Roots Of Knowledge ROK 😊

Dedication to do good is a gift from Allah Dedication to studies is considered to be a gift from Allah. When Allah gives a person the passion and fervor to study, to work hard, to ask questions, and to devote their precious time, whether that be time for sleep, eating, or any other activities, they demonstrate true dedication. If this dedication is directed towards good things like studying, Ibadah, or Da'wah, then it is a sign that Allah wants khayr for them, InshaAllah. I remember when I was studying in Madrasa, there were certain students who would forego their dinner and would rather hold a piece of bread in a bag. Whenever they got hungry, they would take a few bites from it. This amazed me. I recall seeing such students staying up late and, on many occasions, falling asleep on their books because they wanted to further their understanding. They weren't satisfied with the amount they studied; they wanted more. This kind of dedication, if a person possesses it, should inspire them to express gratitude to Allah. Unfortunately, some students may only develop this dedication later in life, not during their studies. Others, who are fortunate, may have this dedication from the beginning. It usually is an early indication of what this person will achieve in their khidma in society. This type of dedication can sometimes peak and sometimes trough. A person should always ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Arabic Zidni ilma "Oh Allah, increase me in beneficial knowledge." This is a dua that Muslims are instructed to say. It always amazes me when I see scholars with white beards or those who have been teaching for decades; they still ask Allah to increase them in knowledge. The more a person learns, the more humble they become. May Allah grant us rewarding Dedication

New Lesson of Sharh Qatr Nada added The Chapter of Faail :https://www.urooq.com/courses/18

New Lesson of Sharh Qatr Nada added The Chapter of Faail :https://www.urooq.com/courses/18

Debate Battles Outside the Ring Unfortunately, public debate battles in today's world are little more than entertainment for the public. If the debates were held behind closed doors with an unbiased panel of experts present, there would be no need for emotional arguments or appeals to irrelevant reasons. From my experience as a student and teacher, I have never witnessed a debate that caused a person to become more modest and improve their attitude and character in public life. It is simply entertainment for the public, which makes their critics dislike them even more and discourages the uninformed from wanting to associate with the 'bearded scholars' circles. Debates have a place in history when there is a fair way to evaluate the arguments and balance the criticisms. Otherwise, it's little better than a rap battle in Islamic outfits, which will probably do more harm to Muslim unity than anything else. We no longer live in a small village in the Indian subcontinent where our audience rarely questions our views, claims, and arguments. It wasn't difficult to get such a crowd going if you could shout the loudest and appeal to their emotions. Today, society has changed dramatically, and the audience is no longer the same. There is a more sophisticated generation that isn't satisfied with emotional slogans in the global village we live in. They anticipate well-articulated discussions and mature bearded men who can at least listen to one another for a few minutes before deciding how to respond. People today are impressed by debaters' and scholar's body language and attitude rather than the volume of their vocal cords. Allah bestows so much talent in our communities, but if we utilise it to attack other Muslims on trivial disagreements rather than strive for the betterment of RasulAllah's peace be upon him Ummah there is little hope in the new generations from seeing us as lanterns of hope for the unity of the ummah. I pray that Allah raises among us Ghazzali and ibn Rushd and protects us from egotistical religious leaders. Ameen

For those who have asked, these are the books I have read so far for the upcoming As-Suffa marriage course: As the course approaches closer, I plan to add more books, insha'Allah. Only writings about marriage by non-Muslims are included in this list. I haven't gotten a chance to read those authored by Muslims yet. I appreciate everyone who gave me some helpful titles. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1D6x_iNK8nGVKNtqxaWq86QQB7083kpJi?usp=sharing If there are more recommendations, please let me know

The Changing Roles of Women and the Shift in Marriage in Europe Women in mediaeval Europe were primarily cared for and protected by the men in their homes. Their top goal was to find a companion who could offer security and stability [a provider and protector]. Living under one roof with big extended families, women might assist in the family business or on the family-owned property. However, as women started to become more independent through education, travel, and self-employment, the standards for selecting a spouse inevitably changed. Women were able to make their own decisions for the first time without being totally dependent on a man's support. As a result, marriage became more about friendship than it was about protection or survival. The traditional concept of getting married for stability started to give way to the idea of finding a spouse who shared your interests, perspective, and emotional connection. This change had significant repercussions. The average age of marriage started to grow as women spent more time in school and pursuing occupations. Expectations also increased with time. Finding a matching partner, i.e., someone who could connect emotionally as well as financially, was now more important than finding a dependable source But this also reduced the number of possible spouses. Many males in Europe still favoured younger women who prioritised their homes above their careers. Men continued to marry earlier or pick younger wives, while women who focused on their jobs frequently found it more difficult to locate companions later in life. Over time, the goal of marriage changed once more, moving from being pragmatic to passionate. Building a home or raising a family together became less important than achieving personal fulfilment and emotional contentment. And many started to wonder if marriage itself was really required when the job failed to provide women with equal respect or compensation. This historical shift shows that the institution of marriage changed rather than just weakened. Today's expectations for marriage are very different from those of a few generations ago. It's interesting to see how colonialism and World wars drastically changed the course of the family institution. Writing books on marriage must be based on the socio-economic evolution in the west especially. I'll try to share more interesting points inshAllah

Fiqh Without Real Life Experience Fiqh isn't just knowing rulings. Fiqh is the ability to understand the world a person is living in. Whether that be the four walls of their home, the city they live in, or the global world that we know today. To understand causes, human behavior, subtle realities, and then place all of these things within the realm of Allah's law. Now, this is very easy to sum up. In reality, this is something which I would say is the understanding after twenty-five years or so of studying and teaching the Islamic sciences. Now let's go back in time when I was studying fiqh in Madrasa. I, like many of you, was thrown straight into an intensive course, which I probably was not ready for at the time. When we would study, for example, the books of Fiqh, every page was filled with a list of scenarios and case studies. Every paragraph had problems of Zayd, Khalid, Zaynab, and Fatima. Issues related to whether it was purification with fruit juice, praying salat in a land that had been usurped, or matters related to divorce and strange scenarios of a man issuing divorces to his wife, a trader who contracts multiple contracts with different people at the same time, or inheritance, swearing oaths, and international law. These, in reality, were cases that were very alien to me at that time. I had no context to picture all of this, no life exposure. I was simply memorizing a list of what seemed to be random cases, which I never knew existed before I studied them. As the years went by, it was a repetition of going over these matters. To be honest, I could not see how these matters manifested in the world I was living in, especially when the world was changing so rapidly outside, with the advent of the internet and all these new different types of problems. I wasn't able to understand how these matters in the books were supposed to look and shape themselves in the real world. If I could go back in time and restudy Fiqh with my current life experience, I genuinely believe my brain would explode with clarity. Because now, when I read a case in Fiqh, I can literally smell the context. I know exactly; I can think of a dozen cases that I know of where this matter could apply. I can see the psychology of the husband who issues his wife a divorce by saying implicit words. I can see the business pressure of a trader trying to come out with a new model, which might resemble an interest-based transaction. I can feel the emotional chaos of families when they're dealing with distributing inheritance. Real life actually begins, or real life actually brings the illa to life. Now, this is the tragedy of many Madrasa students, even today. They are studying windows into the real world. They are being spoon-fed the real world without ever having walked in that real world themselves. It's like looking out of a massive window that is covered in mud, and only one tiny hole is clear from the outside. Through that tiny hole, you think you understand everything outside. You have this ideal image that you've created in your mind about what the real world is like and what the solution is for everything. But really, you only see a fragment. So your mental image of the world is inaccurate, and your fiqh becomes theoretical, dry, and pretty much academic. The more you engage with real people, with real mistakes, with real marriage disputes, and with real business transactions, the clearer the fiqh in books becomes. It starts to make more sense. You not only understand the scenarios that they have recorded in the books, but you also start to have a list of your own scenarios and questions that whizz around in your head. One of the scholars said, "Whoever does not understand the current state of people is the greatest ignorant." So, fiqh is not memorising rules only. Fiqh is the ability to see the world clearly and then apply Allah's laws onto it, within a framework that has been established by the experts with wisdom. And that clarity requires life.

New Lessons Added to Sharh Qatr Nada Course : Afaal Quloob & Faail https://www.urooq.com/courses/18

Mashallah one of the brothers Huzaifa has collected the posts of mine Make special duas for him ❤️

Varying Qiraat and the layers of meaning Sometimes we think we know what a verse means because we read one translation in English. But the Qur’an can open entire worlds with one word. And honestly English does not do it justice. Look at this one word in this verse: ﴿وَإِذَاۤ أَرَدۡنَاۤ أَن نُّهۡلِكَ قَرۡیَةً أَمَرۡنَا مُتۡرَفِیهَا فَفَسَقُوا۟ فِیهَا فَحَقَّ عَلَیۡهَا ٱلۡقَوۡلُ فَدَمَّرۡنَـٰهَا تَدۡمِیرࣰا﴾ الإسراء 16 Most people read أمرنا as AMAR NAA meaning 'We command' So the meaning becomes: When Allah decides to destroy a town We command the wealthy [to do good] but they continue in disobedience; Our sentence is passed, and We destroy them utterly. That is how most translations present it But there are two other recitations of this exact same word which English cannot carry with the same phrase > The first is AM MAR NAA with a shaddah on the meem meaning 'We give leadership [to them]' So the verse becomes When Allah decides to destroy a town, He gives leadership to those corrupt wealthy; then they continue in disobedience; Our sentence is passed, and We destroy them utterly. >The second is AA MAR NAA with a madd meaning 'We increase their number' So the verse becomes When Allah decides to destroy a town He increases the number of the corrupt wealthy; then they continue in disobedience. Our sentence is passed, and We destroy them utterly. Three different shades of destruction from one word - Command rejected - Corrupt put in charge - Corrupt multiplied This is where you start to realise how small translation really is compared to the actual Qur’an And this is why Arabic is not just a language to study it is the doorway into how Allah wants us to read the world This is the beauty of the Qur’an that you only taste when you go deeper than what English gives you

Remember that commentaries are there to help you go on to the next stage, not to replace the previous ones. They are tools, not trophies to be collected or shortcuts to avoiding your struggles. I've seen students become preoccupied with complex discussions in fiqh, aqidah, or hadith even if they haven't learnt the fundamentals. It does not benefit them; rather, it confuses and delays their development. Finally, commentaries are effective when used at the appropriate timing and for the correct reason. Begin with your teacher. Create your foundation. Then progress gently. A commentary's purpose is not to make you feel smarter, but to help you go deeper. In the end, the purpose is not to complete a commentary. The idea is to internalise the text so that it becomes a part of how you think and experience the world. The remark only serves as a bridge. Don't confuse the bridge with the destination.

Do I Need a Commentary to Understand a Book? This is a question that many students ask themselves when studying at a madrasa or Islamic institute. Do I really need a commentary or 'Sharh'? What's the aim of it? So, I'll try to discuss the role of a commentary in your studies. When I was in madrassa, students would frequently ask me what commentary I was reading for Usool Shashi or Nuzha al-Nadhar, and I'd wonder what the point of reading these books was, or if I was missing something. They would usually read urdu 'commentaries', which I fortunately couldn't read very well. I say luckily because it forced me to concentrate on the Arabic text. A commentary was actually a fast route to being less reliant on Arabic and more on such remarks. When you study any text, you are interacting with a scholar who was an expert in their field. They wrote words with multiple levels of meaning, and not everything is evident. That is when your teacher steps in. The teacher's responsibility is to unwrap the text, open it up for you, and ensure that you grasp what is being stated, word by word, sentence by sentence, idea by concept. Whether it's Arabic grammar, fiqh, hadith, or anything else, your teacher will help you see what's written between the lines. If you do not have that guidance, you will struggle. So, before you even consider picking up a commentary, you need first comprehend why you're studying with a teacher. Commentaries now come in a variety of styles. I'd say there are three major levels. The first sort of commentary examines each individual word, breaking it down and explaining it in simple words. It's essentially a teacher in book form. In the past, some scholars saw that students were struggling and wrote explanations to fill in the gaps. This type of commentary allows you to understand the meaning of each word and sentence. It's useful, but it's not a replacement for a qualified teacher. It only enhances your understanding. And, honestly, if you have a decent teacher, this amount of critique is unnecessary early on. The Arabic term for commentary literally means "opening up" something that is closed, which is exactly what it does. The second type does more than just explain the terms; it also provides background and context. It provides you a more complete picture. Consider the following text: "Zayd walked to the shop and helped his father with groceries." The first commentary would simply clarify what this means. The second could say, "Zayd lives five miles away, went in the morning, and his father is elderly." These added facts assist you grasp what is going on. Imagine you're studying Mukhtasar al-Quduri. The first commentary will simply repeat what is in the text, such as "Washing the face, arms, feet, and wiping the head are fard in wudu." The second commentary will state, "This ruling is based on a verse in the Qur'an," before explaining what washing and wiping genuinely imply. It provides context for the ruling. It usually provides some level of evidence/daleel to make sense of the source of the discussion and its proof. The third sort of comments is intended for advanced students. It is when experts from the same madhhab discuss, debate, and compare their positions. They give evidence and counterarguments, as well as an analysis of the logic behind rulings. It's arduous work. A student at this level might read Ibn Humam's Fath al-Qadir on Quduri, in which each line is explained using fiqh principles, maxims, and evidences. But here's the problem: too many students attempt to leap right into these difficult discussions without first having prepared. They skip steps. It's like attempting to jump from step one to step six of a stairway. You might make it, but you'll break your leg in the process. You lose the natural growth, the steady, organic development that leads to true insight.