Islamic Revival

‘May you live in interesting times’ S upposedly originating as a curse in Chinese, though used more colloquially as an expression in English – ‘May you live in interesting times,’ appears to be quite an apt descriptive phrase to chart the course of current events.  Perhaps more so than usual, it carries with it an even bitter sense of irony. Globally, the Coronavirus, or rather the specific strain called Covid-19, has in the face of a very short space of time, not only dominated pretty much all discourse, but resulted in severe restrictive measures being imposed on a sizeable portion of humanity at large.  Outside of major international conflict, the restrictive measures that have been swiftly imposed upon populations are unprecedented in modern times.  Media outlets report death tolls across continents by the hour; politicians reinforce their policy adoptions by the force of security agencies, and an international billionaire with a messiah-like complex, positions to think of himself

I mam Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazzālī in his magnum opus, Ihya Ulum al-Din, supports a series of searching recommendations that I would have, regretfully, scoffed at many years ago when starting in the world of Islamic activism. Yet at the same time, I was ready to quote al-Ghazzālī when his statements accorded with my worldview. But study, time and events have enabled me to realise that his central recommendation in his chapter on knowledge, to discipline the soul, is one of the most important personal duties of any Muslim that seek to engender a social or political change. Like the public debaters al-Ghazzālī encountered at his time and whose number al-Ghazzālī once belonged, those that gain prominence through public activism are trialled by a host of negative traits, which if not recognised and addressed, can lead one to troubling places. I would highly recommend that all Muslims, especially young Muslims, embark upon an in-depth study of his Ihya in its broader work and find a means to set u

This is an extract from the book "Al Jaami'u li Ahkaam is Siyaam" (A complete guide to the rules of fasting) by Sheikh Abu Iyaas Mahmood bin Abdul-Lateef bin Mahmood ('Uwaydhah). Please note this is a draft translation from Arabic. For exact meanings please refer to the original  Arabic book . Ibn Hajar said the following in Al-Fath-ul-Baari: [The Ulamaa have differed greatly in respect to Laylat-ul-Qadr and as a result we have from the Madhaahib more than forty statements similar to what occurred in respect to the time of Jum’ah and both share in being hard to attain and requires seriousness in obtaining them]. He mentions forty-six views and I will now mentioned those which have stood out and most well known and I invite whosoever wishes to take a look at all of them to find this in the famous book Al-Fath-ul-Baari (of Ibn Hajar Al-Asqilaani). The fourth view: That it is possible in the entire year and this opinion is famous amongst the Hanafiyyah..