Eid Al-Adha Mubarak!

On this Eid Al-Adha, we think of our origins, Adam and Eve, who in the Quran are considered as one. Who came to this earth as wandering nomads, expelled from their homeland in Paradise, and trying to get back to the garden. We are born as Paradisians, our native land being with Allah. So we must always strive for that. In this life is continual striving until we return insha’Allah to our homeland with Allah in the timeless realm, accepted and beloved by the Almighty All-Merciful, which means we must have concern for all humanity as well, to not think of ourselves as a partisan or special group, but rather as seekers of a path of return. We are all exiles, equal in the sight of Allah/God – all that distinguishes us is our piety and compassion. So that is what we need to remember and that is our way back. What we need to carry with us always is taqwa, mindfulness of Allah in all we do, as much as we are able.

Zionism: How Ideology Hijacks Religion

This Quora post brilliantly exposes how Zionism grew as an ideology from secular and socialist ideas, considering various locations such as Uganda and Azerbaijan for a possible Jewish homeland long before the Holocaust, into the nationalist political ideology it has become. The supposed Biblical justification for forcibly colonizing Palestine was used as a means to an end; prior to the invention of Zionism, Jewish rabbis and scholars were primarily concerned with Jews’ relationship to God, not with any particular “land.” Another “means” justifying the “end” was the political support of avid antisemites who saw this as a way to get rid of Jews in their countries. Muslims being accused of terrorism is directly related to Zionist ideology which sought and succeeded to convince the West to demonize Muslims, which they felt would strengthen their hand against Palestinians. But Allah’s plan supersedes their wildest conspiracies.

The Quran’s References to the Moon and What They Mean

Most common counts of the moon in the Quran consider only the word qamar, the standard word for moon in general, mentioned 27 times, the sidereal lunar cycle count. But in the Quran are two more words related to the moon: alahilla, crescent moons, the plural of hilal; and badr, which means “full moon,” but is it used in reference to a famous battle victory, not the moon, except symbolically, which would have been understood by the Arabs at the time the Quran was sent. If we include these, the lunar mentions in the Quran increase to 29 mentions in 28 ayat (verses) and 25 suras. But if we choose not to count the Badr reference, the total would be 28 lunar mentions in 27 ayat in 25 different suras. In all three cases the numbers of mentions and ayat are “lunar numbers,” relating to cycles of the moon. Here we discuss how these mentions are arranged in the Quran and examine the ayat that use the two words different from the word qamar, showing how the word badr as symbolic refers to the apex of the moon’s luminescence as an example of how a battle victory can be a shining light or possibility for a beleaguered people, giving them patience through the “darker” or more difficult days.

Excellent Video Explains “the Uphill Climb” – to be Truly a Good Person

He gives a more in-depth exploration of the same ayat I discussed yesterday 90:11-13!

Today is (for me, it may be different for WordPress lol) the 2nd of Thul-Hijja and I was just sent the above video basically discussing the very same ayat I mentioned in yesterday’s post about Juneteenth and freeing slaves. But he takes the topic in more depth, explaining the meaning of the words in ways I had not been aware of, despite studying it. But I recognized the similarity of the “uphill climb” with the “steep climb” (I had changed the static “path” to the more expressive “climb”), and was even more impressed with his explanation of the ayat that follow, explaining 90:11-20 to describe the entire message of developing mercy and concern for others. It’s well-worth listening to! If a person developed this depth of concern, then advised others to be patient (sab’r, a word he uses but didn’t translate, although the talk is in English) and compassionate toward others. Highly recommended especially at this time.

First Day of Thul-Hijja Coincides with Juneteenth: Reminding Us to Fight for Justice

In Surat Al-Fajr “The Dawn” 89, which has 30 ayat, the first words are the oath “By the dawn,/ and the ten nights,/ and the even and the odd,/ and the night when it passes…” (89:1-4) These words reflect the passage of time: dawn and the passing of night on the outer ayat, and numbers on the inside reflecting a kind of urgency, the urgency to spend one’s time in Allah’s path. The ten nights are often interpreted to refer to the first ten days of Thul-Hijja, today being the first of them, during which many Muslims fast and do charitable deeds. This sura is followed by Surat Al-Balad “The City,” where in 90:11-13 we read “But he has not attempted the steep path (90:11)/ “and what can make you know what is the steep path?/ It is the freeing of a slave.” Although other good deeds are mentioned, we will pause on this one, because today the first day of thul-Hijjah, coincides with Juneteenth – a holiday in the US marking the day, June 19th, 1985, when all slaves in the United States were freed. Yet although slavery has been technically abolished in most of the world, human trafficking is the new slave trade, often involves sexual exploitation, often of minors. And the racism that leads to human exploitation still rages on. The Quran has a solution to both. 

How to Distinguish Good from Evil

The Number One Question should be “Is this (action or belief) Just or Unjust? “Indeed God commands justice, virtue, and giving to kinsfolk, and He forbids immorality, bad conduct, and oppression. And He admonishes you, that perhaps you will be reminded.” (16:90) Obviously, this is no small matter and reams could be written about it, not a mere blog post. But the Quran is also called Al-Furqan, which means “the Criterion,” which refers essentially to the Quran being a guide for the human soul, and as such gives us the criterion and criteria (plural) by which to distinguish good from evil.

The Meaningful Universe 3 – Dhikr and Memory as Connection

Mentioned in the Quran far more frequently than any form of “thinking,” dhikr (which I also spelled as thikr, which seems closer to how to pronounce it, like the “th” sound in “the” or “this” but dhikr is “standard” transliteration) means “to remember” and also “to invoke,” which can be expressed as “to bring to mind.” To get an idea of how far-reaching memory can be, some “ultraconserved” words have survived 15,000 years pointing to a “deep language ancestry across Eurasia;” ancient oral histories have preserved information later confirmed by science and in a larger scale (showing ancient sea rise, for example) as well; and scientists are aware of memory’s key role in thought processes, described as “an integral part of human cognition, since it allows individuals to recall and draw upon past events to frame their understanding of and behavior within the present…and future.” Memory plays a role across all time-scales, from short-term to long-term within individuals, to untold millennia in “collective memory” which is often preserved through oral tradition. The Quran itself, self-described as Dhikr al-hakeem or “wisdom-remembrance,” is a Divine revelation given to us as both an oral tradition as well as a written book/manuscript. 

Islam Is Transforming America for the Better

C. J. Werleman explains how Islam is bringing communities together that were previously enemies.

This is a true, real-world phenomenon: by simply giving people a welcoming, compassionate, truthful and exemplary way of finding purpose and meaning and mutual cooperation without all the materialistic hype, Islam is growing in America with surprising speed. And with many new converts, new energy and insights are also transforming the way even Muslims born of Muslim parentage view their religion. Excellent video!

The Quranic Mandate to Serve Justice against Oppression

The Quran is full of admonitions stating that believers, those who truly surrender to Allah the Exalted, must work for Truth and Justice. Notice that Justice has to be based on Truth; with a capital T to highlight that Allah Himself is Truth. So we should all be truth-seekers, and based on truth we should fight for justice. How can one be just without some knowledge of a situation, using reason and logic to come to a conclusion that resonates with one’s heart or intuition? We should develop this sense and become seriously passionate about it because it matters immensely in both this world and, as consequences, in the next. This also means that we should be alert to the misuse of religion by people of no faith or morals, as a means of perpetuating their own injustices, “faithwashing” their crimes as “self-defense” or self-preservation, and painting their victims as criminals. For example, this has particular resonance in the case of Zionist Israel and their treatment of Palestinians, as this Quora post eloquently explains.