Thread by @islamicize

Why studying the mechanics of worldviews is important.

Many of you might’ve seen my bio “restructuring worldviews”. What exactly does this mean? Let me explain a little.

A person’s worldview is the very way they (as the term suggests) view the world. Things become…+

…interesting when you delve into the topic and realize that a person’s worldview can be influenced and manipulated without them every noticing. Dr. Carl Sharif refers to this as the glasses one sees the world through yet doesn’t notice the type of glasses he’s wearing…

…so if he wears red shaded lenses he’ll see everything red, if yellow then he’ll see every yellow. Similarly how your worldview is structured determines how you perceive and experience reality itself.

Now the official definition of worldviews is:👇

Everyone has a worldview, of some type, of some way. No one can escape it. The same way everyone has a language. And like someone’s mother language, a person’s worldview is formed without them having to put in the work, an analogy given by Asif Hirani in his book on sexual…+

…ethics. So it follows that if a person can be bilingual, so too can they have dual worldviews, especially for someone living in a foreign land.

So what’s the big deal? Well unlike language, your worldview quite literally determines the very actions and speech you’ll…+

…engage yourself in. Which has the heaviest implications for a Muslim. And if you aren’t careful about what forms and influences your worldview, you could end up engaging in activities that hinder your development as a Muslim.

When I was much younger, I remember I used to go…+

…to the masjid to pray taraweeh. Most of the community would show up to this masjid because a young hafiz used to lead, who had a particularly beautiful voice and recitation. He rarely made a mistake and left everyone in awe.

Some time after Ramadan, it was discovered that…+

…he had girlfriend in high school the entire time.

I couldn’t understand, not because of the sin but more so because he was a hafiz. Yes everyone makes mistakes, but how could someone with Allah’s speech in their heart go onto commit to something like that?

It was only…+

…once I learned about how worldviews work that I understood what happened.

To explain this particular example, Asif Hirani demonstrates that like the bilingual person who can switch from one language to another, so can one switch from one worldview to another given the…

…specific time and place they are in. Something he refers to as “code switching”.

So at the masjid the young hafiz maintained his Muslim innocence, but put in a non Muslim high school his mind simply switched gears and operated through a more secular worldview, which allowed…+

…him, with no hesitation, to develop a haram relationship.

Again, it all goes back to the fact that rarely is one every aware of their worldview. This is why you see the existence of liberal, feminist, and gay Muslims. Their worldview has been influenced and manipulated by…+

…what they consumed from their environment in terms education, entertainment, and social interactions.

Put simply, you can conquer an entire nation by altering their worldviews, so they act like you without even realizing, speak like you without even hearing themselves, and…+

… think like you without ever questioning their thought patterns.

You see the biggest example of this during the time of The Prophet ﷺ when the quraysh united against his dawah despite the brutal nature of their differences amongst themselves. As they too understood that…+

…their very worldview, their very existence is at threat.

Islam is a worldview. The only truthful one.

I can only explain so much in a twitter thread so I’ll link below some resources that I strongly recommend anyone to go through:

When it comes to lectures, Dr. Carl and Fahad Tasleem are a good source, as well as Raja Zia ul haq

Dr. Carl’s explanation:

His comparison between the modern worldview vs the Islamic one: https://t.co/lYndLbHNPI

Another one: https://t.co/zQxCARVGwG https://t.co/UzNnft6KfT

Fahad Tasleem’s entire series on worldviews by sapience institute:

Also a khutba he gave once on the topic: https://t.co/Yn9kS5R1xA

Raja Zia ul Haq has a good explanation as well: https://t.co/tYjor5tq8O https://t.co/LCgxG70tYj
youtube.com/live/lnpBz9L6F…

When it comes to books, not much has been written on comparatively, but some books that address the Muslim psychology in general are below:

1. First is of course is the Quran, the original restructurer of worldviews, a master shaper of psychologies, there’s a reason the…+

…sahaba would read it daily and why the ulema heavily emphasize it. Read it daily with translation and commentary.

2. Some books that heavily influenced me, “Islam and modernism” by Maryam Jameelah, “Quran and the secular mind” by Maududi, “Islam at the crossroads” by M. Asad

3. Some really good recent ones are the one I mentioned by Dr. Asif Hirani “Islamic vs postmodern paradigm of sexuality”. There’s also the newly released “Islam and nihilism” by Yusuf ponders available for free on the sapience website

A case study by @AbdullaAndalusi


I would also highly recommend @AbdullaAndalusi ‘s course on western civilization available on his website. A treasure trove of information. https://t.co/068QGd3rox

https://twitter.com/islamicize/status/1666938957139963905?s=46

https://twitter.com/islamicize/status/1666938957139963905

@AbdullaAndalusi Someone who’s recently solidified my understanding in the modern context is @asharfouch and his entire line of articles. Everything is explained well and written brilliantly. The link to his pieces is linked on his profile. Especially this one: ummaticscolloquium.org/the-great-fitn…