If you guys want a nice corporate job where you get paid to do nothing and be actively useless, I recommend HR. Because I've yet to meet a competent colleague in that field :))))
The growing tendency of some sectarian groups to hide under the banner of Sunnah while hastily branding others as people of Bidʿah is a dangerous distortion of Islamic scholarship. What was once a contextualized and deeply intellectual tradition has been reduced to a tool of ideological control. In classical Islam, Sunnah was never limited to outward imitation, nor was Bidʿah a blanket condemnation of everything new. Rather, scholars approached both concepts with depth, balance, and an understanding of context. Today, however, these terms are increasingly weaponized to silence dissent, discredit legitimate differences, and impose narrow interpretations as absolute truth.
This manipulation thrives on oversimplification and selective teaching. Complex juristic discussions are reduced to slogans, and young Muslims are fed rigid, black-and-white narratives that leave no room for intellectual engagement. Practices that are culturally rooted, historically grounded, and even juristically valid are hastily dismissed as innovation simply because they do not align with a particular ideological lens. In this process, religion is stripped of its richness, and culture is treated as an enemy rather than a vehicle through which Islam has historically flourished.
The most alarming consequence is the indoctrination of young minds. Many are conditioned to equate piety with rejection, rejecting culture, rejecting diversity, and even rejecting centuries of scholarship. This creates a generation that is intellectually confined, emotionally charged, and often disconnected from both their heritage and the broader Islamic tradition. Instead of nurturing wisdom, humility, and depth, such indoctrination breeds arrogance, intolerance, and division within the Ummah.
This trend must be confronted with knowledge, balance, and courage. Scholars and community leaders have a responsibility to restore the proper understanding of Sunnah and Bidʿah, grounded in the principles of scholarship, context, and mercy. Islam is not at war with culture; it refines and elevates it. If we fail to challenge these distortions, we risk raising generations who inherit a version of Islam that is narrow, harsh, and disconnected from its own intellectual and civilizational heritage.
“For a long time, I was a guest in our house”
Thierry Henry speaks from his soul. He has depth. He’s a man in touch with himself. I recall some years ago, he spoke about how much he wanted to please his father on @StevenBartlett Diary of a CEO podcast. Everything he aimed to achieve was to please the voice that rang in his head, telling him to do it better. His father stood behind him while he built a career, probably saw the good many never saw.
As a father, he also mentioned how COVID-19 changed his life. It was the point he chose his family. That was probably why he said at some point, he became a guest in his house.
Men become guests in their house.
There was a Reminisce Alaga interview I saw. I think it was on @ISWISPodcast. He said there was a point he went into his daughter(s) room and asked when they painted the wall pink. His wife told him it’s been there for two years. He said that was the point he thought it important to rest on the tours and be with his children. At that point, he probably was a guest in his house.
Men’s lives are not easy. Footballers especially — elite footballers most especially are like tour musicians. They’re often on the road. You’re playing away games round the country, spending three days or more away from home when you have continental away games.
Gabriel Jesus spoke about the same thing in his recent interview with @PlayersTribune titled “A Letter to My Family and my Arsenal Family”. He said football made him distant but his ACL injury brought him closer.
“I wasn’t the husband and father that I needed to be,” he said.
When his wife gave birth to his daughter, he said he only held her for one day. Brazil called and he had to go. And he was a guy who grew up without a father. For his child at the time, he was there now but wasn’t there too.
“I always promised myself: When I become a father, I will always be there for my kids.
“When Helena was born, I was not living up to that. I was there, but I was always distracted, you know? Always catching a flight.”
That’s the tough decisions men have to make sometimes.
At the point of growth and ascent, life will ask questions, and difficult decisions will need to be made. Hopefully, it will be one that won’t damage the future. The future one is securing.
Don't blame us if we believe in God so much! Growing up, we watched our parents cry earnestly to God and miracles happened.
School fees got paid, outstanding bills get settled, food was provided. There was always a way out, no matter how hard it got.
I do wonder why posts such as this don't go viral. Could it be because most of us don't agree with the content, do not understand it or are simply just being our hypocritical selves?
This is how you start a real and true revolution. At the personal level. 💪
Raising your kids to be a winger / striker is risky business. You gotta raise a fullback who drops 7/10s weekly. Those are the guys quietly racking up 10+ yr careers at the same club