The practice of activsim alone is less common in MAS. I see it more w/other Muslim groups and nonMuslim organizations that are formulaic in their approach to work (signature projects).

If I had to make an SAT question out of this, I’d say Intellects:Verbalism what Do’ers:Activism.

The reason your blog post was impactful for me is b/c I am sick and tired of dealing w/the religious establishment when it is domoniated by verbalists. They take way too long to make any impactful and positive changes. On the flip side, I am sick of dealing with young activists who don’t want to think or reflect on the work they are doing. We are so affected by “what appears” and what people will say that we forget the deeply rooted reasons on why we are trying to do anything in the first place.

Aristotle in his Nichomenian ethics puts knowledge of the supreme Good, (cognitively derived) or truth as a good enough reason to call for action. The western narrative, according to Hentsch(2004) a canadian political scientist, in the last three millenniums has been of a gradual march to modernity, supplanting the ultimate truth (God) with its own reincarnated truth (secularism, hedonism, myths of salvation). Postmodernism although provides a lot of resolutions to deconstruct modernity, none of it actually goes beyond it. Using the tropes of other ways of knowing, the postmodernist hopes to break the way knowledge has been produced and dissipated as a tool of oppression. The discursive practices of the teacher, Freire believed, are embedded within the cultural codes of oppression, traits of our historical relationship with each other, where the text is just one pattern of communication that aims to vanquish repeatation. Nothing can thus be said twice without altering the original meaning somewhat. Since there are no theories of language possible that accurately tells us exactly how we store, process, understand and translate meaning; there cannot be any useful praxis of unoppressive education.

Just a quick observation – the second-to-last cited verse ( 2:30 ) in the article does not match the translation provided – probably just a typo to be sure. you can delete this comment anytime.

So in conclusion; Our prayers may please Allah(swt) but they our not needed for Him.
Then Allah does not answer the question about human destructive capabilities; instead answers by saying the angels do not know what Allah(swt). Angels know that; that why they asked him. Allah(swt) for whatever reason did not want to answer this question head on. Then Allah(swt) takes huge oath in the Quran that we were not created for naught. So there is another purpose which we will find on the other side; innshallah in jannah. May Allah bless us and take mercy on us.

“The given purpose is to worship Allah but Allah alludes to something else also but I have not found any clear signs of it.”

Can you please reference the “something else” Allah alludes to?

Salam,
Very interesting question.
I am not sure how accurate this would be but I read in Ibn Katheer that one of the tafaseer ties this whole story to the creation of the jinn. Iblis to the Jinn was like Adam to humans but Iblis in his arrogance transgressed and deviated. The majority of the jinn became those that the angels describe (kill people, transgress….etc) so the question was for the clarification of this creation that seems to be capable of doing these things just like the jinn did. Allah swt here answers them by saying I know what you don’t know meaning that from this creation there will be prophets and momineen that worship Allah truly and will earn his paradise.
Walllahu Alam, Allah knows best.