1. Dealing with our shallowness as a faith community and as a western/global culture.
   1. In a lot of the talks/classes I conduct I can count on one hand the number of attendees that actually take notes.
   2. Others ask, “Imam, what can I do to learn Arabic” or “I want to become a scholar”. What?! Nobody wants to become this thing! LOL…
   3. We’ve got to move beyond Wikipedia and blog posts.
   4. I firmly believe that if there is going to be any revitalization of Muslim dev/intellectual dev in the West then it’s going to start with
      1. Reading and
      2. Focusing on experiential development.
         1. Reading develops and fosters
            1. The intellect and
            2. Curiosity.
         2. Experiential development is in a sense the culmination of what one has read/studied and then seeks to experience it in the real world. This can include such things as
            1. Working out;
            2. Taking walks;
            3. Hanging out with friends and maintaining friendships based on belief in Allah and His Messenger.
            4. Unplugging from excessive use of technology.
      3. Things that must be monitored include
         1. Limiting the TV, internet, Netflix, iPhone, Snapchat.
            1. There’s a saying, “the Internet is a mile wide and an inch deep”.
         2. There’s some truth to applying this to other areas. This is why I feel so many young Muslims today are perturbed/disturbed and allured by atheism because their religious upbringing/education – in the home and in the masjid – has been “a mile wide and an inch deep”.

Develop your thoughts.

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