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

[1] William C. Chittick’s, Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul The Pertinence of Islamic Cosmology in the Modern World [re-read]. [2] The Book Of Illumination Sign Of Success on the Spiritual Path by Shaykh Ahmad Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah Al-Iskandari. [3] Jamaluldeen Abdullah Ibn Hisham al-Ansari’s, Sharh Shudhur al-Dhahab; [4] Sherman Jackson’s, On the Boundaries of Theological Tolerance in Islam Abu Hamid Al Ghazali’s Faysal L Tafriqa; [5] Seyyed Nasr’s, Science and Civilization in Islam; [6] Awdhah al-Masalik ila Alfiyat Ibn Malik Ibn Hisham al-Ansari; [7] Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s, Knowledge and the Sacred [re-read]; [8] Mystical Dimensions of Islam by Annemarie Schimmel; [9] A History of Islamic Legal Theories An Introduction to Sunni Usul Al-Fiqh, by Wael B. Hallaq; [10] also by Wael B. Hallaq, The Origins And Evolution Of Islamic Law; [11] Sufi Essays from Seyyed Hossein Nasr; [12] The Sacred Foundations of Justice in Islam The Teachings of Ali Ibn Abi Talib by Reza Shah Kazemi, M Ali Lakhani, and Leonard Lewisohn; [13] The Art of Reciting the Qur’an by Kristina Nelson; [14] Muhtar Holland’s Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship - Al Ghazali; [15] The Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr edited by William C. Chittick; [16] Daniel Abdal Hayy Moore’s Ramadan Sonnets/Poems; [17] Al-Ghazali’s Path to Sufism; [18] Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya on the Invocation of God from Al-Wabil Al-Sayyib Min Al-Kalim Al-Tayyib Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr Ibn Qayyim Al Jawziyah; [19] Al-Ghazali’s Letter to a Disciple (Ghazali Series) Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali [re-read]; [20] Mulla Sadra’s The Elixir of the Gnostics Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim Sadr Al-Din Shirazi; [21] Ebrahim Moosa’s Ghazali And The Poetics Of Imagination [continuation]; [22] The Self-Disclosure of God Principles of Ibn Al-’Arabi’s Cosmology from William Chittick; [23] also from Chittick, Fakhruddin Iraqi Divine Flashes; [24] Hadith study: Sunan Abu Dawud; [25] Ira M. Lapidus’ A History of Islamic Societies [continuation]; [26] Ibn Ishaq’s al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah; [27] The Sufi Path of Knowledge by William Chittick; [28] The Practice of Everyday Life by Michel De Certeau; [29] After the Death of God by John D Caputo and Gianni Vattimo; [30] Tommie Shelby’s We Who Are Dark; [31] The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization by Richard W. Bulliet; [32] Imam al-Ghazali’s Ihya’ uluwm al-Deen [Arabic version]; [33] The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State by Noah Feldman; [34] al-Ghazali on the Manners Relating to Eating Book XI of the Revival of the Religious Sciences, translation by Denys Johnson-Davies; [35] David C. Lindberg and his The Beginnings of Western Science: The European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious, and Institutional Context, Prehistory to A.D. 1450; [36] al-Ghazali’s On Disciplining the Soul and on Breaking the Two Desires Books Xxii and Xxiii of the Revival of the Religious Sciences Nakamura; [37] White by Richard Dyer [continuation]; [38] Deliverance from Error and Mystical Union With the Almighty Al-Munqidh Min Al-Dalal by al-Ghazali; [39] Martin Lings’s Muhammad His Life Based on the Earliest Sources [continuation]; [40] Hadith Qudsi; [41] The Connectors in Modern Standard Arabic by Nariman Naili Al Warraki and Ahmed Taher Hassanein [review].

And while this may seem a bit ambitious, I will do my best to wade through this impressive stack this summer. I am going to try to adhere to the order as much as possible.

Or is it just a big waste of time and a growing fitnah for our community? I am troubled by things that I read on the blogosphere and it has made me address the validity of blogging. We all know that Allah will ask us what we spent our time doing. I do not want that to be add to the list of things I already know I have to ask forgiveness for. Instead of seeing a healthy dialog [which is what some of us who blog want though I have to question the intentions of others] much of what I read seems to be filled with malice and cowardice. Referring to the post above, a dialog commenced about the permissibility of Mother’s Day and within a short period we went from trying to feel out each other’s points, make counter arguments and having a dialog to a brother slandering Dr. Sherman ‘Abd al-Hamik’ Jackson. And let me tell - I ain’t gonna let that happen without a fight! Dr. Jackson has done more for Muslims through his writings and his talks and his genuine suhbah [companionship] than this joker could ever hope to attain and yet he saw fit to substitute slander and back-bitting for intellectual insight. If one is unable to argue and have discourse in a dignified manner, then shut up. If you can’t remain civil without making ghiybah on recognized scholars, you don’t have the skills to examine the issue from various angles and are not conversant with the Muslim intellectual tradition, then keep your mouth shut!

I have not decided to completely bow out of the race just yet - but it is on the table. And to a great degree, it will be based on the assessment of whether or not blogging is beneficial. I did just receive a number of emails from readers who thanked me for what I write - that is encouraging. Al Hamdulillah for that. But I’m not doing it to win popularity contests. I do it to write about and discuss relevant issues. But time will tell if this is the best format for that.

And God knows best.

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].

A word to the wise for those who are thinking of upgrading to 2.5. It’s great and all but you might find yourself in a panic and frustrated as there are many snags one can hit. Without wasting time in going into details make sure you read all the directions carefully and back up all your databases and files before proceeding. This will save you the hassle of having to contact your host saying, “Umm…, please tell me you guys backed up my junk on tape last night. Right…?”. So hoo-rah. WordPress 2.5. You probably can’t tell or notice one damned bit of difference but it’s done. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to try and get back the two hours of life I just lost on my new cycle.

Self-portrait at 35. What grey hairs? Here’s what 34 looked like.

Brother Cooke’s voice has given me so much comfort at a time in my life where I’ve never felt so much pain. Pain enough to make one question one’s beliefs [in my case, question but not change ]. Thank you, Sam Cooke. God rest your soul.

I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh and just like the river I’ve been running ever since
It’s been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

It’s been too hard living but I’m afraid to die
Cause I don’t know what’s up there beyond the sky
It’s been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

I go to the movie and I go downtown
somebody keep telling me don’t hang around
It’s been a long, a long time coming

But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

Then I go to my brother
And I say brother help me please
But he winds up knocking me
Back down on my knees

Ohhhhhhhhh…..

There been times that I thought I couldn’t last for long
But now I think I’m able to carry on
It’s been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

That was the name of the procedure I had done this weekend at the University of Pennsylvania hospital. My many thanks to all of you who left comments or sent emails wishing me well. I have a recovery time of anywhere between 8-12 weeks, of which at least four of which will be spent at home. Feel free to drop a line and my many thanks again for all the du’ahs and prayers.

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.