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The Musing Muslim blog is currently in its third year. Thank you to all our readers!
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From the very beginning, since its inception in February 2020, the only aim of this blog (now nearing 5.9k followers on Tumblr) has been to reflect on, and to make people reflect on the beauty of Islam.
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
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.
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)
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.’”
"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)
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.