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The Best Deed After the Obligations
Ibn Taymiyyah wrote: ‘As to what you asked about concerning the best of acts after the obligations, this varies in accordance with people’s differing abilities and what is suitable for their time. Therefore it is not possible to furnish a comprehensive, detailed answer for each individual.’1 I. Unlike obligatory actions which must be carried out Continue reading
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Is the Da‘wah Inflaming Divisions?
Continuing the theme of addressing issues and misunderstandings in the da’wah, and helping to ground callers in ta’sil; or sound knowledge-based ‘principles’, here is another consideration: I While the way in which a few people carry out da‘wah to non-Muslims can seem like childish point scoring, vengeful sneering, or even an exercise in shaming, da‘wah Continue reading
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Islam’s Five Big Life Questions
‘THE STARTING POINT of any religion is wonderment. The sheer mystery of our lives demands an explanation. From the gas clouds floating in interstellar space, to the tiniest subatomic particles, the realm of action into which we have been thrust must be understood if we are to know how to live. “The unexamined life is Continue reading
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How Much Knowledge Do I Need for Da‘wah?
Q. DO I NEED to be a scholar or student of knowledge to make da‘wah? And what about the hadith: ‘Convey from me, even if it is one verse. [Al-Bukhari, no.3461] Does this mean that anything I know about Islam, large or small, I can preach and teach to others? A. Perhaps a good place Continue reading
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Ibn Taymiyyah’s Letter on Muslim Unity
THIS POST LOOKS at how Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah advised some people who were in the grip of an intense and frenzied theological dispute, which was unleashing untold fitnah, had gone beyond bounds, and was inciting mutual hatred, schisms and boycotting. The lessons the Shaykh is hoping to impart, and get us to take to Continue reading
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Imam Ahmad’s Spiritual Vision
IN THIS POST we shall see how Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal’s spiritual vision was part of a larger part of his overall path of tahqiq al-ikhlas — ‘actualising true sincerity’ to Allah. For whatever else it might mean, spirituality in Islam is about the ruh or ‘Spirit’. It is about how to strip away the Continue reading
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The Journey Starts from the Outside-In
WE READ IN the Holy Qur’an: Assuredly, Allah loves those who turn to Him in repentance, and those who strive to purify themselves. [Q.2:222] Given that the context of the verse is about women’s menstruation, the first thing included in the idea of purification, or taharah, is purification of the body from physical and ritual Continue reading
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Palestine: Victory is Already Here!
ALTHOUGH THE TITLE sounds like a clickbait one, I can assure the reader that it is rooted in the Qur’an itself. Permit me the indulgence to explain: I. the Victory The Holy Qur’an says: Truly Our word to Our servants, the Messengers, has gone forth: Indeed it is they who shall be victorious. [Q.37:171-2] Ibn Continue reading
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Seeing the World with a Prophetic Eye
IF WE MUSLIMS aren’t to share in modernity’s despair or unhappiness, if we wish to prise ourselves from this web of distraction, we need to see the world with a critical prophetic perspective. This perspective is one that wants us to marvel at Allah’s creation and be filled with a sense of awe and thanks Continue reading
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Clothes that Scream Attention!
ONE HADITH STATES: ‘Whoever dresses in clothes of attracting attention (shuhrah, lit. ‘fame’) in this life, Allah shall clothe him in garbs of humiliation on the Day of Resurrection.’1 The way we dress can and often does, therefore, have to do with the inward state of our souls. We are told in the scholarly commentaries Continue reading