Ramadan notes: Empathy, subtraction, and the ride By Ibrahim Abusharif

I know during this time of year, Muslims are often inundated with numerous articles that we "must read" regarding Ramadan, but I found this one particularly poignant.

Ramadan notes: Empathy, subtraction, and the ride
By Ibrahim Abusharif

In the days and weeks ahead, we will often be reminded of the graces truly associated with fasting the month of Ramadan, particularly its "thirds": mercy, forgiveness, and rescue from perdition. Verses of the Quran and traditions of the Prophet of Islam will be appropriately recited, in order to emphasize the great value of this prime real estate in time and the generosity, favor, and opportunity available to us. We will learn again that the most revered people in religious history, without fail, practiced fasting in some form—a tradition unbroken and now passed on to us. For them, voluntary deprivation and altered rules of consumption were more than parts of a spiritual regimen, but the expected thing to do if you took your life seriously and felt some responsibility for having a soul. The outpourings (prose and poetry) of saintly men and women have survived to our day and are frequently mentioned around this time of the lunar year. Rumi's urgent metaphors and Ibn Ata'illah's arresting aphorisms come to mind, as do the reflections of many others who speak of the various levels of the Fast and the necessities of each.

Without doubt, there is enormous benefit in hearing again these bezels of wisdom, although it's a struggle to draw from them. Our time—modern, postmodern, or whatever—is losing ground to aggressive mores that dampen human sensitivity to the sacred. Many have observed this, and it's hard to disagree. Some call it the "post-truth environment," an ethos that is unabashedly concerned with appearance, regardless of whether or not it connects with truth, just as long as it sounds right according to some market research. And yes, it's a world increasingly unwilling or unable to receive approvingly the insights of the great sages who were fortunate enough to have lived in a time when sacred tradition was a reality without a name, the natural flora of existence.

But in the end, there's a private and personal response to rituals that can mitigate the profanity all about us. By a sheer act of divine mercy and compassion, the essences of the rituals—these peculiar interruptions of behavior—have not really changed. They are able to do now, we hope, what they had done before, the same influence and benevolence originally prescribed for them.

A time-honored counsel that one often comes across deals precisely with wanting to imbibe more of the meanings of rituals. To paraphrase: If you want to truly understand what a ritual means, they say, then pay the tithe and participate more in what it calls you to do, beyond form. The larger culture of Ramadan lends itself to this advice in many ways, two of which pertain to what we can do and what we should feel.

Do something

It's often said that one of the benefits of fasting during the month of Ramadan is to experience something that poor people feel. There's probably some truth to that, but emphasizing it can have the unintended effect of viewing the indigent as an abstraction, people who live in desperation as if it were their station without parole. Fasting does have some didactic purposes that relate to the needy, but it pertains more toward empathy and duty rather than pity and abstractions. It's really impossible to simulate desperation, particularly when framed between dawn and dusk. The sheer anticipation of food and drink in a matter of hours completely dilutes the trauma and psychology of indigence. The realities of such places as the famine fields of Sudan—even when told in the descriptive narratives of the likes of Jacqui Banaszynski and others—are beyond dramatic demonstration.

It is part of the purpose and very culture of Ramadan to instill empathy that's actionable. Sympathy relates more to surface emotion that can be ransomed off with a check or, worse yet, forced distraction. Empathy, however, cannot be so easily assuaged or fooled. Empathy is connecting with others because of their humanity and their needs, no abstraction. It is about sincere giving, humility, gratitude, shared humanity, and realizing that our material condition and well being can change without notice, and each condition has an obliged reaction. The disparity of "realities" in our world are not forgiven when we show others our backs. We are a social species, which means more than tea and biscuits; we are responsible for those we know and, especially, those whom we may never meet. They are of us, and we are of them. When we fast with heart, we realize that we are in constant and utter need for things outside of ourselves, external to our so-called talents and skills. Dethroned, we realize that we are all needy, a permanent condition that's lost in our billboard world.

Sermon-talk aside, there are a thousand reasons why fasting and charity are linked together, according to scripture and prophetic tradition. They both are subtractions; one involves consumption and the other wealth. And we are promised by the highest authority that in subtraction like this, gain is guaranteed. We are charged to learn empathy and charged to do something with it.

Feel something

One thing that a thoughtful Ramadan experience is said to do is reverse 11 months of "professionalizing our existence," to borrow the phrase from Martin Amis. "Professionalizing" the religious experience means to become rote doers of rites (stiff and perfunctory); with Sunday-school heart; and exposed to pretension and self-righteousness, among the greatest risks of religiosity. If Ramadan were a proofreader's pen, it would stop at "Muslim" (the professional adherent) and strike it down to "muslim" (a person who believes and remembers why).

It's a marvel how a geologist can take a soil sample and come up with thunderous conclusions about the physical condition of the earth and the mad culture of consumption that's ravaging it. Seeing the big picture in something small and self-contained is the definition of sagacity. When Ramadan comes, things change. We all know it. It's an interruption in routine, a time that agitates a rote existence. This interruption has many purposes, but it comes down to this: It is said that if you want to see how your life is going, then look at your day, your sample, and realize (hopefully enchanted) that we are and always have been in this constant state of returning, a procession of hours and days that's taking us to nowhere but God, who made us and eventually wants us back.

To live with that consciousness and awareness of the grand ride is among the highest achievements of revealed religion. It affects everything. That awareness is also extraordinary and cannot be scaled with the ordinary. We are shown rituals—acts that are breaks from the norm—and we are taught something about them. How we engage them is really the challenge that by all appearance will not become easier. Trained to be jaded and consumers, Ramadan each year comes to us with an offer to be counter-cultural, to think differently, and hopefully remember the ride and the destination.

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Other Relevant Resources on Ramadan:

How to Prepare for Ramadan

Ramadan is Approaching - Imam Zaid Shakir

The Inner Dimensions of Fasting - Imam Ghazali

Daily Ramadan Podcasts - Sh. Faraz Rabbani


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Two quotes I enjoyed reading from Rumi:

"O moon-faced Beloved, the month of Ramadan has arrived. Cover the table and open the path of praise. O fickle busybody, it’s time to change your ways." -Rumi

"There is an unseen sweetness in the stomach’s emptiness. We are lutes. When the soundbox is filled, no music can come forth. When the brain and the belly burn from fasting, every moment a new song rises out of the fire. The mists clear, and a new vitality makes you spring up the steps before you. Be empty and cry as a reed instrument. Be empty and write secrets with a reed pen. When satiated by food and drink, an unsightly metal statue is seated where your spirit should be. When fasting, good habits gather like helpful friends. Fasting is Solomon’s ring. Don’t give in to illusion and lose your power. But even when will and control have been lost, they will return when you fast, like soldiers appearing out of the ground, or pennants flying in the breeze." ~Rumi

Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food By Bryan Walsh (Time Magazine)

Ah, more motivation to read Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma," which has been sitting on my bookshelf for ages. In the meantime...

Full article:
Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food

Highlights:

A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that a dollar could buy 1,200 calories of potato chips or 875 calories of soda but just 250 calories of vegetables or 170 calories of fresh fruit. With the backing of the government, farmers are producing more calories — some 500 more per person per day since the 1970s — but too many are unhealthy calories. Given that, it's no surprise we're so fat; it simply costs too much to be thin.

excuses, excuses. ;)

But the quantity of that fertilizer is flat-out scary: more than 10 million tons for corn alone — and nearly 23 million for all crops. When runoff from the fields of the Midwest reaches the Gulf of Mexico, it contributes to what's known as a dead zone, a seasonal, approximately 6,000-sq.-mi. area that has almost no oxygen and therefore almost no sea life. Because of the dead zone, the $2.8 billion Gulf of Mexico fishing industry loses 212,000 metric tons of seafood a year, and around the world, there are nearly 400 similar dead zones. Even as we produce more high-fat, high-calorie foods, we destroy one of our leanest and healthiest sources of protein.

Pound for pound, a pig produces approximately four times the amount of waste a human does, and what factory farms do with that mess gets comparatively little oversight. Most hog waste is disposed of in open-air lagoons, which can overflow in heavy rain and contaminate nearby streams and rivers.

Just as the burning of fossil fuels that is causing global warming requires more than a tweaking of mileage standards, the manifold problems of our food system require a comprehensive solution. "There should be a recognition that what we are doing is unsustainable," says Martin.

Since 1935, consolidation and industrialization have seen the number of U.S. farms decline from 6.8 million to fewer than 2 million — with the average farmer now feeding 129 Americans, compared with 19 people in 1940.

The USDA estimates that Americans throw out 14% of the food we buy, which means that much of our record-breaking harvests ends up in the garbage.

How willing are consumers to rethink the way they shop for — and eat — food? For most people, price will remain the biggest obstacle. Organic food continues to cost on average several times more than its conventional counterparts, and no one goes to farmers' markets for bargains. But not all costs can be measured by a price tag. Once you factor in crop subsidies, ecological damage and what we pay in health-care bills after our fatty, sugary diet makes us sick, conventionally produced food looks a lot pricier.

Are Women The New "Deserving Poor"? by Anna N. (jezebel.com)

A refutation (? well, counterpoint) to a New York Times Magazine article in which "Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn make the provocative claim that ending discrimination against women and girls may end poverty and even terrorism."

Indeed, all the programs the authors support — from improving girls' education to reducing sex trafficking to repairing obstetric fistulas — are good ones. But their central thesis — that we should help women because it will reduce poverty and violence — is flawed. It relies on the notion that women are deserving of economic and social power because they are good citizens, not simply because they are human. What happens if women decide to spend their newly earned money on alcohol instead of their children's education? What if they spend it on weapons? And what if, even though they spend it on all the "right" things, their countries still fail to develop economically? Treating women as agents of social change risks leaving them out in the cold if they don't effect the change we want.

Good read. Link to the original article and subsequent other readings are also in there somewhere.

Ramadan 2009 @ The Big Picture

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/08/ramadan_2009.html


Phenomenal pictures, as always. You know, I've really never understood the desire to travel the world (no, seriously), but it's really starting to hit me lately. One day, inshaAllah?

Thoughts sparked by a quote from the interview with Manning Marable

Thoughts sparked by a quote from the interview with Manning Marable

I rarely write my own thoughts on this blog. This is gonna be weird.

Malcolm goes to Alabama, three weeks before he’s murdered and reaches out to Dr. King. King is in prison after leading demonstrations. Malcolm goes to Coretta Scott King and he says, “I want you to convey to your husband my deepest respect for him and that I am not trying to undermine Dr. King’s work. My goal is to be to the left of Dr. King, to challenge institutional racism so that those in power can negotiate with King. That’s my role.” So Malcolm understood what his role was.

Man. That is so incredible.

I recently watched a documentary with Asra Nomani entitled "Mosque in Morgantown", in which she chronicles her struggles with an extremely traditional mosque and, specifically, some of the gender issues going on there (ie, unfair/unequal treatment of women). I am by no means a fan of Nomani (and particularly not of the tactics she employs to try to accomplish her goals), but something she said during one rowdy masjid meeting really opened my eyes about her.

During a bit of a yelling match between her and other active masjid members, someone had confronted her about her tactics for bringing about change. They pushed that, had she utilized a more gentle approach, it would be far easier for her to change things and, in fact, her methods actually undermined the efforts of those who had similar goals but went about things in a different way. I wish I had her exact response (I can't find the full documentary online, unfortunately), but she responded with something along the lines of, 'you HAVE to be revolutionary to bring about change.' Through the documentary, you even see her mimicking the actions of the reformer Martin Luther by nailing something to the door of the mosque.

So what's the difference? The intentions are still there to bring about a goal that each of these individuals believe to be the best for their people. For both, goals and tactics can be viewed as questionable by outsiders, if not outright blasphemous.

It's interesting to think about in relation to some of our ALIM discussions... understanding that we each have a role in the Muslim American diaspora... where even the non-practicing Muslims can do their part to make necessary social, political, economic, etc., changes (and, in some cases, are even in better positions to do so than seemingly more religious or practicing Muslims).

In regards more specifically to the different "movements" in Islamic thought in the U.S., between the progressives, salafis, sufis, traditionalists, reformists, etc etc etc... maybe I should be worried, but I'm not. On the contrary, it's almost refreshing to see people fight so passionately for their religion... because the greatest enemy of religion isn't ignorance, it's irrelevance.

A scholar once told me that everyone feels as though they must personally protect Islam from corruption, but rarely do we realize how arrogant we are to think that God needs us to protect Islam, and that any of us would be able to do so without corrupting it ourselves.

With each of these movements... I swear, it's absolutely fascinating. I feel like there's a multi-way tug-of-war, each group appealing to a different demographic, each highlight of Islam offering something different to its adherents. Every group has its role to play, just as each individual does.

Hadith of the Week 22

Early, cuz I'm making up for lost time :)

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) says, "Ramadan has come to you. (It is) a month of blessing, in which Allah covers you with blessing, for He sends down Mercy, decreases sins and answers prayers. In it, Allah looks at your competition (in good deeds), and boasts about you to His angels. So show Allah goodness from yourselves, for the unfortunate one is he who is deprived in (this month) of the mercy of Allah, the Mighty, the Exalted." [Narrated by Tabarani]

The missing Malcolm: An Interview with Manning Marable (International Socialist Review)

An interview with Manning Marable, whose current works in progress include a new comprehensive biography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention (New York: Viking, 2009).

A charismatic, handsome, articulate Black leader who had a controversial past as a hustler, a pimp, a drug addict, a numbers runner, “Detroit Red,” “Little Gangster,” “Little Bugsy Siegel,” who supposedly terrorized the Harlem community in the 1940s and went to jail and was given ten years in prison. He goes through a metamorphosis, he becomes a Black Muslim, he comes out, he explodes onto the scene. He creates seventy to eighty new mosques in less than ten years, turns a small sect of 400 people into fifty- to one hundred thousand by 1960–62. Then, he turns more overtly to politics, he breaks from the Nation of Islam (NOI), he builds two new organizations, the Muslim Mosque Incorporated in March 1964 and the Organization of Afro-American Unity in May 1964. He goes to Africa and the Mideast. He is treated as the head of state. He is welcomed at the Fateh by the Saudi royal household. He sits down with Gamal, eats breakfast with Anwar Sadat in Egypt. He caucuses and meets and gets to know Che Guevara while he’s in Africa, as he alludes to in a talk in 1964 at the Audubon Ballroom. So Malcolm is this extraordinary figure, dies at the age of thirty-nine. It’s a hell of a story.

I haven't read Malcolm X's (auto)biography since early high school, and the above sentence is really pushing me to pick it up again. I know there's no way I could've appreciated it then as I inevitably would now. Perhaps after I finish 'The Sealed Nectar," inshaAllah.

Even without remembering all the details, there's quite a few really fascinating insights in this interview (and inevitably in the book). I really look forward to reading the new book, inshaAllah.

When I asked one student about a decade ago, “What was the fundamental difference between Malcolm and Martin?” He said, “Dr. Marable, that’s easy. Martin Luther King, Jr., belongs to the entire world. Malcolm X belongs to us.”

Source

'The Soul of a Butterfly' by Muhammad Ali and Hana Yasmeen Ali

So slightly late, as the first night of Ramadan starts tonight, but I finally managed to finish "The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey" by Muhammad Ali and Hana Yasmeen Ali. It was definitely quite different from what I was expecting. It's odd having this persona of Muhammad Ali (based on... nothing, really) in your head as this big, arrogant, loud fighter broken down by this book of his spiritual journey and life lessons.

Not having much familiarity with Muhammad Ali before, the book really inspires me to learn more about his life. With the book, I've seen his actions through his eyes, but it was before I had a proper understanding of his actions through the eyes of the rest of the world. Regardless, it's so incredible to hear of the incredible feats he accomplished in his life all that he had done to push forward the civil rights movement, the anti-vietnam movement, the nation of Islam (especially after its break to Sunni Islam) and more. His friendship with Malcolm X is really fascinating.

I'd definitely recommend reading this to people who are familiar with Muhammad Ali and would like to know more but... as a general read, it was okay.

"My faith has evolved over the years, and I now follow the teachings of mainstream Sunni Islam. But, a part of me will always be grateful to Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam for opening my eyes and giving me something greater than myself to fight for."

Throughout the book, he really pushes this idea of 'his purpose in life,' and working for something 'greater than himself.'

"If someone asked me what in life I considered real, I would have to say that for me, the only thing that is real is the spiritual. Only God and love are real. Pain, sickness, old age, even death cannot master me because they are not real to me. Fame, wealth, and material things are empty and meaningless without a developed spirituality. We give them value and importance in our lives. But we must be careful not to value them too much at the expense of what really matters in life. Honesty, integrity, kindness, and friendship are the true treasures we should be seeking."

(con't later, on the next page)

"Many people said I was afraid to go to war. The truth is it was tougher to stand up for my religious beliefs against the United States government and millions of people who turned against me for my decision than it would have been to go to war. The government offered me all kinds of deals. They told me I would never hold a gun. They told me I would giving boxing exhibitions and that I would never come near a battlefield. Even if this had been true, I still couldn't go. They wanted to use me to lead other young American men into the war. They didn't seem to realize that to take their "deal," I would have to denouce my religion, my faith, my beliefs. But I was free and I was determined to be true to myself and God. If I had turned my back on my religious beliefs, my life would have been like aship without a rudder on the open sea. Nothing could be more frightening to me than to try to live without my faith.

So they took my title, my financial security, and they tried to take my freedom. But they could not take my dignity, my pride or my faith, because those were solid, real, and constant in my life."

----------------------------

Just 2-3 more books to finish and I can clear my "actively reading" shelf and move on. I'll work on the Muslim ones during Ramadan and then others through this semester, iA....

Obama says Ramadan Mubara(c)k too

Dear Mr. President,

Thanks.

Sincerely,
f

Hadith of the Week 21

Ramadan Mubarak, everyone.

Talha ibn ‘Ubaydallah (radhiallahu `anhu) reported that two men came to the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) who had accepted Islam at the same time. One of them used to partake in Jihad more-so than the other, and so (one day) he fought in a battle and was martyred therein. The other remained behind him for another year, and then he passed away.

Talha said, ‘I saw in my dream that I was at the door of Paradise when behold, I was with both of them (the two men). Someone came out of Paradise and allowed the man who passed away later to enter first. Then he came out again and allowed the martyred one to enter. Then he returned and said to me, ‘Go back, for your time has not come yet.’
Talha woke up and began to inform others about this and they were all surprised. This reached the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) and when they informed him of it, he said:

من أي ذلك تعجبون؟ قالوا: يا رسول اللهّ هذا كان أشد الرجلين اجتهاداً ثم استشهد ودخل هذا الآخر الجنة قبله فقال رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وسلم) : أليس قد مكث هذا بعده سنة؟ قالوا: بلى. قال: أدرك رمضان فصام وصلى كذا وكذا من سجدة في السنة؟ قالوا: بلى. قال رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وسلم): فما بينهما أبعد مما بين السماء والأرض

He (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said, ‘What are you surprised about?’ They said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! Out of them both, this one strove harder (in Jihad) then he was martyred but this other one was entered into Paradise before him.’ The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said, ‘Did he not remain behind him for one year?’ They said, ‘Yes (he did).’ He said, ‘Did he not reach Ramadan, fast and pray with such and such number of prostrations in the year?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said, ‘So the difference between them is greater than what is between the heavens and the earth.’

- Sahih narration from Ibn Majah (2/345, 346) and al-Albani’s ‘al-Silsilah al-Sahihah’

Make the most of Ramadan, we seriously don’t realize its greatness, worth and reward.

Source

Unrequited Love and Shifa...

Reposted, from kuhlsnotes

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf told one of the most beautiful stories on love, unrequited love and shifa during the RIS Knowledge Retreat last winter in Toronto, Canada -

Speaking of the generosity of ‘Aisha (Rd.) -

“… she also was very generous – Bareerah was a woman that ‘Aisha (Rd.) purchased and then set free, and the famous story about Bareerah was that she was married to someone named Mugheeth. Now if two slaves were married and then the woman was freed, then she can leave/divorce her husband if she wants to because now she’s free and the husband is not, so there is no parity between them.

So Bareerah wanted to leave Mugheeth, but Mugheeth loved her. He went into total distress, and he literally was walking behind her around Madina begging her to take him back.

Abbas (Rd.) was with the Prophet (saw) one day and they saw Bareerah and the Prophet (saw) said: “Isn’t it strange how much Mugheeth loves Bareerah and how much Bareerah dislikes Mugheeth?”

And the Ulema say when the Prophet (saw) said “Isn’t it strange”, the Arabs use the word “strange” only when the means/cause (sabaab, lit. ‘door’) of/to something is unknown – and that there is no need for something to be called “strange” if the cause is known.

So the Prophet (saw) was calling him to the point the strangeness of love. Love is very strange.

Why do people fall in love?

Why are our hearts are attracted to some people and not other people?

Why love is sometime unrequited (un-returned)?

Because the worst type of love is unrequited love: when you love somebody and they don’t love you – there is nothing worst than that in the world, unrequited love. And obviously the worst type of unrequited love is with God, because we want the Love of God. That’s why Abu’l-Hasan ash-Shadhili (teacher of Ibn ‘Ata’ Illah al-Iskandari ) use to say:

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

In other words – I would rather have wrong actions and be someone who You Love, than have good actions and be someone who You don’t Love.

So the Prophet (saw) went to Bareerah, who was the freed slave of ‘Aisha, and he said: “Won’t you reconsider Mugheeth?” And she said: “are you telling me to do this, because if you are telling me to, then I have to do it.” He (saw) replied: “I am only interceding on his behalf”.

And that’s his Shifa – ‘he finds it difficult things you find difficult’. The Prophet (saw) saw Mugheeth suffering and he wanted to help him. That shows you his shafaaqa, even in love he wanted to help this poor man who was suffering from the loss of his love.

So when the Prophet (saw) replied that he was only interceding, Bareerah replied: “I don’t have any need for him”. So there was something arrogant in her answer, as she was free and he was still a slave – there was something there from her nafs.

Now when Mugheeth saw that Bareerah rejected intercession from the one that even God had given intercession, Mugheeth suddenly lost all desire for her – it was just taken out of his heart.

And at that point when he lost all desire for Bareerah, suddenly she fell madly in love with him – like a punishment for rejecting the intercession of the Prophet (saw) – he did not want anything to do with her, yet she was now begging him to take her back now!”

SubhanAllah.

- Shaykh Hamza Yusuf,
RIS Knowledge Retreat 2008, Toronto, Canada

"In the Footsteps of the Prophet" by Tariq Ramadan

Every rendition of the seerah leaves me feeling the same. I'm finally finishing up Tariq Ramadan's book "In the Footsteps of the Prophet." Easy to read and interpret, Dr. Ramadan highlights the seerah and spells out lessons that we can learn from the Prophet (saw)'s example. It's so refreshing to see not just the events that took place in the Prophet (saw)'s life, but his reactions to them and the profound wisdom behind his actions.

I haven't finished it yet and the deeper I get into the book, the more difficult it gets for me to finish. I remember the end of Dr. Jackson's seerah, feeling like there was this tremendous weight on our shoulders as Muslims to uphold the example of the Prophet, to implement the Message he brought to us in our lives... and most of all, to do all of this without his help and guidance. To lose someone who has such supreme love for you is always difficult in life... and it still strikes me whenever I hear these hadith of the Prophet which showcase his care and compassion for his Ummah.

A couple of lengthy highlights from the book are below. I definitely recommend the read as an introduction to seerah. However, I think it's important to note that whenever anyone is trying to teach lessons from a story, we should bear in mind that there may be alternate interpretations of the same story as well. In the meantime, I'll continue to crawl through these last few pages, inshaAllah...

"One day, the Companion Hanzalah al-Usaydi met Abu Bakr and confessed to him that he was convinced of his own deep hypocrisy because he felt divided between contradictory feelings: in the Prophet's presence, he almost saw paradise and hell, but when he was away from him, his wife and children and daily affairs caused him to forget. Abu Baker in his turn admitted that he experienced similar tensions. They both went to the Prophet to question him about the seemingly dismal state of their spirituality. Hanzalah explained the nature of his doubts, and Muhammad answered: "By He who holds my soul in His hands, if you were able to remain the [spiritual] state in which you are when in my company, and remember God permanently, the angels would shake your hands in your beds and along your paths. But it is not so, Hanzalah: there is a time for this [devotion, remembrance] and a time for that [rest, amusement]." Their situations had nothing to do with hypocrisy; it was merely the reality of human nature, which remembers and forgets, and which needs to remember precisely because it forgets because human beings are not angels." [Page 112]

"The Prophet held one of his Companions, called Abu Lubabah, in great esteem, so much so that he had left him in charge of Medina when he left for the first Badr expedition. Some time later, a young orphan came to Muhammad to complain that Abu Lubabah had taken from him a palm tree that had long been his. The Prophet summoned Abu Lubabah and asked him to explain. Investigations showed that the palm tree did belong to Abu Lubabah, and the Prophet judged in the latter's favor, greatly disappointing the young orphan, who thereby lost his most precious belonging. Muhammad privately asked Abu Lubabah, justice having now been rendered, to give the tree to the young orphan, for whom it was so important. Abu Lubabah adamantly refused: he had gone to such lengths to assert his right of ownership that to concede to this request was inconceivable. This obsession veiled his heart and compassion. Revelation was to recall, on both the individual and collective levels, the singular nature of the spiritual elevation that makes it possible to reach beyond the consciousness of justice, that demands right, to the excellence of the heart, that offers forgiveness or gives people more than their due: "God commands justice and excellence."

It was not a question of giving up one's right (and Abu Lubabah had been justified in requiring it to be acknowledge); rather, it involved learning to sometimes reach beyond, for the sake of those reasons of the heart that teach the mind to forgive, to let go, and to give from oneself and from one's belongings, moved by shared humanity or love. The Prophet was saddened by the reaction of his Companion, whom he held in great esteem: he realized that Abu Lubabah's almost blind attachment to one of Islam's recommendations, justice, prevented him from reaching the superior level of justness of the heart: excellence, generosity, giving. Eventually, another Companion, Thabit ibn Dahdanah, who witnessed the scene, offered Abu Lubabah an entire orchard in exchange for that single palm tree, which he then gave away to the young orphan. Muhammad rejoiced that outcome and did not resent Abu Lubabah's attitude.

48 Random Things

Here are the rules: post this list on your profile (in Notes) replacing my answers with yours. Then tag 25 people to do the same thing (including me).

If I tagged YOU, it's because I want to know more about YOU!

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Not that I know of

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Today.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? It is not fobby.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Sliced turkey

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Nope

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Hell no. I don't need another me.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM? never

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yep. But I've been loading up on ice cream in case of a tonsil emergency.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Maybe...

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Honey bunches of oats... and/or cheerios.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? I can't remember the last time I untied my shoes.

12.WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING? Shirts? I dunno.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Depends.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Depends on the person.

15. RED OR PINK? Pink.

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Same as not-me-farah -- my lack of confidence.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? your mom.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST? Meh.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Light blue, dark blue and white striped PJs, no shoes (but if i was wearing shoes, they'd totally be my homer simpson slippers)

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Jaan Stewart being awesome.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Blue!

23. FAVORITE SMELLS? jasmines. freshly baked goods. after it rains. distant bbqs.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? some loser

25.HOW DO YOU KNOW THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? The first girl's party I attended in CoMO was at not-me-farah's house! I showed up on time. No one was there except for her and she was practicing...some musical instrument. I wanna say the violin, but I dunno.

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? futbol and bball

27. HAIR COLOR? depends on my scarf

28. EYE COLOR? brown

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? nope, alh

30. FAVORITE FOOD? why would you ask a fat person this?

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Just forced my sis to watch "Coming to America"... watched "District 9" earlier today.

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Blue

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Depends on the location.

35. HUGS OR KISSES? Personal bubbles.

36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Anything from Mr. Rumi

37. DESCRIBE YOUR PENCIL CUP? haha it's a cup of a bunny head that we got at some garage sale back in the day. bunny's wearing a pink hat and one of its ears is the handle for a mug. Hehe when I went through my glass painting phase in HS, I tried some blue glass paint on the mug to see how it would come out. It sucked :-/

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? I haven't tagged anyone yet!

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Just finished "In the Footsteps of the Prophet" earlier today; trying to finish "Soul of a Butterfly" before ramadan.

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? my finger?

41. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles

42. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Nope

43. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Karachi, Pakistan

44. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? Totally not reading any of your responses. Probably. Jk.

45. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? shaq's appearance on conan, followed by some tds

46 . WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Depends on what you count as home.

47. FAVORITE PIECE OF JEWELRY? a ring made of 3 intertwined rings. if found, please let me know :(

48. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE/SIGNIFICANT OTHER? I didn't

What. The. Hell.

Neil Cavuto and guest discuss how universal healthcare can open the doors for terrorist Muslim doctors to be allowed into the country. No, seriously.



Or watch here.

I don't understand how it's okay to make some of the comments/conclusions he does on a nationally syndicated "news" channel and not get reprimanded. I really hope we can look back years from now and be astonished at what was deemed somewhat 'acceptable.'

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)'s Last Sermon

I went through my blog to relink, but I guess I haven't posted this before. Surprising.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)'s Last Sermon

Date delivered: 632 A.C., 9th day of Dhul al Hijjah, 10 A.H. in the 'Uranah valley of Mount Arafat.

After praising, and thanking God, he said:

"O People, listen well to my words, for I do not know whether, after this year, I shall ever be amongst you again. Therefore listen to what I am saying to you very carefully and take these words to those who could not be present here today.

O People, just as you regard this month, this day, this city as Sacred, so regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust. Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners. Treat others justly so that no one would be unjust to you. Remember that you will indeed meet your LORD, and that HE will indeed reckon your deeds. God has forbidden you to take usury (riba), therefore all riba obligation shall henceforth be waived. Your capital , however, is yours to keep. You will neither inflict nor suffer inequity. God has judged that there shall be no riba and that all the riba due to `Abbas ibn `Abd al Muttalib shall henceforth be waived.

Every right arising out of homicide in pre-Islamic days is henceforth waived and the first such right that I waive is that arising from the murder of Rabi`ah ibn al Harith ibn `Abd al Muttalib.

O Men, the Unbelievers indulge in tampering with the calendar in order to make permissible that which God forbade, and to forbid that which God has made permissible. With God the months are twelve in number. Four of them are sacred, three of these are successive and one occurs singly between the months of Jumada and Sha`ban. Beware of the devil, for the safety of your religion. He has lost all hope that he will ever be able to lead you astray in big things, so beware of following him in small things.

O People, it is true that you have certain rights over your women, but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under God's trust and with His permission. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Treat your women well and be kind to them, for they are your partners and committed helpers. It is your right and they do not make friends with anyone of whom you do not approve, as well as never to be unchaste...

O People, listen to me in earnest, worship God (The One Creator of the Universe), perform your five daily prayers (Salah), fast during the month of Ramadan, and give your financial obligation (zakah) of your wealth. Perform Hajj if you can afford to.

All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves.

Remember, one day you will appear before God (The Creator) and you will answer for your deeds. So beware, do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone.

O People, no prophet or messenger will come after me and no new faith will be born. Reason well, therefore, O People, and understand words which I convey to you. I am leaving you with the Book of God (the QUR'AN*) and my SUNNAH (the life style and the behavioral mode of the Prophet), if you follow them you will never go astray.

All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly. Be my witness O God, that I have conveyed your message to your people.

*The Qur'an: Revealed to Prophet Muhammad during the period from 610-632 AC. The first five verses revealed are: (1) Read in the name of your Lord, Who created. (2) Created man out of a clot that clings (in the womb). (3) Read and your Lord is the Most Bountiful. (4) Who taught by the pen. (5) Taught man that which he knew not.

Source, and a short article on how "The Last Sermon Confirms the Main Points from the Quran" by Dr. Shahid Athar

Hiatus

I love that it took 4 days at home for me to remember that I'm not the person I want to be.

Small towns suck, but man are they an impetus for reflection. Time to restart.