m nna

1443-44H Issue 0
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m nna 1443-44H Issue 0

Published by Issue 1 contributors

students of
Aljamea tus Saifiyah-Nairobi Photographers
M Hussain Shk Adnan Abidali,
Copyright Notice Year 6
M Mustafa M Ahmed Al-Sauti,
All materials published in this
Year 9
magazine (including, but not
Zainab Shk Adnan Chhaniwala,
limited to articles, quotations,
Year 6
extracts, or any parts of the
article, photographs, images, M Hussain Shk Adnan Abidali,
illustrations also known as the Year 6
“Content”) are protected by M Hussain Shk Adnan Abidali,
copyright, and owned by Year 6
aljamea tus saifiyah press pvt. ltd. Abdulhussain M Shabbir Ezzi,
Year 5

Editorials
M Abdulkader Shk Moiz Abdulkader,
Year 9
Hussain Aliasger Studiowala,
Year 1

Calligrapher
M Murtaza Shk Aliasgar Jamali,
Year 8

Line art
Khadija M Murtaza Shayer,
Year 2

Minna Issue 1 Special Thanks to

minnaajsn@gmail.com Funoon al Quran al Kareem
Maktabat al Jamea Nairobi

M Abdulkader Shk Moiz Abdulkader, Year 9

Husaina Shk Mustafa Shakir, Year 6
Ajab Shk Yusuf Barbhaya, Year 5

2
WORLD’S LEADING
SAFARI DESTINATION
IN 2022

www.magicalkenya.com
3 minna
 CONTENT

11 Cosmic
Insignificance
Despite humankind’s hubristic claim to
superiority, how do we measure up in the
grand scheme of things?

05 Editorial
A note from the Minna Team.

06 For The Record

A glimpse of how significant you are on a
universal scale.

07 Poem
An interesting take
on whether anything matters.

17 Sha’iri
Amidst the magnitude,
you have a universe right within you.

14 Definations 15 An Ode To Linving On

Planet Earth
A word of gratitude to the greatest and only planet we have.

4
 EDITORIAL

So here is Minna, Nairobi’s first

ever student initiated magazine
that is completely from us and for
us because we believe that each of
us has a unique way of expression
that we would like to share with
others.
The definition of art has eluded thinkers of all ages. What one person considers art
can be different to what the person next to him might consider. Art can be anything
because of the distinctness of each person’s reality. It could be an object or an expe-
rience; it could be tangible or it could be abstract. It can grow or heal; be imagined
or created. Art is courageous, inspiring and silently loud. It is infinite and magical. It
could be you.

It is why we believe that art cannot be defined. The nature of each person’s reality is
an essential part of their understanding of art. Anything in this world can be consid-
ered art because our perception of reality is limitless. Our imagination is limitless.

This is what we hope to present in this magazine. We intend to present artistic

expressions of the students of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah, so that they can be interpreted
within the framework of each person’s reality. We hope to share various works that
can be appreciated and that provide a platform for students and faculty to artistically
express their own understanding of reality through whatever creative outlet they
choose.

This first issue has focused on our subjective understanding of our place in the uni-
verse. What is the universe? Do we matter in the grandiosity of it? Do our actions
make a difference in its vastness? Does anything we do have an impact? These are all
questions that are explored from the perspective of each writer, painter, photogra-
pher and poet who has contributed to this issue.

We also hope to expand our magazine's cosmos in upcoming issues by presenting

even more pieces of art. We would like to express our gratitude to each contributor
for taking the time to make this magazine a reality whilst trusting us to get the job
done. We are also grateful to Maktabat Aljamea, Nairobi for listening and facilitat-
ing us through the process of creating this magazine, as well as Funoon al Quran al
Kareem for advising us on the design and all owing us to use their resources.

Finally, and most importantly, we would like to pray to Allah Ta’ala to grant our
Maula Al-Dai Al-Ajal Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin along and prosperous life. If
it was not for his vision, his guidance and his munificence on the children of
Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah none of this would have been possible. All of this work is
dedicated to him, for our universes in any semblance, eventually, revolve round him.

Although this is a small exhibition of the creative expression of the students of

Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah, we think each piece is a representation of what is going on in
each creator’s very own universe. We hope this magazine enhances your under-
standing of creativity as our aim is to display what creativity and art mean to every
single one of us.

‫شكرًا‬
5
 FOR THE RECORD

All image and information credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is the
deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. It covers a patch
of sky and reveals thousands of galaxies in a tiny sliver of the vast universe.

“Just a chemical scum on a moderate-sized planet, orbit-

ing around a very average star in the outer suburb of one
among hundred billion galaxies.”
-Stephen Hawking (1942-2018)

Only 5% of the universe is visible from earth. Not because it is so far away but
because 68% of the universe is dark energy and 27% is dark matter, neither of which
is visible, even with a telescope. Regarding our universe, more is unknown than is
known.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s largest, most powerful, and most
complex space science telescope ever built. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar
system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious
structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.

The quest to answer whether we are significantly special or merely mediocre may
seem quite futile but try we must.

“And so, "If we long for our planet to be important,

there is something we can do about it. We make our
world significant by the courage of our questions and
by the depth of our answers."
-Carl Sagan (1934 - 1996)
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 They asked me to write about relevance, but I don't think I matter
Because I am not important enough to have an effect
And I am not different enough to make others falter
I am just a shadow, so the world can see the light
Then maybe that is my significance: to be the darkness in the night

Yet I sincerely think that nothing matters; even a star is just a stone
And if you feel otherwise, then I hope you are right
Please don't listen to the voice of a girl who is alone
So if you have found your relevance, then I truly envy you
Because I am a coward hiding behind these words
And you are the stone lucky enough to have light

Open your eyes though, look at the world you live in

What ocean would cry if one drop of water were to dry?
And if a leaf broke off a branch- would its tree really die?
Would the night sky shatter if one star were to dim and dull?
That is your importance; we were made to crawl but dreamed to fly

Do not listen to me though, I am nothing but a girl with broken rhymes

If you think you matter, then this is an ode to the end of your time
I hope you never dim and dull; I hope your footsteps never fade
But one day when all the shadows are gone and there is no more darkness,
I hope you realize you're not relevant; I hope you realize you never mattered

–Anonymous
 COSMIC
(IN)SIGNIFICANCE
The universe is vast. We are a combination of particles that somehow ended up
becoming walking, talking humans. When viewed this way, it is easy to think we
are very insignificant. Shakespeare eloquently embodied the existential nihilist in
Macbeth. Macbeth says towards the end of the play,
“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour
upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of
sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
(Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5, Lines 23-27)
Life signifies nothing and the earth we live on is, in the famous words of Carl Sagan
“...a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.”
Al-Dai Al-Ajal Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin TUS expounded on this topic during
Ashara Mubarakah 1444H in London in his Waaz Mubarak on the topic of Amir al
Mumineen’s statement:
“I am astonished at the one who is arrogant; yesterday he was but a drop of
semen and tomorrow he will be a rotting corpse.”
HeTUS mentioned how we can understand our insignificance by looking at our
past, present and future. He then goes on to tell us that by looking at our past and
future we can truly understand our place in the universe and be humbled by this
revelation. In turn, this humility can elevate us like HurrA,S who became the first
martyr of Karbala due to his humility, as narrated by Al-Dai Al-Ajal Syedna Mu-
faddal SaifuddinTUS. Maybe we can go on to do great things by comprehending our
cosmic insignificance.
On the contrary, the significance of our lives as humans, animals, and living things is
something to be cherished. Rather than constantly thinking about how small we are,
maybe it is time to celebrate our significance. Even though we live on a speck of dust
within the universe there are universes within ourselves. A Universe is a particular
sphere of activity or experience
We are the hub of our universe and that makes us special. We can also be significant
parts of other universes. For example, students of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah are each in
their own way significant parts of a universe. The universe of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah
is a microcosm of the Dawoodi Bohra community and that makes each of us signifi-
cant. What happens within this universe affects the universe as a whole.
What we do with this notion of significance is rather important. This does not
mean that our actions only have to be grand and have a visible impact. Small actions
can cause reverberations through several universes. Helping your neighbor with
groceries has an impact on their universe, which may turn out to help them make an
impact in another universe.
Rasul AllahSAWshowed us the significance of the small things we do, and the effect
they have on us as a universe. HeSAWinstructed his followers to collect firewood
while travelling. As they travelled in the desert, they did not find wood with which
to start a fire. So, he SAW instructed them to collect any small pieces they could
find. Eventually, by collecting small pieces they were able to amass a large pile of
firewood. RasulullahSAWused this example to explain that,
11
This might seem like a terrifying thought but this idea of cosmic insignificance is,
for some people, a relief. Oliver Burkeman discusses the idea of “cosmic insignifi-
cance therapy” in his book, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals.
When we think about our cosmic significance it gives us a false sense of grandiosity.
We set the bar too high for ourselves which leads us to not being able to achieve
what we want to. Writers do not think their work is worth writing if it does not af-
fect the world like Tolstoy; the architect does not pursue his ideas because they will
not have the same impact as Sir Christopher Wren, and the composer stops working
because he will not leave a legacy like Mozart. Thoughts like this are paralyzing and
make it all seem worthless. However, this can be tackled by understanding “cosmic
insignificance”.
“It is in this way that hasanaat (good deeds) are accumulated and this is
how sayyi’aat (bad deeds) are accumulated.”
The accumulation of hasanat is through small everyday acts of kindness. These
are the small things that make us significant in our universe and eventually in the
wider universe. It is this cumulative nature that makes humans special. ‘Cumulative
culture’ is a trait that many believe humans uniquely possess.
‘Cumulative culture’ denotes the, arguably, human capacity to build on the cultural
behaviors of one’s predecessors, allowing increases in cultural complexity to occur
such that many of our cultural artifacts, products and technologies have progressed
beyond what a single individual could invent alone.
(“Cumulative culture and future thinking: Is mental time travel a prerequisite to
cumulative cultural evolution?”, Vale et al.,2012, 220-230)
Nothing else in the known universe, can accumulate knowledge and act upon it in
the same way that humans can. The ability to act upon and increase the knowledge
of our predecessors is what makes us distinctly different from anything else. We
are nothing like anything else in the universe and that is something that should be
celebrated.
Shakespeare writes in Hamlet,
What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in
faculties! In form and moving, how express and admirable! In action
how like an angel! In apprehension, how like a god! The beauty of
the world! The paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this
quintessence of dust?
Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 295 - 302
Whichever way you choose to highlight our significance, whether as universes our-
selves or special beings within the universe, the cumulative culture of our species is
a cue to take up the smaller actions in life that wil eventually turn into an abundance
of good. Building on the work of our predecessors or by building on our smaller
actions, we are significant.
7,100 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia lies the Bubble Nebula 12
 AN ODE TO LIVING
ON PLANET EARTH

The Pale Blue Dot is a photograph of

Earth taken on Feb. 14, 1990, by NASA’s
Voyager 1 at a distance of 3.7 billion miles
(6 billion kilometers) from the Sun.

(“Voyager 1's Pale Blue Dot” 2019)

13
 DEFINATIONS
Existential crisis (eg-zi-sten-shuhl, krahy-sis)
Noun
To come to the realization that in the grand scheme of the universe, we are just molecules floating around in
random patterns. This understanding can hit anytime and its effects are monumental and are often characterized
by long or short-lasting bouts of apathy and depression.

Insignificance (in-sig-nif-i-kuhns)
Noun
When something is of no importance, or not needed. Something you are not.

Optimistic nihilism (op-tuh-mis-tik, nahy-uhliz-uhm)

Noun
Finding comfort in the fact, that whether you are a tiny speck in the infinite. The stars do not care who you are
or what you do. You owe the universe nothing; the universe does not care about that one time you messed up that
thing. Because why spend your life miserable on this rock when there is so much on it to give meaning to?

Black hole (black, həʊl)

Noun
A dangerous deep space phenomenon believed to be the result of the gravity of a collapsing star folding in on
itself, condensed into a single point called a singularity. It is a point of no return

Alien (ey-lee-uhn)
Noun
An extraterrestrial being or creature from outer space who has yet to discover earth, especially the marvels of
chocolate fudge cake.

Humans (hyoo-muhn)
The species that you and all other living beings on this planet belong to or Homo sapiens.

Multiverse (muhl-ti-vurs)
Noun
An infinite number of parallel universes with different laws of physics and an infinite number of universes with
the same laws of physics as ours. Thus meaning that there could be a chance for Tony Stark to make a comeback.

Universe (yoo-nuh-vurs)
Noun
All that is out there. 10 billion galaxies and counting. -The entirety of matter. Nihilism (nahy-uh-liz-uhm) Noun
–A belief that negates the purpose of life and existence, that all values are baseless and nothing can be known or
communicated. -To be in despair in terms of life and its meaning.

A catalepsy (ey-kat-l-ep-see)
Noun
The impossibility of comprehending the universe; the belief that human knowledge can never have true certainty.
Mars (mahrz) Noun -The fourth planet from the sun and the second smallest planet in the solar system. Primarily
composed of elements similar to Earth’s crust. -Chocolate company that produces M&Ms.

Supernova (soo-per-noh-vuh)
Noun
A supernova is the explosion of a star. It is the largest explosion that takes place in space and gives scientists an
overview of the expansion of the universe. A supernova may, for a short time, outshine an entire galaxy of

14
 AN ODE TO LIVING
ON PLANET EARTH

When we are born, we have no idea how large the planet is. However, as
we grow up, we start to realize how massive the Earth is and how micro-
scopic we are in comparison. Regardless of all of this realization, we grow
and understand how much the earth actually means to us.

The Earth is basically the entire world’s giant photo book. It holds memo-
ries from the first gladiator games, to the historic election of the first ever
black president of the United States, Barack Obama. The Earth is our sand-
box and we can be anyone and anything. One can go from a baby whose
only understanding is two syllables to a Jack of all trades or master of none.
There are truly no limits to what one can become.

That is the beauty of living on Earth; it does not confine you or force you
to conform. One moment you could be sand-dunning in the Sahara and in
the next you could be trudging through the snow in the Himalayas.

And the truth of it all is that even if one were to ask us to imagine our-
selves in 10 years’ time, we could indeed imagine ourselves doing anything
but it would most likely be on earth. Why? Because earth is our home
no matter where we end up. So we are truly lucky to be living in a world
where strawberry ice cream and cheeseburgers exist. And we are truly are
lucky to have met the people we love.

All of this would not have been possible without the Earth, despite the
chaos of it all it still makes sense to us. All the stories we believe in and
lines we have drawn between stars of the constellations mean something to
us down here. We have surrounded ourselves in this world where the little
things mean the world to us. So let us cherish each other as well as our-
selves and everything around us. Maybe in return, a few happy memories
will be added to Earth’s behemoth photo book. And if anyone ever feels let
down and ordinary, always remember that the chances for us to exist on
this Earth are 10 to the power of 2,685,000! So let us never miss a chance
to celebrate our existence, because here we are, despite it all

Regardless of the infinite scale of the cosmos, it

is a miracle that we are here in the first place at
all. A million and a half years after the magic
of fire, we have not burned the house down - yet.
The chances of being here are infinitesimal. Yet,
here we are, despite it all.

15
16
 ‫ز�اشئ كلف ی� اتسرے ی� كمكس�اں‬
‫یب‬
‫ی� اکانئت اسره وكابك ی� آامسں‬
‫ن‬
‫� ااسنں‬ ‫نوتعس ےہ اىكس وکیئ اقملب ہ ی‬
‫� ااکس لثمِ ذرہ ءرتاب یھب ااسنں‬ ‫ہی‬

‫وغر و رکف ےہ ی� قلخ ب ی‬

‫کر ےم غ‬
‫وج اتل تقلخ ےہ وو قلخ ص��ی�ر ےہ‬

‫ی‬ ‫چ‬ ‫ب‬

‫ےک ی� م‬ ‫وھجمس ےک ی�و ی� ی‬
‫در� ء امجن جب‬
‫حات ےک ومیت اک ی� ےہ‬ ‫ااسنن ےک ی‬

‫وہ ابم کلف یھب ےھجت دگنتتس لگ�یگ�ا‬

‫وج اقملب لقع رشب اوکس وتر ک�ہ�یگ�ا‬

‫م وہ ارگ‬‫ےچب ےلھب وہ وھچےٹ رگم رھگ ی‬

‫روقن وہ ربرقار ےہ رےتھک بش و رحس‬

‫س یہ‬
‫رھگاہنءالفلق و وکابک ےم و ي‬
‫ااسنن ےک انب ہن وہ روقن ذرا یس یھب‬
 WE ARE
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