Islamic Revival

The following is part of the transcript to a talk delivered last year at an event in Melbourne titled “Is Islam a reasonable belief?” . [Shafiul Huq speaking] The question we want to address tonight is not merely a theoretical question that a bunch of (radical) uni students happens to feel curious about. Rather this question seems to have a very widespread appeal, especially in this particular historical moment – in the era of science and reason. Pope Benedict, in his Regensburg lecture in 2006, reminded the world how Islam, as opposed to Western Christianity, has fallen utterly short of reconciling faith with reason, and hence Muslims needed to resort to violence. He quotes the words of a Byzantine emperor in his lecture: “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.” Then the Pope says: “The emperor, after having expressed himself so forcefully

Oppression comes in various forms, some explicit and some more subtle. Allah has warned against any involvement – even implicit – in forms of oppression. With reference to an importance verse of Surah Hud, we need to understand what the parameters of such oppression may be in order to ensure we are not a party to oppression of any sort. By looking at the classical tafsir of this verse (Hud 113) br Shafiul Haq explores the parameters of potential contribution to oppression. Oppression is considered something very severe in Islam. There are repeated warnings in the Qur’an against committing any form of oppression. From a  hadith  of the Prophet, we come to know that Allah most definitely answers the  du’a  of the oppressed: Allah causes their supplications to rise above the clouds, and gates of heaven are opened for them, and Allah says, ‘By My Majesty, I will help you, even if it is after a while.’ [ Tirmidhi ] Yet, today we live in a world where oppression is so widespread th

Many in the da’wah field have at some point attempted to use science to show Islam’s progressiveness, openness to “advancement” and inquiry. But is modern science ideologically neutral? And if it isn’t, is it something to be proud of if someone proved Islam to be true through science, or that Islam brought “science”, in the way it is meant today? Brother Shafiul Haq explores. Many of us, especially those in the da’wah scene, attempt to reconcile Islam with science. In fact, we even go as far as to prove the truth of Islam through science. I have perhaps done the same on many occasions. I remember once during a discussion with a few brothers, one of them said something along the lines of Islam “placing restrictions on science”. I argued that science is universal, neutral, objective. Hence, Islam does not restrict scientific inquiry. The brother then asked if Islam would allow us to scientifically investigate the origins of the universe. I was stumped. I didn’t know (and still

The following is the translation of an answer by Ustadh Abu Khaled al-Hejazi, please refer to the Arabic original for exact meanings. Question What is the rule on receiving ‘ cashback ’ from electronic wallets or payment wallets? Many of the electronic wallets give a cashback of 5% and sometimes even more upon using their wallets to make payments such as the electricity bill and so on, is this ‘cashback’ considered from Riba? In addition to this when these electronic wallets are recharged, we receive more than the amount we recharge for. For eg, if we recharge the payment wallet for 100 Riyals we receive 110 Riyals in our electronic wallet, is this additional amount riba, this is while keeping in consideration the fact that these wallets are not banks. Answer The  electronic wallet is a digital application which organizes payments digitally,  and it includes a wallet which stores the users details in an encrypted form on the application or the server of the payment wallet com

Questions :                                                              Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuhu our Ameer, may Allah elevate you and bring victory to this Ummah by your hands. If I may, I have two questions: The first: In your Answer to the Question to a brother regarding stocks, you said in the Answer: If you give authority to your mother who is kaffir to sell the shares after you learned that they (stocks) are forbidden, in a certain period, then you must dispose of the profits of your shares in this specific period by spending them in the interest of the Muslims. What is the evidence that he should put it in the interest of the Muslims as long as he is not the owner of this money in the Shariah, how is it allowed for him to dispose of it? The second question: I work in the field of selling vegetables as a peddler. I buy from the market that is about forty kilometers away from me. Sometimes I find a blemish in the commodity … It is customary that if