Reflections on Education
The importance of religion to Muslims means, an emphasis on Arabic and Qur’anic studies; and the importance of earning their livelihood, means they have instead, to learn English, which is the only medium Western learning could be studied.
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Advice to women travelling for `umrah
Women, generally, have always been easy targets of abuse and harassment by misguided, predatory men and hence it has rarely been safe for them to travel alone. That is why the Prophet advised that women when travelling in a potentially unsafe…
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Notes on Surah al-Shu’ara’
This surah addresses the intense anxiety that God’s Messenger, salla l-lahu `alayhiwa-sallam, suffered on account of the negative responses he got when he conveyed to the people the message God had commanded him to convey. It seems that he blamed…
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Surah Nuh
This surah is a condensed overview of the themes found in more extended narration elsewhere in the Qur’an, of the story of Nuh `alayhi s-salam, notably Surah Hud. As always in the Qur’an, the focus on certain elements…
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Surah Al-`Imran
The longer surahs at the beginning of the received text of the Qur’an have a complex arrangement of passages because they are simultaneously addressing three major concerns of the Qur’an, and the focus of attention alternates between these concerns.
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Not being able to take a bath after menstruation
If a woman’s menstruation stops while she is at work or travelling and she is not able in that situation to take a bath (ghusl), is she allowed to miss the obligatory prayers (i.e. defer them until she can take a bath)?
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Those eligible for Zakah
Who should I pay my zakah to in the West? The qualification in the question, “in the West”, does not have much significance for the answer, except that in the West, Muslims however numerous, do not (or do not yet) organise the collection and expenditure of zakah as a state function.
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Who Taught You Literary Criticism?
[قالوا: ما النقد الأدبي؟ قلت: هو دراسة للأعمال الأدبية وتفسيرها وتحليلها وموازنتها بغيرها والكشف عن محاسنها ومقابحها وما فيها من قوة وضعف ولون وجمال، وهو بكلمة أخرى تقدير النص الأدبي تقديرا صحيحا وبيان قيمته ودرجته وتحليل أسلوبه قالوا: ما الأسلوب وما تحليله؟ قلت: الأسلوب هو المسلك الذي ينتهجه الأديب أو العالم أداء لمعنى من المعاني]
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