Wudu’ [وضوء] or ablution is such a central part of our religious practice. I would even go so far as to say it is part of our identity as Muslims. In this short video, Shaykh Khatri gives us a beautiful demonstration about the intensity and intricacy of wudu’ - that it is so much more than splashing water on one’s body, but in fact is, as brother Khalil Moore points out, an act of worship.

Shaykh Gibril delivers a 2 hour lecture on this great Imam, al-Nu'man ibn Thabit ibn Kawus ibn Hurmuz ibn Marzuban, al-Imam Abu Hanifa, may Allah have mercy on him (80H-150H).

He is the first of the four mujtahid Imams whose School survived to our time and acquired the greatest following among the Sunni Schools. He is known as "The Greatest Imam" (al-Imam al-a'zam).

"Love of Abu Hanifa is part of the Sunna" - Muhammad ibn Khazim al-Taymi al-Sa'di al-Kufi (d. 195)

Question: What is the concept of a “praiseworthy innovation” (bid`a hasana). How can an innovation be praiseworthy? Is the mawlid (celebration of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad) from this?

Answer: Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

I pray this finds you in the best of health and spirits.

The concept of “praiseworthy innovation” (bid`a hasana) is basically a specific form of applying a general sunna of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), in a manner not contrary to the principles of Prophetic guidance.

A guiding, knowledgeable word regarding bid`ah and its rulings

By Shaykh Wahbī Sulaymān al-Ghāwijī

Translated by IPSA students under the guidance of Shaykh Mahdi Hendricks

Translated from the original Arabic : kāmihā”)“Kalimatul ‘Ilmīyyah Hādiyah fil bid‘ah wa ah

Published by Dārul Muslim lil nashr wal tawzī‘, Beirut, 1991

This translation by International Peace Varsity South Africa, 2010

Fasting the month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. The Companion Abdullah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab (Allah be pleased with him) said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) say: ‘The religion of Islam is based upon five (pillars): testifying that there is no deity except God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God; establishing the prayer; giving zakat; making pilgrimage; and fasting (the month) of Ramadan.’” [Bukhari; Muslim]

In truth, fasting the month of Ramadan is one of the greatest acts of worship a believer can perform. It is an act that cleanses one’s mind, body, and soul from the spiritual and physical impurities of this world. It is an act that brings the hearts of Muslims together on a world-wide level as they endeavor to practice the virtue of self-discipline in unison. And it is an act that satiates the hungry soul for its eagerness to please the Lord of the Worlds.

The act of fasting was also practiced by previous religious communities. Likewise, it has been ordained for the followers of the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace). Allah All-Mighty says in the Quran, “O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed onto you as it was prescribed onto those before you, that perhaps ye may (learn) self-restraint.” [Surat Al-Baqara, v. 183]

Forbidden for you are carrion, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that which has been slaughtered while proclaiming the name of any other than God, and one killed by strangling, and one killed with blunt weapons, and one which died by falling, and that which was gored by the horns of some animal, and one eaten by a wild beast, except those whom you slaughter; and that which is slaughtered at the altar and that which is distributed by the throwing of arrows [for an omen]; this is an act of sin.

—– Al-Maidah 5:3

This book is the result of a lengthy collaboration between scholars of Egypt’s prestigious Al-Azhar University and Islamic Hotline or El-Hatef El-Islami organization. Put simply, far too simply, its aim is to contest the growing number of intolerant and/or simply mistaken legal opinions that often go unchallenged in Muslim communities today. Deeply rooted in the legal tradition of ikhtilaf writings, yet utilizing modern means of communication, The Response applies the wisdom of the classical jurists to the complex realities of the contemporary Muslim world.

What can the present work add to the overcrowded and, it seems, increasingly stagnant debate on “how to live as a Muslim in the modern world”?  This book’s importance lies in refocusing our attention on the flexibility and coherence of the works of Sunni Islam’s traditional legal authorities, a point that, while eloquently made in Professor Muhammad Ra’fat ‘Uthman’s introduction, informs the reasoning behind all the legal opinions (fatawa) contained here. Of course, the same kind of reasoning was exercised by the classical jurists, for whom “difference” (ikhtilaf) was perceived as a sign of God’s mercy (rahma).  Sadly, the jurists’ initial courage – their respect for difference, even for ambiguity – is now often forgotten, as the search for a single, monolithic reading to solve all problems regularly results in discussions breaking down into mere polemic. In troubled times, the authors invite Muslims to exercise compassion and common sense in their dealings with each other. The advice given is not to judge harshly someone who fails to live up to your standards, or who prefers a different path, or who is ignorant of the law in a particular instance.           

The Response is written primarily for Muslims who, in searching for guidance, have been given simplistic, problematic and often dangerous readings of the faith.  Its hope – for Muslims to value patience, caution and mercy – should not be misread as a call for undue lenience. The lines separating Muslim behavior from that of non-Muslims are clearly delineated. One example will suffice: while certain commentators prohibit Muslims from congratulating non-Muslims on the latter’s festival days, The Response permits this (fatwa no. 15); yet, it also links this permission to the condition that Muslims do not, while interacting with non-Muslims, begin to emulate their thinking or behavior. Any act that endangers a Muslim’s commitment to his or her faith is strongly discouraged; what is most important in establishing ethical and legal culpability is the underlying intention (niyya). The classical jurists would have agreed. 

Originally composed in Arabic, this work was translated into English with a sense of urgency: it needed to be done, and it needed to be done now. The Response joins a growing body of scholarship through which the early legal scholars of Islam are permitted once again to speak for themselves. In contrast to the idiosyncratic interpretations of certain contemporary Hanbali scholars, the books’ authors realize the need for some rulings to be adapted to modern settings; they strive to do so without sacrificing the fundamental principles upon which the original rulings were based (e.g. fatwa no. 75). Needless to say, not all the opinions recommended here will convince all readers. But, these authors would contend, that is not the main issue at stake. For, as they repeatedly emphasize throughout their work, so long as an issue produces ikhtilaf among the scholars of Islam, it may not be legally prohibited by Muslims (e.g. fatwa 48). Ultimately, then, the authors’ response to extremism is to leave Muslims, as intelligent readers, to make their own choices, and to live with the consequences of these.

There has recently appeared in this age a group, new in their appearance, archaic in their principles, not following any one of the scholars except Ibn Taymiyah.  They sanctify his words and claim they are not imitating disciples of any one of the four schools of Islamic Law nor of any one of the known scholars of Islam who are sound and straight in belief.  They claim independence (from strict adherence to the four schools).  And they are truly not following any one of these great scholars, nay they are at opposition to them, and they utter things which none of those scholars have ever uttered.  Every one of these individuals harbors a hidden (and illegitimate) school of Islamic law within himself.  They are more ignorant than a goat in his barn.  They are dysfunctional in their minds.  They possess not the ability to form sound opinions regardless of how simple the issue may be.  And they consider themselves as upon clear guidance and truth and they exclude anyone who disagrees with them from Ahl al-Sunnah, while it is they who are excluded from this group.