The Manrilla Blog | Life. Art. Religion. Culture.

Just want to wish my mother a very happy birthday! You’re the greatest!

Earlier this week I received a very pleasant correspondence from a fellow blogger who was able to glean something useful from this Blog [thank God! I feel like I’m getting carpal tunnel sometimes…]. In return, I visited his blog, where in his post he discussed some “issues” with Hell/Hellfire. It is a topic I have been meaning to post. So here it is. I’d advise reading his post first and then the following might be understood in context.

Thank you, Michael! I have had something of a writer’s block for a month or so and this really got my juices flowing.

Enjoy,

Michael,

Thanks for the kind words. It has given me much food for thought. I will leave a few crumbs that feel out my proverbial mouth here for you to also chew on [ok…, I’m laughing now as that seems disgusting that you’d chew on crumbs that fell out my mouth but I won’t edit it anyways!!].

One of the points that you made that gave me something to think about and in truth, has been something I’ve wanted to write a new Post on is this concept of Hell and Damnation. It is very difficult to speak on any for of religion in the English-speaking world without also importing some indelible stamp of Christianity on that dialog. What I am saying, in a sense is, that if one wants to talk about religion, that talk is heavily influenced by the very Christian notion of what does or doesn’t constitute religious thought. So, in my opinion, much of the religious thought from the English-speaking world is conducted by how Christianity [mostly Catholicism and Protestantism] sees religion. Buddhism or Islam is not comprehended in how it functions as a Cosmic-processing system but rather in a more subtle way in which ways its proclivities differ from Christianity as a marker. This should not be understood as a knock against Christianity. Indeed, it should be a note in our collective psyche as to how deeply ingrained Christianity influences our understanding of religion - this especially goes for practitioners of non-Christian faith systems!

Much of Islamic thought from the English-speaking world [meaning both from non-Muslim academics and Muslims alike] tend to fall within these invisible guidelines of religious dialog. My long winded example is Hell/Hellfire. While my aim is not to white wash the Qur’anic take on Hellfire, it is in my opinion that these verses are not meant to solely “frighten” the listener but rather, in keeping with other topics in the Qur’an, they are meant to over-awe the reader/listener. In fact, I believe the notion of God in Islamic thought, from “fundamentalist” to esoteric Sufi thought, is/was originally meant to over-awe. Indeed, through much of my own personal research in pre-Modern Muslim texts, one can find a lot of proof for this understanding [I might even take a stance that this was the original position that God intended with much of the Qur’an but that’s another post]. But the influence of modern Catholic/Protestant thought, which does paint a very specific picture of Hell tends to define for us this topic in way that it’s very difficult to approach or have a differing understanding than that which we have culturally absorbed. If one takes the time to read, and read carefully [and perhaps my understanding is heavily influenced by my returning to the original Arabic and its 7th Century linguistic understanding], then one may arrive at an understanding similar to this: shock and awe vs. cringing and fear. Am I making Hell into a fantasy realm? No. It is not my agenda to make a more appealing version of the Qur’an, but rather, it is an understanding that done through trying to step back out of my own cultural milieu and viewing it without tinted glasses.

Thanks, Michael,

And God knows best…

They call Detroit the Motor City. I guess that’s a good name for it seeing that all those cars have been built there. But on my many shoots it seemed more like a motor graveyard. Often one could find an old tire just laying in the street or the sidewalk. Abandoned cars. An abandoned life. It was around this time, approximately 2001, when I was taking weekly trips back into the city to shoot, that I would just wander the streets and take in the blight. Many of the hipster kids from the art schools like Cranbrook or CCS thought it was “cool” because it was all run down. I always thought it was sad - perhaps because it’s where I was born. So much greatness now only lingers in forgotten and dilapitaed houses, who’s craftsmenship has been lost in the annuls of Time. Titus was with me on this one. I think both our hands were frozen shut by the day’s end. God, I miss the ol’ days. Hasselblad 501 C/M. Ilford Delta 400 ISO. Hand-held.

Retrospective?

I met Adem while living in Madison. I believe it was at Restaurant Magnus, where he was performing. Adem is a striking character, especially for me, as he’s one of the only people that I know personally who’s significantly taller than I am. But despite his great height, his feet are down to earth. We had talked about doing some shots for his CD before leaving Madison and I happened to have dinner with him and some friends of his the day before I was moving from Madison to Philadelphia. I shot this in his backyard. Adem now lives in New York City, pursuing his musical career. Canon 10D. ISO 200. Hand-held, available light.

There are some photographs I look at and say to myself, “When did I take this?”. This is not one of them, however. Like almost all of the photographs that I took while I was in San Francisco, I seem to have an almost “photographic” memory, in that I can place myself mentally in my shoes at the exact time and place of the image capture. On this occasion, I had ventured out for a long walk from just past Silver Ave and 101 all the way down to the Embarcadero [an over 7-mile walk]. Along the way I shot various scenes - the sky was quite blue with great puffy clouds that I knew would render well in black and white. Canon 10D, 100 ISO. Hand-held.

Retrospective?

Life has been coming down the fast lane these past few months. Time and time again I am reminded that we’re promised no time on this rock. I just received a text from a friend stating that a close friend of mine had passed away. He was not even ten years older than I am. His name was Hamza and he will be remembered by many.

I think back now on those who have left. By those, I refer to the first individuals that I met when I took shahadah. Brother Ron [a.k.a., ‘Imran], God rest his soul, is no longer with us. An unidentified car struck and killed him during the night as he rode on his bicycle. His killer remains a mystery to this day. Ron had a great spirit about him. He was a cheerful fellow who’d always take time to talk with people. I miss his spirit. And now, Hamza. Hamza was also part of that same initial core group of individuals who taught me some basics about Islam. I first met Hamza one day as I was on my way to meet some brothers at a very small musallah [prayer room] when I saw this tall, broad shouldered man outside, practicing martial arts with a wooden practice sword. With his dreadlocks, Hamza made quite the first impression. But he was a very easy going, gentle person who enjoyed talking with people. We shared a lot of time together over the first several years after my conversion, hanging out, talking, laughing, philosophizing, the whole bit. I will also miss his spirit. He was a good brother. May God grant him Jannah.

If you have a chance, come on down to AXD Gallery this weekend to check out my brother’s show. He’s got some really great paintings up. Fun for all! The reception is tonight from 5-7pm but the show runs September 6th to the 29th. The gallery is located on 10th Street between Locust and Spruce [Google Map]. See you there!

I have a fascination with flying and airports. For me, when I look at a plane, it’s just the most amazing and unnatural thing I’ve ever seen. I love sitting at the airport and watching planes take off and land. I attempted to do so on one afternoon while living in Madison, Wisconsin, but the aftermath of 9/11 has made it exceedingly difficult. So I parked across from the runway hoping to catch a few shots. I had very little luck but in no time flat an officer pulled into the roadway here and escorted me off the premises. C’est la vie… This barren look here is part and parcel for me of what Wisconsin looks like. Desaturated and mute. Canon 10D, 100 ISO. Tripod.

Retrospective?