A Book Review of ‘Infamies of the Soul and Their Treatments’

Matters of the body are relatively straightforward: if an organ or limb or tissue is afflicted, medical expertise is sought, and then one hopes for an effective treatment, perhaps in the form of a pill or medical procedure. Humans understand the consequences and pain of neglecting a physical ailment. We intuitively recognize the necessity of preserving physical health to better experience life (and worship Allah), pouring millions of dollars into understanding the mechanisms underlying diseases. The acute awareness of our fleeting mortality only fuels fastidious research. But in matters of the soul and their ailments, popular prescriptions seem to float in the realm of self-care books and gimmicks or models of mental health care that reject the role of spirituality altogether, unable to combat increasing spiritual deterioration. Continue reading A Book Review of ‘Infamies of the Soul and Their Treatments’

Ramadan: Beyond the Nafs, Towards the Lord

The reduction of Islamic practices to an incentive of material or individualist well-being is in effect a liberal remaking of Islam. In essence fasting cultivates a self that is conscious of the truth: that we do not have the right to food, water, and sex when Allah decrees such. The feeling of hunger and thirst, and the inability to do away with them despite having the means to, is meant to reinforce within our souls the recognition of Allah’s ultimate power. Continue reading Ramadan: Beyond the Nafs, Towards the Lord

Reflections on Dualism in Blade Runner 2049

Is it possible to know what it is like to want to be desired or loved, without a soul? This thought-provoking question is grappled with throughout the film Blade Runner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve, 2017). The protagonist Officer K (Ryan Gosling) is a Nexus-9 replicant who works for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and secretly yearns for real humanity, at least within his programmed limits. His love interest (Ana de Armas as Joi) is but a hologram, yet in her final moments, she attempts to utter the words “I love you.” Before she can finish, her virtual presence is wiped from existence, her data permanently destroyed. Continue reading Reflections on Dualism in Blade Runner 2049