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The Idea of Happiness in the Qur’an with Prof. Yasien Mohamed
What does it mean to be happy? Does eternal happiness exist in this world? How do we develop the virtue of temperance? Find out the answers to these questions in our very first podcast with Prof. Yasien Mohamed, who’s an emeritus Professor of the University of the Western Cape. We were inspired to have this conversation after reading Prof. Yasien’s article about the same topic for Yaqeen Institute. (https://yaqeeninstitute.org/yasienmohamed/the-idea-of-happiness-in-the-quran) If you liked the teaser, go check out the full episode on https://anchor.fm/tayyib-society . The beautiful geometric pattern is done by Prof. Yasien’s late wife, Zaida Mohamed who passed away earlier this year on the 3rd of February. May Allah (swt)…
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In the Deep Desert
With the blessed first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah around the corner, we would like to share a poem to remember to never despair of God’s help and mercy. May all of our prayers be answered during these days and may you have a blessed Eid ahead. Hajar In the deep desert, unseen she prayedWife of Abraham, all aloneNothing around her, but the dry hot sandBaby Ishmael crying of thirst To her God she turnedShe lifted up her trembling headIn her sweet sad voiceBegged God in her tearful prayer“O Merciful, please help us’ She searched for waterbetween the hills of Safa and MarwaReturning to her child in despairWater gushed forth from…
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Unani Medicine: The Six Essential Lifestyle Factors
This article is the second part of Aamirah’s series on Unani Tibb. It goes deeper into the six lifestyle factors that part one, Unani Medicine: Finding a Balance between the Mind, Body and Soul, ended with. To fully grasp what is discussed in this article, Tayyib Society advises you to read part one here. The six essential lifestyle factors, also known as al-ʾasbaab as-sittah (literally the six causes), are one of the crucial components of Unani Tibb. They are responsible for creating a state of health—or a state of disease—in the human being. Each of the six lifestyle factors needs to be implemented in balance and moderation based on the…
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Our Ethical Iftar: The Green Deen Challenge
This Ramadan, Tayyib Society and myself teamed up with Green Deen Tribe and joined them for their annual Ethical Iftar Challenge. Green Deen Tribe is a not-for-profit organization that uses practices and teachings based on the Prophetic traditions and sacred Qur’anic texts with the aim of reconnecting to our spiritual selves and state through nature and the environment. Now you are probably wondering what their challenge is all about, well well… The Ethical Iftar Challenge seeks to revive the sunnah of healthy eating and ethical consumption. Its three core principles are to reduce meat consumption, food waste, and the use of plastic. The challenge took place on the 24th and…
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Unani Medicine: Finding a Balance between the Mind, Body and Soul
This article is the first part of Aamirah’s series on Unani Medicine, in which a general introduction to this tradition and the concept of the four temperaments is given. Part two of this series, which digs deeper into the six lifestyle factors, will be published soon. Heralded as one of the great sciences of the Islamic world, Unani Tibb (literally Greek medicine) was practiced and developed from the days of the height of Greek civilization, and successfully reached generations across a wide array of empires in Islamic civilization. A thriving system, leading with a whole-body approach, its ultimate goal was to strike a balance between mind, body, and spirit. Some…
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Wardah Books: Where the Good Books Are
On Singapore’s Bussorah Street lies a flourishing Muslim bookshop called Wardah Books, which has been around ever since owner Ibrahim Tahir opened its doors 19 years ago. His late mother, whose favoured flower was the rose, had always daydreamt of opening a bookstore of her own. Fond of wordplay and layered meanings, he named the shop Wardah (Rose), reminiscent of the Beloved (saws) in Islamic spirituality, and the rose-and-nightingale symbolism in Sufi poetry. Wardah Books’ team of six booksellers provide a temporary home to books in categories ranging from Qur’an studies, fiqh, and sirah, to prayer manuals, sufism, history, poetry, art, children’s books, and much more. The store is also…
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Makar Farms: A Tale of Endives and Yellow Tomatoes
“You take one spoon of balsamic oil, one spoon of mustard, a bit of pepper and salt, and three spoons of olive oil. It’s the perfect vinaigrette.” Mounir Makar, a former banker and economist by background, stands amidst hundreds of celery plants, mini spinach, mixed lettuce, and other leafy greens. They are bathing in water, floating in enormous basins well-calculatedly placed within a greenhouse. We, and the other visitors gathered for one of Makar Farms’ famed Saturday lunches, attentively listen as the farm’s leading man explains how this hydroponic system came into existence. The dressing recipe comes for free, Makar’s wit by nature. “The system is constructed with tools that…
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Meet: Emosha’s Organic Food
Who’s Emosha’s Organic Food? Where did they get the name from? Are they organic? Those are a few questions we had when we first found out about them. For our project on Organic Food Providers we are cooperating with organic farms in and around Cairo to learn more about their supply, their owner and their way of farming. As consumers we find it important to know who’s behind the products that we buy. This creates trust, transparency and it is also the aim of our project. In the following video, the owner of Emosha’s Organic Food is answering some of our interview questions which are part of our research. *Disclaimer:…
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Towards Intentional Communities
I admit. I do not particularly find the greatest peace of mind in the company of others. I am forever grateful for those heartwarming moments shared with family and friends, but my solitude-loving self suffers from a pre-emptive, itchy phantom pain by the mere thought of the loss of so-much-needed long stretches of time by myself. It goes hand in hand with a deceitful feeling of complete independence and self-reliance, which makes, truth be told, little to no sense. Because even though the loner in me yearns for flying solo, the more I look around, the more I see that individualism as a way of being and, even more so,…
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From Cattle to Steak: Know the Source
Living in Cairo for almost two years, I feel a sense of amazement to walk on grounds where the world’s most agricultural civilization ever has lived thousands of years ago. Agriculture was the foundation of the ancient Egyptian economy and was vital to the lives of the Egyptian people. To provide the civilization with food, the Egyptians were dependent on the gift of the Nile—the yearly flooding that left behind a black fertile soil, kemet, to grow crops and raise animals on. Animals, in particular cattle, were used to work the land—trample the seeds, pull the plough, and eat leftover grain—and to provide the Egyptians with food and drink. Agriculture…
