Massoud Vahedi

Muslim-majority countries control four of the most strategic straits in the world: (1) the Strait of Hormuz (Iran), (2) the Suez Canal (Egypt), (3) the Bosphorus Strait (Turkey), and (4) the Strait of Malacca (Malaysia and Indonesia).

After looking at the works of intellectual giants writing on the higher purposes of Islam, one realizes that the five main objectives of the Sharī'ah (religion, life, intellect, lineage, and wealth), which are known as the Maqasid, are not isolated categories. In fact, they are deeply interconnected and mutually reinforcing. The preservation of religion forms the basis for attaining success in this world and the Hereafter, and it is the true foundation of felicity. Without the true religion, one actually has not reached their true intellectual potential, and any wealth and progeny that they have does not elevate their status. In fact, a person without correct religious beliefs will use their intellect and wealth for invalid ends. The preservation of life is fundamental, since without life the realization of all other objectives becomes irretrievable. Without life, you cannot practice religion, think, or make a living. Similarly, the preservation of intellect is essential, as intellectual corruption – whether caused by intoxicants, harmful ideologies, or inadequate education – impairs an individual’s capacity to practice religion correctly and to manage wealth responsibly. The preservation of lineage is equally vital, for its corruption through zinā or the breakdown of family structures leads to social instability, thereby undermining wealth, intellect, and even the security of life itself. Finally, the preservation of wealth is necessary for maintaining both individual welfare and social order, as financial stability enables individuals to sustain life, establish families, support dependents, and fulfill religious obligations without the distractions associated with poverty and deprivation.

Pay attention to why a particular person may be painting the narratives they are. In this case it’s to set the audience up to think that those who hold to tradition or are cautious of something are always going to be wrong and those who are welcoming what is new with full force are the hero’s who will always stop the ummah from falling behind.

Most renewers (mujaddidin) in the Islamic tradition were recognized only after their death. However, in a self-nomination move, some figures, such as al-Suyuti, claimed during their lifetime to be the mujaddid of their century. Al-Suyuti even wrote a poem about this, saying the following.

It’s kind of sad that you can pretty much guess the person who’s being referenced in the post above. There’s a pattern with the individual referenced that tends towards disdain of Islam and Muslims as well as a penchant for sparking controversy. If you took social media algorithms and deployed it to discover what’s likely to get most engagement with a Muslim audience, you’d probably end up with the same spattering of talking points and tactics for course recruitment. The best that can be said, if one is being generous, is that some people’s knowledge (or information) is larger than their intellect. I wouldn’t go so far as to praise the level of knowledge nor denigrate the intellect, but the community should be wary of those who display arrogance (even if couched in “caring” language) while expressing contempt for Muslims and our illustrious scholars. Any serious student of our intellectual tradition who reads broadly and engages in constant research would scoff at many of the absurd remarks this individual has made. We may be more advanced in our empirical knowledge of the world today than our predecessors, but most of the tradition deals with matters outside the realm of empiricism. To equate advancements in empiricism with advancements in our knowledge of Islam is wholly ignorant and demonstrates a lack of serious focus and comprehension in one’s study. Don’t take my word for it: take the name of the individual and ask a hundred scholars and students (unaffiliated with him) who know him what they think of his public statements and work, then watch as they try to politely avoid the question or express their honest critique. This has nothing to do with his piety. He may be more pious than any of us reading. But personal piety does not equate to being a source of guidance for the community; the distinction is crucial to remember. Allah guide us and him.

If you speak incorrectly about the history for why the printing press was "banned" in the Muslim world the first time (c. 2013), chances are your analysis will be wrong the second time as well (2026). Bringing up oversimplistic and Orientalist-inspired narratives like "The Muslims banned the printing press because the scholars feared it" do a disservice to the field of Islamic legal history. It also creates a false binary that past scholars were naive and fearful of anything new, while it is the modern speakers who only have the bravery to welcome novelties and integrate them within the tradition.

Every Muslim teenager who read Bilal Philips' book "The Evolution of Fiqh" was guaranteed to have their impressions of fiqh and the madhhabs totally skewed for 5-10 years. Think of it as the "Lost Decade in Fiqh".

When you ask Imam al-Suyuti to write your CV for you...

"The markedly rationalist tendency permeating Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s thought is neither primarily inspired by the Muʿtazila, nor can it be sufficiently explained by the influence of Islamic philosophers. Its conspicuous features—his trust in scientific reason, his insistence on the universal validity of the laws of nature, and his inclination towards discarding all interpretations not fitting into their framework—can, together with the emphasis he placed on education, be explained by the impact of the European Enlightenment and its nineteenth-century positivist offshoots that had reached India through British presence. Among the sources that possibly inspired him was the British utilitarian philosopher John Stuart Mill (1806–73), who had worked for the British East India Company in the years 1823–58." - Rotraud Wielandt

Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal was asked: "Which do you prefer more: the Jāmiʿ of Sufyan [al-Thawri] or the Muwaṭṭaʾ of Malik [ibn Anas]?" Imam Ahmad said: "Neither this nor that. Instead, hold fast to the transmitted reports (athar).” - Tabaqat al-Hanabilah What is going on here? What appears to be the most plausible explanation is that Imam Ahmad disliked works that mixed juristic fiqh views with prophetic traditions, since such opinions were fallible and subject to change.

◉ مخالفة قول الجمهور .. مخالفةُ قول جمهور الفقهاء، أو ما استقر عليه نظرُ جماهيرهم، ليست أمرا هيّنا؛ بل هي مسلكٌ يحتاج إلى تريثٍ شديد، وتحقيقٍ واسع، وحذرٍ من التجاسر في الترجيح. ذلك أن توارد فهوم العلماء في مختلف المذاهب على دلالةٍ واحدة، وتتابع أنظارهم على تقرير معنى معيّن، أدعى إلى الصواب من فهمٍ آحادٍ ينفرد بمخالفتها؛ إذ قد يغيب عن المخالف مأخذٌ من مآخذ الباب، أو يقصر نظره عن ملحظٍ مؤثر، أو يفوته وجهٌ من وجوه النظر والاستدلال. والمقصود أن مخالفة الجمهور لا يصح أن تُبنى على استعجالٍ أو مجرد استحسانٍ ذهني، بل لا بد فيها من رسوخٍ تامٍ في العلم، واستيفاءٍ للنظر، ومعرفةٍ بمآخذ الأقوال، وأسباب توارد الفقهاء على ما ذهبوا إليه. #منهجيات #تأملات_منهجية_فقهية أ.د. عبدالعزيز عرب https://t.me/feqh_DrARAB

[ لا يجوز الوضوء والغسل من الماء الموقوف للشرب في المذهب المعتمد عند السادة الحنابلة ] : جاء في " الإقناع " : ( 1 / 38 ) , طبعة دار هجر ( و لو سبل ماء للشرب ، لم يجز التطهير منه ) . وجاء أيضا في " الإقناع " : ( 2 / 77 ) , طبعة دار هجر ( ولوسبل ماء للشرب ، لم يجز الوضوء منه ، ولا الغسل ) . وجاء في " غاية المنتهى " : ( 2 / 394 ) ( ويتعين مصرف الوقف إلى الجهة المعنية ، فلو سبل ماء للشرب لم يجز الوضوء به . ( ويتجه ) ولا يصح لأنه غير مباح ) .

I really enjoyed the opportunity to give a critical presentation on the Modern Maqasid approach in Dr. Sinanovic's Schools of Islamic Thought class at Boston Islamic Seminary. While the presentation went well, it was bittersweet knowing that the class was now at its final week, and will be ending soon.

I just published a small open-source Telegram bot for Arabic vocabulary and tafsir research. It behaves like an assistant and you can directly chat with it in Telegram. You can talk to it in Arabic or English and will respond accordingly. It's just an assistant so it doesn't have memory or context to previous questions, so you can't have normal conversations like you would in chatGPT. It's designed only as a research buddy. So each message behaves like a new question. There should be no hallucinations since it's basing responses directly on the provided data sources in realtime and not guessing based on some vague trained data that we know nothing about. It lets users search Arabic words through dictionaries like Mufradat al-Raghib, Lisan al-Arab, al-Qamus, and Maqayis through tafsir.app + lugha books on Turath database, and it can also search tafsir resources through tafsir.app, Quran.com, and selected classical tafsir books on Turath, which is basically an online version of Shamela. I have it programmed so that it searches the heavyweights of tafsir FIRST when questioned and then falls back on the general Turath tafsir books database if it can't find what it's looking for. I hope it alleviates 70-80% of the research work. You have to push for the remaining. So if something usually takes 1 hour to research in tafsir or vocab, I hope will take only 20 mins using this tool insha'Allah. The basic workflow is: ask question -> searches approved sources only -> sends results to AI for analysis -> sends analysis back + links to which sources it used. You can directly click on the sources it gives you and it'll take you to exact page where it got the result from for further reading. I've also included context protections, so if it finds results on a specific page on Turath, it reads 3 pages before and after to assure it didn't miss anything or misunderstand something. You can make it public and add it to any channel you want so anyone can chat with it in the group or privately. Or you can also make it private so that it only responds to you. The script does need to be continuously running in order to use it, so if you turn off the script/computer, it will not work. In order to keep it running always, you can either buy a mini computer that is on all the time or rent space through a cloud service like Railway.com. Current features include: /vocab — look up Arabic words in classical dictionaries and Turath lugha books /verse — get tafsir for a specific ayah /tafsir — search classical tafsir works by topic and general Tafsir category on Turath Automatic routing, so users can ask naturally without commands Source-based answers with references Public or private bot mode Adjustable context expansion for Turath results Ability to target specific mufassirs like al-Tabari, Ibn Kathir, al-Qurtubi, Ibn Ashur, al-Razi, and others This is mainly intended for students, researchers, and anyone who wants a simple Telegram-based tool for exploring Arabic vocabulary and tafsir sources. I also have scripts specifically for hadiths explanations and fiqh, which I'll share some other time insha'Allah. GitHub link: https://github.com/rameezabid/ai-tafsir-research-assistant

Definitions in classical Fiqh arent meant to give the full scope of the worship or contract. For example Salah is a worship that starts with Takbir and ends with Salam. Why did they define it like that? Why not a worship that connects you to Allah that you ought to do with Khushu? That second defintion while socially more appealing, it defines nothing about Salah and its reality. That description can be made for Fasting Hajj Quran recital etc.. All these worships are connections to God and ought to play a role in the heart, but does that define and distinguish each worship from each other? Nope. The only worship that Starts and ends with these specific phrases in the first definition is Salah. Starting with Takbir and ending with Salam will distinguish it from Adhan and the rest of worships and also is inclusive for all Salahs. The Salah of an ill person who can't stand and Salah of Janaza which has no Rukoo or Sujood. Notice the definition doesn't include the optimal either. It doesn't talk about it being in congregation or good clothes etc. These qualities while good, do not render the worship void. L The Fuqaha dismiss the aims of worships? Not at all... they are the experts who studied worship and law inside out. Their mere aim in a legal text is (a) distinguish the topic (b) distinguish its main integrals so one knows when the worship is sound or the contract is valid. Then they either add detauls or not based on the length and wcope of the text. But their aim isnt excellence but rather basic education and training. That's why in contracts they often give its most outstanding outcome to distinguish from other contracts or similar contracts. Rather than always asking people to do Tajdid Fiqh can we start by understanding it? Once communities show me that just 60 percent of their locale have Fiqhi literacy in 1-Fard Ain text 2- a full short Fiqhi manual and 3 some ancillary modules on: History of Fiqh, What is Usul Fiqh and what do modern Fatwa bodies do I will volunteer to bring out the tajdid pom poms from my imaginary intellectual closet and I will cheer lead a poem on necessity of Tajdid with all my Nasheed prowess. Before that have piety, shame, and get busy with responsibilities before telling Fuqaha what to do or not to do. Our communities aren't gonna achieve liberation theology by always looking at the past with suspicion and undue critique while over veneration modern modernist and social media informed shallowness. Much shukriya thanks and gracias. P.s. you would be hard bent to find in history old or new that has good Islamic education by studying Fiqh alone, that's why an integration of Fiqh Tazkiya, companionship, and biographies was often a base for any student if they want to have a balanced foundation. Each subject is like relay team member holding the baton. All of them come together to make you finish your initial race. People often forget this and keep asking requests of subjects that is not within their scope. Modern books are integrated by nature, but that should not excuse us to dismiss or critique classical pedagogy that we don't grasp. Humility and caution is needed. Written by Omar Salam

The modern maqāṣid discourse differs significantly from classical jurisprudence, perhaps even reflecting a 180 degree change. This is because: 1. classical jurists generally derived purposes from revealed rulings, 2. whereas modern reformers sometimes use the purposes to revise, restrict, or reinterpret those rulings. This ultimately means that the direction of authority changes: Classical model: text → rulings → inferred purposes. Modern reformist model: overarching purposes (which are now reified as "causes") → reinterpretation of rulings.

For students of usul al-fiqh: An important discussion in usul al-fiqh to which Shaykh Anwar al-Kashmiri (Allah ta'ala have mercy on him) draws attention is the three processes related to extracting, identifying, and applying the apparent underlying cause (illah) behind a ruling: takhrij al-manat, tanqih al-manat, and tahqiq al-manat. Al-Kashmiri (rightly) treats this as the focal point of fiqh and ijtihadi reasoning; it seems that he would make it a point to explain it as part of the preliminary discussions every year that he taught Hadith. Recently I came across a very interesting statement by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (Allah ta'ala have mercy on him) echoing a nearly identical sentiment. He says:

وَهَذِهِ الْأَنْوَاعُ الثَّلَاثَةُ «تَحْقِيقُ الْمَنَاطِ» و «تَنْقِيحُ الْمَنَاطِ» و «تَخْرِيجُ الْمَنَاطِ» هِيَ جِمَاعُ الِاجْتِهَادِ. These three types: tahqiq, tanqih, and takhrij al-manat are the culmination of juristic reasoning (ijtihad).

مسألة يلغز بها: شخص صح نفل حجه قبل أن يحج الفريضة! والجواب أن يقال: هو من عجز عن الحج ثم أناب غيره عنه فلما أحرم النائب قدر المستنيب على الحج بلا علم نائب عنه حتى احرم النائب بالحج. = فيقع هذا الحج نفلا عن المستنيب ولا يجزؤه عن الفريضة. وهذا من تقريرات المحب ابن نصر الله واستظره الشيخ عثمان النجدي في حاشية المنتهى وقال الشيخ حسن الشطي : "وقول ابن نصر الله يعض عليه بالنواجذ".

Instead of reading a book published by Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah (DKI), you are sometimes better off trying to find a readable manuscript of the work.