/ 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 17, 2018 03:28 PM / No Comments on The Muslim Plan for Western Civilization: There is No Plan / 15799 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 […]
/ 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 / 3449 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 […]
/ Sep 29, 2017 07:17 PM / 2 Comments on Dating and Relationships in Islam: What is Allowed and What is Not / 18377 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 […]
/ Apr 09, 2018 06:50 PM / 13 Comments on A new approach to the Quran’s “Wife-Beating Verse” (al-Nisa 4:34) / 22620 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 […]
/ 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 […]
/ Feb 18, 2019 03:11 PM / No Comments on The History of Salafism: The Making of Salafism by Henri Lauzière / 3121 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 […]
/ 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 […]
/ Jul 04, 2018 08:16 PM / 1 Comment on Is Islam really pluralistic? An Islamic defense of pluralism / 7046 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 […]
/ Apr 01, 2017 09:02 PM / No Comments on “So Intoxicated I Am” by Jalal al-Deen Rumi / 1352 viewsSo 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 […]
/ Mar 13, 2019 10:11 AM / No Comments on Best friends and soulmates / 2801 viewsBrother, is there such thing as a best friend? I’m the type of person who thinks that I only allow myself one best friend, but after a few failed friendships, I’m starting to believe such thing never actually exist. Was it because my previous failed friendships? And also, is it true that soulmate can be […]
/ Jun 30, 2017 06:42 PM / 1 Comment on What to do when your spouse is less religious than you / 4868 viewsA question I received recently: I am in my early twenties and have married a woman who comes from a Muslim family. After marrying her, I have found that religion is not very important to her. I had wished to marry a woman who was my equal in faith, so that we could create a […]
/ May 24, 2019 04:51 AM / No Comments on What is the best time to perform witr? / 1616 viewsAssalamu alaykum Please how many raka’ats is the Witr prayer and when is it best observed.. is it before going to bed or shortly before dawn? Jazakallahu khayran Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, Witr should be performed as the last prayer of the night before dawn. The best time to perform it is related to the best […]
/ Feb 03, 2017 07:14 PM / 3 Comments on Charting the Strauss-Howe Generational Theory in 2017 / 10663 viewsBelow is a chart (click it to zoom) that shows the seasonality of Anglo-American history since the end of the Middle Ages, according to the Strauss-Howe Generational Theory (as described in their 1997 book The Fourth Turning). Click here to download an enlarged version. Below is the inner circles zoomed in (for those who don’t […]
/ Nov 09, 2019 07:47 PM / No Comments on What are the best duas? / 2410 viewsWhat are some of the best duas? What are some things to ask god for? Below are my favorite duas which I try to make after every prayer: To forgive your sins. Allahumma innaka affuwwun tuhibbul afwa faafu anni (O God, you are the Most Forgiving, and You love forgiveness, so forgive me.) To guide you and […]
/ Feb 12, 2019 06:08 PM / No Comments on The Closing of the Muslim Mind and the Decline of Islamic Civilization / 2911 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 […]
/ Feb 22, 2017 03:52 PM / No Comments on The calm before the 2017/18 crash / 1522 viewsJohn Hussman’s latest Weekly Market Comment starts with these foreboding quotes: “No Congress of the United States ever assembled, on surveying the State of the Union, has met with a more pleasant prospect than that which appears at the present time.” – Calvin Coolidge, December 4, 1928 “There can be little argument that the American […]
/ Mar 19, 2019 06:40 PM / 2 Comments on The incredible growth of science in the Muslim world: The scientific output of Muslim countries in 2017 / 2011 viewsSee the 2018 update: Science in the Islamic world grew at the fastest rate in 2018 The scientific output of Muslim-majority countries has grown tremendously over the past 20 years, measured in the number of scientific and scholarly papers published in international journals. The top scientific publisher is Iran, followed by Turkey, followed by Malaysia: […]
/ Nov 09, 2019 08:10 PM / No Comments on My opinion on the site IslamQA.info / 4945 viewsAssalamualaikum What is your opinion of the website Islamqa.info? Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, IslamQA.info represents a brand of Islam that’s not followed by the majority of Sunni Muslims in the world. It’s often called Wahhabism. It often has good answers when it comes to questions on the very basics of Islam, such as rulings on the […]
/ Jul 25, 2017 05:53 PM / 5 Comments on What happened to Islamic civilization? Why did Muslims fall behind in science and technology? / 5288 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 […]
/ Dec 07, 2019 04:03 PM / No Comments on Is the best salah the longest? / 1687 viewsAssalamualaikum. I want to ask that is it true that the best salah is when you stand the longest… Is it true? And why is that? Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, The reward for a good deed depends on the effort and sacrifice we put into it. So standing longer in prayer is better because we spend […]
/ Nov 11, 2018 04:59 PM / No Comments on What is the best way to avoid habitual sins? / 2875 viewsAssalamu’alaykum, I wanna ask how to find myself and get back on the right path back? Im lost. Like so lost. Ive been feeling so tired with life and everything but i still keep on sinning. Like why is it so hard for me to understand that this life is temporary. Im sorry im emotional. […]
/ Nov 19, 2019 02:51 PM / No Comments on On today’s capitalist and materialistic making life as a Muslim more difficult / 1802 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 […]
/ Oct 21, 2019 04:07 PM / No Comments on Does God perform miracles today? / 1281 viewsAllah tells in the Quran how He showed a miracle to Zakariya عليه السلام by bestowing an offspring in a very unlikely age which was a very impossible thing. Are these just for prophets or can we also expect and hope such impossibles to happen with us with sincere dua. You d say with Allah […]
/ 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 / 4094 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 […]
/ Dec 26, 2017 10:24 PM / No Comments on What is the best dua for marrying well? / 1459 viewsWhat kind of dua can I make to marry someone who is extraordinary person? Speak to God the way you speak to someone you love and ask Him what you want. You do not need special words. You do not even need words.
/ 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 / 18372 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 […]
/ Aug 05, 2018 05:42 PM / 4 Comments on Islam and Depression: A Survival Guide / 10640 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 […]
/ Aug 09, 2018 05:56 PM / 2 Comments on What the Prophets Teach Us About the Proper Etiquette of Dua (Supplication) / 2590 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 […]
/ 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 / 18511 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, […]
/ 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) / 17292 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 […]
/ Jun 23, 2019 07:41 PM / 5 Comments on The Uniqueness of Western Civilization by Ricardo Duchesne / 7566 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 […]
/ Jul 04, 2017 12:02 AM 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 […]
/ Nov 04, 2018 06:48 PM / 6 Comments on A Hadith Scholar Presents New Evidence that Aisha was Near 18 the Day of Her Marriage to the Prophet Muhammad / 33086 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 […]
/ Nov 14, 2019 03:58 PM / 2 Comments on Why Your Teenager Hates You / 16581 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, 2017 04:44 PM / 2 Comments on Islam, the Good Parts: A Basic Income System that Encourages Employment, Productive Investment and Automation / 6414 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 […]
/ Aug 08, 2017 07:21 PM / 16 Comments on Reconciling Islam and Darwinian Evolution: Al-Ghazali’s Matrix and the Divine Template / 25320 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 […]
/ Jul 26, 2017 02:52 PM / 4 Comments on On Islam, Homosexuality and Homosexual Muslims / 3933 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 […]
/ Mar 04, 2017 03:44 PM / 11 Comments on Why God Allows Evil to Exist, and Why Bad Things Happen to Good People / 27863 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, […]
/ Jun 25, 2018 05:13 PM / No Comments on Indonesia’s unlocked scientific potential? / 1803 viewsThe Scimago Journal & Country Rank is one of the things I look forward to most to seeing every year. The rankings show each country’s scientific output, a very important measure of a country’s present level of development and its speed of development. The biggest surprise in the 2017 rankings was from Indonesia, whose cited paper […]
/ 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 09, 2017 03:44 PM / No Comments on A Biography of Ahmad Moftizadeh / 3637 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 […]
/ Apr 08, 2019 02:30 PM 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 […]
/ Jul 08, 2018 09:42 PM / 1 Comment on The Point of Marriage in Islam (and the Problem with Romantic Relationships Outside of Marriage) / 9914 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 […]
/ Nov 07, 2018 04:03 PM / 2 Comments on Why Digital Piracy is Ethical and Necessary / 15419 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 […]
/ Feb 02, 2019 01:35 PM / No Comments on On deciding which madhhab to follow and the multi-madhhab approach / 1796 viewsDo you hold certain school or mahdhab in Islam? If so, which one? Also, how do you pick one of them, or you don’t pick one at all and just go with what’s acceptable for you? Thank you. The concept of the madhhab is somewhat outdated because scholars are starting to have a multi-madhhab approach. […]
/ Apr 20, 2019 07:01 PM / No Comments on A Quranic Phenomenology of Atheism / 3351 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 […]
/ Sep 26, 2017 04:09 PM / 2 Comments on How is it fair that unattractive women have difficulty getting married? Why does God allow this? / 3631 viewsI was reading your blog post and I keep wondering isn’t the system unfair? That the most attractive woman will get men and the unattractive not . As an unattractive female I can’t get married although I wish First I will explain why the world is the way it is, then I will explain the […]
/ Mar 17, 2018 04:11 PM / No Comments on On which scholar’s opinions to follow and scholarly consensus (ijmāʿ) / 2740 viewsI don’t mean to offend you in any way but I just want to know (because I find other Islamic sources different from your answers sometimes). But I’m wondering when people ask you a certain thing on your blog , do you go after the scholars who give the fatwas/explanations that sounds most logic or […]
/ Mar 22, 2018 09:32 PM / 1 Comment on The Road to Maturity: On Dealing with Life’s Unsolvable Problems / 8163 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 […]
/ Apr 09, 2019 10:13 PM / No Comments on She caught her divorced sister cheating with a married man / 9422 viewsAsalam Alaikum. My sister is a divorced. I have sadly found out my sister has a haram relationship with a married man. The mans wife is both my sisters and I very good friend so I could not believe my sister would do this to her. I’m so sad. What should I do? Tell my […]
/ Feb 07, 2019 05:06 PM / No Comments on The Philosophical Reason why Homosexual Relationships are “Wrong” / 3146 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 […]
/ Aug 12, 2018 03:22 PM / No Comments on How backward is Russia compared to Europe and the United States and when will it catch up? / 3002 viewsBelow 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 […]
/ Jun 28, 2018 09:29 PM / 7 Comments on Mysticism without Sufism: A Guide to Tahajjud, Islam’s Meditation Practice / 9994 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 […]
/ Jul 02, 2018 09:16 PM / No Comments on Pakistan’s behind-the-times Islam / 1550 viewsI am a Muslim woman and I don’t psychologically feel ready for marriage. But my mother who is Pakistani is telling me that what I’m doing is haram. She told me that apparently Bin-Baz said that every woman should get married regardless of their doubts. But Islam itself tells us that marriage isn’t obligatory. How […]
/ Jan 02, 2019 02:56 PM / No Comments on Dealing with people looking down on housewives / 2528 viewsPeace be upon you, I am a Muslim woman living in the West who someday hopes to become a housewife and stay-at-home mom; it’s something I’m heavily inclined towards. I’ve been feeling dejected and humiliated about it since even my well-guided religious relatives look down on me for it and others saying I’ll become a […]
/ Sep 21, 2019 04:10 PM / 3 Comments on Ayesha, At Last by Uzma Jalaluddin (Book Review) / 8962 viewsAyesha, 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 […]
/ Mar 13, 2019 08:53 PM / 6 Comments on Reconciling Free Will and Predestination in Islam with al-Māturīdī and Ibn Taymiyya / 10634 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 […]
/ Jan 13, 2019 03:13 PM / No Comments on Her abusive parents make her feel depressed / 2752 viewsAssalamu aleikum, for several years i have been feeling like a burden and a problem to my parents. they never support or show love and admiration for anything me or my sisters do, they’re always scared that we’re going to ruin their reputations and have absolutely zero respect for us, the degrading things they’ve told […]
/ Aug 10, 2017 08:54 PM / 1 Comment on Using PUT to RESTfully upload an image to a server with jQuery AJAX and PHP / 6050 viewsWhen uploading a single image to a known location, for example a user uploading an image to use as their profile image, using a PUT request for the upload makes more sense than POST if you are trying to follow REST principles. I couldn’t find a complete solution online, so the following is what I […]
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/ Nov 06, 2017 06:35 AM / No Comments on In the Footsteps of the Prophet by Tariq Ramadan / 2023 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 […]
/ Jan 16, 2017 03:18 AM / 6 Comments on Inconsistencies in the Harry Potter Books / 8182 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 […]
/ Jan 07, 2019 02:14 PM / No Comments on Islam’s Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science / 2646 viewsNidhal 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 […]
/ Oct 21, 2017 06:17 PM / 1 Comment on Conflicts of Fitness: Islam, America, and Evolutionary Psychology / 3479 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 […]
/ 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 / 3642 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 […]
/ Jul 02, 2018 10:38 PM / No Comments on What happens if a Muslim girl gets caught with a boyfriend? / 2488 viewsIf a girl is having a relation with a boy secretly (as a bf and gf) and get caught by her family, then what should be her family’s reaction towards her and if she realized her mistake and apologizes with her true heart? Please tell me about both of these situations According to Islamic point […]
/ Apr 10, 2019 03:28 PM / No Comments on The Dark Side of Swearing: The Philosophical Reason Why Using Profanity is Wrong / 2758 viewsA 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 […]
/ Feb 10, 2019 12:57 PM / No Comments on Can Muslims celebrate Valentine’s Day and Halloween? / 2522 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 […]
/ Sep 21, 2017 10:24 PM / No Comments on The Last Mufti of Iranian Kurdistan (And a Critique of Political Islam) / 2271 viewsThis book is a beautiful tribute to the memory of Ahmad Moftizadeh, may God have mercy on him, containing a detailed and well-supported biography of the man and detailing his works and beliefs. As someone whose (Sunni) family spent the late 80’s and most of the 90’s in Iranian Kurdistan, Ahmad Moftizadeh and Nasir Subhani, […]
/ Jul 17, 2019 08:15 PM / No Comments on Answers about Islam and misogyny / 1686 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 […]
/ Nov 11, 2019 10:05 PM / No Comments on When does religious belief become toxic? / 1422 viewsIn what condition does a religious belief becomes dogmatic and toxic to its follower? When a person thinks that Islam is meant to replace their humanity. Below is an excerpt from my book An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Understanding Islam and Muslims on this question. George Orwell and George Eliot George Orwell, in his Road to Wigan Pier, […]
/ Dec 26, 2017 10:51 PM / 2 Comments on Daughter wants to distance herself from her abusive parents / 5506 viewsWhat has made my emaan weaker is that I became traumatisied from a bad childhood. My parents played part in this. Sometimes they used islam against me to manipullate me. Also I wasn’t allowed to get help, and my mom labelled my depression as kufr, which made me feel bad and try to suppress the […]
/ Aug 25, 2017 01:23 PM / 1 Comment on How to increase iman (piety and mindfulness of God) / 4223 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 10, 2018 05:38 PM / No Comments on Balancing materialism and fatalism / 5889 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 21, 2018 05:01 PM / No Comments on On the Shia and their fate according to Sunni Islam / 2107 viewsWhat are your views on Shia and their beliefs? And are they among the 70+ sects that are doomed? First, the notion of the “72 doomed sects” is false, as I explain here. It is based on fabricated evidence. As for the Shia, I believe that anyone who believes in God and His Books and […]
/ Apr 16, 2018 06:38 PM / No Comments on On unanswered prayers, and is it normal for a Muslim to doubt God’s existence? / 1394 viewsAs a Muslim is it normal to ever doubt Allah’s existence? I pray 5x daily and have completed Umrah, but i feel like my prayers have never been answered. That’s normal, and that is why faith is rewarded. We are supposed to believe in God without having physical proof of His existence. Believing in God […]
/ Aug 25, 2017 01:21 PM / 18 Comments on Can a Muslim woman have male friends? The Islamic view of having friends of the opposite sex / 116535 viewsSalam. I have a question over boy friends? Is it okay to have friends who are boys and you know that they won’t do anything with you or take your guys friendship over the line? Or should we Muslim girls have no friends who are boys? Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, There are no texts in the […]
/ Sep 14, 2017 12:20 AM / 1 Comment on What to do if all the negative coverage of Islam and online Islam-bashing affects you / 1611 viewsI’m from India and I see a lot of negativity towards Islam and it saddens me very much. Filthy comments made about Islam and people who practice Islam. I usually do not indulge in such arguments/comments because there is no point but it effects me. Please help Jazakallah khair That is a promise of the […]
/ Oct 18, 2017 07:01 PM / No Comments on On Islamic Manners Toward Parents / 1533 viewsWhat if there is something your parents want you to do and it doesn’t please you despite of dropping clear signs they refuse and claim that they know what’s best for you. Are you supposed to take a stand or leave it on Allah? As Muslims, our default mode of interaction with our parents should […]
/ Jan 01, 2020 03:26 PM / No Comments on Is it wrong to judge a friend for their behavior? / 1466 viewsI found out my best friend (for quite some time) had an affair. It was VERY physical and Also used to consume alcohol. My friend lied to me. I got really hurt. I know if i confront, my best friend would justify it by saying that it is not my issue it’s their life. Apart […]
/ Dec 05, 2019 08:22 PM / 1 Comment on Dealing with a Muslim father and husband who watches pornography / 3408 viewsAssalamualaykum. May Allah bless you and your family for your efforts to help this ummah, aameeen. I want to ask your advice about my dad who secretly watched porn videos on his phone. Me and the whole family, especially my mom, were devastated. We thought he already made a توبة, but this morning my mom […]
/ Nov 19, 2018 07:19 PM / No Comments on Dealing with missing someone after a breakup / 4804 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 […]
/ Feb 01, 2018 06:32 PM / No Comments on Learning to love God again / 2441 viewsI want to know how to heal from the religious abuse I’ve been through in my life. I can’t find any resources online for Muslims. Most people I have read had issue with religious abuse have left. I don’t know how to heal that part. Maybe if I seek a professional they might tell me […]
/ Jul 21, 2018 08:09 PM / No Comments on There are billions of non-Muslims, so how can Islam be the one true path? / 2267 viewsIt’s hard for me to imagine that there are populations and populations who barely have clue what Islam is and yet it is the one true path. What will happen then to these people? God’s purpose in building this universe was to make it possible for humans to exist who love Him and believe in […]
/ Jun 28, 2018 09:31 PM / 1 Comment on Parents will not let him marry his chosen / 1627 viewsPlease can you advice me. There is a guy who wants to wants to marry me and my parents are OK with it but his parents are forcing him to marry his cousin instead. He already tried to talk to his parents many times, to convince to at least meet my family (his parents don’t […]
/ Dec 12, 2018 06:54 PM / No Comments on Determining start of fajr prayer in the UK / 1950 viewsI’ve recently started to pray but I’m having difficulties with fajr and the timing. I’m from the uk and at my local mosque fajr start time is 3.05am but dawn is at 4.07am will my prayer be accepted or have I been praying too early There are multiple definitions of “dawn”. You have probably looked at […]
/ Jul 01, 2018 03:37 AM / 2 Comments on Why did Imam Malik forbid living in non-Muslim countries? / 2170 viewsQuestion in response to The Problem with the IslamQA.info Website: I’m wondering why did Imam Malik Say we can’t live in non Muslim country? SubbhanAllah I thought that imam Malik had balanced views. isn’t it the fact that westerns are converting due to the fact that we Muslims live in the West and that there are […]
/ Mar 19, 2018 04:22 PM / No Comments on The Qur’an (Oxford World’s Classics) by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem / 1911 viewsThe Qur’an by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem is one of the best translations of the Quran available in English. With its many clarifying footnotes, the book is especially helpful to people new to the study of the Quran.
/ Mar 23, 2018 06:24 PM / 1 Comment on [Book Review] Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia’s Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane by S. Frederick Starr / 2435 viewsLost Enlightenment is a highly readable overview of the history of the Persian-speaking cities of Central Asia, an area that gave Islamic civilization the majority of its great philosophers and thinkers (Jabir ibn Hayyan, al-Khwarizmi, al-Farabi, Avicenna, al-Biruni, al-Ghazali) and many of its great scholars (such as the creators of five of the six “canonical” hadith […]
/ Apr 14, 2018 06:45 PM / No Comments on Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet’s Legacy [Short Book Review] / 1450 viewsProfessor Jonathan Brown’s Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet’s Legacy is one of the best English-language books about Islam written by a Muslim (he converted to Islam in 1997). While the book’s focus is on the issues surrounding the authenticity and interpretation of hadith, it provides a good general history of the development of […]
/ Dec 26, 2018 08:07 PM / No Comments on Secret romantic relationships in Islam / 3980 viewsHello, i have a question.I have a boyfriend and he loves me i also love him and he wants to marry me and he has told this about his family. I’m not really sure about get married but i also can’t share this with my family because they are sooo strict. And this problem makes […]
/ Sep 23, 2014 07:07 PM / 5 Comments on How cyber pirates anonymously torrent movies on the internet / 12980 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 […]
/ Aug 08, 2018 12:15 AM / No Comments on China’s scientific output per capita compared to Malaysia’s / 1829 viewsAs part of my series of posts comparing the scientific output per capita of different countries, in this post I will compare Malaysia and China. Malaysia is interesting for being the most industrialized Muslim-majority country in the world. It took China until 2001 to reach Malaysia’s scientific output per capita levels for 1996, meaning that […]
/ Dec 24, 2018 12:58 AM / 1 Comment on How to have a halal marriage when there are so many haram outlets? / 1587 viewsAsalam Aleikum WaRahmatullah Almost everyone I know, who is married and Muslim, began their relationship in a haram manner (dating, calling, texting ect.) for years before marrying. I am afraid that it will be really hard for me and a lot of people in today’s society to get to know a possible future spouse in […]
/ Dec 07, 2019 03:52 PM / No Comments on Dealing with heartbreak / 1822 viewsAssalamu alaykum. I am dealing with significant heartbreak. I had been dating a Muslim Lebanese American woman for two years. I am Anglo American and converted to Islam. We had discussed spending our lives together and getting married, but her family disapproved as I am not Lebanese. Her mother made her decide between continuing with […]
/ Jul 28, 2018 03:43 PM / No Comments on How do I find the one who is right for me? / 1720 viewsI decided to do a lot of istighfar for loving someone before marriage and not lowering my gaze and I’ve lost attachment to that person Alhamdulillah. how do I find the one who is right for me? That is similar to asking, “How do I become successful in life?” Each person’s life is different. Successfully […]
/ Mar 13, 2019 09:53 AM / No Comments on Where to start learning about Islam / 1231 viewsMy parents tried their best but, I feel like they could’ve done more to teach me Islam. Where can I seek Islamic knowledge from? I want to start from the beginning and learn more from my previous knowledge. Start by reading the Quran daily. If you do not speak Arabic, read a good translation like […]
/ Aug 12, 2018 04:44 PM / No Comments on Is it wrong in Islam to feel jealous? / 2486 viewsSalam, this guy i know is probably the one person i met who is genuinely kind-hearted and different to me. But, sometimes i have doubts about crushes and i just think about how im always thinking about the person i like rather than Allah SWT. I was afraid of how Allah might take him away […]
/ Aug 03, 2018 04:39 PM / 1 Comment on Why is Islam opposed to homosexuality? / 2045 viewsIn answer to questions asking about the real, material reasons why Islam is opposed to homosexuality. Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, Please see the updated answer here: The Philosophical Reason why Homosexual Relationships are Wrong Old answer: It is possible that a person in a homosexual relationship will have a happy and fulfilling life. But Islam is not […]