sirah & sacred history
-
Satan’s Deceit, Adam’s Slip & the Tree of Immortality
This read starts with the question: Does it matter how one sins? To answer it, it explores the deeper layers of the story of Adam, Satan and the divine command to not eat from the Tree of Immortality, in order to understand why it is that at the end of the story Adam is bathed… Continue reading
-
The Kaʿbah, the Abrahamic Call & the Spirit of Hajj:
The Qur’an relates to us this duʿa of the Holy Prophet Abraham: رَبَّنَا إِنِّي أَسْكَنتُ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِي بِوَادٍ غَيْرِ ذِي زَرْعٍ عِنْدَ بَيْتِكَ الْمُحَرَّمِ رَبَّنَا لِيُقِيمُوا الصَّلاَةَ فَاجْعَلْ أَفْئِدَةً مِنْ النَّاسِ تَهْوِي إِلَيْهِمْ وَارْزُقْهُمْ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَشْكُرُونَ ‘Our Lord! I have settled one of my offspring in a barren valley near Your Sacred House… Continue reading
-
Uhud & Hunayn: Lessons from the Frontline
In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien puts these words into the mouth of the brave though modest Faramir (younger brother to the brave but impulsive Boromir): ‘War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the… Continue reading