For much of Islamic history, the question of who embodies the majoritarian orthodox path of ahl al-sunnah wa’l-jama‘ah has been rather contentious. One view holds that it is only the Atharis [Salafis] that are orthodox, with the Ash‘aris and Maturidis being the closest of the heterodox Muslim sects to ahl al-sunnah. Another view is that…
Turning to God After All Else Has Failed Us
Isn't it the height of bad faith if we turn to God only after everyone else, or after everything else, has failed us? Isn't that trivialising God's greatness that we've put Him last on our list? If so, will He still listen to my plea for help? Should I still turn to Him? Or will it be a case of: 'The cheek of it!'? ♦ In…
Piety Demands We Think Before We Text, Tweet or Speak!
'A still tongue makes a wise head', says one proverb. Another says: 'The wounds of a sword may heal one day; the wounds of the tongue, they never may.' And then there is this note of caution: 'Speak when you're angry and you will make the best speech you'll ever regret.' While it is certainly true…
The Signs of Bliss & Misery
Some people are catapulted into the limelight; some have a quiet greatness thrust on them; most, though, live simple, ordinary lives. The ordinary believer believes in God and realises he is here through God's purpose, love and compassion. So he lives each day as God's blessing and acknowledges what he has he owes to God…
Better the Devil You Know than the Devil You Don’t
'It is a pity,' argued Gai Eaton, 'that so few people believe any longer in shaytan, the devil, if not in a personalised form, at least as an influence or a tendency. We need to be able to identify evil, not only when it manifests itself in genocide or torture, but in its roots and…