BASICS

1. I write to connect revelation and reason, to be part of a dynamic and living Islam. I disavow narrow, literal, and sectarian readings of the Qur'an. I believe anyone can read it directly for themselves at any time and should not be scared into relying only on intermediaries.
2. I do not believe that faith can be assigned, only chosen. I write not to preach to non-Muslims or lead Muslims astray, but to express myself and share notes from my study practice.
3. I write because I was asked to convey a verse. Hopefully it may benefit someone else, wandering back but anxious about befriending divine revelation.

My emotional support Quranic bookmarks

• Practice
• Reminders
• Foundations
• The prophetic mission (some hadith)

Practice

• Listen closely to everything that is said and follow the best/kindest interpretation— that is the one with insight (39:17-18).
• Check the news you receive so that you don't wrong others by sharing misinformation and disinformation (49:6).
• We must explore and learn about what has happened before our time (3:137).
• Do what you came here to do and pay attention to the person who is in front of you regardless of their status or position (80:1-11).
• Believers should not insult what others worship (6:108). We do not know enough about anyone to ever prevent them from praying (96:9-14). When Muslims insult what others worship, they risk driving a deeper disconnect between people and the Divine.
• Bad thoughts are not fit to turn into speech unless voiced by those who have been wronged. (4:148).
• Relationships should build spiritual peace: conviction that they are each other's partners (2:187), upholding commitment as a promise (4:21), mutually upholding each other's dignity (4:19), solving problems through discussion (2:228, 3:159).
• Gain knowledge against ignorance and stand firm on justice (3:18, 9:122, 29:69).
• Taking responsibility for one's actions precedes freedom of choice and expression (10:41).
• We were tasked with the generational authority of being responsible to serve and care for the Earth, and we inherit each other's responsibility over the planet (2:30, 6:165, 7:69, 7:74 10:14, 10:73, 27:62, 35:39, 38:26).
• No one should submit to the tyranny of an oppressor (42:39). Condemn the entitled and the oppressive (83:1-3).
• We have a right to privacy and consent (24:27-28).
• We are warned by the Beloved to resist surveillance (49:12). Surveillance culture feasts on our lack of trust in each other.
• Our collective condition changes when we change ourselves (13:11).
• Help each other to do what is right and good; do not collaborate in hostility and transgression (5:2).
• Emphasise equality, justice, and the saving of life. (2:179, 5:8). To save even one life is equivalent to saving the life of all humanity (5:32).
• Competing to accumulate worldly goods is a distracting delusion (102:1-2. 3:14, 9:24, 9:34). Do not walk on the earth arrogantly— there are limits to our actions over nature (17:37).
• Beloved made Earth manageable so we could move about its regions and gain insights from the past (67:15, 3:137-138, 22:46, 29:20). Beloved asked us to travel to learn about how the powerful who reject reality are inevitably overwhelmed by what they used to ridicule (6:11, 27:69, 30:42, 35:44, 40:21, 40:82-84, 47:10).
• Do not waste nourishment, the Beloved does not like the wasteful (7:31, 17:27).
• The practice of redistributing our resources resurrects our hearts (2:261).
• Delay debts owed to you until things become easier for them, or better yet pardon the debt altogether (2:280).
• Giving your wealth to those with less purifies it from concealed injustice (9:103).
• With every hardship comes ease (94:5-6). There is a time to turn inward and a time to expand (2:245).
• Practicing the ability to be grateful is valuable (2:152, 14:7, 31:12).
• Stay patient, do give people without firm beliefs the power to dishearten you (30:60).

Reminders

• Everyone is only accountable for themselves (2:138, 35:18). If you use your influence to be complicit in an evil cause, you take on a share in its burden (4:85).
• There is an inherent value in the proper use of akal / reason (21:67, 30:28, 36:62, 45:5, over 50+ more). The worst of all beings in the sight of the Beloved are those who choose to look away, choose not to speak up, and do not reason (8:22).
• Faith cannot be forced (2:256, 2:208, 10:41). Any belief to the point of conviction can only be attained through reason, not passively by birth.
• Forcing people to be Muslim disrespects the Beloved's decision not to make everyone Muslim (10:99-100, 5:48).
• We were given wide paths not narrow ones (71:19-20, 5:48, 92:4). Everyone does according to their disposition and nature (17:84).
• Love, justice, and generousity are intrinsically connected (16:90, 2:3-5).
• Fasting is prescribed for us (2:183), but not for everyone; some have been exempted by the Beloved so they can care for their health (2:184-185). To compromise your body and fast through difficulty is a disobedience and a rejection of Divine will and kindness.
• It is a transgression to see ourselves as self-sufficient (96:6-7).
• To hoard bounty and blessings from the people we are in community with only leads to regret (4:36-38, 92:8-10, 3:180).
• Falsehood is perishable (17:81). What is false expires by nature, and what is True will not. We are capable of great illusions, but illusions cannot prevail over truth (7:118).
• We were formed well (40:64, 95:4) and not for nothing or pure recreation (3:191, 29:44, 44:38-39).
• Gender is not a binary but a spectrum manifesting Divine creativity (42:49-50). The Beloved will not allow our efforts to go to waste based on gender, because we are similar to one another (3:195).
• Signs of Truth exist in nature and in people, (41:53, 45:3-4, 51:20-21) not just in revelation and texts. See The Signs In Ourselves.
• There are signs in the diversity of all creation (16:13, 35:27-28). The ways we take differ greatly (92:4).
• All living beings communicate to the Source in ways too diverse for us to understand (17:44). Like humans, all animals have their communities and systems of living too (6:38), including prayer to the Beloved (24:41). Animal and wildlife are all there for us to observe and benefit from (16:5-9).
• It is useful to perceive more than just the human world alone. There are signs in space, earth, alternations of night and day for those with understanding (3:190). See Muhammad Iqbal in Socrates, sense-perception, and the Qur'an for a list of verses where the Beloved invites us to observe nature.
• There are signs in loving relationships and the diversity of our tongues and tastes (30:21-22).
• In our diversity, only our taqwa distinguishes us (49:13). Taqwa can be described as conviction and mindfulness of the Source. Its Arabic root word means a barrier of protection. So perhaps taqwa is spiritual sunscreen.
• Dress well when at worship (7:31).
• Any disagreements about belief should be met with patience until the Best of judges (7:87, 67:29).
• When we make a plan, the Divine plans too— and A!!ah is the best of planners (8:30).

Foundations

• A!!ah is One (112:1-4). Shirk is the only unforgivable sin (4:48, 4:116) because it is the opposite of recognising Oneness (it splits your taqwa).
• All Things are part of a system of dualism (51:49), but A!!ah is not like Things (42:11). Because A!!ah is a singularity that cannot be divided yet created everything, everything radiates from one Source and participates in A!!ah's unity. This means no matter how it seems externally, ultimate separation between Creator and creature or one and another is internally just an illusion. And speaking of illusions—
• We live in a simulation / All the world is a stage (57:20). Life and death are built into this simulation to test our best conduct (67:2)— but no soul is burdened with more than it can bear (2:286). We have free will, a demonstration of Divine faith in us to make goodness from our choices towards our potential (21:35, 95:4-5).
• The Source knows of every action, interaction, thought in this simulation (2:284, 58:7, 6:59). It is documented (6:38, 27:75). We may be able to conceal things in this simulation from others, but never from the Source (16:19, 24:29, 13:10, 67:13, 27:74). The Source will not forget injustice in this simulation (19:64). This is a comfort for the hearts of the oppressed.
• There is a moment outside of the simulation with full recognition of what you have earned and what has happened to you, unlike the imperfect justice humans struggle with in this simulation (2:284, 18:30, 21:23).
• On that Last Day, we return to Source without all our social and identity markers of the simulation (6:94, 21:92-93, 35:18). We bring with us only the choices we made here.
• Mutual endearment and affection is part of waking up from the simulation (2:260).
• Rahma grounds the basic principles of Quranic and Divine engagement (1:1, 6:12, 6:54, 17:82, 21:107).
• The Prophetﷺ's mission was one of Rahma (21:107), concerned by the suffering in his community and anxious for their wellbeing (9:128).
• Humanity was created from an agender being, not a man's rib. (7:189) All messengers were mortals, albeit inspired (21:7).
• The Beloved does not only communicate to particular messengers in this simulation, evidenced in how They suddenly answer an unnamed traveller's casual question on resurrection (2:259).
• A shared scriptural framework is essential for interfaith activism (5:68, 3:64). Saints and sages of biblical teachings can affirm Muslim faith (10:94).

🍉 Notes after Muhammadﷺ's last speech

The prophetic mission

A selection of documented stories re: the mortal messenger Muhammadﷺ

1. Believing is easy. Overburdening your religious practice is extremist and unsustainable. Abu Hurayra narrated that the Messengerﷺ said: Religion is easy, and anyone who overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So do not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded. Gain strength by worshipping in the mornings and afternoons and during the last hours of the night. (al-Bukhari 39)
2. When given an option, favour the easier choice— but no convenience is worth an injustice. Aisha narrated: Whenever the Prophetﷺ was given an option between two things, he used to select the easier of the two as long as it was not sinful; but if it was sinful, he would remain far from it. (Muslim 2327d, al-Bukhari 6786)
3. Being a good person isn't easy. We can get everything right and still fail on the grounds that we are selfish and envious. Anas narrated that the Messengerﷺ said: None amongst you believes (truly) until he loves for his brother or for his neighbour that which he loves for himself. (Muslim 45a, Bukhari 13)
4. Help oppressors by preventing them from oppressing others. Anas narrated: A!!ah's Messengerﷺ said, "Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or he is an oppressed one." People asked, "O A!!ah's Messenger! It is all right to help him if he is oppressed, but how should we help him if he is an oppressor?" The Prophetﷺ said, "By preventing him from oppressing others." (al-Bukhari 2444, also in 6592 and Jami' at-Tirdmidhi 2255)
5. The highest form of struggle is to speak justice against the oppressive ruler. Abu Sa'id al-Khudri narrated: The Prophetﷺ said: The best fighting (jihad) in the path of A!!ah is (to speak) a word of justice to an oppressive ruler. (Abu Dawud 4344)
6. The prayers of the oppressed are powerful and directly connected to the Most Powerful. Ibn 'Abbas narrated: The Messenger of A!!ah sent Mu'adh [bin Jabal] to Yemen, and said: Beware of the supplication of the oppressed; for indeed there is no barrier between it and A!!ah. (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2014 also al-Bukhari 2448)
7. Children are also an oppressed class. Ibn 'Abbas narrated the Messengerﷺ said: "My mother and I were among the weak and oppressed. I from among the children, and my mother from among the women." (al-Bukhari 1357, also 4587)
8. We were warned not to normalise what feasts on our suspicion and lack of trust in each other: surveillance, competition, inflation, grudges, cancel culture. To search for the faults of the people is to try to corrupt them. Abu Hurayra reported that A!!ah's Messengerﷺ said: Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the worst of false tales, do not look for the others' faults. Do not spy, and do not be jealous of one another. Do not abandon one another, and do not hate one another. (al-Bukhari 6064, Muslim 2563a) Do not completely abandon each other, nurse malice and aversion against each other, do not spy/eavesdrop, do not enter transactions others have already entered, do not outbid each other to raise prices. Do not sever relations of kinship, do not feel envy of each other. Live as fellow-siblings as A!!ah has commanded. (paraphrase of Muslim 2563b, 2563c, 2563d, 2563e)
9. Greed is a corruption of the soul and society that breeds injustice and oppression. Jabir reported that A!!ah's Messengerﷺ said: "Be on your guard against committing oppression, for oppression is a darkness on the Day of Resurrection, and be on your guard against greed/selfishness/stinginess for it has destroyed those who were before you, as it incited them to shed blood and make lawful what was unlawful for them." (Muslim 2578)
10. To generalise one's pessimism is self-destructive and disconnected from reality. Abu Hurayra reported the Prophetﷺ said: When a man says, 'The people have gone to ruin,' he is the most ruined of all. (Muslim 2623)
11. The believers of Reality who struggle for liberation from oppression are like one body in their mutual kindness, compassion and sympathy. Nu'man bin Bashir narrated that the Messenger of A!!ahﷺ said: The believers in their mutual kindness, compassion and sympathy are just like one body. When one of the limbs suffers, the whole body responds to it with wakefulness and fever". (Riyad as-Salihin 224, Muslim 2586a)
12. Effort and faith go hand in hand, so take precautions and don't neglect what you are responsible for. Anas narrated that a man said: "O Messenger of A!!ah! Shall I tie [my camel] and rely upon A!!ah, or leave it loose and rely upon A!!ah?" He said: "Tie [your camel] and rely upon A!!ah." Other chains report similar narrations. (at-Tirmidhi 2517)
13. The Beloved loves those who care for and defend society's orphans. Sahl ibn Sa'd reported that the Prophetﷺ said, "I and the guardian of the orphan will be in the Garden like that," indicating his forefinger and middle finger. (Bukhari 6005, Adab 135, at-Tirmidhi 1918, Abu Dawud 5150)
14. Do not let your neighbours go hungry. Ibn 'Abbas informed Ibn az-Zubayr: I heard the Prophetﷺ say, "He is not a believer whose stomach is filled while his neighbour goes hungry." (Adab 112)
15. Encourage men to confess their love for each other. Anas narrated: A man was with the Prophetﷺ and a man passed by him and said: "Messenger of A!!ah! I love this man." The Messenger of A!!ah then asked: "Have you informed him?" He replied: "No." He said: "Inform him." He then went to him and said: "I love you for A!!ah's sake." He replied: "May He for Whose sake you love me love you!" (Abu Dawud 5125)
16. Show compassion for those who die by suicide, like the Messenger did for an anxious migrant. Jabir narrated: Tufayl bin ‘Amr went to the Prophetﷺ and he said: “O Messenger of God, do you have a secure fortress?” The tribe of Daws had a fortress in the days of Jahiliyya. The Prophetﷺ refused that offer, as God had reserved it for the Ansar. When the Messenger of God performed the Hijra to Medina, Tufayl made the Hijra with a man from his tribe. They reached Medina and the man became sick, and felt anxiety. He took iron arrowheads and cut through his finger joints, and his hands gushed out until he died. Then Tufayl saw him in a dream. His condition was good, but his hands were bandaged. Tufayl asked him, “What did your Lord arrange with you?” He said, “He pardoned me with my Hijra to his prophet, God bless him and give him peace.” Tufayl asked him, “Why do I see your hands wrapped?” He said, “It was said to me, ‘We do not repair what you damaged.’” Tufayl told the story to the Messenger of God ﷺ, who said, "O God, forgive his hands too." (Adab 614)
17. The animals you exploit complain about you to those who listen. Abd Allah bin Ja’far narrated: One day, he entered the garden of a man from the Ansar when a camel came to him, dragging along, tears flowing from its eyes [Bahz and ‘Affan, transmitters of this hadith, said that when the camel saw the Prophet, he felt compassion as tears flowed from its eyes]. The Messenger of Godﷺ wiped its tears and head, and it became calm. He said, “Who is the master of this camel?” A youth from the Ansar came and said, “It is mine, O Messenger of God.” He said, “Do you not fear God with this animal, that God has given you? It complains to me that you starve it and wear it out.” (Abu Dawud 2549)
18. Every living being will testify to the way you interacted with them, so act lovingly and compassionately— to dogs, to animals, to all beings. Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of A!!ahﷺ said, "One day a man became very thirsty while walking down the road. He came across a well, went down into it, and drank and then climbed out. In front of him he found a dog panting, eating the dust out of thirst. The man said, 'This dog is as thirsty as I was.' He went back down into the well and filled his shoe, putting it into his mouth (in order to climb back up) and then gave the dog water. Therefore A!!ah thanked him and forgave him." They said, "Messenger of A!!ah, will we have a reward on account of animals?" He said, "There is a reward on account of every living thing." (Adab 378, Bukhari 2466)
19. Killing animals for food is not something we should do uncritically. Mu'awiya ibn Qurra reported that a companion said to the Prophet, “Ya Rasul A!!ahﷺ, I was about to slaughter a sheep but was overcome by rahma.” The Prophet replied, “Since you took rahma on the sheep, A!!ah will take rahma on you twicefold.” (Adab 373)
20. Blessed are the ghurabaa, the dispossessed, the refugees and migrants, the precarious, neurodivergents, the disabled, the queer, the homesick and the abandoned. Blessed are the weirdos. Abu Hurayra reported the Messenger of A!!ahﷺ said: “Islam began as something strange and it will return to being strange, so blessed are the strangers.” (Muslim 145)

Navigate: Start here + house rules 🔹 Spirit Garden 🔹 Notes Garden 🔹 Imaginary Garden 🔹 Poem Garden 🔹 Tea In The Garden 🔹 You might also be looking for The Signs In Ourselves!

You might also like:

The four-arched portal of Rahma

What do we do when encountering social rhetoric, verses, and hadith that seemingly violate the higher Qur’anic ethical principles of love, rahma, beauty, justice, and equity? Dr Ghazala Anwar offers this Qur’anic portal of Rahma to negotiate this apparent challenge to our faith.

Liy Learned ThatLiy Yusof

The Tawhidic paradigm for human rights

Tawhid is a fundamental Islamic principle, often translated to as ‘monotheism’, but as we’ll see, there are more layers to it than that. This is a brief adventure into the world of Islamic ethics.

Liy Learned ThatLiy Yusof

A transcendent affiliation

When Muslims eventually created their own calendar a dozen years later, they looked back and decided this was the year it began.

Liy Learned ThatLiy Yusof