السلام عليكم ورحمة الله
Super important thread, jzk Farid
Other than the Quran, a book i've really been interested in is a book on the writings of Ben Franklin, who lived in the 1700s ce.
It's about 1,500 pages and is filled with the various writing of Ben Franklin on life, science, religion, math, etc and is a wonderful look into the mind and world of one of the great polymaths in history (afterall, by Allah(swt)'s grace, then by Franklin's discovery, almost all tall buildings today have lightening rods to reduce the amount of people killed by lightening subhanAllah) and of American society at the time.
Because he grew up at the time where the Protestant Puritans still had an influence (who were basically like Christian Wahhabis), he was massively influenced by the "Protestant Work Ethic" (where laziness or idleness was massively looked down upon) and the Puritan concept of "Virtue" (doing good to benefit society) was very important.
So to help achieve this end, he would wake up in the morning and think about what good he would do during the day and before he slept, he would review his day to see what good he had done. This is an example of his daily schedule:
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And as a way of doing Jihad al-Nafs, he came up with this chart, where on the left side are various virtues (temperance, frugality, industry, etc) and on top are the days of the week; so if he violated one of those virtues, he would put a black dot next to that virtue on that day. So if he overate and was gluttonous on Wednesday, he would put a black dot intersecting "T" (temperance) and "W" (Wednesday):
Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
(Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
Industry. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
Moderation. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
Tranquillity. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.)
And on a side note, it's interesting how he compares the mercy of the Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) to prisoners of war to the savagery of some of the "Christian" American settlers when they slaughtered Native Americans mercilessly:
As for the Turks, it is recorded in the Life of Mahomet, the founder of their religion, that Khaled, one of his captains, having divided a number of prisoners between himself and those that were with him, he commanded the hands of his own prisoners to be tied behind them, and then, in a most cruel and brutal manner, put them to the sword; but he could not prevail on his men to massacre their captives, because in fight they had laid down their arms, submitted, and demanded protection. Mahomet, when the account was brought to him, applauded the men for their humanity; but said to Khaled, with great indignation: “O Khaled, thou butcher, cease to molest me with thy wickedness. If thou possessedst a heap of gold as large as Mount Obod, and shouldst expend it all in God’s cause, thy merit would not efface the guilt incurred by the murder of the meanest of those poor captives.”
And then he gives several examples of the mercy of the Muslims:
http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/franklin-the-works-of-benjamin-franklin-vol-iv-letters-and-misc-writings-1763-1768And on a side note, it's interesting how not only the Quran had managed to end up in English by the 1700s, but also some hadiths of the Prophet(pbuh) to the point that Ben Franklin actually quoted a hadith as a proof.
اللهم صل على محمد رحمة للعالمين وآل محمد
But yea really awesome book that contains his autobiography, many many wise sayings (see some here:
http://www.rightattitudes.com/2011/01/17/inspirational-quotations-359/), and a fantastic look into the mind one of the great polymaths, as well as into early American society and history.
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March 22, 2015, 12:58:44 PM