Month: August 2018

What Have We Learned from Ghadir and Wilayat

By Muḥammad Sorūsh Maḥallātī – one of the few jurists in Qom who has been giving advance classes on Islamic politics and governance for a number of years. Recently he published a book on the concept of Wilāyah titled, Wilāyat – Dar Mughālateh wa Muṣādareh. In our communities today, there are two perspectives taken by … Read more

Slandering in The Name of Religion

The tradition being discussed in the article translated below is as follows: مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ الْحُسَيْنِ عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبِي نَصْرٍ عَنْ دَاوُدَ بْنِ سِرْحَانَ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص إِذَا رَأَيْتُمْ أَهْلَ الرَّيْبِ وَ الْبِدَعِ مِنْ بَعْدِي فَأَظْهِرُوا الْبَرَاءَةَ مِنْهُمْ وَ أَكْثِرُوا مِنْ سَبِّهِمْ … Read more

Reflecting on the Fundamentals – Shaykh Ansari on Sunnis being Believers | Sayyid Kamal al-Haydari | Lesson 15

Source: http://alhaydari.com/ar/2017/08/61074/ In our previous episode, we took a look at the opinion of Faydh Kāshānī and we explained his view that if a person loves someone out of the love for the good that he embodied, he will be rewarded by God for this even if the person being loved was in Hell. And … Read more

Reflecting on the Fundamentals – Faydh Kāshānī on the Salvation of all Muslims | Sayyid Kamal al-Haydari | Lesson 14

Source: http://alhaydari.com/ar/2017/08/61061/ I want to now discuss something else, and that is whether or not any of our scholars from the school of the Ahlulbayt have come to a similar conclusion to that which we have taken on this matter. This isn’t to justify this view, as I have mentioned repeatedly that we should look … Read more

The Presence of Metaphors in the Qur’an: Observations on the Linguistic Theory of Ruh al-Ma’ani

Written for the module: Sources of Islamic Knowledge, taken at The Islamic College for a MA in Islamic Studies with professor Amina Inloes. Originally submitted on 12th February, 2018. Qur’ānic hermeneutics have been a challenging area of study amongst scholars of Islam in modern times. With numerous linguistic theories and philosophies springing about, the Qur’ānic text has naturally … Read more

To Say or Not to Say: Justification for a Formless Marriage Contract (Nikah Mu’atat)

Written for the module: Islamic Family Law, taken at The Islamic College for a MA in Islamic Studies with professor Ali al-Hakim. Originally submitted on 5th June, 2017. Introduction With the advent of our postmodern era, Muslims specifically have faced epistemological and practical challenges that they had never encountered before in history. Amongst the various facets of … Read more

Mental Existence, View of Shabah, and Corroboration with Extra-Mental Reality

Written for the module: Islamic Philosophy, taken at The Islamic College for a MA in Islamic Studies with professor Latimah Parvin Peerwani. Originally submitted on 1st October, 2017. Every day humans encounter innumerable entities via the five senses.   How these entities are perceived by the human mind is a discussion both empiricists and metaphysicians have had, and while … Read more

“Be you spurned apes” (Qur’an 2:65): The Dilemma of a Literal and Figurative Reading

Written for the module: Methods and Perspectives in Islamic Studies, taken at The Islamic College for a MA in Islamic Studies with professor Ali Paya. Originally submitted on 23th February, 2017. The verses of the Qur’ān with all their magnificence – as argued by the Muslims – at times have been at the centre of heated inter-faith polemics. … Read more

The Apostasy Ruling and its Justification in Twelver Shi’i Jurisprudence

Written for the module: Human Rights in Islam, taken at The Islamic College for a MA in Islamic Studies with professor Mahboubeh Sadeghinia. Originally submitted on 23th October, 2016. Freedom of speech and thought are deemed to be some of the most fundamental rights humans possess today. The Islamic orthodox tradition has often been open and comfortable … Read more

The Principle of Leniency in Evidences for Non-Obligatory Acts and its Jurisdiction

The Principle of Leniency in Evidences for Non-Obligatory Acts and its Jurisdiction – The View of Shi’a Jurists from the Occultation to the Fourteenth Century After Hijra By Syed Mohammad Hadi Rizvi Abstract This research looks at the highly influential principle that advocates applying leniency in accepting evidences for non-obligatory acts. It examines the emergence … Read more

Syed Khomeinī, Chess and Musical Instruments

Syed Khomeinī is a figure widely remembered as the pioneer in bringing about the Islamic Revolution in 1979 yet what is often overlooked is his unique contribution to Shi’ī jurisprudence in his position as a jurisconsult. One of the many distinctions in his jurisprudential outlook was his endeavour to realign jurisprudence from being individually focused … Read more