Another thread on fatwa, ifta, and istifta

Self-diagnosis and self-medication are fine, but you alone are liable for your actions. You cannot blame a medical professional for any harm that ensues, even though that physician may have said the same thing in another context. Likewise, all what pro se ifta - self-administering fatwa - means is that you are removing the mufti from the equation and taking full responsibility for your practice in the eyes of Allah.

1. Thread on choosing a Madhhab, and some information on the Hanafi School. 2. This is in response to a question on my remark regarding which school a prospective student beginning higher Fiqh studies should choose. here are some reasons why he/she should not select the Hanafi School and should instead look at other schools as the basis of Fiqh learning.

A thread with some more musings on Qiyam Ramadan: 1. The Tada'i (تداعي) - purposeful invitation of people for congregational prayer - that is generally stipulated by those who make the distinction between Tarawih and Tahajjud (with Tarawih being conducted with Tada'i but not Tahajjud) does not stand up to scrutiny given that...

The overwhelming majority of Ahnaf - the type that engage in Fiqhi polemics - can't for their life see that the issues of Qiyam Ramadan - like the preferred number of rak'ahs, whether Tarawih is part of Tahajjud, etc. - fail to accept these are from the matters of valid khilaf They can be content with their own view, but they don't want to stop there. They want to impose their understanding of the conceptualisation of Tarawih on the entire Ummah, not just on Salafis, but on all non-Hanafis. As a Hanafi, it is very embarrassing to see this phenomenon.

Thread:
زلة العالم زلة العالم
A scholar’s slip up means the world slips up

There is no sect, group, denomination, geography, ethnicity, manhaj, maslak, jama’ah that is immune from this. There is no subject area or field where this hasn’t happened, from the mundane to the extreme Fabricated and weak hadiths, various innovations, a plethora of religious misconceptions, and many outright errors gain widespread acceptance because they are initially propagated/circulated by a popular and credible scholar.

1. Thread on Hanafi Usul 'l-Fiqh evolution, the pseudo-science that is Hanafi Usul 'l-Hadith, and the issue of Mursal as a case in point. 2. The issue of the acceptance or rejection of Mursal is one that is hotly contested across classical Muslim writings. This debate has been further polarised given the tremendous push – in some quarters – for the pseudo-science known as Hanafi Usul Hadith.

For the umpteenth time - a thread:

1. The mere existence of multiple chains of transmission isn’t enough for a weak Hadith or Riwayah to be upgraded to the level of acceptability. 2. Consider it analogous to unverified / fake news, which spreads primarily among people who are less scrupulous about verification. Reputable sources simply don’t spread such news.

1.Thread on alternative methods of Ifta, different from the Mu'tamad model. But before that, I should add a brief comment on why this issue is important. It is important because the manner in which Ifta acc to Mu'tamad is being presented nowadays is grossly anachronistic. 2.Islam obviously didn’t start off with Ifta according to Mu'tamad. You had the Messenger عليه الصلاة والسلام passing infallible fatwas. Then you had scholars passing fatwa out of Ijtihad, whether as individuals or in a council.

1/25: The latest mutation of the Mu’tamad Fiqh, comprising of young hotshots from across the world – from Toronto to London, from Cairo to Durban, from Amman to Kuala Lumpur – acts as if it is so rooted in tradition, in deference to the authority of the respective schools of Fiqh 2/ The above model of theirs is just a fashionable way of doubling down on three widely discredited views:

9. He was then invited to teach at Darul Ilm (Dewsbury), an outfit for sisters. He taught various texts there including Sahih 'l-Bukhari. He taught there until his death. His loss will be most felt by the sisters who have lost an active teacher, having only partially taught them. 10. His students run into the hundreds at the Maktab level. There is barely any Muslim family in the locality of Batley that has not been touched by his passing. Many of his pupils are, by now, parents, even grandparents. At the Alimiyyah level, his students are spread globally.

These are some passing thoughts on the demise of M. Yusuf Patelmama (or Mama) of Batley, UK.

1. His passing truly represents the loss of knowledge – for those who studied under him, he is irreplaceable. 2. He was born in Kafleta, in the Surat District of Gujarat. His mother died when he was four, and was cared for by his aunt. He later moved to his adopted village of Taraj, where he married the youngest of several siblings (the only surviving sibling and aunt to both my parents)

1a. For Hadith students: This is a thread on Muhammad Awwamah’s book حكم العمل بالحديث الضعيف. It is a small addition to the criticisms already levelled at it, by Salaf Center, S. Hatim and others, as well any other ones that will be released in the future. 1b. It seems Awwamah was making up stuff that may sound nice in a vacuum with plenty of quotations, but much of it is not based on any sound principle or rationale. One example of this will be discussed later (re: the issue of الستارة)