The Food of the People of the Book
They said to me: We have some problems understanding verse five of Sūrah al-Māʾidah: “and the food of those given the scripture before you is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them.” So, please assist us in solving the ambiguity and…
Be answerable for your speech
I would remind my brothers and sisters in Islam – those who support me in some degree or agree with me in some ways, and those who disagree with me or oppose me or abuse me – that speech is action which has weight in the present and…
Hope for Muslims
The difficulties that Muslims are facing in our times belong to every aspect of life. Moreover, very often the loss of the political power, or strength of the opponents of Islam make many of us lose hope. This despair is not appropriate to the people who…
What do you have?
An Indian cinema star once said to a little boy “I have a luxury vehicle, a towering mansion, and millions of rupees – what do you have?”
The boy responded “I have my mother”…
Don’t Waste Ramadan
The Prophet (saw) said that he was sent to make things easy for the believers. His sunnah for deciding the times of the daily prayers, and the beginning and end of Ramadan, was meant to make things easy so that the people would come together, in goodwill and trust…
Mixing Between Madhabs
They said: It displeases us that you leave the madhab of Abu Hanifah in some things for the opinions of Malik, Al Shafi’i and Ahmad ibn Hanbal. This is “talfiq” (blameworthy mixing between madhabs).
Tell us: “What are you?”
They said: You have authored “Al Fiqh Al Islami” according to the madhab of Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Thabit, may Allah have mercy on him, collating the school’s evidences therein, and you have written a biography on him; so you are a Hanafi.
The Best Madrassa
They said: You have worked in Oxford for twenty years on an academic project looking at the history of the Islamic sciences in India and its Madrassas and centres of learning. So what is the best madrassa in the long history of India…