‘The Sufi’s book is not of ink and letters; it is nothing but a heart white as snow’ (Mevlana Rumi, Mathnawi II.159)
Peace, one and all…
‘Say, ‘Have you not considered: if Allah should make for you the day continuous until the Day of Resurrection, what deity other than Allah could bring you a night in which you may rest? Then will you not see?’ (al-Qasas 28:72).
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
Peace, one and all…
Here’s a new video from MC Riz, a young Muslim rapper from Britain. This one’s called Post 9-11 Blues. Enjoy…
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
Insha Allah, I’ll start my new Muslim chaplaincy course this Wednesday. I’m looking forward to it, of course, and given Islam’s focus on intention, I thought I’d offer a few reflections.
Though I’ve yet to begin, I’ve got a number of questions in mind. What does it mean to be a chaplain? What do chaplains actually do? Isn’t a Muslim chaplain a contradiction in terms?
Well, to take the last question first. The term chaplain, of course, comes from the Christian tradition and refers to someone (usually a priest or other member of the ordained clergy). Chaplains usually offer spiritual and pastoral advice to their congregants. Obviously, the term translates a little strangely to Muslim ears. Islam doesn’t have an ordained priesthood and so the idea of an ordained chaplain doesn’t apply. However, the central idea, that of offering spiritual and pastoral advice on a personal basis, is an Islamic one.
Given the apparent awkwardness of the term, I think there are some misconceptions of what a Muslim chaplain can and should do. There seems to be an idea that a Muslim chaplain should be an imam only. Whilst, of course, imams are chaplains in practice (in that they offer advice), not all imams are suited to such work, for a variety of reasons.
As someone about to start training as a chaplain, I don’t see myself as an imam, far from it. My personal understanding at this moment is that my function is to offer advice and guidance to individuals. That is, I see a chaplain’s key role as being to provide a ready ear to which Muslims can go to listen to their problems. A chaplain doesn’t have to be an expert in Islamic Law (which would certainly count me out). Rather, they have to be able to listen attentively to Muslims’ problems, and offer sensitive advice.
Wa akhiru da’wana an il hamdu lillahi rabbil alameen.
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
Peace, one and all…
Bob Marley has always been a big inspiration of mine. As such, I wanted to share the lyrics of a song I’ve always found inspirational. It’s called Crisis and is taken from the album Kaya. Enjoy.
They say the sun an-a shines for all,
But-a yin some people world, it never shine at all. Mm-mm-mm.
They say love is a stream that will find its course;
I mean – some-a people think life is a dream
So they making matters worse.
But no matter what the crisis is;
No matter what the crisis is:
Doin’ it, doin’ it, doin’ your thing!
(Give Jah all the thanks and praises!)
Givin’ it, givin’ it, givin’ it, givin’ it!
(Give Jah all the thanks and praises!)So – so – so much have been said, so little (been done) been done
They still killin’ – killin’ the people
And they – and they havin’ (havin’ their fun) – havin’-a – havin’-a lots of fun -
Killin’ the people, oo-yoo! – (havin’ fun) havin’ their fun!
They just want to be the leader
In the ‘ouse of the risin’ sun.But no matter what the crisis is;
Oh, no, oh, no no – no what the crisis is:
Do your – live it up, live it up, live it up, live it up!
(Give Jah all the thanks and praises!)
Live it up, live it up, live it up, live it up!
(Give Jah all the thanks and praises!)—
/Instrumental break/
—They say the sun-un-un-un shines for all,
But-a yin some people world, it never shine at all!
They say love is a stream,
That will find its course, and every river runs to sea;
Some people still think life is a dream,
So they – so they makin’ – makin’ it worse.No matter what the crisis is;
No matter what the crisis is:
Do it: live it up, live it up, live it up, live it up!
(Give Jah all the thanks and praises!)
Live it up, live it up, live it up, live it up!
(Give Jah all the thanks and praises!)
(Give Jah all the thanks and praises!)
His mercies endureth for ever, yeah!
(Give Jah all the thanks and praises!)
Oh, children, come on, and give Jah -
(Give Jah all the thanks and praises!)
Children, come on, and give Jah -
(Give Jah all the thanks and praises!) /fadeout/
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
Peace, one and all…
Here’s a beautiful rendition of the well known nasheed Madad Ya Rasul Allah, by Mohamed Mounir. Enjoy and may Allah make it beneficial.
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
Peace, one and all…
As I was returning home from SOAS yesterday, I opened the book of Mevlana’s poetry that I was reading and my eyes fell on the following verse. Ya Allah!
‘Being unfaithful is like the outside of a fruit peeling.
It’s dry and bitter because it’s facing away from the centre.
Being faithful is like the inside of the peeling,
wet and sweet. But the place for peelings
is the fire. The real inside is beyond ’sweet’
and ‘bitter’. It’s the source of deliciousness’.
Ya Hazret-i Mevlana Hakk Dost!
O Beloved! Help me reach beyond peelings, to the very source of deliciousness itself.
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
Peace, one and all…
I’m currently sitting in my father-in-law’s house, just outside London. We’ve come for a brief weekend away, as my in-laws will soon be travelling to Pakistan for a few weeks. My wife has come armed with a long list of things to get from Pakistan, including all manner of household implements.
I always find it hard to respond when I’m asked to choose something for myself. Not that I find it hard to choose things. Rather, it’s that the things I’d like are so heavy that it feels churlish to ask my in-laws to drag them all the way from Pakistan. There are many, many books I’d like to get, but I couldn’t ask them to drag an entire copy of Tabari’s Tarikh back with them. Likewise, I couldn’t ask them to purchase a copy of al-Kulayni’s al-Kafi fi ulum al-din.
What I’d really love to do is to travel to Pakistan myself (or travel, full stop). Then, we could buy all the things we wanted ourselves, without having to bother other people. I’d love to travel just for its own sake too. But, at present, this is a bit beyond us. Al hamdu lillah. Allah is the One who gives all ability, at a time of His choosing.
As on most visits to London, I went to SOAS Library yesterday. For those unfamiliar, SOAS is the School of Oriental & African Studies, in central London. As you might expect, it’s one of my favourite places in the world (due to the presence of large numbers of interesting books). I conducted this library raid with a distinct purpose: to find materials for my forthcoming year 2 course, Shia Islam: History & Theology. As such, virtually all of the materials I collected relate to the study of Shi’i thought and history. These include:
The course will, insha Allah, take a broadly chronological look at the development of Shi’i thought: especially with regards to key doctrinal matters (such as imamate). Insha Allah, it’ll be an interesting course. Once I’ve got enough material together I may even post them over at The Islamic History Corner.
Well, that’s all for now.
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
