/ 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 […]
and / Apr 14, 2019 09:13 PM / No Comments on Medieval Female Mystics of Islam / 864 viewsA review of Arezou Azad, “Female Mystics in Mediaeval Islam: The Quiet Legacy.” (Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 56 (2013) 53-88). Andrea Cabrera The article, “Female Mystics in Medieval Islam: the Quiet Legacy” was written by Arezou Azad, who is a Leverhulme Research Officer of the Oriental Studies Faculty at […]
/ Nov 05, 2018 05:25 PM / 3 Comments on The two salvations: How erotic beauty is a false category of beauty / 7395 viewsIn his 2009 book Beauty, the wonderful British philosopher Roger Scruton says many insightful things about beauty. His book inspired me to create my own Islamic theory of aesthetics in which I assert that a beautiful thing is nothing other than that which brings us face-to-face with God. The reason that the most beautiful and picturesque […]
/ Nov 17, 2018 03:28 PM / No Comments on The Muslim Plan for Western Civilization: There is No Plan / 6424 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 […]
/ Mar 13, 2019 08:53 PM / 6 Comments on Reconciling Free Will and Predestination in Islam with al-Māturīdī and Ibn Taymiyya / 9338 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 […]
/ Nov 07, 2018 04:03 PM / 2 Comments on Why Digital Piracy is Ethical and Necessary / 12904 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 […]
/ Apr 09, 2018 06:50 PM / 13 Comments on A new approach to the Quran’s “Wife-Beating Verse” (al-Nisa 4:34) / 16539 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 […]
/ 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 […]
/ 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 / 2623 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 […]
/ Jun 30, 2017 06:42 PM / 1 Comment on What to do when your spouse is less religious than you / 3717 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 […]
/ Mar 13, 2019 10:11 AM / No Comments on Best friends and soulmates / 1328 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 […]
/ 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 / 654 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 […]
/ Jul 15, 2018 08:15 PM / No Comments on Differences in male and female responsibility for adultery in Islam / 1368 viewsWhy does Allah frown upon woman with consensual sex more than men? It seems like you are asking why God blames men more than women in cases of adultery and fornication. Islamic law punishes men and women equally for such sins and does not hold one of them more accountable than the other. Even if a […]
/ May 24, 2019 04:51 AM / No Comments on What is the best time to perform witr? / 724 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 […]
/ 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 / 2458 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 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 […]
/ 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 […]
/ Feb 26, 2018 12:09 AM / No Comments on Can one read or listen to Quran online without wudu? / 6436 viewsDo we have to get ba-wudu even if we reciting or listening Quran online? There seems to be general agreement that qira’ah (reading/listening to/reciting aloud the Quran) can be done without wudu. The only thing that most agree should not be done without wudu is touching a book of Quran (i.e. a mushaf) (however, the highly respected […]
/ 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 / 3150 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 […]
/ Nov 09, 2019 07:47 PM / No Comments on What are the best duas? / 881 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 […]
/ Jun 24, 2019 03:14 PM / No Comments on Can a woman take off the hijab for an online suitor? / 2168 viewsSalam alaikum. Brother, what are your thoughts on a man who found a woman in an online dating site, whom wants to get to know of her, felt good connection after few conversations because they have lots in common, but asks her to take off her hijab before any agreements for marriage? He didn’t force […]
/ Aug 05, 2018 05:42 PM / 4 Comments on Islam and Depression: A Survival Guide / 9621 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 […]
/ Apr 09, 2019 09:56 PM / 21 Comments on Is showering (ghusl) necessary after masturbation? (male and female) / 586409 viewsCan you still pray after you masturbate? Or do you need to take a shower? If the masturbation involves ejaculation (whether you are male or female), then performing ghusl becomes obligatory. You cannot pray until you perform ghusl. But if there is no ejaculation, then a person can pray without performing ghusl. Follow-up question: for […]
/ Jan 21, 2019 04:00 PM / No Comments on Is it blasphemous to imagine God not being male or female? / 519 viewsassalamu aleikum, is it blasphemous or am i wrong for imagining God as neither male or female? Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, That is actually the correct view. The Quran says: There is nothing like Him. (The Quran, verse 42:11) Things like gender do not apply to God since God is above such categories.
/ Dec 07, 2019 04:03 PM / No Comments on Is the best salah the longest? / 765 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? / 1935 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 09, 2017 03:44 PM / No Comments on A Biography of Ahmad Moftizadeh / 2099 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 […]
/ Jan 04, 2020 06:03 PM / No Comments on He hurt his close female friend by breaking off their friendship / 2275 viewsAssalamo alaikum. There was this really good and decent person i fell in love with. We talked about work stuff, spiritualism, books and joked. She never found out that i was falling for her. Then i realized that this was wrong. My religion has strict rules about na mehrams so i stopped talking to her. […]
/ Jul 04, 2018 08:16 PM / 1 Comment on Is Islam really pluralistic? An Islamic defense of pluralism / 5928 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 […]
/ Dec 26, 2017 10:24 PM / No Comments on What is the best dua for marrying well? / 550 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.
/ 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 / 14139 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, […]
/ Oct 25, 2017 04:44 PM / 2 Comments on Islam, the Good Parts: A Basic Income System that Encourages Employment, Productive Investment and Automation / 4883 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 […]
/ 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 / 17284 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 […]
/ Mar 04, 2017 03:44 PM / 11 Comments on Why God Allows Evil to Exist, and Why Bad Things Happen to Good People / 25373 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 09, 2018 05:56 PM / 2 Comments on What the Prophets Teach Us About the Proper Etiquette of Dua (Supplication) / 1628 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 […]
/ 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? / 2050 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 […]
/ Nov 14, 2019 03:58 PM / 2 Comments on Why Your Teenager Hates You / 13275 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 […]
/ Feb 07, 2019 05:06 PM / No Comments on The Philosophical Reason why Homosexual Relationships are “Wrong” / 2178 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 […]
/ Feb 20, 2019 02:06 PM / 1 Comment on Believing Women in Islam (2019) by Asma Barlas and David Raeburn Finn / 1583 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 […]
/ Mar 22, 2018 09:32 PM / 1 Comment on The Road to Maturity: On Dealing with Life’s Unsolvable Problems / 6585 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 20, 2019 07:01 PM / No Comments on A Quranic Phenomenology of Atheism / 1766 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 21, 2019 04:10 PM / 3 Comments on Ayesha, At Last by Uzma Jalaluddin (Book Review) / 6600 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 […]
/ Jul 08, 2019 04:59 PM / 1 Comment on Why men and women have different gender roles in Islam / 10099 viewsSalam, I have question about equality between men and women. Islam acknowledges equality when it comes to spirituality, sins etc. but then in marriage wife has to obey her husband despite the fact that it’s supposed to be equal companionship, not superior and inferior relationship since men and women have equal intellectual capability to think […]
/ Mar 17, 2018 04:11 PM / No Comments on On which scholar’s opinions to follow and scholarly consensus (ijmāʿ) / 1856 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 […]
/ Jan 02, 2019 02:56 PM / No Comments on Dealing with people looking down on housewives / 993 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 […]
/ Apr 16, 2018 06:38 PM / No Comments on On unanswered prayers, and is it normal for a Muslim to doubt God’s existence? / 477 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 […]
/ Apr 09, 2019 10:13 PM / No Comments on She caught her divorced sister cheating with a married man / 8495 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 12, 2019 06:08 PM / No Comments on The Closing of the Muslim Mind and the Decline of Islamic Civilization / 1931 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 […]
/ Mar 13, 2019 07:47 PM / 1 Comment on A Study of the Hadiths on Qadar (Predestination): Judging Between Fatalism and Free Will / 4650 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 […]
/ Feb 01, 2018 06:32 PM / No Comments on Learning to love God again / 404 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 […]
/ 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 / 114432 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 […]
/ Jan 13, 2019 03:13 PM / No Comments on Her abusive parents make her feel depressed / 1725 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 […]
/ Nov 11, 2019 10:13 PM / No Comments on A Christian who enjoys reading the Quran / 457 viewsI am a catholic but I find it very comforting to read the Quran. I do it privately because in the west it can be a little problematic you know but my question is I am catholic is it bad to find god thru another religion I am a Muslim and I listened to Alexander […]
/ Aug 19, 2019 06:06 PM / No Comments on On betrayal from a friend / 394 viewsI found a girl in charity shop and I though she is really nice and kind. So we start friendship she used to text me call me all the time. We r like Best friend/sister.I was so happy. I’m a reupholster so she wanted to buy a chair and I told her the price. And […]
/ Jul 28, 2018 03:43 PM / No Comments on How do I find the one who is right for me? / 802 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 […]
/ Aug 19, 2017 05:16 PM / 1 Comment on What is permissible for a Muslim woman to wear in front of her father, other close male relatives, and other women? / 6677 viewsI 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 […]
/ 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 / 30617 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 […]
/ Jul 03, 2018 09:26 PM / 2 Comments on Having short hair as a Muslim woman / 2417 viewsBefore I ask I want to say that I am a 19 years old female, and I have never in my life ever had long hair. However I always take care of my hijab, prayers and everything else, the thing is that I am comfortable with short hair (I’m saying 2 inches kind of short). […]
/ Jul 26, 2017 02:52 PM / 4 Comments on On Islam, Homosexuality and Homosexual Muslims / 2959 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 20, 2019 01:26 PM / 1 Comment on A woman’s worth does not depend on her accomplishments / 2578 viewsAOA, Akhi! few days ago I met an aunt of me.She and her daughters are very social and they all are well known in their fields.My father couldn’t afford our studies so we sisters are just graduate.Also my father never allowed us to go out much so we are kind of staying at home type […]
/ Mar 13, 2019 10:25 AM / 5 Comments on Gender dysphoria in Islam / 3144 views(1) Greetings. I have been following your blog and are fascinated by your wisdom in viewing life through Islamic lenses, but does not fail to be logical. I am a Muslim young woman in her mid-twenties and am thinking to be a transgender, because ever since I was little I sometimes thought myself as a […]
/ Mar 16, 2018 05:14 PM / No Comments on On sexism and misogyny in hadith narrations and the books of scholars / 1360 viewsSalam. This thing has bugged me for a while and I try to not care but it’s an important topic . Basically many scholars, many ahadith, are very sexist. The work of bukhari, ibn abbas, alkatherr , it feels like I can’t escape it and no matter how much I try to think that woman […]
/ Nov 19, 2018 07:19 PM / No Comments on Dealing with missing someone after a breakup / 3264 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 […]
/ Jan 01, 2020 03:26 PM / No Comments on Is it wrong to judge a friend for their behavior? / 568 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 […]
/ Jul 25, 2017 05:53 PM / 5 Comments on What happened to Islamic civilization? Why did Muslims fall behind in science and technology? / 4325 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 […]
/ Oct 18, 2017 07:01 PM / No Comments on On Islamic Manners Toward Parents / 606 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 […]
/ Apr 21, 2018 05:01 PM / No Comments on On the Shia and their fate according to Sunni Islam / 1160 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 […]
/ Jun 28, 2018 09:31 PM / 1 Comment on Parents will not let him marry his chosen / 685 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 […]
/ Jul 02, 2018 09:16 PM / No Comments on Pakistan’s behind-the-times Islam / 635 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 […]
/ Jul 21, 2018 08:09 PM / No Comments on There are billions of non-Muslims, so how can Islam be the one true path? / 1331 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 […]
/ Feb 18, 2019 03:11 PM / No Comments on The History of Salafism: The Making of Salafism by Henri Lauzière / 2165 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 […]
/ Dec 05, 2019 08:22 PM / 1 Comment on Dealing with a Muslim father and husband who watches pornography / 2429 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 […]
/ Dec 12, 2018 06:54 PM / No Comments on Determining start of fajr prayer in the UK / 455 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 […]
/ 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 / 1501 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] / 523 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 […]
/ Mar 19, 2018 04:22 PM / No Comments on The Qur’an (Oxford World’s Classics) by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem / 997 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.
/ Jun 23, 2019 07:41 PM / 5 Comments on The Uniqueness of Western Civilization by Ricardo Duchesne / 5355 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 […]
/ Apr 08, 2019 02:20 PM / 4 Comments on Are virtual credit cards halal? / 1198 viewsSalaam. I was planning to create a PayPal account, but I’m unemployed, have no credit card, and thought of creating a VCC or Virtual Credit Card to get a full access to PayPal and to make overseas online payment or transfer. Unfortunately, the VCC service asks their users to take up 1,9% to 4,5% 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 / 1014 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 […]
/ Nov 19, 2019 02:48 PM / No Comments on Building mental toughness and will power / 563 viewsSalam, do you have any advice on how to build mental toughness? I feel like reaching many of my goals lies on the other side of me being too easy on myself 🙁 I don’t know how to accomplish my goals anymore, but I also got burnt out in the past and am afraid of […]
/ Jun 06, 2019 10:33 PM / No Comments on OCD is making their practice of Islam difficult / 1426 viewsSelam I have a problem I suffer from OCD scrupulosity aspect of it. To be honest my personal relationship to Islam is so messed up I don’t know where to start. With my prayer and wudu I am in constant doubt. I repeat multiple times because i think I passed gas or ect. I find […]
/ Dec 05, 2019 06:32 PM / No Comments on Is it permissible to earn interest to give it away in charity? / 507 viewsAssalamualaikum, most reputable banks near me gives interest for a savings account, there are 2 Muslim banks but they don’t have the best customer service reviews. I need to open a savings account but I don’t want any Interest attached. A Muslim friend of mine with the same issue opened an account but records the […]
/ Dec 17, 2019 12:22 AM / No Comments on Are savings accounts halal if you give away the interest in charity? / 1505 viewsAssalamualaikum, most reputable banks near me gives interest for a savings account, there are 2 Muslim banks but they don’t have the best customer service reviews. I need to open a savings account but I don’t want any Interest attached. A Muslim friend of mine with the same issue opened an account but records the […]
/ Apr 23, 2018 06:08 PM / No Comments on On Muslims working for companies that deal with interest / 2324 viewsI just wanted to ask you since my major is economy and some jobs involves working with the interest rate especially if it’s a firm that works with lending money. Can I still work with them? There’s a lot of competition here in this country regarding this major so saying no to a job means […]
/ Jan 07, 2019 02:14 PM / No Comments on Islam’s Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science / 1662 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 […]
/ Jul 08, 2018 09:42 PM / 1 Comment on The Point of Marriage in Islam (and the Problem with Romantic Relationships Outside of Marriage) / 8351 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 […]
/ May 25, 2019 07:09 AM / 1 Comment on Are women said to be created for men as helpers in the Quran? / 1303 viewsAssalamualaikum. I have just started to read the Al-quran religiously and looked at the translation as I want to understand what I’m reading. However, there are some questions that linger in my head as I read more. I’m rather curious about the position of women in Islam especially as portrayed in the Al-quran. This is […]
/ Apr 26, 2019 06:28 PM / 1 Comment on The responsibility of the oldest child in Islam toward their family / 4120 viewsSalaam. Brother, I want to ask you something. Does the eldest child have to be the backbone of the family? What if the eldest child is a girl and both her parents are still working, and her siblings are still students, what does Islam say regarding this and what are your personal opinion about women […]
/ Feb 01, 2019 09:19 PM / No Comments on Muslim women are permitted to work outside the home / 1082 viewsAccording to a fatwa on the website IslamOnline (which is overseen by the respected Egyptian scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi), it is permitted for Muslim women to work outside the home. Below are some points from the fatwa. A link to the full (Arabic) fatwa is at the end of this article. Muslim women are permitted to […]
/ May 01, 2019 01:21 PM / 2 Comments on Learning martial arts in mixed-sex company / 2371 viewsAssalamu’alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh. Hello, I’m a South East Asian Muslim women. I have a question, and hopefully you’d answer. Is it okay for me to learn martial arts? If so, then would it be permitted for a male teacher to teach me (side note: we learn it in group, not private one-on-one), while […]
/ Mar 15, 2018 03:59 PM / No Comments on Dealing with cruelty from one’s own family / 812 viewsI was born Muslim into a non practising family. When I came back to the deen Alhamdulillah, my family suddenly turned on me. Suddenly everything I do is wrong, they gossip, my siblings have been jabbing me about not doing enough for my parents. I try what I can, I make doa for them but […]
/ 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) / 15355 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 […]
/ Apr 05, 2019 09:45 PM / 2 Comments on The Atonement by William Lane Craig / 2319 viewsI became interested in the Christian theologian William Lane Craig after reading Jacobus Erasmus’s The Kalām Cosmological Argument: A Reassessment, a 2018 book that reconsiders Craig’s views on this argument for God’s existence and tries to strengthen it. I was surprised by just how strong this argument is, although it does not reach the level […]
/ Dec 28, 2017 05:02 PM / No Comments on Why Muslim women cannot marry non-Muslims / 2600 viewsWhy are Muslim men allowed to marry a non-Muslim but Muslim women are not allowed? One theory is due to genetic and psychological differences between men and women, Muslim men will be better able to remain practicing Muslims and to bring up devout Muslim children even if their wives are Christian or Jewish, while Muslim […]
/ Feb 19, 2019 02:17 PM / No Comments on Dealing with Sufism making you feel arrogant and superior / 612 viewsAssalamualaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh. Thank you in advance for answering the questions. Last year I learned about tasawwuf & was immediately hooked. The problem now is lately I’ve been feeling rather self-righteous & troubled that other doesn’t have the same ‘in-tasawwuf’ way of thinking. I feel this is a sign of arrogance and try […]
/ Jul 06, 2017 05:22 AM / 1 Comment on Why must women pray behind men at the mosque? / 1892 viewsWhy must women pray behind men? Why is it that in Pakistan women have the worst place to pray when we need to pray in public and/or in the masjid? And also, why must men and women be separate in public? Isn’t that inconvenient? What is the wisdom behind all of this? The wisdom in […]
/ Apr 28, 2018 04:08 PM / 5 Comments on Suicide and self-harm in Islam / 30143 viewsThis 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 […]
/ Oct 28, 2019 02:46 PM / No Comments on She fears no man will find her attractive / 695 viewsSalam. Lately, I just find myself spending a lot of time seeking validation from guys. Maybe it’s just this age or hormones, but I get really scared that if no one finds me admirable or attractive, then I might miss out on finding someone, and these thoughts consume my mind for longer than I’d like […]
/ Dec 24, 2018 01:10 AM / No Comments on Child lied to parents about finishing college / 504 views(Part 1) Assalamualaikum, I need some advice. I failed my first year of university and had to repeat it. Alhamdullilah I passed and am continuing with my education now. My degree was 3 years but now it’s 4. However I didn’t tell my parents, are rather strict and negative minded, also always complain about my […]
/ Mar 14, 2018 08:19 PM / No Comments on On proposing to a man as a Muslim woman / 290 viewsSalam Alaikum, I have a question, I want your opinion on it. There is a guy, he seems very nice conservative and holds good deal of manners and deen. He is single, I really would like to have a future with him. I’m not sure if he is looking for marriage now or if he’s […]