Letters to My Daughter

I suppose I reduce the world to black and white, good and bad, moral and immoral. I believe that my faith prescribes a certain system of conduct, and with that system, there are fundamentals. I think over time the fundamentals seem even more codified, even though I don't believe that God wants to make it hard for us to follow His laws. If He is infinitely merciful, then the decisions we make should be pleasing to first Him and then us. Our happiness, like Paradise now, should not be entirely sacrificed because what would God want from such a sacrifice? What would be the point of such sacrifice for God? What does it mean for me to say that these sacrifices are for something Higher, Greater, Unknown that I cannot explain in rational terms? Why do we continue to deny ourselves with the promise of Paradise? Why can't paradise be now? There is a balanced way to live our lives that keeps Islam in the center, but does not reduce the world to a Muslims-only bubble. I don't know if ...

Today I was called a intellectual whore. I was told that all i want to do is intellectually screw people because what I like most about people are their ideas, experiences and thoughts. I have shown little regard for emotions, and sentimentality and for the UMPTH time this year, I find myself saddened by the loss of a friend. Here's his top 10 of most (im)memorable quotes: 1. "You're like Sex in the City, minus the sex." [Mindless stupidity is the implication] 2. "I am a warm person. You're not" 3. [paraphrase] I am a very sensitive person. I can't have you constantly hurting my feelings. 4. "I don't respect you" 5. "I am a generous person" 6. "We can't be friends, Sadia." 7. "You are emotionally crippled" 8. "What you need is a wall." 9. "I don't mean to hurt you." 10. "You're an intellectual whore." And the best question of today, and of the week perhaps, is when ...

Malcolm Gladwell. "Getting In: The Social Logic of Ivy Leage Admissions" http://www.gladwell.com/2005/2005_10_10_a_admissions.html Major themes: 1. Passion is a significant contributor to success. 2. High intelligence means little without discipline and passion. "Bowen and Shulman write about the characteristics that make athletes more coveted by Ivy League schools: One of these characteristics can be thought of as drive--a strong desire to succeed and unswerving determination to reach a goal, whether it be winning the next game or closing a sale. Similarly, athletes tend to be more energetic than the average person, which translates into an ability to work hard over long periods of time--to meet, for example, the workload demands placed on young people by an investment bank in the throes of analyzing a transaction. In addition, athletes are more likely than others to be highly competitive, gregarious and confident of their ability to work well in groups (on teams). I ...

Prudishness, or Victorianism specifically, I realized this morning, is a social construct. This is not much in terms of a revelation-quality, but at 9:30AM Saturday morning, this is what came to me. Women's sexuality always makes men in power anxious, so they legislate ways to control female bodies. At the Chocolate Show a few weeks ago, Shakera told me that people in history have always had sex. I responded with: No they probably did it within legal and social norms and customs. She said I was an idiot, and the discussion went back to issues of chocolate. So why are we so opposed to following the rules? What is the big deal with constructing rules, if you accept them as preconditions to the good life? So what if you deny yourself a good lay because you believe fornication is inherently wrong? So what if your Paradise is a construct? (Though I pray that belief supplanted with knowledge and reason leads to something real) If you believe constructs to be real, if you regard these con...

The following is a (late) dialogue I wrote for class while in Indiana with Daisy Khan. These individuals are not real characters, and any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental. On the Exaltation of the Spirit: An Intrafaith Dialogue about Ibn Arabi The following is a dialogue between Zaid, a traditionalist Muslim and Ayesha, a Sufi Muslim. Seated at Cafe Reggio on MacDougal Avenue, the two friends are discussing the their reading of Ibn Arabi from their Islamic Studies class. ZAID: One of my favorite verses in the Qur'an, Ayesha, is when Allah says, "And if all the trees on earth were pens and the ocean (were ink), with seven oceans behind it to add to its (supply), yet would not the words of Alah be exhausted (in writing): for Allah is Exalted in Power, full of Wisdom." (31:27 ) I believe that in surah Al-Lugman, the inexhaustible supplies of pens and ink refer to the infinite evidence of God manifest in nature. Don't you agree? AYESHA: [Smiling] I do. But ...

I have to rename my computer. Dinu suggests one name "Samar," which means "evening conversations" which is what we do most nights instead of sleeping. I told my mother a new laptop is in order, but she says something about paying for two kids in college. I don't know anymore.

Passenger Seat Lyrics Death Cab for Cutie I roll the window down And then begin to breathe in The darkest country road And the strong scent of evergreen From the passenger seat as you are driving me home. Then looking upwards I strain my eyes and try To tell the difference between shooting stars and satellites From the passenger seat as you are driving me home. "do they collide?" I ask and you smile.