Pictured above is the enigmatic and unnamed Knight Hospitaller, portrayed by the fantastic David Thewlis, in Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven (2005). He is a mysterious character—is he a man, or is an angel in disguise?—who is first seen in the entourage of Godfrey of Ibelin, portrayed by Liam Neeson, a nobleman and servant of the King of Jerusalem. Throughout the film the Knight Hospitaller serves as a spiritual and moral anchor to Orlando Bloom’s character Balian of Ibelin, a spiritually distraught man mourning the loss of his family who is recruited for the Crusades by his father.

Kingdom of Heaven revolves around the concept of forgiveness and prayer. Balian, the main character, is introduced as a man who recently lost his child in the womb and then subsequently lost his wife to suicide. The opening scene of the film is itself the burial of Balian’s wife, whose corpse is callously decapitated and she is condemned to Hell by the Church and the present priest, Balian’s brother. The priest also later suggests to the local bishop that Balian is possessed by the devil, to which the bishop retorts that he is simply grieving, and that he should be set free. It is the priest’s cold attitude toward his brother’s suffering, his wanting to banish him from the town, and the damnation of his wife (along with stealing her necklace and ordering her decapitation) that leads Balian to ultimately kill him, and join his father in journeying to Jerusalem, where Balian hears that prayers may be answered and perhaps his wife may be pardoned of her sin. Prayer, forgiveness, and redemption are major drivers of the plot.

However, coming back to the Knight Hospitaller, there is a throwaway line with which he greets Balian that I found very powerful and resonant. As the priest brings Godfrey’s entourage to meet Balian in his smithery, the Hospitaller warmly says, “You have my sympathy and my blessing. Your dead wife and stillborn child are today the subject of my prayers.” There are a few things that are strange about this dialogue. The first is that the Hospitaller must certainly know that his wife is condemned due to the manner of her demise, and yet he offers Balian sympathy. The priest would certainly have informed him that he suspected that Balian’s brooding is a form of demonic possession (which he relays earlier to the bishop), and yet the Hospitaller offers him his blessing. The next sentence however is what I found to be unique interesting: Your dead wife and stillborn child are today the subject of my prayers. Let’s examine this line further.

It is well-known and well-established that prayer, that is to say supplication, is an emphasized practice within Islam. There are numerous verses of the Qur'an exhorting man to pray to God, and entire books and chapters containing hadith upon hadith about the supplications that the Messenger of Allah would make at various times. A compelling example is the narration from Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, and Abu Dawud of al-Nu’man ibn Bashir that states, “Supplication is itself worship. Your Lord states: Supplicate to me and I shall respond to you. Certainly they that are pompous regarding My worship shall ultimately enter Jahannam, detestable” (40:60). A weaker narration from Tirmidhi of Anas also states, “Supplication is the marrow (the core) of worship.”

We know this and we remind ourselves of the significance of prayer in countless talks, sermons, and articles. Yet a common complaint among Muslims young and old is that supplication either feels too difficult and burdensome, or too repetitive and mundane to bother with. Perhaps one might only pray when others can formulate the words for them, and only an ameen is required in response. Perhaps at certain times prayer “feels right”, such as during the last nights of Ramadan, but at other times it doesn’t. This is of course anecdotal, but it is even sometimes heard that since a prayer was not answered in the way in which it was asked, there is no point to continue to pray for specific things, or perhaps the pain of feeling rejected outweighs the need to supplicate to God. Prolonged exposure to this malaise may lead to the very abandonment of supplication itself, God forbid.

Alas, how can we reinvigorate the spirit of supplication within our lives? Here are some brief thoughts. First, it is important to understand what supplication is and what it is not. Notice the wording of the previous hadith that supplication is a form of worship, perhaps its most important form. That means that it, like all worship, is a process aimed at bringing about a spiritual refinement. What it does not say is that supplication is a “get out of jail free” card, or a quick solution to all difficulties and anxieties that come about in life. This may be the biggest misconception that needs to be cleared up, and it is a symptom of the larger problem that Muslims have in the modern world which is that this life should be easy and trial-free, a notion that neither the Qur’an or Hadith literature use to describe the condition of the world.

Instead, when one supplicates, they allow themselves to put thought to word and share whatever is on their soul with the One Who Hears All. Indeed, the Messenger of Allah, when asked about what he did in the cave before receiving revelation, said, “I was communicating my distress to Allah,” echoing the words of the Prophet Ya’qub, may peace be upon him, who said, “I complain of my distress and sorrow solely to Allah, and I know from Him that which ye know not” (12:86). This is not to say that God does not answer supplications. Rather, supplication is a reminder for us that God is ultimately the one in control, not us. Furthermore, God is present to hear our prayers, as God hears and is aware of every corner of creation. Should our petition be answered in the manner in which we ask, God be praised. If it is not, God be praised even more so, since His plan is infinitely better and wiser than our own and there must be some reason we are unaware of that led to our prayer being (seemingly) unanswered. This initial understanding is meant to better our impression of who God is. If God is the “Most Merciful, Most Compassionate” as we constantly say in the basmalah, then why do we think that does not apply to his listening to and answering—or seemingly not answering—of our prayers?

Once the mental image of supplication becomes clear, the next step in invigorating the light of supplication in our lives is to make the process of supplication easier to perform, especially if we have been disconnected for so long. Concessions and ease are built into Islam, and this is a place where we can make things a bit easier for ourselves. Of course, it goes without saying that the most perfect form of supplication are the statements attributed to the blessed Messenger of Allah. Should one spend their life only repeating his supplications with sincerity, that would be a life well spent. However, this is a lofty station that may be difficult for us to reach, especially if our current state is devoid of any supplication.

For one thing, a valid supplication need not be made in Arabic. God understands us all in whatever words and whatever tongue that we use to speak. The first step is to simply start pulling our words out of our minds and onto our lips. Another thing is that while it may be optimal to supplicate having performed ablution and facing the direction of prayer, this is also not a requirement for supplication, even though it may be its optimal form. God hears us whether we are in our daily commute, at our work desk, in our kitchen, in an elevator or a plane, or wherever we may be. Another important note is that no prayer is too meager to be spoken to God. A child may ask God for a toy, an adult may ask for a good day at work, a father may ask for an easy commute back home to his family, a mother may ask to let her children sleep easily. Of course we should ask God for the most important things in life, such as salvation from the Fire, entrance into the Garden, a halal income, and so many other things, but in fact, these small moments of conversation may be what is missing from our lives that makes us feel so distant from God’s presence.

Another powerful aspect of supplication is that it need not be limited to oneself. In fact, our lack of ability to supplicate for others may be what is hindering our own supplications from being answered. We may live in a selfish world, but our worship need not be selfish (this may need to be addressed in a future post). In the collection of Muslim, we find the famous hadith related by a husband and wife, Abu Darda’ and Umm Darda’, that states, “A Muslim’s supplication for his brother in his absence is certainly answered. There is an angel appointed above him who states ‘Ameen, and for you its like’ whenever he supplicates for his brother.”

Finally, man is a creature of habit, and God loves habits that are made for his sake. Take as proof the famous hadith found in Bukhari, Muslim, and al-Nasa’i of A’isha, may God be pleased with her, “The most beloved actions to God are the most consistent, though they be few and small.” The wording of the hadith is unstipulated, so it may also apply to supplication as well. We should find regular times to supplicate to God, especially after each prayer, before sleep and after waking, before and after eating, and many more. These do not have to be grand and extravagant duas that take twenty or thirty minutes, it may just be a single sentence. A consistent small supplication on a daily basis outweighs an hour of supplication only made once a week or once a month.

All of this brings me back to the Knight Hospitaller from Kingdom of Heaven. Remember the throwaway line? “Your dead wife and stillborn child are today the subject of my prayers.” Revisiting this in the light of what prayer and supplication is and should be, we can take away an entire approach to the spirituality of prayer. In this simple sentence we see supplication made for another, especially one who is grieving. We can observe the idea of habit from the word “today.” There are also numerous observations in this line that I did not mention above. There is the powerful concept of structuring prayer around a daily and specific subject, perhaps something especially troubling or what requires immediate concern. There is also the consoling of the grieving individual that someone else remember them in their prayer.

It is perhaps silly to try to extract so much from a line of dialogue in a fictional movie, but sometimes fiction is so strong that is shakes reality. Prayer is something we are desperately in need of, as we know and remind ourselves so often, and if we can make prayer a daily habit for ourselves and others, our spirituality, our connection with God, will certainly become stronger. Wa Allahu A’lam.

Blog Post 2 (4/15/25): On Studying Classical Arabic

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Jazākum Allāhu Khairan!

(It is beloved in Ramadan to be generous to one’s family and to be excellent) in words and actions and through giving wealth (to relatives and neighbors, and to give in charity) even if one were to give all of one’s wealth if they can handle it or if they have a profession which allows them to do so, and if not, then to give charity with what will not harm them. This is based on the hadith in the Ṣaḥiḥayn that he, peace and blessings be upon him, was the most generous of people in giving, and he was the most generous during Ramadan when he met Jibrīl.

Ramadan was specified with this, even though it is desired in other months, due to the weakness of the poor in doing work during this month and to encourage those fasting and praying to relieve the needs of the poor, and to attain the reward of the fasting person [by feeding them], and because good deeds are multiplied in this month.

(And) plenty of (recitation) of the Quran without speeding through it (and studying it with someone) by reciting it to one another, based upon the report in the Ṣaḥiḥayn that Jibrīl used to meet with him every night in Ramadan and listen to him recite the Quran.

Reciting from the physical copy of the Quran is better than not, unless there is some benefit to reciting it from memory which would not be achieved from reading from a physical book, such as strengthening one’s focus or one’s memorization.

It is recommended to face the qiblah for the one reciting the Quran and reciting out loud if one is not fearful of ostentation or bothering others around them.

(And) doing plenty of (seclusion) in the month to follow the Prophetic practice and because it protects oneself from what is not fitting in the month (especially in the last ten nights) it is more fitting for what has been mentioned and any other type of good act, based upon following the Prophetic practice.

(And) that is because (in them is Laylat al-Qadr) according to us, so one will encounter it doing the good deeds mentioned.

It is said that it is the 19th night, or the 17th night, or the middle night (15th night). It is also said that it is all of the nights. And it is even said that it is every night of the year. The scholars mention more than 40 opinions on this.

Al-Shafiʿī, may Allah be pleased with him, leaned toward it being the 21st or 23rd night, because he, peace and blessings be upon him, was shown the night in the final ten nights on an odd night, and he was shown that he was prostrating on water and clay, and that was on the 21st night according to the Ṣaḥiḥayn or the 23rd night according to Ṣaḥih Muslim.

It is also said that it moves in the last ten nights and this opinion brings together many seemingly different aḥādīth, and al-Shāfiʿī’s, may Allah be pleased with him, statement on reconciling varying aḥādīth supports this opinion.

The wisdom for its being obscure is to fill all of the nights of Ramadan with worship. This night is from the specific characteristics of this nation, and it will remain among the Day of Judgment, and it is the night “On which every wise matter is distinguished” (Al-Dukhān, 4)

Among its signs are that it is a pleasant night, and its sun rises clear without many rays due to the night of the angels rising and descending in the heavens. Deeds in it are better than deeds done in a thousand months without Laylat al-Qadr.

The following statement has been deemed as authentic, “Whoever stands [in prayer] on Laylat al-Qadr out of faith and seeking reward, their previous sins will be forgiven” and in another narration “And those to come.”

Al-Bayhaqī stated, “Whoever prays ʿIshāʾ in congregation until Ramadan ends has taken a huge share from [the reward of] Ramadan.”

As well as the statement, “Whoever prays ʿIshāʾ in congregation during Ramadan has certainly reached Laylat al-Qadr” meaning the most basic reward of it, but as for its full reward, it is for those who see it [and pray throughout it].

It is called Laylat al-Qadr due to its great qadr (rank), or due to the fact that Allah decrees (yaqdiru) whatever He wills in it.

Among its special characteristics is that no disbeliever is conceived during its night, and some of the hidden realm of Allah’s dominion is revealed on that night but people differ in regards to this unveiling.

Among the poetic compositions of al-ʿAllāmah al-Qalyūnī, may Allah be pleased with him, is a rule to determine Laylat al-Qadr:

O you who ask about Laylat al-Qadr

Which occurs in the last ten of Ramadan

It is is one of the odd of the ten

And it is known by which day the month starts

If on Sunday or Wednesday, then ninth (i.e. 29th)

Or Friday or Tuesday, then seventh (27th)

If on Thursday then the fifth (25th)

If on Saturday, then the third (23rd)

If on Monday then on the first (21st)

This is from the pious folk of unveiling

However, al-Kurdī, may Allah be pleased with him, stated that he has observed a rule differing from this.

(One should say) as is recommended (during the night, “O Allah indeed you are the Pardoner, you love to pardon, so pardon me!”) based upon the authentic account of the command of ʿĀishah to do so if she observed the night.

(And to conceal it) as is recommended for the one who observes it, because observing it is miraculous, and it should not be shared according to the consensus of the spiritual masters unless there is a legal reason to do so.

(One should observe the entire night and its day just like its night) in worship with sincerity and expending every effort.

What is Arabic?

One of the major Semitic languages, Arabic is not a monolithic language as most people might assume. This is not only true in modern times where there are major regional dialects of Arabic but even in the ancient period (commonly defined as 150 years before until 150 years after the Hijrah) where dialectical differences surface in poetry and even ahadith.

What makes Arabic Arabic is that it is primarily spoken in the Arabian peninsula, though of course it is spoken elsewhere and even within the Arabic peninsula it was not the only language spoken. It is, of course, the language of the “Arabs” who are also not a monolithic people. Historically speaking we can divide the term “Arab” into Northern and Southern Arab, and then again into “Less-eloquent” and “More-eloquent” Arabs.

Northern Arabs are often called Musta’rab, i.e., Arabized, since they have linguistic and cultural influence from beyond the peninsula. The best example of this is the tribe of Quraysh who descended from Ibrahim and Isma’il (may peace be upon them), both non-Arabs. Southern Arabs have less influence in their language than their northern cousins but in fact are also influenced by East Africa, though this seems to be less spoken of.

Then we have “less-eloquent” Arabs, i.e., the Arabs who built and lived in villages and cities and engaged in trade with the outside world, as well as “more-eloquent” Arabs, who are the nomadic shepherding people of the great wastes of the peninsula. Before the advent of Islam, all of these groups were centered in the Arabian peninsula, and thus places like Egypt, Syria, and Iraq, which are considered Arab lands now, were most definitely not considered Arab lands by the Classical Arabs.

Being a Semitic language, Arabic has an intricate system of word “roots”, which are (primarily) triliteral vowel and consonant groups that indicate a common meaning. A common root is the letters k-t-b, which means arranging things together. These roots can be extrapolated into specialized and often clever usages, so for example the concept of writing also falls under this root. When these roots are overlayed on common word patterns, the resulting words are connected in meaning. For example, the words katib (writer), maktab (office), and maktabah (library/bookstore) are all related in meaning because of the shared k-t-b root. In the more general sense of the root, a katibah (battalion) is also related because it indicates arrangement, though sometimes these connections are hard to spot.

On a side note, the root system is somewhat in trouble in the modern age with the advent of new technologies and devices which are often wholly subsumed into the language in their original form. There was a struggle in the 20th century over the very soul of Arabic vocabulary over whether Classical words should be formulated and applied to new things or not. The introduction of Hans Wehr’s dictionary speaks more about this. Spoiler alert: ease always wins, and new words just entered the language without being “Arabized”. Hence, it’s probably more common to hear of a phone referred to as a “mobile” or “phone” rather than the Classical Arabic word al-hatif, which means an unseen voice in classical Arabic.

Arabic is also a grammatical declining language. Declension (called I’rab in Arabic) is when words end in certain suffixes based upon the their grammatical function in a sentence. This is probably the most difficult thing for English-speakers to grasp because declension has disappeared from English almost entirely. The best remaining example of this is the English word “who” which becomes “whom” and “whose” based upon how it is used in a sentence . It’s all the same word (notice the common word ‘who’ throughout), indicating an unknown person one is questioning about, but one would not say “Whom are you?” because it sounds instinctively wrong to a native English speaker. “Who” not only sounds more correct, but it is the only correct option. On the backend, there is a grammatical reason for why this is happening which most modern English speakers are not aware of. The “trouble” so to speak with Arabic, at least in its Classical iteration, is that this phenomenon is extremely widespread.

A colleague of mine once did an analysis of a given number of pages of the Quran and other classical texts and found that around half of all the words are declining words. In Modern Standard Arabic (the language of modern news media, law, and government) this issue has been somewhat mitigated because many of these suffixes are omitted from speech and print, but this has led to modern Arabic, especially in media, becoming very repetitive and with less variation and nuance from its ancient origins. Indeed, modern Arabic can at times sound like word-for-word translation from English. Modern Colloquial Arabic, with all of its regional variety, remains a bit more wild and untamed, but it has, at times, even less of the features of its modern and ancient counterparts.

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The Problem with Learning a Language

The modern world and the psyche of its people is nothing if not brutally utilitarian. Often when someone has an interest in something the question “Why?” is posed by onlookers, as if to say, “What material benefit will this bring you, when you could be doing something more beneficial to you?” Why does a thinker need to justify their thinking, an artist need to justify creating art, a reader to write, and a poet to write? When things are only looked at through the lens of material benefit, the heart and soul of a person dies a little inside, until it falls into a type of spiritually comatose state which is normally only awakened by a tragic and life-altering change or on one’s deathbed.

Unfortunately, this utilitarian attitude applies to language acquisition as well. If and when a person finally gets over the mental hump to attempt to learn a new language and they start looking for institutes or teachers, they often stumble into a minefield of quick weekend seminars, language “hacking” courses, “secret” guides, the “gem” market, and so many other colorful and varied types of snake oil all trying to convince them that a language can be learned fast and efficiently with bare minimum effort at a certain cost. If only this were true.

Learning a language is metaphorically like stepping off of a plane and into a new city that you’ve never seen before (and sometimes that literally happens too). Learning an ancient language is even worse because instead of going to a somewhat organized and smaller city like say San Francisco, you are going to the urban sprawl of Cairo and Giza instead. You will not understand all of this new city in a day, a week, a month, probably not even in a year, maybe not even eighteen months or two years. To truly “master” a new city, to know it like the back of one’s hand, may take several years. This is akin to acquiring a language. Merely moving to a new city is also not enough. One must go out and explore, interact, peruse, get lost, use one’s intuition and instincts, and most importantly have courage. Sitting in a room does not inform one of the outdoors. Saying, “I’ve studied such and such language for a year” when all you’ve done is attend a one-hour-per-week class is a similar situation.

The Issue of Arabic

Now Arabic specifically has a unique dilemma. There are basically two streams of thought about how to teach the language: through a skills based approach, or through a grammatical approach. The former approach is more thorough, but slower and less in-depth. The latter approach is more in-depth, but usually only harnesses one or two specific language skills and otherwise it glosses over the rest of the language. Is one approach correct? No, depending on your needs and goals within the language, either approach can produce strong results if a person has realistic expectations.

I personally started through a heavy emphasis on the grammatical approach, but after a year I found that reading and translating was still difficult even with an intermediate to advanced knowledge of grammar. This is because the grammatical approach lacks the emphasis on the breadth of language skills which are reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Major emphasis is given to reading and translating, but the other skills usually fall to the wayside. There is also vocabulary acquisition, which though it is not a language skills, it a prerequisite to language itself. One can know all the grammar in the world but if the words on the page are unknown, then comprehension cannot take place.

On the flipside, those that focus on skills and neglect grammar are usually able to communicate very easily, interact with Arabs, hold long conversations, read newspapers, etc. This however may create an illusion in their mind that the language is very simple. In fact, what many of these students are doing is thinking of a sentence in their original language and directly translating it word-for-word into Arabic using Arabic vocabulary. In many of these types of curricula, only the most bare-bones grammatical rules are taught, and even then not very well. If a technical text were to be placed in front of them with the level of nuance usually found in older writing, one would quickly see the lack of depth in translation and comprehension.

I once met someone at a language institute who had never studied a day of Arabic in his life, but had spent months and months (through his job in a counterterrorism police force) learning Arabic vocabulary. When he came to this institution, he had an impressive amount of vocabulary memorized and by translating English word-for-word from his mind, he was able to fool his testers into placing him in the second highest class at this institute. It was only after he received his placement that he told them that he had never studied Arabic before in his life and that he insisted to be placed into a beginners’ class because he had no idea how the language worked. This student was able to work off of an important principle in communication, which is that at our core, people are able to express themselves and understand others through an underlying grammar that is native to us all. When we hear words and ideas, our minds are able to put them together to form ideas and understand thoughts, even from someone that doesn’t actually know our language, as long as they have the vocabulary to do so.

How to Learn Arabic (Part 1 of ?)

Given what was said above, what techniques should one utilize when learning Arabic? This will of course first depend on someone setting realistic goals for themselves. A student should first decide if they primarily want to learn how to speak and communicate or read and translate, or if both then in which order. The latter group are often those who want to learn Arabic to understand the Quran and Islamic texts for spiritual reasons. I have much more experience with this group, so my advice will be tailored to them, though plenty of resources exist for the former group as well. Here is my advice:

1. Acquire Vocabulary - This sounds simple, and really it is simple, but many people do not have the tenacity and dedication to keep up with it. While vocabulary is not the entirety of a language, it is the building block of language. The more limited one’s vocabulary is, the more limited their understanding of a given language will be. One should also not assume that just because a set of vocabulary does not fit their interests that it will not be beneficial. At the end of the day, there really is no reason to justify not learning a new word. Knowing that Arabic operates on a root system is important, as one should strive to learn words based upon roots. Many Arabic to English dictionaries group words in this way for ease of use of the student. A daily goal has to be set for vocabulary acquisition, with a minimum of 5-10 new words memorized every day. Memorization techniques also come into play here, and one has to discover what technique words best for them. Flashcards work for some, but not for others for example. Spending a few days to a week with a different memorization technique can be crucial to making significant progress.

2. Balance Learning New Grammar (<) with Application (>) - So many institutes bombard students with rules upon rules to memorize, many with exceptions and exceptions to exceptions. This is theoretically very useful if one already has a very solid grasp of a language, but to a beginner this can be like poison which will negatively color their perception of language. At any solid institute that I have visited, there is usually a period of time where students are in an immersive environment, getting a feel for the language and speaking, reading, and writing basic sentences and practicing conjugations, before formal grammar is taught. Otherwise, the grammar has no place to be applied and so it exists as nebulous concepts that are ungrounded to reality. A good rule of thumb is that a person should spend approximately three to four times as much time in language application, by which I mean reading, translating, speaking, listening, learning vocabulary, etc., as opposed to learning new grammar. This is a much better balance for long term success. If you cannot come up with 20 example for a particular grammar rule, go back until you can. If you cannot find a grammar rule 20 times in a text, keep reading until you can. If you cannot naturally use grammar rules, you don’t actually know them but rather you merely have a concept of them. More grammar will not increase your comprehension of a language unless you have the skills to back it up.

3. There is No Rush: I was never the best student when I was studying Arabic, I was often middling and was usually late to grasp new concepts. However, the peers that were ahead of me, though they were very productive and studious for a time, would usually reach a point where they stopped studying all together either due to frustrations, hitting an imaginary wall, or because their passion evaporated. Of the peers that became excellent teachers in their own right, there is one thing they all have in common. They all stuck it out and continued studying Arabic in a controlled and measured way for years and years until it became like second nature to them. When they hit a wall, as we all do, they shifted their attention to something else until they were able to come back and make it over. Often students are too black and white in their approach, i.e., if I’m not making progress then I might as well give up. Time is, in my mind, the only defining factor between success and failure. A little bit of time each and every day is better than an immense amount of time initially followed by nothing. I highly suggest to review and learn something new daily rather than weekly. This does not mean one has to spend all day doing Arabic, even as little as 20 minutes can suffice. The key however is consistency.

To be Continuted

For the sake of keeping this article short and being able to revisit this topic in the future, I will stop here for now. Thank you for reading.

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Names are gateways to truths and realities. We find many interesting names in the Quran and the Arabic language that give insights and clues into places, people, and phenomena.

The Quran specifically points out certain names, such as the name Maryam being deliberately given to her by her mother in the verse, “Indeed I have named her Maryam” (3:36). Other times God chooses the name directly, such as in the verse:

“O Zakariyya, surely we give you glad tidings of a boy whose name is Yahya - none We have given this name before” (19:7).

I find it intriguing that the Quran would specifically mention and record these verses and acts of naming. This made me curious and thus I intend here to shed some light on the phenomenon of naming, and point out some things I have observed and noticed about how and why things are named.

Naming Theory

Names can be made as wishes for qualities that are sought to be manifested in children, such as naming a child Khalid (eternal) in hopes that they not fall in battle but rather live to an old age, or naming a child Fatimah (weaned) in the hopes that she lives past the age of nursing, an especially dangerous age for children in ancient times.

Some names are very well-thought out and display a tender sense of positivity and hope, such as the name Mus’ab (one from whom difficulties are removed). Other names are perhaps more practical and utilitarian in their suitability for harsh, tribal desert life, meant to strike fear into others. This is why Arabs chose tough names for their children, such as the many variations of lion, like Abbas, Usama, Hamza, and Layth that might grant their sons a lion’s bravery and ferocity in battle.

In Classical Arabic clues often come from other Semitic languages, particularly Hebrew. An example of this is the Hebrew suffix -il meaning God used frequently in the Quran and Arabic literature, such as in the names Jibra’il (The Might of God), Mika’il (Who is like God?), Isma’il (God hears), Samaw’al (Name of God).

Some names change over time to reflect a change in qualities, such as Iblis being renamed Shaytan, or simply due to lexical shifts, such as the valley of Bakkah being called Makkah. Other names fall out of usage, such as the wilderness of Paran which the Hebrew Bible tell us is where Hajar is settled by Ibrahim, which also includes the valley of Bakkah. Some names come from sentences, such as the Hadramawt Valley of Yemen that according to legend received its name from the purported last words of the Prophet Hud, believed to be buried there, “Hadara al-Mawt” (Death has come).

Of course, there are always names that will remain enigmatic or even contested, such as Shiloh of the Bible, the Son of Man of the Gospels, Dhu al-Qarnayn of the Quran, and Al-Khadir from the hadith literature. Sometimes the only thing we have is a name, and the reality has yet to be seen, such as Yajuj and Majuj or al-Masih al-Dajjal.

Two Intriguing Quranic Names

To illustrate further the depth of names in Quranic and Classical Arabic, there is an intriguing theory about a famous link between Quranic names and actions found in Verse 71 of Surah Hud, which states:

"And his wife was standing [nearby], and then she smiled (ضحكت). So we gave her the good tidings of [the birth of] Ishaq, and beyond Ishaq [of] Ya’qub.” (11:71)

Here, Sarah, the wife of Ibrahim, upon hearing of the fate of the people of Prophet Lut smiled or laughed. Immediately upon this smile or laughter, the good tidings comes of the birth of their future son “Ishaq” or in Hebrew “Yitzhaq” - which means “He laughs” from the shared Semitic root tz/h/q or ضحك - a direct parallel to his mother in this verse. Right after , further good tidings came of their grandson “Ya’qub” or “Ya’aqov” which means “He follows [after]” from the shared Semitic root a’/q/v or عقب.

It’s worth noting that some Hebrew literature postulates that Ya’aqov comes from ‘Aqev, which means the heel of the foot, denoting that he was born holding onto the heel of, and therefore following, his twin brother Esau, though this is not found in the Islamic tradition. In any case, these words still come from the same roots.

Note once again in the above verse the very visible tie-in of these names to the realities present in the verse - namely the laughter of Sarah, the following up of the glad tidings of Yaqub after Ishaq. Without knowledge of both Arabic and Hebrew, this knowledge might be lost.

Yet again, other Semitic languages, such as Ancient Egyptian can lend clues to Quranic names. In another place, we find a theory regarding the name Musa, or Mose as it may have been pronounced in Ancient Egyptian, from the Egyptian root m-s-y. This name is commonly found in a theophoric formula as a suffix in the names of ancient Egyptian princes and rulers such as Ra-mose/Ra-messes, meaning “Child/Born of Ra”, and Thut-mose, “Child/Born of Thoth”.

This idea postulates that when the young Musa was claimed by the family of Pharaoh as a foundling from the Nile (a phenomenon considered sacred), they did not know who birthed him, nor which god he belonged or was dedicated to, and so they left out the prefix god’s name and simply named him “Mose” or “Child/Born.”

Names within the Islamic Intellectual Paradigm

It is known in the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ that naming was a significant action. Even the name Muhammad (extolled) was heard in a dream to both his mother and grandfather before birth, which was seen as a good omen. The Prophet ﷺ would name his items and even his articles of clothing, such as giving his imamah (turban) the name al-Sahab (Cloud). He also changed the names of several Sahabah himself. The best names that can be given to a male child are Abd Allah (servant of God) or Abd al-Rahman (servant of the Entirely Merciful), according to a hadith. We also know that when Ali, may God be pleased with him, wanted to name his son Harb (war) the Prophet ﷺ instead advised him to change his name to Hasan (beautiful/good).

Sometimes in the Islamic tradition names are simply given for convenience. In the hadith literature, we often see the various chapters of the Quran being named by the first few words of said chapter, for example Surah Qul Huwa Allahu Ahad instead of the more commonly known Surah al-Ikhlas or the phrase Alif-Lam-Meem Tanzil instead of Surah al-Sajdah.

Names are also taken from phrases, such as the naming of Arabic grammar as “Way” or “Nahw” based upon the statement of Ali, may God be pleased with him, to Abu al-Aswad Al-Du’ali after giving him an initial classification of words in Arabic, “Keep going this way” or “Unhu ala hadha al-nahw.”

Within the intellectual sphere too, when a new idea, thought, or discipline is brought forth, it must, of course, be given a name. Oftentimes these words are not new in and of themselves, bur rather borrowed from other places, disciplines, and concepts, due to some sort of connection between the two ideas.

For example, the Arabic word salah which is used for the ritual Muslim prayer is not the original lexical meaning of the word, which is actually supplication in any shape or form. However, the ritual Muslim prayer was aptly named as such by the Quran because supplication is part and parcel of the ritual prayer.

Though many names come directly from revelation, whether from the Quran or the Sunnah, sometimes names of disciplines develop later. Some key examples of this are the words fiqh (understanding) and kalam/aqidah (speech/connection), which later comes to mean the disciplines of Islamic law and Islamic theology, respectively. None of these terms, save a distant argument for the term kalam, are found within the corpus of revelation to indicate their later appointed meanings, but nonetheless these names were chosen by the scholars for their fields.

Patterns in Naming

Sometimes names within the Islamic paradigm seem to follow a pattern. As mentioned previously, the Arabs used to give their children fierce names or names of predators which would hopefully strike fear into their enemies, such as the names Abbas (lion) and Harb (war).

In a separate example, the dimensions of the religion of Islam as a whole that discussed in the famous Hadith of Angel Jibra’il - namely Islam, Iman, and Ihsan - all follow the same morphological pattern which implies transitivity and causation. A subtle hint may be gleaned here that the religion is about activity and it calls believers to act to change themselves and the world around them.

Other times, a single thing has several names, such as the Quran calling itself Al-Kitab (The Book), Al-Furqan (The Criterion), Al-Zikr (The Remembrance), and Al-Tanzil (The Revelation). Of course, we also have the famous 99 names of God, highlighting many of the Divine Names mentioned in the Quran, but in addition and lesser known is that there is a popular collection that lists 201 names for the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ as well. This includes such names as Ahmad (Greatest in Praise), which the Quran declares as his celestial name, Hashir (Summoner on Judgment Day), Aqib (Final Prophet), Mahi (Eraser of Falsehood), and more. Here we can see that these names and titles add depth and dimensionality to what they are naming.

Perhaps the most difficult patterns to examine are those that exist across seemingly different genres and disciplines. I aim to examine one of these scattered patterns here.

Roads and Travel

There is an overarching pattern of names related to travel found across many Islamic disciplines, with some examples more obvious (such as Hajj or pilgrimage) than others. To illustrate:

• The different schools of methodologies within the science of fiqh and other disciplines are called a madhhab (path)

• The spiritual path of reformation and rectification of the soul is called tariqah (path, sometimes taken at night, leading to a door) or suluk (journeying)

• Abandoning sin is called hijrah (migration) in a hadith, and one who does so can be called a muhajir (migrant)

• One who performs a daily litany of prayers is called a warid (one who takes the road to a well) and the litany is called the wird (the water carried on the road)

• The word sunnah (path) is used to describe the habits and customs of the Prophet

• The word sirah (the manner in which one travels) used for the Prophetic biography

• The overarching system of law in Islam is called shari’ah which means a commonly used road, and is related to words for street, a threshold of a road, and a path that leads to a well

• The religion as a whole is called sirat (wide road), often followed up by the adjective mustaqim (straight, direct)

While I cannot say for sure why this motif recurs across so many different disciplines, some initial ideas do jump out. The Quran so often speaks about the temporality of life and the imperative to prepare for the next life, even using the travel motif to speak about preparing taqwa (piety) as one’s supplies for the journey. According to a statement of the Prophet, he describes himself in the world as a traveler resting under a tree for a short time, ready to continue his journey. Perhaps these and other examples subconsciously pulled the scholars of Islam into naming their disciplines after the concept of traveling.

End

As a final note, given that this article is being written at the end of Ramadan in the year 1445 of the Hijrah, I also wanted to briefly discuss the name al-Hall al-Murtahal, which is related to this final naming theme of journeys. The literal translation is “one who arrives, and who departs.” This phrase describes a recitation of the Quran that, upon reaching its conclusion of completion of the Quran, immediately begins with another reading. The common way in which this is done is by reading Surah al-Nas and then immediately following it up by reciting the first five verses of Surah al-Baqarah within the same prayer.

This name is as beautiful as it is bittersweet, as one is reminded that his journey of life, with all of its ups and downs, just like the text and message of the Quran, with all of its might, majesty, dread, and beauty, must continue and persist. It’s a name that summarize the human condition - we just got here, and now we are soon to depart. Sometimes, a friendly companion joins us again and again on our journey, like the month of Ramadan. Other times, companions come briefly, never to be seen again. Sometimes we grow so accustomed to our fellow travelers that the journey takes a drastic plunge into despair when they leave us.

I hope you are never ashamed of your names, or feel the need to change them, because they may sound different or strange in your society. Names are mysterious things to be celebrated. Wherever life take you, I hope you remember the name Allah, God Almighty, the One who taught Adam, and by extension you, the reader, all names, the One who also knows your name, why you were named thus, and Who will ultimately call your name on the Final Day, when others forget your name.

Imam Muhammad ibn Sa’id “Sharaf al-Din” al-Busiri of Alexandria (d. 1295 CE/694 AH) was the pupil of the great Abu al-‘Abbas al-Mursi (d. 1287), one of the patron awliya’ of Egypt and the successor of the fabled Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili (d. 1258), may God have mercy upon them all.

An accomplished scholar and poet, he lived in different parts of Egypt, studying in Cairo, and eventually living out the latter part of his life under the shadow of his master al-Mursi in Alexandria, which was al-Shadhili’s base of operations. To this day, al-Busiri’s small mausoleum sits in the shadow of the elaborate and ornate masjid erected over the tomb of his master, with both edifices straddling and peering out over Alexandria’s coastline.

Al-Busiri’s magnum opus in poetry is officially entitled al-Kawakib al-Durriyah fi Madh Khayr al-Bariyyah, though it is much better known world-wide as Qasidah al-Burdah, or simply Al-Burdah. At around 160 couplets, the Burdah is remarkable in its depth and breadth regarding praise and tribute of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. There is even a legend that al-Busiri, stricken with paralysis and bedridden, received the poem in a dream by the Prophet ﷺ himself, who enshrouded him with his salvific burdah or cloak, from where the poem gets its nickname.

Whether this tale is factual or not, as many great works have similar stories attached to them, what is undisputed is that throughout his poem al-Busiri drops a number of hints regarding his intellectual prowess. There is the famous verse hinting at his knowledge of Arabic grammar:

خَفَضْتَ كُلَّ مَقَامٍ بِالإِضَافَةِ إِذْ - نُودِيتَ بِالرَّفْعِ مِثْلَ الْمُفْرَدِ الْعَلَمِ

“You humbled all stations by your invitation (from God) when - you were called to elevation like a singular name”

In this verse, the words khafd, idafah, and raf’ are all plays on grammatical terms along with the grammatical rule for an alam mufrad (a singular proper name) in the situation of nida’ (evocation). There is also the verse showcasing his knowledge of astronomy:

كَالشَّمْسِ تَظْهَرُ لِلْعَيْنَينِ مِنْ بُعُدٍ - صَغِيرَةً وَتُكِلُّ الطَّرْفَ مِنْ أَمَمِ

“Like the Sun appears to the eyes, due to distance, - small, yet it exhausts the gaze [when faced] as if nigh”

Many more similar verses exist which we are not in a position to elaborate upon here.

The Self

The Burdah is structured as a conversation [presumably] between al-Busiri and a shadowy figment of his imagination, a technique in Arabic called tajrid or extraction. The first section starts with this mysterious figure, most likely a part of al-Busiri’s soul, addressing himself with a tone of harshness and rebuke. Here, al-Busiri is questioning himself regarding his sincerity and love for an unnamed person as of yet, though hints such as “the mountain” and “the willow” and Mount Idam give clues to the beloved being the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

Immediately after this first section, al-Busiri delves into the vast ocean of his spiritual insight. The second section, often prefaced with a heading like “On Censure of the Ego of the Soul”, is a masterclass in both the pitfalls but also the prescriptions of dealing with the self.

Using the vocabulary of the Quran, such as al-ammarah bi al-su’ or the soul which constantly bids one to evil, as well as metaphors and vocabulary from other disciplines, al-Busiri sings his woes regarding all the things he could have done to rein in his ego earlier in his life. In doing so he indicates to the spiritual aspirant what procedure or process should be follow in order to not end up an old, enfeebled man like himself who perceives that his time is at hand and it is too late to be spiritually rectified.

He masterfully winds imagery from Arabian hospitality, medicine, animal husbandry, shepherding, arbitration and debate, and even preparation of food to get his point across: that the soul has many pitfalls and it is very difficult to tame, so start while you can and don’t wait until it is too late!

I plan to flesh out an entire manual on this section of the Burdah alone, God willing, but for the present moment, let us turn our attention to a single verse which in a few short words contains immense seeds of wisdom.

The Child

Al-Busiri says:

وَالنَّفْسُ كَالطِّفْلِ إِنْ تُهْمِلْهُ شَبَّ عَلَى - حُبِّ الرَّضَاعِ وَإِنْ تُفْطِمْهُ يَنْفَطِمِ

“The soul is like a child, if you neglect it, it grows - with love of suckling, but if you wean it, it will be weaned”

It is not uncommon in the modern Muslim zeitgeist to hear of the soul or ego presented as a monstrous ogre, a ravaging predator which can never be trusted and which must be slain in order for one to be felicitous in this life and the Hereafter. One cannot help at this juncture but to recall stories of European folklore such as Beowulf engaging the demon Grendel, or St. George slaying the dragon, and wonder how deeply these motifs have penetrated into the collective Muslim subconscious which has been thoroughly drenched in Pagan European symbolism and Pauline Christian ideals and images since the time of colonization.

In light of this, what al-Busiri does here is quite remarkable as he flips this idea on its head and presents the soul in what I believe to be a motif much more grounded in the Quran narrative. The soul being like a child is a remarkable idea that can be superimposed upon a number of Quranic narratives. Poetically, many of the Quranic narratives revolve around children, such as the account of Ibrahim and Isma’il, Luqman and his son, Ya’qub, Yusuf, and his brothers, and the birth and early childhood of Musa and ‘Isa, may the peace of God be upon them all.

Though not derived from mainstream tafsir or Quranic exegesis, through isharah or the extrapolation of ideas through symbolism and imagery in the Quran, the soul in many of its stages can be seen in the examples of these figures of children in the Quran. In the example of the brothers of Yusuf can be seen the lowest and basest form of the soul, full of envy, anger, and wrath. In the story of Musa, we can see a child who on its journey through the river of God’s trust becomes adopted by the Dunya, the side of the world which calls away from God. In the son of Luqman, we can see a soul seeking knowledge and counsel. In the story of Isma’il we see the soul which has submitted to its spiritual father/prophet and is ready to sacrifice itself for the sake of fulfilling God’s commandment. In the example of ‘Isa, we see the soul reborn in its perfected and miraculous state, an otherworldly spiritual giant dwelling in the world.

Raising a Child

Therefore, when al-Busiri informs us of the similarity of the soul to a child, we must pause and reevaluate our approach to our own self-rectification. A child is the very apple of the eye of its parents, the light of their life, and in the Quranic vocabulary, the jewel and adornment of this temporary life. Therefore, it is hard to fathom to a normal human psyche hating one’s child, torturing it, depriving it, abandoning it, and harshly and rigorously disciplining it. Such a child would surely grow up bitter, resentful, depressed, and riddled with anxiety, eventually coping by lashing out at others and perpetuating the cycle.

Yet, these attitudes toward the soul are commonly applied and discussed in Muslim circles of spirituality, as if we have wholly imbibed the idea that only through suffering and death can a soul be redeemed, an echo of the Christian narrative of Christ’s death upon the cross and the absolution of sin. One does not have to go far to encounter a Muslim man or woman who has suffered at the hands of a so-called spiritual guide who specializes in nothing more than psychological torture.

Al-Busiri wants us instead to mimic his own technique of tajrid and extract from ourselves a child-like image of our soul. This child, like all children, needs nurturing and guidance. As a parent, one must understand that this nurturing does not always mean indulging the child’s wishes, but rather guiding and training the child to grow into the next stage of their development. The metaphor of weaning a child is especially relevant here.

Children of course do make mistakes, which in this metaphor are sins. But ask yourself when a young child makes a mistake, how should it be treated? When our own children make mistakes, we should try to explain to them what they did and why it is harmful to them, on their level and in a calm tone. If the child makes the mistake even a hundred times, the attitude and approach should not change and the mistake should not be held against them forever. How would one expect forgiveness from God if they cannot forgive others or even themselves?

As any parent will know, constant fear and punishment only create distance and resentment. If this approach is necessary for our children, then it in also incumbent upon ourselves for ourselves. Forgiving and nurturing our souls will lead to a better relationship with ourselves and will reinvigorate our purpose in this life and our obligation toward God if we keep our minds and souls are safe places. Forgiveness is already guaranteed by God for the one who asks, and we have to allow ourselves to ask for forgiveness without guilt, just like a child who asks for forgiveness must, out of principle, always be forgiven.

One might say that this will lead to complacency. However, al-Busiri is not advocating for constant gratification and indulgence. Weaning the child off of sin is also necessary. A frustrated parent who perseveres through the cries and wails of the nursing child will eventually be rewarded with a child who no longer needs to suckle. But if instead the parent does nothing but yell at, argue with, or abuse the child who only knows nursing, who is at fault and who ultimately suffers? The child suffers in the short-term and the parent suffers in the long-term. Far-sightedness coupled with patience is needed not only in raising children but in raising the soul.

One may say that some children just cannot be taught or disciplined. In this case, one must ask themselves if this is the result of the child’s nature or is it because the child knows nothing but pain and suffering, and thus it only knows to defend itself through distance and rebellion. Only a fool would subject themselves to abuse, and children certainly are not fools though they may do foolish things. Regardless of how many foolish things a child does, if it knows that it is cared for and that its environment is safe, the child will always come back to the embrace of its parents and home. Thus a soul must be trained to always return and repent to God, no matter the mistakes it makes. It must feel enabled and empowered to do so, not unworthy. A child who is lost must be guided home, not driven away, called names, or yelled at.

Conclusion

Therefore, I hope that the next time you want to beat yourself up, to mentally degrade yourself, to call yourself worthless, unfixable, unsalvageable, damned, useless, or anything of the like, you pause for a moment and see yourself as a child. I hope that you run to embrace this child, to hold it, caress it, and care for it, so that it can grow and flourish. I hope you appreciate that self-discipline does not mean self-suffocation. I hope you realize that torturing and crucifying yourself is not the Quranic norm nor part of the Islamic worldview, but that these are foreign ideas that must be banished.

If you are like Yusuf, peace be upon him, at the bottom of the well, know that the caravan is coming and that your position will become secure. If you are like Musa, peace be upon him, floating down the Nile without any control, know that in the palace of Dunya, there will be righteous people to protect and care for you. If you are fortunate enough to be mature like Isma’il, peace be upon him, then know to fully trust that God’s plan for you is perfect and that whatever seems harsh only hides within it a treasure for you.

Remember al-Busiri’s words, may God have mercy upon him:

وَالنَّفْسُ كَالطِّفْلِ إِنْ تُهْمِلْهُ شَبَّ عَلَى - حُبِّ الرَّضَاعِ وَإِنْ تُفْطِمْهُ يَنْفَطِمِ

“The soul is like a child, if you neglect it, it grows - with love of suckling, but if you wean it, it will be weaned”

May God protect our children, the inward and outward children, and increase them in love and closeness to their parents, and rectify them. Amin.

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