Sign in Subscribe

To value compassion and rahma

🏩
I value compassion and rahma; to build a world on the other side of the uncaring systems that fail us now is to let our hearts ache for people and move us into actions of care.

Compassion levels hierarchies.[1] Our first survival strategy has to be secure attachment, because without love and attention from others, we would die.[2]

What this value means to me:

  • Paying attention to the ones in front of me regardless of their status or position.[3]
  • Moving at the speed of trust, which is to value critical connections over critical mass.[4]
  • To practice deep listening, because it is the kind of listening that can help another suffer less.[5]
  • Hoarding bounty from the people we are in community with only leads to regret,[6] but sharing builds stronger communities. The practice of redistributing resources resurrects the heart, so practice sharing any wealth you have.[7]

What this value means to me, a Muslim in encounters with other Muslims:

  • The first invocation is a commitment to compassion; to begin anything with ﷽ is to begin with compassion. We cannot ask for rahma without giving it to ourselves, or invoke ﷽ on something that is not the best interest of everyone involved.
  • When Muslims insult what others worship, they increase antagonism against the divine.[8]
  • To value compassion and rahma is to believe I can pray for ANYONE's soul, since it is not clear to us today whose fates are Fire-bound.[9]

elephants

  1. A religious teacher of mine said: "When we are being compassionate towards an animal, towards a wiggly worm, we’re experiencing life through that particular being. That hierarchy between me and that worm disappears. So compassion levels hierarchies." ↩︎

  2. Jessica Fern says emotional attunement and connection are wired into us as basic human needs that persist through life. See Jessica Fern, Polysecure: Attachment, Trauma and Consensual Nonmonogamy (2022) ↩︎

  3. The Qur'an in surah 'Abasa (80:1-11) preserves God reprimanding someone (possibly the prophet Muhammadﷺ) about their discriminatory action towards a blind person in Surah 'Abasa (He Frowned) ↩︎

  4. adrienne maree brown says a principle of emergent strategy is: "Move at the speed of trust. Focus on critical connections more than critical mass. Build the resilience by building the relationships." See Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds (2017) ↩︎

  5. In a 2010 conversation with Oprah, Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh said the best and only way to eliminate terrorism is by practicing compassion in deep listening. https://www.oprah.com/spirit/oprah-talks-to-thich-nhat-hanh/5 ↩︎

  6. We cannot be tightfisted, arrogant, boastful, ungenerous, oppressive, shady or extravagant to orphans, labourers, neighbours, near and far. After the Qur'an (3:133-134, 4:36-38, 9:34, 17:29) ↩︎

  7. After a parable in the Qu'ran about spending wealth, following two accounts of resurrection (2:261) ↩︎

  8. The Beloved in the Qur'an calls on believers not to insult what others worship. See 6:108. ↩︎

  9. Only Allah has the divine wisdom to pass judgement on a person. Surah at-Tawbah says it is not proper for believers to pray for forgiveness for non-Muslims who Allah has clearly identified as mushrikeen (se 9:113 and 9:84). And since the Beloved has not sent any messenger after Muhammadﷺ, no one alive today can tell us whose fates are Fire-bound. ↩︎

And as always, the Beloved knows best.
🪬
Liy is a Southeast Asian Muslim knowledge worker and poet sharing their lifelong learning from the imperial periphery. If you're new here (hello!) or need a refresher, start here for house rules. Here I maintain curated lists as a love language for others. Now is my present-day context including from my 5-year old note system. Consider subscribing for free to login and leave comments— I write slowly and send out emails rarely. If you valued what I made, tell me over DM (if we know each other) or tip me with a message— that sends a clear signal of appreciation ✨