- in the name of Allah -



Just having come back from Umrah, I am reminded of a few things. First, one never knows how much something is missed until it's no longer there. Second, the things we take for granted are often some of the things most worth thinking about. Third, spirituality in life is centered around finding a concrete middle path, not necessarily a high/low curve. Fourth, one's friends are oftentimes the bricks by which we construct the outline of living; that is, not in defining life but making inroads into progressing towards a better state. Fifth, and perhaps most importantly, Islam has no classes, modes, no extreme/moderate/liberal classifications: it is whole, complete, and free of error; only the preferences and desires of people lead them to one end or the other, though the best path will always be the middle.

I missed being in the States. Can you imagine that? I couldn't, until I left here and went to a 'developing' country overseas. Simply put, the believers living in America are blessed, and tried by those blessings in the same token. Remember the favors Allah has bestowed upon you!..before there should come a time where you remember what it's like to live without a home, or without a family, or without a dependable means of sustenance. The ills of this society are what we must change: it is not that by leaving the land in which we were born (or led to..I speak only to the ~18-24 generation) that we will find peace, but it is by trying to perfect the land we are living that we can be satisfied, insomuch as it is possible knowing our own weaknesses and shortcomings. It is clear enough that of what Allah has prohibited for mankind, we have to find ways to bring that light of understanding to the places where we live. Why? Because if we cannot find our true form here, our true purpose here first, then we will not find it anywhere else. It follows that before we seek to correct the ills of the society at large, the shortcomings of our own selves need first be addressed, again, insomuch as humanly possible. We cannot advise against usury, while bearing usury-bearing bank accounts. We cannot advise against the proliferation of indecency while immersing our selves and our families in such a state. We cannot advise a people to do good, while our own examples betray our advice. The self is, and always has been, the primarily necessitated focus that every conscientious individual must bear, as a burden meant not to bring us down, but to bring the moral and spiritual state of this country higher.