The Middle Ground Podcast

﷽ al-Ḥamdulillāh it was my pleasure to speak at the 10th Annual Family Symposium for Muslim Family Foundation: Roots of Wellness, alongside Dr. Deana Helmy, sister Ahlam Gheith and Shaykh Ḥasan Radi.Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Being a non-professional I wanted to bring a somewhat different perspective to the table to challenge and, in shā’ Allāh, improve how Muslim, mental health professionals and otherwise, look at and trust the wester secular approach to healing the human soul.In the talk I referenced mainly two works of interest. * Hunter, James Davison. The Death of Character: Moral Education in an Age Without Good or Evil. Basic Books, 2000.* Rieff, Philip. The Triumph of the Therapeutic: Uses of Faith After Freud. Harper Torchbooks, 1968.Many thanks to Muslim Family Foundation, Dr. Ali Al-Saadoon, the panel members, all who attended and especially brother Mohamad Nasser for inviting me. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ Many of us focus on repentance, but did you know there’s a reward simply for avoiding major sins? Allāh says in Sūrah al-Shūrā,وَمَا عِندَ ٱللَّهِ خَيْرٌۭ وَأَبْقَىٰ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ - وَٱلَّذِينَ يَجْتَنِبُونَ كَبَـٰٓئِرَ ٱلْإِثْمِ وَٱلْفَوَٰحِشَ وَإِذَا مَا غَضِبُوا۟ هُمْ يَغْفِرُونَ“What is with Allah is far better and more lasting for those who believe and put their trust in their Lord; who avoid major sins and shameful deeds, and forgive when angered…” – al-Shūrā v. 36-37This is an excerpt from Sunday Arabic class, The Arabic Reader, where we were studying a passage from Ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawānī’s al-Risālah that shows how the deliberate and intentional efforts to stay away from major sins can lead to Allāh forgiving our minor ones.Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.﷽ Inadequacies – we all have them. And Shayṭān, the Accursed Devil, uses these to discourage us from repenting to our Lord, Who is Merciful, and demoralize us from persevering through our faults, sins, and mistakes, making us think that we’ll never make it. But our beloved Guide and Messenger ‎ﷺ warned us from thinking just our deeds alone could save us when he said, “The deeds of anyone of you will not save you" They said, "Even you will not be saved by your deeds, O Allah's Messenger?" He said, "No, even I unless and until Allah bestows His Mercy on me. Therefore, do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately, and worship Allah in the forenoon and in the afternoon and during a part of the night, and always adopt a middle, moderate, regular course whereby you will reach your target ( meaning Jannah/Paradise)”. – See Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (English and Arabic).So know that what you do in worship to your Creator is appreciated, accounted for, and weighed and considered. And that it just may to you and I our entire lives, striving mightily, no matter how week we get, to achieve the ultimate goal:“And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, has truly achieved a great triumph – وَمَن يُطِعِ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ فَقَدْ فَازَ فَوْزًا عَظِيمًا ٧١” – Sūrah al-Aḥzāb v. 71.May Allāh accept from us and forgive us our shortcomings, overlook our sins and mistakes, and make us from the People of Paradise. Āmīn.You can watch the full khuṭbah here: Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ Welcome to Episode 37 of the Middle Ground Podcast. Hosts Imam Marc Manley and brother Dawud Aleman.In this episode we what's ahead for Muslims in America now that the election is over. Will Trump fulfill his promises, for good or bad, or is he a lame duck president?Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.You can also watch this episode on YouTube: Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ Welcome to Episode 35 of the Middle Ground Podcast. Hosts Imam Marc Manley and brother Dawud Aleman.Values. They sound good but are they really as permanent and unchangeable as we think? And what's the difference between values and character?Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.You can also watch the episode on YouTube: Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ Ever wonder why there seems to be two systems of classification for Arabic dictionaries? Pre-modern dictionaries have one system (the “bāb and faṣl” system, as we’ll see) and modern dictionaries have another. Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.In modern dictionaries like Arabic-English Lexicon (1863), better know as Lane’s Lexicon, by British orientalist, Edward William Lane, or Arabisches Wörterbuch (1952), know in English as A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (1961), or simply, Hans Wehr, by German orientalist, Hans Bodo Wehr, where the sorting and classification proceeds in alphabetical form, from the first, second, and third letters (and forth or fifth in those rarities). For example, a-l-f (أ+ل+ف) would precede q-f-l (ق+ف+ل) if one were looking up the words ‘ulfah (ألفة/”affection”) and qaffāl (قفّال/”locksmith”) respectively in those dictionaries. But in classical dictionaries like al-Ṣiḥāḥ, by Transo-Turkic lexicographer Abū Naṣr al-Jawharī, the last letter of the root (the “bāb”) is how words/roots are sorted. So for instance, b-ḥ-t (ب+ح+ت) would precede n-a-t (ن+ع+ت) if one were looking up the words na’t (نعت/”characteristic”) and baḥt (بحت/”pure”) respectively:يسلّط هذا المعجم الضوء على أحد أنظمة التأليف المعجميّ عند العرب أي نظام الباب والفصل أي أن الحرف الأخير من المادّة الأصليّة هو الباب وأن الحرف الأول منها هو الفصل، وأن الباب هو الأصل وأن الفصل هو الفرع، ويشير إلى أن هذا النظام أوْقع المؤلفين في مشكلة بالنسبة إلى الألفاظ المعتلَّة الأواخر إذ لم يستطيعوا أحياناً التمييز بين ما كان واويَّ الأصل أو يائيّة.“This dictionary sheds light on one of the systems of lexicographic compilation used by the Arabs, specifically the system of ‘bāb and faṣl.’ In this system, the last letter of the root word is the ‘bāb’ (the sorting letter), and the first letter is the ‘faṣl’ (secondary sorting letter). The ‘bāb’ is considered the primary category, while the ‘faṣl’ is a secondary one. The text also points out that this system led to difficulties for the compilers, particularly regarding words with weak or defective (مُعْتَلَّة/muʿtallah) endings, as they were sometimes unable to distinguish between roots ending in a ‘wāw’ or a ‘yā’”. — from Dr. Hishām Ṭa Ha Shallāsh’s Muʿjam al-Afʿāl al-Wāwiyyah al-Yā'iyyah (Compendium of of Verbs Ending with Wāw and Yā’) Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽Welcome to Episode Thirty Two of the Middle Ground Podcast. We’re your hosts Imām Marc and brother Dawud Aleman. Narratives. Are Jinn just fables? Is the Unseen real or just a metaphor? We'll discuss this and moreImam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.This episode can also be found on YouTube: Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽Welcome to Episode Twenty Nine of the Middle Ground Podcast. We’re your hosts Imām Marc and brother Dawud Aleman. In the day and age of personalities and influencers, how and who can you trust when it comes to taking religious knowledge? As usual, we discuss all topics in light of the Qur’ān and statements from the Prophet, ‎ﷺ.This episode can also be found on YouTube:Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Other references in this episode:* From Imām al-Shāfi’ī: “if you see a man walking on water and flying in the air, do not be amazed by him until he shows that he follows the command of the Book and the Sunnah.”* Middle Ground Podcast Episode 27 on postmodernity: “All the World is a Stage”. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe