On occasion, students have asked me for help in editing their personal correspondence, for which I applaud them. Their material, without exception, virulently attacks an enemy, whether that enemy is a friend’s cheating ex-boyfriend, a neighbor with a loud dog, or simply a friend with whom the student is disagreeing. Each of them wants to get the upper hand in the exchange by presenting the most intellectually impressive prose–a brilliant move on their parts. I will never be confident enough to ask a complete stranger to help me mold my madness-brinking rage into a coherent and well-phrased argument. Their bravery exceeds my own in many ways.

The most recent of these bravehearts took the cake. I never could have guessed that I would be editing a vengeful treatise on a Hadith disagreement. May my knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence end here, and swiftly.

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