Peace.
I’m Zaahied Sallie, literature producer and author of The Beloved Prophet (s) – An Illustrated Biography in Rhyme. This international sirah, where art and poetry blended to create a unique, reflective and meditative space of the Prophet’s life, is the first of its kind. Books are my first love. I believe reading is essential for human development. In it, I’ve found my calling, shepherding humanity to the page and the best reading pastures.
My Key Interests
My Work
My work will help you in myriad ways.
Not because I am an expert. I write, drawing from the treasure trove of wisdom offered by portable knowledge capsules—books, using the Quran and Sunnah (the Muslim’s primary and secondary sources), social observation, my hard-won experience, and contextualising it through contemporary literature for our current times.
The world is not in a happy place, and most of its citizens suffer a void, a deep and unsettled emptiness or chasm that hollows us out.
My writing aims to unvoid us by reorienting us to our primordial state using the only way possible: God and His Prophet (s).
The world is lacking Divine and prophetic alignment. It is never too early or too late to make the transition or to adjust our methods. All we require is humility, willingness and a sincere intention.
Fourteen hundred years ago, God sent the Prophet Muhammad (s) to perfect the Adamic model.
My mission at zaahiedsallie.com is to remind and offer methods, beginning with myself, on how to increase our Quranic and Prophetic quotients and navigate our world with greater humility and equanimity.
We must, with all solemnity, resolve to commit to the Prophetic model.
The truth is, there is no other way.
Bismillah!
More About Me
The name Zaahied means ascetic, someone who lives in the world but is detached from its trappings.
For the last two decades, with God’s grace, I’ve been steadily growing into my name, foregoing more and more every year. Below are some of the things I’ve let go of:
- Listening to mainstream radio stations in my car (20 years)
- Coca-Cola (20+ years)
- Music (18 years)
- Television (16 years)
- Sunglasses (10+ years)
- I don’t take pharmaceuticals but I believe in emergency medicine (10+ years).
- I’ve been weaning myself off from viewing copious hours of sports to hardly any. The last big three I let go of were cricket (10+ yrs), rugby (2+ yrs), and football (2+ yrs).
- Sugary drinks, cakes, desserts, sweets, ice cream, and crisps (1 year)
- 80% less bread (1 year)
- 95% less sugar (1 year)
Becoming Consistent
Consistency was my kryptonite. Yet, I knew it was the most valuable currency I could mine.
I learned in my late teens through self-help books that your weaknesses can become your greatest strengths. I now believe this to be true by becoming more consistent in multiple facets of my life:
- I ran every day for one year (2018-2019), accumulating 2200+ kilometres.
- For more than two years, I published my newsletter every week. From September 2023 to date, I’ve written 120+ articles.
- I’ve maintained my prophetic eating plan for 1+ year.
- I’ve religiously maintained my daily Quranic programme for 2+ years.
- I read daily.
- I’ve been cooking for the family 2-3 days every week for more than two years.
Reading
A key ingredient to forging a new, better, happier, and more reflective you is one word at a time. When you enfold yourself in books, they become like garments, embellishing every piece of you. They also become the engines driving your behaviour. Some are powerful. Others not so. Read my article ‘Happy New You’ for an inexhaustive list of some of my favourite books.
Alternative Media
My disenfranchisement with the Western Press began decades ago. I was fortunate that the veils dropped early for me, and I could see them for what they were: imperial propaganda parading as journalism. For nearly three decades, I exclusively consumed my news from alternative media sources. And from scholars and journalists I’ve come to trust and admire: Alternative Radio, Democracy Now, Noam Chomsky, John Pilger, Norman Finkelstein, Robert Fisk, Chris Hedges, Wikileaks, Palestine Chronicle, and Electronic Intifada.
Environmental, Physical and Social Ecology
Returning to nature (our fitrah) is central to living within the prophetic paradigmatic model: ‘So be steadfast in faith in all uprightness (O Prophet)—the natural Way of Allah which He has instilled in (all) people. Let there be no change in this creation of Allah. That is the Straight Way, but most people do not know.’ [30:30]. Humanity’s antagonism towards nature hurtles us towards a dangerous precipice: 1) the cliff of dissonance within ourselves, and 2) a hedonic treadmill that lulls us into an artificial life. Both separate us from God. Renaturing myself, my mind, and my environment has been a long journey. One that will never end for me. Apart from the Quran and sunnah, I’ve learnt much on this subject from Abdul Hakim al-Murad, Vandana Shiva, Gabor Mate, and many others. Films for Action, an incredible free library of documentaries, also helped pave the way.
Run, Walk, Hike
I’ve spent thousands of kilometres by myself. For me, it’s about unlearning the sedentary life while learning about myself in solitary moments of joy, doubt, pain, exhaustion, awe, faith and exhilaration. I cannot recommend regular biomechanical movement more highly.
