Finally, a good four days of holidays are upon us!
Ever since I began working, the thing I miss is the lump of holidays between the semsters, where the profs frantically try to start and wrap up their own projects before the term starts. These used to be about 2.5 months long. And I'll usually spend them reading and going out (there was once I spent it working as a temp deejay/cashier/boot exchange man at Snow City for a rare $8 an hour). Now, there's work much of the time. The only free times are the public holidays. Even those you have to be on standby for work sometimes for one thing or another.
But on to these 4 nice, juicy days: I'm just going to catch up on some Arabic and reading. My poor Arabic's taken a beating ever since I took a two-month vacation for my marriage. I started attending classes two weeks back, it's been pretty confusing to catch up. My verbs, nouns and vocabulary are so bad I can make the Bedouins go crazy. So I'm going to revise everything.
Right now I have 4 outstanding books to read. The one I'm finishing up now is Seyyed Hossein Nasr's very eloquent "Ideals and Realities of Islam" written back in 1966, but still relevant today. In a language that gives away the constant conversations he probably has in his mind, Mr Hossein provides a narrative on several topics that contextualise Islam for the westernised Muslim. By westernised Muslim, I mean the Muslim who has grown up in a secular environment where the bulk of his/her education and worldview are formed by non-Muslim philosophies and ideologies. Hossein attempts to rationalise the meaning of Islam in the context of the prevailing ideologies existing in the contemporary world today, in a language he thinks will appeal to the educated westernised Muslim. He is largely successful, using comparisons with other world religions (he's an expert in comparative religion by the way) and how Islam is the truth that mankind has been presented, to either accept or reject. He also explains quite a bit about Shi'a Islam, which I found very eye-opening because I've always wondered why Sunnis always didn't give them a proper hearing. The bottomline is that Shi'a Muslims approach Allah differently from Sunni Muslims. To know more, read the book.
The other books that I've planned to read right after this are:
I'm also going to engage in some mindless entertainment. Apart from reading, I'm planning to watch this show called "Thalainagaram" starring director-turned-actor Sundar C. Sundar, who used to direct blockbuster comedies in Tamil decided to act in a gangster flick after someone told him to do so. Thalainagaram was a hit. I don't know what the hell made it a hit, so I'm going to watch it and find out.
If you're starving for Harris Jeyaraj's new songs, look no further than "Pachaikili MuthuCharam" and "Unnale Unnale". As mentioned in my previous post, all are in one way or another a rehash of one song or another. My favourite of all these repeated tunes is "Karu Karu Vizhi" from PachaiKili. Go check it out ya'all.
To all readers, happy holidays.
Ever since I began working, the thing I miss is the lump of holidays between the semsters, where the profs frantically try to start and wrap up their own projects before the term starts. These used to be about 2.5 months long. And I'll usually spend them reading and going out (there was once I spent it working as a temp deejay/cashier/boot exchange man at Snow City for a rare $8 an hour). Now, there's work much of the time. The only free times are the public holidays. Even those you have to be on standby for work sometimes for one thing or another.
But on to these 4 nice, juicy days: I'm just going to catch up on some Arabic and reading. My poor Arabic's taken a beating ever since I took a two-month vacation for my marriage. I started attending classes two weeks back, it's been pretty confusing to catch up. My verbs, nouns and vocabulary are so bad I can make the Bedouins go crazy. So I'm going to revise everything.
Right now I have 4 outstanding books to read. The one I'm finishing up now is Seyyed Hossein Nasr's very eloquent "Ideals and Realities of Islam" written back in 1966, but still relevant today. In a language that gives away the constant conversations he probably has in his mind, Mr Hossein provides a narrative on several topics that contextualise Islam for the westernised Muslim. By westernised Muslim, I mean the Muslim who has grown up in a secular environment where the bulk of his/her education and worldview are formed by non-Muslim philosophies and ideologies. Hossein attempts to rationalise the meaning of Islam in the context of the prevailing ideologies existing in the contemporary world today, in a language he thinks will appeal to the educated westernised Muslim. He is largely successful, using comparisons with other world religions (he's an expert in comparative religion by the way) and how Islam is the truth that mankind has been presented, to either accept or reject. He also explains quite a bit about Shi'a Islam, which I found very eye-opening because I've always wondered why Sunnis always didn't give them a proper hearing. The bottomline is that Shi'a Muslims approach Allah differently from Sunni Muslims. To know more, read the book.
The other books that I've planned to read right after this are:
- The Sealed Nectar or Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum by Safi-ur Rahman Al Mubarakpuri - An award-winning biography of the Holy Prophet s.a.w.
- Ethico-Religious Concepts in the Qur'an by Toshihiko Izutsu - I bought this at Page One at Vivocity, as I thought it'd complement my Arabic learning
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - This was a gift by a dear old friend three years ago, I haven't managed to finish it, shame on me!
- The Emergence of Islam by Muhammad Hamidullah - A book published in Pakistan, I have no clue what to expect from this book.
- Self Development in the Context of Man's Relationship with Allah by Amin Ahsan Islahi - This was an amazing chapter from a book called "Tazkiyah - The Islamic Path of Self-Development". It was so amazing I photostated the chapter to read again. I don't what what genre/school of thought it is from, but it really invigorated my imaan.
I'm also going to engage in some mindless entertainment. Apart from reading, I'm planning to watch this show called "Thalainagaram" starring director-turned-actor Sundar C. Sundar, who used to direct blockbuster comedies in Tamil decided to act in a gangster flick after someone told him to do so. Thalainagaram was a hit. I don't know what the hell made it a hit, so I'm going to watch it and find out.
If you're starving for Harris Jeyaraj's new songs, look no further than "Pachaikili MuthuCharam" and "Unnale Unnale". As mentioned in my previous post, all are in one way or another a rehash of one song or another. My favourite of all these repeated tunes is "Karu Karu Vizhi" from PachaiKili. Go check it out ya'all.
To all readers, happy holidays.
4 comments:
An impressive reading list indeed.
If you like Prof Hossein Nasr's works, then I wish to recommend "Islam and the Plight of Modern Man" and "Man and Nature: The Spiritual Crisis in Modern Man".
And once that is done, you may be interested to go back to the basics of who shaped him - his teacher - Frithjof Schuon (my intellectual Muslim idol). Must reads include: "The Transcendental Unity of Religions", "Spiritual Perspectives and Human Facts", "From the Divine to the Human" and "Understanding Islam". Dont be fooled by the simple title. Mostly, 4 pages of his works ocupy my thoughts for the whole week!
Frithjof's teacher, Titus Burckhart, writes basically in German and I have only read one book: "Alchemy - Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul".
Then, if you want to go further up, the Shaykh of all these brilliant scholar is Rene Guenon. But, I cant imagine to even understand the master.
Yet... if you want to read something from Hossein Nasr's contemporary and my idol too, try Martin Lings (Abu Bakr Sirajuddin). I have read all his books and his poems ... and they are all so very exquisite. I'm so into Martin Lings.
Do let me know if you want any reviews or recommendations.
As for the "Sealed Nectar", the book did win the best book for history some way back, but all I can say is that you read it and let me know what you think of it. I would have recommended book by Qadi Iyad instead.
And ... dont miss The Alchemist. Although he is a-religious, this book is for anyone in search of God. You will not put it down and I am sure you will finish it in one sitting :-)
Enjoy reading ... it is the food for the mind :-)
Its always a pleasure to find a friend who reads ... and then share.
Salam
Salam,
Thanks for the suggested list of readings. The Sealed Nectar isn't that great - the factual research seems rigorous but the flow isn't there. The commentary doesn't quite cut it and a lot of the narrative seems lost in translation. Yes, Qadi Iyad's Ash-Shifa is on my radar, I've heard many superb things about it.
Martin Lings is another one I've heard of, I'll be sure to catch him too.
Salam Dear Bro,
So, you have indeed read "The Sealed Nectar" - we have the same opinions about the book. Another thing which stood out in that book which I did not quite fancy was that it has too many mere narratives of battles in history and really no assessment of any of them. That leaves some negative opinions if read by non-Muslims with no contextual background of these battles.
As for the great Imam Qadi Iyad, masya-Allah! As far as I can recall, I only knew of one local Ustaz who used to teach a summary of that book (in English!) - and even then it was a 5-weeks modular class. I think the study of Islam and seerah nowadays are too intellectual without the soul of history itself. Instead, if they read Ash-Shifa' (as the name suggests), it can perhaps cure the soul of today's ills as it brings out the beauty of our beloved Prophet saw in ways never described in other books - and not only with regards to physical outlook, but more importantly the personality which shines throughout that book. It has been said in days gone by, that any Muslim worth his salt, always has in his home the following 3 texts: the Holy Qur'an, Ash-Shifa' and one more book which I cant recall off-hand now. Will update, insya-Allah.
And bro, as for my beloved Martin Lings, this saint passed away recently in 2005. Coincidentally, by divine providence, I was re-reading his book "The Eleventh Hour" on the night when he passed away - and when condolences were pouring all over the world on his demise, it seemed that most of his students or those who loved him were also coincidentally reading his book at the time of his death - all over the world! Masya-Allah! May Allah bless his soul... Can you just imagine what blessings this man left behind and how much he benefits in his grave for having left us with so much knowledge...
I only wish that my life is as blessed as Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din (Martin Ling's Muslim name) in my contributions to mankind. For if one does not serve mankind, how can one truly serve God?
I guessed a good start may be actually reading his last book - published posthumously after his demise - called "Return to the Spirit". It has also been said that this is the easiest to read of all his books and I tend to agree. You will find half of the book constituting condolences written by outstanding men and you will begin to realise how significant Martin Lings has been to the lives of so many men.
Just one background about this book before I start designing my own blog: he had just finished writing the last sentence of this book, then he went to his famous garden to plant one last plant. Soon on that, he passed on. It is so symbolic for a man whose visit to his own garden reflecting the Garden of the Creator. Most spiritual men that I know, to my knowledge, mend their gardens on earth... perhaps a symbolic link of where they may end up in the hereafter.
We merely wish to be carried along in their blessed carriage. Amin...
I remembered the 3rd book now: it is the Dalailul Khairat :-)
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