Nostalgic Heritage

This is the third book in the "Shujun" series by Dr. Yusuf Zidan, a light that illuminates the darkness of ignorance and intellectual error only for those who seek the path to understanding. "Shujun Heritage" presents two problems, one religious and the other revolving around our ancient heritage. The religious dilemma centers on Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Isra and Miraj, which have long been victims of their alleged cause, with many deaths occurring gratuitously, and people continuing to die as a result of the religious and political exploitation of the three religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (which Dr. Yusuf Zidan considers to be one religion in essence, and I share his opinion). The book also introduces the second side leading to this issue, which is "Confusion of meanings in secondary texts," namely the Talmud in Judaism, the confessions of the fathers in Christianity, and the Hadith in Islam. The book highlights the danger of secondary texts in their dominance over minds, especially the extremist ones who neglect to scrutinize the authenticity of the texts they hold, many of which are disputed (though some are good for advice or good morals). It venerates the secondary texts and uses them as sources of information or events that fundamentally contradict the primary texts. The second part of "Shujun Heritage" revolves around the state of ignorance and disrespect towards the old heritage, whether it be manuscripts of immense scientific and historical value that have been neglected, or the lack of awareness and understanding of Sufism and its methods, which has been confined in the minds of the common folk to folkloric images of celebrations (Mawlid), unjustly distancing themselves from the true essence of Sufism, which is meant to create spiritual balance in a world full of conflicts and materialism, gradually draining the generous humanity supported by Sufism. Finally, I hope that this book will play a role, no matter how limited, in reaching the goal it aspires to: bridging the gap between our heritage, with all its visions, propositions, eloquence, and intellectual and cognitive arts, and our contemporary reality, with all its mental disorder, chaos, and confusion, to prevent divided perspectives.