جلسات #مع_نفسي 12 ... ألا يكفي التفكير؟ لماذا العقل؟ وما قصة الأمية المركّبة؟

Dr Abdul Rahman: Hello! The Host: Hello Dr Abdul Rahman: Are you ready? The Host: Almost…In sha Allah Dr Abdul Rahman: Alright, a quick recap,

We were discussing: how we can transition from

Sensing to Thinking and that the essential skill

we need here is “Pausing” and how we could pause at things

we usually would not pause at, but when pausing we could

come to realise many things that could have a negative or positive

influence that we’re unaware of. So did you find anything? The Host: I was thinking that… I used to feel that there is

no blessing in my time it passes by very quickly

without any productivity, but when I paused... I found that a large chunk of my time is spent

on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc... So I decided to keep the phone

away for 6 hours each day! Dr Abdul Rahman: Lovely The Host: After that I realized

there is plenty of free time, and I didn’t know what to do with it That’s how “Pausing” helped me Dr Abdul Rahman: That’s a great example,

especially during Ramadan Which worship is unique to Ramadan? The Host: I’tikaf for example? Dr Abdul Rahman: No… no…

Ramadan is all about- The Host: Fasting. Dr Abdul Rahman: Fasting,

and fasting denotes? The Host: Abstention. Dr Abdul Rahman: Abstention,

which means? “Pausing” So Ramadan habituates you to pause

from things you’re used to doing.... Ramadan turns the table

on all your old habits, it alters many things such as sleep,

dinnertime, and social habits… At least that’s how it should happen, But Ramadan for some

of us turns into feasts, gatherings and what not.. But if we pause at this meaning, we’ll discover that Ramadan

is all about “pausing” and as you mentioned, this “pausing” will grant you blessings

in your time and thoughts Blessings in answering

“What’s going on?” For example: How many people will pause and question

what's written on their shirts? Question the brands they purchase, and whether these brands are

worthy of purchasing or not? What percentage of people would pause

when purchasing a laptop, for example, and question whether the Chinese factory overworked its empolyees

to the point of suicide? Does he even bother

thinking about all this? How many girls ensure that the brand

or boutique they buy their clothes from isn’t involved with the collapsed

factory in Sri Lanka? So that the lady in question

can buy it for 5$ or 7$... All of this requires a pause! During our travels, do we pause at the decision

of staying at a 5-star hotel? Doesn’t this require a pause? Shouldn’t I pause at my happiness

because they replace and clean my bedsheets everyday? Don’t these matters require a pause? Is what I’m doing right? Am I happy that they replace the soapbar

and my loofah everyday? All this and many more,

require a pause I intentionally present examples that

might seem separated from religion, whereas it is part and parcel of religion

but requires a pause The Host: I feel like these things

happen to us on a daily basis. Dr Abdul Rahman:

Unfortunately… Unfortunately... The Host: But Dr., in this case if we were

to pause at the things we spoke about, our brains will go haywire. Dr Abdul Rahman: Notice that

I brought up daily life examples, I didn’t say that I’ll pause

at the notion of satellites, and question what they are,

and what happens to the Ozone hole No… logically speaking I’m talking about

personal matters, alright? My daily habits,

which I think isn’t difficult But the difficulty is when you find

yourself swimming against the flow, Everyone is moving in one direction

while you move in the other The Host: Earlier we mentioned

that we go through 3 phases... Dr Abdul Rahman: Sensing, The Host: Sensing, Dr Abdul Rahman: Thinking, The Host: Thinking, Dr Abdul Rahman: Reasoning. The Host: Alright, we said “thinking”... Dr Abdul Rahman: We are currently

at the “Thinking” stage, alright? We should’ve already gone over “Sensing”

through inputs, the unknown, indifference, weak character, etc So that we could arrive at “Thinking”. But yesterday, what did we say

the issue with “Thinking” was? It tires the brain... The Host: Yes. Dr Abdul Rahman: Because when we

deconstruct inputs, their number increases… So people tell you:

“Man, my mind was at peace” Actually, no you weren’t at peace I always resemble these words

to a sentence someone would say: “Dr., why did you wake me up?

I was under the influence!!” How did you feel while you

were under the influence?! In slang, what do we call that? Feeling high. Yes, but in reality this high

will soon fall hard to the ground. and when he wakes up,

he will cry and feel tired… Just like a drunk person,

when he drinks he feels a little buzz But as soon as the effects wear off

He immediately feels pain and questions what he did to himself… and so he drinks again... Thinking is moving from {like livestock rather even more astray from the right way} [25:44] to a more elevated state of mind… But where does the

problem lie with thinking?! In addition to the headache,

when a person pauses to think….. A problem occurs related

to “Sources of knowledge” What will help me judge

what’s right and wrong? Instinct says something whereas

culture says something else… and manners say this, and science

says that, and religion says this… “You’ve placed me in a whirlpool!

No, no, you leave me the way I am!” This is what happens For example, a woman is

switching through TV channels and she comes across a debate

against and for the hijab “This gives me a headache.”

And so she switches to a music video What does she think of her actions? That she did a good

thing by relaxing her brain A month, two, three, four,

a year, two years later… this woman will come to consult

a sheikh, preacher, or psychologist about her concerns and unconvinced opinions

on religion and about her issues Well, Ma’am, if you were patient enough

and listened to the debate to hear the response of the person

who claims to be right you would’ve learnt something useful Similar to the Wise’s story,

so you become like Wise! but since you were impatient, you filled

your head with meaningless content. The Host: But Dr. Isn’t it right that those

who don’t have doubts shouldn’t-? Dr Abdul Rahman:Not doubts… Notice that I’m talking about

something that relates to her daily life I didn’t say that this

sister is required to go and study the principles

of arguments and creeds But you’re wearing the hijab Do you know whether the hijab

is an obligation or not? “Of course it’s an obligation” [she’d say]

Where did you get this information? “No, no.. Don’t open this can of worms ” You’re afraid to open

it from the beginning!! Alright?! What if it was opened by a movie,

a TV show, a friend or at university? She will come out a year later saying: “I want to remove the hijab!

I am not convinced” Why? In reality,

you aren’t (unconvinced)! You’ve become a victim to the majority...

Nothing more! So the issue of sources of knowledge

plays a major role and let me talk a little

about the topic of sources, I will try to summarise them

in less than a minute... When a person thinks,

the first thing to drive him is (instinct) For example: while driving,

someone tried to intimidate you with his car or tried to overtake you Instinct kicks in first: Should I

block him or let him pass? According to your instincts, either you’re reluctant

or you try blocking him. No, I overcome my instinct.

[Next is] Repetitive inputs: conventions “Everyone does this, so I’ll do the same” Overcoming conventions

leads you to (Ethics) Take note, ethics are different

from conventions! I mean there are conventions

that contradict ethics Can you give me an example

where conventions contradict ethics?! The Host: Conventions

that contradict ethics? Dr Abdul Rahman: Yes The Host: For example,

usually when I drive and I see someone standing

by the road at night (hitchhiking) It's ethical to stop

and give him a ride Dr Abdul Rahman:

That’s one example The Host: But it’s common to drive away,

in fear of taking a stranger with me Dr Abdul Rahman:

This is a good example There are other several conventions

that we practice in our daily lives, but have nothing to do with ethics Like what?

A lot of wedding conventions: Extravagance, squander and

an expensive dowry! These have nothing to do with ethics,

it’s all conventions! The convention of holding banquets

and extravagant hospitality to show off! The Host: Nothing to do with generosity! Dr Abdul Raahman: It’s not related to ethics,

it's not part of generosity. By the way, there are ethics

that are not related to conventions And I always use myself as an example

The ethics of clarity & transparency Conventionally it’s despised

They’d tell you: “Bro you are too blunt” He calls it bluntness

because he doesn't want it but ethics actually call to be clear When we’re done with conventions,

ethics come and tell you: To be masculine: What’s masculinity

according to your definition? Is it to cut him off,

showing off strength? Or is it allowing him to pass? Next: Empirical science. The trend these days is

to call yourself a vegan Why? "Empirical science says

that plants …etc” By the way, I don’t know

if you heard about this, but recently a popular

vegan activist with hundreds of twitter

followers was exposed. She was caught red-handed eating fish

and she came forward to apologize Because stats say car

accidents could happen and so on...” After we’re done with

all these references, we arrive at (religion) Alright, what does religion say? You will find that religion includes

all those sources of knowledge underneath it; empirical science,

ethics, conventions and instinct... There’s an important point here:

Thinking didn’t solve the problem! There are still a lot

of things to do for me! At this point we will transition

from thinking to what? The Host: To reasoning. The Host: Before that, what I understand or summarize

from what we discussed so far is that we as Muslims supposedly

rely on the religious source because it encompasses

everything we talked about Dr Abdul Rahman: Because it includes

everything we talked about The Host: Yes Dr Abdul Rahman: We will discuss

this further in the “Reasoning” phase, As we will discuss

reasoning and faith, and whether there is a

difference between them.. The Host: Since “thinking”

is this important and involves all of this, why do I need to

transition to “reasoning”? Let me remain in this phase

and be done with it! Nice, what did we say thinking does? First it gives you a headache,

so you’ll need to be at peace Second, deconstruction

will produce more inputs So what do I need to do? Categorize them, group them

and connect them The procedure I am talking about:

grouping & categorization has a linguistic (Arabic) term: A’ql (To grasp) and so I’m in need of this

after all the deconstruction Do you know what I consider

“thinking'' to be? I consider it a creative mess And I always resemble it

to unpacking your travel suitcase and spreading everything

on the bed: that is “Thinking” but after that you need “Reasoning” To place this thing

there and that one here so that you know the actual

contents of the suitcase We need to transition to Reasoning and to transition to Reasoning

you need a certain skill, that is? The Host: Thinking Dr Abdul Rahman: No,

we’re already thinking It's the same skill that we needed to move

from Sensing to Thinking: Pausing We need to pause so we can Think

and we need to pause so we can Reason So we can seize the day (There are two blessings which many people

waste: health and free time) [Sahih al Bukhari 6049] But this time why do I need to pause?

So I know what are my sources of knowledge Am I under the control of instincts?

personal desires? convention? traditions?

ethics? science? How do I know whether this

author is lying to me or not? Is that book good or not? How do I even know if Islam

is right or wrong? How do I know if there

is or isn't a God? All of this: you thought about them

but did you reach a conclusion?! You haven't! And this is a message to the youth The trend among the youngsters

these days is saying “I am a thinker”. And then what? "I think and that’s it”

But what's next?! The Host: The thinker trend Dr Abdul Rahman: Yes, the trend of being a thinker

who lets his hair loose with a cigarette over his ear

and a pipe in his mouth etc.. "I am a thinker”,

alright and what’s next? “Thinking is my specialization

and after that I’m worried ” Right, and after that? “That’s it I’m specialized in worry” Why won't you come to reasoning? Because what will happen if he reasons?

He will be expected to take action and he wants an easy going religion

that requires minimal effort! “But if I were to reason I will be

required to take action and so on I don’t want all of that” And we will dedicate tomorrow’

s session for this part: How to move from thinking to reasoning? What would happen if I didn’t transition

from thinking to reasoning? The Host: Alright, can I take your permission

to conclude today’s session with something? Dr Abdul Rahman: What is it? The Host: It’s a term you mentioned before that I want some clarification on:

Compound Illiteracy It’s related to the trend we mentioned "Dr., I am a thinker and I have a reading club and I read 5 novels

and 3-4 philosophy books, and read Nietzsche,

Heidegger, Hegel etc..” Excellent, do you have a study approach?

“What’s a study approach?” You don’t even have a study approach!

What are you reading then? This person has compound illiteracy! Just like the young man we

talked about yesterday, who says: “Can you imagine that the first thing

they teach Sharia students about is penalties (al-hadd)??” This is compound illiteracy! Simple Illiteracy:

Is when you can’t read or write whereas Compound Illiteracy

is that you can’t reason! So you find a young man

coming up to you saying “I don’t believe in God’s existence” If you ask him if he heard of

something called Epistemology The Theory of Knowledge

"What?! What is Theory of Knowledge?!” Then what are you talking about, son? How do you substantiate

what you are saying? This is it in short You find him saying “I advise you to read such-and-

such book by so-and-so author” Did you know that this author lies? That he references books that have

nothing to do with science?! "What?! It's a best-seller,

you will become educated once you read it! This specific novel-...” It’s just a trend!

This is Compound Illiteracy in short! But perhaps tomorrow

we’ll expand on how to transition from

thinking to reasoning And what happens if

this transition doesn’t occur What’s the problem? This is something we can

talk about tomorrow in sha Allah The Host: In sha Allah Dr Abdul Rahman:

Should I give you homework or not? The Host: Let’s leave it for tomorrow.

I’ll take two at once. Dr Abdul Rahman: Alright in sha Allah,

See you tomorrow in sha Allah The Host: Thanks Dr. Dr Abdul Rahman You’re welcome..

You’re welcome