Friends of Cafe a la Fikr

12/25/2023

وَالسَّلٰمُ عَلَىَّ يَوۡمَ وُلِدْتُّ وَيَوۡمَ اَمُوۡتُ وَيَوۡمَ اُبۡعَثُ حَيًّا‏ 

(Qur’ān 19:33) “Peace be upon me [Jesus] the day I was born and the day I will die, and the day I will be raised up alive."

08/23/2023

On Stewardship of Earth - a worthwhile quote:

“People of faith from various religions have begun to articulate critiques of current globalization that threatens to destroy the ecological balance that all people rely upon for sustainable existence. The Christian theologian, Julio de Santa Ana, has written that this situation depends upon the ‘complacent and comfortable [who] passively allow the market to assume the properties and dimensions of God in their imaginations and behavior’. The question is how to cultivate self-restraint*. From a Jewish theological perspective, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks argues that ‘reverence, restraint, humility, a sense of limits, the ability to listen and respond to human distress – these are not virtues produced by the market, yet they are attributes we will need if our global civilization is to survive and they are an essential part of the religious imagination’.” - p. 10-11

“Through a range of discursive modes, ibn ‘Ata Allah conveys his message: that investing anxious energy in perpetuating egoistic self-determination is an investment that is corrosive to the soul.” - p. 13

From Translator’s Introduction of The Book of Illumination (Kitab al-Tanwir fi Isqat al-Tadbir) by ibn ‘Ata Allah al-Iskandari (d. 1309)
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* “self-restraint” - taqwa - is a critical modus operandi embedded in Islamic/Quranic texts and teaching: self-restraint resulting from awareness and awe of God.

06/24/2023

The Muslim annual pilgrimage (Hajj) season has begun. Here’s some basic information and details.

The Hajj commemorates the Spiritual Journey and Sacrifices of Abraham/Ibrāhīm, Hajira/Hagar, and Ishmael/Isma’īl. It has been chronicled in the Qur’ān and by the enactment of the religious rites during Hajj by Prophet Muhammad. Prophet Muhammad is descendent of Prophet Abraham through the lineage of Ishmael (According to Islamic historiography, Ishmael was the elder son and the son who was the bearer of Abraham’s sacrificial test by God. His name in Arabic connotes/relates to the plea of Abraham to God and that it was ‘Heard’ by the Divine Presence).

In Islām, there are two core religious holidays: one, celebrates the end of Ramadān (month of daytime fasting), called Eid al-Fitr or Festivities of Feasting; and the second, celebrates Abrahamic Story memorialized in the Hajj, called Eid al-Adha or Festivities of Sacrifice. (Although we say ‘religious holiday, meaning one day’ but Eid al-Fitr can last up to three days, and Eid al-Adha lasts up to four days; each however is generally celebrated on the first of these days).

Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islām (words and acts that affirm a person’s belief in Islām). It is required of every able-bodied Muslim adult, male and female, with financial wherewithal, to undertake at least once in her/his lifetime.

Outline of Hajj Rites:

The Timing of Hajj

The Hajj takes place in the month of Dhul-Hijjah, the last/12th month of the lunar Islamic calendar. The main acts of Hajj take place over a period of 3-5 days, beginning on the 8th day of the month, reaching spiritual high-point on the 9th day at ‘Arafah, and ending by the 12th day. However, pilgrims usually arrive one to two weeks before the Hajj actually starts, and stay a week afterwards in order to visit the mosque of Prophet Muhammad in Medina.

Ihram – a critical component- is the state of ritual consecration that the pilgrim enters when he or she removes his or her worldly clothes and dons the pilgrim’s garb of 2 seamless, white sheets. Women pilgrims do not wear the white sheets, but can wear any simple modest clothes. Pilgrims put on the Ihram before entering Mecca, at which time pilgrims begin the chant, “Here I am at your service. O God Here I am.” The white garments of Ihram symbolize the simplicity of a person’s reality and the equality and brotherhood/sisterhood of all fellow Muslims and humanity, in general. While in Ihram, pilgrims should not harm any living thing, cut their hair or nails, wear perfume or have intimate relations with their spouses.

Performing Hajj

1st Day – 8th day of Dhul-Hijjah: Pilgrims leave Mecca and camp at nearby Mina. (June 26, 2023)

2nd Day – 9th day of Dhul-Hijjah: The Day of Arafah is the real spiritual peak of the Hajj rites. Pilgrims move at sunrise from Mina to the plain of Arafah where they spend the entire day in earnest supplication, devotion, and seeking God’s forgiveness (for themselves and loved ones). At sunset, the pilgrims move and camp at Muzdalifa which is a site between Mina and Arafah. (It is highly recommended for Muslims around the world to fast on the day of Arafah in spiritual union with the pilgrims who are standing on the plain of Arafah, seeking God’s Mercy, Pardon and Forgiveness).

3rd Day – 10th day of Dhul-Hijjah (Day 1 of Eid al-Adha, June 28, 2023): The pilgrims return to Mina where they may spend up to three days in devotion and prayer. They also perform a ritual known as Ramy al-Jamarāt, throwing stones at three pillars. This ritual represents the trials experienced by Abraham when he was ordered by God to sacrifice his son and Satan tempted him to disobey God. Stoning the three pillars with seven stones each symbolizes rejecting Satan’s temptations. Then the pilgrim sacrifices a lamb in reenactment of the story of Abraham who slaughtered a lamb after he was prepared to sacrifice his own son in obedience to God’s Command and the son, reciprocally and equally, devoted and committed to God’s Command. In recent years, lambs are slaughtered by the government and the meat is distributed to poor Muslim countries. After the stay in Mina, the pilgrims return to Mecca to end the formal rituals of Hajj by making Tawāf (circumambulation) around the Ka’bah 🕋 and Sa’i (retracing Hagar’s/Hajira’s steps between the mountains of Safa & Marwah).

04/02/2023

This Spring 2023 is Season of Divine Worship within the Abrahamic Traditions:

Ramadān for Muslims
Palm Sunday, Good Friday/Easter for Christians
Passover/Pesach for Jews

08/14/2022

https://onbeing.org/blog/have-your-heart-be-where-your-feet-are/

An encouragement to be "children of the moment," a people with the spiritual discipline of being fully present in the here and now.

04/24/2021

An important aspect of Islāmic spiritual etiquette concerns the “Names” of God or Allah (الله).

إِنَّ لِلَّهِ تِسْعَةً وَتِسْعِينَ اسْمًا مِائَةً إِلاَّ
وَاحِدًا، مَنْ أَحْصَاهَا دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ

‏‏ ‏{‏أَحْصَيْنَاهُ ‏=‏> حَفِظْنَاهُ‏‏}

Indeed to God/Allah (الله) belong one-hundred-less-one (99) “names” [descriptive attributes]; whosoever enumerates/recounts* them shall enter The Garden. (Sahīh al-Bukhāri)

*To enumerate or recount is meant here to memorize and preserve with knowledge and absorb the Attribute such that it is internalized and fully “known” and realized through your being and actions. The Prophet (s) advised Muslims to derive, build and pattern their manners upon the Attributes of God/Allah (الله).

*Note* that this particular Hadīth above mentions ninety-nine names, however, God/Allah (الله) has innumerable “Names” (e.g. al-Mannān), and as is evident from the following dua’ of Prophet (s):

“…I ask You by every Name that You have named Yourself, revealed in Your Book, taught any one of Your creation or kept unto Yourself in the knowledge of the unseen that is with You…” (Ahmad).

God/Allah (الله) states in the Qur’ān:

“To God/Allah (الله) belong the Most Beautiful Names, so call on ‘Him’ by them…” (sūrah al-‘Arāf, 7:180)

You will see that the Qur’ān is evident with ayāt (verses, or literally, “signs”) embedded with many “Names” or references to God so as to “seal” every important concept or principle of Divine guidance and wisdom with them.

[Note: In Islām, God has no gender qualification; in English, culturally, the masculine form is used for referencing God]

I've always wanted to record Asma Allah Alhusna (The 99 Most Beautiful Names of Allah) - with this beautiful timeless melody composed by Sayed Mekawy - ever ...

04/15/2021

On the innate nature of Adam and his inter-relationship with God, the Cosmos and himself. Adam is representative of human species in general and each person individually from a metaphysical perspective grounded in Islamic tradition and mystical philosophy.

04/09/2021

For fellow Muslims:

It’s Friday! It’s good to send salutations of peace and blessings upon Prophet Muhammad regularly and specifically on Fridays. It’s a matter of spirituality and a way to remain connected to God’s Messenger and Message and commitment to his legacy as the confirmer of Truth:

That there is no god or deity (or idea and philosophy) worthy of any reverence and worship (or asking from) except The One Singular & Unique Reality/God (Who Is the Only Source and Support for Everything that is and can be without adding anything or subtracting anything from ‘His’ Singular Uniqueness, beyond all imagination or conceptualization or formness, Cause of all causes but independent of any and all causal relations or processes).

اَللّٰهُمَّ فَصَلِّ يَا رَبِّ وَ سَلِّمْ
وَ بَارِكْ عَلٰى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ
وَ عَلٰى آلِهِ
وَ صَحْبِهِ أجْمَعِيْن

O Allah/God! Thus, bestow grace, O Lord, and wholesome peace and tranquillity and blessing upon our master Muhammad and upon his family and his companions, all of them (together).

11/27/2020

Vis-a-vis the expression harām ‘alaykum (“you are committing a grave or forbidden sin”) as noted and commented upon by Professor Khaled Abou El-Fadl in his book, “Reasoning with God: Reclaiming Shari’ah in the Modern Age”, p. 137. This phrase is expressed when a person sees someone violating rights of others or acting unethically or wrongly towards another.

He writes:

“The expression simultaneously connotes sanctity and its violation. The expression is a powerful indicator of our innate and intuitive knowledge that behavior that lacks mercy and compassion toward other living beings - behavior that exhibits a degree of depraved cruelty - is offensive to God and a sin. Notably, this innate repulsion toward what is cruel and merciless does not come out of books and does not require much theorizing. Even if the offenders and tormentors bury their conscience and harden their hearts, the victims always know. In prayer and outside of prayer, Muslims repeat numerous times each day the expression: “By the name of God, the most compassionate and most merciful”. The absence of compassion and mercy is the absence of God because if God is present in any context, God‘s compassion and mercy must manifest. If there is no manifestation of either compassion or mercy, how could God be present?”
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Khaled Abou El Fadl is the Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Professor in Islamic Law at UCLA School of Law, where he is also Chair of the Islamic Studies program. He received the University of Oslo Human Rights Award, was named a Carnegie Scholar in Islamic law, and has served on the board of directors for Human Rights Watch, among other honors.

He is also an Islamic Jurist.

Abou El Fadl holds a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University, a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Islamic law from Princeton University. Abou El Fadl has 13 years of instruction in Islamic jurisprudence, grammar and rhetoric from Egypt and Kuwait. After law school, he clerked for Arizona Supreme Court Justice James Moeller, and practiced immigration and investment law in the U.S. and the Middle East. He previously taught Islamic law at the University of Texas School of Law at Austin, Yale Law School and Princeton University.