KR

Just for the record, all comments of mine shared above were from 2021 and are unrelated to any current events.

Andrew Booso: 📢 PLEASE NOTE: CHANGE OF VENUE 📢 بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ As-salāmu ʿalaykum wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh Al-ḥamdulillāh, we are honoured to host Shaykh Dr Mohammad Akram Nadwi this Sunday in Batley. --- 🗓 Programme Outline Sunday, 21 December 2025 🟢 11:00 – 12:30 The Pursuit of Knowledge 📍 Venue: Healey Community Centre 74 West Park Road, Batley WF17 7EL 🟢 Open to both men and women 🟢 Segregated seating arrangements will be in place ⏳ Time permitting, the session will conclude with a brief musalsalāt, during which the Shaykh will read a ḥadīth and grant ijāzah to those present. 📩 For further information: 6xq8v908m@mozmail.com All are encouraged to attend and benefit, in shāʾ Allāh.

The ahadeeth are not mutawatirah … quoting Sh Awwamah on it holds no worth either when you consider his stance re Jam’ Turuq

Regardless of the position and the khilaf on it, the tone is appalling, and one wonders if they’d dare adopt the same for someone like Mufti Taqi Usmani

See the footnote

Should show them that Mufti Taqi Usmani removed the inclusion of the Mahdi from the mukhtasar ʿaqīdah matn that Shaykh Haitham al-Haddad worked on

Don't agree w Sh Akram here but this response is OTT.

What is truly disheartening is how senior schoalrs and mosque committees allow themselves to be intimidated by these سفهاء الأحلام. At the faintest whiff of criticism, they buckle and retreat. One wonders what would have happened had Ibn Abbas adopted the same attitude of appeasement when the Khawarij began their absurd arguments against Ali ibn Abi Talib. This is the same sordid mosque politics that permits far more controversial figures (controversial by their own standards) to be hosted without protest, or beardless Egyptian Qaris like Hindawi to attend without a murmur—because the politics allow it. It is the same ignorance that tolerates the widespread plastering of the blatantly fabricated post-‘Asr Friday “80 salawat.” I have long maintained that Dewsbury and Batley suffer from an underbelly of systemic jahl. A jahl that draws red lines against truth under the guise of loyalty to a particular orientation. A jahl where mosque committees lack the spine to issue a firm no to fitnah-mongers. For those genuinely interested in approaching this issue with intellectual honesty rather than polemics, I have been trying to get hold of the following work. It is a critical study of the narrations concerning the Mahdi, examining their chains, texts, and the religious, historical, political, and social dimensions of the belief: ياسر أحمد الشمالي روايات المهدي: دراسة نقدية في الأسانيد والمتون دار الفرقان – عمّان Unlike anonymised outrage, this one might actually be worth reading.

In his book on agreed-upon aspects of faith, Haitham Haddad initially included belief in the Mahdi as an article of creed. In a footnote, however, he explains that Mufti Taqi Usmani advised him to remove it on the grounds that it is not as clear-cut or foundational as other established articles of faith. Yes, belief in the Mahdi is held by the overwhelming majority of Muslims. However, it is not a theological slam dunk such that dissent warrants excommunication from the Ahl al-Sunnah. It cannot and was not treated as a central tenet of creed in the early works of Hadith or theology. A stray reference here and there, or the now ritualistic assertion that the narrations are mutawatir, simply does not cut the mustard. So it is not in al-Tahawiyyah. It is not in al-Nasafiyyah, unless one stretches an indirect passage. Taftazani, in his commentary, metions the Mahdi only in passing while making an entirely different point. As far as I can see, al-Maturidi does not name him at all in the books written by him that are present on e-libraries. Nor does al-Ash‘ari. In his Maqalat al-Islamiyyin, the Mahdi appears only insofar as hadiths on the topic are reported, and not as a standalone creedal pillar. Ironically, one of the earliest figures to hammer home the Mahdi as a theological issue was Uthman ibn Sa‘id al-Darimi, who, according to that same crowd of anonymous cowards, would be denounced as an anthropomorphist. This should give pause to some anonymous hotshot molvis of Dewsbury and Batley who kicked up a storm over Dr Akram Nadwi’s attendance to teach a lesson in Hadith in the Dewsbury-Batley area over the Xmas period, which has now been cancelled from Hope Street Mosque and moved to Healey Community Centre. If these cowards possess some consistency, they should be willing to mete out identical treatment to Mufti Taqi, who clearly regards belief in the Mahdi as a lower tier of doctrine. I won’t hold my breath. As I have long said, Dr Akram is a soft target. These cowards routinely lampoon him precisely because they know there will be no meaningful pushback against them. After all, when Dr Akram was publicly described as a “bald-headed shiny creature,” no scholar from those circles rushed to condemn it. No ijazah was revoked. No public reprimand was issued. Instead, everyone from that particular persuasion was more than happy to go along for the ride. And even if the Mahdi issue fails to stick, they will pivot to his views on demonic possession. Then taqlid shakhsi. Then ikhtilat. Then the absence of his topi. “Throw whatever mud at the wall and see what sticks” appears to be the strategy. But Dr Akram Nadwi’s views on the Mahdi, views he would not even be teaching in Dewsbury and Batley and are long known to be held by him, are suddenly an existential threat to the religious lifeblood of Muslims in Dewsbury-Batley. The selective outrage is palpable. When Mufti Taqi’s position conveniently exposes the non-essential status of Mahdi belief, these same people suddenly fall silent. Yet they remain incapable of treating Dr Akram Nadwi’s comments with the scholarly restraint that they demand from others when it comes to Mufti Taqi. If these people had an ounce of courage, they would try banning the views and works of Shaykh Yunus Jaunpuri - he had plenty of those views. Why don’t they? Because raising a finger against him would be reputational suicide, and their inflated egos matter more than truth. This is why I call them cowards. They said nothing when he visited Dewsbury and Batley during his lifetime, and they will say nothing now.

أكثر الخلاف الواقع بين الناس اليوم مرده ليس إلى نقص المعرفة، وإلا لكانت معالجته قريبة، ولكنّ مرده إلى أخطاء التفكير، ونقص الأخلاق، وكلاهما عسر المعالجة. من قناة الشيخ عمرو بسيوني Translation: Most of the disagreements occurring among people today are not due to a lack of knowledge, otherwise their resolution would be easy, but rather due to errors in thinking and a deficiency in ethics, both of which are difficult to remedy. Shaykh 'Amr Basyuni https://t.me/+IdvBaZlbrwxmYTBk

Your Party is going to be run according to Shura.

The Shah and His Sources I mentioned in an earlier post that true engagement with the Shah requires engagement with his academic milieu and background. This includes literature from which he drew and figures whose thought or company may have influenced him. On that note, an extremely underappreciated researcher on Shah Waliyullah is the late sirah expert and director of Aligarh Muslim University's Institute of Islamic Studies, Dr. Yasin Mazhar Siddiqi Nadwi. He has a number of works on the Shah, but one that catches the eye is the above work (in Urdu, like his other books) on the sources from which al-Dihlawi drew in the various sciences, be they in the form of books or scholars. He divides the book according to the different sciences on which Shah Waliyullah had written, listing the various books and scholars that he benefits from in his various works in that science. It comes as no surprise that the first section is dedicated to Hujjat Allah al-Balighah, in which he also includes his treatment of al-Insaf and 'Iqd al-Jid.

Therefore, when seeking advice about where to pursue further studies, the first step should be to clarify for yourself what you actually want from such a program. 6) A simple piece of advice, intentionally broad in scope, is this: when deciding where to study, ask yourself what the scholarly output of the individual or institution has actually been. Look at the books, articles, translations, critical editions, research papers, or other contributions they have produced. Assess their depth, rigor, and impact within the field. If you find their work to be consistently strong, thoughtful, and academically meaningful, then studying under them or within that institution may well be worthwhile. Scholarly output is not the only criterion, but it is often a reliable indicator of seriousness, competence, and the intellectual environment you are likely to be entering. https://t.me/+IdvBaZlbrwxmYTBk

Postgraduate Studies and Takhaṣṣuṣ Many students nearing the completion of their studies at a madrasah, or an equivalent institution, begin to consider pursuing further education. In response to this growing interest, a wide range of postgraduate and specialisation (takhaṣṣuṣ) programs has emerged, especially with the ease of offering courses online. In light of this, it is worth reflecting on a few important points: 1) Just as in your madrasah studies, no teacher or institution can, by itself, make you a competent student or scholar. The primary factor in your development (after the help of Allāh) is the effort, discipline, and sacrifice you personally invest. Choosing the right institution and teachers is certainly important, but their role has limits; they can only take you so far. 2) Particularly in areas of specialisation, a teacher cannot realistically cover all the necessary books and topics with the student. Much of the teacher’s role is to point out relevant works, recommend key books or articles, and offer methodological guidance. It is neither possible nor expected for the teacher to sit and work through all of these materials in detail. As such, it becomes incumbent upon the student to read as widely and independently as possible. 3) Moreover, in specialised studies, many of the topics a student encounters may not be ones the teacher has personally researched in depth. In such cases, the student must pay close attention to the teacher’s method of study, research, and writing, and then apply that method to the topic at hand. This transition can be challenging, especially for students who are accustomed to learning a single text directly from a teacher and being examined primarily on that text. 4) With this in mind, enrolling in a formal postgraduate or specialisation program is not always necessary. If a graduate is able to pursue serious study and research independently, while maintaining connections with specialists and engaging deeply with their works, they may achieve comparable outcomes. That said, formal programs do provide structure, guidance, and access to resources that may not otherwise be available, and these advantages should be weighed carefully. 5) Choosing which course to enrol in, and identifying which programs are genuinely the strongest, is a difficult task for several reasons: a) There is now a large number of such courses available, many of which are relatively new. As a result, it is often unclear how rigorous a given program truly is, or how it compares to similar initiatives in terms of depth, consistency, and academic standards. b) With the assistance of AI tools, producing a seemingly robust and impressive syllabus can be done very quickly. As such, a course may appear excellent on paper, but the real question is whether those texts and topics will actually be covered in practice, and at what level of competence. I have attached a document in which AI generated a highly rigorous syllabus for the study of manṭiq in a matter of seconds. While someone already well-versed in the field might detect gaps or weaknesses, an average student (myself included) could easily be impressed and assume a high level of scholarly depth. This raises a further and more important question: regardless of how strong the syllabus appears, do the instructors themselves possess the expertise and ability required to teach it effectively? c) We are not always looking for the same outcomes. What I expect from a specialisation program may differ significantly from what someone else is seeking. For some, the primary value lies in being immersed in a scholarly environment and spending time with particular teachers. Others may be more focused on developing genuine expertise that enables meaningful contribution to the field. Some students prefer fewer structured teaching hours with greater emphasis on independent research, while others benefit from more guided instruction and classroom time.

A quick review on the “My Wudhu Companion”: It works. However, it should be noted that it is based on Flairosol patented technology, the patent for which was filed in 2011 in various jurisdictions such as Europe and the US. So one can buy a Flairosol product that is not branded as “My Wudhu Companion” for cheaper and achieve the same result for ablution. There are other non-Flairosol continuous most products in the market, especially from China, although it is unclear if they violate that patent. Although this technology does offer solutions in situations such as travel where there are no designated Wudu outlets, it does create a problem at home and at mosques where there are those facilities. The mist technology renders most tap water usage to be potentially Israf. This requires further discussion in scholarly circles. Ironically, knowing the information shared above, one paying a premium for the “Islamic brand” for the same technology might constitute israf in its own right. Happy shopping.