Assalamu alaykum peeps.
Once again I wish to re-introduce the anglicized pronoun "han" into the English language. It comes from the Finnish sans two dots over the "a" and rhymes with "pan." It is a third person singular personal gender neutral pronoun that could happily replace such awkward and arguably sexist constructs as "he or she" and so forth, similarly for "han's" and "his or hers." It *sounds* like a fit with those other English personal pronouns and fulfills a genuine need -- it would ease our minds a little when used relevantly, when used appropriately, that is to say when an individual's gender is unknown or otherwise not to be specified. It avoids all appearance of sexism while saving bandwidth, and can be taken as short for "human" where relevant.
In addition, in all caps as a reference to Deity, "HAN" is properly gender neutral and read left to right then right to left as in Arabic can symbolize the combined affirmation and negation I have read are inherent in the Divine Name "Allah," for "HAN" the opposite direction is "NAH" which means "no," while "HAN" affirms the singular Divine positively. "HAN" also can be taken to symbolize the Bismillahi arrahmani arrahim, as the "N" (reading in the Arabic direction) is one single line in which there is distinction, i.e. a creating nature that is still one alone, ahad, the "A" is composed of a reflection of that same nature into a face with two hands, the Almighty, arrahmani, and the "H" is two connected line segments, a sign of the specifically Merciful, arrahim, in granting us connection to what we need, including each other.
I don't intend to be adding an innovation into Islam, just a meaningful pronoun into English.
The capitalized "HAN" is also a symbol of the straight path being composed of straight segments.
Left to right, "HAN" can symbolize a progression on the path, from a state of only seeing material objects in connection to each other to seeing this connected above as well by the singular Allah above to being returned to Allah and seeing HAN in the hereafter though still with a distinction present.
I really do not intend any bida by this as I am not introducing any spiritual practice into Islam by introducing a pronoun which in its normal lower case form shows a clear distinction between han who is created and HAN Who is the Creator and Sustainer of han, who by the very shape of the letters is obviously bowing down to upper case HAN in submission.
I believe Allah's wisdom and will manifest in the evolution of all language as in everything with absolute precision, including such matters as a pronoun's intricate resonances and connections, for want of better wording, with what I have to call everything else, even in the shape of its lettering.
And consider that "han" comes from the Finnish as a "finishing" touch to the group of English pronouns -- Allah has a long range sense of humor! And consider that "han" puts the old "english" on English in "finishing" off the assumed "he" and "his" and other sexist formations in the Earth's dominating essentially imperial language, easing psychological tension built up over centuries.
I certainly don't intend this adoption as a subtle Muslim plot against the West, but a real attempt to ease our minds that meaningful fraction. It just happens to suit my spirituality to a tee in the process, that's all.
Please, spread the word. "Han" is the word. It rhymes with "pan" and stands for the third person with real neutrality (and for believers a reminder of Who is Who which non-believers can ignore, and I don't particularly even request that you spread that aspect, though feel free).
I feel as if entrusted with a divine mission to spread this anglicized pronoun. I don't know whether I like this feeling, but at least I truly believe it to be a useful mission, so I might as well like it I suppose... :}. And anyway I have a very deep trust of the divine order.
So spread the word, han' the message on, let's see how well we can ease relations between the genders this way.
Peace and in,
David
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch
Location:Seattle
