theology
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Doctrine of the Divine Attributes
According to Islam, a sound understanding of Allah’s attributes rests on two pillars. The first concerns the doctrine or ‘aqidah – of how hearts should believe in them. The second is tied to practice or ‘aml – of how hearts should take on board their meanings and implications. The latter issue will be discussed in… Continue reading
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Uhud & Hunayn: Lessons from the Frontline
In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien puts these words into the mouth of the brave though modest Faramir (younger brother to the brave but impulsive Boromir): ‘War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the… Continue reading
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The Natural & Primordial Faith
During the 4th century B.C., or thereabouts, a series of dialogues or discussions were penned by Plato, one of the greatest of the Ancient Greek philosophers, which dealt with a number of profound existential themes: the origins of moral virtue, the value of justice, the nature of love, the reality of the soul, what defines good governance. Many… Continue reading
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Were it Not for You, I Would Not Have Created Creation
In his catalogue of hadith forgeries, Mulla ‘Ali al-Qari cites a spurious report alleging that Allah informed His beloved Prophet, peace be upon him: ‘Were it not for you, I would not have created the universe (law laka lama khalaqtu’l-aflaka).’1 But having cited the hadith, al-Qari says that although the hadith is forged (mawdu‘), ‘its… Continue reading
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Terrorism is to Jihad as Adultery is to Marriage
For the past four days I had been working on the following article, which I intended to post yesterday evening. However, I then heard about the vile and sadistic act of violence carried out by two men with knives and a meat cleaver in Woolwich. So I thought it best to review the blog post in… Continue reading
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Is Islam Rational or Does It Stifle Rationality?
Are all religions (and thus, Islam) irrational? Does the Qur’an seek to stifle the human intellect? How reasonable is it to insist that Islam is against reason? And perhaps just as importantly, what do we mean by the words “intellect” or “reason”? The Qur’anic term used for “intellect” or “reason” is ‘aql. In his Dictionary… Continue reading
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Takfir: Its Dangers & Rules
Takfir – accusing a fellow Muslim of apostasy; of having left the fold of Islam and being a disbeliever (kafir) – is indeed a grave affair in Islam. It is a fitnah, or “sedition,” whose flames were historically put out by the defeat of the Kharijites (khawarij), only to be set alight again in our times, on a global scale,… Continue reading
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How the Qur’an Justifies Itself
In a previous posting about Islam’s rational monotheism (which can be read here), we saw how the Qur’an utilises a rationalist discourse to substantiate some of its main theological doctrines. As for how the Qur’an vindicates itself and rationalises its claim of truly being the Word of God, it deploys the following line of argument: ♦ Firstly,… Continue reading
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Islam’s Rational Monotheism in a Nutshell
Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad explains: ‘In the Western milieu, converts to Islam claim that they are attracted to what they regard as its clear, rationally-accessible teachings, unobscured by elaborate mysteries. It is not only insiders who wish to take this view. Non-Muslim academic accounts … now frequently draw attention to the central role of reason… Continue reading