A New Cognitive Transformation

Yemenat

Ahmed Saif Hashed

In high school, I would read and reflect as I roamed the desert after noon on the chosen days of the week, distributing my directions and traversing a new path each day. Sometimes, I aimed for a destination at a specific angle in the vast expanse of the desert, returning without necessarily retracing my steps.

I ventured deep into the desert, as far as I could go, as if searching for a new world, always mindful of the time to return before dusk, ensuring that darkness did not descend before I reached my dormitory.

I felt as if I were the first human to traverse that neglected desert, seemingly untouched, with no significant trace of human activity across its wide stretch. I appeared like the first explorer, treading upon its vastness.

Just as I raised my voice in the desert, I also unleashed my questioning mind. In the face of doubt, I flung open the doors of inquiry. The bewilderment of questioning occupied much of my thoughts.

A stark contradiction brewed between the notions I had grown up with, shaped by what I learned in Islamic education, and the knowledge I was gaining in geography, biology, philosophy, and other sciences. The questions stimulated my mind and consciousness, still tender and inexperienced, as I eagerly sought to understand all that was possible and new.

Through accumulated knowledge, I realized that submission does not cultivate awareness or understanding; rather, it breeds stagnation, lethargy, and dullness. It is the debate, contradiction, and pursuit of answers to the questions simmering in consciousness—even the simplest ones—that create knowledge, enriching it and challenging the ignorance and false consciousness that cling to the mind.

The skeptical questions opened my mind to deeper understanding, including some that defied answers and sparked frustration in my