passing of a mirror: Michael Jackson
Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun
I understand that many regular readers of this blog, might not particularly care for this post, and I would have to wonder if this belong here – yet, to not say anything would be dishonest. Personally, i was never into Michael Jackson and, in fact, was kinda anti. Yet, looking back, he had such a profound impact, that i cannot say that i was not also moved. Michael Jackson’s music may have been what took the world by storm, but there was also more – the acting out of his shadow was just as much part of his appeal to a mass audience. Muslims reserve the word “mirror” for those arifan who have traveled the path and, as part of their service, accept students to show them who they really are. But our world is also full of signs, and there are mirrors who do not necessarily fall in that definition – and, in their own way, show us realities of our humanity that we would much rather not consider.
The photographs on this blog are not meant to make one feel superficially “happy.” The play of light and darkness, the shapes of trees, deserts, and the abstractness of a flower in black and white, can be disconcerting at times, calming, and may move some in other ways. Nature is like that, the embedded signs can, with brutal honesty, reveal sides of who we are, yet with a sense of incredible beauty. And so we may also learn a little from the lives of individuals such as Michael Jackson -from the light and darkness of his life.
