The following is an excerpt from Muftī ‘Abd al-Mālik’s book “al-Madkhal ilā ‘Ulūm al-Hadīth al-Sharīf”[1] on the use of computer programs to locate and grade hadīths. In this excerpt, Muftī ‘Abd al-Malik, seeing the abuse of these programs, sets out to clarify several misconceptions regarding them. Although the author’s contention lies mainly in the usage of computer programs to locate and grade Hadith, his insights are equally applicable to internet searches, printed books, and computer searches in other sciences as well. No doubt computer programs have immense benefit and can open many avenues when searching for hadīth, but everything needs to be put into perspective, and that is what this article hopes to achieve. An idiomatic translation was adopted to make the article more reader-friendly. – Muntasir Zaman

Title: Al-Madkhal ilā ‘Ilm al-Sunan

Author: Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī Tahqiq: Muhammad ‘Awwāmah

Other Details: pp.969 + 94, vol.2, $35 (hardback), ISBN 978-9933-503-59-8

For student of Arabic and Islamic scholars, I highly recommend supplementing the listening of Islamic audio books in Arabic to the reading of physical Arabic books. It has been a game-changer for me and a incredible way to make my time productive while commuting or walking.

Studying can become monotone when a routine becomes fixed and one is required to repeat the same process daily. The question then is how should one motivate himself to study?

Two of the primary terminologies of Hadith are Ṣaḥīḥ and Ḥasan. Although the absence/weakness of only 1 of the 5 conditions of Ṣaḥīḥ (ḍabṭ) make the Hadith Ḥasan, they are not on the same level, rather, they’re almost opposites. For this reason, using ‘Ṣaḥīḥ’ and ‘Ḥasan’ synonymously or together doesn’t seem accurate, as they both have qualities that oppose each other, main quality being that; the memory of a Ṣaḥīḥ Hadith’s narrator is complete whilst the memory of a Ḥasan Hadith’s narrator is defective. So what does it mean when the likes of Imām Tirmizī (رحمه الله) label one Hadith with both terms?

The use of Arabic diacritical marks has risen in the last century, with Islamic Scholarship growing in the West, we find many new books, translations, research papers, articles or even blog posts often consist of Arabic macrons.

Zakat is the third pillar of Islam. Zakat, meaning to purify, denotes the amount of wealth a Muslim is obligated to pay if their annual wealth exceeds a specific amount – obliged to pay to particular categories of underprivileged people. There are specific rules denoting to Zakat on wealth. Wealth which could be in form of money, gold and silver and many more. Another category on which Zakat must be paid on is livestock. However, the rules for livestock follow a different rule compared to the ruling of the other types of wealth. The chart below aims to simplify the Zakat owed when an individual possess a certain number of camels, cows or buffaloes.

Second only to the Arabs, the Bengali-speaking Muslims make one of the largest linguistic groups in the Muslim world.^([1]) A significant number of the British Muslims are also of Bangladeshi origin.^([2]) It is a shame, therefore, that the majority of those who grew up in Europe, America and Canada know very little of their family history, culture and heritage. This includes the profound legacy of ḥadīth.

The following excerpt is from the book “The Value of Time” by Shaykh Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah (may Allah shower His mercy upon him). The book contains penetrating insights, deep proverbs, and inspirational stories of the scholars of the past pertaining to the importance of directing one’s self to Allah (exalted be He) in every moment. In this excerpt, Shaykh Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah discusses the blessing of time.

An excerpt taken from Safahāt min sabril ʿulamā’ – Sh. Abdul Fattah Abu Ghuddah.