Deep Green

We aren't some spontaneous occurrence. Reflect on the perfect systems and design of creation around us. Draw from observations, there is a rhythm within this designed system. A purposeful balance, a pure reality. Everything in complete submission to The All-Powerful, The Architect, The Creator.

We are made aware of it from within it- having been granted limited agency, no real ability to control or escape the design's framework. We must also have a meaningful part to play. The design is the way of life. And we, uniquely self-aware, are sent guidance.

The Creator, The Originator, The Fashioner, The Sovereign, is All-Knowing, All-Seeing, All-Hearing, All-Aware of His creations. He embodies the highest essence of all attributes. We're often distracted from understanding that this is our fundamental part in the design of life. Be in remembrance. Go from aware to conscious, then act accordingly. Use the guidance around and within to best maintain in that original balance.

Commanded to come down for a time as Caretakers, to use this lowest, nearest realm as a temporary place of provision, a tool. A test to see who among us is best in deed. The rest of creation needs no manual; yet, forgetful as we are, we're entrusted particular guidance. Those who submit to revelation call to it. The best example of one calling is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and what's being called to is Revelation. Be a caretaker, a servant of the Most Compassionate, in the earth. Conscious actions and ethics are being called to it a shift of values; good works, truth, righteousness - evident reality. Invite toward recognition, manifest appreciation and service.

Actions are only by intentions; the reasoning behind the invitation is essential. To practice caretaking in the balance and recognize systems that offset that balance. Aware of a good to do, encouraged to be conscious of how. The signs surround us in the way of life. We're offered this clear direction from the Sovereign of us and all that we're entrusted with for a brief period.

I wrote that as an introduction to the Deen (Way of life) of Islam - submission, peace, connection. However, there is no better introduction to the way of life than the Quran itself; the superlative of recitation, declaration, expression. The concepts I've mentioned are from English translations of a few ideas within it. 'Khalifah', loosely translated as 'caretaker', is what we were sent to the earth as. A test to see which of us is excellent in work with the trust that we are granted care over. We are tasked with not transgressing in the balance, recognizing the signs in creation alongside the signs in revelation, and following the guidance.

I'd like to walk with you on a journey processing what I see, a bit of how I see it, and what I recognize on the way. A structure formed reflecting on sample examinations, commentary, and field notes. Understand the dimensions of a space, state, thing, its garment and grasping the measurements that it's given.

“Read/recite with name your Lord the One Who created.”

(Quran 96:1 QURAN)

“Or Who has created the heavens and the earth, and sent down for the sky water? And We caused to grow therein of every moving creature. And We made therein gardens of pleasant fruits and made therein grain, both struck and unstruck. And We placed therein of every animal and We said to some of them, 'You and your offspring are lawful to eat and to some of them you are not lawful to eat.'And We made therein of every good thing, both known and unknown. And We have explained the signs, perhaps you will remember.”

(Quran 27:60 We are appointed to these stations and tested through their use. Consider the signs. A fleeting thought, like a strand caught between mental fingertips, stretched out to be examined, threaded into an expression. A mental note, woven into conversation, brought through spaces that seem to flow together. After some time, you're handed a lens, and we go around again, looking- seeing, recalling- recognizing. QURAN)

I can tell you about something; for example, that cherry blossoms are blooming by the waterfront behind the museum down the street from here. This information can become 'Ilm Yaqeen'- knowledge that you are certain of. Perhaps I'm a reliable source, or upon researching the area, you find this type of tree recorded as having been planted there. A step further, I can take pictures and videos showing you the details of the tree; this could be 'Ayn Yaqeen'- Perception, Eye of Certainty. Having been presented evidence facilitated by media tools, is seeing believing? If you come here and experience them in person, could that be 'Haqq Yaqeen'- Reality of Certainty?

“Glorify name your Lord Al-Ala; The Most High, The One Who created, then proportioned, and the One Who measured then guided, and the One Who brings forth the pasture, and then makes it stubble, dark. We will make you recite so not you will forget. Except what wills Allah Indeed, your Lord, He Al-Khaliq; The Creator, Al-Alim; The All-Knower. And certainly, We have given you seven of the oft-repeated and the Quran Great.”

(Quran 15:85-87)

“And the earth, We have spread it and cast in it firm mountains and caused to grow therein of every thing well-balanced. And we have made for you in it means of living and whom you are not for him providers. And not any thing but with Us its treasures, and We don't send down but in a known measure. And We have sent the winds full fertilizing, and We sent down from the sky water, and We gave it to you to drink. And nothing of it are you retainers. And indeed We, surely We give life and cause death, and We the Inheritors.”

(Quran 15:19-23 QURAN)

A framework of understanding spiritual and philosophical foundations made in accessible forms that map divine Names and Attributes to manifest environmental processes. We seek to recognize the perception of creation as 'Ayat', Signs that point toward Allah, The One, Singular, Absolute- The Creator. This curriculum grows into varied cultural and geographical contexts while maintaining core principles.

Consider an engineer, a teacher, a scientist, a student, a farmer, a native, a formerly incarcerated individual... etc. What if we modeled all the possible roles of our current society, redeveloping and recognizing those roles with the primary purpose being oriented toward the remembrance of Allah, Al-Qadir; The All-Powerful?

A continuous form of guidance, to remembrance through practice, a change in being. Understanding is heartfelt, a layered state at the junction between the metaphysical and immaterial. As we seek understanding, knowledge is beneficial when acted upon. Being a caretaker entails realizing that we also have specific instructions. Some of the Ayat, Signs are inherent within us, some are in nature around us, and most critically, some are Revealed to us. A reminder to work.

“Say, 'You see- if it is indeed from Allah then you disbelieve in it, who's more astray than who in opposition far?' Soon, We will show them Our Ayat in the horizons and in themselves until becomes clear to them that it's the truth/right/reality/purpose. Is not sufficient concerning your Lord that He over all things a witness?”

(Quran 41:53)

The mural, a central hub with an overview of all regions. It presents basic terms and concepts toward recognizing that the only state of existence is of rendering due praise and thanks in glorification of The Creator. The mural opens, unfolding diverse microbiomes and environments, each representing fundamental ecological relationships. A path through the nearest emerges as a multi-layered forest watershed from highlands to valleys, canopy to roots. A 'Hikmah (Wisdom) Station' hosts gathered information highlighting connections, processes, and diagrams unfolding how resources flow throughout habitats and shared spaces - gesturing at purpose.

“Read/recite with name your Lord the One Who created.”

(Quran 96:1 QURAN)

“Or Who has created the heavens and the earth, and sent down for the sky water? And We caused to grow therein of every moving creature. And We made therein gardens of pleasant fruits and made therein grain, both struck and unstruck. And We placed therein of every animal and We said to some of them, 'You and your offspring are lawful to eat and to some of them you are not lawful to eat.'And We made therein of every good thing, both known and unknown. And We have explained the signs, perhaps you will remember.”

(Quran 27:60 We are appointed to these stations and tested through their use. Consider the signs. A fleeting thought, like a strand caught between mental fingertips, stretched out to be examined, threaded into an expression. A mental note, woven into conversation, brought through spaces that seem to flow together. After some time, you're handed a lens, and we go around again, looking- seeing, recalling- recognizing. QURAN)

I can tell you about something; for example, that cherry blossoms are blooming by the waterfront behind the museum down the street from here. This information can become 'Ilm Yaqeen'- knowledge that you are certain of. Perhaps I'm a reliable source, or upon researching the area, you find this type of tree recorded as having been planted there. A step further, I can take pictures and videos showing you the details of the tree; this could be 'Ayn Yaqeen'- Perception, Eye of Certainty. Having been presented evidence facilitated by media tools, is seeing believing? If you come here and experience them in person, could that be 'Haqq Yaqeen'- Reality of Certainty?

“Glorify name your Lord Al-Ala; The Most High, The One Who created, then proportioned, and the One Who measured then guided, and the One Who brings forth the pasture, and then makes it stubble, dark. We will make you recite so not you will forget. Except what wills Allah Indeed, your Lord, He Al-Khaliq; The Creator, Al-Alim; The All-Knower. And certainly, We have given you seven of the oft-repeated and the Quran Great.”

(Quran 15:85-87)

“And the earth, We have spread it and cast in it firm mountains and caused to grow therein of every thing well-balanced. And we have made for you in it means of living and whom you are not for him providers. And not any thing but with Us its treasures, and We don't send down but in a known measure. And We have sent the winds full fertilizing, and We sent down from the sky water, and We gave it to you to drink. And nothing of it are you retainers. And indeed We, surely We give life and cause death, and We the Inheritors.”

(Quran 15:19-23 QURAN)

A framework of understanding spiritual and philosophical foundations made in accessible forms that map divine Names and Attributes to manifest environmental processes. We seek to recognize the perception of creation as 'Ayat', Signs that point toward Allah, The One, Singular, Absolute- The Creator. This curriculum grows into varied cultural and geographical contexts while maintaining core principles.

Consider an engineer, a teacher, a scientist, a student, a farmer, a native, a formerly incarcerated individual... etc. What if we modeled all the possible roles of our current society, redeveloping and recognizing those roles with the primary purpose being oriented toward the remembrance of Allah, Al-Qadir; The All-Powerful?

A continuous form of guidance, to remembrance through practice, a change in being. Understanding is heartfelt, a layered state at the junction between the metaphysical and immaterial. As we seek understanding, knowledge is beneficial when acted upon. Being a caretaker entails realizing that we also have specific instructions. Some of the Ayat, Signs are inherent within us, some are in nature around us, and most critically, some are Revealed to us. A reminder to work.

“Say, 'You see- if it is indeed from Allah then you disbelieve in it, who's more astray than who in opposition far?' Soon, We will show them Our Ayat in the horizons and in themselves until becomes clear to them that it's the truth/right/reality/purpose. Is not sufficient concerning your Lord that He over all things a witness?”

(Quran 41:53)

Roots; awareness leaves, individual observations and insights collected throughout the journey toward the recognition of perception. Recalling Names, Attributes, and Systems, the Sunnah- the Way of Allah, Al-Ahad; The Singularity. Focus on the foundational state of 'Alhamdulilah'; All praise and thanks due to Al-Ali; The Most High. Introducing concepts of sensory exploration with reflective prompts to resurface principles in submission, peaceful surrender to the uncaused cause of all being, Al-Ahad; The One, Absolute, Eternal. The senses we're given allow us to perceive Ayat, Signs in creation. our sense allows us to receive 'Ayat', Signs of Revelation. We've been granted perceived agency with Ayat in creation- we don't own or control them. They are a trust upon us, we are caretakers of them and the balance evident in the system of their Creator, our Creator. The details of this trust, our purpose as caretakers, are revealed in foundational guidance. We're directed to submit to the One Who sent this upright guidance and clear instruction by striving towards it. These direct instructions are 'Ayat', Signs of Revelation. These Ayat are delivered to the Prophets and Messengers by Angels. Angels can't be anything but in perfect obedience to Allah, Al-Khaliq; The Creator. We were created separately. Our 'Fitrah', Original Design, upon which we were created is an indicator of free will that has the possibility of being misaligned due to our straying in the Dunyah, 'Lowest, Nearest' world.

The concept of willing submission in practice arises from the unfolding of these instructions through Messengers and Prophets; human beings, like the audience to whom the guidance is intended. An audience tested, allowed a period of choice- to choose beneficial work outlined by the rest of creation's submission, peace. This ability and responsibility of voluntary submission are both distinct reminders, invitations for us. To slip and grow and struggle, to put in effort and strive in the 'Deen', Way of Life, Fisabilillah, In the Path of Allah to the best of our ability. Perfection is neither expected nor what we're made for. We were given tools/provisions, examples, and instructions- told to do as best we can, reminded that we'll be returning to our Creator to receive what our efforts planted.

“And for Allah dominion the heavens and the earth, and Allah on every thing Al-Qadir; All-Powerful. Indeed, in creation the heavens and the earth and Allah Al-Sami; All-Hearer, Al-Baseer; All-Seer. That because Allah, He Al-Haqq; The Truth, Reality, and that they invoke besides Him, it the falsehood. And that Allah, He Al-Rahman; The Most Compassionate, Al-Rahim; The Most Especially Compassionate. And He the One Who gave you life then He will cause you to die then He will give you life. Indeed, the human being surely ungrateful.”

(Quran 3:190)

“That because Allah sends down from the sky water then becomes the earth green? Indeed, Allah surely Al-Latif; The Subtle, Al-Khabir; The All-Aware. For Him whatever in the heavens and whatever in the earth. And indeed, Allah surely, He Al-Ghaniyy; The Free of Need, Al-Hamid; The Praiseworthy. Do not you see that Allah subjected to you what in the earth and the ships that sail in the sea by His Command? And He withholds the sky lest it falls on them except by His permission. Indeed, Allah to mankind Ar-Rauf; Full of Kindness, Ar-Rahim; The Most Especially Compassionate. And He the One Who gave you life then He will cause you to die then He will give you life. Indeed, the human being surely ungrateful.”

(Quran 22:60,66 QURAN)

A framework of understanding spiritual and philosophical foundations made in accessible forms that map divine Names and Attributes to manifest environmental processes. We seek to recognize the perception of creation as 'Ayat', Signs that point toward Allah, The One, Singular, Absolute- The Creator. This curriculum grows into varied cultural and geographical contexts while maintaining core principles.

Consider an engineer, a teacher, a scientist, a student, a farmer, a native, a formerly incarcerated individual... etc. What if we modeled all the possible roles of our current society, redeveloping and recognizing those roles with the primary purpose being oriented toward the remembrance of Allah, Al-Qadir; The All-Powerful?

A continuous form of guidance, to remembrance through practice, a change in being. Understanding is heartfelt, a layered state at the junction between the metaphysical and immaterial. As we seek understanding, knowledge is beneficial when acted upon. Being a caretaker entails realizing that we also have specific instructions. Some of the Ayat, Signs are inherent within us, some are in nature around us, and most critically, some are Revealed to us. A reminder to work.

“Say, 'You see- if it is indeed from Allah then you disbelieve in it, who's more astray than who in opposition far?' Soon, We will show them Our Ayat in the horizons and in themselves until becomes clear to them that it's the truth/right/reality/purpose. Is not sufficient concerning your Lord that He over all things a witness?”

(Quran 41:53)

“And for Allah dominion the heavens and the earth, and Allah on every thing Al-Qadir; All-Powerful. Indeed, in creation the heavens and the earth and Allah Al-Sami; All-Hearer, Al-Baseer; All-Seer. That because Allah, He Al-Haqq; The Truth, Reality, and that they invoke besides Him, it the falsehood. And that Allah, He Al-Ali; The Most High, Al-Kabeer; The Most Great. Do not you see that Allah sends down from the sky water then becomes the earth green? Indeed, Allah surely Al-Latif; The Subtle, Al-Khabir; The All-Aware. For Him whatever in the heavens and whatever in the earth. And indeed, Allah surely, He Al-Ghaniyy; The Free of Need, Al-Hamid; The Praiseworthy. Do not you see that Allah subjected to you what in the earth and the ships that sail in the sea by His Command? And He withholds the sky lest it falls on them except by His permission. Indeed, Allah to mankind Ar-Rauf; Full of Kindness, Ar-Rahim; The Most Especially Compassionate. And He the One Who gave you life then He will cause you to die then He will give you life. Indeed, the human being surely ungrateful.”

(Quran 22:60,66 QURAN)

A framework of understanding spiritual and philosophical foundations made in accessible forms that map divine Names and Attributes to manifest environmental processes. We seek to recognize the perception of creation as 'Ayat', Signs that point toward Allah, The One, Singular, Absolute- The Creator. This curriculum grows into varied cultural and geographical contexts while maintaining core principles.

Consider an engineer, a teacher, a scientist, a student, a farmer, a native, a formerly incarcerated individual... etc. What if we modeled all the possible roles of our current society, redeveloping and recognizing those roles with the primary purpose being oriented toward the remembrance of Allah, Al-Qadir; The All-Powerful?

A continuous form of guidance, to remembrance through practice, a change in being. Understanding is heartfelt, a layered state at the junction between the metaphysical and immaterial. As we seek understanding, knowledge is beneficial when acted upon. Being a caretaker entails realizing that we also have specific instructions. Some of the Ayat, Signs are inherent within us, some are in nature around us, and most critically, some are Revealed to us. A reminder to work.

“Say, 'You see- if it is indeed from Allah then you disbelieve in it, who's more astray than who in opposition far?' Soon, We will show them Our Ayat in the horizons and in themselves until becomes clear to them that it's the truth/right/reality/purpose. Is not sufficient concerning your Lord that He over all things a witness?”

(Quran 41:53)

'Aqidah', a creed or belief system based on conviction and rational knowledge. The 'Aql', is a vital tie; a coming together of intellect, reason, and rationale. A bridge between unseen spiritual realities and the observable material world. We contemplate the Ayat, signs in creation around us and recognize Allah's existence, Names, and Attributes, reflecting on them via creation and the Quran. To think and make informed decisions, a sound mind is characterized by a clear heart- the lens; these first stages of understanding are crucial to intentional ethical decisions and aligning actions with guidance to be explored in the second half of this journey, 'Inshallah', If Allah Wills.

“He the One Who sends down from the sky water for you to drink, and from it vegetation in which you pasture your cattle. He causes to grow for you with it, the crops and the olives and the date palms and the grapes and of every kind fruits. Indeed in that surely a Sign for a people who reflect. And He has subjected for you the night and the day, and the sun and the moon, and the stars subjected by His command. Indeed in that surely signs for a people who use reason. And whatever He multiplied for you in the earth varying colors. Indeed in that surely an Ayat (Sign) for a people who remember.”

(Quran 16:11-13)

The 'Amr', 'Command' of Allah: 'Kun', 'Be' created the container of 'Kulq', creation. All of the 'Mahulq', 'creations', whatever creations within 'Fayakunu', 'it is'. This process comprises 'Ayat', 'signs' in creation. Collectively, this is called 'Takwin', 'Existentiation'. Anything, by being part of creation, is inherently subject to the laws and order established by Allah. This universal submission extends to principles that guide behavior; physical, moral, and ethical. The Deen, Way of Life of 'Islam', submission, peace and connection is balanced; inner and outer, spiritual and ritual, vertical and horizontal.

“And He the One Who subjected the sea for you to eat from it meat fresh and that you bring forth from it ornaments you wear them. And you see the ships plowing through it, and that you may seek of His bounty and that you may be grateful. And He has cast in the earth firm mountains, lest it should shake with you, and rivers and roads so that you may be guided and landmarks. And by the stars they guide themselves. Then is He Who creates like one who doesn't create? Then won't you remember? And if you should count the Favors of Allah never could you enumerate them. Indeed, Allah Al-Ghafur; Oft-Forgiving, Ar-Rahim; Most Especially Compassionate. And Allah knows what you conceal and what you reveal.”

(Quran 16:14-19)

“Allah He Who created seven heavens and of the earth, the like of them. Descends the command between them that you may know that Allah on every thing All-Powerful. And that Allah Indeed, encompasses all things knowledge.”

(Quran 65:12 HADITH)

“And He the One Who subjected the sea for you to eat from it meat fresh and that you bring forth from it ornaments you wear them. And you see the ships plowing through it, and that you may seek of His bounty and that you may be grateful. And He has cast in the earth firm mountains, lest it should shake with you, and rivers and roads so that you may be guided and landmarks. And by the stars they guide themselves. Then is He Who creates like one who doesn't create? Then won't you remember? And if you should count the Favors of Allah never could you enumerate them. Indeed, Allah Al-Ghafur; Oft-Forgiving, Ar-Rahim; Most Especially Compassionate. And Allah knows what you conceal and what you reveal.”

(Quran 16:14-19)

“O' Mankind, indeed, We have created you from a male and a female and we made you nations and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed most noble of you near Allah the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah Al-Alim; The All-Knowing, Al-Khabeer; The All-Aware.”

(Quran 49:13)

'Hawas' Senses: Engaging with Allah's creation through direct perception, using the physical senses as gateways to and primary means of collecting data to align recognition. Begin with simple observation tasks that culminate in realizing the responsibility of agency. This first Haal, state of being, centers on awareness. For example, the first stage of the internet was 'read-only', a dispersed field of web pages connected by hyperlinks. The initial stages of a curriculum, postcards for users to view and navigate between via links connecting relevant content. Similarly, Data gathered by our senses bridging our environmental as we navigate, becoming more conscious of the environment via the Taqdir, measurements decreed to it by Allah, Al-Qadir; The All-Powerful.

The Guidance of The All-Powerful is not limited solely to us despite being granted the unique ability of conscious thought. A tree is guided by default, a blueprint of commands that manifests in its apparent tree-ness and its measured tree-like behavior; it cant be anything else. Every created thing is always already itself, adhering to the 'Deen', the way of life, inherently- but us.

“Indeed, your Lord Allah the One Who created the heavens and the earth in six epochs, then He ascended on the Throne. He covers the night the day seeking it rapidly and the sun and the moon and the stars- subjected by His command. Unquestionably for Him the creation and the command, blessed (is) Allah, Lord the worlds. Call upon your Lord humbly and privately. Indeed, He not love the transgressors. And not cause corruption in the earth after its reformation. And call Him in fear and hope. Indeed, Compassion of Allah near for the good-doers. And He the One Who sends the winds glad tidings from before His Compassion, until when they have carried clouds- heavy, We drive them to a land, dead then We send down from it the water then We bring forth from it of all fruits. Thus We will bring forth the dead so that you may take heed. And the land- the pure comes forth its vegetation by permission its Lord, but which is bad not come forth except difficulty. Thus We explain the Ayat, Signs for a people who are grateful.”

(Quran 7:54-58)

“They said, Glory be to You! No knowledge for us except what You have taught us. Indeed You! Al-Alim; The All-Knowing, Al-Hakim; The All-Wise.”

(Quran 2:32)

“And Allah makes clear to you the Ayat (Verses, Signs, Evidences). And Allah Al-Alim; The All-Knowing, Al-Hakim; The All-Wise.”

(Quran 24:18)

“And with Him keys the unseen, no one knows them except Him. And He knows what in the land and in the sea. And not falls of any leaf but He knows it. And not a grain in the darknesses the earth and not moist and not dry but in a Record Clear.”

(Quran 6:59)

An environment is a journey through a story written by the Qadr, Divine Decree of Allah, Al-Qadir; The All-Powerful. We're given our role as caretakers and degrees of certainty are modeled by the framing and direction of the tools and provisions that facilitate it.

I adjust my glasses and suddenly I'm standing in a clearing. The forest around me is both digital and somehow deeply real. I can almost smell the petrichor rising from the forest floor. A gentle notification appears in my peripheral vision: "Begin with your senses 'Hawas'. What do you observe?"

I look around, taking in the details. "I see sunlight filtering through leaves, creating dappled patterns on the ground," I say aloud. "Excellent observation. Now, let's magnify what your senses perceive. Access your first lens." I'm standing at the edge of a forest. My device has transformed into a portal to this ecosystem. "This forest needs a caretaker," the guide tells me. "Before you can care for it, you must understand it."

A virtual magnifying glass appears in my hand. When I hold it up to a sunbeam, the light separates into its spectral components. The app narrates: "Light is a manifest Ayat of Al-Nur; The Light of the heavens and the earth. The energy provided to the sun flows through this ecosystem, powering life through the Sunnat Allah - The Divine System, Way of Allah; parts of this system have been called 'photosynthesis' in some regions." My first'Uboor', Bridge-Quest involves following a stream to its source. Along the way, I'm prompted to observe the water cycle, document how plants and animals interact with the water, and reflect on Surah Al-Furqan's Ayat about water as life-sustaining. I use my virtual tools, my 'Mata' (Utensils, Provisions) to test water quality and document changes along the stream's path.

I continue exploring, using different lenses to observe the ecosystem around me. The decomposition lens reveals an entire ecosystem of fungi, bacteria, and insects breaking down the wood, returning nutrients to the soil. "This is the 'Sunnat Way of Allah, Al-Muhyyi; The Bestower of Life, Al-Mumit; The Bringer of Death, decomposition - and there are so many more Names/Attributes of Al-Qadir; The All-Powerful, made manifest in the process of decomposition", the guide explains. "A divine system ensuring nothing is wasted in creation."

I document these observations in my Ilm-Dock, photographing the fungi and noting how they connect to the larger forest ecosystem. Each lens layered projection earns me keys toward unlocking more Uboor Bridge-Quests.

The caretaker's choices have consequences: overharvesting plants leads to soil erosion. Introducing non-native species disrupts ecological balance; failing to manage forest fires properly endangers the entire ecosystem. Through these cause-and-effect relationships, they learn about the mizan (balance) that must be maintained.

[End Transmission]

Wanting to mend, I began to notice different logic platforms and states of recognition being established. I drew connections while reading signs in the environment that caused me to address what I'd come to accept as my default world-view. Things understood as they appear to be rather than as being framed in a particular way. A way that facilitates an ingesting of the 'Dunya', 'lowest nearest, world' and drawing a circular meaning and purpose from it rather than the One Who Created it, Al-Haqq; The True Reality. We're seeing the user interface of existence. It's presented as though the provision, utensil in and of itself is the source code rather than simply a facilitated way of viewing Ayat, Signs of the facilitator. A lens that lacks Divine guidance from Al-Baseer; The All-Seeing, lacks the grounding sufficient to fulfill the right of the Amanah, Trust inherent in our being granted consciousness.

This has left a growing portion of conscious people consistently seeking to mend, to remediate, to restore- in recovery mode tryna constantly apply fixes and patches to a bootstrapped operating system founded on society's lowest nearest pursuits that got off on the wrong foot, because it wasnt compatible; because it wasent drawn from Al-Khaliq; The Creator. The word and work we're looking for is 'Islah', to cultivate, mend, restore, renew, work righteousness. We'd been missing, overlooking, not implementing some lines of code. The complete fix is rooted in 'Salah', Prayer, to which shares the same Root as 'Islah'. In the Quran success is often reframed as with those 'Amanu', who believe and establish 'Salah', Prayer, and 'Aml', work 'Islah' righteousness, Good.

Stop propping it up artificially and let something more grow. Instead, consciously embrace the original design we were set upon when placed in the balance by doing the best work we can given the tools in the earth and our selves to be more aware of Allah and His guidance to our purpose- to be in a continual state of worship and appreciation; performing all actions in the highest degree of God-Consciousness with the guidance toward and along our core purpose here unfolded throughout the Quran, His Revelation. A conversation between every human being and our Lord. This conversation isn't purely immaterial, we aren't immaterial creatures. We have minds and hearts, souls and bodies, intentions and actions. We can both look and see, hear and listen, apparent and inner, vision and insight, touching and feeling, information, and beneficial knowledge.

The duality; if we can recognize reality, and this recognition is shared, then so are the truth and rights associated with it established by the same One Who created reality. Addressing an injustice requires more than material means. Addressing anything is more than solely the Zahir; outer, apparent or Batin; inner, hidden or what we see with the eyesight we're granted or what insight we ponder with the minds we're blessed with. Go beyond just one or the other; only working with our bodies, only praying in our hearts, striving for balance in both.

The balance is that actions are only by intentions, even so they're still action- we must act, knowing we aren't responsible for the outcome only the put forth effort. Be conscious, the best possible actions are the ones that involve a consciousness expanding beyond the material, into the unseen where the One Who created all means and purpose is.

“He the One Who created the heavens and the earth in six periods, then He rose over the Throne. He knows what penetrates in the earth and what comes forth from it, and what depends from. The heaven and what ascends therein; and He with you wherever you are. And Allah of what you do All-Seer. For Him dominion the heavens and the earth, and to Allah will be returned the matters. He merges the night into the day and He merges the day into the night, and He All-Knower of what is in the chests.”

(Quran 57:4-6)

“And the earth, We have spread it and cast in it firm mountains and caused to grow therein of every thing well-balanced. And we have made for you in it means of living and whom you are not for him providers. And not any thing but with Us its treasures, and We don't send down but in a known measure. And We have sent the winds full fertilizing, and We sent down from the sky water, and We gave it to you to drink. And nothing of it are you retainers. And indeed We, surely We give life and cause death, and We the Inheritors.”

(Quran 15:19-23 QURAN)

A framework of understanding spiritual and philosophical foundations made in accessible forms that map divine Names and Attributes to manifest environmental processes. We seek to recognize the perception of creation as 'Ayat', Signs that point toward Allah, The One, Singular, Absolute- The Creator. This curriculum grows into varied cultural and geographical contexts while maintaining core principles.

Consider an engineer, a teacher, a scientist, a student, a farmer, a native, a formerly incarcerated individual... etc. What if we modeled all the possible roles of our current society, redeveloping and recognizing those roles with the primary purpose being oriented toward the remembrance of Allah, Al-Qadir; The All-Powerful?

A continuous form of guidance, to remembrance through practice, a change in being. Understanding is heartfelt, a layered state at the junction between the metaphysical and immaterial. As we seek understanding, knowledge is beneficial when acted upon. Being a caretaker entails realizing that we also have specific instructions. Some of the Ayat, Signs are inherent within us, some are in nature around us, and most critically, some are Revealed to us. A reminder to work.

“Say, 'You see- if it is indeed from Allah then you disbelieve in it, who's more astray than who in opposition far?' Soon, We will show them Our Ayat in the horizons and in themselves until becomes clear to them that it's the truth/right/reality/purpose. Is not sufficient concerning your Lord that He over all things a witness?”

(Quran 41:53)

“In the name of Allah, Ar-Rahman, The Most Compassionate; Ar-Raheem, The Most Kind. All praises and thanks be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, the Most Compassionate, the Most Kind. Master of the Day of Judgment. You Alone we worship, and You Alone we ask for help. Guide us to, along the path, straight upright. Path of those you have bestowed your favors on them, not those who earned wrath on themselves, and not those who go astray.”

(Quran Surah 1, The Opening)

Ar-Rahman; The Most Compassionate, this Name/Attribute has the same root as the word for the womb of a mother. Just as an unborn child has its sustenance, protection, and care entirely fulfilled before their needs are even perceived, Allah's most identifiable name and attribute is Limitless, All-Encompassing, Divine Compassion.

“And the earth, We have spread it and cast in it firm mountains and caused to grow therein of every thing well-balanced. And we have made for you in it means of living and whom you are not for him providers. And not any thing but with Us its treasures, and We don't send down but in a known measure. And We have sent the winds full fertilizing, and We sent down from the sky water, and We gave it to you to drink. And nothing of it are you retainers. And indeed We, surely We give life and cause death, and We the Inheritors.”

(Quran 15:19-23 QURAN)

A framework of understanding spiritual and philosophical foundations made in accessible forms that map divine Names and Attributes to manifest environmental processes. We seek to recognize the perception of creation as 'Ayat', Signs that point toward Allah, The One, Singular, Absolute- The Creator. This curriculum grows into varied cultural and geographical contexts while maintaining core principles.

Consider an engineer, a teacher, a scientist, a student, a farmer, a native, a formerly incarcerated individual... etc. What if we modeled all the possible roles of our current society, redeveloping and recognizing those roles with the primary purpose being oriented toward the remembrance of Allah, Al-Qadir; The All-Powerful?

A continuous form of guidance, to remembrance through practice, a change in being. Understanding is heartfelt, a layered state at the junction between the metaphysical and immaterial. As we seek understanding, knowledge is beneficial when acted upon. Being a caretaker entails realizing that we also have specific instructions. Some of the Ayat, Signs are inherent within us, some are in nature around us, and most critically, some are Revealed to us. A reminder to work.

“Say, 'You see- if it is indeed from Allah then you disbelieve in it, who's more astray than who in opposition far?' Soon, We will show them Our Ayat in the horizons and in themselves until becomes clear to them that it's the truth/right/reality/purpose. Is not sufficient concerning your Lord that He over all things a witness?”

(Quran 41:53)

“And for Allah dominion the heavens and the earth, and Allah on every thing Al-Qadir; All-Powerful. Indeed, in creation the heavens and the earth and Allah Al-Sami; All-Hearer, Al-Baseer; All-Seer. That because Allah, He Al-Haqq; The Truth, Reality, and that they invoke besides Him, it the falsehood. And that Allah, He Al-Rahman; The Most Compassionate, Al-Rahim; The Most Especially Compassionate. And He the One Who gave you life then He will cause you to die then He will give you life. Indeed, the human being surely ungrateful.”

(Quran 3:190)

“That because Allah sends down from the sky water then becomes the earth green? Indeed, Allah surely Al-Latif; The Subtle, Al-Khabir; The All-Aware. For Him whatever in the heavens and whatever in the earth. And indeed, Allah surely, He Al-Ghaniyy; The Free of Need, Al-Hamid; The Praiseworthy. Do not you see that Allah subjected to you what in the earth and the ships that sail in the sea by His Command? And He withholds the sky lest it falls on them except by His permission. Indeed, Allah to mankind Ar-Rauf; Full of Kindness, Ar-Rahim; The Most Especially Compassionate. And He the One Who gave you life then He will cause you to die then He will give you life. Indeed, the human being surely ungrateful.”

(Quran 22:60,66 QURAN)

A framework of understanding spiritual and philosophical foundations made in accessible forms that map divine Names and Attributes to manifest environmental processes. We seek to recognize the perception of creation as 'Ayat', Signs that point toward Allah, The One, Singular, Absolute- The Creator. This curriculum grows into varied cultural and geographical contexts while maintaining core principles.

Consider an engineer, a teacher, a scientist, a student, a farmer, a native, a formerly incarcerated individual... etc. What if we modeled all the possible roles of our current society, redeveloping and recognizing those roles with the primary purpose being oriented toward the remembrance of Allah, Al-Qadir; The All-Powerful?

A continuous form of guidance, to remembrance through practice, a change in being. Understanding is heartfelt, a layered state at the junction between the metaphysical and immaterial. As we seek understanding, knowledge is beneficial when acted upon. Being a caretaker entails realizing that we also have specific instructions. Some of the Ayat, Signs are inherent within us, some are in nature around us, and most critically, some are Revealed to us. A reminder to work.

“Say, 'You see- if it is indeed from Allah then you disbelieve in it, who's more astray than who in opposition far?' Soon, We will show them Our Ayat in the horizons and in themselves until becomes clear to them that it's the truth/right/reality/purpose. Is not sufficient concerning your Lord that He over all things a witness?”

(Quran 41:53)

'Aqidah', a creed or belief system based on conviction and rational knowledge. The 'Aql', is a vital tie; a coming together of intellect, reason, and rationale. A bridge between unseen spiritual realities and the observable material world. We contemplate the Ayat, signs in creation around us and recognize Allah's existence, Names, and Attributes, reflecting on them via creation and the Quran. To think and make informed decisions, a sound mind is characterized by a clear heart- the lens; these first stages of understanding are crucial to intentional ethical decisions and aligning actions with guidance to be explored in the second half of this journey, 'Inshallah', If Allah Wills.

“He the One Who sends down from the sky water for you to drink, and from it vegetation in which you pasture your cattle. He causes to grow for you with it, the crops and the olives and the date palms and the grapes and of every kind fruits. Indeed in that surely a Sign for a people who reflect. And He has subjected for you the night and the day, and the sun and the moon, and the stars subjected by His command. Indeed in that surely signs for a people who use reason. And whatever He multiplied for you in the earth varying colors. Indeed in that surely an Ayat (Sign) for a people who remember.”

(Quran 16:11-13)

The 'Amr', 'Command' of Allah: 'Kun', 'Be' created the container of 'Kulq', creation. All of the 'Mahulq', 'creations', whatever creations within 'Fayakunu', 'it is'. This process comprises 'Ayat', 'signs' in creation. Collectively, this is called 'Takwin', 'Existentiation'. Anything, by being part of creation, is inherently subject to the laws and order established by Allah. This universal submission extends to principles that guide behavior; physical, moral, and ethical. The Deen, Way of Life of 'Islam', submission, peace and connection is balanced; inner and outer, spiritual and ritual, vertical and horizontal.

“And He the One Who subjected the sea for you to eat from it meat fresh and that you bring forth from it ornaments you wear them. And you see the ships plowing through it, and that you may seek of His bounty and that you may be grateful. And He has cast in the earth firm mountains, lest it should shake with you, and rivers and roads so that you may be guided and landmarks. And by the stars they guide themselves. Then is He Who creates like one who doesn't create? Then won't you remember? And if you should count the Favors of Allah never could you enumerate them. Indeed, Allah Al-Ghafur; Oft-Forgiving, Ar-Rahim; Most Especially Compassionate. And Allah knows what you conceal and what you reveal.”

(Quran 16:14-19)

Amanah (Trust)

Hamza - Mim - Nun

A Trust, To feel secure, To believe, Entrusted, Security, Trustworthy, Safe

Conscious existence is to see who comes to guidance when called to it. The coming together is based on the commonality that we are all created and subject to the instruction of the Creator. The last message was sent for all humanity, a sufficient reminder. Signs that pair with the signs already around and inside us. The word for 'Trust' shares the same root as the word for 'Belief'. The essential trust taken by humanity is the agency of choice. Unlike the rest of creation, we can choose not to abide by the instructions of our creator. A tree is guided by default, a blueprint of commands that manifests in its apparent tree-ness and its measured tree-like behavior; it cant be anything else. Every created thing is always already itself, adhering to the 'Deen', the way of life, inherently- but us.

Having undertaken the burden of this gift's test, our stage is set with so many beautiful examples, hints, and gestures. All pointing, each a potential means of redirecting; a ray of sunlight is indicative of its source, Al-Nur; The Light, of the heavens and the earth. Yet we've grown to subconsciously rely on the apparent utility of these proofs more than reflecting on the purpose manifest via these Ayat, Signs. Allah guides to His Light whom He pleases.

This growth wasn't a spontaneous inevitability, though - this reliance is facilitated by the systems of extraction and recognition we've built, often with exploitative intentions. The projection of a state onto reality and the building of infrastructure to reinforce the blueprint of that state. Are are drawn lines carving up land and the bodies upon it distinguishable from the processes that shape the earth? There are right angles in nature, reality doesn't need a protractor, Al-Khaliq; The Creator, Al-Haqq; The Real, is right -we're still tryna get it -right.

If you subdivide and open up any part of reality, there are the Names and Attributes of Allah that compose it:

Here we go. A leaf. Right. Take a leaf. I'm going pick a - this plant. This is a blade of grass. It's a leaf. I'm going to act like it's a leaf. Right. All right. So, Al-Khaliq; The Creator, created the leaf. Al-Bari; The Evolver, The Grower grew the leaf. At a point it became green and we can understand this pigmentation, color as that - a measurement decreed by Al-Musawwir; The Former, The Fashioner. The One Who gave this unique form to the creation we called a leaf. All its measurements, its greenness, its weight and shape… ect each one of these taqdir, measurements originating from the 'Qadr', The Decree prescribed to every thing.

The sunlight that comes to the leaf is 'Risq' (Provision); Allah is The Ever-Providing, Ar-Razzaq. That realization is risq from the names of Allah; these recognitions in the creation and the layered sequence we see examples, Ayat (signs) manifest in creation. The sequence of how Allah decides to do a thing is the 'Sunnah' (Way) of Allah. Recognizing that sequence is a way to remember Allah, a key in every state and every thing.

Another of Allah's names is Al-Qadir; The All-Powerful. He is the only One with the power to give the measurements to anything in creation. Let's look at the process of the leaf becoming green: it gets light from the sun, right? Allah, Ar-Razzaq; The Ever Provider. The leaves exchange light and carbon dioxide, facilitating the oxygen we breathe, but the sun doesn't inherently own light. The sunlight comes from Allah because Allah is Al-Nur; The Light of the heavens and the earth as He reminds us in The Quran:

“And Verily We have sent down Ayat (Signs, Proofs, Evidences) clear and an example of those who passed away from before you and an admonition for those who conscious of Allah. Allah Light the heavens and the earth. Example His Light like a niche in it a lamp; the lamp in a glass, the glass as if it were a star brilliant is lit from a tree blessed - an olive not east and not west would almost its oil glow even if not touched it fire. Light upon Light. Allah guides to His Light whom He wills. And Allah sets forth the examples for mankind. And Allah of every thing Al-Alim, All-Knower.”

(Quran 24:35-37)

“They said, Glory be to You! No knowledge for us except what You have taught us. Indeed You! Al-Alim; The All-Knowing, Al-Hakim; The All-Wise.”

(Quran 2:32)

“And Allah makes clear to you the Ayat (Verses, Signs, Evidences). And Allah Al-Alim; The All-Knowing, Al-Hakim; The All-Wise.”

(Quran 24:18)

“And with Him keys the unseen, no one knows them except Him. And He knows what in the land and in the sea. And not falls of any leaf but He knows it. And not a grain in the darknesses the earth and not moist and not dry but in a Record Clear.”

(Quran 6:59)

An environment is a journey through a story written by the Qadr, Divine Decree of Allah, Al-Qadir; The All-Powerful. We're given our role as caretakers and degrees of certainty are modeled by the framing and direction of the tools and provisions that facilitate it.

Al-Raqib; The Watcher, Al-Baseer; The All Seeing, Al-Khabeer; The All-Aware, Al-Latif; The Subtle, Al-Alim; The All Knowing, Al-Haqq; The Only Reality, The Truth, Al-Bari; The Evolver, Ar-Razzaq; The Ever Provider, Al-Haseeb; The Reckoner

Al-Haqq, The Absolute Truth/Reality/Right

Chalk-lined I can breathe White chalk-lined banks in the deep south The Great Oxygenation, fossilized Buried under black soil, fertilized by hard labor Soft cash crops

The Cotton Jin

During that period of perceived recognition and proposed commentary prompted hopes for a script rewritten toward righting hands of injustices; a space opened between marches and back porch meetings; creative expressions and potent reflections. A space where Lakefront trail journeys and nature documentaries were grounds for interwoven ideas to flourish. It is what it is, regardless of what you call it.

The collective reality of the state of things transcends our individual conception of them. Whatever our internal grammar, we can agree outside of language that the thing with leaves and a trunk is what it is. That the measurements given to its bark are what they are, and when the seasons shift, the leaves do what they do. There is a collective benefit our bodies agree upon with each breath we take, connected to this truth. This space is manifest reality accessible to all, provided that access is unobstructed.

I'd re-watch this environmental documentary about the Earth and be walked through the planet's evident evolutionary stages. Among the many notable portions, there was a period before our atmosphere was oxygen. Before much, if any, greenery was recorded on the earth's surface. These tiny sea creatures called 'stromatolites' would bloom on the water, absorbing carbon, releasing oxygen, 'til oxygen levels swelled and there was no longer enough carbon to sustain the creatures' bloom, and they'd die off sinking to the sea floor. This would happen in cycles for millions of years until the atmosphere permanently retained its majority oxygen composition. The sea floor contained layers of these tiny creatures' remains, which eventually became chalk. This sequence of events was later called 'The Great Oxygenation'.

Before the land mass we're living on was called 'The Americas', there was an inland sea that formed after an ice age glacier etched a crevasse and melted into it - this was in the south, an area that would later be called 'The Black Belt'. This inland seafloor was covered in layers of chalk, so as time passed, this soil was especially fertile. Natives would cycle plants and such onnit and maintain a certain balance until a particular group of newcomers got lost escaping somewhat self-imposed oppression. The socioeconomic repercussions of unimpeded imperialism began to bear an uncomfortable reality.

The seeds of these injustices supplanted the fields of the natives, welcoming enough to teach these settlers how to plant. Before long, brown bodies became the produce, and the tear in reality widened as rights were transgressed. Elsewhere, the people brought as produce to a fertile island now called 'Haiti' took a stand for the collective reality that had been transgressed at the cost of an empire's economic dominance. This gap was filled by the watered seeds of injustice flourishing under the settler-imposed Trail of Tears, replaced by blacks turning black soil into supply chains reaping profits on the backs of a people that would later come to be exploited by heavy metals of a different nature. As the bodies that could make their escape from the reconstruction of a familiar architecture of oppression, one belt was exchanged for another, black soil for the minerals within it heated in kilns, molded in tools, and redlined into industrially adjacent corners of a new machine. One propelled by the narratives woven into societal consciousness and stitched into the open scars of the land, now anchored by the architecture of 'progress', ratified by the under-resourced rationalizing the over-policed.

For-Profit Institutions of Injustice graduating generational harms as an imposed curriculum that recognizes a reality of drawn lines having carved up stolen bodies on stolen lands as the air we breathe. Labored breaths hitched upon scaffolded foundations so reclaimed by the draping of changed names, and the rationale of the profiteers in mind and means unknowingly pursuing an irrational exchange. The collective value of reality is bankrupted by divorcing it from rights.

When on stolen land a descendant of the stolen ones who tilled it exclaims 'I Can't Breathe', only to be outlined by chalk like the evidence of our shared air in the crevasse of the inland sea that enabled the fertility of the lands his ancestors were chained on is broadcast through society. A name change draped day isn't sufficient. So, I began to look at leaves differently; truth and right are inseparable from our shared reality. In spite of the clouding plumes of products and rusted, labeled spillage of built systems, we must recognize the air we breathe.

Remodel the roles presented by classes given center stage on the backs of planted seeds, recognize that caps and grounds were exchanged. The tassel was once a bookmark, the ink dried, and the pen lifted long before we existed. Turn back and find the shared reality we've been entrusted has rights to be upheld with it.

“Don't they see how Allah originates the creation, then repeats it? Indeed, that for Allah easy. Say, 'Travel in the earth and see how He originated the creation, then Allah will produce the creation after. Indeed, Allah on every thing All-Powerful”

(Quran 29:19,20)

"Whoever among you wakes up physically healthy, feeling safe and secure within himself, with enough food for the day, it is as if he acquired the whole world." - Sunan Ibn Majah 4141

“Allah He Who created seven heavens and of the earth, the like of them. Descends the command between them that you may know that Allah on every thing All-Powerful. And that, Allah indeed, encompasses all things knowledge.”

(Quran 65:12 QURAN)

So, what is the reality of a 'tree'? Its tree-ness is a state of being, and this state of being, like all other states, is of 'Alhamdulillah'; the means of it doing this are apparent in the systems that compose its evident tree tree-ness. It's being created, evolved/grown, formed/molded, provided for via a process whereby it receives light from another process driven by the One Who made the sun.

Names and Attributes of Allah are apparent via reflection on creation, which are understood through His Amr, Commands, and compose the Sunnah, Way/System of Allah. Can we form an interactive classification framework that models and links ecological functions to reminders of specific Divine Names and Attributes? Each Name/Attribute is cast as a lens filter through which caretakers can view environmental challenges. The divine Commands, Amr, that form processes in creation become protocol rights governing interactions.

Our understanding of Haqq, truth/right/reality, shifts as more and more layers are constructed between us and reality. Before long, the oxygen I breathe in is not from leaves or trees but from 'photosynthesis', so I don't see much wrong with clear-cutting the old-growth forest for paper. The green of one provision is made to seem closer than the other. Similarly, water comes from the nearest tap rather than the river, so dumping waste in waterways seems to be a realistic solution. It's a lot easier to transgress Haqq, reality, and right[s], the lower our consciousness of it is. To grasp the reality of a given is to hold its rights as more than sensory observations; it requires insight and guidance via carefully God-Concious work.

Remodel the roles presented by classes given center stage on the backs of planted seeds, recognize that caps and grounds were exchanged. The tassel was once a bookmark, the ink dried, and the pen lifted long before we existed. Turn back and find the shared reality we've been entrusted has rights to be upheld with it.

“Don't they see how Allah originates the creation, then repeats it? Indeed, that for Allah easy. Say, 'Travel in the earth and see how He originated the creation, then Allah will produce the creation after. Indeed, Allah on every thing All-Powerful'”

(Quran 29:19,20)

"Whoever among you wakes up physically healthy, feeling safe and secure within himself, with enough food for the day, it is as if he acquired the whole world." - Sunan Ibn Majah 4141

“Allah He Who created seven heavens and of the earth, the like of them. Descends the command between them that you may know that Allah on every thing All-Powerful. And that, Allah indeed, encompasses all things knowledge.”

(Quran 65:12 QURAN)

Understand the world around you, every thing as 'Haals', states of being, bridges waiting to be drawn back to Allah. These bridged ways are uniquely suited to the self's environment. That environment is your sense of self. The logic required to translate that expression into noise is only a small component; the main element is what's being translated. Society teaches us a vocabulary that is not necessarily the vocabulary that we were originally given. Rather, we are given words that only somewhat match our internal environment, and taught to reconstruct an entire environment of self, using these mislabeled utensils to recognize our being. Something is lost in translation - lets uncover it.

Explicit guidance complements what was already apparent within our settings and selves. The Words of Allah, Ayat of Revelation, at their delivery were not in the form of a physical book. The Prophet Muhammad, the Final Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings upon him, was described as the 'Walking Quran'. Being that the Quran was recited verbatim from the Angel Gabriel to the Prophet, who then recited it to the people, and Allah then preserved it as Guidance for us. 'Quran' from Qur'a literally means the superlative form of Speech; Recitation, Reading, and Declaration. It is composed of Revealed 'Ayat', Signs, Proofs, Evidences, and clear direction composed in a recited human language we can grasp. This specific speech is separate from the Prophet, peace and blessings upon him's own speech. We are explicitly provided many Names and Attributes of Allah that existence is submitting to via this guidance. In perceiving what we can of the Qadr, the Divine Decree that governs all, we are reminded that we were created to worship Allah.

At any given time and place, societal norms could be different, means of expression and mutual understanding could be foreign, the outermost aspects requiring a forged bridge. In this act of translation, essential origination is not always translated - instead, it is projected through a lens of recognition. The more lenses between the light and the sensor, the less light is allowed through. Rather than retranslating, adding a lens, or altering an existing one by shifting focal length, a caretaker can simply expose their state of self from the projection of an entirely original archetype projected from the inner architecture of the contextual Haqq (Truth, Right[s], Reality, Purpose) of one's current state of being. This created architecture has apparent and hidden guidance, embedded to be discovered and realized.

“O mankind indeed, We created you from a male and a female, and We made you nations and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed most noble of you nar Allah most God-Concious of you. Indeed Allah Al-Alim; All-Knower, Al-Khabir; All-Aware.”

(Quran 49:13 QURAN)

The Creator

Root: Kha - Lam - Qaf

To measure accurately, to determine the proper measure or proportion for something, to proportion one thing according to another, to create something based on a pattern or model which one has devised, to bring a thing into existence from non-existence.

“He, Allah The Creator, The Inventor, The Fashioner. For Him the names the beautiful. Glorifies Him whatever in the heavens and the earth. And He the All-Mighty, the All-Wise”

(Quran 59:24)

“And present to them the example the life the dunya, lowest nearest, like water which We send down from the sky, then mingles with vegetation of the earth then becomes dry stalks, its scattered the winds. And Allah over every thing is All Able. And Allah brought you forth from the wombs your mothers, not knowing anything, and made for you the hearing, and the vision, and the hearts, so that you may give thanks. Do not they see towards the birds controlled in the midst the sky? None holds them up except Allah. Indeed, in that Ayat, Signs for a people who believe. And Allah made for you from your homes a resting place, and made for you from the hides the cattle tents, which you find light the day your travel and the day your encampment; and from their wool and their fur and their hair furnishing and a provision for a time. And Allah made for you from what He created, shades and made for you from the mountains, shelters and made for you garments to protect you the heat and garments to protect you from your violence. Thus, He completes His Favor upon you so that you may submit. Then if they turn away, then only upon you the conveyance the clear. They recognize Favor Allah; then they deny it. And most of them the disbelievers.”

(Quran 16:77-83)

Al-Zahir The Manifest, The Evident

Root: Za - Ha - Ra

To be visible, Manifest, Obvious, Clear, Distinct, To open, To come out, To cause, To appear after being concealed, To be conspicuous, To ascend, Mount, Have higher status, To have the upper hand, Subdued, Overcome, To endorse, Help, Aid, Support others, Render superior.

“He is The First and The Last, The Manifest, and The Innermost, and He is, of all things, knowing.”

(Quran 57:3)

The outward, apparent, manifest surface that's evident to the senses is zahir; the physical, material, readily observable. Zahir is the perceptible, tangible of things, forms, and actions potentially involving 'basar'- vision. In contrast, 'Batin' - inner, often hidden, potentially involving 'Basirah' - insight, or 'Aql' - intellect. Despite not being immediately evident, with applied with effort, thought, and reflection. The batin - hidden is accessible and becomes zahir - manifest. Both are woven into the tapestry of existence.

A few questions can be asked of a thing: 'Is it?', then: 'What is it?'; the answer to this second question becomes the context of the answer to the third question: 'When is/was it?' The answer to this third question has parts; firstly, anything that exists must originate from Allah, Al-Badi; The Originator's initial command 'Be', where time itself became a decree written by the pen at the order of Allah, Al-Qadir; The All-Powerful. Next is the regional causality that led to the what-ness of the thing. An apple, therefore, can have the same what-ness as an apple tree, if the region of causality extends to encompass its growth on the tree. However, if the region of causality is smaller, perhaps from its being harvested to its journey en-route to a local market, then at that market, the cultivator presents the reasonable label on a sign that names: 'Apple' rather than 'Tree'.

These 'Haals' - states of being can correspond to our perception of ayat, signs in creation. Ayat are signs, proofs, and evidences composed in the fabric of reality, continually unfolding around us. Every perceptible detail of anything, a leaf sliding back and forth through a gentle descent to the forest floor, its contribution to soil health, the nutrients received through it by the organisms that consume it while shaded under the canopy it was once a part of and the aerodynamics of each sculpted ridge on the surface of that leaf, all measured. The precise calculation, the apparent order and attributes decreed to every zahir, manifest, and every batin, hidden, is evidence of Allah, Al-Baseer; The All-Seeing, He provided us with vision, and entrusted to us sand and glass; the means to develop lenses, a microscope, or binoculars - tools. Al-Nur; The Light, granted us illumination for vision accentuating a camera sensor to further expose images. What other insights could we draw out and seek to derive more benefit from the blessings we're granted?

What tools is an engineer working on, and what tools does this engineer utilize toward that purpose? What does the teacher's curriculum look like? What breakthrough research motivates the scientist? Which kinds of plants is the gardener planting? Where, how, why, and what Ayat, Signs is that gardener pondering while doing so? What value propositions are directing the native's ethical decisions regarding sustainable urban planning in their locality? What does decentralized resource management and redistribution look like as a warehouse worker? What socioeconomic systems underpin this framework? What recognizable cultural production results from the aforementioned re-envisioning, re-reorienting of roles, can be unfolded? How would these projections more purposefully express this way of life? Fisabilillah, in the way of Allah, you are entrusted with something that is running out, and you're entrusted with the means to do something in that period. What defines the time you're entrusted with, and what would it look like if you were mindful of Allah in those efforts?

The All-Aware

Root: Kha - Ba - Ra

To know, To be aware of the real inner nature of something, The intrinsic nature of something, To know the reality of something, To prove, Try, Test by experience.

“Indeed, Allah, with Him knowledge the Hour and He sends down the rain and knows what in the wombs. And not knows any soul what it will earn tomorrow, and not knows any soul in what land it will die. Indeed, Allah Al-Alim; All-Knower, Al-Khabir; All-Aware.”

(Quran 31:34)

“And with Him keys the unseen, no knows them except Him. And He knows what in the land and in the sea. And not falls of any leaf but He knows it. And not a grain in the darknesses the earth and not moist and not dry but in a Record Clear. And He the One Who takes your by the night and He knows what you committed by the day. Then He raises you up therein, so that is fulfilled term specified. Then to Him will be your return, then He will inform you about what you used to do.”

(Quran 6:59,60 QURAN)

"Say. 'He the One Who produced you and made for you the hearing, and the vision and the feelings. Little what you give thanks.' Say, 'He the One Who multiplied you in the earth and to Him you will be gathered.' And they say, 'When this promise if you are truthful?' Say, 'Only the knowledge with Allah, and only I am a warner clear" (Quran:67:23-26)

"Do you see the water, which you drink? Is it you who send it down from rain clouds, or We the Ones to send? If We willed, We make it salty, then why are you not grateful? Do you see the Fire, which you ignite? Is it you who produced its tree or We the Producers? We have made it a reminder and a provision for wayfarers in the desert. So glorify name your Lord Al-Azim; The Most Great. But nay, I swear by the retreat of the stars. And indeed, it surely an oath, if you know - great, Indeed it surely a Quran noble, in a book well-guarded, none touch it except the purified. A Revelation from Lord the worlds. Then is it to this statement that you indifferent?" (Quran 56:68-81)

Examine the Ayah above, of all the provisions we're granted some contexts are especially potent reminders. Traveling the desert, of the greatest provision is direction. Even if you were granted food and water, with no heading you would still be in a difficult situation. The primary waypoints in a map of the desert are not its shifting dunes, we look to the stars. In this ayah, the pulling back, retreating of the very stars we only just recently realized are indeed fading; as the universe is expanded and each star compelled away from the earth, it is evidence, proof, and witness to the quality of the more permanent means of guidance we're granted on our journey. Direction from the origin, Al-Awwal; The Very First, The Pre-Existing, Al-Akhir; The End, The Endless - from Al-Hadi; The Guide, Al-Jabbar; The Compeller, The Restorer, Al-Hafiz; The Preserver, Al-Haqq; The Absolute Truth, The Only Reality.

What are the rights of creation? What role am I given, knowing my station as a Khalifa, a caretaker in the earth, having received the Amanah, Trust of conscious belief and action? Allah, our Creator, tells us that human beings weren't created except to worship Him. We are given the example of the rest of creation in submission along the Sunna, Way, the System of Allah. Reminded that the test of this life is to see who is best in deed, work. Advised to reflect on the Ayat, signs present in creation, and the Ayat, words of Allah sent via Revelation, to give deep thought, to do as much good as possible, to acknowledge and call to the right, the reality. To enjoin good, forbid evil; reframing success here. Not to be overly concerned with the fleeting ornamental things of this lower, nearest life; instead, recognizing that good deeds are better and more lasting in this test. The work itself is about effort, taking the provided means while being in a heightened state of Taqwa, God-Consciousness in the Deen, Way of life of Islam, Submission. To do so while striving toward Ihsan, Excellence, in working toward an awareness of Allah as though you can see Him, at least to know that He is Al-Khabir; The All-Aware, Al-Basir; The All-Seeing.

Use granted insights to chart an understanding of the states of creation in observed environments. Caretakers transition between projected spaces and physical locations; Haals, states of being emerge as spaces embedded with ayat linked to the creations within them. The quality of these bridges varies based on one's degree of 'Taqwah' (God-Consciousness/Awareness of Allah) in Aml (Work/Deeds). The Highest degree is 'Ihsan' - an act/work/deed performed as though you can see Allah, grasping that He is in the unseen, to know that He Al-Baseer; The All-Seeing, sees you.

Abu Huraira reported: " The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him said, "By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, if you did not sin, Allah would replace you with people who would sin and they would seek forgiveness from Allah and He would forgive them." - Sahih Muslim 2749

The angels are perfect in their worship as they were created to be; we are a different creation. Given choice, guidance, and the opportunity to struggle and strive, the opportunity to try our best in whatever circumstances we're granted, constantly turning to Al-Khaliq; The Creator, Al-Musawwir; The Shaper. This life is far shorter than our existence. The work we do here in this brief period sets the stage for the rest of that existence. We didn't make the instruments we use to set that stage, just the effort we put forth to utilize them. Utilization toward goods forms good utensils that facilitate good work; good facilities don't generate good, they reflect the good attributes of the One that made the instruments, Allah, Al-Barr; The Source of Goodness, Al-Mutakabbir; The Greatest.

Al-Bari; The Evolver, Al-Barr; The All-Good

Breathe Take a breath Expand with your garment You're filling with air You are, you wear, you are worn You wearing this body, are worn You are wearing this body, you have been worn Borrowed fibers, grasp your strand The good strung through Your life's loom, on loan Your best interests thread it properly You don't own property, gasp Exhale what profits you here In deed, you have been warned

Warning

"I adjust my lenses and open the Keys to Kulli Haal platform on my device. After creating my profile, I'm presented with a choice of starter biomes: forest, desert, coastal, or urban. Drawn to the lush imagery, I select the forest biome. My screen transforms, overlaying digital elements onto the park where I'm standing. What was a simple oak tree moments ago now glows with ethereal data points, carbon sequestration rates, water absorption, and oxygen production. A small banner appears: "Bismillah. Begin your journey as a forest guardian?"

I tap "Yes," and my first quest appears: "Keys to Hayy (Life): The Living Network." My task is simple, use my device's camera to identify five different tree species in my vicinity. As I scan each tree, my display shows its name, properties, and ecological role. When I identify my fifth tree, a maple, something unexpected happens. The maple's digital outline pulses, and Quranic text appears in elegant calligraphy:

Al-Hayy; The Everliving, Al-Qayuum; Sustainer of Existence

"Allah none worthy of worship except Him, Al-Hayy; The Everliving, Al-Qayuum; Sustainer of Existence. Not overtakes Him slumber and not sleep. To Him belongs whatever in the heavens and whatever in the earth. Who the one who can intercede with Him except by His permission He knows what is before them and what behind. And not they encompass anything of His knowledge except of what He willed. Extends His Throne the heavens and the earth and not tires Him guarding of both of them. And He Al-Ali; The Most High, Al-Azim; The Most Great. " (Quran 2:255)

"Do you not see that Allah sends down rain from the sky and makes it flow as springs in the earth; then He produces with it crops of different colors; then they wither and you see it turn yellow; then He makes them debris? Indeed, in that surely a reminder for those of understanding." (Quran 39:21)

The text dissolves into particles that flow down from the canopy to the roots, illustrating water circulation.

The noon prayer had just concluded at the masjid when the Imam made an unexpected announcement.

"Brothers and sisters, our community has been selected to participate in the Watershed Guardians' initiative through the 'Ayat in Creation' experience. Those interested should gather in the community hall after prayers."

Forty-five minutes later, twenty curious community members sat in a semi-circle as Dr. Layla Hasan, an environmental scientist and platform community guide, activated the room's projector.

"As-salamu alaykum, everyone," she began. "Today we start a journey as caretakers of our local watershed."

The hologram displayed a 3D map of their river valley, with glowing blue lines representing streams and groundwater systems. Data overlays showed concerning trends: declining water quality, increasing sedimentation, and problems with stormwater management in their rapidly developing community. A notification appears: "You've unlocked Asma, Name of Allah: Al-Muhyi (The Giver of Life). Document your reflection on how trees embody this divine attribute."

As I open the Ilm Dock interface a tiled lantern draws near with reflection panels aligned for exposure and I record my thoughts: "Trees are evidence of Al-Bari; The Evolver, The Grower transforming rays of sunlight granted by Al-Nur; The Light, along with water and air, provisions from Al-Razzaq; The Provider in an interconnected sequence of operations, the Sunnat of Allah. They create habitats for countless creatures and purify the air we breathe. This regenerative power points back to countless Names and Attributes of Allah, the One Who created everything by a measure.

The sunlight that comes to the leaf is 'Risq' (Provision); Allah is The Ever-Providing, Ar-Razzaq. That realization is risq from the names of Allah; these recognitions in the creation and the layered sequence we see examples, Ayat (signs) manifest in creation. The sequence of how Allah decides to do a thing is the 'Sunnah' (Way) of Allah. Recognizing that sequence is a way to remember Allah, a key in every state and every thing.

Another of Allah's names is Al-Qadir; The All-Powerful. He is the only One with the power to give the measurements to anything in creation. Let's look at the process of the leaf becoming green: it gets light from the sun, right? Allah, Ar-Razzaq; The Ever Provider. The leaves exchange light and carbon dioxide, facilitating the oxygen we breathe, but the sun doesn't inherently own light. The sunlight comes from Allah because Allah is Al-Nur; The Light of the heavens and the earth as He reminds us in The Quran:

“And Verily We have sent down Ayat (Signs, Proofs, Evidences) clear and an example of those who passed away from before you and an admonition for those who conscious of Allah. Allah Light the heavens and the earth. Example His Light like a niche in it a lamp; the lamp in a glass, the glass as if it were a star brilliant is lit from a tree blessed - an olive not east and not west would almost its oil glow even if not touched it fire. Light upon Light. Allah guides to His Light whom He wills. And Allah sets forth the examples for mankind. And Allah of every thing Al-Alim, All-Knower.”

(Quran 24:35-37)

“They said, Glory be to You! No knowledge for us except what You have taught us. Indeed You! Al-Alim; The All-Knowing, Al-Hakim; The All-Wise.”

(Quran 2:32)

“And Allah makes clear to you the Ayat (Verses, Signs, Evidences). And Allah Al-Alim; The All-Knowing, Al-Hakim; The All-Wise.”

(Quran 24:18)

“And with Him keys the unseen, no one knows them except Him. And He knows what in the land and in the sea. And not falls of any leaf but He knows it. And not a grain in the darknesses the earth and not moist and not dry but in a Record Clear.”

(Quran 6:59)

An environment is a journey through a story written by the Qadr, Divine Decree of Allah, Al-Qadir; The All-Powerful. We're given our role as caretakers and degrees of certainty are modeled by the framing and direction of the tools and provisions that facilitate it.

The Inner Reality Lens we're developing is a 'Mata' - 'Tool/Provision/Utensil' that helps us distinguish some of the Names and Attributes of Allah apparent in creation. An application that utilizes images or other sensory information gathered to unfold Haqq, reality, purpose - right. We seek to be more grateful for what we've been granted and more attentive to the trust placed upon us regarding these blessings. The manifest unfolding of these Names and Attributes of Allah is derived from the measurements of whatever is depicted in the gathered ilm, information, and developed from that Sunnah, the Way of Allah, by linking each Name/Attribute to Amanah, Trusts. The efforts put toward these Trusts being upheld and cultivated are indicative of a Caretaker's belief in and consciousness of The Creator; the One Who entrusted us agency to act within the balance, whether it be beneficial, righteous actions that manifest guidance or actions indicative of a lackthereof.

In your heart, when you tell a lie, even as a child, you feel something. That feeling is because truth and reality are connected; reality and right(s) are similarly connected, and there is a connotative meaning in all three of these concepts sharing the same word - Haqq, purpose. So, to tell a lie is as though you've transgressed in reality. Similarly, if you witness someone getting their rights violated, you feel something. There should be an urge, a desire for the situation to be remedied. Circumstances like these are ayat, signs in creation, in existence that point to Allah, Al-Haqq; The Truth.

Recognition of Allah via His ayah in creation unfolds from the realization of the Amr ,Commands of Allah that manifest reality around us. One such command is 'Kun' - 'Be' , and it is. Existence - anything that is, continually unfolding from commands following this one. The Commands of Allah were all written when the first creation - The Pen was commanded by Allah to write the Qadr, Divine Decree of everything until the final Hour. The Qadr of Allah encompasses the individual Taqdir, Measurements prescribed to every thing. These Taqdir, Measures result from individual Amr, Commands of Allah. For example, the Amr, Command for fire to be hot or a leaf to be green or shift to yellow or fall.

According to our modern construct of the sciences, some may call the sequence mentioned earlier regarding the leaf's interaction with sunlight and air 'Photosynthesis'. You can open up any process subject to scientific labels into an opportunity to uncover Names/Attributes and Decrees of Allah. The primary level of education is to know the Names of Allah. To be conscious of Al-Wahid; The One, the uncaused cause of all being, should be the base level of understanding. Seek to understand reality, then strive purposefully; purpose is given by the One Who created reality, Al-Haqq; The Real. Stages of understanding are layered, as are the states and signs in reality, as are our inner and outer senses to perceive them. All point back as evidence of Al-Awwal; The Very First, primary cause, being the One Who decreed. Our purpose as conscious beings entails coming to know this as we come to understand ourselves and our settings. Study the many Names that have been revealed to us for The One 'God', Allah, The Creator; Al-Khaliq or The Most High; Al-Ali, or the Almighty; Al-Aziz, or The All-Powerful; Al-Qadir or The All-Knowing; Al-Alim, or The All-Seeing; Al-Baseer - any and every attribute has a primary cause originating from The Singularity; Al-Ahad.

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Messenger (Peace and blessings upon him) said, "Allah has ninety-nine Names, one-hundred less one; and he who memorizes them all by heart will enter Paradise'

Sound Sahih al-Bukhari 7392

The characteristics of these changes make apparent the Asma, Names, and Sifat, Attributes of Allah. His ability to give form is made apparent by the variety of forms in creation, just as His ability to create is made apparent by the being of creations for form to define further. Allah's power to evolve, grow, and shift creations is made apparent by creations changing over time. All attributes and creations originate from the uncaused cause of being, the One Who is bestowing, was not given, and does not relinquish.

We are given the facilities to reflect on the wisdom of these judgments. Our Aql, intellect, can perceive interactions between Taqdir, measurements as causality; cause and effect sequences. The leaf falling down rather than up reflects the hikmah, wisdom inherent in the hukum, judgment of Allah, Al-Hakim; The All-Wise's command for it to fall. When one creation is decreed to have significantly more mass than another creation, Al-Jami; The Gatherer, Al-Jabbar; The Compeller, brings the matter together and compels the one with a smaller Taqdir, measure of mass to the larger. This Sunnah, Way of Allah has been named 'Gravity'.

Growth can be molded by utensils of expression. A paintbrush for example is just a wood stick with fibers on it, in essence everything can be indicative of a means of facilitating creativity, expression but the effort to distinguish one use from another is defines these tools, your using them. Allah, in the Quran lets us be privy to Him telling Adam that the earth was to be a place of work, effort and a 'mata'a tool, utensil, provision. "When said your Lord to the angels, indeed I am going to place in the earth a caretaker, they said'Will you place in it who will spread corruption in it and shed the blood[s] while we, we glorify with your praises and we sanctify to you?' He said, 'Indeed, I know what not you know. And He taught Adam the names - all of them. Then He displayed them to the angels, then He said, 'Inform Me of names these, if you are truthful' they said, 'Glory be to you, no knowledge for us except what you have taught us. Indeed You Al-Alim; The All-Knowing, Al-Hakim; The All-Wise'. He said, 'O Adam, inform them of their names. And when he had informed them of their names He said 'Did not I say to you Indeed I, I know unseen the heavens and the earth and I know what you reveal and what you were conceal? And when We said to the angels Prostrate to Adam so they prostrated except Iblis he refused and was arrogant and became of the disbelievers. And we said 'Go down from it all and when comes to you from Me Guidance then whoever follows My Guidance then no fear on them and not they will grieve.'" (Quran 2:30-38)

'Mata'. It took me a long time to figure out what this word meant, 'til I encountered it elsewhere in the Quran and listened to a short lecture unfolding some meanings. Apparently a scholar wanted to understand what the word meant in context, so he went to live among the Bedouin tribes in the desert and waited until her heard it used in context. He dident tell anyone which word he was tryna understand because he dident want them to make up an objective meaning. So when he did eventually hear it, a child was washing dishes in a river and her brush was swept away, the child exclaimed dissapointedly my 'mata!'. So the scholar concluded a mata was a tool that served a utility, a purpose but critically that purpose wasnt directly tied to the pleasure from the tool itself.

I reflected on this in the other context that I'd discovered the word 'Mata' in. The both of them bridged a reminder of how to look at this world, a means, and a reminder to keep focused. A tool, for something.

When Adam and his wife were initially sent to the garden for a period, the phrase to describe their placement was 'uskun' which shares the same root as 'sakina' which can be translated as ease/tranquility. Yet, when they were later told to go go down from it, they were told the earth would be their 'mustaqarrun'; place of established,firm settlement, and 'mata'; tool, provision for a period. Throughout the Quran mata, is often used around warnings, typically near the phrase 'dunya' a word that directly means something that is lowest, nearest; contextually translated together with 'hayy' 'life' as 'worldly life'. When mata is near these phrases, it is often translated as 'adornment' rather than 'tool/utensil/provision'. I began to draw from those warnings not to get overly wrapped in the enjoyments of worldly life worldly that distract from reality, purpose. After some research and reflection on Allah's guidance in the Quran I found a context where further insight was revealed in the following Ayat:

"He the One Who shows you the lightning a fear and hope and brings up the clouds the heavy. And glorifies the thunder with His praise and the Angels for fear of Him - and He sends the thunderbolts and strikes with it whom He wills yet they dispute about Allah and He Mighty Strength. To Him supplication Al-Haqq, The Truth and those they invoke besides Him not they respond to them with a thing except like one who stretches his hands towards water to reach his mouth but not it reaches it and not supplication the disbelievers but in astray. And to Allah prostrates whoever in the heavens and the earth willingly or unwillingly and their shadows in the mornings and in the afternoons. Say 'Who the Lord the heavens and the earth?' Say, 'Allah' Say, 'Have you then taken from besides Him protectors not they have power for themselves benefit and not harm?' Say, 'Is equal the blind and the seeing or is equal the darknesses and the light or they attribute to Allah partners who created like His creation so that seemed alike the creation to them? Say, 'Allah Al-Khaliq; The Creator of all things and He Al-Wahid; The One, Al-Qahar; The Irresistible.' He sends down from the sky water and flows the valleys according to their measure and carries the torrent a foam rising and from what they heat on it in the fire in order to make ornaments or 'Mata', 'Utensils/Tools a foam like it. Thus sets forth Allah Al-Haqq, The Truth, and the falsehood. Then as for the foam, it passes away scum and as for what benefits the mankind remains in the earth. Thus Allah sets forth the examples." (Quran 13:12-17)

The second Haal, state of the internet centered on exchange. The ability to interact with and contribute content forms culture as information becomes media distributed. Thoughts are exchanged at intersections and platforms. Interested in what you'd find interesting when you're in a space, not like you're doing a book report or something, but rather like looking through pictures. You don't have to try to capture the sight of something; instead, encompass the thought of it - what given attributes make being in this space different from any other created space? First, with the inherent means of perception via the granted utility of our physical senses, then utensils made of given provisions, tools, and lenses that enable closer examination and recognition. There's something about being surrounded by concrete, glass, and metal that is different than being surrounded by bark and leaves. This Acknowledgment that we have an ability to tell the difference between black and white, green and grey, or up and down; before any valuation is given to the differences, examine that which is given to distinguish them. We are provided a new way to bridge the environment we learned ourselves to concepts presented in this learning environment. Language is a common bridge; a proposed agreement between the internal and external is crossed while building across the gap. Meaning the means of the bridge was already present, Haqq.

The characteristics of these changes make apparent the Asma (Names) and Sifat (Attributes) of Allah. His ability to give form is made apparent by the manifest variety of forms in creation, as His ability to create is made apparent by the being of creations for form to define further. Allah's power to evolve, grow, and shift creations is made apparent by creations changing over time. All attributes and creations originate from the uncaused cause of being, the One Who is bestowing, was not given, and does not relinquish.

If height is given to something in creation, it can be described as or called 'high' to some degree, but it cannot be the Most High. Its given height has a beginning, end, and a limit. It's not the origin of the concept of height. It's simply evidence of that concept made apparent. This conceptual foundation can be found in any/all attributes given to creations. Having been given these Taqdir (Measurements) and the means to perceive them as ayat (signs). These ayat (signs) are often referenced in the Quran, a guidance that introduces us directly to Allah.

I observed an overturned tree at the edge of the beach; there were bricks and concrete blocks embedded in its roots, which had continued growing around them. Other construction materials and rocks that were surrounding the tree had also been wrapped up, molding its roots. An interesting evolution; the ripples on the sand and water, the pushing of currents that imprint them into frozen mounds. Patterns surround us, none of them are random; from the wrapping of our bodies to the wrapping of our presence. The intricacies presented by Al-Latif; The Subtle's evidence in each one of our individual contexts a divinely composed present presents. If the pattern of every state and thing in a place in time could be unwrapped, what would we be presented with?

"O children of Adam! Verily, We have sent down to you clothing, it covers your shame and an adornment. But the clothing 'Taqwa' God Consciousness that best. That from Ayat, Signs of Allah so that they may remember." (Quran 7:26)

The concept of clothing is physical and spiritual. Physical clothing has variation, even though its main function is to cover us; we don't just pitch tents over ourselves. We take the extra effort to sculpt and mold it to our figures, preferences, and environments. We do this via distinctions in color, texture, weight, and a variety of other intricacies. Of course, we can't really claim to give all of these things we don't inherently possess. Al-Khaliq; The Creator, Al-Bari; The Evolver, The Grower, Al-Mussawwir; The Former, The Fashioner, wraps the rest of creation in the garments best suited for whatever context they're in. The crab's shell, the date's sheath, the orange's peel, the tree's bark, the leaf's cell wall, the fish's scales, and the bird's feathers. The adornment they're given matches the reality they experience and accentuates their awareness of it.

Drop a feather and it floats down gently. Scales are slippery and shiny like the water they slide through. The leaf's cell wall absorbs light and carbon, then lets out oxygen, turning green, then brown when it dies. If you found a shell, you'd assume a crab or something belonged in there; it's shaped and colored like the coral and rocks that its inhabitant moves around. The shell covers the crab in a physical manifestation of the elements in its environment. The shell itself is to some degree evidence of awareness, yet it isn't self-aware. The tree branches that reach toward the sun or the leaf that wilts after flaring orange in the lack of warmth and soil nutrients when the seasons shift, and becomes one of many that fall and adorn the forest floor in bright Layers of colored leaves that fade brown as they crumble into the topsoil, becoming nutrients for the next layer of plants adorning the vibrant canopy. All creations and processes they compose are in submission and operate in the way of Allah; this system of perfectly ordered operations is the Sunnah of Allah, Al-Muhsi; The All-Enumerating, Al-khabeer; The All-Aware.

"Do not you see that Allah - glorify Him whoever in the heavens and the earth and the birds wings outspread? Each one verily knows its prayer and its glorification. And Allah Al-Alim, All-Knower of what they do. And to Allah dominion the heavens and the earth. And to Allah the destination. Do not you see that Allah drives clouds then joins between them then makes them a mass, then you see the rain come forth from their midst? And He sends down from sky from mountains within it of hail and He strikes with it whom He wills and averts it from whom He wills. Nearly flash its lightning takes away the sight. Allah alternates the night and the day. Indeed in that surely is a lesson for those who have vision. And Allah created every moving creature from water. Of them (is a kind) who walks on its belly, and of them (is a kind) who walks on two legs and of them (is a kind) who walks on four. Allah creates what He wills. Indeed, Allah on every thing Qadirun, All-Powerful. Verily We have sent down Ayat, Verses clear. And Allah guides whom He wills to a path straight. (Quran 24:41-46)

"We created the humankind from an essence of clay. Then We placed him a semen drop in a resting place firm. Then We created the semen-drop a clinging substance, then We created the clinging substance an embryonic lump, then We created the embryonic lump bones, then We clothed the bones flesh; then We produce it a creation another. So blessed is Allah Best the Creators. Then indeed you after that surely die. Then indeed, you Day the Resurrection, will be resurrected. And indeed, We created above you seven paths and not We are of the creation unaware." (Quran 21:13-17)

'And it is He who sends down rain from the sky, and We produce thereby the vegetation of every kind. We produce from it greenery from which We produce grains arranged in layers. And from the palm trees - of its emerging fruit are clusters hanging low. And gardens of grapevines and olives and pomegranates, similar and different. Look at its fruit when it yields and [at] its ripening. Indeed in that are Ayat for a people who believe.' (Quran 6:99)" In the ayah, the phrase 'anzalna', 'sends down', is understood as to bestow or bless with. Not necessarily that the blessing need be in the form by which we perceive its immediate value; that the covering/adornment is immediately ready to wear, or the rain pre-bottled and tapped. There is benefit in what we're sent, we're guided in our drawing out the most complete benefit by Al-Wahab; The Bestower, Al-Barr; The Source of All Goodness. "Certainly, We sent Our Messengers with clear proofs, and We sent down with them the Kitab, Scripture/Book/Law and the Mizan, Balance/Scale that may establish the people justice. And We sent down the Iron, wherein power mighty and benefits for the people, and so that Allah may make evident who helps Him and His Messengers, unseen. Indeed, Allah is Al-Qawiyy; The All-Strong, Al-Aziz; The All-Mighty" (Quran 57:25) In the above ayah, Allah reveals that He sent down the iron. That the same iron which we uncover and dig out of the earth is then refined via processes mentioned in an earlier ayah: "He sends down from the sky water and flows the valleys according to their measure, and carries the torrent a foam rising. And from what they heat [on] it in the fire in order to make ornaments or utensils, a foam like it. Thus sets forth Allah the haqq (truth, right, reality) and falsehood. Then as for the foam, it passes away scum and as for what benefits mankind remains in the earth. Thus Allah sets forth the examples." (Quran 13:17) Even though for iron, like fabric clothes, some processes are employed to extract the utility/benefit from what is sent down. These processes and tools, like the kelm, or the loom/sewing needle; the planning and techniques and work that go into the utensils, ornaments, and adornment, as these are not active agents in what 'decends from the heavens'. The essential elements of dress, cotton, wool, etc. Our self-awareness doesn't have a role to play in its origination. It's all a gift from the creative power of Allah, Al-Qadir; The All-Powerful, Al-Wahab; The Bestower, Al-Khaliq; The Creator, Al-Bari; The Evolver, Al-Musawwir; The Shaper, The Fashioner. Our given self-awareness does some degree of work in efforts to make out of these materials dresses that accentuate individual tastes and temperaments, - contexts, physical or mental. In our awareness, we bundle up in the winter, but we don't simply wrap a blanket around ourselves and call it a day. In our self-awareness, we adorn the function, a coat.

There are three kinds of dress: that which sufficiently covers the body, and that which provides comfort and beauty. The third kind, 'Reshat Al-Taqwah' is The Adornment of the Heightened Awareness of Allah. As visible dress serves the purposes mentioned earlier - there is a spiritual dress, of righteousness, good works and remembrance of Allah. This third kind of dress is best.

In fact, I had discussed this garment concept and a few of the other ideas presented in the curriculum as applications that branch off from the overarching project with a brother earlier. After we'd finished serving food at the Eid celebration of Masjid Al-Fatir. We packed up the leftover food and distributed it to the homeless. While we were wondering aloud which areas to deliver food, many other people chimed in with suggestions of places they were aware of where people in need could be served. We noted how beneficial it would be to have a database that kept track of these things. For example, there's an 'Iftar on Wheels' program that delivers meals to break the fast for older, under-resourced, handicapped, and etc. muslims otherwise unable to reach Masjid Al-Ihsan during Ramadan. This program branched off from a Feed-the-People program they have every week throughout the year.

People of the community show up to the masjid on a specific day between prayers and get served food. There are similar programs at other masjids like the Downtown Islamic Center and the Innercity Muslim Action Network in Englewood. There is even a Muslim-founded organization 'Chi-Cares' with vehicles that shuttle fresh meals/supplies to masjids/community centers, pop-up re-distribution sites, and along daily/weekly routes. So there is some collective consciousness of where resources are needed. The brother I was working with is a chef who rents a kitchen space to run his catering business, which grew from workshops he teaches on the benefits of healthy food. This evolved into him cooking, developing healthy food products, and serving different segments of the community with homeless/under-resourced targeted distribution. I'm working with him to further develop his healthy, halal food catering company to unfold workshops into a curriculum that teaches about urban ecology. The ingredients of the superfood juices he develops, their benefits, how to grow/cultivate those ingredients, the scientific processes involved, Relevant Names and Attributes of Allah, the Amr/Qadr; commands/decrees of Allah that compose the Taqdir, measurements, and the Sunnat of Allah; the processes/systems that make up their environmental contexts. This alongside the socioeconomic conditions of the native cultivators of the given plant, and the conditions of the communities experiencing a deficit of accessible healthy food options. For instance, kale, benefits facilitated through it, the science/health insights unfolded into the reality of corresponding Names/Attributes, Sunnat of Allah, evident and relevant Ayat of the Quran. The regions/environments it is found in and the Haqq of them.

In the Muslim Resource Guide, there are layered factors that compose a whole perspective. Each resource is initially indicated by Allah's apparent signs and manifestations of the corresponding Names/Attributes. These would effectively unfold Haals - States of Bing, where the indicated Name/Attribute is especially evident in one's community/environment. As the resources unfold further, they can be recognized as evidence of the Amanah, Trust inherent in witnessing the Zahir, apparent Haqq, reality of that provision having a Batin, Inner Haqq, Truth, Right[s]. A balance to be purposefully upheld in justice. For example, a resource is indicative of the category/section of Ayat, Signs/Evidence of Ar-Rahman's Rahmah, The Most Compassionate's Compassion. The provision could be local health care clinics, doctors, mental health services, alongside research into the underlying systems that indicate a facilitated trust fulfilled, or a lack thereof at various stages/levels, socioeconomic, historical, ecological… etc that compose the contexts being addressed. For instance, why are there so few hospitals in specific areas? What factors contribute to high healthcare costs, and why are some demographics of society more susceptible to certain health conditions than other demographics? The mizan of their environment and the environment of the communities associated with their benefit or lack thereof; for example, why is kale so expensive /inaccessible in certain areas of the city, the same areas where corner stores are significantly more common? Why do some areas have shorter lifespans, high asthma rates… ect. Critically, what patterns and discrepancies become apparent upon closer examination of the Huduth Dhati/Zamani, Essential/Temporal Nature of a given context. Transitioning through compassion-based provisions to related Ayat, Signs in creation of manifest resources like food banks, community gardens, and affordable farmers markets, we recognize these Ayat, Signs/Evidence of Ar-Razzaq; The Ever-Provider's Risq, Provisions. These are Haals -States of being where the Ever-Providing attribute of Allah is especially evident: charity organizations, food pantries, job training programs, and skill shares. These states of being expand, bithnillah, by the will of Allah to encompass efforts like co-op collectives, community-serving local businesses, and accessible trade schools as relevant routes unfold.

Explore and reflect on the knowledge of the states of our communities that are underserved. When you focus on something, light is shed on the balance or lackthereof within communities and upon those subject to systematic injustices, socioeconomically or otherwise. Utilize analytical tools like graph/infographics examination, conceptual pattern recognition, restorative justice principle anchors, and historical insights. These insights could reveal corruption like redlining, lack of criminal justice reform and evidence of residual Reconstruction Era Jim Crow…etc; highlighted spaces where reconciliation, restoration, mending - Islah is needed. Go from examining the tapestry from afar to grasping the nearest threads that mean something to you and weaving them it patches that address the wear of your context. There's a difference between wearing a garment and styling a piece; everything on your person is meant to be complementary to that fit, it's the focus. Reshat Al-Taqwah. As we study the Ayat, Signs/Evidence of Al-Alim; The All-Knowing's Ilm, knowledge; Halls - States of Being where the All-Knowing attribute of Allah is especially evident in the experience of learning and being granted the ability to do so, formally and informally. The curriculum itself need not be tied to an institution. Rather, we were given a natural affinity for learning via experiences. Guided openings to and along the expression of one's self in light of our Lord's revelation. Schools, universities, and community centers with public educational programs and courses. Each populated by scholars and teachers examining the plethora of words, names, blessings, ways, and means to show our appreciation and obedience to Al-Fattah; The Opener, Al;Hadi; The Guide, Al-Hakim; The All-Wise, Al-Haqq; The True Reality. Eventually, a network of organizations, efforts, and individuals utilizing the platform as a multifaceted resource to seek and join works racing one another toward as much good as possible; a revaluation of success with the foundational understanding of our purpose here as caretakers. Local gardens/gardeners/aquaponics centers/organizations that teach aquaponics and urban gardening workshops, and summer job opportunities for youth interested in the field. Like to various food distribution sites and masjids. Tasked with a unique form of conscious submission to the Deen, Way of life of Islam, Submission, this network now becomes a means of addressing both Zahir, Outer/Apparent and the Batin, Inner/Hidden. As we turn seeking to right systematic injustice, we can purposefully work with certainty and unify to further beneficial efforts that address transgressions in the Mizan holistically. Anticipate a reinvigorated consciousness of the layered systems that compose what we consume, bridging and influencing the emergence of general collective thoughtfulness of our role in environmental processes. An environment is a journey through a story, and the stories that compose our contexts play a critical role in defining us as individuals. What if an interactive open-world platform that establishes for the user the educational foundation behind ecological and agricultural systems develops into a mata that composes the rights and responsibilities if the knowledge they've gained throughout its use? An application that provides an accessible opportunity to occupy th designated role of a caretaker of the provisions in a community fridge. Learning about their contexts, benefits, origins, and uses. Then, a brief overview of how and why meals and fresh food items are often inaccessible in the areas where the fridges are placed. Finally, providing quests where the caretaker can engage in the network of fridges, community gardens, and ciltivators in their locality that build bridges with local food banks, distribution centers, and organizations and provide underserved demographics near high foot traffic areas with similar options. An effort that unfolds into a project seeking holistic solutions and awareness through community building and engagement. The fridges become restorative hubs rooted in individual and collective good. There are numerous official and unofficial collectives and individuals already doing remarkable work; we must begin to uncover the threads that connect them and remind ourselves of the tapestry we're composing and have composed.

"Say, 'He Allah, Ahadun, Singularity. Allah, As-Samad, The Eternal, The Absolute. Not He begets and not He is begotten. And not is for Him equivalent any. (Quran Surah 112: Al-Ikhlas, The Sincerity )

There is The One God. The Singular. There is diversity and multiplicity in creation, but there is only one reality. 'Ahad' is typically used in an exclusively negating context; for example, to say that there is absolutely no one at all in a certain place. This Ayah is the only place in Arabic literature where this word is used in the affirmative. Nothing can be compared to an 'Ahad'. A unique, singular, sole entity to which no affiliation is possible. Of Allah's Names and Attributes, 'Ahad' is only applicable to Him. In other Ayah and Surah, there are attributes of Allah that are also used to a lesser degree to describe creation with the three key implied differences referenced at the beginning. For example, an 'Alim', a 'Scholar' is 'Knowledgeable', having acquired some 'Ilm', knowledge. Allah, Al-Alim; The All-Knowing, owns all knowledge. His knowledge is absolutely inherently present with no beginning or end. Every attribute of creation is given. If anyone is an 'Alim', knowledgeable, this ilm was acquired, has limits, and is temporary. Allah is the only one far above limitation.

"Allah the One Who created the heavens and the earth and sent down from the sky water, then brought forth from it of the fruits a provision for you, and subjected for you the ships so that they may sail in the sea by His command, and subjected for you the rivers. And He subjected for you the sun and the moon, both constantly pursuing their courses, and subjected for you the night and the day. And He gave you of all what you asked of Him. And if you count Favor of Allah not you will count them. Indeed the human being surely unjust ungrateful." (Quran 14:32-34)

Seeking to develop a caretaking society that strives not to transgress in the 'Mizan' - the Balance established by Al-Ali; The Most High, is a collective effort. Quests to establish the bridges between each other and draw connections with Ayat, signs, to knowing Allah, Al-Aziz; The Almighty, Al-Zahir; The Manifest, who created them. These journeys feature environmental analysis and shared knowledge as projected overlays in a continuous state of recognition. These spaces allow for the development of proprietary thought unique to cultivating the Haal, state of Alhamdulilah, recalling that all praises and thanks due to Allah. This haal, state of being, is foundational to molding the utensils necessary for building the purposeful architecture of one's environment of self. In this way, the learning environment's existence becomes recognizable via the essence of potential connections to Allah, Al-Wahab; The Bestower, Al-Barr; The Source of Goodness, Ar-Rahim; The Especially Compassionate, Al-Wasi; The Encompassing, Al-Latif; The Subtle, Al-Khabeer, The All-Aware, Al-Batin; The Hidden, The Innermost. These are best understood separately from the spatial and temporal origination of existing systems.

Environmental observations are translated into elements for decentralized study collectives gathering samples from their localities. The architecture from these insights develops the faculties for community-wide restoration and rehabilitation initiatives. Restore its recognition to Alhamdulilah, then apply these insights to make it habitable for your purpose as a caretaker: upholding the Amanah of not transgressing in the Mizan. New utensils and provisions are recalled as they fit utilities that express a caretaker's recognition of Haqq rather than the formerly perceived spatial and temporal origin of the Mata.

A new vocabulary of being is developed; I use 'English' conjunctions as bridges between 'Arabic' concepts because the concepts themselves are the means, not the mold of their spatial and temporal contexts. Whether I use 'Huduth Dhati' or 'Essential Nature', 'Huduth Zamani' or 'Temporal Nature' matters because the word 'Origination' has a different mold than 'Huduth', and Allah is Al-Badi; The Originator. I recognize 'Huduth' as having a different mahiyya than 'Nature' and 'Mahiyya' as having a different essential nature than 'Essence'. Rather than wearing the Zahir - 'Outer/Apparent' of language, I would rather develop a garment of thought to be the skin I'm placed in. So that I may wear whatever is most beneficially suited to a given context. Actions are by intentions, not spoken -made.

From this perspective, sound is just noise; there are no specific names separate from what's being used to reference. We're learning to set aside meanings not connected to Al-Haqq, The True Reality. Other labels rooted in particular times and places are a means for caretakers to string together sequences that bridge components for recollection. Once gathered in a perceived context liable to shifts as native to the spatial and temporal origination of a newly recognized essential context. Now we enter a state of prayer, 'Salah' from the word 'Islah' which can be understood similarly to 'restoration', 'mending', 'righting'.

"Blessed is He in Whose Hand the Dominion, and He over every thing Qadirun, All-Powerful. The One Who created death and life that He may test you, which of you best deed/work. And He Al-Aziz; The All-Mighty, Al-Ghafur; The Oft-Forgiving. The One Who created seven heavens one above another. Not you see in creation Ar-Rahman, The Most Compassionate any fault. So return the vision, can you see any flaw? Then return the vision twice will return to you the vision humbled while it fatigued." (Quran Surah Mulk 67:1-4)

Notice how in the Ayah above Allah mentions 'the vision' rather than specifying or attributing vision to us by indicating it as being our or 'your' vision. The function and concept of vision is depicted as a granted provision being utilized rather than an attribute in the possession of the perceived user. We're told to look at creation with the investigative tools we're granted use of, while being reminded that our agency is connected to the limitation, not of the tool or function/concept itself, but of the function specifically when we're granted some perceived agency in its operation. This limitation is not primarily fatigue but fatigued humbled following a command from its Creator.

"Do not they see to the birds above them spreading and briefly folding not holds them except Ar-Rahman, The Most Compassionate. Indeed, He of every thing Basirun, All-Seer." (Quran Surah Mulk 67:19)

Surah Mulk, The Sovereignty, has many reminders that the systems around us are controlled by Allah, Al-Malik; The Sovereign, the One Who grants and tests us with limited conscious agency. When Allah details what actions the birds appear to be exhibiting He does not mention the utensils or local, contextual means that the birds appear to be utilizing in order to perform the act of spreading and briefly folding. This highlights the fact that the apparent means we have named 'flapping', the provisions we have named 'wings' and even the causality of this motion we've named in part 'aerodynamics/lift' are not relevant enough to be mentioned. We perceive the result while the primary cause is Allah - not these names we've named.

The manifest created systems, regardless of perfect causality, have no agency in and of themselves; the resulting state of being held aloft is ascribed entirely to Allah, Ar-Rahman; The Most Compassionate. Rather than flapping, lift, feathers, or aerodynamics, this state of reality we've labeled 'flight' is our observation of The Creator's commands, His Sunnah, His Way/System, His decrees operate His mulk, kingdom.

Throughout this surah, Allah reminds us that he is Al-Malik; The King, and everything is his mulk, kingdom; even the means to perceive, recognize, and understand this haqq, reality/truth is owned by Him. Al-Malik; The Sovereign, The King is mentioned in the third ayah of the first surah of the Quran, Al-Fatihah, The Opening:

"Malik (King/Master/Sovereign) of the Day of Judgment (Deen)" (Quran 1:4)

In this ayah, the word translated as judgment is 'Deen', which is more commonly found translated as Religion/Way of life. However, in this context is an embedded meaning: for something owed to be returned/due. On this day, we show up with our deeds/work. The criteria of this life work's test is mentioned in Surah Mulk:

"Blessed is He in Whose Hand the 'Mulk', Dominion and He over every thing All-Powerful. The One Who created death and life that He may test you, which of you Ihsan, best; amal, work/deed. And He Al-Aziz, The All-Mighty; Al-Ghafur, Oft-Forgiving." (Quran 67:1,2)

In this purposeful test of life, we are caretakers charged with being the most conscious of Allah in work. With evidence and proofs around us, we're granted the guidance and means of seeing how to most excellently exist with what we're entrusted with, the tools/provisions were given. There is another ayah in the Quran where Allah mentions wings, this time He also mentions their function, a part shared by every other state and thing of ordered causality and creation; prayer - exalting The Creator.

"Do not you see that glorify Him whoever in the heavens and the earth and the birds wings outspread? Each one verily knows its prayer and its glorification. And Allah Al-Alim; All-Knower of what they do. And to Allah 'Mulk' dominion the heavens and the earth. And to Allah the destination."` (Quran 24:41,42)

Lenses are tools, provisions that can magnify, focus, and help recognize what our senses are provided; they can break sensory data into recognizable patterns and visualizations that help develop detailed reflection into a means of deeper understanding. Patterns can be identified through the following framework:

The lens through which we're learning to examine the linguistics of forged systems. These systems are indicative of an architectural grammar, an environment of labels to be recognized as potentially facilitating a worldview of utility, of misattributed imperial measurements and imperialism; a false projection of agency as ownership. A projection indicative of a didactic worldview with an excessive emphasis on the material, tangible, extractable and misappropriated value; values espoused by these systems should be recognized, reimagined, remediated, and understood in light of our returning to Allah.

The interconnected network of things to be sensed in local ecosystems feed real-time environmental data into the platform. This data is processed through lenses to identify patterns that trigger alerts when imbalances are detected. Caretakers receive quests to investigate these sites and steward beneficial works based on gathered Mizan, balanced principles that highlight Haqq (Truth, Right(s), Reality, Purpose) of an Amanah, a trust to be upheld. A shift away from valuation harboring, toward reflection on purpose and purpose-driven actions. Toward upholding responsibility and the responsible; Shifting away from a perspective retaining the tonal qualities of 'Enlightenment' era preconceptions of 'sciences' to a recollection and recalling toward greater, One God, Al-Khabir; The Most Great.

"Eiyyaka nabudu" You Alone we worship, "wa Eiyyaka nastainu" and You Alone we ask for help." (Quran 1:5)

My name, 'Abdullah' is composed of two words: 'Abdul' - 'Slave of' and 'Allah, 'The One God'; Slave of 'The One God'. So, to understand 'nabudu' as 'worship' is incomplete because worship is often understood as a temporal activity, whereas enslavement is a permanent reality, this conveys a complete modality of worship, obedience, and servitude. The following phrase, "nastainu" translates as to ask for help - this is a particular kind of help. For example, if I have a flat tire and I call someone to help fix it, but I don't get out of the car. I let them prop it up, exchange the tire, drill in the new one, and everything like I'm at a pitstop or something, well I could say they helped, but really, I didn't put forth meaningful effort toward the work myself. Alternatively, if I had gotten out and, after trying, struggling to prop it up and unscrew the tire, and then while striving, I emphatically call for help while also putting forth effort - that more accurately depicts "nastainu" "help!!".

The next ayah presents the kind of help being sought:

"Ih'dina Siralta Mustaqima" "Guide us, to and along the straight, upright path" (Quran 1:6)

'Ihdini' is a particular kind of guidance; for example, I can point to a door and say 'the exit is over there' - perhaps I could claim to have guided you in some way to the door, but if I take your hand and walk with you to and through that door this would be a fuller understanding of 'Ihdini' a form of the word 'Hidiyah' meaning a comprehensive guidance. None but Allah, Al-Hadi; The Guide, can possess and provide the most comprehensive guidance. If someone thirsty were to ask for water, they would repeat it again and again; we all continue to get thirsty - water, like guidance, is a continual need owned exclusively by Al-Ali; The Most High, Al-Ghaniyy; The Self-Sufficient, Ar-Razzaq; The Provider. He guides whomever He wills to a path straight. A "Siralt" is a clear, wide, obvious path; and "mustaqim" is also a straight path, one that is upright. The root linked to the concept of establishing, there is a similar phrase commonly found throughout the Quran 'aqimi Salah' Establish the Salah. "I, Indeed I Am Allah, No deity but I so worship Me and aqimi salat establish th prayer for My remembrance" (Quran 20:14)

"Indeed, you not guide whom you love but Allah guides whom He wills. And He Al-Alim; Most Knowing the guided ones" (Quran 28:56)

"And Allah created every moving creature from water. Of them who walks on its belly, and of them who walks on two legs and of them who walks on four. Allah creates what He wills. Indeed, Allah on every thing Al-Qadir; All-Powerful. Verily, We have sent down Ayat, Signs clear. And Allah guides whom He wills to a path straight." (Quran 24:45,46)

"And not We created the heavens and the earth and whatever between them play. Not We created both of them but in Haqq but most of them do not know. Indeed, Day of Judgment an appointed term for them all. (Quran 44:38-40)

"Glorifies him, the seven heavens, and the earth, and everything within them. And there is not any thing except glorifies His praise, yet you don't understand their glorification. Indeed, He is Al-Halim; Ever-Forbearing, Al-Gafur; Oft-forgiving." (Quran 17:44)

"Glorifies Allah whatever in the heavens and whatever in the earth. And He the Al-Aziz; The All-Mighty, Al-Hakim; The All-Wise. O' you who believe, why you say what not you do? Great is hatred with Allah that you say what not you do." (Quran 61:1-3)

"Indeed, those who dispute in Ayat, Signs Allah without any authority came to them, not in their breasts but greatness, not they reach it. So seek refuge in Allah. Indeed He, He Al-Sami; The All-Hearing, Al-Basir; The All-Seeing. Surely creation the heavens and the earth greater than creation the people but most the people not know." (Quran 40:46,57)

"And when We said to the Angels, 'Prostrate to Adam,' so they prostrated except Iblis. (He) was of the jinn and he rebelled against the Command his Lord. Will you then take him and his offspring protectors other than Me, while they to you enemies? Wretched for the wrongdoers the exchange. Not I made them witness the creation the heavens and the earth and not creation themselves and not I am the One to take the misleaders helper. (Quran 18:50,51)

When we assemble 'new' complex things, we tend to provide a manual. What's more complex than these bodies we occupy? Everything that surrounds us. Our setting informs our selves, but we're forgetful, easily distracted. Through the ages, nations have been sent reminders along with the examples around us. All one continuous message that was summed up in the last Revelation to the final Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him. The Reminder is for all mankind. Full of signs that reference the manifest way of life around us, a test to see how well we receive clear direction that speaks to the unique capabilities we're entrusted with.

In seeking to understand layers of reality, we uncover aspects of the world that point to the 'Ghayb', 'Unseen'. As we're granted perception of the batin, hidden/inner of zahir, outer/manifest aspects in creation, we are provided with a useful framework for interaction with these oriented layers. Each opens a dimension, a Haal - a state of reality presenting a journey of growth beyond the apparent physicality of the nearest/lowest world; developing toward holistic awareness via knowledge and reflection on Ayat, Signs, proofs, and evidences in creation and Revelation.

"Do you see what you emit? Is it you who create it or We the Creators? We -We have decreed among you the death and not We are outrun. In that We change your likeness[es] and produce you in what not you know. And certainly you know the creation the first, so why not you take heed? And do you see what you sow? Is it you cause it to grow or We the Ones Who grow? If We willed We surely make it debris, then you would remain wondering 'Indeed, we surely are laden with depth, Nay, we deprived." Do you see the water, which you drink? Is it you who send it down from the rain clouds, or We the Ones to send? If We willed, We make it salty, then why are you not grateful?" (Quran 56:58-70) "Do not see those who disbelieved that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, then We parted them And We made from the water every living thing, then will not they believe?" (Quran 21:30) "And it is He who sends down rain from the sky, and We produce thereby the vegetation of every kind." (Quran 6:99) "And Allah sends down from the sky water, then the earth becomes green after its lifelessness. Indeed in that is a sign for a people who listen." (Quran 16:65)

I can open a door, this does not make me The Opener - or the opening, Allah alone is Al-Fattah; The Opener. I can climb a tree, and while it may seem that I have reached heights, I can't embody the concept of height; Allah alone is Al-Ali; The Most High. The world of thought is referential, attributes are contextual, and imply distinguishing comparison. To identify the state of something, we refer to another thing. To know an open door a closed door would need to have been perceived at some point. Both states are applied to creation, but the states themselves remain ideas we only understand the manifestation of. The fullest embodiment of the attributes referenced by the signs we perceive in creation are from and of Allah, Al-Khaliq; The Creator, Lord of all the worlds. He is the perfect incomparable origin, Al-Badi; The Incomparable Originator, of all these concepts. Allah's Names and Attributes are Uniquely Singular and Absolutely Unparalleled; being entirely separate from creation, they are inherent affirmations of Al-Kabir; The Greatest. The Revelation of the Quran begins with the declaration of Allah's Name 'Bismillah'' - 'With/in Name The God'. Signs pointing to His attributes were already apparent in and around us. Every thing decreed 'wujud', fundamental existence is bestown characteristics from Allah, Al-Wahab; The Bestower. For example, a tree is given a Huduth Dhati, essential origination, that results in a tree-ness that then becomes evident in our minds and actualized via our self-recognition of it when the form is imprinted via our perception of it with the senses we were granted, and then in the recalled imagination. If all trees were to disappear, their representation would still exist in this imagined form, where the knowledge of tree-ness can be referenced via an existence in the world of speech, sounds 'Tr-ee' indicating the recollection of what was protected onto the mind. There is a purposeful wisdom behind the creation of a form paired with a separate conscious individual for its existence to be projected onto that further unfolds a dimension of expression via the realm of naming.

Reading a webpage presupposes an author; would you recognize the author's existence for a book to exist? It can be inferred from whatever is written that the author was knowledgeable and could access certain qualities required for authoring, qualities apparent in whatever was authored. Consider creation, worlds of thought and expression, states of being and becoming manifest proof, without need to see the Al-Baseer; All-Seeing to affirm the Al-Alim; All-Knowing's existence. No need to listen to every possible frequency to confirm the As-Sami; All-Hearing. Al-Khabeer; The All-Aware, Al-Wasi; The All-Encompassing and His Wisdom. He is Al-Hakim; The All-Wise and Allah is Al-Qadir; All-Powerful. Allah is Al-Awwal; The Very First, His Names and Attributes are the apparent source origination of spatial and temporal existence, with countless evidences in reality around us awaiting our recollection.

As-Sami; The All-Hearing, Al-Khabeer; The All-Aware

Hear Right here; listen Get right here, right now You only got here, just now Listen, you're listin Sounds off, Sound off Unplug, Mic Check The MC is unseen, All-seeing, Ever-Present Right here, right now Heard that, listening to you listin Listen, get up, do right, now Aren't you listin, list then, list them Heard that, you weren't the only one listin Better get upright now, you ain't the only one Writing down

Docs of Worship Sound

"Then is He Who creates like one not create? Then will you not remember? And if you should count Favors of Allah, not you could enumerate them. Indeed, Allah, Al-Ghafur; The Oft-Forgiving, Ar-Rahim; The Most Especially Compassionate". and Allah knows what you conceal and what you reveal" (Quran 16:17-19)

"And if whatever in the earth of trees, pens and the sea, add to it after it seven seas, not would be exhausted Words Allah. Indeed, Allah Al-Aziz; The All-Mighty, Al-Hakim; The All-Wise. Not your creation and not your resurrection but as a soul single. Indeed, Allah As-Sami; The All Hearer, Al-Baseer; The All-Seeing" (Quran 31:27,28)

"He Allah, the One who,no god but He, Al-Malik, The Sovereign; Al-Qudus, The Holy One, As-Salam, The Giver of Peace; Al-Mumin, The Giver of Security; Al-Muhaymin, The Guardian; Al-Aziz, The All-Mighty; Al-Jabbar, The All-Compelling; Al-Mutakabbir, The Greatest. Glory be to Allah from what they associate. He Allah, Al-Khaliq, The Creator; Al-Bari, The Evolver; Al-Musawwir, The Fashioner. For Him the names the beautiful. Glorifies Him whatever in the heavens and the earth. And He Al-Aziz, The All-Mighty; Al-Hakim, The All-Wise. (Quran 59:23,24)

"Indeed those who believed and work righteous, for them will Gardens the Paradise a lodging, Abiding forver in it. Not they will desire from it any transfer. Say, 'If were the sea ink, for Words my Lord, surely, exhausted the sea before that exhausted Words my Lord, even if We brought like it a supplement.' Say, 'Only I a man like you. Has been revealed to me that your God, God One. So whoever is hoping meeting his Lord, let him do work righteous and not associate in worship his Lord anyone" (Quran 18:107-110)

"Glorifies to Allah whatever in the heavens and the earth, and He Al-Aziz; The All-Mighty, Al-Hakim; The All-Wise. For Him dominion the heavens and the earth, He gives life and causes death, and He over all things qadirun, All-Powerful. He Al-Awwal; The First, Pre-Existing, and Al-Awwal; The Last, Endless and Al-Zahir; The Manifest, Evident, and Al-Batin; The Hidden, Innermost, and He of every thing Alimun, All-Knower. He the One Who created the heavens and the earth in six periods, then He rose over the Throne. He knows what penetrates in the earth and what comes forth from it, and what descends from the heaven and what ascends therein; and He with you wherever you are. And Allah of what you do basirun, All-Seer. For Him dominion the heavens and the earth and to Allah will be returned the matters. He merges the night into the day and He merges the day into the night, and He Alimun, All-Knower of what is in the chests. (Quran 57:1-6)

"And said your Lord to the angels, Indeed, I going to place in the earth a caretaker, they said 'Will you place in it who will spread corruption in it and will shed [the] blood[s] while we, we glorify with Your praises and we sanctify to You.' He said, 'Indeed I, I know what not you know.' And He taught Adam the names - all of them. Then He displayed them to the angels, and He said, 'Inform Me of names these, if you are truthful.' They said, Glory be to You! No knowledge for us except what you have taught us. Indeed You! You Al-Alim, The All-Knowing, Al-Hakim The All-Wise. He said, 'O Adam! Inform them of their names.' And when he had informed them of their names, He said, 'Did not I say to you, Indeed, I - I know unseen the heavens and the earth, and I know what you reveal and what you were conceal.' And when We said to the angels, 'Prostrate to Adam,' so they prostrated except Iblis. He refused and was arrogant and became of the disbelievers." (Quran 2:30-34)

"And We send down from the sky water, in measure then We cause it to settle in the earth. And indeed, We, on taking it away, surely Able. Then We produced for you by it gardens of date-palms and grape vines, for you, in it fruits abundant and from them you eat." (Quran 23:18,19)

We are introduced and reassured that Al-Qadir; The All-Powerful is also Ar-Rahman, The Most Compassionate. Reminded that Al-Khabeer; The All-Aware is also Al-Hakim; The All-Wise. It was Revealed to us that Al-Alim; The All-Knowing, is Al-Khaliq; The Creator, and Al-Muawwir; The Fashioner, Al-Wahid; The One Who created, built, and fashioned a direct means for us to ask for whatever we'd need during this test, then gave us the exact words for the most encompassing request - guidance.

The first Surah of the Quran, The Opening. The other Surahs unfold from there, each a journey, collectively unfolding and laying out the essential verbatim guidance and instruction. Insights into the nature of creation, the relationship between The Creator and the created; insight that illuminates the unfolding of sacred language that forms and shapes the fabric of existence. The directives decreed from the world of Amr, Command in the Unseen via Revelation to this lowest, nearest world.

The Quran has 113 Surahs, these aren't sections or chapters; they are closer to infinitely unfolding environments of thought, domains of insight and guidance. The word 'Surah' is related to the concept of an enclosure or foundational wall. You don't finish reading the Quran; the word itself references the superlative expression, the infinite form of reading - word, recitation, speech, thought. 'Qalam'-'Word', 'Qul' - 'Say', 'Kitab' - 'Book', 'Qari' - 'Reciter', 'Quarat' - 'Recitation', 'Iqrah' - 'Read, Recite, Declare'. Notice the root sounds.

Extract 'Yaqeen' - 'Certainty', from the container of 'Khulq' - 'Creations', and return it to 'Al-Khaliq; The Creator'. Belief alone does not make the seed sprout. Water sent down from the sky by Al-Razzaq; The Ever-Provider, does. The batin, inner reality of commands that compose the zahir, manifest attributes we perceive in states of creation, can become a means of yaqeen, certainty, when basar - vision/eyesight, and basirah - insight, align.

Every particle submits to Allah, and the physicality of this submission underscores the unity of creation. The atoms comprising living organisms, the molecules composed in the atmosphere, and the celestial bodies in the cosmos are all interconnected and interdependent, existing as part of a whole - creation, subjected by and to the Al-Badi; The Originator. Another name for the Quran is Al-Dikr, The Reminder/Remembrance.

"And remind, for indeed, the reminder benefits the believers. And not I have created the jinn and the mankind except that they worship Me. Not I want from them any provision and not I want that they feed Me. Indeed Allah He Al-Razzaq; The All-Provider, Al-Qawiyy; The All-Strong, Al Matin; The Firm." (Quran 51:55-58)

"Allah the One Who created the heavens and the earth and whatever between them in six periods. Then established Himself on the Throne. Not for you besides Him any protector and not any intercessor. Then will not you take heed? He regulates the affair of the heaven to the earth; then it will ascend to Him in a Day measure of which is a thousand years of what you count. That Knower, the unseen and the witnessed. Al-Aziz, All-Mighty; Ar-Rahim The Most Kind. The One Who made good every thing He created, and He began creation the human being from clay. Then He made his progeny from an extract of water despised. Then He fashioned him and breathed into him from His spirit and made for you the hearing and the sight and the feelings little what thanks you give." (Quran 32:4-10)

"Indeed, We created mankind in best mold. Then We returned him lowest, except those who believe and do righteous deeds, for them reward never ending." (Quran 95:4-6)

"Then is He Who creates like one who not create? Then will you not remember? And if you should count the Favors of Allah not you could enumerate them. Indeed Allah Al-Ghafur; The Oft-Forgiving, Ar-Rahim; The Most Especially Compassionate. And Allah knows what you conceal and what you reveal. And those whom they invoke besides Allah not they create anything, but themselves created. Dead, not alive, And not they perceive when they will be resurrected. Your god, God One. But those who not believe in the Hereafter, their hearts refuse, and they arrogant. (Quran 16:17-22)

"Nay! I swear by Day the Resurrection. And nay! I swear by the guilty conscience. Does think the human being that not We will assemble his bones? Nay! Able on that We can restore his fingertips. Nay! Desires the human being to give lie what is before him. He asks 'When Day the Resurrection?' So when is dazzled the vision, And becomes dark the moon, And are joined the sun and the moon, will say the human being that Day, 'Where the escape?' By no means! No refuge. To your Lord that day the place of rest. Will be informed the human being that Day of what he sent forth and kept back. Nay! The human being against himself a witness. Even if he presents his excuses. Not move with it your tongue to hasten with it. Indeed, upon Us its collection and its recitation. And when We have recited it, then follow its recitation. Then indeed, upon Us its explanation. Nay! But you love the immediate, And leave the Hereafter. Faces that Day radiant, towards their Lord looking And faces that Day distorted." (Quran 75:1-24)

Ayah (Sign, Poof, Evidence) Haal (State [of being]) Zahir/Batin (Outer/Inner) Hawas (Senses) Dunyah (Lowest, Nearest) Fikr (Deep Thought/Contemplation) Ayn (Eye) Aql (A Tie,Intillect) Aqidah (Creed, Belif System) Ilm (Information, Data, Knowlage) Dikr (Rememberance) Basirah (Insight) Hikmah (Wisdom) Huduth Dhati/Zamani (Essential/Temporal Nature [what-ness, when-ness]) Wujud (Existence [is-ness]) Mahiyya (Essence) Fitra (Orignal Design) Haqq (Reality, Right[s], Truth, Purpose) Yaqeen (Certanty) Qadr/Taqdir (Decree/Measure) Amr (Command) Mata (Tool/Utensil [a granted provision]) Sunnat-Allah (Way/System of Allah) Deen (Way of Life/Religion) Amanah (Trust [belief/faith]) Khalifa (Caretaker) Islam (Submission [peace, connection, safety, security]) Ihsan (Excellence, the highest degree of God-Conciousness [acts/works done with the quality of perceiving Allah despite Allah being in the Unseen]) Islah (Mend, cultivate, renew, fix, bring together, better, restore, make peace) Salah (Prayer, renewal, connection) Salam (Peace/Safety/Security [connection]) Mizan (Balance[scale]) Masjid/Sejdah (Place of Sejdah/Prostration) Various Names/Attributes of Allah with their core roots/meanings.

Environmental Design: The above concepts projected out into interactive environmental scenes, with the central prompt being recognition of Allah via an immersive layering in applicable order. For example, the first stage of recognition; perception of every thing as an ayat, sign pointing toward The One beyond cognition. Toward the reality that creation is composed of zahir, apparent/manifest, and batin, inner/hidden. Furthermore, that these two are general haal, states of being that apply to anything able to be recognized. These initial stages are gathering environments. Allah is Al-Jammi; The Gatherer, Al-Awwal; The Very First, Al-Akhir; The Final, The Endless, Al-Zahir; The Apparent, Manifest Ascendant, Al-Batin; The Hidden, Innermost Intimate, and He is, of every thing All-Knower.

The purpose behind all of this is simply to remember and glorify Allah, Al-Ali; The Most High, and be consciously appreciative to Him. One of the easiest ways to do that is to understand what we're presented with in creation around us; reality is composed of ayat of Allah. When'Muslims', those who submit (to Allah), greet one another, one of the most common phrases after saying 'Assalamu alaikum' - 'Peace be unto you' is the question 'kaif haal?' - 'What/how is your state?' The best and most common reply is 'Alhamdulilah' - 'All praise and thanks due to Allah. A fuller, extended reply is 'Alhamdulilah, kulli haal wa kulli shay' - 'All praise and thanks are due to Allah, every thing and every state.' A reference to how we're so often reminded in the Quran that everything in creation is immersed in the state of humd, thanks, and praise. If we could ask a tree, 'kaif haal?' its response would be 'Subhanallah and alhamdulilah', a glorification, praise, and thanks due to Allah; this is embodied simply in its existence. Its essential origination, the traits that denote its reality, define that. Haqq, reality, also means truth, right, and purpose; so to uphold one is to cultivate.

This is embodied simply by its existence. Its essential origination, the traits that denote its reality, define that. Haqq, reality, also means truth, right, and purpose; so to uphold is to cultivate others.

"By the time declining, indeed, the human being surely steeped in deep loss; Except those who believe and do righteous deeds, and enjoin to Haqq, truth/right/reality/purpose, and enjoin to the steadfast patience." (Quran Surah Al-Asr, The Time Declining 103)

In Surah Al-Asr, The Time Declining, Haqq translates as 'truth', and we're told to advise toward it. In Sura Al-Haqq, The Inevitable Reality, 'haqq' translates as reality, and we're warned of the inevitability of the Day of Judgement, the reality beyond this nearest/lowest realm. In Surah Al-Nisa, The Women, we're told about the importance of fulfilling and maintaining the Haqq; the rights of the poor/needy, the orphans, women, the wife, especially. Throughout the Quran, the word and concept of Haqq hold these meanings. The reality of a thing/state, the right[s], and the truth of it are one concept. So, to tell a lie, or to violate the rights of someone/something, is a transgression, a vain attempt to distort in reality. Whereas reality as it exists is truth; it is right inherently. To reflect on reality is to purposefully reflect on truth.

Al-Adl; The Just, As-Salam; The Source of All Peace

Not a check on ya shoe Not a check in ya hand It's on you Stay curved or get right on the way just moving thru Things made for profit here will be under the dirt longer than us Work toward the raincheck Life starts at the checkout We still in the aisles These bodies are the garments we wear, The seeds we plant What's wrong, nothing is if you ain't About face About being face-to-face We won't be here long Things matter too much

Travelers Check

As we look to the streets and hear no justice, no peace, a reflection of the reality we see, we're called to reflect on the manifest truth, right, and reality underneath and act accordingly.

"And not walk in the earth insolently indeed, you will never tear the earth and will never reach the mountains height" (Quran: 17:37)

"Do think those who commit evil deeds that We will make them like those who believed and did righteous deeds equal their life and their death? Evil is what they judge! And Allah created the heavens in the earth in Haqq, truth/right/reality and that may be recompensed every soul for what it has earned, and they will not be wronged." (Quran 45:21,22)

"Soon We will show them Our Ayat in the horizons and in themselves until becomes clear to them that it, Haqq. Is not sufficient concerning your Lord that He over all things a Witness?" (Quran: 41:53)

"So set your face to the way of life upright nature made by Allah upon which He has created mankind on it No change should there be in the creation of Allah, that is the way of life correct but most mankind not know. Turning to Him and be conscious of Him and establishing the prayer and not be of those who associate partners. Of those who divide their way of life and become sects, each party in what they have rejoicing. And when touches people hardship, they call their Lord, turning to Him. Then, when He causes them to taste from Him Mercy behold! A party of them with their Lord associate partners. So as to deny in what We have granted them. Then enjoy, but soon you will know. Or have We sent to them an authority and it speaks of what they were with Him associating? And when We cause a people to taste mercy, they rejoice therein but if afflicts them an evil for what have sent forth their hands, behold! They despair not they see that Allah extends the provision for whom He wills and straightens indeed in that surely Signs for a people who believe. So give the relative his right and the poor and the wayfarer. That best for those who desire Countenance of Allah. And those hey the successful ones. And what you give for usury to increase in wealth people not increase with Allah . But what you give of what We provided you, desiring Countenance of Allah, then those they get manifold. Allah the One Who created you, then He provided you, then He will cause you to die then He will give you life. Is any your partners who does of that any thing? Glory be to Him and exalted is He above what they associate. Has appeared the corruption in the land and the sea for what have earned the hands of people, so that He may let them taste a part of that which they have done so that they may return. " (Quran 30:30-41)

"O you who believed is prescribed for you the fasting as was prescribed to those from before you so that you may God-Conscious. Days numbered So whoever is among you sick or on a journey then prescribed number of days other and on those who can afford it a ransom feeding a poor. And whoever volunteers good then it better for him. And to fast better for you if you know." (Quran 2:183,184) "Month Ramadan, that was revealed therein the Quran a Guidance for mankind and clear Ayat, Proofs of the Guidance and that which distinguishes. So whoever among you witnesses the month, then he should fast in it and whoever is sick or on a journey thn prescribed number from days other. Inends Allah for you the ease, and not intends for you the hardship so that you complete the prescribed period and that you magnify Allah for what He guided you so that you may grateful. And when ask you My slaves about Me, indeed I am near. I respond invocation the supplicant when he calls Me. So let them respond to Me and let them believe in Me so that they may led aright." (Quran 2:185,186)

[Haqq; Truth, Right, Reality, Purpose - Islah; To mend/fix/restore, Rahmah; Compassion/care, womb - Masjid; Place of prostration - Islam; Submission, Salam; Peace, Connection, Security]

When transgressions occur, you gotta call it like it is, unjust acts of ignorance, viscerally disappointing. But it inspires us and those in similar spaces to step in and take the hope burning from our hands to light our collective communities. To step up and draw bridges to the introduction of better ideas into other spaces and carry the flag along with those in response to the harms and oppressions that similar communities face. Be it South LA, the West Bank, or the west side of Chicago, signs of a corrupt society tend to leave residuals on thoughts and blocks that build society. 'Islah' means to fix, to mend, to renew, to remediate, to restore, to make peace, to bring together, to cultivate. It's the root of 'Salah', To Pray; We establish the prayer to connect with and be more mindful of The Most Compassionate. He is the One Who sent us as caretakers, advised that there be among us a people calling to the right and forbidding from the wrong, calling to truth and good works - those are the successful ones.

When rights are violated, so is reality. We were entrusted not to transgress in the balance established by the Most Just. A reminder that we are standing firm for justice as we stand to establish prayer. We are not The Maker or The Gather, but our purpose is to be representatives of The Absolute Truth, The Most Especially Kind. It's easy to go astray when distracted from our purpose. We establish houses for any and all, these are our Masjids. The root of Masjid is 'Sejdah' To Prostrate; a Masjid is a place of prostration. Everyone can; there is space for us all. We weren't created except to join the rest of creation in submission to The Creator. That is 'Islam', Submission, the way of life we're facing. Wherever any of us turn, there face The Reality. A transgression of this shared space is against the human community. A violation of human rights.

We draw bridges toward The Source of All Peace, we connect to the common denominator, and strive to carry the flag along with those in response to the harms and oppressions that similar communities face. A coat of God-Consciousness that wears down injustice by uplifting its antithesis. As we look to the streets and see a lack of justice and peace, a reflection of a deficiency. We are the seeds we plant. The whole earth has been made a Masjid for the human family, one nation, under The God. The masjid is the place we sprout from, toward addressing the manifest truth, right, and reality underneath, and act accordingly. Never can a fire remove the brand of our Lord, and who is better than The Most High at branding? And we to Him alone submit.

It's the month when the Quran was decended the Quran, thus deen, fasting rahmadan, praying - our entire life really is to worship Allah in some form or another - to worship Him we gotta know Him. As we come to know Him, His signs are everywhere. To be aware of him is the purpose of life, and we're given some unique advice to how to act on that awareness

Fasting isn't really about food, it's about being conscious of Allah with even the most basic functions that our bodies are made to need. Allah put desires in us and gave us some amount of free agency and entrusted us with that agency Basically a tree, a plant, the sky, sun/moon, angels..ect the rest of creation perfectly obeys and submits to Allah. We're special creations because we're given a choice. The choice is what allows our submission and obedience on praise and thanks to Allah is what the deen of Islam is about. Only the creator can ask this if his creation and give us a chance to obey.

Fasting is to gain/increase God-consciousness

Your whole day becomes an act of worship

On the surface you're not eating but only you and Allah know if you've been eating/how hungry you are, how u fight the urge when you see food, how you make your prayers on time anyway, it's all a test for you to strive, to be the best you can at this work. And it's the only work we're actually here to do with thus life- fasting has been prescribed to us in this way of life, just as it was prescribed to prior God conscious peoples Yes, hunans are special in the way that we have a trust/responsibility/opportunity the rest of creation doesn't have but we gotta work for it. The heavens and the earth and the mountains, other creations were offered the opportunity/trust but they we scared of it - the human being agreed to it but was ignorant and unjust. But Allah sent us guidance via the Quran in rahmadan and the example of the prophet Muhammad and his sunnah his way/example. When the Quran was being revealed it was coming directly to him from angel Gabriel and he would recite it from memory. Now we have the book and his example preserved. He was the embodiment of god-conciousness in every action that He took. All of it was guided by Allah and in perfect submission to Allah so we follow Him in obedience to Allah

A non-profit organization I'm founding to further unfold the research journey expressed in this document. I started writing it when I first came into deen to try and express the very surreal occurrences that I was experiencing. It was difficult to explain them to people, muslims or otherwise, 'til I spent time immersed in deen-related study to find thoughts and terms, Mata (tools), that when pieced together, expressed analogies that helped present some way of elucidating what seemed to be on the other side of a thinly veiled curtain of reality pulled back in very scary episodes. Rather than focusing on the scary/surreal experiences of these episodes, which seemed to just trigger them for myself and occasionally people that I'd try to tell about them, it became more beneficial to express the ideas in ways that connected others to Allah and His Words.

The understanding that there is an unseen reality that's even more prevalent in dictating the causal relationships of the reality we experience. That the other reality exists in parallel with this dunyah/or ours, operating under another set of rules that are directly tethered to this reality. It became apparent to me after long strings of initially coincidental happenings that got so long and unlikely that I realized they weren't coincidental. The Quran seems like a normal book'til you're two chapters in and stuff starts popping off around you. And every time you re-open it, wilder and wilder things start happening; like a domain expanding/expansion in your immediate surroundings and suddenly placing you in the center of a series of oddly specific tests that everyone and everything around you seems privy to, but the degree to which the tests influence your context is impossibly large. So large, in fact, that the realization that follows is very scary to place words to, just a gradual recognition.

Only in retrospect is one able to acknowledge that re-recognition is of the One administering the test - that there's only One Who could - and that the correlation with reading a particular book triggers the surreal carnival dimension of tests like a pulled back curtain drives a person to want to re-draw the curtain and close down the domain expansion. (and) That only very specific actions seem to do that. Actions so specific that there's a glimmer of consolation, that it might be possible to learn or grasp the patterns and triggers with some study. The book that seems to cause them becomes the study guide, and eventually the guidance within it is acted upon thoughtfully, resolving the surreal carnival unveilings; not in that they close but that an understanding is reached that they're continuously present. The domain is always expanded; it's the awareness of it that shifts. Before long, the once scary triggers or openings and their situational causalities become reminders of certainty rather than scarily surreal trials.

Research and reflection cultivate internal annotations. A vocabulary gradually pulled from the lexicon prescribed to existence. All pointing back -(/to) evidence of the One Who prescribed and actively administers existence. Ayat - Ayat in creation. Sign, Proof, Evidence - a vector line, a ray from the origin pointing back. Reorientation to the way. The platform is used for that. An expression of it is the Muslim Resource Guide, but the guide itself couldn't be the platform because the platform isn't Al-Hadi; The Guide. The platform is the same platform that everything else in creation is (/stands, rests, or sits?) on. If you were to ask a tree, 'whatchu on?' Or, 'wassup?', it would say the same thing a muslim would because it's doing the same thing the same way a muslim should be: 'Alhamdulilah'/'Subhanallah'. All the praise and thanks to Allah The Most High, Exalted. We don't understand the language of creation except for what the One Who created has guided us to.

Allah taught Adam the names, all of them. He also taught by the pen, and He reminds us that we don't encompass anything of knowledge except that which He wills. That if all the oceans were ink, with another set of oceans added to them and all the trees pens, His words would never be exhausted. That He is Al-Alim; The All-Knowing, Al-Hakim; The All-Wise. The platform is a collection of ideas acquired in the way of submission toward the One Who granted them. Ideas can't be owned; understanding is entrusted to us, (. The opportunity) to build systems in which efforts could link themselves to the platform and through the platform you could interact with and see connections all throughout the country and those connections could reach out with and join to address needs with other like-minded efforts and individuals coming together fisabilillah, to address those needs as caretakers. It's just a tool at the end of the day, about (focused on) the goal rather than the means, both are to Allah as is every thing.

If you were to ask any thing its state of being; 'kaif haal?' -(Or,) 'W(w)hat's your state?' We seek to join in answering the call back by recognizing the signs and following the directions. Linking each Ayah, a sign perceived in creation as a trust to be upheld, a trust to recall the one who bestowed the trust and move accordingly with Him in mind. To recognize that everything in creation is a resource, reality itself as the means; the resource is a means of reenvisioning rather than a particular vision. As Allah tells us in the Quran; havent we turned the vision to the birds amidst the sky, folding and unfolding doesn't hold them up; Ar-Rahman, The Most Compassionate, holds them up, and He's All-Seeing. I don't have a vision; we were directed what to do with the vision: to recognize and be appreciative in our submission to Allah. To see the primary cause as the only cause when we perceive the manifest effect of the reality that there is no might or power but Allah. Its a trust so big that the mountains and heavens and feared from it; but we took it and so we're tested with it in this life

an opportunity to see who is best, most God-Conscious in the work we do, but we can be ignorant and unjust, so we're given guidance toward upholding justice and working righteousness in the balance, surrounded by the manifest evidence around us; what He's given us; knowledge of Him, guidance to and from Him toward our purpose here, His worship. The Muslim resource guide is as much a means toward it as a tree is. We've been given guidance, like a tree - we can learn to say 'alhamdulilah' and 'subhanallah' like a tree, but unlike the rest of creation, we can say and not do. To recognize an apple not solely as a resource in and of itself but to see it as risq; sustenance of Ar-Razzaq; The Ever-Provider who gave us guidance toward upholding whatever we've been entrusted with of the reality of His sustenance; Not to see a 'Housing' or 'Education' as resources, rather as tools and opportunities to be strived in the way of Al-Alim; The All-Knowing, As-Salam; The Source of All Peace and - reminders of rights to be upheld to which we've been given guidance regarding not transgressing in the balance and remediating, renewing, calling to the truth, right fisabilillah.

A way of seeing the purpose, reality. This applied way of seeing is itself a potential provision in the way of Allah; An 'Inner Reality Lens' a way of viewing and means of recognizing our immediate surroundings as being composed of Ayat, Signs pointing back to the Singular cause of All, The One, Allah. The fact that we're entrusted with an opportunity to come to know of Allah via His Ayat in creations around us and within us is itself a resource, a provision from Him. 'Ayat in Creation' is the means to draw bridges back to his reminders in every state and every thing presented. These bridges connect people not to resources but to the open doorways of Allah via a recognition of His Names & Attributes, reminders of Alhamdulilah Rabb Alameen. All the Praise and thanks to Allah, Lord of all there is.

That collective understanding is itself a platform of being. A state of Haal. So each of the aforementioned Applications is strung together through the 'Keys to Kulli Haal' a Curriculum, a means of perceiving the fabric of reality as a veil adorned with the Consciousness of Allah. 'Reshat Al-Taqwah' An adornment of God-Consciousness. That adornment can be accessed by anyone in any specific route. I've just been bithnillah developing the 'Haal Project' as a means of making available these ideas as applied tools for cartaking.

Keys to Kulli Haal; A Curriculum to the fabric of reality, Ayat in Creation; A Open world Journey through the fabric of reality, Inner Reality Lens; An application in which the recognition of a thing becomes a utility. The Muslim Resource Guide; A Utility for servicing communities as a caretaker.

The Haal Project

Our project is a garden of caretakers, no walls, an open toolkit. Anywhere we can come to understand, stand on and work from For us, by us, fisabilillah.

www.haalproject.org