The Formative Years — Adulthood
continued from page 15
riage of immeasurable mutual love.
Together, they would form a binary
star - two separate individuals about a
common point acting as one - unlike
any birthed by the universe. She of
forty-years-old would prove to be a
devoted wife and an embodiment of
purity, intelligence, and dedication to
her husband. She would bear witness
to the innermost perfection of her
husband as only a spouse could. He,
25-years-old, would reciprocate a
loyalty that would last well beyond
her passing.
The Friend - Sayyiduna Abu Bakr
One day, the Ka‘ba bore the brunt of
a white sun’s scorch and cast a shade
over an immensely important individual.
Possessing a deeply inquisitive
nature and extensive experience, you
would have thought he had heard all
that people usually speak of. However,
Spiritual Discourse
continued from page 19
he now sat surprised in thought with
the blacks of his eyes dilated. He had
just heard for the first time about a
foretold prophet to come.
Sayyiduna Abu Bakr was another
Makkan and universally respected for
his intelligent inquiries, noble traits,
and acumen in trade. He was an expert
in the genealogy of people and an
excellent judge of character. He distinguished
himself as one who vehemently
stood for the truth and inclined
towards purity in belief and thought.
So, long before Islam, he shunned
idol worship and kept his mind free of
intoxication. In traits, he was much like
a twin to the Prophet a.
How extraordinary?!
While the Prophets are kept on an
innate purity (al-fitrah) and divinely
protected from sin (al-`isma), Sayyiduna
Abu Bakr cultivated his nature
without divine protection to a degree
no other common man would. Hence,
it comes as no surprise that a soul of
such stature would befriend the most
noble of creation a. He became a
close companion to the Prophet a
and intimately witnessed his intrinsic
honesty, beautiful nature, and noble
character even before his prophethood.
This was a perfect companionship
of immeasurable mutual
benefit. The Prophet a would have a
friendship he could not alone repay,
and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr would be
elevated to a stature no common man
may claim.
Indeed, the Ka‘ba is worthy of all
envy. It looked over the two spouses
when they prayed together, shaded
the two companions when they
gathered, and beheld the gaze of the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace
and blessings be upon them all.
of his prescription. If the patient fails
a treatment, he prescribes something
else. Similarly, one must continue to
seek guidance from the shaykh by
reporting back to him whether the
treatment worked or not.
It is also important to note that the
treatment varies from person to person
and from one type of sickness to
another. Therefore, there is no onesize
fits-all prescription. One must
not treat himself by reading something
in a book and thinking he can
handle it himself without the need for
a shaykh.
Maulana Thanawi made it clear that
a shaykh is always necessary. Even
though we might have learned some
basic rules on spiritual diseases, we
must report to the Shaykh and inform
him of our progress. He would
then decide how long to continue a
treatment or to modify it if necessary.
May Allah enable us to follow this
precious advice. Ameen.
Moral High Ground
continued from page 22
be made and plenty of unanswered
questions to be asked. Unfortunately,
the remaining points will have to wait
until the next issue, inshallah.
In Conclusion
To sum the article up, we went over
the basics of how arguments work and
how they can be undermined. The pedophile
argument was scrutinized and
dismantled on the basis of the affirming
the consequent fallacy (assuming
the motivation of the marriage). The
conclusion’s lack of historical coherence
was exposed by making an infer-
ence to the best explanation, showing
the absolute lack of evidence for the
claim. And finally, in the child marriage
argument, the loose definition
of a child was highlighted and subsequently,
the anachronistic reasoning
(called presentism) was underscored
as another fallacy.
In part 2, we will dive a bit deeper into
the hypocrisy of those who espouse
the argument, look at their motivations
and their agenda. May Allah enable
us to engage with these topics in
the best way and be true representatives
of Islam, never wilting under the
pressure of society. Ameen.
1 Matthews, Gareth and Amy Mullin, “The
Philosophy of Childhood”, The Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2020 Edition),
Edward N. Zalta (ed.)
2 https://ourworldindata.org/childmortality
in-the-past
30 January – February 2022 | AL-MADINAH