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Writer's pictureMichael Folk
Apr 1424 min read

Liberal Democracy - Ihsan ("excellence"). - Clarifying False Islam (Wahhabi and false or misguided creeds/understandings)

Bismallah r-Rahman ir-Raheem. Al hamdu lillah rabbil alameen. Ash hadu lillah illa Allahu wa ash hadu anna Muhammad abdulu Rassullahi.


4/11/24


Watched a cool video during Taekwondo class today. It was motivating ( it was the "forms" of a gold medal world champion.)


There are some problems with liberalism I would say and what it produces.


Look at this. This is Ihsan - excellence! - The opposite of liberalistic type of apathy. - I am not the greatest or anything myself - The Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. is/was the greatest human ever.


- Is good to have Ihsan in your life. To treat everything and everyone with respect and care. Every moment really inshallah. We only have one life and then it is over.




( - watched but not a big deal: 3 Best Martial Arts Styles | No, It's Not Yours Combat Self Defense • 1.4M views There are thousands of martial arts styles in the world, but only 3 of them are used in real combat. Today we talk about what those 3 are, and what that means for your training. SUPPORT ME...)


This is right and the truth (pretty much). I have read enough of the book "Islam and Politics" to confirm.: https://islamqa.info/en/answers/98134/concept-of-democracy-in-islam

----- Can democracy really produce excellence? it hasn't proven yet that it really can it could be argued and looked at from a historical material perspective. Not that this current geopolitical economic situation with the modern nation-states has been around for very long anyway. Islam is different.



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The Final Sermon: Conveying Religion

The words of our beloved Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) are full of rich lessons. Among them is his address during the farewell Hajj. This is the fourteenth in a series of articles on The Prophet’s Last Sermon, Lessons for Humanity.


“Then let whoever is present tell whoever is absent.”

The central religious duty that we have as a community is the preservation of religion. The greatest duty of the Prophetic community is to preserve what the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) has come with. 


First, we have to appreciate that preserving religion is a collective duty and the greatest voluntary good an individual could be engaged in after fulfilling their own personal duty to God. Secondly, this is done through learning soundly and thirdly, by conveying clearly and soundly. 


This relates to the believer’s sense of life and purpose. What were you created for?

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was commanded to tell them:

قُلۡ هَـٰذِهِۦ سَبِیلِیۤ أَدۡعُوۤا۟ إِلَى ٱللَّهِۚ عَلَىٰ بَصِیرَةٍ أَنَا۠ وَمَنِ ٱتَّبَعَنِیۖ“Say, ‘This is my path: I summon to Allah upon the full light of insight, I and whoever truly follows me” [Quran, 12:108; tr. Keller, Quran Beheld]

The greatest thing you could dedicate yourself to in life is to be one of those who walk with the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in this life. If you walk with him in this life, then you are with him in the hereafter and that is the highest possible rank you can have. 

Of course, you call yourself first, and then you call others, with insight. Insight has four qualities: it is knowledge, with understanding, with wisdom, and with mercy.


Seek Knowledge

Wisdom is consideration of consequences. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Knowledge is only through study.” Study is what a student does with a teacher.

The scholars say that becoming a container for knowledge also entails paying attention to the state of the container. If you put clean water in a dirty container, the water may be clean, but the container will make it dirty. 


Most of the scholars dedicated their whole life to learning and the community supported them. But, so many scholars worked all their lives, learned and taught. Others did not learn a lot themselves, but they learned what they needed. However, they supported those who learned or they made their children into scholars. 


Have a sense of purpose, which is the Prophetic sense of purpose: “My community, my community.” That is what the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) will be saying on the Day of Resurrection. That was the subject of much of his supplication at night. Ummati. Ummati.


So much so that Jibril came multiple times to say: “O Muhammad, Allah has sent me to tell you, ‘We will not let you down with respect to your community.’”

Allah says:

وَلَسَوۡفَ یُعۡطِیكَ رَبُّكَ فَتَرۡضَىٰۤ“And verily your Lord shall give you full nobly, and you be satisfied beyond measure!” [Quran, 93:5; tr. Keller, Quran Beheld]

 "



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The Final Sermon: Fraternity of Humanity


The words of our beloved Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) are full of rich lessons. Among them is his address during the farewell Hajj. This is the thirteenth in a series of articles on The Prophet’s Last Sermon, Lessons for Humanity.

“O people, your Lord is One, and your father is one. All of you are from Adam, and Adam was from earth.”

Here, there is a wider call to the wider fraternity, which is the fraternity of the human being. What is your identity as a believer? You are a servant of God. How do you identify any other believer? They are a servant of God. How do you view the other human being? They are the creation of Allah – they are human beings.

وَلَقَدۡ كَرَّمۡنَا بَنِیۤ ءَادَمَ “Verily We have loftily honored the offspring of Adam” [Quran, 17:70; tr. Keller, Quran Beheld]

In that sense, you are the same as them. You are a human being and they are a human being. The greatest honor is that you are a believer. The broader honor is that you are a human being. But broader than that, you are a creation.  Everything else is creation which is why we do not harm even inanimate objects.


Charity in Creation

In every living thing and every inanimate object, there is charity. What is a charity? That you do not harm it, that you fulfill its rights, and that you do good concerning it. If you are walking down the street and you see bread lying around, pick it up, put it in a high place and intend that birds and others eat it.


There is all this legislation going around now to recognize the rights of land, water and all these things. It is nothing new for us. Just learn your religion. Religion is caring for good. Religion is sincere concern. 


The point is, Adam being from dust is that the salvific, Adamic quality, the distinguishing quality of Prophet Adam (upon him be peace) was his humility. He was created in paradise but to be on earth. Prophet Adam (upon him be peace) committed no sin. He acted in good faith. He believed the person who came to him. 


The descent of Adam was an ascent towards the fulfillment of his purpose. When he felt that he did not quite do what was most pleasing to his Lord, he sought Allah’s forgiveness.


قَالَا رَبَّنَا ظَلَمۡنَاۤ أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمۡ تَغۡفِرۡ لَنَا وَتَرۡحَمۡنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ ٱلۡخَـٰسِرِینَ“They said, ‘Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and show us mercy, we shall be of the wholly ruined.’” [Quran, 7:23; tr. Keller, Quran Beheld]

But he did not wrong himself, he did not sin. He acted in good faith, but this is his humility. That is the distinction between Adam (upon him be peace) and Satan. Pride was the ultimate fall of Iblis:

أَنَا۠ خَيْرٌۭ مِّنْهُ“’I am better than he” [Quran, 7:12; tr. Keller, Quran Beheld] 

Acting with humility brings people together. Whether in family, in communities, in society, or humanity. Not to think one is better than the other, that is the basis of racism, “I am better than him, we are better than them.” That is Satanic.


Have Humility


You only have virtue to the extent that you have faith and its virtues, to the extent you have mindfulness (taqwa) and act accordingly, to the extent that you have humility and act accordingly. Anytime you make your ascription of faith of pride and arrogance over others, this is from the misguided ways of many of those before us. 


Have humility with others. Yes, we behold the gift and honor of faith, but we want the good for others. We do not approach the Christian, Jew person, Hindu or atheist that “I’m better than him.” How do you know you are better than him? Actions are by the ending.


You have no blessing except that it is from Allah. You do not deserve it. Nobody deserves it. It is a pure gift. How do you know you will preserve it?


 "



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"


One’s etiquette in social situations is the key foundation to having strong relationships with others. This article is the twelfth in a series taken from the On Demand Course: Discussion on Sulami’s Adab of Keeping Company.


The main emphasis here is on continuity. Be thinking about all the various ways of good in the relationship. Mercy is that you care about their good and you do the good for them. Gentle concern is that you want ease for them, not hurt. for them. 


Think of ways of good that you can choose to highlight. Be appreciative. Very often, we pick on things to criticize. 


Be continual in maintaining ties. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) reportedly said, “Keep your relations moist even if it be just by giving salam.”


The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:

“Whoever doesn’t express mercy isn’t given mercy.”

Whoever does not express mercy to people is not given mercy by the All-Merciful. There are many similar narrations as well. “It is the merciful who are shown mercy by the All Merciful. Be merciful to those on earth and the Lord of the heavens will be merciful to you.”

Sometimes we think of mercy as just being some abstract sense of care. Mercy is not mercy unless expressed. Be continual in mercy, gentle concern, soft words, consistent goodness, and in maintaining ties.


That consistency is a means to Divine mercy as well.


Merciful Concern

Look at people with the critical eye, not of putting them down, but, the critical eye of merciful concern. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to walk behind his companions frequently. They found that strange because normally the leader would walk ahead. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Leave my back for the angels.” 


When the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) walked, the angels would walk with him. The companions observed at least four or five main reasons why the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) walked behind the companions. One of them, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) mentioned himself, “Leave my back for the angels.” The second was out of his humility. The third was to teach humility. Even if you are the leader, do not distinguish yourself from others. 


A fourth was that he used to carefully observe his companions who looked like they were in financial difficulty, Who was sad? Did anyone feel down? Was someone feeling weak? Who looked sick? etc. He used to attend to those concerns (Allah bless him and give him peace). 

Soft words are very important. When you notice that someone is going through difficulty, particularly be more gentle towards them. 

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) reportedly said, “Righteousness is good character.” 



Consistent Good

Fulfill all possibilities of good. How can you do that? Question yourself, “What can I possibly do for this person?” Then do as much as possible. That is a high quality. The difference between just maintaining ties when you travel to visit people and having righteousness is that by maintaining ties, you will take a gift. As for righteousness/fulfilling all possibilities of good it could be for example knowing four people in that place, “What does each of them need? What would benefit the most?” You try to take of that as much as you can. 


One of the great scholars of Pakistan traveled to Jordan with several cartons worth of books. He paid for excess baggage to bring them. They were not his books. He would carefully choose books to give to different scholars, students, etc. When he went back to Pakistan, he sent several cartons worth of books and other gifts.


Every single person he met, he sent them some gift that was appropriate to the person. He gave little explanations too. For some people, he sent envelopes of a decent amount of money. This is the idea of consistent goodness.


All Character

Shah al-Kirmani, one of the great early Muslims, said:

“Spirituality is all character. Whoever has better character than you, has more spirituality than you.”

This is not to compare oneself with others, but that one of the greatest tests on one’s spiritual journey is the test of character. 


When annoyed, upset, disappointed, or angered, how do you respond? That is part of the struggle. 


Strive to cultivate these qualities. Texts like this serve as a mirror, this is how Allah and His Messenger have called us to be. This is how the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and his companions, may Allah be pleased with them, and the early Muslims lived.

This is how the righteous of the Umma live. We do our best to approximate. Ask Allah for these qualities.

"


Wow.


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Smile and Be Cheerful



"

One’s etiquette in social situations is the key foundation to having strong relationships with others. This article is the thirteenth in a series taken from the On Demand Course: Discussion on Sulami’s Adab of Keeping Company.


Smiling and having a smiling face. Being cheerful is one of the traits of the true servants of Allah.


Despite having greater responsibility and concern than anyone else, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was constantly cheerful and smiling, even though he was continual in his deep concerns (Allah bless him and give him peace). 


Companion after companion said “I’ve never seen anyone smile more than the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace).


Smile with Contentment


Part of this arises from a spiritual state. We are not smiling for people (as that is a transactional smile), rather, smile in contentment with Allah. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) would be smiling in contentment with Allah. 


It is surprising how little we smile as Muslims. Looking serious is not from the traits of the righteous. The righteous are those who rightly follow the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). He was ever smiling (Allah bless him and give him peace). 


Smile with dignity, never with folly. Nearly all the laughter of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was smiling. He (Allah bless him and give him peace) did not laugh out loud. He would have a wide smile or a wider smile or a very wide smile till his molars could be seen. That is the dignified smiling of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). 


Allah says:

 إِذۡ هُمَا فِی ٱلۡغَارِ إِذۡ یَقُولُ لِصَـٰحِبِهِۦ لَا تَحۡزَنۡ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَنَاۖ “When the two were in the cave, when he said to his companion: ‘Grieve not, Allah is truly with us’” [Quran, 9:40; tr. Keller, Quran Beheld] 

If you are not smiling, people may get concerned and worried. When you have that goodness towards them, you want to put them at ease.


Ibn Abbas was asked, “What is good character?” He reportedly replied, “Good character isn’t something very difficult. It is a smiling face and kind words.” 


Serve with Contentment


The Prophet’s gathering (Allah bless him and give him peace) was described, “They would not part except having tasted something.”


Most of the scholars explain that they would not leave except having experienced something that increased their faith.


There is also the literal sense, having tasted something that almost invariably, something, even if small, even if it be dates. 


Consider having some kind of sweet or candy at the door. When people leave there would be something to take with them. 


Serve your guests. The rights of the guests are known by those noble. It may seem convenient to say, “The water is in the fridge and this is here and that is there,” but serve them. 


If you have people at your house, do not just say, “The food is ready, it is on the grill, make your burgers,” but, actively strive to be the one serving. 


This is not just with your seniors or friends. It is also with those junior to you. 


There is a false etiquette with our teachers where one seeks to be polite yet it is in a manner that makes us distant from them: not visiting them. You may make an excuse that they are busy but everybody is busy. The Sunna was not abrogated by busyness. Furthermore, we do not invite them over or spend time with them.


Benefit from their character and wisdom. If a scholar comes to town, invite him over or to go visit them. Take food.


Feed People


Feed people. They are going to be eating at least two meals a day pretty much every day of the year. Figure out some time where they can eat with you or you can take food over to them.


Whoever believes in Allah and the last day, let them honor their guest. You cannot follow that sunna unless you have people over. 


We should be honored if someone is visiting. It may be convenient for them to stay at a hotel but, have them stay with you. You do not have to be fancy. Dividers could be used. 


Serve in the Sorrow and Joy

“Laugh, and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone” [Wilcox, Solitude]

That is the nature of worldly relations. We do not share with people just in their joys. The true friend is the one who is there for you in your sorrow and distress. That entails a degree of closeness.


It entails that we go beyond superficiality in relations. That we really know how people are doing, not out of prying into their affairs or testing their privacy. One of the things is to ask them questions but to go beyond the superficial. 


Some of the early Muslims did not like the question, “How are you?” because the question is insincere. They did not ask sincerely wanting to know. And when the person says, “I am fine,” they do not really mean it. 


They were so careful about being truthful in their concern. Their relations were not superficial . 

One of the ways one asks is, “How are your parents doing? Your children? Your this or that?” 

Our master Ali bin Abi Talib reportedly said:


“Your true friend is the one who is there for you. One who would hurt himself in order to help you. And if the trials of time break you apart, they would ruin themselves to bring you back together.” 

Such friends are rare. The challenge is to be such a friend.


Maintain Balance


Have a balance. Show concern but do not aggravate the distress of the hurt individual. Uplift to assist. 


With those who are sick, etiquette is not to ask about their sickness. Rather, say words of encouragement. 


To share in that does not mean that you wallow in that with them. Neither should you ask probing intimate questions. Listen to them. Be sensitive. 


Do not be too positive as that can be hurtful. Take people where they are. Be of assistance. Be of encouragement as is suitable. When you are not sure, just listen. 


Sometimes it is not necessarily just the scholars and the righteous. We may have someone in the family with extraordinary empathy. Learn by observing. 


Sometimes when you are not sure, go with somebody else or discuss with somebody who knows them well. Consider calling someone asking, “How are they doing,” so you get a little bit of background that helps you be appropriate to the particular situation. 


Make your manners the main meal and your words like salt. Too much salt is overbearing in food.

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