I am happy that trinitarian greek orthodox church did not ban me. I was curious about greek mysticism because modern world is more influenced by greek rationalism which is employed by secularists to supposedly bury God. I am happy to learn that those with greek DNA still have love in their hearts for the spiritual homeland of Middle East.
Psychology and Philosophy
How Nietzsche understood why I left atelephobic scientific asceticism for fullness of work-life balance of sunnah
Nietzsche argued that the dogged pursuit of scientific knowledge was a form of asceticism as well, in that it caused a person to evade life — it’s hard to experience the fullness of mortality when you’re holed up in a laboratory or have your nose in a book all the time. Nietzsche also saw type-A workaholics who never have the time to enjoy the fruits of their labor as yet another category of life-denying ascetics.
The ignored traditional scholars and skepticism of halal courtship
I think such projects should involve traditional scholars, because many orthodox Muslims treat even courtship as scandalous. The Nouman Ali Khan controversy has shown us that traditional scholars have not been consulted on specifics of halal courtship.
Sheikh Ahmad Kutty a graduate of Madina university has discussed this issue but still the input of major mainstream traditional scholars is missing on this issue. He writes: “ It is, therefore, important that as a community we should encourage creative ways of facilitating marriages.” If we really want to counter the sexual revolution and reduce zina in traditional societies, we should facilitate nikah between compatible believers based on the concept of kufu.
Nussbaum, Islamic apocrypha and Israeli professor: “The prostitute and the professor of philosophy”
Nussbaum writes: These two figures have a very interesting similarity: Both provide bodily services in areas that are generally thought to be especially intimate and definitive of selfhood. Just as the prostitute takes money for sex, which is commonly thought to be an area of intimate self-expression, so the professor takes money for thinking and writing about what he thinks-about morality, emotion, the nature of knowledge, whatever-all parts of a human being’s intimate search for understanding of the world and self-understanding. It was precisely for this reason that the medieval thinkers …Saw such a moral problem about philosophizing for money: It should be a pure spiritual gift and it is degraded by the receipt of a wage. The fact that we do not think that the professor… Thereby alienates her mind or turns her thoughts into commodities-even when she writes a paper for a specific conference or volume should put us on our guard about making similar conclusions in the case of the prostitute (Nussbaum, 1998)
A Waqifi Shia narrator narrates a Hadith that who will use Quran for earning will come on the Day of Judgement in such a state that there will be no flesh on his face only skeleton. This narrator is criticized by both Sunni and Shia scholars. Some say it is a quote of the blessed Companion, Buraidah Al-Aslami, and not a Hadith.
Amihud Gilead University of Haifa Faculty Member, Department of Philosophy May shalom be upon the truth seekers. I am an orthodox Muslim electrical engineer from Pakistan. I enjoyed your article on philosophical prostitution. I enjoyed your comparison of puritanical rationalizers of slavery and philosophical rationalizers of prostitution. I have referenced the sacred texts which Nussbaum vaguely refers to in her argument on my blog. Thanks again.
Why Prophetic praxis of sunnah is superior to Kantian philosophy according to a feminist
Kant was a lifelong celibate. Annette Baier emphasizes that “The great moral theorists in our tradition not only are all men, they are mostly men who had minimal adult dealings with (and so were then minimally influenced by) women.”
Annette Baier, ‘Trust and Anti-Trust’ in Doing and Being: Selected Readings in Moral Philosophy, ed by Joram Graf Haber (New York: Macmillan, 1993) p362
The interactive dealings of Prophetic praxis and Mothers of Believers with diverse backgrounds make Islamic tradition more feminist than western tradition.
Ironic process theory, hypersexuality and sufi counselling
I am happy to learn about our shared concern about childhood hypersexualization in the modern culture. In traditional cultures, many people with hypersexuality do counselling with sufi saints and many people recover. I think sufi saints achieve that by reducing the anxiety of the patients. I have read other psychologists who have written on ironic process theory that patients who cannot inhibit their thoughts should focus on some other intellectual and psychological alternative rather than trying to suppress the negative thoughts. And, that can be achieved by meditative prayers and studying sacred texts. Another aspect they have mentioned is that one should reduce multitasking to avoid negative thoughts. Since modern culture is based on industrial revolution where multitasking is inevitable, so that makes sexual revolution inevitable. So, if we start spending more relaxed time in spiritual, charitable and philanthropic activities that can reduce the anxiety and stress created by industrious activities.
You are right to acknowledge the fact of using hypersexuality as an excuse for infidelity and I have found many secularist ideologues using the same excuse. However, many real psychologists are not absolute fatalists.
Celibate philosophers and theologians in western and Islamic traditions
الفلاسفة والعلماء العزاب في التقاليد الغربية والإسلامية
Abu Ghuddah has written a book with the title: The celibate knowers who gave preference to sacred knowledge over marriage. He lists Ibn Taymia, Nawawi, Tabari, Razi and Zamakhshari.
Plato, as far as we know, never married.
St Augustine (“grant me chastity, but not yet”) fathered an illegitimate child, but then became a celibate priest.
Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre and Wittgenstein were all unmarried and childless.
However, God rejects celibacy/rahbaniya as a Christian heresy in Quran 57:27 and invites philosophers and theologians towards a Prophetic balance between the extremes of celibacy and sexual revolution called the sacred praxis of sunnah.
Jerry Sexton There are verses both in support and against celebacy in the Bible. Catholics like to reference this one.
Matthew 19:9-12:
Matthew 19:9-12:
“And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.” But he said to them, “Not all men can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it.”
There is one problem. Priests, as far as I know, are not castrated. The hormones cloud thinking, children and women are often the victims of abuse. Here is a verse against celebacy
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, through the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and enjoin abstinence from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth (1 Tim. 4:1-4).
In my view, Jesus didn’t seek out virgins to be his disciples, (although he told them to abandon their families) so why should a preacher be celibate?
Celibacy only leads to temptations driven by hormones.
Ishmael Abraham In tribal and rural culture of Israelites, the temptations were limited, so there could have been a possibility of being able to sustain celibacy. But as humanity evolved, with the possibility of a global urban culture, God ruled out that possibility in Quran.In Quran 7:157 God talks about relieving humanity of certain burdens and liberating them from certain shackles, which includes celibacy. Abandoning families is called hijrah in Islam and the father of saint and legal scholar Rabia Ar- Rai (r) returned to his wife after 27 years. Islam teaches fasting to control the production of hormones. Medical researchers have proven that abstinence does not pose any risk to our physiological health. Learning to deal with the anxiety of abstinence can make us more emotionally intelligent and this emotional intelligence can become an effective part of our personality through the idea of self-directed neuroplasticity.
Liberal Phariseeism: Character assassination of Nouman Ali Khan by liberals like Atif Choudhury
Message to Atif Choudhary who calls Nouman Ali Khan a Quran scholar an abuser. You sound like a salafi( sola scriptura legalist) against taqlid( hero worship of scholars) but to call sending private marriage proposals abuse is extreme. The sinful aspect is having private conversations. And, liberals are far more guilty of it so they do not have moral credentials of criticism. This phenomenon is called liberal Phariseeism.
Neither. I am just against preachers and religious figures having secret, predatory relationships with their students and employees. Sue me
@SultanOfSmiles To be consistent you should expose the sexual scandals of secular dictators of the Muslim world too. We prefer forgiveness to lawsuits.
@SultanOfSmiles
How is it my job to expose anyone? And who is this “we”? I simply condemn scumbags once they are exposed. All scumbags.
Replying to @SultanOfSmiles
We means orthodox Muslim scholars and saints. I am a student of school of Shah Waliullah an Indian scholar of Hadith and mysticism.
@SultanOfSmiles
Also speaking of lawsuits, nobody has been firing off more than Nouman Ali Khan. Maybe stop being an equivocating centrist and call him out
I loved your article about counter extremism in Bangladesh.
Replying to @SultanOfSmiles
I am not a centrist. I am a moderate right winger.
Replying to @SultanOfSmile
Traditional scholars are not like this.
Replying to @SultanOfSmiles
That reflects the Americanism of NAK. His Americanism is what made him have lenient standards regarding segregation.
Cult studies, Dave Marash and imperfections of secularists
I have tried to engage with experts of cult studies about definition of cult like Alexandra Stein but she ignored that. Many people see my faith as a cult but I think if you are open-minded to dialogue it is intellectually dishonest to describe such a person as a cult member. I think neglect or self-neglect is an issue related to mystic forms of religion and Quran 57:27 criticizes monastic mysticism and encourages social and intellectual participation. Religious people being humans are imperfect like secular humans but western culture condones the imperfections of secularists and disproportionately highlights the imperfections of the religious. However, there are secular intellectuals who empathetically analyze the fundamentalist movements. For example Martin Seligman a psychologist describes fundamentalists as the most optimistic people in the world. I do not know much about the theology or abuses of Aggressive Christianity but your distinction between anti- Semitism and anti-Zionism made me want to talk to you.
How an authentic unitarian paradigm can break ground in Cult Studies to offer tools of religious de-radicalization
To Natacha Tormey a victim of western sex cult: Sociologists classify David Berg as having charismatic authority, but western Scripture apparently lacks intellectual tools to challenge such authority due to history of saint-worship and deification of Christ peace be upon him . For example, a old woman challenged the charismatic authority of the second caliph of Islam on the issue of austerity in dowry, and he acknowledged that she knew Quran more than him. Even in the most revered personality of the divine Ishmaelite Messenger(p), Scripture emphasizes that he is not divine and can sometimes forget or in fact Scripture mentions that the Messenger(p) should have given more attention to truth seeking under-privileged than truth-indifferent elites.
Sister Natacha is accurate when she says that one is more at risk when one feels one is safe which echoes Quran that fitna or temptation which attracts you into doing something unethical is more harmful than physical harm. Cults or heresies are called fitna in Islamic heresiology
A spiritual Ishmaelite 