Ep. 026 — We Too Shall Pass

Quote: "We are all from Allah, and to Allah we return" —Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 156

About:

In mere weeks, this country has seen COVID-19-related deaths rise past casualty totals for past wars and surprise attacks, sometimes passing those records daily. It seems like every day is filled with death.

But this isn’t the first time humanity has faced a pandemic. And this isn’t the first time society has reckoned with death. Is this a punishment? Or is God to blame?

In this latest podcast episode, we turn to the past for guidance on how to deal with our present—and it too is a trip.

Show Notes:

1. [00:30] More on “The Layers of Heaven” by Jovica
2. [00:45] Al-Mulk, verses 1-6
3. [02:00] Al-Baqarah, verses 155-56
4. [02:20] Light reading on the term nafs 
   1. As described by Oxford Islamic Studies Online
   2. More light reading
   3. A short talk on the subject
5. [04:10] “Keffel” by The Blue Dot Sessions
6. [04:20] Related: a list of other common arabic phrases
7. [05:10] More on David Sloane | (@dcsloane53)
   1. And his book, Is the Cemetery Dead
8. [05:50] The state of:
   1. Morgues
   2. Refrigerated trucks
   3. Funerals 
   4. And more funerals
   5. Cemeteries in areas like New York
   6. And in other places like Indonesia
   7. And the state of mourning
9. [06:30] Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad related to attendance and funeral prayers
10. [06:55] “Aloscape 2” by The Blue Dot Sessions
11. [07:00] Al-Qaf, verse 19
12. [07:40] More on Imam Zaid Shakir | (@ImamZaidShakir)
    1. More on Zaytuna College
    2. s/o to the Lighthouse Mosque in Oakland
    3. Part of his service at Muhammad Ali’s funeral ceremony
13. [08:25] Light reading on the Archangel Azrael
    1. Light reading on what happens when you die
    2. Light reading on the Angels Munkar and Nakir
    3. Light reading on the rites of the dead
14. [08:25] “Aloscape 1” by The Blue Dot Sessions
15. [10:10] More on Islamic burial laws in times of the coronavirus
16. [12:15] Light reading on the concept of the hereafter in Islam
17. [13:00] Al-Jumu’ah, verse 8
18. [13:15] “Clatl” by The Blue Dot Sessions
19. [13:45] More on AbdulKarim Yahya | (@abdulkarimyahya)
    1. And an old tv segment with a younger AbdulKarim
20. [15:10] Light reading on the timeline of the early Islamic days
21. [15:15] Light reading on what Mecca was like before Islam
22. [15:20] Light video lesson on early Islamic days
23. [15:30] Light context on the those early Islamic days
24. [15:45] Light reading on the Quraysh
25. [16:25] The sayings of the Prophet regarding martyrdom
    1. And another one
26. [16:45] On the history of the “quarantine”
    1. Not mentioned in the podcast: Ibn Sina’s 40-day ban
27. [17:30] On the Prophet Muhammad and times of pandemics 
28. [18:40] Light reading on Plague in Early Islamic History
29. [18:45] Light reading on Umar ibn al-Khattab
30. [18:45] Light reading on Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah
31. [19:05] “ZigZag Heart” by The Blue Dot Sessions
32. [19:25] More detail on the Umar ibn al-Khattab’s meeting in the desert
33. [19:30] Light reading on the Ansar
34. [22:15] More on the Prophet Muhummad’s parable of tying up your camel
35. [22:45] Al-Imran, verse 185
36. [23:00] “Lick Stick” by The Blue Dot Sessions
37. [24:00] More on Dr. Nükhet Varlik
38. [24:30] “Rainday Textile” by The Blue Dot Sessions
39. [24:30] Regarding the Black Death
    1. And how it compares to past pandemics
    2. And in another visual
    3. Its symptoms
    4. Its death toll and the silver lining 
40. [25:20] “Raskt Landsby” by The Blue Dot Sessions
41. [25:20] Trump soundbytes on 
    1. 2.29.20
    2. 3.23.20
    3. 3.25.20
42. [26:55] Light reading on the Venetian Plague Doctor
43. [28:10] “Campanula” by The Blue Dot Sessions
44. [28:30] More on Plagues, Medicine, and the Early Modern Ottoman State
45. [28:35] “Static City Drumline” by The Blue Dot Sessions
46. [28:45] Light reading on Khidr
47. [30:10] Light reading on Evliya Çelebi
48. [33:00] Al-Hadid, verses 22-23
49. [34:45] List of past pandemics revisited
50. [35:15] John Hopkins University COVID-19 Dashboard
51. [36:30] “Intercept” by The Blue Dot Sessions
52. [37:45] Super quick primer on materialism
53. [38:15] Super quick primer on the Islamic metaphysics
54. [39:15] “Where it All Happened” by The Blue Dot Sessions
55. [39:20] Light reading on…
    1. Transhumanism and a timeline of the movement
    2. The singularity
    3. Ray Kurzweil
    4. Shameless plug for an earlier episode of this podcast touching on technology debate
56. [41:50] Short video on income inequality in America
    1. Report on how billionaires keep on winning amidst the coronavirus
       1. Between January 1, 2020 and April 10, 2020, 34 of the nation’s wealthiest 170 billionaires saw their wealth increase by tens of millions of dollars. 
    2. Report on how 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than 60 percent of the world’s population of more than 4 billion people 
57. [42:40] “Cicle Ariel” by The Blue Dot Sessions
58. [42:50] Related: A Bay Area commute to work
59. [45:30] Related: Light reading on environmental racism
60. [45:50] Related: On the racial demographics of life and death as it pertains to COVID-19
    1. Another one
    2. And another one
    3. And another one
    4. And another one
61. [46:30] Related: On food deserts
    1. And another one
    2. And another one
    3. And another one
62. [46:40] Related: Overview of past tax rates
63. [48:45] Light reading on “death and taxes”
64. [50:42] Sufjan Stevens’ “Fourth of July” Cover by Constellation Men’s Ensemble and arranged by Kevin Vondrak
    1. They are a vocal group based out of Chicago dedicated to empowering the next generation of singers through educational engagement.
65. More on Imam Ali Mukasa
66. PODCAST RECOMMENDATION: American Submitter by Imran Ali Malik
67. More at thisissomenoise.com