A Muslim Convert Once More

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Somewhere around 300 years ago, the majority of the ‘ulama decided that the doors of ijtihad , rational deduction and reasoning, were closed since there was “nothing new”.   This was also the period where ahadits compilations such as Swahih al-Bukhari and Swahih Muslim were sacralised, and questioning them became an issue faith.   This was the period of the height of Muslim civilisation.   Like civilisations before them, they got complacent.   When the ummah collectively stopped thinking, innovating, inventing, questioning, and progressing; in all fields, it fell behind.   Muslims values began to be associated with unthinking, unquestioning obedience, when once before, the emphasis was on understanding.   We lost our scholars, and then our scientists, our mathematicians, our policy makers and rulers, and then the ummah .   Consider the average conversation we have with Muslims.   Innovation h...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   What the ummah needs is less huffazh of the Qur’an and rote memorisation of texts and narrations, and more thinkers.   We need less Qur’an teachers and more social workers.   We need less da’wah workers and more scientists.   We have far too many religious schools, and not enough vocational ones.   If we have a multitude of people graduating from these madaris , and their only skill is Qur’an recitation, ahadits narration and a shallow understanding of the other religious sciences, how do they benefit us and each other?   What is the use of an ustadz who can quote a thousand ahadits , but does not know science, humanities and other skills?   How is he going to advise the community on their problems?   If the village mullah never had a real job besides leading the prayers, what is his experience in leadership and community growth?   If we understand that there is only a limited number of positio...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Shaykh Bayazid Thayfur ibn ‘Isa al-Bisthami ( q.s. ) asked, “My Rabb, how do I know you?”   And he was Told, “Leave yourself and come.”   In the same vein, we are also told, that Sayyidina ‘Ali ibn Abu Thalib ( k.w. ) said, “He who knows himself, knows his Rabb.”   It is also written, in the Tao Te Ching, “No one can see their reflection in running water; it is only in still water that we can see.”   These two positions are not contradictory, but two parts of a process.   In the first part, it is to recognise the self, and the nafs , the Divine spark that Allah ( s.w.t. ) Blew into Adam ( a.s. ), and by extension, all humanity; the part of us that is Called Home and wants to Return.   And that is why a child cries when it is born.   It recognises where it is from before he forgets, and that is why Man is an-naas , “he who forgets.”   However, deep down, we all know, and we all yearn.   So...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   It is acceptable to feel down and lost, once in a while.   Consider Moses ( a.s. ), when he had to flee Egypt.   He was bereft, where once, he was a man of power and authority.   Allah ( s.w.t. ) Stripped him of everything: power, material wealth, comfort and family.   He crossed that desert alone and ended up in Madyan.   We remember his du’a :   سُوۡرَةُ القَصَص … رَبِّ إِنِّى لِمَآ أَنزَلۡتَ إِلَىَّ مِنۡ خَيۡرٍ۬ فَقِيرٌ۬ (٢٤)   ... “O my Lord!   Truly am I in (desperate) need of any good that You do Send me!” (Surah al-Qaswasw:24)   And then, he went down and helped some women water their camels.   He went and he served for the sake of Allah ( s.w.t. ), a single deed without thought of gain, true sincerity.   That is the swadaqah of one who has nothing left but his deeds.   It is the best swadaqah .   Whatever was Taken Away was Replaced with something better bec...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Whether a hadits is swahih , hasan or dha’if is mainly the concern of the mujtahidun , or any council of scholars concerned with the legal provisions of Muslim society.   The average Muslim is not qualified to debate the relative technical merits of a hadits .   This also refers to the tafsir and the direct application of a hadits without understanding the context of it.   This bad habit is a fitnah against Rasulullah ( s.a.w. ).   A hadits generally comprises an isnad , a matn and a rawi .   The term we use here is “ khabr ”, which literally means “news”, because every hadits is generally a form of relayed news with a chain of transmitters.   The isnad is the people in the chain of narrators concerned with passing on the khabr .   The actual content of the khabr is purely what was mentioned by the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), and this is called the “ matn ”.   The rawi is the person who collecte...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The Qur’an was Revealed in clear Arabic speech:   سُوۡرَةُ یُوسُف إِنَّآ أَنزَلۡنَـٰهُ قُرۡءَٲنًا عَرَبِيًّ۬ا لَّعَلَّكُمۡ تَعۡقِلُونَ (٢)   We have Sent It down as an Arabic Qur’an in order that you may learn wisdom. (Surah Yusuf:2)   The principles and rules that the exegete needs for comprehending the Qur’an focus on understanding Arabic rules of grammar and their foundations, as well as the style and subtleties of the language.   The scholars have stipulated that the exegete who intends to interpret the Qur’an with his independent judgement needs to know a variety of sciences by means of which he will be able to properly interpret the Qur’an.   These sciences will prevent him from falling into error and protect him from asserting things about Allah ( s.w.t. ) without knowledge.   The foundation is lexicology or semantics.   By means of this science, one can explain the established meanings o...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The Hanafi madzhab should return to its original position of ahadits scepticism.   It was always the madzhab that valued ijtihad , ra’yy and istihsan as tools of ifta’ , as opposed the Schools of Ahadits , the Shafi’i and Hanbali, with their blind adherence to text and proscription of actual thinking.   We should dispense with the dumbed down version of Islam.   Imam Abu Manswur Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Maturidi ( r.a. ) himself said that any narration that contradicts the Qur’an, that contradicts our established creed, that contradicts established facts, or contradicts reason, should be discarded without need to examine the chains.   This was an explicit criticism of Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari ( r.a. ) and his position on ahadits .   And he was right.   One of the problems in Islam is that Sunni Muslims, particularly the pseudo- Hunafah of the Indian subcontinent and the Shafi...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The problem with being a Muslim in Singapore is that according to the Administration of Muslim Law Act (AMLA), my wealth must be distributed according to the fara’idh .   I am a convert.   The implication for me is that only my wife inherits some portion of my estate, not my non-Muslim family, and the rest goes to the Bayt al-Mal .   This means, also, that for converts to Islam who have children or other possible heirs who are not Muslims, they do not inherit automatically.   The option is giving hibah , a gift when the person is still alive.   Gifts designated post-mortem still come under estate and are subject to fara’idh .   There is an option to give out up to a third of the estate only, as per our familial requirements.   Joint tenancy property reverts to the surviving owners.   CPF is nominated, and insurance policies are paid out according to the nomination forms, or to the policy owners. ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The scale of Muhammad Naswir ad-Din al-Albani’s heresy was such that many Sunni scholars wrote entire books refuting his kufr , castigating him, and warning the ummah against him.   The Indian ahadits scholar, Habib ‘Abd ar-Rahman al-A’azhami ( r.a. ) wrote al-Albani Shudzudzuh wa Akhta’uh , “al-Albani’s Aberrations & Errors,” in four volumes.   al-Albani’s deviance in the field of ahadits alone could fill four volumes.   The Syrian scholar, Imam Muhammad Sa’id Ramadhan al-Buwthi ( r.a. ) wrote the two classics, al-Lamadzhabiyyah Akhtaru Bid’atin Tuhaddidu ash-Shari’ah al-Islamiyyah , “Not Following a School of Jurisprudence is the Most Dangerous Innovation Threatening Islamic Sacred Law”, and as-Salafiyyah Marhalatun Zamaniyyatun Mubarakah laa Madzhabun Islami , “The Way of the Early Muslims was a Blessed Historical Epoch, Not an Islamic School of Thought.”   The Moroccan ahadits scholar, Shaykh ‘Abdullah ...