A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ One of the great Sufi a’immah who was also known as a muhaddits , preacher, and Maliki jurist, Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari ( q.s. ) is the author of al-Hikam , Miftah al-Falah , Qaswd al-Mujarrad fi Ma’rifat al-Ism al-Mufrad , Taj al-‘Arus al-Hawi li Tadzhib an-Nufus , ‘Unwan at-Tawfiq fi Adab ath-Thariq , the biographical Latha’if fi Manaqib Abu al-‘Abbas al-Mursi wa Shaykhihi Abu al-Hasan , and others.  He was Shaykh Shahab ad-Din Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmad ibn ‘Umar al-Mursi’s ( q.s. ) student and the second successor of the Sufi founder, Imam Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn ‘Abdullah ash-Shadzili ( q.s. ).   Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari ( q.s. ) was one of those who confronted Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah ( r.a. ) for his excesses in attacking those of the Sufis with whom he disagreed.  Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari ( q.s. ) never referred to Shaykh...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The view that the early Muslims, the Salaf, refrained from engaging theological questions and opposed it is bid’ah , an innovation, of unsound basis.   We can provide further examples to support this, including the narration of Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah ( r.a. ) from Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ( r.a. ), who, in his Radd ‘ala az-Zanadiqah wa al-Jahmiyyah , engaged in certain interpretations against what the Zanadiqah and Jahmiyyah .   They doubted regarding the ambiguous elements of the Qur’an, and he then addressed their meaning, as is further narrated by Imam Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Husayn al-Bayhaqi ( r.a. ).   This is similar to what we regard as the right position, that is, kalam as the attempt to posit solutions or repudiations to theological problems posed.   Of course, these attempts are delimited by authentically-narrated articles of creed indicating what Allah ( s.w.t. ) has ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is my answer to a Quora question: “ What are some elements in mainstream Islam which have an origin in Wahhabism? ”   There are none.   The elements of Islamic theology and jurisprudence were brought by the Prophet Muhammad ( s.a.w. ), 1,400 years ago, and refined in the intervening centuries into what we have today of the religious sciences.   Wahhabism is a heresy, a kufr that coalesced with the teachings of the arch-heretic, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab an-Najdi.   Even in that, he brought nothing new, but a rehashed version of the discredited theology of Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah ( r.a. ), something that Shaykh ibn Taymiyyah ( r.a. ) himself made a public renunciation of, and repented from.   ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab borrowed elements of the anthropomorphism of previous scholars, and made it manifest.   He borrowed the methodology of the worst of the Khwarij , and...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from a post by Dr. Jibril Fu’ad Haddad.   Shaykh al-Islam Imam Shams ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Utsman ibn Qaymaz ibn ‘Abdullah at-Turkmani ad-Diyarbakri al-Fariqi al-Dimashqi adz-Dzahabi ash-Shafi’i ( r.a. ), is the imam, , head of ahadits masters, perspicuous critic and expert examiner of the ahadits , encyclopaedic historian and biographer, and foremost authority in the canonical readings of the Qur'an.   Born in Damascus, where his family lived from the time of his grandfather ‘Utsman, he sometimes identified himself as ibn adz-Dzahabi - son of the goldsmith - in reference to his father’s profession.   He began his study of ahadits at age eighteen, travelling from Damascus to Ba’labak, Homs, Hama, Aleppo, Tripoli, Nabulus, Ramla, Cairo, Iskandariyyah, al-Qudus, Hijaz, and elsewhere to thirty different locations, after which he returned to Damascus where he taught and authored many ...