Thread by @imanmbadawi

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High Aspirations

Poetry found its pinnacle in the pre-Islamic Arabs. Even as they were immersed in evil practices, they retained their sense of intrinsic morality (fitra). When Islam refined their craft, Muslim poets embodied the best of human archetypes in their verses…

Some classical scholars have posited that the seeds of the fitra still ripe in the Arabs was of the causes they were chosen as first recipients of the Revelation. In our current discourse on Islam donning the cultural garb of its ‘host’ society, this is a critical point to note..

Islam will affirm cultural expressions that run parallel to its ethical imperative, but it will also refine and elevate them. This requires a transcendance above exclusively worldly objectives. Culture is often rooted in the earthly. Religious culture is rooted in the celestial.

The ‘culture of Islam’, when leaving its signatory stamp on any society, is characterized by high aspirations علو الهمة, an employment of all human facilities for a Higher Purpose. Its whisper in the hearts of believers will ring forth in resonance with the ancient spirit of all.

This is why social change begins with children. The whisper is loudest in a young soul nurished with light and weakest in an adult ego saturated in darkness. If culture is not a vehicle that drives toward God, it will inevitably crash. Noah’s arc sailed toward salvation…

Modern ‘culture’ differs drastically from times past in that the loss of that inherent sense of senient morality is fading fast. The jahliyya of old is not like ours. If the analogy can be made of Islam as water that takes the color of the bedrock over which it flows…

then, the metaphor extends to show us the danger of Muslims not understanding their own Religion clearly. If your water is already murky, how can you distinguish its transparent beauty from the pollution of human waste...

Religious culture travels up, not down, a fountain of purity propelled by human genius. These are the earthly cultural expressions that mirror a celestial sphere of existence in which creativity is a reflection of the Magnificence of the Creator.

Scholarship keeps Religion pure.

Deep understanding of the creedal framework, legal ethic & spiritual ethos of Islam is the basis for molding the human experience, in whatever flavor it prefers, to a prophetic expression of goodness. Perhaps, then we might partake of its sweetness. More to say about….#metafiqh

Allah’s mercy be on al-Mutanabbi.

May Allah’s infinite peace & blessings be upon Rasūlullāh, his pure progeny & folk, along with his gleaming companions, illuminated inheritors and all loyal followers until the Last Day.

اللهم صلّ وسلّم وبارك على سيدنا محمد وآله