Advice for Tullāb ‘ilm

1 Bring up the book on Shamela. Paste into a doc.

While reading -
Delete fluff. Retain main points
Reformat categories with bullets
Color text that sets off a new topic

When you’re done with the book -
Congratulations, you’ve just created a mukhtasar
2 If, during abridgment, you add your own marginalia, explaining terms or concepts that require knowledge from other ‘ulūm or you cross-reference with other works on the subject,

double congrats — you’ve just created a hāshiya that wants to grow up and become a sharh.
3 A key feature of my teaching strategy is guiding students to *produce something* while studying.

This entails benefits such as:
a. note taking skills
b. distillation of main concepts
c. facilitating memorization
d. book mapping
e. prototype authoring
f. student collaboration
4 In my learning journey, I’ve come to realize that the processes developed to retain knowledge, structure it, integrate it into larger frameworks, and - finally - to synthesize new meaning, are just as important (maybe even more so) than the content, itself.
5 Maturation from student to teacher and teacher to scholar has much to do with these processes.

Good students become great teachers. Excellent teachers become a superb curriculum.

Excellence in doing anything is bound to benefit others. That’s why it’s an adab of the Sunna.
Happy authoring.

Signed,
Your Upcoming Book

May Allah’s infinite peace & blessings be upon Rasūlullāh, his pure progeny & folk, along with his gleaming companions, illuminated inheritors and all his loyal followers until the Last Day.

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More from @imanmbadawi

Jan 18,


Custom-based Rulings

1 In surveying Hanafī fiqh books, one finds that jurists were aware of changes in custom, even rapid ones. See two (of many) examples in which Imām Marghīnānī cites “variance of time period” as direct cause for the switching of custom-based rulings. ImageImage
2 This, in itself, isn’t new. What I found to be interesting, though, is that – on many occasions – this turn over occurred within the lifetimes of the three Imāms themselves. In a span of < 30 years, customs changed and the Imāms rapidly adjusted their rulings accordingly.
3 Considering the current state of ijtihādī stagnation, this level of juristic agility among the Imāms teaches us lessons.

The Imāms
a. weren’t distant from real life
b. exhibited juristic agility in the face of changing trends
c. their fiqh wasn’t rigid, but evolving
Read 6 tweets
Jan 15,


The Early Risāla

1 The Kharīda has deep significance to me for another reason.

When I was ~ 16, a relative began expressing doubts about God. We all go through stages of rational maturation in our faith, but his words frightened me. I was concerned and wanted to help him…
2 I think many can relate to the emotions involved in a relative expressing doubts or having a full-blown faith crisis. In cases where the doubts are a by-product of dysfunctional formative bonds, they may even lash out at family members, seeing them as part of the “God problem”
3 So, being the nerd I was, I wrote a small treatise in which I used rational proofs to substantiate the existence of God and to establish several of His Attributes. Prior to that, I had no expose to kalām. I just employed my mind to prove what my heart was absolutely certain of.
Read 13 tweets
Nov 16, 2021
Let’s have some #Hanafi fun.

Look closely. The Imams differed on what we call PEMDAS or order of operations. Based on the placing of the parentheses, the ‘answer’ changes.

Am I saying the Imams were masters of mathematical thinking? Yes.

Don’t believe me? Check out case two.
Here, the Imams agree on the outcome. Consider how they reached their conclusion.

The rule is, if the condition comes after the proclamation of divorce it alters the main statement.

Look closely to the reasoning. It’s mathematical — the disruptive property of multiplication.
Abu Hanifa was a businessman. He must have known math quite well.

What do you say about a man who combined mastery of Arabic, math, logic and fiqh, employing them all to understand revelation?

I say, he’s a genius.

Allah’s mercy be upon him and all the Imams.
Read 5 tweets
Nov 16, 2021
#Hanafi is home, but for now we’ll return to our regularly scheduled spiritual programming.

#egothink (1) The “mafhūm al-mukhālafa” ego principle.

When we speak against something, the underlying premise is,

If I SAY -x, then I must be BE/DOING x

I call it counter-boasting
How many times have you liked/retweeted/followed while thinking,

“He said it doesn’t make sense. He must be smart.”

“He said it’s haram. He must be pious.”

“He used the word ‘non-expert’. He must be an expert.”

Um, not exactly.

It’s a logical fallacy.

It’s #egothink
The danger is in the false reassurance this provides the speaker and follower.

Reality check — there are plenty of people who speak out against the very things they do,

even more who have distorted conceptual understandings,

and a great deal more who are just…not very smart.
Read 5 tweets
Nov 16, 2021


Simple tip. Nothing fancy-philosophical, super-sophisticated, or ultra-empirical. Simple but impactful, real.

When reading an Islamic book, orient yourself to search for deeds to add to your practice. Append a sticky note to the inner cover and record them as you go.

1/
When finished, return to your list. Make a plan to practice each item. Some might be long-term goals and some might be immediate habit-goals.

Don’t move onto another book until you’ve actualized your list. Keep the note in the book as a reminder the next time you open it.

2/
This is the real way to acquire sacred knowledge, because what you *know* isn’t what you’ve read, but what has become a part of you. This is true in many fields of study, but no more so than in Islamic studies.

The study of Islam isn’t academic, it’s transformative.

3/
Read 7 tweets
Nov 9, 2021
Students of the Hanafi School often come to observe, with time, that the usūl, qawā’id, and dawābit of the madhhab are (in many cases) derived directly or indirectly from the Quran and Sunna. This is a magnificent aspect of the Hanafi thought system.

I gather these examples.
There are so many examples in which the Imāms tried squeezing as much ‘fiqh-juice’ from the Hadīth corpus as possible.

They’d derive whole principles from matters to which we’d scarcely give second thought.

I never ceased to be amazed by the depth of their reading of the Sunna.
Abu Hanīfa didn’t just take the contents of the Prophet’s actions as evidence but even their mode.

It’s so important to recognize how these Imāms employed their intellect. The Sunna wasn’t just texts to them. It was a comprehensive whole.
Read 12 tweets

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