Back- to- back

It keeps coming. Enough to keep my on my toes 😛 from the Ironman training to the Ironman debut to the iron heartbreaks and now…to exams. huhuh.. Juggling between academic and sports can be very tricky… I’ve 2 weeks to go before I can finally declare myself on a real break ! This semester is just too long and I must confess that I have realized my soul was just ‘ not there’ in the academiae for this semester, well at least part of it.

Anyways, I’ve been reading these 2 books written by Prof. Malik Badri, and it has knocked my unconscious mind to wake up .. *knock!knock!* . I’ve been ‘sleeping’ for quite a while now.. too dreamy, always being swept away by this illusive life if I may call it. So jewelz,wakey wakey ! Yes, getting my grip back now, and reading the 2 books to some extent made me realize that my life should not be wasted.

Oh by the way, title for the 2 books  which i just mentioned :-

 

1. CONTEMPLATION : An Islamic Psychospiritual Study
2. The Dilemma of Mulism Psychologists

 

Prof. Malik Badri is my lecturer for Seminar for Undergraduate Studies. And these 2 books are our textbooks for the course.

 

From the back cover of the 1st book CONTEMPLATION : An Islamic Psychospiritual Study

“Deliving into true meaning and experience of Islamic spirituality, based on a person’s awareness and recognition of his existence and place in Creation. Malik Badri reveals the limitations and contradictions of the current prevailing schools of psychology that deny the existence of the soul and perceive humans as mere machines acting on external stimuli

Combining the rich traditional Islamic wisdom with contemporary knowledge, the author advances a unique approach to the understanding of the human psyche  and the self that gives a central position to the meditation and contemplation as forms of worship in Islam.

It is a book addressed to anyone who is interested in the Islamic approach towards the urgency felt by modern socities who are yearning for the rediscovery of the long -forgotten  and neglected aspects of their lives.”

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“Contemplation is a free form of worship which, short of contemplation of the Divine Being Himself, is not hindered by any limitation of space or time, or any obstacles , seen or unseen. In his endeavour to distinguish Islamic contemplation from other forms of meditation, Badri compares it to thinking and especially trascendental meditation which has achieved much following in the West in the recent years.However, he suggest that when Muslims contemplate the creation, the self and the laws of the Almighty therein, they excel over other contemplators because they have higher incentives and expectations from God.”

…This book is an example of how human sciences can support faith and spiritual values,and how, when a mind is guided by the Qur’an and the Sunnah, it will be graced by the light of faith and the light of revelation, as well as the guiding light of reason.”

SHAIKH YUSUF AL-QARDAWI

From the Introduction to the book

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From the back cover of the 2nd book : The Dilemma of the Muslim Psychologists

“But for lack of liturgy, psychology, with all its by-products and off-shoots,has assumed in the west status of religion,and for many people has replaced it.As in other areas of social sciences, some Muslim thinkers and scholars have developed an amazing skill of unthinking repetition and blind copying of Western, non -Islamic ideas and practises. 

” ‘In the Lizard’s Hole’ is a Prophetic epitaph that describes this activity very well. Some Muslim psychologists insist dogmatically on praying even into lizard’s holes that have been partly or totally abandoned by their western counter-parts.

But do Muslims really need modern pscyhology at all? Is modern psychology wholly Western? Is there a way on which is could be reconciled with Islam? These burning questions lie lurking behind the dilemma of Muslim psychologists.

…He (the author) argues that the techniques which have evolved from the philosophy, basically anti-religious, underlying some modern psychotherapeutic and psychiatric discplines have, in fact, acquired a certain meaasure of autonomous neutrality, and can be useful in the service of the cause Islam. Muslim psychologists can restore spiritual vigour to the ailing materialistic behaviourism of the West, and to Western psychology as a whole…

….Dr. Badri’s pioneering study is a warning to Muslim social scientists of the dangers of blind following of Western social theories and norms, and an effort to save Muslimsfrom being trapped in lizard’s holes that lie hidden in other areas of human life and thought. “

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I would strongly suggest any of you who are interested to get hold of the books, especially the 1st book (CONTEMPLATION) . You will, i guarantee, benefit from what you will read and discover. 😛 Price for each book is RM10. Anyone who is interested, can contact me by leaving a comment on this post. Thanks !

You can also purchase the book online . click here