Introduction

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.


"O' Thou who knoweth my destitution and starvation, O' Lord! O' Lord! O' Lord! I beseech Thee by Thy glory and Thy honour, by Thy supremely high attributes and by Thy names to cause me to utilise my time, day and night, in Thy remembrance, by engaging myself in serving Thee (Thy cause) and to let my deeds be such as to be acceptable to Thee, so much so that all my actions and offerings (prayers) may be transformed into one continuous and sustained effort and my life may take the form of constant and perpetual service to Thee."
--from Du'a Kumayl (adapted from duas.org)


Peace be upon you!

This is not an ordinary blog.
 
It is an experiment.
     
It is a community project.
 
It's purpose?
To foster creativity in the youth of our community, and more importantly to increase our spirituality, faith, and devotion to the path of the Ahlul Bayt (ع).  Now that you have the motivation, here are the specifics.

The Rules

• Every blog post must start with the last sentence of the previous post (which will always be italicized).
• Anyone can write a post, and e-mail it to spiritualladder@gmail.com, or if you have a Blogger account ask to be added as a contributor to the blog.  
• If the post meets some undetermined, flexible criteria, it will be published Insha'Allah.  
• Your post should be within 250 and 800 words.
• Your post will be edited as the editor(s) see fit.
• This is the first post, so the second one will start with the last sentence of this one.

The Recommendations

• Keep in mind what you choose for your last sentence.  It should be relatively easy to continue writing about, but not too easy.
• Try to stay on topic with the first sentence.  Don't just write a few words related to it, and continue with unrelated topics.  
• While the blog as a whole is meant to focus on spirituality and the teachings of the Ahlul Bayt (ع), it is okay to discuss other themes within your post, such as comparative religion, education, science, technology, or history, but try to avoid topics of a political nature (especially ones with a political agenda).  
• While continuity is a motivation for this blog (see epigraph from Du'a Kumayl), feel free to change topics, as long as it relates to the first sentence.  Also feel free to debate or present points that may differ from those already presented, so long as it is done in a civilized manner.
• Please try to write as professionally as possible.  Try to avoid typos, but if you cannot, we will try to remove them.  Also, if you notice any typos or bad grammar please point them out to us.

One of the goals of this blog is to improve the writing of youth in our community. Professional writing is very important for our youth.  Unfortunately, many of us do not take writing very seriously, and when we have good points to share, we do not present them in a clean, easy-to-read, or professional way.  We live in a world of "lol"s and "brb"s, but if our religion was founded on such a world, would we really follow it?  One of the most attractive features of Islam is the beauty of the Holy Qur'an: the juxtaposition of rhythmic eloquence and profound meaning, outer simplicity and inner complexity makes the Holy Qur'an an alluring magnet to those who are willing to be moved.  The same can be said of the wonderful du'as of the Ahlul Bayt (ع).  If the Imams (ع) did not preach with the eloquence that they did, would we have been captivated by them?  Would their ahadith have stood the test of time if they spoke with speech akin to that of the colloquial speech of today?  It is true that we live in different times, and perhaps we need to use a different form of speech, but that does not mean we should use a lower quality of speech or writing.  The Holy Qur'an, the du'as, and the ahadith have not changed in their original Arabic, and it is in their original language that they are the most captivating.  We must try to implement the lifestyle of the Ahlul Bayt (ع) in all aspects of our lives, from the way we pray to the way we preach, from the way fast to the way we eat, from the way we entered this life to the way we will leave it, both with a clean slate Insha'Allah.