Pseudo-Entitlement: Social-Media Edition

Allah states:

“Those whom believe pay attention: Revere Allah & speak a Straight-Word.”

(Noble-Qur’ān: Chpt.33, V.70)

Muhammad (Peace be upon them) stated:

“Always speak Truth, even if it’s bitter (even if it rubs People the Wrong-Way).”

(ibn-Hibbān&al-Bayhaqī)

There’s literally a Social-Media Trend, which should’ve never caught any Traction, that evolved from al-Bashriyyah (Human-Nature/Behavior). That-Trend is Persons thinking/feeling they can say whatever they want and/or post whatever they want, without any Criticism, Opposition, Disagreement, etc. Social-Media has caused Many-People to place in their Minds/Hearts that they know everything. Not just that: the Mythos of “My Truth”, “I’m living in my Truth”, “I’m living my Truth”, etc. has emboldened Countless-People (via Fake-Wokeness) to think/feel that no one should dare challenge anything they say, post, etc. that they’ve publicly disclosed. Of course, Gareth Bryant being whom they are: I call “Bullshit” to such a Mindset/Mentality.

We’re all Humans, which by default/definition means that:

Number-1

None of us are going to be right/correct about everything.

Number-2

None of us are never going to know everything.

Number-3

None of us are entitled/justified to disclose anything publicly & expect to not get judged for it. However, inspite of the 3 Aforementioned-Things being 💯%-Truth/Honesty, naturally so many People face Lots of Problems. We face such Problems exclusively due to al-Istikbār/Apathy/Arrogance. And, this is because we fail to recognize the Ikhtilāf/Difference between al-`Ālim/the Learned-One & al-Jāhil/the Ignorant-One.

There’s 2-Differences between the `Ālim & the Jāhil:

a. An `Ālim is always willing to recognize/accept that they don’t know everything. A Jāhil always audaciously thinks/feels as though they know everything.

b. An `Ālim is always willing to recognize/accept that they can learn something from anyone, regardless of whether they’re Right or Wrong. A Jāhil always sudaciously thinks/feels they’re the “Only-One” whom can teach someone something.

Relative to the Social-Media Age: these 2-Differences are clearer than they’ve ever been at any other Era/Period via Human-History. Yet, pitifully, Certain-Persons refuse to admit the Obvious. They’d rather live their Best-Lies. Countless-Persons via Social-Media aim to do whatever they want, without Consequence. They view Consequence as for everyone except themselves. They want 0-Responsibility/Accountability imposed upon them. They actually expect to be allowed to judge Others for what they disclose, but think/feel no one can judge what they disclose.

I’ll use myself as a Mathl/Example

I’m known for getting under People’s-Skin, as per what I disclose publicly via Social-Media, Writing/Blogging, etc. And I literally comprehend fully the Consequences, Risks, Results, etc. for anything/everything I post. Yet, I post whatever I want anyway. I do this, exclusively, because I’ve mandated upon myself a Litmus for whether or not I choose/decide to post something. Anytime/everytime I post something, there’s literally a Deliberate Thought-Process which I consciously partake in. I literally conduct Intraspective-Convos with myself, weighing the Pros. vs. the Cons of any/all which I post before actually posting. There’s actually been Countless-Times where I’ve feared for my own Reputation, Safety, etc. regarding Things that I’ve disclosed. There’s been Countless-Times when I’ve known that posting Specific-Things would damage/end Human-Relationships with Certain-Persons.

My Necessary-Decisions

The Inquiries I always self-impose as per anything I decide to disclose via my Research, Writings, Blogging, Social-Media Posts, etc.:

1. Is what your disclosing Islāmically-Principled?!!!

2. Is there any Better-Way to convey what you want to disclose?!!!

3. Is what you want to disclose going to harm anyone?!!!

4. Is what you want to disclose going to harm you?!!!

5. Is what you want to disclose worth potentially damaging/destroying Friendships, Partnerships, Collaborations, Business, etc.?!!!

6. Is what you want to disclose worth having Others view you differently via Negative-Ways?!!!

The Dhāt/Essence of al-Ijtihād/Decision-Making

al-Ihtisāb (Personal-Responsibility/Accountability) is an Invaluable-Quality

Unbeknownst to Others (prior to mr authoring This-Article): there’s been Times where it’s literally taken me Days, Weeks, Months, Years, Decades, etc. to actually disclose Certain-Things. Most-Persons whom view/read what I’ve disclosed probably think/feel that I operate exclusively via Impulse. That’s 💯%-Untruth/Dishonesty. I’m very methodical, deliberate, motivational, calculative, intentional, etc.: a lot more than Most-Persons would ever give me Credit for. Most-People have 0-Idea how much Time/Energy I actually pour into everything I author. It doesn’t matter whether I write something that’s 4-Words long or whether it’s 40-Pages long: I put Equal-Importance to anything/everything I author.

I, personally, have never shyed away from Consequence-Of-Action. Particularly if/when it comes to what I write, blog, post, and so on. I understand fully, that every Action yields Reaction. I’ve always been willing to face any/all Opposition to anything/everything I’ve ever stated, authored publicly. I get the Point, that I don’t get to feels about anyone’s Stances for/against anything I’ve ever chosen/decided to consciously reveal for Public-Consumption. Anyone whom truly knows me knows that I’ve never dodged the Smoke: I’m always here for it.

To Close-Out, I’ll end here with this: Don’t disclose anything you’re unwilling to get judged for.

Gareth Bryant

The Anatomy of Entitlement-Addiction

Allah states: “Those whom believe pay attention: Upon you are yourselves.”.
(Noble-Qur’ān: Chpt.5, V.105)

A Popular-Idiom: “There’s no such Thing as a ‘Free-Lunch’.”.

Muhammad (Peace be upon them) was once asked: “What’s the Most-Meritable Action?”…Muhammad replied: “The Labor of the Man via their own Hand.”.
(al-Bazzār&al-Hākim)

Entitlement-Addiction is 💯%-Reality. It gravely depreciates the Value of any/every Human-Society. Entitlement-Addiction is psycho-socially destructive. The Notion that everyone owes you something/everything, without earning anything via one’s own Merit is honestly quite disgusting to say the least. I’ve literally observed/witnessed Countless-Persons manifest Entitlement-Addiction & Persons who’ve given-in to being manipulated by Others via Entitlement-Addiction.

I specifically remember saying to myself, promising Allah, etc. that I’d never be a Person like my Mother. By that, I mean this: my Mother was always been a Kind-Hearted Individual. Yet, at the Same-Time, their Classic-Flaw was always that they gabe too much of their Personal-Generosity to those whom never deserved it. I literally watched my Mother look-out for Degenerate-Leeches, whom wanted nothing more than to use Others. And, my Mother & I would constantly/consistently get into Arguments concerning them allowing Others to leech off of them. It’s literally amongst the Premier-Reasons how/why I’m such a Selfish/Hard-Hearted Person.

For the Record…there’s an Important-Difference between Selfishness & Apathy: Apathy is not caring about/for anyone else, except one’s Self. Selfishness is caring about/for one’s Self firstly. And, it’s 💯% Islāmically-Acceptable to be a Selfish-Person, as opposed to being an Apath. I remember my Mother literally attempting to make me feel “bad” about being a Selfish-Person…them & I had Countless-Arguments concerning this as well. I used to actually think/feel wrongly, about being Selfish…afterall: this was my Mother telling me not to be Selfish. But, then, my Fitrah/Instincts would always kick-in & say: “Nah…Fuck dat: be Selfish.”. And, honestly, I’m a Better-Person for trusting my Instincts as per an-Nafsiyyah/Selfishness.

Muhammad stated: “Always speak Truth, even if it’s bitter (even if it rubs People the Wrong-Way).”.
(ibn-Hibbān&al-Bayhaqī)

Another-Dimension of Pseudo-Entitlement is if/when People oppress the Other without Consequence. There’s literally Certain-Persons whom audaciously/arrogantly think they can do anything to Others & feel that those whom they oppress are supposed to simply tolerate/accept azh-Zhulm/Oppression. Equally, there’s Certain-Persons whom audaciously/arrogantly expect to receive Mercy, Forgiveness, Pardon, a Pass, etc. from those they’ve oppressed.

Those whom witnessed the Aforementioned-Scenario really tried to make me think/feel that I treated That-Person whom I publicly-dismissed wrongly. I refused to make anyone make me fall into “Guilt” as per how I chose to direct the Tone, Tempo, Atmosphere, etc. of the Scenario. I did what I did…I will never feel “negative” about it…I will never regret what I did…I will never apologize for what I did. What I did was based upon al-Asl/Principle & as I aleays tell People: Never apologize for making Principled-Decisions.

The Person whom I dismissed with Pride: I literally didn’t have to bark on them or black-out. Literally, my Actions via my Silent-Treatment towards them spoke louder than anything I could’ve ever verbalized. My Silence & Lack of Embrace towards them stated the following Ole-Saying: “Fuck ya Life.”. I’m really grateful, that Allah granted me the Opportunity to commit to what I did. It was important to directly send a Message to That-Person, to let them know that they’re not “entitled” to carry themselves however they want with Others without experiencing ash-Shar`iyyah/Retribution.

The Last-Dimension I’ll mention regarding Pseudo-Entitlement is pertaining to Pathological-Complainers. Meaning, those whom complain about everything about haven’t contributed to the Tahsīn/Improvement of anything.

For Example:

These-People literally think/feel that they’ve the Justification to “complain” about what they failed to establish, accomplish, etc. Meanwhile, ironically, they’ve the Nerve to blame/fault Latter-Generations as per the Failures of the Former-Generations. And, of course, anytime anyone brings this up they’re accused of being “ignorant”, “disrespectful”, and literally 💯%-Deflection. They’re triggered by what’s mentioned, because they know what was mentioned is 💯%-Truthful/Honest…just as Muhammad (Peace be upon them) stated: “Apathy/Arrogance is deflecting Truth & mocking People.”.
(an-Nawawī)

Gareth Bryant

Everything has a Cost…even “Islāmic-Work”

Muhammad (Peace be upon them) stated: “Always speak Truth, even if it’s bitter (even if it rubs People the Wrong-Way.”.
(ibn-Hibbān, al-Bayhaqī)

A Popular-Idiom: “There’s no such Thing as a ‘Free-Lunch’.”.

There’s Lots of Truth/Honesty to That-Statement. As per Human-Nature: everyone wants something for nothing. This is particularly real when it comes to what Many/Most-Persons consider Religio-Work. I’ll give an Example of what I mean by this.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/ZsJLz6Zn2mHZNMJ9/?mibextid=oFDknk

As a Chaplain, there’s this Religio-Stigma that Chaplains are so “Holy”, that they don’t need Material-Gains (like Monetary-Currencies) as per Self-Sustainability. I say: “Nah my Nigga…I’m just as Sinful as you: now pay me what you owe me.”. Muslims specifically (albeit not exclusively) get-down like this all too often. And, I’ve personally witnessed/endured it & had to confront/address it also.

Imāms/Religio-Leaders, Shaykhs/Religio-Teachers, `Ulamā’/Religio-Scholars, Muslim-Chaplains, etc.: anyone whom professionally operates via any of the Aforementioned-Occupations…we deal with This-Type/Kind of Goofy-Shit all the Time. Everyone actually thinks/feels that you “must” do what you do “Free-Of-Charge”, because “Islāmic-Knowledge is supposed to be for free”.

The following are Several-Things as per how/why I know my Worth, as a Chaplain operating via Religio-Work & whom deserves to be compensated relative to my Terms/Conditions:

About Gareth Bryant

Sadly, there’s Certain-Muslims whom deem Religio-Work as not Compensationworthy. Meaning, that via the Minds/Hearts of Certain-Persons they should be doing it “Fī Sabīlillah/Via the Path-Of-Allah”. Well…guess what?!!! Ensuring that I’ve Food&Drink in my Belly, Clothing on my Back, Shelter to dwell in, etc. are all Sifāt/Dimensions of “Fī Sabīlillah”…as Muhammad was once asked: “What’s the Best-Action?”…Muhammad replied: “The Labor of the Man via their own Hand.”.
(al-Bazzār, al-Hākim)

Now…as Muslims you’d think that comprehending this is an Easy/Simplex-Endeavor. But, Oh…No!!! Too many of us literally think/feel we’re entitled/justified to attain Services for free. And, Certain-Muslims will audaciously/arrogantly pontificate and/or claim that Service-Prices are “Too High”…they’ll literally beg for “Discounts” which they don’t even deserve…they’ll attempt to bait you into “Religio-Guilt”, via manipulating the “You’re supposed to do it for the Pleasure-Of-Allah” Kalām/Rhetoric…etc. And, also, additionally: they try to hit yoh with the “Jazākallah/May Allah reward you.” Song-And-Dance Routine/Tactic. This automatically means dat U ain’t gettin paid.

By default/definition…this is a Serious-Issue/Problem & equally it’s a Negative/Toxic-Mentality. It’s both degrading & exploitive. People actually want to use Others, without granting them any Just/Fair-Compensation & That-Shit is Super-Wack.

In conclusion: Just stop trying to “Get-Over” on Others & compensate them accordingly…as per their Professional-Worth. And, to the Professionals out there…know your Professional-Worth & never tolerate/accept anyone to cheapen your Professional-Worth.

Gareth Bryant

The Anatomy of Quitting on one’s Self

https://www.islamestic.com/i-am-feeling/

https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/03/31/man-ends-his-life-after-an-ai-chatbot-encouraged-him-to-sacrifice-himself-to-stop-climate-

This-Article is almost exclusively based upon the Following-Works:

a. al-Bahr-ur-Rā’iq/The Calm-Ocean (a Trilateral-Compilation of the Works of: Abī-Hāmid al-Ghazālī, ibn-il-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, ibn-Rajab al-Hanbalī), Ahmad Farīd

b. “Hierarchy-Of-Needs” (a Psycho-Analytical Theory), Abraham Maslow

https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/nervous-breakdown#What-is-a-nervous-breakdown?

As a Chaplain (Counselor/Therapist): I’ve personally encountered Various-Persons either expressing/verbalizing that they no longer see the Point of Life and/or express/verbalize their Contemplations/Desires, Motives/Intents, etc. to commit Suicide. My Niyyah/Motive is to thoroughly decipher the Difference between being Unlively & being Suicidal. Now, is there Correlation between Unliveliness & Suicide…Absolutely. However, does this mean that both are exclusively a Causation of one another…Absolutely not.

al-Hazan/Unliveliness

This results from any Human-Experience which triggers and/or reminds us of Negative-Times, Challenging-Happenings via our Existence within ad-Dunyā/the Mundane. If/when any Person loses what’s known as the “Will to live”-Naturally, Most-People will in fact think/feel that someone just wants to hang it up & end their Lives. It’s not always like this. There’s truly an Abundance of Complexities/Complications via someone’s Life-Experiences which cause Unliveliness. More often than not: a Person may simply not want their Life as is and/or they may want to live the Lives of Others whom they know, know of. It’s very probable that they don’t view who they are individually as valuable, meaningful, purposeful, important, etc. They very often may actually fantasize and/or become addicted to whom they see/view via T.V., Film, Entertainment, Porn, Online, Social-Media, etc. Then, they may wish to live the Lives they’re stimulated by as if intoxicated with wanting to be anyone/everyone externally of themselves. This-Concept “Living my Best-Life” is literally one of the Culprits of Personality-Addiction/Worship: it’s actually a Grave-Facade. Whenever Most-People conceptualize That-Mythos, it’s exclusively pertaining to Mundane-Gains & Material-Pleasures…as Allah states: “And the Mundane-Life is only the Matā`/Enjoyment of al-Ghurūr/Illusion.”. None of Those-Things will ever yield as-Sa`ādah/Happiness…as-Sa`ādah can never be externally acquired, rather, it must always be introspectively/interally fostered&cultivated: as-Sa`ādah is a Personal-Responsibility. Ironically, one of the Major-Reasons how/why so/too man Human-Relationships are negative, toxic, etc. and/or fail is because as Humans we audaciously/arrogantly expect Other-People to make us “happy”. But, it’s humanly impossible to make anyone happy, except ourselves…like I always tell People: No one can make us happy, but anyone can make us miserable. And, when they continuously see Person-After-Person disappointing them, worse yet making them miserable (because they refuse to find as-Sa`ādah intrapersonally) they delve further into a Spiritual/Psycho-Emotional Abyss. This is precisely how/why Allah states: “Those whom believe pay attention: Upon you are yourselves.” & “Verily, Allah doesn’t change what’s within any People unless/until they change what’s within themselves.”.
(Noble-Qur’ān: Chpt.5, V.105; Chpt.13, V.11; Chpt.57, V.20)

at-Tahlukah/Suicide

As per what I’ve aforementioned, via the Pic  concerning “wanting to die”: in All-Truthfulness/Honesty, it’s a Misnomer. I’ll explain what I actually mean. Even if/when anyone becomes and/or is Suicidal: they don’t actually want to die…they really only want their Suffering, Life-Challenges, etc. to die. However, Suicidal-Persons (for Various-Reasons) allow ash-Shaytān/Satan to convince them that the Only-Way to end their Suffering/Life-Challenges are to end themselves. Speaking of Suicide, as per my Professional-Experience: there exists a Strong-Correlation between Suicide & Sexual-Abuse. At least 98% of Persons I’ve counseled regarding Suicide were sexually-abused (at least once via their Life-Times). Being Suicidal is literally a Person’s Last-Call for Help…it’s actually a Spiritual/Psycho-Emotional S.O.S.-Signal. This is the Reason how/why the Average-Suicidal authors what’s known as the “Suicide-Note”. They do this to catch they Attention of at least 1-Person who actually cares enough to reach-out to them, to stop/prevent them from committing Suicide. For example: the Famous-Series “13 Reasons Why”, which is literally based on a True-Story/Actual-Events by the way: I’ve literally seen almost all the 13-Reasons manifested via Other-People I’ve actually counseled. I mean, via the Nasr/Help-Of-Allah: I’ve literally been able to physically prevent People from threating/attempting Suicide rite in front of me via Real-Time & via Real-Life.
(Noble-Qur’ān: Chpt.2, V.195; Chpt.7, V.11-25; Chpt.114; Muslim)

This is the Logic of Sad/Depressed-Persons. This is neither normal nor healthy.

So, what’s to be done…what can be done…how can anyone help People dealing with either Unliveliness, Suicide, or both, etc.?!!!

Excellent-Questions…Answers:

ar-Ruqyah (Healing/Treatment)

The Following is a List of Discussion-Topics which I use via my Life-Coaching. It’s geared towards facilitating Self-Awareness, in light of honing one’s own Maturation/Advancement of Intrapersonal & Interpersonal Intelligence/Communication. The Responses to these aren’t “One&Dones”. The Responses are meant to evolve with any whom chooses to use this. The Person’s-Responses may be completely different an Hour, Day, Week, Month, Year, Decade, Score, etc. from rite now as we speak. As I always tell People: People are just like the Weather & Weather changes everyday. It’s exclusively discretionary. So, if a Person wants to answer these everday, evert Week, Month, Year, etc. then that’s completely up to them.

1. (Noble-Qur’ān: Chpt.51, V.56)

Explain what your Existence means to you personally.

2. (Noble-Qur’ān: Chpt.13, V.11)

Detail what Potential/Purpose means to you.

Detail your Personal-Goals in Life.

Detail your Personal-Roadblocks which hinder your Personal-Goals from becoming Reality.

3. (“Oh, Allah: just as you’ve perfected my Physique, perfect my Character also.”
[Fortress Of The Muslim])

Tell how you view yourself in the Present.

Tell how you want to be viewed in the Future.

Relate how much you genuinely like yourself (on a Scale from 0-10).

Relate how much you genuinely dislike yourself (on a Scale from 0-10).

4. (Noble-Qur’ān: Chpt.2, V.286 & Chpt.5, V.28)

Compare/Contrast: Strengths vs. Weaknesses…”SWOT-Analysis”:

S.trengths

W.eaknesses

O.pportunities

T.hreats

5. (Noble-Qur’ān: Chpt.64, V.14 & Chpt.80, V.33-36)

Describe your Relationships with your Family.

6. (“A Person is upon the Path of their Friend. So, beware concerning whom you befriend.”
[Abū-Dāwud, an-Nawawī])

Describe your Relationships with your Friends.

Discuss how influential you are amongst People.

Discuss how influential People are over you.

From Then to Now: Life-Review concerning what you’ve learned about yourself.

Daily-Affirmations

Gareth Bryant