Review: Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings

With kind permission from Muslim World Book Review, Spring 32, (3), pp. 18-20.

Tahir-ul-Qadri, Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings, (London: Minhaj-ul-Quran International, 2010), pp. 512, £ 19.95


Review by Dr M Mansur Ali

Cambridge Muslim College

This is the translation of an Urdu fatwa (Dahshat gardi awr fitnae khawarij) written by the author primarily to condemn terrorist activities taking place in the Asian sub-continent. In the original Urdu fatwa the author has a disclaimer saying that the writing of this fatwa is not politically motivated but a sincere attempt to rescue Islam from being hijacked by a discourse on terror. His intention is to show the beauty of Islam and that terrorism is not a part of this beauty. It is an exhaustive piece of work and reads like a classical Islamic law manual: first looking at linguistic analysis of key words, seconded by scriptural evidence from the Quran and Hadith and finally followed by the opinions of the legal experts. The English translation first discussed at a ‘historical launch’ press conference in London in March 2010 which was later published as a 512 page monograph in December 2010, had attracted much media attention. The introduction has also been translated into a myriad of languages including Arabic, French, German and Norwegian. It is also accompanied by a website, a Facebook and Twitter page. The English translation of the fatwa is preceded by a forward and an introduction by two eminent scholars in their subject area.

In the forward, Professor John Esposito places the fatwa in its historical context by showing that it is but one from a line of condemnations by Muslim scholars against terrorism and indiscriminate killing. He quotes authorities such as Timothy Winter, Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia. He makes reference to two important initiatives by Muslim scholars worldwide in their collective condemnation of terrorism: the Amman Message (2004-5) and ‘A Common Word Between Us and You’ (2007). Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri’s fatwa is an important continuation of the Muslim voice against terrorism. The author of the introduction, Dr Joel Hayward, a scholar of war and strategy, expresses his frustration that hitherto condemnations of terrorism have not done anything to convince non-Muslims of the peaceful nature of Islam, neither have they stopped Muslims from being radicalized. He says that in March 2010 he breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The fatwa is solidly grounded in the Islamic sources. Its meticulous attention to details covering every single avenue makes it read almost like an encyclopaedia on the ethics of war and justice. It discusses the lexical and etymological meanings of Islam, Iman and Ihsan, the unlawfulness of indiscriminately killing people, Muslim or otherwise. He writes about the unlawfulness of terrorism in all forms, the rules related to the protection of ones religion, life, honour and wealth and the prohibition of rebelling against the government amongst many other things. The fatwa also includes the opinions of Salafi and Deobandi scholars in their condemnation of terrorism.

However, there are two unique features of the fatwa which distinguishes it from other fatwas written on the subject. First of all the author claims that it is ‘an absolute condemnation of terrorism, without any excuses, without any pretext, without any exceptions, without creating any ways of justification, this condemnation is in its totality, in its comprehensiveness, in its absoluteness, [...] a total condemnation of every act of terrorism in every form and every manifestation.’ And the second unique feature which is the main thrust of the fatwa and which the author calls his unique contribution, is his declaration that terrorists are ‘outside the ambit of Islam’ in other words they are kafirs who are not ‘heroes of Islam but the heroes of hell.’

The author comes to this conclusion through three different types of reasoning. First of all through a linguistic analysis of the words ‘Islam’ and ‘Iman’ he concludes that a terrorist acts contrary to what Islam and Iman are and therefore he cannot be from them even though outwardly he is pious and devout (p. 35). The second evidence for declaring terrorists as kafirs is based on Abu Mansur al-Maturidi’s reading of the verse ‘whoever kills a person, except as a punishment for murder or disorder in the land, it is as if he killed all of humanity (Quran 5:32). Al-Maturidi’s reading of the verse is based on the understanding that a person who deems it permissible to kill another person (istihlal al-qatl) without recourse to a court of law, in essence is denying the validity of the Quranic verse and as a result of this he is a kafir. This is different from the person who kills out of anger without believing it to be permissible.

The above two reasonings are only preambles to the author’s main reasoning in declaring terrorists as kafirs. His main ammunition against them is that they are the same old evil kharijites with a new name. He dedicates over 145 pages in trying to prove this (chapter 17: today’s terrorists are kharijites, p.385). By identifying similar khariji traits in the modern day terrorists, he declares them to be a modern manifestation of kharijis and then falls back on to higher authorities who have declared kharijites to be out of the fold of Islam (he also honestly documents the opinions of those scholars who did not hold this view). He sincerely believes that the Prophet’s prophecies regarding the description of the kharijites also fit into today’s terrorists. However, in doing so he makes some gross generalizations such as the Prophet saying they will be young, they will have bushy beards, they will wear their trousers way above their ankles and that they will come from the east. He even tries to make acoustic links between the Haruriya (another name for the kharijites) and modern day Hizb al-Tahrir, and al-Qa’diya (one of the names for the kharijites) and al-Qaeda saying that the only difference in the latter is the addition of the letter alif.

Although most readers will agree with the bulk of the fatwa, some may find the author’s main thrust of the fatwa (i.e. declaring the terrorists to be non-Muslims) problematic and difficult to accept from a theological and sociological point of view. First of all one may ask what constitutes istihalal. Modern day terrorists are not deliberately rejecting a ma’lum min al-din bi al-darura (that which is necessarily known from the religion), but they are sincerely upholding an interpretation (yuqatiluna ala al-ta’wil) which mainstream Islam rejects. They are guilty of violating ijma’ and not kufr. Therefore, one may say that the author is too absolute in assuming that rejecting a consensual interpretation constitutes kufr. Similarly the author’s position goes against the Amman message which professor Esposito writes about in the forward. Scholars who signed the Amman message, of which the author is also a signatory, agreed that it is not permissible for anyone to declare a person who believes in Allah and the Prophet as an apostate. Ironically, it categorically mentions that the Ibadis are Muslims, the Ibadis being an offshoot of the historical kharijites.

Another problem arising from declaring the terrorists to be non-Muslims is that one may see it as an attempt to shy away from the fact that terrorism is a problem within the Muslim community. A more head-on theological rebuttal to terrorist misreading of the Islamic sources would have been more efficient. And finally one may say that by declaring terrorists as non-Muslims the author is falling into the very same mentality that the kharijites were notorious for. Saying this, the author’s line of argument may help potential terrorists think twice before allowing themselves to be radicalised. We hope this maybe the case.

‘They Are Your Garments And You Are Theirs'

‘They Are Your Garments And You Are Theirs:

Marital Relation and the Metaphor of the Garment

Reflections on surat –al-Baqara 2:187

هن لباس لكم وأنتم لباس لهن

By Maulana Dr M Mansur Ali

Your clothes conceal much of your beauty, yet they hide not the unbeautiful.
And though you seek in garments the freedom of privacy you may find in them a harness and a chain. (Khalil Gibran, The Prophet)

Marriage is the oldest traditions known to mankind. It is a continuation of that holy communion that took place between our first parents Adam and Hawwa (May Allah’s peace be on both of them) in the garden of al-Firdaws. Adam (as) enjoyed the bounties of his Lord in paradise. He knew no needs. However, as time passed by he yearned for human company. For love and warmth, for someone to share his thoughts with, to be intimate with, someone who can understand the beatings of his heart and deepest of his thoughts. Allah created his wife Hawwa (as) for him and thus filled the void in his heart. Together they roamed around in paradise, eating from its many delicacies when and whatever they wished. However, due to a momentary lapse of judgement caused by the whispering of the devil, together, they violated the only one restriction that Allah has commanded them to refrain from. As a result of this trespass divine Grace left them and they became acutely aware of their nakedness.  It is then that both Adam and Hawwa felt a second need, the need to cover themselves up.  They ran to the trees of paradise and started covering their innocence with its leaves. ‘Where can you run away from me Adam?’ said his Lord to him. ‘I’m not running to get away from you my Lord’, he replied ‘I’m running to hide from you out of shame and modesty’. (al-Tabari, Al-Araf: 7:22). The need for company and the need for clothes were two of the first needs that Adam (as) experienced in paradise, it then comes as no surprise that Allah refers to the relationship between a husband and wife using the metaphor of clothes and garments.

‘They (your wives) are your garments and you are theirs’ says Allah in the Qur’an. The metaphor of the garment is a very powerful one as it brings home the message. It creates in the mind a crystal clear picture of the relationship needed for a happy and healthy marriage. Clothes are a basic necessity for humans. They are used for warmth as well as beauty. 

Clothes have many qualities and functions. One of its qualities is that it keeps us warm. The sign of a healthy marriage is when the husband and wife feel warmth in each other’s company. Their very presence brings tranquillity to the hearts of their spouse, and the whole world feels like a cold empty void without the other.  

Our clothes are physically the closest object to our bodies. They trespass beyond the boundaries of what is socially accepted as ones comfort space. The husband and wife should be close to each other like the closeness of the garment to the naked body.  They should be able to share the most intimate of thoughts with each other without the fear of being judged by the other. They should be open and transparent with each other and should be able to communicate their feelings, frustrations, desires physical, spiritual and emotional with honesty and without embarrassment. 

Clothes are also a form of protection. They protect from harsh weather conditions as well as conceal physical imperfections such as a scar on our body. Here the analogy is three-fold: first and foremost the husband and wife should physically protect each other not only from outside threat but also from themselves. It defies all laws of human compassion and dignity that a man beats up his wife and then comes onto her like a beast for no other purpose than his gratification. He further adds insult to injury in the process by saying ‘I love you’.

Furthermore, it is the duty of the spouse to make sure that people are not bad mouthing their spouse, at least not in their presence and if they do then they should put them straight. That marriage is in a sorry state when one of the spouses is the centre of ridicule in the presence of the other and he/she does nothing about it. Even worse is when the spouse starts divulging intimate details and imperfections to others. It is in line with Prophetic practice that the spouse should conceal each other’s imperfections. Like the way our clothes conceal our physical imperfections, similarly we should conceal the imperfections of our spouse.

Similarly, our clothes function as a barrier from toxins and other harmful bacteria from coming on to our body.  Marriage is about faith and trust, it is a commitment made in the presence of God and in the presence of the community. A couple should not let any third party come between them and pollute their holy communion. Indeed it is one of the devil’s greatest triumphs to cause a split between the spouse by casting doubts on their fidelity and honour.

Obviously being human one will have ups and downs in their marriage. There is nothing un-human about this. ‘Marriage is a bed of roses’ says sister Ruqayyah Waris Maqsood, ‘but a bed of roses with many thorns.’ However, it is a test of character as to how one rises up from these problems. Once in a while our clothes get dirty. We wash our clothes in order to clean them. We may also add fabric conditioners for extra softness. Conflict resolution is an art one needs to master. One needs to have an understanding for the other’s point of view, listen to them attentively and try to understand their grievance. It won’t do anyone harm if a dollop of love conditioner was added in the process. People wash their own clothes in their homes. Similarly the first call of duty should be to resolve any problems amongst themselves without resorting to any third party. A common problem amongst some women is that they get their families involved in every little argument that they have with their husbands. This at times will only make the situation worse rather than better. It is only when the stain is really stubborn or the blanket is too big that one needs to take it to the laundry. When all avenues of conflict resolution have been exhausted only then should one resort to close ones and elders for help. And if the argument is about who is to do the next laundry, just remember the fabric conditioner.

Remember our clothes are ours, they are made to fit us, even if someone else wears exactly the same clothes it’s still not our clothes. Couples should take great care that they don’t drag their parents in to their arguments. Husbands should not search for their mother in their wives and wives should not search for their father in their husbands. ‘My mother used to do everything for me’ or ‘my father used to treat me like a princess’ are common sledgehammers used against each other.  If you really want to make a comparison with your parents [???], then it is better to make a horizontal comparison rather than a vertical one. How does your father treat your mother or vice versa? Accurate results will only yield when the comparison is being made between two husbands or two wives and not a father and a husband or a mother and a wife.

Many people boil down marital disputes to clash of personalities. However, unless the clash is severe, why should we see it as something detestable? Don’t we have differences and tensions in all phases of life? Shouldn’t we be celebrating our differences and respecting the other person’s likes and dislikes. Difference (ikhtilaf) in Islam is never seen as a bad thing, it is a part of the divine design of the cosmos to which we belong. What is abhorred is dispute (khilaf), antipathy and animosity. What is the joy of living in a monolithic world where everyone looks and thinks the same? Where is the challenge in this? A little bit of chilli and pepper brings out the kick in the curry and only enhances its flavour. The fabric in a cloth is made up by weaving strands of yarn vertically and horizontally. Although the fibres go in different direction they interlock at the intersection. Without the horizontal-vertical weaving the fabric will not exist. Their differences make the fabric. Without any differences there won’t be any spark in the marriage. Like the fabric our differences should be viewed as complimentary and not contradictory. As the Persian poet says: har gulera digar rang wa bu ast (every flower has a different colour and fragrance).  

From time to time clothes need repairing. It’s the little stitches that keep the clothes intact. Presenting one’s spouse with a big present at valentine whilst being neglectful towards her the whole year round will not mend the already big hole in the clothes. It’s the everyday little appreciations, coy remarks and playful gestures that will keep the stitches of the marriage intact.            

Despite being so close to us, we still need to take off our clothes and hang them in the closet at night. Similarly, despite being intimately close, we should give our spouse their own space lest they feel suffocated by our love. ‘Loving to death’ may not cause one to die, but it can result in a very unhappy spouse who needs time to herself. We need to understand that although we are bonded together as a couple, however we are individuals. And the sooner we understand this human condition the happier we will be in our marriage. As Gibran says:  And Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music … stand together yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart.

There now remains one piece of analogy which will throw the whole metaphor of the garment in jeopardy. What should one do when it is time to change their old clothes? If this is your case then it is high time that you buy your wife a new SAREE.

Literary Aspects of the Qur’an: Al-Baydawi’s interpretation of Alif Lam Mim Using the Rules of Tajweed

By Maulana Dr M Mansur Ali

The Qur’an, that inimitable symphony, the very sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy, invigorated the barren hearts of camel shepherds and transformed them in to guiding stars for humanity. That eternal and unimpeachable writ, which laid the foundation of a civilization that carried the knowledge of late antiquity in its bosoms and brought Europe out of its darkest hours. It had occupied the minds of philosophers, theologians, jurists and politicians of yesteryears. It had informed poetry, grammar, arts, aesthetics and belles-lettre. Umar II’s politics, Al-Rumi’s gazals, Al-Razi’s logic, Al-Ghazali’s ethics, al-Hariri’s prose, al-Attar’s poetry and Ibn Al-Arabi’s metaphysics all find their origins in this heavenly mandate. It had inspired the Sufi’s chanting of the souls, the music of the dervish’s reed, the literalism of the Salafi and the speculation of the rationalist. And yet its ultimate reality lies with Allah blessed be He in Whose hands is Dominion; and He over all things hath Power.

Muslims believe that the Qur’an is a literary miracle. An entire body of literature called ‘ijaz al-Qur’an had been developed to understand this miraculous aspect of the Qur’an. It uses eloquent Arabic language of the highest standard as well as a plethora of literary devices, the hallmark of any magnum opus. At times it employs short and fast paced verses resembling the beatings of the heart, whilst other times slow, meticulous and clear instructive verses are used to lay down points of law. Clear, unambiguous words, similes, alliterations, onomatopoeias, hyperboles, rhetorical questions, imageries, allegories, metaphors, aphorisms, euphemisms and ironies are its common features.

Whilst some verses of the Qur’an are clear in their meanings, others are somewhat ambiguous and veiled. Allah in his infinite wisdom had decided to keep some of the knowledge of his words concealed from public consumption, and it is only those who have been touched by divine aurora have been made privy to some of its mysteries. Some of these unclear verses constitute a set of cryptic letters found in the beginning of some chapters of the Qur’an, the meaning of which only Allah knows. These are known as al-huruf al-muqatta’at the disjointed letters, or al-huruf al-fawatih the opening letters such as Alif Lam Mim, Ya Sin, Ta Sin, Kaf Ha Ya ‘Ayn Sad. This did not stop scholars from exercising their God given intellect in trying to decipher these letters. For example where the majority of the scholars remained reticent to interpret the three letters Alif Lam Mim found in the opening section of sura al-Baqara the second chapter of the Qur’an, other scholars ventured to understand them. Some have interpreted them to mean Allah, Jibril and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), others opined that the Arabs were already familiar with these types of letters in their poetry, hence they were not a cause of confusion and contention for the immediate Arab audience of the Qur’an. A third group of scholars maintained that by employing simple letters of the Arabic alphabet, the contrast was being made between the literary works of the Arabs and the divine writ. That these were the very same letters employed to write both sets of writings, but how different are the outputs when the one is authored by the transcendent God and the other by mortal beings.

One scholar who attempted to appropriate some meaning to these letters was Qadi Abdullah b. Umar al-Shirazi al-Baydawi (d. 684/1286) a seventh/thirteenth century Shafi exegete of the Qur’an. Al-Baydawi’s interpretation is interesting as he makes an attempt to understand them using the rules of Arabic elocution (tajweed). The alif (in this instance a hamza) is a glottal letter (al-harf al-halqi) that emanates from the lowest point of the larynx closest to the lungs (aqsa al-halq). The letter lam is an alveolar letter (al-harf al-dhalqiyya) which articulates when the tip of the tongue makes contact with the roots of the upper incisors and the letter mim is an endo-labial letter (al-harf al-shafatayn) where the sound is forced through the lips by closing and opening of the inner lips.

Qadi al-Baydawi says that the vocal apparatus and the places of articulation (makharij al-huruf) are the same organs used by the respiratory system. The letters of alif lam mim cover the entire gamut of the respiratory system from the lower trachea to the outer lips. Since they constitute the words of Allah, al-Baydawi says that what can be learnt from them is that each and every breath that we take and every word that we utter should be in accordance with Allah’s will and pleasure.

These are human attempts to understand that which transcends our feeble minds as absolute truth only remains with The Absolute Truth (al-Haqq). After exercising their intellectual faculty, one is required to humble his knowledge in front of the Omniscience and all Muslims are required to concede in humility the emphatic statement Wallahu A’lam, and Allah knows best.

Abu Hanifa: His Life, Legal Method and Legacy by Shaykh Akram Nadwi

Reproduced here with kind permission from Muslim World Book Review (MWBR)

Review: Abu Hanifa: His Life, Legal Method and Legacy
Mohammad Akram Nadwi, (Markfield: Kube Publishing Ltd., 2010)

Reviewed by: Dr M Mansur Ali
Cardiff University

Muslim World Book Review (MWBR) vol. 31, no. 4, Summer 2011, pp. 29-31.

This very short, albeit highly erudite work of hagiography has been written by a scholar who has engaged with Abu Hanifa and his legacy for a very long time. By using only the most authentic reports found in the classical Islamic prosopographical collections, original Arabic and Urdu sources and core Hanafi legal texts, the author endeavours to understand ‘why’ and ‘how’ Abu Hanifa came to inherit the appellation ‘Al-Imam al-A’zam’ (the greatest one worthy to be followed), an epithet which is worthy of him today as it was in his days.

The book is written in the typical format of a classical Islamic biography work. He discusses, Abu Hanifa’s life, his life style, his erudition and probity, his piety and propriety, his scholarship, his teachers and his students. He talks about him as a jurist, a lawyer, a theologian and a Hadith scholar. The impact of Abu Hanifa’s fiqh and its status in the modern age is discussed in details. All of these discussions take place within the framework of the overall development of Islamic law in general. The quality of the book is further enhanced by the use of diagrams and an annotated reading list. At this juncture, given the plethora of sources found on Abu Hanifa’s life in English in the form of monographs, articles, introductory sections to translated classical texts, translations of Arabic and Urdu books, audio and visual recordings and the internet, the question that looms on this reviewer’s mind is ‘what is the need for yet another biography of Abu Hanifa?’

The reviewer believes that it is what the author wants to do with the biography of Abu Hanifa that justifies the writing of this book. The author deems it pertinent to write this book because of three reasons. Firstly, he takes issues with the many voices from within and outwith Islam shouting for an Islamic reformation. He argues that Islam’s contribution to the modern world especially in trade and commerce has been advanced by people like Abu Hanifa and his ilk. It’s only through understanding and emulating the lives of these pious savants that some of the ethical and moral principles that have been lost can be restored. Secondly, information readily available through high-speed medium is not ‘ilm but short lived, bereft of any substance and missing the personal touch of a wise master. Through this book, the author wants to remind us that true ‘ilm can only be sought through slow and painstaking study where the knowledge is passed from heart to heart.

For this reviewer, the most unique contribution of this book is the author’s third reason for writing the book. The author draws a distinction between Abu Hanifa and later Hanafi scholars. That Abu Hanifa is someone who understood the context as well as the text, that he made a distinction between the spirit of the law and its word and that his understanding of the law is not partial but holistic. He urges Muslim scholars to recover both their intellectual ability as well as their moral authority to understand the Qur,an and Sunna in its entirety and not just in parts. The scholars will find a precedent for this in Abu Hanifa, who paradoxically, was neither a Hanafi nor a professional Hanafi Mufti. This is a streak that one can implicitly see throughout the work (pp. 115-120). The author very subtly tries to rescue Abu Hanifa from Hanafi scholars who are engaged in ‘self-contained discourse’, where the fiqh is presented ‘with reference to itself rather than its sources’, a partial and anachronistic understanding of fiqh that is severed from reality.

Equally unique is the author’s discussion on the development of the sciences of Hadith. One of the major drawbacks, that this reviewer has noticed, in some traditional Islamic circles is that people tend to treat the works of the scholars in a way as if they were all written in the same era; working with the same hermeneutical devices and employing terminologies that are ossified in time. This kind of attitude towards the sources leads to misunderstanding and unfounded criticism as the author has shown. Abu Hanifa cannot be blamed for following a hadith deemed to be weak by later standards if those standards were not available in his day and age. If the Hanafi School is founded upon those standards used by Abu Hanifa, then it is not fair to judge the actions of its followers through later developments. This is a very important subject as it will put a lot of minds at ease as to why seemingly Abu Hanifa does not follow sound Hadith.

A few personal observations. One does not get an inkling of the author’s opinion regarding the authorship of Al-Fiqh Al-Akbar. Abu Zahra opines that some of the topics discussed in the work seem to have developed after Abu Hanifa. It would have been interesting to see how the author reacts to this assertion. The author very brilliantly sheds light on Abu Hanifa as a Hadith scholar. However, this discussion would have been further enhanced if the author addressed the common cliché that Abu Hanifa knew only 17 Hadiths. An assumption that stems from a comment made by Ibn Khaldun in his Prolegomena (although Ibn Khaldun does indicate it to be a weak claim by using the passive perfective verb ‘qeela’). A section on the Hadith works of the school would have nicely complimented the legacy of Abu Hanifa. Finally, ‘Radd al-Mukhtar’ should read ‘Radd al-Muhtar’ (p. 111).

The author has successfully delivered his promise to understand as to ‘why’ and ‘how’ Abu Hanifa came to deserve the title ‘Al-Imam al-A’zam’; it now remains the duty of the scholars to imbibe Abu Hanifa’s teachings in trying to understand the Qur’an and Sunna holistically in both letter and spirit.

Analysing Muslim Traditions: Studies in Legal, Exegetical and Maghazi Hadith by Harald Motzki – Review by Dr. M. Mansur Ali

With kind permission from Muslim World Book Review

Analysing Muslim Traditions: Studies in Legal, Exegetical and Maghazi Hadith
By Harald Motzki, with Nicolet Boekhoff – Van Der Voort and Sean W. Anthony, (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2010). Price: £149.15.

Reviewed by Dr M. Mansur Ali,
Cardiff University


Classical orientalist studies of Hadith generally fell under the studies of the origins of Islam. Hence, the primary focus of these studies was to prove the origins and provenance of Hadith. With the absence of any sources contemporary to the Prophet, Western scholars’ attitude towards the corpus of Hadith was sceptical. In other words, for them, in contrast to the Muslim view of Hadith, every hadith was deemed to be a forgery until it can be proven otherwise. Scholars discarded the Muslim approach to Hadith verification as being too formalistic and based only on external criteria (isnad). Hence, they devised their own methodologies for verifying the authenticity and origins of Hadith. Harald Motzki suggested that it will not be prudent to wholly do away with the chain of narrators as a careful study of these chains can tell us a lot about the provenance of a hadith. Rather, the chain of narrators should be studied in tandem with the text of a hadith, which Motzki calls the isnad-cum-matn approach.

The book under review is a collection of articles written by Motzki over the last three decades. The last two articles in the book were written by the other two co-authors. In its preface, Motzki discusses the contents of the book and the processes the articles went through before being available in English. This book has many merits; firstly, all of Motzki’s articles found in this book are being presented in English for the first time. Secondly, all the articles in the collection employ the isnad-cum-matn approach first formulated by Motzki in his study of the Musannaf of ‘Abd al-Razzaq al-San’ani (d. 211/826). In addition to this most of the articles are responses to other scholars who were/are also engaged in the study of the origins of Hadith: chapters 1 and 6, Schacht; chapter 2, Juynboll, chapters 3 and 4, Irene Schnider and chapter 5, Herbert Berg.

Chapter 1 functions as the methodological introduction to the book, while the rest of the chapters are an application of this method. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 take the application of the isnad-cum-matnmethod out of the legal domain to other disciplines such as tafsir and maghazi. They show that theisnad-cum-matn approach can easily be extended to other disciplines and yield similar results unlike Schacht’s method which yielded erroneous results when taken outside the legal traditions, as Cook has shown. The author of chapter 6 has done us kind by providing the Arabic script whilst comparing different versions of a hadith as it is a daunting task to follow slight orthographical changes whilst reading the transliteration. The author of chapter 7 has a wonderful introduction to historiography in general in the introduction to his article.

For this reviewer, the most original and interesting contribution in this book is chapter 2. Over the years, GHA Juynboll has developed, expanded and polished Schacht’s common-link theory to the extent that, for Juynboll it has become the only methodology (usul al-Hadith) worthy of studying Hadith with. Juynboll used this methodology to study the six canonical Hadith collections. It has also been employed by Muslim feminists such as Nevin Reda to prove the authenticity of Hadithrelated to female leading the prayer in a mixed congregation. However elaborate the theory is, in this chapter, Motzki proves that it nevertheless suffers from many methodological and epistemological flaws. This is the most rigorous critique of Juynboll’s common-link theory and a must read for the serious students of Hadith. He shows that in order for the common-link theory to work, every strand of the chain of narrators for a particular hadith text needs to be scrutinised. Without doing this the common-link theory will not yield accurate results. He demonstrates that Juynboll’s over reliance on the chains of narrators found in al-Mizzi’s (d. 742/1341) Tuhfat al-Ashraf (which is only restricted to collecting the chains of narrators found in the six canonical collections and a few other books), is what lead Juynboll to make erroneous conclusions such as denying the historical Nafi’ the client of Ibn ‘Umar (d. 117/735).

Contrary to what some Muslims believe, orientalists are not there to deconstruct and dismantle the foundations Islam. In the absence of any early writings, they try to make an objective and honest attempt to understand what really happened in this early period of Islam. However, it becomes problematic when scholars hold on to their methods religiously even though the fallacy of their approach has been proved. Motzki has obviated all of Juynboll’s arguments and yet, Juynboll makes no attempt to modify his theory as can be seen in his latest work such as The Encyclopaedia of Canonical Collections.

Motzki’s works are highly valued amongst Muslim circles as it comes close to their own scholarship. However, accepting or rejecting Motzki’s thesis will depend on how much reliance one is willing to place on the chain of narrators. At a cost of £149.15 it is not your average coffee table book nor is it an easy read. However, if one can patiently wade through the welter of names and dates, the results are satisfactory. Finally, few orthographical mistakes do not detract from the excellent scholarship displayed in the book. (p.3) ‘Annahu sami’ituhu yaqul’ should read ‘annahu samia’hu yaqul’, (p. 10) ‘first quarter second century’ should read ‘first quarter of the second century’, (p. 23) ‘any of theses types’ should be ‘these types’.


Reference: M. Mansur Ali, Muslim World Book Review (MWBR), Vol. 31, issue 3, spring 2011, pp. 20-21.

Knowledge is a Divine Light

By Mansur Ali.

Knowledge is a deep ocean without an ocean bed.

The deeper the person dives the more mysteries of
knowledge will open up for him.

By diving in the heavenly ocean he will be gifted
with pearls and corals, the fruits of the ocean of knowledge.

Knowledge is a divine light, which sheds its
radiance on the path of life, guiding its followers
through every phase of life.

know is divine; it differentiats between
good and evil.

So O Muslims! Take up this quest, the quest for
the search of knowledge.

Grasp it while you still have time,
attain it while you are healthy and fine.

Gain it with zeal and crave
Gain it from the cradle to the grave.

Review of translation: Al-La Madhhabiyya, Abandoning the Madhhabs

By Mansur Ali.

Review of translation: Al-La Madhhabiyya, Abandoning the Madhhabs is the most dangerous Bid’ah Threatning the Islamic Shari’ah, by Sheikh al-Buti, translated by M. Merza, M.A. Absi and S. Abdul Aziz. (Damascus: Sunni Publications, 2007), pp. 180, size 14x21 cm, £9.49.

There are three types of people with regards to their attitude towards the Quran and Sunna: first of all there is the literalist who does not see beyond the ink, secondly there is the intellectual who believes his rational thinking is not bound by the scriptures and finally there is the aesthetic who is drowned in the inner beauty of the words and is unable to come up to the surface. It is only through a fine fusion of the three that a perfect equilibrium can be maintained. However an imbalance in the first one would lead, in its extreme, towards khawarij type doctrines and, in its moderation, towards a superficial understanding like the literalists. A disproportionate leaning in the second one will lead to the beliefs of peripatetic philosophers in extreme cases or towards I’tizaal (rationalist thinking) in a lesser extreme case. And finally unevenness in the last one will produce heretic sufis and charlatans. Sunni orthodoxy (the epitome of perfection) has fought tooth and nail to maintain this equilibrium and has always been quick to defend it. Sheikh al-Buti’s Al-La Madhhabiyya, written in the 70’s, is yet another brilliant manifestation of this defence.

In recent times, from different quarters of the west, myriads of voices are developing in to a crescendo in their united polemics against sunni orthodoxy. Once again the Ulama are picking up their pens to maintain the equilibrium; therefore this translation is much welcomed and much applauded as it fulfils one of the exigencies of the time (although originally it has been written for the Ulama).

The 3rd edition of the book has been used for the translation. The translation is easy and lucid and makes one believe that Sheikh al-Buti’s original Arabic work must have been so simple. The translators’ have not used any footnotes to elaborate, make observations or pass comments on the text. However, they have employed square parenthesis in the text to keep the flow of thought in motion.

In my opinion, the translation ‘Non-Madhhabism’ would have been a more accurate translation of the title ‘al-La Madhhabiyya.’ The only shortcoming of the book is that it seems that the bibliography has been written in haste. The importance of a proper bibliography is not unknown to the serious scholar. I think had the translator translated the author’s content page in its entirety it would have been easier to manoeuvre through the book. And finally a more accurate translation of the passage ‘This book of Schacht is one of the primary books that are taught…’ (p.56) is ‘This book of Schacht is the primary book taught…’

Overall the translation can boast to be another excellent addendum to the science of polemics (ilm al-munazara) and is a must to have for the serious defenders of truth.

Mansur Ali. 2008

Review of al-Fiqh al-Akbar

By Mansur Ali

Review:
Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf, ImÁm Abu Hanifa’s Al-Fiqh al-Akbar Explained, (California: White Thread Press, 2007). Pp. 239. £ 12.99

Mufti Abdur-Rahman’s translation of the above mentioned book is warmly welcomed as it is the only readily available published translation of al-Fiqh al-Akbar (other translations available – other than the ones that have been mentioned by the author –- are by William Montgomery Watt and Sheikh MuÎammad b. YaÎyÁ al-NinowÐ). It is also commendable as it facilitates for the English speaking students the next level up in studying ÝaqÐda after SÐdÐ Hamza Yusuf’s translation of the al-ÝAqÐda al-ÓaÎÁwiyya and finally it is a waft of fresh air in the midst of non-orthodox dogmas from within Islam, (due to large amount of money being pumped in from the Middle East into sectarian publishing houses to promote a bigoted, non-tolerant and politically motivated version of ÝaqÐda).
The translation initially took form as the translator’s thesis for his degree program. It is in reality a translation of few books glossed together with informative notes from the translator. The book consists of a detailed introduction, the text of al-Fiqh al-Akbar with its commentary, a bibliography and a useful index. The introduction has an excellent discussion on the authorship of the text. In contrast to A.J. Wensinck and ÝAllÁmÁ ShiblÐ NuÝmÁnÐ, the translator brings convincing proofs, calling upon Ibn al-NadÐm, KÁtib †elebi, ÝÀrif Íikmat and ÝAllÁma ZÁhid al-KawtharÐ amongst others to prove the attribution of the text to ImÁm AbÙ ÍanÐfa. It goes without saying that this conclusion is based upon external criteria and not form analysis used in literary studies.
The text of al-Fiqh al-Akbar is slightly more advanced and more philosophical than the text of al-ÝAqÐda al-ÓaÎÁwiyya. Apart from being a primer on ÝaqÐda, it also reflects some of the intellectual tensions that were around at that time, such as the issue of wiping over leather socks and the concept of bilÁ kayf (without a modality) also known as balkafa. The balkafa was introduced as a defence mechanism against the muÝtazilites who explained away many verses of the QurÞÁn and rejected many aÎÁdÐth that were seemingly anthropopathic and anthropomorphic in nature.
The translation is lucid, clear and makes sense unlike some translations of ÝaqÐda texts (I had to use the Arabic to understand Earl Elder’s English translation of al-TaftazÁnÐ’s SharÎ al-ÝAqÁÞid al-Nasafiyya). I love the translation of the term azal al-ÁzÁl as the ‘limitless reaches of past eternity’ (p.13). Flow of ideas and thoughts are smooth and – in my opinion - could have been better if the translator did not take the pain in spraying the translation with Arabic words such as, “[a]quisition (kasb) and creation (khalq)[.]” further on he writes “[QÁrÐ] The difference between acquisition (kasb) and creation (khalq)...” and 12 lines below “and acquisition (kasb) of the servant.” (p. 122). The word ‘mufassirÐn’ is not necessary to know who the commentators of the QurÞÁn are. (p.117).
The translation is idiomatic and loyal to the Arabic language; however, at times loyalty to the translator’s theological orientation (MÁturÐdÐ/AshÝarÐ) can be sensed such as the word ‘countenance’ is used to translate the word ‘wajh’ which literally means face. (p. 99). An even more extreme loyalty to this theological persuasion can be seen in Sheikh NinowÐ’s translation of the same passage,
28- He added to Himself meanings of Yad (literal meaning is a Hand), Wajh (literal meaning is Face), and Nafs (literal meaning is Self); as Allah Ta’ala mentioned in the Qur’an. Hence, what Allah Ta’ala mentioned about the Yad, Wajh, and Nafs, are meanings He added to Himself, without a “how” (modality). (NinowÐ, p. 7)
Apart from imparting knowledge, the commentary also functions as a reading mechanism of the text. Therefore, we find Abdur-Rahman translating the sentence “aÒl al-tawÎÐd wa mÁ yaÒiÎÎ al-iÝtiqÁd Ýalayh an yaqÙl…” as “[[t]his treatise is on] the fundamentals of divine oneness and [tenets] upon which it is correct to base [one’s] belief [.]” (p. 63) is a direct translation of ÝAlÐ al-QÁrÐ’s statement, “hÁdha al-kitÁb asÁs maÝrifat al-haqq ÝalÁ wajh al-ÒawÁb…wa mÁ yaÒiÎÎ iÝtimÁd al-iÝtiqÁd Ýalayh fÐ hÁdha al-bÁb…” Also the word fiÔra (p. 155) literally means natural disposition, however, Abdur-Rahman’s translation of this word as ‘natural faith’ (ÐmÁn fiÔrÐ) is based on al-MaghnÐsÁwÐ’s reading of the text which he contrasts with ‘acquired faith’ (ÐmÁn kasbÐ). (p. 119).
Abdur-Rahman is not only a passive translator, on the contrary he is an active scholar who disagrees with and corrects the materials that he is working with whenever necessary. Therefore we find him correcting al-QÁrÐ’s misunderstanding of the muÝtazilites’ stance regarding the attributes of AllÁh. (p. 75). He points out variations in the different manuscripts and differences between the published work and manuscripts. (See n. 125, 126 on p. 117, also see p. 226, mss. 4405 and 33366). His notes are highly informed and erudite and help to understand the text better (see n. 99 for a good description on the development of state of knowledge regarding AllÁh’s attributes, and n. 117, for an excellent discussion on difference between true waÎdat al-wujÙd, distorted waÎdat al-wujÙd and pantheism). A detailed note on the will and desire of AllÁh could have made the issue easier to understand. (p. 81).
Some methodological flaws in the book are: (a) reference to sources are sometimes mentioned in footnotes and sometimes mentioned in the main body of the book, (e.g. p. 15, p. 17, 20), (b) Few dates of deaths are missing (e.g. p. 20), (c) sometimes inflection in case endings are shown in the transliteration (p. 75) and most of the time not shown. It would have been prudent – in my opinion – on the translator’s part if he were to leave out some of the out-dated, highly abstract, confusing philosophical debates, based on syllogistics and Hellenistic rhetoric, which were surely a product of their time and are of no practical use anymore (other than to the historian of medieval Islamic thought and the serious academic) such as the discussion on the use of the word ‘Kun’ for creation, (p. 79).
Other than these few shortcomings (in my opinion), the book is a great (if not altogether original) contribution to knowledge and is a must to have for the student who wants to take the study of ÝaqÐda one step forward. MuftÐ Abdur-Rahman has once again given us a display of his excellent scholarship and acute erudition. May AllÁh give us the ability to learn from him, and give him the ability to enlighten us with more of his scholarly insight and increase him in knowledge and taqwÁ. ÀmÐn.

Decrypting the Da Vinci Code from an Islamic perspective

By Mansur Ali

Deep in the darkest chambers of the Louvre museum, Dan Brown spins his magnum opus. A myriad of enigmas and cryptic codes, pagan symbolism and Masonic didactics, secret societies dedicated to the sacred feminine. From an array of Vatican conspiracy to gruesome corporal mortification. Da Vinci, Sir Isaac Newton, Jacques Saunière, Opus Dei, fleur-de-lis and the dark arts. Dan Brown includes them all in a fascinating and riveting read which made it to the big screen and like a bush fire in strong winds spread to the four corners of the globe. The book has already been translated into Arabic called ‘Shafeer Da Vinci.’
Nevertheless, the most spine chilling part of the book is its shocking conclusion, that our beloved Prophet Sayyiduna Isa (as) left offspring behind him. However entertaining the book or movie might be, but from a religious point of view, both Christian and Muslim, such a sweeping and preposterous theory, even at the level of pure fiction and entertainment, is highly insulting and offensive and to even entertain the very thought of it is deemed blasphemous. Here we go again… a fundamentalist speaking, bent out to obliterate all forms of pleasure from the face of the globe. However, this is not the case. In Islam we have a very good understanding of recreation and entertainment as it includes a part of the right that our body has over us. Saying this, the line has to be drawn. Religion cannot be compromised just to make people laugh or give them entertainment. It is a moral and religious crime to make symbols and aspects of religion that are revered by people as objects of entertainment or satire.
Sayyiduna Isa (as) a distinguished Prophet of Allah lived a very ascetic life, a life of celibacy where he completely annihilated himself to the cause of Allah. He fought no military battles and all his wars were spiritual of nature. Allah raised him to himself in the heavens and just before the end of time he will come back to the earth to become the Imam of the Muslims. He will fulfil aspects of his life as a human being which he did not complete previously, i.e. get married and have children. He will lead the Muslims against the kuffar army and on his hand will the Dajjal breathe his last. His whole life is a miraculous one right from its inception. His astounding birth is one conundrum that professor Langdon or Tom Hanks cannot decipher. Peace be upon him the day he was born, the day he will die and the day he will be resurrected.

Education of the household

Delivered by Sister Maisha Kareem

I seek refuge in Allah from the rejected Shaitan. In the name of Allah the most Merciful most Kind. All praises are due to Allah the lord of the universe, the most Merciful most Kind. Master of the day of judgement. You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help. Guide us along the straight path. The path of those whom You have favoured and not the path of those who earned your anger and went astray. Ameen

Allah says in the Quran: O mankind protect yourself and your family from a fire whose fuel is mankind and stones. (sura Tahrim: 6). In this ayat Allah is telling us that it is not only enough to safeguard ones own imaan, rather the leading figure of the house will also be asked about the imaan of the household. This should be enough incentive for us to look at the religious needs of our loved ones. How we can provide the right form of education for our children and nurture them in the manner which will please our lord Allah? In the hadith the prophet ( peace be upon him says) that only 3 actions will benefit a person after he dies (1) an ongoing sadaqa, (2) knowledge that he has left behind, (3) and pious children who will pray for him.

The 3rd point of the hadith is concerning pious children. You can only expect to have pious children if you bring them up right by giving them the proper education. If you have not given them the right Islamic education then don’t expect them to pray for you. So in this hadith indirectly the Prophet peace be upon him is telling the parents that it is in your interest to give your children a good Islamic education.

Below are some instrumental forms of education taken from the teachings of our liege-lord Muhammad may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

1) Education through establishing habits. This can be done when only two factors are observed. Through (a) virtuous Islamic knowledge and (b) righteous environment

Example of virtuous Islamic knowledge
The Prophet peace be upon him says “a father has not given his child anything better than teaching him politeness. (Tirmidhi)

Example of righteous environment
The Prophet Peace be upon him said “Every child is born on the fitra (innate intrinsic nature), there his parents make him into a Christian a Jew or a Zoroastrian (fire-worshipper). (Bukhari)

In this hadith the Prophet is trying to allude to the fact that in order to give the children a good Islamic education, first and foremost the Parents need to sort them selves out because everything the parents do or say has a direct influence on the child. Here again it should be reminded that giving the children good Islamic education is in the interest of the parents. How? First of all, the parents would need to rectify themselves and secondly good children will pray for them after their death.

Another Example of righteous environment: See what type of friends the child has.
In the hadith the prophet peace be upon him says, the example of a good friend is like the example of an ‘attaar (a person who sells perfume) even though he does not use any perfume but he still will be perfumed by just staying there. And the example of a bad friend is that of a blacksmith, even if he does not do anything some of the bad odour will come unto him. (Bukhari)

One rotten apple spoils all the apples.

2) Education through admonition

(a) Rather than punishing the child, it is better to point out his mistakes in ways it will not hurt his ego or feelings, through advices and exhortation.

Example 1. Through using sympathy and love. As in the case of Luqman (as) who made his son understand by using a very sweet and loving tone (yaa bunayya) O my small child. Allah says in the Quran in narrating Luqman’s story “And as Luqman said to his son whilst admonishing him, O my son, do not associate others with Allah. Surely associating others with Allah is indeed a grave injustice. (Sura Luqman: verse 13)

(b) When they do something wrong to teach them by telling them a story from the Quran and Hadith, such as if the child is jealous then the story of sayyiduna Yusuf (alayhis salaam) and his brothers can be mentioned and the consequence of jealousy.

(c) To teach them by correcting the mistake by acting it out by yourself. The Prophet peace be upon him once led the prayer whilst on the mimbar so that others can see him praying and learn by watching. (Bukhari)

(d) Admonition through seizing the chance. Once the Sahaba backbited about a person, the Prophet did not say anything to them, but then they passed by a dead donkey and he said back biting is worse than eating the flesh of this carcass.

3) Education through observation

It is very necessary for parents to observe the belief, psychological and moral formulation of the child. As mentioned in the ayat: O mankind protect yourself and your family from a fire whose fuel is mankind and stones. (sura Tahrim: 6). How can it be possible to save your family from the fire of hell if you do not observe them.

This is why the Prophet said in a hadith: every one of you is a Shepard and everyone will be asked about his flock, the women is guardian over her husband’s house and responsible for her subjects, the man over his wife and the person over his own self. (bukhari)

Where the role of the father is instrumental and he is the bread winner, we find in this hadith the mother has a responsibility as well and that is to be responsible over her husband’s affairs including a good moral upbringing of the children. As the cliché says the first social institute towards building a harmonious society is the family which is the corner stone of society and the mothers lap is the first school.

The prophet taught few sahaba’s through observation. Umar ibn abi salama says: I was a boy in the lap of the Prophet and my hand used to move around everywhere in the dish whilst eating food, so the Prophet said, “O child mention Allah’s name eat with your right hand and eat from the nearest place to you. (Bukhari, Muslim) This is a prime example of education through observation.

Wa sallallahu ala ashrifil anbiya wal mursalin, wa ala aalihi wa ashabihi ajma’in wa man tabi’ahum ila yawmiddin

Question from fiqh salat session 1

6/05/2006

Q1. It says that women should not have a gap between their feet. But this causes loss of balance. What are we supposed to do? (I have been told that a little gap may be kept).

A1. There is nothing wrong with keeping a little gap

Q2. Whats tasmiya? (Women’s prayer, point 8, pg7)

A2. Tasmiya is another name for bismillah

Q3. Is it sinful to talk/do worldly things whilst the azaan is being narrated?

A3. It definitely is makruh to talk during azan. There is a difference of opinion concerning if it is wajib or not to listen and respond to the azan. It is mandub to stop doing all actions during azan time. This is obviously when stopping these actions does not inconvenient others or brings you some kind of loss.

Q4. Sometimes in eid prayer, there are two jamats, is this not makruh?

A4. It is not makruh to have more than one eid jamat. It is makruh only for normal salat in the mosque where the jamat has already taken place. This is the hanafi position.

Q5. Is it a bid’ah to kiss the quran after you’ve finished reciting it? Is it a bid’ah to kiss the prayer mat after completion of the prayer?

A5. These actions are not endorsed by the quran and sunna therefore if they are done out of love, they should not be done with the intention of a valid ibaada. Making them into an ibada will relegate them to the position of a bid’ah. Allah knows best

Q6. When you are unsure of whether you have made a mistake or not, should you do sajada sahw?

A6. If this happens very rarely then you should start the prayer again, if this happens frequently then you should do sajda sahw

Q7. You said about eating whilst in the state of hunger before salat, but what if you haven’t got much time left for salat?

A7. Its not haram to pray in the state of hunger. What I mean by hunger is that your body starts shaking due to intense hunger. In any case if the time is short then you can pray before eating.

Q8. If you are on a long train journey and time for prayer is running out but space is very limited – how do you pray?

A8. You can pray in your seat, it is better to be facing the ka’ba when you start the prayer.

Q9. What is the difference between nafal and halki nafal?

A9. Halki nafal (salat khafifa) are a set of nafals which carry additional merit and are normally shorter than other nafals.

Q10. If weetr is your last prayer then why pray halky nafal?

A10. You should make witr the last prayer, however praying the short nafals carry extra merits therefore they should also be prayed.

Q11. How much time should you leave between tahajjud prayer and your fajar prayer?

A11. One sixth of the night. If you were to make the night into six parts from isha till fajar. The first half will be for sleeping, the next third for tahajjud and the remaining sixth will be for going back to sleep before waking up for fajar.

Q12. Salatul witr. Point 5 Musthab to send salutation on the Prophet (saw), how do you send salutation on the prophet (saw) or is it included in the dua?

A12. After the dua of qunut salutation should normally be said like what we read after the tashhud in the last sitting of any prayer.

Q13. Can women do ikamah?

A13. Only amongst women, however it is better not to.

Q14. Is it qada to read isha salah after midnite? Is it makruh tanzihi or makruh tahrimi?

A14. It does not become qada after midnight. You can pray isha anytime before fajar however it is mustahab to pray it before one third of the night ends, after that it is makruh tanzihi.

Q15. Does the dua need to be in Arabic? Will it affect the response?

A15. In the prayer itself such as in ruku or sujud, it has to be in Arabic or the prayer will break. As far as outside of prayer is concerned then it can be said in any language, it will not affect the response for the response depends on your sincerity and not language and rhetoric.

Q16. If verbal intention is said before namaz but the wrong thing is said e.g. instead of isha you say maghrib, but go to takbir then realise the mistake, should you break the salat and start again or continue?

A16. You should not break the prayer as the verbal intention is not fard or wajib, as long as you know in your heart what you are praying its ok.

Q17. If the azan for asr has been called in a mosque, can you pray dhur in the mosque afterwards (due to difference of times between hanafi and shafir etc?

A17. Yes you can.

Q18. For sajda tilaawat is there a time limit for reciting the ayah to making the sajdah?
A18. If the sajda ayat has been prayed in the prayer it has to be immediately done however outside of prayer there is not time limit.

Q19. Sometimes in prayer, my sleeves move up and some of my wrist is exposed. What should I do in this situation? (note: this is a female case)

A19. You should take it down immediately; your prayer will be ok.

Q20. Is it sinful to pray namaz in the opposite direction?

A20. If it is done purposely, then yes it is sinful and you will need to do qada of your prayer, if it is done by mistake then inshallah there will be no reproach.

Q21. On a journey, are we allowed to read namaz sitting down?

A21. If you are not able to stand up for example in a train then you may do so sitting down

Q22. ‘Prevention before cure’ When someone ignorant sees us doing ‘eye thing’ they will think that it is part of ibaada so shouldn’t we be avoiding it even if your intention is pure?

A22. Very good point, yes it should be avoided in public as not to confuse the people, a better way of doing it is to educate people, however that will take a long time. Thank you for the valuable suggestion.

Note: all questions relating to female congregation prayer has not been answered as we will deal with them in depth in the next fiqh session.

And Allah knows best.

Aswers for tahara and usul al-fiqh test paper

Please see below for test paper: http://mansys.blogspot.com/2006/04/tahara-and-usul-al-fiqh-test.html

1. D
2. B
3. B
4. A
5. C

7. There are seven legal rulings in Hanafi fiqh, they are Fard, Wajib, Mandub, Mubah, Makruh Tanzihi, Makruh Tahrimi and Haram.
They differ from the rest of the schools of fiqh in the sense that the rest of the schools don’t have more than five legal rulings, they don’t have Wajib and Makruh Tahrimi.

9. Maa Mutlaq is water which is pure and can be used to purify.
Maa Mustamal is water which is pure but has lost the quality of purifying
They are both similar in the sense that both of them are pure, different in the sense that the former can be used for purifying whilst the latter can’t
Maa Najis is polluted water. It is the complete opposite of Maa Mutalaq and has nothing in common. It is similar to Maa Mustamal in the sense that both of them cannot be used for purification purposes. It is different in the sense that Maa Mustamal is pure and clean whilst this one is not.

10. Adab of Wudu

To sit in a high place
To face the qibla
To do the wudu independently without anyone’s help

11. In the state of major pollution you cannot

a. Read the Quran
b. Touch the Quran
c. Do Tawaf of the Kaba
d. Go into the Masjid without a valid reason
e. Pray Salaat

12. Sleep in its self is not a canceller of Wudu. Wudu breaks only if you lose control over your mind and body. This happens in the state of deep sleep. However if the sleep is light, then it does not break the wudu as long as the person is not lying down.

13. Tayammum can be practiced:
a. In the absence of water,
b. Or if someone is not able to use water because of illness.

14. 3 Days

15. Ghusl is Mandub:

c. For the one who has just majored (baligh)
d. After washing a corpse

16. Hamada cannot do tayammum because he is the wali (next of kin). He has the full right to make everyone repeat the janaza prayer if they have started without his permission, therefore the question of Hamada missing the janaza prayer does not even raise.

17. Seven days will be counted as hayd and seven days will be irregular bleeding. In the days of irregular bleeding she will have to do the wudu for every prayer time.

18. They will respond to Nizar by saying that every form of ibadat is haram unless the contrary is proven. Since this form of ibadaat cannot be proven to be a valid worship therefore it is haraam.

19. Nadia will be able to eat chocolate because everything in halal until proven to be haram. There is no mention of chocolates in the quran and sunna therefore it will be halal providing the ingredients are hala.

20. Hisham’s wudu will be broken because Hisham is sure that he entered the bathroom. Since normally people relieve themselves in the bathroom on this basis Hisham’s wudu will be broken.

21. Hiba is not obliged to do the full wudu again because she is still in the state of wudu

22. Nurhan and her friends can drink out of these glasses provided the glasses are washed properly. This is because impurity does not permeate into impermeable objects.

23. Shayma can teach, according to the opinion of Imam Tahawi, by breaking up the ayats into little portions. In this way it does not come under the category of qiraat. She is allowed to read all other types of Islamic literature being careful that at the same time she does not touch the verses of the quran if they do come in these books.

24. Shahrur’s wudu will be broken because letting out wind was not a problem for him.

25. Hanadi is allowed to take a bath in the pond providing the pond is big and he bathes away form the place where the najasat is.

Extension paper

1. Hamdi should start his prayer again, he does not need to do wudu again

2. Ibtisaam can do wudu with the same water again, because the condition for the water to become used is that she is using it with the intention of worship.

3. Naguib will not be branded as a kafir because sexual intercourse with ones wife during her menses is not haram because of a primary prohibition but because of a secondary prohibition i.e. menstruation.

4. The water that emanated from the fingers of the Prophet is the most blessed, even more than zamzam.

5. Zaid should pray when he finds water of soil and not before that

Questions from fiqh al-tahara lessons

Q.1. If I have normal menstruation for 10 days, but one I get it for 9 days, do I pray on the 10th day

A.1. The Ulama have written that in this situation the woman should pray on the 10th day in case she has really come out of her menstruation. It is better to be safe than sorry.

Q.2. what if you have an illness of clear discharge all the time, would you have to 2 perform a new wudu each time?

A.2. If the illness is such that it comes under the category of the excused then wudu should be done only once for every prayer time.
If the illness is not that serious then wudu should be done each time the discharge leaves the body.
Condition for qualifying to be from the excused: If discharge continues for one full salat time (the whole time and not the time that it takes to pray only), in the sense that after doing a fresh wudu you can’t stay five minutes but the wudu breaks again. To remain an excused the illness should be found once in every salat time hereafter.

Q.3. A woman has irregular bleeding, e.g. 2 months. When her regular cycle is 10 days, when should she resume to read her prayers.

A.3. The answer to this question in its simplest form is that the woman will observe the first 10 days as menstruation, the next 15 days will be counted as istihaada (irregular vaginal bleeding) and the next 10 days will be counted as menstruation. (Every 15 days between two bleeding will be counted as istihaada period.)


Q.4. When I first started, regular days of menstruation was 5 days. Then, due to some problem my menstruation became irregular. Then it became regular again for a couple of months, then irregular again. What should she do? What is her average?

A.4. The question is a bit vague. If the menstruation started with 5 days and then became irregular. Then there are two possibilities. If the irregular bleeding did not exceed 10 days then the extra days will also be counted as hayd. E.g. if the menstruation started with 5 days but then extended to 9 days, then all 9 days will be counted as hayd.
If the irregular bleeding exceeded 10 days then from the 6th day onwards everything will be counted as istihaada. E.g. if the menstruation started with 5 days and extended to 14 days then the extra 9 days will be counted as istihaada.

Q.5. if exceeding the 40 days in which you’re supposed to trim, cut (etc) the under arm hair and below the naval hair, what are the punishment and is it a major sin?

A.5. Its makruh and is against the fitra

Q.6. when discharge leaves a woman’s body does this need fresh wudu?

A.6. Yes the wudu breaks and a fresh wudu is needed

Prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings on him) in Taif

O Allah, I complain to you of my weakness of strenght,
And my lack of strategy
And how insignificant I have become in the eyes of people
O most merciful of those who show mercy
You are the lord of those who have no power
And you are my lord
Who are you going to leave me to?
To some distant person who will be like fire to me
Or to some enemy that you give him power over me
If you have no anger towards me then I have no objections
But your protection is easier for me
I seek refuge in the light of your countenance
By it even the darkness has been illuminated
And the affairs of this world and the hereafter have been taken care of
I seek refuge that your wrath should descend on me
Or your displeasure falls on me
For you is the reproach until you are content
There is no strength and power except from you…Ameen

Prayer of a child

Allama Iqbal

My hopes and wishes come upon My lips from inside my heart. Oh Allah! My life should be Like a lamp, never to go dark.
Let the darkness of the world Disappear with my presence. Let every place become bright With my shining existence.
Just as the flower stands with others, Increasing the garden’s beauty, Let my life stand with knowledge And dignify my community.
My life should be built around Those who seek the light, Just as the moth loves the glowing lamp In the darkness of the night.
Oh Allah! Make me strive Constantly to educate my mind, With the light of knowledge That you gave me the power to find.
I want to dedicate my life to those Who are in need of special care. The old, the young, the ill, the hungry, I want to be fair.
Oh Allah! You gave us choices! Protect us from sins, Lead us to the path of righteousness, Help us to do good things.

Urdu lyrics

lab pe aatii hai duaa banake tamannaa merii zindagii shammaa kii surat ho Khudaayaa merii
ho mere dam se yuuN hii mere watan kii ziinat jis tarah phuul se hotii hai chaman kii ziinat
zindagii ho merii parawaane kii surat yaa rab ilm kii shammaa se ho mujhako mohabbat yaa rab
ho meraa kaam Gariibon kii himaayat karanaa dardmandon se zaiifon se mohabbat karanaa
mere allaah buraaii se bachaanaa mujhako nek jo raah ho us raah pe chalaanaa mujhako

Tahara and Usul al-fiqh test

Course code: LTFM01
Please circle the correct answer

1. The following are from the faraid of wudu: (2 marks)

Washing the face and wiping the ear
Wiping the head and wiping the neck
Blowing the nose and gargling
Washing the arms up to and including the elbow and doing masah (wiping) on leather socks

2. Laughing out loud in prayer: (2 marks)

Breaks the prayer only
Breaks the Wudu and prayer
Ghusl becomes fard
Nothing happens

3. Acts that are permissible during post-natal bleeding (nifas) are: (2 marks)

Reciting the Quran
Listening to the Quran
Doing tawaf
Having sexual intercourse

4. Intention is a fard in: (2 marks)

Tayammum
Masah
Wudu
Ghusl

5. Something which has been established by means of probable evidence and entails punishment upon commission is: (2 marks)

Mubah
Haram
Makruh Tahrimi
Fard

6. Please write in detail the proper way of taking a bath, (include the faraid and sunans). (7 marks)

7. How many legal norms are there according to hanafi fiqh, and how do they differ from the rest of the schools of thought? (5 marks)
8. What is the punishment for missing out a sunna muakkada (4 marks)

9. What is the difference between maa mutlaq (normal water), maa mustamal (used water) and maa najis (impure water)? Please discuss their similarities and differences. (6 marks)

10. Please write some adaab (etiquettes) of wudu. (3 marks)

11. What can you not do in the state of major pollution (i.e. in need of a bath)? (5 marks)

12. Does sleeping break wudu? Please elaborate (5 marks)

13. When can tayammum be practiced? (2 marks)

14. What is the time limit for wearing leather socks for a traveller? (1 mark)

15. When is taking a bath mandub (preferable)? (2 marks)

16. Hamada’s father has passed away. On his way to the Janaza prayer Hamada got stuck in a traffic jam and was getting late. He thought to himself that if he were to do the wudu he might miss the prayer; in this situation would it be permissible for Hamada to perform dry ablution (tayammum)? Please explain your answer. (5 marks)

17. Sister Hanan has regular seven days of bleeding. One month she became irregular and bled for 14 days. In this situation how many days should be counted as menstruation and what should she do about her prayers? Please explain your answer. (5 marks)

18. Nizar suddenly decided to worship Allah by hanging upside down from a tree with a Quran in his hand. Upon coaxing from family members, Nizar asked them to prove where in the Quran it says that this form of worship is haram. How would they respond to his argument by using the principles of fiqh (usul al-fiqh)? (5 marks)

19. Nadia is a very good Muslim girl who strictly follows the Quran and Sunna. She is also a chocoholic (someone who loves chocolate). She once heard the local Imam saying that Allah has not left anything out of the Quran. Nadia did not find the mention of chocolate in the Quran or the Sunna therefore she decided to stop eating chocolate. In this situation how can we make her understand that chocolate can be halal and yet not be mentioned in the Quran and Sunna? Please apply your knowledge of usul al-fiqh. (5 marks)

20. Hisham is not sure if he has wudu or not. He does remember going in to the bathroom but does not remember if he relieved himself or just washed his hands. In this situation what should he do and why? (5 marks)

21. Hiba wore leather socks in the state of purity. She took her leather socks off after five hours (whilst still in the state of wudu). She then decided to wear them again. In this situation is she obliged to do the full wudu again before wearing the socks? Please explain. (5 marks)

22. Nurhan and her friends go to a restaurant on Wimslow Road for a meal. They order orange juice which is served in the same glasses that are used to serve alcohol in. Would it be permissible for them to drink from these glasses? Please explain. (5 marks)

23. Shayma is in her menstruation, however she teaches Quran to little children. Taking 7 days off every month will really affect the children’s education. How does Shayma solve this problem? And if she wanted to read any other Islamic literature such as Hadith is she able to? (5 marks)

24. Shahrur suffers from constant nose bleed; therefore he performs ablution in the beginning of every prayer time. At maghrib time Shahrur did wudu and was about to pray maghrib salat when he suddenly let out wind. Would we say that his wudu is still valid because he is from the excused? Please elaborate. (5 marks)
25. Hanadi is in Bangladesh and wishes to take a bath in the pond (fushkoni). He finds some najasat at the other end of the pond. Is he allowed to take a bath in this pond? If he is then what are the conditions, and if he isn’t then why? (5 marks)

For the Really Daring
(Note this section is not a part of the actual test and does not need to be completed. It will not contribute to the marks)



1. Whilst praying the janaza salat Hamdi suddenly burst in to laughter, in this situation what should he do?

2. Ibtisam is in the state of wudu. On a hot summer’s day she decided to do wudu again just to cool her self down. She performs the wudu in a bucket. Can Ibtisam use the same water that she used for wudu a second time to purify herself later? Please explain your answer.

3. Naguib believes that it is halal to have sexual intercourse with one’s wife whilst she is in her period. This is in violation of an unequivocal text of the Quran. Can Naguib be branded as a kafir for holding this opinion? Please explain

4. Which is the most blessed water in this world and the hereafter? Please explain

5. Zaid is locked up in a metal container by terrorists; he hasn’t any water to perform wudu with nor any earth to do tayammum. The time for prayer is almost finishing. In this situation how does Zaid react?

Wa sallallahu ala ashraf al-anbiya wal mursalin wa ala aalihi wa ashabihi ajmain. Nastaghfirullah wa natubu ilayh.

Ramadan: The spring of the hearts of Muslims

By Mansur Ali

Spring is the time of the year when everything in nature is blossoming and blooming. The earth looks like a beautiful Turkish rug with its lush grass and rainbow coloured flowers. The animals are giving birth, the baby fawn is drinking its mother’s milk and the nightingale is singing in the sweetest of tunes. A mystical and spiritual awe can be felt, which immediately brings felicity and bliss to the heart. Warm drops of tranquillity can be felt trickling out of the eyes and kissing the soft cheeks. The creativity of God can be felt in its full glory in spring. At this moment the heart of the believer quivers with joy and yearning that it should also get a chance to develop and blossom like Mother Nature. God in his infinite mercy has not forgotten the believers. He has stipulated thirty consecutives days of abstinence from base desires, to be observed from dawn till dusk. Ramadan is the spring in the lives of the believers. It is the cue that we yearn for, to go into retreat and leave the world with all its complexities and problems behind and focus ourselves in pleasing the lord most high.

Festival of Light

By Mansur Ali
Delivered at Oldham Interfaith program 2005

Queen Elizabeth Hall

There are two types of light, one that illuminates and one that scorches the eyes.

Rumi the great mystic was once asked by a person to pinpoint the exact location of God. In response he lit up a candle and asked his interlocutor to identify the precise orientation of the light. In this manner Rumi demonstrated that like the light, God does not take to one place, rather he is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. The Quran speaks of God being light in chapter 24 which is called the chapter of light, verse 35

Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The similitude of His light is as a niche wherein is a lamp. The lamp is in a glass. The glass is as it were a shining star. (This lamp is) kindled from a blessed tree, an olive neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil would almost glow forth (of itself) though no fire touched it. Light upon light. Allah guides unto His light whom He will. And Allah speaks to mankind in parables, for Allah is Knower of all things.

It is with this very divine light that the whole world is illuminated; also the hearts of the believers are kindled with this blissful and heavenly aurora. Ar-Rumi says:

I tried to find Him on the Christian cross, but He was not there; I went to the Temple of the Hindus and to the old pagodas, but I could not find a trace of Him anywhere.
I searched on the mountains and in the valleys but neither in the heights nor in the depths was I able to find Him. I went to the Ka'bah in Mecca, but He was not there either.
I questioned the scholars and philosophers but He was beyond their understanding.
I then looked into my heart and it was there where He dwelled that I saw Him; He was nowhere else to be found.

There are many lessons for us to be learnt from this heavenly light. One of the qualities of light is that it gives to everyone friend and foe, rich and poor and good and bad. God gives in abundance without asking for anything in return, we should take up this Godly trait and be more charitable, give to the needy, feed the poor. We should try our best in this time of giving that we just don’t remember our immediate family, rather we remember that we belong to the greater human family and recognize our moral obligations towards the less fortunate members of this family.

We might think that if we were to share our light it will diminish but that is not true, for we see that it is impossible for a person to light the path of others without shedding some light on his own.

Allah says: in chapter 2 verse 261

The likeness of those who spend their wealth in Allah's way is as the likeness of a grain which grows seven ears of corn, in every ear a hundred grains. Allah gives increase manifold to whom He wills. Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing.

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within. This light is very important as it is the essence of all good, we are in need of this light to lead a happy life, even relationships are in need of a spark.

Now it sickens the heart and makes one so sad to see many horrible crimes being committed, all we can do is to be patient and pray to God, because as someone said I will love the light for it shows me the way. Yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars

I will conclude by reading a couplet written by the great mystic Muhiyy al-Din ibn al-Arabi who says

There was a time when I took it amiss in my companion if his religion was not near to mine. But now my heart takes on every form, it is a pasture for gazelles, a monastry for monks, a temple for the tablets of the torah, a kabah for pilgrims and the holy Quran. Love is my religion, and whichever way its riding beasts turn, that way lies my religion and belief.

Coffee: The Devil’s Brew

By Mansur Ali

Coffee (coffea arabica) is drunk by over two-third of the world’s population. At 16 pounds per person (in terms of volume) Germany is the world’s second biggest consumer of coffee, America being the first. It is one of the few crops that small farms in third-world countries can make a profit from. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that coffee is grown in 53 countries of the world, most of them along the equator between the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn. However feasible the statistics may seem, coffee did not always enjoy this success in history. In fact it had to fight for its right to be recognised in the orient as well as the occident. The story of its success is saturated with angry protests and heavy oppositions.

Coffee was first discovered by Kaldi, an Ethiopian Shepard from the town of Kaffa in 850 CE. He noticed that his herd became energetic after feeding on a particular shrub. Upon inspection, Kaldi found the plant to have red berries and decided to taste them. Immediately he felt ecstatic and hyper-active. Not knowing what to do, he consulted the local Imam (Muslim priest). That evening both of them experimented with the berries. It is said that in a state of euphoria the Imam had a vision of the Prophet who advised him that this is a blessed drink because it enhances wakefulness and promotes prayer. The following morning, the Imam let the people know of his vision, and soon his monastery become famous all over Arabia. It was introduced in to the Shadhilliyya Sufi order of Yemen and was perceived by them to be a holy drink, the only link between the mortal realm and Nirvana.

Doctors of Muslim law on the other hand eyed it with suspicion. The Arabic word for coffee being ‘qahwa’ (assumed by some to be derived from Kaffa) literally means dark wine. Given the fact that it has intoxicating effects like alcohol, brewed with its somewhat ambiguous name, the scholars lost no time in issuing a verdict (fatwa) for its prohibition. Even then its popularity increased by the day. People started to build coffee houses (kahve khana) and started to drink the liquid of boiled coffee beans rather than chewing it. Soon it became such an integral part of Muslim life that a Turkish woman was able to stipulate in her marriage contract that if her husband did not provide her with coffee she can demand a divorce. As the popularity of the beverage grew, it was banned from being taken outside Arabia. A person by the name of Baba Bundan illegally smuggled some out of Arabia through the port in Mocha and started a farm in Mysore, India, from there coffee spread in the sub-continent and far East.

Coffee in Europe also went through the same phases of being rejected first and then openly accepted. It was introduced into Europe by Venetian merchants who traded in silk and spices with the Turks. Spontaneously it came under heavy attack from the Church. The Church saw it as the antithesis to wine. It was branded as the devil’s brew and drinking it would lead to eternal damnation. The Church tried to justify its self by giving the explanation that this brew was concocted by Satan for the infidels (Muslim) to compensate for wine which they cannot drink. The wine symbolised the blood of Christ therefore this drink must symbolise the blood of the anti-Christ. The dispute over its permissibility was finally settled by Pope Clement VIII in 1500 CE. Whilst testing it before passing a verdict, he himself became addicted to the brew. The sweet aroma intrigued him so much that he baptised it and blessed it on the spot. With the popes blessing, coffee saw the light of day in Europe. In fact it became so popular that cappuccino derives its name from a group of Christian monks from the capuchin order, because the colour of the drink resembles the colour of their robes.

In 1652 the first coffee house was opened in England and was named ‘Penny University’ (a cup of coffee costing a penny). Coffee houses became a popular place to fraternise and socialise, and it was in these places that many revolutionary political ideas were concocted, exchanged and foisted. The Parisian coffee houses were opened as a testing ground for the ideology that led to the French revolution. In 1675 Charles II declared a proclamation for the suppression of coffee houses. The public went ballistic and after 11 days of rebelling the houses were re-opened.
We seem to take this beverage that we are all infatuated with for granted. But reading the pages of history, it can be seen that coffee had to go through many challenges and trials, from the cool dunes of Arabia to the Basilica in Rome. It even had to submit to the wrath of English women. When coffee was first introduced into England, English women took to the streets in protest to ban it because it made their husbands think better!