HOT OFF THE PRESS: JHS VOLUME 2 – *NOW SHIPPING!*

Alhamdulillah, delighted to get my hands on the latest volume of the Journal of Hanafi Studies! I’ve been informed that orders are being posted out from today.

Please do support the project and spread the word, share it with your local scholars, libraries, and institutions, and consider writing for the next edition!

ORDER HERE: https://johas.org/product/volume-two/

HOLY GREEK LOGIC??

“Aristotle and Socrates were students of Plato, who in turn was the student of Luqman al-Hakim; and Luqman was the student of the Prophet Dawud (peace be upon him)!”

Perhaps not historically accurate—Socrates was the teacher of Plato—nor reasonably substantiated by any normative means, but an interesting twist nonetheless and one of those “Legend has it” moments!

(Found on a manuscript… don’t shoot the messenger…)

لما سُئل الشيخ علي الدقر رحمه الله من بعض تلامذته، وقيل له:

يا شيخ إنا نلقي على الناس دروسًا متنوعة، ولا نجد هذا التأثير الذي نلمسه في درسك.

‏فقال: يا بُني، لولا الحاجة لم أتكلم؛ إن هذا الدرس الذي تسمعه يا بني مدعوم بقراءة عشرة أجزاء من القرآن قبل الفجر؛ بقصد أن ينفع الله المسلمين بما أتحدث به.
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روى الأوزاعي عن الزهري: إنما يُذهبُ العلمَ النسيانُ وتركُ المذاكرة.

AL-MUGHRIB: AN ESSENTIAL HANAFI DICTIONARY

There are general dictionaries and then there are science-specific dictionaries. Serious students must necessarily return to the latter when engaging in the various sciences. Definitions are important, and looking in the wrong place can easily lead to errors and misunderstandings. When it comes to #Hanafi fiqh, one need not look much further than the Zamakhsarian inheritor, Nasir al-Din Mutarrizi (d. 610) and his al-Mughrib fi tartib al-Muʿrib. He expresses in his introduction that he compiled it based on Jassas’s Sharh al-Jamiʿ al-Kabir, Halwani’s Sharh al-Ziyadat, Quduri’s Sharh Mukhtasar al-Karkhi, al-Hakim al-Shahid’s al-Muntaqa, and other works! And as Qurashi (d. 775) remarks, it is a “tremendous work on the words used by our Hanafi masters!” Of course, there are other dictionaries too, but this is definitely an authoritative source. May Allah benefit us and increase us, amin!

فلسفة بناء مسائل الفقه الحنفيّ وقواعده وأصوله أبعدُ ما تكون عن أفهام أهل الحشو والظاهر، فمن الطبيعي عداء هؤلاء لهم ورؤيتهم لهم منحرفين عن الشريعة، والقضية ليست في مسألة مخصوصة أو في فرعٍ معين، وإنما بناء المذهب كله وطرائق تكوُّن مسائله لا تلائم أبدا طريقة هؤلاء في الفهم ولا منهجهم في معرفة الأحكام، وقديما كان يقال لأتباع أبي حنيفة- رضي الله عنه-: أصحاب المعاني، من شدة غوصهم على معاني النصوص وبراعتهم في الاستنباط والاستخراج.

ومحاولة إقناع هؤلاء بآحاد المسائل مما يرونها مخالفة لفعل الرسول - صلى الله عليه وسلم- وخارجة عن منهج السنة = هي محاولة عبثية لا جدوى منها؛ لأن حاقّ الموضوع ليس مسألة ولا مسألتين ولا عشر مسائل، بل بناء متكامل لا يُستوعَب إلا بشروط مخصوصة من حُسن التعلّم والتعليم.

THE AGE-OLD QUESTION: SHOULD THE TRAVELLER LEAD THE PRAYER OR THE RESIDENT?

As is likely the case with others, I’ve been asked this question multiple times but I’ve had not had an opportunity to look into the matter. In searching for something else, I chanced upon an answer from Zahidi’s (d. 658) al-Mujtaba Sharh al-Quduri whereby he expresses two positions: (1) the leading of the resident is superior, or (2) they are equivalent with no special merit awarded either way. So there you have it, folks! At best, the resident should lead despite people often assuming that the traveller’s prayer is superior! Of course, this also assumes a private setting as in public settings travelling imams can often cause confusion.

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«كان ﷺ يحب عائشة، ويحب أباها، ويحب أسامة، ويحب سِبْطَيْه، ويحب الحلواء والعسل، ويحب جبل أُحُد، ويحب وطنه، ويحب الأنصار».

سير أعلام الـنُّـبلاء (394/15).

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قال رجل لحذيفة : إني أخشى أن أكون منافقاً!
قال : أتصلي إذا خلوت، وتستغفر إذا أذنبت؟
قال : نعم.
قال : اذهب، فما جعلك الله منافقاً.

[ تاريخ دمشق لابن عساكر - ٢٥١/٦١ ]

HALAL MEAT AND THE DUTY TO BUILD INSTITUTIONS

This is shameful. The fact that we, as a community, have still not solved the institutional crisis regarding halal meat in this country is a travesty. Until we do, we will continue getting swindled by individuals looking to make a quick buck (excuse the pun!). The halal meat market in the UK is lucrative and people know it. We need a national certifying body that can seriously and unreservedly protect Muslim interests in the industry and provide consumers with reasonable confidence. Of course, we have good attempts like the HMC but significant work is still required as is more community groundwork to express the importance of this matter. It is a communal responsibility to work towards institution-building. That means everybody has to contribute—time, money, energy, resources, or whatever you can manage. Too many people will sadly and shamefully consume anything whatsoever labelled “halal” because the desire of the stomach is deeply overpowering…

Too many others—including those in the industry—undermine efforts to build important institutions because of selfish interests and greed, or a lack of vision and carelessness. Think about legacy. Consider your children. Be careful about what you consume. Stop with the crocodile tears of religious concern for the state of affairs at home or abroad whilst you serve only your own pocket. If you are in an industry, work to build something meaningful. May Allah aid us and inspire us, amin!

ذكر الحاكم الشهيد في كتاب (المنتقى)، أن هشام بن عبد الله الرازي ذكر في نوادره عن محمد بن الحسن أنه قال: الفقه على أربعة أوجه، ما في القرآن وما أشبهه، وما جاءت به السنة وما أشبهها، وما اتفق عليه أصحاب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وما اختلفوا فيه، وما رآه المسلمون حسنا وما أشبهه.
فقد أطلق محمد بن الحسن اسم الفقه على علم التوحيد حيث قال: ما في القرآن، لأن في القرآن دلائل التوحيد وبيان الحجج على من خالف الحق. وفي القرآن أيضا بيان علم الحلال والحرام. فالقرآن مفصل بالآيات مضمن بالحجج النافية للشبهات، مبين فيه طريق الهلاك وطريق النجاة. وأراد بقوله: وما أشبهه، علم النظر والاستدلال.
تلخيص الأدلة للصفار

The account belonging to Grok, which is an AI assistant made by X (formerly known as Twitter), was suspended after it stated that Israel and the US were committing genocide in Gaza.

THE LOVING, LOVEABLE mother-in-law is a piece of paradise in this world. This is the kind of lady whose hope and prayer is for her son and his wife – i.e. her daughter-in-law – to have a happy, loving and blessed marital life, Her attitudes and actions are a testimony to her righteous hopes and intentions. It is a mother-in-law who, although there may be occasional lapses of beautiful conduct from her, exemplifies what a good and godly Muslim mother-in-law should be. They want their sons and daughters-in-law to have good, blessed marriages. So she doesn’t meddle in their affairs, nor dictate how they ought to live their lives, nor put the daughter-in-law under constant scrutiny, nor into a stressed or anxious, defensive mess; and nor believes that she is the ultimate authority on parenting.

«الكامل: هو الذي يشتغل بما يُجِلُّه، لا بما يُسقطه في أوديةِ الهَوان ويُذِلُّه».

حلية البشر في تاريخ القرن الثالث عشر (٤/١). منقول

TRADITIONAL STUDY BEFORE WESTERN ACADEMIA

The general rule is that you should take sacred knowledge seriously from authoritative texts studied under the guidance of traditional scholars before entering or engaging with the Academy lest it knock the sunna—or Islam—out of you. Actually learn your field well so you can enter the space with authority, and engage, contribute, and defend as a fard kifaya. You will not become an authority except by learning the works of the tradition which made previous masters. Anything else is folly parading as nuance.

«الصلاة عليه صلى الله عليه وسلم من العبيد وسيلة للتقرب منه عليه الصلاة والسلام، كما جُعلت هدايا الفقراء إلى الأمراء وسائل؛ ليتقربوا بها إليهم، وليعود نفعها إليهم؛ إذ هو صلى الله عليه وسلم بعد صلاة الله عليه لا يحتاج إلى صلاة أحد، وإنما شرعت تعبدًا لله تعالى، وقربة إليه، ووسائل للتقرب إلى جنابه المنيع ومقامه الرفيع صلى الله عليه وسلم».

نقله الزبيدي عن بعض العارفين.

NEWLY PUBLISHED TITLE: AL-MUQADDIMA AL-SUDANIYYA BY BADR AL-DIN AL-ʿAYNI

Hot off the press is the newly released primer by Badr al-Din al-ʿAyni (d. 855) titled al-Muqaddima al-Sudaniyya fi al-Ahkam al-Diniyya. It’s interesting for two reasons: firstly because it was written for a military commander, and secondly because it thus contains topics which are rare for such a relatively short primer. The ten chapters are as follows: purification, prayer, alms-tax, fasting, pilgrimage, supplications, proprieties, hunting, governance, and penal punishments. In light of its ten-chapter brevity, it almost rivals Razi’s (d. 666) Tuhfat al-Muluk, though the latter still remains much more authoritative and well-known. The manuscript used was from the Ayasofya in Istanbul, and the book was published in 2025.

قال السيوطي رحمه الله :
"والعَالِمُ عند العوام من صعد المنبر".
[تحذير الخواص من أكاذيب القصاص، 278]

*ليس كل من صعد المنبر، أو ألقى موعظة، أو محاضرة، عالمٌ يرجع إليه:*
قال الشيخ عبد السلام بن برجس رحمه الله:
"في هذا الزمان اختلّ معيارُ كثيرٍ من العامة في تقييم العلماء، فجعلوا كلَّ من وعظ موعظة بليغة، أو ألقى محاضرات هادفة، أو خطب الجمعة مرتجلا .. عالمًا يرجع إليه في اﻹفتاء، ويؤخذ العلم عنه، وهذه رزية مؤلمة، وظاهرة مزرية، تطاير شررها، وعمّ ضررها؛ إذ هي من إسناد العلم إلى غير أهله، وإذا أسند اﻷمر إلى غير أهله فانتظر الساعة". [عوائق الطلب, 33]