In 2005 when I went to Rywind, the Markaz (headquarters) was still on the old construction, call it nostalgic but I liked that old version better than the new one. Last I went there was in 2015, may be the layout might have changed now.
You ask, what that has to do with the blog title, I was with a fellow who knew few of the colloquial of that place. So, at the back of the masjid, there was a basement, with few people sleeping there, at 11am I think, and my fellow called the place “Ghafileen Paradise”.Because you can sleep there without anyone bugging you to join any of the sermons or deeds.
Of course that was for chuckles, the literal meaning of Ghalfil will be neglectful, and Ghafileen will be plural of Ghafil. Fast forward to 2026 and I still use constructions like these to laugh at current divisions within our religion.
e.g. At office we have two jamats (congregational prayers) so we call the one who pray at 1.15pm “ahlay sawa aik” and the one who offer prayer at 1.45pm “ahlay ponay du”. The simple translation will be people of 1.15pm and so on. That now I have justified the title.
I feel that I am in a Ghafil’s Paradise of my own, not doing enough for hereafter or my fellow Muslims or even this life. But, I can only reflect and find shortcomings within me which I also find in the uma at large and that is of Hubb uz-Zahoor, our “the love of appearance”. It describes the ego’s craving for fame, social status, or public approval.
You can easily jump to conclusion, listing all the social media craze for fame and people going to lengths for views, which is obvious. But a large portion of this I see in our offline life, people going to lengths for their peers approval. Chasing after gadgets which make one even more Ghafil.
That brings me to the part of my obesity, I am constantly told to start exercise, eat in moderation, which I conclude is the greatest of my neglect. Better do something about it, my BMI is off the charts.
Note: Human written.