Skip to main content

Posts

‘The one who spoke, was Ja’far ibn Abi Ṭālib…’

The companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), the  Ṣaḥ āba h,  hold a truly special place in the history of Islam.  Whether one considers the most famous of them or even those that are perhaps less well known, their steadfastness, sacrifice, commitment and devotion is truly unparalleled.  It should be of no surprise that they are credited with having the accolade ‘may Allah be pleased with him/her’ after the very mention of their name. Explicit praise is given to the  Ṣaḥ āba h  in the text of the Qur’ān itself, where Allah says: والسابقون الأولون من المهاجرين والأنصار والذين اتبعوهم بإحسان رضي الله عنهم ورضوا عنه وأعد لهم جنات تجري تحتها الأنهار خالدين فيها أبدا ذلك الفوز العظيم And (as for) the foremost, the first of the Muh ā jireen and the An ṣ ā r, and those who followed them in goodness, Allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them forever; that is

Dawkins The Agnostic And The Limitations Of Science

Richard Dawkins is known throughout the world as a prominent advocate for atheism and evolution, however he admitted in February 2012 that he has some doubt over whether a God could exist. In a debate with Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, Dawkins remarked that he was less than 100% sure that a God does not exist, stating “I think the probability of a supernatural creator existing is very very low.” He further mentioned that he was “6.9 out of seven” sure of his beliefs. The chair, Sir Anthony Kenny, then asked “Why don’t you call yourself an agnostic?” To which Dawkins confirmed that he did. For some theists this will be seen as a major climb down from someone so antagonistic towards religion. However if one scrutinises his words then they will realise this isn’t any different to his previous positions. In fact this uncertain approach is the nature of science whose conclusions cannot determine the definitive nature of an observation. This may seem counter-intuitive to t

Reflections: Ordering the Good and Forbidding the Evil

Some  people say that ordering of good and forbidding of evil is not an obligation upon us, and that we should only be concerned with accounting ourselves, supporting this view with the verse in the Qur’an where Allah (swt) mentioned that the misguidance of others will not harm us: “O you who believe, you are accountable only for yourselves. It will not harm you if someone chooses to deviate – as long as you are rightly guided. To Allah is your return, and He will inform you of what you used to do.” [5:105] We will discuss this claim from two angles: The Ayah itself, and the other texts mentioned in the Qur’an and the Sunnah related to this subject. The Ayah itself Looking carefully at the Ayah itself, we see that Allah (swt) stated that no harm will come from the misguidance of others, on the condition that we are guided:  “ It will not harm you if someone chooses to deviate – as long as you are rightly guided ”;  and we know that a person will not be rightly guided unles