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… Image
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

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More from @imanmbadawi

Nov 9, 2023


Miracle of the Arabic Language

On the morning commute, my daughter asked to review the structure of Arabic verbs. She said,

الفعل المضارع مرفوع أليس كذلك؟
Present tense is marfū’, right?

I said, “Yes. It’s معرب (grammatically variable), as opposed to the past tense…

1/ Image
“…which is مبني (grammatically inherent).” I gave her some examples, then said,

“Do you see the miracle of the Arabic language? It mirrors reality. Can we change the past — no, but we can change the present.”

In her intelligence, she said, “Mama, what about فعل الأمر ?

2/ Image
I said, “The command tense is also مبني (inherent) but appears in different forms. Do you see now, my love, why Allāh chose the Arabic language for the Quran? It mirrors Reality.”

Meanwhile, she was eating breakfast. She said, شبعتُ (I am satiated). We said the masnun du’ā’.

3/ Image
Read 9 tweets
Jun 27, 2023


“You are His queen..”

A common sufi metaphor, in reference to the ‘masculine’ trait of generous sovereignty & the feminine trait of humble receptivity. All true believers (male & female), in relation to God, exhibit the ‘female principle’.

It has nothing to do with gender…
…but rather an expression of the relationship with the Divine in it being so beyond words that only the closest of human relationships could approximate it to the limits of the rational mind. Tasawwuf is supra-rational. Spiritual intelligence is the most sophisticated of all…
People are always enemies of what they don’t know, finding more comfort in denial than learning. Such is the curse of ignorance. Tasawwuf is the most courageous of all form of knowledge. The mind can only take one so far. Only cowards limit themselves to it. Those who know, know.
Read 8 tweets
May 26, 2023


Friday Family Fun

One of the most devalued tools of tarbiya is the spiritual harnessing of family fun.

Children, in their relationships with others, are deeply affected by non-rational influences... Image
This makes them both vulnerable and impressionable, in heightened sensitivity to their caregivers, who have only to exert the most positive emotions they can conjure to create a loving, lasting bond, stiched in time with the thread of beautiful memories. Image
The main objective of social media is to use, even manipulate, the evocative to *influence* the ‘public customer’.

That’s why the *rational* hardly has a place in the digital jungle. Image
Read 12 tweets
May 25, 2023


Mismatched Meanings

There is a fundamental rational problem with any sort of pontification on social media. It’s mutlaq, meaning mentioned ‘in the general’, as a principle, despite it coming from the posters *personal* vantage.

This creates many problems….
1 The illusion of understanding. The reader takes the ‘principle’ and applies it in their mind wherever they see fit and in accordance to their (non-expert) conceptualization of it, when, in reality, they’re processing it through the ego, in accordance to their whims….
2 The illusion of ownership. “Liking” something has implications associated with it, namely that one has grasped the full ramifications of it and can transition it from theory to application. Even among scholarship, it’s an advanced skill. Laymen don’t even have basic skills…
Read 7 tweets
Apr 24, 2023


High vs. Low Value Women

About now, you’re all aware that I’m no fan of social media. I opened an Insta account last year and, well, from ‘how it started’ to ‘how it’s going’…let’s just say that I have a folder entitled #messed_up. On occasion, I’ll share some “goodies”… ImageImageImage
Our first exhibit is the ~80% of posts classifying women based on their “mindset” toward men as the determining factor of their “value”. How droll. As women, we’re supposed to be brainwashed into thinking that our intrinsic value is completely dependent on how we attract men? ImageImage
Do pardon me. When a person’s value is made subservient to another’s actions, we have a word for that in English; it’s called slavery. The intrinsic human value of a woman is exactly as that of a man, because it’s fully dependent on how she relates to God, her (and his) Creator…
Read 9 tweets
Apr 23, 2023


Mental Health Statistics on US Children

1 in 6 U.S. children aged 2–8 years (17.4%) had a diagnosed mental, behavioral, or developmental disorder.

So young. Look at the increase over age bracket.

Reminds me of an incident with my daughter when she was 4 and had observed… Image
a group of (Muslim) teenagers. She was perplexed by their behavior and asked me one of the most insightful questions I’ve been asked by anyone, including adults.

“Mama, aren’t people supposed to get better when they’re older?”

I smiled, took her into my arms and said…
“Yes. They are.”

Entirety satisfied, she cheerfully jumped off my lap and went to play, and I just stood there, amazed by her intellect and simultaneously frightened because I knew that children, most of them, even Muslims, were not “getting better when they’re older”…
Read 6 tweets

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