Reflections on the Makkan Qur’ān – 6
THIS PART OF THE SŪRA is almost a mirror image of the sermon of the priest Ibn Sā‘ida al-Ayādī[1] in which he intones…
Reflections on the Makkan Qur’ān – 5
FIRSTLY, THIS SŪRA IS NOT a Qur’ān sent down by the Lord of Heaven, but a thanksgiving and praise that Muḥammad addresses…
Islam and respect for the intellect – 3
MUSLIMS BEGAN TO PREOCCUPPY themselves with trivial matters. In the fourth chapter of his work Iḥyā ‘Ulūm al-Dīn (The Revival of the…
Islam and respect for the intellect – 2
RIGHT FROM THE OUTSET, the Qur’ān has not respected the Muslim mind. It has forced him to believe in what…
Islam and respect for the intellect – 1
THE TWO WORDS are yatafakkarūn (‘they think’) and ya‘qilūn (‘they reason’). The Qur’ān uses both words to assure the believer that God created the…
Reflections on the Makkan Qur’ān – 4
ALTHOUGH THE VERSES symbolize Muḥammad as ‘the one enveloped in a cloak, which Muḥammad duly was on the first day that Jibrīl came…
Reflections on the Makkan Qur’ān – 3
The third sūra ‘revealed’ to Muḥammad was Sūrat al-Muzzammil. This sūra came while Muḥammad was still afraid of Jibrīl when he saw him in the…
Reflections on the Makkan Qur’ān – 2
NOW IMAGINE MUḤAMMAD, after Jibrīl brought him the first sūra and he stood afraid and trembling, fancied that the devil had touched…
Reflections on the Makkan Qur’ān – 1
HIS SŪRAS HAD TO BE REVEALED in the order in which they were written on the Preserved Tablet (al-Lūḥ al-Maḥfūẓ).…
In what way are Muslims ‘defeated when they abolished slavery’? – 2
BUT WHEN THE COMMAND came to the female slave, that is, the mulk al-yamīn, Malik quoted Sa’īd ibn al-Musayyib and Sulaymān…