A Muslim Convert Once Before

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   In terms of Wahhabi theology, it was Muhammad Naswir ad-Din al-Albani who invented a location for Allah ( s.w.t. ), a place above the Throne which he named “ al-makan al-‘adami ”, “the non-existent place.”   Regarding the Divine Attributes, he said, “Many of those who interpret figuratively are not heretics, but they say what heretics say,” implying Sunni Muslims are upon kufr .   He also said, “ at-ta’wil ‘ayn at-ta’til ,” “Figurative interpretation is the very same as nullification.”   This is found in his Fatawa and Mukhtaswar al-‘Uluw .   It was in light of this that he suggested that Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari ( r.a. ) was a disbeliever for interpreting the Divine Face as “ Mulk ”, “Dominion” or “Sovereignty” in the verse:   سُوۡرَةُ القَصَص … ‌ كُلُّ شَىۡءٍ هَالِكٌ إِلَّا وَجۡهَهُ ۥ‌ۚ … (٨٨)   ... Everything (that exists) will perish except His Own Face. ... (Surah a...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari ( r.a. ) recorded that Sayyidina ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar ( r.a. ) said the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) once prayed for Sham and Yemen.   It is narrated that there were some people of Najd also present in the gathering, and they requested the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) make du’a for Najd as well.   The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) continued, saying, “O Allah!   Shower Blessings on Sham and Yemen,”   The people of Najd again requested the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) to offer prayers for Najd.   After the third time, the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) said, “It is a place of upheaval and fitan , and the Horn of Shaythan will rise from there.”   The Najd is a place deprived of Blessings.   From it arose the Khwarij , and the false prophet Musaylimah ibn Habib al-Kadzdzab.   And from it arose the Horn of Shaythan, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab an-Najdi, the one cursed by the Prophet ( s.a.w. ). ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   It is not universal in Sunni Islam that we all accept every hadits from Swahih al-Bukhari .   For example, Imam Abu Manswur Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Maturidi ( r.a. ) rejected any ahadits that the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) was affected by black magic since it is inconceivable that he could be touched by Satan and the jinn .   Various Maliki and Hanafi scholars have also rejected, amongst others, the ahadits on drinking camel urine, of Sayyidatin ‘Aishah bint Abu Bakr ( r.a. ) being six years old when she was married, the saliva of dogs being najis al-mughalazhah , the missing verses on rajm , and so forth.   And all of these are found in Swahih al-Bukhari , and some of them are even muttafaq ‘alayh .   It is not an article of faith we must accept something simply because it is from the Shaykhayn .   Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari ( r.a. ) was a great Shafi’i scholar who had differences of opinion...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari ( r.a. ) related, in the Hadits of Intercession, that people, amidst the horrors in the Day of Resurrection, will ask help of Adam ( a.s. ), then of Noah ( a.s. ), then of Abraham ( a.s. ), then of Moses ( a.s. ), then of Jesus ( a.s. ); and all of them will excuse themselves; and Jesus ( a.s. ) will say, “Go to Muhammad.”  Then, they will go to Muhammad ( s.a.w. ) and he will say, “I will do it.”   If seeking aid of a creature was forbidden, then the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) would have not mentioned to the companions.  The ones who object to this give the answer that this is the Day of Resurrection when the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) has power.  One responds with the refutation that in their worldly life; they have no power except as a secondary cause, likewise after death, the living in their graves and beyond, are allowed to be secondary causes only.

‎ بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Shams ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad adz-Dzahabi ( r.a. ) wrote, in his Siyar al-A’alam an-Nubala’ , that once, there was a drought in Samarqand.  People tried their best; some performed swalah al-istisqa’ but still it did not rain.  A renowned saint, known as Swalih, went to the qadhi , and suggested they go to the maqam of Imam al-Bukhari, in Khartank, and ask for his intercession.  The qadhi agreed, and much of the town, including its important personages, went to the maqam .  He qadhi lead the du’a , and people started to cry near the grave, and started to make him a wasilah .  Allah ( s.w.t. ) immediately Granted their du’a , and the rains came.  The people stayed in Khartank for about seven days; none of them wanted to return to Samarqand although the distance between Samarqand and Khartank was only 3 miles.

‎ بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari ( r.a. ), in Adab al-Mufrad , wrote that Imam Abu Nu’aym Ahmad ibn ‘Abdullah al-Aswbahani ( r.a. ) related to us that Shaykh Sufyan ( r.a. ) related from Shaykh Abu Ishaq Ka’b ibn Mati’ al-Himyari al-Ahbar ( r.a. ) from Shaykh Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Sa’d ( r.a. ), who said Sayyidina ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar ( r.a. ) had numbness in his leg, whereupon a man said to him, “Remember the most beloved of people to you.”   So, he said “ Ya Muhammad ,” and it was cured.  Mulla Nur ad-Din Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Sulthan Muhammad al-Hirawi al-Qari ( r.a. ) wrote, in Sharh ash-Shifa’ that Sayyidina ibn ‘Umar ( r.a. ) expressed his love in the form of istighatsa’ , seeking help.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ It is not universal in Sunni Islam that we all accept every hadits from Swahih al-Bukhari .  For example, Imam Abu Manswur Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Maturidi ( r.a. ) rejected any ahadits which claims that the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) was affected by black magic since it is inconceivable that he could be touched by Satan and the jinn .  Various Maliki and Hanafi scholars have also rejected, amongst others, the ahadits on drinking camel urine, of Sayyidatina ‘Aishah bint Abu Bakr ( r.a. ) being six years old when she was married, the saliva of dogs being najis al-mughalazhah , the missing verses on rajm and so forth.  All of these are found in Swahih al-Bukhari ; some of them are even muttafaq ‘alayh .   It is not an article of faith we must accept something simply because it is from the Shaykhayn .  Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari ( r.a. ) was a great scholar who had differences of opinions with the teachi...

Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari narrated in his swahih that some hujjaj from Karbala approached Sayyidina ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar and asked him for the ruling on killing a mosquito while in ihram .  His response carried the force of a slap: “Look at this man!  He asks me about killing a mosquito, and they have killed the son of Rasulullah!  Indeed, I had personally heard him say, ‘Hasan and Husayn are my sons, and fragrant flowers in this world.’” Sayyidina ibn ‘Umar does not dispute that the ruling on mosquitoes has merit.  He did not accuse the questioner of asking a wrong question in the abstract.  He accused him of asking it at the wrong moment, with the wrong sense of proportion, from men who had just come from the very location where the Prophet’s own grandson had been slaughtered.  This is not a rejection of fiqh .  It is a rejection of fiqh divorced from moral weight, deployed as a distraction from the atrocity sitting directl...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Shams ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad adz-Dzahabi ( r.a. ) wrote, in Siyar A’alam an-Nubala’ , “Imam Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari was distinguished by three qualities in addition to the rest of his praiseworthy traits: He never spoke much; he never yearned for what people had; and he would never occupy himself with other people’s affairs; all his attention was towards knowledge.”