Massoud Vahedi

Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi was a great writer and thinker, but his legal methodology was not consistent (e.g. on some issues, he says the statement of a Companion is a legal proof, in other issues, he says it is not). Some of his positions are indeed problematic, and they have been been rightfully criticized, like the issue of when a non-Muslim woman converts to Islam and the status of her marriage with her husband who does not convert (as Dr. al-Naji Lamin notes, Qaradawi did not interpret Ibn al-Qayyim's words on the topic correctly). Here is a good summary of a number of legal issues where al-Qaradawi fell into apparent contradictions, which indicate he did not have a stable hermeneutics from which he derived rulings. A few responses have been written to defend al-Qaradawi from the charge of contradictions, but for the most part they are unconvincing, and will be hopefully addressed in a future post.

Everyday Hadith Studies: al-Zajjaj vs. Tha'lab The series of posts that is pinned on this channel (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) is an attempt to establish, in layman's language, that the methodology behind authenticating Hadith reports is actually just a sophisticated elaboration of mechanisms that all of us intuitively use in our daily lives to assess information relayed to us. The above is an excerpt from a debate between Abu al-'Abbas Tha'lab (d. 291) and al-Zajjaj (d. 311), collected by Ibn Tulun al-Dimashqi (d. 952): The former accused Sibawayh (d. 180) of lacking eloquence, citing a story that had "reached him" from al-Farra' (d. 207): al-Farra', according to this report, decided to meet Sibawaih after hearing his praises from other scholars, only to find him speaking with errors, betraying a lack of eloquence. Al-Zajjaj decides to refute this story, relying on one "apparent weakness" and three "hidden deficiencies", as we would term them in the Hadith sciences: 1. Al-Zajjaj says that this is "not established from al-Farra'". This could be his conclusion based on the deficiencies he mentions later, but it could also quite plausibly be a rejection of the report based on the absence of a clear source between Tha'lab, who was born in 200, and al-Farra', who passed away in 207 (or 215, according to another opinion); Tha'lab claims that the story "reached him", not providing a source. 2. Tha'lab is a Kufan rival to Sibawaih, who hails from the Basran tradition. Thus, al-Zajjaj posits that his witness bias makes him unreliable as a narrator of this story. This is the exact reasoning employed by Hadith scholars when rejecting a narration of an innovators (riwayat al-mubtadi') when that narration seems to have been clouded by his ideological leanings. 3. Nobody from Sibawaih's associates are aware of this report; it makes little sense that Tha'lab happened to receive this report authentically when those close to Sibawaih had never heard it. This reasoning is the same as that of the Hadith scholars when they reject solitary reports (afrad) of lesser-known students of a scholar (al-Zuhri, for example) when his closer students, the primary torchbearers of his knowledge, don't have access to it or have not narrated it. Why? Well, it only makes sense that his close students and companions would have been aware of this material. This conspicuous absence points to the fact that the more obscure narrator must have made a mistake. In this case, Tha'lab is that obscure source that is more likely to have erred in his transmission than the Basrans are to have missed this report. 4. The content of the report contradicts concrete and accessible evidence: the title of the first chapter of Sibawaih's Kitab (titled هذا باب علم ما الكلم من العربية) is the type of composition that many eloquent arabophones cannot even comprehend, much less compose! This is similar to the Hadith scholars rejecting a report based on textual criticism; they see a report with content that conclusively clashes with more airtight information. That information may be stronger reports, a verse of the Quran, or general principles of the religion that we know to be true. Here, al-Zajjaj is arguing that the mistake that Tha'lab is attributing to Sibawaih cannot be true, since the very same person composed very eloquent prose in the work that we know to be his.

He wrote, she read, they married.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremony should have featured Morgan Freeman and Daniel Haqiqatjou.

"الشريعة محكمة إحكاماً تاماً ، لا نقص فيها بوجه من الوجوه ، لأنها من لدن حكيم خبير، موافقة للفطرة تماماً، موافقة لمقتضى العقل تماماً ، فيها إحكام عظيم. لو فكرت لهالك الأمر، سبحان الله العظيم! وهذا الاتقان العظيم في الشريعة لا يمكن أن يأتي من بشر. راعت كل الأحوال ،وفيها المقاصد السامية العظيمة ، والحِكَم البالغة الجليلة." - الشيخ فهد المطيري

How many a Metaphysician, Should really consult a Physician. And how many a Meta-Fiqh mind, Could use some Fiqh of the ordinary kind. And how many of those boast Ijtihād, Armed with none of the tools that must be had.

من أصول الإمام أحمد رحمه الله ورضي عنه : - أن العقود تنعقد بما يدل على مقصودها من قول أو فعل، فهو لا يرى اختصاصها بالصيَغ. - أن الكناية مع دلالة الحال كالصريح، لا تفتقر إلى إظهار النية. 📚 فتاوى ابن تيمية

#آداب نقل ابنُ هانئ عن الإمام أحمد رحمه الله، أنه كان يُسمّي ويحمد عند كل لُقمة، وقال: أكلٌ وحمدٌ خيرٌ من أكلٍ وصمت.

قال السخاوي في (البلدانيات): وأنشدكم مَا أنشدنيه شيخنا أَبُو الْحَسَنِ المذكور [هو علي بن إبراهيم بن علي اليماني ثم المكي] لفظا من نظمه: ألا ليت شعري هل أرى قبة بها حبيب لرب العالمين رَسُولُ مُحَمَّد ﷺ المختار من نسل هاشم وهل لي إِلَى تلك الديار وصولُ

Prediction: Qatar feels a strong surge of confidence after earning a tie with the Swiss. Canada feels somewhat deflated for not being able to get the victory against Bosnia. They're now anxious to see Qatar on the same level with them after thinking they had an advantage in the points. Psychology favours Qatar here. Qatar will beat Canada in the next game.

Here is one out of perhaps hundreds of examples of messed up things you see from the supporters of this group. Salehideen (https://www.instagram.com/salehideen/) is one fairly big pro-TB page on Instagram. Shamelessly, he "liked" this comment under one of his posts supporting complete ethno-nationalist filth, denigrating the women of one of the ethnic groups of Afghanistan. Instead of telling the writer to take the comment down or block him (which is the logical thing to do), he liked the guy's comment! Are we really for Islam or just fighting to support our own ethnic group and throw down the others? This is probably the 100th time I have seen an ethno-nationalist comment like this from one of their supporters. But don't worry, it's all just a big coincidence. ( دَعُوها فإنَّها مُنتنةٌ )

Shaykh 'Ali al-Tantawi read more than 2.5 million pages. He maintained a daily reading habit of 100+ pages for most of his life. What is even more amazing is that he reached the 2.5 million milestone more than 15 years before his passing! Rahimahu Allah! We won't know the final count because the Shaykh - as far as I am aware - did not do a recount during the final years of his life.

It is reported that al-Maʾmūn once heard about a man who was actively enjoining good and forbidding evil (i.e. hisbah) among the people without having been officially appointed to do so. Curious about him, al-Maʾmūn ordered that the man be brought before him. When the man arrived, al-Maʾmūn said, “I have been told that you consider yourself qualified to enjoin good and forbid evil without my authorization.” At the time, al-Maʾmūn was seated, reading a document. While speaking, he accidentally dropped it, and it slipped beneath his foot without him noticing. The man immediately said, “Remove your foot from the Names of Allah, and then say whatever you wish.” Surprised, al-Maʾmūn replied, “What are you talking about?” The man repeated his request three times. Finally, he said, “Either you remove your foot, or allow me to remove it.” Al-Maʾmūn looked down and realized that the document contained the Names of Allah. He quickly lifted it up, kissed it, and began to feel ashamed. He then said, “You enjoin what is right, but Allah has entrusted this responsibility to us, the family of the Prophet. We are the ones described in the verse: ‘Those who, if We establish them in the land, perform prayer, give alms, enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong.’” The man replied, “You have spoken the truth, O Commander of the Faithful. You possess authority and power, but we are your supporters and partners in this duty. Only someone ignorant of the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger would deny that. Allah says: ‘The believing men and believing women are allies of one another; they enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong.’ The Messenger of Allah also said: ‘The believer to another believer is like a building, each part strengthening the other.’” He continued, “You have been given authority over the people, and before you are the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger. If you hold firmly to them, you will appreciate those who help you uphold them. But if you turn away from what is required of you, then remember that the One who granted you authority and in whose hand your honour rests has promised never to let the reward of those who do good go to waste. Now, say whatever you wish.” Al-Maʾmūn was deeply impressed by the man's words. Pleased with his courage and wisdom, he said, “Someone like you is truly fit to enjoin good and forbid evil. Continue your work with our approval and support.” The man continued carrying out this duty thereafter. - Imam al-Ghazali cited this story in his al-Ihya', and used it as evidence that a person may engage in hisbah without authorization of the state.

Life sometimes either gives you "Editor Desk Rejection" or a "Reviewer 2 Recommends Rejection".