My Latest Catch of Pearls

Peace, one and all…

As we approach the safe harbour of Ramadan, here are my latest catch of pearls – freshly drawn from the seas of blog.  Enjoy…

• The Green Witch: Revenge
• House of Innana: The Personal Remains Political and Vice-versa
• The Manrilla Blog: The Presumption of Privilege
• Katib: Whoever Wants to Know His Own Station in the Sight of Allah
• Dharmakara’s Prayer: True Community

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Surah al-A`raaf

Peace, one and all…

Following a recent recommendation, I have been reading Surah al-A`raaf of late.  Surah al-A`raaf is the seventh chapter of the Quran.  I have found the following recitations, by Sheikh Mohamed al-Mohysani, on You Tube (with English language translation) and so I want to share them.  Insha Allah, I will add my own reflections on this powerful chapter shortly.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

We Do Not Shoulder These Burdens Alone

Peace, one and all…

Someone very close to me is in serious financial trouble.  Unfortunately, another obstacle appeared in front of them this weekend.  As we mulled this new obstacle over together, we were both struck by the same thought: we have struggled and struggled and struggled with this issue and we simply cannot do anything else at present.  This has caused great stress all round.  For a long time now, we both feel as though we’ve been carrying the world on our shoulders.  And as with Atlas, our shoulders have become sore.

But this realisation was swiftly followed by two others.  Firstly, I will not run away.  I will not desert this close one in their hour of need.  Secondly, now that we have tried, I now know that the matter is entirely in God’s hands.  I, for one, trust those hands for they are hands of tenderness and compassion.

We do not shoulder these burdens alone.  Even though times are tough, God’s aid arrives in each new moment – if we but open our eyes to see.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

This Whirling of Galaxies

Peace, one and all…

Sometimes, the heart is stirred and all unknowing, it reaches towards its Beloved; or rather, the Beloved’s hand reaches out and sets the heart spinning.  And, in these all too brief times, to place my face upon the floor in prayer is like lowering my innermost soul into a pool of water, translucent as silver glass, in which thought becomes as still and as deep as a subterranean stream flowing silently amidst the living heart of earth. 

As I lay my face upon this water, my heart envisions itself as an entire world, moving in awe-struck orbit around the wondrous light of the Beloved’s love.  Planets and stars, entire galaxies of light, dance their way around the Beloved’s face – happy merely to shine in the presence of that love.

This whirling of galaxies is life’s sacred dance, moving through each interconnected fibre of being and each pearl-like moment of existence, in a universe that lives, breathes and moves beneath the glorious throne of the Beloved’s radiance.

Image credit: Space Photos

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Ramadan Events

Peace, one and all…

With Ramadan a week or so away, a number of organisations are running courses/holding events of interest.  These include the following, all in London:

• IIDR: Fiqh of Fasting (Sat 23rd August)
• Azhar Academy: Ramadan: a Month of Blessings and Greatness (Sat 23rd August)
• Hounslow Mosque: Preparing for Ramadan (with Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoobi) (Tues 26th August)
• Wharf Muslim Association: Preparing for Ramadan – a Women’s Perspective (Weds 27th August)

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

My Favourite Foods

Tags

food, gratitude, Ramadan

Peace, one and all…

 

Following on from sister Aaminah’s Grateful to Allah Blog Carnival, here are a few things I am sincerely grateful to God for.  As you will soon notice, given that Ramadan is fast approaching, this particular list consists of all my favourite foods!  Allah!

• Clean, cold water on a hot day
• Milk
• Lassi/Laban: produced in many parts of the world, this is a drink made from milk and yoghurt.  Sometimes with sugar (yum), sometimes with salt (yuck) and often with fruit (double yum)!
• Olives and olive oil: I truly, madly, deeply love olives and olive oil.  Olives come in all shapes and sizes, and all of them are lovely!
• Cherries, apples and grapes: these are 3 of my favourite fruits.  We don’t get cherries all of the time and so when we do, they don’t last long!  My children love apples, as do I.  I grew up in London with a small apple tree in the garden.  My in-laws have a huge apple tree in their garden.  Grapes are delicious and the occasion for much humour in our house: both of my daughters enjoy biting them, sucking the juice out of them and passing me the remnants!
• Mangos: my wife’s family say that Pakistani mangos are the best in the world, ever!  Based on my own experience, I would probably agree (though I’ve not had many from elsewhere).  Mango eating is a delicately crafted ritual in my in-laws home: my wife and mother-in-law sit down, out comes a wickedly sharp knife and before you can say ‘bismillah’, a plate of neatly sliced mango pieces are produced.  I like to eat the skin – though my wife says that it’s disgusting.
• Humous and taramasalata: I love both and so does my wife.  Fortunately, neither seem to be very popular in Merthyr and so there’s often lots of it in the reduced section of Tescos.
• Freshly cooked, warm crusty bread: Allah!  What can I say!
• A traditional sunday roast dinner: a childhood favourite and great on any day of the week!
• Cawl: a traditional Welsh soup/stew (often made with lamb).  My beloved wife makes a really lovely cawl.
• Achar Gosht (Pickled Meat, approximately): fiery, spicy and the cause of much chili-induced pain/pleasure
• My mother-in-law’s chicken curry
• Porridge
• Supermalt: a malt-based, alcohol-free drink.  I really do love supermalt (and I can now buy it in Merthyr Tydfil).  Not loved by everyone (and loathed by my wife and sister).  But, hey!  I like it.
• Coffee: I drink too much coffee, but there’s nothing quite like it.
• Tea: I love all kinds of tea – although I especially love Earl Grey and Mint Tea.
• Family barbecues: another much-loved family ritual, also involving much care, effort and attention to detail; my wife’s family tell me that Pakistani barbecues are the best in the world.
• Eating food (of any kind) with my wife and three children

Sometimes, we spend so much time thinking about other things that we forget to thank God for the simple things – for the food we eat, and the water we drink.  Allah!  I have so much to be grateful for.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Agape and Eros, Nature and Nurture

Peace, one and all…

In his interesting history of the Christian concept of love (Agape and Eros), Anders Nygren sets out his purpose in the following manner:

‘first, to investigate the meaning of the Christian idea of love; and secondly, to illustrate the main changes it has gone through in the course of history’ (p. 27)

During the introductory chapter, he attempts to differentiate between agape and eros as forms or theories of love, saying effectively that there is no original conceptual relationship between the two:

‘first, that in Eros and Agape we have two conceptions which have originally nothing whatsoever to do with one another; and, second, that in the course of history they have none the less become so thoroughly bound up and interwoven with one another that it is hardly possible for us to speak of either without our thoughts being drawn to the other.  Any attempt to draw a clear and essential distinction between Eros and Agape, therefore, can easily look like a violent and artificial separation of things that by nature belong together’ (p.30-31)

He explores this apparent relationship further, arguing that in origin they represent radically different approaches to spirituality and the spiritual life:

‘When we speak of Eros and Agape, therefore, we are thinking of them all the time in this sense – that is, as ‘fundamental motifs’ (p.34)

Erose and Agae are thus conceptual motifs and should be studied as such.  How then to explore such ideas?  Nygren differentiates between ‘historical-genetic research’ and ‘motif-research’:

‘As distinct from historical-genetic research, motif-research is concerned less with the historical connections and origins of motifs than with their characteristic content and typical manifestations’ (p. 35).

Oddly, as it struck me, immediately prior to this he makes the following observation:

‘What such an idea, or belief, or sentiment really means, can only be decided in the light of its own historical context’ (p. 35)

Although, admittedly, I have only just begun to explore this very interesting work, such an approach seems limited.  If the book’s aim is to explore the content of the Christian love-motif, how can that be done without constant reference to issues of context?  To speak of a concept through history is to speak of how it is deployed by people and the social environments they inhabit.  Moreover, to speak of ‘characteristic content and typical manifestations’ runs the risk of privileging one historically-located reading over all others.  That is, it opens up the possibility of making one form the only form, which would be strange indeed in a work of history.  Is there even a ‘characteristic’ form, that might be manifested in ‘typical’ (and presumably, therefore, atypical) ways?  Is typical manifestation somehow distinct from contextual manifestation?

Perhaps, reducing this argument/method to its essentials, Nygren’s argument is suggesting the existence of an ‘essence’, of an always true form of love-motif that has appeared throughout Christian history in either its ‘pure’ or ‘adulterated’ form?  In other words, is this merely another aspect of the much wider nature vs nurture debate? 

For my part, I have no clearly worked out answer (indeed, this blog is part of my attempts to work through such large questions, bit by bit).  I do not see this issue in terms of absolutes: a thing must have some kind of essential quality in order for it to be distinguished from other things.  Yet, this world of time and space, of context and environment, plays an absolutely fundamental role in how we as humans approach questions of meaning and existence – or else, how would we explain differences within religious traditions (both in terms of culture and in terms of time)?

Allah!  Yet more questions without immediate answers!

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

God Draws Us Forth

Peace, one and all…

God draws us forth from ourselves, in spite of all our weary excuses, all our subtle turnings away.  In spite of all our selfish urges, all our unhelpful deeds of sorrow, we are called to become what we were truly meant to be.  In spite of all the shameful acts we have wrought upon the living face of Mother Earth, we are called to restore, to heal and to give back what we have taken without right.

But, in spite of Divine Mercy, we fear to render back the trusts we have been given.  And herein lies both our weakness and our strength.  When, in spite of our wrongdoings, we turn back towards the source then, in that moment, we will find God standing by our side, shouldering the weary burdens of life for us. 

We are called by God to be more than we currently are – to become what we truly are.  And in the hope-filled mercy of this call do I place my own heart, my own life and all that I may ever become.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Within This Chest

Peace, one and all…

Within This Chest

Within this chest of mine lies a secret
that even I do not know,
a garden in which I have never walked.

Beyond the windows of these two eyes
lies a pool of clear water,
whose depths I have never plumbed.

Inside the secret ear of my heart
an unknown song rings out,
a hymn to a Beloved I have never seen.

Abdur Rahman, 16th August 2008

The Only Race Worth Running

Peace, one and all…

During the last few weeks before the beginning of Ramadan, I often feel as though I’m dragging my weary soul behind me: ‘just a few more miles and we’ll be there’ I seem to hear myself say.  In that sense, Ramadan is like the end of a race, a place of safety from which to look, all Janus-like, both backwards and forwards.

But then, Ramadan is also the beginning of a race – a race against the selfish dictates of the soul and a race of endurance in the face of privation and quietude.  The first two weeks of Ramadan find me energised and enthused.  As with any race, fatigue begins to set in towards the end and I find myself flagging.  In the past, I’ve either ignored my failing stamina (and thus exhausted myself to the point of illness) or else I’ve slowed down, at exactly the wrong time.

The last 10 days of Ramadan are, in many ways, the most important of the whole month.  Tradition relates that hidden amongst the odd nights of these days is the Night of Power/Decree (Laylat al-Qadr).  Although many believe that this falls on the 27th Ramadan, there are a number of prophetic traditions which suggest it could be either the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th or 29th.  Perhaps one possible reason for this indeterminacy is that it encourages us towards endurance, as if to say: ‘the finish line is close now – just this last sprint towards the finish line left’?

The 97th chapter of the Quran refers to Laylat al-Qadr.  Here is an English language translation of the text:

We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power.  And what will explain to thee what the night of power is?  The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.  Therein come down the angels and the Spirit by Allah’s permission, on every errand; Peace!…This until the rise of morn!’ (Surah al-Qadr 97:1-5, trans. A Y Ali)

This night is connected with the original descent of revelation to the Prophet (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam).  It thus marks that time when Allah draws this world closer to the Eternal Realm, to the world beyond this one.  Angels descend on missions of mercy: hearts are healed, souls refreshed and unhelpful deeds are forgiven.  This might be one reason why it is explicitly said to be ‘better than a thousand months’ and that in it descends peace: the peace beyond understanding that heals all things.

How then can I find and experience this blessed night myself?  This is the real question: how can I prepare myself to see it and witness it?  I want to make the pursuit of laylat al-qadr my aim this Ramadan.  I want to make it a time when I lay aside all thoughts of ‘I want’, to be solely in communion with God.  To connect with God is to connect with the very ground of my (and all) being.  It is to centre myself and then to use the energy from this moment to aid in the transformation of my heart, my life and my human relationships.  Perhaps this is because laylat al-qadr offers me the opportunity to stand before God with all of my defences lowered, to stand completely naked before Hu – without turning or running away.  By consciously and voluntarily revealing my dependence upon and vulnerability before God, I can (insha Allah) learn how to open myself to my human relationships.  Thus, laylat al-qadr, as a time of communion, is also a time of sharing – of giving back to life all that I can, in honour of all that I have received from it.  Ultimately, this is only race worth running!

Wa akhiru da’wana an il hamdu lillahi rabbil alameen.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Some Ramadan Links

Peace, one and all…

Ramadan is a month of reflection and introspection.  So, with that in mind, our worthy sister Aaminah has collected together a number of very useful Ramadan-related links.  She is also hosting  Grateful to Allah Blog Carnival, shortly after Ramadan concludes.  In addition to the links she gives (and may God bless her for doing so), here is one of my own.

• The Fiqh of Ramadan (with links to useful external material)

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Ramadan Reflectons: History and Self-Identity?

Peace, one and all…

I am currently reading Nabil Matar’s excellent and interesting Islam in Britain 1558 – 1685.  I have enjoyed reading this work.  I love history and the author offers a thorough-going treatment of his topic, engaging fully with the primary sources as well as with modern scholarly literature.  Interestingly, he situates his work within broader discussions of the relationships between the Christian and Muslim worlds, or between ‘west’ and ‘east’.  Here is what he has to say:

‘In light of the Muslim impact on English commerce and society, it is not surprising that in their early modern relations with the Muslims, English writers did not express the authority of possessiveness or the security of domination which later gave rise to what Edward Said has termed ‘Orientalism’ … for only after the Ottoman Empire began its militart and intellectual decline in the eighteenth century did Europeans proceed to draw, paint, poeticize and imagine the Muslims in the way they liked.  Only then did the lands of Islam become material for orientalist ‘construction’ and for continental and British colonization.

In the period under study, however, Britain did not enjoy military or industrial power over Islamic countries.  Rather, the Muslims had a power of self-representation which English writers they had either to confront or to engage … Although many English and Scottish theologians and writers vilified and misrepresented Islam and Muslims in their works, they realized that Ottoman military power had a forceful impact on them and that the lands of Islam were beyond colonization and ‘domination’.

Nevertheless, twentieth-century historians and literary analysts of the English attitude toward Islam have ignored this element of power which Renaissance Britons associated with Muslims and through which they defined their relationship with them …

Herein lies the importance of the Renaissance perspective on Islam in Britain: from the King at Whitehall to a slave in an ‘Algerine’ bagnio, from the university theologian to the cabin boy, Britons recognized that they could not ‘take possession’ of the ‘Turks’ (pp. 11-13).

As an immediate reaction, I think this is a point well made by Matar.  To assume the continued existence of essentialising tendencies is to essentialise both the ‘east’ and the ‘west’.  That is, it is to remove both from historically contextualised analysis.

This book offers some challenging food for thought.  As an Englishman and as a Muslim, I find myself challenged by some of the historical realities discussed here.  Specifically, the fact that sailors from ‘the Barbary Coast’ were raiding the southern and western coasts of Britain – primarily as slavers it seems – makes me reflect in new ways.  Being a white male has meant that I have come to learn about history from a certain vantage point.  Although wealth and social class are often overlooked as key factors within English society, I am aware of the operation of white privilege.  Looking at the events through another prism refracts things in new and unexpected ways.  It draws out all sorts of awkward questions, some of which include: what relationship does social class, gender, religious belief, race, ethnicity and the power relationships inherent within such labels, have with my own self-identity?  To what extent am I the person I am because of, or inspite of, such things? 

These are important questions, and ones I cannot currently answer.  Ahh … yet more food for thought then!  Indeed, the path to true humanity leads through all sorts of interesting (and sometimes difficult) places.  And to God returns all things.

At any rate, there are other aspects to the book that I have enjoyed.  Insha Allah, I will reflect more fully on them at a later date.

Related post:

• The Moon of Ramadan Draws Near
• Islam and the Blackamerican

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

The Unsuspecting Child

Peace, one and all…

‘The unsuspecting child first wipes the tablet
and then writes the letters on it.
God turns the heart into blood and desperate tears;
then He writes the spiritual mysteries on it’
(Mevlana Rumi, Masnavi 2. 1826-1827)

The Moon of Ramadan Draws Near

Tags

daily diary, fasting, Ramadan

Peace, one and all…

The moon of Ramadan draws near.  And so, as I have in previous years, I am beginning a Ramadan diary (2006; 2007).  I will include all of my thoughts and reflections as I work through this month, and will post them here as often as time permits.

I tend to think of Ramadan as a month of safe harbour, a time to repair the rigging, sails and rudder of my soul.  As Ramadan’s moon traverses through the sky, I am given time and space in which to review my life’s course and to chart new directions, to look for new possibilities.  Ramadan is thus a time for introspection and looking inward.

It is also a time to look backwards, over the course of the past year.  What did I do well?  What did I do less well?  Was I putting my effort into the right areas, or was my focus wrongly placed?  To sum up the past year is also to look forward to the coming one.  It is thus to ask: where am I going?  What challenges do I need to rise to?  What pitfalls do I need to avoid?

Ramadan offers me that time of safe harbour.  It is a barometer of the soul, measuring the atmospheric pressure of my surrounding life – and of my responses to it.  I like the image of a barometer and find it to be a very positive one: regardless of today’s challenges there is always the hope that tomorrow will be an easier day with better weather.  Allah!  The ship of my soul could really use a time of plain sailing!

So what challenges am I consciously aware of at this moment in time?  Or, what do I hope to achieve during Ramadan?  Here are some initial thoughts.

• Balance: finding the right balance between my responsibilities and my desires, between my inner and outer lives, between religious practice and devotion, between spirit and the body it inhabits.
• Space: ‘space’ is very much at a premium in my life right now.  How can I utilise the space I do have to its best advantage?  How can I create inward space where outward space does not currently exist?
• Grounding: How can I continue to ground myself in the insights of the Islamic tradition?  How can I ground these insights within my own soul?  Or, to put it another way, how can I make them trule mine?
• Love: growing in and with love is a challenge, one that I am sure will be life-long.  How can I open myself more fully to God’s love?  In what ways can I open myself that God’s transforming work might be strengthened?  How can I improve my human relationships?  How can I relate more fully to my self and to others?  How can I let God’s overflowing mercy transform my human relationships?

These are some of the issues I find myself reflecting on as I sail towards the harbour.  And beyond all things, all of these questions fade into one overwhelming desire: how can I grow ever closer to God, to Allah Most High?

And my last prayer is in praise of God, Sustainer of All Being.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Soundtrack: Music, Islam and My Life

Peace, one and all…

Opening Thoughts

Before I begin, please note that this post details my musical journey to Islam.  It includes my own personal thoughts on what some important songs meant (and in some cases, still mean) to me.  I have also included You Tube clips to the songs themselves.  I am aware that there are many Muslims who believe, with due scholarly support, that music is prohibited (haram).  I am also equally aware that there are scholars who feel that music is not haram, in and of itself, but only insofar as it is put to haram purposes.  I have great respect for other positions, but as will become clear, I do not believe that music itself is forbidden.  I have no wish to get into an argument on this topic and will simply say that the purpose of this post is to reflect on my own life.  It has no greater (or lesser) application than that.

On a related note, as you will see, my early musical encounter with Islam came mostly via Hip Hop, and thus the Nation of Islam and more specifically, the Nation of Gods and Earths (popularly known as the 5% Nation of Islam).  The ideas of both these groups have caused a great deal of discussion, fierce agreement and equally as fierce disagreement.  Without going off track, all I want to say is that in terms of my own experience, both groups had a great (albeit largely unknown) influence on me.  That is, given my youth and lack of knowledge, I assumed that both represented ‘mainstream’ Islam.  It is, of course, clear to me now that both NOI and NGE teachings differ radically from Sunni Islam, as it has been traditionally understood.  This does not mean that I reject dialogue and discussion from such quarters, or that I believe I cannot learn anything from either community.  It simply means that Sunni Islam differs in many important respects from both the NOI and the NGE.  (On this note, you can find out more about the Nation of Gods and Earths by reading the very informative blog and watching the You Tube videos of Saladin Quanaah Allah; see Ted Swedenberg’s interesting essay entitled ‘Islam in the Mix‘).

Finally, what about race?  Or, in other words, what significance does my own genetic heritage as a white male have upon my interactions with these ideas?  Well, an ultimate answer is beyond the scope of this post.  But, suffice it to say, that one of the reasons I enjoyed listening to this music as a teenager was its shock value (a common feature of teenage musical choices I think).  Although I was always intrigued by the use of Arabic terms (principally the salaam), and they always made my heart leap within me for reasons I could not then understand, I soon realised that, as a young white man, I stood very much on the outside.  Looking back, this was one of the main factors in pushing me to search further, to find my own answers.  This is not to say that I thought in terms of ‘ownership’, rather that I simply looked for a place in which I too could belong.

What then of race?  Well, growing up in the East End of London, I was aware of great ethnic, racial, linguistic, religious and social diversity from a very young age.  I viewed (and still view) this as an entirely positive experience.  I have been strengthened immeasurably by this diversity.  I have seen that human experience lives, moves and exists in all sorts of ways - though it is still utterly, profoundly and joyfully, human.  Throughout my life, I have been blessed through my interactions with Black people and wider Black cultures.  Indeed, I have learnt much from all sorts of peoples and cultures.  I freely and deeply acknowledge my debts in this regard.

Although there is much that I, as a white man, am unaware of, I acknowledge the existence of white privilege, just as I aslo acknowledge gender privilege.  Do these privileges de-bar me from seeking and talking about, a liberation that embraces every single human being?  Personally, I do not think so.  Although they do have to be accounted for, worked through and reconciled, to argue that my genetic heritage precludes my participation in human growth (depsite of and through its difficulties) would exclude a vast swathe of humanity from doing its necessary work.  Individually, it would also open the door to despair – and despair opens the door to a complete immorality in the face of life’s challenges.

Finally, before we begin, I feel it is important to say that this post is a record of my growing engagement with Islam (or my perception of Islam as the form of my life).  It does not mean that all of these songs are ‘Islamic’, nor does it mean that I would now (in later life) agree with all they say.  Rather, it simply means that these songs were the soundtrack of my life’s journey towards Islam.

My journey towards Islam continues and will do so until the day I leave this earth.  But, that’s another story…

The Soundtrack to My Journey towards Islam

Music has always been very important to me.  Looking back, every major turning point in my life was accompanied by an important song (or songs).  According to my parents, the first song I ever learnt to sing along to was ‘Bye, Bye Baby’ by the Bay City Rollers.  During my time at primary school (from around the age of 8 onwards), I first encountered early 80s Hip Hop.  Hearing these songs, I instantly knew that it was for me.  I loved the music and it spoke in ways that I could understand, relate to and indeed inspire to.  Moreover, as I soon came to discover, Hip Hop also had a voice and could be used to speak about social injustice.

Grandmaster Flash: The Message (1982?)

This Hip Hop classic was probably the first rap song that I heard that spoke to ordinary life, and to the economic, social and financial challenges people face.  In other words, social activism was there at the very beginning of my meeting with Hip Hop.

Grandmaster Flash: White Lines (c. 1983?)

This song spoke against another social ill of the 80s (and sadly of now), namely cocaine addiction.  Hip Hop at its best is thus a direct challenge to the culture of addiction and materialism.

Kurtis Blow: If I Ruled the World (1983?)

Another mid-80s classic.  I used to listen to this song during my early secondary school days.  It also speaks of justice and equality too, in its own way of course.

Eric B & Rakim (1987)

This was probably the first time I actually heard someone from the Arab world singing.  The video also contains Arabic script (which may well be drawn from the Quran itself).  Although I was unaware at the time, it also gave me my first introduction to the Nation of Gods and Earths, of which the rapper Rakim was/is a member.  This song was important in my journey to Islam because its underlying message (as I perceivd it) was that a no-nonsense, go-getting approach to life was Islam.

Public Enemy: Rebel Without A Pause (1988)

Public Enemy exposed me to the revolutionary side of both Hip Hop and Islam.  Islam had the power to subvert unjust societies – very sexy to a young teenager.

De La Soul: Me, Myself and I (1989)

De La Soul’s groundbreaking song of 1989 opened my eyes to another possibility – Hip Hop beyond the usual form.  Moreover, with their thoughtful, thought-provoking rhymes, De La Soul also showed that Hip Hop could simultaneously be intellectually and poetically stimulating.

Soul II Soul: Keep on Movin’ (1989)

Soul II Soul were a UK-based soundsystem.  The two songs selected here were their biggest hits.  Both were released as I was leaving school.  They are both songs which mark a major turning point in my life and with their celebration of life and its living, help me make the beginning transitions to adult life.

Soul II Soul: Back to Life (1989)

Young Disciples: Apparently Nothin’ (1990)

In mid-91, I bought my first turntables and began mixing music in my bedroom.  This song was one of the first I bought at this time.

Gang Starr: Who’s Gonna Take the Weight?

Another very influential early 90s song. I remember learning the words to this one

Brand Nubian: Wake Up (1991)

Although I can’t remember the first time I heard a Brand Nubian song, I do remember buying their first album.  ‘Wake Up’ samples Roy Ayers ‘Everybody Loves the Sunshine’.  It was the first song that I owned to say ‘al-salaamu alaikum’.  I can still remember hearing these words for the first time.  For some unknown reason, they sent a chill up my spine.  In terms of the message, I must confess, there was much that I didn’t understand (beyond a broad Black nationalism).  However, it further added to my perception of Islam as a radical, socially-positive force.

Brand Nubian: Slow Down (1991/2?)

This second Brand Nubian song is another example of socailly aware Hip Hop, in this case being an attack on crack cocaine.

Paul Weller: Bull Rush (1992/3?)

This song, with its lyrics of travel and leaving behind old ideas, was really the soundtrack to the beginnings of a conscious search for answers.

Galliano: Prince of Peace (1992)

I was/am a big fan of Galliano’s music, which fused rap, jazz, funk and reggae.  It was also both socially and spiritually aware – and being from London, I could relate to their experiences.

Stevie Wonder: Higher Ground (70s, I first bought a copy in approx. 1992)

A 70s classic, taken from the ‘Innervisions’ album.  This is a beautifully spiritual song on a profoundly spiritual album.

Funkadelic: One Nation Under a Groove (late 70s, I bought my first copy in 1991/2)

When I first started Dee Jaying I came across this record in a record fair at the Electric Ballroom in Camden.  I was hooked from the first beat.  This began my love of George Clinton and his music.

Parliament: Mothership Connection (c.1975, though I bought a copy in early 90s)

For those unfamiliar, the various incarnations of Parliament/Funkadelic/George Clinton offered a diverse and eclectic mix of rock, blues, funk, disco and early rap.  Over the years, GC’s music has been heavily and repeatedly sampled by rappers.  I have always loved the energy of GC and his music.  Moreover, his funk-opera style, with numerous characters and alter-egos, drew my attention to another aspect: music could be consciousness-shifting.

Lonnie Liston Smith: Expansions (1975, I bought it in 1993)

Another fine example of mid-70s music.  The album cover features a painting of the artist strolling through what looks like a Muslim country, replete with mosque-like buildings and so on.

Omar: Keep Steppin’ (1994)

Omar is another UK-based artist, responsible for the hit ‘There’s Nothing Like This’.  The music is amazing and the lyrics are an exhortation to searching within for truth.

Bob Marley: Crisis (late 70s?, but I first heard it c. 1993-4)

I am a big fan of Bob Marley’s music (as indeed, are many Muslims).  This was when I first began to really search and was, in many respects, the soundtrack to my undergraduate degree.

Bob Marley: Natural Mystic (mid-70s, first bought in 1995)

Bob Marley: Small Axe (from Burnin’ album)

These are some of the most important songs on my long walk to Islam.  I have long enjoyed them and I share them here in the hope that others might enjoy them too.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Islam and the Blackamerican

Peace, one and all…

I have just finished reading Sherman Jackson’s book, Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking Towards the Third Resurrection.  Like any good book, this one will take time to digest properly.  That said, I have to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed it – for a number of reasons.  Firstly, it was both well written and strongly argued.  Secondly, it was written by someone clearly prepared to wrestle with difficult issues.  Thirdly, it had a number of very interesting things to say regarding religion, culture and the creative use of tradition.  Although I read it without a clear purpose, it will certainly play an important role in shaping my own thinking in this area.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Massive Attack

Peace, one and all…

I wanted to share two songs of the UK band Massive Attack with you.  Both of them, in different ways, have been very important to me.  Moreover, they’re both excellent tracks.

Enjoy…

Teardrop

Protection

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

2nd Sufi Poetry Carnival

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sufi poetry carnival

Peace, one and all…

It is my pleasure to welcome you all to the 2nd Sufi Poetry Carnival, hosted by Inspirations and Creative Thoughts, Court of Lions and of course, Abdur Rahman’s Corner.  The theme of this poetry carnival is ‘knocking from inside’ and in this fine collection you will find many beautiful meditations on this theme.

Feel free to stay a while, read any or all of the poems on offer and then, if you feel so moved, to add a comment of your own.  May all the poems here be of benefit, and may all who pass by be blessed.  And to God do all things return.

God has treasures beneath the Throne,
the keys whereof are the tongues of poets.

Some poetry contains much wisdom;
Some poetry is dressed in knowledge and art.
- Sayings of Prophet Muhammad, divine peace be upon him

Sufism (Tasawwuf in Arabic) is the mystical stream that runs through the river of Islam.  Poetry has long been an important means of sharing the sacred experiences of Sufis, giving us the profound and beautiful works of Rumi, Hafiz, Yunue Emre, Kabir and others.

So, without further ado, let the poetry carnival begin!  And we begin in God’s name.

• Coleman Barks: Rumi’s Zen – ‘Knocking from Inside’
• Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore: Seismograph
• Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore: I Dance Before Her
• Waliya Inayat Perkins: This Mindful Death
• Margaret James: Jacob Lays in Wait
• Tiel Aisha Ansari: Seven Veils of Dust
• Renata Santerre: Dance of Longing
• Renata Santerre: Call of the Temple Bell
• Penn Kemp: Homing to the Given
• Penn Kemp: Who, Who
• Naomi Stone: Warriors of Love
• Rafael: Yet Nameless
• M. Zed: Skin and Clay
• Kym Kuzmic: Garden
• Rupa Abdi: That Which You Seek
• Ken Saladin: Glass Bead Game
• Abdur Rahman: What is Poetry?
• Shree: Be in Love, Alive, Vibrant … Pulsate with Joy
• Cailean Benjamin: When Only Seeing Remains
• Anoo Kulkarni: Little Light
• Saranya: Aria
• Barbara L.: Gridlock
• Sadiq Alam: Song of Dervish

Previous Sufi Poetry Carnivals
The 1st Sufi Poetry Carnival can still be found online:

• Inspirations & Creative Thoughts
• Knocking from Inside

Resources

Gathered with much effort and love, by Sadiq of Inspirations and Creative Thoughts.  May Allah  reward him.

• Understanding Sufi Poetry
• Wellsphere – Sufi Poetry
• Sufi Poets and Poetry: the Classical Masters
• Sufi Poets
• Understanding the Relationship Between Sufism and Poetry
• The Islamic Concept of Poetry
• Persian Poetry of Love, Mystery and God
• The Ghazal Page

Allah!

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman