We have so far looked at the technical issues explaining the best time to pray Dhuhr and Asr. However, there is one exception mentioned in this section of the work by Ayatullah Khui and that is what to do in the case of severe heat:
• Muwathaq narration of Zurara who said: “I asked Abu Abdullah (AS) about the time for Dhuhr in severe heat ….he said to him: ‘If your shadow is the same length as yourself, then pray Dhuhr, and if your shadow is like two of you, then pray Asr.’” (1)
And the way to harmonise between this narration and those that talk about one or two feet, is by considering this to be an exception/particularization to the general rule:
• In severe heat, in order to be able to pray free from fear and with your heart present and your soul content and to ensure you do not hurry your prayer, the fadila time is extended to when the length of the shadow is equal to your body length.
This is confirmed by a narration attributed to the prophet (SAW) (2). There is one other narration that also talks about the time of Dhuhr and Asr, and rather than talking about 2 or 4 feet, it talks about 1 or 2 fathoms:
• Narration from Muhammad ibn Hakim, who said: “I heard the righteous servant (AS) who said: ‘The first time for Dhuhr is midday of the Sun, and the end of its time is a fathom from midday. And the first time for the time of Asr is one fathom and the end of it, is two fathoms.’ I asked ‘Is it the same in the Winter and Summer?’. He said: ‘Yes’” (3). This is clear in putting the beginning of Asr at one fathom – making it clear it is at all times by it being the same in both seasons.
Given the lack of other evidence to corroborate this opinion (i.e. it is a fathom rather than a foot/cubit), we have to cast this narration aside and return its knowledge to its owners. This is due to the weakness in its chain due to Muhammad ibn Hakim who is not known to be trustworthy as well as the fact it contradicts all the previous narrations so can be set aside.
Or it is possible to attribute the word “fathom” to “cubit” as the author of al-Hada’iq has done, based on the narration of ibn Handhala who said:
• Abu Abdullah (AS) said to me: ‘the fathom and two fathoms are one cubit and two cubits in the book of Ali (AS)’” (4)
However, this attribution seems very unlikely and there is no direct relevance to this topic here as the attribution of fathom to cubit in the book of Ali (AS) does not mean it will have that meaning from Imam Musa ibn Ja’far (AS). Whatever the case may be, it is relatively unimportant, as we already know the narration has a weak chain of narration.
We have therefore concluded:
• Time to pray Dhuhr and Asr starts at midday
• Best time for Dhuhr is after praying Nafila prayers for Dhuhr after midday, with it ending at the time of Asr
• Best time for Asr is after praying the Nafila prayers for Asr, starting at 2 or 4 feet
In the next blog, we will discuss what this “feet” term means.
(1) Wasa’il, 4:133, Chapters on time, chapter 8, hadith 13
(2) Wasa’il, 4:133, Chapters on time, chapter 8, hadith 6
(3) Wasa’il, 4:133, Chapters on time, chapter 8, hadith 29
(3) Wasa’il, 4:133, Chapters on time, chapter 8, hadith 14
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Harmonising contradictory narrations (the time for Salat al-Asr) - Part 4
In this blog, we will look at why there are different lengths of time provided for Asr prayers i.e. why it sometimes says one cubit, two cuts or more…
Firstly, let’s refer to the second hadith in the blog before my break i.e. the muwathaq narration of Dharih al-Mahaarabi from Abu Abdullah (AS) who said: “People asked Abu Abdullah (AS) whilst I was present…some of the people said: ‘we pray the first [of the two i.e. Dhuhr] if it [the shadow] is at two feet and Asr when it is at four feet’. Abu Abdullah (AS) said: ‘half of that is better for me’” (1).
This suggests that it is best to complete the Nafila prayers in the time it takes for the shadow to reach one foot, and that is a clear way of harmonizing between the narrations that say 2 feet (or 1 cubit) and those that say 4 feet (or 2 cubits) i.e. by attributing it to the difference in levels of what is best. The best would be to pray Nafila prayers at midday so that they can be completed and the shadow would be one foot. Then the Farida prayer is legislated at that time. After completing that, the time for Nafila of Asr begins, after which time comes the Farida time for Asr, and that is at two feet.
And if that is not possible, then the best is to complete the Nafila of Dhuhr at when the shadow is at two feet, then Dhuhr, and two feet after that for the Nafila of Asr, so that its Farida is prayed when the shadow is at 4 feet (from the beginning of midday). It is as if he (AS) wanted to widen in his explanation the best time by providing different levels of what is best.
And there are some narrations that back up this view such as the sahih narration of Zurara: “If your shadow reaches a cubit from midday, then begin your Farida and leave the Nafila. And if your shadow reaches two cubits, then pray the farida and leave the Nafila.” (2). This shows that the shadow reaching one cubit (i.e. two feet) is the last time for the Fadila of Dhuhr i.e. you cannot pray Nafila after that (Qada of Nafila is possible though). Similarly with Asr and two cubits.
As for the definition of it being a fathom or the shadow being the length of someone or twice his length, these narrations require more discussion, due to the opinion in them that they may be to do with the end of the time of prayer, and discussion on that will come later. For example: the narration of Ahmad ibn Amr from Abu al-Hasan (AS) who said: “I asked him about the time for Dhuhr and Asr. And he said: ‘the time for Dhuhr is when the sun reaches midday until the shadow reached one fathom; and the time of Asr is one and a half fathoms to two fathoms.” (3) There are many similar such narrations.
In the next blog, we will look at exceptions to this rule.
(1) Wasa’il, 4:133, Chapters on time, chapter 8, hadith 22
(2) Wasa’il, 4:133, Chapters on time, chapter 8, hadith 3
(3) Wasa’il, 4:133, Chapters on time, chapter 8, hadith 9
Firstly, let’s refer to the second hadith in the blog before my break i.e. the muwathaq narration of Dharih al-Mahaarabi from Abu Abdullah (AS) who said: “People asked Abu Abdullah (AS) whilst I was present…some of the people said: ‘we pray the first [of the two i.e. Dhuhr] if it [the shadow] is at two feet and Asr when it is at four feet’. Abu Abdullah (AS) said: ‘half of that is better for me’” (1).
This suggests that it is best to complete the Nafila prayers in the time it takes for the shadow to reach one foot, and that is a clear way of harmonizing between the narrations that say 2 feet (or 1 cubit) and those that say 4 feet (or 2 cubits) i.e. by attributing it to the difference in levels of what is best. The best would be to pray Nafila prayers at midday so that they can be completed and the shadow would be one foot. Then the Farida prayer is legislated at that time. After completing that, the time for Nafila of Asr begins, after which time comes the Farida time for Asr, and that is at two feet.
And if that is not possible, then the best is to complete the Nafila of Dhuhr at when the shadow is at two feet, then Dhuhr, and two feet after that for the Nafila of Asr, so that its Farida is prayed when the shadow is at 4 feet (from the beginning of midday). It is as if he (AS) wanted to widen in his explanation the best time by providing different levels of what is best.
And there are some narrations that back up this view such as the sahih narration of Zurara: “If your shadow reaches a cubit from midday, then begin your Farida and leave the Nafila. And if your shadow reaches two cubits, then pray the farida and leave the Nafila.” (2). This shows that the shadow reaching one cubit (i.e. two feet) is the last time for the Fadila of Dhuhr i.e. you cannot pray Nafila after that (Qada of Nafila is possible though). Similarly with Asr and two cubits.
As for the definition of it being a fathom or the shadow being the length of someone or twice his length, these narrations require more discussion, due to the opinion in them that they may be to do with the end of the time of prayer, and discussion on that will come later. For example: the narration of Ahmad ibn Amr from Abu al-Hasan (AS) who said: “I asked him about the time for Dhuhr and Asr. And he said: ‘the time for Dhuhr is when the sun reaches midday until the shadow reached one fathom; and the time of Asr is one and a half fathoms to two fathoms.” (3) There are many similar such narrations.
In the next blog, we will look at exceptions to this rule.
(1) Wasa’il, 4:133, Chapters on time, chapter 8, hadith 22
(2) Wasa’il, 4:133, Chapters on time, chapter 8, hadith 3
(3) Wasa’il, 4:133, Chapters on time, chapter 8, hadith 9
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Harmonising contradictory narrations (the time for Salat al-Asr) - Part 3
In the previous blog, we addressed the rationale for solving the seemingly contradictory narrations on the time for Dhuhr and Asr. We concluded that the narrations agreed with the premise:
• All other things being equal, the time for Dhuhr and Asr, is midday
• However, if you pray the nafila prayers, then the time for Dhuhr and Asr becomes later, and the varying terms mentioned for the time period after midday are only examples of how long it would take to pray the nafila prayers, and are not themselves the time for praying Dhuhr and Asr
I think it is important to develop this a bit further given I have had many questions about it, and given it has been quite long since my last post! Let’s look at another few narrations (apologise for the poor quality of translation!):
1. Muwathaq narration of Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Ashari, who said: “some of our contemporaries wrote to Abu al-Hasan (AS) about the narrations from your forefathers about a foot or two, or four, and a fathom or two, and shade like that and a cubit or two. And the Imam (AS) wrote: “It is not one foot nor two. Once it is midday, then the time for both prayers has started. If you are praying [the Nawafil of Dhuhr*] and it is 8 rakaats, then if you want, you can take longer, and if you want, you can take a shorter time, then pray Dhuhr. If you do not pray [the Nawafil of Dhuhr], then there is a prayer between Dhuhr and Asr and that is 8 rakaats [the Nawafil of Asr]. If you want, you can take longer, and if you want, you can take a shorter time, then pray Asr.” (1)
2. Also two narrations from Ismail ibn Abd al-Khaliq and Sa’eed al-A’raj, which talk about the time being midday on Jum’a and whilst travelling, which implies that what hinders the immediate prayer at midday is the Nafila prayers which are not required in these two situations. Therefore, the time is midday
3. Muwathaq narration of Zurara from Abu Abdullah (AS): “He said: ‘Rasul Allah (SAW) prayed Dhuhr and Asr with people when the sun reached midday in Jama’a without any reason …. And the Messenger of Allah (SAW) did this to widen the time for his nation.’”. This shows that it is correct to pray Dhuhr and Asr at midday, and any time after this, is to widen the time to pray Nafila prayers as has been previously explained. (2)
Reading all of these narrations together, we can see the following:
• The time starts at midday for both prayers Dhuhr and Asr
• The preference for Dhuhr and Asr is to pray the Nawafil, and because of this, there are specified later times (e.g. a foot, a cubit [two feet]…)
In the next blog we will look at why there still seem to be differences in the length of the time for this praying of Nafila in further detail i.e. why in some narrations it talks about two feet, and in others 4 feet….etc.
*Note the Nafila (pl. Nawafil) prayers of Dhuhr are 8 rakats, prayed before Dhuhr.
(1) Wasa’il, 4:133, Chapters on time, chapter 5, hadith 13
NOTE: Apologies in the previous blog, the hadith was wrongly attributed. Rather than being from al-Ashari, it is from Dharik al-Mahaarabi
(2) Wasa’il, 4:133, Chapters on time, chapter 7, hadith 6
• All other things being equal, the time for Dhuhr and Asr, is midday
• However, if you pray the nafila prayers, then the time for Dhuhr and Asr becomes later, and the varying terms mentioned for the time period after midday are only examples of how long it would take to pray the nafila prayers, and are not themselves the time for praying Dhuhr and Asr
I think it is important to develop this a bit further given I have had many questions about it, and given it has been quite long since my last post! Let’s look at another few narrations (apologise for the poor quality of translation!):
1. Muwathaq narration of Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Ashari, who said: “some of our contemporaries wrote to Abu al-Hasan (AS) about the narrations from your forefathers about a foot or two, or four, and a fathom or two, and shade like that and a cubit or two. And the Imam (AS) wrote: “It is not one foot nor two. Once it is midday, then the time for both prayers has started. If you are praying [the Nawafil of Dhuhr*] and it is 8 rakaats, then if you want, you can take longer, and if you want, you can take a shorter time, then pray Dhuhr. If you do not pray [the Nawafil of Dhuhr], then there is a prayer between Dhuhr and Asr and that is 8 rakaats [the Nawafil of Asr]. If you want, you can take longer, and if you want, you can take a shorter time, then pray Asr.” (1)
2. Also two narrations from Ismail ibn Abd al-Khaliq and Sa’eed al-A’raj, which talk about the time being midday on Jum’a and whilst travelling, which implies that what hinders the immediate prayer at midday is the Nafila prayers which are not required in these two situations. Therefore, the time is midday
3. Muwathaq narration of Zurara from Abu Abdullah (AS): “He said: ‘Rasul Allah (SAW) prayed Dhuhr and Asr with people when the sun reached midday in Jama’a without any reason …. And the Messenger of Allah (SAW) did this to widen the time for his nation.’”. This shows that it is correct to pray Dhuhr and Asr at midday, and any time after this, is to widen the time to pray Nafila prayers as has been previously explained. (2)
Reading all of these narrations together, we can see the following:
• The time starts at midday for both prayers Dhuhr and Asr
• The preference for Dhuhr and Asr is to pray the Nawafil, and because of this, there are specified later times (e.g. a foot, a cubit [two feet]…)
In the next blog we will look at why there still seem to be differences in the length of the time for this praying of Nafila in further detail i.e. why in some narrations it talks about two feet, and in others 4 feet….etc.
*Note the Nafila (pl. Nawafil) prayers of Dhuhr are 8 rakats, prayed before Dhuhr.
(1) Wasa’il, 4:133, Chapters on time, chapter 5, hadith 13
NOTE: Apologies in the previous blog, the hadith was wrongly attributed. Rather than being from al-Ashari, it is from Dharik al-Mahaarabi
(2) Wasa’il, 4:133, Chapters on time, chapter 7, hadith 6
Thursday, 3 November 2011
Harmonising contradictory narrations (the time for afternoon prayers) (2)
In the previous blog, we discussed how there are different narrations on the beginning time for Dhuhr and Asr, and that there were two categories:
1. The start for both is midday
2. The start for both is after midday (there are different narrations implying varying lengths of time after midday)
It is clear that these are contradictory i.e. both cannot be true. However, both opinions are justified by narrations that are sahih. Therefore, from the perspective of rijal studies, they all came from the Imam (AS). Based on this, the first port of call for the scholar is to try and “harmonise” (jam’) these narrations and find a solution that fits both of these sets of narrations.
Ayatullah Khui then considers the following possible solution:
• All other things being equal, the best time (farida) for Dhuhr and Asr, is midday
• However, if you pray the nafila prayers, then the time for Dhuhr and Asr becomes later, and the varying terms mentioned for the time period after midday are only examples of how long it would take to pray the nafila prayers, and are not themselves the time for praying Dhuhr and Asr
He supports this harmonisation using a range of narrations, some of which I will outline below:
• The hadith of ‘Amr ibn Handhala: “…[the 6th Imam (AS) said]: ‘when the sun reaches midday, the time for Dhuhr begins unless you are about to pray – and that is up to you. If you cut down [on the prayer], then [the time for Dhuhr begins] when you finish your prayers, and if you take longer [on the prayer], then [again], [the time is] when you have finished your prayers.” (1)
• Muwatthaq narration from Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Ash’ari: “…Some of the people said: ‘we pray the first [prayer i.e. Dhuhr] when it is two qadam, and Asr when it is four qadam.’ Abu Abdullah [the 6th Imam] (AS) said: ‘half of this is preferable to me’.” (2)
This solves the contradiction! There is an extra complication that I will discuss in the next blog inshaAllah – but hope this makes sense!
By the way, if anyone is interested in writing a guest blog at some point, please do get in touch – we now have about 60 people getting this in their email inbox…
(1)Wasa`il, Volume 4, page 133 in the Chapter on prayer times, Chapter 5, Hadith 9
(2) Wasa`il, Volume 4, page 146 in the Chapter on prayer times, Chapter 8, Hadith 22
1. The start for both is midday
2. The start for both is after midday (there are different narrations implying varying lengths of time after midday)
It is clear that these are contradictory i.e. both cannot be true. However, both opinions are justified by narrations that are sahih. Therefore, from the perspective of rijal studies, they all came from the Imam (AS). Based on this, the first port of call for the scholar is to try and “harmonise” (jam’) these narrations and find a solution that fits both of these sets of narrations.
Ayatullah Khui then considers the following possible solution:
• All other things being equal, the best time (farida) for Dhuhr and Asr, is midday
• However, if you pray the nafila prayers, then the time for Dhuhr and Asr becomes later, and the varying terms mentioned for the time period after midday are only examples of how long it would take to pray the nafila prayers, and are not themselves the time for praying Dhuhr and Asr
He supports this harmonisation using a range of narrations, some of which I will outline below:
• The hadith of ‘Amr ibn Handhala: “…[the 6th Imam (AS) said]: ‘when the sun reaches midday, the time for Dhuhr begins unless you are about to pray – and that is up to you. If you cut down [on the prayer], then [the time for Dhuhr begins] when you finish your prayers, and if you take longer [on the prayer], then [again], [the time is] when you have finished your prayers.” (1)
• Muwatthaq narration from Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Ash’ari: “…Some of the people said: ‘we pray the first [prayer i.e. Dhuhr] when it is two qadam, and Asr when it is four qadam.’ Abu Abdullah [the 6th Imam] (AS) said: ‘half of this is preferable to me’.” (2)
This solves the contradiction! There is an extra complication that I will discuss in the next blog inshaAllah – but hope this makes sense!
By the way, if anyone is interested in writing a guest blog at some point, please do get in touch – we now have about 60 people getting this in their email inbox…
(1)Wasa`il, Volume 4, page 133 in the Chapter on prayer times, Chapter 5, Hadith 9
(2) Wasa`il, Volume 4, page 146 in the Chapter on prayer times, Chapter 8, Hadith 22
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Harmonising contradictory narrations (the time for afternoon prayers) (1)
In the next few blogs, I will be looking at Ayatullah Khui again. He was one of the most illustrious scholars of the modern era, and by looking at his works, we are best able to understand and gain insight into the mind of a scholar!
The topic we will be focussing on is seeing how apparently contradictory narrations are harmonised (jam' urfi) by Ayatullah Khui in his Tanqih (1) - we will do this by looking at how he concludes what the time for Salat al-Dhuhr and Salat al-Asr is. His argument is lengthy and I will summarise to help illustrate the point as succinctly as possible, whilst maintaining enough to show how he argues his point.
Part A - the start of Dhuhr
From the Qur'an (17:78), it is clear that the beginning of Dhuhr is midday (duluk in the verse means zawal i.e. midday). However, there are two groups of narrations about the start of Dhuhr (and Asr):
1. Those which make it clear that the start of the time for these prayers is midday - e.g. Zurara from the 5th Imam (AS) who said: "When it becomes midday, the times for Dhuhr and Asr begin" (2)
2. Those which imply the time is a bit after midday - these are split into several sub-categories based on how much after midday:
A. e.g. the sahih narration from Isma'il from 'Abd al-Khaliq, who said: "I asked Abu Abdillah (AS) about the time of Dhuhr, and he said: 'it is a qadam after midday'..." (3)
B. e.g. sahih narration from Fadlaa' from both the 5th and 6th Imam (AS) that they both said: "The time for Dhuhr is two qadam after midday, and Asr is two qadam after that." (4);
C. there are others which talk about it being "dhira' after midday" (5);
D. or qama (6).
[Note I am not going to worry about the meaning of qadam [foot], dhira' [armlength] or qama [body length] here, other than to note it has an implication of a bit after midday, and the relationship between these varies e.g. 2 qadam = 1 dhira' but it is complicated so I will not go into it further]
It should be clear from these narrations that some seem to suggest that it starts at midday, and others have different times slightly after midday - in the next blog, we will look at how Syed Khui deals with this apparent contradiction.
(1)volume 2 on Salat, Page 81 onwards
(2)Wasa`il, Volume 4, page 125 in the Chapter on prayer times, Chapter 4, Hadith 1 (there are others e.g. hadith 5 and 9 on the same page)
(3) As above, Chapter 8, Hadith 11 (there are others e.g. hadith 17 in the same chapter)
(4) As above, Hadith 1
(5) As above, Hadith 3
(6) As above, Hadith 9, 13, 29
The topic we will be focussing on is seeing how apparently contradictory narrations are harmonised (jam' urfi) by Ayatullah Khui in his Tanqih (1) - we will do this by looking at how he concludes what the time for Salat al-Dhuhr and Salat al-Asr is. His argument is lengthy and I will summarise to help illustrate the point as succinctly as possible, whilst maintaining enough to show how he argues his point.
Part A - the start of Dhuhr
From the Qur'an (17:78), it is clear that the beginning of Dhuhr is midday (duluk in the verse means zawal i.e. midday). However, there are two groups of narrations about the start of Dhuhr (and Asr):
1. Those which make it clear that the start of the time for these prayers is midday - e.g. Zurara from the 5th Imam (AS) who said: "When it becomes midday, the times for Dhuhr and Asr begin" (2)
2. Those which imply the time is a bit after midday - these are split into several sub-categories based on how much after midday:
A. e.g. the sahih narration from Isma'il from 'Abd al-Khaliq, who said: "I asked Abu Abdillah (AS) about the time of Dhuhr, and he said: 'it is a qadam after midday'..." (3)
B. e.g. sahih narration from Fadlaa' from both the 5th and 6th Imam (AS) that they both said: "The time for Dhuhr is two qadam after midday, and Asr is two qadam after that." (4);
C. there are others which talk about it being "dhira' after midday" (5);
D. or qama (6).
[Note I am not going to worry about the meaning of qadam [foot], dhira' [armlength] or qama [body length] here, other than to note it has an implication of a bit after midday, and the relationship between these varies e.g. 2 qadam = 1 dhira' but it is complicated so I will not go into it further]
It should be clear from these narrations that some seem to suggest that it starts at midday, and others have different times slightly after midday - in the next blog, we will look at how Syed Khui deals with this apparent contradiction.
(1)volume 2 on Salat, Page 81 onwards
(2)Wasa`il, Volume 4, page 125 in the Chapter on prayer times, Chapter 4, Hadith 1 (there are others e.g. hadith 5 and 9 on the same page)
(3) As above, Chapter 8, Hadith 11 (there are others e.g. hadith 17 in the same chapter)
(4) As above, Hadith 1
(5) As above, Hadith 3
(6) As above, Hadith 9, 13, 29
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
I'm back!
Salaam all
Apologies for the very long time since the last blog! I have not had much time to pursue the progressive Muslim framework but will get back there eventually!
As you know, the point of these blogs are to provide an insight into how scholars think, thereby providing a basis for the the ultimate struggle towards understanding what Allah wants us to do in this world. I have done this so far by:
1. Giving an overview of methodology used by some of the most famous Shi'i scholars of the recent age on a range of rulings (paraphrasing their work but keeping their structure)
2. Providing examples of the discussions on the framework used (the usul al-fiqh)
3. Finally, discussing some of the alternative frameworks out there (progressive Muslims) - but I have left this one up in the air still!
I will come back to number 3, but I believe that it would still be beneficial to provide further examples of number 1 to help understand how Shi'i scholars derive rulings. My plan is the following:
- Discussion on rationale for Shi'i view of Wudu - my summary of the various opinions by the scholars (but not my view)
- Discussion on prayer time - Salat al-Asr in Shi'i fiqh
- The theological principle of raj'ah in Shi'i fiqh (- maybe...)
Following blogs on the above topics, I have been requested to discuss some of my own personal views on the topics below:
- The problems with expecting "unity" to be a major impact in deriving Islamic law in the current methodological framework
- My understanding of the reform movement within traditoinal Islamic law
If anyone has any other ideas, please do get in touch - and it would be great to have some feedback as I go along! (The lack of feedback made me think that people were not interested....whereas that may not have actually been the case!)
Apologies for the very long time since the last blog! I have not had much time to pursue the progressive Muslim framework but will get back there eventually!
As you know, the point of these blogs are to provide an insight into how scholars think, thereby providing a basis for the the ultimate struggle towards understanding what Allah wants us to do in this world. I have done this so far by:
1. Giving an overview of methodology used by some of the most famous Shi'i scholars of the recent age on a range of rulings (paraphrasing their work but keeping their structure)
2. Providing examples of the discussions on the framework used (the usul al-fiqh)
3. Finally, discussing some of the alternative frameworks out there (progressive Muslims) - but I have left this one up in the air still!
I will come back to number 3, but I believe that it would still be beneficial to provide further examples of number 1 to help understand how Shi'i scholars derive rulings. My plan is the following:
- Discussion on rationale for Shi'i view of Wudu - my summary of the various opinions by the scholars (but not my view)
- Discussion on prayer time - Salat al-Asr in Shi'i fiqh
- The theological principle of raj'ah in Shi'i fiqh (- maybe...)
Following blogs on the above topics, I have been requested to discuss some of my own personal views on the topics below:
- The problems with expecting "unity" to be a major impact in deriving Islamic law in the current methodological framework
- My understanding of the reform movement within traditoinal Islamic law
If anyone has any other ideas, please do get in touch - and it would be great to have some feedback as I go along! (The lack of feedback made me think that people were not interested....whereas that may not have actually been the case!)
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Progressive Muslims - Mahmoud Taha (3)
Now we have discussed the idea that there are two messages of Islam, we will now go on to explain how this came about in the history according to Taha.
He believes that initially, the Meccan Qur’an (full of eternal, universal, general and lofty principles) was revealed, inviting people to the final true Islam (stage 3 in the previous blog) but when they failed to adopt the ultimate Islam, and it was practically demonstrated that they were below its standard, they were addressed in accordance with their abilities as Mu’minun (1) and the original precept was postponed. This was done through the verses of the Qur’an revealed in Medina (compromises e.g. most the verses on women’s rights …etc.).
[Important to note here is the general distinction that is noticed by all scholars between the Meccan and Medinese verses e.g. Medinese verses often start with “O mu’minun” whilst Meccan verses start with “O mankind”…etc.. And also important to note, is that other scholars often consider the Meccan verses to be abrogated by the Medinan verses whereas Taha argues there would otherwise have bee no point in the previous Meccan verses]
It is useful to look at an example to make it clear what he means. When 6:82 was revealed: “Those who believe you without obscuring their belief with unfairness have security and they are truly guided”. The people complained to the Prophet following this verse saying it was too difficult to comply with, and the Prophet explained – at the Mu’minun level – that it was only disbelief rather than the subtle shirk in the sense mentioned in the sir al-sir verse (20:111). (2)
His view is that as soon as the conditions necessary for achieving the original objective returns i.e. once both individual as well as collective human capacities are sufficiently mature, the original precept shall be restored. He does not consider the verse “today we have perfected for you your religion” (5:3) to mean that the religion is finished – rather that Islam cannot be concluded as “the (true) religion with God is Islam” (3:19) and “Say, if every sea became ink for the words of my Lord, surely, the sea would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted even if a similar amount is brought as additional supply ” (18:109) i.e. the true religion is with God beyond time and space. Progress is required to get there.
He says that there is a difference between revelation and explanation in the verse: “And we have revealed to you the Reminder [the Qur'an] so that you may explain to mankind that which has been sent down to them, and they may reflect” – he considers the revelation to be the second message (yet to be found), and the explanation to be the first message. (3)
We are yet awaiting the nation of the true Muslims (4) – rather the current nation are Mu’minun. And the initial message is that which the future nation believes in. It is up to us, to revive the initial universal, eternal religion. This Second Message of Islam had remained concealed in the text of the Qur’an until humanity had reached the degree of development that made its application possible. According to Taha, this moment had now arrived.
Taha then goes through some of the issues of concern, and explains how the initial message was one of purity that we need to get back to – he goes through slavery, capitalism, inequality, hijab, polygamy and explains them all in the same way using the above theory.
Note that there are slight issues with this theory e.g. there are some universal principles like “there is no compulsion in religion” in the Medinese verses (although he argues that there are some texts he considers as Meccan in his terminology , although they were revealed in Medina, and others he considers Medinese, although they were revealed in Mecca.)…
This theory is well known and majorly important in the development of modernist thinking. What is really interesting is that he went through with his theory in practice and in his politics, and he was executed for it…In the next blog, we will look at a different thinker: Muhammad Abduh
Sources:
Taha, Al-Qur’an
Taha, Second Message of Islam
The Second Message of Islam: A critical study of the Islamic reformist thinking of Mahmud Muhammad Taha (1909-85), Ph. D, 1995, Eltayeb Eltayeb
(1) Verses used in support of this theory include 47:31, 3:102, 64:16
(2) The Prophet was one of the true Muslims as referred to in 6:163
(3) These two-fold messages are explained in an earlier blog – refer also to 30:23
(4) We have said that the nation of the first message are Muslims – the Qur’an described these at the time of Musa as Jews; and at the time of Isa as Christians; and at the time of Muhammad as Mu’minun (e.g. 2:62, 5:69, 4:136, 5:44)
He believes that initially, the Meccan Qur’an (full of eternal, universal, general and lofty principles) was revealed, inviting people to the final true Islam (stage 3 in the previous blog) but when they failed to adopt the ultimate Islam, and it was practically demonstrated that they were below its standard, they were addressed in accordance with their abilities as Mu’minun (1) and the original precept was postponed. This was done through the verses of the Qur’an revealed in Medina (compromises e.g. most the verses on women’s rights …etc.).
[Important to note here is the general distinction that is noticed by all scholars between the Meccan and Medinese verses e.g. Medinese verses often start with “O mu’minun” whilst Meccan verses start with “O mankind”…etc.. And also important to note, is that other scholars often consider the Meccan verses to be abrogated by the Medinan verses whereas Taha argues there would otherwise have bee no point in the previous Meccan verses]
It is useful to look at an example to make it clear what he means. When 6:82 was revealed: “Those who believe you without obscuring their belief with unfairness have security and they are truly guided”. The people complained to the Prophet following this verse saying it was too difficult to comply with, and the Prophet explained – at the Mu’minun level – that it was only disbelief rather than the subtle shirk in the sense mentioned in the sir al-sir verse (20:111). (2)
His view is that as soon as the conditions necessary for achieving the original objective returns i.e. once both individual as well as collective human capacities are sufficiently mature, the original precept shall be restored. He does not consider the verse “today we have perfected for you your religion” (5:3) to mean that the religion is finished – rather that Islam cannot be concluded as “the (true) religion with God is Islam” (3:19) and “Say, if every sea became ink for the words of my Lord, surely, the sea would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted even if a similar amount is brought as additional supply ” (18:109) i.e. the true religion is with God beyond time and space. Progress is required to get there.
He says that there is a difference between revelation and explanation in the verse: “And we have revealed to you the Reminder [the Qur'an] so that you may explain to mankind that which has been sent down to them, and they may reflect” – he considers the revelation to be the second message (yet to be found), and the explanation to be the first message. (3)
We are yet awaiting the nation of the true Muslims (4) – rather the current nation are Mu’minun. And the initial message is that which the future nation believes in. It is up to us, to revive the initial universal, eternal religion. This Second Message of Islam had remained concealed in the text of the Qur’an until humanity had reached the degree of development that made its application possible. According to Taha, this moment had now arrived.
Taha then goes through some of the issues of concern, and explains how the initial message was one of purity that we need to get back to – he goes through slavery, capitalism, inequality, hijab, polygamy and explains them all in the same way using the above theory.
Note that there are slight issues with this theory e.g. there are some universal principles like “there is no compulsion in religion” in the Medinese verses (although he argues that there are some texts he considers as Meccan in his terminology , although they were revealed in Medina, and others he considers Medinese, although they were revealed in Mecca.)…
This theory is well known and majorly important in the development of modernist thinking. What is really interesting is that he went through with his theory in practice and in his politics, and he was executed for it…In the next blog, we will look at a different thinker: Muhammad Abduh
Sources:
Taha, Al-Qur’an
Taha, Second Message of Islam
The Second Message of Islam: A critical study of the Islamic reformist thinking of Mahmud Muhammad Taha (1909-85), Ph. D, 1995, Eltayeb Eltayeb
(1) Verses used in support of this theory include 47:31, 3:102, 64:16
(2) The Prophet was one of the true Muslims as referred to in 6:163
(3) These two-fold messages are explained in an earlier blog – refer also to 30:23
(4) We have said that the nation of the first message are Muslims – the Qur’an described these at the time of Musa as Jews; and at the time of Isa as Christians; and at the time of Muhammad as Mu’minun (e.g. 2:62, 5:69, 4:136, 5:44)
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