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12 Rules for life

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12 Rules for life. An antidote to chaos

Rule1: Stand up straight with your shoulders back.

Rule2: treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping

Rule3: Make friends with people who want the best for you

Rule4: Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today

Rule5: Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them

Rule6: Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world

Rule7: Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)

Rule8: Tell the truth- or, at least, don’t lie

Rule9: Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t

Rule10: Be precise in your speech

Rule11: Do not bother children when they are skateboarding

Rule12: Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street

Jordan B. Peterson

Get your copy …Get the Most Out of Life

Reflections: Orientalism 11.07

What we (Muslims) say/believe is Islam is like a garment. We fit ourselves into it not the other way around. If we try to adjust this garment to our feelings and conditions, then each one of us Will make appropriate adjustments. At the end, each person’s garment will be unique to himself/herself and different from that of others. In this case we cannot say that we all follow one religion since we have all modified our religious practices that we don’t practice the same religion anymore. On the contrary, if we adjust ourselves to the demands of the religion, then everyone’s religion (garment) will be identical.

One might ask: who represents the real Islam? The majority of people take their understanding of Islam from the mass media, which is in the control of certain individuals with certain agenda. There individuals always present people with a escape-goat to cover the reality of the world and to cover their real plans. Anyone who reveals them will be labelled with names such as conspiracy theorist. This means that whatever the mass media feeds us is the reality and the truth. Anything else will be conspiracy and lies.

This article is a combination of summary of the book: Orientalism by Edward W. Said and my reflections on the contents of the book and today’s current world events.

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Reflections: Orientalism & Language

The importance of appealing to men through their minds by using their language. Having orient studies is not for entertainment but a policy. As was mentioned earlier, orients cannot rule themselves nor can they think for themselves. These must be done for them by the occidents. To be able to think for him, we need to get into his head. To control his mind, we need to learn his language. This is why we see Arabic and Islamic studies in every major North-Aemrican and western European universities. Arabic is the language of Islam. Closer a western country is to an Arabic (Muslim) country, more control they have on that country and the laws being passed in that country. Recently we have witnessed new and monumental events in the middle east such as new liberal rules and laws in the Kingdom to revelation and publicising of Arab-Israeli relations. What is incomprehensible is why this event was named as peace talks or peace treaties. Was there any war between the UAE and Israel? Or a war between Bahrain and Israel? The answer is definitely no. Then why is this treaty called a peace treaty. All these Arab countries have had relations with Israel for years. All they are doing now is making these relations public. The real war is between the Palestinians and Israel. Were the Palestinians part of this treaty or so-called peace talks? All these Arab/muslim governments are friends of the the big boss. Question is how much of these events are part of the US foreign policies? What is next?

Let’s not forget what was mentioned earlier: orients cannot represent themselves. They must be represented. Another point brought up by orientalist is the antiquity of Islam and that Islam needs to learn from the west and westerners. In another word, Islam needs to up-to-date itself since it is out-dated and needs to be revived and modernized. For this to happen, Islam need to adapt itself to the modernity of the western culture.

This article is a summary of the book: Orientalism by Edward W. Said and my thoughts and reflections from this book and current world events.

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Reflections: Orientalism 4.11

What the orientalist thinks of an oriental is that the orientals cannot rule themselves nor can they manage their riches. The westerners (orientalist) take it upon themselves to do the job for the orient. The westerners see orientalist as incapables whose only interest is their lust. The occidents not only take it upon themselves to take over and control the riches of the oriental countries, but go further and claim that “we have to run their country for them as well”. This case is different from the colonialism in that they are not directly, or let’s say publically, running the show but some local puppets are. Puppets who are either trained in the west or trained in the east by missionaries or orientalists themselves. By riches we don’t just mean oil fields as in Iraq but oil pipes and rich mineral mines (e.g. uranium) as in Afghanistan and some African countries. The westerners pretend they respect the orient but they don’t and it is, actually, on the contrary. They look down upon the orients. To the westerners, an oriental has no value. They believe the oriental is happy as long as he has his partner and animals. In western movies, the orientals (Arabs, Muslims, Africans) are shown as the source of evil and the source of problems in the west. One example in early 90s is showing Arabs as the source of gas shortage in the US.

This article is both summary of book “Orientalism” by Edward W. Said and my reflections.

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Reflections: Modern Islam 10:27

How can we modernize Islam? Does it need to be modernized? An orientalist will answer in affirmative. A western government will answer in affirmative. Because they want to control the world and have influence on every aspect of people life. This is why they are against home schooling. As Muslims, we believe that Allah decided to reveal this book and complete the ‘deen’ (religion) for people. Deen that we call religion is translated as the way of life. The way or the path we need to walk on to be successful in this world and the hereafter. Allah knew how life is going to be and what man is going to accomplish, but still He decided to send the final revelation in the middle of The Arabian peninsula on an unlettered man. And He revealed that if you stick to his teachings you will attain prosperity. Many ask how Islam is going to adapt to today’s life. Individuals like Macron (the French boss) states that Islam is in crisis. As a manner of fact, Islam is not in crisis. Humanity is in crisis. The solution to this crisis and the problems we are going through is Islam. The real Islam not the Islam portrayed in western media or defined by the orientalist or Macron. Islam provides solution to all the problems humanity is facing in 21st century. All we have to do is to adapt ourselves to the true teachings of Islam and our beloved prophet Muhammad peace be upon him.

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Reflections: The Idiot

You find in many fields many specialists, but you don’t find practical people. People who can solve problems. You have many engineers, experts in various fields, and professors. Yet your economy has been going down. Yet the unemployment rate is on the rise while you live in one of the most resourceful countries on this planet. Why is it that those who are talented in field are not used in that field? On the contrary, those who occupy crucial positions are ordinary and sub-ordinary individuals. Is money to be blamed for this? Our prophet (PBUH) has been reported to have said: if you have a mountain of gold, you would wish for a second. And if you have the second mountain, you would wish for the third. The desires of human being are limitless while the resources of this world are limited. Pursuing this world greedily never ends. The greedy one is not satiated until he dies and is turned to dust. Will this kind of individual ever feel happy? A true feeling of happiness when one feels upon helping a fellow human being. Never forget your share from this world, but always be content with what you have.

This is a combination of summary, notes, and some reflections from the book: The Idiot by Dostoevsky.

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Reflections: Orientalism & the real Islam 10.24

What we believe is that Allah Himself protects the Quran and Islam. So if Muslims stick to this noble book and follow the teachings of the beloved prophet (pbuh), they will be successful in this world and the hereafter. As it has come in the Quran: “do not forget your share from this world.”(23:77) Here comes the confusion. How much is my share? Imagine we are riding a ship. For a ship to get to it’s destination, it needs to go through waters (sea, ocean, river). The ship needs the water to float. The ship needs the water outside it not inside it. This world is like water for our ship in our journey to the hereafter. If we indulge too much in this world, then the amount of water increases and raises so high that it will enter the ship and we will be drowned in this world. We will be so occupied that we will forget our goal in this world. We are here temporarily and to be successful, we must obey our Lord. All our actions must please Him. And the best way to please Him is to serve the humanity. This is Islam. What one Muslim asks himself is what is the real Islam? Who represents the real Islam? Certainly not the politicians since they consider their own interests and their bosses and not that of their people nor their creator. This is how they can keep their positions or achieve a higher position. Then there are scholars who are supposed to be the knowledgeable individuals in the society. They are the point of reference for people. Unfortunately, there are scholars who are linked to the politicians, so they cannot be trusted either. There is another group of scholars that are not Muslims but are scholars of Islamic studies. These are the orientalist as mentioned in the book “Orientalism” by Edward W. Said. This movement of educating western individuals about Islam and Arabs started in late 1700s when Napoleon Bonaparte started invading/colonising Egypt.

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Reflections: Orientalism 10.23

Disappointment turns into rancor; rancor turns into hatred; hatred waits for the right moment and it turns into action. This a quote from the must-read book “Orientalism” by Edward W. Said. How is this quote connected to the murder of a French teacher who was simply exercising his freedom of speech? Was the action of that individual the result of hatred? After this event Monsieur Macron comes out and says Islam is in crisis. How could we link all these together. This is not the first time this type of crime has happened on a western soil. Let’s look at this from the view point of an “oriental.” I will discuss this term later. This oriental sees no future for himself in his home country. From the media and propaganda, he envisions a hidden paradise in the west. He goes through so much trouble to reach the hidden paradise. He comes with a large baggage. Not a baggage that contains his clothing. A baggage of culture, mentality, and a set of beliefs. He comes to find out that it was a mirage. There is no paradise, no democracy nor freedom. Actually, all of these exist, but defined differently. As in the above case, there is freedom of speech, but you can’t talk about any subject in any manner you want. There is freedom of choice, but you cannot wear any type of clothing you want. If you go to the beach, you have to undress yourself. There is freedom, but you cannot educate your child anyway you wish. The state has to educate your children since a group of strangers know what’s best for your children than you. Some call this hypocrisy. So when this oriental faces this hypocrisy, he is disappointed. Whose fault is this? Islam is to be blamed. This means Islam has to be modernised. And this is going to be done by a scholar of Islamic studies who is obviously not a Muslim. He is an orientalist.

Reflections: Corona

It has been a couple of months that the whole world is battling an insignificant yet powerful enemy. A virus called Corona, Aka COVID-19. Allah says in chapter 74:31 And none knows the soldiers of your Lord except Him. We believe nothing happens without the will of Allah. Does Allah want bad and suffering for His creations? Parents would never want to see their children go through any hardship. Allah loves His creations much more than parents love their children. We also believe that He is a loving, caring, and the most merciful. He is in control of all. Why then He would allow such a pandemic happen to us all? If He wills, this virus can disappear from the face of the earth as were the dinosaurs. Then why is Allah allowing the virus to cause some much pain? Let us see what Allah says in chapter 30:41. He says: Corruption has appeared throughout the land and sea by [reason of] what the hands of people have earned so He may let them taste part of [the consequence of] what they have done that perhaps they will return [to righteousness]. SO maybe instead of blaming everything on God or others, we reflect on what we are doing. We reflect on how we live our lives. How much damage are we causing the environment? Every action has a reaction. Our actions have consequences that will come back to us. It might not necessarily be what we as individuals are doing or are not doing. It could be that the leaders or politicians are making decisions and we are oblivious about these decisions. To make it clear let us look at an example given by our beloved prophet. Two groups of people are aboard a ship with two decks. One group on the upper deck and the other on the lower deck. The group on the lower deck makes a hole on the floor of the ship to get water. The second group does not prevent the first group. what is the result? Everyone drowns. We cannot just sit and be indifferent about the actions of others in our society and on our planet. We all have responsibilities. We have responsibilities toward ourselves. This means we are responsible toward our body. This is the reason some actions are prohibited in Islam. Smoking drugs (including cigarette) and drinking alcohol, for example, are harmful to the body, so these are prohibited. We are responsible toward our family then toward our community.

Let us look at another verse from the Quran. Allah says: And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient. 2:155. This is the reality of the life of this world. Allah tests us all. Calamities fall in our lives in different forms and shapes. We persevere, put our trust in Him, and never lose faith.

Reflections: Fasting

We muslims fast in the month of Ramadhan. Let’s start by asking why. Why do we fast? What is the purpose of fasting? What are we supposed to get out of fasting? What do we we gain from it? what did we gain from fasting previous years? Unfortunately, for many of us, fasting Ramadhan has become a custom. We don’t do what breaks the fast like eating and drinking. By doing this, we get content that we fasted during this blessed month. If we ask some muslims about the reason of their fasting, the reply is to share the feeling that the poor people have. This is a very good point. When we are thirsty or hungry, we are supposed to remember the poor and the needy and their difficult life. What is the result of this? First, be grateful for what Allah has given us. No matter how little it is. Second, try to help the needy as much as we can no matter how little it is. Do not belittle an act of goodness. It can be huge in the eyes of Allah. It is not about the quantity, but the quality of our actions. We should not forget that the poor do not have food to eat to almost the entire year. While we experience thirst and hunger for a fraction of the day for only a month. They might get food or they might not. We, on the other hand, have a fridge filled with food and have someone preparing food for us. So we know there will be food when we are breaking our fast. Then how can we have the same feeling as them? There is a big gap.

Our beloved prophet PBUH has said in a narration to this meaning that some people fast in this month and all they from they fasting is thirst and hunger. May Allah not make us one them.

Allah says in quran that fasting is prescribed to us so we gain taqwa (تقوی). what is taqwa? Dues to the richness of the arabic language, this word has many meanings in the English language. One of these is to have God-consciousness. what this means is that in all situations we are conscious of Allah. That He is aware of our situation and aware of what we do. So let us ask ourselves how much taqwa we gained in the past years. If we did not gain any taqwa, then what did gain from fasting? When we gain more taqwa, we get closer to Allah. This will automatically make a better human being. This in turn, will make us care for other human beings. So we work hard during this blessed month to get closer to Allah, so we become better believers and hence better human beings. This will help us build a better community.