YDay 2 (09/10/2013)
Waiting for Asr in Masjid Nabawi. It has been an emotional day. Had a good rest last night, alhamdulillah. But while waiting for Dzuhur, I was thinking of the book on the puritans vs the moderates. (The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremist by Khaled Abou El Fadl which I was reading to Shahidah on the plane here) I realised how daunting the challenges that the Ummah faces but two things stood out:
1. God does not burden us more than we can bear.
2. God does not change a people unless we change ourselves.
Thus this is my du'a:
1. That I am able to make some small contributions towards the change that we need to make.
2. That I not be overwhelmed and daunted by the task.
My resolve:
1. Gain an understanding of the religion through learning and scholarship
2. Contribute to the body of knowledge
3. Spread good in this world through the various good works and stand for justice wherever it may be.
I was reading Surah An-Nur: 57-60 and the following questions come to mind:
1. What is the wisdom behind these verses in regulating the privacy of a person?
2. When and in what circumstances is it applicable?
3. What is the meaning ثِيابَهنَّ (outer garments) in this verse? How is it related to modesty and how old is that - related to sexual desire or marriage?
After Isha' prayers: "Ilm is Islam" stated Rosenthal in his book and yet as I walk around Madinah I wonder where are the bookshops? When I first came here (over a decade ago), I remember seeing rows of bookshops and similarly when I went with my dad and Cik Nani. But these two days, I only spotted a single big bookshop and a scattering of tiny ones with nothing really substantial. Instead I see hotels being built, tourist type shops taking over and spreading everywhere. Everything except the very thing this Ummah needs - 'ilm.
'Ilm has been the characteristic of this Ummah since the very beginning and yet today, this is absent. Where are our Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Haytham, Ibn Al-'Aarbi, Al-Ghazali etc.? Ignorance is spreading. Our young are no longer rooted in the Islamic scholarship and history. Our women are illiterate when before they were amongst our top scholars and teachers of our top scholars. It is very important for us to pursue and revive this culture of knowledge and it should start with the self.
Questions that I have:
1. Who is responsible to preserving and granting/withholding access to the old manuscripts of past Islamic scholars?
2. Why are some materials not accessible?
10 pm - Went to the bookshop. The books for English readers were the same as can be found elsewhere and perhaps more limited. Very disappointing.
Waiting for Asr in Masjid Nabawi. It has been an emotional day. Had a good rest last night, alhamdulillah. But while waiting for Dzuhur, I was thinking of the book on the puritans vs the moderates. (The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremist by Khaled Abou El Fadl which I was reading to Shahidah on the plane here) I realised how daunting the challenges that the Ummah faces but two things stood out:
1. God does not burden us more than we can bear.
2. God does not change a people unless we change ourselves.
Thus this is my du'a:
1. That I am able to make some small contributions towards the change that we need to make.
2. That I not be overwhelmed and daunted by the task.
My resolve:
1. Gain an understanding of the religion through learning and scholarship
2. Contribute to the body of knowledge
3. Spread good in this world through the various good works and stand for justice wherever it may be.
I was reading Surah An-Nur: 57-60 and the following questions come to mind:
1. What is the wisdom behind these verses in regulating the privacy of a person?
2. When and in what circumstances is it applicable?
3. What is the meaning ثِيابَهنَّ (outer garments) in this verse? How is it related to modesty and how old is that - related to sexual desire or marriage?
After Isha' prayers: "Ilm is Islam" stated Rosenthal in his book and yet as I walk around Madinah I wonder where are the bookshops? When I first came here (over a decade ago), I remember seeing rows of bookshops and similarly when I went with my dad and Cik Nani. But these two days, I only spotted a single big bookshop and a scattering of tiny ones with nothing really substantial. Instead I see hotels being built, tourist type shops taking over and spreading everywhere. Everything except the very thing this Ummah needs - 'ilm.
'Ilm has been the characteristic of this Ummah since the very beginning and yet today, this is absent. Where are our Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Haytham, Ibn Al-'Aarbi, Al-Ghazali etc.? Ignorance is spreading. Our young are no longer rooted in the Islamic scholarship and history. Our women are illiterate when before they were amongst our top scholars and teachers of our top scholars. It is very important for us to pursue and revive this culture of knowledge and it should start with the self.
Questions that I have:
1. Who is responsible to preserving and granting/withholding access to the old manuscripts of past Islamic scholars?
2. Why are some materials not accessible?
10 pm - Went to the bookshop. The books for English readers were the same as can be found elsewhere and perhaps more limited. Very disappointing.
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