J Crew, Ralph Lauren, Brooks Brothers, Banana Republic, Gap, Charles Tyrwhitt (I like their Oxford cloth shirts), and metal merch at concerts.

Actually, can I ask you for some recommendations? I’m not an academic but spend much of my time studying Progressive Islam. Can you recommend some books on research and writing methodologies?

Ohh that’s good to know okay so when you read anthology you’ll find that each of the essays are written by Muslims who are religious studies academics. You can use that book as a guide to identify the leading western academic scholars working in this space. Def use that as a guide to finding deeper academic works in each of their subdisciplines.

Additional people you should look into Nasr Abu Zayd and Javad Hashmi— they specialize in historical-critical analysis of the Quran which has a major impact on Progressive Islam’ approach to text and authority.

I’ll try to put together a list— have been meaning to for a while anyways.

Thanks for elaborating.

As far as religious pluralism, I would recommend Farid Esack’s “Quran: Liberation and Pluralism” (I couldn’t paste in the Amazon link for some reason).

As far as progressive Islamic epistemologies and hermeneutics— the anthology “Progressive Muslims” edited by Omid Safi that I recommended above is one of the best intros in my opinion. You’ll also get this in Esack’s book.

There are books that are more specialized but I would start with those two.

Edit: Khalid Abou El Fadl has dedicated much of his academic life with dealing with tradition, religious authority, etc. However, I would recommend reading him after you’ve read the introductory items.

I always recommend “Radical Love” by Omid Safi to everyone. The introductory essays to each of the sections of poetry really do an amazing job of getting to the core of Islam— namely the centrality of Divine Love in our understanding of Islam.

You can then maybe read “Progressive Muslims” edited my Omid Safi. It’s a collection of essays by various Progressive Muslim scholars touching on various aspects of Progressive Islam. This one is a bit more academic and dry but really worth reading IMO.

There are actually countless books on the subject now. If you let me know some more about your background, can suggest other books such books on Muslim feminism, LGBT, etc.

Kk lmk if you do will chime in there

Yup! Mentioned the other day here how psychedelics helped me find my way back to Islam and God after being an agnostic in my 20s and early 30s. Would love to chat more about this. Let me dig up a sub on this.

Here’s an inactive sub on it: https://www.reddit.com/r/muslim_psychonaut/s/p5nKguFs7z

Did you want to move the convo there or have it in this thread?

What’s sad is that the situation of Indian Muslims continues to deteriorate yet that subreddit has some of the most exclusionary and anti-progressive sentiments. Like man— yall are about to get massacred— you need allies not excommunication. It makes me sad how stupid Muslims are.

Mashallah

I def think we have let the hidden sin of exercising go on for too long. Clearly exercising is both wrong by intention and action. You only exercise so that it may make it easier for you to fornicate. Akhi fear Allah and don’t exercise.

I’m Muslim again but was an agnostic for most of 20s and 30s. Generally, I don’t believe in possessions and what not but I’m just a horror fan overall. I love the characters in this show and the writing (especially for Kristen) is so witty sometimes. Plus being a Doctor Who fan, I’m here for the campy monsters of the week too.

I really like Ikhlas and Nas. Ikhlas really does summarize a Muslim’s creed so succinctly.

Queens!

I’d been meaning to post the other day about seeing anyone is interested in a NY Metro Area meetup.

I hope he sees this. I came here to post this and glad to see this as the top comment. He seems like such a nice dude.

I’m happy to chat but def make sure others also chime in. We have a diverse crowd here and you should def get a diversity of opinions before you decide to convert or not.

It’s interesting Tawheed Al Hakimiyyah still going around from the Salafi Jihadi circles.

Cannabis and shrooms are an important part of my life and spiritual practice. I try to take some inspiration from the haydaris and qalandaris on this.

I know you’re getting downvoted so don’t take this as me piling on but that ambiguity is a fundamental part of the show. They may or may not resolve it in the last episode but even if they don’t, I feel like it doesn’t take anything away from the show.

I will always run into Matt Dillon. It keeps happening.

Manifest and Evil (minus the supernatural items) actually do a great job on this.

https://youtu.be/SVEKsau0pRE?si=95Cla8noKvOOdPpi

Apparently Imam Abu Hanifa was okay with this but this is not the accepted opinion in the current Hanafi school. I need to look more into this myself.

Hindutva extremists specifically lose their minds about progressive Islam. It’s hilarious.

The Maliki method of prayer is most likely how the prophet and his companions prayed towards the end of his life. Im a Hanafi but have a lot of respect for the “Actions of the people of madina” as a principle of Sunni jurisprudence. It does a lot to cover what likely were the finalized versions of Muslim ritual practice at the end of Rasullillah’s life. Also Shias and Ibadis pray this way too which i find interesting.

Edit: this is a great example of how “following the Sunnah” goes beyond just written Hadith. Salafis can’t understand that.

I’m not from Toronto so I can’t give specific advice here. However, (1) really awesome of you for self reflecting and identifying that you are going down a difficult path and (2) I think dating apps aren’t the best judge of your worth and what you bring to the table. I had stretches of time where I was single and those times really gave me the freedom and time to identify the things and activities I cared about. I stopped using the apps and just put myself out there in various physical spaces like local concerts, commute organizing, reading groups etc. I didn’t do those things bc I wanted to meet someone. I did those things bc I just enjoyed them. In any case, over those years I had a lot of fun and ended up meeting my (now) wife very organically at a bar after an organizing event. This may not always be the case, but for me I ended up finding the right person when I stopped looking and just let myself figure out who I was and what I enjoyed about life. I’m sorry if this is coming off as geriatric millenialish (I’m in my late 30s).

If you want to chat always happy to chat!