What are we trying to find..? - ZAK, The Practical Priest (gift at end of video)

[@IrPop-lm8wq]

Salaam, Hajj Mubarak, iltimase Dua

[@zak-thepracticalpriest6505]

W.Salaam 🙏🏼 👍🏼

[@zainabkarim6533]

Salaam, Brother Zaheerabbas! These are some great points you have brought up, Jazakallah and may Allah (SWT) grant you with more Tawfeeq. I especially appreciate your emphasis on following the example of the Ahlal Bayt (AS) and to use them as our guiding compass in our lives which I agree is paramount, as they are the ultimate role models. On this note, I would like to suggest a change in the approach of your perspective, as I found your question: “Why are you exploring something different when you don’t have the capacity to do it?” rather unsettling. In the eyes of Allah (SWT), we are all His children who are trying to learn and grow, and none of us were born with the capacity to do anything except soil our diapers and cry. Yet, we dared to explore lots of different things without having the capacity to do them, as this is what is in our Fitrah as humans. We were created to explore and grow. That’s how we learned to tie our shoelaces, to eat with our own hands, and to slowly become independent of our guardians. I was not born with the capacity to articulate my thoughts; but daring to exceed my capacity is what enabled me to communicate, build relationships and survive in this world. I shudder at the thought of not having explored my capacity of speech, despite not having the said capacity to speak at birth. That’s why teachers teach; to make children competent adults as they grow. Teachers don’t teach to raise an army of students who would just mirror their every move without questions. As a teacher myself, I can assure you we appreciate the students who question us, challenge us, and are persistent in understanding the wisdom behind what we teach them. I could never imagine any of the Prophets or Imams condemning us for seeking meaning and purpose in our religion that is meant to be a path of spiritual growth and upliftment rather than imitation and surface-level practices that don’t impact the soul. I understand their guidance to have been filled with empathy, love, compassion, and understanding for the difficulty of this journey on Earth. As a member of the group of people that you correctly identified as struggling with the search for contentment and fulfillment, I can attest that we have recognized this as a noble pursuit after a lot of thought and soul-searching. I am suggesting that the Islam you seem to be encouraging us to adopt, the one of “Stop trying to find a path when it’s already laid out for you” is the one that we are desperately trying to break free from, that has brought us pain, self-doubt and confusion for years, if not decades. If a Muslimah is not wearing Hijab, it is not because she feels more educated than Lady Zainab (AS), it is because she desperately wants to wear the Hijab with the same passion and dedication that Lady Zainab (AS) did so that it can bring her peace in the same way that it brought our role models ultimate tranquility and nearness to Allah (SWT). Perhaps, she may make some errors in her judgment or have unrealistically idealistic goals without factoring in the patience to struggle through the process, that may lead her to decisions that might actually take her further away from her goal unbeknownst to her, but I guarantee you if she does finally find her own path that lands her within the realms of the truth she seeks, her practice will be way more valuable and sustainable than if she were to throw on the piece of cloth because that’s the path laid out for her. Her worship will be sweeter, her life will be more meaningful, her faith will be stronger, her character will be purer, she will radiate unparalleled beauty in a way she never could have before, wearing a scarf with doubts in her mind, just following the path she was ushered into. The same way if I don’t know head or tail about cooking, and I continue to eat ready-made food, I will never learn to cook myself, and I think we can both agree that grown-ups who don't know how to cook for themselves would not be seen as capable, responsible, mature adults. The goal should be to learn how to cook; not to continue stopping by my mother’s house when I get hungry. Imagine how we would view a person who takes their wife and four children to their mother’s house three times a day to eat the delicious, ready-made meal there simply because they are taking the easy option that is in front of them. Allah (swt) says in Surah Balad, “Verily We have created man into toil and hardship.” There would definitely be no hardship if we were just meant to follow the path laid out for us; as that is the easiest method and the path of least resistance that our low, animal-self would for sure be attracted to. But we have been created as Ashraful Makhluqat, higher than animals, and therefore naturally our goals need to be, and are, higher. As a new generation that is being raised with unprecedented levels of entanglement with global cultures, ideologies and lifestyles, I feel we are pulled in different directions in our lives in a way that prior generations have not experienced. We are sure to take the wrong path in our quest for truth, but with the right encouragement and empathy, I believe we can experience God in a way that most of our ancestors did not even come close to experiencing God (through arguably little fault of their own; they didn’t know any better than to take the path of least resistance), and in the way that our Prophets and Imams did experience God; not as a collection of rituals, rather as a core-shattering, soul-surrendering experience that gave someone like Hazrat Qasim (as) the mind-boggling insight to say something like “Death, to me, is sweeter than honey”, because it is a means to return to that God Whom we have felt in our very bones and have seen in every corner of our existence on Earth; and not just as a ready-made meal that we ate, burped out and forgot about ten minutes later. Perhaps we can conduct an experiment and ask the portion of our youth (and even the seniors, for that matter) who are following the path laid out for them if they feel the same way about death. In our search for “the right path”, we of course risk veering off the tarmac road that has been laid out for us and fall face-flat into the thorny roadside bushes with bruised faces and legs… Or, we might just, with enough determination and effort, stumble into that secret magical world which Allah (SWT) has intentionally veiled from us that deprives us of seeing Heaven in our daily lives in the way that the Prophets and Imams did. Is Jannah a magical place in the skies where we will float up to after death? No, indeed we are learning now that it is a plane of existence that is very much parallel to this life and a very real part of our world right now; but it is only revealed to those who seek it. And if praying five times a day and donating a portion of our wealth would have done the trick; then we and all our seniors would be seeing Jannah in our daily life, and we would all be able to echo the words of Lady Zainab (AS), “I see nothing but beauty” despite any suffering that may come our way. The seniors, who built this path for us that you are urging us to stick to, themselves will 100% definitely not be able to repeat her sentiment; at least not most of the seniors that I have come across--suggesting that if she is the role model and there can be seen a clear misalignment between her approach to suffering and theirs, then it is reasonable to conclude that the path they trod on and built for us, the plate ma pakelo pilau, did not work. If you insist on being a leader, then serve your community: identify what they are yearning for, and use your leadership to help them figure out the right goals for their success and sustainable strategies to achieve them. This requires a complete transformation of the self, a commitment to approaching Haqq with selflessness and open-mindedness and a sincere willingness to reassess the tightly-held, safe, easy, inherited beliefs, rather than remain clung to those beliefs and generations of traditions that are clearly not producing the type of Ummah that our Imams and Prophets are waiting to see. You are welcome to correct me if I am mistaken about that. The path that you are describing, which has been laid out for us by the Ahlal Bayt (AS), works, of course; there is no doubt in that. It is the path of salvation and true proximity to Allah (SWT). But it will take more than mimicry to exercise its full potential, and sometimes we need to stray off the path into the bushes in order to return or discover a new path with certainty and more investment in the process; because it was a process of our making, a result of our own hard work. And no one who has a sincere desire to reach God should ever be shamed or scoffed at for straying into the bushes in their search for Haqq. I wish you lots of success in your journey to understand yourself, your community and your religion. May Allah (swt) make it easy for you, and for all of us, and may He give us the Tawfeeq to embrace Islam and the Ahlal Bayt (as) through true understanding and love rather than imitation. I recommend these lectures by Shaykh Javad Shomali who is my personal favorite, for further knowledge-seeking, exploration and straying off the tarmac road in a two-wheel drive car: KZbin: Finding God in Our Lives, Shaykh Javad Shomali & KZbin: Finding Our Purpose, Shaykh Javad Shomali. Jazakallah.

[@zak-thepracticalpriest6505]

This is a mixture of correct and incorrect opinion with Qur’anic verses cherrypicked to suit the writer’s opinion. I have not watched the video they are responding to - so I do not have any comment on the video. However, the opinion in the letter is incorrect from the Shi’a islamic point of view. There are many opinions that are incorrect in the letter - and the cooking analogy is completely incorrect as it misses the point of submission. However, I will only give one example of an erroneous belief stated in the letter. Example: The person in the letter said: “If a Muslimah is not wearing Hijab, it is not because she feels more educated than Lady Zainab (AS), it is because she desperately wants to wear the Hijab with the same passion and dedication that Lady Zainab (AS) did so that it can bring her peace in the same way that it brought our role models ultimate tranquility and nearness to Allah (SWT).” One, for instance, doesn’t need to “passionately understand” hijab before one wears it. Would any 9 year old girl “passionately” understand hijab (or salah or sawm or any wajibat)? Of course not. But yet, all these deeds are wajib at 9 for girls. Did Allah سبحانه و تعالى in His Wisdom NOT know that a 9 year old won’t understand hijab? You don’t wear hijab when you understand it. You wear hijab because you are a Shi’a Muslim. Those two words mean (Shi’a = follower [of Ahlulbayt]) and (Muslim = Submission [to Allah]). Inherent in those two words are blind following and absolute obedience. So whether I understand hijab or not, once I have accepted Islam to be my path of salvation, I submit to the commands of Allah سبحانه و تعالى BECAUSE. Yup! Just because. Ain’t no ifs, whys or buts. Can I question to understand why those laws are in place? Certainly. But whether I have understood those laws or not, I submit. I may not understand them now and may understand them in 20 years or I may never understand them. But I submit. RIGHT AWAY. Allah says “jump” - I say: “yes my Lord! How high?” to put it in today’s vernacular. It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any opinion in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he has indeed strayed in plain error. (33:36) There is only one thing in Islam we are allowed to question before we accept it and there is no compulsion or blind following allowed there - and we are to come to accept that by understanding it ourself - and that is: Is there Allah and does He need to be One? Should there be a judgement day? Did Allah need to send us immaculate guides to guide us to His Path? Once you have concluded with your own research and brains the need for one Allah (Tawhid), the need for our judgement (maad) and the need for guides (risalah and imamah), then there is submission (islam). Lastly, Bibi Zaynab did not wear hijab because the hijab brought her tranquility and closeness to Allah. She wore hijab because Allah commanded her to do so in Qur’an and her Grandfatherص enjoined it in his sunnah. The hijab did not bring her tranquility or closeness. The unquestioning obedience to Allah brought her the tranquility and closeness. “He it is the One Who sent down serenity into the hearts of believers so that they may grow more in faith along with their faith. And to Allah belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth and Allah is Ever Omniscient, All-Wise.” (48:4)

[@zak-thepracticalpriest6505]

Wa A'laykum Salaam 😊👍🏼

[@zainabkarim6533]

@@zak-thepracticalpriest6505 Salaam, dear Sister and Umm Ali Mahdi (original author of the comment). I really appreciate the time you took to read and respond to my comments. Discussing such differences in opinion are extremely valuable, as that’s what helps us grow and get closer to Haqq. So I definitely recommend that you give the video a listen, since my entire response was based on it, thus you would be missing quite a bit of context were you to just base your thoughts on my response alone. For instance, whatever examples I used I drew from the video. The cooking analogy that you referred to, was based on the speaker’s words. Basically, he was asking, why do we bother to go to the kitchen and learn how to cook or try to cook when we don’t know how to cook, and we have a ready-made meal in front of us? ie., why do we bother to learn about the depth of actions in Islam when we have no expertise or capacity for it, and we have a ready-made path laid out for us by our Ahlal Bayt (AS)? Frankly, this question leaves much to be desired about the sedentary nature of the Islamic lifestyle he is/you are suggesting. I don’t think this type of lifestyle is sustainable for the 10, 20 years that you and the speaker are proposing is a prerequisite for any form of independent thought or investigation. Who, after 20 years of blind submission, will be suddenly inspired to practice with authenticity? We cannot simply rely on what’s available; we must, as a matter of duty, at least aim from the get-go to be fully invested in the process and use the intellect that Allah (SWT) Himself has gifted us to decipher the information that is available to us, weigh it against our needs, desires, beliefs, and inner wisdom, and then decide which path to follow. Otherwise, we become a community of people who are easily manipulated, controlled and led astray at the hands of unqualified leaders. Only then will we be able to authentically transmit this beautiful religion to our children and keep the true essence of Islam alive. Without this, Islam is dead in the water and won’t survive this next generation of young questioners. I think it is reasonable to conclude that there will always be two schools of thought on this issue; the Islam of blind, military submission (with room for something more meaningful 20 years down the line?) and the Islam of growth, understanding and eventual submission. In no way am I proposing a practice of Islam which has no submission; we are simply advocating for opposite orders of events. My view is that for real, sincere and sustainable submission to happen, the type of submission that our Ahlal Bayt (AS) had, every Muslim as a matter of responsibility to him/herself needs to embark on a journey of understanding themselves and their place in the world in relation to being creatures of a God who created and loves them. And just as you said that a 9 year-old would not “passionately understand” Hijab, a 9 year-old would also not be able to truly “accept Islam to be [her] path of salvation” in the way that you described, since at that age, she is simply mimicking and following what her parents are doing without a sufficient understanding of the depth behind the actions. I am also not sure how a child would be expected to answer those difficult, philosophical questions that you presented as the only time non-blindness is permitted, at the age of 9. I don’t understand how she would be allowed to think independently before accepting Islam but then turn off her intellect as soon as she accepts Islam for 20 years before being allowed to turn it on again to seek the answers to questions she would probably have been asking all her life. In this scenario, the duty falls on the parents to ignite a child’s curiosity, love and understanding of Islam. They simply cannot expect her to wear Hijab with zero understanding for 20 years blindly before she is granted the permission to see, or attempt to see. To me, this type of Islam belongs in an 18th Century boarding school, where the students are not expected to do anything else other than follow instructions. Very little emotional or mental intelligence is expected of them, thus there is virtually zero growth or true learning occurring. The relationship between the student and teacher suffers immensely, and neither is able to truly benefit from their roles. The teachers are zombie-like and the students are miserable and depressed; we are literally witnessing this in the unprecedented levels of mental health crises that are prevalent in our youth today. The Islam you are suggesting is creating the current alarming situation of our empty mosques and poorly-attended events. People don’t love coming to the center, they don’t love listening to the speakers, they don’t eagerly anticipate the programs and events. Why? Because they feel a disconnection, they do not get any value from the current style of Islam, the Islam of least resistance. If, somehow, a speaker they love is invited for Majalis at the mosque, they will run to the mosque every day of the week, come what may. Why? Because they feel that spark, that magic that is created every time their reasoning and their needs are matched and met by someone who inspires and transforms them. This is the spark that I am suggesting is missing in the worship that you are describing, because any institution that will run on a prerequisite of blind obedience is destined for failure due to lack of the members’ true connection and investment. Put yourself in the shoes of a teacher or a mentor. What type of student would you want to teach? Every teacher that I know would prefer to teach the student who understands deeply as they learn, and practice with sincerity, rather than simply parrot what they are taught without true appreciation for the knowledge. And so if our standards for our students are that high, then how can Allah (SWT)’s standards for us, for the best of his creation, be so low that we are only allowed to settle our curiosity after 20 years of blind practice?! Is blind practice even worth anything?! Why should blind practice earn me any rights of any kind at all given that in those 20 years I could be practicing with doubt, confusion and resentment in my heart? What kind of prerequisite is that?! Who is benefiting from the blind submission? Surely, not Allah (SWT)! As He does not need any of our worship; not our blind worship and not our sincere worship. These are all traditions put in place for *us* to benefit. And so which teacher or mentor would want their student to suffer in blindness for 20 years before seeking sight? The time of youth is the golden years where our minds are expanding, our curiosity and thirst for knowledge is at its peak, we are the most capable in our youth of developing strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills. These are the years in which to explore popular, dominant narratives, to think outside the box, to question the path laid out for us, to have debates and discussions with each other; so as to settle on the correct path and practice with dignity and determination. Surely, I cannot think of a more noble lifelong pursuit than this one, and anything opposing this is most definitely a disservice to one’s self and one’s intellect. And if we had to wait 20 years to be able to gain insight, then Allah (SWT) would not have gifted us intellects for the first half of our lives. With the Islam that you are proposing, it means Allah (SWT) has been unfair to all the people that He allowed to be born in non-Muslim families, because they are deprived of the correct path being laid out for them to blindly follow. I wonder what path He expects all these billions of people who are not Muslim to blindly follow? The God of the Islam you are describing comes across as a very shallow and vain God to me; a God who somehow desperately wants or benefits from a nation of zombies who follow His every instruction regardless of how they feel in their hearts. Which is of course, not the case because we are repeatedly taught that He is Self-Sufficient, and does not need anything from us, and that anything He has asked us to do is for our own benefit and progress. I would wonder if He expects us to please Him without understanding Him just to get the reward of having fulfilled His expectations to enter Jannah? What is the point of us being Ashraful Makhlooqat then? What was the point of making us better than the animals if we are expected to just behave like them? Jump and roll over to get the treat or else get whipped for disobedience? What was the point of Allah (SWT) giving Insaan a sense of morality, ethics, freedom of choice, adventure, wisdom, etc.? Naturally, He wants us to use these gifts and faculties to learn about Him, to find Him, to love Him, to follow Him; wholeheartedly. If He wanted blind submission, it would not have been necessary for him to create Insaan, since the angels and planets and animals and lands and oceans exist in accordance to His will and do Dhikr of Him with every atom of their existence. It therefore doesn’t make sense to assume that he wants blind submission from us, and that is too shallow of an expectation for any leader to have from a follower, and I hold my Allah (SWT) to be way more sophisticated and intelligent than that. To read the rest of my response: docs.google.com/document/d/1YemeBGeY29czSq2eJzhdK7ItTQ0qj0oLHeIC1MYjm6Y/edit?usp=sharing

[@SakinaHassanali]

You know Zak, it's a good thing that I know you so I know you are a well intentioned generous human being - but this is terrible advice. Every human being was born into some sort of belief system with their subject matter experts telling them what they should/shouldn't do. Without inquiry, we would all die with what we inherited and if the folks in 6th century Arabia took your advice, no one would have taken the Prophet (SAW) seriously and you wouldn't be making an impassioned video about him today. So you kind of owe your faith today to the ones that dared to explore. Don't belittle them, it's so unnecessary.

[@zak-thepracticalpriest6505]

This is a mixture of correct and incorrect opinion with Qur’anic verses cherrypicked to suit the writer’s opinion. I have not watched the video they are responding to - so I do not have any comment on the video. However, the opinion in the letter is incorrect from the Shi’a islamic point of view. There are many opinions that are incorrect in the letter - and the cooking analogy is completely incorrect as it misses the point of submission. However, I will only give one example of an erroneous belief stated in the letter. Example: The person in the letter said: “If a Muslimah is not wearing Hijab, it is not because she feels more educated than Lady Zainab (AS), it is because she desperately wants to wear the Hijab with the same passion and dedication that Lady Zainab (AS) did so that it can bring her peace in the same way that it brought our role models ultimate tranquility and nearness to Allah (SWT).” One, for instance, doesn’t need to “passionately understand” hijab before one wears it. Would any 9 year old girl “passionately” understand hijab (or salah or sawm or any wajibat)? Of course not. But yet, all these deeds are wajib at 9 for girls. Did Allah سبحانه و تعالى in His Wisdom NOT know that a 9 year old won’t understand hijab? You don’t wear hijab when you understand it. You wear hijab because you are a Shi’a Muslim. Those two words mean (Shi’a = follower [of Ahlulbayt]) and (Muslim = Submission [to Allah]). Inherent in those two words are blind following and absolute obedience. So whether I understand hijab or not, once I have accepted Islam to be my path of salvation, I submit to the commands of Allah سبحانه و تعالى BECAUSE. Yup! Just because. Ain’t no ifs, whys or buts. Can I question to understand why those laws are in place? Certainly. But whether I have understood those laws or not, I submit. I may not understand them now and may understand them in 20 years or I may never understand them. But I submit. RIGHT AWAY. Allah says “jump” - I say: “yes my Lord! How high?” to put it in today’s vernacular. It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any opinion in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he has indeed strayed in plain error. (33:36) There is only one thing in Islam we are allowed to question before we accept it and there is no compulsion or blind following allowed there - and we are to come to accept that by understanding it ourself - and that is: Is there Allah and does He need to be One? Should there be a judgement day? Did Allah need to send us immaculate guides to guide us to His Path? Once you have concluded with your own research and brains the need for one Allah (Tawhid), the need for our judgement (maad) and the need for guides (risalah and imamah), then there is submission (islam). Lastly, Bibi Zaynab did not wear hijab because the hijab brought her tranquility and closeness to Allah. She wore hijab because Allah commanded her to do so in Qur’an and her Grandfatherص enjoined it in his sunnah. The hijab did not bring her tranquility or closeness. The unquestioning obedience to Allah brought her the tranquility and closeness. “He it is the One Who sent down serenity into the hearts of believers so that they may grow more in faith along with their faith. And to Allah belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth and Allah is Ever Omniscient, All-Wise.” (48:4)

[@zainabkarim6533]

docs.google.com/document/d/1YemeBGeY29czSq2eJzhdK7ItTQ0qj0oLHeIC1MYjm6Y/edit?usp=sharing

[@zak-thepracticalpriest6505]

Reply was posted by a sister (who I don't know) To the long text addressed to me 😊 Answers points well, hence have posted 👍🏼