In the Name of God, Full of Grace, Full of Mercy. May Peace be unto you and welcome to this blog.
My physical origin or land of birth is America, my ethnic origin is from the Punjab region of the Subcontinent associated with Pakistan; my religious origin is Islam; my spiritual Origin is 'with God in Pre-Eternity'. I am a son to loving parents; a sibling to loving brothers; a husband to a beautiful wife; and a father to an equally beautiful child--with hopes for more children. By vocation I am a Physician in Private Practice. My interests include Traditional spirituality and Traditional thought in general, and Islamic spirituality and thought in particular; comparative religion and perennial philosophy; traditional and alternative medicines which serve to compliment my Modern Medical practice.
Upon the request of several friends, I have decided to start sharing some general reflections upon the more universal dimensions of the Islamic Tradition and as they specifically pertain to my existential context as a Western Muslim. I shall focus more on the spiritual and intellectual aspects of Islam without altogether ignoring the equally important role of the Sacred Law which defines and circumscribes all spiritual practice proper to Islam. As a spiritual seeker whose ethnic and cultural heritage hails from the East yet whose existential predicament is uniquely Western and Muslim, I often feel that I am "in" the worlds of both East and West, but not "of" these worlds. Such experiences have given me--and like minded persons--unique insights into things Sacred, both of the East and of the West. As such, this blog shall be dedicated to the inquiry of those aspects of Traditional, Revealed and Inspired Wisdom which, to use a Quranic metaphor, are "Neither of the East nor of the West".
My intention throughout this blog shall be not to deny or reject the essential, formal and creedal elements of the Islamic Tradition, but to broaden one's awareness of these very same elements of Islam. In this light, I shall focus on expressions of a Wisdom rooted in the Sacred which by definition is timeless, whose appeal is universal, and whose scope is 'confined' by 'neither East nor West' yet 'defined' by my personal experiences in both East and West. I pray this endeavor to blog certain thoughts, discussions and experiences over a few years of searching for wisdom in Islam and other Revealed Traditions through mutually enriching intra-faith and inter-faith contact and dialogue may be of benefit to various seekers of Truth. In particular I pray that this blog may serve as a bridge for those Muslims who seek a similar bridging of the gap between their Western and Muslim identities in order to live in peace with themselves and in harmony with others in the Name of God. I also pray that this blog may be of benefit to those seekers across religious frontiers and global hemispheres who seek a similar bridging between a sense of "Self" and "Other" without blurring formal distinctions, all in order to bring deeper meaning into their lives. Amen.
~Hasan
My physical origin or land of birth is America, my ethnic origin is from the Punjab region of the Subcontinent associated with Pakistan; my religious origin is Islam; my spiritual Origin is 'with God in Pre-Eternity'. I am a son to loving parents; a sibling to loving brothers; a husband to a beautiful wife; and a father to an equally beautiful child--with hopes for more children. By vocation I am a Physician in Private Practice. My interests include Traditional spirituality and Traditional thought in general, and Islamic spirituality and thought in particular; comparative religion and perennial philosophy; traditional and alternative medicines which serve to compliment my Modern Medical practice.
Upon the request of several friends, I have decided to start sharing some general reflections upon the more universal dimensions of the Islamic Tradition and as they specifically pertain to my existential context as a Western Muslim. I shall focus more on the spiritual and intellectual aspects of Islam without altogether ignoring the equally important role of the Sacred Law which defines and circumscribes all spiritual practice proper to Islam. As a spiritual seeker whose ethnic and cultural heritage hails from the East yet whose existential predicament is uniquely Western and Muslim, I often feel that I am "in" the worlds of both East and West, but not "of" these worlds. Such experiences have given me--and like minded persons--unique insights into things Sacred, both of the East and of the West. As such, this blog shall be dedicated to the inquiry of those aspects of Traditional, Revealed and Inspired Wisdom which, to use a Quranic metaphor, are "Neither of the East nor of the West".
My intention throughout this blog shall be not to deny or reject the essential, formal and creedal elements of the Islamic Tradition, but to broaden one's awareness of these very same elements of Islam. In this light, I shall focus on expressions of a Wisdom rooted in the Sacred which by definition is timeless, whose appeal is universal, and whose scope is 'confined' by 'neither East nor West' yet 'defined' by my personal experiences in both East and West. I pray this endeavor to blog certain thoughts, discussions and experiences over a few years of searching for wisdom in Islam and other Revealed Traditions through mutually enriching intra-faith and inter-faith contact and dialogue may be of benefit to various seekers of Truth. In particular I pray that this blog may serve as a bridge for those Muslims who seek a similar bridging of the gap between their Western and Muslim identities in order to live in peace with themselves and in harmony with others in the Name of God. I also pray that this blog may be of benefit to those seekers across religious frontiers and global hemispheres who seek a similar bridging between a sense of "Self" and "Other" without blurring formal distinctions, all in order to bring deeper meaning into their lives. Amen.
~Hasan
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