Radical Monotheism, Radical Accountability: A Muslim Vision of a Life Worth Living

Drawing on the Qur’an, Sufi tradition, Karbala, and prophetic teachings, Malik argues that “to live a life worth living is bloody hard work.” Mercy and justice are not optional—they are the material staff of the soul’s return to wholeness.

Highlights

1. “The life worth living is a journey towards what wholeness. Reconnection.”
2. “To live a life worth living is bloody hard work.”
3. “Along with this radical monotheism comes radical responsibility.”
4. “Can we meet oppression with mercy and justice?”
5. “It isn’t about the results of our actions; it’s doing the right thing.”

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The Qur’an on the Creation of Souls

• Turning fifty as “entering the last trimester of my life before I’m birthed into eternity.”
• Souls brought forth “in the time before time.”
• “Am I not your Lord?” — the primordial question.
• “Absolutely without doubt, you are our Lord.”
• The Sufi “Music of Elast” and soul resonance.
• Meeting someone and feeling, “It’s like I’ve known you my entire life.”
• Rumi’s reed flute mourning separation from its origin.
• Grief, joy, love, and loss as stages of return to wholeness.

Mercy (Rahma) as Islam’s Emblem

• Rahman and Rahim as central divine names.
• “I placed my mercy above my judgment.”
• Living in a “manifestly unmerciful” time.
• “What’s better than prayer and fasting? … is to love one another and repair relationships.”
• “That your belly is not full while your neighbor’s belly is empty.”
• Mercy as relational and social, not merely private.

Radical Monotheism and Responsibility

• Radical monotheism as theological North Star.
• “Along with this radical monotheism comes radical responsibility.”
• “Be just, even if it is against yourselves.”
• Justice as balance (mizan) and relational fairness (qist).
• “Forgive one another, make peace with one another.”
• “Walk upon the earth gently because the earth is your mother.”

Agency and Meaning

• Wrestling with divine omniscience and human agency.
• Faith beginning where questions end.
• “Agency is divine gift. Accountability is divine gift.”
• “We are created for value and purpose.”
• “If you have a sapling plant it.”
• “It isn’t about the results of our actions; it’s doing the right thing.”

The Prayer for the Perfection of Character

• Karbala and Imam Hussein’s martyrdom.
• Zayn al-Abidin’s prayer after violence.
• “Oh God, make me love those who bear ill will towards me.”
• “Let me be a source of healing… of justice… of light.”
• Mercy and justice as the work of a life worth living.