Massoud Vahedi

الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله، وبعد .. فهذه مادة مسجلة بعنوان (التعريف بالفنون الفقهية)، وقد انتقيت فيها مسألة فقهية واحدة، ثم طوّفت بها بين طائفة من العلوم ذات الصلة بالبحث الفقهي، معرِّفًا بهذه العلوم تعريفًا إجماليًا، مبيِّنًا لمقاصدها، مُنَبّهًا على بعض المصنّفات فيها، موضِّحًا أثر كل علمٍ منها في بحث المسألة المُمَثَّل بها، والغاية من ذلك تعريف المبتدئين بخريطة الفنون الفقهية، وصلتها ببعضها البعض، ليكون ذلك عونًا على حُسن السير فيها إن شاء الله تعالى! https://youtu.be/GTqCTCsPC5Q

I will be joining IOK Seminary's GITS 504 class tonight insha' Allah to discuss my article “A Ḥanbalī Scholar’s Reply to a Pseudo-Mujtahid: al-Saffārīnī’s Epistle on Taqlīd." I hope it goes well insha' Allah, and that I have to chance to see some of you there tonight! To enrol in the class: https://iokseminary.neolms.com/visitor_catalog_class/show/5340442/GITS-504---Inside-Islamic-Law

"How impressive of a scholar was Ibn Rajab, may Allah have mercy upon him! It was as if he was able to gaze at the unseen through a penetrable barrier when he penned his book "Refutation of Those Who Do Not Follow the Four School Schools". That which he feared would happen with the passage of time, has now evidently occurred; the present state of affairs attests to this, with the problems [that he feared would occur] including the following: - Disorder in the [current state of the] sacred sciences; - Inconsistent and contradictory reasoning [among so-called scholars]; - The pursuit of invalid (shadhdh) legal views; - Trying to legitimize invalid (shadhdh) legal views by referring to general texts ('umumat) whose apparent meaning was actually left out and explained away by the scholars [as referring to something else]; - Having the audacity to engage in matters pertaining to sacred knowledge; - People playing and assuming the role of the absolute mujtahid (mujtahid mutlaq) when they fail to even come close to reaching its conditions, let alone fulfilling them; - And following the clear slips and errors of the past scholars. And perhaps what is most impressive is that Ibn Rajab alluded to the fact that one of the causes of such (legal) defects is being influenced by the methodology of the Ahl al-Zahir (the Zahiris). Such a problem is in fact observed largely today, especially among those who stick to the teachings of general evidences in areas where they are actually not applicable. This bears witness to the intellectual prowess of Ibn Rajab, his precision in his articulation, and his keen ability to discern the matters that would appear with the passage of time." - Shaykh Ahmad al-Khalil

An individual I know who is zakat-eligible just applied to receive zakat from several masājid somewhere along the Atlantic seaboard. She is currently living out of her car and escaped an abusive relationship. She's trying to make ends meet and I informed her that she would be zakat-eligible and to apply to some of the local masajid where she lives. During the application process she was told that she would not get the money but that the money would be paid directly to whatever institution she wants. I'm unsure of the rules of zakat in other madhhabs, but one of the striking features of zakat according to us Mālikīs is the fact that the money becomes the right of the people to whom it is due. Zakat collectors and distributors are merely agents to facilitate handing over that wealth; they are not in a position of authority so as to do with that wealth whatever they wish and thereby force stipulations on the poor, making it even harder for them to receive what is theirs by right. There is a point in the cycle of poverty where there are no set institutions to pay—you are living hand-to-mouth, a state of destitution wherein a person does not have their provisions for the day let alone a week. At such a stage cash becomes subsistence, not promises of payment to some entity; a poor person should not have to contract on debt in order to recuperate the money owed to them in zakat. Meanwhile just a few weeks ago I had a conversation with someone who I respect and manages a Muslim institution that collects zakat. This individual argued with me in an attempt to establish by Qur'anic verses that supporting the construction of a building is just as valid of a use of zakat funds as is giving it directly to the poor. Even more recently, some of my friends and colleagues shared a Facebook post wherein a screencapture of a Zoom call with Muslim leaders discussing whether zakat funds can be given to politicians (and presumably non-Muslim politicians at that) in order to secure our safety in the United States. It's hard in the wake of all of this to not see a common thread: the victory of a kind of Muslim bourgeouis mentality that sees the poor as an afterthought, even in the case of a financial instrument designed to remediate the hardships they face. The great irony in all of this is that these same individuals are among those most likely to cite the higher objectives (maqāṣid) of the law and never be restrained by the particular rules that prevent us from being misguided by reading our own biases and desires into the ethico-legal system. If we have all the most beautiful buildings, all the politicians love us, and yet there are Muslims who are severely impoverished, how likely are we to find the Prophet ﷺ proud of us when we meet him in the next life. Would we have any standing before Allah? My natural inclination is to be flabbergasted at this all, but in reality I am deeply saddened at how blinded our leadership has become. If you have money and owe zakat, give it directly to individuals in need or institutions you know which, despite doing their due diligence to identify eligibility, will not thereafter impose greater hardship on those in need through acts of unjustified paternalism. May Allah forgive us all.

"I did not truly comprehend what the logicians meant by saying 'every human being is an animal' until after my journey to the West and my travels through some of its countries." - Sh. Abu al-Hasan al-Nadwi (with a pinch of humour)

"What has been explicitly confirmed from Imam Ahmad is that he would not actually write down the salutations upon the Prophet peace be upon when composing. The scholars of the madhhab held this to mean that he would say the Salah verbally upon him [when writing his name]." - Sh. Ahmad al-Khalil

"There is a [negative] effect of politics that may be hidden from many people: Political actors may favour one madhhab over another, and support a particular legal doctrine, thus bringing benefit in terms of consistently organizing people’s affairs and ensuring the soundness of many of their dealings. But this phenomenon also has a subtle yet profound effect: it weakens the will and drive within the faqih (jurist) [living in that society]. As a result, fiqh becomes nothing more than formalities, not going beyond outward matters. Yet knowledge has a higher calling and a deeper purpose, and so too does fiqh; it is through these aims that their true value and worth are realized." - Dr. 'Asr Muhammad al-Nasr In a society of imposed and pre-determined fiqh, the legal creative exercise and vibrancy expected from its juristic class is stunted and everything is left frozen. People might be deprived of reasonable accommodations that they are in need of, and the jurists of their locality will not be able to guide them to alternative rulings. In fact, the faqih need not exert himself anymore to solve such problems because everything already has a prior answer.

#نوازل الصيام منظار المعدة و الشرج مفسد للصوم وهو قياس المذهب الحنبلي

📚 Fiqh Course: Akhṣar al-Mukhtaṣarāt 🕋 A Classical Hanbali Primer With Kitāb al-Ṣiyām (Book of Fasting) Join us for a structured study of Kitāb al-Ṣiyām from the foundational Hanbali text Akhṣar al-Mukhtaṣarāt, taught by Ustadh Fahad al-Ḥanbalī. This course provides a clear and methodical introduction to Hanbali jurisprudence, ideal for students of sacred knowledge and those seeking a firm grounding in fiqh. Alongside Akhṣar al-Mukhtaṣarāt, selected references will be made to al-Muntahā, al-Iqnā‘, al-Ghāyah, and their major commentaries, allowing students to appreciate the depth, structure, and legal reasoning of the madhhab. ⸻ 🗓 Start Date: 7th of February ⏰ Time: Saturdays, 10:30 PM – 11:30 PM (Saudi time) 📘 Primary Text: Akhṣar al-Mukhtaṣarāt 💻 Platform: Zoom 💵 Fee: $50 USD per month 📜 Ijāzah: Awarded upon successful completion Registration Link: https://www.thehanbaliinstitute.com/live-courses/15

My academic article, "A Ḥanbalī Scholar’s Reply to a Pseudo-Mujtahid: Al-Saffārīnī’s Epistle On Taqlīd," will be published by De Gruyter in the Canon and Censorship in Islamic Intellectual History anthology, which is set to be released in March 2026. My article examines the legal thought of eighteenth-century Ḥanbalī scholar Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Saffārīnī, focusing on his robust defense of taqlīd and the authority of the four Sunni legal schools. More specifically, it examines his incisive response to a critic who called for abandoning traditional legal manuals in favor of directly engaging with and deriving rulings from the Qurʾān and the Sunna. Al-Saffārīnī not only defends the structure and transmission of madhhab-based jurisprudence but also argues in favor of the inherent methodological soundness and scriptural fidelity of the legal schools. In doing so, he aligns with earlier figures – like his co-madhhabist Ibn Rajab – who had asserted that the four madhhabs serve as divinely preserved pathways of the Prophet’s law. This chapter highlights al-Saffārīnī’s critique of literalism, his stipulation of rigorous criteria for ijtihād, and his broader aim of maintaining legal coherence and epistemic stability in order to forestall epistemic anarchy. By situating this exchange within the context of post-classical Sunni legal theory, this chapter furthers understanding of how legal orthodoxy was both preserved and enforced in the face of reformist or anti-madhhab tendencies in early modern Islam, particularly through the use of short epistles.

A fact worthy of noting: Al-Hafidh Ibn Hajar penned his celebrated Hadith manual Nukhbat al-Fikar while he was journeying to Makkah, a point that was versified by al-San'ani. Imagine being able to pen a work that comprehensively sums up the technical terms of a science during the stressful time of travel!

The Heart of Hadith Studies: Not-So-Hidden Defects ('Ilal) It's almost Ramadan, but a Hadith-related post I thought would be good to share: Ilal is the heart and soul of Ilm Al-Hadith. Ilal is commonly referred to as "the study of hidden defects", which is quite a vague and elusive way of describing a science that is quite comprehensible and delineable. Ilal is, essentially, the study of mistakes in narration. You may have a Hadith reported by reliable narrators that all have all met each other; ilal is the science that shows you whether they messed up or not, judged by circumstantial considerations like contradicting narrations, text-based considerations, etc. People usually think of this science as something that deals with the mistakes/awham of reliable narrators, but if we made its scope a bit broader, it is just the study of mistakes in transmission and how they happen. Why the "heart of Hadith studies"? Well, like I explained in the previous (pinned) posts, you can only tell how reliable anyone is (in both retention and trustworthiness) by taking a set of conclusive data that is proven true and using it as the benchmark to measure any new data that comes your way. If a new narrator, for example, consistently conforms in their narrations to the general precepts of Islam, the language conventions of the time of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), and other narrators that they haven't met and couldn't have colluded with, then you can be confident that they are a reliable witness. This confidence increases as more data is corroborated. The muhaddithun didn't just meet narrators and see how they carried themselves; for most of them, they sifted through their narrations and surveyed how often they got things right, and then gave them an aggregate grading (think of it as a GPA). That still means that each narration needs to be independently checked, regardless of how accurate the average grade is (everyone can mess up an essay here and there). Ilal is the beginning of Hadith studies; it is how we know whether someone is reliable or not. It is also the end, because even after one is deemed reliable, it shows us where they may have faltered. In this way, it is the Hadith equivalent to istihsan and maslahah in Fiqh (maybe this will need another post one day 😁)

Note: Registration for Boston Islamic Seminary's Spring courses is open until Thursday, 11:59 pm EST.

It's written as Mashayikh, not Masha'ikh. It's Musalla, not Musallah. Fatwa, not Fatwah. 'Ulama, not 'Ulamah. It's Jazakallahu Khayran, not Jazakallahu Khayr. It's Shaykhana, not Shakhuna. It's Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, not Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah. It's Nukhbat al-Fikar, not Nukhbat al-Fikr. It's "Go Learn Arabic", not "I Know Arabic".

In medieval times, a false imposter claimed that he was a Prophet. He was asked how he could claim such a thing, when the Prophet peace be upon him clearly said: "There is no Prophet after me." (لا نبي بعدي - La Nabiyy Ba'di) He said: "My name is La!" He was misreading the hadith as saying: "A person by the name of La will be a Prophet after me"! - summarized from Shaykh Sami al-Suqayr The idiot probably did not know that the hadith was making a negation, as the La in question is (لا النافية)! P.S. This guy's name was not La.