[ The Impact of the Soul’s Arrogance and Impetuosity on the Intellect ]
Psychological dispositions (al-ṭabāʾiʿ al-nafsiyyah) profoundly influence human intellect (ʿaql) and choice, sometimes exerting a severe dominance over them. An angry and impetuous soul (al-nafs al-ghaḍūb al-ḥāddah) deprives the intellect of the time needed to contemplate and reflect; instead, it forces it to make rash decisions. (Impetuous soul: is a soul which acts quickly and emotionally, often in fury without taking the time to think about the consequences.) It may even completely tyrannize the intellect, forcing its submission—especially if the intellect is weak and the soul is powerful—causing the individual to act against the very truths they are consciously convinced of. Conversely, a forbearing and calm soul (al-nafs al-ḥalīmah al-hādiʾah) grants the intellect the necessary time for scrutiny and reflection.
However, if its calmness becomes excessive, it turns detrimental, degrading into sluggishness (balādah) and foolishness (balāhah). The individual then misses out on opportunities for good while holding back the intellect under the pretext of deep contemplation. This aversion and stagnation intensify if this disposition aligns with a lack of desire (shahwah), leaving the soul entirely devoid of any drive to act.
Among psychological traits are those that obstruct the intellect from learning in the first place, or, if it does learn, prevent it from benefiting from what it has acquired. Chief among these is pride (kibr). No psychological disposition is more destructive to the intellect than pride. Al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī classified it as one of the polar opposites of the intellect (aḍdād al-ʿaql). It is a trait for which ignorance (jahl) would actually be better than knowledge (ʿilm).
Pride produces an intoxication (nashwah) within the soul that paralyzes the intellect's ability to acquire or apply knowledge. Any internal feeling that elevates the soul above its true reality constitutes pride. When a soul harbors this self-delusion, its desire to seek knowledge diminishes proportionally. Even if it manages to acquire knowledge, its capacity to think critically using that knowledge weakens, and its utility plummets because it perceives no actual need for it, living instead within an illusion of self-sufficiency. Concerning such souls, God says: “In their breasts is nothing but pride, which they shall never attain” [Ghāfir: 56].
The arrogant person fails to perceive what their senses register at its true scale. When pride peaks, their cognitive frameworks warp entirely: they perceive the instruments of destruction as means of salvation, and the means of salvation as destruction. They become completely blind to any external forces of benefit or harm outside of themselves.
Because Pharaoh reached the absolute pinnacle of pride, he pursued Moses (peace be upon him). When God miraculously parted the sea for Moses with his staff, splitting it into two towering walls with a dry path in between, this terrifying sign did not deter Pharaoh from charging ahead. Blinded by the illusion that no power existed outside his own and that safety depended entirely on his might, he rationalized that the path was cleared specifically for him to capture Moses, rather than opened for Moses to escape. It was as though he believed Moses was merely marching to his own doom, and that mankind could only flee from Pharaoh back to Pharaoh.
This inverted perception of causality (al-idrāk al-maʿkūs lil-asbāb) plagues those who reach the apex of pride and tyranny (ṭughyān). The arrogance of their souls completely locks down their intellects, blinding them to any knowledge that contradicts their desires or any reasoning that deviates from their whims.
Horrible decision if they are forcing age verification by removing anonymity (linking digital ID to sm accounts.). Experts already said that this is ineffective and more harmful than benefits achieved.
In Cuba, people pay one dollar for a USB stick.
What is on it: all of Wikipedia. Every article. Every image. 7 million entries.
In North Korea, the same kind of stick is smuggled across the border in plastic bottles.
In US and European prisons, inmates use it because they cannot touch the open internet.
The software that makes those sticks work is called Kiwix. A Swiss developer named Emmanuel Engelhart wrote it in 2007 in Lausanne because four billion people on Earth cannot read Wikipedia. Nineteen years later he is still shipping. Mostly unpaid.
The repo:
→ 5,613 stars across the org
→ GPL-3.0 licensed
→ 100+ languages
→ 4 million users worldwide
How it compares:
ChatGPT Plus → $240/yr, online only, blocked
Britannica → $74.95/yr, online only, blocked
Kiwix → $0, offline, works anywhere
You download one file. 109 gigabytes. It fits on a $12 USB stick. That stick now contains roughly a thousand years of human knowledge.
Here is the wildest part:
The Wikimedia Foundation reported in 2018 that 80% of Kiwix users were in emerging countries. North Korea bans the internet but they cannot ban a USB stick already inside the country. In Cuba, vendors sell weekly Wikipedia updates for one dollar. The Foundation called it "connecting the unconnected."
Engelhart's mission, written in a 2014 email:
"Our users are sailors on the oceans, poor students thirsty for knowledge, world's citizens suffering from censorship or free minded prisoners."
The honest part: 109 GB of disk space. UI looks like 2010. Updates every few months, not real time. And every byte is Creative Commons or public domain. Zero piracy. Zero DMCA risk.
Lausanne, Switzerland. One Swiss developer. Every human library, in your pocket, even when the lights go out.
Imagine a mind holding all 9 major books of Hadith (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, etc.). Now imagine that same head forcefully pinned to the floor by a guard's boot. Is this how the Ummah treats its scholars? Unacceptable. #Free_Nasr_Alfhd#ناصر_الفهد
When the Ummah was tested with America invading Afghanistan, the Shaykh exerted efforts to incite the believers to support their brothers and warning them from allying with the Kuffar against the Muslims. And he became a wanted man & got arrested
#free_nasr_alfhd#ناصر_الفهد
#free_nasr_alfhd#ناصر_الفهد
I often find myself remembering the special Shuyūkh whom I loved for the sake of Allah, never letting a single day pass without making duʿāʾ for them repeatedly throughout the day. Foremost among those I mention after my parents is ḥabīb al-qalb, al-Shaykh al-Imām Nāṣir al-Fahd — فكَّ اللهُ بالعزِّ أسره.
I reminisce about the days of daʿwah we spent together, recalling the statement of Imām Aḥmad — may Allah have mercy on him — “إذا مات أصدقاء الرجل ذلّ” — “When a man’s friends die, he becomes humbled.” At times, I find myself extending its meaning in my heart: when a man’s friends die or are imprisoned, he becomes humbled.
Over the years, I often longed to read those letters again, though I had assumed they had all been confiscated during repeated raids in which digital devices, papers, and entire collections of belongings were seized. In many of those raids, they would even leaf through every book in my library, leaving the shelves emptied and the volumes scattered across the floor.
Weeks ago, however, I was overwhelmed with joy to discover that I had once printed one of his letters and used it as a bookmark in a notebook.
The Shaykh — فكَّ اللهُ بالعزِّ أسره — went out of his way to send me several letters from prison, written with ink made from a mixture of coffee and water, and a straw used as a pen. The first of those letters was the one attached here, sent after he learned of my release from prison. It contained words of encouragement and support the like of which, at that time, I had heard from no one outside my own family. For that alone, apart from his many other favors, I don't believe I could ever make enough duʿāʾ for him.
Having no close companion besides my father — may Allah grant him a long life filled with righteous deeds — I often find comfort in the companionship of Shaykh Nāṣir — فكَّ اللهُ بالعزِّ أسره — by returning to his books during quiet moments. I keep them within arm’s reach wherever I sit; they bring solace to my heart, and I never tire of reading them.
Rediscovering this letter brought even greater comfort, especially at a time like this.
May Allah keep him and his brothers steadfast upon the ḥaqq, hasten their release with honour, and grant us the joy of seeing them as imams leading this ummah sooner rather than later.
May Allah humiliate those who imprisoned them and those who rejoice in their imprisonment and oppression, and reunite us with them in al-Firdaws.
Ahmad Musa Jibril
4 Dhul-Ḥijjah 1447 AH
✍️**A Letter from Shaykh Nāṣir — فكَّ اللهُ بالعزِّ أسره —**
From Nasser bin Hamad Al-Fahd to the two noble brothers and virtuous Shaykhs, Musa bin Jibril and his son Ahmad, may Allah protect them from every evil and grant them success in every good. Amin.
Salāmun ʿalaykum wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh. To proceed:
Indeed, I praise Allah to you, the One besides whom there is no deity, and I ask Him, Glorified be He, that this letter reaches you while you are in goodness and well-being. News of you reached me through (******) — may Allah grant him success — and I was pleased with the state you are now upon [i.e., the da‘wah you are engaged in], and praise belongs to Allah.
Whatever has befallen you of trials is the path of the prophets and the righteous reformers.
I ask Allah, Glorified be He, to make what has afflicted you an elevation in your ranks and an expiation for your sins, and to make us and you steadfast upon the firm word in this worldly life and the Hereafter.
And I give you glad tidings that we, along with all the brothers in the prisons, are in a tremendous blessing that reminds us of the statement of Shaykh al-Islam — may Allah have mercy on him — during his final imprisonment in the Citadel: “If I were given the equivalent of this Citadel filled with gold, it would not equal for me the gratitude I owe for this blessing.”
Convey my greetings to all the brothers with you, and may Allah preserve you.
Peace be upon you, and the mercy and blessings of Allah.
Al-Ha’ir Prison,
20 Rabīʿ al-Thānī 1434 AH
We've obtained the following information from sources directly involved in SSGT Mahudhee's body recovery operation:
Mahudhee was leading the operation, and had a dive buddy as per standard diving protocol. His dive buddy started running out of air, so went to get a reserve tank they had stashed at the entrance of the cave system. This coincided with when visibility in the cave reduced to 0 (zero), due to the improper kicking techniques used by the team stemming from a lack of cave diving experience, and possible panic from navigating through the tight pathways from one chamber to the other. After visibility crashed to zero, they panicked and gave the signal (tugging the guideline a specific way) to go up. The team did not do proper safety stop procedures on the way up, and their stop at 30m was when they realized Mahudhee was missing. After coming up, they immediately informed the Marine Police team that was present on site, and they jumped in. During one of their safety stops, a police diver went alone and pulled Mahudhee up with a freedive. Mahudhee was not breathing when he was found and was kneeling in chamber 2 with his tanked turned off. Mahudhee went through extreme narcosis and was already dead when his body was recovered, and the MNDF were directly instructed by the government to make it seem like Mahudhee lived for as long as possible, and that his death wasn't in the cave.
@azym121@ShafrazNaeem@amanhaleemmv@Midhuamsaud