Touching the Bible in a State of Impurity

Ibn ʿĀbidīn al-Shāmī (d. 1252) writes:

“The correct position is that it is disliked to touch the Bible (in its original language whilst in a state of ritual impurity), because only some parts of these books have been altered. the majority of their contents remain unchanged, and therefore, it must be honored and protected.”

[Radd al-Muḥtār].

Ibn Juzayy (d. 741) discusses the Iʿrāb of أن in the following verse:

“Do not ascribe anything as a partner to Him...”

ألا تشركوا به شيئا

It is said that:

a) The أن is a Ḥarf ʿIbārah/Tafsīr, which doesn't have any Iʿrāb, and the لا is “Nāhiyah” (prohibiting) which makes— —the Fiʿl = Majzūm.

It is also said that:

b) The أن is Maṣdariyyah and في موضع رفع (after the Taʾwīl with its verb), and the Taqdīr would be:

الأمرُ أن لا تشركوا

So based on this, the لا would “Nāfiyah” (negating).

Some of the classical scholars who didn't perform Ḥajj in their lifetime

1) Al-Qayrawānī (d. 386)
2) Ibn Ḥazm (d. 456)
3) Ibn Sīdah (d. 458)
4) Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (d. 463)
5) Abū Isḥāq al-Shīrāzī (d. 476)
6) Al-Dāmighānī (d. 478)
7) Al-Baghawī (d. 516) 8) Al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (d. 544)
9) Al-Dawlaʿī (d. 578)
11) Al-Munḏirī (d. 656)
12) Ibn Jamāʿah (d. 733)
14) Ibn Rajab (d. 795)

This is also evident in some of the errors they made in describing the rituals of ḥajj, likely due to the fact they had not experienced ḥajj themselves.

It is commonly claimed that the great ḥadīt͟h critic Ibn Maʿīn (d. 233) used the expression laysa bi-shayʾ (lit. he is nothing) for narrators that had small pools of transmission, which means they did not retain and narrate many aḥādīt͟h. According to this reading, Ibn Maʿīnʾs evaluative statement laysa bi-shayʾ does not carry with it a negative value judgement.

Abū Ghuddah (d. 1997) explicitly rejected the claim that Ibn Maʿīn used the phrase laysa bi-shayʾ with this special meaning (though some exceptions—

Is Laylah al-Qadr really specified to the 27th of Ramaḍān?

Ubayy Ibn Kaʿb had sworn by Allāh and stated about Laylatul Qadr:

“it is the night on the eve of the 27th of Ramaḍān. Its sign is that the sun will rise in the morning of that day, white without exuding any rays.” Al-Nawawī (d. 676) writes commenting on this ḥadīt͟h:

“The ḥadīt͟h of Ubayy Ibn Ka‘b indicates that he firmly believed Laylah al-Qadr to be on the twenty-seventh night of Ramaḍān. However, this is just one of several scholarly opinions on the matter.

“Most Imāms of the mosques in Damascus would peck really fast whilst leading Tarāwīḥ. They used to recite al-Fātiḥah in one breath and then recite

{الرحمن • علم القرآن • خلق الإنسان • علمه البيان}

and then bend down for Rukūʿ. They would do the same for every Rakʿah. Except for a few who used to pray whilst taking their time, calling Allāh without being bogged down about the number of Rakaʿāt. Some would recite a whole Juzʿ in one night with Tartīl.

Look at how scholars deal with that which is not known to them:

In Sharḥ Muntaha-l Irādāt, al-Buhūtī (d. 1051) says whilst discussing the rulings of al-Tarāwīḥ:

“It is not preferred that the Imām exceeds beyond one completion of the Qurʾān for Tarāwīḥ unless however that's— —what they (the congregation) prefer. Also, it is not preferred that they (the congregation) go for anything less than a completion of the whole Qurʾān, so they can attain its rewards.

Knowing the 'ḥikmah' (الحكمة - wisdom) of shar’ī rulings allows us to worship Allāh ﷻ more sincerely.

Scholars have outlined that the wisdom behind legislating moonsighting by naked eye. • to allow ease for all Muslims and not hardship through rigorous calculations & unnecessary precision attempts.
• This is also why the khabar of a single, trustworthy person is sufficient for entry of Ramaḍān.

*Layers and shades of Fear in the Qurʾān*

The Arabic language is incredibly rich and nuanced, allowing for precise and subtle distinctions in meaning. This depth is particularly evident in the Qurʾān, where different words are used to convey specific shades of meaning that— —often get lost in translation. Take the concept of ‘Fear’, for example. In English translations of the Qurʾān, we often come across words like ‘scared’, ‘petrified’, ‘horrified’, etc. But these terms fail to capture the precise emotional and psychological states the original—

Don't let your heart be like a sponge...

Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728) once advised his student Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751) as follows:

“Do not let your heart be like a sponge for all the doubts that pass by it, such that it absorbs them all up. If you let your heart drink every doubt that passes by you, it will become a resting place for doubts.”

[Miftāḥ Dār as-Sa’ādah, 1/443].

Instead, he told him to make his heart like a solid object, so the doubts which pour down on it like rain, they pass over it, and don't—

You need to always keep this in mind when you read or hear harsh and razor-sharp words scholars have to say about each other at times. The following example is sensitive given the names involved, but if this doesn't drive the message home, then nothing will. During the miḥnah (fitnah of Khalq al Qur’ān) al-Buwayṭī (d. 231) was amongst the ones trialed in heavy chains and shackles around his neck, which eventually led to his death after months of savage imprisonment. He held al-Muzanī (d. 264) amongst others to be responsible.

Explaining a Mukhtaṣar with millions of tafr’īāt is less beneficial than picking up a slightly larger text where these tafrī’āt are already there as a part of the original text, in a seamless manner.

https://twitter.com/Shahidris9/status/1887608763495915795

The story, as it now seems, is that going through a Mukhtaṣar allows one to add a lot more masā’il onto it during its explanation which gives a false impression of the teacher being greatly knowledgeable where he “knows so much more.”

Doesn’t want to teach a readable text but a cryptic abridged primer because it’s not time for detailed and elaborate study. Continues to teach the primer where the commentary for each chapter is so deep and so extensive that, by the time the book is complete:

1. The intermediate text could’ve been covered twice in this time.

This is an interesting discourse on how knowledge specified by the Revelation can shift things that are possible in themselves (al-jāʾiz) to being necessary (al-wājib) or impossible (al-mustaḥīl) due to Allāh ﷻ informing us about their occurrence or their lack of occurrence. It is from the Ḥashiyah of Ibn Ḥamdūn on Mayyārah’s commentary on Matn Ibn ʿĀshir.

The discussion touches on how the human intellect has limits and how it can not contradict Divine Revelation.

The old Shaykh and the prostitute...

“I have a lot of stories to tell about those scholars who left a lasting impact on people simply via their sincerity. I'll mention one such story that was narrated to me by Professor Aḥmad Ḥasan al-Zayyat (chief editor of Risālah magazine). It was about a Shaykh whose name he mentioned, but I can't quite remember. He said,

'This old shaykh used to be a teacher. His whole life revolved around Al-Azhar mosque, where he would teach. It meant the world to him, and he didn't know really about anything else except for—

The linguistic eloquance of the Qur’ān in Al-Fātiḥah

Arabic is essential for understanding the deeper features of the Qur’ān.

Allāh ﷻ, states:

إياك نعبد وإياك نستعين

“You alone do we worship, and from You alone do we seek help.”

[Qur’ān: 1:4]. In the structure of this verse, the maf’ūl bihī [مفعول به: the person / thing subjeced to a verb/ action], which is إياك (meaning “you alone”)، is brought before the the fi’l [1st person plural imperfect verb] e.g. “we worship” and “we seek help.”

If somebody has a good footing in the Arabic language, and a good working knowledge of grammar, and is looking for a Tafsīr work to study. I would recommend starting with the brilliant Tafsīr of Ibn Juzayy. This is, in my opinion, by far the best Mukhtaṣar in Tafsīr, superior to al-Jalālayn. It combines all the essential currents of Tafsīr, bringing together Naḥw, Balāghah, Tazkiyah al-Nafs, Aḥkām al-Qur’ān and Asbāb al-Tarjīḥ between various opinions—

An extremely Long Beard is Foolishness - اللحية

An extremely long beard was considered a sign of negligence (غفلة) and foolishness (حمق) by the Salaf.

For this reason, some scholars of Ḥadīt͟h would weaken/criticise (جرح) someone for having a massive beard. If a man is careless/negligent (غافل) about his own beard - he will be careless with narrations.

1- Al-Ḏahabī narrates:

Ḵālid was asked: “You entered Kūfah, why didn't you accept narrations from Mujālid?”
He replied: “Because he had a long beard.”

[Mīzān al-‘itidāl, 3/438].

The main focus here is how to deal with problematic aḥādīt͟h (mushkil al-ḥadīth). Before proceeding, however, a word on conflicting aḥādīt͟h (mukhtalif al-ḥadīth) is in order. Jurists laid out the following procedure for dealing with conflicting aḥādīt͟h. The first step is to harmonize (jamʿ) between the conflicting reports. The Prophet (ﷺ) prohibited a person from placing one leg on the other when lying down, but he reportedly did exactly that on one occasion.

Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728) swore more than seventy oaths that Muslims will be victorious in Shām (Greater Syria)

The fear of Tartars in the hearts of the Muslims is well known to a historian who studies Muslim history. When Tartars had mobilised towards Shām against the Muslims, Ibn Taymiyyah took an oath, which was against the odds at that time, that unlike the previous confrontation, in which Muslims suffered a defeat, Muslims will this time defeat the Tartars.

“I have never seen anyone more eager and determined in seeking knowledge than three people:

Al-Jāḥiẓ,

Al-Fatḥ b. Khāqān,

and Ismā’īl b. Isḥāq al-Qāḍī.

As for Al-Jāḥiẓ, he would read any book that his hands fell on, cover to cover. As for al-Fatḥ, he would carry the book in his socks* and whenever he would leave the presence of (the caliph) al-Mutawakkil to answer the call of nature or to pray, he would get the book out and read whilst walking until he reached the place.