#futuwwah

"What is futuwwah?" 

The Prophet ﷺ replied 

It seems that with every day that passes there are more and more problems effecting the Muslims and all kinds of distortions and challenges that are faced. 

From inside you have people interpreting the religion and acting upon those interpretations that are completely foul and contrary to the faith itself. You have other people who, in response to that often times, begin to question and reject everything that brings any sort of authenticity to our faith. 

From the outside you have people who hate Islam and Muslims and spend all kinds of time fighting against them. This results in intellectual attacks, political policies, hate crimes, and all kinds of other evil. 

The average Muslim is lost in between. What do they do? What is the way forward? How does one balance themselves in the face of so much uncertainty? 

Over the last many years I have had an interesting in concepts of manliness, chivalry, bushido, etc. Basically, how does one live a truly enlightened and balanced lifestyle that is honorable and good? 

It is often said that Islam is a lifestyle. Truly, we do have guidance and rules for all kinds of things that could be faced by people. However, for most, it is not a lifestyle. One of the difficulties of this is that the model must exist, there must be mechanisms to replicate those models, and the system must be integrated. 

A nice lecture here or there, a youth group program, some fun, do not create full and whole human beings. They give us pieces and then people retreat to their homes or their social media sites and live a second life. 

If Islam is meant to be lived then we need to explore what that really means. Looking deeply at the practices, internally and externally, that enable a person to attain to a higher level of enlightenment and understanding. 

That’s what this is about. Brainstorming and thinking about what it means to really live Islam. That, in the Quran, hadith, and Muslim history has been known as futuwwah. That could be taken to exclude women, but it need not be the case. There have always been TRUE men and women who fully embody the message of elevation through submission to God. So on this blog we will explore these concepts, share reflections from our own practice, and work towards bettering ourselves and sharing those keys with others. 

To start:

Eat well.

Exercise.

Speak well.

Be kind and considerate. 

Be vigilant in the preservation of a balanced inner state.