Massoud Vahedi

It is reported that Sulaymān ibn Dāwūd alayhi al-Salam advanced in a grand procession, birds spreading their wings to shade him, while the jinn and humankind marched at his right and left. As he passed by, a devoted worshipper from the Children of Israel exclaimed, “By Allah, O son of Dāwūd, Allah has surely granted you an immense dominion!” Hearing this, Sulaymān responded, “One single glorification (tasbīḥah) inscribed in the record of a believer is superior to all that has been bestowed upon the son of Dāwūd. For what has been given to the son of Dāwūd will come to an end, whereas the glorification remains everlasting.” - Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din

تمر دراسة الإسناد والحكم على الحديث بالقبول أو الرد بمراحل ثلاث لازمة في كل حديث وهي مستقاة من شروط الحديث الصحيح. والمراحل هي: ١- المرحلة الأولى : التحقق من عدالة الراوي وضبطه: تعد هذه المرحلة من أهم مراحل دراسة الإسناد وأوسعها وأكثرها مسائل ومباحث ويطلق على معرفة العدالة والضبط وأحكامهما : (علم الجرح والتعديل) و (علم الرجال). وعلم الجرح والتعديل قائم على أسس ثلاثة : حاكم و حكم ومحكوم عليه : أ- الأساس الأول : (الحاكم) وهم أئمة الجرح والتعديل. ب- الأساس الثاني: (الحكم) وهو ألفاظ الجرح والتعديل. ج- الأساس الثالث: (المحكوم عليه) وهم رواة الحديث. ٢- المرحلة الثانية : التحقق من اتصال السند: ويبحث فيها عن : طرق التحمل والأداء وصيغها وطرق معرفة اتصال الإسناد وأهم المؤلفات في معرفة الاتصال والانقطاع. ٣- المرحلة الثالثة : التحقق من سلامة الحديث من الشذوذ والعلة : ويبحث فيها عن: معرفة الحديث الشاذ والمعل والعلاقة بينهما وأنواع العلل وأسباب العلة وطرق الكشف عنها. [دراسة الأسانيد للشيخ عبد العزيز الشايع/دار ابن الجوزي ص٢٠ - ٢١]

Boston Islamic Seminary is soon teaching a number of intensive courses for its Spring Semester, all of which can be registered for and attended online by anyone with a BA. I have taken some of their courses in the past and have found their level of instruction to be professional, very helpful for students and researchers, and similar to what you find in a senior seminar course at the graduate level. The Courses on Schools of Islamic Thought as well as the Usul al-Fiqh and Maqasid al-Shariah look especially fascinating. To register: - https://www.bostonislamicseminary.org/special-student-application/?mc_cid=61d897e354&mc_eid=26cb5d7780&fbclid=IwY2xjawPjxQ5leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFRQXNqcVM3VkVYbklZVEhac3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHltO2IJzCuJGUUEXZmQoBZUa6OiV7HfUR8fped8cdBNgXIjE6GRsT4fOFm0I_aem_24fd2Zpp5attOgbhEdSY5w - https://bostonseminary.wufoo.com/forms/m4rsy9l042t01k/?mc_cid=6b2bdaacbc&mc_eid=42cfd60fdf&fbclid=IwY2xjawPjytVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFRQXNqcVM3VkVYbklZVEhac3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHrhJrfYPxuXEFXJi9ElpyBYBVMf_SXdPFcdLPAYvHAeCf7WnX2AUQU0k8e2Z_aem_jwyijt_6nTWA0be-r6iFWA

إن كنت ناصحا بشيء زائد لم أر أحدا أشار إليه، فهو الآتي: عود نفسك على الكتب المبدأفة -ودعك من رومانسيات رائحة الورق وملمسه إلخ ما يقوله هواة القراءة- فلا تشتر إلا ما لم يرفع -وتعلم أنه سيتأخر رفعه مع حاجتك إليه- وما تعلم أنك ستعلق وتحشي عليه أو تدرسه على أحد... ولا تشتر أمهات الكتب والجوامع الكبار إن كنت تعلم أنك لن تجردها وإنما ستتخذها مراجع، ومن ثم سيكون البحث فيها مراجعَ إلكترونية أسهل ألف مرة، أو إن علمت أنك ستجردها في النهاية مبدأفة... لا يحملنك الحماس على إضاعة المال والمساحة في غير مفيد... وقلت في زمنٍ مضى: أنا بدأفيٌ ما حييت وإن أمت *** فوصيتي للناس أن يتبدأفوا - ماهر أمير

"Conservative Maliki students of knowledge and scholars have an obligation to refute modernists who misuse their 'Amal Ahlul Madina' maxim with the intention of casting doubt on the reliability of ahaadith. Conservative Hanafi students of knowledge and scholars have an obligation to refute modernists who misuse the Hanafi’s schools stance on the authority of qiyas vis-a-vis ahaad ahaadith, in order to cast doubt on the reliability of ahaadith." - Bassam Zawadi

📚 Arabic Grammar (Naḥw) Course: al-Ājurrūmiyyah 📖 A 3-month online study of this foundational Arabic grammar text with Ustadh Muhammad al-Khalafī — focusing on clear explanation, practical application, and active student engagement. 🗓 Duration: February – April (3 months) ⏰ Schedule: Saturdays & Sundays 🕛 Time: 12:00 PM CST – 1:00 PM EST 💻 Format: Online live sessions 💵 Fee: $50 USD/month 💳 One-time payment: $130 USD 📘 Text Studied: al-Ājurrūmiyyah ✍️ Authored by the erudite scholar Muḥammad b. Dāwūd aṣ-Ṣinhājī (Ibn Ājurrūm) 📌 No classes on March 14–15 and March 21–22 due to the last ten days of Ramaḍān and ʿĪd. 🎓 What to Expect: • Interactive classes with questions and activities • Emphasis on application over abstract theory • Periodic quizzes and a final exam • Ijāzah in the text for eligible students Registration form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf8Maz6vmEnTaW_5NVb0ic6nd0BUKX888C3yjSpErJN7OtNAw/viewform?usp=dialog Sign up: https://www.thehanbaliinstitute.com/live-courses/12

Ibn Taymiyyah the Sociologist Ibn Taymiyyah questions the claim that a genuine sophist figure existed, noting that humans are – by their very intrinsic nature – social beings who live in collective societies. It is this collective nature which allows humans to discern the true reality of things and distinguish states from their opposites, since it is by virtue of this faculty that they can live, cooperate, and work in common. How, then, can any person immersed in society deny the true nature and reality of the things around them?

"From Imam Ahmad's Usul is using weak hadiths [as an evidence]; this is explicit from Imam Ahmad. Al-Khallal said: 'Imam Ahmad used to take rulings from weak hadiths, if no other text existed on the issue and nothing else opposed them. For this reason he was of the view of there being an expiation for having intercourse with the Ha'idh [even though he considered the hadiths pertaining to the issue weak].' It appears from al-Khallal's statement that this [use of weak hadiths] has three conditions: 1. That the hadith not be severely weak, 2. That there not be another text in the topic which opposes it, 3. And that there not be another existing proof in the matter. If these conditions are fulfilled then the weak hadith can be used as an evidence, and according to Imam Ahmad using it is better than the opinions of men [meaning: opinions based on analogy and logical proofs]. The apparent meaning of this statement is that Imam Ahmad would build and establish rulings from weak hadiths if these conditions were met. This then means that the matter is not as Shaykh al-Islam [Ibn Taymiyyah] described, [namely] that acting on weak hadiths [in this context] means concerning the Fada'il of something. [From Ibn Taymiyyah's view] if the action's basis is already established, then we can use a weak hadith to ascribe [additional] virtues ... Yet, the apparent statement of Imam Ahmad and the Hanbalis implies that they actually acted on the weak hadith [by itself] ..." - Sh. Ahmad al-Khalil

In the Margins, Entry 3 One of the recurring features in the margins of Mukhtaṣar al-Ifādāt is the grading of individual ḥadīths. On the surface, this can appear responsible, especially in a Hanbali text. The Hanbali school is rooted in ḥadīth, founded by a muḥaddith and carried by generations of scholars who took narration and legal proof seriously. But the issue here is not whether ḥadīth evaluation exists. It is how ḥadīth functions within a madhhab, where evaluation belongs, and what happens when it is displaced from its proper methodological setting. Each legal school developed its own internal principles for when a report is relied upon, how it is weighed, and how it is integrated into legal rulings. In the Hanbali madhhab, this engagement with ḥadīth takes place through the school’s inherited framework. Sometimes that involves direct evaluation by qualified jurists within the school. At other times it involves reliance upon how the authoritative Hanbali imams themselves acted upon reports. Both paths are recognized. Both are necessary. And both are what preserve the internal coherence of the madhhab. This matters because Hanbali fiqh has never treated ḥadīth grading in isolation. A report’s weakness does not automatically render it unusable, just as a report’s soundness does not automatically render it actionable. There are narrations upon which practice was established despite technical weakness, and there are sound narrations that were not acted upon. Jurists weighed corroboration, context, usage, and what the school had settled upon. These considerations are not intuitive to a lay reader, and they are not conveyed by a bare authenticity label in the margin. Ibn al-Balbān tells you why he wrote Mukhtaṣar al-Ifādāt. He observed a public whose enthusiasm for knowledge had diminished, whose attachment to entertainment and worldly pursuit had increased, and whose concern for the Hereafter had weakened, yet who remain obligated to worship regardless. This book is therefore not a research project or a venue for evidentiary arbitration. It is an instructional manual for ordinary Muslims who want to be religiously compliant but will not enter large, technical works. That is also why Ibn al-Balbān restricts himself to the relied-upon position of the madhhab and what fatwā is given upon by its critical imams. This is not one man’s private conclusions. It is a school: an inherited method, a settled hierarchy of authorities, and centuries of disciplined legal reasoning. It is also important to remember that Ibn al-Balbān himself was a muḥaddith, fully aware of narration, defects, and gradation. He was citing the same reports cited by the Hanbali tradition before him, operating squarely within that closed system. This is where marginal ḥadīth grading becomes problematic. When a footnote flags a narration as weak or “not established,” without explaining the madhhab’s method of legal integration, the reader is not being educated. He is being unsettled. The margin begins to function as a corrective authority hovering over the text, suggesting that the book itself is unreliable unless filtered through an external evaluative lens. If the editor wished to serve both the text and the reader, it would have been sufficient to provide the citation of the ḥadīth. Even that choice is optional. Introducing a grading framework foreign to the book’s method does not clarify. It reframes. It trains the reader to measure the madhhab by standards it did not adopt and to question conclusions arrived at through processes he has not been taught. In a religious culture already shaped by “What’s your evidence?” instincts, this has predictable effects. A lay reader, unable to navigate juristic reasoning, begins to suspect the author, the ruling, and eventually the school itself. Confidence gives way to hesitation. Inherited trust is replaced by constant doubt. The effect is not clarity. It is erosion. That is how meaning is quietly shaped in the margins.

قال فخر الدين الرازي عن إبراهيم عليه السلام: "...سلم قلبه للعرفان، ولسانه للبرهان، وبدنه للنيران، وولده للقربان، وماله للضيفان." - مفاتيح الغيب

"Some contemporary scholars have noted that just like how there were four Imams in Fiqh, there were also four Imams in the field of Maqasid (overarching objectives in the divine law) as well: 1. Abu al-Ma'ali Al-Juwayni, 2. Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, 3. al-'Izz ibn 'Abd al-Salam, 4. and Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi." - Sh. Fahd ibn Sa'd al-Juhani

If you are not following Sh. Asif Hirani on Facebook, you are seriously missing out! His posts are full of jewels and gems. May Allah preserve him.

Al-Hafidh Ibn Rajab: An Epitome of Sincerity and Humility One of Ibn Rajab's students narrated: "We once attended a gathering led by our Shaykh after the morning prayer, where he analyzed a peculiar legal issue in an extremely detailed and fine-tuned manner, such that he enumerated the views of the scholars and jurists regarding it and evaluated its applications and extensions in related legal areas (takhrij)...this presentation caused us to become amazed of his prowess, memory, and excellent skills in legal deduction. Then on that same day we – along with our Shaykh – were invited to a gathering that was led by many of the major scholars and judges [of that time]...it so happened that the very same legal issue was brought up in this gathering, and none of these judges and scholars were able to analyze it well. We wished that he [Ibn Rajab] would speak so that his primacy over them would become evident. But throughout their discussion, our Shaykh remained silent. After we left, we recalled to the Shaykh how he remained silent. In response he said: 'This gathering [with the judges and scholars] was held for the sake of this world, but my gathering with you is held for [the sake of Allah and] the Hereafter.'" Shaykh Salih Al Shaykh commented on this story by stating: "Humility is the hallmark of success, while pretentiousness is the hallmark of failure." What was wrong with the gathering of the scholars? It was likely not held with the sincere intention of attaining benefit and benefitting others, and instead the attendees wanted to display their knowledge to their peers and engage in argumentation. When Ibn Rajab noticed this, he disengaged from the discussion and remained silent.

Sunnah vs. Hadith ‘Abdurrahman Ibn Mahdi said: “Al-Awza'i is an Imam when it comes to the Sunnah, but not in Hadith. Sufyan [ibn Uyaynah] is an imam in Hadith, but not in the Sunnah. Malik is an imam in both [the Sunnah and Hadith].” —————————————————————————— By this he meant that Imam Malik was skilled in both knowing hadiths - in their transmitted and authentic form - and which ones are actable and which ones are not (i.e. which hadiths are normative and legally relavant). Al-Awza'i had a strong juristic acumen and was on the mark in many legal issues, but he seemed to over rely on weak hadiths and use them as foundational proofs in areas where they were not relavant. Sufyan was a great hadith memorizer and could appraise a hadith's authenticity, but he did not have the juristic skill or acumen of Imam Malik and other Imams to identify which hadiths are actable and which ones are not.

"Be the hero who is unsung on Earth, praised in the Heavens." - Dr. Suheil Laher