This memo is to myself for personal consumption. You are more than welcome to question, add, or edit this memo.
Scene/course of action: orthodoxy in action and thought. learning Quran to know more about human nature, psychology, society, history and world from Traditional point of view, i.e., as per
the interpretation of Prophet, sahaba, scholars, saints. Careful use of
the superior knowledge of Quran complemented with: firstly, various
mental and spiritual abilities, methodologies & perspectives - of
tasawwuf, logic, philosophy [various branches], theology, law, social
sciences [line of action of Imam Ghazzali]; secondly, open-ended
reflection; thirdly (& simultaneously), constant back and forth
exchange of academic bullets & bombs with more knowledgeable; and above all constant prayer
to Allah to shows us the true nature of things, lest we are misguided...
And Allah knows best!
Post-Script: Most important thing that I clearly missed here was pointed out by a dear friend Dr Usama Abubakar: Eemaan. Only this produces a nur in a believer which sets him apart from the rest when it comes to analyzing and discerning things. To borrow Seyyed Hossein: "the Sword of Furqan/discernment [with which to] destroy the idols of western ideologies ..."
I am reading Sultan Bashiruddin Mehmood's book named "The Greatest Success" It really speaks about the orientation your PLAN OF ACTION
ReplyDeleteSo how do you assess this POA from the book's point of view? Detailed answer please! if you've enough time
ReplyDeleteThe reason i have told you to read this book is that it has been written by atomic scientist of "Bashiruddin Mehmud".It is the first book i have ever read that has tried to explain the concepts of tasawwuf by using diagrams and visual aids for the reader. At every step the writer has tried to use modern knowledge of science to explain the facts. Its ideology has been founded in the "The alchemy of Happiness" and rejects the proclaimed pseudo spiritualists of our time. And lays down a way for Muslims to grasp the concepts of wali in their truest form. I have not finished the book yet but i found it really good.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the book he has made a questionnaire to measure your love of God quantitatively. . .
On wiki it says that he has influenced dr. Israr Ahmad. . .
I have read his other book on Sun storm cycles.
ReplyDeleteQuantitative measures seems a joke to me, with all due respect to any scholar. Seems like only this was left to complete 'the reign of quantity'.
Here is the discrimination i was talking to you previously. being a strong follower Islam doesn't mean in any way that if 'something' is appealing to somebody you ridicule that fact. It is in nature of Humans to feel awed at things created by Allah Almighty including the 'quantity'. As Allah created everything according to its qadr that word means 'measurement'.
ReplyDeleteWe cannot just wipe out the material success of the West. We cannot just 'de-westernize' just for the sake of it. We must learn that what factors urged them to progress and what factors were missing. What are pros and cons and what we have to learn from them and what we have to leave.
But then we need extremely balanced people to judge what we Muslims have to take from them and what we have to leave.
that does not mean that we are making our religion adopt to the modern world. What I am saying is that we have to learn what is missing in our practices of our religion that is making it stagnant and to work on those lines where we can improve these things.
here is an example: the west talks about the liberation of women, i support this argument but with not the perspective of West but with the perspective of Islam.Muslim women feel today that they are confined in the boundaries of home and cannot do anything. But this concept is not Islamic, Islam hasn't put a boundary on Muslim women to preach or to work or to persevere for the betterment of society. But today's Muslim women are using this concept to corrupt the next generation. (I feel very odd while saying this but it is the bare truth.) So, there must be empowerment of women but from the perspective of Islam not from the perspective of the West.
This example was influenced by this lecture "The War Against Muslim Women." by abdaullah hakim quick.
P.S: I am very sorry for being a bit aggressive. I was just feeling that way. :-)
It's another thing to respect the right of others to have attraction or appeal for something; and it's totally another thing to criticize the content. Unfortunately, i didn't attack his right or his person, but the method of quantitative measurement he (or any other person) employs, which is nothing short of an heretical fruitless activity to me, from the point of view of philosophy of Islam. And i do accept that it was more or less an ad-hoc attack on my part, for i yet have to study his work. However, it is clear to me from the work of scholars that the method of quantifying things like corruption or other unmeasurables has been fruitless and misleading. How can Eemaan be judged!
ReplyDeleteNobody is arguing not to utilize material progress of west, let alone (somehow) wipe it off; only fundamentalists/reformists can do that using the very technology made by West. Nobody is going to not to use their air planes, etc. It is the de-humanizing effect of technology that i suffer from and that which scholars, like late Maryam Jameelah, criticize. It is the false emphasis on acquiring technology as the key to Ummah's Success that scholars - both scientists and social sciences - argue against; that ruh of Islam is not in these illusions.
As for women, it is only for states like "Saudi" "Arabia" where worst excesses are being committed against the devil they call women. On the contrary in devil states like Iran [for SA & West], those women who want to work are provided with completely segregated environments that celebrates their private needs and identity within the boundaries of shariah.
The very use of word liberation is counter-productive because in the patriarchal nature of Islam which bestows religious leadership on men, complemented with heavy responsibilities - it is not men and women that need emancipation but it is in their fulfilling of rights of God and Shariah that the rapidly vanishing equilibrium between genders in traditional societies can be re-established.
70% population of Pakistan is rural where economic burden is shared by both genders; in cities it is men who have to do demanding jobs to fulfill the Shariaii obligation of 'maintenance' of household, while women educate and rear children at home - these two activities are no less critical and demanding than an otherwise tedious, meaningless job in an office or workplace today. SO much for the prison-home-alone tag. Ypu're spouting the propaganda of capitalists and feminists who want to destroy the fabric of Islamic society and patriarchical patterns in which many couples still find satisfaction.
Hence, to talk of emancipation in socieities like these sounds nothing short of hysterical conspiracy to most Pakistanis who work in environment aloof of ills and corruptions of cities. Ok now please don't believe i'm denying "sexual abuse, or hasty hudud justice taking place in the midst of Islamic societies," or denial of education. These problems need to addressed by orthodox Muslims immediately.
Maybe in "Saudi" "Arabia" this talk of emancipation might be needed.
btw, please don't take it personally...
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on all of this. Eeman can certainly can not be measured.
ReplyDeletemay his book and effort lead to increase in our eemaan... jazakAllah for the conversation
ReplyDelete