Hi,
In all honesty, this is a test email to figure this all out. Topics that I plan on discussing will primarily be related to Philosophy, Islam and Sufism. Although, if there are any topics you are interested in, do let me know :).
I have been meaning to do this for some time, so I thought it would be better to make an imperfect start rather than waiting for the unattainable perfect start.
Rather than this email being completely of no benefit, here is some Iqbal:
Khair isi mein hai, Qayamat tak rahe momin ghulaam Chorkar Auron ki khatir ye jahane be thabaat
In this couplet, Iqbal speaks from the perspective of the devil, where he says that it is in our (devilish) interest that the believer remains enslaved till the end of times and so, leaving this constantly changing world at the disposal of others. If the believer remains enslaved, the manifestation of truth, justice and mercy is hidden. The constantly changing world, if in the hands of immoral individuals, will lead to serve personal interests and not of society as a whole. Iqbal is alluding to the objectives of Shariah, where unity and preservation of society are necessary. The Prophet ﷺ says: “The best of individuals is the one who brings benefit to the community the most” (Mu’jum al-Awsat al-Tabarani).
Hai wohi sheyr o tasawwuf us ke haq mein khoobtar Jo Chupa de us ki ankhon se tamaasha-e-hayaath
In this couplet, Iqbal says the same old poetry and mysticism is good for him, that leaves his eyes unable to see the realities of life. We observe all around us, where individuals know poetry off by heart (guilty as one can be) and it serves no benefit. Iqbal uses poetry and mysticism as examples referring to mere entertainment, for no purpose. There are some forms of entertainment that open our eyes to reality, for example, Iqbal would say this line of poetry, I say reading or meeting people. However, there are some forms of entertainment that form our identity, where it can be quite problematic. For example, saying I am a fan of x football club. We see, individuals who struggle to differentiate between I am a football fan (emphasis on the identity), and I have a hobby which is football. This leads to people getting butt hurt when their teams lose - England fans being a prime example, with a huge increase in domestic abuse (https://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/domestic-abuse-increases-almost-50-per-cent-after-england-win-at-world-cup/). Iqbal would advise to open your eyes to reality, life is more than football and other forms of entertainment. You are not to serve that entertainment, rather that entertainment is to serve you.
This ended up being longer than intended, engage with the content by commenting on it (which there should be an option somewhere) or message me. Finally, thanks for subscribing!!!
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