Some of you might remember my (in)famous post, “The Reboot,” which officially marked the relaunch of this blog with a new design, and its self-proclaimed heretical direction. The conclusions I reached in that post are still very much a part of me, but they no longer really describe what I think or how I feel, which I guess is expected given how much I’ve grown since then.
I mean, damn, that thing was published nearly two years ago. Yeah, I know, it’s been two freaking years. Ah, how time flies, and how minds evolve.
“Transcend and include,” as philosopher Ken Wilber likes to say.
Here’s the interesting thing though. I don’t think I would have been able to notice that change if it weren’t for the archive of this blog, which I’ve contemplated completely deleting on a few occasions. Thing is, while it’s sometimes nice to look back, reflect, and think about the journey you’ve been on, at times, you’d rather not do that. You’d rather not be reminded of who you were. You’d rather avoid confronting your former self, but it’s a small price to pay for what you gain in return.
No matter what, look back or not, what you’ve done, and where you’ve been play a significant role in who you become. And even if going where you’ve gone before wasn’t a choice that you made, your reaction to what you’ve faced was.
If you get what I mean, good. If you don’t, then that’s fine. I’m not really trying to convey my thoughts clearly to a specific audience here. I’m just simply thinking aloud. I miss doing that. I miss writing this way. I miss the feeling that I had when I first began blogging in 2006, but even that is okay. Even that is a small price to pay in return for what I’ve gained in the last two years, and especially in 2010.
I used to view the world in black-and-white. Eventually, that got replaced with white-and-black, which I found to be lacking still. The key at at the end of the day I realize is nuance, and that comes with the ability to contextualize, which is what I’m doing a lot more of these days.
Better still, Drima is now also officially on his way to getting a Master’s in Islamic Philosophy, and has begun working on a thesis focused on the impact of new media on Islamic theology. 
Fun.
SudaneseThinker
SudaneseThinker
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
“Islamic Philosophy” sounds rather dubious to me. As would “Christian Philosophy” or “Hindu Philosophy”.
They all imply that important questions will not be discussed.
Hey Don, long time man. Hope the weather in UK isn’t as bad as I hear in the news these days.
Nothing dubious there really. It sure does deal a lot with Islam-centered theological issues, but a lot of it is just philosophy as commonly understood, although focused on the philosophical works of Muslim scholars, many of whom were humanistic in their approaches.
Ultimately, one of the primary reasons I’m diving into this, is because it will arm me with the necessary knowledge and also, more importantly, the credibility to discuss critical issues related to faith and reason with other Muslims.
Plus, this might be of interest to you:
Abu’l-Walid Ibn Rushd, better known as Averroes (1126-1198), stands out as a towering figure in the history of Arab-Islamic thought, as well as that of West-European philosophy and theology. In the Islamic world, he played a decisive role in the defense of Greek philosophy against the onslaughts of the Ash’arite theologians (Mutakallimun), led by al-Ghazali (d. 1111), and the rehabilitation of Aristotle.
A common theme throughout his writings is that there is no incompatibility between religion and philosophy when both are properly understood. His contributions to philosophy took many forms, ranging from his detailed commentaries on Aristotle, his defense of philosophy against the attacks of those who condemned it as contrary to Islam and his construction of a form of Aristotelianism which cleansed it, as far as was possible at the time, of Neoplatonic influences.
In the Western world, he was recognized, as early as the thirteenth century, as the Commentator of Aristotle, contributing thereby to the rediscovery of the Master, after centuries of near-total oblivion in Western Europe. That discovery was instrumental in launching Latin Scholasticism and, in due course, the European Renaissance of the fifteenth century. Notwithstanding, there has been very little attention to Averroes’ work in English, although greater interest has been shown in French, since the publication of Ernest Renan’s Averroes et l’averroisme in 1852.
So… still wanna insist that it’s dubious and no important questions will be discussed?
Drima, would you have some time left for discussing wikileaks concerning Sudan?
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