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

The last several weeks have been tough ones for the Muslim community here in Philadelphia. With the embarrassing letdown of the bank robbery scandal, many Muslims have been left in a state of bewilderment, angst, anger and confusion. I cannot say that I am not myself afflicted with some of these feelings. But there is always a silver lining. I had the pleasure to spend my weekend with Imam Anwar Muhaimin, partaking in the khatiyb training course. Imam Anwar continues to amaze me as he slowly unfolds the vast array of knowledge he has at his disposal. And as a teacher, you could not have a finer instructor. In fact, I would highly recommend two things: 1) if anyone is involved in giving the khut’bah for the Friday Prayer, I highly recommend the course to both newbies and oldies. 2) A condensed class or halaqah be given, distilled down into a one- or two-hour lecture. It was highly informative and I think it would be good for even lay members and women [meaning those who won’t ever give a khut’bah], allowing people to have a greater depth and appreciation of the significance of the Friday Prayer.

And it is with appreciation and admiration I will continue with. I approached the class as one who used to give halaqas as well as a frequent public speaker. I [wrongly!] assumed it would have a similar feeling. Just get the vernacular down and I’d be on my way. I couldn’t have been more off course! In a beneficial but amusing way, at the end of the second day, all of us participants were given an opportunity to deliver a short, sample khut’bah that we had to write up. Being full of bravado I happily volunteered to go first. As soon as my foot hit the mimbar though, a feeling came over me; something in between fear and awe. And this was with just ten people! Words that I’ve said a hundred times over in Arabic suddenly stumbled clumsily off my lips. My tongue felt like it swelled and I couldn’t think straight. My notes were right in front of me and I rushed through everything. My khut’bah was only six minutes but halfway through, I was sweating, as were many of the other participants. We all laughed at each other and had a great time. Imam Anwar in particular seemed amused as we all went up with one feeling and came down with another. Read more this entry »

I was honored last night to be asked to attend the Town Square Meeting at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Center City Philadelphia. The meeting was presented by Philadelphia Green and was about the merging of faith-based organizations and the stewardship of those religious groups and how they are or can be engaged in environmental activities. It quickly came to my attention that Muslims at least in this area have been woefully absent. Absent either due to ignorance of such activities or because it’s simply not on the radar. For the concerns of this post, I will address the latter.

Like so many topics and events today, Muslims seem to either be swept along by the Zeitgeist of the day or bypassed all together. This is an issue that we as a Muslim community need to address more seriously if we wish to have our voice taken seriously – otherwise, it will be taken away. By Zeitgeist I am referring to the trend that many Muslims allow popular consensus or dominant voices dictate to us what is or is not important. One example that comes to mind is a conversation I had with a Muslim brother who said we needed to take a tougher stance towards homosexuality. When I inquired as to what he meant, he was referring to the unions of gay couples and homosexual marriages. He was quite passionate about the topic and felt that Islam was somehow being eroded by this lapse in what he saw as social immorality. I calmly reminded the brother to consider the following: homosexuality is not permissible in Islam. God has made this readily apparent and therefore he should take comfort in this incontrovertible truth. In other words, the question has been answered by the Highest Authority, therefore why approach the topic as if it could be reopened for discussion [and ultimately, permissibility]. Read more this entry »

I was up in New York City this past weekend and Monday photographing and attending the lecture series by Zaytuna Institute as a part of their Minara program, held at NYU [actually, it was held at Cooper Union but it seemed to be a joint custody affair] entitled: For God & Country, showcasing Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and professor Khaled Blankinship from Temple University. Sunday’s event at NYU was an all-day affair and both speakers gave very insightful talks. In particular it was great to hear and see Dr. Blankinship interact with a broader audience, many of whom may not have been familiar with him. He is without a doubt a school of impeccable character and pedigree and his knowledge reaches into many branches of the various sciences from religion to history. I put up a someshots from the event on as well a few from Monday’s book signing/talk at Columbia featuring Richard Bulliet, author of The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization. For those interested in modern conversations about the inclusion or exclusion of Islam from the Western pale, I recommend his book as a thought provoking read. Here’s a few images from that even as well.

I just wanted to inform all of you that I will be taking a short hiatus from the blog in order to go forth with a surgical procedure to fix the herniated disc and pinched nerve in my back this Friday. I have not been able to work for the better part of two weeks as well as previous spots before the new year. I just spent the better part of the weekend in the ER for pain treatment and decided that enough was enough. I most likely will not return to work before the procedure so you may still contact my by email. I greatly appreciate the kind words of support. As you may or may not know, I have been dealing with sciatica [the nerve pinched/trapped by the disc] since October 2007. It has simply become too painful to “work through” any longer. I hope to be out for only a short respit and then back to the task at hand. For those who have it, my office line has been forwarded to my cell so you my contact me at either my cell or my office number, which are listed below. I also have access to email on my phone [c’mon, I work in IT - whaddayaexpect?].  I do not know what room I’ll be in yet but I’ll follow up with that as soon as I know more. I hope to see all of you soon, and please keep me in your du’ahs/prayer lists.

I will joining fellow bloggers Tariq and Umar this Saturday, God willing if my back holds out, on 900AM, WURD, for the Living Islam Show. The info’s below.

Please join us Saturday February 9th, 2008, with host Nafis Bouie on the Living Islam show, 5-6 p.m. (E.S.T.), on 900amWURD, your information station committed to solutions.

Nafis will have Marc Manley, Umar Lee, and Tariq Nelson as guests. All three brothers have developed blogs on the web that focus on varying issues that specifies concerns of the American Muslim community. Their links are below, check them out before the show and become part of the discussion.

Marc Manley

Tariq Nelson

Umar Lee

Calls are welcomed at 215-634-8065, toll free 866-361-0900. You can also listen on the net www.900amwurd.com, 5-6 p.m. (e.s.t.)

For information about advertisements, please contact our executive producer Abdul Kareem Salahuddin at 215-990-9242 or allworld2u@yahoo.com.

Thank you Wa salaam Nafis Bouie 215-439-8725 bouiebus@msn.com The Living Islam Show, a presentation of the Threshold Media Group.

Eid Mubarik.

عيد مبارك

Work work, teaching work and freelance work combined with a nasty cold have buried me under and avalanche. Here’s a short gallery of shots from the Zaytuna sessions this November. Enjoy.

This years ALIM Winter Program is entitled “Is Islamic Thought Dying?”, and will held in Santa Clara, California, at the MCA Islamic Center (Bay Area), January 18th-21st, 2008.

The conference will discuss, among other things, William Chittick’s recent book entitled, “Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul”. The book will serve as a springboard for discussion on the broader issues and intersections of Islamic and Western approaches to learning and knowledge. Chittick argues that Islamic thought is dying, falling prey to the more short term oriented perspectives of Western educational systems.

Topics like impediments to Islamic learning, the role of “progress” and “ideology” in Western and Islamic thought, the centrality of tawhiyd to knowledge, and changes in the Muslim view of knowledge through history, among others, will be addressed through a critical lens.

The event is being held MLK weekend and includes Dr. Sherman Abdul-Hakim Jackson along with Imam Zaid Shakir and Dr. Umar, and Dr. Fareed. For more information and to register, go to: www.alimprogram.com