Category Archives: Psychology

Metaphysics, Modern Living, Psychology, Sufism, Uncategorized

“Respect” A much overused and abused term!

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In our “Progressive, Woke” world there are a number of tired ideas that keep getting used and abused. Terms like “Be reasonable”(which usually means “agree with me” lol) ; ‘Take your time”( which usually means I’m not really into it .Let’s procrastinate together” lol) and for our purposes today” Be respectful”(which usually means “do it my way”).Of course there is a lot of hypocrisy involved but most people talking that way don’t realize it. They are unaware, unconscious.

One of the places   like to start these discussions is with scriptural sources. So the Buddhists talk about “compassion”. The Christians say “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.And the Muslims say” honour man because he is a creation of God”.None of these are even remotely related to the modernist notions of respect.

Let us look at them one by one. “Compassion” is definitely part of all religious traditions. But it is not at all the same as “respect’ for others- regardless of their behaviour or ideas. In fact, for Buddhists the cardinal sin is “ignorance”. So putting up with the foolishness of people would be promoting sinfulness! For Christians “Doing unto others” is not equivalent to modernist “respect”. Would you like others to tell you you are right when you are not?! Would like others to tell you that you are right  when you are doing the wrong thing? I don’t think so. I certainly wouldn’t? No. In fact, it is Christian and Buddhist and Islamic to push back and call out each other when we are on the wrong path. For Muslims honoring mankind does not mean not confronting them with their false ideas and bad b behaviour. In Islam we have the principle of “Amr Bil Maruf wa Nehi al Munkar”( Enjoin the good and discourage evil) No political correctness there!

One of the great saints of Islam, founder of the Shafii madhdhab Imam Ash Shafii was once asked how he had attained such good character. He replied : “Every time I was criticized , by friend or foe alike, I looked within to see if the criticism had any validity, and if it was so, I did my best to correct it”  Now, none of this could have occurred if he was only surrounded by adabist students lol

So lets look at how this plays out in various scenarios

  1. The parental role.

Parents are now reluctant to challenge and train their children. Out of “respect”. So the children become disrespectful! No surprises there. You can see it any time you go out in public! I even saw a 3-4 year-old probably Bangladeshi child chewing out his parents in an Indian restaurant! Horror of horrors. And the parents said nothing! One of my clients, in my last years as a psychiatrist, was a school teacher. She was complaining about how disrespectful her high-school students were, In their school the children were allowed to swear at the teachers! Only when it became physically violent were there consequences! I then asked her: “How many times in their 11 years of public school education, have they been told to respect their elders. Crickets The answer is zilch! Respecting the elders is old school. Not the new school of transgender and equality and self(i.e. ego) expression!

2) The respect for authority! If there was any of that left before ,the Covid Pandemic has wiped it out. We were lied to over and over again-about early treatment with Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, about the safety of the vaccines, about the origins of the virus etc.,etc. And every day on the news Trump and his coterie are telling us how good the economy is when people know it aint. The American Academy of Pediatrics are telling us that the vaccine mandate is harmless where there are many credible studies to show us they are harmful. 5G installations are being protected while many people are being made sick and there is evidence that the RFs emitted are carcinogenic. And no one ,but no one, wants to study electrical cars health effects because of the potential economic impacts. So to be respectful of contemporary authorities is simply self-injurious!

3) The Sociology of Respect.

I was raised in an Ashkenazi Jewish family. We were taught to be forthright and honest. Americans and Italians I believe are similar .But during my life’s journey I cam in touch with what I call the “adabist” ( “adab” is the Arabic word for polite behaviour) cultures-the British and ,the Arabs ! (I believe the Japanese are similar).They believe in courtesy, politeness and good behaviour -at least outwardly. I was married to a British woman for a long time and have covorted with the Arabs throughout my long history as a Muslim. Through that experience, I have come to appreciate some of the wisdom in that approach. We shouldn’t go around speaking the Truth to people when it is hurtful and unlikely to change anything meaningful in the other.

On the other hand I have seen the hypocrisy and mischief that lies beneath the surface. Even some of the Sufis have fallen for this distortion of the Truth- making “adab” the center of the path. No,no and no! Truth-seeking is the centre of the path-not courteous behaviour! One of the worst cases of this phenomenon was a muqaddam of our sheikh who would go visit him him and say things like; “I am not even worthy of the dust at my teachers feet” and 5 mins. later I would find him doing exactly the opposite of what his sheikh told him. That is how bad it can get  when you are an adherent to “adabist” culture!

The irony to be noted here is  that the most “adabist” cultures( The British ,the Arabs and the Japanese) have been guilty of some of the most violence to others. A recent posting indicated that the British Empire killed more people than either Hitler or Stalin or Mao. I was surprised myself. Then again it lasted a lot longer than the others! The Arabs have been unfortunately involved in much of the terrorism of modern times and the Japanese were abysmally cruel during the Second World War. So if anyone thinks that politeness is the cure-all think again!

A British example. I had a long-time friend with whom we crossed paths on the Sufi way many times. One time I was in England where he lived .I had written to him a couple of times before coming so he could free up his schedule for a meeting. When he eventually found time in his all-too-busy schedule to meet with me ,at my mother-in-laws house in north London ,he stayed for all of 10 mins. My mother-in-law, surely one of the “adabists” extolled his politeness and courtesy. But I was furious  at his lack of consideration.. I came from 5,000 miles and all he could afford was 10 mins, And especially since we had so much in common, so much to learn actually from each other .But that is the culture of politeness! Rigid, ritualistic, unaware of appropriateness to context.

4) The psychoananlytic angle. The psychoanalysts and Gestalt psychologists were very aware of this issue! They know clearly about the tricks of the nafs ( ego).And one of the tricks is the “yes, but” responses. “Yes, I agree with you but…” The psychoanalysts refer to this as “On the Other Hand”  responses. So Fritz Perls, founder of Gestalt Therapy and one of the most astute clinicians used to say; “When there is ‘but’ in a response, it erases everything that comes before it.” The response sounds “respectful” ,but actually it is undermining the Truth in the original statement. The Freudians warned us that if we made an interpretation and the client responded with “On the Other Hand” this represented a form of resistance. They were actually trying to disempower the interpretation!

Conclusions: So how do we go forward? People who are aware of my thinking know that I am against “all or none” responses! We can’t throw “respect” overboard completely, nor can we deny truth in the name of not hurting peoples’ feelings. So we need to find a middle way! At  the same time we have to be conscious of priorities! The ultimate respect needs to be not for peoples sensitivities but rather respect for the Truth(which is another name for God. “Haqq” in Arabic. Anything less will lead us down the wrong path-to more misery and suffering. So learn the art of the gentle but firm pushback. That is what I am practicing and likewise teaching my students to do the same .God be with you! Sufi Ibrahim

Metaphysics, Modern Living, Psychology

AI vs. Human Intelligence

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AI is already superior to the intelligence of most human beings! Why is that?! It is NOT that AI is programmable. Humans are also programmed! But their programming is MORE rigid!  When you take into account their genetic programming, their ethnic/national programming, their professional programming and the programming by their immediate environment, you can account for at least 95% of their speech and behaviour! AI is more flexible!

So what does this mean for us?! It is incumbent on the human being, for both his human and spiritual development, to become aware of his programming and to begin to correct the negative aspects. This is no quick or easy matter! I have been at it for 50 years myself! From the first time my girlfriend told me I was a “positivist ( my scientific programming).This work is never completely finished. Some of our conditioning always remains but this is the true sense of the Sufi term ‘jihad-a -nafs ‘( the war with the ego). Most people don’t even get started! Time to get going!

Modern Living, Politics, Psychology

Stock Market Speculation-The New Religion

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    Stock Market Speculation-A Modern Religion!

Yes, a religion! Why do I say that? Because whenever you challenge it, people get really upset! Either they block you, stop talking to you or accuse you of arrogance. I  even had one woman call me “crazy” which was , in fact, an honour because that is exactly what they called the Prophets of old, Peace be upon them all, whenever they revealed the Truth.

So all around us we can see the rituals of this religion. Checking the figures at night and at the beginning of the day, all the main news stations covering the ups and downs of the Dow-Jones and the Nasdaq, special TV shows and even whole stations devoted to the financial markets, people with their own 401 k’s (in the U.S.A.) and RRSPs in Canada. Trump going up and down with the waves. People jumping up and down when the figures go up like Evangelicals at a Church meeting and pulling their hair out when it goes into bear market and a crash seems imminent. This is the modern world. Finances rein supreme! .Even wars, like that in Iran, seem to be mostly about fuel prices. This is the modern world-in all its craziness!

In fact this religion is the love of wealth, something all our religious teachers from the Buddha to the Prophet Mohammed saws have warned us about . But who needs religion when greed is the driving force lol?!

Personal experience: Personally, I have not had a lot of experience in this area. The one time I got involved was just before the crash of 2008 where I lost about 20% of my RRSPs. And no, that is NOT why I am writing this article. I am fully aware, as all my investor friend enthusiasts like to remind me,  that the market has done well since! And I am able to separate myself from my personal losses and have been doing that work (we call it “jihad-a-nafs” in Sufism) for a long time.

I also have two brothers  who have been MBA professional portfolio managers, both of them heavily involved in investments for decades for large investment firms! Both have become increasingly disillusioned with this type of activity. One of them left a large Canadian bank and has largely been involved in property development since (definitely a lot more socially productive then betting on the future value of a company share!). He left saying “this is simply sophisticated gambling” I couldn’t agree more! The other brother left a six-figure job in a large investment firm and has downsized considerably since them. Neither of them have an elevated view of their profession! Then again I am not much impressed by doctors these days lol.At least the profession is potentially helpful-if you can stay away from the drug company propaganda which most can’t as it has permeated the entire profession!

The triggering event:

I have had my suspicions for years about this kind of activity but never really looked into it in depth. Then I ran into a blog called “New Polity” And three individuals, young, smart, well-informed and most importantly conscienciously Christian and I found what I was looking for. By contrast when I looked up books on Amazon I could not find a single one that was critical of this kind of speculation. All the books were about how to make more money on the stock market! Surprise , surprise lol!

The three people involved in the discussion were a former Wall Street banker, William Bednarz and two podcasters , Marc Barnes and Jacob Imam. And this podcast contained more truth (all of which I had intuitively felt) than anything I had seen previously. So here are the bullet points of their discussion!

: The first company to sell shares on the market was the Dutch East India Company in 1602! The American Stock exchange was founded in 1792 with the Buttonwood Agreement

: Before that all through the Middle Ages and before, there was no distinction between a shareholder and a partner i.e. every person involved in the company had to participate in it’s management, it’s decision-making and its work . I call that “Real Investment”..

:in the United States 10% of the wealthiest people own 93% of the stock market! The lower 50% own 1%! i.e the stock market is contributing seriously to the disparity in wealth. As say the Marxists and others:  ”The Rich get richer and the poor get poorer”!

Some notable quotes:

Charles Dickens:

Share ownership is perverse and is used to oppress everyone beneath them

:A Papal encyclical( Jean-Paul II

“The ownership of the means of production becomes illegitimate when it is not utilized or when it starts to impede the work of others in an effort to gain a profit which is not the result of the overall expansion of work and the wealth of society (i.e. when it does not increase social productivity”)

P.S. It must be said here that the Catholics are ahead of the game in their concerns. Two popes have written encyclicals about the sub ect and it seems that the current pope is working on one himself.

Meanwhile the Muslims and Jews and other Christians believe that the only important thing is not to invest in companies that are producing sinful material like gambling and pornography and alcohol for Muslims. What a narrow, superficial view of things! :

:In a study done by the National Bureau of Economics, it was found that between 1989-2017 the stock market value increased by 100% while the GDP increased by only 25% and part of that 25% was in financial activity! –by definition non-productive!

So what does that mean!  That the stock market is in no ways a reflection of the actual activity and buying stocks is a speculative adventure that in no way benefits anyone outside of the investor.

: Given that the stock market value increases make more money available, by definition this investment increases inflation with all the negative downsides of that reality!

:Second quote from the Pope! 1986 “Merchants who desire scarcity and rising prices cannot bear to to be the only ones buying and selling so they encourage others to do so, in order to sell more dearly and buy more cheaply”

Christian fundamentalist view: Not to be easily dismissed! Any superfluous wealth we have belongs to the poor.-not to be used to make thr rich richer but to be used to help society  .In Islam we have 2.5% zakat which is a minimalist requirement. The Christians had the “Dime” which was 10% But actually from a moral point of view the entire amount should be put to good use . An example of that may be the philanthropic activities of people like the Rockefellers and the Melons and more recently Bill Gates and Warren Buffet although in many of these cases the philanthropy ended up being self-serving and ideological. At least they started on the right foot lol

: Most insightful thoughtful people( including my brothers lol ) have seen through the justification of these investments as “efficient allocation of resources” as they teach in MBA schools across the country. That ranks up there with vaccines being”safe and effective” i.e more B.S. from the sold-out intellectual class!

The Buddhist Contribution. The Buddha taught the eight-fold path and one of those principles was “Right Vocation”. This is how it is defined: In Buddhism, a “right vocation” or career is known as Right Livelihood (Sammā Ājīva). It is the fifth part of the Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path. It means earning your living in a peaceful and honest way without causing harm, cheating, or bringing suffering to other living beings.

I would add in here, that the activity needs to be socially productive . We could also add the Christian idea that “You shall gain they daily bread through the sweat of thy brow” i.e you should work for your money-not simply buy an investment product and wait for it to grow. That can legitimately be called “profiteering”. So if we are going to do a serious deep dive here, we would have to look for intentionality. No-one should have any doubts here! The intentionality is making profit-not contribuating to the social good,

 

 

What is “Kosher investing then?

Since most people are not willing to simply give all their superfluous wealth to the poor, what remains as ethical investments. I see three avenues

!0 Real investments like in the good olde days! One begins a project or an organization that contribute to the social good. The bloggers called these “societas”-groups of people working together to build something useful! One invests one’s time and effort and money into this project or company. And one participates in the day-to-day management.  Ironically, some may think, this is how Elon Musk and Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg got to be billionaires-not by investing in other company’s shares and waiting to reap the rewards but by developing their own products! What they do with their money afterwards is another matter!

 

 

2) Property development– buying land or real estate and using it productively. Both of my last two spiritual teachers Sheikh Nazim and Sheik Abu-Qassim were into that. The former bought olive groves and the latter bought land to develop into date farms!

3) Sheikh Nazim, being an Ottoman at heart, liked the idea of buying gold lol. Gold used to be the standard currency before the American dollar took over.

 

Much, much more to say like about the doubly corrupting effect of bitcoin investment which adds the dubiousness of crypto to its non-productivity socially but let’s leave it there for now!

Salaams, Sufi Ibrahim

 

 

 

Comparative Religion, Politics, Psychology, Spiritual Practice

Muslim Nationalism-the Third Scourge

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Muslim Nationalism-The Third Scourge

Quran 49:13 O humanity! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female,and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may ˹get to˺ know one another. Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you. Allah is truly All-Knowing, All-Aware.

Quran 11: 118 Had your Lord so willed, He would have created one single community of believers but they would still dispute ( and so it is!)

This is the Third and hopefully the last of the series on the scourges affecting modern day Islam! The first was Islamism-the Marxist version of Islam. The second was Materialism-the Capitalist version of Islam and this time we are taking on Nationalism-the Jewish/American version of Islam! But before we go further let me issue a disclaimer!

Disclaimer: I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea here. I am by no means denouncing Islam. I love this religion, I am convinced of its veracity, have deep respect for our Prophet saws and have no regrets about having converted to the faith 47 years ago! However, during its history a lot of corruption and misunderstanding has entered the faith. We were warned about this by our Prophet saws who told us Islam would follow the ways of the Jews and Christians and enter the “lizard hole” with them. With what I see around me-“kaza’(shaving only part of the head) haircuts everywhere in the masjids and an obsession with the evil eye and magic in some Islamic circles we could add Paganism to the list of traditions being followed.

Like in any pathology being studied, we need to identify the symptoms and the treatment. So here goes…

In terms of signs (ayat)  that this subject is very timely, just as I was planning out this article I came across a brief video of Sheikh Omar Ibn Faruq, an American Islamic scholar with a very good reputation in Islamic circles.I  have long held doubts about his quality of teaching as it always seemed overly abstract but that is beside the point for now .In this clip he was arguing that Judaism is a fairly new religion that only occurred in the 2nd CE with the work of the Talmudic scholars in the diaspora!

There was something wrong with the argument. It felt biased and denigrating from the git-go. So I began thinking about what he was saying. The facts were generally correct. The Jewish Talmudic tradition of scholarship only began in the 2nd century CE. But the conclusion, that this was the beginning of Judaism seemed totally false and fabricated! Judaism began, in fact, with the Prophet Yaqub(Jacob) who was the father of the Bani Israil .The references to them are all over the Quran and I am sure Sheikh Omar is well aware of this!

I think that what he was trying to say was that the advent of Talmudic interpretation started a whole new religion! Forget Jacob, and Yusuf and Moses. A totally new religion had started. That would be the equivalent of deciding that Islam began with Imam al-Ghazzali in the 12th century A.D., the well-known scholar  who started the tradition of serious intellectual analysis in our religion. No Muslim would accept that narrative! So no sincere, knowledgeable person should say that about Judaism either.

Now when I went back to look at motivation (I was trained in psychiatry and psychoanalysis lol) I could come only to one conclusion. This is an underhanded attempt( conscious or unconscious) to discredit one of the great religions of the World. This is Muslim Nationalism!!

And why do I compare this to the Jews and the Americans?! One of the greatest theological mistakes of the Jews was thinking that because they were the Chosen Nation(and they were for awhile) that they were safe from consequences and systematically better than others. That the revelation was mostly for them. And the goyim(the gentiles) were unimportant. Wrong again! All of Allah’s created beings are important. Because of that error in perspective they, the Jews, even made it difficult for others to enter their religion which long-term has led to their diminution in numbers and therefore in strength. So nowadays we have 16 million Jews in the world and 2 billion Muslims. Islam has won the religious battle lol. But Muslims continue to act like victims. And victims they have become!

In terms of pure Nationalism, the Americans have outdone everyone else! ”We are the greatest nation on Earth” their politicians proclaim?!  Often enough , they go further and state:  “The greatest nation that has EVER existed”1! Really?! What chutzpah (forgive the vernacular lol).Where is the proof?! Whenever the U.N. does surveys of social variables-like infant mortality, poverty, violence, efficacy of the medical system etc.,etc. the U.S comes systematically last of the advanced economies! Last each and every time! That shows the depths of delusion that can occur with Nationalism . We seriously need to stay away.

Other manifestations of Nationalism:

Exaggerating about our Prophet saws

2:136 Say, ˹O believers, “We believe in Allah and what has been revealed to us; and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and his descendants; and what was given to Moses, Jesus, and other prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them. And to Allah we all submit.”

Hadith 1“Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians praised the son of Mary, for I am only a Slave. So, call me the Slave of Allah and His Messenger”. 

(This is a sahih (authentic) hadith recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī )

Hadith 2 Sahih al-Bukhari: Narrated by Abu Huraira, the Prophet said: “No servant should say that I am better than Yunus ibn Matta”.

Another Narration: The Prophet said: “Whoever says that I am better than Yunus ibn Matta has told a lie”.

And yet the Muslims regularly go against both the Quran and the hadith on this point. The Qasida al Burda, one of the most cherished recitations at Mawlids, is full of these exaggerations. And yet no-one is willing to point out the contradictions! In fact they have become part and parcel of the Muslim narrative?!

Quotes from the Burdah.  

 

The Opening Salutation (Refrain)

O my Lord, bless and grant peace always and forever,
Upon Your beloved, the Best of all Creation.”( What does that even mean?! There is no Quranic or hadith reference that says it! And how can you compare a human being to the cosmos or the oceans or the moon. This is pure rhetoric!)

 

The Source of Nobility

“He surpassed all the Prophets in physical form and character,
And none of them approach him in knowledge or generosity.”

 The Light of Guidance

“All of them (the other Prophets) obtained from Allah’s Messenger a handful (of water) from the ocean or a few sips from continuous rains.”  ( And I always thought it was from Allah that we got this rizq?! Back to the books I guess lol)

Do we not see exaggeration and comparison here?! Is that not what the Prophet saws explicitly prohibited?! When I asked a well-known  scholar friend of mine about it, all he could say was: ”Why does that matter?As long as people are happy saying and singing it, it’s fine. Really?! Why does it matter going against  both the Divine and Prophetic prescriptions?!! Time to go out and have a ham sandwich lol. Why does it matter. The Canadian Health Authorities have said it’s perfectly safe!?

 

 

Other Features of Nationalism:

Not being concerned about and not respecting  other nations

2:62 Indeed, the believers, Jews, Christians, and Sabians1—whoever ˹truly˺ believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good will have their reward with their Lord. And there will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve.

You would think that would be clear enough?!  Jews and Christians will be fine on the Day of Judgment. The good ones will also go to heaven! And if you read the n.d.e( near-death experience) literature and also know Christians who have seen their pious relatives  on the other side, in paradise, you would know that it is true!

But the scholars are not satisfied. They need to do some intellectual acrobatics and say that is only true for those before the time of Mohammed or who haven’t heard about Mohammed (not too many of those left lol!). Why do they need to twist the obvious meaning. Muslim Nationalism once again.

In another vein, back in the early2000’s I was studying Arabic in Jordan. One of my room-mates was of Palestinian origin and we had become good friends generally. Then I made the statement that each of the religions had certain special qualities. Almost by spinal reflex lol he said incredulously: ”What about the Jews?” obviously displaying his bigotry. I was at first taken aback and then I got the inspiration- “ Humanism” I said surprising myself as much as him

Now I totally understand, looking at the behaviour of Israelis, why someone might not get that. Israelis are atypical Jews actually. Jackie Mason, one of the finest Jewish comedians, once summed it up this way:” These Israelis, I don’t get it. They are not like the Jews I grew up with in New York .  They are like.. and he hesitated.. like Puerto Ricans- the ones who are known in NYC for their aggressivity and violence. I think he was on the right track. In the line of the anthropological theories of Robert Pirsig in Laila (odd synchronicity of naming) I would say that the Israelis have become Arabized Jews-some would say by necessity others would say by geographical influence! They have generally lost that human softness present in the diaspora Jews although they have maintained the scientific intelligence. Touchy area here no doubt.

My own Jewish ancestors were nothing like that. And their language (Yiddish not Hebrew) contains some of the richest terms to describe the human dilemma. So much so that they have entered the Anglo-Saxon lexicon-words like “chutzpah”, and “schmuck” and “mishigena” and “clutz”. They all contain an element of acceptance of human imperfection-the opposite of the emphasis in Arab society of pride and dignity and idealization.. No wonder they couldn’t get along!

More evidence…Practicing Muslims will notice at the jumaa prayer, the dua is inevitably about Victory for the Muslims. I have yet to go to a jumaa prayer where the Imam makes dua for Peace. OTOH the Pope is doing it regularly! I don’t know what happens in the synagogues as I haven’t been there in a very long time. But for sure, the Christians are often focused on peace . The pope recently went so far as to denounce the U.S. president for the war he has started! Maybe that is why there are so many Africans converting to Christianity-most of them pagans but some of them of them Muslims first.

I had an old German friend who was a very ardent Muslim with some mental health issues . We have reconnected recently on Facebook. I was surprised that he had converted back to Christianity. When I questioned him about it he simply stated:  “They were more helpful to me. More charitable” H-m-m. And how many Africans have they converted over the years through that same generosity.

And what about the Jews- the nation Muslims love to hate. No, not only Zionism, the Jews themselves. One of my Muslim colleagues in Great Britain disputed that assertion . So I brought him a Pew poll.

According to a 2010 Pew Research Center survey, overwhelmingly negative attitudes toward Jews were found in predominantly Muslim countries and territories, with roughly 95-98% of inhabitants in Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt holding unfavorable views. These perceptions, often linked to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, highlight widespread disapproval of Jews across these nations.( Not Israel here, Jews-PS The unconscious always conflates these categories anyway so that the distinction often becomes purely semantic!))

The Attitude to Conversions: Another Aspect of Nationalism

Muslims are always happy and proud when someone converts. And indeed it is a thing of beauty when someone opens their mind and their hearts to a new way of looking at reality. They now have a clear way to virtue and piety. I must admit to having some of the same feeling when someone realizes how dangerous vaccines really are lol! Opening to the Haqq (Truth) is always a beautiful thing.

But at times I sense something somewhat darker in the thoughts of the people around. Like: “Welcome to our club. We are now more numerous. By your conversion, you have proved, after all, that we are right and everyone else is wrong” That, too, is Muslim nationalism and it is not healthy.

The stats are not that good either- in case people are feeling inflated by what they see, occasionally, in the mosques. As anyone will tell you who has converted, like myself, it is very hard to convert people. There was a time when Black Americans were converting in large numbers (think nation of Islam and Muhammad X). But now, there is not much of that in evidence. In fact,it appears that there are just as many Muslims leaving as entering-in America at least, and that is worrisome. In Africa there may in fact be more movement of Muslims to Christianity than the inverse. With groups like Boko Haram and Al Shebbab and the various al Qaida derivatives all over the continent, this is hardly surprising.

 

The Cure:

So what is the solution to this Nationalism Scourge? Let’s go back to the beginning .. The ayat says “to get to know one another”. That means respect and acceptance. That means finding out what the others have that we don’t! That means suspending judgment. That means learning-an open inbox, not a closed one lol That is not dawa and it is certainly not proving that your religion is better. It means a Multi-Faith, Multi-Cultural approach. It means acknowledging the other, “altérité” the French call it. It means empathy. And many of the Muslims are very unskilled in this domains-even within their marriages and family. They prefer to operate by principle and denial-the worst of psychological defenses. So we certainly have our work cut out for us. May Allah make us strong and aware at the same time .Anything else will lead to disaster- like we now see in Palestine and Iran. May Allah protect us!.

 

 

 

 

 

Modern Living, Psychology

“They really don’t care about us”!

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Context: Michigan Church shooting. The real reason for all the shootings in the USA. Courtesy of Michael Jackson.”They really don’t care about us” !. With all the bureaucratic hurdles, with all the automation,  with all the transhuman insensitivity, with the huge income disparities, with young men and women unable to find suitable partners and jobs it is very easy to understand why some individuals,more than we think, can realistically assume no-one really cares about them Hence the desperation!

Metaphysics, Modern Living, Psychology

The Adversarial Position

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The Adversarial Approach-

The Great Hoax of Modern Times

One of the most commonly accepted truisms of Modern Times is that the way to the Truth is through the Adversarial Approach. So, on the legal front, you have the prosecution and the defense. In politics you have the Democrats and the Republicans or alternatively the left-wing and the right wing. Somehow through the confrontation of these opposites, one is supposed to be able top discern the Truth. This is a deep-seated error in Epistemology. In reality, instead of getting to Clarity and Truth, this approach leads to confusion and animosity. If you don’t understand what I mean, just look at what is happening in America currently. But like lots of consensually held illusions (think of the sun revolving around the Earth lol) they die hard. Partly because much of this conviction is Unconscious.

If you need a concrete example of this process watch the Senate hearings in the United States.These hearings were intended to seek clarity .But instead you have a bifurcation of expressed beliefs. The Democrats have one point of view and the Republicans have another. So what is being set up is a game-the game of who is the best debater. In the end everyone is a loser-especially the public that is just either more partisan or more confused after the event.

Another instance of this can be seen on the news networks. Just watched an interview by Dana Bash (left-leaning CNN) and a Republican senator. Each speaking over the other. Neither of them listening except as an occasion for a gotcha moment that can be played over and over again. The best part is at the end of the interview Dana, who by now has certainly built up a pile of animosity, states in an obviously hypocritical way.”and thanks for coming” Ya right. Now she can make a dartboard out of his picture to be able to release her frustrations when needed lol

There is a strange irony in this adversarial belief-system. We could call this belief, from a philosophical point of view , “Dialectics”. Dialectics claims that from the thesis-antithesis clash we get to synthesis on a higher level.  But that is exactly what Marx and the Communists call their point of view. ”Dialectical Materialism”. So we are on the same plane-the plane of ignorance! Have you noticed that wonderful synthesis in China and Russia LOL?

In the field of Sufi Islam, we are repeatedly warned about this approach. The teacher of my Sufi teacher, Sheikh Abdullah Daghestani, says in his book: ” Argumentation destroys faith” In traditional Islam, one of the four great Imams, Imam Malik was known to walk out of the mosque if some-one started arguing. And in the Quran Allah says:” Man is mostly disputatious” He swt was surely not encouraging this bad tendency!

Now, when I examined my own learning process, I realized that I had learnt very little from discussions with opposing points of view. Mostly those discussions led nowhere and created more animosity than clarity. So I asked myself the question: ”How did I learn?” Yes, I do believe I have learnt a lot in this life journey lol. And the answer came back in an irrefutable manner.” Through listening to people who knew a lot more than me about the subject”! No, not discussing with them, debating with them or even interacting with them! Simple, honest, open-hearted listening. And that shifted my life course on several occasion.

People who are familiar with my approach know that My Epistemology is based not on logic and rationality, certainly not on debating, but on “Seeing”, “Hearing “ and” Feeling”. Let me give you a few examples

1-We will start with Hearing.

Two examples-neither from great scholars. lol In my pre-Islamic days like the people of my generation I had a girlfriend who was both highly intelligent and depressed. Her treating psychiatrist invited me in for a session one week. ( Did he think I was part of the problem lol. Maybe!). I outrightly refused in a way that can only be described as ironic given what followed. ”Psychiatry.That’s a bunch of bunk .It’s not even scientific” was my response. Have come a long way since then. My girlfriend, suitably upset, then went to talk with her also intelligent girlfriend and came back saying:” Me and Miriam decided that you are a “positivist’! I didn’t even know what positivism was! But it hit me hard and I knew I had to find out!

Now, if I had read a little, I could have come back and debated the issue. I could have defended Empiricism and debated her philosophic and Artistic Idealism. But for some reason, I didn’t. Instead, I began a long research project starting with a Sabbatical from medical school-a research project that is continuing up to the present moment. This research has made me question the so-called scientific process. Instead of debating, I heard the Truth of it. And I have not regretted it for one moment.

Another “listening event. I was in California looking to learn about the latest alternative psychotherapies. I didn’t go to Esalen but I went to the Esalen bookstore in Haight Ashbury.There was a young lady serving at the bookstore (probably early twenties) who noticed that I had a non-Californian accent and asked what I was doing in San Francisco.” I’m here to study Gestalt Therapy” I said, somewhat simplifying the process. She then looked at me with utter contempt and said: ”Gestalt Therapy, that’s not where it’s at, man” (typical language of the day lol).I thought to myself: ”This is the dumbest chick I have ever met’(also typical language of the day lol) and decided to leave. But as I was walking out of the bookstore shaking my head in disbelief, I turned around and said: ”Ok then where’s it at?” “Spirituality man, that’s where it’s at”. I walked out of the store still shaking my head ! However, the phrase kept repeating itself in my head like a beloved song from high school. ”Spirituality, man. That’s where its at”. Sure enough, soon after I got back to Montreal I met my first spiritual teacher, a Buddhist Lama sent to Montreal by the Dalai Lama to attend to the Tibetan community in Longueuil! And the rest is history.

Now if I had done what the current zeitgeist would recommend (Discussion? Debate? Conversation?) and debated the issue-spirituality vs. psychology) in all likelihood it would have led to an impasse and bad feelings .Instead, this seemingly banal interaction  led to a life-changing experience!

 

2- Example of Seeing. I am in Jordan. I am out shopping when a Muslim “brother” meets me and invites me to dinner. It doesn’t take long for his small group to go into their Wahhabbi discourse and begin criticizing Sheikh Nuh ,my spiritual teacher of the time. I do my best to defend him (the debate mode lol) and after a few more minutes, I look at the group and say “ I can see no nur(light) in your faces. How am I supposed to believe your words.” And I left. Btw I had a very similar encounter with a Shia group in Montreal!

Example 2- a secular one. I was a Marxist at the time?! I am in a large meeting of left-wingers. All the local bigshots are there! I look around and at the Front Table only to realize that these people are worse than the democratic liberal government under Robert Bourassa. And that it would be a catastrophe to help them into power! End of my career as a Marxist!

3-“Feeling” (Alternatively could be titled “intuition” or “knowledge of the heart) I am in Plateau Montréal -the “in” area of Montreal, still searching. I go to a bookstore dedicated to the works of Alistar Crowley. I knew nothing about him before entering. But I knew it felt weird, very weird and I didn’t stay long. Later I learnt that he was a well-known Black Magician from England. My “feelings” had led me to the right conclusion!

 

Now, there are some prerequisites to achieving these kind of perceptions.. Some people have good instincts to start with.It is like a genetic endowment. Most of us have to work at it . Firstly we must be able to listen. Most people are listening through the veil of their belief-systems. Seeing and feeling are the same. If the ideas do not conform to what is already in their mind, they reject them. Many, many people simply reject anything new or unusual. And they are stuck in that way.

So what can we do to enhance our openness to the Truth. That is the Essence of the Sufi way. We pray, we do dhikr( mediation),we listen to wise teachers. But, most of all, we oppose our nafs (ego).It is called jihad-a-nafs. This is no mean feat. Most of the Muslims I have met don’t have a clue! They think wearing hijab and eating halal meat is enough. But the process of jihad-a-nafs goes far beyond that .It goes to the essential task of character-building. People who do that work seriously are like precious gems as opposed to stones. And you can learn to see them as such.

May Allah be with you on your journey. Sufi Ibrahim Kreps

 

Modern Living, Politics, Psychology

American Delusions

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Disclaimer: Throughout my life, I have had a deep affection for America. As a child, I used to dream of subways going to Boston where my cousins lived. I learnt so much in medicine and spirituality from travelling to American conferences and workshops.. And I always respected American ingenuity and open-mindedness and science. But something has gone really wrong there. And the seeds were well-planted in history!

Delusion #1 : There is no place in American politics for violence!

Are you kidding me?! America was founded on a battle against the British Monarchy, the exploitation of black slaves and the genocidal attitude towards indigenous people. All three were based on violence.Then there was the Civil War that cost 750,00 lives, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy. Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King! Not to mention Medgar Evans and Malcolm X. So to say violence has no place in American politics is utterly absurd. It is as American as Apple Pie and cheerleaders lol.

Delusion #2 America is the greatest country in the world or alternatively America is the greatest country ever! Really?! Well the UIN Human Development report regularly puts America in last place amongst the developed countries in ALL social parameters! That includes Infant mortality rate, levels of violence , levels of poverty .efficacy of the medical system etc.etc. As to the Division of Wealth America again ranks last of the developed countries although there are several third-world countries that outdo it! No honour to America there!

Delusion #3

The best way to arrive at Truth and Understanding is through discussion and debate. I would say that this is NOT a particularly American viewpoint .It is common to all post-Enlightenment countries but is it true?! Think about your own life process .How many times has your opinion been changed by discussions?! Personally, I have yet to see it! In most cases, people get more virulent and entrenched in their points of view through debate and discussion. It can even end in hatred and violence! Isn’t that what just happened with Charlie Kirk- a great advocate for “dialogue”.

In my experience, and now my thinking, the real learning happens in a totally different way! One person who has more insight and understanding speaks and the other(s) listen with an open mind. That’s how I learned medicine ,psychology and spiritually. Isn’t that what the Prophets and the saints of all religions did?!  The Adversarial position which America is so fond of and is used in both political and legal settings is a total failure! For those wanting to understand more, I strongly recommend my articles on Epistemology at www.sufipilgrimsprogress.com

There is much ,much more to say but let’s leave it at that for now! Think about it!

Holistic Medicine, Modern Living, Psychology

Autism is Everywhere!

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Autism /Aspergers is Everywhere!

According to current medical statistics, Autism Spectrum Disorder is now at 1/32.That is in contrast to the 1/2500 we were taught when I studied psychiatry in the 80’s.. The sceptics say that this is just because we are looking for it more or alternatively because the diagnostic criteria have changed.

Rubbish! In fact according to my observations, the rate of Autism is much, much higher than that! In fact, I would argue that every single child exposed to the equivalent of the American Vaccine mandate schedule has some features of autism!

As an example of the underdiagnosis phenomenon during my practice as a psychiatrist I remember having referred at least two clear-cut cases of autism to specialty clinics to confirm the diagnosis. Both cases were told they didn’t have Autism. In one case the man was superbly rational and knew how to avoid the specific criteria thinking it would be detrimental to his career aspirations. In the other case, of a Muslim man, who oddly fasted Monday and Thursday but didn’t do his salat on any regular basis. Any practicing Muslim could have told them that this was odd indeed. So  they also could have confirmed this oddity, amongst others, if they had asked his wife! But they never did.

All of this brings me back to the comments of my highly esteemed psychiatry teacher, Dr.Heinz  Lehman, when the DSM catalogues of diagnosis were first being used on a systematic basis .”We are now going to enter a period of ‘cookbook medicine” he stated. And sure enough we can see that all over the medical field.

So , bottom line a whole generation of children, possibly now the beginning of a second generation, is being seriously harmed! When confronted with these oddities, especially amongst young boys , another explanation given is that its due to “the screens”. It’s all because of too much technology, they would say. Oddly enough ,there is some truth to this hypothesis. Actually the vaccine-injury syndrome (mostly as there are other toxins that contribute), and the universal presence of electronics, are synergistically interacting. The more autistic features, the more interested in screens. and the more screen-time the more the children begin to look autistic!

Funnily, the Imam at our mosque has noticed this as well! .Not usually very aware of psychological issues lol,he recently stated in one of his khutbahs: ”How come there are so many cases of autism in our mosque?!”. He noticed but the doctors and pediatricians barely notice. Bring on the bonuses for more vaccines?!

So why are the numbers so underestimated. Now RFKjr. gave a presser recently on the more severe forms of autism, which he claimed were 25% of the group(an overestimate in my view). Many autistic people were very offended because he was saying that this group had no prospects for the future. They would never have careers and families and be independent. These were, in fact, the types we saw hospitalized in psychiatric hospitals when I was studying psychiatry! Now many of them are in group homes or under the care of exhausted overstressed parents. RFKjr. was trying to indicate that Autism was a serious problem and needed to be attended to. And I congratulate him for that effort.

However, the vast majority of Autistic spectrum/Aspergers are much more subtle. And that is why they go unnoticed. In fact there is a tendency to normalize the problem. And we all pay the price for that normalization- by continuing to deny the real cause(causes).”O what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive (or to deny in this case)”!

So, what are these subtle signs of Autism. Many of these do NOT figure in the DSM criteria or do so in a very non-specific way. In a more global view, the central defect of the Autistic person is that “they don’t get it”. This is often extremely frustrating to their partners. So if we look at the world of politics, for example and some hugely successful Autism/Aspergers people, we see that Bill Gates did not get what evil was lurking in Jeffrey Epstein. It ended up destroying his marriage. And yes, there were others like Bill Clinton and Donald Trump who didn’t get it either-but for other reasons. Then there is Elon Musk who didn’t get it about Trump until well into his mandate. And then he didn’t get the proper way to leave either. Or how he cannot manage relationships with women whom he was well able to inseminate lol  but unable to maintain relationships with.

                                                                 Soft Signs

Even before the specifics, someone with inner vision can see the autism in the facial expression of the person and in the way his body moves-the gait. Dr. Lehmann claimed he could diagnose schizophrenia just by the gait of the patient as he walked in the office, He didn’t need the DSM criteria! The same is true for Autism.

1-Pickiness in eating. Yes, many children have some of this when they are very young. Much of this diminishes as we grow older. I remember myself as a child, I would only eat meat and potatoes lol.I hated fish and seafood was anathema. As I grew older, most of these preferences diminished and died away. But often I had to work at it. I still remember when pizza first came to Montreal. It was made with strong parmesan cheese as the Italians do. The first two or three times I ate it, I vomited it up. But because everyone around me was enjoying it, I persisted. The same with fish. But the Aspergers personality often maintains these preferences throughout life!

 

2-Incapable of genuine emotional expression -either love or sadness or anger or enthusiasm.( This feature can be worked on however as we will mention in the later part of the article)

3-Oddities of behaviour. (The DSM does mention that one but the oddities can be subtle) Think of Mark Zuckerberg’s hairdos lol .It’s a giveaway. Or Musk coming on stage with a chain saw! Or people who insist on wearing the same clothes all the time. I once had a brilliant psychoanalytic teacher who only wore a dark-blue blazer and grey pants. When asked about it, he said he wanted to keep the environment stable so he could correctly observe “the transference” lol Is psychoanalysis an Autistic cult then?! Some would argue such!

4-Unwittingly saying the wrong things in public-often things that are offensive to others! We had one of those in our medical school class. When I mentioned the possibility to another of our colleages at our 50th year graduation celebration, he would hear nothing of it. He wanted to continue hating on the man.

5-Having difficulty finding partners-especially for the males. The females do not have the same difficulty as men tend to be lacking in the same social awareness as ladies: ”If she’s sufficiently hot, he’s into it-regardless lol .The women, however, pick up on the oddities and have a negative reaction. They prefer a full-blooded macho braggard to a gentle, subtle soul-despite all their protestations!

I’m sure there is a lot more to this part of the story but let’s leave it there for now!

 

The Positive Side:

When I looked back at my friendships over my life history, I realized that most of my long-term friends were in all likelihood Aspergers people?! Why is that?!

Let’s look at the alternatives lol. There are the Personality Disorders- Narcissistic and Psychopathic like Trump. No thanks. Then there are the Obsessional Rationnalist Organizer types .They are the ones I find most annoying lolAnd then there are the “hale and hearty” athletes and party-goers. How boring and tiresome.! So Aspies may in fact be one of the better options. They can be….

1_ Intelligent  -a la Bill Gates and Elon Musk.

2- They are often enough spiritually open-unlike the Rationnalists -my favourite group to hate on- especially since they have so much credibility in this messed up society!

3- Not aggressive as opposed to the Narcissists and psychopaths. They rarely bear grudges and can easily move on after argumentation despite their inherent stubbornness.

 

                                                           Treatment

Autism and Aspergers are notoriously hard to treat! I think that this is because our current paradigms are inappropriate. In children the ABB treatment is more like dog-training then pediatric therapy. And in adults neither psychoanalysis nor CBT has much to offer. So what can we do?!

I would propose a regimen of humanisation which would include the following

1-Staying away from “screens” and IT as much as possible. Unfortunately many of the most talented people in this area including A.I. have autistic features. For those who earn their living in this way, the therapy will have to take place outside of work hours lol .Alternatively if it is possible for these people to earn their living in more concrete ways like the trades or the heath professions or in services it would probably be more healthy for them to do so!

2-Engage in Relationships. This, of course , will be difficult-especially for the partners lol.

3-Spend time in nature or with animals. Anything that is ”organic” is likely to be helpful. Anything unreal and synthetic like videogames and board games and card games is likely to be harmful,

4-Identify emotions. Anyone spending time with an Aspergers person will begin to see glimmers of emotion-which the autistic person is likely to be unaware of. ”I saw some irritation in your face” you may say. Or “you seemed to really like that idea”(after seeing a hint of a smile).The Aspie will deny it, of course. But don’t be discouraged. Ultimately you will have some impact! Nothing like persistence! Especially if it doesn’t cross the line into harassment. You can also model for the “normal “emotions-like enthusiasm and sadness and even anger if it is not directed at them personally.

All of this is a beginning. As say the French: ”Ce n’est qu’un debut. Continuons le combat” (This is but a beginning. Continue the battle)

Salaaams, Sufi Ibrahim

 

Metaphysics, Modern Living, Psychology

“Facts are Facts” Really!

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Context: A discussion about the state of the American economy after a Rachel Maddow opinion piece on the internet

This discussion involved a couple of old friends, both trained in well-respected MBA schools and with a long history of investment portfolio management( i.e much better informed then me about business and economics!). Both still believe in “facts”- whether they be government reports such as the Labour Board statistics or other economic reports or private company reports. Both are still Empiricists-despite decades of feedback by yours truly about the limitations of that approach lol!

I, myself, was very fortunate. At a young age I was confronted by a clever girlfriend for being a Positivist( another form of Empiricism) That challenge changed my life-over 50 years ago! But most of the people I know ,educated in the West, still believe in “facts” .In medicine they call that “objective evidence”. In science it is called statistical analysis in peer-reviewed journals .In politics it is whatever suits your political narrative lol

Getting back to Rachel Maddow for a minute, her thesis was that, as opposed to the Trumpian narrative that the U.S. has all the cards in its trade deal with Canada, America was going to suffer more from the tariffs than either Trump or many of the economists think and that Canada might actually gain an advantage in asserting its own independence.

The usual “ad hominem” critique then followed. Rachel Maddow is a well-known leftist with MSNBC , a Trump-hater and on top of it not that well-informed about the “facts”. in this particular dossier. However, despite all of that, her primary thesis may well be correct. Why do I say that?

As those who have been following me for awhile know, I reject the contemporary Epistemology of “objective evidence” and favour an Epistemology of “seeing ‘,”hearing” and “feeling”( in Quranic Arabic that is “basirat”, samiyya” and “fuad”)This way of accessing Reality includes looking at peoples hearts ,listening carefully to anecdotes and “searching the neighborhood” to see what is really going on!

When I apply this model ,I notice the following. Many, many people in both Canada and the U.S. are worried. Only 37% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the economy. I hear more and more stories of people having a hard time finding jobs( I believe this is not only true in Canada but in the U.S. as well).I see more and more stories of small businesses having a hard time with the tariffs. Some are even closing down.” Poppy-cock” say the Empiricists .”The macro picture is unchanged” i.e. more government statistics lol.

And perhaps most of all, Americans are unhappy! They are now divided into Trump-haters, who are unhappy because he is in power and Trump sycophants who are unhappy because they have to embrace his lies as part of the package and embracing lies and denial is NEVER a formula for happiness!

Then there is the rest of the World that is increasingly anti-Trump and anti-American. The Canadians who are avoiding travel to the U.S. and plenty of other countries’ citizens doing like-wise I am sure. Being hated is rarely a formula for success! America which once was a beacon of freedom and success is now seen as tyrannical, bullying and manipulative.

None of this augurs well for the future of America. But so-called “experts” fixated on macro-economic data ” can see none of this! Empiricism and its sister philosophy Materialism has done so much harm! We can see this so clearly in the countries that embraced “Dialectical Materialism’. Now we can see it coming in those countries that have embraced “Scientific Materialism”. God help us all!

 

 

Comparative Religion, Metaphysics, Modern Living, Psychology

The Cause of Suffering

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The Cause of All Suffering-

Individual and Collective.

Context: Looking at the horrible suffering in the world around us.

Byron Katie is a non-sectarian New Age spiritual teacher similar in her evolution to the better-known Eckhart Tolle of “The Power of Now” fame. I attended a couple of her workshops in America in the past. She made  the following statement in front of a mid-sized auditorium.It was like a thunderbolt for me when I first heard it.! “All your problems come from the same place: You believe in the contents of your own mind”. Wow! Ajib. The Truth of it  resonated deep within.

When I then looked at the international situation, I realized that this truth applied to collectivities as well as individuals. Let us see how that plays out.

But before we do, let me situate this statement in a theological Comparative Religion framework. The traditions that understand this statement best would be the Hindi-Buddhist tradition- not my chosen path however. These traditions understood and still understand that the mind (“manas” in Sanskrit ) is not our friend but our enemy!  The reason that the Western traditions are not aware of this is that they have all been corrupted to a certain extent by Greek Philosophy which worships the mind, rationality and logic. Christianity grew up in the midst of this Greek culture(Greek was the intellectual language at the time of Jesus).In much the same area the Jews as well were absorbing the Greek mind-set. We can see this in the elaborate mind-productions of the Talmudists ( third to sixth century C.E) Btw there is no common measure between the statements of the great Jewish Prophets like Jacob and Moses and David and these Talmudic cerebralized scholars-except perhaps their belief in One God Lol!

And finally, the Muslims began translating the Greek texts into Arabic beginning during the Abbasid period and it reached its apogee during the time of Andalusia. For Muslim readers if you don’t believe me, read the hadith and the statements of the Sahhabis and contrast them with any of your preferred scholars and you will see the contrast. And btw ,it was not arbitrary that Allah chose Mohammed, saws, an unlettered man,for his final Prophetic Mission! I have seen the same phenomenon manifest amongst the shuyukh I have studied with and followed. There is an inverse relationship between their level of scholarship and their spiritual hal. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, O admirers of Harvard and Oxford and Al Azhar lol.

Before continuing, it must be stated that these “mind-productions” of the collectivities are also underpinned by very strong emotions. That is why it is often so difficult to untangle them from reality.

Now let us see how this plays out on the international front. Three situations of utmost misery will be highlighted although there are many more-beyond counting!

The Middle East-Specifically Gaza :

Israeli Jewish Thought: “This land was promised to us by God in the Bible. The greatest error of Israel is to push its military to harsh and unusual punishment out of what can only be termed vengeance.

Arab Muslim Thought:” This land is ours. We have settled here for hundreds of years.There is no place for Jews here. The Jews are colonialists from Eastern Europe. Thus: ”From the River to the sea” The greatest error of the Palestinians and the Arabs was to not allow for the legitimate presence of Jews on their territory.

Reality: The Children of Israel and the Arabs have been fighting about this land over and over again since Abraham had two sons-Ismail-the father of the Arabs and Issac-the father of the Jews. That’s about 4000 years! The Jews had been mostly absent for a long time because of political and religious oppression. Now they were called back by Divine destiny (Muslims should not be denying the hand of God in all of this as the concept of ‘qada’ is basic to our religious beliefs!) But the Arabs and Islam have their rights as well. Did Allah not tell us in the Quran that he made many nations-so that they would know each other?!  Bottom Line: the Arabs and the Jews need to make a just arrangement. Everyone outside of the Muslim and Jewish tribal world knows that! But these outsiders are not subject to the same collective, tribal ideologies and sentiments as the latter two.

 

  1. B) The Russia Ukraine Conflict

Russian Thought: Ukraine is not a real nation. They should be part of the Russian Empire as they were in the past

Ukrainian Thought: We are a sovereign country We want to be part of the Western world

 Reality: Russia and Ukraine have a lot in common. They are both adherents to the orthodox Church. They both have a long history of corruption and anti-Semitism. Even their languages sound similar. A suitable arrangement needs to be made that allows for their similarities and differences.

N.B. As a Canadian I think we have a workable model to present to the World-the arrangement between the English and the French Canadians who also have a lot in common and notable differences.(  For the naysayers, we will leave aside for now our treatment of the indigenous people which Canada is trying to come to terms with just as America is trying to come to terms with its history of slavery)

 

The Mass Deportations of Illegal Immigrants in America:

 

 Government Thought: We have far too many illegal immigrants in our country. Many, if not most of them, have criminal records. We need to get them out as soon as possible. We were elected to do that

 

Immigrant Defenders’ Thought

Many of us have been here for a long time. We have worked hard and raised our children here to build a new life. This mass deportation is cruel and unjust.

Reality:

For whatever reasons, America has allowed in more immigrants than they can manage. ( In Canada which has been more honest about this issue, if not more generous, we have no such problem. So America brought this upon themselves) Whatever the reasons, they are unlikely to be of the benevolent nature. Many were allowed in to furnish cheap labour or for a political calculus by the Democratic party who saw future left-wing voters. In any case, they are here. Now that the borders are more or less sealed, America needs to do whatever it can needs  to do about  deeportations in a manner that is judicious, law-abiding and humanitarian. Treating all immigrants prima facie as if they were criminals does a disservice both to the immigrants and to the traditions of the founding of America itself.

As you can see from these few examples, ideology, principles, beliefs with all the emotions that underpin them leads to more and more suffering.

The only solution possible is to observe Reality clearly. Once properly perceived, that Reality will lead to proper decision-making. May Allah help us all !