A spiritual Ishmaelite

Category: Dialogues with secularists/modernists

  • Worldly wife and husband and Paradise

    الطبرسي: روى العياشي بالإسناد عن أبي بصير، عن أبي عبد الله (عليه السلام)، قال: قلت له: جعلت فداك، أخبرني عن الرجل المؤمن، له امرأة مؤمنة، يدخلان الجنة، يتزوج أحدهما الآخر؟ فقال: “يا أبا محمد، إن الله حكم عدل، إذا كان هو أفضل منها خيره، فإن اختارها كانت من أزواجه، و إن كانت هي خيرا منه خيرها، فإن اختارته كان زوجا لها”.

    Tafsir Al-Bahrani Quran 55:46

    The disciple asked the Prophetic descendant(p) : If both a believing  man and woman enter Paradise will they marry each other. He said: God is just. If the husband were superior/afdal to her in piety and virtue , he will be given choice to marry her or not and if the wife were superior to him in piety and virtue , she will be given choice to marry him or not.

    امام جعفر الصادق سے پوچھا گيا اگر دونوں میاں بيوی جنت ميں جائيں تو کيا انکی شادی ھوگی آپ نے فرمایا اللہ انصاف والا ھے اگر شوھر زيادہ نيک ہوا تو اسے شادی کرنے يا نہ کرنے کا اختيار ديا جاۓ گا اور اگر بيوی زيادہ نيک ہوئی تو اسے شادی کرنے يا نہ کرنے کا اختيار ديا جاۓ گا

  • Islam and sleeping on your stomach

    It was narrated from Qais bin Tihfah Al-Ghifari that his father said:
    “The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) found me sleeping in the masjid on my stomach. He nudged me with his foot and said: ‘Why are you sleeping like this? This is a kind of sleep that Allah dislikes,’ or ‘that Allah hates.’”
    Is it bad to sleep on your stomach? The short answer is “yes.”

  • VS Naipaul, Islam and Quran 14:4

    The divisive struggle between local traditional identity and universal spiritual identity in the Indian sub-continent will pave the way for modern secular imperial globalization so intra-subcontinental harmony is important. His critique about the effect of Islam on native cultural identity is based on ambivalent attitude in Islam to native Arab culture which has given rise to secular Arab nationalism in modern times and Hindu nationalism has many alliances with it because pious Muslim identity is seen as a threat to Hindu nationalism. For example, in Islam there is an ambivalence about the poetic tradition which is the literary basis of the musical tradition. Quran critcizes poets for lack of objectivity in seeking truth. Even western Kierkegaard commented on it that he identified himself more with poetry than Prophetic truth. But there are Prophetic aphorisms about wise forms of poetry which is of course exception rather than rule. Quality reduces quantity. So, the goal of these commandments is to evolve a higher ethical and more objective form of poetry which fulfills both intellectual and psychological needs of humanity. Iqbal tried to achieve that but of course he is not a personality of consensus. So, what is needed is more objective and philosophical form of literature in the sub-continent. Or at least modern forms of Sufi poetry and music, liked by many Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims alike, show that there are Muslims who feel the need to address the native cultural identity. But it also needs intellectual underpinning to make it a part of public Indian discourse. Quran 14:4 is an important verse which tells the faithful to keep in mind the psychological and linguistic background of the intended audience.

    https://tribune.com.pk/story/463810/in-defence-of-vs-naipaul/

  • Khushwant Singh and Islam

    I respected Khushwant but this comment has discouraged me. ‘ The answer to the problem of women out-numbering men is not polygamy, it is freedom to engage in extra-marital relation ‘ He claims to admire Muhammad(p) who never taught that. And, he does not have modern educated orthodox Muslim friends who love veil, he only has modernist Muslim friends, so modern educated Sikhs like him should seek modern educated orthodox Muslim friends to have an informed perspective.

     

  • Islam and feminism: Two tangible goals

    I would like to incorporate feminism into the traditional world to empower my sisters in faith without importing sexual revolution. So, I would like to ask if a chaste feminism is possible? By chaste I do not mean catholic celibacy, but sexual intimacy within marriage. So, I have two goals: Increase sexual intimacy in the traditional world and to decrease abuse of power whether traditional patriarchal or modern misandrist. Can someone here be open-minded enough to support intelligent orthodox Muslims in planning to achieve those goals?

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  • Understanding versus memorizing Quran in the modern world

    My father focused on my understanding Quran rather than memorizing it which helped me a lot to expose the secularists and the divisively religious , but now I wish I had memorized Quran too because this aspect of worship is similar to angels missing in the modern world.

  • Faraday and light of faith

    An ex Muslim boasts about the invention of the bulb: I am an orthodox Muslim electrical engineer and the graveyard where Faraday is buried is the same where a Russian chief of intelligence who converted to Islam is buried in. They propagate their light of alternative Messiah but the light of true Messiah will also slowly propagate. Our light is reaching their graveyards.

    Hussain Murtaza Who’s the false Messiah of atheists? None but the devil by default, I guess.
    Ishmael Abraham False Messiahs are in plural. Literally any modern hero who has a personality cult.

  • To American Jews: Is a modern Maimonides possible?

    To American Jews about the concept of a chosen race or community: The concept of a chosen community is based on spiritual responsibility. According to primogeniture this has now shifted to Ishmaelites due to their universal mission not based simply on a chosen DNA but special spiritual responsibility. So, the question is whether Judaism can tackle the intellectual challenge of modernity? Is a modern Maimonides possible. Islam has many modern Maimonides. If we do not employ our smartness to spiritual and ethical ends, then we contribute to a cruel and hedonistic Machiavellian world rather than a blessed 21st century Zion.

     

  • Are Tawhid and trinity supra-logical or illogical?

    Response to a pedantic query about the concept of supra-logical truths: If Tawhid/unitarianism had not been intelligible, prominent scientists like Isaac Newton and George Boole would not have been unitarians. But what is supra-logical is to encompass the full nature of divinity what Hawking called the mind of God while also asserting that science will always be progressing making encompassing even created nature an endless journey. Like the vision in the Night of Ascent was a vision of truth that factually happened but not an encompassing vision. The question of encompassing vision in Hereafter is open to curiosity and Scriptural dialogue in classical Muslim scholarship.

  • Saint Mary peace be upon her and world’s most viewed video on youtube

    I am an orthodox Muslim and I liked the neglected statue of Mary peace be upon her in the beginning of the Despacito video more than the ensuing nudity 🙂

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-viewed_YouTube_videos