 Dear Seeker,
Assalamu'alaykum, As you travel through the journey of life, you'll face many obstacles that get in the way between who you are and who you want to be. From your impulsive lower self to the relentless whispers of Shaytaan, to social pressures and expectations, to trials and calamities that knock us off balance and question everything in life. How do you navigate these obstacles and stay spiritually grounded whilst maintaining peak performance across your roles?
Dr. Abdallah Rothman joined Baraka Blue once again on his Path & Present podcast, this time to discuss the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on our mental health and wellbeing, and the challenges and opportunities that isolation affords. They discuss the notion of retreat in light of the month of Ramadan coinciding with many people's current status with stay at home orders, and how people can adapt to the situation, cope, and use this as an opportunity for growth.
 This Ramadan, Cambridge Muslim College is offering a free series of talks – online, live and every day – from renowned scholars around the world. Among the incredible line up of talks on the Qur’an, Prophetic tradition, arts, culture and astronomy, Dr. Abdallah will be doing a series of short talks on presence and self reflection- sharing insights, inspiration and practical tools for enhancing our spiritual experience of the month. Join live beginning the eve of April 23/early morning of the 24th at 2am BST/9pm EST/5am GST on CMC's youtube channel, or watch the recordings there after the fact. *you can check out the full schedule of other talks at cambridgemuslimcollege.ac.uk Dr. Abdallah Rothman was invited to join Yusuf Jha and Soul Inquiry for a livestream discussion and Q & A on managing our mental health in these uncertain times of the Coronavirus pandemic. In this context they discuss the Prophetic saying: How amazing is the affair of the Believer! Indeed his entire affair is good. And this is not the case with anyone except the believer; should prosperity come his way, he is grateful and that is good for him, and should adversity come his way, he patiently perseveres, and that is good for him." [Muslim] How do we bring these states of gratitude and patience to our hearts in times of trial and difficulty such as these? And what can we do to cope with the situation in a way that takes into consideration our mental health and wellbeing? These questions and more are explored and some practical tools are discussed. View the livestream recording below: The livestream had such a great response and request for more, that a follow up session was scheduled. Subscribe to the youtube channel to be notified on this and more content from Soul Inquiry.
 The human being is body, mind, heart, and spirit. Often times, the self-help industry ignores this truism which brings about hidden, often unintentional misguidance that can lead to spiritual crisis, or worse, distance from our connection with God.
In this thought-provoking article, Dr. Abdallah Rothman shares powerful points including:
 What is the Productive Muslim Retreat? A faith-based personal development retreat that helps you...
 “Everything has a polish and the polish of the heart is mindfulness of God (dhikrAllah)” — Prophet Muhammad ﷺ .
Dr. Abdallah Rothman joins Baraka Blue again on his podcast "Path and Present". Building off the last conversation about the understanding of the self and psychology from an Islamic perspective, this time the two discuss in more detail the model of the soul that was the product of Dr. Abdallah's research in Islamic psychology.
You can view a larger picture of the model that is discussed in this podcast here
Abdallah Rothman gives a talk at the Ottoman era Dar al Shifaa in the complex of Sultan Bayezid II Health Museum in Edirne, Turkey, discussing Islamic psychology in the context of the holistic approach to health and healing that was historically practiced in the Islamic tradition. From the 2018 IAIP summer intensive course on Islamic psychology and psychotherapy. 
It is clear that there is a growing trend of mindfulness extending beyond spiritual communities and into mainstream culture. How do we understand mindfulness from within the Islamic tradition? Is there a place for it in Islam? Is there an Islamic version of mindfulness?
Listen to the audio or read the text below:
At first when you hear this term "mindful" you think 'full of mind'. The last thing we need is to be more in our minds. We're already so locked into this thinking consciousness where we define ourselves by our thoughts. You could think "well, I don't want to be 'full of mind' I'm already stuck in my thoughts." But really mindfulness is about being conscious. It's about slowing down. It's a contemplative way of being. It's not really about being more connected to thoughts in the sense of identifying with the mind. It's not necessarily about thinking, but meta-thinking: thinking about thinking. It's slowing down and being conscious of what you think and what you do. The core of mindfulness is about being present. And this concept of being present is absolutely an Islamic principle. It's something that we find in the Islamic tradition and is a key factor in everything from ibadah (worship) to akhlaq (manners). Presence is indeed a very islamic principle.
However, this term mindfulness can tend to shift our awareness from the reality of the self, which is a much more holistic picture than what we have come to conceive of as ourselves in contemporary times. To a certain extent the entire modern world has been influenced by the Cartesian assertion, "I think therefore I am". It's taken root in society where people over identify with their thoughts. So that people's entire notion of self is about what and how they think and everything related to the self is based in the mind. And this in particular is really not an Islamic concept. |
AuthorAbdallah Rothman Categories
All
Archives
May 2020
|
RSS Feed