theology
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Do We Muslims Have the Right to Not Pray, Fast or Wear Hijab?
Q. Does a Muslim have a right to choose whether to pray, fast, financially maintain family, or wear hijab? ♦ A. A Muslim may indeed decide not to pray. But do they have a “right” to choose not to pray? Well, not really. A Muslim man may decide not to maintain his family and dependents. Continue reading
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Man, Universe & Macro Theology: Created in God’s Image
Apart from being story-telling creatures, we humans are also meaning-seeking creatures. Once we’re fed, clothed and sheltered, we have an inner tendency to want to find purpose and meaning in things. No matter how much we’re surrounded by comforts, or how much our needs and wants are catered for, we have an innate drive and Continue reading
adoring g yourselves with the attributes of God[liness], al-Suyuti on Man’s theomorphic nature, explaining the hadith of man being created in God’s image, hadith about beginning of creation, how was the Big Bang discovered?, human hearts are mirrors for God’s attributes, Ibn al-Qayyim on adorning ourselves with Allah’s attributes, Ibn Taymiyyah on Man being a small universe or microcosm, is the Hidden Treasure hadith sound?, islam and Man’s theomorphic nature, takhalluq bi akhlaqillah -
Duty of Muslims & the Scholars to Right Wrongs and Oppression
Q. What is our Islamic duty when one Muslim mistreats, exploits, oppresses or tyrannises another? And what should the role of Muslim scholars be in addressing the tyranny and injustices perpetrated by the state? A. Alhamduli’Llah, wa’l-salatu wa’l-salamu ‘ala rasuli’Llah. In theory, the answer is pretty straightforward. In practice, it may often be tricky – especially Continue reading
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The Veiling of Islam & Modern Muslimness
With everyone offering their opinion about what Islam is really about, with even far-right voices cashing in on the furore, Muslims are in danger of allowing the essential message of their religion to be drowned out in all the hullabaloo. And while it’s not always easy to essentialize the faith, to sort out Islamic principles Continue reading
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Principle v. Practice: Questions on Modern Muslimness
In principle, there’s good cause to counter the allegation that, historically, Islam impeded the development of modern science in the medieval Muslim world. In practice, this must not translate into the belief that scientific progress is an absolute value upon which the credibility of Islam must actually rest. ≡ In principle, a Muslim scholar possessed Continue reading
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A Word on Salafis & Ash‘aris, and Fossilised Theologies
Speaking about his personal hopes and endeavours, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah once shared these following remarks: وَالنَّاسُ يَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ كَانَ بَيْنَ الْحَنْبَلِيَّةِ وَالْأَشْعَرِيَّةِ وَحْشَةٌ وَمُنَافَرَةٌ. وَأَنَا كُنْت مِنْ أَعْظَمِ النَّاسِ تَأْلِيفًا لِقُلُوبِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَطَلَبًا لِاتِّفَاقِ كَلِمَتِهِمْ وَاتِّبَاعًا لِمَا أُمِرْنَا بِهِ مِنْ الِاعْتِصَامِ بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ وَأَزَلْت عَامَّةَ مَا كَانَ فِي النُّفُوسِ مِنْ الْوَحْشَةِ، وَبَيَّنْت لَهُمْ أَنَّ Continue reading
AI and Islam, Ash’arism, can there be a modern Islamic state?, feminism and Islam, Ibn Taymiyyah mending rift between Salafi and Ash’aris, Islamic critique of liberalism, quantum theory and Islam, refuting heterodoxy in Islam, Salafism, stagnation in Islamic theology, theological challenges to Islam in the 21st century, theology and Islamic governance -
Reward of Muslim & Non-Muslim Doers of Good in the Afterlife
A man once came to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and asked: ‘What of a man who fights in a battle seeking the spoils of war and renown?’ The Prophet replied: ‘There is no [reward] for him [in the Afterlife.’ The man reiterated the question three times, each time he got the same reply: Continue reading
do non-muslims get rewarded in the Hereafter?, do non-Muslims go to jannah?, do unbelievers go to Paradise?, fate of Abu Talib in the Hereafter, good deeds of disbelievers in the Hereafter, Imam al-Nawawi on the good deeds of the unbeliever, Prophet’s intercession for Abu Talib, sincerity is a condition for a good deed to be accepted by God, why do disbelievers in Islam not go to Paradise? -
Stephen Hawking and the Fate of Non-Muslims in the Afterlife
In 1985, I started my degree in Astrophysics up in the north of England, at one of the only two places in the country which offered this course. It was more or less what I had set my heart on studying ever since reading Isaac Asimov’s, The Collapsing Universe: The Story of the Black Holes Continue reading
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Beware the Politics of Idolatry!
The Qur‘an teaches that whenever the love, longing, loyalty and submission which are due to Allah, are focused upon other than Him, or others along with Him, then this is shirk – idolatry; setting-up partners with Allah. For as Islam sees things, whoever loves something, desires it, values it, and centres their hopes, fears, love and loyalty around Continue reading