Ibtihaj means Happiness in Arabic. Since, Americans believe in Pursuit of Happiness, they should read The Alchemy of Happiness by Ghazali because he proposed a paradigm of spiritual, intellectual and psychological happiness based on an orthodox spirituality which intelligently avoided the antinomian and pronomian extremes. Another aspect of this intelligent paradigm is that it avoids the schizophrenic traditional and monastic spirituality of buddhism and Christian saints which encourage celibacy and seclusion instead of marriage and reaching out to humanity which compassionate cures for spiritual diseases of qalb a holistic Quranic concept which encompasses heart, soul and mind. A Prophetic Hadith of Ishmaelite Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him states: Azhadun nasi fil aalam jiranuhu. The best ascetic is the one who remains an ascetic even while living close to the secular world. May Allah make sister Ibtihaj such a best ascetic and may Allah make her a source of spiritual happiness across the global family.
A spiritual Ishmaelite 