Driven by curiosity’s sake.
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MQSP: Field Notes #4
The Shrouded One I mentioned that I learned that the Quran revelation from God stopped for a period of time after the first five verses of Surah Al-Alaq in my MSQP Field Notes (FN) #1. This actually was news to me. I was under the impression that once revelation began it was continuous, without fail.… Read more
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MQSP: Field Notes #2
The Pen, or Surah al Qalam, came down after the exhortation from God to “Read!” According to Asad. A casual observation of the title of this chapter and the contents from the first revelation would suggest a clear connection between Reading, Writing, and Knowledge. All three were from the deep ocean that is Divine Wisdom.… Read more
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Field Notes for the Millennial Quran Study Project
Field Notes are the posts that have my running notes on what I am gleaning, unfiltered to an extent, from the project. It serves as the first order of learning from this project for me. As such, I hope you view these particular blog posts as “Cliff’s Notes” to the project and can draw from them your own… Read more
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QYP -Field Notes #1
Surah Al Alaq – What’s in a name? Surah Al Alaq contains the earliest revelation to the Prophet Muhammad, therefore its the beginning point of my Millennial Quran Study Project (MQSP), formally the Quran Year Project (QYP). I realized, while I was in Pakistan, that there was no way I was going to read the… Read more
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Controlled Failure
I had an ambitious goal for 2015: To read a 105 books during the year. But I failed at it. I didn’t give up. I just realized that while it was an ambitious and “good” goal, it was worth allowing myself to fail, rather then make a mockery of the the intention behind setting the… Read more
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![30 Years an [North] American](https://affadshaikh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/077_77.jpg)
30 Years an [North] American
Its a bit disconcerting to be in Karachi celebrating 30 years of immigrating to the United States. Yes, you read that right. I was a little under three years old when my mom and I migrated to the United States. I was born in Karachi, Pakistan. Thirty years later, here I am celebrating my cousins… Read more
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Learning How To Say Allah In Chinese
When you ask people what language they speak in China, the majority of folks say its Chinese. In the US we seem to think that in categorizing nations the simple rule to follow is that everything is derived from its name. So in China the Chinese speak Chinese. People do that with me as well.… Read more
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Lets Meet In Quetzaltenango
“Where’d you go in Guatemala?” asked the lady behind me in the check out line at the local Superior grocery store. She had started the conversation just moments before, observing that the heat was unbearable because it was dry. “I just spent ten days in a humid heat,” I told her initially. “I was in… Read more
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What I Neglected to Do With the Quran
I have been really focused on the Quran Year Project (check out more on QYP here and here) over other forms of ‘religious extracurricular activities’. Its going strong and I am getting some positive feedback, advice, and encouragement. But in this hyper focus to ‘read and study the Quran’ I totally focused on the English.… Read more
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Tecun Uman – Every Guatemalan’s Hero
The irony of the town Tecun Uman is just beginning to settle in with me. We crossed the Guatemalan and Mexican border earlier today and I sit in the small town of Salvador Urbina in the Mexican state of Chiapas reflecting on some of the images I have been wrestling with from my time in… Read more