Massoud Vahedi

From the major Usul of American Fiqh that every eager and advanced student of knowledge should know:

Oftentimes, if someone is told that a hadith is weak, they immediately object and say, "How can it be weak when it was recorded in so many different books and cited by so many scholars in their works?" As al-Ghumari notes, such a line of thinking is pure ignorance. He says: "For a hadith to be recorded in multiple sources does not give it strength in the slightest. So, if for instance, a thousand sources all narrated a given report all through a single weak route, it would not be any different to having a single source report it. A report would only obtain strength if it has a multiplicity of chains and paths of transmission."

Concerning the issue of giving Zakah on jewellery, the Hanafis relied on hadiths to prove its obligation. Whereas the other Madhahib relied on Qiyas and other principles to argue Zakah is not required. The contrast in reasoning from the two sides is interesting, since we would expect the opposite approach: usually it is the Hanafis who use qawa'id, usul, or qiyas to support their position, and the other side cites transmitted reports. - summarized from Dr. Nur al-Din 'Itr

إن العلم لبحر زاخر وسفينتنا فلك ماخر والبحر مليء بالجواهر كم ترك الأول للآخر

Some time ago, I came across a valuable resource published in 1999 by Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm al-Muṭʿanī in which he surveys the arguments advanced by ḥadīth skeptics and organizes them into 33 distinct claims, each of which he then addresses with a focused and methodical refutation. Among the materials I have encountered, this work stands out as the most comprehensive and practically useful treatment of the major doubts commonly repeated by skeptics, all gathered in one place. By contrast, many modern responses tend either to fixate on only one or two of these recurring arguments or to engage niche academic discussions that have little relevance for the general reader/skeptic. To my knowledge, there is little available in English that systematically compiles the core objections and responds to them succinctly, clearly, and at a level accessible to lay readers without unnecessary technical digressions. I originally discovered this work through a brief passing reference in an article, which piqued my curiosity and led me—fortunately—to explore it further. It also prompted me to reflect on how many other valuable works may exist, largely overlooked, waiting to be brought back into the foreground. For this reason, I decided to produce a summarized English translation of the work. I hope readers benefit from it as much as I have. A PDF version is also available for those who wish to consult the full table of contents or selectively read responses to specific arguments, and a print edition is linked as well for readers who prefer a physical copy. May Allah bless the shaykh (rh). https://rameezabid.substack.com/p/rebuttal-of-33-arguments-raised-to

From the Wonders of Prophetic Eloquence In a notable Hadith, the Prophet ﷺ said: (المؤمنُ غرٌّ كريمٌ ، والفاجرٌ خِبٌّ لئيمٌ) "The believer is simple (by adopting an unsuspecting demeanour) and noble; And the transgressor is deceitful (by swindling and engaging in trickery) and bereft of nobility." When describing the believer and the transgressor, the Prophet ﷺ mentions two pieces of information regarding each of them. Every subject of the two sentences has two khabars (known as predicate in English), which is an interesting form of phrasing. The believer (mu'min) is a simple person, and is not engrossed in worldly affairs. Because of his unsuspecting demeanour, he may lose out on some worldly gains, but this does not concern him because his priority is the Hereafter. The transgressor (fajir), on the other hand, is a swindler, whose priority is to cheat out on others to maximize their material gains in this dunya. The Prophet ﷺ mentions an additional piece of information regarding the two groups: he says that while the believer is karim (noble), the transgressor is la'im (avaricious), meaning he is devoid of any ethical restraints and acts on his impulses. The scholars who commented on this hadith noted that the Prophet ﷺ intentionally mentioned two pieces of information regarding both parties to indicate how their mentality shapes their behaviour. The mu'min is karim, and it is this moral compass which restrains him from taking unethical shortcuts to increase his wealth and prestige, and instead he adopts a simple demeanour. The fajir (evildoer) on the other hand, has no morals so he enjoys taking unethical shortcuts. In other words, the second predicate of every sentence of the hadith (المؤمنُ غرٌّ كريمٌ ، والفاجرٌ خِبٌّ لئيمٌ) is the cause of the first predicate. It is as if the Prophet ﷺ is saying: "The mu'min is simple BECAUSE OF his high ethical outlook of life and value, while the fajir is a trickster BECAUSE OF his lack of any morals."

Oh Allah, let not our pursuit of knowledge be merely an intellectual exercise. اللهم إنا نعوذ بك من علم لا ينفع اللهم إنا نسألك علما نافعا وعملا متقبلا اللهم انفعنا بما علّمتنا وعلّمنا ما ينفعنا وزدنا علما واجعل ما علّمتنا حجة لنا لا علينا ربنا لا تزغ قلوبنا بعد إذ هديتنا وهب لنا من لدنك رحمة إنك أنت الوهاب

A Useful Rule in Name Pronunciation If you see the nisbah titles (الهمداني) and (الهمذاني) in a text, you might think the difference is just in a dot. But actually, there is also a slight difference in pronunciation. For (الهمداني), you should read it with a sukun on the mim. It should thus be read: al-Hamdani. For (الهمذاني), you should read it with a fatha on the mim: It should thus be read: al-Hamadhani. It would be an inaccuracy to say al-Hamadani or al-Hamdhani. - Sh. 'Ali Salih al-Marri

For a split second I thought that Maduro was going to announce his enrolment to the Bayyinah Dream Program to learn Arabic in the summer. Let's get ready for Bayyinah Story Night: "Oiling the Arabic Learning Machine."

"Islam knows no distinction between a spiritual and temporal realm, between religious and secular activities. Both realms form a unity under the all-embracing authority of the Shari'a... Spiritual and temporal are the two complementary sides of the religious law. [The] Shari'a ... lays down precise rules and regulations governing his relations with God as well as with his fellow Muslims and non-Muslims. We are used to term the former 'religious' and the latter 'secular'. But where a religious law is all-comprehensive, this distinction falls to the ground." -Franz Rozenthal

If you see a speaker talking about applying the "rules" of Matn criticism to a Hadith that they want to problematize, they should not be taken seriously unless if they are a specialist in the field. Some amateurs, for instance, love to quote Ibn al-Qayyim's list of principles* for knowing a fabricated Hadith (from his book al-Manar al-Munif) and then haphazardly apply it to a report they want to delegitimize for sectarian and ideological reasons. These individuals fail to note that Ibn al-Qayyim himself qualified these criteria in other books and criticized individuals and groups who weakened hadiths out of the pretext that they oppose the dhahir (apparent import) of the Qur'an. Dr. Nabil Balhi (a specialist in Hadith) has warned against the contemporary tendencies of Matn criticism, saying that they mirror the method of the Khawarij, who were the first heterodox group to deny prophetic reports. All of this is not to say that Matn criticism is not important, but it goes hand in hand with Sanad criticism. These two realms are not separate but they actually interact. But the person who knows nothing about the field or how to appraise a chain cannot appreciate these intersections and thus has no business speaking about whether the text of a Hadith sounds "right" or "wrong". * these principles have actually been questioned by some scholars for being overbroad or marred with too many exceptions to become "rules".

"When Imam Ahmad has only one riwayah on a given issue, this means that a clear decisive evidence exists which settles the matter according to the noble Imam. Whereas when there are mutliple riwayahs from Imam Ahmad, this implies that the evidence is unclear, contradictory, or unsettled." - Sh. Ahmad al-Khalil

The online Da'wah personality claims that he is a student of knowledge, but when was the last time one of them said: "I claim to be a student of knowledge, but I am always on the internet tweeting, engaging in back-and-forths, and making 3-4 hours long "reaction" videos. When was the last time I actually finished a basic classical matn (primer) from cover to cover? When was the last time I reviewed my knowledge of Arabic and whether I even have the capability to study the primary sources directly on a matter? Should I take some time off?" "The issue that I am being corrected on has been debated and discussed for centuries. Maybe I should take a FEW MONTHS OFF from social media and study the issue with some scholars privately before talking about it at all." "You know what? I don't know enough about this issue or the latest controversy. Maybe I should wait until the dust settles, study the issue carefully, and consult the elders before speaking about it." "Why am I even debating this? Do I actually even care about this issue, or do I just care about proving that I am right? Wasn't I saying the opposite just a few years ago?" If you can't disappear from social media for several months at a row and are obsessed with having a public presence, chances are that you are not really a student of knowledge. You have bigger deeper issues in your heart and mind that need rectifying. Stop destroying yourself and your followers for your petty likes and engagement.

When the Jurist Consults the Historian: Trusting and Relying on the Experts of a Field Despite his weakness, al-Waqidi's standing in Sīrah is evident in an interesting story which states that Imam Mālik, when asked about the case of the woman who poisoned the Prophet ﷺ at Khaybar, said: "I have no knowledge about [what happened to] her, but I will ask the people of knowledge." Imam Mālik went to al-Waqidi, and asked him: "What did the Prophet ﷺ do with the woman who poisoned him at Khaybar?" Al-Waqidi told him: "What we have with us [in terms of related information] is that he [the Prophet ﷺ] had her executed." Mālik then said to the questioner who asked him about the woman: "I have asked the people of knowledge, and they informed me that he executed her."

"While Gutenberg made it possible for everyone to become a reader, Zuckerberg has afforded everyone the opportunity to turn into a writer." - Pierre Legrand And let's add this: Elon Musk made it possible for everyone to become an Islamophobe.