Shari'ah Prescription for Muslims: Zikr coupled with Enquiry

Shari'ah Prescription for Muslims

Zikr coupled with Enquiry

  Read ONLY,  IF AND WHEN you have time and mood for: 

 “An Ayah for 30 Days” -- June 2012

From the Pen and Perspective of a self-styled PPK Muslim (Proud, Practicing, Knowledgeable) with a humble submission that Islam totally rejects Blind Following BUT vigorously focusses on the Limitations of Pure Human Reasoning..............and clearly and comprehensively AlLAH knows best.

It should sound unbelievable but factually appears to be true : Many of our prevalent, widespread and important concepts and opinions about religious matters do not have a basis in the Quran and sometimes even appear to be in obvious conflict with the teachings of the Quran. It would be very educative and helpful to discuss an Ayah once a month to see if it supports or rejects our views and actions in our daily life. I wish and hope this  generates a fruitful interactive discussion. 

Surah Al-e-Imran (3), Ayah 190:

Abul Ala Maududi

 "Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are signs for men of understanding".

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

 "Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, there are indeed Signs for men of understanding".

The next ayah (no. 191) is in fact a continuation of this ayah as it starts with “allazina” (who/those) referring to  “li-olee al-albab” -- men of understanding -- and goes on to define two major characteristics of these men of wisdom:-

Abul Ala Maududi

"Those who remember Allah while standing, sitting or (reclining) on their backs, and reflect in the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): 'Our Lord! You have not created this in vain. Glory to You! Save us, then, from the chastisement of the Fire".

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"Men who celebrate the praises of God, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth, (With the thought): "Our Lord! not for naught Hast Thou created (all) this! Glory to Thee! Give us salvation from the penalty of the Fire".

In these ayahs, we are asked to ponder in the secrets of our Universe; in its creation and its variations and diversity as these are the “ayahs” of Allah Ta’aala. This term in Quranic Arabic has several meanings: verse, revelations, miracle, sign and lesson; here it is used to mean evidence and proof. The universe is a proof of our Creator, specifically to the wise who use reason i.e. olee al-albab in the words of the Quran. Our Holy book then proceeds to define  two broad qualities  and qualifications of these men of understanding -- one spiritual and the other temporal:

First, constant awareness, worship and devotion to God Almighty at every moment, in all circumstances, day or night, private or public, individual or collective, family or social, economic or political. Second, to enquire, explore and deliberate within ourselves and without in the cosmos through  colleges and universities, laboratories and experimentation , seminar and discussions, research and investigations , electron microscope and the Hubble telescope --  gifts of Allah Ta’aala Subhanahoo, though the non-Muslims qualified to be the instrument (wasilaa) for them --  for the signs and proof of Bari Ta’aala and HIS magnificence and glory. Only the belief and eeman  based on proper thinking and wisdom is of worth and value  . Hadrat Hasan Basri said: An hour spent in thinking about the signs of Allah is better and far more useful than a whole night standing in worship (Ibn Kathir), Sayyidna Hasan Ibn Amir has said that he had heard from many Companions that deliberation is Light of Faith. Hadrat Wahb ibn Munabbih said: One who thinks a lot will understand reality, and who understands will arrive at sound knowledge, and who had sound knowledge is bound to act accordingly (Ibn Kathir).

In short, a Muslim needs piety and ibaadat to start with but must achieve mundane scholarship as well to truly comprehend the Message of Islam. It was this judicious combination of the holy and the material, the soul and the body, Faith and Reason that the Muslims were the torch bearer of civilization and the world super power for at least the first five centuries of their existence --  leading the world in science and technology, art and architecture, health and education, in war and peace. By contrast the present day Muslims, scholars included seem to ignore and devalue the the Quranic “olee al-albab”-- wise men who use reason. How else can we explain the practice of “deeni madaaris (religious schools) where 80% of the curriculum comprises a study of Fiqh and Hadith as and how it was taught in the fourth century A.H., our obsession with  mere ritual practices, the penchant for only verbal recitation of our Holy Book as if chanting a mantra, the predilection for  memorization and completion of quran literally from A to Z -- the faster the better as seen in Taravih prayers -- without any reference to its meaning  and lastly the gullible and blind following of the Hadith literature completely ignoring the principles and rules of Hadith “matn”   (substance) criticism laid down by our Hadith scholars like Jalaludding Al-Suyuti (1445-1505 CE).

.....and Allah knows best. 

May Allah Ta’aala bless us with true understanding -- “fahm”  -- of our Deen, Aameen.

Role of Wisdom and Reason in the Shari'ah of Islam

Role of Wisdom and Reason in the Shari'ah of Islam

 Read ONLY,  IF AND WHEN you have time and mood for: 

 “An Ayah for 30 Days” -- May 2012

From the Pen and Perspective of a self-styled PPK Muslim (Proud, Practicing, Knowledgeable) with a humble submission that Islam totally rejects Blind Following BUT vigorously focusses on the Limitations of Pure Human Reasoning..............and clearly and comprehensively AlLAH knows best.

It should sound unbelievable but factually appears to be true : Many of our prevalent, widespread and important concepts and opinions about religious matters do not have a basis in the Quran and sometimes even appear to be in obvious conflict with the teachings of the Quran. It would be very educative and helpful to discuss an Ayah once a month to see if it supports or rejects our views and actions in our daily life.


Surah Al-Baqara (2), Ayah 269:


I have included translations from five well known scholars (thanks to God’s gift of IT) just for reassurance that there is no controversy about the obvious meanings of this Ayah. I might add that it is the first principle of tafseer that no interpretation is admissible if it goes against the obvious meaning of the text.

Abul Ala Maududi
  "He bestows wisdom upon anyone He wills, and he who is given wisdom is in fact given great wealth, but only those who have common sense learn lessons from these things".

Abdullah Yusuf Ali
 "He granteth wisdom to whom He pleaseth; and he to whom wisdom is granted receiveth indeed a benefit overflowing; but none will grasp the Message but men of understanding".

Muhammad Asad
  "Granting wisdom unto whom He wills: and whoever is granted wisdom has indeed been granted wealth abundant. But none bears this in mind save those who are endowed with insight".

Muhammad Taqi Usmani
 "He gives wisdom to whom He wills, and whoever is given wisdom is certainly given a lot of good. Only the people of understanding observe the advice".

Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall
 "He giveth wisdom unto whom He will, and he unto whom wisdom is given, he truly hath received abundant good. But none remember except men of understanding".

The meanings of few  key words need to be emphasised:

 “al-hikmata”: All the five scholars have translated it as “wisdom” i.e. the trait of utilizing knowledge and experience with common sense and insight

 “khayran katheeran”: lot of good and/or great wealth

“ ya’ththak’karu”: it is derived from “dikr” and has three meanings:  to  remember, to understand and to learn from (nasihat lena).

“ oloo al-albab”: literally it means "uqhloun wale" in Urdu or "folks with brains" in English. It is variously translated as men of understanding and insight; common sense; endowed with intellect; are wise; use reason.

Two messages are loud and clear: Fisrt, wisdom is a great bounty from Allah Ta’aala which HE gives to whoever HE pleases. Not everybody has it. It is as great, if not greater than the blessing of wealth and affluence. Just as you are accountable for your wealth in the Hereafter, you will be asked about this God-given reward and gift on the day of Judgement: how did yo use it, where did you use it and on whom did you use. Most of us owe our education, success and position in society to this reward from HIM. But have we paid our “zakat” on this? Have we used this God gifted faculty -- critical thinking and reasoning --  to understand the message and objective of our  Deen and then behave accordingly and propagate it effectively. We use our intelligence to the maximun in matters mundane to forge ahead -- for wealth and status. Same and exact enthusiasm is expected to use al-hiqmata to define and understand our religious obligations like fiqh and sharia. Our eagerness and effort to use our al-hikmata -- wisdom and intelligence -- for the temporal should be commensurate with our diligence to use it  for the spiritual.

Second Allah Ta’aala has clearly declared that NOBODY can  understand and learn from the Holy Book UNLESS  he  uses “al-hikmata” -- as men of understanding and intellect do --  to think and reason the matters discussed therin.

Elsewhere in the Quran Allah Ta’aala HIMSELF has defined the qualifications of  “oloo al-albab”. We can discuss this Insha Allah next month.

May Allah Ta’aala bless us with true understanding -- fahm -- of our Deen, Aameen.