Massoud Vahedi

"أحب دراسة الفتوى؛ لأن في الفتوى ترى الفقهاء تتصارع بجدية في مسألة كيف تجتمع نظرية الممارسة؛ ذلك لأن المفتين يحاولون بوعي تطبيق ما يرونه ليكون حقائق كونية للدين، بطرق ملموسة في حالات محددة، أصبحت أول المهتمين في الفتوى عند قراءة هذه المختارات، اثنا عشر مجلدًا من الفتاوى، شكلت القاعدة الرئيسية، كتاب: " المعيار المعرب والجامع المغرب عن فتاوى أهل إفريقية والأندلس والمغرب" المؤلف: أبو العباس أحمد بن يحيى الونشريسي، متوفى عام 1508) من مدينة فاس. أدهشني كيف يجمع هذا، عند قراءة ذلك، اكتسبت ليس فقط معرفة بالشريعة الإسلامية، ولكن أيضًا اطلعت على نافذة رائعة لحياة المسلمين اليومية للذين كانوا يعيشون في الأندلس "إسبانيا" والمغرب في العصور الوسطى، القراء الغربيون قليلو التعرض للفتوى كما أن الفتاوى المتاحة في الترجمة الإنجليزية قليلة جدًّا، يهدف كتابي على حد سواء منحهم فرصة لقراءة الفتاوى الحقيقية باللغة الإنجليزية، وكذلك لإظهار مدى تنوع الفكر القانوني الإسلامي." - ألان فرسكين https://www.alukah.net/culture/0/76630/%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%B3%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%AD%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%89-%D9%88%D9%81%D9%82%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9/

"So I prayed Witr Salah 12 times today...."

It is reported that whenever a hadith scholar performed istinja', he would then make wudu' and perform the Witr prayer. When he was asked about this, he said: "The Prophet 'alayhi al-Salam said: 'Whoever does istijmar, let him do Witr.'" In fact, the hadith scholar misunderstood the hadith's meaning, as the word Witr mentioned in it does not mean the Witr salah. Instead, Witr means an odd number, meaning after relieving oneself a person should clean their private area an odd number of times, such as doing three wipes with paper, stones, etc.

Ibn Wahb al-Amriki said: "The Qur'anic verses of the Sifat (divine attributes) are a source of misguidance, except for the 'ulama' (scholars). And if Allah had not rescued us with Ludwig Wittgenstein and Jon Hoover, we would have been misguided.”

“A Muslim feels the utmost sorrow at the presence of people clothed in the attire of scholars, whose lust for fame leads them to pose as if correcting the jurists of the earliest generations, and to attempt to devise methods through which they distort words from their proper meanings. They make the Sacred Law — whose path is clear and whose rulings are explicit — bend and shift with the passage of time, merely to win the favor of those who harbor no good intentions toward Islam. You hear them say: ‘We have custom (ʿurf) and we have public welfare (maṣlaḥa); by means of these, how many rulings change, and how much falls under this category...’ By this they intend to make the law of God fluctuate with time and circumstances, just like their own pliable minds, which take on every form according to each new situation. Indeed, among the irreligious Western philosophers are those who seek a religion that changes with the times; but this desire of theirs is nothing more than a snare with which they hope to trap their imitators among the naïve, pseudo-philosophizing sons of the East.” - Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari, al-Maqālāt

TLDR: Yes, he does intend to do so, because he is the mujaddid of this era.

Why Fusha is Dying "The educated classes often speak, or are at least able to speak when needed, a more educated form of Arabic, what Egyptian linguist Said Badawi called “the intellectual’s colloquial” to represent that it was closer to MSA [Modern Standard Arabic] than the speech of less educated and illiterate people. In typical brain-drain movement, those who are able are moving abroad, to avoid the wars, find work, and secure futures for their children. Even those who are not leaving often favor foreign languages over MSA. They see foreign languages as more functional, prestigious, and likely to guarantee them a job. Youth across the region often work entirely in a foreign language and are not comfortable in MSA. Northwestern University’s Qatar campus recently reported that most of its students are not proficient enough in MSA to appear on Al Jazeera. Gulf Arab youth are reportedly using more English than Arabic at home. MSA is also suffering because of how Arabs perceive it. While MSA is often seen as being used in formal situations (and in fact is sometimes called Formal Arabic), the context is revealing. With the depletion of educated classes, MSA is more and more limited to political and religious contexts, which are often associated with oppressive and conservative systems. Literature is generally heavy material; there are few light reads such as “beach books,” or more entertaining forms of literature such as graphic novels, published in Arabic (MSA or colloquial). In contrast, the most popular TV shows and movies are done in the vernaculars. On social media, dialect dominates, though MSA is also used." https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/standard-arabic-is-on-the-decline-here-s-what-s-worrying-about-that/?fbclid=IwY2xjawSHwi1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeqkMDaozJI9V2CJB5AS_JtlG8ZRfqSrdiqnUu0JjPH3mWWEZNuZTctlUUDWk_aem_cNN8UbCNm5wwatusoXESbg

This is Canada. On the same day we find out that the country is in a recession and that the average Canadian spends almost all their income on food due to price insecurities, it is revealed that the Prime Minister spent 200,000 dollars of taxpayers' money on food for just three flights. You can't make this up.

When a Hanafi prays the 'Id Salah behind a Shafi'i or Hanbali Imam.

«سمُّوا لنا رجالَكم» 1) رفع الائمة هذا الشعار في وجه كل من أراد أن يختلق الأحاديث فكان حجابا حاجزا يمنع العبث في الأحاديث. 2) واليوم نحن بحاجة ماسة لهذا الشعار في باب «الأقوال الفقهية» ليكون حجابا حاجزا يمنع الأقوال الفقهية المولدة، أو المركبة التي لم يقل بها أحد من الائمة، أو التي تعتبر في حكم المهجورة حيث تَنَكَّبَها الفقهاء. 3) لا نريد البحوث المبنية على استنباط الاحكام الفقهية من الأحاديث بواسطة فهمٍ حادث يختص بمن كتب البحث، من خلال تفقهه في النصوص التي يعتقد هو أنا دلالتها على ما يقول واضحة. 4) ينبغي أن يقال لكل باحث: انسب هذه الأقوال التي ذكرتها لمن قال بها من العلماء. أو صرح أنك أول من قال بها. 5) وبطبيعة الحال لا يقصد بهذا: الأقوال المشهورة المعلومة التي لا تحتاج لنسبة لشهرتها بين أهل العلم. (قناة د. أحمد بن محمد الخليل العلمية) (t.me/alkhalil_1)

Isma'il ibn Sa'id al-Shalanji said: "I asked Ahmad [Ibn Hanbal]: 'Do you see any harm for a person to pray voluntary salawat after the 'Asr prayer while the Sun is still white and high in the sky?' He said: 'We do not do it, but we also do not reproach the person who does such.'" Ibn Rajab commented on this by saying: "This does not mean that [Imam] Ahmad opined the permissibility of doing this [i.e. performing voluntary salawat after 'Asr], but he was of the view that the one who did this through their own [legitimate and qualified] interpretation or taqlid of someone else's view is not to be criticized or censured, since that is from the issues which are amenable to ijtihad." - Fath al-Bari

Unpopular opinion: If a book is more than 250-300 pages, it is hard to benefit from a PDF of it. You need a hard copy.

A Mosque Etiquette Every Muslim Should Adopt Whenever a hair, strand of fabric, or any other debris falls off of you in a mosque, place it in your pocket and dispose of it outside the masjid. It is mentioned in the biography of the great scholar, Ibrahim Ibn ‘AbdilWahid al-Maqdisi, that he used to place his personal debris in his turban. Even after sharpening a pencil, he would retain the trimmings and not leave them in the mosque. قال في ذيل طبقات الحنابلة: قَالَ [يعني الضياء]: وَرَأَيْتُهُ رُبَّمَا يَكُوْنُ فِي مَسْجِدٍ، فَإِذَا أَخَذَ مِنْ لِحْيَتِهِ شَعْرَةً أَوْ أَنْفِهِ شَيْئًا جَعَلَ ذلِكَ فِي عِمَامَتِهِ، وَرُبَّمَا بَرَى قَلَمًا فَيَتَحَفَّظُ مِنَ القُلَامَةِ، وَلَا يَدَعَهَا فِي المَسْجِدِ. When his garment was dusty, he would have it dusted down outside the mosque. وَسَمِعْتُ مَنْ يَقُوْلُ: كَانَ يَكُوْنُ عَلَى ثَوْبِهِ غُبَارٌ، فَيَقُولُ لِي: اذْهَبْ فَانْفُضْهُ خَارِجَ المَسْجِدِ. This generally is a good etiquette to maintain in all settings, especially mosques: Never leave any personal debris behind wherever you lounge. This may sound like common sense, but you then come across broken nails in the masjid carpet and other personal traces left behind by some congregants… #آداب

Try to listen to this du'a' and say amin to it before sunset today: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1317555453675248

Imam al-Shatibi and his book al-I'tisam "...he [al-Shatibi] oftentimes is alone in condemning many actions which in reality fall within the sphere of legitimate and worthy differences of opinion that do not deserve censure, and he is alone in describing them with the label of bid'ah. In some cases, Ibn al-Hajj – the author of al-Madkhal – may have expressed the same sentiments as him [with regard to these issues i.e. in condemning them as innovations]. In later periods, it has been the case that some contemporary scholars adopt their statements and circulate them [to the public] as if they are views supported by unanimous consensus, but in reality this is not the case." - Sh. Walid al-Manisi

When you don't know English and have to rely on the Arabic subtitles for the show you're watching.

The article "Pilgrimage as Product: Navigating Digital Platforms, Queues, and the Spiritual Landscape of the Modern Hajj Industry" by Widad Mezahi is an important piece worth reading: "While modern infrastructure can improve accessibility and safety, its uncritical adoption risks hollowing out the spiritual core of Hajj. The example of the transformation of the Jamarāt demonstrates that change is not inherently problematic; through ethical reasoning, digital infrastructures around Hajj must also be subjected to moral scrutiny, not accepted as neutral or inevitable. Throughout history, scholars have permitted structural adaptations when they preserved life and upheld the objectives of the ritual. Yet such changes were not embraced simply because they were technologically possible... The new infrastructures and subsequent behaviors of the modern Hajj industry demand a similar evaluation. Platforms, queues, e-wallets, and tiered accommodations are not neutral tools and features; they shape expectations, emotions, and moral psychology. They influence how pilgrims perceive the journey, how they relate to one another, and how they interpret moments of hardship, delay, or exclusion. When access to the House of God begins to resemble a race for limited slots or a marketplace of premium experiences, the risk is not merely logistical inconvenience but a subtle shift in the meaning of the pilgrimage itself." https://hashiya.org/posts/pilgrimage-product?utm_campaign=hashiya&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--Uf6whjMlV-rDOKSshHU04AtQ-N7eJJ_-ifwLfa5CUIbZsidxxVH6YC2Vv_UatUMfUq8e3DeUmwz8C80EdTfOT-YgBMg&_hsmi=419942341&utm_content=pilgrimage-as-a-product-email-view-cta&utm_source=hs-general

قال أبو طالب المكي رحمه الله في «قوت القلوب» : وقال بعض السلف: "[كم] من رجل بخراسان هو أقرب إلى هذا البيت ممن يطوف به." ومنه أخذها الغزالي في «الإحياء» فيما أحسب.

Imam al-Baghawi said: “It has been said that the one firmly grounded in knowledge (rasikh) is he who possesses within his knowledge four qualities: 1) piety (taqwā) between himself and God, 2) humility between himself and creation, 3) detachment (zuhd) between himself and the worldly life, 4) and striving against the self between himself and his own soul.” - Tafsir al-Baghawi