Covid-19 is spreading at great speed throughout the human population of the world. While Europe and the USA are reporting the highest number of infections, all countries are affected. If the disease spreads in the same way everywhere, there can be no doubt that the poorest in the world will suffer the most, directly in… Continue reading Coping with the Covid-19 outbreak
Funeral Rites for Those Who Died of Coronavirus
Some community workers have put to me some questions concerning those who have died as a result of infection by the coronavirus: Your question: Since the bodies (and the inside and outside of the body bags in which they are delivered) of Muslims who died because of covid-19 are still contagious and there is a… Continue reading Funeral Rites for Those Who Died of Coronavirus
Guidance on Muslim Gatherings During Coronavirus
At this present time, the Coronavirus has spread to almost every country in the world, and is continuing to spread very rapidly. There is no cure that has been found to combat this virus. The most effective means of protection which can be understood is to avoid social contact, avoid travel, and avoid places of… Continue reading Guidance on Muslim Gatherings During Coronavirus
Reduction (Qaṣr) in the Prayer
By this link: What is the default regarding performing prayer (ṣalah)? I said: The default concerning the prescribed prayers is that they be performed in a house of Allah (i.e. a masjid) in congregation (jamāʿa), meeting their conditions (shurūṭ) and fulfilling their obligatory pillars (arkān), recommended actions (sunan) and etiquettes (ādāb). Establishment of the prayer… Continue reading Reduction (Qaṣr) in the Prayer
Principles and applications
Both general principles and concrete applications must be learnt together for creation to fulfil its Creator’s purpose. If you don’t learn how to interpret an engineering design into an engineered object, then all your engineering skills will be spent on repeating a limited number of engineered objects. So, for example, a craftsman may produce the… Continue reading Principles and applications
Settling disputes between Muslims in the UK
The primary function of courts in any jurisdiction, Islamic or otherwise, is to settle disputes according to rules that both disputing parties know and agree. One of the main functions of the state is to uphold the authority of the courts and then to enforce their decisions. Any court, however grand, is useless if its… Continue reading Settling disputes between Muslims in the UK
Dajjal
There is no reliable information about Dajjal that is sufficient responsibly to change your behavior or your policies. What, then, is the point of the Prophet’s giving any information, however limited, about Dajjal? The answer must begin by reflecting on what need people have to know something about such matters. The distraction of end-times anxiety… Continue reading Dajjal
The role of `ulama’
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… Continue reading The role of `ulama’
How to engage with what is happening in our time
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… Continue reading How to engage with what is happening in our time
Orientalists and Hadith
Western criticism of religious texts Modern Western critical inquiry into texts carrying religious authority have been carried out on the assumption that those texts are of natural (this-worldly) origin and therefore any claims of supernatural origin are simply mechanisms by which the religious authority of those texts are established and sustained. This is supported by… Continue reading Orientalists and Hadith