This is Sunday morning, March 16, 2025, Remembered there was a song that began Sunday Morning, a walk in the park. Etc etc, Thought it was A Beautiful day but it was not, Went to my blog, found that on March 3, 2025 I had written about that very song including a reel, posted on Instagram All I can say. in my defense. is fasting is causing me to be slightly brain dead.
This is the day after the midway point Therefore it could be said; we are over the hump of f Ramadan, which does sound rather vulgar, but actually is not. Wednesday is called hump day; never could quite figure that out, so I Googled it and here is the answer.
The phrase ‘Hump day’ represents the concept of a week as a metaphorical hill that a person climbs, with Wednesday typically considered as the middle or peak of the week. The main implication of the phrase is that people can climb down the other side of the hill and move towards the weekend. However people are cautioned not to use the expression. When should I use the expression? Only rarely. Not at work, unless with good friends in a casual setting. Then another question was posed: How should I celebrate Hump Day: This was the answer received: Fix eggs for dinner in honor of Humpty Dumpty. Play Chutes and Ladders with your kids. Listen to Engelbert Humperdinck music, if you like him. Make your spouse a special hump day lunch – include egg salad sandwich with hum(p)mus dip and Mounds candy bar for dessert.”
Enough of this frivolity – onto something very serious – extremely. I do take the Islamic Faith seriously as you shall see.
During my writing scholastic endeavors I learned of a book which used, I think for the first time, a innovative technique. It was Stuart; A Life Backward. It began with a homeless man’s death and worked backward to his birth. It is brilliant – think I will use that technique when I write the biography of my uncle, Dave Dryburgh. Stuart, a huge success. This from Wikipedia, I urge you to read the entire entry to learn about the life of Stuart and how the story touched the hearts and minds of many.
Stuart: A Life Backwards is a biography by Alexander Masters of his friend Stuart Clive Shorter, formerly, at various times, a prisoner and a career criminal. It explores how a young boy, somewhat disabled from birth, became mentally unstable, criminal and violent, living homeless on the streets of Cambridge. As the title suggests, the book starts from Shorter’s adult life, and works backwards to trace through his troubled childhood, examining the effects his family, schooling and disability had on his eventual state.
I shall copy the style of moving backward beginning with Fazil’s permission to use our conversation in the blog.
He: For a good cause, why not? Haha
He, Fazil Irwan Som, was responding to my earlier email
.
Me: What a fantastically upbeat and positive response to a very bleak and quite horrible reality. I shall do as you do, and perhaps put it on my blog. Okay?? Alexis
We shall continue to go backwards. This was the happy ending to a “Bleak and horrible reality” .
He: Comfort and worship in “programmed” recitations. Well said! Unfortunately that’s the state of Muslims today. We look at Muslims, we don’t see Islam. We see Islam in pockets of societies everywhere in the world. And I’m good with that. I just have to look for it, cling on it and cherish them wherever they are 🙂
(Just between you and me I did not know what 🙂 meant. So I asked Shamir who told me it was a smiley face, sideways. I hope he is correct.) I have to admit, at this juncture, even I am getting confused, this going backwards. First will be my response to what Fazil said.
Me: Indeed!!! I was familiar with the second quote. Repeat it often to myself and write about it. However some Muslims are not really capable of reason and learning. I am sure they find comfort and worship in “programmed” recitations. As I write (and YouTube) you have your religion and I have mine is embodied in the Islamic faith itself. Will be writing about an “offering” from Yaqueen Institute that switches gears and demands both. Such semi scholars brought to us online seek and create enfeebled souls to rely on them AND donate. Fasting can make me grouchy. No predawn meal working for me, btw. Alexis
I am responding to this prior email. .
He: I remember one story of the Prophet when he heard about a guy who is always at the mosque day and night, praying and reading the Quran. When he heard the story, he got upset and told off the guy. And he said that people who learn and teach are better than people who constantly prays. In another occasion he said that the ink of the scholar is holier than the blood of the martyr. Both these instances clearly shows Islam’s highest regard for knowledge and scholarship. Look how far we have gone from that today 🙁
(I guess 🙁 means this is NOT something to smile about)
Me: I will announce when I embark upon my first voyage. At the moment Mohan and Shamir are functioning as my GRAB and they do speak English. My official driver will return to his duties on March 30 or March 31. He is now busy reciting the Quran nightly at a mosque after Iftar.. That not my cup of tea. Did you ever participate ini Tarawih prayers? It would be meaningful to you as you speak Arabic. I do not. Alexis
He sent the following email in response to the initiating email. Little did I know that it would spark a meaningful exchange, which at its conclusion I would find peace of mind and answers to the dilemma I find myself emeched in this Ramadan. I sent a photo of the apps on my phone.
He: Progress
Me: Look at the GRAB app bottom on the right Admit I have not used it yet but it is at the ready. You can teach an old dog new tricks. Haha 😂 Alexis
(If you are confused may I suggest reading from here, the bottom up) Then it is in order and manageable)
It all started when I was complaining about how much I hated GRAB and would never use it. I listened to Fazil and two Mohan and then changed my mind. It has its usefulness. Still no trip but one tentatively planned.
For me the happy ending was to incorporate Fazil’s wisdom: “Looking for pockets of Islam in societies all over the world and when I see it, cling to it and cherish them.”
If you were following this rather tangential conversation you will remember I said: Will be writing about an “offering” from Yaqueen Institute that switches gears. First reflection, knowledgable understanding but then rote recitation.
(Rote: mechanical or habitual repetition of something to be learned. Synonyms: automatically, mechanically, unthinkingly, mindlessly.)
You shall read about this experience, thankfully, from beginning to end rather than the other way around. Haha
I began to read Yaqueen Institute’s Keys to Keys to Tadabbur: How to Reflect Deeply on the Qur’an. Here: https://yaqeeninstitute.org.my/read/paper/keys-to-tadabbur-how-to-reflect-deeply-on-the-quran
It began speaking of the importance of knowledge, reflecting upon the meaning and reaching an understanding of the verses found in the Quran.
‘The Qur’an is the “rope of Allah”;1 whoever grabs onto it will be saved, and whoever loosens his grip will be destroyed. The Qur’an is also the “spirit He revealed.”2 Allah created our bodies from the earth and decreed that their nourishment would come from the earth. Similarly, He created our spirits from a higher world and decreed that they require nourishment from this higher realm. One who only reads or listens to the Qur’an without pondering its meanings may not receive guidance from it. Allah, the Exalted, said, “Do they not then deeply ponder over the Qur’an, or are there locks upon their hearts?” In fact, even an expert reciter or a Qur’an instructor, who does not reflect on its meaning for their own salvation, can plummet to become among the worst of God’s creation. The Prophet ﷺ told us that the first three people to be sentenced on the Day of Resurrection will be a philanthropist, a martyr, and an expert reciter. Regarding the reciter, he ﷺ said, He will be brought, the blessings of Allah will be made known and he will acknowledge them. Allah will say: What did you do about them? The man will say: I learned religious knowledge, taught others, and I recited the Qur’an for your sake. Allah will say: You have lied, for you studied only so that it would be said you are a scholar and you recited the Qur’an only so that it would be said you are a reciter, and thus it was said. Then, Allah will order him to be dragged upon his face until he is cast into Hellfire.”
However, there is a sudden transition. It appears that recitation is also mandatory.
“Etiquette of recitation. Readers are cautioned: Be keen to observe the proper etiquettes for reciting Qur’an that have been reported by our pious predecessors. When reciting the authors understand that people do not know the meaning of the words they are saying as revealed by this paragraph;
“Finally, for those who cannot yet understand the few verses they have memorized, major scholars have deemed it permissible to hold a muṣḥaf in hand as you recite. Contemporary scholars have also extended this concession to translations as well, meaning they permitted that a reciter hold a translation and glance at it (not pronounce it) as they recite or hear the Arabic.”
Is it humanely possible for a Believer to undertake both of these tasks? Both understanding and reflecting on the words in their native language and then reciting, in a meaningful manner, the many words in Arabic?
My confusion made manifest by the concluding paragraph:
‘As a final example, and to conclude with a prayer for us and every reader, it was reported that ” Allāh ibn Masʿūd (rA), once recited, “And say: My Lord, increase me in knowledge. Immediately interacting with this prompt, he stopped and said, “O Allah, increase me in knowledge, faith, and conviction.’
May I humbly remind the authors that the Islamic Faith is the Way of Ease, that Allah (SWT) does not expect His followers to suffer unnecessary hardships. I not just read, but studied this offering expecting to find guidance and instead found confusion. I fear that many experiencing this confusion will look for further offerings for clarification, becoming dependent on this rather than seeking knowledge from the Quran itself.
However, as I wrote to Fazil, mentioned previously in this blog: “Such semi scholars brought to us online seek and create enfeebled souls to rely on them AND donate. Fasting can make me grouchy.”
The meaning of grouchy: irritable grumpy; complaining. This is absolutely not the frame of mind one should be in during Ramadan.
I did find a solution, one you shall hear about in the next blog. I visited the Floating Mosque which can be seen from my apartment. First seeing it from my photo, asking smart Shamir what it was lead me to an adventure solidifying my faith. Allhanduillah.
The photo sent to Shamir, then photos from the day shall follow.
