Imam al-Ghazali: Unrestrained Taqlid Opposes The Overall Purpose Of Shari‘ah

Imam al-Ghazali (رحمه الله) writes: As for giving a muqallid the option to choose between the imams (and follow any view he desires), some have opined this. (1) However, the preferred (viewpoint) according to us is that it is obligatory… Continue Reading

Imam Ghazali: To Deem Abu Bakr & ‘Umar (Allah Be Pleased With Them) To Be Disbelievers Is Disbelief

In a work he wrote in 487 AH (1094 CE), Imam al-Ghazali writes: If it is said: “If someone explicitly says Abu Bakr and ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with them) are disbelievers [wa ‘l-‘iyadhu billah], then this entails that it… Continue Reading

Imam ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Qurashi On Why There Are Only Few Female Hanafi Scholars

Imam ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Qurashi (696-775 AH) (1) wrote: In this section, I will enumerate the female scholars among our (Hanafi) companions that I have come across. I have come across only very few.   Undoubtedly, the situation of women is… Continue Reading

The Distinction of Dārul ‘Ulūm Deoband

Muftī Muḥammd Shafī‘ (1897 – 1976) narrates the following statement from his father, Mawlānā Muḥammad Yāsīn Deobandī (1865 – 1936) [1], about his experience at Dārul ‘Ulūm Deoband in the late 19th century: “I witnessed such a period at Dārul… Continue Reading

Mawlānā Manẓūr Nu‘mānī on How his Father’s Opinion about Dārul ‘Ulūm Deoband Changed

Mawlānā Manẓūr Nu‘mānī (1905 – 1997) describes his father, Ṣūfī Aḥmad Ḥusayn (d. 1949), as someone whose “concern for Ᾱkhirah was greater than his concern for Dunyā, and while fully occupied in his work, he was from those who remembered… Continue Reading

Spiritual Connection between the Awliyā’ of Deoband and ‘Allāmah Ibn ‘Ᾱbidīn al-Shāmī

The great recent Ḥanafī jurist of Shām, ‘Allāmah Ibn ‘Ᾱbidīn (1783 – 1836), was connected to the Naqshbandī spiritual line via his teacher, Mawlānā Khālid al-Naqshbandī, a Kurdish-Damascene spiritual master. Mawlānā Khālid al-Naqshbandī (1779 – 1827 CE) spent some time… Continue Reading

Sins and the Danger of Sū’ al-Khātimah (Death upon Disbelief)

Explaining the importance of obedience, avoidance of sins and repentance for the preservation of īmān, Imām al-Ghazālī writes: Īmān is not one door but is over seventy doors, the highest of them the testimony that there is no deity but… Continue Reading

The Danger of Insincerity amongst the ‘Ulamā’

While discussing insincerity in Dīnī activities, Imām al-Ghazālī says: ‘The people most subject to this tribulation are the ‘Ulamā’ since the motive for most in sharing knowledge is the delight of being superior, and the joy of being followed, and… Continue Reading

Sins do not Become Good Deeds Based on Intention

Imām al-Ghazālī states: ‘Sins do not change from their nature because of (good) intention. An ignoramus should not (mis)understand this from the general statement of the Prophet (upon him peace): “Actions are based on intentions”, and assume that a sin… Continue Reading