short read
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
Muslim Modesty vs. Red Pill Masculinity
WHEN IT COMES to gender interactions, Islam insists on decent and appropriate behaviour and dignified conduct between the sexes. In other words, gender relations must be built upon the virtues of modesty (haya’), dignity (waqar) and respectability (haybah). In fact, it’s probably not an exaggeration to say that men simply can’t be men, or rijal, in Continue reading
-
Religion Is Not A Substitute for Science
ACCORDING TO THE standard secular story that’s been repeatedly told to us for the past century or so, just a few short decades after the start of modernity, science was able to defeat religion with its sheer brilliance and power to explain. We’ve been led to believe that for centuries religion had been doing some Continue reading
-
A Few Thoughts On the Death of Non-Muslims
SOME MUSLIMS LABOUR under the mistaken notion that given the enormity of disbelief in Allah’s final Prophet ﷺ and Revelation, one must not speak well of a non-Muslim (kafir) when they pass away on disbelief. Islamic teachings do not, however, require or insist upon such an uncharitable approach. Many non-Muslims died during the lifetime of Continue reading
-
Is Today’s Islam a Failure or Success Story?
ONE COULD ARGUE that Islam, despite what we are being led to believe, is actually a modern success story. Now this might sound strange to some, perhaps to many. So let me explain: No doubt, media portrayals are negative, dark and gloomy. And of course, events around the world involving Muslims, or at least the Continue reading
-
‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani: On the Path to Allah in a Nutshell
Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali opens his biography of the venerable saintly scholar, ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, with this highly profound and glowing tribute: ‘The worldly renuncient (al-zahid), shaykh of the age, exemplar of the knowers [of Allah] (qudwat al-‘arifin), sultan of the shaykhs, master of the people of the path in his time (sayyid ahl al-tariqah fi Continue reading
-
When Hearts Are Blinded, Blinkered or Biased
Sufyan b. ‘Uyaynah, one of the saintly scholars of early Islam, would frequently recite this following couplet: al-mar’u idha kana lahu fikrah/fa fi kulfi shay’in lahu ‘ibrah – ‘A person, if he is given to [frequent] contemplation / Will draw a valuable lesson from everything.’ This visual Quranic reflection highlights one verse of the Holy Continue reading