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Jul 21, 2022

Leaving Off that Which Is of No Islamic Concern Is Shyness Before Allah

Narrated by Abū Hurayrah (may Allāh the Most High be pleased with him), the Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘From the excellency of a person’s Islām is his leaving of that which does not concern him.’   Explanation: Ibn Rajab [d. 795 AH] said: Whomever worships Allāh while appreciating His closeness and watchfulness [over him] with his heart, or he contemplates His nearness and acquaintance with all that he engages in, this person has indeed made excellent his Islām. For it would then be incumbent upon him to leave all that which is of no concern to him with regards to his Islām, and to actively bu…

Jul 21, 2022

Islām and the Complete Impartiality of the Truth

Allāh says: وَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ كِتَابٌ مِّنْ عِندِ اللَّهِ مُصَدِّقٌ لِّمَا مَعَهُمْ وَكَانُوا مِن قَبْلُ يَسْتَفْتِحُونَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُم مَّا عَرَفُوا كَفَرُوا بِهِ ۚ فَلَعْنَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ ‎﴿٨٩﴾‏ ‘And when there came to them a Book from Allah confirming that which was with them – although before they used to pray for victory against those who disbelieved – but [then] when there came to them that which they recognized, they disbelieved in it; so the curse of Allāh will be upon the disbelievers.’ [Al-Baqarah, 2: 89] Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah [d…

Jul 21, 2022

Ijtihād in Islamic Jurisprudence and the Prohibition of Stubbornness

Imām Ibn al-Qayyim [d. 751 AH] said: It is the opinion of a party of scholars that whoever strives in a matter [of Islamic jurisprudence], forming an opinion concerning it, but has no valid evidence to support his view will not be considered blameworthy. Rather, he is excused, regardless of whether he be from the predecessors or the contemporary [scholars].   As for the one whose opinion is disproved by clear evidence but he shows stubbornness; continuing the adoption of a law that is merely the opinion of a specific person, then the promise of torment indeed applies to such an indivi…

Jul 20, 2022

Explaining the Reasons for Scholarly Differences in Fiqh and How To Interpret Them

Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH) said: A scholar may have a legitimate reason for choosing to act/not act [in a fiqh issue] due to a plethora of aḥadīth that he possesses, although we may not know the [specific] reasons. For truly, the ways that knowledge itself is propagated and attained are vast. Furthermore, we are not acquainted with what each individual scholar may hold in their innermost thoughts. A scholar may clarify his evidence [in support of his opinion], or he may not. Even if he discloses it, this [evidence] may or may not reach us. And even if it reaches us, we may or…

Jul 20, 2022

Refuting Agnosticism and Doubts Concerning the Ākhirah

Imām Ibn al-Qayyim [d. 751 AH] said: As for the saying of some people [when advised to abandon sin]: ‘I will not leave that which I have certainty in [this dunyā] for that which I am doubtful concerning [the ākhirah].’ It should be said to them: either you are doubtful concerning the promise of Allāh’s reward, punishment, and the truthfulness of His messengers, or you have certainty regarding [the nature of these things]. If you have certainty regarding them, then know that you have only abandoned a small, short-lived, transient, rapidly fading morsel [of enjoyment] for a very short [time],…

Jul 18, 2022

The Attitude of the Christians Towards the Books of Allāh: Consistent Rejection of Allah’s Oneness

Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH) said: “The [attitude] they [the Christians] have taken concerning the Qurʿān is the very same [attitude] they have adopted with [all] of the books [of Allāh] that have preceded it, and the speech of the Prophets as related in the Tawrāh, the Injīl, the Zabūr and others. For truly these resources contain countless passages that explicitly call to the Oneness of Allāh and the fact that the Masīḥ [Jesus] was his slave. There are but a few words [in those resources] that hold a degree of obscurity. They [the Christians] chose to hold on to those few ob…

Jul 13, 2022

How to Distinguish Pure from Contaminated Water When Confusion Arises

Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn [d. 1421 AH] said [concerning the issue of confusing pure and contaminated water]: [Imām] al-Shāfiʿī said that one should seek the true state of [both waters]. This is the correct opinion and the second view in the madh`hab [of Imām Aḥmad] for his (ﷺ) saying in the ḥadīth of Ibn Masʿūd (may Allāh by pleased with him) concerning the issue of a person having doubts in his ṣalāh: ‘If one of you should have doubts in his ṣalāh then let him seek the truth concerning it, then let him build on his conclusion.’ This is a clear prophetic evidence that validate…

Jul 12, 2022

The Division of Water into Two Classes

Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn said [concerning the ones who divide water into three types]: ṭahūr [amenable for wuḍūʿ], ṭāhir [clean in and of itself but not amenable to wuḍūʿ], and najis [not amenable to wuḍūʿ], The correct opinion [in this matter] is that water is divided into just two types: ṭahūr and najis. If water is changed [in taste, colour, or smell] by something that is considered najis, then that water is najis. Water that is unchanged by najis is ṭahūr. As for the [third] division of ṭāhir, it does not exist in the sharīʿah. This is also the opinion taken by Sh…