SANTA MONICA, CA — In reflecting upon my previous review of Islam, Station and Process, I realized that this second book in the Islam-Dynamic Project had helped me to understand something important. In particular, I realized that the harmony stemming from walayah is hardly obtained by learning enough Islamic information or asking religious questions in order to find out enough Islamic facts. Rather, walayah in its full sense is a life-long process.

Focus of the Second Installment of the Islam-Dynamic Project

In a recent post, Dr. Hamid briefly sets the context of the three basic sciences. This book tackles spiritual walayah, the subject of the just duty, the second of the three basic sciences of Islam. Spirituality, that is, builds upon the cosmological foundation set in Islam, Sign and Creation. In particular, this second science encompasses the path of Islam as a process, according to Dr. Hamid. (more…)

SANTA MONICA, CA — In my previous review of Islam, Sign and Creation, I found that I felt I had gained enough information about Islam to have a foundation for exploring the cosmological implications of my newfound perspectives in Islamic studies. The most profound part of my review had to do with the fact that I found most general points I was seeking on this topic more easily in this book than I would have in a Google organic search. In other words, I ended my review with an expression of the cosmologically unifying tone that the book expresses:

“Whether the reader adheres to a Christian, Islamic, spiritual but not religious, or any other path, this book lays a foundational framework for the answers to our earliest and often most earnest questions regarding our place in the universe. I recommend this book to anyone truly open to exploring what that place is.”

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EVERGREEN, CO — Walayah is certainly a difficult subject to write about as it encompasses the entire Din of Islam. Everything related to Islam can be described in terms of Walayah.

I was born into a Muslim family and started studying Islam at a very early age. I took further interest in this religion/faith/way of living when I moved to the United States at age 17. Excited by my new experiences and the variety of new cultures and belief systems surrounding me, I read many books and debated with Christians, Jews and other believers in God-sent ways of life. Those debates prompted me to accept Islam as the best Din, above all others. After all it was the most logical and thorough way of living a fulfilled life.

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SANTA MONICA, CA – While contemplating the meaning of Islam this week, I kept circling back to the most fundamental activity of Islam, which is walayah. I asked Dr. Idris Samawi Hamid for further explanation of the definition of walayah, which Dr. Hamid explained as “dynamic loving, which involves the twin poles of cherishing-lordship — from God to Creation — and of adoration-service — from Creation to God.”

Taking the opportunity to learn about Islam, I read through the different aspects of spiritual walayah outlined in the book: Cosmology of Spiritual Walayah, Stations of Spiritual Walayah, Process of Spiritual Walayah and Ethics of Spiritual Walayah.

For me, breaking down these aspects of Islamic walayah has involved a complex recipe of intellectual comprehension and a spiritual understanding of the meaning of Islam in this context. To me, each time that I started to stir this topic around, the mix looked like this: add a dash of clarifying definitions about relationships as they pertain to walayah, mix in a lot of reading, seal with a prayer, and go back to the cutting board when I realize that I’m missing an important ingredient. As for what that missing ingredient has been for my own personal understanding of walayah as it relates to the deeper question of ‘what is Islam?’, I had an important question for Dr. Hamid. I asked him, “Why is this the fundamental activity of Islam and how does it fit in with every day life?”

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SANTA MONICA, CA – I thought about the changing tides of the ocean today at great length, the way that the waves dance along the sandy shoreline as they transition from high to low, and contemplated the pull that certain works can have on both our psyches and specifically, our spirituality. The pursuit to learn the central beliefs of Islam in Islam, Sign and Creation has signaled in a tidal wave of emotions for me, with knowledge that both pushed my boundaries as a young woman who was raised in the Christian faith and also spiritually awakened me to the many similarities between Islam and Christianity, at least at their most basic cores as I have started to learn. I have learned that Islam looks to spiritually awaken its followers in peaceful ways, not in extremist ways that the media often turns to Islam to explain.

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SANTA MONICA, CA — Walayah.org is a brand new site, and is celebrating it’s launch on Feb. 1, 2012. This day was one that was many years in the making, as offering a foundation for studying the reality of Islam has been a serious undertaking for the writer and professor behind this website. Based on years of research, Idris Samawi Hamid, Ph.D., a published professor at Colorado State University, has humbly composed what readers have reviewed as “important books on the subject of Islam,” written for those at all stages of questioning and belief. Walayah.org presents work that stems from Dr. Hamid’s years of intense focus and study that has roots in Islamic Philosophy, Cosmology, Metaphysics, and Mysticism. Dr. Hamid hopes that the site will become a resource that leads to other important resources for those curious about, or in the process of serious study of, Islam.

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