In the past few years, I’ve been asked on numerous occasions to present a lecture on the essential Islamic rules and guidelines regarding death, dying, and inheritance. I’ve also been asked to provide the presentation slides to attendees after the seminar, due to which I am uploading them here. Please be aware that the presentation simply provides main bullet points and headings, not the actual detailed legal rulings and other essential content. It is thus not to be used as a reference source.
Below is a simplified explanation of the method of performing the ritual ablution (wuḍūʿ) in the Ḥanafī madhhab, using brackets to demarcate its farḍ [f], wājib [w], sunnah [s], and mustaḥabb [m] elements. The explanation is part of a workbook I prepared for a short seminar entitled Perfecting Prayer that provided a step-by-step guide to wuḍūʿ and ṣalāt for young adults. Continue reading
Produced below is a selection from the first chapter of an upcoming translation of Mawlānā Ashraf ʿAlī al-Thānawī’s work Taʿlīm al-Dīn, which is a concise manual of Islamic precepts that cover a wide range of topics, including theology, law, ethics, mysticism, and politics. The first draft of the entire translation and its footnotes were recently submitted for editing by the translators. My contribution to the translation is confined to the first chapter (minus the footnotes) and the editing of the initial manuscript. Below ten points from the first chapter on Belief and Creed are provided for your benefit.
Belief 1: The entire universe was initially nonexistent and came into existence by means of Allah’s origination.[1]
Belief 2: Allah is One, dependent on nothing. Neither did He beget anyone nor was He begotten from anyone. Nothing is comparable to Him.[2] Continue reading
A question was once posed by a student through email regarding the issue of wastage, more specifically in regards to wasting water. It was published by our dear friend Hafiz Faraz Abdul Moid on the attalib blog some years ago. I repost it here for your benefit, iA.
Question: I had a question, and if you’re not too busy, I would really appreciate an answer. It concerns water and what we were going over in class about wasting it. When you decide to take a shower for comfort, not necessarily to wash off any impurities, is it really considered wasting it? I mean, when you are doing wudu, and you let the water run and you step out of the bathroom and let the water flow from the tap, that is a waste of water because you are not using it and it is just draining through without coming into contact with you. You are not deriving any benefit from having the water flow, so thus, the water is being wasted. Continue reading
Question:
When reading the rulings in the book we come by several instances where Imam Muhammad differs from Abu Hanifa. As one who does taqleed, which ruling should we follow? Do we take Imam Muhammad’s ruling or do we take Abu Hanifa’s?
Is it acceptable to take either opinion or does one need to consider the circumstances surrounding a fiqh issues prior to following a specific ruling? If one ruling is superior to another would it be wrong/sinful for someone to follow the weaker position whether it be Imam Muhammad or Abu Hanifa? Continue reading
The following treatise is a wonderfully brief but expansive work on the terminology of the Hanafi school of law. It began as an introduction to Shaykh ‘Abd al-Ilah’s (amongst the scholars of Ahsa’) doctorate on the first volume of ‘Allamah Siraj al-Din Ibn al-Nujaym’s al-Nahr al-Fa’iq and was later expanded upon to include more terms from those used by later scholars of the madhhab, including Ibn ‘Abidin and ‘Abd al-Hayy al-Laknawi. Continue reading
Hanafi legal rulings are divided into distinct categories which are utilized by jurists (fuqaha’) when issuing rulings and identifying superior opinions in case of apparent contradiction. Ibn ‘Abidin mentions three categories of rulings in his Sharh ‘Uqud Rasm al-Mufti and the introduction to his Radd al-Muhtar. (Sharh ‘Uqud Rasm al-Mufti 46, Radd al-Muhtar 1:37, both from Misbah 1:297)
[Note that the following division is in accordance with well-known categorization of Hanafi legal rulings that was relied upon by ‘Allamah Ibn ‘Abidin. Other categorizations, such as those of ‘Abd al-Hayy al-Laknawi and Shah Waliullah al-Dihlawi, are not mentioned here and have been reserved for another article.] Continue reading
Question
Some scholars mention that fasting on ‘Ashura was obligatory upon the ummah before the fasts of Ramadan were made obligatory, but I have also heard that this is not true from other scholars. Can you please clarify?
Answer
On the issue of the obligation of the ‘Ashura fast before the obligation of the fasts of Ramadan, the early scholars held divergent opinions. Continue reading
Bilal Ali Ansari 