Self-Analysis (I)

Source

'Self-analysis' or self-examination that is directed towards creating harmony in our character and soul - to my mind - is like completing a traditional mosaic.

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Today I was lamenting in front of my father about the oppressions of American establishment (by that I specifically mean the political elite, and not the academic elite or its general people) on foreign cultures that lie outside the narrows boundaries of their nationalism, obviously its East, especially the Islamic part of it that has the genius of providing humanity the best solution to all of its perennial problems through its 'profound realism and ideals'. The moment I stopped, he gave me a fresh example from his one recent experience where so many corrupt people were deploring their bad leaders, and when they were asked about their wrong-doings - they just make you thunderstruck with their devilish, nonsensical answers, devoid of any morality, showing how subservient we've become to the Satan and our own desires (or lusts) as a nation. Therefore, he demanded that I should, unlike the followers of Satan, be self-critical towards myself so as to recognize and correct my own flaws. Thus a little self-analysis. There is so much to be written on this mere topic, and as a matter of fact this act of self-examination should naturally go on till life runs and burns. A never-ending process, not to be mentioned...

In this post I'd, however, seek to correct my relationships with the people serving me at home. Prophet of Islam, the First and the Last religion, once said that you cannot win people's heart with money, but with good manners. I at this point lack the latter, and anyone lacking the latter lacks everything. The reason is that I do not have control over myself. I can see the best way for me, only I cannot regulate myself, only I fail to direct my energies on doing the best, that is, following the Sunnah of Prophet (his way of life), may peace be upon him. After an advice session from outside, I have figured out that I can do good to my servants and win their hearts by strictly following some codes. But at first, what I need to do is to clean my thinking of materialistic thinking that puts God and His creation below ones own desires and lusts, thanks to the prevalent practice of Western materialistic conception of life, I inherited being a part of this environment. Although I'd like to confess that I deliberately, consciously chose to follow this anti-human path. I don't blame my environment, I just reject it from top to bottom, left to right (if it has left anything that is 'right').

So. What to do? Following are some codes I with some external help have chalked out to bring about a change in me, please feel free to add your valuable comments:

* Correct the timing of my sleep - to make it balanced, and to form and follow a routine.
* No late night going out, except if a need arises (we do have a definite sense of it!) And, I'll have to regulate the timings of going-out - plan it.
* Inform these people of any irregularities. For example, if visitors or relatives are to visit, the guys at home should be informed so that they get plenty of time to prepare for the services.
* Keep them aware of my schedule if I am outside home, so that they know and can manage things on time.
* Meal routine: fix it. Now, this depends on some variables, and on a fixed principle, that is, I cannot eat if I do not feel an inclination towards eating. This can disturb the 'routine', so what I can do is eat less, for instance, at night (if I have ate late at night) in this way I'll feel hungry in the morning. Things may well adjust, God willing.
* Today I was thinking of how to increase my knowledge in the best manner. I recalled the following hadith of the Prophet (may peace be upon him): "He who makes his conduct accord with his knowledge receives from God more knowledge." The floor of my room and bathing room is filled with dust, if I make it clean and attain purity I have a better chance of increasing my knowledge than by studying books.

That's all for now. i guess I should write these points on the window as well for reminding my slippery memory of it, and start executing them. May Allah make my path easier and protect me from all jinn and shaitan. (Ameen!)

The "Civilized" Ones

This video was shot in Lahore in front of the famous Awan e Iqbal, where the Iqbal Academy is located as well. It shows the duality between what is said and what is done by the so-called Euro-centric civilized ones. (Coincidentally, the video was made by yours truly.)



The person reporting is Mr. Farjad Adnan, ex-president of a student organization in Pakistan called ESEF. He is currently studying at NUST.

William C. Chittick: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul: The Pertinence of Islamic Cosmology in the Modern World by Muzaffar Iqbal

Image source

"In the short introduction to this work, William Chittick states that after almost forty years of sitting back and letting sages such as RCma, Ibn 'Arabi, Sadr al-Din Qunawi, 'Abd al-Rahman Jami, Afdal al-Din Kashani, Shams-i Tabrizi, and Mulla Sadra speak through his translations, he has finally felt at ease in applying their wisdom to the complex problems of the contemporary world. At the heart of this book consisting of seven chapters, all but one of which were originally written as lectures for conferences, is the question: "how do we know what we know?"

Religious traditions clearly distinction two modes of knowing and hence the two kinds of knowledge: transmitted (naqli) and intellectual ('aqli). The former is passed from generation to generation, the latter is learned by training the mind and polishing the heart. Transmitted knowledge is revealed knowledge. God wants the believers to fast during the month of Ramadan; He reveals this to the Prophet who transmits it to the believers and those who hear him say so, pass it on those who are not present--and so on down the generations. Intellectual knowledge, on the other hand, is acquired by the knowing subject. Even though it may require teachers, it does not ultimately depend on the authority of the teacher for its verification and existence; it resides in the heart and mind of the knower. That two plus two equals four does not rely on an authority once it has been comprehended.

The first three chapters consist of lectures delivered to Muslim audience, and therein one finds ample evidence of Chittick's command over the material he has studied and translated for over forty years. It is also in these three chapters that one finds the sharpest and most clear diagnosis of contemporary Muslim dilemmas as seen from the perspective of a deeply concerned but objective scholar, who can stand aloof from the moribund tradition and look back at the times when it produced great thinkers and sages. He can thus wonder: what has gone wrong? Intellectual tradition is essential for the survival of religion, for one cannot think of Islam without simultaneously comprehending the Qur'anic commands demanding Muslims to think, reflect, and ponder.

Muslims have stopped thinking, Chittick states boldly, knowing that his observation would be contested by many. Thus he explains what he means by "thinking". By "thinking", he means the kind of thinking that produced the intellectual tradition of Islam which is now rapidly disappearing. It was a training of the mind, a discipline of the heart which was rooted in the message of the Qur'an. Modern intellectuals, trained in modern modes of thought, inhabit a mental schizophrenia where faith and practice are not harmonious, mind and heart are at war with each other, and the gods of modernity reign supreme in the lives of those who claim to worship only one God. "A god is what gives meaning and orientation to life, and the modern world derives meaning from many, many gods. Through an ever-intensifying process of takthar, the gods have been multiplied beyond count, and people worship whatever gods appeal to them."

Containing clear but frightening prognoses of the modern world, Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul leads one to think about the contemporary state of the world from an uncommon perspective and debunks modern ideology, rooted as it is in humanism, scientism, and many other "isms" which have emerged in the Western thought since the European Enlightenment. Without being "too Islamic", the book draws upon a variety of traditional sources to articulate its main concern: fallen into a path of self-destruction, humanity needs to wake up before it is too late. It is the role of intellectual tradition to help humanity in this effort." (Source)

Faith with Certitude

Our attitude towards certain hadith (sayings of Prophet Mohammad, the last prophet) should be that of an experimental scientist who tests the hypothesis or hitherto unproven statement(s) by experiencing it and not just talking about it. So far so, there isn't one hadith that I found against the intellect and reason, although it may go well beyond the both; none that is empty of wisdom, yet there are certainly of whose wisdom I'm ignorant of, and I don't need to know about it. Whatever there is in it, can be testified through practical application on ourselves; the truth of it will be manifested on that person. Al-Ghazali in his "Deliverance from Error" has said what I have been trying to put in hollow words in this way:

"[In order] to deal with doubts relative to the inspiration of a particular prophet ... we shall not arrive at certitude on this point except by ascertaining, either by ocular evidence or by reliable tradition the facts relating to that prophet. When we have ascertained the real nature of inspiration and proceed to the serious study of the Qur'an and the traditions, we shall then know certainly that Mohammed is the greatest of prophets. After that we should fortify our conviction by verifying the truth of his preaching and the salutary effect which it has upon the soul. We should verify in experience the truth of sentences such as the following: "He who makes his conduct accord with his knowledge receives from God more knowledge"; or this, "God delivers to the oppressor him who favors injustice"; or again, "Whosoever when rising in the morning has only one anxiety (to please God), God will preserve him from all anxiety in this world and the next." [Emphasis added]

The Immutable

How many times would I change the most outward part of my self by imitating this and that person, whoever appeals to my mind? Countless times have I done this. I'm guilty of it! And instead of creating and strengthening a 'character' that would shake the ocean of falsehood, I have chosen the most superficial path of mere outward imitation of others. I am losing faith in Idea.

Thus. I find myself failing in my commitments; falling into the Satanic lap of luxury that dull the fire of Islamic faqr in me. The result is that I can't create a movement, I can't manage a movement, let alone leading it from heart. I don't seem to have life in me, or even its soul that could instigate me to act for the service of humankind, only for the sake of God.

Here I have the right to ask: Where do I find such energy? Where do I find a cure to these serious spiritual ills?

In the purification of self!
In the attainment of religious knowledge, of Quran primarily!

They say that there are three steps to the realization of purpose of our life: To know God; to love Him; and to serve Him.

How can a heart know Him if it is a house of Satan? And how can an intellect actually know Him fully if it has not the light of the Last and the Final Revelation? Both activities complement each other. They just can't be divorced from each other, while excluding other complex factors.

That's today's reflection, a solution I've arrived after much struggle and perplexity. May Allah forgive me and show me true light. (Ameen)

How to remove the sickness of heart?

A scholar once said that do following three things to remove sickness of heart:

* Visit the sick.
* Go to funerals.
* Go to graveyards.

Beyond doubt these actions soften hearts even if we are contemplating these, the latter action however is too meager to be called an action...

Of a Lifetime War

I find asking myself such question now-a-days: Any wind of change? Any hope of domaniting these thousand 'against the fitrah' (un-natural) urges that destroy the solace and harmony (the latter term as they say much misunderstood and misused) in me, the two precious things I inherited from my innocent childhood days?

[Pause in the flood of thoughts and feelings]

Shaikh Isa Nur-ud-din said:

"A noble man is one who dominates his self."

When you're caught up in later part of your life due to your misdeeds of past, how do you take the very first step? What if you're terrorized not by the troubles of this war you're to wage, but by the horrific error you live in, which has the potential to destroy you completely, in case you surrender?! Can this latter thought, when in affirmative, help the first proactive step sustain?
Or, can you ever hit-the-nail at the right spot if you're not even aware of the situation completely?

The answer to the last question is in Nay. Here becomes the "useful knowledge" - the kind of knowledge that takes Man from darkness to light - a blessing for being a 'necessity' in the first place. Some call it the "force": the energy behind the right offense againt the wrong offense. And rightly so. It's indeed a blessing, the right knowledge that frees man from error.

I thank God for that. And my prayer is - O Lord free us from the intoxication of ignorance and of this world.

* * *

You never are, however, in the position to say: All the rest is the work of man if you're a just Man once you have known the truth through God's help, or that you're given a set of integers to manipulate with them. Prayer is must for many reasons. One reason that fits in the mosaic this post is: on the one hand, there's "Taqdeer e Mutliq/Mutlaq", which means that destiny can change with the help of prayer or by some other mean; and on the other, there's "Taqdeer e Mubarram" (please correct these terms if wrong), the sort of destiny that is absolute and unchangable. Since we never know what the case is with someone, or with a particular situation, so it proves that prayer is must!
Prayer after "discernment between the Absolute and the Relative, the Real and the Illusion" is most "essential" thing for me, as it was for late Shaikh Isa Nur-ud-din.

Collector's Edition: Exotic Letters

First time in the history of "Umer Toor Blog", we present you the collectors, the highly bizzare and exotic letters your keyboard might possibly be lacking. Behooold!

"ÀÁÂÄÃÅÆæàáâäãå; Çç; íÌìÍÎîÏï; ÉÈÊËëéèê; ÓÒÔÖÕØŒœóòôöõø; Ññ; ÙÚÛÜûüúù; ÝŸÿý.

©®™þÞض§ßÐð«»“”¿¡ñ…"

Note: Handle them with care, and if you're Muslim, then any kind of 'wudu' would be more appropriate.

Divine vs. Worldly

Scene: Last moments at an airport departure longue.

Dr. Agha to Umer: Remember. Divine thought/knowledge/Light is inversely propotional to your indulgence in this world.

The former, i.e., the religious enlightenment, is never in direct relation with the absorption in this world, or, in other words, with worldly progress.

So let this formula be your yardstick to judge who has Light and who doesn't have. You can easily discern with it between True and False Spiritual Master. But above all live and apply this formula.


I don't think that material progress is in conflict with spiritual, although both are diametrically opposed to each other in quality (see "Islam at the Crossroad," ch. The Spirit of West). And that spiritual progress may take place with the material progress simultaneously, although it need not be necessary, as M. Asad remarks in the suggested book. What supports the advice of my teacher is the evident reality that when our roots are strong in this world the contemplation of the divine becomes very difficult. It was only possible for Prophet Muhammad (SAW) to balance between this world and the one beyond. I cannot go to "Mirage"; he did. I can't bear the immense pain he had to bear. He nonetheless remained absorbed in the thought of divine through both contemplation and practice. I wish to assimilate at least one world that which is higher. What else can I desire than that which is eternal!

Children of Swat

Photos taken by my friends

I only to need to say that I testify these are the children of Swat currently designated as IDPs...

An advice to the seekers of truth

There is this tendency among weak minds, notes al-Ghazali, of judging the truth from where it is to be found: That is, they are not concerned primarily about 'separating truth from falsehood', but they are much keen to know the possessors of truth and not the truth itself! Therefore, 'the prince of believers', Ali the son of Abu Talib, said:

"Do not seek for the truth by means of men; find first the truth and then you will recognize those who follow it."

Al-Ghazali further explains, "Honey does not become impure because it may happen to have been placed in the glass which the surgeon uses for cupping purposes. The impurity of blood is due, not to its contact with this glass, but to a peculiarity inherent in its own nature; this peculiarity, not existing in honey, cannot be communicated to it by its being placed in the cupping-glass; it is therefore wrong to regard it as impure. Such is, however, the whimsical way of looking at things found in nearly all men. Every word proceeding from an authority which they approve is accepted by them, even were it false; every word proceeding from one whom they suspect is rejected, even were it true. In every case they judge of the truth according to its professors and not of men according to the truth which they profess, a ne plus ultra of error. Such is the peril in which philosophy involves its opponents."

What is Life?

Life is the name of fulfilling your Covenants and nothing else. This is at the least the life of a true Muslim.

Shari'ah & Tariqah: Two Indispensible Aspects of Islam

S. H. Nasr explains this "geometric" explanation of the relationship between two most important dimensions of Islam, i.e. shari'ah (law) and tariq'ah (path or way) in his Ideals and Realities of Islam:

"Some of the traditional Sufi master, especially those of the Shadhiliyah order, have used the geometric symbol of a circle to depict the relation between these [i.e. shari'ah and tariqah] fundamental dimensions of Islam. From any point in space there can be generated a circle and an indefinite number of radii which connect every point of the circumference of the circle of the Centre. The circumference is the Shari'ah whose totality comprises the whole of the Muslim community. Every Muslim by virtue of accepting the Divine Law is as a point standing on this circle. The radii symbolize the Turuq (plural of Tariqah). Each radius is a path from the circumference to the Centre. As the Sufis say there are as many paths to God as there are children of Adam. The Tariqah, which exists in many different forms corresponding to different spiritual temperaments and needs of men, is the radius which connects each point to the Centre. It is only by virtue of standing on the circumference, that is, accepting the Shari'ah, that man can discover before him a radius that leads to the centre. Only in following the Shari'ah does the possibility of having the door of the spiritual life open become realized."

Now some words on the reality of Centre, or Haqiqah, and for some the need of walking on Tariqah despite being 'saved' by being on the periphery:

"Finally at the Centre there is the Haqiqah or truth which is the source of both the Tariqah and the Shari'ah. Just as geometrically the point generates both the radii and the circumference, so does metaphysically the Haqiqah create both the Tariqah and the Sahri'ah, that Haqiqah or Centre which is 'everywhere and nowhere'. The Law and the Way have both been brought into being independently by God who is the Truth. And both reflect the Centre in different ways. To participate in the Sahri'ah is to live in the reflection of the Centre or Unity, for the circumference is the reflection of the centre. It is thus the necessary and sufficient cause for living a whole life and being 'saved'. But there are always those whose inner constitution is such that they cannot only live in the reflection of the centre but must seek to reach It. Their Islam is to walk upon the Path towards the Centre. For them the Tariqah is providentially the means whereby they can attain that final End or Goal, that Haqiqah which is the Origin of all things..."

Much, much more can be quoted and reiterated about the subject matter, as this is only just a little preparation and 'clearing' required to delve deep into this subject which is to practised above all anything than to just talk about, for it is in the execution of this knowledge that our truest benefit lies.

* Artwork by yours truly

Difference between a "Service" & a "Product"

Source

According to a leading entrepreneur in Pakistan, services and products (both a form of business) are as if two opposing realities, as the difference between these two modes being very sharp. He observes that a service (for example, the job of a surgeon which deals with standard cases) requires the service provider to execute what he's best at in the best manner in order to 'create value'. The problem with making a new product, however, according to him, is that there's no repetition involved to save the day; rather, every time a company commences to develop a product that must be different from what is being offered in the market, it needs a whole new set of capabilities, technical expertise and organizational skills just to innovate a product, not many products. Moreover, another dilemma is that this, unlike providing tedious service(s), consumes an excessive amount of energy and resources. Burn rates, like stakes, are very high.

Change & Resistance

Source

I don't want to leave my home where I live now: the gracious triangular park right in front of my home; the mystical stillness in its surroundings; its mosque and its preacher who are like rays of sunlight in this "Dark Age"; its tahndi sarak (the 'cool' road); its evenings; its nights - I don't want a change. There is however one little problem - we've to leave it! My father has even selected the next home to-be. I cannot act deliberately to avert this 'fallout' sort of situation for me, nor should I attempt to resist the decision that has to be implemented, if God wills it.

Therefore, my life is going to be shifted. Change is inevitable, as ever? I doubt the last part of the preceding sentence, but from an unusual point-of-view. I find that certain breed of humans, characterized by their spiritual character and love of the All Powerful, are never bothered by any displacements, or change in circumstances, or in what is between the heavens and the earth. Because. They're in love at heart with the One, the Absolute, God Almighty, Who dominates everything. Such people of 'understanding' have no worries.

Consider those, who, on the other hand, are devoid of such love for such a Being, doubtlessly they need to reconsider their positioning. They should think of change that can lead them to the One, Independent, on Whom everything else depends. They should not dread it, the change. How difficult would be such a transition for someone like me, I yet have to find out very soon.

What is going to happen with me is going to be an experiment and test of the worth of my words. In my father's will is God's will, no doubt about that. But, my will currently is not aligned to his. And I am worried. And I am lazy. The path is clear that is yet not taken. It's 'wrath yet not awaken', to crush and forge my spirits, to make dents, to change and to help myself transcend the world of change and forms. To be free.

Of A (Very) Strange Event

Now. This is not a kind of post which can relate itself to the dubious motto of a book by Gurdjieff who states in effect about his book All and Everything, "Now I am going to tell you something people are not going to believe" or if something really strange is going to happen. Not that. Not that at all. Because his book is nothing but an anti-thesis to its very 'galvanizing' statement.

Once upon a time, once or twice? Once! Once upon a time, I was driving a rickshaw. A customer came by and said that he wanted to go to some place B, which to him was not far from point A, where we're located at the moment. I told him it would cost him 60 something, as I was empty for the time it took me to reach at point A. He fought for 40 something; argued hard in all what's gibberish; and we settled for it. When we reached at his destination. He gave me 100 something. I was amazed, and you ask: Amazed? I ask, "little?".

So I asked him: What for?! He behaved like a true economist-consumer (you've to admit it's a strange thing to happen these days with the passiveness of being a consumer). He said in a very factual and monotonous way, "40 something for bringing me here; 10 something for the time I wasted in arguing with you; and 20 something for what you had to give up to pick me up while we were free of any customer. Finally, take 30 something more - approximately - for the time you are to spend burning carbon empty (it was late at night) from here now on. These are all your 'opportunity costs' that no economist would ever pay you, so please sod off!"

I wish if there exists such an academic person who did everything what he theorized. Perhaps that's why people read fiction to the end, always.

The Rules of Communication

Military fascinates me, the way most of the Pakistani youth adore it, for even its outlook is very electrifying. Take for example the sternness of an army general. Like the one European (probably American or Britisher) who used to tell his junior comrades what he expects from them when he talks to them. He used to say:

I can't write what I mean; I can't say what I mean; but I want you to know what I mean.

I don't know whether they intend to be funny or not.

Question-mongering

Moderns, like profane philosophers, have an infinite capacity to ask questions (often not questioning questions), while at the same they do not posses any such capacity to digest the answers; and they also tend to approach the answers with a certain sort of contempt to what is 'shocking to their mental habits'.

The Way Things Are

Progress no; hope yes. Or better be: 'Hope yes; Progress no' - the very title of an interesting article on the comparison between Traditional world view and Moderns' by Houston Smith in his Forgotten Truth, the book. Nonetheless, I have found myself as never 'progressing' in any matter of high importance to me. I have always found myself, when in growth, to be regaining the innocence of childhood, becoming as pure as I was. I contemplate Insan al-Kamil (Universal or Perfect Man) in the innocence and uprightness of adolescents. No progress. I wish to repeat what T.S. Eliot said meaning by: "the wave of future will be a return to the past," as Houston Smith puts it:

There is only the fight to recover what has been lost

And found and lost again and again.

___________

Change is life; innovation not, as such.

___________

We sometimes come to like certain people, and care a lot about them, even if they do not pay heed to us at all, but we keep loving them. Actually. There's a bond between these souls, a bond that was created in the metacosmic world of which we unconscious in the microcosm, this lowest world in the hierarchy of realms. The souls must reunite, but not necessarily in this world. (The thought originally belongs to someone else, but felt, I think, by many.)

___________

There's rule and there's essence. Essence predominates the rule even if it's defined by the very rule.

___________

The thing 'to act' is as spontaneous as action itself. The process is calculated. Only healthy imagination can support correct action, not a lethargic and (too) skeptical one.

___________

One of the two essential parts of religion Islam is to fulfill our covenants with others, and to respect and build on our relationships. In the absence of this respect, the result would be destruction and mayhem among the people who do not respect each others words and integrity. This would lead to chaos, hence a complete chaotic society. The current situation of Swat in Pakistan testifies this perennial truth.

Maxim of the day!

There's nothing more dangerous than a general maxim.

(Unknown)