Imam – Writer – Thinker :: Fostering Community & Islamic Literacy
We continue our reading of M. A. Draz’s “The Moral World Of The Qur’an”, analyzing the authority of the Prophet, peace be upon him. We continue this week discussing unanimous consensus (‘ijma’) and also start on reasoning by analogy (qiyas).
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
In this episode of the Middle Ground Podcast, we share some more insights into our Saturday class, The Sherman Jackson Reader, this time discussing such topics as belief, non-belief, and the hegemony of western constructs such as rationalism, and what are its consequences for Muslims and what our potential reactions might be.
Excerpts
“On Sensationalism, ISIS and Liberalism”
“Revelation and Talking About Revelation”
“On Prophetic Authority”
“Belief vs. Religion”
ما تَعبُدونَ مِن دونِهِ إِلّا أَسماءً سَمَّيتُموها أَنتُم وَآباؤُكُم ما أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ بِها مِن سُلطانٍ ۚ إِنِ الحُكمُ إِلّا لِلَّهِ ۚ أَمَرَ أَلّا تَعبُدوا إِلّا إِيّاهُ ۚ ذٰلِكَ الدّينُ القَيِّمُ وَلٰكِنَّ أَكثَرَ النّاسِ لا يَعلَمونَ
“If you don’t serve Him, then you’re serving nothing more than names that you and your ancestors made up, and God gave no one permission to do that. The right to command is for none save God, and He has commanded that you serve nothing besides Him. That’s the straight way of life, but most people don’t understand.” — Qur’an, 12: 40
“On Being A Good Person and Being A Non-Muslim”
“On Modern Understandings of Religion”
“On the Hegemony of Western Norms: Wudu, Rationalism, and the Significance of Ritual”
The Full clip
For other khutbahs and podcasts, see the Middle Ground Podcast.
Notes
Kahn, Jonathan S., and Lloyd, Vincent W. Race And Secularism In America. New York, Columbia University Press, 2016.
Cavanaugh, William T. The Myth Of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict . Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2009.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
I teach a class entitled The Sherman Jackson Reader at Middle Ground. It’s a class where we use Dr. Jackson’s articles, books, and scholarship, to spark meaningful dialogues, conversations, and ask pertinent questions. The following are two short excepts followed by the full length clip. Enjoy, and perhaps join us some Saturday after Fajr!
“Spiritual Savings”
“Pulling On Faith”
The Full clip
For other khutbahs and podcasts, see the Middle Ground Podcast.
In this episode, I discusses some challenges facing American Muslims in a Trump presidency. I also addresses the need for Muslim activists and scholars to work with one another, not against, and how can American Muslims work to restore their sense of dignity and respect in the eyes of society, and most importantly, God?
The following is an audio file from my weekly class, Understanding Islam. We asked the question,
“How many of us feel that when we sin, it’s as if we’re at the Day of Judgment?”
Being a perfectionist may seem like it can help us reach our full potential, but it can also prevent us from proper growth and experience in other areas. Perfectionism is a mindset (and perhaps, illusion) based on the fear of failure but in Islam, fear is meant to divert one from the path of Ultimate Failure to the path of Ultimate Success.
This fear of failure is what Stanford Professor of Psychology Carol Dweck calls a “fixed mindset.” She refers to “the power of ‘yet’ “ in her Ted Talk:
When we are perfectionistic, there is only success and failure, nothing in between. Therefore, there is no room to learn and grow because doing so brings the possibility of failure. Consequently, we function purely within our comfort zone and develop no new skills. On the other hand, if we are not driven by fear of failure, we do not limit ourselves to what we know we can do well, and are more likely to take risks that promote learning and growth.
This problem of perfectionism may actually limit us in our Islam in that we may become discouraged when we “fail”. To this topic, the Prophet ﷺ addressed one of his Companions, Hudhayfah:
لاَ يَنْبَغِي لِلْمُؤْمِنِ أَنْ يُذِلَّ نَفْسَهُ
قَالُوا وَكَيْفَ يُذِلُّ نَفْسَهُ . قَالَ يَتَعَرَّضُ مِنَ الْبَلاَءِ لِمَا لاَ يُطِيقُ
“It is not for the believer to humiliate himself.” They said, “How does he humiliate himself?” He said, “By taking on a trial which he can not bear.” [Sunan al-Tirmidhi, 2254]