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[ Tuesday, January 06, 2004 ]

 

The Lives of Man

Let me just say that I don't think we Muslims can say we're students of shuyukh or imams unless of course we're studying with them on a regular basis in small groups, recite what we learn back to them, have discussions with them, and get our ijazas from them. I don't think that just because I've taken a few classes here and there with a shaykh or imam I'm automatically their student. Maybe I'm being really anal here, but I think it's somewhat arrogant to call yourself a student of shuyukh...unless of course you are seriously studying every day with them. Taking a few classes doesn't mean I've mastered a subject. I mean shuyukh spend their whole lives studying! In my opinion, even calling them your teachers is like giving yourself too much credit...It's one thing to have respect for them and give them credit for teaching you....but unless you're studying intensely with them, you don't deserve to call these famous shuyukh your teachers. I don't like name dropping, ok?

Anyway, I've decided that I'm going to post my outline for The Lives of Man, by Imam al Haddad. Not that making an outline or reading it actually substitutes studying it, but I figure at least it's better to share some ahadith than going on and on about my daily life (not that I don't enjoy reading what's goign on in everyone's lives). So I'm going to do it in installments. And it may be confusing because blogger won't let me indent. If you didn't have a chance to read my tiny summary about the beginning part of the book, read my Nov. 4th post before reading the outline:

THE SECOND LIFE: DUNYA: THE LOWER WORLD
• Begins when one is delivered from one's mother's womb
• Ends when one departs from the world in death
• Period when man is responsible for responding to divine injunctions and prohibitions
I. In the Womb
Prologue (period of gestation) resembles the Intermediary World of the life to come
• Appearance of some of worldly influences that apply to a person after his leaving his mother's womb
Hadith: "Any of you will have had his created existence brought together in his mother’s womb, as a drop [nutfa] for forty days, then a sticky attached clot ['alaqa] for the same [period], then a piece of flesh [mudgha] for the same period, after which God sends the angel to blow the spirit [ruh] into him. The angel is commanded to write four words: his [apportioned] provision, his lifespan, his deeds, and whether he will end up as wretched or joyful."


Next Post: The Second Life: Dunya: Childhood

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