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- ‏برنامج ‎#بودكاست_تفكيك يُعنى بنقض الشبهات حول الوحيين، وتثبيت محكمات الدين، عبر طرحٍ علمي مبسط في حلقات مرئية ومسموعة. ✨️ قريبا بإذن الله

Qur’anic Maxims “O humankind, there has to come to you instruction from your Lord and healing for what is in the hearts and guidance and mercy for the believers.” (Quran 10:57) یَـٰۤأَیُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ قَدۡ جَاۤءَتۡكُم مَّوۡعِظَةࣱ مِّن رَّبِّكُمۡ وَشِفَاۤءࣱ لِّمَا فِی ٱلصُّدُورِ وَهُدࣰى وَرَحۡمَةࣱ لِّلۡمُؤۡمِنِینَ The translation of this verse evokes strong emotions, and the original Arabic text carries even greater emphasis. Allah's message provides guidance, exhortation, instruction, and emphasises that the Qur’an serves as a healing remedy for humanity, extending beyond believers and Muslims. It offers guidance for all mankind and mercy for those who believe. The Qur’an serves as a remedy for the ailments of the heart and chest, which is central to our psychological well-being and interconnected with other dimensions of our being. Reciting the Qur’an involves paying close attention to every letter and command, implementing its teachings, and inviting others to follow its guidance. The Qur’an addresses various dimensions of the human psyche, which work in harmony with distinct features emanating from each dimension. The recitation of the Qur’an and adherence to its teachings provide healing. Specialised practices like Ruqya involve reciting Qur’anic verses on individuals for healing, emphasising attentive listening and engagement. The sounds and recitation act as a source of healing for people. The frequencies embedded in Qur’anic recitation reach the ears, then stimulate brain cells, affecting them through electronic fields generated by these frequencies. The cells respond by modifying their vibrations, leading to perceptible changes in feeling and understanding (in the hearts) after repeated exposure. The Qur’an act as a spring flowing within our psyche as per the authentic Hadith. This process reflects the natural system bestowed by Allah upon brain cells, maintaining a balance as described in the Qur’an: "Allah's laws according to the pattern on which He has made mankind: No change let there be in the work by Allah: that is the straight path (din), but most of men know not" (Al-Rum, 30). Reciting the Qur’an audibly is encouraged to achieve the most profound transformation with understanding. May Allah allow the Qur’an to flow as a spring within our hearts.

طبقات العلماء الكفار عند أحفاد الأزارقة من الوهابية

Because of their training or lack of it, Deobandīs have not fully sorted out the relationship between fatwā, legislation, and policymaking. They still operate on the assumption that piecemeal changes through individual fatwās are enough to respond to the changes taking place in the modern world. However, if approached from the perspective of legislation and policymaking, Deobandī outlook on deviation from the standard opinion in the madhhab might very well change, i.e., the threshold for necessity and need might be reached sooner than many Deobandī muftīs are currently willing to concede. Moreover, it might even compel them to abandon taqlīd in certain areas such as economics and finance, and resort to legal reasoning based on general principles of Islamic law, the original Ḥanafī methodology. However, the psychological leap involved in such an approach is so great that we have yet to see any major Deobandī scholar engage in it.

But education and spirituality were not the only projects undertaken by the Deobandīs. As we saw in chapter two, Deobandīs understood their task as inheritors of the Prophet to also include raising the word of Allah. This meant that they had to find ways of operationalizing Islam not only in the private sphere but also the public sphere. It is this vision of Islam as a comprehensive way of life and a desire to demonstrate it as such that has driven many Deobandīs such as Seohārvī, Gīlānī, Shafīʿ, Mīrathī and most recently Taqī ʿUsmānī to articulate the details of what they consider to be the Islamic solution to economic problems. However, this is also where structural weaknesses of the Deobandī movement come into sharp relief.

Underlying both of these reasons, i.e., limitations in education and social research, is the extremely important role played by Deobandī elders or akābir in determining the direction of the movement. As we saw in chapter two, more than ʿulamā as a whole, it is these akābir who have been the custodians of change among Deobandīs. Deobandī stances on matters of theology and fiqh that continue to divide South Asian Sunnīs are the result of their akābir’s choices made in the colonial context. Similarly, a strong rejectionist attitude towards everything British and thus Western most clearly visible in Deobandī stances toward matters of Islamic identity are a result of the akābir’s choices. The one exception in this regard was the British idea of mass schooling which the early akābir came to adopt wholeheartedly. Mass schooling implemented in the form of madrasas helped Deobandīs become the largest producer of ʿulamā in India and postindependence, in Pakistan. At the same time, Deobandīs also deployed the medieval institution of the khānqāh (Sufi lodge) to instill spirituality among the masses. The result of these twin sets of institutions was a fusion of fatwā and taqwā which helped engender a conservative spirit among Deobandīs thereby limiting their flexibility in the face of rapid socio-economic and political change.

The second factor that plays a role in forming a jurist’s judgment is his education. As we saw in the third chapter, despite vigorous calls for reform from within and without, Deobandīs have moved with a glacial pace with regards to educational reforms in their madrasas. Part of the reason is their insecurities vis-à-vis outside influences which are a result of their countercultural tendencies that they developed during the colonial era and that have continued to grow in postindependence Pakistan. This hinders any embrace of rapid change. The other possible reason is that any meaningful educational reform would require integration of medieval and modern knowledge, an intellectual task that most Deobandīs are simply not trained to undertake. Innovative thinking is not encouraged in Deobandī circles and the Deobandī academic complex in Pakistan does not have institutions for fostering intellectual dialog. This is because the main avenues for intellectual exchange are either informal and infrequent conversations or formal written refutations.

It is here that a muftī’s understanding of the wāqiʿ (ground reality) plays a crucial role. We have seen how Taqī ʿUsmānī stands out among his fellow ʿulamā due to his diverse education and extensively broad exposure to the modern world. He engages with the common man on the street as well as the global Muslim political, business, and scholarly elite. Having served as a judge in the highest Islamic court of Pakistan and being on the board of various global organizations gives him a view of the world and its problems that his Deobandī critics cannot even hope to emulate. At the same time, Taqī ʿUsmānī’s methodology for knowing the social condition also suffers from the same weakness as other Deobandīs. It is purely anecdotal in nature and there is no role whatsoever of the social sciences to better understand the wāqiʿ. In fact, Taqī ʿUsmānī is the exception that proves the rule. Although his foundation is in the Deobandī educational system, what makes him unique is all those activities that he engaged in outside of the Deobandī educational system. As such, his training and experiences cannot be easily replicated and his particular application of fatwā principles is only being passed on in a limited circle comprising mostly his students.

Abstract Broadly speaking, this dissertation examines how traditionally trained Muslim jurists respond to changes brought on by modernity. More specifically, this dissertation focuses on a group of traditionally trained jurists (Ḥanafīs) who belong to a social/religious reform movement (Deobandīs) that arose in a colonial context (British India) and is currently operating in a postcolonial state (Pakistan). The main case study is a recent, as yet unconcluded, debate among contemporary Pakistani Deobandīs regarding the legitimacy or otherwise of Islamic banking. The dissertation uses this case study to answer two sets of questions, one pertaining to flexibility in Islamic law and the other regarding the relationship between legal education and legal reasoning. The dissertation thus has three major parts dealing respectively with Deobandī education, Deobandī economic thought, and the Deobandī approach to fatwa-giving. One of the central arguments of this study is that even a strict taqlīd regime (adherence to a single school of law) like the one that Deobandīs follow contains within it tools for flexibility as exemplified by Muftī Taqī ʿUsmānī’s approach to Islamic banking. These tools are the principles governing deviation from the standard opinion (muftā bihi) of the Ḥanafī School such as ḍarūra (necessity), ḥāja (need), ʿumūm balwā (general affliction), ʿurf (custom), etc. Deploying these tools, however, requires a jurist to exercise his subjective judgement which is what separates Taqī ʿUsmānī from his critics. A jurist’s subjective judgment on any issue is a function of his education, experience, and research. Whereas Deobandī madrasas provide excellent training in Islamic sciences, the average Deobandi graduate suffers from weaknesses in the other two areas, i.e., limited exposure to the world and reliance on anecdotal research as opposed to social scientific research. This is a consequence of the heavier focus on transmission of knowledge in Deobandī madrasas as opposed to production of new knowledge. Moreover, these madrasas developed a religious vs. worldly knowledge binary during the colonial period that persists to this day. The result is an educational system that is not designed to produce intellectuals. Part of the reason why Deobandī approach to knowledge and education has been slow to change is the extremely important role senior scholars, called akābir or elders, play in the movement. More than the ʿulamā as a whole, it is these akābir who are the custodians of change among Deobandīs, and they have yet to practically embrace the idea of integration of medieval and modern knowledge. As a result, Deobandīs as a group have still not fully understood the modern condition especially in so far as some areas of fiqh such as economics and finance overlap with national-level legislation or policymaking and thus require one to engage in system-level thinking as opposed to piecemeal fatwas. Although Taqī ʿUsmānī is more cognizant of this need than his critics, he is the exception that proves the rule. Consequently, not only is there a disconnect between the critics’ arguments against Islamic banking and their other fatwas on economic and financial matters, Deobandīs’ overall approach to education and fatwa-giving also handicaps them in their self-assigned mission to implement Islam in Pakistan as a comprehensive way of life.

العلة في اتساع جُود وكرَم النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم- في رمضان أكثرَ من غيره: ______ قال الحافظ ابن رجب الحنبلي: وقد كان رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - هذا الكتابُ له خُلقا، بحيث يرضى لرضاه، ويسخط لسخطه، ويُسارع إلى ما حثَّ عليه، ويمتنع مما زجَر عنه؛ فلهذا كان يتضاعف جُوده وإفضالُه في هذا الشهر؛ لقُرب عهده بمخالطةِ جبريل - عليه السلام - وكثرة مدارسته له هذا الكتابَ الكريمَ الذي يحُثُّ على المكارم والجود. ولا شك أن المُخالطة تؤثِّر وتُورِث أخلاقا من المُخالَط. كان بعض الشعراء قد امتدح ملِكا جوادا فأعطاه جائزةً سَنِيَّة، فخرج بها من عنده، وفرَّقَها كلها على الناس، فأنشد: لمستُ بكفِّي كَفَّه أبتغي الغِنى ولم أدرِ أن الجود من كفِّه يُعدي فبلغَ ذلك الملكَ فأضعَف له الجائزة. وقد قال بعض الشعراء يمتدح بعض الأجواد - ولا يصلح أن يكون ذلك إلا لرسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم-: تعوَّد بسطَ الكفِّ حتى لو انَّه ثناها لقبضٍ لم تُجِبه أنامله تراه إذا ما جئته متهللا كأنك تُعطيه الذي أنت سائلُه هو البحر من أي النواحي أتيتَه فَلُجَّتُه المعروف والجُود ساحلُه ولو لم يكن في كفِّه غيرُ رُوحه لجادَ بها فليتقِ اللهَ سائلُه.

How does fasting prevent one from sin? To abstain from sin requires willpower against the desire to perform that action. Willpower and innate desire are therefore two forces that exist on a spectrum. A person can only overcome his internal call to sin if his willpower is stronger than his desire. A person with 50% willpower can only overcome desires of 49% strength or under, and by increasing his willpower he increases his threshold of tolerance against the desire to sin. What fasting allows a person to do is two things: (1) To weaken their innate desire by abstaining from the things that fuel strength (food and drink). (2) To strengthen their willpower by actively refusing to eat, drink and be intimate; by abstaining from sin; and by training to be mindful (taqwa) and to remember God throughout the entire day. So, by weakening desire and strengthening willpower, a person becomes more tolerant of his internal call and increases the threshold of abstaining from sin. Practising this over Ramadan therefore serves as a 30-Day Training Program for the rest of the year.

The Divine Book Club is a new podcast led by Sh. Sohaib Saeed, with a down-to-earth approach aimed at sharing the essential message of the Quran. We need your support to cover production costs for this FREE initiative aimed at Muslims and others around the globe. In the Month of the Quran, help us create a new culture of reading in a language we understand, throughout the year! 👉 LaunchGood.com/DBC

#1 From the characteristics of the Salaf was their lack of conceit (‘ujb). It is related that Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) would say, ‘How many a lantern has been blown out by the wind, and how many a devotional act has been spoiled by conceit!’ Abu ‘Abdillah al-Antaki said, ‘The most harmful acts of obedience for a servant are those which cause him to forget his faults and remember his virtues, thereby increasing him in conceit and delusion while he is among others, and causing him to go to the Hereafter emptyhanded and bereft of goodness and reward while he considers himself one of the righteous.’ Mutarrif b. ‘Abdillah would say, ‘It is more beloved to me that I sleep through the night and wake up remorseful than to spend the night standing in prayer and then enter the morning feeling conceited and better than those who slept through the night.’ Hasan al-Basri said, ‘Were the son of Adam to do nothing but good deeds he would ruin himself with conceit; however, out of mercy to him, Allah tests him with seeing his faults.’ Rabi’a al-‘Adawiyya would say that the times in which she was most hopeful of good was when her righteous actions were lacking. That is because in those moments should we rely on Allah’s grace and largesse and not on her actions. Ibn al-Simak was asked about the reality of conceit, and he replied, ‘It is when you act haughtily with others due to your [righteous] actions, belittling those you deem deficient in good deeds.’

Imam ‘Abd al-Wahhab al-Sha’rani's Tanbih al-Mughtarrin (Rousing the Deluded) Imam ‘Abd al-Wahhab al-Sha’rani states in his introduction to this work that he collected examples of how the early generation of Muslims (Salaf) were in their devotions and character. He compares its composition to Imam al-Nawawi’s legal work al-Minhaj, explaining that just as al-Minhaj was the basis on which the scholars of his time gave legal rulings, this work is the basis on which masters of the spiritual path should give rulings related to standards of devotion and good character.

Ramadan Mubarak to everyone. In the spirit of taking the counsel of the Shaykhs of old who would advise their students to read less fiqh and similar sciences in Ramadan and put more attention in the Quran and books of Raqa'iq, I will--God willing--post one benefit each day of Ramadan from Imam al-Sha'rani's Tanbih al-Mughtarrin, which is one of the Imam's heavier works wherein he challenges the reader to compare his state to the state of the Salaf. May Allah accept your fasting, prayer, charity, recitation, and invocation.