
Today's new purpose,
Always the same, always mundane,
Private minds for all their worth
Engaged in moving an object from place A
to place B.

Gears moving, wheels turning, waves through the air
Zipping through here and there
Empty metal canisters moving with empty flesh inside them
It's not our fault really
We had no choice
It was our saving grace

(We were told it would be good for us, save us, and we believed, but our faith was shattered again and again repeatedly, and blood was spilt in the name of the sacred, while our women were caged up by old fabrications, and our trust was betrayed for the sake of a game, that you said you were above, that you said you had tamed. And when you sat 'round a table, and made up the fables, by which blood poured and kept minds in the stables, it hurt us so much and we still feel the pain of the lies and deceit with which our souls were slain. And when those few men came through with what was glaringly true, who in God's name sought answers to your locked up lies, you threw them in jail and made their lives hell, and made them 'fess up to your fairy tales. But your cover ups didn't last, and we all got fed up, and we kicked you out and took those men up. But we didn't realize where it would take us, and now we feel lost, our hearts aching for more, we just didn't realize, we just didn't realize... we just didn't realize...)

That we'd turn our souls into something so absurd,
We didn't know they'd turn into this,
We didn't know we would turn them into our machines, our comfort, our hope.

Insight gives a better prognosis in emerging from psychosis.

But my looking glass says we're going to the rubber room.

I am the Greatest Insult

2008-03-04T21:12:00.004-05:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
In the Name of God, The Compassionate, The Merciful

Recently, with Barack Obama in the running for democratic nomination for President, there has been a "smear" campaign against him. Smear campaigns are common, and we're used to their foul nature by now. However, this time there's something different. Something quite disturbing, something that points to a big problem.

This time, Obama is being "smeared" by a rumor that he is of a particular religion. People are "smearing" him by insinuating that he is - God forbid - a Muslim.

Does anyone see anything wrong with this?

Most of the efforts by Obama-supporters and Obama himself have been in the way of dispelling the notion that he is Muslim. Although Obama has mentioned that this whole ordeal is also insulting to Muslims, it is usually a small note, found at the bottom of the page next to an asterix.

What is being said is essentially:

There is something tremendously wrong with being Muslim
There is something tremendously wrong with 1.5 billion people on the Earth
These 1.5 billion people, by definition, are the enemies of America
It is impossible for Muslims to be anything other than an enemy of America

I, and I am sure many, many other Muslims, are grossly insulted by this whole ordeal. The fact that people are using my faith as way to put somebody down is disgusting and says more about those people than it does about anybody or anything else.

These are the moments when I fear the worst for the future of the world in terms of a "clash" between the United States and Islam. These are the moments in which I fight a sense of lurking despair.

But you know what? It is because my faith - Islam - teaches me that God has his plan, and that He is most Merciful, and because of that there is always hope - it because my faith teaches me that at bottom most people are good - that I do not despair, and that I continue working and trying to contribute to peace and increased understanding between two civilizations.

> Saleem

On Being Homeless/On Finding a Home

2008-02-17T10:13:00.002-05:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
In the Name of God/Allah, The Compassionate, The Merciful

It's remarkable how much one changes in a relatively short few years. I was looking through some old posts that aren't up on the blog and I noticed this one - it was one of my first posts, and I remember taking it off because some Muslims really got upset about it. One of the first things that has changed since then is that I now chastise myself for doing so. However, and more importantly, what has truly changed is that as I read through this blog, I thought to myself, "How could have I have written that?!"

I've decided to put the same blog up but with comments inserted. I'll be commenting as I am now, on February 6th, 2008, on a blog I had written a few years back. Same body. Different person. It makes me wonder about how much of what I am now will be looked upon a few years from now by the regretful eyes of a changed person. How often will I say, "I can't believe I would have thought such a thing." It also says something about the nature of our knowledge or, perhaps I should say, opinions. Well, as I have learned from one my spiritual teachers, if you're not always growing, something is wrong - anything alive in the world is always in one of two states: growth or decay.

Well I hope this means I'm growing.

Below is the blog. It's called, "On Being Homeless". All my comments are in dark font.

The first thing I would do, is change the title to, "On Finding a Home".

Now for a change of tune in this Blog.

Why do I have a feeling that the U.S. will invade Syria eventually? I had this feeling bubble up inside me today when I heard about the assassination in Lebanon. This entry is really not meant to be political.

I remember writing this with the thought that I wanted to "keep politics out of it" (i.e. my blog) as discussion of politics is a quick route to a lot of things ugly. This still generally holds true about the blog, but at the same time, I have wondered when I hear people say, "keep politics out of it" when discussing an issue. For sure, everything is not political. However, it would be naive to say that politics have nothing to do with most things that are of importance in the world around us. Politics play a big role in the lives of millions of people. And I literally mean lives. Large numbers of people's lives and ways of life rest on a small number of people's political decisions. If we are to be concerned about the welfare of human beings, the politics behind why certain resources are allocated in one place or the other, or whether we go to war or not - to take a couple examples - must be addressed. It's all well and good to sit on a well-stocked dining table and say, "Leave politics out of this," but to the kid that's not getting enough clean water or to the person who has a bomb land on their house, "politics" can't be left out of the picture.

As promised, this is more about the internal workings of an American Muslim's mind and heart. I hope people will stumble across this blog and will have their horizons expanded by looking through this open window - a rare, open window into a Muslim's mind.

How arrogant. Just a gut response.

If the U.S. invades Syria, or any other Muslim country for that matter, it will become harder for me to believe that this War on Ambiguous Noun (Terrorism) is not a war on Islam.

Okay, I understand that I was making a statement about how the word "terrorism" is used nowadays, but the way I did it seems a little childish now.

More specifically, it will be harder for me to believe that it would not be a Christian vs. Muslim issue. I do not want to believe that. I really, really do not want to believe that.

I'm not sure, but I do not think it's a Christian vs. Muslim issue. Some of the most hurtful things have been said to me by "practicing" Christians (obviously, they are not really practicing) about my religion, and I understand that there are certain negative views a good number of Christians tend to hold towards Muslims simply based on age-old propaganda passed down from the time of the Crusades, however is the "War on Terror" a war by Christians on Muslims because of their faith? That is certainly questionable. Whatever the truth is, there certainly need not be animosity between the two faiths. Both faiths intrinsically have more than what it takes to be able to work together for the benefit of all. This is another topic however.

It may be argued that the reason why the U.S. is in the Middle East is because the Middle East is so disturbed, and is producing all sorts of dangerous groups and individuals. The list would go on: Ambiguous Noun festers there, women are oppressed there, narrow-minded religious people reside there, tyranny (not democracy) is the rule there, and consequently it is a dangerous place. Of course it offers its strategic advantages, however I digress.

How could I live here anymore if the U.S. does invade another Muslim country?

Even more of a reason to live here. The invasion of another Muslim country would signify another level of degeneration of the understanding and communication between the U.S. and the Muslim world. If I, or Muslims in general, got up and left from here, there would then be absolutely no hope of creating peace and bridging these two civilizations.

How can I be living here now?

Ha! I am! No problem!

I was born in England in 1981. I moved here to New York when I was eight.

I am a child of the West. I have had a Western education, my mind has been molded by Western philosophical thought.

Child of the West, check. Western education, check. Mind molded by Western philosophical thought, check - but a lot more molding has happened since then. Now, I am happy to say, I think I'm a pretty good synthesis (always in progress though). To some people, I'm a walking contradiction. But I think I'm just like a lot of other Muslims my age here in the U.S. - the new Pythagorases! The place where East and West meet, I think, by God's grace, people who find themselves in a position where they can act as bridges between two sides normally considered irreconcilable have a lot to offer. We just have to work real, real hard.

Where would I go if I leave here?

Again, I wouldn't leave.

Why do I still not say "we invaded Iraq" or "we fought in World War II?" or "our history shows such and such"?

This is interesting. I still do not feel a sense of ownership of American history. It's history has not become my own yet. However when I think about other potential countries like Pakistan or Britain I also don't personally identify with either of their histories. If I am honest with myself, and I try to look inward with as much clarity as I can, I don't think I belong to any particular country's history. I just don't feel it. I do however feel that I belong to Islam's history. And since Islam is a religion of all different kinds of people around the world, I feel, in a certain sense a part of all of their histories - simply because our bond is so strong. It's the bond of the spirit, unified across all cultural and political boundaries. This is why I can go to a completely foreign land, say Malaysia, and know that I will be able to find the same feeling of inner comfort and home there in a mosque, as I pray the same way as its people do, read the same exact Book, and share the same universal values. I belong to the history of the people who accept Islam as their way of life, wherever those people may be - including in the United States.

At the same time, I do feel a certain pride when I look at what the Founding Fathers established, what they created. I think this is because I believe strongly that much of what the United States is established on are the very same principles that Islam is established on. This is because all universal principles are objective realities placed into the world as patterns by the same One God we all worship, and while I believe Islam is the best way to access and implement those principles, they are out there for all human beings - each with a human nature (known in Islam as the fitra) that is in inclined to seeing those principles and reaping benefit from them. They are God's principles, and He has created us to be attracted to them in as much as we do not distance ourselves from our true natures. I believe many of those universal principles -principles that are elucidated in the Qur'an and the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and are available in other sources as well- were implemented to an extent and formed in the foundation of this country by the Founding Fathers themselves. Oh but is that not an entirely different essay?

I am Pakistani by heritage, but when I go to Pakistan it is clear that I am not Pakistani. When I go to Saudi Arabia, it is clear that I am not Arab. When I go to Britain, it is clear that I am not British.

All true.

I am American.

Yes. Still not sure what that means exactly though.

I think to be American means that you don't belong anywhere else. It is a land of refugees. Some people feel more at home here than others, because they've been here for such a long time.

Interesting proposition, but it doesn't really settle well with me now.

The real question is, for me - where can I be the best Muslim? Which place on the face of God's Earth will have an environment suitable for drawing closer to God. I must say, thus far, in my experience, and from what I have heard, ironically; the U.S. is the best place for me to be able to practice and live my religion freely.

"Ironically" only if we consider how most people view Islam and the U.S. Not ironically by my own measure, at least not anymore. And yes, the U.S. is the best place for me to practice my faith.

I remember I went into spiritual depression in Pakistan:

Everyone is Muslim there, yet if you talk of religion amongst the middle/upper class, people look at you like you're a monster. You cannot practice your religion there without being ridiculed, mocked, looked down upon and mistreated.

This is a little harsh. I would remove the word mistreated. I think I was being overly dramatic. The rest is, I believe, generally true. The reason for the spiritual depression was probably because I expected Pakistan to be a haven for the practice of my faith and for spiritual growth, and because of the aforementioned environment, it turned out to be the opposite. In addition, part of what helps me grow spiritually is to be constantly involved in some kind of good work. Since I visit Pakistan for a few weeks at a time as a guest, and since I myself did not take the initiative while there to engage in meaningful work (outside the meaningful time spent with family of course), I believe I suffered.

The people are generally dishonest and will swindle you the first chance they can get.

I think I should be physically punished for such a grotesque generalization. Although there is a problem in Pakistan (and I think in most developing countries) with ethical behavior when it comes to business, the reasons for this are complicated and nuanced. A lot people are just trying to feed themselves and get through the day. Yes, it is still morally reprehensible to steal, cheat or swindle. However, it is the government's job - in my opinion - to ensure that its citizens have basic needs met, like food, shelter and healthcare. The fact that a lot of people in Pakistan do not have that is due to historical, social and political reasons and is a systemic problem. In the face of such a systemic problem, desperate people will behave as desperate people. The principles of religion are supposed to prevent these kinds of problems, and are supposed to help people curb their behavior in times of difficulty. But I can make no judgments on a poor man, or on anyone else for that matter, and besides, the practice of religion is up to people themselves.

The young are more morally decadent than American youth, and people blindly imitate the negative aspects of Western civilization, caring for nothing, nothing other than their own little lives. Mosques line the streets, the call to prayers echo through the cities, yet where are the blessed people? Where is the spirituality? Why do I feel miserable whenever I go there?

Again a terrible generalization. How about no Starbucks for two years? That should straighten me out good. There are of course, many young middle/upper class Pakistanis who certainly are more morally decadent than American youth, and people do blindly imitate the negative aspects of Western society, and there are people care for nothing other than their own little lives. But there are also many who are constantly out there caring for others. And these problems, moral decadence, blind imitation of negative aspects of any society, and selfishness to the point of disregard of others are human diseases, present in all sorts of people around the world. And everyone has their own diseases.

My Egyptian friends tell me of oppression as a reward for regular prayer in a Mosque in Egypt.

I hear Egyptians talk about it all the time: "you can't go to the same Masjid for Friday prayer too many weeks in a row or else the police will get suspicious and throw you in jail, never to be seen by family again".

While the manner in which I wrote this may be overly dramatic, I have heard this said clearly by a number of Egyptians. How is Egypt today? I don't know.

Of course I see, feel, taste the blessed nature of the Sacred Mosques of Mecca and Madina (although Saudi Arabia itself is nothing to write home about) - those two places are blessed, and, God Willing, will always be so.

Ameen.

In parts of the Muslim world, specifically South Asia and perhaps the Arab countries as well, to get things done (or to get things done in a timely fashion) you have to bribe people.

Again, see the comment above on people's situation. Besides, it happens here too - just at a different level. What do you think "lobbyists" and politicians are engaging in all the time? The only difference is, the poor working man who refuses to finish his job or do it properly unless he's paid a little extra off the books just wants to feed his family, politicians just want to keep their position of power and privilege, and then in turn don't actually do their job the way they're supposed to because they're too busy creating policies that benefit the large corporations that "helped them out". Oh and the poor working class Pakistani does it in a dirty shalwar kameez, while the other guys do them in six hundred dollar suits.

There is comparatively little order, and religious people are often ignorant of the contemporary times.

I'd say this is true, but there are multiple other reasons for the "comparatively" little order, some of which have to do with the fact that the country is much younger than some of the more "well-ordered" Western states, and has a recent history of having been colonized. Two totally different histories, different situations.

Also, from what I have seen and heard, religious people are often -but not always of course- ignorant, not as much of contemporary times, but of contemporary realities. Is this is a result of their being religious? Or is it is the result of something else; socioeconomic status, level of education, etc?

There is tremendous ignorance of religion itself, resulting in people espousing narrow-minded, divisive views, and also in a new kind of religiously fueled despair and animalism (which I thought were a contradiction in terms) which manifests itself as crowds of raging people burning effigies and flags, not to mention (albeit on a much smaller scale) attaching bombs to chests and destroying non-combatant lives. Beauty and serenity crumble under the barrage of "more practical issues", and just plain ugliness.

Again, perhaps my saying that there is "tremendous ignorance of the religion itself" is a function of the broken hope that by going to an Muslim country, I would find it easier to be Muslim. Instead I found different challenges, and ones with which I was not familiar. The world is full of challenges, is my current conclusion. If you're in the U.S., they're different. If you're in Pakistan or Egypt, they're different. I seem to be much better equipped to handle the challenges here.

The rest of the paragraph ("narrow-minded, divisive views...") is just too much grotesque simplification of a complicated issue. We in the West, both Muslims and otherwise, implant a vision of "Islam" on Muslim countries, and ascribe Islam as the dominant motivation for everything we see from them (relayed to us by our various news media), when in reality, people's motivation for doing things in those countries are as complex as any other place. They involve history, political allegiances, levels of education, religion, socioeconomic status, tribal affiliations, personal vendettas, and just plain human and group psychology. There are too many factors to attribute what we see to "religion". Taking such a stance says more about the person doing so than it does about the place or people in question.

Where then do I feel like I am most free to practice my religion as understood by traditional Muslim scholarship dating back to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)? Right here in the U.S.

True.

Yet at the same time I feel torn. I detest the sexual decadence and other moral weaknesses that run rampant in this country, being furthered by "intellectuals" in Universities.

Not sure what I meant by the "intellectuals in Universities" part!

Moral weaknesses are everywhere.

I hate what it does to my people, my brothers and sisters in their own countries. Whatever they are, they are still my brothers and sisters, this I must always remember - and I hate, hate, to see the U.S., for its transparently selfish reasons, spill their blood and put them through more and more suffering. I detest the hypocrisy and arrogance of the government of this country, and I hate the fact that that arrogance seeps down through the grotesqueries of the solely profit-driven media and mixes with the ignorance of the American masses. The people of this country, I believe, are at heart a good people. Yet they are so ignorant of the world around them, of their position in the world. Ignorance when mixed with arrogance is a horrible combination.

As much as I have changed, I still believe most of what I have written here. I would remove "Whatever they are"in reference to Muslims in Muslim countries since it is horribly derogatory, inaccurate and inappropriate. I would reduce the number of times I wrote "hate". I still can't stand the immorality, greed and lust for power of our current administration, which does indeed couple with arrogance to create an immense amount of suffering in various parts of the Muslim world. That arrogance does seep down through a solely profit-drive media, and it does mix with a lot of ignorance. Of course there are many Americans who are well educated and do not assume what they don't know about other peoples. But in general, and to my dismay, I have discovered, repeatedly, even amongst the educated, a general superiority complex to non-Western foreigners. To learn more about this, I would suggest reading, "Barbarian Virtues" by Matthew Frye Jacobson, associate professor of American Studies at Yale. In his own words he describes his book,

Ultimately, though, it is a book about the temper of American nationalism between Reconstruction and World War I, and about the peculiar dependence of the nation's trumpeted greatness upon the dollars, the labor, and, not least, the very image of the many peoples with whom Americans increasingly came in contact and whom they blithely identified as inferiors.

Such an attitude, seems to run in even those who are not directly hostile to foreigners and specifically Muslims. It is an undercurrent that runs in the most well-meaning American. For this reason though, I also stand by my statement that the people of this country are in general good people at heart. They want to, and try to, stick to high ideals. While ignorance mixed with arrogance is indeed a horrible combination, I do not believe that it will necessarily overpower the good in Americans.

Yet, here, I can live an honest life. Here there is law and order. Here, I don't have to bribe someone to fill my oil tank properly.

I've already addressed this above. Different societies, different histories, different contexts.

Here, if I explain my religion to people, they will at least respect me for what I am and what I value, and even take a genuine interest. Here, I see good people - good people who just don't know what the world is. The Muslim world too is filled with good people - but the way their countries are currently set up results in those people being drowned by a sea of selfishness and immorality; they are taken down by their lesser brethren.

Drowned in a sea of selfishness and immorality? Good grief. Again, the "Muslim disenchanted by what he thought was the perfect Islamic land" fallacy rears its ugly head

In conclusion, I have no idea what I will do if the U.S. invades another Muslim country.

I do now. I'll stay right here and work harder.

I have grown up here. I am made in the West, yet my heart is of Islam. If there is one thing for certain, it is that I am homeless. Of course I live, by the grace of God (and may He help me live up to the blessing) in very comfortable accommodations. However, I do not feel truly at home here, and at the same time, I do not feel at home in Pakistan or in any other Muslim country. Perhaps this is a good thing, for the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said that the true believer is like a traveler in this world. Perhaps there is no real home here, and the real home is not to be found in this life at all, but rather in the Next - in the Home of Eternity with The Companion on High.

Nah, this is my home, as much as I am treated as foreign due to the way I look and my faith, it is my home. I don't mind feeling foreign in my home, because the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) did say that the believer is like a traveler in this world. The real Home is indeed, not in this existence at all.

May God forgive me for my grievances. Ameen/Amen.

Ameen/Amen.

>Saleem

>Saleem - February, 2008

Useless

2007-11-18T02:08:00.000-05:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem/In the Name of God The Merciful, The Compassionate.

Residency
Interviews
Love
Life
Wife
Family
Intelligence
America
Pakistan
Politics
Jews
Palestine
War
Service
Change
Identity
Conversion
Games
Fun
Cultures
Clothes
Cars
Muslims
Non-Muslims
Faith
Evangelicals
Christians
Money
Kids
Logic
Criticism
Approval

All useless without Allah.

There is no god but God.
There is no ilah but Allah.
There is no purpose except with Allah.
There is no reason for anything without Allah.

Everything dies. Everything will end. All the toil, all the happiness. Every happy heart at the sight of a new-born child, every tear at the hand of a car accident. All happened a million times before. All will finish and there will be nothing left.

All is naught without Allah.

What are you doing?

"Where then are you going?" - Qur'an.

Enough!

2007-09-11T21:41:00.001-04:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
In the Name of God, The Compassionate, The Merciful

Alright, I've had enough of people saying that Muslims don't speak out against terrorism. So many Muslim organizations and prominent leaders around the world speak out against terrorism all the time, but people do not want to hear because, I think, those who say we don't speak out, won't be happy with us until we pretty much leave our religion. "Speaking out" doesn't mean saying, "I condemn terrorism", to them. To them it means saying, "Forget Islam!". That's what they want to hear. That's what will make those people happy. But they won't get it from me.

I will say however, JUST IN CASE it makes a difference:

I CONDEMN ALL FORMS OF OPPRESSION, INCLUDING TERRORISM, REGARDLESS OF WHO COMMITS THEM.

There. Now the 2.5 people who read this blog, who are most likely Muslim, will be well informed.

>Saleem

It's What's Next!

2007-07-12T15:00:00.000-04:00

Relax. It's a "photoshop" picture. I got this picture from a random Google image search and it was part of an article about scientists who are using bioluminescence with the wings of insects to better understand how certain genes work. The article said light-heartedly that this may have the potential to be used for advertising but of course this has not happened...

...yet.

I named this entry "Next" after Michael Crichton's relatively new book with the same title, which I recently finished reading. It's an interesting read, a novel essentially about the potential absurdity our playing with genetics can lead us to. In one part he describes a board room setting in a large corporation, and a high-tech salesman selling the new billboard - the natural world. Turtles with glowing "BP" signs on their shells, Clown Fish with a "Shell" Logo. Don't get me wrong. There is plenty that we must and should learn about genetic manipulation for the sake of health and benefit, however I think most of you agree that if it ever comes to advertising on the natural landscape, a sacred line will have been crossed. Or will you?

Humanity, at least those of us leading or aspiring to lead Western life styles (which is the majority of people in the world), has become so awed by itself as of late. During the rise from the black morass that was the Dark Ages, many were disillusioned by the corruption of the Church and the internal religious wars. Simultaneously, Descartes, Newton and eventually Darwin, dealt the death blow to the world view of the old and the inept. The old view of the world in the West, the mix of the Church's literalistic interpretations of scripture and Aristotle's understanding of the natural world (provided by St. Thomas Aquinas, who was influence by Ibn Rushd) was torn apart. On the rise was the new science, a new way; and more knowledge of how our world worked meant more control over it.

But we became and are still so mesmerized by our ability to create new technologies and control our world to whatever ends, we forgot to ask important questions. The one that is most often thrown about in vain afterthought is, just because we can do it, does it mean we should? We forget about this and other questions, and so while I would hope that we would never allow the above to happen, my fear is that it just might, and we might be so far gone at that point that it will just seem like the natural course of things.

Responding to Fear & Hatred

2007-05-28T12:43:00.000-04:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
In the Name of God/Allah, The Compassionate, The Merciful

I have been working with a non-profit organization called M.E.C.C.A. - Muslim Education & Converts Center of America. The goal of this organization can be summarized as follows:

1) To provide essential educational and support services to those who are new to Islam.
2) To propagate the idea that one can be Muslim and American at the same time, with no contradiction.
3) To teach Muslims (new and old) and non-Muslims alike about Islam, emphasizing the tolerant tradition within Islam.

Click here if you're interested to learn more.

Having a presence on the internet as a Muslim organization, unfortunately, earns us a number of nasty e-mails. We recently received a particularly special e-mail from an individual who's name will not be disclosed for the sake of respecting his/her privacy. This person was responded to by our President, Mr. Thomas Wilentz, who is one of many living examples of a Muslim who is also an American.

This is the letter we received, unedited:

American as apple pie?

Would you describe stoning to death a 17 year old woman as American as apple pie?

You people are pigs. This is not a religion, is it a form of barbarism.

Get out of our country, you are not welcome here.

I am an American woman and your culture is anathema to our rights. The men in your culture are barbaric, hairy, stupid sexist pigs. And that women in America SHARE POWER with me is AMERICAN AS APPLE PIE. SO GET OUT.

Get the next plane out of our country. You do not belong here with your sexist views and perspectives on women. And your religion is frightening to us all. Who will you blow up or stone to death next????

And here is Brother Tom's response:

Dear ---------,

Your email was refreshing. Thank you. I always enjoy hearing the honest, uncensored comments from people like you who have been misled to believe that "the muslims" are barbarians. To answer your question, I would not describe stoning a 17 year old girl to death as "American as apple pie." Why would you ask?

Would you, as an American woman, like to be told that "you people are pigs" and to "get out of our country, you are not welcome here?" I, as an American man, do not appreciate being spoken to in such a manner. Perhaps you have heard of the golden rule - do unto others as you would have others do unto you? Try it sometime.

Now that you have vented your anger about atrocities commited by some Muslims somewhere by sending me a nasty email, please take a moment to examine your views. If you are a white Christian, would you want to be judged by the actions of the Ku Klux Klan or Timothy McVeigh or the genocidal war criminals among the Bosnian Serbs? I think not. Likewise, we Muslims do not like being judged for the crimes committed by fanatical Muslims or jihadis. Have you ever heard of guilt by association? It is un-American.

Also, your comment that Muslim men are "barbaric, hairy, stupid sexist pigs" is nothing more than naked bigotry. Bigotry is no longer American as apple pie- although it used to be. By the way, we Muslim Americans are not getting on any planes and leaving our country - because it is OUR country too. There is a little bit in the Bill of Rights known as the Establishment Clause. It guarantees the freedom of religion. So I get to be Muslim, and you don't have to be scared of me because I cannot force you to worship as I do. But you have to let me worship as I choose, and you can't kick me out of the country, or deny me any equal rights under the law because of my religion. That is American as apple pie.

You ask "who will you blow up or stone to death next?" This question implies that I have already blown someone up, or stoned someone to death. You must have me confused with somebody else. I have never even been in a fistfight.

I hope you can find it in your heart to shed the hatred you feel for people who have committed no wrong other than worshiping God as Muslims. Anyway, you will need to get used having us hairy, stupid guys around, because we're not going anywhere. If it's too upseting for you, maybe you should consider moving somewhere else. I hear there are almost no Muslims in Antarctica. (just joking!).

I do not mean to give you a hard time, but your email really demanded a response. Don't judge all Muslims by the actions of a few.

May God bless you.

Tom Wilentz

This was not the first e-mail we've received from someone who is filled with fear and hatred of Muslims. There have been others in the past to whom brother Tom has responded who have actually replied thanking him and apologizing. We all hope that brother Tom's response will elicit the kinder person inside the individual - one that is free from irrational fear and hatred.

Making it Worth Living

2007-01-30T22:56:00.000-05:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
In the Name of God, The Merciful, The Compassionate

After three weeks in a place where you and everyone around you are there only for God's sake; where your day rotates around the five daily prayers; where you pray behind scholars who's beautiful voices take you to the Heavens every day; where you hear no foul words, and see no lewdness; where almost everyone seems to be fighting against their ago...

...to come back to the so-called life we live here in New York is difficult at best.

One thing I have noticed after Hajj is that our lives here leave no time for reflection. For some reason, although I try to fill my day with activities only for the sake of God, I still manage to lose His remembrance with such ease that it's quite scary. In the sacred precincts of Mecca I felt what the five daily prayers were supposed to be. I felt what a reflective life would be, and trust me - it's a whole lot better than what we live here. If we live here at all.

Yet alas that is not the nature of our lives. Islam tries to make a society that is most conducive to the remembrance of God, to reflection, to inner growth. While all people, regardless of faith, recognize the benefits and beauty of engaging in the latter activities, the people of my country - including myself - do not realize what they are missing, and do not realize what they could have. Perhaps it's not the country, perhaps it's the city. New York City. Perhaps.

It could be argued that to struggle to remember God and to be reflective while being engaged in the world is what Islam is all about. After all, that was the example of the Exemplar of Islam, the Prophet Muhammad, may God's peace and blessings be upon him: a teacher, a father, a husband, a warrior, a spiritual guide, a statesman, but ultimately the most defining feature: a lover of God. A man who spent his nights standing in prayer until his blessed feet became edematous and cracked and was asked, "O Messenger of God, why do you stand in prayer all night when you have already been forgiven?" To which he, blessed is he, replied, "Should I not then be grateful?" He, peace and blessings be upon him, remembered God at all times, when he mounted his camel, when he entered his home, even when he engaged in intimate relations with his wives. He said about his sleep, "the eyes sleep but the heart doesn't sleep", meaning that one of his miracles was that even when he was sleeping his essence, his heart, was with God. He, peace be upon him, is our example - and he fully engaged in the world.

It's a difficult balance, and it seems that the world only wants imbalance. And that's the world I was brought into when I landed at JFK. In Saudi Arabia, although it has its faults, when the call to prayer sounds, the store owners leave their work and go the mosque to pray. In New York, in the halal meat store, the butchers were complaining that their Muslim boss doesn't let them leave work to pray the congregational prayer on Friday - an obligation on every Muslim male. I think that summarizes a lot of what I have said.

Yet, I need to stay here. I cannot just run to another country to isolate myself from the world. I have to stay here and make a difference while it's still possible to do so. There is so much mistrust and fear of Muslims here - in part because of the actions of some Muslims and in part because of the same centuries-old propagandistic view the West has of Islam. There is also much ignorance amongst Muslims of their own religion, of its rich intellectual tradition, of its ability to adapt to different times and cultures without sacrificing its roots, of its deep spirituality. There is so much work to be done. Who will do it if we start taking the view that it's just too hard?

While it may be hard, I am not leaving. God willing, I will stay here and do my best to educate others and myself, and constantly work to change myself so I can be a better example. May God grant us all the strength to keep on going.

Hajj: Commemoration of a Trial

2006-12-17T22:57:00.000-05:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
In the Name of God/Allah, The Merciful, The Compassionate

Hajj. The Pilgrimage every Muslim man and woman must make once in their life time if they are able to. The Ka'aba, a cubic structure, was built originally by Abraham (peace be upon him), as ordered by God to do so in the valley of Becca, later to be known as Mecca.

Prophet Abraham, peace be upon him, faced a tremendous trial in Becca. He was commanded by God to sacrifice his son. The point of it all was not the sacrifice itself. It was the willingness of Abraham and his son to do as God commanded although it seemed to go against every grain of their very essences. That is submission to God. That is beautiful. And that...

...is what is expected of us all at some point in our lives.

If God wills, my wife and I will be going to commemorate Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him)'s actions. But it is more than a commemoration. As there was a fitting trial for a Prophet, whose soul's magnitude and strength is certainly unknown to us, so shall there be a fitting trial for those who came hundreds of years after him. Namely, the Niazi family.

I feel the weight of the trial so heavy on my heart even before I have left. Something is stirring in my soul. The part of every human's soul that entices them to evil is beginning to writhe and cringe; any light that exists within me feels like it wants to be free from years of suffocation. All of this contributes to the storm brewing within me. I only pray that the light and beauty of Mecca and Medina will penetrate me completely and refresh and put aright all that went astray. My hope is in God. My hope is in Allah.

His Mercy is boundless, and is independent of our deeds.

May Allah immerse us in overflowing love and bring forth from our eyes tears of hope, love, fear, shame and complete surrender. Ameen/Amen.

>Saleem

"Why did Muslims harbor so much anger towards the U.S. pre-WTC?"

2006-11-01T22:17:00.001-05:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
In the Name of God, The Compassionate, The Merciful

This is the question.

This is entirely Random.

This is just a question that has been brewing in my mind for a while and since I am busy with school and life and other things I have a hard time researching it.

BEFORE the WTC tragedy, what were Muslims so chronically angry and enraged about? I'm looking for specifics. Historical facts, if possible. Besides our government's blind support of Israel. What else? What has made Muslims so generally angry at the U.S.? Please feel free to blast this question or answer it, but please don't ignore it.

I am highly unsatisfied (to put it lightly) with our government for its behavior post-WTC. I also have some ideas about Muslim anger towards the U.S. prior to WTC, however I realized that I really don't know any specifics.

Please leave your comments.

An Answer

2006-08-21T16:36:00.002-04:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
In the Name of God, The Most Merciful, The Compassionate

I asked a question. Some readers gave some answers. Here's what it all comes to as I see it:

God & Global Consciousness

Every action has to begin with an intention. As Muslims we would say that the best actions are the ones done for God, whatever they may be. In addition to that, to fuel our motivation we may find it prudent to keep a global consciousness in our work. To remember that for every moment of safety and security we enjoy, there are many who fear bombs, murder and rape during those same moments; to recall when we eat and drink lavishly that there are innumerable people in the world who die from polluted water, lack of nourishment and poor hygiene; to realize that our life styles are the way they are because there are other people whose basic human rights are considered worthless next to the profit that must be made by the companies we buy from. This is the nature of the world we live in currently. It is not enough to think of only one group of people suffering in one part of the world, but rather to think of humanity as a whole, and the relationship between those whose basic rights are being trampled upon and the few of us who demand and receive much more than those rights. What is the purpose of this kind of thinking? The first feeling elicited from such reflections should be one of gratitude to God for blessing us with all our needs, general safety and security. But this feeling of gratitude is incomplete without the next inner response: a deep and heavy sense of responsibility. Just as in Islam we are taught that the fundamental drive of the human being in all their actions should be a deep-seated feeling of gratitude to God (for life, family, sustenance, love, etc), but that that feeling must be manifested via actions, so must we transform this global consciousness (and resultant gratitude) into action; action that is seen as nothing less than obligatory responsibility, given all that we have been blessed with by God. The knowledge of the dismal state of many of our human brothers and sisters around the world should not then be a cause for frustration or despair, but rather a fuel for purposeful, dedicated action.

This being established, what does it mean to "take action"?

Action in Focus

No matter how we act we must first recognize our scope of effect, or, “circle of influence” as Steven R. Covey refers to it in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. What I took from some of the responses to my previous post was that we can break down our “plan of action” into three primary areas of concern from all that is in the world around us - and I will add a fourth:

Self
Family
Community
Career

These are self explanatory. We can change ourselves to the greatest extent. We can also exert a certain level of influence over our family and we can work for positive change within our communities. Depending on what our careers are, we can produce change via whatever the “effect” of our work is – whether it be in teaching, journalism, art, medicine, architecture, etc. These are the things we know we can influence in one way or the other (although in actuality we really only have complete control over our own selves) and so this is where we should be directing our action. Another, I think better, way to look at it is the way Covey describes the relationship between the “circle of concern” and the “circle of influence” in our lives. This section is part of habit 1: being proactive – a very important trait of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) and for that matter anyone else who wants to bring about change in themselves and their environment. Read about the concepts in Covey’s own words (and diagrams; italics inserted by myself).

We each have a wide range of concerns – our health, our children, problems at work, the national debt, nuclear war. We could separate those from things in which we have no particular mental or emotional involvement by creating a “Circle of Concern.”

As we look at those things within our Circle of Concern, it becomes apparent that there are some things over which we have no real control and others that we can do something about. We could identify those concerns in the latter group by circumscribing them with a smaller Circle of Influence.

By determining which of these two circles is the focus of most of our time and energy, we can discover much about the degree of our proactivity.

Proactive people focus their efforts in the Circle of Influence. They work on the things they can do something about. The nature of their energy is positive, enlarging and magnifying, causing their Circle of Influence to increase [think of the Prophet when you read this]. Reactive people, on the other hand, focus their efforts in the Circle of Concern. They focus on the weakness of other people, the problems in the environment, and circumstances over which they have no control. Their focus results in blaming and accusing attitudes, reactive language, and increased feelings of victimization. The negative energy generated by that focus, combined with neglect in areas they could do something about, causes their Circle of Influence to shrink… As long as we are working in our Circle of Concern, we empower the things within it to control us. We aren’t taking the proactive initiative necessary to effect positive change.

This Circle of Influence-Circle of Concern model is an excellent way to organize our thoughts with regards to what we want to do and what we can do, realizing that if we maximize on what we can do we will gradually begin to increase the effect of what we can do, ultimately resulting in reaching the goals we set. If we combine this method of acting with the aforementioned four primary areas of concern we have a clear model with which to move forward – our circle of concern may be the entire world, but our circle of influence is primarily in our jobs, our communities, our families and most of all in our selves.

Activism vs. Spirituality

Establishing the fact that we have influence over ourselves and then those around us (family, community, career), let’s take a look at the relationship between the two. There often seems to be an inverse relationship between “Islamic activists” (those who work in their communities, jobs, etc. to get things done for the sake of Islam) and those who want to “purify themselves first” (i.e. improve their worship, work on their character). We find many people working for Islam in different ways, deeply involved in the community, in their masajid, in various organizations, who will –admirably– spend many dedicated hours, yet their time spent with the Qur’an, for example, is minimal. There are others who spend most of their time on the prayer rug remembering God and reading the Qur’an, but their activity is limited (or their efforts at character building is absent). I will not state the obvious. I will instead state that work in our communities will be much less effective if carried out by people who have a minimal relationship with God through their prayers, their reading and reflection upon the Qur’an, and their general struggle to better their souls. It may be prudent for us to actually take some time out – to stop all but fundamentally necessary activities for a time, and re-connect to God (isn’t Ramadan coming up?). Starting and maintaining that relationship is the first and vital step to change. It was after all, the Prophet Muhammad’s spiritual state and its consequences as witnessed in his character that resulted in his being a great teacher, husband, father, statesman, warrior and general leader. There have been other great humans in history to be some of the above, but it was – it could only have been – the internal state of the Prophet Muhammad that allowed him to be all of the above all at once, peace and blessings be upon him. Thus, in the same way, it is absolutely necessary that we are constantly working to deepen our relationship with God, and as we do we will find that the “activist” within us will naturally manifest itself in ways that will be best for our communities, given whatever skills, talents and abilities we may have.

Facing our Challenges

It would be pointless (and impossible) for me to list all the available challenges that exist out there for us to rise to. They span the gamut from education (getting deeply involved in academia, teaching Muslims and people of other faiths) to the pertinent social issues that Muslims face as a minority community to watching and working with the media. Instead, I would encourage myself and anyone else reading this to identify a real problem within their community, set realistic sub-goals, and start systematically working towards them. The ultimate goal may be long term; in fact, it shouldn’t be anything but. You may not accomplish your goal in your life time, but this isn’t about personal satisfaction – it is about addressing a needed issue for the sake of God. It doesn’t matter whether we accomplish our end result or not, what matters is that we do our best to do so: either by putting something in motion or become a part of something already in motion. In both cases, our work may have its ultimate effect by the hands of others who continue it after we’re gone. Again, the point is to do our best at what we can, and leave the rest up to God.

An Example

Since I was the one that brought this topic up and asked people for the input, I’ll use what I decided as an example. Without getting into specifics, I used the Self-Family-Community-Career model to think clearly about what is within my circle of influence.

Self – What I do with myself is my personal decision, but needless to say I realized that this must involve most of my effort, in terms of achieving spiritual and character goals that I set, which – God willing – will help me the most in everything else that I do.

Family – Communities are generally aggregations of families, and one of those families is mine and my wife’s. God will ask me about what I did for them before I am asked about what I did for anyone else. My wife and I decided to get more involved in the “fard-ayn” (individually obligatory knowledge of basic Islamic principles such as prayer, fasting, charity) education of our younger extended family members.

Community – God willing, I’ll be working with M.E.C.C.A. (Muslim Education & Converts Center of America), a budding non-profit organization based in my community dedicated to providing the necessary education and support systems for new Muslim converts. Islam is America’s fasting growing religion, and our brothers and sisters of humanity who chose to become our brothers and sisters in Islam need support that is often not readily available for them in an organized fashion. This group, under the guidance of noted Muslim American leaders such as Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and Imam Zaid Shakir, will be putting together classes and support services for new Muslim converts. If you’re interested in getting involved, visit www.meccacenter.com, and if you live in the tri-state area, get in touch with me.

Career – I am a medical student, and I have a while to go before I am a fully trained physician, but by doing my best to be an excellent physician in terms of knowledge, skills and the way that I interact with patients, I can have positive effects on my surroundings through my every day work. In addition, there are non-medical ways a physician can become involved in his or her community so as to contribute to growth, development and change.

An Answer

I would like to thank everyone who shared their thoughts with me on this question, either through commenting on this blog or otherwise. I apologize for the time it took to get this up, but my philosophy is that I would rather spend more time thinking things through than putting up something mediocre and disorganized. Your ideas helped me form the framework that I will use to be sure that I am doing everything within my ability to affect positive change in the world, to whatever extent and ability God gives me. This is all just one way of thinking about things, which I put out to the public so that it is there for people as, minimally, one more set of ideas that may or may not help an individual form their own, or at most, a model for someone to act by. Whichever is the case, I pray that God helps all of us, Muslim and otherwise, to find the best way to positively impact our selves, our communities, and ultimately our world. Ameen/Amen.

> Saleem

A Question

2006-08-11T16:03:00.002-04:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
In the Name of God The Merciful The Compassionate

It has been almost half a year now since I said I would publish my blog entry about Science, Religion and the West. It sits in the hard drive of my laptop gathering cyber-dust, incomplete. I literally think about it every day, and I tell myself every day that I must sit down and finish it. Being in the hospital, taking care of things in our new residence, fitting in some studies in Arabic and visiting family, keeps you busy.

With the recent events in Lebanon and now the thwarted terror attack on London, I find myself wondering, "Would there even be any benefit in my writing about 'Science, Religion and the West' anymore?" The other day I was walking through the Operating Suite in the hospital where I am currently stumbling through my third year medical rotations, looking for the resident that I was supposed be with for the upcoming case. I stopped at the main desk, where two nurses were stationed. One of them was Indian, the other, Caucasian. The conversation went something like this:

"Hi, I'm sorry to interrupt, but have you seen Dr. Solnik?", I asked being fully aware of my status as 'bottom of the food chain' med-student. After a two-second blank stare and awkward silence, the Indian nurse replied. "She was just here, she's around here somewhere." After another brief pause, the nurse asked, "Who are you?" I gave my standard response to the question: "I'm the medical student." Both the nurses leaned forward simultaneously to look at the ID tag hanging from the front pocket of my scrub shirt. The Indian nurse said quizzically, "Your name is Saleem? Are you Muslim?" (which I must admit caught me off guard, I wasn't used to hearing people asking me if I'm Muslim). I stated proudly and happily, "Yes, I am." It was at this point that I just so happened to glance at the Caucasian nurse's face only to be deeply disturbed. My conversation with the Indian nurse continued for a few more seconds, but all I could think of was the expression on the other nurse's face. I can't quite put my finger on it, but anyone reading this should know that if pictures can speak a thousand words, then facial expressions can speak many more. She actually looked afraid, suspicious and disgusted all at once. With her eyes wide open, she stared at my light brown and bearded face and without saying a word told me, "I can't believe that you are a Muslim. I can't trust you. How could you? What are you up to? What is wrong with you?" The words penetrated my skin and shot through to my heart faster than any surgeon's knife could. An abysmal sadness overtook my being, one which I was only able to shake off by reminding myself of some verses of the Qur'an while I was in the OR later on that day. Sadness because simply my being Muslim, something that I hold to be dearer than my very life, something that permeates every moment of my day and every aspect of my being, something that is so beautiful and brings so much peace and tranquility to so many human beings around the world, seemed so horrid and dreadful to this woman. Mind you I am not one of those paranoid Muslims, the type that believe that everyone is out to get them, that every second person they meet could possibly be an FBI agent, or that they couldn't get their job because the interviewer was Jewish. Nor am I the "Woe is me I'm Muslim in America" type, the ones who constantly talk about how difficult it is to be Muslim in post-WTC America and think that everyone on the street hates them because they're brown or their name is Ahmed. This all being said, this woman's fearful reaction to me for the simple reason that I was Muslim is what disturbed me. How many others are there that perhaps would not display it on their face, but have a voice of fear or suspicion or disgust within themselves? How many people are there who will fear or for that matter hate a Muslim because of what they see on the news every day in their living rooms? Because of the actions of a deranged and twisted few in a sea of one billion, how many will grow up teaching their children that "those people" are the ones you have to stay away from? And, in the end, what will my writing about "Science, Religion and the West" do for the situation?

In reality, the question has nothing to do with writing a blog entry or not. The question is, what must be done to address this situation? This was not the first time I was made aware by someone that Muslims aren't at the top of everyone's dinner guest list, nor is this the first time the question has crossed my mind. It is, however, the first time I decided to take advantage of a place as public as a blog to start working with many others find an answer to the above question. I don't want to hear, "brother, we must perfect our character to show the non-Muslims how good we are," because that doesn't make sense to me. We should all be working on our character all the time, as part of a given of our existence. In addition, we shouldn't be doing it to "make" anyone like us or "show" anyone "how good we are". That wasn't the reason the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, did it. His blessed character was a function of his love of God. He, peace and blessings be upon him, didn't help the orphan or forgive someone who wronged him because he thought, "If I do this he will come to Islam", he did so because it was what God wanted of him, it was because God has granted all human beings the incredible ability to have the potential to know Him and this confers such an exalted status on the human that we are obliged before God to give our best to each other. All human beings have a spirit, and this spirit is so precious that it must always be honored regardless of whether the individual that it enlivens believes in it, in God or in anything else for that matter. Having established that being good to your fellow humans is not supposed to be an exercise in public relations, I bring the question to you again. What actions do we take? Might I have the audacity to once again tell you which answer is unacceptable? A one-time event, conference, or seminar that teaches non-Muslims about Islam. I am looking for an answer that takes the long term into account. Something or some things that we can do, individually and collectively in our own communities. As Steven Covey, author of, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, puts it, something within our "sphere of influence". I do not expect to arrive at an answer that will change the world or the community in which I live or for that matter even myself overnight, but I hope, with your help, to arrive at an answer -I am sure one of many- that will help me and others to espouse a positive, realistic mind-set with the ensuing goal-oriented and well thought-out action.

>Saleem

Coming Soon: Science, Religion, The West and Islam

2006-02-16T03:17:00.000-05:00

UPDATE 03.15.06: Just to let you know, I haven't forgotten about this entry! I am working on it, but it's taking me a while... editing, writing and editing again... I'll let people know when it's done.

Honor the Guest

2006-01-25T00:48:00.003-05:00

I don't usually do this, but I could not resist. Higher-Criticism is an amazing blog. Written by a Muslimah who goes by the name SheilaX, this is an extraordinarily refreshing piece... one that is very important for all of us to consider.

Monday, November 07, 2005

The fuss about traditional Islam

Humble beads- victim of ideology.

Traditional Islam opposes ideological Islam. The latter seeks to undermine Islam's rich and diverse intellectual heritage by severing faith from its historical context. Traditional Islam, on the other hand, refers not only to the religion's origins in Mecca and Medina, but also to its later development by Persians, Mongols, Indians, Caucasians, Malays, Chinese; all of whom had been joined by their common love for God and His Last Messenger. Within this world view, the revelation is just as important as its unfolding in time and space. Whereas the revelation itself is unchangeable, the environment that surrounds it is not.

Islam's primary sources are the Koran and the sunnah. The sunnah is the actions and words of the Prophet Muhammad, performed and spoken in the unadulterated light of Divine Revelation. While much of the sunnah was passed down through actual practice by individuals and the community, its finer points rested in a body of writings called the hadiths.

Some customs were clear, others were not. These became seeds of conflict and division. The problem was so acute that Abu Bakr, in his reign as caliph, took steps to prohibit their narration. But as the early generations who had witnessed the Prophet's career began to pass on, the injunction gave way to the more pressing need of preserving the sunnah, especially through the tangled skein of the hadiths. (continue)

Music, Remembrance of God & Jihad

2005-11-19T13:11:00.003-05:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
In the Name of God/Allah, The Compassionate, The Merciful

In a comment in my previous entry, "I am a Muslim Extremist", somebody new in their acceptance of Islam asked me about Islam's position on music. Just the fact that Islam holds a position on music may come as a shock to those unfamiliar with the religion. It would not come as a shock to most Muslims, however, since we understand Islam to be nothing more than submitting to God's will in every aspect of our life, which includes the topic of music (I'll go into why I think this is a "topic" in Islam to begin with). Before I say anything further, I would like to make it clear to those who do not know me, that I am by no definition a scholar of any kind. All I can do is relate what I have learned personally from scholarly and other sources, and give my view. If somebody wants a definitive answer to "Is music 'allowed' in Islam", I would say ask a scholar. What I am doing here is sharing with you my thoughts on an issue I personally deal with. That being said, here we go.

I find it easier to think when using precise language. It's hard, but I try. Rather than asking, "is music allowed in Islam", let us ask "what is God's will concerning music, according to the revelation of the Qur'an, and what the Prophet Muhammad (God's peace and blessings be upon him) said?" Once we begin talking about God's will, everyone with an ounce of fear of God in their heart should be at pause. Why? Simply because we are now talking about interpreting the primary sources (the Qur'an and the hadith, or sayings, of the Prophet) and then stating that X is what God wants us to do in situation Y. In certain things, God's will is clear. In our Shari'ah, or law, those things go in the category of "definitive rulings". These are rulings that are, clear, agreed upon, and they hold for all time and place. These are things like praying five times a day, fasting during the month of Ramadan, giving a certain amount of charity every year, Hajj, the prohibition of murder, stealing, of comsuming alcohol, pork, wearing hijab, etc. There are also other issues that are not as clear, but for which God's will must be known. Who is willing to speak for God? Not I. I don't want to be held accoutable for that. It is those who have dedicated their lives to understanding the Qur'an and the hadith as a whole, who learn the nuances and subtleties of Arabic to a great extent, who understand the contexts of revealed verses and the various sayings of the Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him), who have to learn several other sciences relating to language, grammar, rhetoric, prosody, and others, and who learn what those who came before them said about various issues. If one will be saying, "In my understanding, in this situation God's will is..." then they should have spent the time to understand the primary sources as a whole, and to the best of their human ability. This is, after all, nothing less than human salvation we are talking about. Ultimately however, no one can truly speak for God except God Himself, or His Prophets (peace be upon them all). And as a side note, traditional Muslim scholars's works were rife with the phrase "Wa Allahu 'Alim (And only God knows best), placed often at the end of a section or a paragraph, pertaining to a particular ruling.

In terms of music, this is an issue, as I have come to understand it, that has had varying opinions attached to it. Generally, most Muslims grow up with an understanding that music is frowned upon in Islam, due to the fact that if you ask most people who are considered to have authority in the Shari'ah, they will say something to that effect. From what I have learned from my teachers, a very common understanding of the scholars of Islam on music is that it is considered something to stay away from. Some scholars say that music is forbidden. Some say that only certain instruments (primarly percussion, no winds and no strings) and voice are allowed. Some will even say that there are only specific types of drums that can be used. There are those (from my understanding, in the minority) who say you can listen to anything as long as nothing haram (prohibited) is being referred to in the lyrics. The commonality in all of these scholarly views, however, is that nothing with lyrics that speak of anything that is prohibited by God, is allowed to be listened to. So even if we take the minority view that music is allowed as long as nothing haram is spoken in them, that limits most of what we often listen to as people growing up in the West. If you need it spelled out for you, here's a list of things off the top of my head (note: this list is not complete) - heck, might as well make it another top ten:

Top 10 Things that are Referred to in Most of our Western Music:

10. Romantic relationships between two unmarried individuals-of the opposite, (or same) gender
9. Sex between two unmarried individuals - of the opposite, (or same) gender
8. Booty (not the type you get after a battle in war, nor the type that pirates are always after), often referred to in "Rap" & "HipHop"
7. Girlfriend doesn't need boyfriend anymore [see 10]
6. Guy talking about girls, usually using words like (hot, need, baby, shake, hold, love, etc)
[note: not necessarily bad things, but usually it's not spoken of in a very wholesome manner]
5. Illicit drug use
4. Murder, stealing, driveby's (yes, they get their own category) - see "Rap".
3. Words such as: $@*!, &@%&, !*&%@ and @%*.
2. Making fun of people (see "Short People Got No Reason to Live" - yes, it's a real song)
1. See 10.

Given the above, the only music you can really listen to anymore is either a Nasheed (a song in praise of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), or the "Care Bears" theme song.

Personally, I think that's enough to answer the question. Regardless, let's take a further look at the issue.

We all must admit something first. Music is powerful. The effect music can have on individuals is remarkable. We've seen it before, someone hears an old song and it instantaneously transports them back to a moment of their past; music can move one to the core, making one experience sadness, happiness, elation, anger, and a variety of other emotions and personal internal experiences. In fact I learned that Muslims saw music as so powerful that at a certain point in our history Muslims actually used music to try and cure certain spiritual ailments. There would be a process of diagnosing the individual and then prescribing the appropriate type of music to affect him/her and hopefully change their state for the better. Thus, one perspective is that it is due to the immense power of music that Islam is so careful with regards to its every day use. This would not be a far stretch in terms of the general "philosophy" of Islam towards aspects of human experience that have such power. An example is the attraction between a man and a woman. God knows, quite obviously (and more than we do), how powerful this interaction is. As a non-Muslim friend shared with me recently, based on personal experience he came to the conclusion that it is impossible for a man and woman who have even the slightest bit of attraction between them to maintain a friendship without it leading to something more. This "something more" is what God wants us to avoid. We all know that sex outside marriage is very strongly forbidden in Islam. Since the power of attraction between man and woman is so strong, Islam takes the pre-emptive approach and states that men and women should not interact on a purely social basis, but rather limit their interactions to necessary ones entailing things like business, education and other goal-oriented endeavors. Another example is the fact that the Qur'an states that in alcohol there is good for us, but that the bad outweighs the good, and thus alcohol should be kept away from completely. Given the dozens upon dozens of health, familial and societal issues that chronic alcoholism leads to, and given our understanding that this addiction can actually be genetic, it is no wonder that God has forbidden it completely for us. If you look at what is considered to be the first sin in the Qur'an, it is that Adam and Eve (both) disobeyed God in their taking from a specific tree in Heaven. The lessons to be learned by this story are many, however it is important to note, as Shaykh Husain Abdul Sattar has pointed out, the specific wording of the command that prohibited them from taking from the tree. God commands, as described in the Qur'an, "Do not approach the tree", however, the two human beings are not taken to account until they actually take from the tree. This shows Islam's philosophy towards sin in general. If a particular action is detrimental for us, one is much less likely to engage in that act if approaching it is made forbidden. This is why, alcohol and purely social relations between men and women (amongst other things) are both forbidden, not because they are necessarily so evil in themselves, but because they have an extremely high probability of leading to something much worse. The point of all of this is to suggest that it is due to the immense power of music on the soul, and our inability to safely discern (or to be honest enough with ourselves to admit) which music is beneficial for us or not, that music is often viewed as highly discouraged (I am not using an Islamic legal categorization here).

It is interesting to note however that historically, muslims invented instruments, including string instruments, one of which was actually the precursor to the modern guitar. It is clear that as Muslims we do have our history with music. What is also clear however is that our attitude to music was different. Those Muslims that used music therapeutically were using it to treat spiritual ailments. In other words, they were using music as a tool to help one get closer to God. Everything in Islam exists to help one draw closer to God. That is the purpose of our lives, to draw closer to God by serving Him and by serving His creation in the way He wants us to. One of the most important and essential ways of drawing closer to God is through His remembrance. The Qur'an itself is called "The Remembrance". In numerous places throughout the Qur'an we are told to remember God, and told of the benefits of remembering God. The Qur'an tells us that we should establish our five daily prayers for the remembrance of God. Remembrance of God is what our very souls, our hearts, our cores, desire. It is the nourishment of what is spiritual within us, just as food and drink is the sustenance of our bodies. It was either Ali the cousin of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or the Prophet himself who said that the difference between those who remember God and those who do not, is like the difference between the living and the dead. The reason for this is because if you do not nourish your heart, it dies, along with its ability to recognize and respond to God's Signs. The spiritual heart, as mentioned in the Qur'an, is the organ that humans have been given that allows them to be receptive to God's Signs. God reveals Himself through His Signs in revelation and in the natural world around us. It is the healthy spiritual heart that is receptive to these Signs. It is the healthy spiritual heart that sees and reflects on these Signs and thus comes to know God, and eagerly fulfills His commands. It is due to unhealthy, undernourished hearts that we can read the Qur'an and not be affected by it; that we can live in the natural world and not marvel at God. The nourishment of the heart is in remembering God, remembering The Reality, The Truth. This means for Muslims, minimally, praying five times a day. Praying does not mean performing. The physical actions of the prayer exist to faciliate the prayer, which is an action of the heart. Our spirituality is not separate from our bodies, and so in this fundamental act of worship, God commands that our bodies be involved as well. Remembrance of God also means reciting and reflecting on the Signs of God (the ayat or verses) in the Qur'an. Remembrance of God means reflecting on the natural world, its complexity, its beauty, its majesty and power, and what it tells us about the Beauty, Majesty and Power of God Himself. Remembrance of God means making the little prayer that the Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him) made as he mounted and demounted his camel (got into/out of his vehicle), as he stepped in and out of the bathroom, as he entered and left his house - all of this was remembrance of God. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) was the one who remembered God the most, he was always in the Presence of God, whether he was talking with his companions, helping the needy, spending time with his family, taking care of the sick, or fighting in battle. That is the true servant of God: one who is actively engaged in the world, but whose heart is always with God. How do you achieve that state? Only by His remembrance. For this reason, the statement that had the most effect on me in terms of my stance towards music was what my beautiful teacher, Shaykh Jamal Dhahabi told me, when I asked him a long time ago, simply, innocently, and with a child-like thirst to know, "Shaykh Jamal, why is music frowned upon in Islam?" He said, with humility and a certain tranquility in his voice, "Saleem, anything that takes us away from the remembrance of God, it is best to stay away from."

It is so true. If our very purpose in life is to worship and thus know God, and the most important method of doing this is by remembering God, then how can we immerse ourselves in something that removes us from His remembrance? People in modern Western society (including Muslims) listen to music to "get away from it all", to drown out the problems in their lives, as a fun distraction, or simply because, well, it's music - it's just part of every day life, how can one not listen to it? The latter is simply a matter of course of history. Music has, indeed, been a part of human life from the beginning, however its ubiquitousness in our time is unprecedented. With the advent of modern technology, including radio, walkmans, headphones, CD's, and of course iPods, music has almost become the matrix within which our lives exist. The radio is on as soon as the car is running, the headphones are on as soon as the books are opened, or the sneaker laces tied. People listen to music all the time, in their homes, in the car, in their study rooms. Just in case that wasn't enough there's even musak in elevators, in grocery stores, in malls. Simply by the principle of "everything in moderation", wouldn't one think that this is a bit much? Music in the modern world is primarily a distraction. It distracts us from our purpose, from being purpose-driven people, from being people who remember God and act in the world in a manner befitting representatives of God on Earth, as human beings are meant to be. How often do you hear people say, "Wow, 50 cent is truly a luminary, his beats remind me of the majesty of God" or for that matter any other deep reflective statement? Last time I checked, girls went to [insert name of manufactured pop star here]'s concerts because 1) they want to look like her, 2) they like the sound of her transient-soon-to-be-replaced music, and guys go to her concert because 1) they like to see her shake around on stage and 2) they like to see her shake around on stage. Similar ideas apply to all the different types of music out there. Be it rap, hip-hop, hippy-rock, rock, metal, punk, alternative (whatever that's supposed to be), hard rock, soft rock, medium-well rock, whatever it is, I doubt one can finish reading their mid-day prayer and then sit in the car and listen to any one of those, thinking, "Glory be to God! How wonderful the intonations and how magnificent the harmonies! The dissonance of that chord requires a resolve in tension that only God can bring!" Not that we all talk like that anyway. All of this, just as a reminder, is predicated on the fact that what they sing about is not something that God has forbidden, which as we established means that you better set that Care Bears theme song on your play list to "repeat".

I know there are some of you out there right now thinking, "but what about classical music!? surely you must admit that it can be spiritual!" Well I have three responses to that (and now for a shift in tone, because, hey, this is getting long, and I'm sure you need a break too).

1) If you are a second generation Muslim living in the United States of America, you don't listen to classical, you listen to rap or hip-hop. If you grew up around rich white people then you listen to whatever they listen to, which is rap, hip-hop, and music ranging from Metallica to Dave Matthews Band to Green Day. You also most likely listen to whatever transient-soon-to-be-defunct, one-hit-wonders on the radio, so don't talk to me about listening to classical.

2) If by "spiritual" you are referring to how Moderns talk about "spiritual" which basically amounts to "whatever makes me feel good and gives me that tingly feeling in my spine", then you're right. Classical music (along with instrumental movie soundtracks) is "spiritual". Whether it draws you closer to God is another question; a question whose answer must be sought, not from our limited human minds that "discover" new theories about how everything works every few years, but rather, from Revelation from God, the one who created us, and the one who truly knows the best way for all of us to draw closer to Him. There is very little evidence in the Qur'an and Hadith, as interpreted by our scholars, that listening to Bach and Beethoven will put you on the fast track to being a Wali (a saint) of God. But this leads me to the third point.

3) Islam is based on our being impeccably honest with ourselves. In the face of varying scholarly opinions, one must truly, and completely honestly, look within oneself and act according to what one knows to be right. Of course, taking into account that the majority of scholars say something, in reality, holds a lot more weight than personal reflection on the issue, and there is really no reason, in our every day lives as Muslims, to find minority views and take them as our own simply because they suit us (when to take minority scholarly views is a department of the scholars themselves. If one has a particular situation, one should always approach a traditional scholar of Islam who will guide you with regards to your options given your particular situation - the shari'ah is not so static as many Muslims think). This being said, and returning to the original point, we have to be honest with ourselves. If you find that something you do increases your ability to remember God and increases your inclination to obeying Him and His Messenger, that that action is within the bounds of the shari'ah, and that you have striven hard to understand what the shari'ah says on the issue by consulting scholars and gaining knowledge, then by all means, continue with that action. If, however, you find that the action is something that distracts you from His remembrance, that does not help you in acting in accordance with His commands and does not make you a better human being in the sight of God, then it is up to your honesty with yourself to stop it.

And that last point, is the jihad. The struggle for good, for improvement, for positive change. It is a specific form of Jihad, called mujahada, spiritual or inner struggle, that defines the Muslim. My understanding is that life is not meant to be a place of distraction. It is meant to be a place of struggle to focus on God. It is meant to be a place of fighting distraction. As humans we are not meant to be automaton-consumers whose ideas of the world are based simplistically on the society into which we are born, meandering through life dazzled by flashing lights and sweet sounds, as the Modern world wants us to be. Humans are meant to be Representatives of God on Earth as all Prophets have taught. This does not mean that we cannot relax, or do things that bring ease to our minds and hearts. What it does mean is that when we do them, they should not be things that take us away from our ultimate goal: serving God to the best of our ability, through His worship, and through serving humanity.

"Without doubt, it is in the Remembrance of God that hearts find tranquility."
- The Qur'an, Chapter of The Thunder, Verse 28-

> Saleem

PS - If you made it this far, feel free to read the addendum to this entry below.

Addendum: Music, Remembrance of God & Jihad

2005-11-18T21:05:00.000-05:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
In the Name of God, The Compassionate, The Merciful

The entry entitled "Music, the Remembrance of God & Jihad was rather long, but I felt it needed something else, so I wrote this addendum. If you haven't read that entry yet, I would recommend reading it first.

Jihad. We know it as "utmost exertion" or "utmost struggle" for good. Jihad is a universal term, underneath which are particulars, such as mujahada, ijtihad, qital, etc. Mujahada means spiritual struggle. Ijtihad means intellectual struggle. Qital means physical struggle, or fighting. I spoke of mujahada, the inner struggle that every Muslim experiences everyday. To make the issue of music and mujahada more palpable, I have decided to share my personal experience with the issue. Although initially (and to some extent still) reluctant, people close to me have suggested that I do so, feeling that it will be beneficial for others. I pray that this holds true.

Music has been a big part of my life for a long time. Some would say that I have a talent for it. I played the violin for for eight years in my school orchestra. I enjoyed playing the drums, the piano and the guitar. I never took lessons in any of those, but I knew enough to make a nice tune here and there, and I certainly had the ability to play well if the talent was honed by a good teacher. My first year of college was spent playing video games, watching movies and performing songs, singing and playing the guitar for different groups of people, in our school cafe, etc. I enjoyed listening to almost all types of music (minus country) and because of my background in violin and reading music, I could really appreciate the complexity of good music. I still can. Music was indeed the matrix within which my life enfolded. I had certain types of music I liked to listen to when I was in a certain mood, or doing a certain thing. I went to concerts (no, I didn't smoke up or drink - ever, alhamdulillah). After my first year of college I spent a summer doing a lot of driving. I forget why, but I drove a lot. My wise mother suggested one day that in the car, at least one way, I listen to a tape by some American Muslim guy. His name was Hamza Yusuf. I had heard him before and I really liked his style, so I decided, "why not, this isn't your average Maulvi Sahib after all." The summer was spent driving and listening to a message I had never heard before. I realized how deep an intellectual tradition Muslims have, and how much of it we have forgotten. Here was somebody who had studied with some of the most amazing people in the Middle East, and was not relating his own strange views, but articulating beautifully a forgotten tradition. Intellectually stimulating and spiritually uplifting, his lectures embedded in my mind and heart the importance of remembering God, of keeping the receptor of God's Signs (the heart) polished, so that an individual could be transformed. I felt that so much of what I put in it, especially through my ears, seemed to be the antithesis of what it was meant to be used for, and so in that summer God gave me the strength to quite cold turkey. I remember it clearly. My high school friend was taking a summer course, in which he was doing a project where he was to sing about a topic. I had agreed that I would play the song on the guitar for him as he sang. In my heart I felt a tremendous conflict. I knew that this was a pivotal decision. Something inside told me that if cancelled on this, with the intention that I am going to stop playing the guitar completely, as one step towards removing all music from my life, I will have accomplished something great, and something that would solidify my move towards God. Yet I also wanted so bad to play, to get that recognition from people, to be applauded, to hear the chords and feel the excitement of the rhythms created from my Dave Matthews Band-inspired strumming. I decided I would stop. I don't remember the conversation with my friend. I do remember having a hard time explaining it to him though, and I remember his awkward reaction. But after that day, I stopped playing, listening and thinking about all music. God also gave me the courage to filter the contents of my heart through my eyes, for I stopped watching TV and movies completely. This continued for about two and a half years. I have never experienced such clarity of thought, ease of remembrance, and tranquility in my life. When I was amongst people, I remembered God, when I was by myself, I remembered God, when I woke up, instead of having some stupid song stuck in my head, I remembered God. It was the greatest experience of my life.

Of course I could not find another person who held the same views as I did at that time. Thus, over the next few years, I would gradually lose the initial strength that God blessed me with that summer. After all, how could one not listen to music, watch movies and watch TV? For me, I never missed any of those things once during those two and a half years. I found pleasure and relaxation in just spending time with good people and quite honestly, remembering God! But when one spends time with people of a certain way, one will inevitably become like them. They were all good people by the way. They did not engage in most things guys their age do. They prayed regularly, and enjoyed religious gatherings. However, one can only resist so much of talk about this song or that film or the episode of whatever. I fought, but with time I found myself doing the things that everyone else did, although albeit, much less.

Today, the struggle continues. I remember the beauty and serenity of what I experienced in the past. Music, although limited, has become slightly more common in my life, along with movies. Although, given my schedule as a medical student I don’t have much time for the latter. It is always a struggle, knowing what I experienced in the past yet engaging in some of those actions that, when halted, brought such tranquility in life. Without the right environment, without others who share similar aspirations it is extraordinarily difficult, I would even dare to say impossible, to achieve such goals. For now, each day brings a new battle. Some days I win. Some days I lose. That is the nature of mujahada, of fighting against those parts of one’s soul that need to be tamed. I may lose some battles now, but the war is not lost as long as I continue on with hope in God’s mercy: and hope there is indeed, for God’s mercy is limitless, and the road to God is ever open.

This is all some of my most private thoughts, out on the internet, the most public place ever in the history of humankind. I really, really hope to God that some of this might benefit somebody out there. And I pray that God protects me and all of us from the evil that may exist in people, inlcuding myself. Ameen/Amen.

>Saleem

I am an Extremist Muslim

2005-09-23T15:40:00.001-04:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
In the Name of God/Allah, The Compassionate, The Merciful

That's it. I have had enough. I am making the announcement:

I am an Extremist Muslim.

That's right. I'm an extremist. You see, there seems to be only two types of Muslims (sometimes a third), as revealed by the "dialogue" on "terorrism" in this country. There are Extremist or Fundamentalist Muslims, and there are Moderate Muslims. The third group which we don't hear about as much are Liberal or "Progressive" Muslims but usually this group is placed in the "Moderate" category, often with the line blurred between what a "Liberal" is and what a "Moderate" is.

Now, if you are a Muslim, you may wonder how I could say that I am an Extremist when the Prophet Muhammad (God's peace and blessings be upon him) said that there is no extremism in Islam. To clarify, I am not considered an Extremist by Muslims (except by maybe some of the really liberal ones) - but if I were to be analyzed using the standards that have been employed in our national discussion on terrorism and in the U.S. in general, I am most certainly an Extremist.

In order for me to elucidate how and why I am an Extremist I must explain to you the understanding of these words in the "Dialogue" on "Terrorism" in this country, as I shall refer to it henceforth.

In our national "Dialogue" on "Terrorism" - the chat and clamor of our various newspapers, magazines and TV drama-news series - an Extremist Muslim is essentially someone that thinks a little differently from most Americans. How can I say this? How can I say that this country, with all its remarkable and unprecedented tolerance, cannot accept someone within its midst who thinks a little differently than most of its citizens? I answer, sadly, that the tolerance for difference is a rather shallow one, and its depth has been decreasing steadily after WTC. You see, in the U.S., if you wear long flowing African or Arab clothing, it's OK. If you worship a different god, it's OK. If you value the community over the individual, people may not like you that much, but it's OK. If you want to go to gatherings where you dress in wonderfully divine little outfits and shake your tamborine in the air while dancing in a circle with your friends (how delightfully cultural!), that's OK. If you believe that the public schooling system is useless and you want to home-school your child, even that's OK. But you know what's not OK?

What's not OK is to have the type of faith practicing Muslims do. Muslims have something called "iman" which is different from "faith" or "belief". When Moderns use the word "faith" or "belief" there is usually an implication that while "I believe/have faith in something to be true" that in reality that belief is flying in the face of some real facts. Faith or belief essentially -and often subconsciously- amounts to nothing more than private opinion for Moderns. "Iman" is solid, objectively true, fact. When a Muslim translates, "I believe in God, His Messenger and the Day of Judgement" from Arabic, s/he is saying, "I recognize the objective and fundamental truth of the existence of God, the validity of the Prophet(s) and the reality of the Day of Judgement", not, "I personally believe that God exists, but that's just my personal view." In addition, "faith" in the Modern context -a private view of an individual- is exactly that: private. It should stay within the hearts and minds and homes of the those who adhere to it, and then should be transported to a house of faith on the weekend and for important events in life and be brought out during times of calamity. Other than that, to have faith involved in one's life or society to a greater extent, is often problematic. Now if we take all this to its natural conclusion, we find what is particularly disturbing for the Moderns engaging in the "Dialogue" on "Terrorism".

What if you have a person who belives - who has Iman - in the fact that God's power is the only real power in the world, and that this life is nothing more than a place to prepare for the real life in the Next? You see, it's OK for a mainstream Christian or Jew or anyone else to believe in God, His supremecy and the Afterlife due to the fact that the manner in which the Western world's history transpired left religion in a state where the vast majority of its adherents needed to place their understanding of their religion under the yolk of modern thought. Thus the Afterlife and proximity to God stopped being the reason for people's existence and more often than not a pleasant thought that, once one dies, no matter who they are or what they did, they will go to "a better place". The Muslims, thank God, never had to go through an "Enlightenment" or any other type of euphemism where they traded in their sacred view of life and the world for the paltry offerings of a new secular meaning to life and the world (while I talk about the word "Enlightenment" negatively here, given the negative accretions of the Church, an Enlightenment was at least necessary for societal advancement, and probably inevitable, in Western history - whereas the situation was quite different in Muslim history). We actually believe that this life is nothing but a testing ground for the real life to come - a field in which to sew good deeds and harvest the fruit of ultimate proximity to God in the next life.

For the Muslim though, acknowledging the transient nature of this life compared to the Next does not entail isolating oneself in worship, but rather making one's everyday life and living for God and in accordance with His Will as revealed in the Qur'an and by Prophet Muhammad (God's peace and blessings be upon him). It means changing oneself for the sake of God, loving and taking care one's family for the sake of God, serving humanity for the sake of God, and sacrificing for the sake of God. God is on always at the top of our priorities and at the forefront of our minds and hearts. A Muslim's very faith, his/her very world view, values, and the fact that their worldview and values are often seen actively in their lives -in the form of devoted prayer five times a day, fasting for a whole month, covering oneself in a way others do not cover, abstaining from unnecessary interaction between the genders, not caring for the latest clothes, the latest cars, the latest fads, and doing many other things that go against the grain of mainstream trends and norms of modern society- can be very strange and sometimes very threatening to Moderns. The fact that Muslims do all those things and believe in those things' Divine authenticity with a firmness in belief not seen in the West for quite some time, exacerbates people's concern (although in reality they have nothing to be concerned about).

Now unfortunately, a small segment (yes, believe it or not it is a small segment) of Muslims have decided that they would like to interpret the Qur'an and the sayings of the Prophet (God's peace and blessings be upon him) any which way they would like. Their personal wishes, molded by their environment, comprise the framework within which the criterion for the validity of a particular interpretation resides. I am referring to two small groups of Muslims, those that truly terrorize people through violent acts, and the "Progressives" - the ones that are so loved by the FBI, CIA and the general public. Specifically, however, I am referring to those who feel that they can take justice in their own hands and deal it out however they personally feel best - in the process killing hundreds of non-combatant lives (and maligning a beautiful and balanced religion.) It is of course in great part due to these people that Moderns have become even more sensitive to Muslims. Due to their actions, the tolerance for our genuine difference has decreased. Actually, I would venture to say, that due to their actions, the apparent tolerance that was shown to us melted away to show, in those more civilized, a concern with a willingness to understand, and in others, intolerance, distrust, a feeling of being threatened, and prejudice.

In their eyes, in many eyes, I am an Extremist. Not because I am in the aforementioned small, violent segment (I am actually vociferously opposed to that), but because of everything else I discussed... and I'm quite proud of that.

Choice

2005-08-22T16:17:00.000-04:00

A'uzthu billahi min ash-shaytan nir rageem
Bismillah hir Rahman nir Raheem
In the Name of God/Allah, The Merciful, The Compassionate

Now you listen to me.

I've had enough of your words-
Your whisperings and deceit.
I've had enough of your abuse-
Your sweeping of/f the feet.
I've taken all your beatings-
of the soul within my breath.
I've taken all your hits,
Your petty life is death.
I've had enough of you,
And now you listen to me.
I am no longer your slave-
I choose who I want to be.

I'm not falling for illusion,
Of environment or blame.
I'm not feasting on delusion,
That my life'll always be the same.
I'm letting myself know,
And I'm telling you clearly,
I am no longer your slave -
I choose who I want to be.

This creature inside,
You tame by your side,
That I fight to purify,
Which you try to misguide.
This thing inside me,
That is mine with its crimes,
That I fight to take high,
It's not yours but it's mine.

Now you listen to me.

I've had enough of your antics,
Your making my mind frantic.
I've had enough of your lies,
Your false promises' smiles, wry.
I will defeat you, my choice,
My way, my reality:
For I am no longer your slave -
I choose who I want to be.

With unseen rain from Heaven's clouds,
A gust of inspiration-
A penetration from Above,
There is no veneration-
And I say it one more time,
Because I want your agony:
I am no longer your slave-
I choose who I want to be.

Flowers

2005-04-13T12:59:00.000-04:00

In the Name of God/Allah, The Compassionate, The Merciful

Flowers. What about flowers? From a strictly modern biological perspective we can discuss their role in the ecosystem, or the fact that they often rely on bees and winds for reproduction. But those things do not strike me as much as the ultimate reason for their existence.

Like everything else in the world, flowers are signs of God.

A sign is something that is made to attract someone's attention and direct it somewhere else: to a place, person, or concept. The things of this universe (including the universe itself) are signs that point to God. They point to His existence and His Attributes. The Qur'an says that reflecting on the signs of the universe tell you about God, and bring you closer to Him.

Flowers are beautiful. As far as I am concerned, they exist to be beautiful, to add beauty to the world, and to remind us of beauty. Have you ever seen a flower bed filled with different types of flowers of various colors? Bright and dull red flowers, yellow and pink flowers, orange and purple flowers. All the colors of the rainbow and more in different shapes and sizes. Some flowers are bell shaped and face upward, some shaped similarly droop towards the ground. Others are small aggregations of circular petals, while others still can take on exotic shapes.

Flowers beautify anything they are near. Imagine a plain field of grass. It has it's own beauty, but sprinkle it with red and yellow flowers and the field becomes ornamented and inspires admiration. If we want to beautify a sign, or a walkway, or the insides of our houses, we plant flowers. Imagine a man-made pathway leading to a house with two troughs of dirt on each side. Better yet, imagine it with simply grass coming up to the sides of the path. Add flowers to each side; small purple, white, red and orange flowers - what a difference it makes in the mind of the individual walking up to the house! Have you ever felt flower petals? Flower petals are wonderfully soft and gentle. They remind us of the Gentleness of God. They remind us that with gentleness comes beauty.

Why am I talking about flowers while millions of men, women and children are starving to death? Why discuss flowers when human blood is being spilt as a result of greedy men’s hankerings? Why, when countless people are living empty lives, chasing wealth blindly and stepping over the weak to reach their goals, do I mention the immobile, seemingly inconsequential plants that grow along our paths and in our backyards? Why talk about flowers when humanity is losing its center, forgetting its soul, and while our societies are becoming spiritually and principally bereft? Dear reader, I talk about flowers for all of the above reasons.

As long as there are flowers, there is hope. And a great hope at that.

If God is still bringing flowers into the world, reminding us of His Beauty and Gentleness, then that is a tremendous source of hope. With every heart that is stilled by looking at the beauty of a flower, with every bit of softness felt on the tips of our fingers, with every beautiful fragrance we inhale, is a reminder of God's Beauty, and His invitation to beauty. We see this beauty in the unchanging heavens above us, in the returning green of spring, in the way snow lines every branch of a tree, in the soft blue sky and warm sun rays penetrating clouds, in the colors of a sunset - and in the unasserting yet radiant flower which blooms and smiles at us no matter where, who or what we are. Despite our darknesses, God continuously invites us to beauty by His constant creation and sustaining of beauty in the world.

For this reason, there is always hope.

"If the Day of Judgment arrives and in the hand of one of you is a palm shoot that he can plant, then he should plant it."

~Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him~

>Saleem

How to Address Modern Medicine?

2004-11-09T07:36:00.000-05:00

In the Name of God/Allah, The Compassionate, The Merciful

Well it’s been quite a long time since I’ve posted on this blog. I tried working on this post here and there whenever I had the time and inclination and now I’m posting an “introductory thought” about a topic that may resurface quite often. This will set the stage for future discussions (as the last post did). I wanted to write more however I have exams coming up and don’t have the time currently, so here’s what I wrote so far. If you have any questions you can post them in the comments. [Note: this is completely unedited so if you find any mistakes or the thought progression is off, please let me know – I’ll go back eventually and take a look at it anyway, but until then comments are appreciated].

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I have done my studying for the day. It is 10:54pm. I will not be studying anymore tonight, I have prayed my 'Isha salat (night prayer) and now what I intend to write here is essential for me to think about as a Muslim in medical school. It may help save me from living a great portion of my life as an "incongruous human" (hmm... otherwise known as a hypocrite) - or at least it may help start the process that may eventually lead me to answers that I need to be a wholesome Muslim doctor. Perhaps you will see what I mean soon. The last post ended with two statements that were meant to be reflected upon. The second one is what I need to address to start:

There is no god but God.

Six words. Six words that describe everything. It describes reality as it truly is. No understanding of the world is accurate without looking through its lens. It is all encompassing, penetrating, illuminating. It is Tawhid: declaring the absolute unity and uniqueness of The Reality - of God, of Allah Most High.

Wait just a moment. I'll explain as best I can.

The Arabic word tawhid literally means, "the declaration of God's unity". It explains the nature of God and the relationship of the rest of creation to God. The discussion here will be focused not so much on God and His relationship to personal human lives and societies, but rather to the universe and all of natural phenomenon.

Since tawhid is the central and fundamental truth, it is reflected throughout the universe. The phrase states that God is the only Absolute Reality. Thus, it follows that all other levels of reality reflect this Absolute Reality in some way or the other. If God, the Absolute Reality, is One, and is unified in His Essence, Attributes and Qualities, then this unity will be reflected in the rest of the world. As Professor Osman Bakar states in Tawhid and Science, [italics inserted by myself], "one important consequence of affirming this central truth is that one has to accept the objective realty of cosmic unity... ...the cosmos is made up of many levels of reality, not just the physical. But it constitutes a unity because it must manifest that oneness of its metaphysical source and origin religiously called God."

Now, given that God is One, and given that affirming this truth means acknowledging the unity of the cosmos, then it follows that in order to know and understand our world we must study it within the framework of unity, of tawhid. If we do not examine our world within this framework we quite simply will not understand our reality as it really is, and a faulty understanding of the world will lead to a faulty application of any knowledge we gain. How does this relate to medicine? If our worldview affects how we study and understand the universe, then it also affects how we study and understand our selves.

Currently, the worldview of academia (and consequently of medicine) is that of materialism. Materialists claim that the physical level of reality is the only level that exists, and that the "Primary Mover" of the universe is simply causality. Using my own words, their central tenet could be stated as follows, "There is no god but causality". By the nature of worldviews, for the materialist, everything from stars to rocks (note: only physical objects) must reflect the fundamental understanding of materialism and can only be understood in terms of its central tenet. Answers to questions about the world are only accepted within its framework. Given this, what sort of understanding of the human being will have developed from these peoples’ studies? Just as important, what sort of remedies will they procure to address the various health problems they diagnose? Furthermore, how will they define health? What methods will they use for diagnosis?

That's all I have for now, hope to put more up after exams (late November). Thank you for your patience.

>Saleem

Introduction

2004-09-03T01:48:00.000-04:00

In the Name of God/Allah, The Most Compassionate, The Most Merciful.

Hello.

My name is Saleem and I just started medical school four days ago. Fortunately or unfortunately you have entered upon this mind in the midst of its story. I don't know when this story will end, but I do know that because you weren't reading it from the beginning, you'll have to figure some things out as you go along. That shouldn't be too much of a problem. If you are someone who has a penchant for understanding human beings then you shouldn't have too much difficulty figuring things out. Even if you don't, you may still gain much benefit, God willing. Or perhaps you won't either way. He knows best. I hope this does benefit you though, as much as I hope it does myself.

I originally started this blog for myself alone. I started it so that instead of letting my thoughts meander aimlessly through my mind, I may give those ones that demand scrutiny a place to live. I will not care too much about grammar. Regardless, as I started thinking about putting my thoughts up on blogger.com I realized that the point of this was not just for me to organize my thoughts for myself, but rather so that others could see them too. Who? Why? Well, who, I am not sure about that yet. Why? In the hopes that someone may benefit in some way. That perhaps it may bring someone to Truth, or at least just make someone think. When God gives you wealth, you are expected to give out from it. When God gives you health, you are expected to use it in the best way. When God gives you intellect, you are expected to protect, nourish and exercise it. In the same way, I think I have been given (or at least stumbled across) something and that it is now expected that I share that something with people. God loves those who serve His creation. I hope that some words I write here may inspire, help, or guide someone along the path of life. I pray that God makes me of those whom He draws closest to Him. Ameen. After that, what else is there?

From time to time I may put some short things up which do not have much meaning but which contribute to letting you in on the ambiance of my life as it is playing out currently.

Since I am in medical school now you will find that many of my thoughts are embedded within the intellectual atmosphere that that creates. In fact it is because of some sparks that flew in my mind during physiology today that I began this blog. I figured after all these years it's time to try to make sense of it all - and share it with others in the process.

I will end now, as it is getting late. For now, I leave you with two statements to consider. The first was said by Al-Ghazzali:

1) Man is not the criterion for Truth - Truth is the criterion for man.

The second statement is from God:

2) There is no god except God.

>Saleem