The New Nomos

Feminism - Sexuality and Spirituality

Dr Humaira Shahid is a journalist, human rights activist and former Member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, Pakistan.
She is passionate about the economic empowerment of women and hosts an online course called 'Woman and Power' that strives to reclaim natural born freedom and autonomy for modern women. Part of that course is the link between sexuality and spirituality. 
In this conversation the above themes are discussed alongside the idea of feminism and being a Muslim woman in the 21st Century. 
Devotion and Defiance: My Journey in Love, Faith and Politics - by Dr Humaira Shahid
Woman and Power - Online Course
The Collaborative Couple - by Shaykh Dr Abdalqadir as-Sufi
Daughters of the Sun - by Ira Mukhoty
 
Music by Ian Cattanach

Border Crossings - A Journey Within a Journey

A fun, spontaneous and insightful conversation with Mohammad Chowdhury around his book Border Crossings and beyond. 
From growing up as a Western born Bangladeshi Muslim in 1970s London to over 100 flights a year working for some of the worlds largest firms, Mohammad has a vast archive of anecdotes around his adventures and experiences alongside fascinating insights as one of the world's leading emerging markets technology experts.
Buy Border Crossings by Mohammad Chowdhury here

Reviving Islam - Muamalat, the Madinan Model and Afghanistan

Two thirds of Imam Malik's Muwatta covers matters of muamalat, it is therefore critical to the Deen of Islam. Why then has it lost its importance in our time?
This question is put to Shaykh Umar Vadillo, the expert on applying the commercial parameters defined in the Muwatta to modern financial practice. The conversation leads from the reality of the term 'Islamisation' to where we should be setting our sights as Muslims in the 21st Century to revive muamalat and by doing so revive Islam.
 
Music by Ian Cattanach
 

Sultan Abdulhamid II - A Case Study

To understand our present, we have to know our past. As Muslims living in the 21st Century it is imperative that we know about the life of Sultan Abdulhamid II.
So this episode is for you;
So you know that Sultan Abdulhamid II lived. And knowing that he lived, you know what he did. And you know what we got from him as an Ummah. And you know what we lost as an Ummah by the actions of those that plotted and acted against him.
This case study is with Dr Ali Azzali, the Vice-Chancellor of the Dallas College in Cape Town. 

The Afghanistan Question - The Beginning of an Era

What can we learn from the events that have transpired over the last month in Afghanistan?
In this episode, Abdallah discusses this theme with Jawwad Mughal who cuts through his geopolitical and historical insights with experiences and conversations from an adventurous life. 
Links to the 2007 articles by Shaykh Abdalqadir as-Sufi:
Afghanistan - The Next Phase
The Pakistani High Command - The Last Chance

Original Islam - Imam Malik, the Muwatta and Madinan Amal

The reality of Islam is in its being put into action and no example is closer to the source than the practise of the first generations in Madinah as highlighted by Prof Yasin Dutton in his book The Origins of Islamic Law.
This conversation covers the importance of Madinan Amal in the context of Imam Malik and his Muwatta and how we can draw learnings from this example for our present time.
The Origins of Islamic Law by Yasin Dutton

The Zulu - Nation, Monarchy and Fitra

An exploration into the historical, political and spiritual context of the Zulu Nation and the Zulu Monarchy in the wake of the rioting and looting that took place in Kwa-Zulu Natal in July 2021 and the importance of the alliance between the Zulu and the Muslims for the future of the province.  
With Ihsan Mathe, a Lecturer in History at Dallas College in Cape Town. 

A Show of Courage - Hemingway, the Bullfight and Formula 1

A conversation with Dr Abdalbasir Ojembarrena exploring the bullfight, literature, art, sport, courage and so much more...
Dedicated to El Fandi and Roca Rey who showed me how to face up to the beast with style, finesse and absolute beauty.
 
Music by Ian Cattanach 

The Hero‘s Journey - A Screenwriter‘s Perspective

Malik Matias Basso is a seasoned screenwriter, cinematographer and director. 
In this episode Abdallah delves into Malik's knowledge of the concept of The Hero's Journey in storytelling and screenwriting as laid out by Joseph Campbell and beyond.
Films and Series Mentioned in the Episode:
My Octopus Teacher (2020, Ehrlich and Reed)
Black Mirror (2011, TV Serial)
Groundhog Day (1993, Ramis)
Malik's Two Recommendations:
Stalker (1979, Tarkovsky)
Avatar (2009, Cameron)
Malik's Further Recommendations:
Heaven (2002, Tykwer)
Abre los Ojos (1997, Amenabar)
Tierra (1996, Medem)
Michael Clayton (2007, Gilroy)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, Gondry)
Martin (hache) (1997, Aristarain)
Another Earth (2011, Cahill)
Mimosas (2016, Laxe)
They Live (1988, Carpenter)
Malik's Work:
DINAR MOVEMENT
INSIDE IS
A TRAVELLER’S GUIDE TO MUSLIM GRANADA
MOSAIC nominated for the Human Rights Award at the Al Jazeera International Film Festival
NORA (premieres September 2021)
 
Timecode Guide:
3:46 The beginnings making documentaries and how documentary is telling stories with found characters
The word documentary is quite deceiving - because you are telling a story.
5:18 My Octopus Teacher
9:10 Joseph Campbell and the 12 common stages of the Hero’s Journey in storytelling around the world and their psychological roots.
9:38 The basic structure of the classical Greek Tragedy
9:53 “If there is no heroism, there is no story”
10:02 Making relatable characters and the example of the bourgeois hero in Breaking Bad
12:20 What does it mean to be heroic?
12:02 A hero is someone who will sacrifice himself, his wellbeing, he will leave his comfort zone and bring healing to those around him.    
14:49 The hero as an example to others
15:13 Fulfilling your potential
16:05 “The best thing you can do for others is to fulfil your own potential”
17:45 Storytelling as warning signs and Greek Tragedy showing what happens beyond the limits of human behaviour and the therapy of it.
20:54 Black Mirror as a case
21:56 The deeper into hell the hero goes the more heroic he will be
22:00 Why storytellers want to put the hero through the worst possible things
23:59 Fiction vs Documentary in storytelling 
26:10 How Sci-fi may be a more effective form a storytelling 
26:46 Ertugrul as a case
28:38 The deeper the effect of the storytelling on you the less you will know of it
32:19 The hero is a hero from the moment he crosses the threshold
33:45 Should stories have a happy ending?
34:35 In human nature there is hope
35:55 Hollywood - its strong points and weaknesses
37:50 You can make documentaries and speak truth to power or you can tell fictional stories to inspire people and show them that something else is possible
39:40 The movie is the editor’s
40:10 How a story can take on a life of its own
43:10 Film as a means of manipulation and propaganda
46:15 Stalker by Tarkovsky
47:10 Avatar by James Cameron
 
Music by Ian Cattanach

Brave New World - Education vs Conditioning

What is education?
Join Abdallah as he discusses the theme of 'education vs conditioning' with Yusuf Perez and Jalid Vadillo drawing on Aldous Huxley's book Brave New World and its recent TV Series adaptation.
Brave New World - by Aldous Huxley
The Art of Loving - by Erich Fromm 
 
Timecode Guide:
1.57 What is the definition of education?
2.47 The Greek concept of Arete
4.09 “Know thyself” - Plato 
Knowing who you are is the most fundamental part of an education
Mastery of a skill will lead you to knowing yourself
5:11 The various Zen practises
6:02 Knowing yourself implies knowing where you stand in the world and seeking the knowledge that is going to help you in your weaker areas
7:33 You can’t live completely in an inner realm. Junger says that’s the de facto position of a defeated person
8:03 Education is the cultivation and refinement of your inward and outward and making them one 
8:18 Achilles’ teacher Chiron - the Centaur - and what that symbolises
8:56 Is ‘Obligatory education’ actually education?
9:31 The TV series Brave New World based on the novel by Aldous Huxley
10:47 The conditioning of children in Brave New World and the logical outcome of modern education being taken to its furthest extreme
11:24 Feeding the children ‘soma’
12:09 The drilling in of ideas through repetitive listening to certain maxims and how that is present in modern media
13:30 Neuroplasticity
15:03 The modern myth is that man is trying to get as close as possible to the perfect rational man
16:07 “To be rational all you really do is end up layering over all of your animal urges with your own fantasy or justifications on how you live
Man is a rope between animal and the Overman - Nietszche
17:21 The rational being doesn't exist
17:43 a contemporary example of the indoctrination of children
21:00 The abolition of the family
21:40 They want your loyalty to be to the State before anything else. The system is designed in a way that you go to cogs in the system before your personal relations. 
22:37 Safety as the most important function of the state - but you can't guarantee safety
The state as the protector where the state doesn’t guarentee anything. 
24:47 The abolition of monogamy - romantic love as the pinacle of human emotional experience
25:38 The book: The Art of Loving
26:12 The power of two people together that are loyal to each other
26:30 The highest form of love is love of everything
27:02 Marriage as a social contract
27:56 The process of growing up in the Brave New World example
28:43 Other examples of contemporary conditioning
29:43 The importance of physical training with regards to education
30:34 Rugby examples 
31:08 Surfing examples
33:56 If you don’t put yourself in that situation of danger and uncertainty you don’t get the reward that is delightful
34:43 Polo examples
37:45 How the above examples aren’t really provided to the majority in the modern setting
38:39 Avoidance of facing up to your self
39:00 You have to switch off the light inside you to live in this society
We are capable of so much more than we think we are - perseverance
41:40 Creating human beings that rather than functioning can do a function, but is not fulfilled
42:22 All it takes is one person to be authentic for the whole facade to come crumbling down
42:46 Soma and its contemporary examples 
44:05 Distraction as another form of Soma
45:00 Stop taking your Soma and sit with your pain and try to master your emotions
45:40 To look inside yourself and know that who you could be is worth the work
 
Music by Ian Cattanach

Muhammad Wolfgang von Goethe - Polymath and Visionary

An introduction to the life and works of Goethe, the greatest German literary figure of the modern era.
With Hajj Abubakr Rieger

The Sufi Resistance in the Maghreb - On How Accepting Defeat Can be the Most Heroic Act

Warrior Shaykhs, martial tariqas and various Sultans all play a role in the resistance against the French colonial invaders in the Maghreb.
Join this conversation with Abdelkadir Harkassi, a Masters Student in Historical Research at SOAS, around the Sufi resistance of the French invasion in the Maghreb and learn how sometimes the most heroic act is to accept defeat. 
This is a crucial narrative and one from which many parallels can be drawn to our current time. 
 
Timecode Guide
2:25 (-10) The french invasion into North Africa through the military invasion of Algeria without any diplomacy
3:12 The geopolitical importance of Morocco
3:50 The severe economic repercussions of defeat to the French and Spanish
4:40 Morocco is bankrupt and had to ask the European powers for loans with all their resources being shipped away
5:00 The conflict between the young Sultan Moulay Abdelaziz and his brother Moulay Abdelhafidh supported by Shaykh Al Kitani and Madani El Glaoui
06:20 What was the French interest in North Africa?
06:25 The French interests, ideology, the French revolution and modernity.
07:08 The wealth of North Africa and the appropriation of land, raw materials, goods and trade routes
08:06 The Hafidhiyya Movement
08:44 The abolition of Zakat and the reaction from the Ulema
09:32 Drawing parallels between the case in the Maghreb and the Tanzimat era of the Ottoman Empire
11:27 Some examples of the Awqaf in the Ottoman empire
13:16 The Awqaf in North Africa and French attempts to purchase the land and then trying to dismantle the various Waqfs through changing the legal definitions
15:30 There wasn’t a welfare system. The people themselves had created a basic foundation for all of society to stand on
16:12 The first university in the world the Qarawiyyin of Fez was an endowment
17:08 Moulay AbdelHafidh defeats his brother and takes the throne
17:36 The conditional bayat of the Ulema to the new Sultan. The Sultan had to uphold a number of conditions including no negotiations with the French, but also the establishment of a Parliament which Moulay AbdelHafidh rejected.
19:13 The importance to the Sultan of the backing of the nobles, the ulema and the Sufi Shaykhs. He did not rule alone. 
19:47 Moulay AbdelHafidh inherits a throne without access to the treasury
20:44 The sincerity of Moulay AbdelHafidh in trying his best to maneuver against the French with what he had available 
21:28 The betrayal of Al Kitani and his execution
22:45 The Sufi military struggle
23:48 Sultan AbdelHafidh’s letter to the Sufi Jihadi 
25:00 The modern idea of Sufism 
25:31 The very different reality of Sufism - always engaged in the politics of their time or on the battlefield or mediating etc.
26:39 The Sufi military tariqahs and the history of their fight against innovation and foreign invasions
27:49 The military tariqahs of the Maghreb and specifically the Chaouia region
30:50 The military resistance of the Sufis against the French and 1907 Bombardment of Casablanca as justification for a military invasion
33:12 The military expansion of the French in Morocco
33:40 1911 Tribal revolt against the Sultan as an excuse for the French to move their armies into the heart of the country and the Protectorate Treaty in 1912
35:20 The meetings of the Ulema and the Sufis that led to the decision of some fighting the French and the others protecting the Deen
37:53 The new situation in Morocco with the French after the defeat of the Sufis in the last Jihad in the Maghreb and how the Sufis stopped fighting and decided to protect the Deen in order to save more bloodshed. 
39:15 The difficult thing was to accept that you were defeated and that you couldn’t fight. And then you turn to Allah
39:37 The use of the Nasiri Du’a, the Wird al-Latif and the recitation of The Shifa of Qadi Iyad for the preservation of the Deen
41:42 The nationalist movement that began in 1936 based on French ideology via the salafi movement in Egypt
42:43 Muhammad V becoming the image of the nationalist movement and his exile from Morocco to Madagascar
43:21 Muhammad V’s meeting with Shaykh Muhammad ibn al Habib and the advise the Sultan received
44:57 Moroccan independence from France and the Monarchy fully reestablished
45:19 Muhammad VI and his father Hassan II bringing the Sufis back to the forefront of society
50:50 Morocco today under the rule of King Muhammad VI
53:27 Modernity is a fight against the past so that we can progress into a "better" existence
54:12 The King's protection of the library of Shaykh Muhammad ibn al Habib
55:09 A Dua for King Muhammad VI of Morocco
 
Music by Ian Cattanach 

The Heroic Self - Unlearning and Transcending Logic

How do we get to know ourselves and unleash the hero within?
Abdallah discusses this concept with Rishad Ahmed a Life Coach and strong presence who has dedicated his professional life to helping others become more self-aware.
It comes down to one word..."unlearning"
Zen Coach Homepage
Rishad Ahmed's Linkedin
 
Music by Ian Cattanach
 
 

The Waldgang - The Forest Passage and Calling Things by Their Proper Names

Abdallah discusses 'The Waldgang' essay by Ernst Junger with Dr Ali Azzali,, a teacher and historian and the Vice Chairman of Dallas College in Cape Town, South Africa. 
The Waldgang translates into English as the Forest Passage, but is a metaphor for the journey to the self, facing the fear of death and emerging from the 'forest' heroic, spontaneous and free to call things by their proper names.  
Buy 'The Waldgang' by Ernst Junger here
Buy 'Storm of Steel' by Ernst Junger here
 
Timecode Guide:
2:38 The meaning of the word ‘Kufr’ and how the works of Junger unveil the truth of the 20th Century
3:30 Junger as a war hero in the First World War and how the World Wars transformed the men that survived. 
The Waldganger doesn't fight ideology with ideology. He resists by tapping into the deeper parts of his being. 
04:55 The link between heart and courage
05:25 Junger's book 'Storm of Steel' 
07:20 How the soldiers of the First World War couldn’t accept the terms of the Treaty of Versaille and were unable to adapt to bourgeois society. Junger said “Better a criminal than a bourgeois.” Bourgeois society aimed at protecting men from destiny and fate.
10:25 The principle of efficiency in the capitalist technocratic state and the Waldganger as the one that resists by taking the passage into the forest. 
11:28 What the forest represents and how the men of Allah never act with ideology, they act by calling things by their proper names
12:28 Ideology is a cover up of reality - a view of existence that is limited  
13:10 Lexical Innovation
14:10 Mass education based on ideology
15:30 Dante on the metaphor of the forest 
17:10 Encountering the truth through encountering yourself
18:05 Bear Grylls and his experiences in the most hostile environments
19:05 "For the light to shine through there must be a crack". The great teachers take you to the place where you are forced to rely on Allah
19:50 "The Sufi is like the earth, you throw rubbish at it and roses grow"
20:20 Science was put in the place of the Divine - Man is not rational
22:28 "The Modern battle of the Thermopolae is fought in the heart of man" and "Every man is a Path." A man who is looking for the truth in himself will look for the truth outside. 
24:30 Junger on modern medicine; "Health and wellbeing is with the fearless."  The fear of death.
29:00 Paralysis, rigidity and fear. "The physiological age of the body is defined by its stiffness". 
30:10 What is love? Love is renunciation of will. 
31:55 Junger's example of David and Goliath
32:44 The eternal part of man being denied by Western science
34:20 Without the spirit there is no man and the spirit is the essence of man. 
35:20 The source of the strength to resist
36:07 The metaphor of the journey
37:22 The metaphor of marrying your real self
37:33 Nietzsche and the Cosmic poem of Iqbal
40:00 Junger’s book ‘The Adventurous Heart’
40:32 Style as something that speaks to something deeper
42:48 Initiation of traditional societies for young men and women to prove themselves
44:17 Know yourself
44:32 Every great event in history has been initiated by a small elite, never by the masses. The masses follow!
 
Music by Ian Cattanach

The Iliad - Authenticity and Being True to Yourself

In the first episode of The New Nomos, Abdallah engages in a profound conversation with Mujeeb Gallagher, a distinguished Lawyer and Classicist from London, on the timeless significance of Homer's epic masterpiece, The Iliad.
As they delve into the depths of this ancient song, a powerful revelation unfolds: the dire need to rediscover our authentic selves. They explore the concept of staying true to one's inner essence and fostering spontaneity as the driving force towards meaningful action.
The exchange between Abdallah and Mujeeb Gallagher delves into the profound wisdom encapsulated within The Iliad, leaving audiences with a newfound appreciation for the transformative power of embracing our true nature.
Buy Martin Hammond's translation of The Iliad here
 
Timecode Guide
00:00 The first lines of The Iliad recited by Aminah Folli in Ancient Greek
01:38 The Iliad as the source of European civilisation
02:19 A song that remolds the human psyche
02:56 A brief synopsis of the Iliad, the theme of Achilles’ rage and the fall of Troy
05:38 Rage and understanding man and manhood. Homer takes a hard look right into the soul of man
08:29 Modern man is scared of man. What makes Achilles better is that he submits to himself and his destiny better that anyone else
09:23 Submitting to one’s destiny and tawba 
10:05 "You can’t make tawba for a broken psyche"
12:19 "Say: I have Iman in Allah and then go straight" 
13:38 Quoting Ibn Atailla who said “the whole of the cosmos is inside the human heart.” And how the heroes in the Iliad who accept their destiny are ennobled, transformed and elevated. 
15:00 Alexander Pope’s description of the Iliad as ‘The Wild Paradise’
16:23 The theme of war and the battlefield in the Iliad as a crucible of life
18:03 Exploring the idea of our modern crisis of being
19:28 Illness, tawhid and how warfare has been outlawed nowadays. Instead we have drones, surveillance and war as a computer game.
22:35 Exploring spontaneity and the propulsion towards action
27:15 The Shield of Achilles
30:13 Assabiyya (esprit de corps) among men and the relationship between Achilles and Patroklus as the highest bond between men
31:47 How the Iliad teaches recovering the Authentic Self
32:48 The modern misrepresentations of Achilles and the incompatibility of his character within the constructs of modernity
35:53 How Muslims are the only group nowadays able to access and truly understand the Iliad
37:16 An anecdote from Hajj 
39:03 What would Homer say about the lockdown? As he looks down on those who avoid confronting their enemies out of fear? And the relationship between courage and authenticity.
40:53 What is fear? An anecdote about Rumi
41:55 Comparing how modern society looks forwards into an ideal future when all previous traditions looked back at a bygone era. And how as Muslims we have the Sahaba as our guiding lights. 
44:48 Goethe on the Iliad, European history and christianity
45:13 The end of the Homeric Spirit with the World Wars
47:23 The Rivers of Blood Speech, Enoch Powell, the legacy of Babur, the Mughal empire and the future of Islam in the West
52:25 How christianity opposed Greek values and the continued tension between the two.    
 
Music by Ian Cattanach