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Tempting but I will refrain
Sunday, June 14, 2026
To start with, it’s very tempting to put my half baked thoughts through Claude (the free model) and it gives a fully formed post. But as some people suggest, I will restrain, so this is only with Google Docs autocorrect (2nd pass with harper-ls). First, I do not go to extremes. Case in point: though I am a practicing Muslim, I do not force my sect’s view on others. The most important decision was my marriage, and I never ask which sect my wife subscribes to. It turned out to be a complex mix, with my father-in-law being a practicing Barelvi. A few posts ago I wrote that I also went to Hajj with them. Of course when I say I do not force my worldview on them, it does not mean I am open to concepts that contradict my beliefs. My silence is not acceptance of your acts; it’s just your way, and I am on mine. …
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Audience of One
Sunday, June 7, 2026
A long time ago, I used to read an internet magazine called Spider. That’s where I first encountered the idea of writing blog entries. Back then, as now, the advice was the same: leave comments on other blogs, build a community, cross-link, network. All sensible counsel. But try as I might, I can never find it in me to do anything beyond the writing itself. After sitting with that for a while, I’ve made peace with it. I occasionally scroll back through old entries and think to myself — that wasn’t half bad. Which brings me to the title: for all practical purposes, this blog has an audience of one. His name is Hamdan. …
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The Dua
Monday, June 1, 2026
One day, I sat there thinking, He has the entire universe in His hands, every star, every ocean, every soul ever born — what will our little patience mean to Him? But then I thought maybe that’s exactly why it matters, because in all that vastness, He still sees us standing here, holding something fragile and real, asking Him not to let it slip away. Of course His plan is grand and vast — perhaps what He wants is for whatever grows between us to outlast the infatuation of this day. Not like a toy a child begs for, cherishes for a moment, then lets it collect dust the day a new one comes along — but like a dua a mother makes for her child, one he doesn’t fully understand yet, but grows into, and one day looks back on with gratitude and tears. …
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WAR
Wednesday, April 1, 2026
People die. A select few make billions. And the world calls it geopolitics. I can’t write about that. Not because I don’t have opinions — and not because I can pretend to be neutral, I live in Pakistan, I am not outside this — but because the moment you name a country or a conflict you become a camp. And I’ve written before about the ease of not belonging to a camp. …
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The Sufi Way and the Echo Chamber
Friday, January 16, 2026
Normally, when I return to this blog, it is an act of reflection. There is a specific rhythm to it: I read my words multiple times before posting, allowing the thoughts to iterate in my head until they settle. Today, however, I find myself holding two seemingly contradictory concepts at once. I want to “regurgitate” them here to see how they might fit together. The First Concept: The Sufi Way To me, the “Sufi Way” represents the perpetual struggle to be truly content with the present. It is the belief that whatever situation you find yourself in is a result of a Divine decree. …
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The Ease of Just Being
Friday, December 26, 2025
In a world that demands we pick a camp, a party, or a masalaq (sect), I have found a strange kind of liberation in being “none of the above.” People often ask why I am apolitical or why I refuse to anchor myself to a specific religious school of thought. The answer is simple: Peace. When you join a camp, you become an accidental spokesperson. You find yourself defending policies you didn’t write, leaders you don’t control, and complex theological arguments you may not have the authority to settle. …
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The Night Algorithm and I Went Back in Time
Sunday, December 21, 2025
I couldn’t sleep last night. Instead of fighting it, I did what everyone does: I grabbed my phone, opened YouTube, and started looking for some instrumentals just to quiet my brain down. What happened next was pretty wild, though I guess it’s common now. YouTube did its thing and started digging. Slowly, my feed shifted from “relaxing beats” to stuff I hadn’t heard in years. One click led to another, and suddenly I was deep in a rabbit hole of my own past. It’s crazy how these algorithms don’t just track what you like—they track who you were. I ended up sitting there in the dark, rediscovering tracks I used to have on repeat, each one bringing back a specific memory I’d totally forgotten about. …
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If You Are Like Me
Friday, November 28, 2025
If you are human, it’s natural to dream big to plan out each day, each year, and then regret it all when New Year’s resolutions arrive. We’ve all been there. But this constant cycle of planning, failing, regretting, and planning again can slowly drift you into a zone that affects your psychological well-being. It’s not healthy. A quiet, steady life can also be a meaningful one. One of the first “gems” I ever received came from my khala, my maternal aunt. She would say: …
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Navigating Ramzan
Saturday, March 1, 2025
When navigating home, it’s a good practice to check which routes are open or simply set your home as the destination and let the phone do the rest. Initially, I thought GPS worked with the phone network—but I was wrong. However, to have fully functional navigation, you need map data. This realization came when I was looking for a GPS device for my bicycle on AliExpress and noticed that they didn’t have SIM slots. Later, I stopped cycling and never bought the device. However, I did buy a Mi Band, and it served me well. Nowadays, every weekend, I plan to start walking and going to the gym again but lack the motivation. At least I have the sense not to buy gear before changing my lifestyle—though some days, I do check Garmin’s website to see what’s on offer. …
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Pulse
Saturday, February 8, 2025
In the rhythm of life, sometimes we need to pause and check our pulse - to see how far we’ve come and how much has changed. Today serves as one of those moments of reflection. Earlier today, I helped a colleague set up a blog. While WordPress seemed like the obvious choice, we opted for Hugo - a simpler solution that matched their comfort level. This interaction sparked memories of my own blogging journey, reminding me how our choices evolve with time. …