Critiquing a critique: Shaykh Sa’id Fawda on Ibn Taymiyya and Logic

Bismillah,

Last autumn, a dear brother gifted me with Sh. Sa ‘id’ Fawdah’s book ‘Tad’im al-Mantiq’ , which could be translated as: ‘In Support of Logic‘. In this unique work, Sh. Sa’id tackled Ibn Taymiyya’s infamous book against the logicians; a book that takes up one whole volume (last time I checked). This section that I have translated here is just one section of chapter two. In it, he responds to what could be called Ibn Taymiyya’s summary view concerning logic. I’m going to be posting this in parts so keep and eye out. This is part one only.

*UPDATE: I slightly edited this post to make it more reader friendly on the web. I had initially transferred it from a word document with all of the hats and dots (transliteration marks) on the Arabic words intact. It turns out that many people were unable to read those words, seeing instead question marks, dingbats, etc.

رد على الشيخ عبد الله بن بيه .. هداه الله تعال

For those of you who read Arabic and have read a bit on the controversy surrounding ”minority fiqh”

You Walk Wrong

Yes, its true

Sayyiduna ‘Alī and the Dead

Al-Bayhaqī narrated with his chain up to Sa‘īd b. al-Musayyib who said:

Voice of a Nightingale–al-Asma’i

Bismillah,

I remember hearing this poem read to me almost 10 years ago by one dear brother in Morocco . I was so flabbergasted after hearing it. It was a regret of mine that I never got the brother to write it down for me, and after a while, I just forgot about it. Today I just happened to check the best (although very inactive) Arabic forum in the English language, moderated by Sidi ‘Amr, a former teacher at Qasid in Amman, Jordan. Another brother posted the poem and an audio rendition of it.

This poem is attributed to al-Asma’i, a famous scholar of Arabic philology, although more than likely, it is not from him at all. Beyond that however, and beyond the mistakes in inflection and others things, it sound hilarious.

Shaykh Wahba al-Zuhayli on “questionable lines” from the Burda

Question:

What is the legal ruling concerning the one who sings [the lines]:

[O most generous of creation,] who but you can I turn to
When the Universal Cataclysm occurs?…

From your largess flows the good of this world and its counterpart in the next,
And from your knowledge is knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen…

By the pre-eminence of the one whose house is in the Pure Land,
And whose name is an oath among the greatest of oaths.*

Bearing in mind that I love this poem of al-Buṣīrī a great deal, and I ask Allah to be true in my love for the Prophet–sallallahu ‘alayi wa sallam, however some say that it contains words that are against the doctrine of Divine Unity (tawhīd)?

Man is an enemy to that which he knows not

Back in the day (ten years ago to be precise) a book came out as a self-styled attack upon Sufism. What the book lacked in terms of typesetting, was not to be outdone by its shoddy research, incorrect translations/transliterations, and general ignorance. A while back I was reading something in the Shifā of Qāḍī ‘Iyāḍ and noticed something that brought back memories of that old anti-Sufi book. With my curiosity sparked, I went and did a little research and here it is.

Sharh al-Aqida al-Kubra of al-Sanusi

Bismillah,

A while back, I received a copy of Sharh al-Aqida al-Kubra, by the renowned Wali and theologian;Abu ‘Abdillah Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Sanusi (died 895 Hijra). Another title given to this book is; ‘Aqida Ahl al-Tawhid. This book is a rare gem. For the longest, this book was only in manuscript form, until now. In the ranks of books, this book is an intermediate to advanced work on Aqidah and Ilm al-Kalam.

Back after a long hiatus

 

al-Salam Alaykum all,

After a long hiatus, I am finally back. I had to leave this blog for a while due to work and personal matters. In sha Allah, I will endeavour to post bits and pieces of things that I find to be of benefit–and in sha Allah you benefit from them as well. Please keep my family and I in your dua’s.

Suraqah

Donkeys and Elephants

Today I was at the playground with my daughter. I spotted a brother there with his children and we exchanged Salams and started talking. During the course of the conversation, he asked me: ”Do you know why the Republican party uses and elephant as their symbol?” I answered no. He enlightened me: ”Because they have always wanted to destroy the Ka’bah, and were inspired by the story in Surah Fil “Have you not seen how We dealt with the companions of the elephant…”

He then enlightened me on the reason the democrats took the donkey as their symbol: “Because most of them are Jews and Allah says in Surah al-Jumu’ah describing them: ”…like donkeys carrying loads of books…”

I had no comment :)