By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwī and translated by Dr. Abu Zayd Our manners are, after our skin, and then our clothes, the point of contact between us and the world, especially other people. It is an interface that should be looked after and kept in good order. Just as we care for our body’s cleanliness and good health, and just as we care that our clothes are clean and do not offend others or leave a bad impression, so also we should regard manners as something requiring regular attention and maintenance. In Islam, manners are not a superficial polish, nor…
View More Manners in IslamAuthor: admin
Don’t waste Ramadan in bickering with your fellow-Muslims
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwī The Prophet, salla-llahu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, 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 good will and trust, and worship together. Worshipping together is beneficial. In the solidarity of worship we encourage one another in what is good, and we encourage the young to have confidence in the togetherness of the community. If father and mother are continually disagreeing, there is…
View More Don’t waste Ramadan in bickering with your fellow-MuslimsRamadan: what is it for?
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwī There is, for the moment of breaking the fast, a famous du`a that most Muslims learn as children. It is famous because the Prophet used to say it, salla-l-lahu `alayhi wa-sallam. The du`a is short and to the point, and uncomplicated; it has a clear rhythm, and it rhymes – all of which makes it (in the Arabic) easy to memorise. Yet, the meaning of this du`a is quite extraordinarily rich and profound. It is one of countless examples of the Prophet’s skill as a teacher, and the strength of his grasp of what islam…
View More Ramadan: what is it for?Supplications in the Qur’an
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwī In the Qur’an supplication is a special form of human speaking addressed to God. We say human speaking because the Qur’an tells us that we humans do not understand the speech of other creatures who also address God. They address Him through their awareness that He gave them existence and that He provides the means of sustaining it; also, they express their gratitude to Him (عمد; شكر) and glorify Him (يسبح له ما في السماوات و الأرض). Humans do this too, but something else besides. That something is a measure of the unique nature of…
View More Supplications in the Qur’anWomen’s prayer in the Mosque
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwī That women do not go to the mosque for congregational prayer, however widespread this has become, and however long standing, is a departure from the sunnah, which some people will call innovation or bid`ah. The norm in the time of the Prophet and his Companions was that women were encouraged, not passively tolerated, to come to the mosque for prayer and education. Men came to pray and learn and women came to pray and learn. The Prophet emphasised the greater merit of prayer in congregation. This applies to women no less or more than to…
View More Women’s prayer in the MosqueThe Women’s Mosque and Centre for Excellence (Bradford, UK)
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwī During a recent teaching visit to Bradford I came to know about the project to set up, in this city, a women’s mosque and centre for excellence (ihsan). I was able to meet some of the women leading this project and they explained to me their need for it and their hopes for it. In some of my published writing I have shown in detail, and with abundant evidence, that in the best times for this Community – when the example of generations nearest to the period of the revelation of the Qur’an informed the…
View More The Women’s Mosque and Centre for Excellence (Bradford, UK)Feminism
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwī Feminism everyone can agree with: helping women in trouble and in need when their relatives will not or cannot do it. This includes speaking up for their right when they are wronged. This is good because it is always good to help those who are suffering from injustice, poverty etc. The feminism to be questioned and perhaps opposed is a contemporary phenomenon based on a theory of gender. This theory is itself based on the idea that traditional social relations are a function of distribution of power in the society. Those who have more power,…
View More FeminismTaqwa
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwī Taqwa is the root of all the virtues that adorn religious life, and the virtues in turn strengthen the root from which they grow. Without taqwa the motivation for religious life is clouded and confused, brittle, vulnerable to being distracted and destroyed. Taqwa consists principally of two strands in the believer’s consciousness of God: awareness of being commanded by Him and awareness of being supervised by Him. How the believer responds to the command and supervision are the preparatory conditions both for the final judgement on the Day of resurrection and for the interim judgements…
View More TaqwaTell Us : What Are You?
By this link, “You’ve written on Islamic Fiqh through the school of Imam Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him) and gathered (in your writings) proofs from him. Additionally, you’ve written a biography about him. So you’re a Hanafi. But then we see that you combine between prayers during travel, and give fatwa declaring the permissibility of wiping over socks. And you don’t mind if your students follow a specific Imam (in taqleed) or if they don’t follow anyone – so you’re a ‘ghayr-muqallid’ (someone who doesn’t adhere to one of the schools of thought).” And they said, “You’re an…
View More Tell Us : What Are You?