Behind closed doors: “It’s my life, and I’ll sin if I want to”
Allāh says, إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَنْ تُؤَدُّوا الْأَمَانَاتِ إِلَى أَهْلِهَا وَإِذَا حَكَمْتُمْ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ أَنْ تَحْكُمُوا بِالْعَدْلِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ نِعِمَّا يَعِظُكُمْ بِهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ سَمِيعًا بَصِيرًا “Allāh commands you to restore the trusts to their owners and when you judge between people to judge with justice. Excellent is that which Allāh instructs you. Indeed, Allāh is ever Hearing and Seeing.” The majority of the Mufasirīn are agreed that this Āyah was revealed to the Prophet (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) immediately after the conquest of Makkah. After a long mission of Da’wah, he returned to Makkah, triumphant and glorious. He cleansed Makkah…
“I have pardoned every Muslim who has harmed me.”
When the life of Shaykh al-Islām Ibnu Taymiyyah is discussed the focus, many a time, is on the dimensions of his knowledge, his flawless memory, his Jihād, his enjoining of good and forbidding of evil, his trials, his ʿIbādah, his fearlessness and bravery, and his eloquence. But, such discussions often miss one of the most beautiful dimensions of the life of this marvel of a man, a dimension which the Ummah of Islām needs now more than any other time before. This is the dimension of the pardoning of others. One of his slogans in life was: أحللت كل مسلم…
Fruits of Following the Sahaba
With terms such as ‘salaf’ and ‘salafism’ having become highly politicised and sensationalised in the public domain, Ustadh Ali Hammuda separates fact from fiction in this series demystifying the status and authority of the constitutive and interpretive “Understanding of the Companions” of the Messenger of God (sallAllāhu ‘alayhi wasallam). The Authority of the Understanding of the Companions Part 5 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Poor are those who wish to 'modernise' Islām. Not only because they are seen as sell-outs by mainstream Muslims, but because they are at the fingertips of their neo-con masters. Little do they realise that they are in fact selling their afterlife to forward…
Looking Backward to go Forward
With terms such as ‘salaf’ and ‘salafism’ having become highly politicised and sensationalised in the public domain, Ustadh Ali Hammuda separates fact from fiction in this series demystifying the status and authority of the constitutive and interpretive “Understanding of the Companions” of the Messenger of God (sallAllāhu ‘alayhi wasallam). The Authority of the Understanding of the Companions Part 4 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Many evidences in the Sharīʿah obligate the adoption of the understanding of the earliest generations, and call on Muslims to retreat to them particularly during times of dissension. Some of these evidences are explicit and others are implicit. This is the objective of our…
Why follow the ‘old’ path?
With terms such as ‘salaf’ and ‘salafism’ having become highly politicised and sensationalised in the public domain, Ustadh Ali Hammuda separates fact from fiction in this series demystifying the status and authority of the constitutive and interpretive “Understanding of the Companions” of the Messenger of God (sallAllāhu ‘alayhi wasallam). The Authority of the Understanding of the Companions Part 3 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Backwards, ‘outdated’, ‘non-compatible’, ‘fundamentalists’… How often do we hear these terms spurted out at the Muslim community for following its ‘old ways’ in religious matters? Has the understanding of Islam really degenerated whilst the world becomes more sophisticated and advanced? Why is such authority…
Analysing the Authority of Orthodoxy
With terms such as ‘salaf’ and ‘salafism’ having become highly politicised and sensationalised in the public domain, Ustadh Ali Hammuda separates fact from fiction in this series demystifying the status and authority of the constitutive and interpretive “Understanding of the Companions” of the Messenger of God (sallAllāhu ‘alayhi wasallam). The Authority of the Understanding of the Companions Part 2 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 In this short series, we attempt to elucidate what is meant by Islamic 'orthodox' understanding, a concept popularly criticised in the contemporary age in preference of 'modernism' and 'progressive' ideology that fits with today's prevalent dogmas. It then outlines the authority of the oldest…
Who are the ‘Salaf’?
With terms such as 'salaf' and 'salafism' having become highly politicised and sensationalised in the public domain, Shaikh Ali Hammuda separates fact from fiction in this series demystifying the status and authority of the constitutive and interpretive "Understanding of the Companions" of the Messenger of God (sallAllāhu ‘alayhi wasallam). Authority of the Understanding of the Companions Part 1 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 The Prophet (sallAllāhu ‘alayhi wasallam) once said, إِنَّ اللَّهَ نَظَرَ إِلَى أَهْلِ الأَرْضِ فَمَقَتَهُمْ عَرَبَهُمْ وَعَجَمَهُمْ إِلا بَقَايَا مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ “Allāh looked at the people of the earth and was angry with them all, Arabs and non-Arabs, except for a remainder of the…
We drowned first. Then he did.
Read & share today's latest article - Exclusive; Following Syrian Refugees in Hungary For the past few months, heart-wrenching images have been reaching us in succession. Images of corpses which the waves of the sea had carried to the shores of land after their attempts to escape the barrel bombs of Bashar and the savagery of his men, failed in the middle of the ocean. We would not have known this had the shores of Libya, Turkey, Greece and other countries not complained to us. The last of these images was one that shocked the world. A child who had not reached the…
When Allah Exposes Double-Standards
After 13 years of persecution, the Prophet (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) was finally given permission to fight. He (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) sent out military and exploratory campaigns and expeditions against the pagans of Quraish. The scholars of history are generally agreed that a “Ghazwa” is a campaign which was led by the Prophet (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) whilst a “Sarriya” is an expedition which he would be absent from. During the year in which permission to fight back was given, the Prophet (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) had led four expeditions and organised four others. It…
The optimism of the early Muslims
In Pursuit of Optimism - Part 3 Click here for part 1 | Click here for part 2 | Click here for part 3 Optimism in the Companions and Pious Predecessors Knowing that he would not live with us forever, the Prophet (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) was very eager to inculcate the value of optimism within his companions and indeed he would succeed in doing so wonderfully. The second Khalīfah, ʿUmar b. Al Khattāb received a letter from the Muslims of Kūfa who wanted to consult ʿUmar regarding an expedition against the Persians. When ʿUmar received the letter, he asked the messenger of his…