Vulnerability
Unity: It Starts With U (Part 3 of 5)…
My father-in-law told me something wise one day. He said the problems the Muslims have today is because the Muslim males do not know how to be men. He said if the males were properly developed Muslim men, then the females would follow suit as it is the female’s nature to follow the one who desires her (the male). Properly developed men are those who are best to their families. Abu Hurairah (r) narrated that the Prophet (s) said: “Among the Muslims the most perfect, as regards his faith, is the one whose character is excellent, and the best among you are those who treat their wives well.” (Tirmidhi 278, 628, 3264 and Abu Dawud).
Unity Begins With U (Part 1 of 5)…
Unity starts with you. It ends with you. We hear people talk about unity all the time. Everywhere Muslims live, people are crying for unity of the Ummah, our Muslim Community. With all the talk, how come it has not happened? People have many different answers: we are divided as a community, we do not care about one another, and we love this life too much. While many of those contribute to an answer, I have my own answer. Each man and woman is divided within their own souls. They bear witness to this. Most of the people who thrive on speaking about negativity in others suggest verbally and nonverbally there is a conflict inside their soul. So how can a heart with conflict see so clearly? If there is a conflict in someone’s eyes such as bleach or sand or something inhibiting clear vision, can one say they see perfectly? I do not think so.
Fortitude towards Islamic Masculinity…
Remember we talked about the difference between Islamic Masculinity and Muslim Masculinity. Islamic Masculinity is the goal, the endpoint where Allah wants us to be as men of his creation. Muslim masculinity is the road to get to that goal. A significant checkpoint on that road to the completion of manhood and the desirable state of Islamic Masculinity is Fortitude. Webster defines fortitude as strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage. It is the next step after a man attaches to and lives by his principles. Once a man has some principles, the next situation to occur is that those principles will be tested. This is where the adversity, pain, and other obstacles come into play. A man needs to have the internal strength to bear the burdens of these various tests of ones character. Once the principles are in place they must be assessed to determine how strong those principles are, thus determining how strong you are as a man.
Male Bonding and Muslim Masculinity…
I was talking to some brothers yesterday and eventually we got onto the subject of the struggles of being married and Muslim Masculinity. I guess you could call it Male Bonding. I had some extra time this past weekend so I went to the local Muslim Owned restaurant called the Fish Dock. I stayed there for most of the day which was about 5pm to 11:30pm. We started discussing community issues and then it blended into personal lives.
The G Word
Eventually I was going to have to address this topic especially being a Mens Issues blog. That topic is gay males. My beliefs in terms of faith and principle are the foundation of my being opposed to the practice of homosexuality in both males and females. I understand and can sympathize that people can have feelings for others of the same sex. However the practice of same sex intimacy and relationships is where I am apposed to. One of the main reasons is that there is a severe lack of perpetuation or sustainability of the Human race. No reproduction comes out of it. Another reason is that homosexuality goes against the physiological and spiritual nature of Man. The clearest of proof is by simply observing your genitals. Your hands were created for you to use to grab things and eat. Your feet help you walk and kick and stand. Your nose is meant to smell things and your ears to hear and your eyes to see. Thus your penis was made to inject semen into a vagina, thus creating the beginnings of new life.
Strength and Manhood
I believe that the greatest strength that a man can have is the ability to control himself in all facets of life. True strength is the only way to attain complete manhood. The way that strength is portrayed in media and everyday life is the exact opposite of that. It is seen as something glorified and strong to have a lack of emotional self control and psychological well being. It seems that the more that we give in to our own whims, then the stronger we are. Those who do not do so are belittled and made to be humiliated. This is a backwards way of looking at strength. One of the main meanings of strength is the ability to endure. The most constant attack on us is the desires that come from within ourselves. Most people are not interested in working on themselves in that manner. So how do we begin to become stronger? The first thing is to identify what makes us weaker.
Fear and Responsibility
The way that we handle fear and responsibility are vital to our journey to the completion of our manhood. Both fear and responsibility are present inside all of us men, but what separates men from boys is how we deal with fear and how we handle our responsibility. I am defining fear as a chronic and potentially crippling avoidance to engage in someone or something. Merriam-Webster Online defines fear as an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger. I define fear as something different than being scared. Being scared can most certainly become a function or manifestation of fear, but it can also be something temporary.
Donate
Recognition Wall
Categories
- A wife versus a girlfriend
- Anger
- Black Male Development
- Compromise versus Emasculation
- Confidence and Security
- Family
- Fatherhood
- Importance of Positive Male Role Models
- Importance of Sports
- Infatuation
- Intimacy
- Knowledge
- Leadership
- Male Bonding
- Male Emotion
- Male versus Masculine
- Manhood
- Masculine Development
- Masculine Spirituality
- Masculinity Model
- Mate Selection
- Motivation
- Priorities
- Rejection
- Respect
- Responsibility
- Sex
- Should a Woman Like You or Respect You?
- Strength
- The Need for More Positive Males
- The Peace Model
- The Woman You Can Bring Home
- Violence
- Vulnerability
