Comments on: Far Away [Part 6] – Dragon Surveys His Domain https://muslimmatters.org/2026/01/26/far-away-6-dragon-surveys-his-domain/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=far-away-6-dragon-surveys-his-domain Discourses in the Intellectual Traditions, Political Situation, and Social Ethics of Muslim Life Mon, 02 Feb 2026 01:40:20 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 By: Wael Abdelgawad https://muslimmatters.org/2026/01/26/far-away-6-dragon-surveys-his-domain/#comment-464875 Sun, 01 Feb 2026 06:39:27 +0000 https://muslimmatters.org/2026/01/25/far-away-5-there-is-only-work-copy/#comment-464875 In reply to Leanna.

You’re giving me ideas.

]]> By: Leanna https://muslimmatters.org/2026/01/26/far-away-6-dragon-surveys-his-domain/#comment-464634 Thu, 29 Jan 2026 13:53:11 +0000 https://muslimmatters.org/2026/01/25/far-away-5-there-is-only-work-copy/#comment-464634 I thoroughly enjoyed reading this installment which is my usual experience. I really appreciated your description of him entering the flow…I think it matches our experience when we are in the best during salah. I also appreciate the historical context of this narrative and especially the Muslim characters.

Thank you

]]> By: Bint A https://muslimmatters.org/2026/01/26/far-away-6-dragon-surveys-his-domain/#comment-464600 Thu, 29 Jan 2026 05:16:32 +0000 https://muslimmatters.org/2026/01/25/far-away-5-there-is-only-work-copy/#comment-464600 Beautiful.

]]> By: Kathleen https://muslimmatters.org/2026/01/26/far-away-6-dragon-surveys-his-domain/#comment-464331 Mon, 26 Jan 2026 09:21:28 +0000 https://muslimmatters.org/2026/01/25/far-away-5-there-is-only-work-copy/#comment-464331 Wow, you’re very skilled mashAllah. I don’t even know what I’m looking at with most of the stuff you do, especially the non-weapons one. I can’t imagine staying with a rigorous discipline like martial arts for such a long period of time.

About the chapter, the training scene was intense, but what stayed with me was the cost of it, the way skill and pain are tangled together for Darius. It reminds me of aspects of my own past, where there’s pleasure and pain tied together and it’s hard to separate them, to where there are parts of my past that I like to recollect, but as soon as I do it hurts and I shy away from it. I also loved how healing sits beside violence without being forced. It feels very honest, alhamdulillah. I’m rooting for this boy.

]]> By: Wael Abdelgawad https://muslimmatters.org/2026/01/26/far-away-6-dragon-surveys-his-domain/#comment-464326 Mon, 26 Jan 2026 06:17:15 +0000 https://muslimmatters.org/2026/01/25/far-away-5-there-is-only-work-copy/#comment-464326 I’ve been training in martial arts for 46 years, and I hold black belts in 5 arts. I’m no longer as young or agile as Darius, but I do teach stick and sword fighting among other things. That’s why you often see martial arts or fighting scenes in my stories. Here I am doing a full-contact stick sparring session:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj0X-jaNIJM

Here’s some knife defense stuff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8hkPMv_muE

Here I’m trading some improvised punch defenses with one of my former instructors:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErZPCSNwFPU

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