/ Apr 09, 2019 06:13 PM 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 […]
/ Nov 04, 2018 06:48 PM / 5 Comments on A Hadith Scholar Presents New Evidence that Aisha was Near 18 the Day of Her Marriage to the Prophet Muhammad / 31399 viewsThe 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 […]
/ Dec 06, 2018 02:54 PM / No Comments on The Universal Digital Library: A Platform that Makes Digital Piracy Unnecessary, Funds Creators, and Makes eBooks, Games and Software Affordable / 2660 viewsIn my previous essay Why Digital Piracy is Ethical and Necessary I discussed why there are no proper digital libraries: publishers pretend that digital goods cannot be sold. They demand continuous rents for digital products they give to libraries, making things like ebooks costlier (and for more difficult to lend due to various licensing clauses) than printed […]
/ Jul 04, 2018 08:16 PM / 1 Comment on Is Islam really pluralistic? An Islamic defense of pluralism / 6008 viewsIf 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 […]
/ Oct 01, 2017 09:00 PM 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 […]
/ Oct 25, 2017 04:44 PM / 2 Comments on Islam, the Good Parts: A Basic Income System that Encourages Employment, Productive Investment and Automation / 5498 viewsWithin the next 50 years, most of the jobs that today employ people will not exist, because robots and computers will be able to do them better and cheaper. Over the past 50 years there has been much talk of artificial intelligence, and much of it was empty and little came out of it. The true […]
/ Sep 27, 2017 06:38 PM 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 […]
/ Nov 17, 2018 03:28 PM / No Comments on The Muslim Plan for Western Civilization: There is No Plan / 8087 viewsDo 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 […]
/ Jun 28, 2018 09:29 PM / 7 Comments on Mysticism without Sufism: A Guide to Tahajjud, Islam’s Meditation Practice / 8982 viewsWhat does mainstream Islam offer to someone who wants a deep, meaningful and permanent connection with God? When it comes to Islamic mysticism, Sufism is often treated as its main and perhaps even only outlet. But the truth is that it is quite possible to have deep, mystical practice as a Muslim without going through […]
/ Feb 10, 2019 12:57 PM / No Comments on Can Muslims celebrate Valentine’s Day and Halloween? / 1632 viewsI’m asking bc Halloween and I think Valentine’s Day have pagan beginnings and I wasn’t sure if it would mean you are participating in paganism In my opinion the origins of these celebrations does not matter. What matters is what the celebration means today. A hundred of million Iranian Muslims, Sunni and Shia, celebrate Nowruz […]
/ Dec 26, 2019 09:44 PM / No Comments on Does the Quran say Judgment Day will be in 1000 years of our reckoning? / 480 viewsSalam, in the Quran it says Judgement day will be like a 1000 years of our reckoning, in an Islamic youtube video it was mentioned that for the Believers this time will pass like the hours between dhuhr and asr. Is this authentic? Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, The Quran doesn’t say that. It says a day […]
/ Aug 05, 2018 05:42 PM / 4 Comments on Islam and Depression: A Survival Guide / 9669 viewsPlease note that this article is not meant as a replacement for medical help, but as a supplement to it. What does Islam have to offer someone who has been suffering depression for years and sees no end in sight to their suffering? Depression is not sadness and cannot be cured by thinking positively as […]
/ Jan 02, 2019 02:25 PM / No Comments on The Islamic ruling on celebrating national holidays (such as New Year’s Day) / 2129 viewsBeginning 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 […]
/ Mar 27, 2019 05:09 PM / 14 Comments on Probablistic Hadith Verification: Combining the Science of Hadith with Legal Theory / 13984 viewsA Quick Preview Let us say we are faced with two hypothetical authentic (i.e. ṣaḥīḥ) hadiths from a respected collection such as Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, with the following chain diagrams, and we are trying to decide which hadith is stronger and better attested. The first hadith below has four transmitters (the four on the right), all […]
/ Jan 16, 2017 03:18 AM / 6 Comments on Inconsistencies in the Harry Potter Books / 6755 views 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 […]
/ Oct 28, 2019 02:33 PM / No Comments on Taking pills to prevent pregnancy without telling the husband / 496 viewsHi, is it wrong if I take pills to prevent pregnancy without telling my husband? I’ve been married for almost 6 months now and he did not take any prevention bcs he wants it to happen naturally. He said that he’ll be happy if we can have kids and can wait for Allah rizq whenever […]
/ Oct 03, 2019 03:59 PM / No Comments on Can Muslim women be air force pilots? / 895 viewsIs it okay for a Muslim woman to work as an Air Force pilot? Yes. Please see these two previous answers: It is permitted for Muslim women to work in the police force and the army Can Muslim women be airline pilots?
/ Mar 04, 2017 03:44 PM / 11 Comments on Why God Allows Evil to Exist, and Why Bad Things Happen to Good People / 26671 viewsIntroduction There is a surprising amount of confusion among the religious, even among clerics and scholars, when it comes to understanding why evil exists and why God stands aside when so much suffering happens throughout the world. Most of us express wonder when we see some horrible catastrophe happen, or when we see evil individuals, […]
/ Aug 08, 2017 07:21 PM / 16 Comments on Reconciling Islam and Darwinian Evolution: Al-Ghazali’s Matrix and the Divine Template / 23823 viewsIntroduction (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 […]
/ Apr 17, 2019 01:56 PM / No Comments on Why a Muslim should read or listen to the Quran for an hour every day / 1688 viewsAssalamualaikum, from my readings I noticed that you consistently reminded us readers to at least allocate one hour a day to listen to the Quran. So, with regards to that how long have you practiced this and what changes have you felt ever since you started practising it. Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, I started seriously practicing […]
/ May 03, 2017 09:00 PM / 1 Comment on My Chronic Fatigue Treatment Program / 1570 views[August 28, 2017 Update: I have unpublished this book as the program, which seemed to work well for many months, has stopped working reliably. As I’m not certain of the value of the information presented in it, for now I will keep the book unpublished.] In this essay I will summarize the treatment program I […]
/ Apr 09, 2018 06:50 PM / 13 Comments on A new approach to the Quran’s “Wife-Beating Verse” (al-Nisa 4:34) / 17545 viewsIn 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 […]
/ Mar 13, 2019 10:56 AM / No Comments on It is permitted for Muslim women to work in the police force and the army / 4408 viewsAsalam Walikum, Are women joining the military haram? If so, why? Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, According to a fatwa issued by al-Azhar University, it is permitted for women to work in the police force and the army. There are examples of women working in the army during the time of the Prophet PBUH. They mainly worked […]
/ Mar 30, 2019 03:34 PM / No Comments on What my average working day looks like / 464 viewsWhat does your average working day look like? And how did you became interested in Islamic topics? My first task in the morning is to read and answer the questions I have received through my site, email or on tumblr. After that I work on any programming project that my clients have sent me. If […]
/ Jan 02, 2019 07:31 PM 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 […]
/ Nov 06, 2017 06:35 AM / No Comments on In the Footsteps of the Prophet by Tariq Ramadan / 1130 viewsIn the Footsteps of the Prophet is a long-needed biography of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ that focuses on his character, manners and experience, rather than merely narrating dates and facts. Many classical Islamic books are somewhat out-of-touch for modern readers, so that while they may have been satisfactory to their original (often Middle Eastern) readers, when […]
/ Feb 27, 2017 08:29 PM / 1 Comment on Why the Banks are So Powerful and Why the Bible and the Quran Forbid Usury: Charting How Interest Creates Obscene Wealth Inequality / 2733 viewsImagine if in 1913 the real economy of the US had $100 billion in capital, while the banks and money-lenders had only $1 billion. Given everyday economic circumstances, by 2017, the wealth of the real economy would have grown to $2163 billion (with a 3% economic growth rate). Meanwhile, the wealth of the banks and […]
/ Apr 19, 2018 04:10 PM / 3 Comments on A Traditionalist Critique of the Islamic Prohibition on Taṣwīr (Making Drawings and Statues of Humans and Animals) / 16043 viewsTo 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 […]
/ May 10, 2017 04:32 PM / 7 Comments on How to get a demo of the OneDrive File Picker JavaScript SDK to work on a local development server / 14835 viewsAfter getting the Google Drive file picker working on the page of a project I’m working on within just a few hours, I was faced with the task of getting the OneDrive JavaScript Picker to work, which I almost abandoned because of Microsoft’s brain-dead documentation. After hours of watching Microsoft videos and piecing together documentation, […]
/ Mar 13, 2019 08:53 PM / 6 Comments on Reconciling Free Will and Predestination in Islam with al-Māturīdī and Ibn Taymiyya / 9424 viewsRecently 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 […]
/ Aug 09, 2018 05:56 PM / 2 Comments on What the Prophets Teach Us About the Proper Etiquette of Dua (Supplication) / 1664 viewsIn answer to questions regarding the nature and ideal manner of supplication in Islam The true servant of God is the one who accepts whatever the Creator decrees. If he asks of Him and He answers, he considers that a privilege granted by Him, and if he is denied, he considers that an act of […]
/ Oct 21, 2017 06:17 PM / 1 Comment on Conflicts of Fitness: Islam, America, and Evolutionary Psychology / 2571 viewsConflicts of Fitness: Islam, America, and Evolutionary Psychology by A.S. Amin is a highly original examination of the dynamics of gender and sexuality within Western societies on the one hand, and within Islamic societies on the other. As someone who has been working on reconciling Islam and evolutionary theory and on developing a post-feminist theory […]
/ Jul 08, 2018 09:42 PM / 1 Comment on The Point of Marriage in Islam (and the Problem with Romantic Relationships Outside of Marriage) / 8404 viewsAn 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 […]
/ Sep 28, 2017 08:19 PM / No Comments on Understanding Islam’s Sophisticated Approach to Slavery: Why Muslims Practiced Slavery in the Past, and Why They Reject it Today / 2501 viewsBelow 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 […]
/ Aug 25, 2017 01:23 PM / 1 Comment on How to increase iman (piety and mindfulness of God) / 3326 viewsHow do I deal with low imaan? recently I’ve suddenly felt like not praying. At first I would never miss my prayers but now I feel like I have to force myself. I’ve abandoned the sunnah prayers which I know is a sin. Whenever you feel that you have low iman, ask yourself, “Have I […]
/ Apr 20, 2019 07:01 PM / No Comments on A Quranic Phenomenology of Atheism / 1809 viewsIt is common in religious thought to dismiss atheists as obstinate wrongdoers who reject religion out of a combination of irrationality, egotism and their preference for their base desires. But if we appreciate the great honor and dignity that God bestowed on all of humanity (the angels bowed down to us), we should perhaps be […]
/ Nov 04, 2017 04:11 PM / 1 Comment on Why is sexual harassment of women common in Muslim countries? IQ and development, not religion / 2273 viewsWhat 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 […]
/ Jul 17, 2019 08:15 PM / No Comments on Answers about Islam and misogyny / 802 viewsHey assalamu alaikum I’ll forward some messages here from previous conversations with someone who gave me worse explanations Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, I broken up your question to address them individually. there’s something called child support he pays money to support his family not to pay his supposed to be wife I feel worse about myself […]
/ Dec 21, 2017 12:26 AM / 1 Comment on It is permissible for Muslims to say “Merry Christmas” to non-Muslims / 4439 viewsHi. So I was wondering if it’s okay for us as Moslems to say “Merry christmas” to our Christian friends. There’s a lot of people around me, including my parents, who told me to not say it because it’s haram. If it’s not okay, how do we explain it to our Christian friends without offending […]
/ Jul 04, 2017 07:10 PM / 1 Comment on Dealing with a porn addiction / 2047 viewsTumblr question: How can I deal with porn addiction? Updated answer You cannot stop sinning just by wishing for it or by trying to use your willpower. That never works. You must instead try to become the type of person who needs no effort to avoid sins. And this can only be achieved by setting […]
/ Nov 02, 2019 08:12 PM / 16 Comments on Women may travel without a mahram for three days and nights: A study of the hadiths / 12948 viewsThere are numerous authentic hadiths that mention restrictions on women traveling without a mahram (a relative like a husband or father). I was recently asked about the exact nature of the restriction, so I decided to do a thorough hadith study using the probabilistic hadith verification method. For those who want the conclusion immediately: the […]
/ Feb 12, 2019 06:08 PM / No Comments on The Closing of the Muslim Mind and the Decline of Islamic Civilization / 1973 viewsA 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 […]
/ Nov 09, 2017 03:44 PM / No Comments on A Biography of Ahmad Moftizadeh / 2720 viewsKak 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 […]
/ Nov 07, 2018 04:03 PM / 2 Comments on Why Digital Piracy is Ethical and Necessary / 13205 viewsDisclaimer: This is an academic essay on the ethics of digital piracy. It is not a call for breaking the law by pirating. Some jurisdictions punish piracy severely, therefore the risk is entirely your own if you choose to break the law by pirating content. For my proposal for a digital library that makes piracy […]
/ Jun 07, 2019 04:01 PM / No Comments on The separation of church and state in Islam / 898 viewsWhat is your opinion on separation of church and state. Is such thing possible in Muslim countries? Separation of church and state only matters if one envisions the state as an authority that forces certain behaviors on the population. This is mainly a concern for elitist intellectuals who think that a small number of intellectuals […]
/ Dec 06, 2018 03:31 PM / No Comments on The Islamic Case for Scientific Empiricism and Skepticism toward Supernatural Phenomena / 783 viewsIn answer to questions regarding people observing miracles I would explore all possible scientific explanations for seemingly miraculous events before thinking of supernatural causes. Even if there is no scientific explanation now, one may find such an explanation one day. As I mention in my essays on why God allows evil to exist and on reconciling Islam and the […]
/ Jul 25, 2017 05:53 PM / 5 Comments on What happened to Islamic civilization? Why did Muslims fall behind in science and technology? / 4365 viewsI 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 […]
/ Nov 11, 2019 09:13 PM / No Comments on On avoiding anger and dislike when arguing with people about religion / 367 viewsAs-salaamu ‘alaykum. May Allaah bless you. I benefited greatly from two of your books: “The Sayings of Ibn al-Jawzi,” and “The Sayings of Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah.” ….. ….. One of the sayings by Imam Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allaah have mercy on him, stood out for me. He said that, as we increase in knowledge, we […]
/ Mar 13, 2019 07:47 PM / 1 Comment on A Study of the Hadiths on Qadar (Predestination): Judging Between Fatalism and Free Will / 5319 viewsThis 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 […]
/ Jun 29, 2019 04:27 PM / No Comments on Is it permissible for Muslims to celebrate secular festivals? / 994 viewsAssalumalaikum Is it permissible to celebrate secular festivals (like independence day, republic day etc.) and other secular days like mothers’ day, fathers’ day etc. ?I read on a website that all this is haraam because it involves imitating the disbelievers, something which is prohibited in a Hadith. I would also like to know to what […]
/ Sep 29, 2017 07:17 PM / 2 Comments on Dating and Relationships in Islam: What is Allowed and What is Not / 17390 viewsIs dating and having relationships totally forbidden in Islam? I will start with a description of an example scenario of the way dating and relationships work in Islam, then will clarify the Islamic stance. If a woman works somewhere, and there is a man there that she likes and who likes her, and both of them […]
/ Dec 07, 2019 03:56 PM / No Comments on What kind of person deserves Hell in Islam? / 800 viewsSalam! If someone died a disbeliever (after hearing the message of Islam), is there any chance for them to be in heaven? Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, You cannot randomly stroll into Hell. It has to be a very conscious and knowing rejection of God that is repeated over and over again, day after day and year […]
/ Sep 01, 2019 07:30 PM / 23 Comments on No strong hadith prohibits paintings and drawings of living things / 23795 viewsThe issue of whether making pictures or paintings of living things (taṣwīr) is permitted in Islam has led to a great amount of controversy. Mainstream scholars (such as those of al-Azhar University) have chosen to permit it due to considering the evidence for the prohibition not strong enough, while those who consider themselves true followers […]
/ Dec 02, 2020 03:16 PM / 3 Comments on She promised Allah not to talk to him then broke her promise / 4627 viewsAsalam Walikum, I hope you are doing well. I really really need help 🙁 so i went through a heartbreak with someone i liked and wanted to marry. I made a promise to Allah about it, that ill stop talking to him until he is brought for marriage. He did come back after so many […]
/ Jul 13, 2017 02:48 PM / 20 Comments on Listening to Music is Permissible in Islam / 28144 viewsIs music really haram? I’m not talking about the Rihannas “Wild Thoughts” kind of music, more of peaceful piano, flute, violin, ancient music. The kind of music that doesn’t give off sexual vibe and stuff, but the music that adheres peace, you know? [Below is a quick survey of opinions on this matter gleaned from […]
/ Jul 25, 2018 04:37 PM / No Comments on How lenders contribute to decreasing native populations in industrialized nations: Housing prices, wages, interest and low fertility rates / 1626 viewsThe following chart from a BBC article (archived link) shows how home prices in the UK increased much faster than wages between 1975 and 2005. If you ask “Why are wages not increasing fast as home prices?” you are asking the wrong question. What we are seeing above is a literal land grab enabled by […]
/ Jul 26, 2017 02:52 PM / 4 Comments on On Islam, Homosexuality and Homosexual Muslims / 3001 viewsYou don’t have to answer this because its a very complex question but do you think you can be Muslim and gay? And how should we as Muslims feel about gays? How shall we treat them? How do you reconcile Islam (in the sense it is a religion that discourages/disagrees with homosexuality) with homosexuality? Is […]
/ Jul 14, 2018 10:05 PM / 1 Comment on Professor Abu Zahra: The Egyptian Islamic Scholar who Rejected the Punishment of Stoning / 8026 viewsMuhammad 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 […]
/ Feb 07, 2019 05:06 PM / No Comments on The Philosophical Reason why Homosexual Relationships are “Wrong” / 2225 viewsSome preliminary thoughts on homosexuality that uses the Western philosophy of personhood to argue that homosexual relationships are morally wrong. Although homosexual desires can be natural and blameless, acting on them is harmful. In this essay, I will argue that among the elite and highly-educated, we can have “proper” male homosexual relationships between two men […]
/ Nov 14, 2019 03:58 PM / 2 Comments on Why Your Teenager Hates You / 14559 viewsAs a parent, you spend years tiring yourself to raise a child, only to watch them become a hostile teenager who thinks of you as something of an enemy who wants to control their lives. No matter how much you tell them that you have their best interests at heart and that you want them […]
/ Oct 25, 2018 03:28 PM / No Comments on An Islamic defense of free speech (a critique of Ziauddin Sardar’s views on Rushdie’s Satanic Verses) / 1558 viewsI 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 […]
/ Dec 26, 2019 10:12 PM / No Comments on How to overcome guilt over major sins such as committing zina (sexual activity outside of marriage) / 3614 viewsAssalamualaikum. I have a question. I committed zina once but I am really ashamed of it, regretted it and have made taubah prayer. I know that Allah will forgive sinners if they really mean it but how do I live with knowing that I have committed this sin?? I just can’t take this out of […]
/ Nov 09, 2017 02:04 PM / No Comments on A Selection from Aqiday Mardia of Mawlawi Tawagozi by Baba Ali Qaradaghi / 1833 viewsMawlawi 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 […]
/ Dec 11, 2018 02:07 PM / 2 Comments on Impiety by Mahwi (1836 – 1906 CE) / 927 viewsA 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 […]
/ Aug 12, 2018 05:07 PM / No Comments on Will God’s forgiveness allow someone to get away with their crimes? / 564 views(1/2) Narcissist they harm ppl and are ignorant how can they just go to heaven ? I know it’s a disorder so Allah forgives them. But bc I’m a victim of verbal abuse It led me to have severe depression & psychosis, almost killed myself twice despite months being broken up this year. He was […]
/ Dec 26, 2019 10:02 PM / No Comments on Does Islam ask us to sacrifice good sleep and productivity for worship? / 618 viewsBrother Allah has made the night for rest & day for work. If a person gets up during the night for an hour or so for tahajjud its natural that during the daytime he ‘ll feel sleepy and not be as productive. He wont be able as alert in the daytime and his day-night schedule […]
/ Aug 05, 2018 06:37 PM / No Comments on Why is it so difficult to stop repeating sins? / 4430 viewsI have questions about repeating sins. I clearly know that being in a haram relationship is wrong and awful and I keep asking forgiveness from Allah swt and I pray for Him to protect me from the whispers of shaytaan. But why do I keep repeating the same sins over & over again. I am […]
/ Aug 01, 2018 04:47 PM / No Comments on Balancing worship with productive work / 1594 viewsSalam Alaykum. Do you have any guide for one to be consistent to his routine, of practising night prayers & reading the quran, while still working hard on improving themselves (worldly skills like writing & other craftsmanship)? I find night prayers really pleasuring, but I also want to balance it with my studies and self-improvement […]
/ Jan 24, 2019 04:03 PM / 2 Comments on Can one take medications when fasting? / 1197 viewshello, i know ramadan is months away but i wanted to ask this before i forget, can we take medication while fasting? without water of course, because i get really bad migraines and i need pills to calm them Taking medications by mouth is not permitted when fasting. You could try taking the medication before […]
/ Sep 23, 2014 07:07 PM / 5 Comments on How cyber pirates anonymously torrent movies on the internet / 11962 viewsFor 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 […]
/ Jun 23, 2019 07:41 PM / 5 Comments on The Uniqueness of Western Civilization by Ricardo Duchesne / 6542 viewsThere 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 […]
/ Feb 18, 2019 12:48 PM / No Comments on How do I balance between being a programmer and a writer? / 310 viewsHi,this maybe not an question asking about islam,but i am quite interested about how you manage your time between becoming a programmer and writer. I am deeply inspired and amazed by your writings as it shows your erudition. I would also like to know how you learned programming. Thank you I do not have a […]
/ Feb 20, 2019 02:06 PM / 1 Comment on Believing Women in Islam (2019) by Asma Barlas and David Raeburn Finn / 2257 viewsBelieving Women in Islam: A Brief Introduction by Asma Barlas and David Raeburn Finn is a short book that attempts to present the main ideas of Barlas’s longer work “Believing Women” in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Quran. First, I should mention that I believe that any self-respecting and civilized man should demand that his female mate […]
/ Nov 11, 2018 04:56 PM / No Comments on Can one unknowingly associate partners with God? / 1138 viewsSalam, I asked about the false idols. Sorry if you already explained this in the first answer, but I was reading commentary of Surah Baqarah v22 which mentions false idols. It says “Will you still resist and go after your false gods, the creation of your own fancy? The false gods may be idols, superstistions, […]
/ Feb 25, 2017 07:50 PM / No Comments on Forecasting the World’s Top 50 Most Powerful Countries in 2035 Using the HQI / 2088 viewsThe 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 […]
/ Feb 25, 2017 04:19 PM / 1 Comment on Measuring Economic and Military Potentials of World Nations with the Human Genetic-Cultural Quality Index (HQI) / 1618 viewsIntroduction 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 […]
/ May 18, 2019 01:34 PM / No Comments on If Islam believes in religious freedom, why does it call people to become Muslim? / 315 viewsSalaam. Islam says that religion is not to be compelled upon people, but why does in the early days of Islam Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), when Gabriel revealed him God’s revelation, he is calling upon the people of Medina to tawheed (to worship only one God)? What are your thoughts on this? Jazakallahu […]
/ Nov 19, 2019 02:51 PM / No Comments on On today’s capitalist and materialistic making life as a Muslim more difficult / 371 viewsAssalamualaikum, what do you think about the fact that the world is becoming increasingly harder for Muslims to navigate. For example how capitalist society has designed peoples lives to be all work and any spare time they have is now to consume media and this kind of society is causing increase in mental illness which […]
/ Dec 07, 2019 04:27 PM / No Comments on Should parents scold a child who doesn’t pray? / 613 viewsSalamu alaikum. I have a friend whom confided in me and wants to ask two questions to you: 1) Is it appropriate of a mother to scold her children for not praying on time, while she never taught her children about religion properly since their parents were gone to work and left their children with […]
/ Jan 08, 2019 04:26 PM / No Comments on How to be compassionate, and on acting compassionate without feeling it / 333 viewsAssallamualeykum! Could you please explain how the human compassion works? How does a person gain it and how he loses it? What could be the factors? How to recognize it? Thanx in advance! I trust your point of view which is always interesting and wise. Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, Part of human compassion is built-in genetically. […]
/ Apr 28, 2017 06:28 PM / No Comments on A bash script for automatically restarting an unresponsive Apache server only when needed / 2079 viewsOne 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 […]
/ Feb 17, 2019 10:03 PM / No Comments on If God is responsible for guidance, why are humans punished for being misguided? / 10402 viewsAssallamualeykum! I was wondering if there is any proper answer for this question I was asked the other day: “If it is God who decides whether the person believes in Him or not, why would He still send people who don’t believe in him to hell, isn’t that decision made by Himself already?” And then […]
/ Feb 18, 2019 03:11 PM / No Comments on The History of Salafism: The Making of Salafism by Henri Lauzière / 2202 viewsHenri 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 […]
/ Mar 22, 2018 09:32 PM / 1 Comment on The Road to Maturity: On Dealing with Life’s Unsolvable Problems / 7224 viewsEvery person’s life seems to contain problems that have no solution. Such problems can last for years, even decades. Among such problems are: Poverty: A person’s life may be denied many joys and contain many indignities brought about by poverty. Having a disabled child: An otherwise happy and wealthy couple may be force to worry […]
/ Sep 11, 2017 06:59 PM / 2 Comments on The Islamic View of Sex Education and Adolescent Exposure to Sexual Scenes in Novels and Films / 3190 viewsMy 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 […]
/ Sep 22, 2019 02:01 PM / No Comments on Raise children as Muslims, or let them choose their own path? / 504 viewsSalam, brother. I hope you are in a good health. I have this thought passing through my mind and I’m deeply thinking about it and concerned if one day when I am married and have children, of what should I do in that situation. And so, I have a rather personal question for you related […]
/ Nov 19, 2019 02:52 PM / No Comments on Avoiding negative assumptions about people / 462 viewsAssalamualaikum. I hope you’re doing well. I want to ask something about making assumptions especially negative ones. How can I avoid from making this assumption and why exactly I am making all of these negative assumptions. I can’t seem to understand and can’t figure it out. If you can help me with this problem I […]
/ Apr 10, 2018 05:38 PM / No Comments on Balancing materialism and fatalism / 4962 viewsDo we as Muslims count on what is written/ decreed by Allah for us, and not worry about anything? Or do we ourselves need to take action due to the free will granted to us by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala, even if that might involve risk? My question is, to what extent do we take […]
/ Apr 27, 2019 02:03 PM / 3 Comments on Being a night person as a Muslim / 2968 viewsSalamu alaikum. Brother, is there a thing such as a “nocturnal person”? What do you think of such person who is wide awake at night and sleeping during the day? Is it mentioned in the Quran whether it is prohibited or not? Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, That is often caused by having caffeine late in the […]
/ Jun 28, 2019 11:46 PM / 1 Comment on Hijabis, Niqabis, and Religious Liberties in the Secular State / 1218 viewsWhen 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, […]
/ Jun 07, 2019 04:17 PM / No Comments on Productivity tips / 398 viewsAssalamualaikum, i was wondering if you have any productivity tips regarding reading and doing our daily work? Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, I used to read many articles and follow many websites that were dedicated to increasing personal productivity. But I realized at some point that it was all irrelevant to me. For example having a clean […]
/ Jun 04, 2019 01:43 PM / 2 Comments on How to make up a Ramadan fast broken due to masturbation / 9077 viewsduring ramadan i have masturbated in the middle of the day i really regret doing that and i know it’s a big sin but i want to know should i fast 120 days or just one day and what else should i do ? i hope you can help me It is sufficient to make […]
/ Apr 27, 2019 05:43 PM / 1 Comment on The Discovery of Paradise in Islam by Christian Lange / 5868 viewsA review of Christian Lange’s inaugural lecture “The Discovery of Paradise in Islam” at the University of Utrecht. In his lecture, Lange refers to four unique aspects of the Quranic treatment of Paradise: Paradise is not created at the end of time. It already exists. Paradise is not in a separate realm or dimension; it […]
/ Dec 01, 2018 01:07 AM / 6 Comments on The Quran and the Shape of the Earth: Is It Round or Flat? / 3993 viewsThere is some propaganda on the Internet about the Quran suggesting the earth is flat. They do not mention that respected and highly orthodox Islamic scholars like Ibn al-Jawzi, Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-Qayyim all believed the earth to be round. They also refer to a fatwa by Ibn Baaz (a follower of Wahhabism, a version […]
/ Apr 15, 2019 07:39 PM / No Comments on They cannot stop sinning despite their worship and feel like a hypocrite / 1063 viewsSalamalaikum Brother Ikram, I hope all is well. I tried to implement what you mentioned in your essays into my life. But I still feel guilty, shameful, and lonely. It’s a part of life now. I have been patient and I have sought therapy for a long time as well, but nothing seems to work. […]
/ Mar 30, 2019 03:40 PM / No Comments on Losing faith in yourself as a believer after failing many times / 746 viewsAssalamAleikumWarahmatullah How does one have faith in yourself after disappointing yourself many times? I pray during day, listening to music at night. I study Quran 3 days a row, I don’t study for 3 weeks. I keep going forth and back. I lose hope in myself and am very disappointed in myself.. Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, […]
/ Nov 19, 2018 07:19 PM / No Comments on Dealing with missing someone after a breakup / 3880 viewsAssalamualaikum,what do we do when we miss someone so dearly,It just literally kills us on the inside,I wanted him to make me halal but he rejected me in a kind way Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, Tragic life events such as breaking up with someone we love will invariably cause us to suffer. There is no way […]
/ Oct 10, 2017 10:00 PM / 1 Comment on God has not abandoned you: Regaining your sense of purpose when life feels spiritually empty, lonely and meaningless / 17370 viewsI would appreciate some advice. I pray all my prayers on time and I read Quran daily, along with other forms of worship, but I feel so numb & empty. I feel like I have no purpose in this life, like if I died it won’t even matter. I don’t affect this Ummah in any […]
/ Apr 10, 2018 04:24 PM / No Comments on Solution for a person who due to illness cannot make up missed fasts / 876 viewsI’m girl and I started fasting in 2010. The problem is, i’m not a healthy problem i have been dealing with too many issues and couldn’t fast the days where i ate during Ramadan (period time) We re in 2017 now and i have a debt of 50 days What should i do ? For […]
/ Jan 02, 2017 06:44 PM / No Comments on Fixing the kworker CPU usage / ACPI errors issue on a Skylake motherboard (ASRock Z170 Pro4) / 1888 viewsIn which ASRock bricks my motherboard and a random $10 Chinese device comes to the rescue, with the help of a German gentleman Since I no longer trust the spyware that is Windows 10, I have wanted to move my main PC (6700K CPU, R9 290 graphic card, ASRock Z170 Pro4 motherboard) to Linux for […]