Assalamu alaykum. This is a great talk. Thank you for doing this. It is always a pleasure to hear Sheikh Mostafa speak. The part where Sheikh Mostafa mentions the anecdote of the brother who says that often people see men as if they are deficient men is actually far more significant than most may realize. In early Feminist writings where they speak about their metaphysics of the human being, it was posited that the male is actually an imperfect or corrupted version of the female. While the earliest view on human progress, spiritually in terms of Enlightenment, meant evolution to the next stage of humanity, which was towards a sexless species, later on it meant evolving out the male. All that would be left would be the female, who would be able to reproduce on her own. So the emasculation of men through psycho-spiritual (individual) and societal narratives is very deliberate, yet subtle, like a poison. The description from Imam Ali ع regarding Rasulallah ﷺ was absolutely profound, and Sheykh Mostafa's commentary on it was profound. The first aspect of being awe-struck was the manifestation of the Jalali or male principle, and the falling in love was the manifestation of the Jamali or female principle. For men, it is first the manifestation of the Jalali, and then the Jamali or softness comes in. And for women, it is the opposite. The outward is what is apparent, seen, and thus the modality of distinction subject to discernment. Very profound mashAllah. To speak to another point raised by the brothers, strength is a universal principle, but has particular manifestations based on its applications. These different manifestations, or forms, are given different names, and so often the universal principle is lost amidst the particular names so then people often don't associate or see the various forms of strength, such as patience, as strength. As Shaykh Hamza said, the soul is an essentializing force (or something to that effect). We essentialize, that is our nature, and hikma or wisdom is rooted in this. Many religions see the manifestations of God, but when they lose that universalizing principle of oneness, then they fall into particularity, attributing essential reality to the particular formal manifestations of the true essential reality. It is interesting because Allah has strength or power over all things. Again we see this universal principle. Contrasted with the human being, we represent particularity. And so then it could be said that Allah created us in various forms with different attributes, which means that strength will have various manifestations based on our attributes. But it must be rooted in, as one brother said, asking ourselves the question, "What does Allah want from me". This is because Allah is the source of strength, so when a person stands up in the face of a tyrant, it is not their strength that is recognized, it is the strength of Allah. And when a person is observed, people will call him strong. The point about the importance of not comparing your masculinity and its attributes with others is really important. It reminded me of the verses in the Qur'an which mention the foolishness of mutual competition as a quality of the dunya, and so, it is purely egoc in nature. It is what animals do, and we can feel that energy of the ego when we do this. But going back to the original point, it is to deviate from the principle of "the measure is Muhammad ﷺ". When we compare ourselves to others, then they become the measure. And if they become the measure, then our way becomes corrupted.
TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 00:34:00 - Introduction to Ustadh Mostafa Azzam 00:07:00 - The 10 “M”s and “Rising Men” of Ustadh Mostafa Azzam 00:10:33 - The “M” of The Messenger of Allah! 00:16:53 - Is empirical knowledge enough to ground our masculinity in? 00:19:50 - Islamic paradigm Vs. modern paradigm for marriage. 00:29:00 - Rebuttal to “Islamic marriages are unfair to women” 00:38:00 - What is justice? 00:41:00 - Her emotions are the cornerstone of her femininity. 00:52:00 - What is Islamic Masculinity? 00:59:30 - Inherent Masculinity Vs. Cultivated Masculinity 00:59:59 Outro
My strongest recommendation for you to grow is to make your podcast available on audio form where podcasts are available. Why? 1. Not everyone has time to watch a long video, but might have time to do something else while listening (e.g. commuting). 2. Videos cost more in data to stream. 3. A lot of people are already using audio podcasts services.
Assalamu alaykum. This is a great talk. Thank you for doing this. It is always a pleasure to hear Sheikh Mostafa speak. The part where Sheikh Mostafa mentions the anecdote of the brother who says that often people see men as if they are deficient men is actually far more significant than most may realize. In early Feminist writings where they speak about their metaphysics of the human being, it was posited that the male is actually an imperfect or corrupted version of the female. While the earliest view on human progress, spiritually in terms of Enlightenment, meant evolution to the next stage of humanity, which was towards a sexless species, later on it meant evolving out the male. All that would be left would be the female, who would be able to reproduce on her own. So the emasculation of men through psycho-spiritual (individual) and societal narratives is very deliberate, yet subtle, like a poison.
The description from Imam Ali ع regarding Rasulallah ﷺ was absolutely profound, and Sheykh Mostafa's commentary on it was profound. The first aspect of being awe-struck was the manifestation of the Jalali or male principle, and the falling in love was the manifestation of the Jamali or female principle. For men, it is first the manifestation of the Jalali, and then the Jamali or softness comes in. And for women, it is the opposite. The outward is what is apparent, seen, and thus the modality of distinction subject to discernment. Very profound mashAllah.
To speak to another point raised by the brothers, strength is a universal principle, but has particular manifestations based on its applications. These different manifestations, or forms, are given different names, and so often the universal principle is lost amidst the particular names so then people often don't associate or see the various forms of strength, such as patience, as strength. As Shaykh Hamza said, the soul is an essentializing force (or something to that effect). We essentialize, that is our nature, and hikma or wisdom is rooted in this. Many religions see the manifestations of God, but when they lose that universalizing principle of oneness, then they fall into particularity, attributing essential reality to the particular formal manifestations of the true essential reality.
It is interesting because Allah has strength or power over all things. Again we see this universal principle. Contrasted with the human being, we represent particularity. And so then it could be said that Allah created us in various forms with different attributes, which means that strength will have various manifestations based on our attributes. But it must be rooted in, as one brother said, asking ourselves the question, "What does Allah want from me". This is because Allah is the source of strength, so when a person stands up in the face of a tyrant, it is not their strength that is recognized, it is the strength of Allah. And when a person is observed, people will call him strong.
The point about the importance of not comparing your masculinity and its attributes with others is really important. It reminded me of the verses in the Qur'an which mention the foolishness of mutual competition as a quality of the dunya, and so, it is purely egoc in nature. It is what animals do, and we can feel that energy of the ego when we do this. But going back to the original point, it is to deviate from the principle of "the measure is Muhammad ﷺ". When we compare ourselves to others, then they become the measure. And if they become the measure, then our way becomes corrupted.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Intro
00:34:00 - Introduction to Ustadh Mostafa Azzam
00:07:00 - The 10 “M”s and “Rising Men” of Ustadh Mostafa Azzam
00:10:33 - The “M” of The Messenger of Allah!
00:16:53 - Is empirical knowledge enough to ground our masculinity in?
00:19:50 - Islamic paradigm Vs. modern paradigm for marriage.
00:29:00 - Rebuttal to “Islamic marriages are unfair to women”
00:38:00 - What is justice?
00:41:00 - Her emotions are the cornerstone of her femininity.
00:52:00 - What is Islamic Masculinity?
00:59:30 - Inherent Masculinity Vs. Cultivated Masculinity
00:59:59 Outro
My strongest recommendation for you to grow is to make your podcast available on audio form where podcasts are available.
Why?
1. Not everyone has time to watch a long video, but might have time to do something else while listening (e.g. commuting).
2. Videos cost more in data to stream.
3. A lot of people are already using audio podcasts services.
Allahumma baarik🤲🏼