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

The following is an article about the Sudanese bassist and composer, Ahmed Abdul-Malik, that was originally published in Down Beat Magazine, July 4th, 1963. The article was written by Bill Coss. Beyond an excellent insight into the workings of a master musician, Abdul-Malik ties the thread between knowing the Creator and knowing one’s world. Given Modernity’s fractured vision on the relation of things, Abdul-Malik’s words are erudite and moving. He was also a stellar musician of world-class calibre. Hat tip to Doug Benson for the resource. May Allah have mercy on his soul.

In some degree, all music is about something. But what it is about, its contents, differs widely and generally determines its essential worth.

For composer Ahmed Abdul-Malik the content encompasses all the sciences. particularly the sociological, ethnic, and theological. The easiest thing to say would be that Abdul-Malik is different from most jazz musicians, and both his brief biography and the development of his thought immediately show that difference, while at the same time serving as a primer for youngsters who might aspire to be what Abdul-Malik considers the complete musician.

All his conscious development has come from religious convictions. “People think I am too far out with religion,’ he said. “But it is so necessary to know the Creator, to know the rules of being - what it means - to know the commandments, to know you are commanded to use your intellect and will… That allows you to advance in all subjects. How else can you know about life? And music is life.

“You must do subsidiary study. All music has its own history, of course, and you need to know that, but it is also important to know the non-musical side of a people. That way you learn more about their music. By studying a people’s habits, you find their musical expressions.

“That you are commanded to do. The whole health of the world is based on each contributing to one another: doctors, bakers, musicians. If musicians want to co-operate, they must be masters of all scales which will broadcast to the receiver of the mind.”

“Really, a musician should be in excellent condition, physically, mentally, professionally, and scientifically,” Abdul-Malik continued. “I have studied all the elements: animals, insects, plants, space – the universe - old and new jazz but most importantly the Creator.

“How can you play beauty without knowing what beauty is, what it really is? Understanding the Creator leads to understanding the creations, and better understanding of what you play comes from this. How can you understand fully without knowing the start, the continuation, and the ending? Read more this entry »

“How can we sleep when are beds are burnin’?” It’s amazing the hikmah one can find in an old 80’s pop song. Indeed, the time has come. Not to worry, this isn’t a signing off memo for the author of this blog. Instead, it’s a manifesto or perhaps a mirror in which to examine myself within the greater context of that which I live. For those of you who have been consistent readers over the last several years, that would indeed seem to be much of the underlying point of this blog. The proverbial steam has reached 45 degrees.

A quick scan of the Muslim blogosphere, particularly the Blackamerican blogs, renders a mixture of angst, indignation, soul searching and a mixed bag of other emotions. To put it simply, [Black]American Muslims are having an existential crisis. From lack of authority to lack of learning, Modernity circles the camp, constantly threatening, constantly throwing confusion into the mix. This blog has tried to be a voice of reason, a voice of the alternative amidst this crisis. But after even a periphery scan amongst fellow bloggers it would seem we’ve gathered enough data to come to the conclusion that what has been put forth is not bearing fruit for Muslims today. So the question that begs an answer is what are we, as [Black]American Muslims going to do about this deficit? I for one say it’s time for a little less pixelation and a bit more connectivity of the face-to-face variety. In other words, as Hall & Oates put it, “One on one, I want to play that game to night…”

For me, my part was to get directly involved in the game. Over the past several months, I have come into contact with a variety of Muslims who have been earnestly seeking out some type of guidance. Everything from new Muslims who have been left in a state of dysfunction after the big hoorah of their shahadah to Muslims who’ve “fallen off the wagon” but are searching out some rehabilitation. It immediately occurred to me that blogging was going to do these people no good. And while one of them even recognized me from my blog, it wasn’t more Internet fatwahs that the individual was after. Rather, a living, breathing mentorship that could provide simple yet concrete answers to his/her questions. This has resoundingly been the case with the rest of the Muslims I have been conducting a class for - a class on Muslim development and spiritual growth. I am not stating this as a means to garner attention to myself [riya’] but rather to state that this is simply what we need more of. I will provide a couple of case points to back up my assertion.

It would be doubly redundant to state that new Muslims are left to the sharks when it comes to Muslim growth. Most masajid that I have encountered have poorly functional classes for new shahadahs if they even have one at all. One Muslim, after having taken his shahadah some three to four years ago, is barely able to recite two suwrahs [al-Fatihah and al-Ikhlas] for his obligatory prayers. The criticism [and most certainly not of the individual] isn’t that s/he hasn’t taken the time to memorize more suwrahs but that s/he was never give the means to do so in the first place. This points to an even greater disparity as is the case with many of the Muslims I have encountered through this class, is that they are so afraid to approach the Qur’an due to their lack of Arabic or other skills, that they simply don’t approach it at all.

The second profound issue is that most of them are lacking in basic, fundamental creedal knowledge of their religion. Many have now been filled with a laundry list of ideas and concepts from a salad bar Muslim education that many harbor doubts about their faith. Simple things that they encounter like popular science’s attack on religion to the susceptibility of erroneous information leave them every way but up when it comes to what they really believe. It is a sad, woefully sad testimony of our condition when we turn out people to the streets armed with little more than a scant notion of their religion and leave them to be devoured by the waswasat that wonder every street corner, that emanate from every television and media outlet. But not to despair. Like a plant that has been parched even a little water can resucitate the individual. And in addition, I have found the experience thus far to be exciting, rewarding and in sha’ Allah, showing signs of success in that if given a balanced, systematized way of learning their religion, with roots connecting them to the Tradition of Islam, but an articulation of the religion that opens up psychological spaces for them, they are able to banish major doubts and begin work on other matters of the soul.

As I stated, and I do heartedly so again, this is not to bring more attention to myself nor is this a call to gather more students. In fact, I am at my limit in terms of time and capacity at this point. Indeed, I will be the first to admit that this is not an ideal situation as I am only one individual and can only teach a few other individuals - the numbers of those who are in need, those who are seeking, is far larger than one person to handle alone. So it is my hope, that a process and a system can be realized and implemented that will educate new Muslims about their religion, giving them the tools, pre-shahadah, to function as Muslims in this society and God willing, even contribute something to it. It should also be a system that provides education and spiritual growth for Muslims that, upon entering Islam, their spiritual growth arrested. Classes in hadith methodology and usual al-fiqh are not sufficient by themselves and may not even be appropriate for individuals who have not grasped the basic creedal fundamentals.

So in the end, while this is not farewell post, it is a call to lay down the pen of criticizing for a bit. I have come to the conclusion that we all understand there’s issues now. Perhaps it’s time to get our hands dirty a bit, reach out and see what we can do to get things going. Negativity breeds more of its own ilk than can a barrow full of rabbits.“A fact’s a fact. It belongs to them. Let’s give it back.”

قم يا ابن آدم
ليس هو مواقفا أنك تضع حالما
ما حان الوقط للحلوم
و لكن الوقط للصلوات و للحمد و شكرا كثيرا
قم يا أمير الصبح
و يطير حلومك
إلى أعلى اللطيف و التواب
قم يا خليفة
و تخلي الارهاق جميعا
و توضأ أوصالك في جوهر الخلق
لأن كلمات و لسان التزكية تبد التكثير كله
قد شقشقت عصفور الفجر

تأليف قصيد

Arise son of Adam!
It is not proper for you to lay dreaming
Now is not the time for dreams but
The Time for prayers, praise and thanks in abundance.

Arise prince of the Dawn!
And let your dreams take flight
Up to the Heights of The Subtle, The Accepter of Repentance

Arise O’ Trusted One!
Put aside all weariness
Wash your limbs in the essence of Creation
So that pure words and pure lips dispell all multiplicities

So chirps the sparrow at first light!

Written by Qusayd

I received an email from a very close friend of mine, one who is like a brother to me. He lives in Michigan and I met him shortly after my shahadah. I got to know his family and specifically his children. But when I moved away from Michigan about seven years ago or so, they were “locked in amber”, as it were, in my mind. But I felt so overjoyed when I saw the excerpt below, in an email newsletter about his daughter, Sanaa’. She’s turned out to be quite the young and talented writer, ma sha’ Allah. It’s amazing what seven years can do!

Sanaa!

Congratulations to Sanaa, an 826michigan student writer! Her first body of work, Axolotl, is on sale at Vault of Midnight in Ann Arbor. Sanaa has been working on her story and artwork for over a year and has created amazingly interesting and vivid characters.

When Sanaa walked into 826michigan last fall, little did we know what talent we were about to work with! Her ambition to create a unique, smart, and humorous story blew us away, as did her focus! And, over the course of five months, we saw Sanaa’s confidence as a graphic writer grow immensely. In fact, she was the one who inquired about finding ways to become published at the age of thirteen! We set up a meeting with Curtis, one of the owners of Vault of Midnight, and she went into the meeting like a true professional. Curtis encouraged her to bind her writing and artwork and leave them at the store for customers and interested folks to take for free (thanks Curtis!). We were amazed to see her fifteen copies disappear in three days! So, Sanaa went back the following week with another handful of independently bound chapbooks to sell. If that isn’t confidence, we don’t know what is! It has been exciting for all of us here at 826michigan who’ve worked with Sanaa to see her savoring such outstanding success!

Congratulations Sanaa! Keep writing! And, thank you for allowing us to participate in your journey!

Sanaa’! We’re all proud of you and we all look forward to seeing more of your writings. The above excerpt was from 826michigan, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students aged 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills. You can visit Vault of Midnight’s web site here [Google map].