Prophets are Divine messengers, chosen to deliver Good News as well as warnings.
On the occasion of the birthday of Muslim Prophet Muhammad ﷺ I'd like to take this occasion to wish a Blessed Mawlid el Nabi to those who celebrate, while wishing health, peace and happiness to all.
I've been musing lately how, increasingly, uncomfortable many have become with the great intangibles: soul, inspiration, G_d.
How quickly they ridicule what they do not understand. But, so long as there remains mystery in life and those who honor it, so long as there is awe and wonder, there will always be mystics ... 🙏🏼✨
Whether people recognize it or not, in the absence of soul food, there remains a G_d-shaped hole, difficult to satisfy with worldly delights, and a persistent great hunger for the love that dare not speak its name: Divine.
May we never cease searching deeper, for stillness amid noise & countless miracles hiding in plain view, waiting to be discovered... Through attention and meditation, we 'breaking on through to the other side' peering behind the curtain, past the veil of this world...
Here are some wise words of glad tidings and caution from the Prophet of Islam, illustrating the richness, subtlety and universality of his noble message (which, unfortunately is short-changed and distorted by rampant Islamophobia).
I hope these quotes might open some minds and soften hearts:
"Refrain from seeing and speaking of the vices of mankind, which you know are in yourself.
The most excellent Jihad is that for the conquest of self.
The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr.
The exercise of religious duty will not atone for the fault of an abusive tongue.
Whoever hath been given gentleness, hath been given a good portion in this world and the next.
"Give me advice," said someone. Muhammad said, Be not angry."
Humility and courtesy are acts of piety.
The Faithful do not die; perhaps they become translated from this perishable world to the world of eternal existences.
Speak to men according to their mental capacities, for if you speak all things to all men, some cannot understand you, and so fall into errors.
Trust in God – but tie your camel first.
Verily your deeds will be brought back to you, as if you yourself were the creator of your own punishment.
If Judgement Day arrives as you are planting a tree, continue planting the tree.
Truly in the body there is a morsel of flesh, which, if it be whole, all the body is whole, and which, if it is diseased, all of [the body] is diseased. Truly, it is the heart.
I know not what will be done with me or with you. I
follow only that which is revealed to me.
Love it! I'm puzzling over the advice not to be angry, thinking "outrage" may not equal "anger," and I am loath to let go of the daily outrage I am moved to whenever I read the news or hear from friends or family about some injustice or indignity.
You remind me of one of my favorite songs from The Doors - Break on through to the other side!
Yes, love that song… Righteous indignation is required in our less than perfect world, and fuels activism and, hopefully, change. But, if we are not careful, it can also sour into smaller and darker ways of being and addiction to dissent.
Oh, world of paradoxes. So much to say & so much more that cannot be said…
Love the Niels Bohr quote! Those physicists are some of the best philosophers.
Bohr: Some things are so serious, they can only be joked about.
Wittgenstein: Some things are so serious, we must pass over them in silence.
Surely I am mis-remembering those quotes, but I always hoped Bohr got it right, because I tend toward Dark Humor and laughing when things get too crazy/desperate/beyond salvage.
I’m the sane way & believe jokes/laughter keep us sane and saves lives.
A sense of humor is a sense of proportion.
—Gibran
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