Hadith Commentary
Sports and Entertainment in Islam
As regards to the ruling of entertainment and sports in general, my teacher and my father ‘Allamah Mufti Muhammad Shafi’ (may Allah have mercy on him) compiled an independent treatise on it, published in his book Ahkam al-Qur’an. I will summarise in what follows the conclusions that he reached after enumerating the texts narrated on… »
The Hijab of Women and its Boundaries
Writings on the topic of the veiling and unveiling of women have proliferated in our time. The best that I have seen on this subject is a treatise by my late father Shaykh Mufti Muhammad Shafi’ (Allah have mercy on him) which he called Tafsil al-Khitab fi Tafsir Ayat al-Hijab, which is a section from… »
Wahdat al-Wujud, Wahdat al-Shuhud and the Safest Position
Some people adduce the poem of Labid (Allah be pleased with him) as proof that the doctrine of the Oneness of Being (Wahdat al-Wujud) is correct. This doctrine along with its corresponding doctrine of the Oneness of Perception (Wahdat al-Shuhud) is not among the doctrines that are necessary in the religion to know or to… »
The Issue of Tawassul in Du’a
The hadith … proves the permissibility of tawassul in du’a through good deeds. As far as tawassul through essences and persons is concerned, there has been much discussion on this among the ‘ulama, and many debates on it have taken place, at times one of the debaters being led to accuse the other of deviance…. »
On the Permissibility of Writing Ta‘widhat
The starting point in the issue of ruqyah is that it is done by reciting the Noble Qur’an or some of the names of Allah Most High or His attributes, and thereupon to blow on the sick. This has been established from the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) in a number of… »
On the Permissibility of Ruqyah
Al-Hafiz said in al-Fath (10:195): “The ‘ulama are agreed on the permissibility of ruqyahs when three conditions are met: that it is [done] using Allah’s speech or using His names and attributes; it is in the Arabic language, or in a manner that its meaning is understood if another language [is used]; and to believe… »
Knowledge of the Five
Al-Qurtubi said: “No one can expect to know one of these five matters because of this hadith. The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) explained the statement of Allah Most High: “With Him are the keys of the ghayb (unseen), that none knoweth but He” (6:59) as these five. And this [hadith] is… »
The Issue of the Ambiguous Attributes of Allah
His statement “two fingers of the fingers of the Most Merciful”: al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “This is from the hadiths of attributes and there are two views in regards to them which have just preceded:
“One of them is to believe in them without venturing into ta’wil (interpretation), or trying to understand… »
Seeking Blessing through the Relics of the Prophets and the Pious
Some ‘ulama adduce from this narration of Ibn Sa’d proof that tabarruk through the relics of the pious is prohibited. However, this inference is not strong, because it is possible ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him) cut down the tree because he was aware that the tree at which the pledge was taken is… »
A Query about Mujaddids and their Signs
The beginning [of something] is referred to as ra’s therefore a mujaddid would be at the beginning of a century although the beginning of a century is also the end of the century that preceded it because it is possible someone may refer to it as the end [of that preceding century]. Anyway, in whichever… »
