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when I realized that I was constructing an image that I wanted to follow. In this way, in constructing
my father, I was constructing myself. In imagining my father’s life and behavior, I was also imagining
what kind of model I wanted to follow for myself. I remember clearly thinking of this process as
bootstrapping a father role model out of my imagination and a few threadbare facts.
How does all of this connect with some of the ideas that you will face in coming to a better
understanding of our Islamic faith, and the crucial task of educating ourselves in it?
Saif, my experience of trying to understand who my father was, and how he behaved, is similar to
the process that we use in understanding what happened 1,400 years ago in the cities of Mecca and
Medina.
If from the distance of a few years, I have found it almost impossible to reconstruct a realistic
image of my father in his social and moral complexity with any certainty, imagine how difficult it is to
do the same for our Prophet and his Companions. Of course the material that has survived is
voluminous. But what you need to recognize is that the power of empathy and imagination are
probably more important than the disparate facts that we can collect. The facts, as they are conveyed
to us, are constructions related by people who observed the Prophet. We should bear in mind that
each person would come to the process of observation with his or her own interests and biases.
Every person has them. Some people think that personal behavior is of utmost importance. Others
think that the only thing worth remembering about another person is his or her sense of humor. Yet
others will regard only occasions of philosophical brilliance worthy of memory and record. So when
we look at the facts around the Prophet, we bear in mind that all of these facts are conveyed through
the lens of human interest or lack thereof.
This means that our picture is clear, but necessarily incomplete. It is necessarily incomplete
because there are so many things that could have been recorded with a camera, had there been
cameras around. It is necessarily incomplete because the process of compiling stories and sayings
started after the passing of the Prophet, unlike, for example, the recordings of philosophers like
Socrates, which took place as he spoke.
If we are to be faithful to the spirit of the Prophet, we should recognize that it takes years of
pondering and digesting verses and stories and documented histories in order to begin to imagine
what went on at the time of the Revelation of the Quran.
Saif, I want you to explore the ways in which the individual is constructed in the Islamic world
today. Take from my experience and think about what you would do if you were to build an
educational system for yourself and other Muslims. The construction and reconstruction of my identity
over the years shape and inform my stance on Muslim Individualism, which I will explain in my final
letter to you. This practice of constructing ourselves is what we should impart to you and your
generation. Self-reflection is instrumental to understanding not just who you are but also your
relevance. Building an individual identity begins by looking at yourself and discerning what
characteristics are products of our family heritage and the prejudices of our wider community, as
opposed to what characteristics are intrinsic to your own special and specific nature.