Email: contact@hawramani.com | Twitter Languages: English, Arabic, Persian / Farsi, Southern Kurdish I am a US-based Islamic studies researcher, software engineer and writer. I am currently working on completing Al-Azhar University’s curriculum for ʿālims (PhD Islamic scholars) on my own. I consider the Quran the unchanged Word of God and I derive my worldview from […]
This page contains the full text of Learning Quranic Arabic for Complete Beginners by Ikram Hawramani. You can get this book on Amazon.com as a paperback and Kindle ebook. Learning Quranic Arabic for Complete Beginners ✽ A Step by Step Self-Teaching Guide to the Arabic Language of the Quran Ikram Hawramani 2019StewardsPublishing STEWARDS PUBLISHING Copyright © 2019 Ikram Hawramani First […]
Master the Basics of Coding in Under Two Hours in Interactive Steps and Visual Examples Methods for using this guide: View the online version on this page (scroll down) Download a free PDF version Download a free Mobi version (for e-readers and ebook-reading apps, zipped) Buy the Kindle version on Amazon Buy the paperback version […]
There are numerous narrations that mention ruqya (the use of certain words, prayers or Quran recitations as charms or spells to heal or protect a person). I decided to to conduct a search of all major hadith collections and some minor ones to find all the hadiths that mention ruqya in order to find out […]
Introduction What is the biggest predictor of a country’s scientific output, industrial capacity and military prowess? It is not geographic size. For instance, Kazakhstan and Mongolia are huge compared to Israel and Switzerland, yet Israel and Switzerland far outdistance them in all measures of intellectual, technological and military attainment. It is not population. India’s 1.28 […]
Below is a table that is like a “best sellers” list, except that it only includes books that were published at least 50 years ago. Many of today’s best-selling novels will be forgotten in a few decades. The test of a really good novel is that people continue to read it decades after it was […]
The following table is a list of 50 countries that are predicted to have the most economic, technological and military power in the world by the year 2035, according to HQI theory. The projected power of the United States is set to 100 to make it easy to compare other countries with it. China’s projected […]
Selected and Translated by Ikram Hawramani Copyright © 2017 Ikram Hawramani A Brief Primer on Ibn al-Jawzi Abū l-Faraj ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Ibn al-Jawzī (1116 – 1201 CE) was a major historian, hadith scholar, jurist and popular preacher in medieval Baghdad. He is said to have written over a hundred works (some mention as many as […]
Introduction (Download this essay as a PDF) This essay demonstrates the relationship between Islam and science/rationality through my effort to reconcile Darwinian evolution with the Quran. I am as much a “Darwinian” as any evolutionary biologist and as much a believer in the literal meaning of the Quran as any conservative Muslim. By showing how […]
Below is a chart of the scientific output productivity of a number of important countries. Scientific output productivity refers to the number of scientific research papers published by a certain country divided by its population. A higher number indicates that the country is more “scientifically productive”, meaning that it is prosperous and advanced enough to […]
Introduction This page lists all of the errors and inconsistencies I’ve found throughout my many readings of the entire series (I have Stephen Fry’s reading of the books on my phone as an audiobook, to which I sometimes listen when I’m resting or trying to fall asleep). Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone What Object […]
I have had Ziauddin Sardar’s Desperately Seeking Paradise: Journeys of a Sceptical Muslim since 2010, but I only got around to reading it recently. This is one of the funniest books written by a Muslim, rivaling the books of Turkey’s Aziz Nesin. In what is perhaps my favorite scene of the book, Sardar camps out in […]
Do Muslims hope to establish a World Caliphate? It is undeniable that some Muslims, including religious scholars, look forward to one day there existing a new Islamic empire that represents “true” Islam and that brings back the glory of the olden days. As is usual with fantasy-land Islam, the thinking is top-down, the caliphate has […]
Abstract I argue that the existence of an inherent contradiction between the Islamic Sharia and codification is imaginary and caused by paying insufficient attention to the nature of the workings of the Sharia and how it relates to the state. So far codification has meant the imposition of the hegemony of the state over the […]
The following program calculates the value of the series of the Basel Problem. The result is a number that starts with 1.644934. Like π, this sequence can go on forever, which means the program never exits. Without proper design, such a program runs into the maximum call stack size exceeded error, which is designed to […]
Is the democracy system considered haram in Islam? Managing a country is similar to managing a business or a village. People should do whatever works best in their circumstances. There is a hadith that says the Muslims will eventually establish a caliphate, but as I discuss here, that hadith is unauthentic. The reality is that Islam […]
Aoa could you tell me the ruling on watching movies? Even innocent ones? Whenever i look up rulings on this people always say things like all movies are filled with nude women and corruption and it confuses me what am i supposed to do in all my free time if most things young people do […]
The Scimago Journal & Country Rank numbers for 2018 are in and they show tremendous growth among some of the the 11 top scientific publishers among the Muslim-majority countries. The increase in the number of scientific papers published in 2018 was 44,616, which is almost twice the highest growth recorded over the past 22 years. […]
A response to Robert R. Reilly’s book The Closing of the Muslim Mind: How Intellectual Suicide Created the Modern Islamist Crisis. Last I year I published then took down an early version of this essay. This is the updated version (also published as chapter 3 of my book An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Understanding Islam […]
Are women allowed to wear perfume? There is no issue with women wearing perfume before close relatives (those known as maḥrams) and other women. As for women wearing perfume in public, there are differences on it. The great Maliki scholar Ibn Rushd the Elder (grandfather of Ibn Rushd) permits the wearing of perfume publicly by […]
Assalamu’alaykum wa rahmatullah. Brother, can a Muslim majority country be run by a non-Muslim? Do the Quran have any specific verse that applies to the prohibition of the non-Muslim to lead them or do the Quran allows them to? (Be it as a President of the whole republic, or as a governor/mayor of the regional […]
Assalamualaikum! I am a Kurd from Turkey,my family is Shafi,but I don’t believe sects, imams,şeyhs or mollas I think they ruined our religion,they are not Allah or the prophet? Why does everyone believe them? Isn’t that a sin? Because Allah sends us the Qur’an and the Prophet Muhammad,the Quran is our guide, why should I […]
Introduction Real economic growth is different from the increase in GDP that comes from monetary expansion. The 12-year min-max method that I have come up with is a way of calculating a country’s GDP growth rate over a 12-year period that aims to cancel out “fake” growth caused by monetary expansion and boom-bust cycles by […]
Are you allowed to swear by God? Yes, swearing by God is permitted in Islam. However, there are two types of oaths (swearing) which have different rules. The first one is a casual, rather than solemn, oath. For example many Muslims say “Wallahi (by Allah) this” or “Wallahi that” in casual conversation. This type of […]
Ruling on making dua in the position of ruku while praying Making dua in ruku and sujood is permitted. You can use any words you want. References: Fatwa from the Qatari Fatwa Authority (Arabic PDF)
Is da’wah an obligatory to all Muslims? What if I am the type of person who dislikes approaching people to give da’wah about Islam, while I myself have an inner turmoil about Islam I need to calm down and fix? It’s the religious people in my country whom insists that it is obligatory for Muslims […]
What does the Quran say about swearing upon it? Is one allowed to swear on the Quran if you are telling the truth? The Quran itself does not mention a ruling on swearing by the Quran. However, since in Islamic theology the Words of God are attributes of Him, swearing by the Quran is the […]
This page presents a list of books meant for modern students of Islamic studies. These books are essential reading for any Muslim who wishes to be a capable modern intellectual who is able to think and write at the highest level and gain the respect of the other intellectuals. InshaAllah this page will be continually […]
A famous poem by the Kurdish poet and Islamic scholar Mahwi (1836 – 1906 CE, full name: Mullah Muhammad son of Mullah Uthman Balkhi) In impiety–woe to me!–my life has passed; O God, let me go on living till I die at a pious man’s doorstep. Wasted in meaninglessness my whole lifetime has gone: I […]
Assalmualaikum, I think I made a mistake in sajda sahw (i’m not sure if I prostated 2 or 3 times) should i regard this as wasawas, is it permissible to do sajda sahw again, or should pray salat again? Do you think you can answer this? Jazakallah khayr Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, According to the Mālikī and Shāfiʿī […]
Ideally, Muslims should treat Christians in Muslim-majority lands the way they want Muslims to be treated in Christian-majority lands. The following fatwa by the widely respected Islamic scholar Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi finds it unproblematic for Christians to build churches in Christian-majority villages and cities where they have a need for it. He also supports the […]
Beginning of translated IslamOnline fatwa Question: What is the opinion of our religion on the fact of certain countries celebrating holidays such as Victory Day, Workers’ Day or New Year’s Day and others? Answer: In the second part of a long study in the book Bayān li-l-Nās min al-Azhar al-Sharīf [A Proclamation to the People from […]
Assalamu Alaikum brother, I just wanted to ask if u have any advice how writers or artists can avoid ‘fahisha’ in their work. When I write fiction I avoid writing about Islam bc I don’t want to mix that which is made up with the truth. At the same time I don’t want to represent […]
Salam, brother. I have a question to ask. Does Islam has certain rulings on hijab? Because, in my country there seem to be different opinions among the Muslim groups and that they have different version of how women hijab is. This make me confused. Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, The Quran states that the head and chest […]
Assalamu alaikum. What is the ruling for a Muslim working for non-Muslims? There is no issue with working for non-Muslims or being partners in business with them. The Prophet PBUH and his Companions used to be involved in all kinds of businesses with non-Muslims; trade, rent and hiring. Source: Fatwa from the Qatari Fatwa Authority […]
What is your opinion on cooking with alcohol, like wine etc. I know most Muslim ruling is NO on the subject. I am personally liberal in general in life and on this subject also. You simply can’t get drunk on the food cooked with alcohol. As discussed in this previous answer, vanilla extract that comes […]
Salaam. In my country, there is this public transportation service called ojeg (pronounced OH-JACK). It is basically a motorcycle taxi that only counts to 1 passenger per motorcycle unit. In Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) times, he rode a camel together with a woman behind him, with a note that the Prophet and the woman rode the […]
What are the manners and rules of performing wudu and prayer (for a female)? Learning how to perform ablution and pray properly requires a lot of detail and I cannot give it in an answer or two. Please check out Asad Tarsin’s book Being Muslim: A Practical Guide, which mentions all the details of praying and […]
This is a matter of difference among scholars and some prohibit the use corposes for scientific research. But According to a fatwa by the Qatari Fatwa Authority, donating one’s body to be used for scientific research is permitted since it fulfills a good purpose and is not opposed to any of the fundamental precepts of […]
During intercourse, when my wife ejaculates and squirts, am I allowed to drink/ingest it? According to the imams Mālik, Abū Ḥanīfa and an opinion transmitted from Aḥmad, ejaculate (manī) is impure (najis) where from a man or a woman, and since ingesting impure things is forbidden, the ruling is that it is forbidden to ingest […]
Jordan Peterson doesn’t really have too many insights to offer, he tries to teach what the best religious mysticism teaches but without the religious ingredient. He may change a few lives, and he may have a good influence on changing many people’s notions about leftism. But I do not expect him to have a lasting […]
Henri Lauzière’s 2016 book The Making of Salafism is about how Salafism as we know it today was invented in the 20th century. I discovered Lauzière’s work through reading his 2010 article “The Construction of Salafiyya: Reconsidering Salafism from the Perspective of Conceptual History,” in the International Journal of Middle East Studies. That article overturned many of my […]
Selected and Translated by Ikram Hawramani Copyright © 2017 Ikram Hawramani Hawramani.com All Rights Reserved A Brief Primer on Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah Ibn al-Qayyim[1] was born in Damascus on January 28th of the year 1292 CE, equivalent to the seventh of Ṣafar of the year 691 AH. His full name is Abū ʿAbd-Allah Shams al-Dīn […]
In this essay, I present a plausible framework in which traditional scholarly interpretations of 4:34 can be considered correct without this becoming support for violence against women. I argue that the error has not been in understanding 4:34 but in scholarly efforts to justify it. There is a new line of justification that has so […]
Were the Soviet Union to sink tomorrow under the waters of the ocean, the American military-industrial establishment would have to go on, substantially unchanged, until some other adversary could be invented. Anything else would be an unacceptable shock to the American economy. —George F Kennan, American Cold War diplomat and father of “Containment Theory” Introduction A […]
I wanted your in depth opinion on a particular observation. Muslims, historically speaking, have been responsible for hundreds and thousands of scientific discoveries. What happened to us? Why are we in the stage we are? Only 100 years ago, which is just a little more than one human lifetime, the Ottoman Empire was a sovereign […]
What does islam Tell us about cannibalism. considering that one is trapped and can only eat a dead person. such as the crash of the aircraft Fuerza-Aérea-Uruguaya-Flug 571. Thank you for your answer. May Allah bless you The Quran says in regards to eating prohibited things: But if one is forced by necessity, without willful […]
Summary: Dyeing the hair is permitted in Islam as long as pure black is avoided. Dark shades are permitted. Beginning of translated fatwa from IslamOnline Question: Is it permissible for a man to dye his hair when it becomes gray? What about a woman? It mentioned in a hadith of the Prophet PBUH [that he […]
Is it haram to break a fast that you’re making up for Ramadan? While breaking optional fasts is permitted without issue, according to multiple fatwas it is not permitted to a break a fast that one is performing in place of an obligatory fast. If a person breaks such a fast without having an excuse, […]
If one has bleeding wound and that ends up on his clothes, is his wudu or prayer still valid? It is permitted to pray while bleeding. It is also permitted to pray in clothes that have your own blood on them as long as it is not blood from menstruation or childbirth. If it is […]
Beginning of summarized translated fatwa from the Jordanian Fatwa Authority Question: There is a hadith that says the prayer of an alcohol-drinker will not be accepted for forty nights. Should such a person wait for forty days before coming back to the prayer? Answer: Our advice to this alcohol-drinker is to fear God and to […]
According to the Qatari Fatwa Authority, the human body possesses dignity even after death, therefore burning the body is not permitted. An authentic hadith tells us that breaking a corpse’s bones is similar to breaking a living person’s bones. However, the Fatwa goes on to say that if burning human bodies is medically justified (for […]
The contemporary Azhar-educated Egyptian scholar Dr. Khālid ʿAbd al-Munʿim al-Rifāʿī says in a fatwa that the four schools agree that piercing the ear is permissible due to the fact that it serves a common need among women, and that there is no clear evidence against it. He quotes the Ḥanbalī scholar Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 1350 CE) saying […]
Salam, I know that abortion is allowed in Islam before 4 months of pregnancy. But after 4 months, it is not permitted even if there is absolute certainty that the mother will die if she continues with the pregnancy. How can this be? What about the mother’s other children? Why must the mother face certain […]
Salamualaykum Is laser hair removal permissible for men? And if it is, in that case, only for those purposes, is it okay if people see the naval button? According to fatwas by the Qatari Fatwa Authority, the Jordanian Fatwa Authority and the Egyptian Fatwa Authority, laser hair removal is permitted, whether for men or women. […]
AOA last year i found out the fasts that are missed have to be made up at a later time but bcoz i cant cook and no one in my household really makes up missed fasts i couldnt get around to it even tho i always wanted to, i wanted to know if i could […]
Assalamualaikum Is there any objection to using lotions that some of them have alcohol in them. Would that break ones wudu if you used them. thank you Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, As discussed in this previous answer, alcohol is only forbidden when there is a chance of getting drunk from using the alcohol-containing material. Since there […]
Salam. In Japanese culture, it’s normal to bow down to someone out of respect. As a Muslim surrounded by Japanese society, most of the times I did this too, but then u know, the feeling of guilt triggered. I know in Islam we’re ordered not to bow down to anyone other than Allah. How to […]
Is it true that it be haram to blow on ones good before eatin even tho it be hot to eat? According to a fatwa from Egypt’s fatwa authority, it is not a prohibition, it is just good manners not do it since it can cause the food or saliva to fly off, and it […]
In answer to questions regarding whether it is permissible to watch people on television or in public not dressed according to the Islamic dress code, for example watching a female television presenter who does not wear the hijab While the Quran prescribes what Muslims should wear on public, there are no Quranic verses or hadith […]
According to a study by the Egyptian scholar ʿAbdallāh al-Najjār, who belongs to Al-Azhar University, hymen reconstruction surgery (hymenorrhaphy or hymenoplasty) is permissible in Islam. He says at the end of his study: We conclude from our study that there is nothing in comparative Islamic jurisprudence that implies reconstructing the hymen is impermissible. This is the case whether […]
So intoxicated I am, so intoxicated I am today, That out of my hoop I have leapt today! Such a thing that cannot be imagined, That’s how I am, that’s how I am today! In spirit out to the Heaven of Love I went, Though in body still in this world I am today! I […]
You can decide for yourself when something is spiritually bad by these criteria: It causes doubt in your heart You do not want the people you respect the most to know you are doing it When you feel very spiritual (for example if it is Ramadan and you have been reading a lot of Quran) […]
Below are my preliminary thoughts on why Islam’s tolerance for slavery is not necessary unethical. It may sound like nothing but empty apologetics to defend Islam’s toleration of slavery and say that Islam’s goal was to abolish it, when Islam’s Prophet ﷺ and his companions all practiced it widely. And generally this is what much of […]
To many Muslims today, it will sound patently absurd if someone were to tell them that it is a mortal sin for them to draw a cat. But some religious scholars would tell you that drawing a cat is an act of taṣwīr (the depiction of living things in paintings, sculptures and elsewhere), a sin for which […]
Nidhal Guessoum’s Islam’s Quantum Question (originally published in French in 2009, published in English in 2011) is well worth reading, mainly for its detailed refutation of various pseudo-scientific defenses of Islam and the Quran that have been offered by others. His detailed critique of Iʿjāz literature and its supporters (such as Zaghloul El-Naggar), who purport to show scientific […]
The age of Aisha bint Abu Bakr, may God be pleased with her and her father, at the time of her marriage to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH is one of the thorny issues in modern Islam, used as one of the main talking points against Islam by Islam’s detractors. How could God’s Prophet, a widower […]
Assalamualaikum I came across a hadith on Facebook which says that touching any non- mahram woman is harām. I wanted to ask if that Hadith is authentic, and if it is so, then to what extent does this rule apply in our life. I mean I have female relatives who are quite elder to me( […]
A philosophical investigation of why using various forms of profanity is dangerous and harmful in the long-term. Included is a discussion of why using the word “sexy” casually is wrong. The line “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” from the 1939 film Gone with the Wind was one of the most shocking examples of profanity that had been shown on screen up to that time […]
Recently I have been reading many works on Islamic theology (kalām) in order to find answers to certain questions and paradoxes inherent within the Islamic theological worldview. Since I was already familiar with Ashʿarite theology (Islam’s dominant theological school), I decided to focus on al-Māturīdī (d. 944 CE), who represents Islam’s alternative yet orthodox theological […]
Why is it wrong to watch pornography? Even if a person is not religious, they will still feel guilt and shame about a porn-watching habit. Where does this come from? Even the most free-thinking and atheistic person will have reservations about watching pornography with their family, even if everyone in the family is an adult. […]
This page lists Muslims of European ancestry who work or worked in intellectually demanding fields, in the hope of countering false impressions about the nature of Islam and its place in the West. Alexander Russell Webb (1846 – 1916) American writer, publisher, and the United States Consul to the Philippines. Ivan Aguéli (1869 – 1917 […]
If Islamic teachings can be used to defend pluralism, that tells us something very important about the future of Islam. My views are not unique; they are similar to those of the great twentieth century Egyptian scholar Muḥammad ʿAbdallāh Drāz (1894 – 1958 CE), who defended a similar vision in many of his articles and […]
This is a supplement to my essay Reconciling Free Will and Predestination in Islam with al-Māturīdī and Ibn Taymiyya Qadar (divine predestination) is one of the most controversial issues in Islam. Muslim thinkers are generally divided into two groups on this issue. There are the rationalists and semi-rationalists like the Matūrīdīs, Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya and most mainstream intellectuals […]
Ijmāʿ (“consensus”) is one of the most abused concepts in Islam, used as a weapon by many in order to claim that no one has the right to disagree with them. It helps shut down free discussion and intimidate independent Muslim thinkers into keeping silent about their views. Ijmāʾ, as it is used in scholarly rhetoric […]
There are times when you read a book that completely change your understanding of the world, answering questions you have had for most of your life, and even better, answering questions you did not know you had. This is such a book. Duchesne unites economic analysis, anthropology, history and philosophy in order to make a […]
Salaam. Can I say that religion is one of human needs, and that is to attain inner peace? As for how human beings live on the earth, we are free to make our own rules on how to regulate our people. I know from an Islamic religious group that human should not make their own […]
An essay on the question of whether romantic relationships outside of marriage are acceptable in Islam, and if not, why. Why is marriage such a big deal in religiously conservative societies? Why can’t people just enjoy themselves without involving everyone and their mother in their private affairs? Islamic law does not have anything strict to […]
Assalamualaikum I’d like to know what we know about Jinns from the Quraan and the authentic hadiths. Can they possess human beings? Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, The Quran refers to jinn possession in a few places, for example: Those who swallow usury will not rise, except as someone driven mad by Satan’s touch. That is because […]
What I have noticed is that in Muslim countries in which there are more modest woman I get more catcalls, harassment, men following me, staring at my body parts etc. I’m not saying I’m for zina, but it feels unfair that they take out their sexual frustration on us. Maybe you’re not able to relate […]
Do you dislike the Saudis? If so why? I consider them no better or worse than most other governments, but they are greatly responsible for the negative image of Islam that the rest of the world has about us, and for this reason they deserve to be denounced, as I will explain below. This is […]
One of my servers responds to about 100,000 requests per day. Apache would randomly hang a few times a day, taking all of the websites down. I tried every solution I could find online to prevent Apache from hanging, but nothing helped, so I decided to stop wasting time on it and simply develop a […]
Below is a response I wrote to someone who sent me a YouTube video in which the speaker argues that the hijab was necessary in ancient Arabia due to sexual harassment but that it is no longer necessary in the modern world I will first speak of the problem with her way of thinking, then […]
Muhammad Abu Zahra was one of the foremost authorities on Islamic law in the 20th century, whose works on the various schools of Islamic law continue to be used in academia. He was a member of Al-Azhar University’s Academy of Islamic Research and a professor of Islamic law at Cairo University. He was loved by […]
Ayesha, At Last is a 2018 novel by Uzma Jalaluddin, a Canadian Muslim. It is her first novel. The publisher stresses that this is a Muslim version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. This comparison is very unfair to Austen’s great masterpiece and sets readers up for disappointment. The story is a melodramatic and unrealistic […]
On most days of Ramadan, fasting makes it impossible for me to do my usual programming and writing work. For this reason I spent most of the daytime hours of this Ramadan reading books, finishing over 20 books (mainly audiobooks). For years I have been aware of Thomas Sowell as perhaps the greatest living African […]
A review of Uri Rubin “Quraysh and their winter and summer journey: On the interpretation of Sura 106.” Surat Quraysh is often translated as follows in English: For the security of Quraysh. Their security during winter and summer journeys. Let them worship the Lord of this House. Who has fed them against hunger, and has […]
When I was fourteen, my new geometry teacher paused while taking attendance on the first day of class to inform me that she didn’t allow hats in the classroom. “We’ll have to do something about that,” she added, referring to my headscarf. Sitting at my desk in the back, I gaped like she’d slapped me, […]
I have a question about clothing. What can a female wear at house in front of her parents and sisters?? There are no clear texts that deal with this matter, and for this reason there is much difference of opinion among scholars regarding it. Some jurists invent chains of reasoning to justify very strict rules […]
Kak Ahmadi Muftizada: Darwazayak bo Xabateki Nanasraw (کاک ئەحمەدی موفتیزادە: دەروازەیەک بۆ خەباتێکی نەناسراو, Ahmad Moftizadeh: A Gateway to an Unknown Struggle) is a 394-page Kurdish biography of the great Iranian Kurdish leader Ahmad Moftizadeh written by Sarwat Abdullah, apparently published in 2010. I have been reading all available materials on Ahmad Moftizadeh, since he is […]
For my views on Internet piracy see my essay: Why Digital Piracy is Ethical and Necessary We all know that you, as a law-abiding citizen, would never download a car. And yet there are people out there who download movies for free and refuse to add a few more bucks to the billions of dollars that […]
My child loves to read books. Some of the books she wants to read mention sex. She is 13 years old and I don’t know when to allow her to read those books or even when to tell her about sex. I need help with this. Thank you! When a child reaches puberty (and I […]
What exactly do we mean by human and social development? This question will be answered differently if we were to ask a diverse set of people. Even though most people may agree that human development entails having more “freedom”, “equality”, “justice”, and access to opportunities for “self-fulfillment”, “happiness”, and “flourishing”, different societies may interpret these […]
Dastūr al-Akhlāq fī l-Qurʾān might be one of the most important works of Islamic philosophy in the 20th century. It is a work on Quranic moral philosophy by Muhammad Abdullah Draz (1894-1958), a highly intelligent Egyptian Islamic scholar who had thoroughly studied the Western philosophical tradition. The work was originally written in French as a […]
Mawlawi Tawagozi (1806-1882, known simply as Mawlawi in Kurdish) was an Islamic mystic and one of the great poets of Kurdistan, belonging to the Hawrami minority that I belong to. This book is a 160-page commentary on a small selection of Mawlawi’s 2450-verse poem Aqiday Mardia (The Approved Aqeedah), which tries to offer a journey through the field […]
Why are Muslim migrants so destructive to whatever nation harbors them? They actually use their faith to justify their criminal behaviour, leeching off the welfare state, and anti-western sentiments. Catholic South America is just as bad but those who do the same don’t justify it with their faith; there’s no crusade mentallity against ‘infidels’ when […]
So, I am someone who likes using logic and I have defended Islam and my Muslim-ness many times from criticisms, some well-founded, others not so much. How can I defend Mohammad’s marriage to a young girl? He was old at the time. I can’t imagine being a child and being given away to an older […]
There is a hadith in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad (no. 18596) that is used by Islamist parties and terrorist groups to justify their ideologies: Prophethood will remain amongst you as long as God wills that it remain and then he will remove it when He intends to remove it. Then there will be the Caliphate […]
In order to make sense of the immense complexity of Arabic diptotes I decided to turn all of the rules into an algorithm written in the PHP language. Diptotes (mamnūʿ min al-ṣarf) are Arabic words that do not acquire tanwīn like normal words do and have fatḥa instead of kasra in the jarr position, as […]
This is a sensitive but also important topic. I remember at my lowest and my worst, needing to connect myself to Allah. It was during college . I was dealing with clinical depression, I also had PTSD. I was extremely suicidal, and I had been self-harming since years. I knew little about Islam, so I […]