Islamic Revival

Common parlance has that there are but five pillars of Islam: the testimony of faith, establishing the prayer, paying the obligatory charity, fasting in the month of Ramaḍān and making the pilgrimage.  The famous traditions carrying that wording are reported in almost all notable collections of ḥadith . When it comes to the citation, usually it is the narrations reported on the authority of Ibn Umar, son of Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with them both). It is a continuously recurrent tradition ( mutawātir ) from Ibn Umar and has been reported by a large number of the trustworthy narrators from the successor generation to the companions, the Tābi’een . Curiously though, the actual word pillar (Arabic:  rukn , pl.  arkān ) is noticeably absent from all the reported texts through which this has come.  Furthermore, the word ‘only’ (Arabic: faqaṭ ) is not part of any reported text.   Usually in the English translations it is either inserted into the main body of the t

The incoherence of liberalism is going to need a better defense than the one offered by Douglas Murray.  Liberalism, as Douglas Murray rightly points out in his Spectator piece, is in the dock and subject to a new “cultural revolution.” Murray’s piece reflects an ever-growing pessimism across western societies that the edifice upon which liberalism was built is giving way to a “woke” progressivism concerned with curtailing free speech and toppling statues. In this new world, young people exhibit an illiberalism that would, in Murray’s mind, not be out of place in a “Talibanised” society.  For Murray, Britain and the West face an existential crisis. Saving liberalism requires the idea to be defended and reasserted. Liberalism today is facing challenges from within and without, most notably because of the rise of nationalism. This well-trodden and rather pessimistic forecast is captured in Edward Luce’s gloomily titled book, The Retreat of Western Liberalism . Yet Mur

Our essential characteristics are not defined by the things we have no control over, but rather the things which we do. Devoid of all worldly distractions, each mature person of sound mind living on this vast planet will readily acknowledge that the land in which we are born, the colour of our skin, the people we originate from or are attributed to, are areas that are not within our immediate control. Placing a new judgement or exercising a pre-existing stereotype upon others for these very issues in the cold light of day, can ultimately hold no intrinsic or evidential value. Although we may experience the world from this common point of origin, it does not define who we are in any ultimate sense.   What defines us as people of this earth, is the content of our character; the voluntary actions we undertake, the beliefs to which we subscribe.  These are that areas that we consciously have control over, exercising the extent of our own free will or volition. In the Qur’anic text, such co

The following is the translation of an Arabic article. It is truly odd for the subject of “Ath-Thaqaafah” (culture) to occupy space within the research of any group working to bring change and particularly upon the basis of Islaam. The fact that is working for change upon the basis of Islaam means that it already possesses a great store and huge stock of experience, manifested in all of the attempts to bring change at the hands of the Anbiyaa’ (prophets) whom Allah has sent. A subject of this kind should not preoccupy the group at all and particularly as the last of these attempts to bring change was undertaken upon the hands of the seal of Prophets and Messengers, the Imaam of the Muslims and their example to follow until the Day of Judgement, and it was completely successful attempt by every measure or criteria. When thinking about bringing change and included within that is the issue of the culture, it is necessary to return to their Seerah and follow their tracks, and specificall

Allah (SWT) has sent down the Qur’an as a book of guidance to mankind. He created the human for the sole purpose of worship (i.e. to seek His pleasure by living the way of life THAT Allah has ordered him to adopt. He can do so within the framework of the guidance that Allah (SWT) has revealed concerning this. However, he can only do so if he properly understands its meanings and implications. Al-Arqam Institute has been conducting the online Tafsir class since 2011 and has completed Tafsir of Juz’ ‘Amma in its entirety. We now are progressing through the Tafsir of Surah al-Baqarah. Some facts about Surah al-Baqarah: - It is the longest Surah in the Qur’an occupying more than two Juz’ - Its revelation started with the Prophet’s migration to Madinah and continued throughout the ten years of the Prophet’s life in Madinah. - It contains the longest Ayah in the Qur’an (Ayat al-Dayn – 282) - Surah al-Baqarah is also called Surah an-Nisaa’ al-Kubra – The Major Surah of Wome

If Islam be denied political agency because it is too inconvenient, then surely by the same principle, the rest of Islam be also denied when inconvenient also. And when the voice of Islam that resides in the minds of Muslims, be also deemed inconvenient due to the insufferable dissonance between absence of action and Islam’s persistent exhortation to obligation, application and resolution of the affairs of the believer and the community of believers – it too shall be exorcised in the name of the same principle by which Islam was denied any political agency in the first place – inconvenience. Over time, the muffled and mostly silenced voice of Islam will be (mis)taken for an absence of the ability of Islam, and therefore God – to ever address and resolve worldly problems. Forgotten will be the reasons for the cause of the inconvenience, those who created and maintained it, who imposed and guarded it – the guns of foreign powers, the whip wielded by colonially created ruling elite

I received the following question along with other questions in response to the  research  I had published on the 21st of January 2019, 14th Jumadi al awwal 1440. Question:- The  Fuqaha  discussed the principle of ‘ uniting the word of the muslims ’ and said that it is expected from the Muslims to leave their own opinions and adopt that opinion which unites the Muslims in their affairs. Does this not serve as a  daleel  to prove the concept of adoption? Answer :- It is true that  Wahda  (unity) is an important concept and as long as  Maslaha  is achieved through it then people should abandon their view for it. However, the  Wahda  (unity) should be qualified ( mutahaqqaq ). It is discussed by the scholars using various terminologies including ‘ jama ’  Kalimat al Muslimeen ’ ‘Uniting the word of the Muslims’. The  usulioon  did discuss this concept under the chapter of ‘conditions of adopting the weaker view during necessity’ however none of them presented the view that the

  The following is the translation of an Arabic article. The least that can be said regarding the statement that Islam was spread at the point of the sword is that it is a statement that holds no credibility, which the enemies of Islam have attempted to pass off to non-thinking Muslims. That is in the case where they claim that the objective of the fighting is to make the people enter Islam by way of force, even though the falseness of this view is as clear as the sun. That is because the Islam (i.e. entry into it) which Islam has demanded, is the Islam which the person embraces by way of complete conviction and wilful consent. As such, there is no worth or value in the presence of something called Islam (i.e. belief in it), unless it came via complete conviction. The fact that it is not Islaam (i.e. belief in it) unless it occurs via complete conviction, means that the matter of fighting for the purpose of making the people embrace Islam, represents an impossible matter. That is b

The following is the translation of an Arabic article. Allah ‘Azza Wa Jalla has made every Nabi from the Anbiyaa’ (Prophets) whom He sent, the highest example or model for his people. After the death of the Prophets and the death of their miracles along with them, the Hikmah (wisdom) of Allah ‘Azza Wa Jalla willed that He send our master Muhammad ﷺ and made him the seal of the Prophets. He made his miracle everlasting as long as the heavens and earth remain and made him the high model or example for all the people, during his life and after his death. Allah created the human and created within him the tendency towards perfection. He is therefore constantly striving towards elevation and towards nearing perfection. For that reason, he likes to see upon the earth an example or model to follow. Allah did not efface this tendency in a manner that would conflict with his Fitrah (nature). Rather, He designated for him an example and obliged him to follow him. That was by making our mast