Thoughts 2023

[rkazmi33]

34 minutes ago, Ethics said:

With due respect there is a difference between you falsely attacking someones character and accusing them of unislamic things and you not being interested. I would be careful of such things unless there is evidence. Also motivation in lectures in speeches, have you read any of our prophet or imams speechs? It is full of power motivational intellectual wisdom. It is not haram. It is intertwined with the love of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) and His Messenger and the Ahlulbayt what better combo is there? That cannot be compared to the likes of pterson or tariq or anyone else.

 

What did Brother Hassanain Rajabali say or promote that is "western" version of Islam? Islam is for the world, not for one specific country, race, or culture. It is universal.

Wa Salaam

When did I attack someone's character? No one thinks Jordon Peterson or Tariq Masood have bad characters. In fact, all they talk about is character and modesty. They sound very much like Taliban.  I meant the kind of talks which scare people and shaming people for their poverty and failures in life. They believe that fear motivates more than reward. That might be true for some people but not all people. I am not talking specifically about Hasnain Rajabali. I just remember that I was feeling sad after listening to local scholars and I tried to listen to him but he sounded the same. 

An example of western version of islam is issue of slavery. Scholars are constantly apologetic and trying to give justifications but the fact is they all believe in slavery. People are constantly telling me to marry a specific man because I lost in some kind of war and now I am a prisoner of war and I am his slave. All those speeches about how slavery has been abolished, don't help me now. Reality is different than all the feel good things these scholars say to lure western audience. 

 

Edited May 27 by rkazmi33

[Ethics]

30 minutes ago, rkazmi33 said:

When did I attack someone's character?

13 hours ago, rkazmi33 said:

I feel many scholars are honest and very pious when they are young. Around the age of 50, they start changing.

Does that not mean you are saying he is not pious?

13 hours ago, rkazmi33 said:

Their content is aimed at pleasing the donors and powerful people of community.

Does this not imply that somehow what he is doing is for pleasing people and money hence unislamic and immoral?

13 hours ago, rkazmi33 said:

If he himself doesn't believe the messages he used to give, then what's the point?

Again you are implying he is a hypocrite, opposite of a believer

35 minutes ago, rkazmi33 said:

No one thinks Jordon Peterson or Tariq Masood have bad characters. In fact, all they talk about is character and modesty

I do not know where you are getting your beliefs from but peterson is a right wing white supremacist who hangs around with nazi sympathizers and preaches anti islam theoretic. Most young people listen to random people on the internet who slightly sound intellectual with little bits of sugar and get mislead into their propaganda. Idk who tariq masood is.

40 minutes ago, rkazmi33 said:

They sound very much like Taliban

lol

40 minutes ago, rkazmi33 said:

I am not talking specifically about Hasnain Rajabali. I just remember that I was feeling sad after listening to local scholars and I tried to listen to him but he sounded the same. 

I see..

41 minutes ago, rkazmi33 said:

An example of western version of islam is issue of slavery. Scholars are constantly apologetic and trying to give justifications but the fact is they all believe in slavery.

What?? Which grand scholar? Rajabali? When? Where?

42 minutes ago, rkazmi33 said:

People are constantly telling me to marry a specific man because I lost in some kind of war and now I am a prisoner of war and I am his slave. All those speeches about how slavery has been abolished, don't help me now. Reality is different than all the feel good things these scholars say to lure western audience. 

Okay you lost me completely here. I do not know where to begin. Are you being taken as a hostage as a literal slave right now? Or are you having burdens from society and pressures and thus you feel as they say enslaved by the psychological/societal pressures that is not related to islam one bit... The claim that you thing the slavery back then is the same as the psychological "slavery" What are these mental gymnastics... I wish you the best

[rkazmi33]

20 minutes ago, Ethics said:

Does that not mean you are saying he is not pious?

Does this not imply that somehow what he is doing is for pleasing people and money hence unislamic and immoral?

Again you are implying he is a hypocrite, opposite of a believer

I do not know where you are getting your beliefs from but peterson is a right wing white supremacist who hangs around with nazi sympathizers and preaches anti islam theoretic. Most young people listen to random people on the internet who slightly sound intellectual with little bits of sugar and get mislead into their propaganda. Idk who tariq masood is.

lol

I see..

What?? Which grand scholar? Rajabali? When? Where?

Okay you lost me completely here. I do not know where to begin. Are you being taken as a hostage as a literal slave right now? Or are you having burdens from society and pressures and thus you feel as they say enslaved by the psychological/societal pressures that is not related to islam one bit... The claim that you thing the slavery back then is the same as the psychological "slavery" What are these mental gymnastics... I wish you the best

In my culture, when people talk about bad character, they usually mean promiscuous.  I never implied that he is promiscuous  Yes, I stand by my other statements that he is a hypocrite, who changes his content to please powerful people. Many scholars do this and they say it's Taqiyya. His intention might be good but I am not sure when he is doing Taqiyya and when is he presenting real Islam. 

People are telling me that I must marry a specific person because I lost in a war and I am prisoner of war. Like in the past, women were brought in as prisoners of war and given to men as war booty. I don't know what war they are referring to, might be psychological war. If I become unemployed for long, I will be forced to marry that person. I don't know how else I can explain it. Slavery still exists, forced marriages happen and people justify them using Islam. 

Edited May 27 by rkazmi33

[3wliya_maryam]

Reality is a scary thing.

[notme]

Ugh. I have too many things in my mind and can't find the motivation to organize and undertake them. It takes a heroic effort to even do less than the bare minimum.

I think I'm experiencing burnout.

My contract is not going to be renewed at my current employment, so I'm having a hard time convincing myself to continue to put forth my best effort. Exams are done and it's just babysitting for the rest of the school year, but we are still required to keep the children organized and at least appearing to learn. We have to have lesson plans and assignments, but we also have to remediate those students who failed their assessment and are eligible for retakes, so basically I have to double plan, and none of it even matters because if the kids fail their end of year exam, they go on to the next grade anyway, and they know that. Only the teacher is judged for the exam pass rate, and it won't matter because I'm not even going to be at this school next year.

Blah.

Anyone got any motivational words for me?

[Ethics]

10 minutes ago, notme said:

Anyone got any motivational words for me?

I wish you the best. Do not stress for this that you have no control over. And in things that you do have control over, take it one step at a time in terms of priority and make sure you are giving yourself time rest -> healthy eating + enough sleep. Cant you use the stuff you are planning for the next season/year? that way it will be a template to make it easier the next time, so maybe it is not actually useless

[Ashvazdanghe]

On 5/27/2023 at 8:07 PM, rkazmi33 said:

People are telling me that I must marry a specific person because I lost in a war and I am prisoner of war. Like in the past, women were brought in as prisoners of war and given to men as war booty. I don't know what war they are referring to, might be psychological war. If I become unemployed for long, I will be forced to marry that person. I don't know how else I can explain it. Slavery still exists, forced marriages happen and people justify them using Islam.

Salam it's only about women who has been captured in war with unbleivers which it doesn't apply about any Mslimah woman which unfortunately there is forced marriage in some cultures which some people justify their wrong understanding in name of Islam .

[Haji 2003]

20 hours ago, notme said:

Anyone got any motivational words for me?

I think it's important not just to think of the work you do there just in terms of the relationship between you and the school. There's the wider issue of your own human capital and identity as a teacher.

Just doing a job well should enhance both of these, irrespective of the relationship between you and your employer.

Tools and techniques that you try out and refine in this context will likely be of use elsewhere in the future.

[notme]

I'm thinking about folks in areas severely affected by the smoke from Canada. (Darn Canadians and their fires!) I'm all the way down in southeastern US and we are at "code red" for air quality. It's much worse up north of where I live and I'm worried for people who are suffering in bad air.  

[AbdusSibtayn]

4 hours ago, notme said:

I'm thinking about folks in areas severely affected by the smoke from Canada. (Darn Canadians and their fires!) I'm all the way down in southeastern US and we are at "code red" for air quality. It's much worse up north of where I live and I'm worried for people who are suffering in bad air.  

Some people still think that the environmental crisis is of secondary importance. 

[rkazmi33]

https://www.foxnews.com/media/liberal-woman-goes-viral-tiktok-saying-hard-find-masculine-man-conservative

I think this is the reason I cannot find right person. Conservatives just expect you to give up career and become a house wife while liberals expect you to know how to balance career and family and do it all. I cannot be a house wife but I cannot handle doing all housework, child care and a full time job. Also liberal men are poor, so they act very needy and stalkery. I mean they don't ask a woman for marriage, they demand it like it's their right. And they can become very abusive while trying to coerce a woman into marriage. After dealing with this behavior from so many men, I become irritated very quickly. 

[AbdusSibtayn]

Listening to him is therapeutic... 

[Dawid Das]

I believe we are all born for something. Some of us are born to be doctors, engineers, master of specific sports( it can be soccer , basketball), some of us are born to be scientist, some of us are born to be chef and so on and so on

[Dawid Das]

On 5/28/2023 at 8:53 PM, notme said:

Ugh. I have too many things in my mind and can't find the motivation to organize and undertake them. It takes a heroic effort to even do less than the bare minimum.

 

I think I'm experiencing burnout.

 

My contract is not going to be renewed at my current employment, so I'm having a hard time convincing myself to continue to put forth my best effort. Exams are done and it's just babysitting for the rest of the school year, but we are still required to keep the children organized and at least appearing to learn. We have to have lesson plans and assignments, but we also have to remediate those students who failed their assessment and are eligible for retakes, so basically I have to double plan, and none of it even matters because if the kids fail their end of year exam, they go on to the next grade anyway, and they know that. Only the teacher is judged for the exam pass rate, and it won't matter because I'm not even going to be at this school next year.

 

Blah.

 

Anyone got any motivational words for me?

Eat good and healthy food

 I heard it can change your mood and energy levels

[AbdusSibtayn]

Regrettable that the Tate thread had to be closed, but the topic of the emerging synergy between the neo-masculine social media icons and the bigwigs of the da'wah circuit remains relevant. Recently another neo-masculity icon who was promoted a lot by Muslim men has squarely thrown in her lot with the harbi kuffar- a salibi polemicist and a murtad. 

Another reason why Muslims should have nothing to do with obnoxious identitarian movements like the 'red pill' phenomenon and go swooning after any kufri current which even remotely challenges the secular-liberal consensus. All kufr is one kufr; there are many darknesses (dhulumāt), but only one light (nūr), and the one who takes the kuffār as awliyā is from among them, as the Ayatul Kursi says.  

The handle is also someone I abhor, but he's right on this one-

 

https://twitter.com/DillyHussain88/status/1667828421177516036?s=20

Edited June 14 by AbdusSibtayn

[notme]

I have a phone interview in 20 minutes.  Wish me success.  

[notme]

4 hours ago, notme said:

I have a phone interview in 20 minutes.  Wish me success.  

Phone interview was so good, I've got an in-person interview tomorrow. Wish me the best outcome. 

It's a Title 1 school, the pay is significantly higher than where I've just completed working.  It's only 5 minutes farther daily commute, but it's much more urban and much more behavior problems in the school. From what I can tell, though, it'll be a lot fewer hours working evenings and weekends. 

[Quran313]

I like suburbs and the greenery, but I work in down town with all buildings. City rentals are expensive, and I'm thinking about moving to suburb. The place that I like to move is 90 miles away from the office one way. There's huge traffic too. I don't know what to do. I dont like living in apt complex

 

[notme]

7 hours ago, Quran313 said:

The place that I like to move is 90 miles away from the office one way.

That is a crazy long commute.  It'll wear you down after a few months or a year if you have to commute nearly daily. Maybe see if you can telecommute part of the time and only come to office 2 or 3 days per week - or even just 1. 

If you are able to work toward other goals while commuting it might be more tolerable - for example studying while on the train or listening to audiobooks while driving.  Otherwise it'll quickly feel like wasted time.  

[notme]

16 hours ago, notme said:

Phone interview was so good, I've got an in-person interview tomorrow. Wish me the best outcome. 

And now I've got two in-person interviews later today.  The second is in a really enormous school - over a thousand students in grades 6-8. It's also title 1, urban, and tough kids, but nearly twice as many of them as the first interview. 

[Haji 2003]

11 hours ago, Quran313 said:

The place that I like to move is 90 miles away from the office one way. There's huge traffic too. I don't know what to do. I dont like living in apt complex

Is working from home an option? I live a 50 min drive from work (one way) and go in once a month.

[Quran313]

1 hour ago, Haji 2003 said:

Is working from home an option? I live a 50 min drive from work (one way) and go in once a month.

I can wfh 3 times a day, but I prefer to go to office daily. I live 50 mins away from office one way and commute 4 times a week

[Haji 2003]

10 minutes ago, Quran313 said:

I can wfh 3 times a day, but I prefer to go to office daily. I live 50 mins away from office one way and commute 4 times a week

That's not so bad. As you get a bit older you'll do 3 times a week.

[Quran313]

2 hours ago, Quran313 said:

I can wfh 3 times a day, but I prefer to go to office daily. I live 50 mins away from office one way and commute 4 times a week

I meant 3 times a week

[Quran313]

Avoid using soybean oil:

 

https://neurosciencenews.com/web-stories/soybean-oil-autism-brain-170/

[Haji 2003]

Kuwaiti Hotel

 

I saw this at a Kuwaiti hotel a few days ago.

I can't work out how they reconcile the wearing of a bikini in a mixed swimming pool with it being appropriate to local customs (text in brackets below the pic).

[notme]

1 hour ago, Haji 2003 said:

I can't work out how they reconcile the wearing of a bikini in a mixed swimming pool with it being appropriate to local customs (text in brackets below the pic).

Chain? Locations where local custom includes bikini swimsuits? 

 

I notice there are no suggested men's swimsuits. Does this mean men can wear whatever they want or does it mean men must also wear women's swimwear? 

Edited June 23 by notme

[notme]

Environmental activist and urban community engagement organizer Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, author of the book Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet passed away on June 21 at the age of 46. It is a loss for his community and this world. Duas for his family and loved ones. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un.

[Hameedeh]

2 hours ago, notme said:

Environmental activist and urban community engagement organizer Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, author of the book Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet passed away on June 21 at the age of 46. It is a loss for his community and this world. Duas for his family and loved ones. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un.

Inna lillahi wa Inna ilayhi raj'iun. Condolences to everyone. 

[Haji 2003]

13 hours ago, notme said:

Chain? Locations where local custom includes bikini swimsuits?

It's Kuwait. Fairly conservative, so that's why the local customs and swimsuits don't chime.

[rkazmi33]

I am feeling so confused. I have a cousin in Pakistan, he is kind of a spiritual leader. He has hundreds of followers who ask him for prayers. And his prayers work. Last year, I was on shiachat every month asking for prayers, but since he has started praying for me, my life has become so good. But he had a stroke and his whole left side is paralyzed, his arm, his leg, his left eye. Why doesn't he pray for himself and am I being selfish asking him for prayers? I didn't know his whole left side was paralyzed, I thought it was only left arm. I was constantly asking for help but no one was helping me. He was the only one who helped me and listened to me. Now I feel so bad. I just saw his picture and he looks so weak, so helpless. He has hundreds of followers and it's so confusing seeing him so helpless. What can I do? I know people will say he doesn't have spiritual power. If he cannot help himself, how can he help you. But I have seen his spiritual power. In the picture, he has a bowl on his arm like paralyzed people hold bowls when they are begging for money. It seems like the person taking the picture was trying to mock him and humiliate him. I don't want to ask him for help but whenever I am stressed out, I vent on social media and he is just a good person who cannot see anyone in distress. So he prays for me. What can I do to help him? 

Edited June 24 by rkazmi33

[notme]

9 hours ago, Haji 2003 said:

It's Kuwait. Fairly conservative, so that's why the local customs and swimsuits don't chime.

Yes you said that already.  Is the hotel a chain that includes locations with different customs.  Maybe the sign is just what they use everywhere.  

[3wliya_maryam]

A friendship heartbreak is another level of pain, one that I do not wish on anyone.

[Haji 2003]

6 hours ago, notme said:

Yes you said that already.  Is the hotel a chain that includes locations with different customs.  Maybe the sign is just what they use everywhere.  

I don’t think it’s a chain. It doesn’t have anything to indicate that.

[Hameedeh]

On 6/24/2023 at 8:33 AM, rkazmi33 said:

I don't want to ask him for help but whenever I am stressed out, I vent on social media and he is just a good person who cannot see anyone in distress. So he prays for me. What can I do to help him? 

Pray for him to recover from the stroke. He is in my duas.