Several people have brought up to me the issue of expressing the negative,believing it to be against the sunnat of the Prophet saws.They bring up the example of Anas ra, the servant of the Prophet who said that in 10 years of service ,he had never been reproached for doing something wrong and never been scolded,directly, for not doing something he was supposed to.Like all other scriptural references this has to be put into perspective.- the perspective of the individual and the perspective of the times.We are talking about a time in which there was considerable respect for authorities and elders especially the much admired and beloved Prophet saws.And one can assume that Anas was generally a “good kid” as we would say,imbued with many spiritual qualities.

Try raising your children that way ! The American mother of the “afflenza child” who ran over four people and then ran to Mexico was always positive about what her son did and never reproaching him.Now he is in prison for a long time and four people are dead.It is inaccurate to see our Prophet saws as a “turn the other cheek” kind of leader.He had to deal with many situations of evil and ignoring it was not always an option.People were punished and even executed under his leadership.It was socially and politically necessary to do so despite his loving,compassionate heart.That is the nature of dunniya(the lower world).It is full of evil and we ignore that at our own risk and peril.

Is there any scriptural support for what I am saying here?Let us look at a couple of citations.Firstly from the Quran-referring to the mission of the Prophet saws“He commands them what is right and forbids them what is wrong, he makes lawful the things that are wholesome and makes unlawful the things that are bad and lifts from them their burdens and the yokes that were upon them.” (7:157)

Then from the hadith:

On the authority of Abu Sa’eed al-Khudree (ra) who said:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say, “Whoso- ever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.

What can we conclude here?That it is not only permissible,it is actually obligatory to denounce evil- and I would add falsehood which is one of the major forms of evil.

Beyond these scriptural references there is our noble shahhada.What does it contain:”Laillaha Ilallah(There is no God but God(Himself).So we begin by denouncing falsehood and continue affirming truth.That is my modus operandi for now.Until someone can convince me otherwise I find this the most practical and balanced way of dealing with Reality.

Does that mean that we should go aroung”talking s–t about people” as the young people say.By no means.We have to be respectful and kind wherever possible.But we cannot see the world with rose-coloured lenses and go around only uttering politically correct speech either.We are not meant to be Islamic “goodie-goodies”.That would just end up turning against us as the artificiality would be apparent to all. Hope that “opens the conversation”as the Americans like to say. Salaams,Ibrahim

Why do Americans care so much about the Constitution?The Constitution is in essence a reaction(A Post-Traumatic Stress Reaction to use psychological terms) to British Tyranny.This no longer exists as a threat -unless you consider the influx of corrupt Rock stars like Mick Jagger and David Bowie as a new form of tyranny lol.So the document is largely anachronistic and inappropriate for modern times.If we absolutely need a Constitution,it be should be entirely rewritten.The new document would need to include the right to a decent job and comprehensive medical care for every citizen.(I’ll leave out university education because that’s a two-edged sword.)But they can’t do that because the constitution itself, with all its procedures and protocols, would make that impossible.So the constitution itself is now the new form of Tyranny! How wonderful and paradoxical.Meanwhile Americans are dying in the streets of its major cities every day because of this new tyranny!

“There is no one who sends salaams upon me but Allah will restore to me my soul so that I may return his salaams.”Sahih hadith reported by Abu Hurayrah.For those looking for the mystical teachings of our Prophet saws,this hadith is very interesting.There is really only two possible meanings here and they are not far from each other.Either the Prophet saws is immersed in his Lord(‘fana’ if you wish) and needs to be individuated in order to respond.Or he is in a very high place and needs to descend to the angelic plane(in Sufi terms from the plane of oneness(al-Lahut) to the angelic plane (al Malakut) in order to respond. Sheikh Hamza says this is a sign of his saws Istighrak(literally ‘drowned’ in the Divine Presence) which can mean either of the two.Something to contemplate.

The problem with psychological formulations, although a valid form of knowledge, is that they most often emphasize the negative.Thus we diagnose people-narcissists,paranoids,psychopaths,bipolars etc.This does help to understand but can lead to a very negativistic view of the world.I suggest you try something new. Every time you diagnose a friend or colleague or family member with one of those psychopathological formulations try to find a positive diagnosis as well. (Even the term diagnosis represents a distortion as it is drawn from the realm of medical pathology!). So in the Bipolar person you could see a”force of nature” or a “spiritual visionary”. In a narcissist you might see “an acute sense of aesthetics” or”a dynamo of self-confidence”. You can already see that the terms are difficult to come-by since this form of thinking has not been well developed.The psychopath may be”fearless and full of courage” and the obsessional may be “hard-working with high standards”. Try it out and get back to me with your results.This exercise should leave you at least with a lot less cynicism than the average psychologist and social worker.

1. Every religion contains a manifest truth and a hidden misconception.These misconceptions are not from God nor His Messengers.They are from human interpreters down the line.
2. In Judaism,for example,the manifest Truth is the One God and His Chosen people.The hidden misconception is in the meaning of Chosen people.It certainly doesn’t mean that they are the only people that matter and it doesn’t mean either that they have been chosen forever.In fact ,I believe they lost that position a long time ago, despite the numerous favours that God bestowed on them.

Continue reading The Manifest Truth and the Hidden Misconceptions in the Various Religions →

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(In response to a Facebook posting about the horrors of Wahhabism, of which I am even more critical than the author). called “fond memories of a Wahhabbi childhood” .
Joel Ibrahim Kreps:  Fond memories(actually continual observations) from the children of modernism.The children go to school and before long they are stressed out by assignments,projects and tests some of which their parents,seeing their childrens’ distress, unethically do for them.Their mother and father are regularly battling it out for who is in control(remember it always has to be equal).The adolescents are starting to have sex in their early teens.By the time they are in their twenties their hearts are broken and hardened and their view of relationships is cynical and embittered.At work, due to the wonderful ideas of MBAs and other proponents of “scientific management” the adults are stressed out in cubicles which give them no privacy and jobs that require them to do the work of two or three people etc.,etc. We are truly caught between a rock and a hard place.But usually only the rock is mentioned and the hard place is taken for granted.