In Genesis 15, right after God sealed his covenant with Abraham, God told him his descendants will spend 400 years in Egypt
God also promised that he would bring the descendants of Abraham out of Egypt with a mighty hand
Abraham didn't argue with God, he accepted God's verdict as

He knew marrying her was a mistake on their honeymoon,
she suddenly went into an eerie silence when they got into the hotel room.
He was still all bubbly and happy
He didn't notice her change of mood until he finished undressing
By that time, she had taken offense that he didn't

pay attention to her change of mood which happened about an hour earlier
He asked her what was wrong with her
She flared up
"Is this how you are going to do husband? If I had died right by your side, you wouldn't have noticed for one hour and three minutes?
Is this was I settled

for?
He was taken aback
It was the last thing he expected
The surprise showed on his face
She saw it and shouted "Oh my God. You regret marrying me right? You are already weary or is that disgust i see on your face?"
He didn't even know what to say, so he sat down and kept quiet

while she ranted and cried
When she was done, he wanted to hold her and placate her
He felt the events of the day had gotten to her and she was just venting
As soon as he touched her on the shoulder, she flared up
"Dont infect me with leprosy. Just go. Get out. I don't want your

sympathy. I dont want you consoling me. Just get out.
He did
He left her in the room
He went into the restaurant of the hotel for two hours
He bought some sparkling water because he wanted their first meal as a couple to be together
By 1AM, he went back to the room and knocked on

The brother came into his DM like a thief in the night
The brother said he needed some help
Things were tight and love was scarce
The brother said he was a Christian brother
The brother played the Jesus card
He told the brother to send his bank account details
The brother said

he would prefer that they meet
Silver and gold can come later
Can you please meet with me?
He told the Brother when and where
He sent the brother transport fare
They met and talked like brothers
The brother was quite smart
What he got when he was leaving
was ten times what he

would have gotten had they not met
The brother became a regular visitor
to his office
They would sit and talk about life and the gospel
The brother's situation was quite pathetic
No job, no money, nothing to show for his almost forty years of existence
He said he once had a job

and even bought a car
But when the wind and the waves came, he sold all he could to keep body and soul together
After about three months after meeting the brother
His younger sister came to the office to see him
She was a software engineer working with a blue-chip company abroad

Just as he was seeing his sister off
The brother arrived with a friend
The brother said he had a visitor from out of state and wanted to ensure that his visitor met his new friend in Christ
He knew what the brother wanted to do
Yet, he smiled and said hello and shook hands with

He was at the office when he received the phone call
It was from the most unexpected source
It was from the administrator of the Headquarter of the church he was attending
He joined one of the branches of the church as a young man and had grown to become an altar minister. He had

always known he was called into ministry but he didn't know why he had been summoned to the headquarters.
He got there very early the following morning, he was barely seated when the pastor of the branch he was with also came in
They were ushered into the office of the pastor in

charge of the headquarter church
There was a few chit-chats
More like a job interview and then the pastor of the headquarter church told him his pastor was being transferred abroad on mission work and had recommended him to take over the affairs of the church
He didn't see it

coming
The Pastor in charge of the headquarters parish told him he came highly recommended and she believed he would deliver
She prayed for him and told him she would come to their parish the following Sunday to come and make the announcement official
He drove home with his head

in the clouds
He was aware the pastor would be traveling for mission work but had assumed the church will post another pastor to the parish
He was just 33 years old at the time and it was the last thing on his mind
When he got home, he told his wife the good news
He also told som

I know a Christian who prayed fervently for up to 9 hours a day for about five years. On many occasions, she turned hunger to a fast for lack of food to eat with her children
This woman didn't have a job or learn a trade. She was a full housewife before her husband died.

All she did was sit at home and pray
She was dirt poor and even her children despised her
She invited me to her home one day and asked me why God has not changed her story despite all her hours of praying and fasting
I said "Why didn't you get a job? Start a trade? become an

apprentice
somewhere? Is praying a job? Is praying a source of income and blessing? No.
The next day, she went to a friend who has a pharmacy and asked if she could be coming to work for four hours every day for a stipend
The friend agreed
Two weeks later, somebody came to the

shop to get some drugs
The person's baby was convulsing and the doctors told her to rush to a pharmacy and buy a particular drug
The drug was available but the person didn't have enough money
The person begged her to please give her the drugs on credit
The person promised to pay

up as soon as her husband returned
home from the office
She gave the person the drug
Her friend got back to the shop and saw that the expensive drug was
missing
She explained what happened
The friend embarrassed her and sent her out of her shop
She cried all the way home
The

An apostle was addressing his own members
If not for technology, you wouldn't be privy to his discussion with his members
He was sharing with them within the context of their understanding of his message, nature, and personality how he thrived in the middle of a season of casting

down
He mentioned what he achieved and even though it might sound like a boast, he was not boasting to you
He was boasting to his church members and as such, you cannot call it a boast
A father does not need to boast to his children and a shepherd surely does not need to boast to

his sheep
Newspapers needed a scandal and felt the message of the apostle was the right fit in their quest to get eyeballs
You read it and you began to insult the apostle
You, the son of a dog from Abatan refuse dump decided to drag an apostle on Twitter
Do you understand what it

means to be an apostle?
The angels working with an apostle are innumerable, they do not only work at his command, but they also work at his behest!
They are entrusted with the duty of ensuring that the Lordship of his office is respected by both spiritual and mundane entities

In the days of Jesus, many of the Pharisees and religious leaders treated his words and actions the same way many of the gutter bred stone casters with 100 Naira data and stolen or London used phone treated the words of the apostle
Jesus warned them at the time that they were

#Mahabhashiam #GovindaBhagavatpada #AdiShankara

Adi Shankara's guru was Govinda Bhagavatpada who in turn was a shishya of Sree Gaudapadacharya. Interestingly, his story is connected to Mahabhashiam by Patanjali and his 4 sons are prodigies in their own right.

1/

Sage Patanjali was very kind at heart, but extremely short tempered. After composing the colossal Mahabhashiam, he started to spread the knowledge by conducting classes.

Once, one of his students stepped out of class. Patanjali was very furious & flames came out of his eyes.

2/

The flames burnt all 999 students in the class. The student who stepped out came in and said, "Gurudeva, don't worry. I am alive. I can propogate the knowledge of Mahabhashiam"

Patanjali was furious that because of him he lost others & landed up burning him down too

3/

There was a Gandharva who comes & says, "Master, I have learnt the Mahabhashiam from the nearby Peepal tree. I can help spread the knowledge"

Patanjali was livid and anger and curses him that he has cheated and hence, should become Brahmarakshasa.

4/

Gandharva begs for forgiveness. Patanjali says that he will meet a befitting student to whom he should teach Mahaabhashiam. Once the student learns, he will be rid of curse

Brahmarakshasa starts to pose questions to passing by Brahmins. When they dont answer, he eats them

5/

Ever heard of a temple where the statue of the Goddess was found in a field in 1936 after spending almost a millenia under the soil?And is worshipped as the Tri-Sakthi-Swaroopini?
No?
I shall narrate the story of Nidadavole Kota Satthema temple in West Godavari district, Andhra

Nidadavole is a sleepy little town in the district of West Godavari, located a few kilometres from the Godavari. Among other things, it is famous for its Gramadevatha and Kshetrapalika, the Goddess Kota Satthema

In the tenth century, Nidadavole was known as Nirvadhyapuram, and was under the rule of the Eastern Chalukyas. They were nominal feudatories of the Kakatiyas of Warangal. The local Sthalapurana indicates that the original temple was built by one king called Virabhadra.

This Virabhadra has been identified as the husband and royal regent of the Kakatiya Empress, Rani Rudramadevi who ruled Central Deccan during the period. The original stone figure of the Goddess was built within a fort during his reign.

The goddess was worshipped as the Shakti of the Fort. Over time the name entered the vernacular parlance as Kota (the telugu word for Fort) and Satthema (a local vulgarisation of the word Shakti).

Today makes four years since I took my shahada and became Muslim, even though it feels like a lifetime ago.

Below are some reflections and advices I’d give to new Muslims and the greater Muslim community as someone who accepted Islam:

1) Remember what you got here in the first place: Allah. No one has an easy journey in this fleeting life. Remember when times get difficult that your Lord guiding you to Islam is a sign of His mercy. Let your actions be for Him alone, and you’ll see the blessings unfold.

2) Choose your company wisely: the Prophet ﷺ tells us good company is like the one who sells perfume and bad company is like a blacksmith. Surround yourself around people who will benefit you in your journey seeking Allah. Do not be around people who will hurt your akhira.

3) Be gentle: if you want guidance for your loved ones, don’t be harsh with them nor should you try and debate them. Speak kindly, treat them with honor, and allow your actions to be a representation of your faith. Remember the Prophet ﷺ was characterized as a walking Quran!

4) Seek knowledge, but take it slow: it’s easy to rush into things overzealously and be burnt out. Take things a step at a time, and in increments. You won’t ever be perfect, but strive for ihsan. Make it so that you feel like you’re falling in love with your deen repeatedly.

Here is a special thread introducing our series on “The Making of the Islamic World.” It offers 10 episodes about the transformation of Islamicate societies between the 7th and 17th centuries. You can find the series page here: https://t.co/7mL9eWmMmz

This is Chris Gratien posting. I created this series during Fall 2020 for my students as asynchronous material supported by readings and discussion. This is going to be a long thread, but it will be a great shortcut for those looking to make similar use of these materials.

There are two items worth pointing out: 1. This is an overview of the political, social, and cultural history of Islamicate societies. It does not deal with the origins of Islam or many theological questions. It does discuss Islam’s spread and the transformation of Islamic law.

2. This is the first part of a two-part sequence that takes the history of the Islamic world into the present. It emphasizes developments and themes that have particular relevance for later periods.

This is really a multivocal narrative of Islamic history. We feature over 20 scholars from almost as many institutions. Many of those who worked on it, myself included, study the early modern and modern era but have teaching obligations that take us further back in history.