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Showing posts from December, 2019

Do not blindly follow conjectures of other people

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  بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ وَإِن تُطِعۡ أَكۡثَرَ مَن فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِۚ إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا ٱلظَّنَّ وَإِنۡ هُمۡ إِلَّا يَخۡرُصُونَ Wa in tuti’ aksara man fil ardi yudillooka ‘an sabeelil laah; iny yattabi’oona illaz zanna wa in hum illaa yakhrusoon Al-An’am (The Cattle) 6:116    Now if you pay heed unto the majority of those [who live] on earth, they will but lead you astray from the path of God: they follow but [other people's] conjectures, and they themselves do nothing but guess.    Do not blindly follow conjectures of other people Towards the end of the twentieth century, Muslim scholasticism saw a resurgence in the literalist tradition, partly due to the economic support offered by certain governments for the same. This has led to a decline in the teaching of so-called twenty-first century skills, especially creativity and critical thinking, and increased emphasis on sticking to opinions of past scholar...

Believe without the need for proof

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  بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ إِنَّمَا ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ ثُمَّ لَمۡ يَرۡتَابُواْ ... Innamal muu’minoonal lazeena aamanoo billaahi wa Rasoolihee summa lam yartaaboo Part of Al-Hujurat (The Private Chambers) 49:15   [Know that true]  believers are only those who have attained to faith in God and His Apostle and thereafter have had no doubt..... ....   Believe without the need for proof ! I would like to share a little known incident during the life of eminent theologian Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī , which underscores the superiority of belief over reasoning. It may well be difficult to establish whether Razi had become a practicing Sufi towards the end of his life or not. There even exists a letter from Shaykh al-Akbar ibn ‘Arabi , who, impressed by his imaginative faculty ( al-quwwa al-mutakhayyila ), ended up advising (and probably praying for) Razi to try to reach the stage of gnosis and contemplation, even g...

Learn true charity

  بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ وَأَنفِقُواْ مِن مَّا رَزَقۡنَٰكُم مِّن قَبۡلِ أَن يَأۡتِيَ أَحَدَكُمُ ٱلۡمَوۡتُ فَيَقُولَ رَبِّ لَوۡلَآ أَخَّرۡتَنِيٓ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٖ قَرِيبٖ فَأَصَّدَّقَ وَأَكُن مِّنَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ Wa anfiqoo mim maa razaqnaakum min qabli any-ya’tiya ahadakumul mawtu fa yaqoola rabbi law laaa akhkhartaneee ilaaa ajalin qareebin fa assaddaqa wa akum minassaaliheen   وَلَن يُؤَخِّرَ ٱللَّهُ نَفۡسًا إِذَا جَآءَ أَجَلُهَاۚ وَٱللَّهُ خَبِيرُۢ بِمَا تَعۡمَلُونَ  Wa lany yu ‘akhkhiral laahu nafsan izaa jaaa’a ajaluhaa; wallaahu khabeerum bimaa ta’maloon Al-Munafiqun (The hypocrites)  63:10-11   And spend on others out of what We have provided for you as sustenance,  ere there come a time when death approaches any of you, and he then says, "O my Sustainer! If only Thou wouldst grant me a delay for a short while,  so that I could give in charity and be among the righteous!".  But never does God grant a delay to a h...