Abdurraheem Green – Journey of The True Hero E-Reminders
![Abdurraheem Green](https://artwork.muslimcentral.com/abdur-raheem-green-150x150.jpg)
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
Salam Alaikum brothers and sisters, today I want to talk about the real,
the journey of the real or the journey of the true hero. And it sort of brings, in a sense a close to my series that I've been going through for probably nearly two years now, which is all exploring about yourself, who are you really Who are we really knowing the true self. At the end of the day, brothers and sisters, it's there's no end to it, because it's something that just goes on and on.
And but anyway, what I want to do now is sort of put the whole thing into context. So I've talked about lots of things from, and I guess, in a sense, sort of, not a totally theoretical perspective, because I've always tried to keep it practical. So when we've been talking about cognitive dissonance, for example, I've always tried to ask you to think of examples where these things are occurring and happening in your own life. And that is, you know, a practical manifestation of those things.
But really, what I want to do is, sort of move on from the discussion of cognitive dissonance, or there is so many more things that I could cover, actually.
And I might go back to it. And there's other things to do with the human mind that are really fascinating, that I think are worth exploring. And if you're listening to a previous episode, where we talked about the peak end rule, how we tend to remember the peaks of our experiences, and the beginning and ends of our experiences, and that's the sort of thing that our memories are based on. But it's also very interesting, looking into that the whole subject of memory is itself so fascinating.
And the peak and rule shows that often what we remember, is not the reality that we that we experienced. And there are actually many, many different ways in which our mind can trick us. And we can believe that we have actually experienced things that we haven't, and we totally believe it to be true.
And that that is a whole fascinating subject truly fascinating.
And something we probably need to look at. But maybe I'll come back to that in Charlotte. But what I want to do is sort of, I want to now start exploring something, I guess maybe we could say a little bit more from a practical side. And that's why I've called today's talk the journey of the true hero.
Now, maybe this needs a bit of explanation.
What what is this all about? So anyway, there's there is someone called Joseph Campbell. I came across his works through various studies into psychology and spirituality that I'm doing. And again, if you listened if you did listen to the podcast that I did with Dr. Abdullah Huck Baker and Dr. Ely ask your money. On Sunday, I think it was Sunday, was it Saturday, Saturday, where we discussed mental health, Helios briefly alluded to. And he went back to some of the foundational figures in the whole field of psychology. And there are two main characters that we can talk about. One is Freud and one is young Jong young.
And young in psychology is, you know, has a very, very spiritualistic route and you find many people who are involved in New Age beliefs, and who, you know, have a strong interest also in all forms of spirituality.
They harken back a lot to young in psychology or psychology or his sort of understanding and his viewpoint. The point being is that he recognized that dimension of the human being is having a soul, which sort of really distinguishes him from from Freud. It's it's not obviously within the context of a very materialistically focused, Western scientific
paradigm he's not very popular from the scientific point of view,
which is sort of produces a bit of a disconnect. But anyway, this Joseph Campbell, was very much interested in more in Jungian psychology. And he, he wrote a series of book,
I think one was called God with 1000 faces, which I've read, and he's, which he has written various other books. But anyway, so to cut a long story short,
through the whole process of studying this, and looking at this, I came upon his works.
And I heard about him and this, this whole topic of the journey of the hero. So I found this really fascinating. It was also because there was another book I was reading called Natural Born heroes, which is a truly fascinating book, it's such such an I don't really recommend books to people. Because I will tell you, my brothers and sisters, I have had experiences where I have recommended books and people have read them, and then come back to me and said, Why did you recommend this book to me, you know, it's full of short can cover. And I realized that a lot of the people who listen to me are not really on the level where they can start accessing this information themselves, in order
to be able to take out what is beneficial.
And I don't claim to be some sort of, you know, you know, some particular high level, but I do feel I'm on the, you know, I'm capable of accessing works and being able to filter it, you know, through the filter of Quran and Sunnah. And the understanding of Islam, that's, that's my filter. So I don't, you know, I find that I don't find that really difficult to do. I'm very, very
cautious.
And I'm very aware, also, by the way of the Western philosophical tradition, I'm very aware of the Western scientific tradition, I'm very aware of its dangers and its pitfalls, but it also has some benefits. I don't think it's for everybody to be, you know, reading these books. I absolutely don't, I fully understand those people who may be exhibit exasperated, that, you know, I recommended a book and they found it very confusing, and maybe even stuck for a lot, you know,
actually harmed their Imam. That's the last thing I ever want to do. So I generally, you know, people ask me, I don't recommend books written by non Muslims. Generally, what I rather do is take the information
that I have read in these books, and then pass it on to you
in a way that is useful.
And so I sort of, in a sense, act as the interpreter in that respect. Because I do think there is stuff that is valuable. And the reason why is not to do with, they have discovered some truths that we don't have in our tradition now. So don't get me wrong here. I believe that within the Quran and the Sunnah, and the teachings of Islam, we have everything we need to leave to lead, the good life, and the life that we need and everything that we need to worship Allah subhanaw taala is there.
It's more about the language, the current language that we speak. What do I mean by that? You know, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam told us to speak to people in a language that they understand. And that doesn't just mean you know, speak Arabic to people who speak Arabic, English, the people who speak English, it also means to explain things to them, in ways that they can comprehend
with the symbolism that is relevant to them. And this is the key, right? Because that's what basically language is language, if you think about it is really symbolism. They're just words that carry meanings for feelings, and ideas and experiences that we have. So in that sense, they are symbols. You could substitute those symbols with any variety of things if you think about it, right.
But but that's how we communicate with each other. That's how we communicate our ideas and our experiences through language but, of course, the context
is different for everybody. So what was the context of most people's symbolism today? The context of it is a very materialistic, scientific, Western dominated paradigm. Paradigm means, you know, what's
down means? A
viewpoint, you could say, right? A paradigm has a particular viewpoint. So the dominant viewpoint, the dominant way of looking at it, you know, you could say it's like the glasses, the spectacles that you wear, right? Look at it like that. If you look at the world through, you know, red colored glasses, if you wear red colored glasses, that's what they call, you know, yeah, he has a rose tinted view of the world, you've probably heard that expression. Because, yeah, if you just wear, you know, rose tinted glasses, the whole world looks rosy. Yeah, if you wear green glasses, the whole world looks sort of greenish, right, and so on, and so forth. Right.
So in a sense, that's the paradigm, the paradigm is the way you look at the world, it's the symbols through which you look at and through which you understand the world. And for most people, the dominant paradigm, this dominant
symbolism that we look at is very dominated by the Western, you know, the Western discourses, science reason, and so on, and so forth. And so I think, from that point of view, it is important, it is important to communicate those eternal truths, but in a language that people can really, you know, they can understand. So that's why I've been going through, for example, this whole thing of cognitive dissonance, because although you may not be familiar with these things, in their specifics, you're probably way more familiar than you think with the generality of the means of the conversation. Okay, so, you know, and a lot of us, I believe, are not actually any more very
familiar or, or Cognizant with the, you know, the terms within Islamic spirituality, they don't seem to be very, very familiar or even relevant to us anymore. They sound and look antiquated. I'm not talking about here, you know, the Quran or the Sunnah. But I'm talking about, you know, for example, to so off, and so a lot of the terminologies and that they, that people, I think it's just people don't connect to it anymore. They don't relate to it, except a very, maybe a very small group of people. And because that's just not the language that is common amongst people anymore, right.
So unfortunately, when we talk in that old language, we do really have we are really in danger of alienating people, and making people believe that Islam is irrelevant. And it's far from irrelevant. It's totally, it's as relevant now as it was when it was revealed to the Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam?
Of course it is. But again, maybe we're not speaking to people in a language that they can understand. So this is why I think it's important. So anyway, I go back to the journey of the true hero, the journey, what I call it the journey of the true hero. I'll mention that in a bit. Basically, what, let's go back to Joseph Campbell. So basically, what he does is, and he's not the first person to do it, but I guess, as far as I can see, he's the first person who, you know, has really come up with a very, very sort of clear description of this hero's journey. And it's what is called a mono myth. This is very interesting. I find this I must admit, when I started reading into
it, it was a sort of a bit of it was mind blowing for me, right?
So it's what is called a monolith. A Monolith is basically a mythology that is shared by everybody.
And this is what is very interesting is that it seems that the hero's journey that Joseph Campbell outlined is something so widespread across all cultures.
All over the world. There seems to be a repeat again and again, of this these themes of the hero's journey. And I'm sure as I go through it, you you will, you will probably see why. But the reason is, it just speaks to not necessarily our experience, because not everybody experiences it but everybody relates to it and connect
to it, because these heroes are the people who in reality, in some way, shape or form have defined and continue to define
what we consider to be really, ultimately important in life. And what is really important about the hero's journey, it is that ultimately, although it may seem to be something external, and it may seem to be a series of external events, that's not the main point, the main point of the hero's journey is, it's in fact, it is an inner journey, it is all about what is happening to somebody within themselves. And all of us in some way, shape or form are going to relate to this. So let me go through, you know, some of the main aspects of you know, that this, you know, Joseph Campbell identified, you know, as the, the hero's journey,
and and so the first thing is what is called the call to adventure. So I guess the idea is that, look, you know, you have someone living their ordinary everyday life, but something happens, something happens in their life.
And that thing changes the way they look at things, it forces them out of their comfort comfort zone. And I guess in in almost, you know, basically, this is really, what is this a description of this is a description of us, of you and me and all of us
that most of us reach a stage in our life. And it usually happens when we're teenagers,
that we get this call to adventure. Now the call to adventure is really a call to in some way, shape, or form, do something different from everyone else around us, in some way, shape, or form to break away. And that's what it's really about. It is really a separation
of the individual, the beginning of a separation of the individual from primarily their mother, but also their father as well, and maybe even the wider family. And so what is what happens, what is really it's talking about is the emergence of the idea of you as an individual. That's what it's all about. And that's quite a scary thing.
And so, in what is, you know, in some way archetypically according to these myths, and legends, obviously, the you know, the what the hero will do is go on a journey, they will literally go on an actual literal, physical journey, they may travel to a different place, they may be forced to do it, they may not want to, and this is the key is that often the hero is reluctant, the hero doesn't want to go on this journey. This, you know, but they feel called and they feel drawn and or maybe circumstances forces them.
And then, obviously, they are then encountering all sorts of new challenges, all sorts of things that are unexpected. And in many way, shape or form, they have to start now coping with the world in a different way. They don't have that traditional support system, they don't have the Mother, the Father, the family, they don't have it anymore around them. But what they do find is that something will come to their aid, something will come to help them and this is obviously often some type of supernatural aid.
It could be some anywhere, it could be any sort of supernatural thing. And so what what happens at this stage is there is a crossing, a crossing from what is known from what is familiar, from what is apparent from what is obvious, into the unknown. So this crossing from unknown into the unknown is the beginning of this adventure. And in reality, you know, brothers and sisters, this is what it's about, right? Is it is the journey of yourself. That's what it really is, it is the journey into yourself, is the journey into the inner dimensions of your being. That's what it's for. And that's why it's so relevant to what we've been talking about.
And yes, it may be an actual, it may happen within the confines of actual real physical, real physical experiences, of course, because we can't separate the two things completely.
And that's what you'll find many people who go on these adventures. They do these incredible things like I don't know if anyone I haven't seen it yet I've seen one or two bits of it
in on net
flex, I think it's heading up right in the top of Netflix 14 peaks or something like that about this guy who does this extraordinary feat of climbing these 14 peaks in the Himalayas in seven months or something that no one has even come close the closest for seven years and this guy I haven't seen, I have to, you know, I haven't seen that thing, but, but you will find with all of these things, it's just it's not just about a person accomplishing something extraordinary. It's about how that whole thing changes that person inside themselves. That's what it's really about. It's not about the externality of it. Of course, that's important. But that's not what it's really about. It's about
what's happening to you inwardly. And I guess this is something that we set right at the beginning of the series, a series of talks, is that when we're talking about the inner dimensions of worship, when we're talking about what does it really mean to be Muslim, in essence, it is ultimately really about how is it transforming you inwardly, of course, the outward aspects are so important, the Salah, the Zakka, the Ramadan, the Hajj, I'm going to be Mao roof on Hainan Mancha and so on and so forth. Right. So all of these things are, of course, they're very important. We can't not have them there. But the real point is not the externalities, because what is a prayer that is just
perfunctory? What is the point of a prayer that is just motions that you make, and then it has no inner connection with, with you connecting to Allah subhanaw taala, I'm sure you will realize brothers and sisters, that's not really a prayer. That's not what really it's about. Right.
And this is that I think the important thing is to realize is that human beings we are, we are physical beings, and we are spiritual beings. And sometimes we, we overemphasize, and we maybe give too much importance to the duality, or thinking that, you know, mind, body and soul are sort of separate, whereas in reality,
within us as we are right now, they are one that they, you know, take the soul out of a human being, you just have a dead body, right? Take the body away, and, you know, that's just the soul which is not human in the sense that living and breathing amongst us, so, you know, what makes us human is a combination of all of those things, it's all of those things together. So anyway, back to the hero's journey. So the hero's journey, so, there's this call to adventure, on this call to adventure, they all start this journey.
And at some stage there, they come to some, you know, they meet some sort of supernatural aid, and with the help of with the help of the supernatural eight, they crossed the threshold. And so with crossing this threshold into the unknown is the beginning of the transformation, right. And along the way, this hero will have mentors will have various helps, and will face challenges and temptations and face various maybe, you know, monsters or demons or have to like their will the heat the whole point is the hero is what in whatever way it is the hero is going to go through this whole load of challenges and temptations and everything is going to be trying to take them away, you know
from from this path that they are on until ultimately eight not ultimately, but the sort of the, the sort of peek of the depth of this unknown. This, this realm of the unknown is the is this reaching the abyss, the it could be an abyss, it could be a cave, often this symbolically it is in a cave, some sort of dark place, it may be even some sort of death or near death, or it is a place of a very, very dark, deep place where that person goes
where they are. But it's in that place. That really then they see
the reality for what it is. That's when they see that's when they understand. And so when they come out of that abyss and they come out of that cave, they are transformed.
And of course they continue to change and improve but that's basically the transformation.
And with that transformation
that comes what is called the atonement.
And then yeah, and then here's the really interesting thing is then they return they they were
Turn to the world of the unknown. Now, not everyone does. It's interesting that in the hero's journey, some people having gone through the transformation, they don't want to return to the normal life, they don't want to return to society, they don't want to return to their family in their tribe.
Because having found that, having seen the truth and being transformed, and having reached this state, this inner state, very often, that's where they want to stay.
There, they don't want to return. However, those people are not truly the heroes. They're not heroes. It's the hero who returns and why does the hero return because what is a hero?
Hero is a Greek word.
And actually means protector. That's what the hero what the word hero means is protector. A hero is not necessarily someone who is stronger, or faster, or a better fighter, or smarter or not. The real quality of a hero is compassion,
overwhelming compassion and care for people, maybe sometimes they're people specifically, generally, yes, historically, it's been for their people, for their tribe, or whatever, right? Maybe sometimes for all people, maybe sometimes for all creatures, right. And that's what makes the hero different, that the hero cannot now keep what the hero has found himself, the hero is moved by compassion, to have to bring that gift, that knowledge that insight back to his or her people, and in whatever way help to move society forward with that new knowledge. And of course, of course, with that, comes a whole new series of bills and difficulties. But I guess at this stage of the hero, in none of it, it
all seems pretty, it's all it's all minor compared to what the hero has already gone through. And in some way, shape or form them, the hero helps to,
you know, transform, and protect and guide
his or her people in society. And so that's what really a hero is.
That that's what truly the true hero is. That's what the hero is, but the true hero. So when I say the true hero, then I mean it within the context of, obviously with Islam, of knowing the truth, and it's very interesting brothers and sisters, when you look at this Monomyth when you look at this, look at the hero's journey, and look at the story of every single prophet, you will find
every single prophet, every messenger of Allah has gone through this whole process in one way, shape, or form, you will see it, it's how especially the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam, like I say, especially only from the point of view is that we know more about the life of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
Maybe then anyone else and, and so you can see this, this whole journey of the hero, this whole journey that I have described being played out exactly, in the life of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and many other stories that have for example, the the youth of the cave, the people of the cave, similarly, it's a very, it's very similar.
A very, very similar story. And again, all moved ultimately, and especially the prophets, Allah Allahu alayhi wa sallam by compassion for not only his people, but for all humanity, in fact, for every single creature.
So this brothers and sisters, is ultimately the innocence, the practical side of what we've been talking about. What I have been really calling you to, yeah, is that journey into the unknown, to make that journey. And I said again, and again and again, that this journey to the inner self, this journey into the inner you this journey to really know who you are, it's not easy, it's very difficult, because it means it means peeling away all of those, like I keep calling them those stories. That's the unknown, right? That's the world you know, that's the world that you've built for yourself. That's the world that your ego has built for you. That's that you know that comfort
zone in which you feel that you've told all these stories. But something right? Something is telling you that no.
This is not all there is this, there's something else.
And that's what it is. This is I'm calling you to, in a sense, make that journey to make that transition
to go into that unknown realm. And really discover why because the result of it is so profound. The end of it is so deep the end of it is so worthwhile. And it's interesting, because another thing I was thinking about what, what is the Arabic equivalent for hero? And I tried looking in the dictionary, and I realized this was not something I was gonna find in the dictionary. But I realized that the, the actual obviously the Greek word here OS means protector. So what is the equivalent Arabic? It's Wali? The Olia
right, it's, it's, it's a Waleed the protector, right?
And yes, Allah subhanaw. Taala is the protector. Subhan Allah, Allah is the Protector of the believers. And all the believers are from the older and Allah how many times that Allah subhanaw taala tells us and warns us in the Quran, who to take as our protectors, right? If you replace that, who to take as your hero. Don't take the unbelievers as your heroes rather than the believers, right? Whoever takes the unbelievers as their heroes, right? Yeah, it's Subhanallah is very interesting. If you use that word hero, you'll be like you would understand totally, of course, because the hero, the hero,
your hero is absolutely if someone is your hero, they are going to define for you.
How you are going to change your life? How are you going to live your life? What are the values you are going to live your life by?
So it's very important to think about that. Who are your heroes?
Who are the ones that you look up to? Who are the ones that you take your example and your inspiration and your guidance from? And that is why if you think deeply and you look deeply into this whole subject, you will understand why it is so important that our heroes are the ones who are guided by Allah, the prophets,
the scholars, the holier
than thou pious believers, the heroes of our history, unfortunately, that we know so little about.
They are the true heroes. So brothers and sisters, one of the things that was so profound that I read in this book
that I'm not recommending you read it, because in Sharla, I'm going to extract for you. And that's what I'm going to be doing in future episodes. I'm going to be going through some of this, hopefully.
Is that the hero? What was I going to say?
Yes.
As my mind has gone completely blank.
So yeah, the point being is that the hero, the purpose of the hero, the purpose of the hero's journey, the purpose of going on the hero's journey, ultimately, brothers and sisters, the reality is, it's a journey within yourself. It's a journey to know yourself. And yet now I remember what it is.
You see, heroes are not born.
No one's born a hero heroes are made.
And what was really profound, the most profound thing for me about this book that I read
was that he says in it, there was a time when people trained
their children to be heroes. They train them to be heroes. That's how they bought them up. They train them to be protectors, they train them to be heroic, they train them to have the qualities of heroism so that they will be able to go through this transformation and support and protect their communities. And that's really what it is a hero is something that hero is heroism.
You know, it's something you need to train for. And it's true. We have that in our tradition as well. We had that in our tradition, right people, what trains on the heroic path
of knowledge and closeness to all
La subhanaw taala and bringing from the Motley Fool the ones who truly know Allah subhanaw taala there was proper training for this.
People were properly trained.
And you know there was organized and systemized And
subhanAllah are we is something we've lost it brothers and sisters, you see. So maybe we need to try and revive that again, maybe we need to take this matter seriously. We need to train ourselves we need to train our children, the world is desperately in need of true heroes. People who understand La Ilaha illa Allah, people who are connected to the Lord Allah, people who have gone to that abyss, that dark place, and they've come out transformed, who have overcome their knifes and overcome their egos. And then who haven't gone through this transformation are then truly able and are ready to be able to help transform society and the world and make it better.
So I hope inshallah you will join me in episodes to come as we will go through bits of this
hero's journey. So in sha Allah brothers and sisters, that was a quick introduction to it, and I'm sure we will be going over some of the things that we've already discussed, but I guess from a sort of, from a different angle, and I hope you found that fascinating and interesting. And
inshallah Yes, I hope you join me in the future. So brothers and sisters, don't forget to you know, hit that like button. Don't forget to share this video. If you found it interesting. And you think, okay, like me, like, maybe I didn't quite, you know, blow your mind like my mind was blown when I looked into this, right? But that's my failure in communication. But if it did, and it tickled your fancy and you found it really interesting, why not share it with someone you who also may find it fascinating. Until next time, brothers and sisters thanks for joining me as always, may Allah bless you in this life and the next as Salaam Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh