Study guide: a Hanbali syllabus
Sheikh ʿAbd Al-Qadir Ibn Badran suggested the following syllabus for students of the Hanbali school in his Al-Madkhal ila Madhhab al-Imam Ahmad: Ibn Balban’s Akhsar al-Mukhtasarat or al-Bahuti’s Al-ʿUmdah. Marʿi …
Personality cults and sufism
Points from a conversation with a fellow student concerned about some trends we watching develop: The community should be guided by muftis, not Sufis: because fiqh is meant to be general for the community, …
Fighting the nafs…one buffalo wing at a time
A friend and I went to the local greasy spoon. My friend likes buffalo wings. My stomach doesn’t stomach spicy foods. But I just had to have one. And then another. I …
And by their methodology you shall know them
People used to ask me to give a list of contemporary Hanbali scholars and whether Shaykh so-and-so is really a Hanbali or just some guy dropping names. I usually refused …
Three blind men and Islam
I’m sure everyone here knows the fable of the three old blind men who stumbled across an elephant. Each man started describing their new-found friend based on whatever piece that …
Sex Education and Muslims
I came across an interesting fatwa in response to a question about Muslim teachers teaching and Muslim students studying sex education. Sex education is a mandatory component in many programs in the …
Corn mentioned in 14th century CE books of fiqh
Maize (corn) is one of the things Europeans brought back from their early voyages to the Americas in the 15thcentury.[1] A few of us wondered how fast it spread when …
Taxis & passengers carrying alcohol
A few thoughts on taxi drivers carrying passengers whose possessions include alcohol Someone asked about the legal status of Muslim taxi drivers carrying passengers whose possessions included alcohol. Some Here …
A few thoughts on conspiracy theories
A friend asked me a few months ago to write about the legal status of conspiracy theories. Here are a few thoughts. We have a methodology we are supposed to …