Peace, one and all…
I was recently asked to contribute to the Healthcare Chaplaincy course at St Michael’s Theological College in Cardiff. Here is the text of the reflection I offered (downloadable version)
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
Archive for January 10th, 2008
‘If It Stirs You to Hope’: Remembering the Purpose of Religion
January 10, 2008The Star Altair
January 10, 2008
According to Sol Station, Altair is a main sequence, white dwarf star. It has approximately 1.7 times the mass of the sun. Unusually, it also has a very fast rotation – it rotates once every 10.4 hours (or something close to that).
Although no evidence for a Jupiter-like planet has come to light, it is apparently a decent candidate for having an earth-like planet. Allah!
As the star above shows, Altair is part of the Aquila constellation (which means ‘eagle’ in Latin). Altair itself is derived from the Arabic term al-Ta’ir, meaning ‘the bird’. According to medieval astrologers it was a star of ill-omen, being connected for some reason to attacks by reptiles (source).
At any rate, such things aside, it is a very bright and beautiful stellar object. Praise be to God for the beauty of the night sky!
Image credits: NASA & Sol Station
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
Avoid Suspicion
January 10, 2008Peace, one and all…
‘O you who believe! avoid most of suspicion, for surely suspicion in some cases is a sin, and do not spy nor let some of you backbite others. Does one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? But you abhor it; and be careful of (your duty to) Allah, surely Allah is Oft-returning (to mercy), Merciful’ (49:12)
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
I Have Nothing
January 10, 2008Peace, one and all…
I Have Nothing
I have nothing to offer You,
but this threadbare cloth,
this worn garment of me.
I have nothing to offer You,
but this unfolding spiral,
this rising, falling, and rising again.
I have nothing
to offer You,
but me.
(Abdur Rahman, 10th January 2008)
A Door Leading Inwards
January 10, 2008Peace, one and all…
I recently visited a newly opened art gallery in Merthyr Tydfil. It was showcasing the work of a number of local artists, working in different media and with different styles and outlooks. There were a number of very beautiful paintings of our local hills and valleys (this is a very beautiful part of the UK). There were some very gifted portraits. There were also some paintings of what I can only describe as ‘dreamscapes’, images drawn from the world internal. One of these caught my eye. It showed an ice-blue mountain, with a slowly fading doorway in its centre. Although the colours were different, the image strongly reminded me of a dream I had about a year or so ago.
In this dream, I was walking in an English village. In front of me, there was a village green, beyond which stood an ice-cream van. To my right stood an ancient grey church, with a doorway leading into a darkened interior space.
Two children were playing. Somehow, I came to realise that these two young boys were Hasan and Hussain (may God shower His blessings upon them). Then, turning, I saw an older figure standing by the doorway itself. I realised, in that instantaneous dream-like way, that I was standing before Imam Ali (God ennoble his countenance). The Imam led me across the threshold of the church doorway, taking me a few steps inside. The church was grey and dimly lit; I could see that, in the distance, it became a cave. The Imam then walked off into the church/cave, at which point I woke up. I was left with a feeling of peace and with a feeling of having begun a journey. Al hamdu lillahi ala kulli hal.
Praise be to God, who has placed beauty in this world and who leads us all forth towards it.
Image credit: Real Daily Photos
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
A Slowly Ripening Pear
January 10, 2008Peace, one and all…
Written on the way to work today…
I am sitting on the train, travelling to work for the first time this year. I am looking at the picture on my new Walkman (an Eid gift from my wife and parents). The image before me is a beautiful example of the basmallah (Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim), cast into the form of a pear hanging on a tree. It is a very beautiful and evocative image. Indeed, when I look at it, it seems particularly suited to this first day back at work. The basmallah represents new beginnings and new starts. By dedicating the beginning of an act to God, the act and our very selves are sanctified: that act becomes an act of worship, of remembrance.
The basmallah as ripe fruit suggests several things to me: each new creation arrives on earth with its Creator’s Name inscribed in its living centre; each new beginning is a new fruit, waiting to fall into our needy hands; the mercy and compassion of God lie at the heart of all that exists; and mercy and tenderness cause our souls to ripen, to open.
May God bless all of us with new beginnings this year. May we all grow; may we all open; may we all ripen in the days and months ahead.
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
