A sermon I gave about confronting prejudice and intolerance within ourselves, as well as making an active effort to improve both our society and ourselves.
Viewing entries in
General
In the wake of the Paris attacks, there was the expected backlash against many Muslims in "Western" countries who were being blamed for and associated with something they didn't condone and were arguably no more or less culpable than their fellow non-Muslim citizens. However, what was unexpected (for me, at least), was how many non-Muslims (as far as I'm aware) in my social circles took an active stance in refuting the claim that "all Muslims are to blame" (and similar sentiments) made by others, out of their own (presumably) internal belief and motivation. And this gave me some Hope.
A brief history of my 'personality' changes to date, loosely likened to software updates.
When your mother gives you things she's looked after for you since you were a child, but not because you're old enough to look after them yourself from now on, but because she feels she won't be able to look after them much longer...
I was recently blessed/privileged enough to be able to go to Hawaii as part of my work (collecting observational data at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, located near the summit of Mauna Kea). Of all the amazing experiences I had, though, there was one thing in particular that stood out to me, and that was what my travel-buddy did, for which I am very grateful :)
Hello, Hope you're well :)
I've set up this site as a sort of place for me to share my thoughts, feelings, and generally express myself in particular forms. Almost a "pensieve" of sorts (for those familiar with the Harry Potter series). I have no idea if this'll work out, as I always seem to have numerous ideas floating around inside my head that I try to manifest in some form or another, yet often fail to do so in the exact manner that I wish (perhaps this is something everybody fails to do, but has managed to accept approximations...). Incidentally, this is my umpteenth attempt at a blog/website, but here's hoping I've finally settled on something.
A relatively brief introduction to myself: my name is Ridwan, I find everything interesting to varying degrees (it's all relative, after all, in my opinion...), and ultimately would like to learn everything one can possibly learn. I'm currently a PhD student in the field of Cosmology and Astronomy (my project itself seems to straddle the boundary between both), a field that fascinates me to possibly no end (hence the title of this site) and which hypothetically encapsulates all that we can know about the physical universe (in my opinion, of course), but I also like to 'philosophise' at the same time, too ("All we are, is dust in the wind...Dust...*phwoo*...Wind."), in order to seek answers to all the things we can't measure with Science. In a way, I'd describe myself as a "Pursuer of Truth" or "Pursuer of Knowledge" - terms I've come across since quite a young age. That said, there are several (probably many) other ways in which I'd describe myself, the foremost 'label' being somebody who follows the school of thought known as "Islaam" i.e. a Muslim (though I imagine I will elaborate on this and share my definition of it in due course, insha Allah ["God-Willing"]).
Anywho, I hope that anything that I do post/share in future is of interest and benefit to you! Lastly, thank you for taking the time and interest to read/view/hear/observe my expressions at all; I genuinely and sincerely do appreciate it (even if I don't know you, as odd as that may seem for some)!
Take care :)