Essays

Excerpted from his long book, Embracing Islam, Some Reflections of the beginnings of my Path to Allah and by Allah is a very interesting essay on the early experiences and influences that brought Sḫaykḫ Nooruddeen to the Path and to the Way.

Four essays on Peace written in Alexandria, Egypt in the year 1991

The papers were written in the period between the Gulf War and the collapse of the USSR and were presented at four different inter-faith conferences held in Asia, Europe and North America that were convened by the International Religious Federation for World Peace in 1991-1992 CE. At these conferences various learned practitioners and committed representatives from the different religious traditions of the world spoke on various subjects having to do with peace in the light of their own tradition and understanding. The general purpose of the meetings was to share with and clarify for one another our various insights and understandings as to how peace, individual and collective, might possible be reached, given that so many conflicts in the world are seemingly generated by religious differences.

The reprint of the essay called A Few Brief Reflections of a Muslim Living in Early 21st Century Post-Modern America from the Autumn 2008 issue of Dialogue & Alliance, which asked Sḫaykḫ Noorudden to write an article "taking up the matter of Muslim life in Western and so-called 'Christian' countries and societies." This request resulted in some pertinent reflections on the personal and communal experience of living as a Muslim in post 9/11 America.

A reprint from 1987 spring issue of Muslim Education Quarterly which was also presented at the seminar Promoting Understanding and Unity in the Islamic World in Istanbul (1986).

The article explains the Sḫaykḫ's position with regards to the effects of technology on tradition; to quote from the book: "...contemporary technology is inimical and fundamentally antithetical to the traditional mode on almost every level including the practical, religious, philosophical, metaphysical and spiritual. This antipathy is the expression of the fundamental conflict for dominance between man, created of mud, water and spirit, and machine, created of mineral, fire and mind."

A plea for tolerance and understanding and even celebration of difference with many examples of the behavior of the Prophet ﷺ, as opposed to intolerance that leads to hate and injustice. Two haditḫes summarize the premise of the essay: "Differences of opinion in my community are a blessing"; "He who calls his brother a kāfir is himself a kāfir".

From the text: " ... The surest basis on which dialogue between Muslim and Jew can best proceed is on our common belief in the same God; One without an other, totally indivisible." Common ancestry and many common beliefs are described in this essay.

A penetrating essay on the differences and similarities in the two, finding both, but with one deep difference that can never be resolved, concluding with the advice of Allāh to share with one another in good works and He will sort it out in the end.