
a deen is not a religion
the quran is guidance for life
Ahadith that Contradict the Quran
Most blessed is He who revealed to His servant the Criterion of right and wrong so that it might be a warning to the entire world. (25:1) These are the verses of God We convey to you with truth. Then, in what HADITH, if not in God and His verses, will they believe? (45:6) Not all the ahadith contradict the Qur'an directly - some contradict the general injunction in 16:116 (Do not keep uttering in falsehood, "This is lawful and this is unlawful”, thus inventing lies against Go
Know yourself from your own Book
Original article assembled by brother Irfan Shaikh Introduction: A Shift in Understanding For many years, I stopped giving talks. It...
Revelation - all at once or in stages?
Let's start with what the Qur'an declares إِنَّا أَنْزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةٍ مُبَارَكَةٍ ۚ إِنَّا كُنَّا مُنْذِرِينَ We have revealed it on a Blessed Night. We have always been warning. (44:3) إِنَّا أَنْزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ Indeed, We have revealed it in the Night of Majesty (97:1) No other verse modifies this language to say it "began to be revealed" so we must take the Qur'an's word for it. Why do so many people believe it was revealed over a period of time? In
Deen vs Religion
In collaboration with Adam Saiyid. The Qur'anic term ٱلدِّينِ (ad-dīn) is often translated as "religion," but this translation does not...
QS 3:19 and the negation of religion
2:170 When it is said to them, "Follow what God has revealed", they say, "Nay! We will follow the ways of our ancestors.” What! Even...
Universal Values in the Qur'an
The Qur'an is guidance for all of humanity who would turn to God, not just a faction of those identifying themselves with a particular...
Recommended Readings
Principles The reminders were revealed to humanity through the various messengers, but in all of them the target audience was humanity,...
Fatwas: Spiritual salvation, or invitation to shirk?
These days, people seek "religious" guidance from any number of "authorities" and ulemas purportedly knowing more about religion than the...
Shirk
What does this word mean in the Qur'anic context? Firstly, "polytheism" or "idol worship" is a poor, narrowband translation of "shirk" which implies that multiple gods or another god replaces the one God. The Qur'an defines shirk as association or partnership with God, meaning that God is not totally replaced, but someone or something is placed alongside God to give that someone or something the power to add to, remove, or change religious commandments and/or prohibitions .
Evolution - from a Qur'anic Perspective
by Irfan Shaikh How did the ‘very first human being’ come into being? The first thing that needs to be noted is that the idea of...
Whither "Religious Scholars"?
Role of Religious Scholars The Qur'an doesn't validate the role of a "religious scholar" because it says that we are to follow those who...
Ibn Rushd vs Ghazali: Did the Muslim world take a wrong turn?
Originally published in nation.com.pk on 22 Feb 2016, written by Aamir Butt and extracted from The Wayback Machine I am sure these days...
The Qur'an as a Hermeneutic Circle
Note: This article contains spoilers for the movie Arrival (2016). If you haven't watched it, I strongly suggest you do that first....
How Some Traditional Translations Mislead
The Qur'an calls for critical thinking. Let's see how some traditional translations mislead Muslims, using 98:6 as an example. Remember...
The difference between a “Religion” and the “Deen”
(Originally written by R Farah) What is Islam? Islam is not a private individual affair, but a collective system, not a vehicle of...
9th Century Muslim Anarchists
The people with whom this paper is concerned were anarchists in the simple sense of believers in an-archy, 'no government'. They were not...
Understanding the Qur'an
10:25 God calls to the Home of Peace, and leads men and women to the straight path. He does guide to the straight path him who wills to...
Flatland - a metaphor in 2-dimensions
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is a satirical novella by the English schoolmaster Edwin A. Abbott, first published in 1884 by...
The Majority
Argumentum ad populum In argumentation theory, an argumentum ad populum (Latin for "appeal to the people") is a fallacious argument ...



















