themusingmuslim

[themusingmuslim]

[themusingmuslim]

[themusingmuslim]

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”

— Jesus (peace be upon him), as quoted in Matthew 5:5

“And the end is (best) for the righteous”

— Qur'ān 7:128

#palestine #gaza 🇵🇸

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ٱللَّهُ نُورُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَ ٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِۚ

Translation of the full verse:

“Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is a niche, wherein is a lamp. The lamp is in a glass. The glass is as a shining star kindled from a blessed olive tree, neither of the East nor of the West. Its oil would well-nigh shine forth, even if no fire had touched it. Light upon light. Allah guides unto His Light whomsoever He will, and Allah sets forth parables for mankind, and Allah is Knower of all things”

— Qur'an 24:35

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“The Lord is my banner”

— Exodus 17:15

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Verses from Surah An'am Inscribed on the mihrāb at Idgah, Srinagar:

“Say, ‘My prayers and sacrifice, my life and death, are all for Allah, Lord of all the Worlds; He has no partner. So I am commanded, and so I am the first to submit.’”

6:162-163

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When Amir Khusrau wrote seven hundred years ago:

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Contemplating death is almost a taboo theme in popular culture, with a shift towards a ‘you only live once’ line of thinking. For people of presence, however, death is a profoundly significant transition between two different modes of existence. Which is why it's not enough to live life to the fullest, but also to die well, and to prepare for it during one's life.

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Mimbar (niche) and mehrab (pulpit) of an open air mosque.

The mehrab denotes the direction of the qiblah (direction of prayer) and the mimbar is a flight of steps that the imam (prayer leader) sits upon when preaching.

Pahalgam, Kashmir.

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To help others improve, one must first learn to love them. No good counsel can come from an uncaring heart, nor fair criticism from an unappreciative mind.

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Sometimes answered prayers manifest not necessarily as something that you asked for but as something that will be better for you in the larger scheme of things. There's wisdom in God's giving as well as His withholding.

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إِنَّ يَدَ اللهِ عَلَى الْجَمَاعَةِ

“...the Hand of Allah is over the united community...”

— Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

(Sunan al-Nasā’ī 4020; Narrator: Arfajah ibn Shurayh)

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وَالۡعٰدِیٰتِ ضَبۡحًا

By the snorting, panting horses

فَالۡمُوۡرِیٰتِ قَدۡحًا

Striking sparks of fire with their hooves

فَالۡمُغِیۡرٰتِ صُبۡحًا

As they gallop to make raids at dawn

فَاَثَرۡنَ بِہٖ نَقۡعًا

Raising clouds of dust

فَوَسَطۡنَ بِہٖ جَمۡعًا

Storming into the center collectively

اِنَّ الۡاِنۡسَانَ لِرَبِّہٖ لَکَنُوۡدٌ

Indeed the human being is ungrateful to his Lord,

وَاِنَّہٗ عَلٰی ذٰلِکَ لَشَہِیۡدٌ

And indeed, he is to that a witness

وَاِنَّہٗ لِحُبِّ الۡخَیۡرِ لَشَدِیۡدٌ

And violent is he in his love of wealth

اَفَلَا یَعۡلَمُ اِذَا بُعۡثِرَ مَا فِی الۡقُبُوۡرِ

But does he not know that when what is in the graves is scattered

وَحُصِّلَ مَا فِی الصُّدُوۡرِ

and the hearts' contents are retrieved

اِنَّ رَبَّہُمۡ بِہِمۡ یَوۡمَئِذٍ لَّخَبِیۡرٌ

their Lord will be fully aware of them all?

— (Qur'ān, 100:1-11)

[themusingmuslim]

Three different traditions, three different contexts, and three different meanings. The hag-gêr/gerim in the first, the xenos in the second, the garīb in the third probably refer to three different ideas of ‘stranger’.

And yet somehow, to me, they all refer to some form of estrangement. The first one is about remembering one's own estrangement so that one may embrace someone else in theirs, the second one is a recollection of being embraced in one's estrangement, and the last one, surprisingly enough, is about eventually embracing one's own estrangement, becoming it.

Loving one's neighbor is obviously a fundamental teaching in each of these three traditions. Everybody knows that. But you know what? I think I'm discovering that so is loving the stranger.

I am reminded of the famous narration from the Prophet ﷺ — “Islam began as something strange, and it will return to being strange, so glad tidings to the strangers.’”

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"Smiling in the face of your brother is your charity..."

"Enjoining good and forbidding evil is charity..."

"Guiding a lost man through the land is your charity..."

"Lending your eyesight to a man who cannot see well is your charity..."

"Removing rocks, thorns, and bones from the road is your charity..."

"Pouring your leftovers into the vessel of your brother is your charity..."

"Charity is due upon every joint of the people for every day upon which the sun rises..."

"Justly reconciling two people is charity..."

"Helping a man with his animal and lifting his luggage upon it is charity..."

"A kind word is charity..."

— from the selected sayings of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (Tirmidhi, Bukhari, Muslim)

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A Poem for the Prophet — a poem by Arctikos.

This poem is based on the nurturing quality of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ when it came to his ummah (the worldwide community of believers across time and space)

For more of Arctikos' poetry, follow him on Instagram here.

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