knowledge & learning
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Recognising the Role & Value of Muslim Teachers
DESPITE THEM BEING on the frontline of rearing, educating and nurturing the hearts and minds of the young, day in; day out, the sad reality is that Muslim teachers are still hugely undervalued by us Muslims as a community. And yet it is undeniable that young people are more positively influenced by teachers than they… Continue reading
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Read Through Tafsir or Just Ponder the Qur’an?
I RECENTLY MET A brother who I’d not seen since the late ’90s. He was eager to remind me of an incident I’d more or less forgotten about. I was working in an Islamic bookshop at the time. He came in to buy the ten volume translation of Tafsir Ibn Kathir Abridged. At the time… Continue reading
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Between the Errors of Scholars & Bigoted Followers
One of the most crucial rules of normative Sunni Islam states: ‘A condition for censuring wrongdoing is that the act being censured must be something whose blameworthiness is not merely known by means of ijtihad. Any matter that involves ijtihad cannot be a cause for censure.’1 It is usually expressed in this maxim: la inkar fi… Continue reading
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Taqlid & Madhhabs: the Good, Bad, and the Ugly [2/2]
The second part of this article explores the prohibited forms of taqlid which, unlike the prescribed type (see Part I), may rightly be called “blind following”. It also corrects some of the misguided notions and far-fetched interpretations in this regard; interpretations that are falsely peddled as being the stance of our past Imams and pious predecessors.… Continue reading
can a muslim pick and choose between madhhabs?, conditions for following a madhhab, Ibn al-Qayyim on taqlid, Ibn taymiyyah on taqlid and madhhabs, madhhabs vs. Qur’an and Sunnah, must a Muslim follow one madhhab?, prescribed and prohibited taqlid, salafi myth about taqlid and madhhabs, taqlid is not blind following, truth about taqlid -
Taqlid & Madhhabs: the Good, Bad, and the Ugly [1/2]
Must each Muslim know the proofs behind a religious action before performing that act? In Islam, what counts as “proof”? Is accepting a fatwa of a qualified Muslim scholar on trust, without knowing his legal reasoning, blind following? Can ordinary Muslims who’ve had no legal training evaluate proof-texts and identify the strongest view. How can Muslim… Continue reading
correctives & clarifications, fiqh & usul al-fiqh, knowledge & learning, salafism reconsidered, theologyal-Dhahabi on what qualifies as ijtihad, al-Shanqiti on the two types of taqlid, can a non-jurist weigh-up proofs?, definition of ijtihad, Ibn Qudamah on the consensus of taqlid, Ibn Taymiyyah on the lawful taqlid, meaning of taqlid, only innovators deny taqlid, the layman and religious learning, three types of forbidden taqlid, what type of taqlid is prescribed in Islam? -
Concerning Functional Fatwas & Dysfunctional Muftis
Do fatwas change with place and time; if so, how? Is Islamic fiqh fossilised? Do we require a new fiqh for the 21st century? Are classically-trained muftis fit for purpose in today’s world? Should the ‘ulema be trained in the core philosophical underpinnings of modernity? Does the new maqasid-based fiqh offer a better way forward… Continue reading
do fatwas changer with time and place, do Muslims require a new fiqh for the 21st century?, higher objectives of Islamic law, Is the concept of an ‘Islamic state‘ legitimate?, is traditional fiqh fossilised?, maqasid al-shari‘ah, Muslims and modernity, should Muslims in the West rely on scholars from outside the West?, what is modernity?