By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwī The fact is that the `ulama’ are not a respected group in society. The respect that they are given is primarily sentimental because of the emotional attachment that all people have to their religious and cultural background. That background in all societies without exception, until the last century, is that religion legitimizes (that is, sustains the authority of) power and wealth. The reason for this is that until the last century there was not much possibility of controlling the forces of nature or the forces of popular will without resort to religious and moral ideas…
View More The role of `ulama’Category: Community
How to engage with what is happening in our time
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwī I generally avoid commenting on political issues, because in my experience doing so only serves to complicate and multiply the weaknesses of my fellow Muslims. I prefer to focus on matters which can waken people to a strong realization that they have a common purpose and responsibility, namely to prepare themselves for their personal meeting with their Creator. What has happened in modern life in all parts of the world is a fiercely extreme intensification of concern with economic gain — even the most wealthy people are unable to switch their attention away from this…
View More How to engage with what is happening in our timeIslamophobia
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwī Any phobia has two directions from which it arises. One direction is from the person himself who is suffering the phobia, some cause in him, psychological or cultural. The other direction is from that which the phobia is about. In this case, Muslims should realise and admit to themselves that they are hated not necessarily for being Muslims but for their actual behaviours, or justifiable suspicions about how they might behave. There is nothing that can be done by Muslims to prevent that part of Islamophobia which emerges from the psychology or culture of those…
View More IslamophobiaPresenting Islam without deception
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi Allah has commanded presenting the religion to non-Muslims in a good way, that is to say, with patient courtesy and kindness, and by every means to avoid provoking non-Muslims into retaliatory insults. Providing someone in need of material help (such as food, money, clothes, shelter) with something of what they need is only pleasing to Allah if it is done with an effort to ensure that the recipient does not feel indebted to you. Providing religious guidance is an obligatory duty if (a) someone is need of it and (b) you are able to fill…
View More Presenting Islam without deceptionEase and Relaxation in Islam
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi Ease is through hardship. Muslims should be suspicious of any ease which does not involve any effort. The obvious example of that is watching t.v. The only effort it requires is to push the button. It actually will be better to sleep rather than watching tvs. There are certain things that the Prophet sanctioned which nowadays are put under the category of entertainment like sports such as archery, horse-riding and swimming. The Prophet accepted the people have to relax, they have to live in this world and so they have to give time to it,…
View More Ease and Relaxation in IslamThe crisis facing madrasas
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi Madrasas, like Nadwa, Deoband, Islah and others, which have been active in service of the Muslim community for the best part of 150 years, now face a hard choice. They are under pressure to shift away from the objectives for which they were originally founded towards curricula primarily oriented to preparing students for the current job market. It is said that, if they do not move in this direction, they will not attract students in sufficient numbers to remain viable, meaning that they will eventually become irrelevant and close. As an alumnus and former teacher…
View More The crisis facing madrasasReflection on Education
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi In this book, a Muslim scholar who has dedicated a lifetime to teaching in an Islamic madrasa reflects on the different, contending styles of education prevalent in India as a consequence of the legacy of colonial rule. He explains the need to find a way between, on the one hand, the orientation of education as traditionally understood by Muslims (which colonial rule had systematEically undermined and rendered practically irrelevant, but which some Muslims were resolved to cling to, despite the costs in terms of being socially and politically marginalized), and on the other, the modern…
View More Reflection on EducationSexual abuse
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwī This should have meant that sexual abuse as a legally defined crime is no more of a problem for society than other crimes such as assault, theft, fraud, murder and so on. The problem with this approach is that sexuality (abusive or non-abusive) is not limited to the act of sexual intercourse itself. The relevance of consent to the actual performance of sexual acts is accordingly rather limited. Sexuality is an expression of desire, and (among humans) desire can arise even when there is no external stimulus for it, even when there is no possibility…
View More Sexual abuseDa`wah
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwī God says He does not love that men say what they do not do (al-Saff). This means two things. (a) Be careful of the language you use. Don’t be like those poets who say things that sound very impressive but are impossible to do, i.e. don’t speak for effect; speak simply and from the heart. And also, don’t be like those philosophers, theologians or moralists who formulate things very precisely but abstractly, so that what they say does not connect with the realities of life. (b) Be careful of the gaps between what you say…
View More Da`wahNon-Muslim Festivals
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwī Muslims have responsibilities that are specific to them as Muslims and responsibilities that they share in common with all human beings. Among the latter are responsibilities related to the preservation of one’s life and health and general prosperity; the preservation of the well-being of the community and its common spaces and services, its law and order, and whatever contributes to the peace and harmony of its members; and the preservation of the larger environment, the health of which affects all creatures now living and those to come. No one can determine from the outside how…
View More Non-Muslim Festivals