Rigid traditionists who make ignorance their capital, and excessive rationalists who misuse logic to encroach traditional wisdom always pose harm within the Muslim community: their misleading rhetoric may confuse people in general as far as the true intention of Traditions (naql) is concerned. Indeed, knowledge concerning faith or ‘ilm al-i‘tiqad should be understood as neither…
It has been narrated by many scholars of Islam that if parents have any inheritance, there is no greater inheritance than Adab. Al-Walid ibn Numayr said that he heard his father say ‘righteousness is (a gift) from Allah, but Adab (right conduct) is from parents”. Adab plays an important role in society. The actions of…
There are so many verses of the Qur’an that contain the command and encouragement to repent, and the statement that God loves those who turn unto Him in sincere repentance. The Prophet himself, according to the well known tradition, used to seek God’s forgiveness between seventy and one hundred times a day. “One who has…
On the 17th of March, 2009, the Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak launched The National Integrity Plan report, dubbed “Target 2008” (TEKAD 2008), at the Malaysian Institute of Integrity. The report, purportedly an assessment of the country’s progress in promoting integrity, among others recommends that all the five priorities set in…
The Supreme Court’s (SC) judgement in the case of Che Omar Che Soh v. PP (1988 – later referred to as Che Omar) is considered a landmark case concerning the interpretation of the status of Islam as enshrined in Article 3 of the Constitution of Malaysia. At the time, the SC was the highest court…
Concerning ‘those who forgot God, and He therefore made them forget their own selves’ (al-Hashr, 59:19), commentators of the Qur’an offer these broad explanations. First, in ontology, as God is the only One Real and True Being, how can he who forgets God, Who is the very source of his existence, be conscious of his…
“The U.S currency is like gold. Everybody wants it. Either you have it for me or you don’t have the thing you want”. This was the reply I received from a vendor when I refused to pay him in U.S dollars. It really disturbed me and made my life difficult. The U.S dollar is so…
In the Holy Qur’an there are several occasions where one can find some accounts of Adam’s encounter with man’s nemesis, Iblis. Carefully attending to those accounts with intelligence, sincerity and honesty can surely help Muslims derive useful lessons, insights and reminders not only about human strength and potentials but also human weaknesses and vulnerability. One such…
“I would dedicate this nation to the policy of the good neighbour-the neighbour who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others” (Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933). When Franklin D. Roosevelt commanded the US administration in 1933, he brought a new approach to United States foreign policy. This policy was called…
A very important principle of ethics in Islam is that, “he who has no knowledge of an action, can never deliberately intend to act upon it (man la ‘ilma lahu fa-la niyyata lahu).” This fundamental element is stated by al-Tahanawi in his Kashshaf Istilahat al-Funun, arguably the finest dictionary of technical terms relating to Islamic…
