BAYTUNUR

Professor William Chittick Interview

2011-07-23T13:36:00.001-07:00

Western Gender Discourse: Social Engineering & Modern Biology?

2011-04-12T01:44:00.001-07:00

"Walaysa al-dhakaru ka’l-untha, says the Qur’an: the male is not like the female. This is why we say, respectfully ignoring the protests of old-fashioned feminists, that men and women, in a God-fearing society, will tend towards different concerns and spheres of activity. Our aim, after all, is human happiness, not political correctness."By Abdal-Hakim Murad. ...Let me begin, then, by trying

Modernity: Dormant Longing For A Unity Without Religion and Metaphysics

2011-03-21T08:33:00.000-07:00

Omar KNIn modernism it was believed that materiality or phenomena was everything there is and that it is superiour to anything else. This philosophy of science is called positivism - it is a rejection of metaphysics, as it holds that the goal of knowledge is simply to describe the phenomena that we experience, which we can observe and measure and nothing beyond that. In some quarters there was

Gender as Sacred Sign

2011-02-16T00:20:00.000-08:00

Abdul Hakim Murad ..Women’s functions vary widely in the Muslim world and in Muslim history. In peasant communities, women work out of doors; in the desert, and among urban elites, womanhood is more frequently celebrated in the home. Recurrently, however, the public space is rigorously desexualised, and this is represented by the quasi-monastic garb of men and women, where frequently the colour

"There is No Longer A Journey to Undertake, No Longer A Destination to Reach"

2011-02-06T10:39:00.000-08:00

Sultan Bahu Alif Allah chambe di booti, Murshid man wich laaee hoo Nafee asbaat da pane milia, Har rage harjae hoo. Andar booti mushk machaya, Jaan phullan te aae hoo Jeeve Murshid Kaamil Bahu, Jain eh booti laee hooMy Master Has Planted in My Heart the Jasmine of Allah’s Name. Both My Denial That the Creation is Real and My Embracing of God, the Only Reality, Have Nourished the Seedling

Confusion in Knowledge creates Loss of Adab (Recognition and Acknowledgement) which implies Loss of Justice

2011-01-20T07:19:00.000-08:00

Sayyid Naquib al-Attas “As to the internal causes of the dilemma in which we find ourselves, the basic problems can – it seems to me – be reduced to a single evident crisis which I would simply call the loss of adab. I am here referring to the loss of discipline – the discipline of body, mind, and soul; the discipline that assures the recognition and acknowledgement of one’s proper place in

Learning the Maqasid al Shariah!

2011-01-17T23:21:00.000-08:00

Dr. Robert D. Crane Over the long run, the most productive initiative by the still largely silent majority of Muslims in marginalizing Muslim extremists is to fill the intellectual and spiritual void that serves as an ocean in which the extremists can swim. This initiative can provide the favorable environment needed for Muslims to ally with like-minded Christians and Jews in order to show that

Islamic Law: "Abnormal Abuse of Rules Can Neither Legalise The Abusive Practice Nor Render the Authentic Rules Null & Void"

2011-01-05T03:08:00.000-08:00

This is an excerpt from The Muslim Conduct of State by Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah (1)As has aptly been said: "When stable communities whether Tribes, or City-States, or States of a modern type are permanently contiguous, customs hardening in time into law never fail to regulate their intercourse. Ubi societas, ibi jus; wherever developed communities are brought in contact with each other, judicial

"Your Old Life was Frantic, Running From Silence"

2010-12-25T02:21:00.000-08:00

Poem by Maulana Jelaluddin Rumi Translated by Coleman Barks Die..and be quietQuietness is the surest sign that you've diedYour old life was frantic, running from silenceThe speechless full moon comes out now

The 'Islamization of Knowledge'?

2010-12-18T09:44:00.000-08:00

Akbar S. Ahmed Updated by Anis AhmedScientific knowledge is generally considered objective, real, and value-free. The very concept of “Islamization of knowledge” or “Islamic science” raises a basic question: Are the realms of physics and chemistry, or sociology and political science, for instance, and “religion” exclusive and independent of each other, or is a marriage between “religion” and

Western-Educated Muslim Modernists, Orientalists, Politicized Islam & Women's Education

2010-12-04T00:28:00.000-08:00

Nimat Hafez Barazangi, Donald Malcolm Reid, Syed Rizwan Zamir, Dietrich Reetz, Joseph S. Szyliowicz, Akbar S. Ahmed, Anis Ahmad Nasr (1982) criticizes Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938) and other “modernist” Islamists for understanding “Greek philosophy through the eyes of its modern Western interpreters” and, hence, separating Islam from philosophy. For Rahman (“Islam: An Overview,” in The

Maktab & Madressahs: Elementary & Higher Religious Schools in Islamic Societies

2010-11-16T15:08:00.000-08:00

Donald Malcolm Reid, Updated by Syed Rizwan ZamirAs the nineteenth century opened, Islamic societies had highly developed educational institutions—elementary Qurān schools (Ar., kuttāb or maktab) and higher religious schools called madrasahs. Less formal education was available from Ṣūfī lodges (khanqah), literary circles at princely courts, private tutors, private study circles (ḥalaqah), and

Imam Ghazali: Debate as a Means of Searching after the Truth

2010-11-07T00:02:00.000-07:00

Imam Ghazali (1058 - 1111), Khorasan ...You will understand this ambiguity between debate and consultation when I relate to you the following, namely, that co-operation in the search after truth is a part of religion but has… distinguishing features and conditions. Whereas debate as a means of searching after the truth is one of the fard kifayah duties, no one who has not yet fulfilled his fard ‘

Islamic Philosophy: Knowledge is Perfection & Perfection is Happiness

2010-10-29T02:19:00.000-07:00

Dr. Shams C. Inati Knowledge is the intellect's grasp of the immaterial forms, the pure essences or universals that constitute the natures of things, and human happiness is achieved only through the intellect's grasp of such universals. They stress that for knowledge of the immaterial forms, the human intellect generally relies on the senses. Some philosophers, such as Ibn Rushd and

Seek Knowledge! An Obligatory Duty for Muslims!

2010-10-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

1. Published: Friday, 26 January, 2007, 10:52 AM Doha Time Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam said: “Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim.” (Related by Ibn ‘Adiyy, Al-Bayhaqi and Al-Tabarani). Though this Hadith is known and memorised by most Muslims, the essence, the amount, and the kind of knowledge referred to in this Hadith remains misunderstood by many. What are the

The Muslims Struggle for Islam is also Their Struggle to Preserve Their Cultures

2010-09-30T10:48:00.000-07:00

Excerpts from a paper by Dr. Ejaz Akram [Do not cite or reproduce from the following paper without permission of author] A Definition of Culture [Hence, in the light of the above ] I would like to present a definition of culture as “a realm of shared beliefs, ideas and symbols”. Inasmuch as culture is a medium between human beings, it also plays the part of binding individuals together, or that

Questions of Direct Recourse to the Quran & Sunnah & Fanatical Attachment to a Madhab

2010-09-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

Timothy Winters (Abdul Hakim Murad) ...Earlier religions slide gently or painfully into schism and irrelevance; but Islamic piety, while fading in quality, has been given mechanisms which allow it to retain much of the sense of unity emphasised in its glory days. The reason is simple and unarguable: God has given us this religion as His last word, and it must therefore endure, with its essentials

Dîn, Modernism, Evolution, Science & Transcendence

2010-09-16T23:44:00.000-07:00

Omar K N 1.1 Definition of tradition Therefore according to how we understand the concept from its etymological root: tradere (deliver, transmit) - Tradition has nothing to do with peoples' usages or customs from old, but is understood as *revealed* tradition, that is truths and principles of divine order revealed or unveiled to mankind. “Tradition is essentially of "super-human" origin, which is

Shariah: Framework for Human Rights at the Core of Islam as a Religion

2010-09-12T02:47:00.000-07:00

Shariah, Globalism, Media, Muslim Extremists, Stoning-Beheading-Flogging, Hate Crime & Christian Extremism

2010-09-08T01:46:00.000-07:00

1. Dr Hamdy Murad, Professor of Sharia at Al-Balqa Applied University, Jordan. The regulations of Sharia can only be applied in a mature, Islamic educated society that is familiar with the respective regulations, morals and laws. This is a principal issue. These regulations should not be applied in an Islamic society that is not mature or in which the reasons of righteousness are absent. We do

Islamic Law & Jurisprudence is Not Always Understood by the Press

2010-09-04T00:39:00.000-07:00

Denis J. Wiechman, Jerry D. Kendall, and Mohammad K. Azarian The general public and many academics have several preconceived notions about Islamic Law. One such notion is that Islamic judges are bound by ancient and outdated rules of fixed punishments for all crimes. This paper explores that idea and looks at other myths

Modernity Project: Reaching for the Physical and Psychological Aspects of Human Nature & The Spiritual Project: Reaching for the Divine Aspect of Human Nature

2010-08-30T03:11:00.000-07:00

Omar K N, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Isa Abu Madyan (rahimahu-Allah) said:Regard not any fault but that acknowledged within youAs a manifest, clearly apparent fault, though it be hidden And others said:Condemn not a person for doing an action To which you are equally ascribedHe who blames something while at the same time doing it himself Has only demonstrated his own ignorance Our definition of modern

"O Mankind! It is You That Has Need of God!"

2010-08-24T13:54:00.000-07:00

Sultan Ahmet Mosque Quran Festival, Istanbul, 2007Recitation: Ishak DanisSura Fatir [35:15-24]Translation: Yusuf Ali 5:15 O ye men! It is ye that have need of God: but God is the One Free of all wants, worthy of all praise. يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ أَنتُمُ الْفُقَرَاء إِلَى اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ 35:16 If He so pleased, He could blot you out

Hazrat Ali (A.S.):Pursuit of Knowledge Better Than Pursuit of Riches

2010-08-22T05:31:00.001-07:00

Professor Masud ul Hasan The knowledge of the Holy Prophet was thus both book knowledge (Ilm-i-Safina) and heart knowledge (Ilm-e-Sina). Hadrat Ali received his heart knowledge from the Holy Prophet. It is related that after the Ascension, the Holy Prophet awarded a mantle to Hadrat Ali which led to the illumination of his heart. His Concept of Knowledge Hadrat Ali held that the principal aim

The Excellence (& Limitation) of Religious Authority in Islamic Shariah

2010-08-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

Shaikh M. Nur Abdullah Ulama: Specialists in Religious Knowledge (as opposed to 'Clergy') If you have a legal problem you consult a lawyer. If you have a medical problem you consult a physician. If your car is broken, you go to a mechanic to fix your car. You may not agree with their opinion, you may decide to obtain a second opinion, you may decide to get a different lawyer, doctor or

Islamic Shariah, Fiqh and Secular Law: Basic Definitions

2010-08-17T02:22:00.000-07:00

The Arabic word fiqh means knowledge, understanding and comprehension. It refers to the legal rulings of the Muslim scholars, based on their knowledge of the shari`ah; and as such is the third source of rulings. The science of fiqh started in the second century after Hijrah, when the Islamic state expanded and faced several issues which were not explicitly covered in the Qur'an and Sunnah of

The 'Scorching Heat" and "Rain" of the Muslim Month of Ramadan

2010-08-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

Al-Syed Muhiyuddin Abdal Qadir Al-Gilani "The experts have failed to agree on the significance of the term “Ramadån,” as it is used by Allåh (Exalted is He) in the Qurånic verse [åya]:142 [The time of fasting is] the month of Ramadån, Shahru Ramadåna ’lladhiin which the Qurån was sent down unzila fihi ’l Qurånu. (2:185) Some of those experts have declared: “‘

SURA HASHR QURAN RECITATION

2010-08-14T03:06:00.000-07:00

Cevat Penahi RECITATION OF SURA HASHR (THE EXODUS)(59:18) BY CEVAT PENAHI

Imam Ghazali: Levels of The Secrets of Fasting Are Three

2010-08-12T03:42:00.000-07:00

Ramzan Mubarak!Al-Imam Al-Ghazali: On Fasting (Book of Forty Principles from the Foundations of Religion) Verily Shaytan runs in the Son of Adam like blood. Therefore, constrain the passageways of Shaytan with hunger. [al-Bukhari and Muslim]When Ramadan comes the doors of Paradise are opened, the doors of the Fire are shut, the shaytans are restrained, and a caller calls: ‘Oh seeker of good, come

Islamic Civilization: The Pursuit, Collection and Distribution of Knowledge

2010-08-09T09:26:00.000-07:00

Roldah Adams Sardar (1999) refers to at least five Islamic concepts that have a direct bearing on the distribution of knowledge: “adl (justice), ilm (knowledge), ibadah (worship), khilafa (trusteeship), waqf (pious endowment; charitable trust).” An examination of the early history of Islam reveals how these concepts were given practical shape and generated a sophisticated infrastructure for the

Little by little the Lovedrunk Arrive

2010-08-07T02:09:00.000-07:00

Hazrat Maulana Rumi Andak Andak Little by Little... "Little by little, drunk people are gathering: those in love, people who want to drink more and more glasses of knowledge, the knowledge of God. Little by little, their souls grow up, and they become alive. Little by little, the spiritual life rises from the physical one." اندک اندک جمع مستان می رسنـــد اندک اندک می پرستان می رسنـــد

Islamic Civilization: "The Colossal Loss of the Colonial Period"

2010-08-06T04:30:00.000-07:00

THE OXFORD HISTORY OF ISLAM Ed. John L. Esposito, Reviewed by Maryam JameelahAs the Holy Prophet and the Qur’an were the final culmination and re-affirmation of all the previous religious Traditions, so did the early Muslims regard themselves as the only rightful heirs to all the civilizations of antiquity. This inspired a tremendous love for knowledge and quest for learning wherever it could be

"Not About Islam as Religion, About A Universe Recognizably Islamic"

2010-07-30T02:59:00.000-07:00

Ali A. Allawi The Crisis of Islamic Civilization "This book is not about Islam as religion or as a code of outer conduct and transactions. This book is about Islamic civilization, a universe that is recognizably Islamic." One of The Globalist's Top Books of 2009.Islam as a religion is central to the lives of over a billion people, but its outer expression as a distinctive civilization has

Islamic Finance: A Utopian Idea?

2010-07-26T05:28:00.000-07:00

Transcribed from a lecture (in 2008) by Mufti Taqi Uthmani The economy has been established by debts, debts over debts! When the debts defaults debts are sold, and this created a panic in the economy; and it affected also the stocks of the company. The stock market always runs on the basis of speculation. Debt based economy that has created money without any asset

Elementary Financial Instruments in Classical Islam

2010-07-23T01:50:00.000-07:00

Dr. Abdul Ghafar Ismail Monetization came early, and the ban on unequal exchange of similar fungibles seems to have facilitated the process. Muslims started with Byzantine gold dinars and Persian silver dirhams, but early on they began to mint their own coins. The state had a monopoly on coinage, and any tampering with their weight or purity was severely punished. Trade and commerce over the vast

Tanam Farsooda Jaan Para

2010-07-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

Jami Tanam Farsooda jaan para Ze Hijra Ya Rasulullah Dillam Paz Murda Aawara Ze Isyaa. Ya Rasulullah! My body is dissolving in your separation And my soul is breaking into pieces. Ya Rasulullah! Due to my sins, My heart is weak and becoming enticed. Ya Rasulullah! ______________________________________________ Choon Soo’e Mun Guzar Aari Manne Miskeen Zanaa Daari

The Real Islamic Economics: A Radical Alternative

2010-07-20T01:37:00.000-07:00

Dr. Asad Zaman The creation, progress, and continued growth of numerous Islamic Financial Institutions is clearly the most important way in which the nascent discipline of Islamic Economics has influenced the real world. Nonetheless, the author shares with numerous other researchers and practitioners the impression that these institutions represent the impact of modernity on Islam, rather than

Ottoman Empire [1600-1914] & The Inability to Bring State Finances Under Control

2010-07-13T07:40:00.000-07:00

Dr. ŞEVKET PAMUKBoğaziçi University, Istanbul Based on the successful experience of Western Europe and European off-shoots, new institutional economics has argued that long-run economic change is the cumulative consequence of innumerable short-run decisions by political and economic agents that both directly and indirectly shape performance. Economic growth is attained because the underlying

Impact of Religion on Economic Growth: USAID Bureau Policy and Program Coordination 2004 Report

2010-07-10T01:40:00.000-07:00

Peter Timmer, Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI Pakistan http://www.dai.com/pakistan/ ) and Center for Global DevelopmentDonald McClelland, U.S. Agency for International Development The long-standing debate over the impact of religion on economic growth particularly the current debate over the impact of Islamic thought on the economic prospects of Muslim countries—parallels similar debates over

Answering the Question How Do We Catch China!

2010-07-04T01:01:00.000-07:00

Dr. Muzaffar Iqbal Invoking the name of an Ibn Sina, or a Razi, they [Muslims] attempted to prove that Islamic civilization did have its great scholars, sages and scientists. No one was interested in reclaiming this veritable tradition, they were all interested in inheriting it. Thus stultified, this invocation to the past glory did nothing but sooth the burning pain of that generation of Muslims

A Mantra Question: How do we catch China?

2010-07-02T09:59:00.000-07:00

The following are excerpts from a discussion thread titled "WHY ARE WE SO BACKWARD?" on a Pakistan Discussion Forum...[Dr. Muzaffar Iqbal answers these questions in the following post] In studies we have what is termed as "Herd Mentality". MBA is the in thing now, BE in IT and CS was earlier. Student does not ever know what will he be facing in the real world and real work place. We are

The Transformation of Muslim Societies By Science & Technology?

2010-06-30T07:26:00.000-07:00

Dr. Muzaffar Iqbal Within this broad framework [of colonization] the following changes affected Muslims all over the world. During the colonial era, this transnational concept of Ummah was replaced by another operating concept that was characteristically western in its origin. This new concept was that of nationalism which gave rise to the idea of state as a basic political unit, defined by

The Transformation of Muslim Societies By Science & Technology?

2010-06-29T01:26:00.000-07:00

Dr. Muzaffar Iqbal The Muslim world was colonized and the most powerful tool in this process of colonization is generally considered to be western science and technology, although this assertion is open to questioning. Once colonized, Muslim societies were transformed at the most fundamental level by the replacement of their basic institutions, models, heroes and, in most cases, the language of

Islam: An Irrational Legalism?

2010-06-25T02:08:00.000-07:00

Tim Winter (Abdul Hakim Murad) Muslim commentators often wish to champion the revelation as a supreme advocate of reason. God’s word, the Book, as speech (nu~q), is the very ground and guarantor of logic (man~iq), and the Book is itself a set of arguments accessible to the mind (although definitions of ‘mind’ have, as we will see, widely diverged). Nineteenth and twentieth-century apologists

The Place of Rationality & Intellectual Tradition in Islamic Theology

2010-06-23T01:07:00.000-07:00

Malik Muhammad Tariq It was Islamic philosophy, acting as a cultural relay, which kept alive and ensured the continuity of the Greek philosophical tradition until the Italian Renaissance. Philosophy and theology were continuing to develop and to produce important works, especially between the seventh and fourteenth centuries. The numerous translations undertaken at the beginning of the Abbasid

Modernism, Secularism, Evolution & Culture

2010-06-21T00:57:00.000-07:00

Dr. Ejaz Akram[Excerpts from Baytunur-Iqbal Academy Pakistan Islam Seminar on Religion & Culture] The West is missionary about spreading secularism in the world. They lay the blame on religion when religious people cause violence while condoning the secular values when non-religious people cause violence. On the one hand they speak of cultural relativity and on the other they practice cultural

Colonial, Post-Colonial & Neo-Colonial Nations

2010-06-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

"Colonialism" is a term that critically refers to the political ideologies which legitimated the modern invasion, occupation and exploitation of inhabited lands by overwhelming outside military powers. For the local populations, it implied the forceful elimination of resistance, the imposition of alien rules, and the parasitic utilization of natural resources including manpower. This term

Islamic Law and the Ulama in Colonial India: A Legal Tradition No Longer Needed

2010-06-09T05:51:00.000-07:00

Muhammad Qasim Zaman[Princeton Studies of Muslim Politics, 2002] "…the new "Anglo-Muhammadan law" was decidedly not the ulama's legal tradition but a hybrid of certain legal classics and English common law. Historically the most distinctive aspect of their [ulama's] vocation, the interpretation of law, was effectively being removed from them." Certain works of law that were regarded by Muslims

The Challenges of Modernity: The Ulama and Authority of Religious Knowledge in Islam

2010-06-09T02:50:00.000-07:00

Muhammad Qasim Zaman[Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics, c 2002] "In general terms, it is a combination of their intellectual formation, their vocation, and crucially, their orientation, a certain sense of continuity with Islamic tradition that defines Ulama as Ulama; and it is this sense of continuity that constitutes the most significant difference between them and their modernist and

Imam Ali (R.A.): Levels of True Religious Understanding in Islam

2010-06-04T05:02:00.000-07:00

James Morris The contents of [Imam] Ali’s lesson to[ his closest companion and disciple] Kumayl [ibn Ziyad al-Nakha’i] are all presented as a clarification of his opening statement that: There are three sorts of people (with regard to Religion, al-Din). A divinely inspired Knower (‘alim rabbani); the person who is seeking (that true spiritual) Knowing (muta‘allim) along the path of salvation;

The Place of Politics & the Place of an Islamic Government in Religion

2010-06-04T01:33:00.000-07:00

Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani "He [the Political Worker] departs the vehicle of effort and work from the road of faith in the unseen - yearning for the Afterlife, seeking Allah’s pleasure and devotion to His love - to the path of seeking rule, glory, dominance, and achieving rule and subsequently the materialist galaxy.” "They made politics and the establishment of an Islamic government the

Muslim World: Struggling with Colonization and Hegemony

2010-06-03T02:03:00.000-07:00

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf When a Welsh resistance leader was captured and brought before the emperor in Rome, he said: "Because you desire to conquer the world, it does not necessarily follow that the world desires to be conquered by you." Today one could offer an echo of this sentiment to western liberals: "Because you wish your values to prevail throughout the world, it does not always follow that

Islamic Discourse in Muslim Countries? Struggling with Colonization and Hegemony

2010-06-03T01:04:00.000-07:00

· Change with Islam and not changing Islam!Sawt Al-AzharWe need to change our religious discourse in order to make it more compatible with the comprehensiveness of Islam. But America, in its current attack on Islam, wants to change Islam. We want to change with Islam and they want to change Islam. America’s problem with Islam is neither Islam’s rejection of American policies nor violence

Islamic Discourse in the West: Political Islam & Liberal Muslim Movements

2010-06-01T23:45:00.000-07:00

Liberal, Progressive or Reformist Muslim? Over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, in accordance with their increasingly modern societies and outlooks, liberal Muslims have tended to reinterpret many aspects of the application of their religion in their life in an attempt to reconnect with the original message. This is particularly true of Muslims who now find themselves living in

Political Islam: A Modern Phenomena

2010-06-01T02:22:00.000-07:00

Mohammed Ayoob Political Islam: A Modern Phenomena of Presenting National Goals as Islamic Mobilizing Resistance to Domestic Autocracy and Global Western Hegemony Political Islam, namely, any political activity that draws upon Islamic precepts, history, vocabulary, and presumed models of governance currently embodies the idea of resistance to hegemony far more than any other ideology in the

Islam as a Political Tool: The Zia Era of Islamization of Pakistan

2010-05-28T23:56:00.000-07:00

Mubarka Ahmed The military regime under Zia-ul-Haq entered the political arena in 1977 as a “caretaker ninety-day government whose “sole aim was “to organize free and fair elections. The “directionless drama eventually spanned over the course of eleven years, having been granted a legal license to persist by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. It soon experienced a remarkable shift in policies,

Islam as a Political Tool: The Bhutto Era of Islamization of Pakistan

2010-05-28T01:12:00.000-07:00

Mubarka Ahmad The process of Islamising the state of Pakistan started as early as 1949. It was then that Pakistan’s career as a theocracy began in theory; with Liaquat Ali Khan’s (Prime Minister, 1947-51) move to secure the adoption of the Objectives Resolution by the Constituent Assembly, thereby substituting divine sovereignty for the sovereignty of the people. However, despite the fact that

Uzbekistan Mosque

2010-05-21T05:40:00.000-07:00

Architectural detail, Uzbekistan 'Whereever the eyes looks, it sees beauty'http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaxxon/16916401/

Western Muslim Responses to Western Modernity: T. J. Winters (b.1960, U.K.)

2010-05-21T01:23:00.000-07:00

"Despite its origins in 7th century Arabia, it [Islam] works everywhere, and this is itself a sign of its miraculous and divine origin [...] Islam, once we have become familiar with it, and settled into it comfortably, is the most suitable faith for the British. Its values are our values. Its moderate, undemonstrative style of piety, still waters running deep; its insistence on modesty and a

Western Muslim Response to Western Modernity: Tariq Ramadan (b.1962, Switzerland)

2010-05-21T00:53:00.000-07:00

Le thème de la modération dans la pratique traverse la littérature islamique depuis l’origine. Dans le Coran et dans les traditions prophétiques qui l’accompagnent, les musulmanes et les musulmans sont appelés à faire preuve de modération dans tous les domaines de la pratique. « Dieu veut pour vous la facilité et non la difficulté » rappelle le Coran et Muhammad (PBSL) affirme « Facilitez les

Western Muslim Responses to Western Modernity: Rene Guenon (d.1951)

2010-05-19T02:24:00.000-07:00

An introduction to Shaykh Abd Al Wahid Yahya - René Guénon "René Guénon's role (was to be the) reviver of Tradition for the Western world." Charles Upton < sacredweb.com > "The civilization of the modern West appears in history a veritable anomaly: among all those which are known to us more or less completely, this civilization is the only one which has developed along purely material lines and

Western Muslim Response to Western Modernity: Frithjof Schuon (d.1998)

2010-05-19T02:02:00.000-07:00

Frithjof Schuon In our time one has often heard it said that in order to fight against materialism—or materialist pseudo-idealism—a new ideology is needed, one capable of standing up to all seductions and assaults. Now, the need for an ideology or the wish to oppose one ideology to another is already an admission of weakness, and anything undertaken on this basis is false and doomed to defeat.

Muslim Responses to Modernity: Darululoom Deoband (1867), MAO College Aligarh (1875) & Nadwatululama Lucknow (1894)

2010-05-18T22:20:00.000-07:00

There were three major educational institutions established in the nineteenth century India to respond to the Muslim educational needs: Darul Ulum Deoband, Aligarh Muhammadan College, and Nadwatul Ulama, founded respectively in 1867, 1875 and 1894 by Sayyid Ahmad Khan, Qasim Nanawtawi, and Shibli Nu’mani. To Sheikh Muhammad Ikram, although Deoband and Nadwa both opposed Aligarh college policies,

Muslim Responses to Modernity: Allama Muhammad Iqbal (d.1938) & The Reconstruction of Religious Thought

2010-05-18T01:44:00.000-07:00

Dr. Muhammad Khalid Masud The Reconstruction [of Religious Thought] consists of a series of lectures that he [Allama Iqbal] wrote and delivered in Lahore, Madras, Hyderabad and Aligarh between 1924 and 1930. Iqbāl observed that the “concepts of theological systems, draped in the terminology of a practically dead metaphysics” couldn’t help the reconstruction of religious thought. “The only course

Muslim Responses to Modernity: Sayyid Ahmed Khan (d.1898) & the Controversial ''Jadid Ilm al-Kalam"

2010-05-18T01:24:00.000-07:00

Dr. Muhammad Khalid Masud Sayyid Ahmad Khan perceived three threats to Islam in nineteenth century India: missionaries, European prejudices against Islam, and the doubts about Islam in the Muslim mind. In his address to the Anjuman-i Himayat-i Islam in Lahore in 1884, Sayyid Ahmad Khan called for jadid ‘ilm al-kalam to respond to these threats. In this speech Khan refers to two levels of this

Muslim [Ulema and Scholars] Responses to Western Modernity: 1800s to date

2010-05-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

Dr. Muhammad Khalid Masud Muslim responses to Western modernity range from call for reform of to call of revival of Islam, or from total rejection of either tradition or modernity to a reconstruction of Islamic religious thought. Sayyid Ahmed Khan (d.1898) 'jadid ilm al-kalam' a new Islamic theology of modernity. Khan's approach was called 'Islamic Modernism'. Iqbal (d.1938)'s Reconstruction of

Is religion a public or a private matter? America as a Jihad State

2010-05-14T06:03:00.000-07:00

Abdul Hakim Murad [T.J. Winters] 'Elites which conform to the emerging global monoculture are resistant to the idea that religion might be a factor in the politics of the world’s most modern state' 'Increasingly the elites in the Islamic world read only in English and French, and a survey of local newspapers and vernacular TV channels is unlikely to provide sure clues to their perceptions of the

The Difference in Europe & USA on the separation of 'Church and State'

2010-05-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

Blandine Chelini-Pont In the United States, two interconnected theories of the public sphere are particularly relevant. In the liberal tradition of democratic theorists the public sphere has been viewed as the space common for all, where citizens can freely discuss and deliberate ideas, commit themselves to voluntary associative forms, and improve and control the various levels of their common

Is Religion a Private or Public Matter? The Case of Pluralistic Model of Religious Representation & Secular Civic Values

2010-05-11T22:39:00.000-07:00

Dr Nafsika Alexiadou Nature and Control of School Knowledge'Religion should be a private affair exercised freely by people in time and space outside that of education or other civic functions. In other words, I think that the principle of secularism as it features in the French and Turkish states is one that should be adopted by all modern states that wish to foster civic values.' 'School

Official State Religion in Denmark, United Kingdom & Greece

2010-05-10T09:18:00.000-07:00

Dr. Nafsika Alexiadou Religion as a form of identification and the bearing of collective meaning continues to bind individuals to particular communities of faith even if attendance of religious ceremonies has declined. But, there is another important dimension of religion, and in particular of the institutions that represent them, and that is their interface with politics and nationalisms. The

Jamal al-Din al-Afghani: Symbol of Religious Revival, Reform & Unity

2010-05-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

Seyyed Jamal Assadabadi or Jamal al-Din al-Afghani[Asadabad, Iran, in 1838 - Istanbul, 1897] The Persian activist-intellectual Said Jamal Assadabadi, who is perhaps more widely known today as Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, was a key architect of the first wave of religious revivalism that swept across the Sunni world during the latter part of the 19thCentury. After migrating to Egypt in 1871, Afghani

Oldest University in the World: Fatima al-Fihri & Al-Karaouine Madressah, Morocco

2010-05-04T04:35:00.000-07:00

Daughter of Mohammed al-Fihri, Fatima al-Fihri, also called Umm al Banine, ‘Mother of the Boys’, is known for creating the oldest academic degree-granting university in existence today, the University of Qarawiyyin. Fatima and her family were among several families who moved from Tunisia to Morocco during the reign of the Moroccan King Idriss II. After her husband and her brothers died, she and

The Traditional Institutions or Centers of Learning: Madressah & Khanqah

2010-05-04T04:05:00.000-07:00

The Traditional Institutions of Learning in Islam The Maktab & The MadrassahThe ObservatoriesThe Hospitals & The Khanqah [Sufi Centers] The Prophet himself – although unlettered from the standpoint of human knowledge – was at the same time the channel of the revelation of the Book which is considered by all Muslims to be

What is Tasawwuf or Sufism?

2010-04-30T03:40:00.000-07:00

Abdul Hakim Murad 'Outward conformity to the rules of religion is simple enough; but it is only the first step.' As we noted earlier, our din is not, ultimately, a manual of rules which, when meticulously followed, becomes a passport to paradise. Instead, it is a package of social, intellectual and spiritual technology whose purpose is to cleanse the human heart. In the Qur'an, the Lord

What is the context of Muslim Extremism?

2010-04-30T02:26:00.000-07:00

Abdul Hakim Murad The extreme has broadened, and the middle ground, giving way, is everywhere dislocated and confused. And this enfeeblement of the middle ground is in turn accelerated by the opprobrium which the extremists bring not simply upon themselves, but upon committed Muslims everywhere. For here, as elsewhere, the preferences of the media work firmly against us. ..when a fringe Islamic

Illuminated Manuscripts

2010-04-29T10:32:00.000-07:00

Walters Art Museum An elegantly illuminated and illustrated copy of the Khamsah (quintet) of Niẓāmī Ganjavī (d.605 AH / 1209 CE) executed by Yār Muḥammad al-Haravī in 922 AH / 1516 CE. Written in four columns in black nastalīq script, this manuscripts opens with a double-page decorative composition signed by Abd al-Wahhāb ibn Abd al-Fattāḥ ibn Alī, of which this is one side. It contains 35

'Aqli' & 'Naqli' Sources of Knowledge in Islamic Theology

2010-04-28T04:16:00.000-07:00

Dr. William Chittick William Chittick: "The Recovery of Human Nature" from Metanexus Institute on Vimeo. William Chittick: "The Recovery of Human Nature" The mythic message of the Koran, when viewed through the lens of the political ideologies and instrumental rationalities that are the backbone of modern education, can easily be interpreted as a systematic program for reforming the human

Modernism & Postmodernism: Higher Levels of Reality Became Eliminated

2010-04-28T01:04:00.000-07:00

Omar KN Because of the process of isolation of reason and rationality from their transcendant and immutable principles, a tendency which became ever more dominant since the French revolution of 1789 in Western, European thought and imagination, it happened that the higher levels of reality were eliminated from intellectual research and attention. From now on man himself became the centrepoint of

Contemporary Philosophies: Modernism, Postmodernism, Reductionism, Objectivism, Deconstructionism

2010-04-28T00:34:00.000-07:00

Modernism & PostmodernismOmar KN In modernism it was believed that materiality or phenomena was everything there is and that it is superiour to anything else. This philosophy of science is called positivism - it is a rejection of metaphysics, as it holds that the goal of knowledge is simply to describe the phenomena that we experience, which we can observe and measure and nothing beyond that.

Ibn al-Arabi & The Universal Soul or The Reality of the Perfect Man

2010-04-25T09:45:00.000-07:00

Ayesha L. Saeed The articulated words of God result in the creation of all that is, including the Supreme Barzakh/ Universal Nature. Ibn al-‘Arabi discusses Universal Nature as a reality that is primarily receptive. He places Nature in a polarity with the Spirit, which is primarily active and masculine in essence. He makes it clear that this active dimension of the Spirit is inseparable from

The Basic Distinction Between Fiqh & Shariah: A Science & A Divine Path

2010-04-22T23:51:00.000-07:00

Dr. Tahira Basharat Fiqh and Sharia'h originate from Quran and Sunna. Both terms are often used interchangeably but there is a distinction between the two. The…meaning of Sharia'h…is, in explanatory sense, the path to be followed. In technical sense, it is the totality of God's commands, or as Muhammad Khan defines it, "Shariat means matters which would not have been known but for the

The Inner World (Alam-e-Batin) in Islam: Revelation (Wahy, Ilham), Miracles (Karamaat) & Layers of Meaning

2010-04-22T01:56:00.000-07:00

Hazrat Shaykh Wahid Bakhsh Rabbani r.a. It must be remembered that in the Quran and Hadith we are told that there are two kinds of world, Alam-i-Zahir and Alam-i-Batin, the outer world and the inner-world. God, angels, paradise, hell and souls belong to the inner world (Alam-i-Batin); and this physical universe belongs to outer world (Alam-i-Zahir). It is also mentioned frequently in the Quran

The Esoteric and Exoteric Schools of Thought in Islam at the time of the Prophet: In Spirit, Not Form

2010-04-21T01:23:00.000-07:00

Hazrat Shaykh Wahid Bakhsh Rabbani r.a. There has been a long drawn-out controversy between the esoteric (Sufi) and exoteric (Zahirites) schools of thought in Islam. Both of the schools blame each other for having deviated from the right path. While the externalists are trying to determine the period when Sufism entered into Islam, the Sufis are at pains to find out when exotericism found its

Imam Ja'fer as-Sadiq: Master in Exegesis, Jurisprudence, and a Mujtahid

2010-04-17T10:35:00.000-07:00

Naqshbandi The son of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir, son of al-Imam Zain al-'Abidin, son of al-Husayn, son of Ali bin Abi Talib (r), Ja'far was born on the eighth of Ramadan in the year 83 H. His mother was the daughter of al-Qassim (r), whose great grandfather was Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r). Ja'far narrated from his father, Muhammad al-Baqir, that a man came to his grandfather, Zain al-'Abidin, and said, "

'The Importance of Imam Ali for All Muslims'

2010-04-15T23:55:00.000-07:00

Dr. Reza Shah Kazemi By analyzing original sources, the author explores the wisdom of Imam ‘Ali which has been described as an intellectual treasure locked in the Arabic language. “One of the things I tried to do in this book”, said Dr Shah-Kazemi, “is to make some of the jewels of this treasury of spiritual wisdom accessible to those who cannot read Arabic. And to make that timeless spiritual

To Whom I am the Master, Ali is the Master

2010-04-15T01:15:00.000-07:00

Qawwali lyrics by Hazrat Amir Khusro recited by Nusrat Fateh Ali at the University of Washington in 2003. Qaul: Hadith of the Prophet (s.a.w.) Mun Kunto Maula Fa Ali un Maula in Raag Yemen Kalyani This rag is the primary rag in Kalyan. It is a primary that. It is one of the first rags to be taught. Indeed many traditions teach it even before Bilawal that. There is a tendency to ascribe it to

On Differences and Unity Among Different Sects of Islam

2010-04-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

Maulana Ishaq Maulana Muhammad Ishaq, a leading scholar of the Ahl-e-Hadith, Faisalabad

Suicide or Martyrdom Operations

2010-04-10T10:34:00.000-07:00

Omar K Neusser It has been held by some Muslims – and there was a difference of opinion in the Muslim ummah – that it would be allowed to using the above option in the case where 'no other ways for defense are left for the Muslims' [7], as in occupied Palestine; but as is shown not least in the fatwa by Shaykh Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti [14] these actions are not sanctioned by the LawShari`ah, and

Farid-ud-Din Masud Ganj-e-Shakar - Dost ba Dost Pewast

2010-04-05T21:44:00.000-07:00

Life & Poetry of Farid-ud-Din Masud Ganj-e-Shakar (R.A.) O Farid, rent your silken veil and put on a rough, woolen mantle; wear whatever clothes you must to meet the Beloved. O Sheikh, no one in this world can stay alive forever. The place upon which I now sit, many have sat before and gone on their way. Fariduddin Ganj-e-Shakar r.a. was born in 1179 C.E. in Khotwal, a village near Lahore [

Decorative Schemes: Taj Mahal

2010-04-03T05:47:00.000-07:00

MOTIFS OF TAJ MAHAL Agra, India A combination of the three types of motif - calligraphic, floral and geometric - creates a decorative scheme that forms part of an earthly representation of a heavenly paradise. Courtesy: http://www.taj-mahal.net/augEng/textMM/decorschemeengN.htm

A Growing Tendency to Reduce Islam to a Political Ideology

2010-04-02T21:27:00.000-07:00

Imam Zaid Shakir …The following is part of an effort by this writer to warn Muslims against allowing the reduction of our religion by similar political imperatives. We should never hope to see the day when, if possessing the requisite firepower, Muslims would visit upon the civilian population of Israel the sort of savage violence we see decimating the innocent civilians of Gaza and Lebanon. God

Islam & Modernity

2010-04-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

Talk by Sheikh Haitham al-Haddad & Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - SOAS, London - 1 February 2008 - 1 hr 43 mins 30 secsSome very interesting and thought-provoking reflections by both speakers on the nature of modernity and Islam's relationship to it. The recording includes questions from the audience at the end. The quality is unfortunately not brilliant but the speakers are generally audible. Sheikh

Islamic Government Is Not A Theocracy

2010-04-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

Bilal Cleland The system of government under Islam is based upon the Quran and the Sunna or Traditions of the Prophet Muhammad. There has always been a lot of discussion amongst Muslim scholars about the best way to implement these rules and principles. The sovereignty of God, the message conveyed by all the prophets, is the foundation of the system. Legislation contained in the Quran becomes the

The Essential Characteristics of a Legitimate Islamic Government

2010-04-02T00:10:00.000-07:00

Khalid Abou al Fadl The word khalifa (caliph), the title given to the Muslim leader, literally means successor or deputy. Early on Muslims debated whether it was appropriate to name the leader the Caliph of God (khalifat Allah), but most scholars preferred the designation Caliph of the Prophet of God (khalifat rasul Allah). But the Caliph—whether the Prophet’s successor or God’s deputy—did not

Islam and The Challenge of Democracy

2010-04-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

Khaled Abou El Fadl A Muslim jurist writing a few centuries ago on the subject of Islam and government would have commenced his treatise by distinguishing [three] types of political systems...The third and best system would have been the caliphate, based on Shari‘ah law—the body of Muslim religious law founded on the Qur’an and the conduct and statements of the Prophet. Shari‘ah law, according to

The Relation of Islam to Democracy

2010-04-01T04:11:00.000-07:00

Dr. Khalifa Abdul Hakim I do not expect that the view of religion (or Islam in particular) as presented in this book would be universally accepted. However, I may substantiate it by the authority of the Qur'an and the Sunnah [the Traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, p.b.u.h.]. My like-minded co-religionists would hold it to be true, but whoever cares to differ may interpret the same verses

Virtues of Sayyida Fatima (R.A.)

2010-03-20T04:29:00.000-07:00

Dr. Tahir ul Qadri Muhammad bin Ali narrates that the Messenger of Allah  said, “Indeed Fatimah is a part of me. Hence, whosoever angers her angers me.” Ali () narrates, “He was present in the company of the Messenger of Allah  when the Holy Prophet  asked, ‘What is best for a woman’ on this the companions remained quiet. When I ret urned home I asked Fatimah, ‘Tell me what is best for

Imam Ali (A.S.): Levels of True Religious Understanding in Islam

2010-03-19T01:14:00.000-07:00

James W. Morris The contents of [Imam] Ali’s lesson to[ his closest companion and disciple] Kumayl [ibn Ziyad al-Nakha’i] are all presented as a clarification of his opening statement that: There are three sorts of people (with regard to Religion, al-Din). A divinely inspired Knower (‘alim rabbani); the person who is seeking (that true spiritual) Knowing (muta‘allim) along

Two Almond Kernels in the Same Shell: The Shaykh & the Travelling Merchant

2010-03-18T05:18:00.000-07:00

Of one Essence is the human race, Thusly has Creation put the Base; One Limb impacted is sufficient, For all Others to feel the Mace. Poetry of Shaykh Saadi Shirazi at the entrance of Hall of Nations, New York From a family of scholars, Shaykh Saadi Shirazi (1184 – 1283) lost his father (Mushrraf bin Muslih) at an early age and was educated by his maternal grandfather (Mas’ud bin Muslih). At

A Sharp-Toothed Wolf May Become Audacious

2010-03-18T04:50:00.000-07:00

Shaykh Saadi Shirazi (1184-1283) I heard that a dervish, burning in the fire of poverty and sewing patch upon patch, said to comfort his mind: 'We are contented with dry bread and a patched robe For it is easier to bear the load of one's own trouble than that of thanks to others.' - Who sold abstinence, knowledge and piety Filled a granary but burnt it clean away. -