A spiritual Ishmaelite

Category: Interfaith dialogue

  • Yemeni Jews and Peganum Harmala: How Islam preserves Semitic culture?

    My mother told me about this today to make our homes more angelic. How Islam preserves Semitic culture.

    In Yemen, the Jewish custom of old was to bleach wheaten flour on Passover, in order to produce a clean and white unleavened bread. This was done by spreading whole wheat kernels upon a floor, and then spreading stratified layers of African rue (Peganum harmala) leaves upon the wheat kernels; a layer of wheat followed by a layer of Wild rue, which process was repeated until all wheat had been covered over with the astringent leaves of this plant.

    “The beta-carboline alkaloids present in medicinal plants, such as Peganum harmala and Eurycoma longifolia, have recently drawn attention due to their antitumor activities. Further mechanistic studies indicate that beta-carboline derivatives inhibit DNAtopoisomerases and interfere with DNA synthesis.”

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peganum_harmala

     

  • Egoistic or curious questioning: Is God masculine or feminine?

    To a modern critic of supposed masculinity of Abrahamic God: Interestingly, the Ishmaelite theology talks about the hebrew word rachum/compassion which has etymolgical roots in the word for a mother’s womb. So, Islam while criticizng the concepts of fatherhood and sonship, emphasizes the feminine dimensions of divinity. I have a personal and fallible conjecture that the divine attributes of beauty(jamal) express feminine tenderness ( absent in modern feminism) and the divine attributes of awe-inspriation(jalal) express masculine charisma ( absent is modern males especially the clean shaven males resembling lions with manes)

  • How to help Trump overcome his pseudo-religious pseudo-Christian narcissism?

    ISHMAEL ABRAHAM·SUNDAY, 10 DECEMBER 2017
    Alperovich Anatoly
    I am so glad for That Trump’s declaration on Jerusalem. All the antisemites crawled out of their holes. I am fighting antisemites for a week now. And that’s , what i was born for. Haleluya for that man . How could i dislike Donald , for decades. I cant even understand now .
    He’ll change his mind when he no longer needs the distraction.
    Chris MK I thought you hated him. Didn’t you say something about this white supremacist disrespecting you country when he visited? I keep saying he’s a friend of the Jewish people but people say no.
    Ishmael Abraham May God make Trump, Zionists and Ishmaelites the true spiritual Semites and Abrahamites so that we resist the flood of Sodom and apostasy together.
    Alperovich Anatoly Amen. You always find something new to add to discussion.
    Ishmael Abraham I want to be the modern pro-Ishmael Maimonides.
    Alperovich Anatoly Wish you all the success. You have the restraint . That’s the game changer.
    Alperovich Anatoly Talmud says , that the toughest test for Abraham, ( be his memory blessed) , was the martial acts, in Beer sheva on the way to Egypt , and rescuing Lot . Because he was Fidel, devoted , kind to creatures and wise by how creator put him on this earth, but he wasnt a hero . So when man do for his creator , something he wasn’t meant by his creational plan, thats the greatest hesed, or spiritual gain. The beard is 13 measures of hesed and rahamim. I know you understand that .
    Alperovich Anatoly Ishmael Abraham the vision of Joseph in the pit in Egypt , two thousand stairs up, Roman slavery . It will end exactly in Iovel, hamsin years from now. We may be still alive to see prophecies come true and sodom fall.
    Ishmael Abraham Eastern Orthodox Christians understand the rabbinic significance of beard, but an Eastern Orthodox monk unfriended me because I disagreed with trinitarian idolatry.
    Ishmael Abraham Quran has a Chapter about Joseph peace be upon him, and when the second consultation-based Caliph of Islam recited this Chapter in pre-dawn fajr prayers people could hear his almost-silent tears(nashij) because he was tempted by Potiphar’s wife, and today Sodom offers believers millions of Potiphar’s wives.

  • An American secularist asks me about Reza Aslan

    ISHMAEL ABRAHAM·SATURDAY, 9 DECEMBER 2017
    When he ate human flesh with Aghoris, I thought that he was antitheistic, but when I learnt more I learnt that he emotionally converted to Christianity and then after becoming a Bible scholar he intellectually converted to Islam. Bible scholar Bart Ehrman has quoted him which shows that Reza is a popular figure. I value non-conformist piety more than Templeton prize winners, but still I pray that he starts loving faith and commandments on a psychological level rather than only at Platonic level. His Persian background also resonates with me because the philosopher-poet of Pakistan, Iqbal did most of his poetry in Persian.
    I am also happy that he has discussed the tendency of Simon and Donatists within Christianity and Maccabees within Judaism which is directly antithetical to secular versions of Christianity and Judaism.

  • Quora: Bible, Quran and a violence free tomorrow

    The sacred texts classify violence into two categories. The physical violence(qital) and the spiritual violence(fitna) and as Quran teaches that being tempted is more horrible than being injured or martyred because temptations kill the soul which is eternal while martyrdom only kills the body of the believer. So, we see that early Christian martyrs were fearless because they fear faithlessness more. Now, we should think about what Bush calls pre-emptive violence as opposed to defensive violence. The concept of spiritually pre-emptive politics can be both heroic and destructive like the views of Simon the disciple and Maccabees who revolted against Hellenistic threats to faith, but Jesus peace be upon him was inclusive of both assertive views of Simon and compromising views of Matthew. So, we we want a humane political vision of religion, we should try to channel the spiritual zeal of the assertive people into a movement for political reform rather than violently suppressing them and stigmatizing them, then we can achieve a Biblical hermeneutics which can contribute to a violence free tomorrow.

  • Nathan peace be upon him and an intra-Ishmaelite debate

    ISHMAEL ABRAHAM·FRIDAY, 1 DECEMBER 2017
    The legacy of Nathan peace be upon him also relates to Ishmaelites. There is an intra-Ishmaelite debate whether the House of God or the Prophetic flesh and blood is superior. David peace be upon him wanted to build House of God, and Nathan understood the significance of Prophetic flesh and descendants. Rather than pitting both against one another, we should work for synergy like you are a living synergy of faith and reason.

  • Why am I non-blind admirer of Imam Busairi?

    ISHMAEL ABRAHAM·FRIDAY, 1 DECEMBER 2017
    A Shia friend criticizes Sola Scriptura believers for calling Naat a heresy.
    Ishmael Abraham I love Qasida Burda because Imam Busairi also wrote poetry against Jews and Christians. But I think  bhar do jholi, manzur dua karna, and khoti qismat karo khari were not written by alim poets.
    Ishmael Abraham
    I love this: لَوْ نَـاسَـبَتْ قَـدْرَهُ آيـَاتُهُ عِظَمـاً أَحْيَـا اسْمُهُ حِيْنَ يُـدْعَى دَارِسَ الرِّمَمِ
    If his miracles were proportionate (according) to his (A) rank in greatness, then his (A) name, when called out, would have brought decaying bones back to life.
    The miracle of Quran is greater than supernatural miracles because it will inspire informed faith in an age of naturalism.

  • Deliberately provocative Christians make me think about VVF, Hindu women and Baal

    ISHMAEL ABRAHAM·FRIDAY, 1 DECEMBER 2017
    Dieter Verhoeven
    While there is some linguistic cross-over, it’s very clear when one digs into details of numerous references that the Yahweh God of the Judeo-Christian frame is distinct from the Allah of the Islamic frame and that this Islamic concept is featured in the bible prominently as Ba’al. There is no interchangeability between Yahweh and Allah and they are not synonymous. The suggestion otherwise is just ignorant.
    This is just a statement of uncontroversial fact. What one does with that is up to them.
    Thomas Edward Morgan Jr.Dieter Verhoeven, no kidding.
    Christians are to be like Christ Jesus to the church to women. Jews hold a Pentateuch giving more written rights to women than all other documents ever written summed up prior to 1930 A.D. and thus if women want to avoid the curse of the fall they ought to contemplate marrying a Jew or a Christian.
    By comparison, Hindu women confronted with Islam killing their husbands threw themselves into the funeral fire to be burned to death, than to be in a Islamic harem of the curse of the fall.
    And we all know little girls in Islam are burning themselves to death or going to medical institutions from the West in their area to get their “Vestico-vaginal Fistula” fixed up to be halfway healthy again in the region of their vagina.
    Ishmael Abraham According to Quran 37:125, Allah loves Elijah peace be upon him called Ilyas and hates Baal too. The founder of evangelical Tabligh movement in Islam was also named after Elijah peace be upon him.
    Ishmael Abraham If you think Hindu women hate Islam, learn about Hindu poetess Lata Haya and Hindu activist Arundhati Roy.
    Ishmael Abraham I think both Muslim and Christian women, as in Nigeria, suffer from VVF. Both of us respect Sarah peace be upon her but there is a story that she asked Abraham peace be upon him to pierce the ears and circumcise Hagar peace be upon her, but we never blame the grandmother of Jesus peace be upon him, for that, so Jews and Christians should learn about their own history before blaming Islam out of jealousy and ignorance. And, secularists also have a role to play, if they force us to accept pornographic modernity, more traditionalists will avoid dialogue with modernists and more of them will perpetuate the weaknesses of traditional culture. So, we should work together to reform both traditional and modern weaknesses.
    Ishmael Abraham Dieter, may God bless Thomas with your patience too 🙂

  • Thanks God for knowing a religious scholar and a swimmer

    ISHMAEL ABRAHAM·FRIDAY, 1 DECEMBER 2017
    Tank McNamara
    Ishmael Abraham
    Both ignorant secularists and ignorant believers might think that swimming is a secular activity, but learned orthodox Muslims see it as a spiritual activity.
    Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through water, I am with you. 🙂
    http://hadithanswers.com/virtue-of-swimming-in-hadith/

  • An interculturally synergetic sister introduces me to the modern Catholic Tolkien

    ISHMAEL ABRAHAM·MONDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2017
    Ishmael Abraham Elvish is a linguistic concept and I have explored the concept of a divine proto-language. The sacred Abrahamic texts indicate that there will be a future universal spiritual language. So, I try to be eloquent writer of both ancient and modern languages.
    Kimber’el Eventide thank you Ishmael Abraham! Indeed, the Elvish language Tolkien created is a “sample” of what light language can do for a species and how it elevates them getting them in touch with their divineness created by a divine source we all come from.
    Ishmael Abraham If I had met Tolkien and CS Lewis I would have passionately described to them how Quran ecumenically resolves their denominations. Tolkien considered his mother a martyr of faith. He also leaned towards anarchism and I would have explained to him how a sacred democratic utopia can make anarchism unnecessary. :)Thanks for being a marvelous feminine inter-cultural bridge and being thought provoking.
    Kimber’el EventideIshmael Abraham My pleasure! it is true. Tolkien would have understood the slight mysticism in the Quran and the glory of Oneness, he would get.
    Ishmael Abraham You are right. Tolkien would have appreciated the mystic side while CS Lewis would have preferred the exegetical side. Both are complementary. Mysticism helps overcoming intellectual egoism and lack of praxis and exegetical approach helps overcoming the mystic ineffability and antinomian egoism.

    Kimber’el Eventide Ishmael Abraham and another thing is Tolkien can go beyond cultures and see the truism of all religions. He was able to bring pagan/monotheism together as the Quran suggested once that the people belong as one great family.

    Ishmael Abraham Rene Guenon has worked on the idea you have suggested and it is called perennialism. Quran sees paganism as an offshoot of primordial monotheism because we tend to grow closer in love to the physical manifestations of light instead of the Divine Source. So, first and greatest commandment teaches that the we should make the love of created lights subordinate to the love of The Light (An Nur).

    Kimber’el Eventide Ishmael Abraham I will have to read about Rene Guenon then 😉

    Ishmael Abraham Ha ha. Born in France and died in Egypt. He was a muhajir (Quranic term for a migrant for God) who left his home for God so his last word was Allah. I am agoraphobic so I cannot be as great as him. Just like Tolkien used allusions to European mythology, he used allusions to Hindu mythology of the Hindu ancestors of Pakistani unitarians.
    I should commend that during interfaith and intercultural debates this is the best resource to briefly relate to famous western personalities, because Islam is basically defined by a unitarian theology and a sacred democratic political philosophy. A western sister who admires Quran introduced me to Tolkien and this article contributed to interfaith and intercultural dialogue. Thanks.